Alienware 17 R1 (R5) driver trouble after upgrade to GeForce 980M

I have an Alienware 17 R1 and I tried to upgrade to a GeForce 980M, I used a guide postet earlier in this forum. I am referring to this guide: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-17-60hz-gtx980m-upgrade.768673/

The card gets installed and recognized but somehow it does not work for most applications, in fact the only game which used the card was FarCry Primal, I could switch the gpu in the ingame graphics menu. Shadow of Mordor has the same switch, but it does not recognize the card. This seems to be a driver issue, I tried the 390.77 and the 253.30, I use DDU to get rid of the old drivers, I installed them in safe mode and in disable driver signature mode.

I am running Windows 10 Home, I disabled safe boot in the BIOS and I had to enable
BCDEDIT -Set LoadOptions DDISABLE_INTEGRITY_CHECKS
BCDEDIT -Set TESTSIGNING ON

However every game besides FarCry Primal uses my internal Intel HD Graphics 4600 gpu. It is driving me nuts. I tried to enforce the use of the NVDIA gpu with the 3D options in the NVDIA context menu but it did not help.
Any thoughts on this?

 

Sorry to hear that. I am a little confused about the naming convention, I bought mine as an Alienware 17 in Europe which I was told was sold as the Alienware R5 in the united states, so I thought I would be fine. I have the three pipe heatsink and the 240W psu.

Since I can run FarCry Primal on 60 fps I thought it is just a small step from here on :/

 

There is no such thing as the R5, R1 is the appropriate name but people like to say its the R5 jus for being the 5th generation of 17 inch offerings from Alienware even though the designation is officially the R1.

So for all intents and purposes the R5 = R1. Its ironic that this didnt carry over to later iterations.

 

Thanks for clearing that up! This still means the upgrade is impossible?

 

What GPU specifically did you buy?

I tried upgrading to the 980m but later learned it was a Clevo card it seems, best to try 980m from Dell (not buy from dell, but manufactured.)

 

According to the seller it is a Dell card, HWID is "PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1617&SUBSYS_05AA1028&REV_A1\4&d590a51&0&0008" as far as I know 1028 indicates Dell.

 

Pascal works on the 17 R1 with the right vBIOS. There is plenty of documentation to attest to this fact.

980m also works on 17 R1 but I would ask those that have done it.

@Nomad might know some people and he also has a 980m in his 17 R1.

 

Thanks for the help, I will try to contact him! Although it seems the forum does not allow me to start conversations with other members.

 

@woodzstack

Do you know the process of upgrading the AW17 R1 to the 980m?

He appears to have a Dell 980m but i know not what seller he got it from.

Thanks.

 

I got it from a seller in Germany, where I live. Not @woodzstack. Though I would be really glad if he can help me.

 

You can google threads based in NBR if you want the information.

Im not giving you details because you corrected a member for using a guide for the R5 when he has an R1, when in fact they are treated as one in the same and that there IS NO R5 designation from Dell. Yet you still keep referring to it as the R5. If you cant even get basic details correct why should I waste my time beyond that?

@Ashtrix

Do you have a link handy for the OP? Im betting you have shared this info before on the forum.

 

@NeuroShock Please dont start a flamewar here, I just want help for my problem. If I can't run it on my system, I will resell my card on ebay, which will be a very expensive lesson learned. We knew the update is a bit risky. I am also really frustrated but please keep it civil.

 

I'm posting on behalf of @TheReciever brother here, The GTX 980M works Flawless in Alienware 17. Period. The GTX 1070, MSI 1060 all work as well but the 1070 needs a few mods depending on the type of GPU, MSI version needs HS mods but very powerful GPU, Zotac 1070 works needs only heatsink mod due to the construction similar to the MXM3.0b type GTX 980M (last card which has proper 3.0b type PCB design) & a 120Hz panel which is must going forth Maxwell.

To know more on the MXM3.0b GPUs head to the link in my sig, and to know more on the Alienware 17, full knowledge base information head over the thread in the forum saying " Alienware 17 R1 (R5) BIOS Unlocked". All the information needed is there, nothing is left out. Oh it's called R5 because M17x R5 (Not official name at all)

Plus check this thread here " Successful MXM GPU Upgraded Laptops" It has A-Z information of the Upgraded laptops. Regarding the power consumption and the laptop limits I would advice to read the essential information on this Machine, The people who have modded this machine know things well.

 

There isnt any specific vBIOS needed, just make sure its a Dell 980m and latest BIOS version?

Only thing I say is iffy is if there is a need to mod the .inf in the drivers

Some say you do and others stated they didnt need to.

