Alienware 17 60Hz GTX980m upgrade

hey,
So i upgrade my alienware 60Hz to gtx 980m. As i'm in exams period, a video tutorial will be available here and youtube when i will finish this sessions.
So here a tuto in sentence how i did it:

FOR 60Hz Alienware!!! I think it's the same for 120HZ..

-Have a 3pipe heatsink for 100W or mod a old one from previous alienware AND 240W ac not 180W.
- gtx980m from upgrademonkey saying it was for my p375sm clevo, he thanksfully fit a xbracket but it was the kind of present i will pass so i fit this x bracket with my alienware and it's work perfectly. And don't forget to put 2 pads for vram down the gpu.

- unmount your old gpu and start the laptop in ipgu mode ( intel gpu obviously) and uninstall nvidia driver with DDU v13.

-shut down and change bios like this:
Secure boot disabled, some have let with enabled. i like to disable everything
legacy disabled
uefi enabled, we can't disable this one
OS is Windows 8.1 x64 to not forgive

-After booting laptop and seeing everythings still works, shut it down, remove battery and push power button, like you will did to instal new gpu.

-Now, boot your laptop and maybe it will freeze like me, he will restart alone and immediately boot on windows. From here, we gonna disable driver signature. there are lot of tutorial easy to find, too long to write
-DOne, next is the pre-best: you instal driver .inf mod, i use from eurocom as i didn't have lot of time to test others or mod myself.

Driver for gtx980m update to 347.52, better but no OC available.
my .inf mod file: https://mega.co.nz/#!1g0ECCRJ!jAvFO42a0Ns2nD3fh6Rf2S1MrKT2At4zbpA31InPk8o

Driver or 980m update 347.88, Overclocking enabled
my .inf mod file: https://mega.co.nz/#!jsI1HTYZ!OAbHATN0j-WtpCxQ5ao5jSZd1Gluv7znNmxwybs4fjs

DRIVER better and OC on: 352.86 file for gtx980m:
https://mega.co.nz/#!e0wmUbYJ!1KGSCT2PBGpwumppo5oEGkej2eOmOUAlZzZnKtlbIrI

Driver 353.30 For windows 10 x64 GTX980m in optimus mode (both intel and nvidia working )
Download driver from nvidia then replace this file as usual location and boot in Disable Driver signature= f7:
https://mega.nz/#!vJVFQQQQ!MYrGvFCxf7hgEzv8vDQ0dYor6R8kVu2YovsAc1lsUPw

- Enjoy your new beast!
The only way i found to monitory temp as hwinfo didnt wnted to list my gpu, it was with gpuz sensor monitoring. My temp were from 45 idle to 71. i use my mod heatsink but i think it's a crap as some people were only at 68. i use ic diamonds as thermal paste.

Hope it will be usefull to some people and if you're patient for price dropping and video tutorial, wait a bit

UPDATE: VIDEO TUTORIAL OUT

 

Please could you share your 3D Marks and some temps with gaming and during benches if possible
And which driver / vBIOS are you using, any OC ?
Btw the there are unlocked Maxwell vBIOS available at TI -> here, thanks to john and svl7, maybe you want to try them out as yours is a 60Hz setup and watchout for the throttling while benching or gaming and maybe some watt consumption if you have a watt-meter :thumbsup:

 

So hwinfo temp gtx decide to work back after update it to last version.
Here my 3Dmark2011 bench but i disable cpu turbo
My score seem a bit low.. but at least i still didn't experience any throttling
i'm using 344.75 driver from eurocom, no overclock, and the vbios is a V12: 84.04.22.00.10 ( P04 board)
i don't have any watt consumption checker. i know people having throttling is after a few days so i will see in a few days^^..I will wait a bit before updating vbios

 

So, for the 120hz people, does the laptop even start without the gpu installed? Or I am looking at hooking up my 60hz lcd, doing this upgrade, then installing my 120hz lcd again?

I really want to put a 980m in, but I want to make sure this is a painless as possible (I have 2 kids under 3 years old and they like to get into trouble)

 

Score looks ok... Your CPU score is the problem.. Time to get a 4810MQ or even better a 4930MX

It will start with the 120Hz LCD but to flash the unlocked vBIOS, you have to install the 60Hz screen, flash vBIOS and then resintall the 120Hz screen

 

no, if you got a 120hz panel, ipgu cannot run so unable to boot your laptop. But you can have 120hz and gtx980m without need of a 60hz screen
Some people had their 980m with 120hz, you should ask them howmuch trouble is


SO to continue, i did another bench with turbo cpu enabled, before showing you better result, i try to boot my system in dgpu mode and well it start and i was able to work BUT i wasn't able to instal any modded driver available. So i mod my driver and it was also not working, so i put my id gtx everywhere in .inf and i was able to instal driver but after the pop up saying if i want to instal this driver, i got a black screen, system was not frozen. i wait a few minute and i put it in sleep, i wake him up and driver was installed but system didnt recognize my gpu, it was in 1024p mode without any gpu. So i return in igpu uninstal/install everything back.
i'm a bit confuse and dissapointed that i can't lauch well dgpu mode. Someone know what was my mistake?

benchmark 2011 CPU turbo enabled without OC

Temp are better, just why?


