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GTX970m Upgrade advice please


Drahcir89

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Hi guys, pretty new here. I have a MSI GT780DXR MS1761 with specs i7 2670qm GTX570m 16gb ram. A little while ago my 570 failed sorta. It seems to work ok until you stress the gpu then the system shuts off. I independently stress tested the CPU and GPU and only the graphics test will shut down the computer. After some reading around i'm pretty sure its the GPU and have been looking into upgrading to a GTX 970m. So far as I can figure this seems possible but I am not totally sure if it is worth the 600$ to do it. I think its still a pretty solid machine and should still be able to play all the latest games (not maxed) What is your guys opinion?

Second question, it seems like I probably need to get the latest bios for the gpu upgrade to go smoothly but for the life of me I cant seem to find anything newer than this MSI Global or know if its the right bios. Current version is E1761MS V3.0E 10/19/2011

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The system shutting off sounds more like a power supply issue. Usually a defective card will BSOD. Have you tried running the laptop on battery or another power brick and seeing if the card works?

As for the system's compatibility with the 970m, usually MSI systems are pretty good about GPU upgrades, but some models do have unexpected issues with particular cards. If you are from the US getting a Clevo model from rj-tech is your cheapest upgrade option assuming the 970m is compatible with your laptop. That should be around $480 with shipping.

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Ok it's interesting that you mentioned a possible power problem. I had initially thought that could be the problem and went to a computer shop and used there power supply and is did the same thing. Thst being said yesterday I tried running some games and i played all day before it shut off. Then once it shuts off it continues to do it for a while. When it first started i stressed the cou and gpu independently and the gpu test would shut the system off. Now some times the gpu test will run no problem and it seems fine then after a while the shutdowns start again. Should I just order a new power brick to rule that out? Could the problem lie in the internal power supply somehow? Thanks again

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On the right side of the front edge of the laptop there are two lights indicating power. The one on the left is battery, and the one on the right is the power cable. When plugged in and turned on, the right light will be green. If the system is shutting down due to the power supply shutting down, the right light will turn completely off. If it is turning off for another reason, the light will turn yellow, indicating that power is still present. Check the lights immediately after shutdown and tell me what you see.

If the light is yellow after shutdown, do either of your fans kick up to full speed 1-2 seconds before shutdown? If so then that means this is a thermal shutdown.

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Ok I tried a few things and managed to take some pics. I went back and used Furmark gpu/cpu tester for some more accurate results. What happens generally is pushing the cpu seems to run ok, and pushing the GPU works at first then eventually the system shuts off. After the first shutdown subsequent restarts happen very easily sometimes even before the login screen. After letting it sit for a while I can get things working normally under light loads. 1 screenshot shows all the temps as soon as I restarted and the other 2 show cpu/gpu testing. I tried the tests with just the battery and it seemed to be ok but I wonder if it is a thermal shutdown it may not be able to push as hard on just the battery. The lights I have on the front are a bit different I have BT,Wifi, battery charging, sleep, and HDD status lights. Battery light is on when plugged in with bat in and off when bat is out. Everything just goes black when it shuts down like a complete power loss and fans don't seem to spool up on restart. All the temps except the THRM seem to be ok but THRM looks like it is always very high. Physically touching all parts of the casing nothing seems abnormally hot.

And thats about as much as I can seem to figure out. Im pretty stumped

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Your cpu needs to be repasted. Cpu temps are terrible. This may actually solve your problem. There is a section of the cpu called the system agent. When running a cpu test this section does very little because its in charge of IO, like pci-express, which is active when using the gpu. Its temperature is not reported in software, but it can trigger shutdowns. I know someone with the exact same cpu as you who was getting thermal shutdowns when gaming due to this.

Even if this is not the cause, that cpu still needs to be repasted anyway.

Also, in earlier posts I mixed up your laptop in my brain and responded earlier as if you had a clevo. Sorry for the confusion.

