Alienware 17 60Hz GTX980m upgrade

yes, follow what theghosts reply, it's a very good drivers too.
I update my inf, thanks my mistake... and yes, download driver from nvidia and then the modded inf if you want to use my driver but from j95, it seem to be more stable, very good driver i'm using too

 

anyone can uploade the inf files from j95 ? i cant download them
and for theinf files , which one to use ? or both ?
nv_dispi_v353.38_Win7_8.1_PEG_Dedicated.zip
nvcvi.inf_v353.38_Win7_8.1_Optimus_Alienware_17.zip

 

Are you using dedicated mode or optimus mode?

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

i am not sure what i am using or what should i use , can you explain to me please ?
i upgraded my alienware 2013 to the 980m and using the 347.52

 

go into device manager and select display adapters: if you see both intel and nvidia that means you're running optimus, if you're seeing nvidia only that means you're running in dedicated mode.

 

looks like i am running optimus

 

Then you use the modded nvcvi.inf file for the corresponding driver.

 

So after all the work done getting these 980m's to work, is it worth the upgrade or is it still too much of a headache. Was thinking about upgrading my 17


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

if you're not willing to mess around with new parts or have no confidence in any technical abilities then i suggest you don't.

 

I second what brother thegh0sts said. If you're not willing or able to put in the work it would be best to avoid...Even when I thought I had finally figured everything out with my 980m adventure a random driver crash made my gpu disappear from the device manager and in bios during boot up. Fortunately this had already happened to me and I knew I would have to reopen my rig and swap video cards to get the 980m to show up again.

8 beeps, black screens, system hangs, bluescreens, disappearing gpu is at least what I went through and probably a few others...so Scarastisis if you do choose to upgrade, we are always here to help and honestly now that everything is working fine a 980m is a very capable gpu.

 

I'll be good with with installing parts and swapping gpus if it's needed, I'll just have to read up on modding drivers, flashing vbios, etc. But thanks for your input guys. I'll have to get in contact with Woodzstack and see if he still has any cards available for purchase. Anyone know the best way to contact him?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Send him a PM on these forums.

 

of course he'll have cards in stock

 

Will do that, thanks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Best to send a PM as you don't have to pay any taxes nor does he have to pay eBay's seller fees.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

I am using driver 353.30 and instead of modding inf from nvcvi, i mod it into nvami. As far, it stop throotling in games. luck or no luck idk... but what i still dont understand, the only game freezing is gta5 only when im fighting lot of cops, idk why otherwize it's perfect... i dont know if its the driver, my gpu or the games giving that weird throotle..

 

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

 

@DARCODER
In the first post there is a video of your upgrade process. I see there a lot of copper plates and aluminum foil on your heatsinks. Do they really work and cause temperature reduction? How did you attach them? Thermal paste? It looks very neat

 

Thanks, if i remembered well, the aluminium paste is just decorative, it wil not change temperature for what i remembered.
As i lose my SSD with all data inside last month, i cannot give you with precision the difference temp between original and mod. But for what i remembered, there was a differences of 2 3 degrees, maybe more but and it was cooling faster. Normally, the best is to create a bigger zone of copper = maximize the transfer between the heat and the temp of the room. As i couldn't, i paste copper ( paste Arctic Silver Thermal Adhesive ). i use a lazer temp ( from hpi ) to see where it was hotter to place well the copper.
This work result to be close to the original 3pipe 100W of alienware 17 r1 as i mod a 3pipe 100W m17x r4, the mod is somewhere on the alienware 17 forum

 

@DARCODER thanks for your reply. I did something like below and I'm shocked that these little copper radiators 1,1 cm x 1,2 cm gave result 4-5 Celcius degrees less on CPU than before the modification

 

Got a link to the instructions?

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

@thegh0sts instructions for what exactly? I don't get it.

 

How did you attach the heatsinks to the main heatsink?