Yes, i would like of course the last CPU beast x) but idk if i will really exploit it because i just use powerpoint, fcbook and other task and sometimes some gaming, it will really change as hell for gaming? if yes, my wallet will feel lighter again^^

 

Are you seeing the throttling issue in dedicated mode? Do you get full clocks of the card when in Optimus mode? You're the closest person I can find that has the same model as me so any insight would be great!

 

Hmm i'm in optimus mode, no throttlinng till now, i play bf4 for 25mn. max temp while gaming was 70degres. here a look while i was playing:


i told before :/ i can run in dedicated but i cannot instal any driver. all .inf mod where not working for installation and after i try modding myself, i result with a black screen during instalation. Modded driver from ipgu are ghost so only solution was going back to optimus.
this is my ID gpu: from optimus: PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_13D7&SUBSYS_05AA1028&REV_A1\4&D590A51&0&0008
from dedicated: well.. i lost it but i was sure it wasnt 05AA and nothing after A1.
i will try again another time or if someone know why it's not working easely as in optimus..

 

so you are getting full speeds with optimus i am assuming? a yes or no will do

i hope this gets fixed in the future.

 

yes till now.
Yep i prefer beeing in dedicated, i ll try a bit more later to try if i can resolve.

 

Take your time!

 

I upgraded my 780m to a 980m and I have the 120Hz screen. It POSTS fine, but goes black after post when Windows boots. (gotta load the modded BIOS and drivers).

I use an external 27" LCD connected via MiniDP and the external monitor worked fine.

i.e., it works like it always did. POST to internal LCD, then switch to external monitor.

 

but does it run on the built-in display?

 

I wonder why that's the case where it goes black when in dedicated mode using the built-in display.

 

I don't know.. it' weird.. i dont get it why it go to blackscreen before receiving the confirmation msg of instal the screen driver on nvidia driver. :/

 

Can you try what the other guy said and use an external display?

 

Sorry for the delay in my reply. Work...

My internal display works fine. You only need to figure out an interim step when you are flashing the BIOS to the card (if it's not already flashed when you get it).

 

so it loads fine in dedicated mode?

EDIT: someone really needs to buy this....

http://www.hidevolution.com/alienware-17-hid24-nvidia-gtx-980m-120hz-gaming-laptop.html

and see how they fixed the issue like check the vBIOS version, check the drivers, etc.

 

There has to be catch.

 

there's always something and hence why we need our grubby hands on it to dissect the hell out of it and see....

- what BIOS it is using
- the vBIOS of the 980M sent to svl7 / johnksss to see if there's any differences to the vBIOS in the upgrade kits
- possible BIOS settings

anything that will shed light on this!

EDIT: I even posted this on their facebook page

 

Why need to buy that ?
All 900M series work fine with any Screen models in the AW17 Ranger, just a vBIOS flash can't be done on the 120Hz machines...

OT : ghosts with Gelid vs stock TIM how much deg C drop you have noticed in idle / usage on both GPU & CPU ?

 

Then why are some people having issues with getting it to operate in dedicated mode then?

 

Hid evolution said it works with windows 7 also. I thought the only way you could use 980m with windows 7 was with optimus. And how can you you use optimus if you have a 120hz screen.?

 

I am using a 970m in a M15x with windows 7 and never really had any trouble out of it. It definitely doesn't have optimus. I have an AW17 r1 with 3d coming and I bought a 980m to go in it so hopefully I can just fire it up on windows 7 like my m15x.

 

You can't use Optimus with the 980m. (or 780m for that matter)

The 980m must be flashed with a bios that supports the 120Hz screen. My understanding is the Clevo/MSI cards don't have this. I don't know if the vbios available from TechInferno includes this support.

The card I bought came flashed and with drivers. The drivers are a couple of steps behind the nvidia and I am now looking for a way to build a custom set that will still work.

I have Windows 8.1, so I can't speak to functionality with Win7.

 

Correction you can't use optimus in AW17 with 120Hz screen due to the 120Hz screen not being supported by Intel iGPU.. So the intel iGPU is disabled with 120Hz screen..

 

To let people update, j95 help me in techinferno. Dedicated works a bit, some driver yes, some not but i think it might be possible for all, let's wait a bit^^.
Also i install 344.91 in optimus and it's an exellent stable without oc for my system. 347.09 is a crap driver, nothing more to say
344.91 j95 mod driver without overclock in optimus:

 

I've noticed that issue at TI & the post made by Godfafa_kr but the thread has been cleaned but iirc his frnd had the issue like - when the machine boots into dedicated mode the LCD backlight won't turn on and stays like that, I thought at first there are no issues with 60hz AW machines. I think this was because of non UEFI / no Pure UEFI OS like Win7 + Optimus with 980M.
But the 120Hz machines tend to work normally except the vBIOS flash.

