CLEVO W870CU GPU Upgrade!

[Bester]

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470M in my CLEVO W870CU has failed.

After 10 years of loyal service it has finally bit the dust. It is time for an upgrade (sort of).

I have seen success stories with the AMD Radeon HD 6970M and maybe even the 7970M?

What was the latest GPU supported by the W870CU and can you suggest a suitable VBIOS?

Also where have all the MXM VBIOS on this sites database gone?

Thank you kindly!

CLEVO W870CU
150W Power Supply
BIOS 1.00.18
EC 1.00.11

 

[IFi]

Hi Bester,
don't have any answers for you but i'm looking at doing something similar so will post any results i get.
Clevo w860cu
looking to upgrade the gtx 285m. I was considering the gtx 980m but not sure if it'll work being from a different generation.

As a side note and if you fancy a laugh - i've baked my graphics card twice now and it worked a treat.

 

[Bester]

Good luck!
I have read forum posts of people that had W860CU and managed to squeeze an AMD HD 7970M in there, that's what I've done and it does work!
The 980M might work but heat and power will be the issue (also physical space inside) but if you can get hold of one cheap who knows!
What is this baking I keep hearing about?

 

[P4-630]

What is this baking I keep hearing about?

That's being done as last resort when there is no other way to revive a GPU.

 

[Bester]

That's being done as last resort when there is no other way to revive a GPU.

You're telling me people literally "bake" their dead GPUs?

 

[dorsetknob]

Read the following link it may help

CLEVO W870CU / SAGER NP8760 Upgrade

EUROCOM Fully configurable and upgradeable Desktop Replacement Notebooks, mobile workstations, mobile servers and Portable LCD PC systems. Our products are engineered for quality, performance, long-term stability and serviceability. Eurocom Corporation is based on the philosophy that the...

www.eurocom.com

 

[Rei]

What is this baking I keep hearing about?

You're telling me people literally "bake" their dead GPUs?

There is a bit about the "baking" topic here in this link if you wanna know more about it.

 

[IFi]

Read the following link it may help

CLEVO W870CU / SAGER NP8760 Upgrade

EUROCOM Fully configurable and upgradeable Desktop Replacement Notebooks, mobile workstations, mobile servers and Portable LCD PC systems. Our products are engineered for quality, performance, long-term stability and serviceability. Eurocom Corporation is based on the philosophy that the...

www.eurocom.com

Cheers Dorset, yep i'd had a look there. prob best to keep to those options.

You're telling me people literally "bake" their dead GPUs?

pretty much. like baking a cake. only you might not want to use the oven for baking anything else afterwards...

got a reply from the seller :

The GTX980M can't replace GTX285M, you may upgrade it to GTX460M, GTX560M, GTX580M.

So the 980 is out.
Do the others sound about right?

 

[Bester]

Do the others sound about right?

Well I've just replaced my GTX470M, so that works.

However the AMD HD 7970M beats the GTX580M hands down.

Anyone put greater than that in a W8*0CU?

 

[Bester]

I've successfully upgraded my CLEVO W870CU notebook with the 7970M!

I would like to give kudos to the various people and topics that were of great help:

@t456 for the heatsink modification inspiration (and for replying to my messages), thank you! http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...are-dell-gpu-in-a-clevo.778988/#post-10050324

@yoshey791 for your random comment that confirmed the 7970M works with Enduro disabled; https://www.techinferno.com/index.p...50hm-with-7970m/&do=findComment&comment=25398

@Nospheratu & @svl7 for the VBIOS; https://www.techinferno.com/index.p...-vbios-mod-clevo-7970m-vbios-pack-non-enduro/

@jaybee83 for the "blind flash" guide; http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...modded-vbios-for-clevo-p1xxhm-laptops.688656/

atiflash.exe -p 0 -fs -fp -reboot 7970m.rom did the trick!

 

[IFi]

I've successfully upgraded my CLEVO W870CU notebook with the 7970M!

I would like to give kudos to the various people and topics that were of great help:

@t456 for the heatsink modification inspiration (and for replying to my messages), thank you! http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...are-dell-gpu-in-a-clevo.778988/#post-10050324

@yoshey791 for your random comment that confirmed the 7970M works with Enduro disabled; https://www.techinferno.com/index.p...50hm-with-7970m/&do=findComment&comment=25398

@Nospheratu & @svl7 for the VBIOS; https://www.techinferno.com/index.p...-vbios-mod-clevo-7970m-vbios-pack-non-enduro/

@jaybee83 for the "blind flash" guide; http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...modded-vbios-for-clevo-p1xxhm-laptops.688656/

atiflash.exe -p 0 -fs -fp -reboot 7970m.rom did the trick!

