*** Official Clevo P177SM-P170SM / Sager NP8290-8270 Owner's Lounge ***

Hello everyone.
Proud owner of P170sm-a(ibuypower)since 2014 it worked well with gtx870m for four years when GPU gave up.
It would be this December two years that it worked well with gtx980m but it too died few days ago.
Six years of service may it RIP or will it...I already ordered eluktronics rp-17 to be my new daily driver and have some spare funds to resurrect P170sm-a.
Few questions about that to anyone with knowledge:
Will I need prema bios to go gtx 1070m resurrection/upgrade
Will I need prema bios to go gtx1060 route
How to get in touch with prema person if I do need it I left my mail at his site years ago kinda think thats a dead end.
If answers are yes,yes,you can't il go 980m route it cost half the price I paid two years ago,leaving room for new battery and power adapter.
Last question about battery and power in general,
Battery died on me after 1st 2 years when I broke of battery connectors on battery it self so I can still use it and not charge dead battery to a melting point(it is part of chassis even dead it have use).
For better part of last four years of its life I used it with 2000w power inverter creating fake electricity can that be a factor in later GPU life span if yes would healthy battery help would it absorb that electricity before it hit components or it simple doesn't matter.
I know very little about tech any help/info appreciated.

 

i got a quadro m1000m which came from an hp laptop.
the card is being recognized in win10 but i cant install the drivers.
i made the inf-mod but i ran into an install error. Code 31 while updating the drivers from device-manager. the driver version is 452.57
the file i mod is nvcvwi.inf and the parts are in [Strings] and [NVIDIA_Devices,NTamd64.10.0...17098]
Driver Signature Enforcement disabled

older drivers?
incompatible vbios?
does anybody have a hint for me?

 

Have you tried a set from laptopvideo2go.com? Does the card have a vbios on it?

 

now the laptop randomly shuts down very frequently...need to find a fix for that first.
could this have something to do with the windows updates? that was the last change. hardware drivers were also updated by windows updates

 

Are you cooling the VRMs fully?

 

what VRMs do you mean? GPU?
so i guess the my answer has to be no.
the GPU cooler does not fully match the mxm type a card. will take a look how to modify that.

 

All of them matter but usually the things you check are what have changed.

 

Well, I am going to join the club soon. Just ordered a P170SM-A barebone from Eurocom, since they are the only ones to sell these still. I will try to replace my ageing M570TU with this new P170SM. Paid quite a bit for it, but it's the only laptop which has the GPU and CPU upgradable while remaining within a decent portability limit (below 4.5 KG including the charger).

 

How much did you spend?

 

Around $900 including a GPU heatsink for the GTX 1060.

 

Pretty close to a 6 core 2060 system. Interesting bet on future cards.

 

I got the P170SM because it has an eDP port and I plan on putting in a 2K or 4K display.
It's not so much for gaming the system, though I like my occasional CS: GO, but my experience with the M570TU taught me that having replaceable video card helps a lot in getting a system to run 10 years plus. If my M570TU had the GPU soldered it would have died on me twice by now. The MXM factor helps a lot to find replaceable cards.

 

True though you are starting with hardware that's already pretty old.

 

It's true. That's why, for reliability reasons, I opted for a new barebone instead of an SH machine. Otherwise, believe me, I would have happily bought a Clevo from you if it had a socketable CPU + MXM board + under 4.5 Kg including the charger. But you guys no longer make those things.

I tried heavier laptops some time ago, and they weren't that practicle for me, I still want a laptop as I move around with my machine. The Pxxx series is simply too heavy and bulky.

 

The thing is socketable systems have a weight penalty since they are all desktop chips.

 

Absolutely, but I think the main weight and bulkiness comes from the cooling solution needed for a 95W desktop CPU + 150W GPU. If you had a laptop with 65W desktop CPU + 70-80W GPU, then I am sure you could get it down to around 4.5 Kg including the adapter. I mean, even the adapter would be smaller so it seems feasible.

 

But then the cost penalty makes less sense.

 

What cost penalty?

 

Having a socket, lower development support from Intel, the usual.

