~GX660(R) Owner's Lounge~

Hi, fellas,

I'm owning a GX660 (no R) and I'm currently with the stock HD5870m but just ordered a GTX 765m and I wash hoping you shed a little bit of light what should I expect.

The price was very pleasant and It came with the heatsink, so I ordered it without hesitation. I checked the thread and foudn just two posts mentioning it - one said it should work fine (its MXM 3.0 type B after all), the one said it doesn't work (unlike the GXT 770m, which I think shares the same characteristics??).

So, please, if anyone has any experience, please share ti:

- what should I do, just replace it
- should I mod somehting on the heatsink?
- should I change the vbios (and how)

Thanks!

 

Hi, guys after years my 5870m broke down and it's unrepairable, so im looking to buy a cheap new one but i can find only a dell 5870m will this run without any problems ? does it need flashing with the msi vbios ? and lastly will it provide image so i can flash it or i will have to do a blind vbios flash ?

thanks

 

Where abouts are you? I might be interested in selling you my 5870m which I took out of my gx660r

Mick

 

how can i send u pm ?

 

Not sure m8, think you need a certain number of posts before you can access pm.

Ive got a 970m stuck in customs at the moment
After reading everything I can, I'm really hoping it will post in my GX660r.
Ive already bought a 780m heatsink and modded it to fit the 970m as per the 970/980m upgrade thread. The extra cpu heatpipe may even help my 920xm temps too

When the card arrives I'll post back to let you know if it works!

Mick

 

best... i buy HD 8970m 4GB Vram ...

 

Just a heads up for those waiting, the 970m works
Although I couldn't get the modified drivers working under Windows 7 64 bit. Once I installed 8.1 the drivers took straight away. But I already had a copy of 8.1, and didn't have the patience to try and get 7 working.

Firestrike demo benchmark results: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/5783771?

Mick

 

After running with the 970m for a few days it really is a great upgrade for our GX660. The chip runs a bit cooler than the 7970m I took out, and with the extra heatpipe from the new gpu heatsink to the cpu, the cpu has dropped a couple of degrees also.
Like I posted above, I couldnt get the (hacked inf) Nvidia drivers (344.80) to work with Windows 7 64bit at all. Not sure if a different version would help, or if it was any remains from the ATI drivers. I did use a program called Display Driver Uninstaller. The card wasnt recognised at all by the stock Nvidia drivers, so going with the hacked inf was the way to go.

Ive not flashed the card with a new vbios (yet), so its still got the stock Clevo vbios it arrived with. Perhaps I might flash it with the MSI vbios when I'm feeling brave

Here's a few pictures from the installation if anyone is thinking of doing the upgrade.

This is the new heatsink. Its for a GTX780m and needs slight modification for the GTX970m. Part no. E310406580Y3100E26000063 I bought mine from: http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/6450708955.html



As described in the Official GT60/70 970/80 upgrade thread, a small part of the heatsink needed grinding to allow the 970m to fit:


The Clevo card itself came with a heatsink already part fitted, it only took two screws to remove it, but it did leave the X bracket stuck to the rear of the card.. Now I've gotta say it was stuck on pretty good! After a few pry's with the finger nails, I decided to get the Wifes hairdryer out to warm it up and soften the glue. This worked a treat and made the pain bearable to very carefully remove the bracket from the adhesive with just my nails. A chap over in the upgrade thread used a plastic tool and popped two components off! He had to get them soldered back on. So I would say dont rush it & take your time.


This is the underside with the gpu and heatsink fitted, notice the extra heatpipe reaching over to the cpu.


The only issue with this is the small brackets from the extra heatpipe are not an exact fit in depth to the holes on the GX660 cpu heatsink. But there is enough flex in them to screw things up..Taking care obviously Probably at a later date I will insert a small washer/shim between the two brackets.


Hopefully this will be some help to anyone who wants to do this upgrade, along with all the other great info over in the Official GT60/70 970/80 upgrade thread.

MSI GX660/R (Nehalem) (MSI 16F1)
System BIOS Version: E16F1IMS.30L
EC Version: 16F1EMS1 Ver 4.17
GTX 970m 6GB Clevo vBios: 84.04.22.00.11
Windows 8.1 x64
Modded INF Nvidia Drivers 344.80

Mick

 

Update & Problem:

As you can see in my last picture above, the extra heatpipe doesnt screw down perfectly over the cpu...Well at the time I thought nothing more of it, but the other day my cpu temps started to get very high and even with no overclock the cpu would steadily climb up to 100c and start to throttle under the smallest of tasks

So I took both heatsinks off this evening, and found that No.2 & No.3 mounting 'turrets' that the cpu heatsink screws down onto had come off the motherboard!! And so the whole lot was held on by screw No.1. Oh Crap!