And the M15x is able to run the 900M series GPUs because it doesn't have that UEFI support, this points out the newer machines with UEFI were not able to run Maxwell 900M GPUs properly (SG / PEG) like the AW17 R1(no PEG proper support), M18xR2(Throttling), AW18 (Fan issues). But again then the M18x R1 cannot run the Maxwell GPUs either though having a similar BIOS like the old M15x....these issues are sporadic and are damn hard to fix, Imo a BIOS update from Dell/AW could fix all of these issues on these machines which is never gonna happen & the more professional way is svl7 custom BIOS hardmod.

This Dell corp had thrown both the Alienware brand and us into oblivion damn those stupid greedy heads...!!
Now I really feel that Clevo machines are doing far better than this stupid AW branded machines....

 

well, the only way to be sure for me is to buy the gpu and try.

 

Asthrix, there was always something magical with the M15x.. I'm really not surprised that 970M works in it without problems

 

just get the bios to show up on external monitor. AFAIk, the m17x-r4 is the only laptop I've seen able to get external monitors to show the bios/post screens. has something to do with the way it handshakes. And i did it via miniD

 

When you get everything, would you create a video or some sort of tutorial to upgrade? It seems like there is a lot of "hit and miss" going around with 120Hz. It would be nice to have exact steps to follow, and I'd be extremely grateful for such a tutorial. Also, links to the driver or anything else we may need would be great.

 

Should all be here tomorrow and if I can get it to work I will do just that.

 

The install is just as it shows in the video. The 980m will be in tomorrow but I was able to test with my 970m and it will not boot in windows 7. So I installed windows 8.1 and after disabling driver enforcement I was able to install 344.80 drivers and everything is running like a charm. I have it flashed to svl7/johnksss vbios and it is not throttling but my scores seem a bit low but I have not pushed it much. My main issue is with the haswell cpu. It won't oc for much. Im getting 4.2 ghz with liquid ultra and a 330w psu. I heard they were pretty bad but my 3940xm stomps a mudhole in it. All that was said to say this. I CAN SAY THAT THE 120HZ DISPLAY IS 100% FUNCTIONAL. 3d does not work as expected but it doesn't bother me. Everything is ticking along great.

This was done in a alienware 17 with the 3d 120hz display.

 

So, it looks like we need Windows 8.1 for these cards to work properly? Now that's odd. Thanks for sharing that information.

If my AW 17 doesn't sell, I have a nice wish list waiting for me.

 

i could probably order it next week and take my chances.

i wonder how well MGSV: GZ plays with the 344.75 drivers?

 

How did you flash a vBIOS in an AW17 with a 120Hz panel ?

Edit : I guess u had it flashed in M15x before made a swap test right ?

 

It should run perfectly.. NVIDIA are being really slow since releasing 347.09... Hopefully they get a new driver out there soon which fixes these problems and I can upgrade to it..

 

That's correct. Having a 15 is very convenient.

 

Where is the link to post with the modified vBIOS. I've been through a bunch of threads here and on TI and have only seen the INF's.

 

NVIDIA Maxwell VBIOS mods - 900m series overclocking versions


QED

 

Does the vBIOS *have* to be changed to function correctly or was it just for people OC'ing. Too much information spread through too many threads =/

 

I believe the modified bios is just for overclocking beyond the +135mhz core limit.

 

Maybe some one can help me please.
I have a alienware 17 with windows 7 in optimus mode. I installed a 980m in my laptop. When I rebooted after install it shows 2 display adapters in device manager.
1- intel (r) hd graphics 4600
2- standard VGA graphics adapter

In hwinfo under video adapter I have 2 also.

1- Intel hd graphics 4600
2- nvidia g force gtx 980m

So I know the card is being detected by my laptop. Physical installation went good.

In device manager under display adapters the standard VGA graphics adapter has a little yellow triangle . When I click on it says this device cannot start (code 10) Wich I looked up and it means display driver problem .

Does anyone know how I can fix this.
Thanks

 

Did you disable hwinfo from waking the 980M?

 

Yes. I don't know haw to install driver for my gpu. Don't I have to use one with a modded.inf for it to work? I have no idea what to do. I know all I have to do is install a graphics driver but I have no idea how to do it. Wich one to use. How to modd it . Or how to install it. I need someone who has installed a 980m in alienware 17 to explain it. I know absolutely nothing about drivers.

 

try this driver from eurocom :gtx9xx 17 r5
Index of /support/drivers/upgradeyourlaptop/Alienware
you will always need a .inf mod driver to make it work

 

still waiting for further confirmation that the 347.25 drivers don't need to be modded!

 

Do I just download and install.does it already have the modded inf.