G73JH 6970M upgrade infomation

[DH48]

I am still updating this thread. There is a lot of info to go through. If you have any suggestions feel free to PM me.
(update:23.02.12.Added some more info on @tillas method: Clevo and JH heatsink problem and solution; Soldering the old mount on the motherboard;This info also applies to the 6990M now as confirmed by Dionysius )


Special thanks to the forums pioneers Thanatospy, @tilla, Tijo and all of the ppl who have given us information on how/what/were to find more information

IMPORTANT INFORMATION; Please read the following

The Radeon 6970m ( Applies to the HD 6990m, confirmed my Dionysius) being installed in the ASUS G73JH is not officially supported by ASUS and will most likely void the warranty ( Do this at your own risk!!!). If you don´t feel like you can do this type of mod or don´t know anything about taking the notebook apart then it is better that you do not.
If you are up to the challenge then here are some things you will need to know.
First part ist how to take the notebook apart. You can find a good guide here How to completely disassemble the G73

Even though the 6970 will draw more power you can use the standard G73JH 150W power brick and have no problem with some overclocking also the 6970M produce more heat than the Mobility 5870 so cooling the GPU is key. Heat was the reason for some of the failed attempts.
The motherboard will need a slight modification to get it done as the standard ASUS Mobility 5870 card is wider then the 6970M and one mounting point will not reach. You will not need to mode the motherboard but is highly recommended that you use a strong mount for the GPU or the heatsink might not cover some parts of the card.


So is this worth the efford ? My opinion is ... yes it is. The power boost is enought for most GPU demanding games to work on high settings.

Different types of Radeon 6970M/VBIOSes and their effects on the ASUS G73JH
A comparison of the ASUS Mobility 5870 and a standard MXM 6970M

Dell 6970M vs ASUS 5870M



Clevo 6970M vs ASUS 5870M



Eurocom/MSI 6970M vs ASUS 5870M




So far we have seen 3 types of Radeon 6970M:
• Clevo:Green
• Dell: Dark brown
• MSI and Eurocom :Cyan
There might be more but so far have only found 3.

• The card Dell mostly used in the M17x R3/M18x-R1: will work in the G73JH but the fans will be running at 4200-4500 RPM (from Hwinfo64)Warning the Dell GPU might end up killing itselg as some pins seem to control the fan that are not use on the g73. At this time there is no solution to this. Me and a few others are working at his problem and we hope that will have a solution in the near future. (HDMI works but might have a Sound over HDMI issue but driver reinstall will fix that)
Sleep mode does not work as it should. Insted of going to sleep mode the notebook will hibernate. (Am looking for a solution)

• Clevo (and resellers). This card so far is the best option to go for as reported by @tilla. The fans will work as they should or at least the fans will slow down if the temps. go down. ( Might have HDMI problems )
Clevo GPU core also has a thermal paste cover build on the GPU not like other brand GPUs that have the cover on the heatsink. (Look at the first three pictures)
• MSI and Eurocom 6970M: Strange part is that it has issues similar to the Dell 6970M. The fans will be at a constant speed no matter what the GPU temps. Also the CPU fan will be at a constant 4300RPM as reported by Thanatospy. (HDMI works)
So what card to pick ? If it were up to me I would go with the clevo as @tilla has shown us the fans work much better then on the Dell( until a fix can be found for the Dell and MSI GPU)
Please note: You can try to flash Dell GPUs to Clevo but it not recommended as it might brick the GPU. Also you will have to do it via DOS as windows Atiwinflash will no allow you to flash it giving you a „Bios version String mismatch“ error.

Heatsinks : ASUS G73JH VS the Alienware M17X R3
There are 2 options at the moment but that does not mean that you can not use other option.

First of all here is a good idea on how the stock un-moded JH heatsink look on the 6970M (pictures all thanks to @tilla)









And a picture of the JH heatsink from the top




You can see that the main parts GPU core and the mem. chips are coverd but the bottom part of the heatsink has parts that extend out and might not ensure a good contact between the heatsink and the GPU.

• Moding the JH heatsink:
You can use the JH heatsink with the 6970M but you will need to modified the heatsink to make it work. The best GPU to use with this mode is the one that has a backplace and wide mount holes as the solderd heatsink mounts will need smaller screws to be able to attach the heatsink.
Standard JH heatsink




Modified heatsink (by Thanatospy)
You will need to cut the heatsink so the GPU core and mem. Are covered.



