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    GTX 970 / GTX 980M in M17x R2

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by lastshady, Oct 9, 2014.

  1. lastshady

    lastshady Notebook Consultant

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    Hi:hi2:
    Here´s the question:

    Is it possible or are the chances high that i can put one or two gtx 970/980m in my M17r2 in the future?

    I read Gtx 970M has a tdp of 100 Watt while Gtx 980M´s Tdp is 122 Watt

    So i think it could only be possible with GTX 970M.
    Did anyone tryed this out already?

    Thanks in advance

    Shady
     
    lastshady, Oct 9, 2014
    #1
  2. J.Dre

    J.Dre Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Are you referring to the M17x R2 or the Alienware 17 R2 that hasn't been released yet?
     
    J.Dre, Oct 9, 2014
    #2
  3. lastshady

    lastshady Notebook Consultant

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    im refering to the old M17x R2
     
    lastshady, Oct 9, 2014
    #3
  4. J.Dre

    J.Dre Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    It looks like the GTX 680M & 780M worked in some M17x R2's. Nobody tried upgrading to an 880M, as far as I can tell.

    At this point, we don't know if the 970M/980M will even work in the M17x R4 or AW 17 R1. You'll have to wait and see. ;)
     
    J.Dre, Oct 9, 2014
    #4
  5. lastshady

    lastshady Notebook Consultant

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    Ok, thanks on updating me
     
    lastshady, Oct 9, 2014
    #5
  6. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    No cards are out in the wild yet, check back in 2-3 months and people will have tested some configurations.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Oct 10, 2014
    #6
  7. Alienware-L_Porras

    Alienware-L_Porras Company Representative

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    You would need to compare those with the latest cards supported by the m17x R2 (680m and 780m) If the requirements are the same then you may be lucky, but no one can tell 'til they are released.
     
    Alienware-L_Porras, Oct 10, 2014
    #7
  8. lastshady

    lastshady Notebook Consultant

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    then...lets hope :)

    970m :biggrin: this would be soo nice
     
    lastshady, Oct 13, 2014
    #8
  9. pinoy_92

    pinoy_92 Notebook Evangelist

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    i wasnt aware that the 780m ever worked on a r2. AFAIK the best config on a r2 is a dual 7970m. by then, the cpu would be bottlenecking the gpu.
     
    pinoy_92, Oct 15, 2014
    #9
  10. toto29620

    toto29620 Notebook Consultant

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    780m work only on external screen if i am right. And no sound , so usb stick required.
     
    toto29620, Oct 16, 2014
    #10
  11. lastshady

    lastshady Notebook Consultant

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    lastshady, Oct 19, 2014
    #11
  12. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    It's bold to claim those platforms before they are tested. Also they are likely not in stock yet.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Oct 19, 2014
    #12
  13. TBoneSan

    TBoneSan Laptop Fiend

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    Eurocom is also claming 980m will work with the m17 r2. I wonder if they've actually tested this.
     
    TBoneSan, Oct 20, 2014
    #13
  14. triturbo

    triturbo Long live 16:10 and MXM-B

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    I have almost no doubts about it working (there is always a slim chance of incompatibility of course), but would it SLi, this is the question :)
     
    triturbo, Oct 20, 2014
    #14
  15. MickyD1234

    MickyD1234 Notebook Prophet

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    This has been bothering me also. Stating Alienware before anyone has tried it and Dell do not sell it (yet) is very bold. Hope they have a good returns policy?

    Maybe it has been tested since the cards will have been in the hands of the OEM's for some months now but a lot of the 970/980m sellers are taking pre-orders with no actual stock!
     
    MickyD1234, Oct 20, 2014
    #15
  16. lastshady

    lastshady Notebook Consultant

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    stil no 970m/980m tested in m17x r2?
     
    lastshady, Nov 26, 2014
    #16
  17. MickyD1234

    MickyD1234 Notebook Prophet

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    No chance so far. Latest info is that you can get an AW to boot as long as you use UEFI in the bios AND disable compatibility mode (and of course use win 8) The R2 does not have any UEFI support so unless someone rewrites the vbios code to support standard POST you are SOL.

