Edited: 1/2/2015: Fourth Revision
DISCLAIMER: This MOD is not officially supported by MSI, and YOU assume all the risk and liability by attempting this on your laptop. This thread was created to merely show how I completed the MOD to my own laptop. This mod works with both the GTX 970m and 980m.
MSI GT60 2OD (GTX 780m/Haswell revision) laptop upgraded with the GTX 970m!
This upgrade was plug on play on my GT60 after a small heatsink modification! I also had to install the drivers with a modified INF from laptop2go.com These drivers have been attached below in the link. Even though I upgraded my laptop to a 970m, the process and compatibility for the 980m should be the same. Only difference would be the hardware ID needed for the modded INF, but you would again follow the same process to get that information.
UPDATE 1/15/2015: I previously reported that after updating my system BIOS to MSI latest version on website and the 970m to MSI vBIOS allowed me to install the card without any need for modded drivers. It was full plug and play compatibility. After further use I have discovered that after update to MSI latest system BIOS, I am able to use any vBIOS version currently available to MXM cards and still have fully plug and play, no requirement for modded drivers. These vBIOS version include, MSI vBIOS, the stock Clevo vBIOS, and even the unlocked and modded vBIOS available at TechInferno install with no troubles at all. As previously mentioned I am keeping the original thread information with modded drivers for users who don't wish to flash the vBIOS, or in the case they cannot update their own system BIOS to a version that removes the requirements to use modded drivers.
Where To Buy?
I bought my card from RJ Tech for $450. I selected the P150SM-A version. This also came with the Clevo heatsink, and I removed and reused the thermal pads for my modded MSI heatsink. I've since sold my 780m card for $375. Total cost of upgrade was about $90 for me. Alternatively the 980m is available for $720. At time of post this is/was the cheapest available link for both cards.
What Materials and Tools Do I Need?
You will definitely need some decent thermal paste in order to repaste the GPU die after you seat the new graphics card in the laptop. In addition you may want to have some 1mm and 0.5mm thermal pads on hand. I usually buy both of these items from HERE. They have a great variety of different pastes. I would personally avoid anything more than 11mK thermal pads as they seem to not be very adhesive and are extremely difficult to place IMO. You will also need a rotary tool or dremel which is linked below.
Note: If you purchase the card from the place I purchased the card, it will come with a Clevo heatsink with thermal pads already applied. I gently removed those pads and reused them on my MSI heatsink. They seemed to be quality and I chose them over my pads I had on hand. You will still need the thermal paste however, and it is a good idea to have extra thermal pads on hand just in case you ruin or destroy your old ones.
I also recommend having a can of compressed air on hand. This will help you blow off the metal shavings from the heatsink after you complete the mod, and also while you're changing your GPU and repasting now would be a good time to blow the dust out your laptop vents and fan.
How To Complete The Heatsink Mod: Safety First! Wear Safety Glasses!!!
In order to complete this mod you will need some sort of Dremel or rotary tool. The exact tool I used for the job is the Black and Decker RTX-6 Rotary Tool found HERE.
I used my MSI 780m heatsink with a single modification. The modifcation of the heatsink should take around 5-10 minutes depending on skill and desired appearance of the heatsink. Remember it only needs to be functional not pretty. In the pictures I have attached below, you can very clearly see the small area that required the modification. This is because on the newer 970m and 980m cards, the voltage regulators have be shifted slightly right. This will require you to grind flat the small area in order to accomodate that change. Once this area is removed, the regulator will fit properly, and you can place a thermal pad in the area you just ground down for proper contact with the regulator. Beyond that the card is very much the same layout as the previous 7xx/8xxm layout.
After you are done with the mod, make sure you remove the metal shavings from the heatsink! I found blowing most of them off with a compressed air can to be easy. You can also try wiping them off with a damp towel. Whatever you do don't leave them! You don't want tiny pieces of metal floating around in your laptop, or making contact with other parts of your expensive new graphics card.
It should be noted the Clevo card/heatsink didn't even have the area that I modified covered with any thermal material? I suppose these aren't very important or don't get very hot? Regardless I stacked 2mm of thermal padding to ensure good contact with the heatsink.