 

Thanks for your answer. Yes, I have already watched the youtube video regarding the Alienware R1 linked to in the thread. This bit:
"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"
gave me the idea that the 390.77 might not work. Maybe I did something wrong, could you elaborate on this step?`

@NeuroShock Maybe we both get help in this thread, just watch a little longer.

Edit: I definitely needed to mod the .inf files in the Display.Driver Folder to even get it to recognize the card.

Edit 2: So do I need to have a modded BIOS / vBIOS to make this work?

Another Edit: This is the Result of GPU-Z https://imgur.com/a/ggoQu
This is what my BIOS looks like: imgur.com/a/uuLBG

 

A vBIOS is must plus Dell 980M vBIOS is not for this machine it's made for the AW18 ONLY. Everyone else should use the Svl7 or Prema. Clevo/MSI/Dell 980Ms.
Also inf modded driver too, else it won't install. But maybe newer drivers have the INFs, I don't remember exactly...

vBIOS is a must, else It'll throttle iirc, the Svl7 / Prema vBIOSes are recommended difference is the voltage and clocks but both run OCed. INF mod is also recommended. Once you disable the driver enforcing, make sure you are in the correct environment PEG (fn+f5 switches need OSD software to work) & install the modded driver (Optimus is not recommended at all, it's bad in performance and makes this machine worthless with it's latency crap unless you need battery life PLUS once you install this in the Optimus mode, a.k.a optimus driver when you switch to PEG need to install the driver again, so better off with the PEG and say goodbye to battery). As usual J95 driver is recommended for that head over to this subforum and check which driver is fine.

The sBIOS is different it's not mandatory to have it. I'd advice first get to know more about the machine and then proceed with the sBIOS, Unlocked one (If you see it needed). Plus you need to make sure you cool the card properly.

 

You lost me a bit there, what exactly is an environment PEG? I don't care about battery life, if possible I would get rid of Optimus, it seems to be the source of my problems. Could you point me in the right direction maybe? INF mod is no problem. Do I have to register and pay at techinferno or is there another download link for the Svl7 vBIOS?

Edit: Got mnvflash windows 5.196. and the Nvidia GTX 980m - 'OC edition' rev0 from Svl7, I have spent so much money, no need to be stingy now.

Edit: PEG is not an available option in my BIOS, does that mean I have to mod that? I am really afraid of BIOS modding.

 

Yeah for sure, I wrote up a whole guide on this process. And I suck at writing guides.

But that's not his issue.

So you have to go to your NVidia driver, you know right click on the desktop. Go to 3D settings. Then you should see at the top there an option to choose which graphics processor to use globally. Select NVidia high powered graphics processor.

Then go into the other settings in the windows square panel below that and make sure that power/performance options selected are : prefer maximum performance.

That should work. If it doesn't then that driver or the game doesn't support the driver or card, sometimes that happens, then you need to find a driver that works. It could also be the HD graphics Driver is installed and out of date - mainly it might not have support for the game, seen that plenty and it just doesn't switch over to the dedicated card.

ow you could ALSO go dedicated mode, and not have the HD graphics at all. That was the guide I wrote about.

Maybe here : http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...m17x-r4-without-optimus-working-great.777145/

 

some of this is misleading and wrong.

The vbioses your suggesting are overvolted and have been a common denominator in almost all the cards I've seen turning up dead over the last 2-3 years.

He needs the 84.04.22.00.11 vbios specifically. Regardless what card it is (980M wise), this works in many systems but most importantly Alienware for best performance.

 

take look at my previous posts. And welcome to the forums, feel free to spend a moment customizing your profile and such to show us your gonna stick around and participate afterwards too

 

Don't use those versions from Techinferno, IIRC they are tampered.

Also you can PM brother Woodzstack, he might help you the best. I got help from him and the card when I did my upgrade. As he said the vBIOSes are overvolted and when it comes to the built of 980M they effect a lot unfortunately, Thank you for correcting me @woodzstack

PEG means running with a dGPU (Nvidia) only - When you are running Windows go to the Device Manager - Check the display adapters if you see the Intel HD along with Microsoft Adapter (when you don't have a driver the 980M will look like this else It'll show as Nvidia Geforce GTX 980M) then you are in Optimus mode. Fn+F5 will set you to the PEG mode.

 

Hi brennenderopa,

I have seen this behaviour myself when running Optimus and the Nvidia driver appears to install OK, but won't kick in when a 3D application loads and you're stuck on the Intel. It's down to the nvdmi.inf not being quite modified correctly (a lot of the guides out there are related to PEG not Optimus). Don't have the exact changes to hand, but for optimus there are 3x lines of the inf that need to be modified (only 2x for peg). If you post the nvdmi.inf you're using I can take a look see if I can spot anything wrong.

Javers