G73JH running a MSI 5870m

[Yiddo]

Tons of threads listed in the Read Before Posting with threads exploring what the issue could be, but solutions end up being a workarounds from Asus. Those threads are great if someone wants to understand the problem better, but they are not solutions. There are only a few threads that are truly relevant with fixes from Asus. And especially with issues with the GPU, all the solutions are from Asus. The GSOD community trial and error proposed solutions worked for very few, but ended up being resolved with workarounds from Asus. And that's the important key there, as no one from the community knew how to program a vBios. Only Asus knew how to so the vBios would accept AMD drivers and fix the GSOD issue.

As for fixes being implemented, Asus provided the instructions for those also. A few threads from Gary outlining exactly how to do so step by step. And Bios issues were nothing more than going into bios and using the EZ Flash. The community help is mostly from what I can see is directing new users to the threads/post that explain the problem, the fix from Asus, and the implementation from Asus. The way people implement fixes are no different from how Asus states it should be done.
- But this doesn't matter as it is not relevant for someone knowing how to program a bios/vbios.

Sharing is knowledge, and if my opinion helps one person on this forum that is a job well done whether it is using someone elses information that they where unaware of and singing their praises is what counts (for example how many times has Chastity's driver page saved me time and effort).

This conversation is long since done and I refuse to abuse the OP's post any longer trying to show you why we should all extend a courtesy to the other people on this forum who spend their time helping others. Lets hope you do the same.

[dkillone]

Just to note, the first actually fix, for EVERY JH owner with the GSOD problem came from my idea of flashing the vbios, Asus took months to finally make the solution official and coming out with a new revised vbios.

The way I came up with the idea, was trial and error, before that, Asus was just switching out the cards for a whole new one, which ppl would still get it back only for it to GSOD still.

I seriously believe that Asus wouldnt have released a vbios if it werent for the first initial spark that I caused proving that a simple flash could fix the problem.


On topic, I agree with your 6970m statement, it will most liekly take someone to go in and edit the bios/vbios for it to actually work, but we all have to start somewhere, so popping it in and seeing if it works without first editing anything doesnt hurt.

[@tilla]

I do the same already. Most of my posts are helpful.

The problem is, you think you are the only one who knows what's going on in the world of computers and call others as liers.
You don't accept experiences of others if you are not able to reproduce it.
I advice you to sell any of your Asus devices (if you have one ) and leave this forum. I can't hear all these BS anymore.

[JOSEA]

@tilla +1 REP
I just go to user CP and add the name to the ignore list, laptopfan... sorry if you consider this a work around!

[svl7]

Would have been nice to know if the HD 6970M upgrade would work. Maybe a local HD 6970M owner could hook up with a G73JH owner for testing purposes?

Yes, without trying it it you can't say anything for sure... Some people don't get this.

Dream on. It doesn't work and there is already a thread about it.

The JH is not the same as the JW, you should know this. Even if the chances are small it's worth a try. Putting it in the JH will be easier as you only need to modify the heatsink a little bit, you don't have to buy a different heatsink as with the JW.

And so what? What makes you think for even a ms that it will be different with a JH. This is a company that won't even fix the vBios for the 5870M. This is a company that ensured unless you are using an Asus 5870M in a JH, it won't work, MSI/Clevo/Alienware 5870M won't work. This is a company that wants you to buy the next G74 with 560M, and yet you think they will allow you to use a 6970M that's better than what they offer?

TBH I think the whining about the 6970M are pretty dumb when you are talking about a company that doesn't even want to fix the current system to work correctly. And why anyone thinks they will provide a fix so you can use unsupported GPU in their models is really beyond my understanding.

So unless you know how to modify the Bios yourself to support the 6970M don't even bother complaining about it. It's not going to do any good. And wishful thinking the same. Seriously, anyone who wants to talk about the 6970M IMO better be able to know how to modify the bios, if not, it's just useless talk.

I see you're a frustrated customer... you can still sell you Asus and get a different machine. Your posts aren't helpful at all.

I know how to modify the vbios, I don't consider myself an expert but I've done a couple of things and can modify a vbios. However, the card is not cheap at all and I don't want to screw it up.
Blind flashing is a possibility and can cards from most bad flashes, but it's certainly not my prefered way to flash a card.

Firstly this attitude is not wanted or appreciated here

That's right.

And I still haven't gotten an answer why anyone would think just by trial and error a 6970M will work in a JH. Financially this would be a disaster for Asus as this magical trial and error would be a much much better gaming machine and far cheaper upgrade than buying their new G74 model.

Because theoretically the BIOS only needs a way to get the vbios... the BIOS itself is not needed to explicitly support the card, that's the idea of MXM.
However a lot of manufacturers make some restrictions for whatever reasons, so it doesn't work in the way MXM is actually meant to work.
As the JH is confirmed to work with a non Asus card (and a different hardware ID) chances are that it somehow can work... and before starting to mod the vbios you obviously will try to make it work without any modification.

