The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Amd 7970m in MSI barebone?

    Discussion in 'MSI' started by Sneaki, Apr 24, 2012.

  1. Sneaki

    Sneaki Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I was wondering if the new 7970m would be compatible with the 16F3/1762 barebone laptops? I have no experience with this sort of thing at all so maybe this is impossible :p, but if it worked it could be much cheaper than alienware/sager (buying the card separately I guess). I was told in another thread that the new card is 100w and based on the mxm 3.0c standard, if that helps :).

    Thanks.
     
    Sneaki, Apr 24, 2012
    #1
  2. b0b1man

    b0b1man Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    597
    Messages:
    1,092
    Likes Received:
    29
    Trophy Points:
    66
    b0b1man, Apr 25, 2012
    #2
  3. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,436
    Messages:
    58,194
    Likes Received:
    17,902
    Trophy Points:
    931
    My only worry is optimus in the the newer models.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Apr 25, 2012
    #3
  4. swiftden

    swiftden Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    3
    Messages:
    65
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Hope someone here experiments with it. I wanna know if i can extend my barebone's life to 3 more years. 7970 is a monster!!

    Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
     
    swiftden, Apr 25, 2012
    #4
  5. pau1ow

    pau1ow Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    1,336
    Messages:
    1,181
    Likes Received:
    84
    Trophy Points:
    66
    I think it will be tried out soon :p
     
    pau1ow, Apr 25, 2012
    #5
  6. swiftden

    swiftden Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    3
    Messages:
    65
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I hope so. No one here seems interested.. but i heard our MSI is capable of handling this card with no worries.

    Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
     
    swiftden, Apr 25, 2012
    #6
  7. b0b1man

    b0b1man Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    597
    Messages:
    1,092
    Likes Received:
    29
    Trophy Points:
    66
    I wanna get the latest 17.3" MSI barebone with AMD 7970m and profit with its SteelSeries backlit awesome keyboard and its superior Dynaudio speakers + its enhanced audio output for headphones. It could be cheaper than the Clevos and have all the goodies that I listed above. This is the best machine I can imagine right now. It just needs some extra power with the AMD 7970m.
     
    b0b1man, Apr 25, 2012
    #7
  8. pau1ow

    pau1ow Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    1,336
    Messages:
    1,181
    Likes Received:
    84
    Trophy Points:
    66
    That's a very good idea b0b1man, this is what I would be contemplating but with an OEM MSI :) Will let you know about the 7970m in the 16F2 first though.
     
    pau1ow, Apr 25, 2012
    #8
  9. Sneaki

    Sneaki Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Good to see I'm not the only one curious about this then! Hopefully if someone tries it they'll let us know how it goes :D.
     
    Sneaki, Apr 25, 2012
    #9
  10. Support.3@XOTIC PC

    Support.3@XOTIC PC Company Representative

    Reputations:
    1,268
    Messages:
    7,186
    Likes Received:
    1,002
    Trophy Points:
    331
    You'll have to wait until they card are released before any testing can be done. Current ETA is end of May. Gonna be tough though on MSI as the GPU is not user upgradable. When you get a barebones MSI chassis one of the things it does come with is the graphics card.
     
    Support.3@XOTIC PC, Apr 25, 2012
    #10
  11. xizzu

    xizzu Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    47
    Messages:
    47
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    You sure about the non-upgradable gpu? Im sure that Meaker and pau upgraded their Gpus.
     
    xizzu, Apr 25, 2012
    #11
  12. Support.3@XOTIC PC

    Support.3@XOTIC PC Company Representative

    Reputations:
    1,268
    Messages:
    7,186
    Likes Received:
    1,002
    Trophy Points:
    331
    It might be possible with some modifications but its not officially supported by MSI. Doing so will also void your warranty. If you dont care about a warranty you can always try to do it.
     
    Support.3@XOTIC PC, Apr 25, 2012
    #12
  13. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,436
    Messages:
    58,194
    Likes Received:
    17,902
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Bwahaha, so many people on here have done it.

    Plus if you keep the original card you can just put it back in if you have problems.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Apr 25, 2012
    #13
  14. b0b1man

    b0b1man Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    597
    Messages:
    1,092
    Likes Received:
    29
    Trophy Points:
    66
    Damn...every time when I find a notebook that I like, it turns out to be non-upgradeable. Or it just features bad videocards. For me, the GTX670m and 675m are as bad as it gets....old tech and expensive too.

