Experience with 680m on M6700, some useful info for the upgraders.

There has been questions asking about installing gaming graphic card into M6600/M6700. While some has already confirmed this,
I would like to share my personel experience here, painful one.

My default M6700 configuration is AMD M6000, 3720QM.

I first ordered 680m from Eurocom, installed using AMD heatsink. The GPU was working initially, but dead after few days. Upon checking,
I found that it could be due to improper contact of RAM or chipset to the heatsink. I have been monitoring the temperature of the GPU
after installation and it showed good below 50C, however it can't show temperature of other components...I can't find any sign of burnt but it was dead.

After that I go get the heatsink for Nvidia, and also CPU heatsink.At the same time, I got another similar card from Monkey Upgrade. The price is 25% higher.

Received the new card today, both cards are almost identical. The screw size of the X-bracket provided by both Eurocom and Monkey Upgrade are similar,
but smaller than Dell heatsink's M2 screw size. I tried to peel off the X-bracket from M6000 but it was very difficult and AMD's X-bracket was just too close
to the tiny components, unlike Nvidia which makes clear path for the x-bracket. I worried by force some components will break so I use the screws
provided by Eurocom. Monkey upgrade did not provide the screws.



Why I spent the extra 25% from Monkey upgrade? because they provide warranty for the card.
Eurocom just ignored my email after several communications and they did not accept return or warranty even DOA.
I tried the oven trick but the card still remained dead zzz...

UPDATE 2012-12-17
I made a stupid mistake on the 2nd card from monkeyupgrade and the 680m was dead, again. I put on slightly thicker thermal pad for the RAM because i noticed there was no pressure mark left by row of RAM (horrizontal row from the photo) on the original thermal pad, so i was thinking to make proper contact and apply a thicker one. That caused another problem, the chipsets at the back are not in contact with the thermal pad, and i did not realize until the card was dead after 2 days.

Monkeyupgrade honoured the warranty and i got a new card in return. They even offered to fix my 1st card from Eurocom and the card is on the way to them (in China). The card is confirmed from Clevo. So be very sure when you purchase graphic card from Eurocom, let it be working right from the start, they do not care about warranty even it is dead the second day.



Upon receiving the new replacement card, I tried this time assembling the heatsink and the card only without M6700 case. Now i can observe more clearly. Due to the screw hole size (M1.5) is different from Dell (M2), i need to use the M1.5 screws came with the x-bracket. The screw is fully threaded, unlike Dell's screw, so it is not possible to tighten the screw until the end, or the card will break into 2. I noticed the "optimum" tension to be applied was:-

Screw hole no.1 moderately loose. the card will bend out of shape if apply too much force.
Screw hole no.2 moderately loose. out of shape if apply too much also.
Scerw hole no.3 almost fully tightened, Need to observe if the card is bended.
Screw hole no.4 tighter than no.1 & 2. Adjust until the card is not bended.
Contact of rear components and the thermal pad must be in place, or the card will die like my case. The design of MXM 3.0b is not very good, where the rear part is left opened and may bend downward due to the pressure between card and heatsink. I put paper at the bottom of the rear card to help "jack" the card up back to horrizontal level.

Temperature now is even lower. Compared the 3 cards i have installed, 1st card temperature max at 85C, 2nd 80C, 3rd 70C Furmarked. If any of your K5000m exceeded 70C, probably heatsink installation is not perfect. Please note that the screw tension above is for non-Dell screw/x-bracket only.
______________________________

Both the AMD and NVIDIA heatsink are almost identical, the only difference is the copper contact surface, where the AMD is extruded and Nvidia is flat.
I think that gap is the reason of improper contact of other components earlier. Nvidia GPU die has more extrusion than AMD GPU die.



By knowing this, AMD's heatsink can be used for Nvidia, but may not be the other way round. For AMD heatsink + Nvidia GPU,
We need thicker thermal pad for other components. For Nvidia heatsink + AMD GPU, thicker thermal pad is required for the die,
but it is difficult to control the screws tension because the die has no direct contact to the heatsink surface.


Before installation, it is advisable to try with only the GPU heatsink to check if the heatpipes are aligned properly to the casing.
In my case, it does not fit properly and need some bending work on the heatpipe. It is soft, be careful.

Total spending for GPU is almost at 2/3 of K5000m, sigh... otherwise it is just 1/4.

Optimus is working. In bios it shows as "Unknown video card", 4Gb RAM.


WEI is 7.8 for 680m, 7.4 for M6000.


Other than GPU, I change the CPU heatsink as well. Extreme edition CPU (55W) has different heatsink than other editions (45W), it has extra heatpipe. I
got this for future upgrade to 3940XM (it was not yet available during my M6700 purchase).


Why 1 screw is missing at 55W heatsink corner no.4? Well that has to beanswered by Dell's quality control. I am too lazy to wait for replacement (3 weeks delivery from Dell China) so I just peeled off 1 screw from old 45W heatsink to use on the 55W heatsink.

If 680m works on M6700, so will 675m, 670m, 660m, 7970m. Applied to M6600 too. However, I noticed there are 2 types of 680m and also 7970m in the market,
and I am not absolutely sure if both types work on M6700. They can be easily identified by the GPU die. For M6700, both AMD and Nvidia GPU die are square.
The other 680m variant has rectangular die shape. The 7970m variant has 45 degree angle die.
Components layout are different for both types, considering the heatsink design, it is not advisable to mess with them.