Turns out these turrets/mounts are only soft soldered onto the main board, and the extra tension created by the strained heatpipe fixings had caused them to pop off.

After staring at them for a while as what I'd just found was sinking in, I noticed they were threaded through their entire length. I then wondered if I could fix them back in place with a screw and washer from behind. So after removing the keyboard I managed to 'fish' a screw and washer from behind and screw the turrets back on..Even stronger than before.. Phew!

Moral of the story...Make sure you have about half a dozen little washers (2-3 each side) to separate between the two brackets, so when you screw them down the fixings/turrets below arent taking any abnormal strain!

On a plus side, my temps have dropped a couple more degrees

Mick

 

It's excellent news. I must start looking for 970m or 980m in neighborhood to buy

 

Yeah its great that the GX660 can keep up with modern games

I'm not too sure if the GTX980m would draw too much power for our mainboard? Anyone know what the limit is?

Toms Hardware has an estimated 95W for the 970m and 125W for the 980m.
Notebook check gives 100W & 122W

Mick

 

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 is 50W TDP so 95W is way too far over designed specification.
It's very likely that the PCB isn't able to supply such level of power.

 

And yet quite a lot of people here have upgraded the GPU (&CPU) to more power hungry models without any issues at all. For example I've been running for 2 years with a 7970m which has a 100W TDP. The card I had installed before that, like others here, was a 6970m. 75-100W.
Yes that is twice as power hungry as the original GPU, but what is the designed specific output of this mainboard? I've had no stability or overheating issues with a better GPU fitted
The PSU is an increased 180W model to supply the power.
Mick

 

Based on what MSI used to offer on GT660, the best GPU they had used was a 285M which is 75W TDP.
So assuming if the design is similar between GT660 & GX660, then we can guess that 75W is the safe limit.
Using GPU higher than 75W can possibly cause the PCB to fail sooner due to over-spec usages.
The other issue is we don't know whether the new card would work or not because it's too new and there can be compatibility as well, such as the BIOS is unable to detect graphics card.

 

It would be nice to know what the power limits/specs are for this mainboard As it's all guess work and assumptions. I think the 980m might be a step too far, but who knows! Me personally, I wouldn't want take things over 100W.

I have to say, I couldn't find anyone else with a 970m fitted in a GX660, so it was a little leap of faith as to whether the bios would recognise the card and post correctly. I was very relieved when it did
As it stands performance is excellent and so is the temps and stability, can't be happier..

Now who's going to try a 980m?

Mick

 

Let's see. I have PSU 240W already, just in case

 

Have anyone replaced the screen on the GX660 with a better panel?

 

Yes, its pretty straight forward, just stick your nails into the edge of the frame and pop off the surround, then you will see the screws to remove the top lid, also the screws that hold the lcd in place. Take care with the ribbon cable.

A couple of years ago the best matt screen was : AUO B156HW01 V.4 But good look finding a genuine one!! 2yrs ago I had a nightmare finding a genuine panel, and sent back 3 copies all claiming to be the right one.

I would love to know if there is a modern equivalent, or even a better panel that would fit.

Mick

 

Hey mate, did you get rid of your 7970m yet?
I'd be interested in bying it, or at least in hearing out a price offer for it
Thx

 

There is no modern equivalent to the V4 panel sadly.

 

https://hackpad.com/Best-Panels-Wiki-D5UvkrtVvJ9

v4 or v7 year ago im buyed from http://www.screen-shop.net/156-3962cm-Displays (probably after i buyed that info was stored on hackpad that they have genuine v4 panels)
but now they don't have nad even price goes higher

 

Does anyone here have a 7970m/8970m for sale?
Im looking to avoid any tricky stuff, and would love to buy one that i know works straight off with my gx660
Thx

 

Hi guys, im back needed help.
Just bought 2x4GB Kingston 1333 sodims upgrades, and they dont seem to work. If I use any one of them individually, laptop powers on to a black screen, no sound, no nothing.
If I use both of them, booting seems fine, until i try to load an os. Windows fails completely, linux works up until command line, but can t load any graphical interface. Switching back to my stock memory and everything works fine.
I doubt the memory is defected, any ideas what I can do before I return them?

Also I noticed both my stock memory and the upgrade show in bios as 1096MHz or something similar. Any idea how I can make it work at 1333?
Gx660 ofc, Motherboard was replaced with a 16F1 from Majster MSI but I havent had any issues with it.
Thanks

 

What version of the 660r do you have, what processor, etc? What BIOS version is the new motherboard using? In what way are you upgrading the ram, i.e. increasing amount, speed, etc.?