    Man...steel series backlit keyboard, dynaudio speakers, light chassis, gold-plated 3.5 jack connectors, amplified output for headphones, 720p camera....I want this. BUT WHY does MSI have to put in these crappy video cards. WHY!!!!

    This is soooo frustrating. And Asus disappointed me too. Still only 2 jacks (mic and phones), still weak hardware, still the same shhhhhh....

    Looks like it will be clevo again, but Im not happy with that. Not without the goodies listed above, that a gamer must have on his laptop. Its a MUST HAVE.
     
    b0b1man, Apr 25, 2012
    #14
  15. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,436
    Messages:
    58,194
    Likes Received:
    17,902
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Lol, well i'm grabbing a 7970 for shipping on the 4h of May and 5870m heatsink, looks like it will need a bit more grinding than the 6990m (extra inductor) but it should go in and work.

    Annoyingly I could only get the 2 heatpipe version, but I can put some copper in the space left and the passive dissipation for the VRMs should be fine.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Apr 25, 2012
    #15
  16. b0b1man

    b0b1man Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    597
    Messages:
    1,092
    Likes Received:
    29
    Trophy Points:
    66
    Hope that works for you.
     
    b0b1man, Apr 25, 2012
    #16
  17. wtferrell

    wtferrell Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    304
    Messages:
    452
    Likes Received:
    14
    Trophy Points:
    31
    James5 put a 6990M in his MSI notebook, so it is possible. I'm not sure what difficulties he faced in doing it. IF someone can dig up his thread.
     
    wtferrell, Apr 25, 2012
    #17
  18. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    2,527
    Messages:
    4,112
    Likes Received:
    449
    Trophy Points:
    151
    if a 6990 goes in the 7979 should go too, same tdp at max
     
    KCETech1, Apr 25, 2012
    #18
  19. wtferrell

    wtferrell Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    304
    Messages:
    452
    Likes Received:
    14
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Yep. I think he had to make some modifications though, since MSI's don't ship with AMD cards. I can't recall though.
     
    wtferrell, Apr 25, 2012
    #19
  20. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    2,527
    Messages:
    4,112
    Likes Received:
    449
    Trophy Points:
    151
    KCETech1, Apr 25, 2012
    #20
  21. matsjc

    matsjc Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    20
    Messages:
    71
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    16
    I think they stop using amd cards after gx660. I'm also disappointed with the lack of amd card support the new msi laptops. As b0b1man said, the amount of great features inside the gt60/70 is so good but the gpu is not that bad but disappointing. Now I'm hoping the gt 680m's performance will be on par with the 7970m and be a available later on on this laptop.
     
    matsjc, Apr 25, 2012
    #21
  22. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,436
    Messages:
    58,194
    Likes Received:
    17,902
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Ah the famous (or is it infamous?) meaker "on way" sig returns!
     
    Meaker@Sager, Apr 25, 2012
    #22
  23. long2905

    long2905 Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    2,443
    Messages:
    2,314
    Likes Received:
    114
    Trophy Points:
    81
    if he has no experience with this stuff I would suggest to spend like a week or so to read all that he can find about this. Its not that simple for a beginner, not when it involves dremel tools.
     
    long2905, Apr 25, 2012
    #23
  24. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,436
    Messages:
    58,194
    Likes Received:
    17,902
    Trophy Points:
    931
    It will require mods yes, more so than the 6990M did.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Apr 25, 2012
    #24
  25. Sneaki

    Sneaki Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Yeah I'm not in too much of a rush at the moment, so if I decide to do it I can wait to see how other people get on, and figure out how it all works hopefully.
     
    Sneaki, Apr 25, 2012
    #25
  26. evlmangesh

    evlmangesh Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    74
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I would SO buy the MSI GT with 7970m.......
     
    evlmangesh, May 15, 2012
    #26
  27. niffcreature

    niffcreature ex computer dyke

    Reputations:
    1,748
    Messages:
    4,094
    Likes Received:
    28
    Trophy Points:
    116
    Why can't you guys sell them without the GPUs??

    And what happens to your stock of older models???
     
    niffcreature, May 16, 2012
    #27
  28. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,436
    Messages:
    58,194
    Likes Received:
    17,902
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Well partly they come from the factory so it would leave you with a large stock of cards, partly because heatsinks and cards are hard to find so it's a niche market and partly because I think MSI stipulate a few restrictions on how they are sold.
     
