Xonar

All 3 should work. I have a Dell 6990M in my MSI 16F2 right now.

1. CMOS should be in the same location as the pictures on the second post. 2. RAM is reserved by the Operating System for caching purposes. It's to get better performance, this is normal with Windows 7, 8. 3. No clue, you could add the -x parameter to the .bat file to force flash, but it's your risk. Others have flashed the BIOS just fine without it.

If you buy an AMD card, you will need to buy a 5870M heatsink AND make small modifications to it with a rotary tool (Dremel). If you buy an Nvidia card, you will need to either modify the 560M heatsink completely OR buy a 570/580M heatsink. The 150W power supply is sufficient for every upgrade except for the 570M over-volted and the 580M. People in Europe seem to have a much easier time finding spare MSI parts than in North America (GPU heatsinks). If you want maximum performance, @debianik nailed it in his posts. The 7970M without Enduro vBIOS + 28xxQM CPU (with ThrottleStop) are the best possible upgrades for this notebook.

Won't work in the GT683.

Well the dots/lines aren't on the BSOD screen or probably on BIOS which is good (GPU isn't on its last leg). Boot into safe mode. Are the dots/lines still there? If not, try reformatting and/or reinstalling drivers. Sent from my HTC Sensation using Tapatalk 2

91-92*C sounds good for 3.0Ghz on all four cores.

670M = 570M = Fermi = non-Optimus. It works. People have even flashed their 570M's into 670M's for kicks.

Do you have your power limits unlocked and I'm assuming you are using TS? If so, limit the CPU to x31 or x30 multiplier and see if the 100-200mhz downclock makes a difference.

IIRC, Vengence don't have XMP profiles. Sent from my HTC Sensation using Tapatalk 2

@myxcon, I'm rocking a 2920XM (the ES has higher turbo bins for whatever reason) running at 3.2Ghz w/ BCLK overclocked. I'll hit 100*C in games as well, but I've noticed that it happens mostly when I play on hard wood surfaces. Wood just absorbs all the heat and makes it toasty as hell. If you can prop up the notebook to give it a couple of inches of airflow, see if that helps.

Yes, you need XMP compatible RAM to use XMP. Otherwise, PnP HyperX sticks are hassle-free and work out of the box. It's a mystery. IDE/AHCI/RAID. You choose whichever you want. As long as you have a GX60 or 16FK you are fine. When you type flash(.bat), some text should pop up asking if you are sure you wish to continue. Pressing any key other than Ctrl+C will prompt the flash process. All GT680 features are unlocked in my link. 680M will not work in GT683. Optimus incompatibility. Your memory needs to have XMP profiles for that to work. If you get black screen, you don't have XMP profiles. Just buy HyperX PnP sticks if you are unsure. A CMOS reset should be more than enough for your issue. I've even done it by setting XMP profiles on my PnP sticks.

I haven't kept up with Ivy Bridge unlocked chips, so I'm not too sure. Sandy Bridge MSI cannot adjust CPU multi. Only Ivy can. MSI does not release changelogs for whitebook BIOS. Sometimes a dev in the MSI forum will release the changelogs, but that's rare. No clue, have you tried it yet? I've never heard of this problem. Yes, the unlocked BIOS will help alot. 1. Flash unlocked BIOS 2. Increase power limits to maximum durations and power draw 3. Download Throttlestop and set the CPU multiplier to the Max Turbo 4. Watch temps as your CPU will try to stay at max turbo for as long as the temps allow it to

Well, I was responding to how fast it heated up, rather than the final temperature. My 6990M will hit 95*C in 10-15min in BF3 (I did a shoddy job modding the heatsink), but I'm not actually worried as the temps plateau at that level. Ideally with the 580M/675M you should be looking at mid 80*'s tops in that notebook. Lowest I've ever seen is 79*C with a fresh repaste. But 90*C is not too hot, but it is approaching that danger threshold. 100W cards really push it in such a small chassis & single fan. I'd say repaste whenever you have time. Even if you bought it from a reseller (Xotic, PNB, etc etc) they come from the same warehouse in the end. If the fan speeds bother you a lot there's programs out there that let you edit your EC config and choose the RPM of the fan (you can then test the best results for your ears and GPU). I caution you though to not lower it by much because the fan is truly a workhorse in this notebook. Also, 18'' (with 3 fans) vs 15.6'' comparison . No fair!

2860QM / 2960XM if you're loaded. But as I've said, don't expect multiplier OC'ing on this notebook.

Partially BIOS support. It's a matter of not having Optimus. You get AMD support instead though.

Nothing. The 560m heatsink only works with the 560m. You'll need to buy a new heatsink at the very least if you are upgrading. If you want an AMD card you'll need to either buy a new heatsink and modify or modify an existing one.

90*C in 20 minutes is not worrisome. That's pretty normal for a demanding card (and Fermi). Replacing thermal paste will yield the best results.

Been really busy the last couple of weeks. gimmi a couple days to go through all that I've missed.

No guarantees with the QS -- MSI and Clevo 680M (4GB) GTX are confirmed to work.

580M's work with the GT683; I know this for a fact because the laptop will throttle when the 580M GTX is pushed to the limits. Throttlestop or soldering a wire to the MXM slot are your two solutions for this problem.

Correct @trigger25sg. The downside to the new Ivy Bridge MSI's is the lack of AMD support because of the inclusion of Optimus. The upside is, well, you can have the best GPU in your notebook (680M) .

AFAIK -- the recovery methods don't always work because they rely on the bootblock not being corrupted. If your flash went through and rewrote the bootblock then this is typically the end result.

@Mr.Toolbox True -- Sandy Bridge MSI's don't have Optimus, so high-end Fermi is as good as it gets with Nvidia. Best upgrade for GT683 is 7970m with a modified heatsink. @Fedexultra I remember seeing that somewhere... haha, oh wait that was me! Good quote though.

No need for modifications, just some more thermal pads to cover extra vRAM, etc.

Any ideas @svl7?