[SOLVED] is my gaming laptop sli compatible?

[theprolinecook]

hello! i have a msi gt73vr 7re titan pro with a nividia 1070 gpu i7 7820. i wanna increase my fps during 4k gaming. i was thinking of getting the 2080 super but from what ive been told its a different size from the 1080 and 1070mxm and it wont fit. this is also my first attempt at modifying my laptop so im not sure if this is correct. from what ive researched this laptop is sli compatible, meaning it has a slot for another gpu AND ive managed to find someone who not only sells a 1070mxm but also the modified cooling system ill need, but after calling the manufacturer he mentioned something about firmware not supporting sli because thats not the type i originally purchased. i dont know anything about firmware so if someone could explain to me what he meant that would be awesome. because im a little upset that my pc literally has a slot for a second gpu but im being told i cant do it because of firmware. this same guy also was the one who said the 2080mxm wouldnt fit, but from the comparison photos ive seen online they look the same size and have the same measurements. any help and advice on this would be appreciated.

 

[richiestang_78]

The only wayI would upgrade your laptops GPU, assuming that https://us.msi.com/Laptop/GT73VR-TITAN-PRO-7th-Gen-GEFORCE<sup>®<sup>-GTX-1070/Specification is your laptop would be via a Thunderbolt 3 External GPU enclosure.

As far as the firmware issue, he's probably right, and unless you can find the BIOS someplace and flash it yourself it probably will either ignore the other card or not boot with it installed.

Also SLI is a waste of money, the technology is essentially dead so adding another 1070 will net you very little performance gain if any and in many cases actually cause performance loss. It's always better to get a single better card then spend the money to SLI

 

[theprolinecook]

The only wayI would upgrade your laptops GPU, assuming that https://us.msi.com/Laptop/GT73VR-TITAN-PRO-7th-Gen-GEFORCE<sup>®<sup>-GTX-1070/Specification is your laptop would be via a Thunderbolt 3 External GPU enclosure.

As far as the firmware issue, he's probably right, and unless you can find the BIOS someplace and flash it yourself it probably will either ignore the other card or not boot with it installed.

Also SLI is a waste of money, the technology is essentially dead so adding another 1070 will net you very little performance gain if any and in many cases actually cause performance loss. It's always better to get a single better card then spend the money to SLI

yeah thats what the other dude said but it wasnt what i wanted to hear lol. ill take a look at those and see how much it will run me. i saw a few videos on doing a external gpu dock but it looks like i would have to take out my wifi card to instail that way. and the problems with sli is why i wanted to go with the single 2080 but i cant do much if its not gonna fit. thanks for confirming.

 

[theprolinecook]

The only wayI would upgrade your laptops GPU, assuming that https://us.msi.com/Laptop/GT73VR-TITAN-PRO-7th-Gen-GEFORCE<sup>®<sup>-GTX-1070/Specification is your laptop would be via a Thunderbolt 3 External GPU enclosure.

As far as the firmware issue, he's probably right, and unless you can find the BIOS someplace and flash it yourself it probably will either ignore the other card or not boot with it installed.

Also SLI is a waste of money, the technology is essentially dead so adding another 1070 will net you very little performance gain if any and in many cases actually cause performance loss. It's always better to get a single better card then spend the money to SLI

do you have any recommendations on where to get a good one?

 

[richiestang_78]

Again assuming that I am looking at the correct product page your laptop has a a USB Type C Thunderbolt connection, you won't need to take out your WIFI card in order to use a eGPU.

I know the Razor Core X is popular and has a nice 650 Watt PSU in it and then there's the cheaper Akito Node which has a 400 watt PSU but should still be plenty to just power a GPU even a 2080 .

I've never personally used these as I don't buy gaming laptops but from reddit and tomshardware posts they can be a little temperamental to setup but in general work pretty good.

Just remember that these enclosures do not include the graphics card, just the enclosure and PSU.