My Original System Config For Upgrade:
BIOS Version: E16F4IMS.50V
EC Version: 16F4EMS1 Ver 5.13
Clevo GTX 970m 6GB Vbios Version: 84.04.22.00.11
Windows 8.1 64
The Modded INF Drivers to Install The Card (If required)
Try to install regular nVidia drivers first, if it fails then carry on and install the modded drivers listed.
I have prefilled the Clevo 970m DEVICE ID for you, all you have to do is select your operating system and then the driver you want. It will offer you to download the driver and also the INF. Download both. The driver will download as EXE file, and the INF will open as a webpage. Save the webpage as nvdispi.inf. You will need it later. If you have a 980m, you will have to change the Device ID (found in Device Manger>Display Adapter>980/970m>Details>Hardware Ids) and then hit search.
After you download these drivers. Run the extraction and this will create an installation folder. You will need this later. Now when you clicked that link you should have downloaded both the driver and the modified INF file. Grab the modified INF file named nv_dispi, and navigate to your install folder. Go to the Display.Driver folder, and replace the existing nv_dispi file with the modified downloaded one.
Now you have to disable digital driver signing. This varies by window OS, there are plenty of YouTube Guides. Once this is done reboot your laptop.
Now navigate to the installation folder again and run the setup exe as Admin. Install the drivers and reboot.
Done. Go run some benchmarks/games to ensure good temperatures and stability. I recommend using turbo fan until you are assured temperatures look ok. After that test a 3dmark run with turbo fan off to ensure stock fan profiles are working correctly and safely.
Finally enjoy your new 970m or 980m laptop!
If you found the above too difficult, then see HERE
Credit to Omega and J95 for the modded file!
Additional detail about how to complete the mod. Credit goes to 12Marshall for these very detailed steps. These additional steps are worth a read if you're not familiar with computer/laptop hardware.
Here are the comprehensive details for upgrading my GT60 One-403US (MSI 9S7-16F311-403)
All of the steps I took were based on posts in this thread primarily from Talon and Omega.
The system was stock with an Nvidia GTX 680M (4GB) video card
with Bios: E16F3IMS.50X and EC firmware 16F3EMS1 ver 5.05
I purchased the new Clevo GTX 970M from R&J Technology as Talon describes.
I also purchased some Arctic Silver 5 and some quality thermal pads.
1. Obtain Upgraded Bios and EC firmware
In my case Bios E16F3IMS.51X and EC firmware E16F3EMS1 VerT.18. My 51X version was modded by Svet from MSI to unlock all its BIOS options and to allow BLCK OCing.
The modded bios and EC firmware upgrades are available with a donation to Svet. He is extremely helpful and provides very easy to follow and detailed documentation to update your bios and EC firmware. Make your donation here:
http://ift.tt/2afMqG5
You can see my request here..
http://ift.tt/2a3aMiK
Svet was very prompt and extremely helpful, way more helpful than the small donation.
2. Update Bios and EC firmware
The steps are relatively straight forward:
a. Make a bootable Dos USB drive (many ways to do this... google search)
I suggest you do this and test booting to it before you proceed as you may need to go into your existing bios and change it to legacy booting and also change boot order to start with a "USB drive" (it may list the name of your stick like it did for me)
b. Use the tools Svet provided to move the new bios to the bootable stick and follow his instructions exactly to update the bios.
c. update the EC firmware using winflash that is inside the provided archive (16F3.T18 in my case).
3. Check out the new bios and set your system stable
In my case I now could set my memory timings (Svet explains this but it's very easy to find on your own).
You can also set your multiplier (if you have an unlocked CPU). In my case I set memory timings and also chose default graphics to be the nVidia card and really didn't change any other options from default.
4. Remove the old video card
a. Remove the power and battery from the unit and flip it over.
b. There are 6 screws to remove and pop off the back plate.
c. remove the single screw holding the fan in place and unplug the fan and remove it.
In my unit the CPU and GPU are completely separated such that I could remove each separately. In some cases the heatsinks are intertwined and REQUIRE you to remove both the CPU and GPU heatsink.
Since I was replacing the GPU I decided to also remove the CPU heatsink anyway just to re-apply new thermal compound.
d. The GPU heatsink is held in place by 4 tension spring-loaded screws. They will not come out of the heatsink. Simply unscrew them in the reverse numbered order (notice numbers next to each screw).
e. Gently lift The GPU heatsink off and out. We will be modding this slightly with a dremel to use with the new GPU so clean the thermal compound off and set it aside.
f. Remove the single screw holding down the GPU and then gently pull up and out from the end of the video card and it will easily come out of it's slot (clean it up and sell it on ebay).
