Alienware m17x R4 GTX1070 mxm successful upgrade

Thanks. I had to delete the 5.9 settings via regedit and install the older 5.8 ver again.

 

are you sure you get independent fan controls effectively working or both sliders control both fans anyways? check your fans to see if the gpu doesn't ramp up the rpms when moving the cpu. let us know and Thanks!

 

With the ver. (unclear which) from the original seller the HWInfo was controlling the GPU fan only. The CPU would not respond to any manual settings.
But now that I had to re-image & reinstall HWInfo it seems both the CPU and GPU are set to same PWM signal. Not clear why.

 

cant you download and try old versions?

 

I'm sure I could eventually find the right old ver but I am fine with CPU/GPU fans both running at full speed when using the Oculus/Gaming. Not having HWInfo hang is the most important piece.

 

Woah. I logged back in at NBR thinking the same upgrade thing. Can I ask how much did it cost you for the video card? And where to get it? Im thinking to revive my m17x r3 with a busted 6970m which I bought last 2011. Thanks!

 

R3 can only go up to 680m

 

My card was around $600 and I bought in on Ebay. Not really sure what the M17x R3 takes though.

 

680m is the limit on the R3

Unless maybe the w7170m but I am not sure on that.

 

With unlocked BIOS and the loss of sound as drawback, the R3 can go up to 880m, though not the very best choice due to possible overheating issues, most recommended is 780m, where sm. managed to reactivate the sound and most not.

 

Zotac 1070 Zbox, probably so pricey not to be worth it. I sold my R2 and bought a pre-made 1070 R4 off ebay.

 

500 usd for another card of the same form factor.

 

Hey guys! Do any of you guys with upgraded gpu on the m17x r4 especially if zotac have the HDMI -in working? mine just switches to a black screen

 

As far as I understand its just software? Do you have the Alienware software installed?

@EepoSaurus, @loafer987 did you ever test the HDMI IN after installing your 1070?

 

Never upgraded the r4 or m18x r2 so don't have HDMI in to test.

Sent from my Phone 2 using Tapatalk

 

I understand, it was more of a search of precedent. Considering our laptops are basically the 2/3 laptops that HDMI IN is available its likely that the method is the same. Does it work on your Ranger?

 

Yup, I installed the Alienware OSD and tried following up on all the info I could find online even cleaning the ports very thoroughly and still I only get a black screen which shows up automatically after plugging in the cable.

Want to be able to plug in my nintendo switch, at last I find a use for it on the go and now it doesn't work lol.

 

Can confirm. Jack and **** are only things displayed with HDMI in.

 

what do you mean?

 

Hope this isn't offensive but old school jpg

 

So are there other drivers to try or anything? I now read that HDMI works on the 17x R1 w this card.

 

Just to update you guys with the performance and reliability of the Zotac 1070 and the new physics score from the 3940xm OC
4.3 / 4.2 / 4.1 / 4.1ghz both liquid metal cooled and NO fan mod.

 

Cutting pwm wire with m14x R2 will probably yield better Temps for your highs, best to make a switch though so it's not full bore all the time.

 

Yup, well those temps are with heavy OC, even higher than the level3 BIOS one. When I run the cpu at its normal speed or overckock 1 it stays in the 70's. but I purchased that fan with a green sticker that is supposed to be plug and play, waiting for it to come. lets see how that goes.

 

Handale,
Thanks for the great thread! I have an original M17X r4 with an AMD 7970m on Win7 I’ve been thinking about updating. I have a lot of experience upgrading old towers in my youth (new hardrives, memory, GPUs) but I’ve never worked on a laptop, or done anything with heat sinks or thrermal tape. My goal is to have a great up to date gaming laptop. Is it worth it to upgrade, or should I just invest in a new laptop. I love the Alienware, but I’m just don’t know if I’m capable enough to do a full upgrade.

 

When you have a 7970m then you have a 60 Hz Display, none of the 10xx cards will run on that, you'd have to upgrade that to a 120 Hz display.

I'd say just do it, CPU power of that generation is still decent enough imo.

 

It's only daunting the first time, after taking apart a laptop a dozen times it's like tying a shoe. Watch a breakdown if you need to for the first couple of times then after that your good to go.

 

To upgrade from the AMD 7970 to the GTX 10xx, does that require any physical mods? I.e cutting boards/chassis and such?

 

It may require a heatsink mod depending on card and you'll need a 120HZ screen

 

If you already have the screen then I would say go for it. Otherwise just buy a new generation laptop.

 

You'll need new heatsink, they are sold precut on ebay.

You will need eDP cable and 120hz panel

You will want a k1000m so you can transition from LVDS to peg mod in the bios.

Which also brings up unlocked bios, I think you may or may not need it to set appropriate settings before install.

Also you will need windows 10 in a pure uefi environment.

 

Should I upgrade to Win10 UEFI setup before I upgrade any of the hardware?

 

Yes essential step for a 10xx upgrade, UEFI and a GPT boot partition.

 

Any recommended guides out there? I’ve heard it’s best to upgrade to Win 10 first, then do a clean install after.
Thanks for the help!
Zac

 

No need for that, I installed it straight ahead.

First set UEFI in the BIOS (also recommend to turn fast and secure boot off) .
Partition type can be switched during installation, when the option for choosing the drive appears, hit shift and f10, and then using fdisk. Better look up the commands first and write em down.

 

I currently have the FHD 1920x1080 60hz display (K6PJ1). I plan on putting in a GTX 1070. What are my display upgrade options? I can’t seem to find anything besides the FHD 3D 120hz display. I was hoping to get to a higher resolution (4K?).

