680M Sli Question

I had an argument with the dell rep on my video card, and asked if I could receive the 4GB 680M (I knew they only have 2GB to offer, but on the off chance that they have 4GB in stock, figured I'd ask) instead of the 2GB 7970M because every single AMD Card they have sent me, have turned out to be defective or has stopped working (I've had my video card replaced 3 times now, and have sent back my laptop at least once). It really became a great nuissance. I was told that I would get 2 2GB 680M and that it would be a SLI. This confused me greatly, because I've read everywhere that the Alienware M17 R4 only contains one video card slot and so it is impossible to have a SLI on it. Is dell in the wrong here, or is this actually possible?

I repeatedly asked the person on the phone if she knew what she was talking about because I was informed that the R4 cannot support SLI, and she kept on telling me that my model is compatible. After a while, I just gave up and ended our call (in a respectable manner of course).

I asked this on an another forum, but I'd like to get more opinions on this matter. Dell tells me that they are also sending an entire new kit to make it work, I have no idea what they mean by that to be exact, but figured I would ask about it here.

 

That representative is completely wrong, LOL. The M17x hasn't been able to have dual graphics since the R2 back in 2010? Something like that...

Just ask for a new 2GB 680M, and also ask for the x-bracket/heat sink and whatever else you may or may not need.

 

If they send you two, you could always install one and sell the other lll

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk

 

Or sell both and get a 780M, and still have leftovers.

 

See, that's what I was thinking too. I couldn't understand what she was trying to tell me. I actually told her to just send me a 780M if they are sending me 2 680M's :/ But nada. She insistently said it was compatible. This is two straight times I had reps who had no idea what they were doing. Yesterday, one of the rep deleted all my drivers and such, and then asked me to check if the laptop still could not detect the video card, which was a 7970M. It's been a terrible week, I've been on the phone with them every day of this week. I don't know what to do next.

They've switched my MoBo 3 times, my video card 3 times, and my Lid/screen 3 times. I really have no idea what to do, and one of those times I had sent it back to them.

 

Seems like you are eligible for a system replacement. To be honest, if all of those attempts were unsuccessful, they're getting to the point where it would be cheaper to just give you a new system... Bring that up during the next phone call and stress the multiple attempts they've tried and failed to repair your PC.

What are your system specifications? (From Dell, before any customizations.) Just so I can get an idea of what a replacement may be for you.

 

I haven't made any customizations personally, other than the recently requested 680M card that i've yet to receive, but my specs are the following:

Windows 8 OS
Intel i7-3630 QM CPU @ 2.40GHz
12 GB of Memory RAM
2 GB of GDDR 5 AMD 7970M
Dell's basic Creative Soundcard
1 TB Hard Drive of Raid 0 with a speed of 7200 (i believe that's the one that's combined together.)
Their standard Glossy 1080P HD Led

 

Assuming a replacement is even offered, if they don't have any M17x R4's in the outlet, they'll probably offer you a new AW 17 with the following specifications:

You should ask for a system replacement and see what they offer. If they offer something similar to what I'm assuming they will, you should ask them to upgrade the GPU to a 780M. They may not do this because the 7970M was much cheaper than the 680M was, and they base replacements off of price and performance, but I think the 7970M is actually better than the 770M. So, you may be able to play that card...

 

Thanks! Okay, I'll give it a try on our next phone call.

 

I'm pretty sure they put price before performance when it comes to replacements. So, whatever your system cost, they'll offer something of equal value. Just hope you at least get the 770M. It would be a huge downgrade otherwise.

 

What if I bought my system during a savings sales? Instead of its advertised $1,999. It was down to $1,699 (I added some extra parts to have it, I don't remember what they were but it increased its price) but with tax and all, it totaled roughly 2K?

 

Minus the blu-ray from the specs I wrote on the first page, it comes to a $1999.99 sub-total (before tax). So, you'll probably get something similar to that.

But as I said before, try to stress that the 770M actually performs somewhat worse than the 7970M, therefore making the 770M a downgrade. That argument may convince them to upgrade you to a 780M.

 

Here's an update. So I called them again, and I used the same strategy that you advise me. I had 2 different reps talk to me today, called on different times. And each strongly insisted that the R4 can support SLI, and that they are sending me an adapter board that will be able to support both of them, whether that is credible I have no idea. I was told that if nothing works out come next week, after they have sent me the 680M SLI, which they seem adamant that it will work, then they will process my issues and investigate it to see if I could be given a system replacement.

If anyone know what they possibly be mean by telling me that they are sending a new board able to support both, then let me know... because I'm completely lost. Could they be sending me something similar to the R1 or R2? It seems so odd.