Geforce RTX 4060 in an MSI GT60

[Nizmeïster]

Bonjour à tous,
en parcourant ce forum, j'ai décidé de tenter quelques améliorations peu conventionnelles sur mon vieux MSI GT60. Auparavant, il était équipé d'un i7 4940MX, d'une Quadro RTX 3000 et de 32 Go de RAM. Toujours aussi passionné par cette machine, j'ai opté pour une ultime mise à niveau.

J'ai commandé une 4060 chez X-Vision. Le premier défi a été de modifier mon dissipateur thermique, initialement conçu pour une carte MXM B, afin de l'adapter à la carte MXM A. Ce n'est pas parfait, mais les températures restent inférieures à 80 °C en pleine charge, ce qui me semble acceptable.

L'installation de la carte s'est déroulée avec succès et les performances en jeu se sont nettement améliorées par rapport à la RTX 3000. Cependant, un problème majeur persiste : le ventilateur tourne constamment à plein régime, probablement en raison d'une incompatibilité avec le firmware de mon EC, qui détecte peut-être la nouvelle carte comme défectueuse. De plus, aucun signal vidéo n'est émis via HDMI ou DisplayPort.

Je cherche des conseils sur les solutions possibles à ces problèmes de compatibilité. Mis à part ces problèmes, la carte fonctionne bien en jeu.

J'ai également contacté Svet du forum MSI, connu pour le développement de BIOS personnalisés pour les modèles GT60. Pour information, j'utilise un BIOS déverrouillé avec le dernier firmware EC.

Vos suggestions sont les bienvenues. Merci.

[FrancoTecno]

hi! do you have discord? i like to have better contact with you because i like to make the same modification as you and i have the MSI GT60 as well! 

[FrancoTecno]

I've been reverse engineering this model for a couple of years now, so we could help each other out. I want to upgrade my GTX 1060.

[FrancoTecno]

about the cooler at 100%, i know some EC registers to touch or BIOS setting to try to fix that, and about the video outputs we need to check physical pinout. i have diagram and boardview for MS-16F4 REV 1.1, GT60 motherboard dont have any type of REMUX switch so the output pins goes from the gpu directly. only AC decoupluing caps are on the trace. 

[FrancoTecno]

 

 

[Nizmeïster]

Hi, sorry for my late reply — I’ve been quite busy with other things lately, especially some work on my house.
I have to admit I haven’t pushed the research on the GT60 any further; it did seem quite complicated to fix the issue. In the meantime, I’ve acquired a Precision 7720 in like-new condition, on which I’ll probably install the 4060 when I have the time.
I tried modifying the 4060’s VBIOS to make it more compatible with the MSI, but that was unsuccessful. I do think that an incorrect pinout could be the reason why the card isn’t fully recognized or is considered faulty by the BIOS.
That said, the card itself works very well on the GT60 if you ignore the EC issue. You can still use it, but with the fans running at full speed and without the ability to connect an external display.
As far as I’m concerned, there shouldn’t be any real limitation otherwise. I have a Quadro RTX 3000 that works perfectly on it, so I don’t understand why, in theory, we couldn’t achieve a similar result with a 4060.

[FrancoTecno]

Whats quadro 3000 you have? And with it you get display outputs fine?

[Nizmeïster]

It's a PNY Quadro RTX 3000. Yes DisplayPort output is working normally.

[FrancoTecno]

7 hours ago, Nizmeïster said:

It's a PNY Quadro RTX 3000. Yes DisplayPort output is working normally.

from i know since i have the schematic for GT60, the entire problem of the RTX 4060 (for cooler fan and for video outputs dont working) come from the SMBUS, the machine dont see it as a faulty GPU. the problem is the EC dont "finding" the temperature sensor datum and about video outputs, since the internal conection between the X-vsion 4060 and the motherboard matches. hot plug detection and control of the outputs comes from the EC of the machine and the EC tells the gpu when it can enable output and when no. remember GT60 have a touch button to power off screens on the touchbar (and it includes the video outputs of the GPU)

[FrancoTecno]

so a primary fix to make fan working good is just making use of EC register C7 to value 02 (this disables all temps and throttiling sensors to the EC) and after write register 80 and put a value range between 0x01 and 0xFE , register C7 makes all temp sensors registers being freezed and register 80 its just the GPU temp register. so if we freeze sensors with register C7 and while GPU temp register is freezed we put a fake temperature value. maximum speed of fan can be avoided. the problem here is you lose VRM protection sensor and BD-PROCHOT sensor

[FrancoTecno]

Knowed GT60 EC registers :

CPU Temp (0x68)
- Variable Value (auto refresh)

GPU Temp (0x80)
- Variable Value (auto refresh)

note : if you make use of register 0xC7, disabling temp sensors (02 Value) you can make static values from CPU TEMP and GPU TEMP registers. FF value Can exist in GPU TEMP register if the GPU Sensor isnt accesible with the default SMBus ECFW address (Fan goes to 100%).