 

Just updated my drivers to 419.67, still no HDMI-In. Oddly I could not get latest 430.64 to install.

 

Has nothing to do with drivers and everything to do with Alienware software iirc.

 

Ah bummer. Had to go back to 398.36 driver BTW. Seems the Vram can't be detected on the 4XX and prevents 3dMark from running.

 

That's odd I ran I think it was 418 on my ranger, though that was with the 1060, I have the 1070 now and am in the middle of modding it to accept the msi 1070.

 

So guys, a sad update from my side of this wish of keeping my m17x R4 and not buying the new laptops.

I was playing battlefield with normal temps (mid 80’s) ,no A/C on in the room, for about 3 hours, suddently my laptop shut off completely and I heard a ticking sound coming from around the middle of the laptop, so I lifted up the laptop and touched the battery and I immediately heard a crackling burning sound and white smoke started coming from under the laptop . I disconnected the power cord, removed the battery and took the bottom cover off.

I then tried to put the batt on to try and turn it on and as soon as I placed the batt in there was a flash and sound coming from the gpu right next to the CPU, so I removed the batt and removed the GPU and found this...



Something fried on the GPU and left a black mark on the motherboard which luckily was easily removed. I then tried to boot my laptop without the GPU and I had the lights come on again and an 8 beep code, so apparently the m17x r4 was unharmed hopefully but the GPU os toast.

Now just to clarify, I had the GTX1070mxm Zotac version with the 150w MSI vbios, metal cooled, 17kwh thermal pads, 330w psu. I recommend if you have this card be careful and its best to keep the 240w pau I guess to restrict the power a bit on the GPU. Ill edit the post in a sec to include the pics and more info.

I would be very grateful to read your comments and advice on which gtx1070 card should I get in the normal mxm form factor or if I should go for the 1060. Im never going back to Zotac cards because I hated having to have to run the GPU manually.

I thank you in advance sad sad day... dont know if I should just buy a new laptop as mxm cards are so expensive in comparison to used 1060 laptops.

 

Mid 80s is 40c above my card you ran that card way hot and for prolonged periods of time it seems.

Also the msi vbios is 115w, not sure why listings have it for 150w.

 

Hum? I dont undestand... when you game your GPU temps stay around 45 degrees celcius? That’s imposible isnt it? I had everything of the best quality for cooling and only during hard gaming would it rise to 80’s.

Do you know if the card can be fixed or should I just buy a new one. What a waste.
And my card would pull 141w sometimes, should the vbios prevent it from doing that?

 

My normal gaming temps at present are 46c-52c on the high end.

 

Did you flash that vBIOS yourself? That's way too much for the Zotac, as they tend to be of lesser quality than the MSI, from what I've read.

Btw, from what I've read a 1070 mostly is around 70 C during hard load, around 50 C under load is the optimum, but most people won't reach these temps under load in the AW17, except @TheReciever and @Striker1234, I think.

My 1060 is around 65 C when gaming.

 

It's worth noting that I'm using an aftermarket heatsink with the fan maxed at all times, as well as cooler master u3 with 2150rpm gentle typhoons.

I also have the card tuned for 1700 core and +500 on the memory. The vrms overheat with my current heatsink, which will be fixed as soon as I stop being lazy and replace it (already have it). If I tune for higher core speeds (which then is higher tdp) is when I over heat. My heatsink has been chopped up quite a bit over the past couple of years. My next installation will be fixing all this and hopefully allow some higher overclocks.

Just waiting for everything to be ready before I overhaul the ranger again.

 

80c is fine for a 1070, TJmax is 95C for Pascal last I checked. What likely happened is the VRM's blew. If its just the VRM's, shouldn't be too hard of a fix, if something else is damaged or the PCB is done then you're going to have alot on your hands and at that point IMO sell the M17X R4 and go for a newer laptop.

 

I do not recommend anyone using a vBIOS higher than 115w max on any of the "standard mxm3.0b" style cards. If anything they should be 100w for safety. Undervolting should also help maintain clocks.

 

Ill explain in depth what happened tomorrow, im already on it, and I realy dont want this to happen to anyone else so ill try to see what went on, on the meantime...

Do you guys recommend another GTX 1070mxm with the standard formfactor that is not the zotac and has the fan control enabled that doesn't blow up or should I just go GTX 1060 mxm?

There arr some 1070 on ebay but cant seem to find where they are from, Asrock or gecube, china, who knows...
And keep it safe and upgrade laptop once this doesn't cut it. Never selling the m17x r4 but ill get another one when i need to.

The vbios I installed was the same one @Striker1234 used, but my card drawed 140w sometimes.
Thanks guys, ill report back with pics n stuff

 

Oh no, you let out the magic smoke.

I'm (cancel WAS) running the same card. It does totally suck balls that you have to manually set 100% GPU when gaming. HWinfo inevitably freezes at less than 100% PWM so you crash the game or risk the card.

I just blast mine with the full copper heatink and whatever fan upgrade I did (forget) and yea 50*C is all I encounter.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/m17x-r4-with-gtx1070.814826/page-3#post-10826670

So there is a failsafe idea where you setup a normally closed thermaresistor on the PWM line. Then whenever the HWInfo itself the PWM is disconnected and the GPU fan goes full tilt.

That way the laptop doesn't cook itself. I look forward to your informing, albeit sad, update regarding what happened.

EDIT: If I were you I would splice in an Arnold scream and snap the M17x R4 in half on a YouTube video.