qosmio Upgradability options for a Toshiba Qosmio X70

[JonnySel007]

Is there anyone here who also has a Toshiba Qosmio X70 or similar gaming laptop with upgradable hardware options?

My model is specifically the X70-A-01Y. I had this for almost 7 years now and is already getting to the point where I'm doubting myself whether I should still upgrade it to the newest possible components, or to purchase a new desktop-replacement/gaming laptop again. I want to make the best investment (and as frugal as) possible to either extend the lifespan of my Qosmio, or upgrade to a newer one (such as either a Razer Blade Pro 17 (which is the one that appeals to me the most personally) or maybe a Eurocom upgradable laptop, or any other one you guys could recommend (especially if I could use eGPU solutions with any of the newer ones, if I so choose to go that route).

As I've already grown used to having a gaming laptop as I really like the portability of it as its portability has been a godsend for me, especially since I was using this for post-secondary education as well, and has proven itself useful as a portable workstation that is capable of PC gaming.

I was able to upgrade the amount of RAM on mine from 16 GB to 32 GB using G.Skill LDDR3 compatible RAM sticks. Upgrading to a newer SSD is a possibility, yet I don't even know where to find the 256 GB M.2 SSD in my laptop, lol.

And it is able to upgrade to a better CPU in the compatible CPU socket, so I could upgrade the CPU all the way up to a Core i7 4910MQ if I wanted to, though I'm not certain if it would be a wise investment given the BSoDs I've been getting, whether it may be the CPU's fault or something else.

Though since I'm heavily using this [laptop] for media production, especially for video editing (currently exporting 720p60 videos, while I'd want to step that up to 1080p60 (and in rare occasions 2160p60 (aka 4K60))), the older GTX 770M GPU currently in my Qosmio is being a slight bottleneck due to it being old and may or may not be the culprit for the display errors and BSODs I've been getting. I use the Adobe Creative Cloud apps (including Premiere Pro), so whenever a video-focused Adobe app runs, I've been warned about compatibility issues with the GTX 770M (because it's old to the point where it can't update to the most recent graphics drivers), and have been ignoring them for a while, and I know that I can't ignore this for too long or else my workflow for media production will be negatively hampered by possible unexpected hardware failures.

Since the GTX 770M is an MXM 3.0b laptop GPU (at 75 W), I've been contemplating whether I should go ahead and order via eBay and upgrade to a compatible, yet better MXM GPU, such as the GTX 970M (which is the best one I could find according to the Eurocom website) or if it just be a better idea to upgrade to a newer gaming laptop/portable workstation.

Thoughts?

I'd appreciate your insights on this, as I've been stuck on this fork on the road for too long and I need to get to the bottom of this ASAP.

Thank you for your patience and understanding with my situation.

[AndreiArgeanu]

I wouldn't suggest upgrading the laptop. The cooling solution isn't anything to brag about and installing more power hungry components will probably cause it to throttle as it is. If you can afford, go for a new system, it's a far better investment in the long term.

[JonnySel007]

2 minutes ago, AndreiArgeanu said:

I wouldn't suggest upgrading the laptop. The cooling solution isn't anything to brag about and installing more power hungry components will probably cause it to throttle as it is. If you can afford, go for a new system, it's a far better investment in the long term.

Interesting. Though have you by any chance cleaned off and applied newer thermal compound/paste on the GPU and CPU before you submitted this reply?

Because I did do just that more than a month ago, and applying new thermal compound/paste did help with managing the temps, as I found out when I opened mine for repair, that there was too much thermal paste on both. So after I reapplied new thermal paste to more smaller effective amounts, the temps were lowered to a good amount.

Yet even after all of this, my Qosmio still restarts itself mostly due to hardware issues with either the GPU, CPU, or maybe the motherboard. Idk at this point.

[AndreiArgeanu]

2 minutes ago, JonnySel007 said:

Interesting. Though have you by any chance cleaned off and applied newer thermal compound/paste on the GPU and CPU before you submitted this reply?

I don't have the Toshiba anymore. This is just a teardown I found online to show the poor cooling solution.

[JonnySel007]

12 minutes ago, AndreiArgeanu said:

I don't have the Toshiba anymore. This is just a teardown I found online to show the poor cooling solution.

I understand your point, though reapplying new thermal paste actually helped make the cooling more effective on my end, so I'm not completely convinced yet, as I still have a sliver of hope that I can extend the lifespan of my Qosmio by not having to spend too much.

If some others hop in to civilly support your points, I might reconsider my stance and plan on migrating to a newer gaming laptop/portable workstation.

[Vishera]

19 minutes ago, AndreiArgeanu said:

I wouldn't suggest upgrading the laptop. The cooling solution isn't anything to brag about and installing more power hungry components will probably cause it to throttle as it is. If you can afford, go for a new system, it's a far better investment in the long term.

 

I disagree,i have a similar laptop from that era,and by coincidence it's Japanese as well - from Fujitsu.

You can upgrade to a component with the same TDP as the original with no additional thermal strain on the cooling solution.

[JonnySel007]

13 minutes ago, Vishera said:

I disagree,i have a similar laptop from that era,and by coincidence it's Japanese as well - from Fujitsu.