    This has to have been an active decision by NV. Every previous card (and the desktop 9xx cards) support legacy POST :mad:
     
    MickyD1234, Nov 26, 2014
    #17
  18. NqGeo

    NqGeo Newbie

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    I looked into upgrade M17xR3 to 980m, went so far as to purchase, after about a month was told by retailer that unable to do so as it requires vBIOS update from Dell. Unlikely that they'll be too enthusiastic to release anything for a while. I would guess that rules out the R2 as well in the right now. In the longer future, who knows, either Dell will release vBIOS or some smart bugger will.

    Eurocom is who I tried to purchase upgrade for R3 from, they in the end couldn't supply due to vBIOS. Ask specific questions if you look to purchase. Don't get me wrong, they're a good retailer, money back or alternate upgrade offered immediately, but I just didn't ask the right questions.
     
    NqGeo, Nov 27, 2014
    #18
  19. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Well it may be worth a try as other brand's models without uefi have managed to run the card.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Nov 27, 2014
    #19
  20. MickyD1234

    MickyD1234 Notebook Prophet

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    MickyD1234, Nov 27, 2014
    #20
  21. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Yes it's never easy is it? Seems to have hit AW hardest this time, it's worth a try if you can and you can recover your costs if it does not.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Nov 27, 2014
    #21
  22. MickyD1234

    MickyD1234 Notebook Prophet

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    For sure, like you say as long as they accept returns :).
     
    MickyD1234, Nov 27, 2014
    #22
  23. lastshady

    lastshady Notebook Consultant

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    man this kinda sucks ;-(
    then my best option would be to go with 7970m crossfire while i have the r2.

    I´ll use it till its too slow for anything, cause such a screen i wont find so easily
     
    lastshady, Dec 2, 2014
    #23
  24. MickyD1234

    MickyD1234 Notebook Prophet

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    Yeah, a much safer bet, and should still game very well.
     
    MickyD1234, Dec 3, 2014
    #24
  25. nbr2019

    nbr2019 Notebook Consultant

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    I wanted to give it a try if I could find one for 350$ range , any sponsors ?
    Where can I get one for the best price ?
    I have a m17x r2 with single gtx 285m so it would be a insane upgrade for me.
    I have decided to go with a 970m rather than 980m.
    Did anyone else test this yet ?
     
    nbr2019, Dec 25, 2014
    #25
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  26. toto29620

    toto29620 Notebook Consultant

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    The 970m work in the m15xr2 who is pretty much a single gpu version of the m17x r2 so it's worth a try i would say.
     
    toto29620, Dec 26, 2014
    #26
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  27. nbr2019

    nbr2019 Notebook Consultant

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    Yup thats correct , I see them working perfectly on m15x . So I guess it should on m17x r2 .
    I dont have enough funds to get one or else I would have already pulled the trigger .
     
    nbr2019, Dec 26, 2014
    #27
  28. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Consider the power/performance ratio of the 970m it really is the perfect partner to a lot of the older systems.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Dec 26, 2014
    #28
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  29. ttdusen

    ttdusen Newbie

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    ttdusen, Jan 5, 2015
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  30. maxslo

    maxslo undefined

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    Alienware 15 o_O holy $#!7 they are bringing it back, i hope it won't be BGA GPU as rumors go..
     
    maxslo, Jan 6, 2015
    #30
  31. TomJGX

    TomJGX I HATE BGA!

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    It will definetly be BGA CPU and BGA GPU...
     
    TomJGX, Jan 6, 2015
    #31
  32. maxslo

    maxslo undefined

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    Fully BGA? omg, this is gonna drive away many people, myself included.
     
    maxslo, Jan 6, 2015
    #32
  33. Killiandros

    Killiandros Notebook Consultant

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    Is this still a possibility?

    I'd love to get another year out of my 17xR2 with another graphics card upgrade (everything else is adequate).

    My 680m does the job well enough for now but I'd prefer to upgrade it to a 970/980 for a little more longevity before I look to purchase my next Alienware laptop given the significant cost of a new system in comparison.

    I think Flingin (?) tried the 780m but no matter what he tried, he couldn't get it to work so I opted for the 680m at the time.
     
