Precision M6800 questions and upgrades

[Annihilator]

5 hours ago, aleksandar said:

Hi everyone, I've been following the upgrade paths for the M6800 here. Has anyone experimented with using an MXM 3.0 to PCle x16 adapter to connect a full-sized desktop GPU?

If this is possible, then our possibilities are truly infinite. Lol

 

I've actually found some forums where people successfully pulled this off with other laptop models.(2nd and 3rd pic)

Https://notebooktalk.net/topic/1196-clevo-p775dm3-mxm-to-pciex16-gpu-adapter-mod-project/

 

 

 

 

i had a eGPU on my HP 2570p connected via expresscard slot, just for "whats possible" was nice, but really useless, bcs i never took my eGPU with me 😄  n at home i prefer a real PC 

[AaronD]

7 hours ago, aleksandar said:

Hi everyone, I've been following the upgrade paths for the M6800 here. Has anyone experimented with using an MXM 3.0 to PCle x16 adapter to connect a full-sized desktop GPU?

If this is possible, then our possibilities are truly infinite. Lol

 

I've actually found some forums where people successfully pulled this off with other laptop models.(2nd and 3rd pic)

Https://notebooktalk.net/topic/1196-clevo-p775dm3-mxm-to-pciex16-gpu-adapter-mod-project/

 

 

I imagine that that would be more along the lines of, "I have this machine already, it's not actually going anywhere, and I want to put something in it that doesn't fit.  So instead of buying a whole 'nother machine, I'll put this in what I already have."

 

I can't see it being easily portable after that mod, because of the heavy brick on a captive cable, the case mods to get that cable out, and the required stand so it doesn't sit on that cable and rock like a 4-legged stool that's missing a foot.  But beyond all that, I can see it being useful for someone.  Doesn't have the hard stop on support like the internal slot does...or at least not until the industry decides to use something other than PCIe...

[aleksandar]

Can someone guide me regarding vBIOS? Is it required for GPUs like the GTX 970M, GTX 980M, Tesla M6, etc.?

Where can it be downloaded?

[Aaron44126]

1 hour ago, aleksandar said:

Can someone guide me regarding vBIOS? Is it required for GPUs like the GTX 970M, GTX 980M, Tesla M6, etc.?

Where can it be downloaded?

Maxwell GPUs don’t require any vBIOS work. Note that Tesla M6 doesn’t support direct display output and can only work through the Intel iGPU via Optimus. Also, you do have to do a little mod to the GPU heatsink to get these cards to fit.

[AaronD]

Ah yes, vBIOS.  I'd forgotten about that, despite having a bit of a process to get mine.  vBIOS is like the main BIOS, except it's on the GPU.  (the 'v' is for video)  Essentially, you're reprogramming the GPU so that it behaves like something the main BIOS can work with.  And that could be a hard stop in support, even if the electrical connections are all good.

 

You can't just stuff a random vBIOS in there.  It has to be made for the card you're putting it on, because it does a lot else too.  So in terms of what *we're* doing, you can kinda think of it as a bridge between the circuitry in the card and the BIOS in the main machine.  Both ends of that bridge have to work, and eventually, you won't be able to get the entire combination.  That's a hard stop.

 

8 hours ago, aleksandar said:

Where can it be downloaded?

I've only had the one, and it was on a site that was clearly legacy and specific to the card.  So I can't answer that question directly, but just give you a sense of what you're getting into.

 

It also required an old version of Linux to actually install the vBIOS, because the periodic cleanup(s) that happened since then removed that support.  Once I did though, modern Linux knew what to do with it.  If you're on Windoze, I couldn't tell you anything anymore; I ditched M$ when Win10 refused to update on my M6800.