Alienware 17 R5 GTX 1070 MXM 3.1B

Hello!

Brief: I order a Zotac ZBOX 1070, I remove it his nVidia Graphics Card, and I install it on my Alienware 17 R5 and... IT JUST WORKS!...

With the help of @Raidriar, @Ashtrix and @stas.b85 I manage to have it working!!!

At the beginning, there was no video on the integrated display, but after flash it with the MSI (MSI_N17E-G2_86.04.31.00.0C_non-GSYNC) it works, I have just play GOW 4 on Ultra, and it is amazing!!!

Pictures:

http://ricardorangelvalle.imgur.com/

Benchmark:

http://imgur.com/a/ZbENH



Alienware 17 R5
-Intel Core i7 4940MX
-Corsair Vengeance 32GB @ 1867MHz
-Nvidia GTX 1070 (ZOTAC with MSI VBIOS)
-120Hz 3D screen
-1TB SSD SAMSUNG MSATA & 2TB HDD SAMSUNG 2.5"
-240W PSU

 

Job very well done mate!
What's your system configuration? Bios settings? 60Hz or 120Hz
This reminded me of Maxwell issue, When I set booting to UEFI+Legacy rom I get 8 beeps on the internal display, therefore I have to connect an external display in order to bypass the issue and change to pure UEFI.

 

It is already on "Only UEFI" No legacy activated...

What else can I do?

 

My System Configuration:

Alienware 17 R5
-Intel Core i7 4940MX
-Corsair Vengeance 32GB @ 2133MHz
-Nvidia M1070
-120Hz 3D screen
-1TB SSD SAMSUNG MSATA & 2TB HDD SAMSUNG 2.5"
-240W PSU

Hope someone can help to to enable the internal display on that card...

 

Important:

The power supply of the ZBOX 1070 is only 180Watts...

 

very nice job striker! if possible please upload future pics to host like imgur or similar. The forum image uploader fails to load images most of the time.

Can you take pictures of the Zotac innards as well as the cooling module for the 1070 card in there? and one picture of the 1070 card with no thermal pad on it

 

I would suggest flashing the MSI vBIOS to see if that will activate eDP output

 

Sorry I didn't check this thread,

First of all some common things we noticed in the past - Fan not being detected is real sad, The second fan on the AW18 doesn't work with custom vBIOS mods and Prema needed to tweak it a bit and release it, Also the partial help from the Dell while the Dell's one (Last patch from Dell and I presume there wont be anymore from that shady corporate filth) fixed the fan spin, although manual override works iirc, Same issue was there for the M18x R2 but It's been a long time, and no fix for the throttle in that when SLIed and OCed on CPU past 4.2 and GPU also, BIOS shenanigans & Another post on the AW18 vBIOS Prema mod relationship to the AW17 980M upgrades.

Next the Alienware 17 Ranger R1 has 2 EC Fan controls via HWInfo64 In case you didn't know -

If Compal the fan control will be unified, Dell EC has separate RPM options but due to the sBIOS restrictions the RPM steps are low, while the Compal one can have multiple steps but unlike the M17x R4 the Compal EC on the Alienware 17 when paired with Maxwell behaves weirdly.

More on this EC..

Make sure you can try the Manual override also with both EC options, that's what I wanted to convey.

I didn't understand the power supply question on the Fans,
Are you planning to do a hard mod like the German forum guys ? or The direct HW control switches like in here either of them will require significant knowledge & we need help frm that user.

Also make sure you are running -
CPU fan - M14x R2 - XN0G5 10.7 CFM - dremel needed for Fan shell only / M17x R3 - GVXH3 6.5CFM
GPU fan - M17x R4 - 0THPDJ - THPDJ - 11.4CFM

More links - German Mods - CPU and GPU || Alienware 17 Fan mods / Upgrades || NVRAM reset on Secureflash Haswell Alienwares || HW Expert T456's on PWM Fan controls || EDID Brick fix by T456 - Just in case of an EDID corruption

Finally try to flash the MSI vBIOS right, Raidriar is a known HW expert.
@loafer987 could help you out too, Really wish @Prema 's help here if he's free.