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

@thegh0sts These little heatsinks have their own thin thermopads on the bottom (you need to remove foil to make it sticky). So they hold on stable. They are specially designed to keep cooling GPU memory cores but you can use them to cool almost everything.


More here (google): https://www.google.pl/search?q=AAB+...Q_AUoAWoVChMIlbbgxoKsyAIVhqJyCh3g0AAc#imgrc=_

 

Plz excuse me asking this question, but it's important for me, because I'm right before re-installing Win 7, and I really tried to read all those 980 GTX upgrade threads, but just can't continue after having read about 30 pages :|

Is it possible, to upgrade to a 980GTX while using Win 7?

Tia for any answer ...

 

As far as I know it is not possible mate. 980 needs UEFI. Your work around is to go to Win 8.1.
Why do you want to go back from Win 10 to Win 7 ? Is it a GPU driver issue ?
What is your laptop detailed configuration ?
I did upgrade with 970M & Win 10 recently and I have quite a lot to share on it ( see here). I expect the 980 should be quite same story.

 

No, you can run a 980m with win 7 but only with optimus mode.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

I really need to write my system-info in the signature, like you all do...

I use an Alienware M17xR4 with an ATI 7970M, 16GB of Corsair 1866 Mhz RAM, a 256MB Samsung 840 Pro and since yesterday, a 1.75TB Seagate Spinpoint M9T.

I don't understand, why Windows 7 and UEFI don't work together, my latest info is, that it's np booting Win 7 in UEFI-mode, the only thing that doesn't work is if safe-mode is enabled, and ofc. Win 8 Fast-boot is also not supported, but only UEFI and Win 7 should work!

And regarding thegh0sts comment: What's the problem of Optimus? I read, that the performance is slower, but how is that possible? Personally I'd prefer Optimus, as I don't wanna have a high-end-graphics-card to run all the time, use a lot of electricity and produce temperature, and as I read further, once DX12 is there, it's even of advantage to have 2 active graphics-cards, because DX12 can use them together, for even higher performance.

I want to go back to Win 7 from Win 10, because Fox tested, and Windows 7 had 30% better Physics-performance than Win 10. I'm not 100% comfortable with this decision as I'd like to stick with Win 10, but how could I ignore 30% processor-performance when Win 10 doesn't offer me a single advantage except DX12 in xx y? It's possible, that the first DX12 game I'll play is in 2-3y, I might even have a new machine 'til then, but the 30% more processor-power, those I can use now and all the time!

I'll try to read the thread on the 970M you linked now, new day, new power .

 

1. no adaptive vsync
2. no custom resolutions
3. all graphics options are controlled by the intel GPU drivers.
4. much more of a hassle to overclock and control the fans.

No again. you are assuming it is running at full 3D clocks all the time and that's not the case....when the nvidia is not running 3D games it clocks down to 2D clocks for both core and memory my AW17 idles at 50w with just the nvidia gpu on (to which i have no other option having a 120hz panel). if you have a 120hz panel in your alienware and you want to have the 980M then you DEFINITELY CAN'T USE WIN 7.

you misread that: it's between AMD and NVIDIA GPUs....i don't see anything about it working with intel integrated GPUs, plus i don't think that's how they work anyway.

 

@thegh0sts :

I still don't understand, why using Windows 7 isn't possible with the 980GTX. I've searched the web yesterday and today, and it's definitely not true, that installing Windows 7 in full UEFI is not possible, there are a lot of cases of users that installed Windows 7 64 in full UEFI mode, i. e. in this thread: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...e-firmware-interface-install-windows-7-a.html

And I'm really very sure, that I read that DX12 can use the integrated Intel GPU together with the dedicated GPU :/ . The gain in performance in that test was something between 10 and 12%, and it said that this was, because the system would really use all sources of power available. If they would have referred to SLI and 2 dedicated graphics cards, the gain in performance would have needed to be much greater, and they would have needed to mention SLI (or Crossfire) explicitely, as having two dedicated GPUs is (imo) a very rare case. Users having an Intel + a dedicated GPU however concerns the major number of Notebooks, so it's very common.