 

did managed to install the drivers. but encountered some problems in the process. that beeing to reboot with driver signature disabeled.
nevertheless now the driver is installed but the GPU shows code 43
GPU-Z shows no vbios. could this be an incompatible vbios i have on my GPU?
if so, do someone have a working vbios for me for my system?

 

Got a picture of the card?

 

no picture taken
do you have a clue?
will take the card out to make the picture

EDIT: picture added

 

I thought that is what you mean. I suspect that the socket + higher development costs will add about $100 to the cost of the barebone, but that's a not a bad price premium.
I never said to give up on the soldered CPUs, there is a huge market for that. But think about the business and consumer segmentation. Usually you pay 20% more for a business laptop with the same specs as a consumer laptop, simply because you get better reliability and generally better quality build. Even in the consumer market, most companies have different product versions, with the same specs, but at different price points, because they cater to different types of users: https://tinyurl.com/y6cfd9u3 See, same specs, but different price points..

So in my opinion, socketable, gpu-replaceable portable laptops will cater to a particular market which is prepared to pay the price premium. I wouldn't worry too much about the price premium. Knowing that I can upgrade the processor in the future, then I can opt now for an i5 and save some $ knowing I can upgrade to an i7 in the future. The money I can save by opting for lower performance components now because I can upgrade later can offset the laptop's price premium. When you buy something with everything soldered, you kinda want to get the best there is, cause you won't be able to change it later.

The only trick with such a device is to market it correctly and make users understand why it costs $100 more for the same specs. That's in my opinion the only major obstacle. The second one is to get users who value upgradability to know that your product exists.
The market for such a device surely exists, because on reddit and youtube, it's not uncommon for people to ask about how they can upgrade their processor or video card in the future.

 

mine m1000m supposed to be a HP the seller told me
any chance you could share your working vbios with me?

 

Odd looking card, is that U1 chip a bios?

 

can't really say that.
GPU-Z not showing a VBIOS tells me that the one on the card is bad/incompatible. did find some info on that in other forums
the seller said its a HP card. but since there is no label on the card i cant verify that.
if i dump the vbios is there an app to read the vbios version?
or i try to flash a dell vbios from trechpowerup.com. possible? because electrosoft had success with a dell card

 

Some of the HP cards did not come with a Vbios, it was integrated into the system BIOS and those cards can't be used is the thing.

 

so how to find out if U1 is a vbios chip?
can i try to backup the vbios?

 

Look up the chip markings, what is it?

 

the chip marking is
"winbond
25X20CLNIG
1704"
and this is a BIOS chip the internet says
flashing a compatible vBIOS can be a working solution?

 

Potentially yes.

 

do you have some further advice?
can it be some HP oder DELL BIOS or a specific one?

another question:
BIOS chip is present but GPU-Z shows no BIOS. could this mean that the BIOS chip is empty?

 

Possibly, have you got a physical reader?

 

sadly no physical reader.
can i flash the bios with nvflash?
still need a vBIOS that is compatible with my system

 

You could probably but I'd want a successful dump of the chip in case there was something in there.

 

does someone have a hint where to find a compatible vBIOS?
what could possible go wrong if I flash a HP/DELL vBIOS from techpowerup. I could still go back do I?

 

If you make a dump you can usually go back.

 

i do have some progress
managed to flash a hp vbios onto the card


GPU seems to work correctly but with some render tests the clocks and temp do not rise so GPU stays unused

what the GPU-Z render test does is raise the CPU temp and clock speeds. so i guess the iGPU does render the window not the M1000M.
what could be wrong?

things i did not do so far since the successful vbios flash:

• install the drivers again
• tried a different vbios file (have one different hp and one dell vbios from techpowerup)

any other recommendations?

EDIT:
i do encounter an other issue. laptop randomly shuts down and do not let me start it immediately again. when i press the power on button the indicator LED flashes green->yellow->green->yellow and nothing happens. after some time the power on button starts the laptop again. some cool down effect seems to be present. this happens on ac-power as well on fully charged battery.
what could this be?

 

Does anyone know if the eDP port in the P177SM is 30-pin or 40-pin? Or what revision it is.