 

That being said, take care with the MSI vBIOS. Have a failsafe of flashing the card again. not being able to manually switch the graphics in the Alienware 17 is a royal pain. M17x R4 would be the optimal test platform, since you can enable SG, re-insert a card, and reflash in a DOS environment. If you have no test platform, have a SPI programmer handy or be prepared for a risk of brick. I know that flashing a MSI vBIOS to a Dell 8970M gave brick that had to be resolved in a swap + reflash in SG mode.

 

I do not have a spi programmer.
Is there a way to recover from a brick with the AW17R5?

 

Also please provide me the msi vbios and the proper instructions to achieve it with the less risk involved...

Thanks to all for this!

 

I just did some changes on HWiNFO64 and set the fan on MAX!

So, I just did the first benchmark: GOW4 on ULTRA


Please let me know what benchmarks do you want me to run now that you helped me to have the 2 fan up and running!

Thanks!

 

Glad to see the fan 2 working, Real good news friend !!!

Also would be great if we can know which EC you are running, Make sure you disable the sensor of Compal or Dell one from the sensors list (The current, min, max list) so that you won't get any DPC latency.
http://imgur.com/a/r44Uy

For Benchmarks, Start off with the 3D Mark Firestrike Standard / Unigine Heaven / 3DMark 11 / Give a shot to the TimeSpy if you are running win10 for DX12, Also if you know how to tweak the HWinfo + Rivatuner OSD we can check for the crucial part - Power Pull of this version of 1070 MXM card (When running Firestrike Ultra check for this, As it makes the GPU pull highest watts more than Heaven full balls to walls), Clocks and Voltages & most important of all Temperatures since you are running this on a 75W modded HS xD. Can be also read through the GPU-Z but real time in the OSD is a better option imo.

Test more games if you can, Looks great for the GOW4 on Ultra though !!

P.s- Please use imgur, thanks !!

 

Hey men. Try this.
It's original vBIOS's from MSI GT72VR with and without GSYNC. Inside each ZIP-file you find an instruction how to flash it and all needed soft and offcource the vBIOS.
Good luck!

 

So in the end, were you able to use the internal screen?

 

Yes!

 

I cannot backup my VBIOS...

How can I do that with the 1070?

Thanks!

 

latest version of gpuz

 

GPU-Z is running as administrator.

 

You know something????

IT JUST ****ING WORK!!!!!!!


I flash it with the NO GSYNC!!!!

IT IS WORKING!!!!!!!

 

aw man, i would rep you so hard right now! gotta spread the love first though

in any case: GOOD JOB! CONGRATZ! now we can finally consider the Zotac 1070 as a REAL MXM 3.1B upgrade

now we expect tons of benchmark data, naturally

 

First game tested with the MSI NO GSYNC Bios and Internal eGP Display:
http://i.imgur.com/HylG6mt.png

 

Good job man, props for taking the risk. Big risk = big payoff. Zotac 1070 is the one to get it seems. how is the ASIC quality (check GPUZ)

 

Congos man really worth the shot seems like it, So the corporate filth has failed again !!!
Also note the GPU-Z doesn't have check on UEFI BIOS does that mean it will boot without the UEFI a.k.a Windoze X ?

 

It says this:

http://i.imgur.com/7voCipA.png

Any other way to know it?

 

very interesting. seems GPU-Z needs to update its ASIC reader

 

I do not know

 

I'm downloading this stuff, and about Rivatuner, I have never try it before...

 

Good job. Im impressed you were able to make the card work. Did you need the manual fan controls or did they start working after the vbios update?

BTW, your laptop is an alienware 17 R1 Ranger. If it has the i7 4xxx generation processor this is the proper name for it. The M17x r4 was the last of the "M17x" generation. You laptop is the first of the "17" generation. When you look up parts etc you must look them up for AW 17 R1.

 

@Ashtrix, Here you have the Benchmarks:

http://imgur.com/a/ZbENH

Please let me know what do you think.

 

You are right is the AW17 R1, but in México this comes as M17x R5.
And about the FAN control, I have to do it manually with HWiNFO64...

I hope to find the way to fix it....

