M17x R4 560m to 1060

[ajdrenter 3]

Hello all! I have been researching upgrade paths for my M17x R4 and I have decided on the GTX 1060. Now, I was given this laptop with a dead GPU, and I had an M17x R3 already. So I moved the GTX 560m into the R4 which has worked fine. Now as I understand it a few things are needed for this upgrade including the 120hz panel and the ability to disable the legacy ROM for a pure UEFI boot. I have the 120hz screen, but the 560m uses the GF116 architecture which does not have a vBIOS which supports GOP. So I am thinking the only solution is to buy a cheaper "in-between" card which supports both boot modes, which will allow me to disable the legacy option in setup. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what cheap card to buy as a transitional part? I have been considering a 765m but I am also wondering if there are any other good choices.

[MattyB 38]

I have been told that the UEFI boot is not required for the 10 series cards even though that is what we had been told. I went ahead and did it on my M18x for the 1070 and then some other guys said they kept their machines on legacy and it worked fine. I am assuming here that the M17x R4 will be the same as the M18x R2. It could be worth a try without getting the extra card. If it doesn't work then go for the 765M. I'm a fan of the 780M, if you can pick one up cheap but if you're going up to a 10 series then it doesn't really matter. 

[ajdrenter 3]

Hey thanks for replying. What model 1070 did you buy? I know that vbios can vary between manufacturer so I was thinking maybe some have legacy support and some do not.

[MattyB 38]

I'd have to check who the card vendor was but it was just the standard format 1070 (not the MSI card with the extra piece on the PCB). When I installed it I got the dreaded Code 43 error. I realised that it had a g-sync vBIOS on it even though it was a non-g-sync card. A new vBIOS sorted me out. 

[ajdrenter 3]

I see the physical differences now after looking at them a bit closer. The idea of no case modding almost makes me want to get the 1070 instead but the lower wattage on the 1060 appeals to me a lot. Is the cooling per card any better on the M18x than the M17x? I get a bit skittish about temperature.

 

[MattyB 38]

Modding the chassis didn't appeal to me so I stayed away from the MSI card. The M17x and M18x had superior cooling compared to the new thin/light machines. The 1060 is a decent card for medium game settings. I managed to get my 1070 for the price of a 1060 so I went for it. 

[ajdrenter 3]

Just wanted to give an update - I went ahead and got a 765m and installed it. It works in legacy and uefi no problem. I initially tried to set up Windows 7 UEFI without Legacy enabled but it was just too janky and too much of a headache. So I went ahead and installed Windows 10 in pure UEFI and that works great. But yeah driver modding and installation was a breeze and for now this card is working fine. I did also order the 1060, so when it arrives I will test booting Legacy just to see what its vBios can and cannot do.

 

This is the model I bought, I think the component placement means I will have to do very little if any heatsink modding.

[MattyB 38]

You shouldn't have to do any modding at all. Just make sure you have enough 1mm and 2mm thermal pads. You'll probably have to put some extra thermal padding on the back of the card to protect the vRAM. There should be some guides online on proper thermal pad placement.

I got mine slightly wrong on my 1070 and my temps came down about 15 degs when I sorted it out.

[Crustieraxe 2]

I'm looking to get a 1070 mxm also but I'm also really unsure about the chasis modding. And the heatsink modding. 

[MattyB 38]

7 hours ago, Crustieraxe said:

I'm looking to get a 1070 mxm also but I'm also really unsure about the chasis modding. And the heatsink modding. 

 

If you get a standard MXM 3.0b card then you shouldn't have to do any modding. The MSI 1070 has the extra piece protruding off the PCB which makes it a little more difficult to install. 

[Crustieraxe 2]

So no heatsink modding needed also?

[ajdrenter 3]

Yeah, if you take a look at these two pictures, you can see the physical difference between the cards. Notice the extra protrusions from the msi card. I think at the time that thread was written the standard sized card may not have been out yet, so modding the chassis was really the only option.

MSI

 

Regular MXM 3.0 card

[Crustieraxe 2]

Thank you for the information! One more question, would i still need to remove these 2 pins on the side of the connector so the card can fit in as stated a forum to upgrade to a 1070? 

Edited April 21, 2020 by Crustieraxe

[ajdrenter 3]

Yeah I don't think so, you just need proper thermal pad thickness and placement. Although you really wouldn't know until you test fit the parts. But honestly heatsinks are fairly cheap and even if you have to mod it it shouldn't be too hard.