    Killiandros, Jan 8, 2015
    #33
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  34. maxslo

    maxslo undefined

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    looks like no1 pulled the trigger on M17x R2, we'll have to wait a bit longer :)
     
    maxslo, Jan 13, 2015
    #34
  35. nbr2019

    nbr2019 Notebook Consultant

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    I HAVE PULLED THE TRIGGER !!
    I placed the order for Clevo GTX 970m via RJTech today . This is the same card used in m15x gtx 970m upgrade . So since both lappy's are almost same bios/hw (except dual gpu) , this should work.
    I'l keep you guys posted.
     
    nbr2019, Feb 8, 2015
    #35
    katalin_2003, maxslo, Killiandros and 3 others like this.
  36. toto29620

    toto29620 Notebook Consultant

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    +rep for that guy !

    Good luck man, a lot of people are waiting for the result i think !
     
    toto29620, Feb 8, 2015
    #36
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  37. nbr2019

    nbr2019 Notebook Consultant

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    Will keep you guys posted !!!
    Thanks
     
    nbr2019, Feb 8, 2015
    #37
    KneeArrow3395, Meaker@Sager, Killiandros and 1 other person like this.
  38. Killiandros

    Killiandros Notebook Consultant

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    Good luck - thanks for being brave enough to pull the trigger and test for us!
     
    Killiandros, Feb 10, 2015
    #38
  39. KneeArrow3395

    KneeArrow3395 Notebook Enthusiast

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    your Signature---> Alienware M17X R2 : CPU: i7 720QM | GPU: GTX 970M :D | Ram: 8GB 1600mhz | SSD: OCZ Denva 2 C 240GB | HDD: Western Digital Scorpio Blue 1TB
    does the 970m works fine in M17X R2?
     
    KneeArrow3395, Feb 12, 2015
    #39
  40. nbr2019

    nbr2019 Notebook Consultant

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    Not yet but will on the 14th .
     
    nbr2019, Feb 12, 2015
    #40
  41. toto29620

    toto29620 Notebook Consultant

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    Some news ?
     
    toto29620, Feb 15, 2015
    #41
  42. nbr2019

    nbr2019 Notebook Consultant

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    Waiting to receive the card.
     
    nbr2019, Feb 15, 2015
    #42
  43. nbr2019

    nbr2019 Notebook Consultant

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    Sorry for the delay, my friend forwarded the package to me from US.
    I guess it should reach me by this Friday or Saturday, il keep you guys posted.
     
    nbr2019, Feb 23, 2015
    #43
  44. toto29620

    toto29620 Notebook Consultant

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    That's always the hardest moment, the shipping time :D
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Feb 23, 2015
    toto29620, Feb 23, 2015
    #44
  45. nbr2019

    nbr2019 Notebook Consultant

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    True that!!!!
     
    nbr2019, Feb 24, 2015
    #45
  46. flingin

    flingin M17x R2 Mafia

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    Any news....if it works i will keep my R2 :)
     
    flingin, Mar 9, 2015
    #46
  47. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

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    Let's hope so. Since it works in the M15x, there's a nice chance that it will. Sure would be nice.
     
    Mr. Fox, Mar 9, 2015
    #47
  48. Killiandros

    Killiandros Notebook Consultant

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    Not that my 680m isn't still doing a decent job but my R2 isn't going anywhere now as I was waiting for the new 17/18 to upgrade and we all know how the refresh turned out...

    I'm really really hoping I could squeeze a bit more life out of my R2 with a 970/980. Then I can wait until Dell reverses their boneheaded decision on non-upgradeable / external graphics design decisions. (Did anyone even ask for those things?) Or never purchase another Alienware again. Their call.

    Hoping for good news! :D
     
    Killiandros, Mar 10, 2015
    #48
  49. nbr2019

    nbr2019 Notebook Consultant

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    Hi guys I have a good news and a bad news.
    I installed the card on my m17x r2 , it boots up and goes to windows but the colors are messed up.
    What should I do ?
     
    nbr2019, Mar 10, 2015
    #49
  50. GodlikeRU

    GodlikeRU Notebook Deity

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    Did you removed the old drivers completely?
     
    GodlikeRU, Mar 10, 2015
    #50
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