About unlocking the GTX 1050 3GB equipped Nitro 5 2019 model (AN515-54W2) variant to full 1050 Ti

heni87

First off has anyone removed the heatsink from the GPU itself and checked there's no missing VRAM module? FYI the full fat 1050 Ti runs on 128 bit wide memory bus and thus has four 1GB GDDR5 modules. In our case the fully activated GP107 chip similar to the 1050 Ti rather than the cutdown 1050 with it's 768 shaders but is running on narrower 96 bits wide memory bus accompanied by three 1GB GDDR5 modules and the remaining 1GB module seemingly disabled or nonexistent depending on your specific unit. If we're lucky to have the memory module intact then it's only a matter of flashing custom VBIOS to fully activate it and turn it into a 1050 Ti which will retain the lost 25% bandwidth and VRAM capacity assuming the ROP partition can also be activated by the custom VBIOS which in turn gives quite noticeable performance improvement especially on memory hog games IMO. If anyone is up for such experiment or just found my idea interesting please leave your opinion in here.

andylb

I think it could be an interesting experiment providing your not still under warranty

heni87

andylb said:

I think it could be an interesting experiment providing your not still under warranty

Right, I wouldn't try this while it's under warranty anyway. I'm just looking out if there are any advanced users who got some experience tinkering around hardware and looking forward to their opinions.

sri369

My two cents:
But if 1050 and 1050 ti have same pinout there is a chance, although rest of the hardware may not support it.1050 ti need 10–20 Watts more than 1050,so power circuitry may malfunction or gets damaged. Even if it works, the 1050ti may power throttle and it works worse than the 1050.Check if your laptop also comes with 1050ti variant, then there is a chance that your laptop supports the upgrade, assuming all other hardware is the same on these two variants.
Upgradation process is very risky and expensive. Is it worth taking the risk? You are just upgrading to 1050ti. Better buy a new laptop.

heni87

sri369 said:

My two cents:

But if 1050 and 1050 ti have same pinout there is a chance, although rest of the hardware may not support it.

1050 ti need 10–20 Watts more than 1050,so power circuitry may malfunction or gets damaged. Even if it works, the 1050ti may power throttle and it works worse than the 1050.

Check if your laptop also comes with 1050ti variant, then there is a chance that your laptop supports the upgrade, assuming all other hardware is the same on these two variants.

Upgradation process is very risky and expensive. Is it worth taking the risk? You are just upgrading to 1050ti. Better buy a new laptop.

I've checked these 2019 model nitro 5s could supply enough power to the this chip as they essentially use the same mobo for the 1650 variants as well. Which is a fully activated TU117 chip which runs at about the same TDP as the 1050(Ti) from last gen. They both also happen to have the same 135W power adapter which is quite overkill for these low power GPUs barely passing 100-120W mark and that's on synthetic benchmarks stressing both the CPU and GPU but acer supplied them anyway.

About the process being risky, yes I understand this isn't something everyone dares to try. Be it a desktop or laptop I've always liked tinkering with my hardware for a while now that's just me