I think that's removing the retention clips which are part of the form factor spec, so no you shouldn't have to do that either.

[Crustieraxe 2]

I'm kinda new to this, do you know what the thermal pad thickness would be? And the placement? If not thank you for the help!

[ajdrenter 3]

It's no problem. There are heatsinks on eBay that have some preapplied pads, but I would recommend also getting some extra .5, 1, and 2 mm pads on Amazon or eBay just to be safe. You can cut these pads up to sizes you need. You'll have to test fit the heatsink and make sure the die, ram and other passive components make good contact. As far as placement there should be some pictures around that highlight the more important components, I'm not much of an expert.

 

EDIT: Don't forget thermal paste! Lol

Edited April 21, 2020 by ajdrenter

[Crustieraxe 2]

Its alright. You know more than me! Thank you

[Crustieraxe 2]

So if i were to settle on a 1070, my only problem would be the drivers for the graphics card. I just heard to go to laptopvideo2go, download the latest driver along with a modded.ini, but im unsure where to go on the website or if this is the way to do it.

 

Edited April 21, 2020 by Crustieraxe

[ajdrenter 3]

In my opinion, it's easier to mod the inf for the driver yourself. Basically all you are doing is copying a line that matches your model of card, and changing some of the hardware identifiers to match yours (which you can find in device manager). Then you need to disable Driver Signature Enforcement, and there are a few easy ways to do that. Drivers really are the easy part, and I wouldn't worry much about them.

 

If you can find a driver ready for you from laptopvideo2go that's fine too, but I wouldn't ever worry about not having a driver. The 1070 is a popular and common chipset, and therefore there will be new drivers for it for a long time. Changing some text around to fool the installer is no big deal.

[Crustieraxe 2]

I think I can now say I'm prepared to make the purchase and the upgrade thanks to you and MattyB! 

 

Edit: Any other tips that would be helpful with this process? Assuming you've done it.

Edited April 22, 2020 by Crustieraxe

[MattyB 38]

There are some decent guides on modding drivers. It can be a little tricky the first time but it's super simple once you've done it before. I can always whip one up and link it via dropbox if you get stuck.

If you have the M17x R4 then I believe you need the 120Hz display for the 10 series cards but if you have the 17 R1 (M17x R5 to some) then the 60Hz display should be fine but most people upgrade to the 120Hz anyway. 

I believe you need the unlocked BIOS for the M17x as well but I've only put a 1070 in my M18x (which has to have the unlocked BIOS)

[ajdrenter 3]

Well, I am still waiting on my 1060 in the mail. But I did recently install a 765m and the card dimensions are the same. The install process should pretty much be the same for any card this size. When you physically install the card after test fitting the heatsink, you will need to take the heatsink off to get the card in the slot and the put it back on after you have the card screwed down. MattyB said his card works in Legacy, but if you have Legacy on and it won't get past post, you may have to go back to your old card and turn it off, then reinstall your new card. Also I think 10 series requires the 120hz screen. That's all I can think of!

[Crustieraxe 2]

11 minutes ago, MattyB said:

There are some decent guides on modding drivers. It can be a little tricky the first time but it's super simple once you've done it before. I can always whip one up and link it via dropbox if you get stuck.

If you have the M17x R4 then I believe you need the 120Hz display for the 10 series cards but if you have the 17 R1 (M17x R5 to some) then the 60Hz display should be fine but most people upgrade to the 120Hz anyway. 

I believe you need the unlocked BIOS for the M17x as well but I've only put a 1070 in my M18x (which has to have the unlocked BIOS)

I have an unlocked bios already, and I do have a M17x R4 With a 120hz display recently installed. I'm assuming I don't need to disable legacy rom option to install a 10 series card because if i do, then it won't boot with the 120hz display therefore, I won't be able the 1070

Edited April 22, 2020 by Crustieraxe

[ajdrenter 3]

I hope an unlocked BIOS isn't required because I'm on A15 stock lol. My 120hz LCD with Legacy disabled boots fine.

[Crustieraxe 2]

2 hours ago, ajdrenter said:

I hope an unlocked BIOS isn't required because I'm on A15 stock lol. My 120hz LCD with Legacy disabled boots fine.

I have my boot option currently set to UFEI and the legacy boot option enabled. when I disable that option on the 120hz, it won't let me boot. But on my 60hz when that option disabled, it'll boot right up

Edited April 22, 2020 by Crustieraxe
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