780m Upgrade R4

Hello!

Been tempted to do this for a while, and with game demanding more I am now wanting to upgrade my 680M to a 780M in my M17x R4. Reasons are the 780m has 4 gb to push those pixles on bigger monitors,I have a 29" Dell 2560*1080. The 680 just about copes but I find I have to run most games on medium to get the frame rates.

I have read a few guides but I still have a few qusetions that havent been made clear.

1. Will I loose the use of onboard audio? (or is this an R3 Issue only)
2. Will I loose the Integrated Graphics (intel HD4000)

What Do I need?
This is what I have:
I have the Dell A12 BIOS
The Drivers from here

What's the process to install drivers\modified INI file?

Thanks for you help guys!

POJ

 

I think I have seen it work, but it's generally not worth it. Have you overclocked the 680m?

You will probably lose the integrated graphics but audio should be fine.

 

Please Delete

 

Someone has mentioned that but that sounded alot more work. Also overclocking something that doesnt have much cooling to start with sounds a bit dodgy to me.

Any guides? as may be worth a go first.

 

780M runs hotter than 680M. You can overclock 680M using a modified vBIOS to get 880M performance from here:
NVIDIA Kepler VBIOS mods - Overclocking Editions, modified clocks, voltage tweaks

It's not worth buying a 780M if you have a 680M, as long as you flash that modified vBIOS and overclock it. Doing this is a LOT simpler, quicker, and cheaper than buying & installing a 780M that is going to result in loss of integrated graphics too.

(You made a post on TechInferno forums asking the same thing, and I replied to you with the same info/advice there).

 

Hello, you did, and I tried to reply, twice.

Thanks for the advice btw, and if you ever see my post's you will see that you have answered my question from there!

I will give it ago, but from what I understand from GPU's the the memory that allow you to push bigger monitors and/or multiple monitors. This is why I thought about the 780, but I will give the overclocking route a try.

Thanks again peeps!

 

Yes, that's right, a few games can benefit from more than 2GB of VRAM, but as you say it's worth giving the overclocking a try first - it might solve your problem & it's quicker & easier too.

 

I've owned both the 680M and 780M. For gaming at 1080p, no, upgrading is not with it. But you said you would like to use a 1600p monitor, and you are right to assume it will need more VRAM. However, this upgrade will only give you about 20% extra performance at stock. Although, the 780M can be overclocked to achieve another 20%~ with a unlocked BIOS. So, depending on the price of the 780M, it may or may not be worth it.

It's definitely possible to do. It should be an easy upgrade.

 

I'm with robbo on this. Why loose the iGPU and have to modify drivers when the 680m can be easily overclocked. I can help there . I understand that extra memory will be better for multi-monitor systems though (and maybe 4K?).

Wait out the 9xx series cards and see if they work. It should then be worth the hassle. Oh, and the audio problem IS R3 only. The Creative chip on the R4 has not given any problems with 780's.

Good luck.

 

Thanks for the help guys, this place really is the fountain of knowlage

I may take you up on that because overclocking is a scary subject in my books. I may request you help if that is ok!

 

NP, I'm around most of the UK day and into late evening. Ping me a PM when you have an hour or two. Prep with installing heaven 4 and msiafterburner.

Download Heaven Benchmark | Unigine: real-time 3D engine (game, simulation, visualization and VR)

MSI Afterburner

Tomb raider and one of the batman games are also useful when assessing the benefit but not critical.

 

Cool, I will grab a download of Heaven. I have MSI afterburner as I use it for recording footage from Mechwarrior and Elite Dangerous.

May Have one of the batman game, is it for FPS measuring or stress testing? as both MWO and E have a FPS counter.

What part of the UK you from?

< Live near Oxford

 

Thanks for the rep. I appreciate your appreciation of our help. :thumbsup:

By the way, avoid Prime95 - it's an unrealistic test that overly stresses the system. 3DMark and Heaven Unigine are good.

 

PM'd

10cha

 

NP, you helped me out and thats what rep is for Also you have a Jack Sparrow Alienware head.... that deserves rep on its own.

 

3dmark Vantage extreme is also a good test.