You can upgrade to a component with the same TDP as the original with no additional thermal strain on the cooling solution.

Thank you for your input. I knew I was up to something.

 

Would you happen to know if the MXM 3.0b of the GTX 970M will work well? Since the wattage is about, if not exactly, the same as the 770M (the one that's currently in my Qosmio).

 

How I know is via the Eurocom website.

[Vishera]

Just now, JonnySel007 said:

Would you happen to know if the MXM 3.0b of the GTX 970M will work well? Since the wattage is about, if not exactly the same as the 770M (the one that's currently in my Qosmio).

It should technically work,but does it fit physically?

All of the MXM cards i have seen were of different sizes and shapes - all custom designs.

[AndreiArgeanu]

14 minutes ago, JonnySel007 said:

I understand your point, though reapplying new thermal paste actually helped make the cooling more effective on my end, so I'm not completely convinced yet, as I still have a sliver of hope that I can extend the lifespan of my Qosmio by not having to spend too much.

If some others hop in to civilly support your points, I might reconsider my stance and plan on migrating to a newer gaming laptop/portable workstation.

You can definitely extend the life of the laptop. But you're going to have to upgrade later regardless. And considering that the gtx 970M is about 200$, at least in UK, it doesn't feel like a worth while upgrade from my point of view. Of course if you think otherwise you're more than welcome to go ahead and upgrade.

[Vishera]

Just now, AndreiArgeanu said:

You can definitely extend the life of the laptop. But you're going to have to upgrade later regardless. And considering that the gtx 970M is about 200$, at least in UK, it doesn't feel like a worth while upgrade from my point of view. Of course if you think otherwise you're more than welcome to go ahead and upgrade.

It's possible to use an external GPU through the express card port or the mini PCI-E port of Wi-Fi.

[AndreiArgeanu]

16 minutes ago, Vishera said:

I disagree,i have a similar laptop from that era,and by coincidence it's Japanese as well - from Fujitsu.

You can upgrade to a component with the same TDP as the original with no additional thermal strain on the cooling solution.

That is true but looking around I've seen the GTX 970M to be configured to be around 100-125W tdp which is definitely higher than GTX 770M 75W TDP. Not to mention the CPU upgrade. I'm not saying it's guaranteed to throttle, but it's definitely likely to do so.

 

[Vishera]

Just now, AndreiArgeanu said:

Not to mention the CPU upgrade

Those are easier since Intel write the TDP on their website.

[AndreiArgeanu]

Just now, Vishera said:

Those are easier since Intel write the TDP on their website.

Yes, I know that, I'm just saying that a CPU upgrade guarantees more heat when ran at stock speeds.

[Vishera]

Just now, AndreiArgeanu said:

Yes, I know that, I'm just saying that a CPU upgrade guarantees more heat when ran at stock speeds.

Same TDP = Same heat output

For example i can upgrade my i5 3230M to an i7 3632QM - both are 35W TDP.

[AndreiArgeanu]

18 minutes ago, Vishera said:

Same TDP = Same heat output

For example i can upgrade my i5 3230M to an i7 3632QM - both are 35W TDP.

That's not true. Intel's TDP isn't accurate at all. It's always an approximation. Based on your saying that means that the i3 4000M has the same heat output as the i7 4712MQ because Intel said so. When that's clearly not true since one is a 2.4ghz 2 core 4 threaded part and the other one is a 3.3ghz 4 core 8 threaded part.

[Vishera]

Just now, AndreiArgeanu said:

That's not true. Intel's TDP isn't accurate at all. It's always an approximation. Based on your saying that means that the i3 4000M has the same power consumption as the i7 4712MQ because Intel said so.

TDP is the value for thermal design power,it isn't power consumption.

It means that the two CPUs that are of the same brand and have the same TDP - can use the same thermal solution.

 

From wikipedia:

Quote

The thermal design power, sometimes called thermal design point, is the maximum amount of heat generated by a computer chip or component that the cooling system in a computer is designed to dissipate under any workload.

 

[JonnySel007]

Welp, I recently got to a point when I almost banged my fist hard on the laptop out of frustration since it randomly restarted on my twice or thrice in a short amount of time. I ended up not doing it as I would screw myself over by making it more worse than it is be getting it dangerously close (if not completely) to physically-broken beyond use.

 

Thus, since I had this laptop for almost 7 years, it's about time I get myself a newer one to upgrade to. It has served me really well over these years as I have fond memories when using it for multiple purposes.

 

Would you guys have any recommendations which laptop builder to go for?

 

I was previously looking at the Razer Core Pro 17 (the "newer" one), though since it doesn't look upgradeable and/or customizable, the next two better ones I've found are ORIGIN PCs, and Eurocom. I will consider mobile workstations too, since I realize that you can still play games on them regardless if they're main purpose is for productivity.

 

Would you guys also recommend their laptops? Or a different company/brand?

[mroindal]

JonnySel007  what was the final outcome of this thread??? Did you upgrade the Toshiba??? What happened to it??

[Yoshosan55]

Does anyone know the thickness of the thermal pads on the x70-a?