Got a second GT80 SLI 6QE

My first one is in repair for audio board failure that bricked it.

Got a second one, the same 6QE model and to my delight, the 1TB Samsung PM981 SSD swapped right in with no issues. Boots and sees everything. Once I get my first GT80 back, I will transfer the SSD back to it and the idea is to make the second one run 100% Linux.

 

Wow, so you will end up having 2x GT80 when the first one comes back?

 

That is correct. I paid 1400 for the first GT80 about 2.5 years ago and for this one, I paid $830. The configuration is almost identical, 6QE. My first one has the bluray drive, came with that RAID of 2x128GB and 24GB of RAM.
this one is just DVD, came with 16GB of RAM and no RAID, just a single 128GB DIMM. Which is just fine because RAM is cheap and I will upgrade the SSD to the 1TB Samsung anyway. Including the 2.5" HDD.

Since it is used and almost 5 years old, I was worried something would not work, thus far cannot find anything malfunctioning. DP works, HDMI works, I got 2 external monitors connected, both 4K. Over HDMI I run 2.5K however.

The idea is to make it a 100% CentOS machine and keep the other one 100% Windows. I did the multiboot thing for a few years and it never worked very well. Boot into Linux and then you realize you need something from Windows.

 

If Virtual Machine is usable for you, check out VirtualBox so you don't need to do dual boot.

 

I have been looking at GT80 laptops for a while, but there doesnt seem to be a lot of "material" on these here, mostly the 17" MSI laptops...you seem like you're the only one with a GT80 on here @etcetera lol

The one question I have if I may...do the 20X0 cards work in this laptop (modding is no problem)?

Also what is the max CPU this will take?

Thanks in advance, I have tried to find answers here already and whilst some posts do elude to this in one way or another, I couldn't find any threads with a proper discussion on this.

 

NOt sure, I have dual 980m in each one. Supposedly you can upgrade the cards but no idea about the latest-greatest. I am happy with 980m.

 

Thanks, there is a GT80 for sale currently (for parts or not working) but if the max is dual 980m then it wont be much more oomph than my current Alienware M18XR2 with a 1070 inside.

If I can put a, say 2070 in there then it might just sway me towards buying it

 

You have to work hard to need something more than 2x980m.
I don't game, so maybe my perspective is different. I run 2x4K and 1x2.5K monitors with no issues.

 

I do game so that's why I am looking to be able to future proof the purchase as much as I can.

It is really surprising that there doesnt seem to be very many owners of these machines on here, and I dont get it, those machines are beautiful!

 

I got the MSI Gt80 for its keyboard. I am a touch typist and it's so good, everything else irritates me.
my gt80 went in for a repair due to self-bricking, some audio board that cost me $200 and I had to use a Dell with that cheap keyboard. What a nightmare. I could not use an external one since the usb ports failed.