Cheers

Lennie

 

Hi, everything is stock. i5 stock cpu, stock BIOS (E16F1ims.10D build 2010 ), I have the standard gx660 that came with 4GB ram, and i want to upgrade to 8gb. Bios says memory freq is 1067Mhz. Is that right?
Thanks

 

I'm not sure about the gx660 but I think they are basically the same other than the r for raid, if I am wrong someone can correct this. The ms-16f1 from memory (pardon the pun) only runs 1066 memory, and with an i5 will only access 2 sticks. The board should be able to access the new memory fine but under clock it to 1066. Check in the BIOS to see if the speed, clocks, etc are set manually and revert them to auto. Check the BIOS updates, one of them might be to deal with this particular issue you are having.

Lennie

 

Always been afraid of updating the bios, after all i bricked my previos motherboard.
Any ideas where i can find an active link for a good gx660 bios? seems like i could waste half a day on this forum until i find one

Thanks again guys

 

Best bet is to put your old ram in restart it, and install the MSI live update. Restart it and run the BIOS part. If it shows a new one download and install it. Think that's the best way off the top of my head. Once you have done that run the crucial memory upgrade checker programming. Not all MSI gx660 boards like the same memory but that will give you something to double check against.

Lennie

 

updated bios to majster msi's unlocked version, still no luck. With the new ram I can get to the boot screen, but once I choose an OS it just reboots. Bios correctly detects 8169 MB ram clocked at 1067mh. Anyone else have any other ideas?

 

Will a 670M from a Asus G75V work in a GX660?

 

maybe if you cut the back of the msi to fit that nonstandard board ;p

 

Quick question...Does anyone have any idea if the next generation of mobile gpus from ATI will work on the gx660?
I know they haven't released anything since the 7970m, but everything that nvidia released meanwhile works as an upgrade, am I correct?

 

Nvidia GPU was never really tested on the GX series since it was intended to work with AMD GPUs only.
Additionally, wattage support should be able to handle most of GPUs but compatibility is a major concern.

 

Not sure what you're saying -- nvidia wasn't officially intended, but it obviously works just fine. Most models i think.
I know of the wattage problem, what I was asking is more concerning the slot interface.

If anyone knows if the next gen cards would fit in the same slot the current ATI cards do? basically is there s any real chance to upgrade to one. I want to skip the 7970, the newer ones will have really good linux support.

Thanks

 

Yes, they may work, plus modifications. Slot interface have not changed much at all since the introduction of MXM.

 

Cool, thanks. Maybe, just maybe, it's not worth upgrading to 7970m this late and waiting to see what new goodness they come out with

 

Yup, it won't be worth it, not to mention the CPU can be your bottleneck.

 

Hi all,

Looking to upgrade my stock GX660R, i5 version.
It's got 6GB of RAM, SATA setup.

I recently bought a 920XM processor which is currently shipping, as I read in this thread and in others that it's the best I can get.
I also bought a Targus 180W in anticipation of further mods.

Regarding the above two mods - do I need to change the bios at all? Or is it simply plug, slap some silver thermal paste on, and play? I have ThrottleStop but I haven't quite figured it out yet.

Now, my next question - I know it's probably worth upgrading the HD away from raid, but I really can't be bothered with that yet.
If I was going to go down that path, which HD would be worth buying?

This is the most important, and costly, change:
I was thinking of buying an 7970m, and making a modded heatsink, as I read it was one of the better (and now cheaper) GPU upgrades I can do. Is it still worth it? My biggest concern is actually that people report the HDMI output doesn't work - I use the HDMI on a daily basis for watching films on my TV, so it's essential to me. Has anybody got it working?

As for other upgrades - should I bother going to 8GB or 16GB of RAM? If so, do you have any recommendations?

Thanks. I realise a lot of these topics are covered in this thread, and I have scanned through it, but not all of the info is as specific as I'm asking, and some of it is quite dated.

Love my GX660R and am happy that it's lasted me this long, and I can get many more years out of it.

Thanks.
A.

 

CPU is fine, Targus 180W is also accepted.
You do not need to change the BIOS at all.
SSD is your best bet but they will be capped at 3Gbps.
7970M may not work on the machine since it's several generations newer, and besides the processor can become a bottleneck.
Regarding memory, 8GB is most likely enough whilst 16GB is overkill, so if price is acceptable then by all means go for it.

 

Thanks for your speedy reply and advice.

What would you suggest, then? I've read of a bunch of people using the 7970m with success (though not expanding on if they got the HDMI working). What would be a suitable but effective upgrade for this laptop, considering the other upgrades I'm looking at?