    Meaker@Sager, May 16, 2012
    #28
  29. suraj0992

    suraj0992 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    14
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Same feeling here...am just waiting for MSI to get the 7970 .....as I had asked abt it to xoticpc and they said it will hopefully get it soon...
     
    suraj0992, May 23, 2012
    #29
  30. xMAR99

    xMAR99 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    956
    Messages:
    634
    Likes Received:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    31
    I doubt that it will get the 7970M.
    680M coming in the summer, so thats an equivalent
     
    xMAR99, May 23, 2012
    #30
  31. Prostar Computer

    Prostar Computer Company Representative

    Reputations:
    1,257
    Messages:
    7,426
    Likes Received:
    1,016
    Trophy Points:
    331
    I really doubt it can work. I can't see AMD 7970M on MSI road map. Does anyone have more update infoamtion?
     
    Prostar Computer, May 23, 2012
    #31
  32. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,436
    Messages:
    58,194
    Likes Received:
    17,902
    Trophy Points:
    931
    With modification of the 5870 heatsink from the GX660 then yes.
     
    Meaker@Sager, May 23, 2012
    #32
  33. Prostar Computer

    Prostar Computer Company Representative

    Reputations:
    1,257
    Messages:
    7,426
    Likes Received:
    1,016
    Trophy Points:
    331
    I really doubt the MSI barebone can work with AMD 7970M. Please post the result if you try.
     
    Prostar Computer, May 23, 2012
    #33
  34. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,436
    Messages:
    58,194
    Likes Received:
    17,902
    Trophy Points:
    931
    We have already tested a dell card and found it to work in the mod thread.

    MSI systems are mostly vendor agnostic, so long as the card works to standard MXM specifications (physically, electrically and firmware) then it will work.

    My tide over card is an HP 5870 for instance:

    [​IMG]

    Shame it's fixed at 1.05v, if the bios would let me go to 1.15v I could get over 1ghz core IMO on this sample.
     
    Meaker@Sager, May 23, 2012
    #34
  35. niffcreature

    niffcreature ex computer dyke

    Reputations:
    1,748
    Messages:
    4,094
    Likes Received:
    28
    Trophy Points:
    116
    Have you ever heard of any card not working in MSI barebone?

    Save for high power Nvidia cards in the gx720/gt725.

    Really. HP and Alienware cards with the HE tab hanging out work flawlessly in the gt627, Dell 6900m series in the gx660 and gx740, GTX 460m, ATI 4850, 4860, HP firepro m7820 and fx 2800m all working in the gx640.

    Why the doubt? Where is your reasoning behind this?
     
    niffcreature, May 24, 2012
    #35
  36. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,436
    Messages:
    58,194
    Likes Received:
    17,902
    Trophy Points:
    931
    I had a clevo 470M refuse to work, but likely a funky vbios.
     
    Meaker@Sager, May 24, 2012
    #36
  37. pau1ow

    pau1ow Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    1,336
    Messages:
    1,181
    Likes Received:
    84
    Trophy Points:
    66
    pau1ow, May 24, 2012
    #37
  38. Red Line

    Red Line Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    1,109
    Messages:
    1,289
    Likes Received:
    141
    Trophy Points:
    81
    hey guys, so where can one find a special vbios with enduro off in order to upgrade the MSI GT780 to Clevo 7970M? thanks
     
    Red Line, Sep 12, 2012
    #38
  39. Marecki_clf

    Marecki_clf Homo laptopicus

    Reputations:
    464
    Messages:
    1,507
    Likes Received:
    170
    Trophy Points:
    81
    PM me Your e-mail address and I will send You the one I use.
     
    Marecki_clf, Sep 13, 2012
    #39
  40. sangemaru

    sangemaru Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    758
    Messages:
    1,551
    Likes Received:
    328
    Trophy Points:
    101
    Anyone have a clue where I can locate a usable heatsink for the 16f1 to use with the 7970m? (as far as i can tell, 16f1 and 16f2 design is identical).
     
    sangemaru, Oct 9, 2012
    #40
  41. myx

    myx Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    223
    Messages:
    1,017
    Likes Received:
    85
    Trophy Points:
    66
    There's a guy in the 7970m heatsink modification thread that managed to dremel completely a 570m HS and then beef up the vrams with thermal pads. 5870m HS are kinda hard to come by these days, as most of us experienced.
     
    myx, Oct 9, 2012
    #41