Yes! Great job bester!
Got my hands on a 7970m and am in process so this is MASSIVELY useful.

However i may have jumped the gun.....
Tried to install tge new gpu after modifying the gpu case and sourcing different screws from my local repair shop.
Not realising the old heatsink wasnt compatible it seemed pretty tight but fitted it and turned on...... was only for a minute but......
After some reading that was probably a bad move. Pretty sure there was direct copper contact with chips so the question is - would that damage the card.

Before i go modding the heatsink....

Cheers all

 

[IFi]

Also - is powering up without the heatsink (only for a short time before that card heats up, just to test) a bad idea? I cant see how the machine would know the difference but i have very little clue about this stuff.

 

[kiddagoat]

I would highly recommend you power up the system WITH the heatsink installed.

As someone who used to own a W860CU, I was able to get a 920XM CPU and a 7970M to work in mine. I was able to purchase the GPU and heatsink w/ pads from Eurocom at the time. The power adapter needed to be upgraded as well to accommodate the CPU and GPU upgrade.

I started with a GTX 460M, then did the 6970M and finally the 7970M. You will need a proper vBIOS to get the card working else, you will need to perform a blind flash as noted above.

If I recall properly, the HDMI audio out does not work properly, so you can project to a TV or external monitor, but without audio.

I parted out and recycled my W860CU about 3 years ago after I had my Alienware for a little over a year.

I can't complain about a laptop that held it's own for 10 years. If only I could have kept upgrading the GPU.

 

[IFi]

Thanks koddagoat.
Yep me too - this dinosaur is about 12yrs old now!
Not sure what you mean 'proper vBIOS' else you need to do blind flash?
I thought the blind flash was to put in the vBIOS. What do you mean by proper?
Sorry if thats a dumb question - im very basic at this.
How would i lnow if an upgraded power adaptor is needed?
Power use will increase from 75w to 100w for tge gpu.

 

[kiddagoat]

What I mean by proper vBIOS is that when you purchase the MXM Module, you get it from a certain manufacturer (Dell, Toshiba, Clevo, MSI, etc). Each vendor has their own vBIOS so that it is recognized by the motherboard and initialized.

In the case of my 7970M, I purchased it from Eurocom with the Clevo vBIOS on it so I just plugged it in and it worked.

In the case of my 6970M, I purchased it from eBay and it was from Dell. So I had to flash it with the Clevo vBIOS blind and then it worked. What will happen is that the laptop will turn on and be running, but without any display, even through the external display.

If all you are changing is the GPU and not doing any overclocking, your existing power adapter should be fine. I changed my power adapter because I overclocked my CPU and GPU.

 

[IFi]

Ok that makes sense. Thanks for the breakdown.
Dont suppose you still have the vbios and would be up for sending me a copy?
Also thanks for tge replies - mucho help

 

[kiddagoat]

Unfortunately I do not have the vbios any longer.

 

[Bester]

Yes! Great job bester! ...
... Pretty sure there was direct copper contact with chips so the question is - would that damage the card?*

I'm glad it was helpful.
Yes I think it damages the card, I had burning when my copper plate touched some solder and it damaged the card.

 

[Salvatore123]

hi, i know the post is very old but i hope you can help me. I also have a clevo w870 and I installed a hd 7970 but I have a problem with the bios. I am attaching a photo below the message.Thanks for the reply.

 

[Bester]

hi, i know the post is very old but i hope you can help me. I also have a clevo w870 and I installed a hd 7970 but I have a problem with the bios. I am attaching a photo below the message.Thanks for the reply.
View attachment 265697

Core, this is old. What exactly is the 7970 because there are lots of makes and models?

 

[Salvatore123]

this 7970m and v1.1 bios 15.17

 

[kiddagoat]

What exactly is the issue you are having? It appears that you have display, so the card is being initialized and seen by the system properly.

 

[Salvatore123]

the problem is that the card is not recognized by the bios which gives an error and suddenly turns off after 2 minutes.

 

[P4-630]

the problem is that the card is not recognized by the bios which gives an error and suddenly turns off after 2 minutes.

Was this Clevo w870 being sold with an HD7970M in the past? If no, then there are reasons why it doesn't work.

 

[Salvatore123]

on the eurocom website it says that the clevo w870cu supports the hd 7970m, my pc in the past had a gtx 280m