The information on your AW17 only using 50w while using the NVidea I find really helpful / good btw.

I'm still in the process deciding on Win 10 or Win 7 btw. I now realized, that the Benchmarks that Mr. Fox posted concluded, that the DirectX 11 performance is higher in Windows 10, and the next game I'm going to (maybe) play is going to be Camelot Unchained, and that one is DX11 afaik.. Also, 30% higher Physics performance sounds great, but if Physics-performance is CPU-performance, and if the i7's are "so powerful, that it'll take years until they bottleneck the GPU" , imo. the better DX11 performance sounds more important to me than the CPU-performance, at least that's what I understand this... :/

 

because the UEFI mode in Win 7 doesn't work as well as in 8.1 and most of the people using win 7 with a 980M or 970M are using legacy mode. that's the only downside of using win 7.

besides, i don't see the point in SLIing an nvidia GPU with an intel GPU especially for those with 120hz panels as that GPU has been disabled/bypassed so enabling it would be a waste.

 

The last I don't understand. I read that with DX12, both cards can be used together, the Intel GPU then wouldn't be disabled but running at the same time and both cards get fully used. Even with the small processing power of the Intel, it's still a 10-12% gain. I'm not completely informed about what 120 Hz panel inplies, as I only got a 60 Hz and don't follow these forums for longer than one or two weeks... The only thing I've read, is that the 120 Hz ones are said to be brighter but also read that installing the 970/980 is more complicated when having one of those. If 120 Hz means, that the Intel must be disabled for the 970/980 to work at all, then the 120 Hz panel users would have the disadvantage, of not being able to get the 10-12% processing-advantage of running two cards with DX12. If the advantage of overclocking the 970/980 is greater than 10-12% (and if overclocking it is impossible with Optimus) , then the DX12 feature is completely useless under those circumstances.

 

having a 120hz panel is no more complicated than putting butter on bread. if it's the case the FPS gain is quite minimal like 5fps...not really worth writing home about. it'll probably mean higher CPU temps as you have to run both. i am fine with the 980M only. besides, this enabled doesn't magically boost your games, the developer has to actually implement it into the software so you would see no difference in current games.

i never said overclocking was impossible in optimus mode, just a PITA and I have done it before. it's much easier to do it in dedicated mode as it is always awake.

also, please stop referring to the cards and GTX 980 because they're not GTX 980s they're GTX 980Ms....remember to add the 'M' part - it's quite crucial. the 980Ms are on par with the GTX 770 but with maxwell architechure.

 

Hey guys

I finally opted to upgrade my GPU from 880m to 980m instead of replacing my laptop. I have a 2013 AW17 R1 (Ranger) and aside from the GPU, I have been very happy with it.

I just ordered my 980m from Woodzstack (who I think is well known here). Should get it hopefully in a couple weeks. He's flashing it to Prema's vBIOS.
I have already bookmarked quite a few websites/pages to help with the upgrade process.
1 - I have ordered some Gelid Extreme TIM to use for the installation as I read it was one of the best. Do you recommend I spread it or use the standard pea method?

2 - Other than that I think I should be fine aside from one small point that Woodzstack mentioned to me. He said that the 880m heatsink might need a small mod to be able to use it with the 980m. The only reference to this I found was by some dude who did the upgrade on his MSI laptop. It was quite simple but required a Dremel tool. I am comfortable doing that but I don't own one so I guess I'll have to buy one as well.. I just want to double check with the others who did the upgrade here if they had to do this mod as well?