 

I am not sure what you can do regarding the HDMI output. Unless you find a sufficiently old HD7970m you might be out of luck. It does provide a large jump in performance but at the cost of convenience. The laptop is several years old after all

If you already have the processor on the way, you can play with a bit of overclocking with your current setup. The 920xm is orders of magnitude faster than you realize. Specially since you can put that monster at high clockspeeds over 4 cores. I had an i7 740qm and my performance all around increased just by using 920xm. Just check temps

I sold my GX660R a while a go, and he also seems to have run out of luck regarding the HDMI. Anyways, before I sold it, I remember I was playing with my HD5870m near 1Ghz core, and I don't remember how high memory. To this day, the GPU is still alive, so that bodes well.

 

Thanks for the reply. I think I'll see how the added RAM and updated CPU affect my performance, and maybe try overclocking the stock GPU as a test. It's a pretty big investment for a rad, new GPU but losing HDMI would be a pretty big blow. It's good to be able to get so much more life out of my GX660.

 

Yeah enjoy it while it lasts, and then upgrade to a new machine. I mean, my old GX660R is still playing FF14, GTA5 and all those games, according to my friend. Sure it is not high end anymore, but well at least he can play them?

 

The 970m has been working out well in older machines, have you looked into it?

 

Even if it works, the CPU is not even that powerful so it will be such a waste, unless the game doesn't require much of processing power.

 

Hey there,
I can tell you that your 920XM will definitely not bottleneck a radeon 7970m. I have that couple on an alienware m15x: 920xm is overclocked to 3.2Ghz (24 x 133Mhz), rockstable on 4 cores. CPU performance is pretty close to ivy i7 3630QM... So not top notch but still very much decent compared to 1.73Ghz of 720QM (or 2Ghz of 920xm @ stock).
On the m15x, I cannot push the 7970m due to very bad cooling performance so it remains at stock speed...
The MSI Gx660 has much better cooling performance despite the only one fan system!
Just be aware that you need a "non enduro" vbios for the 7970m or it will not post and you'll be forced to perform a blind flash. 770m GTX will also work and runs cooler than 7970m.
Reports indicate that 970m gtx also works but price is still high (around 500 USD).

 

[TL;DR - GX660R no longer boots into Windows, laptop screen is black, no VGA output and new MSI 5870 cards are not found in devices]

Hi folks, I'm back again, one year later. Firstly, thanks to debianik for the advice on the CH341A programmer, even though I did get a new cheap 5870. The new card worked fine for me up until a week ago when I decided that still not having HDMI output was getting annoying.

So I decided one evening to flash a different vBIOS as I now had the CH341A programmer and thought it wasn't a problem if it wouldn't boot anymore - I could just re-flash the vBIOS easily. I took a backup copy of the current vBIOS that was on the MSI 5870 card and then I flashed a Clevo or a Dell vBIOS hoping that might give me HDMI output. When I booted up again, the screen was black, so I decided to re-flash with the backup I had just taken and assumed everything would be back to normal.

However, it wasn't back to normal at all. The screen was still black on booting, though it was booting into Windows and I could remote desktop in, and the card was still appearing in the device manager list at that point. So I tried flashing the latest vBIOS for that card from the MSI website with ATIWinFlash (which it appeared to do successfully), but I still got a black screen on boot. I then went through flashing just about every relevant vBIOS I had for the 5870, but none of them gave anything other than a black screen, and eventually the card also stopped appearing in the device manager list in Windows and couldn't be found.

So I decided to get yet another 5870 card on eBay - apparently from a GX640 laptop. It arrived and I put it in my GX660R without modifying the vBIOS or anything - just making sure to reset the regular BIOS etc.
However, this new 5870 still doesn't work, and it also doesn't appear in the device manager list at all, and no video devices or unknown devices are found. I've also tried flashing other vBIOS'es to that card and none of those give any different result.

I'm now thinking I've somehow messed up my GX660R and it has decided to stop recognizing any video card I put in it at all. I'm now the owner of 4 different 5870 cards, all of them seemingly useless (though the original is most likely dead for sure)

What else can I do? It no longer boots into Windows (probably into Startup Repair). I also just got a replacement motherboard and that doesn't recognize any of the cards either. Maybe time to contact Svet on the MSI forums?

Device manager with no video devices: http://i.imgur.com/KuiGcRV.png

 

Have any of you tried with 980m card? It was mentioned that one had success with 970m version on supposedly Cleveland bios.

Regards
tmark

Wysłane z mojego SM-G925T przy użyciu Tapatalka

 

Clevo

Wysłane z mojego SM-G925T przy użyciu Tapatalka

 

That's a rather expensive gamble - the only 980M I can see available in the UK on eBay is £568 ($879)

I've sent one of the 5870M cards off to Kris at MXM Upgrade to see if he can do a better job of flashing the vBIOS than me.