 

2 channel 40 pin LVDS (not eDP).

 

The schematics say eDP: View attachment 191330

 

Was that ever soldered in?

 

Yes, it was. Not in the initial version, but subsequent motherboard revisions had the eDP port:
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=QW5KQlI2TkFlczcxSDVkejBSbGhhRHN4b0VoVnFR

Here is an early revision of the P170SM and below is a later revision of the P170SM.
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...?key=QW5KQlI2TkFlczcxSDVkejBSbGhhRHN4b0VoVnFR

Someone on AliExpress helped me out, it's a 30 pin eDP cable.

 

In that case you can just count the pins either side of the connector which does come to 30.

 

I am going to write some updates on my research:
1. The P170SM has both eDP and LVDS ports on it. However, it was never sold with an eDP display and there is no eDP cable part number for it. I tried to power on a P170SM motherboard (P170SM00-D03A V3.6) with an eDP display connected to it via an eDP cable from a P177SM-A. The motherboard powered on at first but then shut itself down after 5 seconds. Now, whenever I tried to plug the power adapter into the motherboard, the power adaptor led indicator goes dark and the motherboard seems dead. However, If I remove the eDP cable and the display, the motherboard seems to be ok and the led indicator stays on. I need to investigate further to determine if:
- the motherboard is defective
- the cable is not compatible
- the display is bad
- the eDP port really doesn't work or it was never meant to work

2. The P170SM-A has different motherboard versions for eDP and LVDS. It was never sold with an eDP display, but it has the eDP cable part number, though the eDP cable is nowhere to be found. I suspect it's impossible to find a P170SM-A eDP motherboard. But if does it exists, it should work with the N173HGE-E11 display.

3. The P177SM-A also has different motherboard versions for eDP and LVDS. It was sold with both eDP and LVDS displays. The eDP version was officially sold with the N173HGE-E11 display. There are still plenty of eDP cables for the P177SM-A floating around. So far, I've managed to source an eDP motherboard from a European reseller, maybe the last one on the market. Unfortunately, it's the version without the TPM chip, but it will have to do. I would love to get my hands on a P177SM-A with TPM and eDP, the motherboard part number code should be: P177SMA0-D03B-3 V3.2

 

The wiring could be totally different on the connector and it could be shorting.

 

An update on my previous post.

The eDP cable and the eDP display N173HGE-E11 are in good working order.

1. The motherboard of the P170SM I have is not defective and works perfectly fine with an LVDS cable and LVDS display. It seems that:
- either the eDP port on it is not working properly, though I doubt that.
- the eDP cable I have, which is for a P177SMA, is not compatible. I suspect that this is the case. Won't go into details about why I believe this is the reason. There is no official eDP cable part number for the P170SM, so I suspect that if anyone ever wants to get it to work, they will need to make their own eDP compatible cable. Alternatively, the eDP cable for the P170SMA might work, but that one it's nowhere to be found either. Regardless, the eDP port on the P170SM is very hard to use, so I don't recommend this route.

3. I've managed to install an eDP motherboard for the P177SMA, it's version P177SMA0-D03B-4. The motherboard works perfectly with the official eDP cable for the P177SMA and the N173HGE-E11 display that I have. I am now reassembling my P177SMA with the new motherboard and display. I will run the new laptop for 1-2 months to see if everything is ok.

The next and final challenge is to try to fit in a newer eDP display with the old P177SMA. In theory, because it has a 2-lanes eDP 1.2 connector, it can go up to QHD resolution @ 90Hz. I bought a 30-pin to 40-pin eDP adapter and will try some 40pin displays at a local repair shop to see if it works.

 

They could well have changed the pin arrangement, there was a lot of change around eDP at that point.

 

Hello guys! I recently upgraded my P170SM from a gtx 780m to a 1060m. I tried running firestrike bench and I can’t help but feel score is a little low https://www.3dmark.com/fs/26278669.
I have seen people score 9500-11000 with same specs. During benching, the gpu clock and cpu clock runs steady at max clock speed, yet my score is horrible. Any idea what could be the cause?

 

Does the benchmark stutter? Have you got the compare links to the benchmarks you are comparing to?