3- Also I am on Windows 10... I've never OC'ed my graphic card or used the PrecisionX software. Do I have to worry at all of damaging my LCD panel after installing the 980m? I mean nothing happened when I upgraded on my current setup but I really REALLY don't want to take any risks...
I also read I need to use UEFI. Do I need to format my drive to switch to UEFI? I read something about preparing a Windows 10 UEFI installation USB drive so do your recommend I do this? Would appreciate if you could tell me step by step what needs to be done for this: activate option in BIOS etc...

4- One last question... I double checked my power supply last night to ensure it was 240W. I couldn't find that mentioned anywhere on it. BUT the model number includes something like GA240PE.... The power brick is huge as well so can I assume that I have this covered?

Thanks for any help/advice you can give me!

 

Yeah the power brick from the 880m will be fine, all you need is the 980m card, some thermal compound, and know how to use a screwdriver


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

You can easily verify this in launching an ePSA check ( see here how to do it).

For your question about W10 you can have a look here (ok I know that it is a long thread buddy ...) for a full story. But in a nutshell I will say that you need to be in UEFI and with a clean install to run your 980M - which means all data erased on your system disk.
About the risks of bricking you can read a lot of posts regarding them but my experience is that one:

1. Woodzstack post here is making the path safer
   
2. With a 120Hz LCD it worked for me (with a 970M)

 

Well just completed the formatting of my SSD and reinstallation of W10 in UEFI... Disabled legacy, secured boot and W8 fast boot in bios.

Can't wait to get my hands on the 980m and join the ranks of those who successfully upgraded their laptops!

I was able to verify the model of my power brick online which confirmed it is 240W. Plus it actually showed that info in the BIOS itself.

Can someone just let me know if the 880m heatsink is compatible "as-is" with the 980m? This is really my main concern right now to avoid any delays in the upgrade process. I actually remembered that I have a "multi-function" drill with lots of different "heads". I will double check it tonight as I do think there might be one similar to Dremel tools which might help me mod the heatsink if needed...

 

It should be. I can't tell you 100 percent, but my heatsink fits fine on my 17 r1. Don't know if they had different versions of it. I know that for the Alienware 18 you had to modify the heatsinks.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Hi Yes it is i upgraded my Ranger from the 880m to 980m running win 8.1 will never touch 10 ever again ...works like a charm ....you will be very happy i ordered my from Woodzstack and put the prema bios on later very easy to do ...was scoring around 8600 3dmark11 with this now a little overclock hitting over13k so big big difference ....i used I.C diamond and re-applied all new pads and to the back mem also as there is two rows not one ....average temp on games around 69 degrees idles around 45 .....i am on deticated mode and everything runs like silk ...enjoy and by the way install is easy just be careful when removing 880m they can get a bit stuck from the pad underneath i just used a two cocktail stick to level it gently ....hope this helps.

 

@Murphey

Do you mean you were getting 8600 before flashing to Prema?

As for the thermal pads, Woodzstack is including some with the card so I'll be sure to apply them on the memory. Is there any special method to apply them?

One last question, is there any advantage at all in using dedicated mode? I mean if we take a game, using the GPU in both Optimus and Dedicated, is there any difference in fps?
If so, can you please guide me on how to disable optimus? Not sure if this would even be possible on W10.... I hate optimus but I don't want to complicate things if there is no clear benefit from a gaming point of view.

Thanks!

 

The game has to support it, it's not automatic.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

