Dell Precision M4800 - Can GPU be upgraded?

So I wanted to do that extension to the heatsink thing but the metal I got, thinking it'll suffice, is too thick to be cut with normal scissors, and the metal seems to be 0.8mm. Did you use tin snips to cut the Broadcom IHS you used, @tyrell_corp ? What was it that you used?

 

Hello, I recently upgraded my M4800 to a M2200

Drivers from nvidia installed no problem...
But after restart I get Code 43 in Device Manager...


Any ideeas?

I also tried flashing the vbios and got this error

 

You'll always get this error when flashing the GPU on an "unsupported" system because the device ID is partly derived from the model of the system that you have the GPU installed in. You just need to override it. You can also pass the "overridesub" parameter to NVFlash and then it won't ask. (.....I do recommend flashing from Linux if you're comfortable with it, I've found that it has much less chance of something going wrong. A couple of times I've had Windows BSOD on me when I started a flash, and then extra steps are required to recover.)

 

Thx, for the answer... I managed to do the flash... But I still can't get passed the code 43...

 

So. A little update: The sheet metal at 0.8mm is harder to actually cut even with tin snips. But the end result probably will be the reason for the Ceramique 2 from all the bending and trying to get it perfect with pliers, left some pits. It might be a bit too thick for some however this is a trial run. I've done the protective foil for the speakers and have done the little heatsink extension, but this is pretty scary since anything can go balls up. Next time I'll definitely go with 0.5mm instead,
they're not expensive to buy anyway. Oh boy wish me luck...

 

OK that's way too thick for me, but I'm gonna remove the thick metal one for the time being and wait until I've got something like 0.5mm... It should be OK for lighter stuff right? I still want to test it out either way so, as long I'm not overclocking I should be OK with the card?

 

Finally had some spare time to get around to switching out the card from my M4800. As I feared, not even putting the original graphics card back managed to spark any life into the laptop. Pulling the BIOS battery did nothing as well.

That seems to be the case, the card most likely shorted the motherboard and essentially bricked it.

Bought it off AliExpress, namely this listing

Spoiler: AliExpress link

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32881215231.html?spm=a2g0s.12269583.0.0.593b308apGL9yO

Somebody already wrote a review on the listing that when they bought a WX4150, they were shipped a WX4130 instead. If I'd seen that before I placed my order, things might've ended happier.

The seller is Shengxin Store and my correspondence with them wasn't super helpful either.

Spoiler: Conversation with seller

The listing does say that it's only compatible with later Dell Precision and HP models (the ones where these cards are pulled from) which is fair enough, I suppose, but it's more a case of the seller covering his bases rather than actually cooperating.
I'd advise people to not skimp on a purchase such as this and turn to a trusted seller on eBay and pay the 80 dollars or so more instead of wasting away 400 euros in total like me.

Here are some pictures of the card. Excuse the thermal paste, I've thoroughly run out of isopropyl alcohol after this failed experiment.

Spoiler: WX4150

Nobody wants to be a cautionary tale but it seems I have inadvertently become one. Don't gamble with things that you can't really afford to lose.
However, there is a part of me that doesn't want to admit defeat.
I suppose one avenue would be to replace the motherboard which would be another expense and not a guarantee as the card might have shorted other components as well (I hope not but I don't know enough to disprove this) not to mention the technical expertise that's probably required of said task might be beyond me.

Don't know what to say really.

 

If you can replace the GPU card, you can replace the motherboard, it's honestly not that many more steps. Just follow the Dell manual's step-by-step.

 

I've kind of got my M4800 working with the HP turned Dell WX4150. But the BIOS I used was posted here several pages back. And this was interesting: the newer drivers caused the M5100 to hard freeze the system. It doesn't on the WX4150, at all.

Here are some concerns: GPU-Z isn't reporting release date, and I might have to consider retrying the extension again because it also runs rather warm at 45c or 50c. Tyrell's custom thing will assist that (using 0.4mm or 0.5mm this time).

I've yet to try Affinity Photo, I guess. And I should try again with the dedicated graphics only. I wonder if it's solved a weird moment where it isn't always wanting to use the internal panel on dGPU only.

 

Try to connect to an external monitor first. If it does work like that, it'll work with switchable graphics off.

Thank you so much for sharing this. I was thinking about buying this exactly card and now... I'll just going to wait a little. Maybe the seller who had a $69 listing (it's out of stock at the moment) will have more soon enough.