5. Modify the GPU heatsink to accomodate the new GTX 970M (or GTX 980M)
a. I used a dremel with the small sanding/cutting disc to cut away a 1/4 inch soft raised aluminum section as defined in this imagehttp://ift.tt/2afMkhL
Honestly you don't have to be that careful here... You just want that chunk gone and not grind down adjacent parts of the heatsink.
b. Once happy with what was removed (5 minutes) then blow away any aluminum shavings from the heatsink with a can of air or your method of choice as long as you remove ALL aluminum particles.
6. Prepare / install the new GTX 970M (or GTX 980M)
The new clevo card comes with an installed heatsink as well as a very annoying (practically glued on) heat spreader on the bottom side of the card which must be removed (it interferes with both fit and with the screws on the heatsink that you modified). Take note of where thermal pads are installed on the new card.
a. Remove the Clevo heatsink by removing the four screws that hold it on and gently pull it off the GPU core.
b. Clean off the GPU core with a few Q-tip swabs until clean.
c. Remove the annoying heat spreader by using only thumb nail pressure against the parts of the spreader that come through the screw holes toward the top of the card. Press them until they are pushed back through the hole to about even with the card one at time (spreader will not come off yet). After going around the card and doing this at each hole the spreader will eventually start to loosen up and then one after another they will loosen enough to easily push / peel the spreader off. This takes about 5 minutes.
d. Install your new GTX 970M by gently pushing the card into the GPU slot at a slight angel and once in all the way into the slot the card will easily sit down in line with the screw hole that holds the GPU in place.
e. Replace the screw that holds the GPU in place and fasten tightly.
f. Optional - gently place the modified original heatsink onto the card and carefully observe that the heatsink isn't hitting Anything when it's sitting in the right place on the GPU. Notice that it's a pretty tight fit so be careful and remove the heatsink for the next step.
g. Apply quality thermal paste to the entire GPU core. Remember... less is more here... It is not necessary to have a thick coating and in fact putting too much thermal paste can be very detrimental. Just make sure the GPU core is entirely covered and you can smooth it out a bit with a Q-tip swab.
h. Apply Thermal pads where necessary to guarantee contact of the larger chips with the heatsink. You can look at Talon's first post to see what it looks like or you can follow the same pad placement that Clevo used.
i. Gently install the modified heatsink taking care to align the four install screws without dragging anything across the newly applied thermal paste and thermal pads. Screw the heatsink down in order (see numbers 1-4 right on the heatsink). It should be screwed down tight.
j. Optional - if you had removed the CPU heatsink you will need to follow the same process but with three screws and again make sure that you applied a thin layer of thermal compound to the entire core.
k. Plug in the fan, set it in the proper place (it sits easily) and replace the one screw that holds it down.
l. Replace the 6 screws to install the back plate.
m. Replace the notebook battery.
n. flip over and plug in power and all your usb / sound / ethernet / HDMI / other cables.
7. Boot up and Nvidia driver install
The next steps may vary depending on whether you are successful with the previous steps and dependent on the version of Windows you have. For this install we will assume Windows 8.1.
a. Pray and hit the power button (Immediately listen/feel for the fan because if it isn't spinning but the machine is booting you should turn off the machine ASAP and check your work.)
b. If your machine boots to windows you can immediately tell if it's using your card by looking at the power button light (orange if using Nvidia and blue if using Intel graphics).
c. At this point your machine will either install the proper drivers (since we never actually uninstalled the Nvidia drivers you already had on the machine) or you will likely need to install Nvidia drivers.
d. Check to see if the Nvidia Geforce experience is running in the taskbar. If it is then your drivers installed and you can check Device Manager to see if it's properly recognizing your new card and the Integrated Intel graphics as well).
e. If drivers were not installed automatically then Download the latest nvidia drivers and "Try" to install them. It may fail but it will at least create the folders we will need for the next step. (nvidia typical puts the installation folder in c:\nvidia)
f. If the driver install fails create an inf file based on the post here....
The Official MSI GT60/70 970m/980m Upgrade Thread.
