Alienware 17 and M17x R4 Upgrading / 980m / PSU? / CPU / 120hz screen?

AFAIK until the Prema's v1.x updated version gets public release the throttling on 120Hz / PEG modes will persist only with non-stock Clocks (OC) and custom unlocked vBIOSes, regarding the vBIOS flashing the good news is unlike previous times the 120Hz AW17 owners couldn't flash the GPU due to the locked BIOS but thanx to new NVFlash it's up at Prema's page where you can flash it on Full UEFI + SLI machines easily.

Spoiler: moar

On a side note :
For Maxwell on M18x R2 it was necessary to put in SG mode per 1 GPU then do the flash job and the AW18 machines couldn't get the job done at all and 17 too. M17x R4 was exception as that and M18x R2 had Unlcocked BIOS mods to put in SG / etc... & saving a couple of reboots with disable then re-enabling the 9xxM from device mngr for all 60Hz/optimus machines...

Optimus mode doesn't have any throttling but I think optimus is crap at doing work efficiently (Faster switching, Proper handling of both dGPU / iGPU handling off job, to put in simple words optimus loads the iGPU- IntelHD way too much and cranks up the CPU temps / clocks while in Dedicated mode this never happens)

 

I didn't do it myself but I've seen a few users here with 120hz displays that had success. As Robbo says, you need the bios to be in UEFI boot mode with no compatibility option (pure UEFI) and win 8.1. This option is in all BIOS versions from A08 onwards the R4 and all later models - no need for an unlocked bios.

This should allow the machine to POST. If all you get is beeps then something is not right already.

Then boot into win 8 from CD and simply format the drive and install win 8. If you have win 8 then there is a good chance it will be (almost) plug and play. You will need a modded driver inf to install the driver but if you already have an NV driver installed then do not remove it. It will work with the new card and simply need the res setting.

laptopvideo2go/drivers for the modded inf for the driver install.

Good luck.

EDIT: The 970m has given many people problems, I'd avoid it!

 

What kind of problems with the 970M MickyD? I'd always thought the 970M would be a solid value performance card, with lots of overclocking headroom with a modified vBIOS.

 

I've seen three that would not POST. The first was way back when the cards came out and he ended up getting a 980m replacement that worked fine. I don't recall the exact problem with the second report but I believe he did manage to get it working eventually. The last one was recently and it refuses to POST, but this is an R3 60hz so the lack of UEFI and needing Optimus to POST, it my be a total incompatibility? Actually I just remembered there was an R3/60hz 970m owner that said it worked for them but no idea of the way he did it.

It just seemed that there is some difference between the 970m and the 980m that changes the rules - or it simply could have been the OEM Vbios used? If you know what you are doing then it is worth a try, as you say, if it runs cooler than this 980m hot-plate I have the overhead should be much better. I'm not even considering a vbios update to mine since NV drivers right now have enough trouble at stock. The stock +135mhz gets my cards to the upper limit of temps I feel comfortable with anyway

 

Yeah, you've got a great system - I'm jealous! ;-) Haha, well I'm ok with mine for now, getting some more value out of it! Yeah, the new Maxwell cards don't work in the R3, some people have tried 980M with no luck, so I'm surprised to hear that someone supposedly got a 970M to work in it - dubious! (Reborn and Mr. Fox couldn't get 980M to work in R3 and M18xR1.)

 

i have the same laptop i'm using M17x R4 3940xm, 16GB G.Skill, 120Hz screen and 240w PSU

and got this score? someone can help?

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/9257466

 

Sorry to necro this thread a month later, but are people still encountering throttling on the 980m in dedicated mode? Or has that nut been cracked with a specific vbios or modified driver?

 

I'm using 980M + 120hz screen + windows 10 + Driver 352.84 + SVL7 bios + (P-state matching) instructions from J95 = no throttling at 1126/2505 Mhz.
If I overclock it throttles badly.

 

Thanks, @Solo wing - do you have a link to J95's p-state instructions or was that part of a private conversation? Also, this is with optimus disabled, right?

 

I have the 120hz screen, so the dedicated GPU is always running & Optimus is always disabled.
Plenty of information here:
https://www.techinferno.com/index.p...termarket-upgrades-driver-support-modded-inf/
I forgot what page, recommend reading the whole thread only 38 pages

 

try prema's vbios then.

 

With Prema's vbios I was able to OC the core and memory, got more than 9000 on Firestrike once. But with every shutdown/restart the card has a mind of it's own (sudden throttling sometimes on stock clocks).
SVL7's vbios is very stable, I could game/benchmark for hours (@1126/2505) and not throttle once, but sadly overclocking causes severe throttling.
On the bright side, even with stock clocks I'm almost getting 2x the performance of my 680M.

 

that's a shame.

 

From the charts I've seen, the 980m is literally twice the card. A little off topic - I'm wondering now if the "1080m" will be even half-way compatible with the r4 (given that it looks like it's taken a year to get to some semblance of stability on the 980m). I'm sitting on the fence (and my 680m) presently. The 980m in the r4/r5 sounds like... a pain. Actually, @thegh0sts, how have you found the effort to payout ratio on your 980m... experience?

(maybe more like 980m adventure or 980m odyssey if the forum posts are any indicator)

 

the setup work ain't so bad in general...probably because i went through it and know what to do. If you're playing it like i did - waiting it out - then you have a wealth of information and experience to work with. But there's always a risk when it comes to doing these things: finanically and satisfaction. For me i spent a decent amount of cash on an upgrade that could potentially fail and in the end it worked out and I haven't had issues with the card since. I've had my card since early-mid June 2015 and it is a solid performer.

So yeah i think the effort-to-payout ratio is in good in terms of low-medium effort (most of it is technical knowledge over actually doing the upgrade) compared to high performance payout.

TL: DR - Get the card!

 

Here's what I think:
Do I regret buying the 980M? NOOOOO, In fact I'm very happy with that decision.
The 980M is an amazing performer, I got the card back in June after I gathered a lot of information. With many trial & error I've finally reached the most stable configuration of Vbios + driver.
Right now the card can destroy any title out there without much effort. I don't have any throttling (except when I overclock the GPU core).
I remember how hot and problematic my old cards were: 8500GT, 8800 (512) GT, ATi 4870x2 , 580GTX. I can truly say that putting this amount of power (980M) in a mobile computer while keeping the temperatures under 63c is truly astonishing.

As for the 1080 It depends on what standard they go with, if it's the MXM 3.0b or the new standard (like 980 Notebook). S**T it might even be a soldered chip,I guess only time will tell.

 

I hope it's MXM, then we can test if it works on older models.