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The CPU is not the Problem,he wrote that the Furemark Test of the Cpu was OK.

He's at 95C on the cores at just 2.7ghz. That is not normal, and we do not know if the system agent is hotter.

Again, I know someone with the same CPU who was getting thermal shutdowns due to the CPU when running games, but it passed CPU tests. This happened under a 485m and a 7970m, with neither GPU going over 75C. This was on a Clevo system with unlinked heatsinks. MSI's have linked heatsinks so GPU heat will also heat the CPU.

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ok so repasted both the cpu and gpu and the temps seem much better now. CPU burner will max out around 75c or so. System restarts are still happening though when I run the gpu test. I had a reset when the highest temp was around 60c. What I have been doing is using MSI afterburner to Underclock (I know that sounds horrible) my gpu to the lowest settings and that seems to make the computer at least usable for light duty tasks. So I am now back to where I began and am thinking my gtx 570 is malfunctioning somehow. Guess only other thing to try at this point is the attempt the upgrade to a new gpu.

- - - Updated - - -

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I am in the middle of doing the same thing.

I got the GPU already. The only problem it seems is the heatsink. The 570M's heatsink is a little different and doesn't seem to cover the 970M's chip completely (apart form the necessary dremeling of the top bits of course).

So far I have not received any confirmation is that would be an issue or not. If someone can confirm that I don't need to buy a new heatsink that would be great.

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Hey sbi85 I saw in the other threads that you were doing the same thing. I've heard from a few people now that if you make the mod to the 570 heatsink that it should work. I asked a few of the ebay sellers as well and they all seem to think it should be fine. I'd say if you have the card just give it a go and watch the temps closely. Id be very curious to hear how it works for you.

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Hey sbi85 I saw in the other threads that you were doing the same thing. I've heard from a few people now that if you make the mod to the 570 heatsink that it should work. I asked a few of the ebay sellers as well and they all seem to think it should be fine. I'd say if you have the card just give it a go and watch the temps closely. Id be very curious to hear how it works for you.

Hey Drahcir,

That sounds positive. Although I am a bit more worried about long term effects. In a short period I can imagine it working, but not sure if parts that are not properly connecting would not degrade because of the additional heat they need to endure.

And the second thing is I don't quite get what the yellow rectangles are supposed to be on this image on how to modify the heatsink: https://forum.techinferno.com/msi/10710-gt780dx-upgrade-gtx-9xxm.html#post149431

Surely you don't put thermal pads there, right?

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Yea Ive had the same thoughts about the heat problem. I know the red part you dremel but I'm not totally sure about the yellow marks either. We need to clarify that. I know i keep hearing it's possible but that's the best pic I've seen too. I also wonder how hard it would be to find the proper heating and if it would fit in the chassis.

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Red : Remove

Green : Fill up with Thermal Pads

Blue : Thermalpaste

The yellow markered Spots in the other Picture is only a Information that the Copperplate is smaller.

If you make all right this Heatsink is also OK

[ATTACH=CONFIG]16631[/ATTACH]

I've managed to buy a GTX 780 heatsink.

As on the picture above also, it has a track that goes over to the CPU (I believe). Screenshot by Lightshot.

How do you remove that? it is obviously not needed.

Anyone has ideas?

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  • 2 weeks later...

Alright guys. So I aquire a new gpu and after installing it I booted up and everything mostly seemed to be running ok. The system didn't initially recognize the card but furmark saw it as a gtx 970m. I was about to try installing some drivers when the computer shutdown. It now seems to be bricked. Will not turn on with batter or plugged in with the new or old card. Now what? Is the internal power supply dead? Should I just return this card and be done with it?

 

Edit: Ok big sigh of relief, I think the power problem was something to do with my wallsocket, no idea. I got everything running and everything seems to be good not. The card is now recognized. I will update with how the new card performs heat wise with the modded heatsink.

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