The name in that post is actually wrong... I named it nv_dispi.inf and I moved it to
the proper Display.Driver folder which is 5 levels deep from c:\nvidia
g. Disable driver signing (which is easy and in win 8.1 it is a temporary choice made prior to a reboot which will allow un-signed drivers to be installed ONLY in the next reboot.
h. After your machine reboots you can browse to setup which is 4 levels deep from c:\nvidia and right click on Setup and run as an Administrator.
i. Drivers will install and will require a reboot.
j. Reboot and ENJOY!
3DMark11 Runs:
First Run: Turbo Fan On
CPU max 69C and GPU max 55C!!! Burrrrr!!! So chilly!
P9319
Second Run: Turbo Fan Off
CPU max 82C and GPU max 71C
P9401
Third Run: Turbo Fan On and GPU Overclocked +135Core and +400Mem
CPU max 71C and GPU max 58C
P10237
I was scared because the dang thing was so silent. I wasn't sure if the MSI profiles were working, but they were. The system stayed near silent during the entire bench.
The Stock MSI 780m Heatsink
Modded MSI 780m Heatsink -- As you can see there is only one small area that requires modification. The modification is to simply grind this area down flat. Please take care to ensure you don't bump or hit any other area of the heatsink with the rotary tool. This will leave gouge marks, or sharp areas. If you don't have steady hands, find a friend with some, if you can't find some, hire some.
Another modded photo
Another modded photo from a different angle
The MSI 780m top, Clevo 970m bottom. You can see the slightly shifted right voltage regulators.
One Week Update:
I've decided to do a one week of usage update. So far this card has far exceeded my expectations in every regard. The card is working great and the performance of the 970m is outstanding. The temps on the GT60 are also phenomenal, and in many games I have decided to not use turbo fan anymore. The few exceptions to not using turbo fan for me are Counter Strike GO (This game cooks my CPU because I don't use vSync) and BF4. Though I have no tested BF4 without turbo fan on, I have a feeling it would also heat up my CPU to levels I don't necessary like. I will test and update this theory later.
Updated to MSI vBIOS:
As I stated above at the beginning of the post I updated the graphics card to MSI vBIOS 6GB version. These vBIOS came from a GT72 laptop with a 6GB 970m card. If you get a MSI vBIOS to flash to your 970m or 980m make sure the memory sizes match!
The benefit of updating my vBIOS is that I no longer have to use modded drivers. The video card installs with regular nVidia drivers.
I flashed the vBIOS using Nvflash, and everything appeared to work fine. Reboot, still good. After I plugged in my external monitor, the screen went black, and so I rebooted. The system would post fine, but after post I would get a black screen and just a mouse cursor on screen.
Now from my original system config above I decided to update my system BIOS to MSI latest version. After flashing MSI system BIOS to latest version, the laptop booted perfectly and drivers installed without issues, and the card is rock stable at stock and overclocks.
Credit to felix3650 for uploading these for me.
My Current System Config:
BIOS Version: E16F4IMS.515
EC Version: 16F4EMS1 Ver 5.13
Clevo GTX 970m 6GB with MSI Vbios Version: 84.04.22.00.06
Windows 8.1 64
Notebooks Confirmed Working with 970m and 980m upgrades:
MSI GT60 2OC and 2OD (Haswell) --970m Tested and Working
System BIOS Version: E16F4IMS.515 with MSI vBios and E16F4IMS.50V with Clevo vBios
EC Version 16F4EMS1 Ver 5.13
GTX 970m 6GB with both MSI vBios Version: 84.04.22.00.06 and Clevo vBios Version: 84.04.22.00.11
Windows 8.1 x64
Normal Nvidia Drivers
GT60 2OD (Haswell) --980m Tested and Working
System BIOS Version: E16F6IMS.717
EC Version: 16F4EMS1.516
GTX 980m 8GB with Clevo vBios: 84.04.22.00.12
Windows 8.1 x64
Normal Nvidia Drivers
