Alienware m17x R4 Advice on GPU Compatability/Upgrades

Hello everyone and thank you for taking the time to read this post, I have been lurking around a little now and thought I may as well make a account to get, some help and advice from you as it seems you’re the best people to deal with, when it comes down to alienware laptops and laptop gpu upgrades in general, right anyway onto my problem.

I would like a bit of advice on upgrading my Alienware m17x R4 with GTX 770M and if this is possible to do as I have been looking and reading around and have not managed to find out if someone has successfully done this yet, or if it is possible with a bit of tinkering and if I need to buy a certain card or where the best place/most recommended to buy this would be, also if upgrading to a GTX770M is not possible what would my next best option be as I am looking around the £200-350 mark for getting a new card, if possible it would be nice to have a response from someone that has got one working, or even a list of steps to get it going thanks again.

Thank you for reading and I eagerly await your responses.

 

Hi and welcome .

There are a couple of threads on the 770m in an R3/R4 and from what I saw there were many difficulties and only one success . You don't say your GPU starting point?

Basic rule with these things is if dell do not list the card with the model some work will be required. If it's not a 120hz model then you need an unlocked bios (more searching!) so that you can force the new card. Otherwise optimus gets in the way and causes selection problems.

You also need a modified driver that has the machine/card ID in it. Otherwise the driver install fails to see the hardware . I get them from here: LaptopVideo2Go: Drivers but sometimes you need to ask for community help

HTH

 

Thank you for responding, and thank you for the welcome too

Sorry I would be starting from a GTX660M I'm not looking to upgrade right anyway just more of ideas/information on if it is possible and what cards do work as they are not cheap to just go and get so I wanted a little info on them, anyway thanks for conferming that the 770m is not recommended for this, what would a similar card be and a upgrade over a GTX660M be still within the realm of £200-350 I was looking into the 7970M but was unsure if I would require a mounting kit with this or if it uses a standard throughout the MXM cards and has the same heatsink, anyway thank you for your help.

 

As Micky pointed out, you may have some work on your hand. If i were you i would not pick the 770M, i'd rather get the 680M.

Let me tell you why, The 680 is a beast and will outperform the 770 on most days. The 680 should mostly be plug and play, most cards ship with pads or you can buy them from a hardware store for a couple of bucks.

You can also move to the 7970M but i have my preference with Nvidia even though they have been having some driver trouble of late.

hope that helps.

 

You're very welcome.

You've got a couple of simple options that should be just plug-n-play. The price is going to be the killer. You have to think 'is a hundred or so more worth the less hassle'?

Both the 675m and the 680m will give you a good gaming boost but the 675m is not a reliable card (it's identical to the 580m). I'd say save the pennies and go for a 680m. From what I see it's still chasing down all the latest 7x cards with a little OC work .

The 7970m is also a very good card and the chip layout is the same (yes standard) but thickness's of (padded) components can change AND you must get the x-bracket designed for the card. This sets the core/heatsink clearance. Just takes a little care to make sure you get it right.

Good luck in your search