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    7970m cooler on 980m

    Discussion in 'Sager/Clevo Reviews & Owners' Lounges' started by JAGMAN, Oct 24, 2021.

  1. JAGMAN

    JAGMAN Notebook Consultant

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    i am thinking of getting a 980m to upgrade can i keep the same cooler do i need anything to swap it out?
     
    JAGMAN, Oct 24, 2021
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  2. JAGMAN

    JAGMAN Notebook Consultant

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    It's a P170EM
     
    JAGMAN, Oct 25, 2021
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  3. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Is the heatsink a single piece or two?
     
    Meaker@Sager, Oct 26, 2021
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  4. JAGMAN

    JAGMAN Notebook Consultant

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    It's a two piece heatsink,one for the chip and the other for the memory

    Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk
     
    JAGMAN, Oct 26, 2021
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  5. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    I think you can make it work but it will run pretty hot. The later single peice designs would be better for the 980m.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Oct 26, 2021
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  6. JAGMAN

    JAGMAN Notebook Consultant

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    Is it worth it to upgrade it though (since it's old)? I will get it for 150 dollars

    Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk
     
    JAGMAN, Oct 26, 2021
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  7. JAGMAN

    JAGMAN Notebook Consultant

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    Will it be plug and play? Or i should do something with the bios or whatnot?
     
    JAGMAN, Oct 26, 2021
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  8. JAGMAN

    JAGMAN Notebook Consultant

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    Can you help me out please?, does it need custom bios or is it plug and play?

    Sent from my M2007J20CG using Tapatalk
     
    JAGMAN, Oct 29, 2021
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  9. Khenglish

    Khenglish Notebook Deity

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    It's plug and play bios wise, but you need to .inf mod the Nvidia driver to install the driver.

    You'll need to shift around the thermal pads on the memory heatsink to cover the 980m power FETs. You may need to buy some pads for this. I think you want 1.5mm.
     
    Khenglish, Oct 29, 2021
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  10. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    You'll also need to boot with driver signing disabled for the driver install.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Oct 29, 2021
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  11. JAGMAN

    JAGMAN Notebook Consultant

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    Do i need to flash a clevo bios as well the seller said that he flashed a Dell bios when he got it. Is there any instructions with the steps needed?
     
    JAGMAN, Oct 29, 2021
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  12. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Get him to flash it back if you can otherwise you may not be able to flash it, it depends how the vbios interacts with your system.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Oct 29, 2021
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  13. JAGMAN

    JAGMAN Notebook Consultant

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    He has sold the laptop and he kept the GPU so i don't think that flashing will be possible on his end. Clevo won't let you flash the vbios?
     
    JAGMAN, Oct 29, 2021
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  14. Khenglish

    Khenglish Notebook Deity

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    There are broken safety checks in nvflash that can let you flash to one vbios, but then block you from flashing back to your original.

    If it has a dell 8gb vbios on it, the card probably works fine. Did the seller verify that it was working?
     
    Khenglish, Oct 29, 2021
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  15. JAGMAN

    JAGMAN Notebook Consultant

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    He said that it was working perfectly when he pulled it off. So it should work on my clevo with the Dell bios?
     
    JAGMAN, Oct 29, 2021
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  16. Khenglish

    Khenglish Notebook Deity

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    Yes I would expect it to. It's just that flashing a Dell vbios on in the first place was a stupid thing to do.
     
    Khenglish, Oct 30, 2021
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  17. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    You could use an external programmer if it's really unhappy.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Oct 30, 2021
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  18. JAGMAN

    JAGMAN Notebook Consultant

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    thanks for the response,the guy that sells it said that it could have a problem with the Dell Bios do you think it would it would have a problem or it will work with mine,Dell allowed to flash the Bios on the clevo that is out of the question because i don't i have a programing machine
     
    JAGMAN, Nov 4, 2021
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  19. JAGMAN

    JAGMAN Notebook Consultant

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    he had an Alienware laptop unfortunately
     
    JAGMAN, Nov 4, 2021
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  20. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    You can pick up external USB programmers for not too much but you can give it a go. Worst case it just does not work. It won't damage the machine.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Nov 5, 2021
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  21. JAGMAN

    JAGMAN Notebook Consultant

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    Something like that?
    https://www.aliexpress.com/item/327...gjcb8umcau9r17cef3701f3105e118c0323d1d&gclid=
    But i haven't found any instructions on how to use it. You think it won't work with the Dell bios it's not even worth a try? I could go by his house and plug it in
     
    JAGMAN, Nov 5, 2021
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  22. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    That's the kind of thing. You can try the vbios as I was saying, it wont hurt the system.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Nov 5, 2021
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  23. Khenglish

    Khenglish Notebook Deity

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    If the dell vbios worked for the seller, then it will very likely work for you. It just never should have been flashed in the first place.

    If you have a desktop with an MSI motherboard and EVGA graphics card, you don't flash the graphics card to an MSI vbios. That is stupid and at best will give you a card that works just like before, but probably will break features. Same thing here.
     
    Khenglish, Nov 5, 2021
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  24. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    MXM always has caveats on that sort of thing somewhere.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Nov 6, 2021
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  25. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

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    With the SPI flashing tool you can flash pretty much whatever firmware you want with the GPU sitting on your desk using a different computer. If it doesn't work, then flash another vBIOS. Lather, rinse, repeat. Using software to flash is certainly more convenient, but it is also very limiting. In the event something goes wrong, the software can leave you stranded on a deserted island with no hope of rescue. Using an SPI programmer is a useful survival tool in today's world run by Tech Nazi control freaks.
     
    Mr. Fox, Nov 20, 2021
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  26. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Just remember to take a full backup of your vbios first!
     
    Meaker@Sager, Nov 20, 2021
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  27. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

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    Yes, always a best practice whether flashing with software or hardware. I would even say that should apply that to all firmware (sBIOS and vBIOS).
     
    Mr. Fox, Nov 20, 2021
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  28. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Well especially if you intend to go custom firmware.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Nov 20, 2021
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