 

good to see the zotac card sporting the proper boost clocks with the MSI vbios FS graphics score also looks very promising, me likes

 

unlikely, must it is something to do with how the card interacts with the EC in the Alienware 17. Some cards did not spin fan at all in some systems, ex: Clevo 8970M in M18x R1 or sometimes it forces max fan (ex: clevo 8970M in M15x).

this is a hardware thing, no way around it other than HWinfo. Strange though, nVidia cards used to play nice with all ECs. never had an nvidia card that didn't enable native fan control. Pascal has thrown everything out the window

 

Everything seems in order, just monitor your temps and enjoy your new machine

 

Yeah they are good for the first run but due to the low TGP of this MXM3.1B card It's at 15K. Actual Clevo 1070 should score at 17-18K - Firestrike Standard. That's why We need the power pull from the RTSS/HWInfo monitoring during the FS Ultra benchmark to know what's this card TDP - Also check for any Perf. Cap reasons while you bench or game on GPU-Z

Also sent you a PM regarding the EC. Hope you clear it out, let us know what happens, I have a feeling that the Fans are behaving just like with Maxwell GPUs, Hope it's the case..And enjoy the beast !!

 

Thank you very much for your help!!!

My next goal is to design a new heatsink from scratch all of cooper with 5 or 6 heatpipes to OC this card.

 

can we get only the card from Zotac ?
and how much would it cost ?
thanks

 

I will also contact Zotac to buy another card maybe the 1060 since the zbox does not work with the 970M, or without mxm card... sad.

 

I remember when I saw the benchmarks of the Zotac mini PC it scored in the 15k range. So I believe his score is pretty good considering that he is getting same performance as out of the box Zotac.

Regardless of what the MSI/Clevo cards can do, I would still the little bit less performance of the Zotac over the chassis work needed to run MSI cards.

 

Zotac doesn't sell standalone cards, they are not allowed to by contract with their supplier...

The reason you didn't get a picture on your internal screen is not the vBIOS itself but the header data which is build into the Zotac BIOS instead the GPU vBIOS in order to keep people from using it in other shells. HP does the same to their MXM cards.
Also Zotac's MXM cards are targeted at lower TDP, hence the standard form factor.
e.g. their 1070 is designed for 90W versus the 115W of MSI and Clevo MXM models.
Not sure abut their 1080...
You should be fine with the MSI vBIOS, but make sure to cool those MOSFET's properly and consider adding the 3 missing ones.

 

Thanks @Prema !!!

I will design a new Heatsink with full Cooper.

 

As Prema said, I would probably add the MOSFETs too if you have any intention to OC, or else you will have a very expensive paperweight.

 

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/252506661856?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

Ive been eyeing this one with the intention of adding one more heatpipe from the vrm section of the card. I believe my last 980m died due to overheated VRMs and i dont want it to happen again.

 

aw thats bad news...would force potential upgraders to try and sell off the zotac box without gpu and the old gpu separately....

can the 90W cap be altered in any way via vbios or is that some kinda hardware coded thing that cant be changed?

Sent from my Huawei Mate 8 NXT-AL10

 

MSI GT72VR is a 60HZ display....so if its bios works in this zotac 1070 it will work on alienware 17r1 60hz display rite ?? wat are ur suggestions
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...tising-which-gt72vr-has-120hz-display.795077/
https://www.reddit.com/r/MSILaptops...vr_control_panel_only_shows_4060hz_not_120hz/

 

The card only support eDP, no LVDS supported, I mean, the card may work, but you will have to use external display...

 

Wow this is a good one!

I think we can also build it with our 100W and 75W Heatsinks!

 

Wait a minute...

I was looking this review:
http://www.funkykit.com/reviews/barebones-systems/zotac-zbox-magnus-en1070-gaming-mini-pc-review/4/

And he took a picture of GPU-Z of the 1070, and it shows 170 TMU...

Why?

GPU-Z Issue? Driver Issue?

Thanks!

 

Disregard this message, is because the GPU-Z Versión.

Thank You!

 

Congrats for your endeavour! Hope you can stabilise your system and keep updating about your new all copper heatsink