Cooler Boost (0x98)
- 02 (Disable)/ 82 (Enable)

Integrated Webcam (0x2E)
- F4 (Disable / F6 (Enable)

Power Mode (0xC6) READ ONLY!!
- 40 (Battery Power) / C0 (AC normal power) / C1 (High AC or Hybrid Boost Power)

Shift Mode (0xF2)
- C2 (Green) / C1 (Confort) / C0 (Sport)

Battery Charging (0x40 and 0x41)

- 00 00 (Not Charging) / 8C 0A (Charging) 

note ; both registers can stay in 00 00 until battery decreases under 95% OR its not under Hybrid Boost state (higher load), to prevent discharge rates due to short-charging percentages)

Unknowed Registers :

? (0xC7) DANGEROUS REGISTER!!!
- 00 (Always/Default) / 01 (prevent battery report to EC. can prevent BD-PROCHOT pull up (800MHz CPU Throttle), DISABLE battery current limit in battery mode (<- This can burn Battery cells) and disables CPU and GPU Temperature Reporting. / 03 (Same as 1 and 2 Value)

note ; very dangerous register. dont use it or take higher risks.

my own report about EC registers. after further own testing, C7 dont disable battery sensors so isnt dangerous at all. but in msi models like the GT72 making use of register C7 can be dangerous because in that model disables battery throttling sensors.

[FrancoTecno]

and about the video output, probably exist a method to override the own hot plug detect coming from the EC and just making it go directly to the GPU (skiping any type of screen control of the touchbar)

[FrancoTecno]

if you like to

3 minutes ago, FrancoTecno said:

Knowed GT60 EC registers :

CPU Temp (0x68)
- Variable Value (auto refresh)

GPU Temp (0x80)
- Variable Value (auto refresh)

note : if you make use of register 0xC7, disabling temp sensors (02 Value) you can make static values from CPU TEMP and GPU TEMP registers. FF value Can exist in GPU TEMP register if the GPU Sensor isnt accesible with the default SMBus ECFW address (Fan goes to 100%).

Cooler Boost (0x98)
- 02 (Disable)/ 82 (Enable)

Integrated Webcam (0x2E)
- F4 (Disable / F6 (Enable)

Power Mode (0xC6) READ ONLY!!
- 40 (Battery Power) / C0 (AC normal power) / C1 (High AC or Hybrid Boost Power)

Shift Mode (0xF2)
- C2 (Green) / C1 (Confort) / C0 (Sport)

Battery Charging (0x40 and 0x41)

- 00 00 (Not Charging) / 8C 0A (Charging) 

note ; both registers can stay in 00 00 until battery decreases under 95% OR its not under Hybrid Boost state (higher load), to prevent discharge rates due to short-charging percentages)

Unknowed Registers :

? (0xC7) DANGEROUS REGISTER!!!
- 00 (Always/Default) / 01 (prevent battery report to EC. can prevent BD-PROCHOT pull up (800MHz CPU Throttle), DISABLE battery current limit in battery mode (<- This can burn Battery cells) and disables CPU and GPU Temperature Reporting. / 03 (Same as 1 and 2 Value)

note ; very dangerous register. dont use it or take higher risks.

my own report about EC registers. after further own testing, C7 dont disable battery sensors so isnt dangerous at all. but in msi models like the GT72 making use of register C7 can be dangerous because in that model disables battery throttling sensors.

just download RWEverything and with the RTX 4060 connected, check what value you have in the register 0x80 (gpu temp), if you get a value like FF in that register is that who is making the fan go to 100%.

[FrancoTecno]

i discovered all because i like to make the jump to a RTX 4060 or 4070. but really i cant allow me to waste money since its difficult to make a few USD in my country so i need to be sure to have a stable working GPU. the GT60 its my main system today. i have boardviews and schematic for it to make any type of modification (taking care of no making wrong things). just the troubles you mention i cant allow them since i use external displays and its bad to get the cooler at 100%