Here you can see the method of attaching the heatsink to the GPU with a backwords backplate to give the GPU good pressure and ensure that it cover all the components.




Here is a picture of the finished heatsink.




With this mode is it subjected to use smaller heatsinks to cover the resistors at the bottom of the GPU
Thanadospy-s method




@tilla-s method
If we look at @tillas modification then you can see that is is almost the same method as Thanatospys except the JH screws have been used and the build itself looks cleaner. Also is this method is easyer then Thanatospys method.
The bottom part of the GPU will have to be cut or grinde down using a saw or any grinding tool that you can get your hands on.
Also as stated by @tilla the screws for Clevo are smaller then the JH ones and the back-plate (X-cross mount) of the asus 5870M will not fit through the 6970M holes:



This is not as big problem as you can use the JH screws. The screws are long enough to reach the back-plate. It will need more pressure on it but it will work.




You can see exactly how @tila has cut the bottom part of the heatsink. You just need the JH heatsink to be able to cover the core and mem. chips as they generate the most heat.




@tilla also added copper heatsink to the transistors and resistors of the GPU:
Copper should be the best option as it has a better abillity to remove heat from components of the GPU.
The heatsinks can be added to the GPU by using thermal tape or if you dare then thermal glue.








Finished mod. by @tilla




There has be some talk about not adding copper or other heatsinks to the GPU bottom part as the GPU-s do not seem to genereta that much heat but it is still recommended that if you plan to do the mode you add the extra heatsinks to the GPU. Why else would other brands use bigger heatsinks that cover the whole GPU.

• Modified R3 heatsink
A second option with a lot more work is a modified Alienware R3 heatsink. This option will cover the GPU as intended on systems with the 6970M as standard.
Tools and parts needed:

You will need bouth the JH heatsink and Alienware M17x R3 heatsink (Can use other heatsink that fit the 6970m)



R3 heatsink
You will need to use a heat gun ( something that will be able to solder copper 650c ) to solder part of the JH heatsink to the Alienware M17x R3 heatsink. When soldering use gloves as the pipes and heatsink will get hot and you can burn yourself. You will have to work fast when soldering the heatpipe as you do not want it to expand to much (it will lose its ability to transfer heat from the heatsink to the vents. It might help to use some sort of clamps to fix the pipe on the heatsink when soldering the JH pipes to the R3.




Heat pipes soldered off the R3 heatsink.




You will need to grind part of the R3 heatsink off to make the JH heatpipes fit the R3 heatsink. Also you have to keep in mind that the R3 has 3 pipes and JH only 2 heatpipes so positioning is key. You can also add some extra copper or Al. heatsinks to fill in the gaps.



How the JH heatpipes look on the R3 heatsink.




Here is a picture of the finished heatsink from the other side.




Soldered heatsink. (might not look the part but work perfect)
The pros. Of this option is that the heatsink covers all the needed parts of the GPU and will make the swap look almost like it was intended for the notebook.




Motherboard : Modification to the motherboard
I added this section as you will have a few options to make the 6970M sit on the mobo perfectly. As the ASUS mobility 5870 is wider the mounting points are spread more apart then on the standard MXM design.




You can make a new mounting point for the 6970M as i did or can re-solder the existing mount. You will have remove the screw from the other side to re-solder the mount. Also you can use something to hold the 6970M against the heatsink. It is not subjected to but the card in without proper support as it could lead to a heat damage.

Another method is soldering the existing mount to the new location as done by @tilla. You will need to use a soldering tools to get the old mount off. (The mount also has a small screw on the other side that needs to be removed before you try to solder it off.




When soldering be very careful as the heat might damage other components on the motherboard!!

Fan control : Options to control the fan speed
So far there is no good fix for the fan speed (Dell and MSI cards). The fans work at a constant speed of 4300RPM witch should be almost max but for some reason it sound more like 50% or so (Can compare it to the 5870 when it hits 74c and the fans speed up). Good news is that it is vbios related and can be fixed as soon as we are able to find the options.
For clevo card users you will have system fans control and it works.
To get the fans to work at 100% you can use Thanatospys method or the EC hex editor method to change the fan speed to 100% ( Will make the fans run at 100% until restart)
Thanatospys method (Need to rewire the fans)







Things to know after the swap:
As a Dell service said the GPU can boot up to windows without the heatsink and it will not burn. I did not have the guts to test this and also my first attempt ended in a total FAIL with a dead card. The things to remember to do before any bench or game is.
• Use any hardware monitoring software to monitor the GPU-s temps before you do any tests. (recommend HWinfo)
• Give the GPU small tests: web browser, videos etc. with the monitoring software open at all time. The temps should not go over 70c at idle.
• When overclocking and running bench tests try to go up in stages. Do not try to max the GPU for the first time.

