Upgrading Videocard to GTX460m vs 560m

First off I am a nubi when it comes to hardware upgrades.
I have m15x with a core i7 720 pcu, and a gtx260m gpu. I just upgraded the Bios to A9.
I would like to get a more powerful card but I'm afraid to tackle anything too difficult.
I really would like to upgrade to the 560m but if there are driver issues I would rather not.
The 460m would be also fine but they are a little more expensive on ebay. I would hate to pay more for a less powerful card, but if the 460m is simply swapping out a card and updating the driver I'll do that.
I don't have the time, patients, or technical skill to do much more.
If there is an even easier install let me know i'm just assuming the 460m would be the easiest.

Thanks to anyone who can give me some advice.

 

There's a whole thread on installing the 560M, just go take a look at it. Anyways, why spend more money for less power? As "difficult" as everything may seem, most of the answers are on this forum (I was a newb when I joined, and it literally took me like 10 minutes to understand the basics of my laptop - from GPU to CPU, pasting, etc.).

 

Honestly I have been looking at the threads for the last few days and the problem is I don't understand what they are talking about a lot of the time.
I do know how to download and update a driver if told where to go, but it seems that for the 560m the people discussing it in the threads are modifying the drivers somehow.
if someone would just tell me that I could plug it in update a driver and fly I would order the card today.

 

A 5850m will give you better performance than the 460m/560m... but good luck finding one. Ask in the 560m thread for info on how to mod the drivers, I'm sure that somebody can teach you the basics. Have you considered the 6970m? or are you trying to stay with Nvidia?

 

I would like a nice upgrade without much hassle. I was assuming an upgrade from a 260m to a 460m was probably the easiest. But if it is just as easy to upgrade to the 6970m I'd be happy to do that as long as i can keep it under $450 or so. The appeal of the 560m is I'm seeing it for $250 on ebay and that seems like a big jump in performance for not so much cash.

 

I'm in your same boat....if it was easy to install a 6970m, id do it in a heartbeat. I'm afraid ill screw something up since I have 0 experience. Hell, I even put a crucial m4 ssd in my laptop and that was tough

Sent from DQ land using Tapatalk

 

Go ahead and order the card then. Here is the functioning driver: http://ge.tt/9ccSSSC?c

The modification is very trivial, and if you don't wanna do it, I'll gladly share you my modded driver.

The only modification that needs to be done, is that the hardware id of the 560m card needs to be added to the appropriate .inf file in the driver, so windows accepts the nvidia driver for the card.

This is because Nvidia often doesn't include these hardware id's on their own, becaues it's common that the hardware vendors (like dell) provide their own modified drivers.

 

NEW 1.5GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 560M MXM 3.0b VGA Module | eBay

This is the card I'm going to buy. Is it the right one?
If you could share your modded driver with me I would much appreciate it.

Thanks so much for your clear and direct answer Fersknen.

 

Yes, that is the card I bought too.

Yes

 

Hey Fersknen,
Thanks so much. I just ordered the card and can't wait to install it.
What kind of increase do you think I will see from this upgrade. I'm hoping for 20-30%. Is this realistic?

 

I don't have any benchmarks for comparison. But I went from having to run most games on low, to being able to run the on their max highest or 2nd highest settings with no issues.

The 260M scores around 4500 3D Marks, where the 560M does 9000-something on stock clocks.

 

Wow that's like a 100% increase!
It's funny right after I got this computer I got Metro 2033 and it ran very poorly and was discouraged with the system. Since then I have played many more games and have found it's more acceptable but still a little disappointing because one of the main reason's for computer over console is a bump in graphics. I fell like this will finally get me that bump I was hoping for when I bought the computer.

 

Well, the 560M doesn't hold much of a candle to say... the AMD 6990 or 580M.

The latter cannot be put in the m15x, but the first one can. It's quite expensive compared to the 560M though.

 

You should have just gone with the 6970m. Although that deal you got on the 560m is pretty sweet. On eBay there is 6970m for around $300. It will outperform the 560 in every way.
I was in the same boat as you when I first got mine. I got it with the gt240 which is even slower than the 260m. I was so disappointed with how terrible the graphics were with that card. Good luck with your upgrade. Im pretty sure you will be very satisfied with the new performance.

 

You're probably right about the 6970m but the fan issues and the soldered hole problems scared me away. I'm a chicken when it comes to doing this. I have only ever built one PC and that's a HTPC/gaming rig. So I'm still very unsure of myself when it comes to modifying an expensive finished product.
That said, today I am getting the GPU from FEDEX and if I receive the thermal paste I ordered, tomorrow I'll be putting it all together.
Wish me luck....

 

Ok I'ts all done, the install went very well, and the driver worked perfectly. I ran a few games and did a windows experience index check. the Windows experience index shows the exact same score as the 260m which was 6.8 for graphics. Metro 2033 runs in dx11 now which is nice but from what I see only on medium setting @720p but it ran smooth which is better than what I saw with the 260m. My next test is going to be to encode some video files with handbreak. Thanks Fersknen I really appreciated all your help.

 

ok I was seeing temp spikes up to 99c so I took it apart and put it back together again with a little more thermal paste. reran windows experience index for a gpu score of 7.1 and the GPU temp topped out at 80C while it was running. this was a little more like what I was expecting.

 

Ah glad to see you got it fixed. Did you tighten the screws in an x-formation? This helps the heatsink get tightened down evenly and leads to better temps.

 

thanks,
I took it apart a third time and used a different thermal paste and I tightened it down a little more using the X-formation (the screws that come with the new board don't have spacers) and it seems like the third time's the charm because my idle temp dropped from 45C to 38C and now my gaming on ultra and 2xaa for Trine topped out at 83C after 30 min. so far this is the best result yet.

 

I read through this thread and you convinced me to do the same. I have a 260m on my M15x. I want the 560m instead of the 460m. I need help with getting the driver and the .inf file. Can you get them to me please?
Thanks

 

To all M15x owners. Please save your money and go AMD. For 560M money you can have the 6970M easily and now even the 6990M as prices drop. The 6990M is twice as powerful. There are no fans issues and they run perfectly cool.

The OP in this thread was poorly advised I think. He had ample budget for a 6970M was is a proven performer with complete fan control and HDMI functionality and of course very powerful however he was advised to go Nvidia. Nvidia = expensive. Unless you pay a massive premium and get the most powerful notebook GPU of every generation eg 580M and 680M you will never spend your money right and even then it is doubtfully spent consdiering the huge premium over the closest performing top tier AMD part.

 

Will the 6970m be as easy worry free install as the 560m? Heat or fan issues? any soldering? special thermal pads?

 

Yes, it would be exactly the same. No fan issues with the dell cards but for the clevo/MXM cards you would need to use hwinfo for automated fan control.

No soldering or drilling involved. Same installation procedures as the gtx260m. Just make sure you use the correct x bracket screws or the correct x bracket itself.

New 0.5mm fujipoly thermal pads are recommended and as for the temperature its just fine.

These cards are available within the 200 to 300 range and you may find some here in the marketplace.

 

Thanks Onego

 

I can state how much more powerful the 6970M is over the 460M/560M. I moved from one to the other and you'll be tripling your GPU power if you go for a 6970M.

I'm well aware that I've got an M17x R2, but still, I use the same generation of CPUs too.


The 6970M can be had for around $240 on average and it screams. It's as fast as a GTX 465. :thumbsup: