alienware m17x r3 gpu upgrade

i have the gtx 460m in my alienware, looking to upgrade. what is the best card i can get that is plug n play. i was looking at the AMD 6990m. is that plug n play? i was reading that the 3d screen wouldnt work with the amd card. will it not work at all or is it just the 3d that wont work.

also, where is the best place to buy a card? i cant find any one any site except ebay. thanks

another question, do you think its worth upgrading to a plug n play card? is the upgrade worth the money. for example, i just play the new assassins creed on my 460 card and i had to turn ALL the setting to low or off to play it smoothly. will a plug and play card give me a big enough upgrade that its worth the trouble/ money

 

eBay I'd reckon

Mebe 7970M if you like ati, if not 770m up is an option,

 

By plug and play, you mean not moding yourself the driver right?
Because, dont forget^^ if you buy a GPU, you will need to instal the themal paste and the heatsink with right pads, after that, you can mod or download drivers for the gpu.
If you change GPU, only gtx460m and i think gtx680m will give you 3D. others card will just run at 120Hz without 3D.

Here a list of nvidia cards should be compatible on your AW but not sure because no proove by myself: gtx765m, gtx770m, gtx780m.

BUT YOU are right, if you have a 3D screen, forget about ati GPU becauze they dont work on 120hZ screen. the display port isnt the same.

PS: if you are ready to upgrade gpu, i make myself an old youtube video when i upgrade gtx460m to gtx485m showing how to.

You can buy from eurocom, logicalblueone, trusted as i already ordered from them. ( i think ebay is the cheapest^^ )

 

Yeah, with a 120hz display only NV cards can POST @ 120hz.

The best one for the R3 is the 580m. Not a particularly reliable card in my experience (had a few die!) but performance is pretty good. My 675m is just a rebadged 580m and I play all my games great. Any card not sold with the model is going to need work and it's a dice roll as to how much

Pretty much any NV card can be made to work but if you're looking to not have to mess with modified drivers or any other problems that might arise go for a 580m (and you keep the 3D which is very good once you can get a decent frame rate )

At least with a 120hz model you don't have to mess with the BIOS - no Optimus

 

really good info guy thanks. exactly what i needed to know. so basicly its 580m or screw with custom drivers that im not exactly sure what to do with. if i buy a card with a headsink already on it, i can just unscrew, plug in, screw in, done. right?

 

Correct. If you can find one assembled then that would be the simplest option but Dell sell the heatsink complete with pads and paste applied, ready to just screw together, at around 25 USD/GBP.

No driver or BIOS messing with a 580m. Straight off the NV site for new drivers

HTH.

 

Pretty much yes. and the 580m is the latest officially supported card therefore you will find updates on our website for it.

 

is the 580m a big enough upgrade from the 460m to be worth the $300 and hassle of opening everything up? or should it mess with the bios to get a better card. ebay seems like the only place to get it right?

 

where on the dell website can i find this.

 

I would say so as far as a step up goes but I've never used a 460m. My 675m is the same card and performs very well on mostly v. high settings

I called up the support line and asked about the parts. The 580m heatsink is listed for your r3 so they will see it. They emailed me back a quick quote to proceed with - which I didn't.