PSU and overclocking: Power consumption and power brick to use.
First of all you do not need to upgrade the PSU if you are running I7-720 or the 740QM (Also 840QM works fine with 150W and the 6970) as the W used by CPU and GPU will not go over 150W. The stock PSU gives you the ability to do some overclocking. I was able to go 825/1130 anything over that and i got driver crash with 3dmark 11. Having a 180W will be more then enough to do some proper OC.
JH users with the 920xm or 940xm might have problems as they draw a lot of power form the powerbrick. You would need atleast 240w or so.
For even more extreme moding here is a some information on how to mode a Alienware 240w PSU to work with the JH (thank to Thanatospy)
Upgrade a G73-jh to 6970?

Stock JH (JH with I7-740QM stock and 6970M stock) 3dmark 11 run results:





Here are some overcloking result: JH with I7-740QM (stock clocks) and 6970M @ 825/1130




Heaven Benchmark v2.5 run stock clocks




@tillas Stock run ( i7-740QM stock and 6970m stock)

Dirt3 stats by @tilla (system G73JH i7-740QM )
4xMSAA
all HIGH, except Post Proc. on MIDDLE
-----------------
680/900@0.96V
Temp max: 74-74-76-80
Fan max: 3600
Watts: 115-118
-----------------------------
Run max FPS avg FPS
1-----61.9-----43.5
2-----62.4-----49.9
3-----62.0-----49.3

680/900@1.00V
Temp max: 74-74-77-80
Fan max: 3700
Watts: 115-118
-----------------------------
Run max FPS avg FPS
1-----63.8-----49.1
2-----61.6-----48.4

680/900@0.95V
Temp max: 72-72-74-77
Fan max: 3500
Watts: 111-115
-----------------------------
Run max FPS avg FPS
1-----61.4-----49.5
2-----61.8-----46.1

800/1000@1.10V
Temp max: 79-79-82-85
Fan max: 4400
Watts: 131-135
-----------------------------
Run max FPS avg FPS
1-----67.4-----53.7

Comparison

stock ASUS mobility 5870
-----------------
700/1000@1.15V
Temp max: 72-74 (???)
Fan max: 3600 (???)
Watts: 100 (???)
-----------------------------
Run max FPS avg FPS
1-----47.7-----35.1

3DM11
-----
680/900@0.95V - 2974 pt.
Temp max: 69-69-71-74
Watts: max. 115


As I said I will update this post as soon as i get more info

[Inferno1217]

Awesome work DH48 and everyone else who has had the guts to mod their G73JH's! It looks like at this time the best card to get (at a premium price) is the Clevo card. I am waiting for the next line of GPU's however I believe this guide will be very relevant. If this is an option for future series GPU's and coupled with a 920XM or 940XM the lifespan of this laptop could be tremendous. +1rep

Did anyone ever have any luck with upgradeyourlaptop? Seems to me they are selling crap. For example no returns at all.

[KuroLionheart]

Nice job. This seems a little overly complicated for me though so I'll pass. I'd rather just upgrade the whole laptop when it's out of date lol.

[evgasr2]

man this is great work.
if i resolve my problems i will do this mod for my asus g73jh.

[quinid]

Very nice work! If I had a g73 to spare, I would definately copy your work. Keep it up.

[tijo]

Gonna put this in the sticky at the top of the forum so it'll be easy to find when it gets buried.

[Yiddo]

Fantastic work and well done to ignore the risks and costs to prove this works.

+1 well earned.

[@tilla]

Good work DH48.

1. Can you list all the people which swapped successfully? And what brand they used.
2. ATM I can't use HDMI output. No external screen is recognized.
Do you all have the same problem? Any information about it? Only read stg. about missing sound but not about the whole disfunction.
Sure a vBios thing, eh? Thx

[Thanatospy]

Yes @tilla is a vBios problem that cant recognize your hgmi output, try to find a vBios that make it work it, my hdmi output works without a single problem

[@tilla]

Where is your card from? Eurocom?
Can you give me a link to your vBios? I would send you a PM with my mail address.
Are there any informations about exchange of different vBios? I know about the possible problem between Dell and the others.