MSI 16F4 (GT60 Haswell) --980m Tested and Working
System BIOS Version: E16F4IG6.70R
EC Version: 16F4EG62 Ver5.09
GTX 980m 8GB with Clevo vBios: 84.04.22.00.10
Windows 8.1 x64
Modded INF Nvidia Drivers -- Though this may be able to be fixed with a system BIOS update
MSI GT60 ONE (Ivy Bridge) --970m Tested and Working
System BIOS Version: Unknown
EC Version: Unknown
GTX 970m 6GB with Clevo vBios Version 84.04.22.00.11
Windows 8 x64
Modded INF Nvidia Drivers
MSI 16F3 (GT60 Ivy Bridge) --970m Tested and Working
System BIOS Version: 51x
EC Version: Unknown
GTX 970m 6GB Clevo vBios: 84.04.22.00.11
Windows Unknown x64
Modded INF Nvidia Drivers
MSI 1762 (GT70 Ivy Bridge) --970m Tested and Working
System BIOS Version: 51x
EC Version: Unknown
GTX 970m 6GB Clevo vBios: 84.04.22.00.11
Windows 7 x64
Modded INF Nvidia Drivers
MSI GT70 2PC (Haswell) --980m Tested and Working
System BIOS Version: 1736IMS 517
EC Version: 1763EMS 1516
GTX 980m 8GB Clevo vBios: 84.04.22.00.10
Windows 8.1 x64
Nvidia Drivers
MSI GT70 2OD (Haswell) --980m Tested and Working
System BIOS Version: Unknown
EC Version: Unknown
GTX 980m 8GB Clevo vBios: 84.04.22.00.10
Windows 7 x64
Nvidia Drivers
MSI GT70 2PE (Haswell) --980m Tested and Working
System BIOS Version: E1763IMS.518 or E1763IMS.718
EC Version: Unknown
GTX 980m 8GB Clevo vBios: 84.04.22.00.10
Windows 8.1 x64
Nvidia Drivers
MSI GX660/R (Nehalem) (MSI 16F1) --970m Tested and Working
System BIOS Version: E16F1IMS.30L
EC Version: 16F1EMS1 Ver 4.17
GTX 970m 6GB Clevo vBios: 84.04.22.00.11
Windows 8.1 x64
Modded INF Nvidia Drivers
MSI 1762 (GT70 Ivy Bridge) -- 980m Tested and Working
System BIOS Version: .71x
EC Version: EC 1762EG62.401 by Svet with Patch "Right Ctrl" function to act as "Contents Menu button".
GTX 980m 8GB Clevo (Blue PCB)
Modded INF Nvidia Drivers with either of vBios:
1) 84.04.2F.00.79 (stock Clevo[6.7K@fire strike standard])
2) 84.04.22.00.12 (another clevo[6.6K@fire strike standard])
3) 84.04.22.00.F1 (Perma 1.1 OC - highest performance[7.1K@fire strike standard], highest temps)
Regular Nvidia Drivers with vbios:
84.04.22.00.0A (MSI vbios, lowest score[6.5K@fire strike standard], lowest temps)
Windows 8.1 Pro with Media Center x64
MSI GT60 0NC (Ivy Bridge i7-3610QM) – 980m Tested and Working
BIOS Version: E16F3IMS.51X
EC Version: 16F3EMS1.T18
Clevo GTX 980M 8GB with Stock vBios Version 84.04.3E.00.01
Windows 8.1 Pro (x64) / Windows 10 Pro (x64)
Ivy Bridge Based GT60/70 Laptops: Require System BIOS Version 51x or 71x
It has been discovered by other users that upgraded their Ivy Bridge based GT60 and GT70 laptops that an unreleased BIOS version (version 51x or 71x) is required in order for the card to be fully detected and installed properly. The laptop will/should boot fine without this BIOS, however there will be issues upon trying to install drivers and functionality. After the update of the system BIOS to version 51x, the card is detected properly, and install perfectly with a modified INF driver. All performance and usability is exactly as expected. I plan to link to where this BIOS version is hosted for ease of access for future upgraders.
Download GT60 Ivy Bridge BIOS 71X or 51X Here.
Unintended Benefit From Upgrade: SteelSeries Engine Now Works
After updating my system BIOS to MSI latest one unintended benefit is that my Chassis type changed to a GT60 2QD. After I thought about it a bit, I figured it might be possible that SteelSeries Engine would now work. To my surprise I was correct and SSE is working on my laptop! It seems as though MSI/SSE has some sort of GT60/70 chassis type check upon application launch. If it finds a supported chassis the program operates normally, otherwise you get that message saying no supported devices. They could easily add the older systems as there appears to be no hardware limitation.
The Official MSI GT60/70 970m/980m Upgrade Thread
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