It wouldn't be a disaster at all, only power users would do the step and upgrade the card. The G73 is a real pain to disassemble and most users won't even change the HDD by themselves, the users that are posting here on NBR don't represent the average user at all, probably not even 1% of theG73 users would even consider disassembling the machine and upgrading the GPU.




Back to the topic. The JH seems to be able to work with a non Asus card (and a non Asus vbios)... there's a small chance that other cards will work as well, but someone will need to try it.\
I'd really like to help out, but I guess there's no JH NBR user in my area, lol.

[Chastity]

@laptopfan88:

You missed the entire period of March thru August, the Days Before Fixes. During this period, people were surviving on workarounds that actually helped people obtain a stable working machine. I contributed with using overclocking to obtain stable clocks with the new AMD drivers and old stock timings with C1x cards. Another workaround involved crashing Creative Audigy MB software. When any of the filters were enabled, like say Bass Boost, lockups and freezes were commonplace. Before we had the X-Fi MB 1.1 software and patch, and the later Audigy Win7 Update, I figured out (based on my years of reviewing Creative hardware) that the crashes were from the audio streams not being in Creative's preferred format for their EAX Effects Engine: 16/48. (A legacy parameter from the good ol' AC97 days.) By enabling CMSS-3D, and setting to Minimum, this forced the EAX Engine to be enabled all the time, and the streams were always resampled to 16/48, preventing the crash.

As for the upgrading of cards, well, Asus' current business model is based on self-contained units sold in the $1000-$1500 sweet spot. They used to be into barebone systems with upgradable components, but feedback had shown most users never did that, and it was more profitable to just have users buy new models. I'm also sure Asus is getting a nice price break on components for being a nvidia-exclusive partner. The GSOD fiasco made AMD seem unreliable to the ignorant within Asus.

So to review, we had 6 months of Hell with our JH's (and I remember fondly of Viscious' posts about only using beta drivers for stability ) during which the non-responsive Tech Marketing Manager was replaced with a new one (Gary) who suddenly felt responsible about legacy owners and decided to get the flagship laptop models working properly. As for PowerPlay, well, AMD coded the vBIOS for Asus according to Asus specs, so don't put the blame entirely on Asus for it. I remember waiting for AMD to recompile the vBIOS during the beta development, which was too slow in my opinion. Then again, I wanted a fix badly, so I may have been biased.

In a nutshell, if you want upgrade-ability, buy another brand.

[mite_jan]

the non-responsive Tech Marketing Manager was replaced with a new one (Gary) who suddenly felt responsible about legacy owners and decided to get the flagship laptop models working properly

i think it is time for another change

[DCx]

i think it is time for another change

Gary just doesn't come 'round much. Can't say I blame him - he seemed like a nice guy that was being held back by the bean-counters at HQ. He did a lot to make me feel like I wasn't completely ripped off.

Still not 100% I'll buy another HIGH END asus. I'll keep buying their cheap stuff, because it's well made and when it breaks (or isn't supported properly), I know that I bought something inexpensive and don't really expect a lot of support.

I won't be buying another $2k machine shortly after it was released, only to see it go on massive sale because of all the refurbs and problems that they didn't fix immediately. Yeah, it's eventually been (mostly) fixed. So, I'm (mostly) happy.

Since I don't think there will be a next time (Next time I need a high powered computer, I'll have space for a desktop) ... asus didn't really lose me as a future customer. But they did lose my "Get an asus" recommendation that I used to ALWAYS give to people. Asus earned a lot of good will by providing me with inexpensive but good computers... and lost it all when they sold me a computer that was unfixable (and sent off to RMA 5x over 3 months ... starting 9 days after purchase). If only the problems had started 7 days after purchase ... I'd have just taken it back to the reseller.

Now, I recommend apple. Not because I like apple, but because their apple care warranty is so easy to use. (For the record, apple products are only good for word processing and pretending to look different - but when someone doesn't know what brand of computer to get, it's not like they'd be using it for heavy work anyways. Most people who have a $2k MBP would be perfectly happy with a $400 hackintosh so long as it looked pretty). I don't ever want to recommend a computer like the g73 to someone, and then have them blame me for recommending an unfixable computer.

[mite_jan]

i am recommending G73 to people i know that don't have the money to buy it :P

i can't complain too much ... i love my lappy
unique cooling
no problems except the lack of proper vbios but i can live without it too

[HeavenCry]

Nice job, interesting to know it still works, even though the fans are bios/mobo controlled and thus stay on full load which must be a pain to listen to... +rep.
Wonder what compelled Asus to move away from their reverse standard on the last few gaming models if they still didnt intend to make them upgradable...
Does HDMI/VGA out work with this?
Also the coils on top are differently positioned on the MSI card... I see one is not cooled at all - its not even under the heatsink and how are the other two; are they the same height and cooled properly?... If those arent properly cooled the GPU might fail after a while... no sensors to indicate that either...
If you ever get around the fan problem and HDMI/VGA out works i might consider shoving a MSI into mine to finally get my GPU to a fully working state (still missing HDMI/VGA out now with Asus card and MSI vBios).