Photos borrowed from monkey upgrade.

 

These threads should be titled under Nvidia vs AMD. Or, "Why buy Quardo with GTX will do? I also noticed you didn't mention any caveats or warnings. Permit me to interject this: with all the hoopla espousing the superiority of the 680 it should be understood that it's not as adept with 3D and rendering. So if that's your need, you should look elsewhere.

Also, from everything I've gleaned so far (and its difficult to find much; nobody has really tested these things) those are it limitation since it primarily designed to push pixels not vectors.

In addition, its lickity-split speed also pays the price in heat. I only mention that because of the graphic artist out there. This machine covers a wide gamut of enthusiasts and professions; and professionals need stability

 

Hmm, this thread is not about Nvidia vs AMD, but about replacing graphic card & CPU. This is meant for small % of Gamers with specific purpose. Fastest gaming card today for Nvidia is 680m and 7970m for AMD, so i mention these 2 cards more often.

K5000m performs very well in game too, if i have the money i will get K5000m straight and save all the nonsense. But next year when K6000m comes out there is another boom in pocket, I cannot be spending the extra 300% money on something that i don't need at all.

In my case, I play games a lot, I do not use any CAD program, nor graphic application. I use exernal monitor, keyboard mouse and speaker. I bring the laptop daily between home and workplace, sometimes outstation. I am looking for a gaming laptop that needs to fulfil the following criteria:-
1) Good gaming performance with upgradability.
2) Classic outlook and presentable in business meeting. Deal breaker, Alienware is out, MSI/Asus and those with fancy outlook too.
3) Easy setup for traveling between workplace and home. so Clevo is out. I have Dock Station at home and work place, 2 sets of external assessories too.
4) Smaller size. Only Clevo fulfil this, but item no(3) is more important to me.
5) 10GBE, none fulfil at the moment.
6) SPDIF out.

At the end, Precision Workstation becomes the best choice for my Gamestation over Clevo. SPDIF can be solved by using expresscard.

However when Thunderbolt is available in Clevo, most probably i will switch to Clevo because item no(3) may be fulfilled with Thunderbolt Dock Station, so as no(5). I am not sure if thunderbolt dock station can switch on the laptop with the lip close.

I use Desktop at home before, but It is very troublesome to take care, and I transfer every 2 years, it is extremely difficult to deal with the cables, dismantling external water pipes, radiators, reservoirs bla bla. After few experiences i decided to use laptop that saves a lot of space and assessories. Clevo P370EM is one of my choices, but considering the difficulty to setup everytime traveling between home and office i give up.

 

Now you have a gaming laptop that docks .

Instead of thermal pads, I think people can use copper pad/sheets and dual side thermal paste it for nvida+amd gpu. Should be able to dig some(actually many) heatsink mod around NBR if people are interested. But in reality, just buy a heatsink if people are spending that much for the card ~~

The only thing stopping me from upgrading to 7970m is IPS support and money .

 

I chose 680m is because of Optimus : ). In business meeting sometimes power socket is not available, and Optimus will prolong the battery life.
7970m, if Enduro is working properly, I would have chosen it. Many vendors have stop supporting Enduro because of some funny problems with it. 7970m runs 10C hotter than 680m.

Running the card for 3 days, seems good only feel not comfortable with the temperature at 85C max. 680m limit is 98C.
I dismantle the system again, applied IC Diamond paste and the card is running sligthly cooler at 78C. Ambient is about 27C
Tested using Furmark for 1 hour.

The temperature may go higher later when I change the CPU to 3940XM because shared heat fins with GPU. CPU 3720QM running at 67C max.

 

I got it. But I needed an impetus to make my soapbox statement and I took it. That's all.

 

iieeann, thanks for all info about upgrading GPU. I have few questions:

1) Is Your GTX 680m branded by Dell or Clevo? You can check the Device ID and subvendor in GPU-z software.
Is it important which card will we buy for upgrading? or we can simply switch vBios Clevo<->Dell in case of any problems?
2) Did you notice any problems with HDMI output with 680m/7970m?

I'm thinking about replacing FirePro8900 in my M6600 in future.

 

Very useful thread, good initiative and quite a lot work done - +rep.

I've always been tempted by a barebone M6600 (i know it's top quality) but already got too many laptops

 

I attached the GPUz screenshot here. When I purchased the item from the store it is written for Clevo P150EM and P170EM.


You can checked the ebay store here http://stores.shop.ebay.com/laptopmonkey. search for 680m and there will be 3 products, 2 looks similar and 1 is different.

I do not think much about the vbios for compatibility. If the card is not supported it might just not turn on at all.
There are vbios for overclocking and 680m has great potential on that, but i am not planning to try until i got the card stable for few more weeks.

Just tested HDMI output with 680m is working properly. On the Dock station I connect through Display Port because there is no HDMI port.
About your 8900, it is still a good card, upgrading to 7970m is not a wise decision. Yesterday I read that AMD mobility 8000 series is out (something 8550m), not sure if it is rebranded 7xxx series. Hopefully 8970m is not too far away

 

I've been doing that too before buying this M6700. I came across a good used M6600, almost confirmed the order then only knew that the resolution was 1600x900 zzz...