Hi No the 8600-8700 was the 880m score in 3d mark11 with the 980m it was around 12k , with the prema mod went up to 13 k ,the reason i use deticated mode is for two reason ..the first reason is that some options in nvidia panel are not availabe when using optimus mode such as DSR which enables you to run higher higher resolutions and then they are scaled down to your normal dispaly so makes things a lot nicer looking pretty much more pixels ...the second is a lot of games still wont run full screen because the intel cpu graphics seem to conflict a bit with the nvidia one for example DIrt rally will run in windowed mode with optimus but full screen with deticated , the optimus is disabled through the modded driver , but you need to be in the right mode before you install using FN F5 basically if the intel gpu is not showing when you right click the desktop your in deticated and if it does your in optimus , all drivers will have to modded and you will need to disable digital signing F7 anyway to install any drivers ..its jus the case of editing the ini file correct to the system i am using 355.82 and had no issues with them and can sent you the correct ini which you just use to overwrite the existing one in the driver folder of the drivers with disable sig enabled , well just make the pads are thick enough to make contact thicker is better than thin as they will compress , i also used my 8800m pads for the back of the card as they are two lines of mem chips on the 980m compared to 1 on the 880m , its easy really and makes sure you monitor temps and you really do not need to touch voltage or anything , i am using nvidia inespector for overclocking when needed for benching but otherwise not really required , but win 10 damaged my panel so that is why i would never go down that road , and i found perfomance better with 8.1 but thats me ...anyway good luck .

 

Out of curiosity, did u have evga precisionx installed when you upgraded to windows 10?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Well mission accomplished...

For the life of me, I wasn't able to install the drivers in windows 10... I ended up going back to 8.1 (still uefi) and managed to install Eurocom latest drivers.
Didn't have much time to test it though. Got ~8000 in firestrike and 10500 in 3dmarks11. Does this sound right with my cpu?
The best part was the temp that hit a max of 64 deg. Very very happy about that!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

for stock yes cos i can oc it and get about 11500.

 

Hello, i am wondering. Does this apply to the m17x r4? i just got one for the first time.. loving it so far. Has a 7970m.. And i have my eye on the 870m, 880m, or 970m.. W/ Windows 10. So as of right now. I have the modded A11 (unlocked) bios. And a legacy install of 10. So my first steps will be to reinstall 10 with UEFI as i read the 970m-980m wont work with legacy. Is it okay to use GPT? i just need this to go smooth as i might buy a card this week. I also read alot about windows 10 making the displays on alienwares go bad. The modded driver posted here for 10 is okay to use still? Or is there a more updated version.
Im sorry if im sounding confusing in any way.. But i really am as of right now. This is my first laptop where i actually can change out the GPU.

 

Well if you decide to keep Windows 10, get ready for some headaches. For the life of me, I wasn't able to deploy a driver on Windows 10. Eurocom drivers are simply put not compatible with Windows 10. The only driver I was able to install was a beta one I found on Techinferno. And even that, failed after few minutes and the 980m switched to "basic display adapter"...
On Windows 8.1, it was extremely straightforward. I had it on DVD so I just built a USB installation drive from an ISO (using microsoft's media creation tool. Just make sure you select the edition you have a key for) wit Rufus tool in order to install it in UEFI.
And I was able to use the latest Eurocom driver without a single issue. Been using my laptop for 3 days straight without any problem so far.
vBios was flashed for me to Prema's by the guy who sold me the card (Woodzstack)

 

Well i actually ended up installing windows 8 last night.. UEFI and its working like a dream. Laptop is so much faster. Was able to get all drivers installed no issue. So now i pretty much need to get the new gpu. So upon installing, what bios settings and exact driver do i need? I might be getting one of the 3 cards i listed. 870m, 880m, or 970m. Will the driver work the same for all? I have A11 unlocked bios also.

PS: Do you have a skype or steam? Would be kinda cool to talk to someone straight forward who already has the config im looking for. Would help me alot actually.

 

Yes I am on Steam. Will pm you my nickname there.
As for the drivers, I had my first try at modding nvidia drivers last night. I tried in the latest ones released with Fallout 4. Pretty easy if you follow the instructions posted in techinferno... Just needed to identify the correct inf file. I kept working on the wrong ones at first until I found a post mentioning there are inf file by manufacturer... So in our case, it is the dell one that we need to mod.
Doing that also made me understand why I wasn't able to deploy the Eurocom driver on W10. There is simply NO section for W10 in the OS part of the inf file...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

(clear)