Clevo P150SM Upgrade. What to do!?

[Grimm6Jack 1]

Hi, I have a Clevo P150SM (Not SM-A, just SM) with a GTX 770m, bought over 2 years ago.

 

I wanted to upgrade to a GTX 9xxm series, a GTX 970m or even a 980m to max it out. However I have 2 issues.

I don't know if I have to do something on the BIOS for the 9xxm series card to work, I hear a lot that I have to modify the BIOS but it's not clear so I would really appreciate if someone knowledgeable adresses this for me.

 

The 2nd issue, is more to do about the 980m only. My Clevo P150SM has a 180W power brick, I don't intend to overclock anything, be it CPU or GPU and I'll play at 1600x900 with mostly high/some ultra settings(no AA or MSAA) with V-Sync ON. I'm sure a 180W brick can handle a 970m + a 47W processor (i7-4910mq) but I'm no so sure about the 980m, which is the one I have my sights on, so is a 180W brick safe or is it recomended to get a 200W+ power brick? And if so, where can I get one that's capable of connecting to the P150SM(with the Barrel Round Plug Tip).

[D2ultima 324]

You will likely need a Prema mod.

 

180W and 980M should be generally sufficient if at stock and undervolting the processor, I think. The only issue would be whether your cooling can handle it, but I think it should be ok.

[Grimm6Jack 1]

1 hour ago, D2ultima said:

You will likely need a Prema mod.

 

180W and 980M should be generally sufficient if at stock and undervolting the processor, I think. The only issue would be whether your cooling can handle it, but I think it should be ok.

 

Only Prema Mod? Nothing else at all? IF that's all that I'm supposed to be doing, that's good. But need some clear info.

[D2ultima 324]

29 minutes ago, Grimm6Jack said:

 

Only Prema Mod? Nothing else at all? IF that's all that I'm supposed to be doing, that's good. But need some clear info.

Yup, that's it. Suggest prema mod on the GPU too after you install it but stock vBIOS should work.

[Grimm6Jack 1]

So basically I downloaded the mod from here https://biosmods.wordpress.com/p150sm/

Followed all of the instructions and was successful.

 

PS: Donated 5€(isn't much I know, sorry, but am in a tight budget right now). Will donate more in the future.

 

So, now that I did this, will I be able to just mount a 970m/980m in my P150SM, install the NVIDIA drivers accordingly(before installing them, of course, uninstall the drivers of the previous graphics card, the 770m) and be ready to go and play some games?

 

I really need to make sure of this because if it's not possible at all, I'm going to lose a lot of money because not only are either of those cards expensive as all hell but I'll have a hard time reselling them from where I am from(Portugal).

[D2ultima 324]

4 minutes ago, Grimm6Jack said:

So basically I downloaded the mod from here https://biosmods.wordpress.com/p150sm/

Followed all of the instructions and was successful.

 

PS: Donated 5€(isn't much I know, sorry, but am in a tight budget right now). Will donate more in the future.

 

So, now that I did this, will I be able to just mount a 970m/980m in my P150SM, install the NVIDIA drivers accordingly(before installing them, of course, uninstall the drivers of the previous graphics card, the 770m) and be ready to go and play some games?

 

I really need to make sure of this because if it's not possible at all, I'm going to lose a lot of money because not only are either of those cards expensive as all hell but I'll have a hard time reselling them from where I am from(Portugal).

Use DDU to clean and shut down for your nVidia drivers, then install the card, then boot up and install drivers fresh. That's the best way.

 

Otherwise, that's basically all you need to do it, as far as I know.

[clark97 10]

You'll need to modify the .inf file in the downloaded drivers to get them to install.(And disable driver signing while installing)

[D2ultima 324]

3 hours ago, clark97 said:

You'll need to modify the .inf file in the downloaded drivers to get them to install.(And disable driver signing while installing)

Not with Prema mod & vBIOS.

[clark97 10]

Strange??? my 170SM is running Prema with a 980M with modded vbios and I have to mod .inf to get the drivers installed ???

[Khenglish 1154]

Some prema mod require a .inf mod for the 970m and 980m, and some don't. He has special non-public mods for many systems that circumvent the .inf mod requirement.

 

As for compatibility with the P150SM, you don't need any modded bios at all. It will work with just a .inf mod. With a 180W PSU you actually do NOT want to run a prema vbios, as prema disabled the power limit. With that off your 180w psu will shut down in games if you get a 980m, even if you don't overclock. If you run the stock 980m vbios your 180w psu should just barely be ok.

 

You can flash the p150sm prema mod system bios if you'd like, but it is not essential.

[Grimm6Jack 1]

41 minutes ago, clark97 said:

Strange??? my 170SM is running Prema with a 980M with modded vbios and I have to mod .inf to get the drivers installed ???

Even with the modded vbios you had to get the .inf drivers?

 

Researched a bit and found this guide: http://null-bin.blogspot.pt/2015/03/upgrading-clevo-p150sm-from-gtx-770m-to.html

He does talk about changing the .inf drivers but he at the same time states that if you use Prema's vBIOS you won't need to modify your driver at all.

Well, I'll take the risk and will buy a Maxwell card anyway and will try it. If I'm successful I'll even upload a video about it since there are none in the internet, at least about the P150SM.

2 minutes ago, Khenglish said:

Some prema mod require a .inf mod for the 970m and 980m, and some don't. He has special non-public mods for many systems that circumvent the .inf mod requirement.

 

As for compatibility with the P150SM, you don't need any modded bios at all. It will work with just a .inf mod. With a 180W PSU you actually do NOT want to run a prema vbios, as prema disabled the power limit. With that off your 180w psu will shut down in games if you get a 980m, even if you don't overclock. If you run the stock 980m vbios your 180w psu should just barely be ok.

 

You can flash the p150sm prema mod system bios if you'd like, but it is not essential.

 

Thanks for the info. Yes, I was already planning on buying a 230w adapter for my P150SM from ceghardcustoms. 230W is definitely enough to run a 980m with a MQ(or even MX) processor without overclocking and using High settings at most at 900p. ... Right!?

[Khenglish 1154]

Yes, a 230W will be fine with no overclocking as well as mild overclocking.

[clark97 10]

I have a 980m and a 4940MX that I would possibly sell.

[clark97 10]

Anyone like to shed some light on how to install without modded inf please ?