GTX 970 / GTX 980M in M17x R2

And here are the first benchmarks:
http://imagizer.imageshack.com/img905/690/UnOgxG.png

 

OMG , I went back to the m17x R2 for the love the screen , and dual GPU on a 17" laptop. Now with this new treat of the 970m working in it. It's going to be lovely.

 

Need to read the fine print. SLI has not been tested and there is a problem with functionality using the RGB LED screen.

 

Ok, I'm new here and I've been searching for a thread like this for a long time. I have a Failienware M17xR2 with the following specs:

A10 stock BIOS (no tweaks)
i7 720QM
8GB RAM (stock clock)
2x500GB HDDs (no RAID)
1200p RGB LED monitor
5 minutes of battery life

Long story short, I had faulty 4870x2s that kept needing reflows because they used that cruddy eco-friendly solder that doesn't go well with AMD components. After 8 reflows, even using flux, I decided I needed to get a new GPU. After seeing a few posts on various sites saying the 860M works in the M17xR2, I decided to give it a whirl. I bought this model http://www.ebay.com/itm/Alienware-17-18-R1-MSI-Nvidia-GTX-860M-4GB-GDDR5-Video-Graphics-Card-GPU-J0M0K-/151738181095?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2047675.l2557&nma=true&si=2Hgc5Anas6%2FrXNaP2snKgePnR8Y%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc , DDU'ed the AMD drivers, and plugged the Nvidia one in, using Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste. It boots to BIOS just fine, and it attempts to load Windows. I get random colors like attached after the windows logo draws, which is odd since the logo is drawn at the 1200p resolution before the screen goes like this. I have to unplug the battery and power cable to reboot it. I am beginning to think this is not a Kepler 860M (it's the 4GB model). Any ideas on what I could do to get this working, hopefully with minimum risk of a brick? I really don't want to get rid of the laptop, since I have loved the 1200p glossy screen. If you need any other screenshots, let me know.

20150809_163011[1] by Gibbynator posted Aug 10, 2015 at 6:32 AM

20150809_162910[1] by Gibbynator posted Aug 10, 2015 at 6:32 AM

Edit #1: I am pretty sure it's Kepler now, since the card was an MXM slotted one and fit the slot occupied by the 4870 perfectly. I read on notebookcheck that the Kepler ones were the MXMs, where the Maxwells are the integrated ones.

 

If bios posts all ok and you get that in windows then it's probably driver related.
Are you using the Mr fox drivers found here?

Also do those colors remain i.e. when you go into safe mode do the colors still appear?

 

Thank you for the quick response. I finally managed to get it into safe mode, displays fine now. The computer repair shop I took it to screwed up the install and left the AMD drivers on, so I spent 10 hours today cleaning up their mistake (learned a hard lesson in doing things myself from now on).

So now that I'm in safe mode, are the Mr. Fox drivers the safest way to go, or are stock Nvidia Geforce drivers ok? I also saw http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/installed-860m-gk104-in-m17x-r2.772616/ where they did the exact same hardware setup, but loaded an slv7 vBIOS on the card. Is that necessary? I'm pretty new to modded vBIOS, and Google didn't turn up too many helpful results on what slv7 changes over stock bios.

 

No worries.
Definitely use DDU let it go into safe mode (let it do its thing for card replacement I think its the lowest option in your case with new card install) and then once booted into windows install those Mr fox modded drivers with the inf replacing the default drivers just follow his instructions. You won't be able to install default latest nvidia drivers without modded inf drivers just for your reference.

Good luck and welcome to da club

 

I don't think you need a modded vBIOS. Let me know if you have the same "white screen" issue like I do.
I am currently still on my 970M which I still haven't been able to fix. I might just have to trade it for a 880M.

 

I'll give it a shot. I just got back from work and errands too late today, so I'll give it a shot tomorrow and post results. The white screen issue was with the screen being shut off through Windows, correct? If you give me the conditions it happened to you in, I can try to replicate it.

 

Not just Windows, any situation. Any time the screen would be turned off, even before going into BIOS, I would have this issue.

 

Ok, I gave it a shot, and I still am getting the solid colored screen on boot (white this time). Here are all the steps I performed on my M17xR2, hopefully I just missed a step somewhere. Running Win7 Ultimate x64 and A10 stock BIOS, for reference.

1. Fix broken 4870x2s (reflowed by removing heatsinks and powering on, surprisingly worked in 10 seconds)
2. Reapply heatsinks using Arctic Silver 5.
3. Boot into Windows safe mode, no display abnormalities during BIOS boot.
4. Run DDU version 15, autoselected AMD drivers.
5. Chose option "Clean and shutdown"
6. Removed 4870x2s, installed 860M in left slot (primary), reapply heatsink using Arctic Silver 5.
7. Boot into Windows safe mode, no display abnormalities during BIOS boot.
   
8. Extracted [345.20 WHQL Desktop GeForce Driver] to C:\ drive
9. Added [Mr. Fox's zip file contents] to the Display.Driver folder in there, overwriting 3 files.
10. Ran setup.exe from folder
11. Chose 'Express Install' option in NVIDIA installer
12. Selected 'Install Unsigned Drivers anyways' on Windows popup.
13. Install completed without errors, restarted computer.
14. Tried booting into Windows with following options from F8 boot screen:

• Normal (white screen), no display abnormalities during BIOS boot.
• Safe mode (display runs from Intel HD, Device manager does recognize Nvidia GTX 860m Display adapter, but device is disabled as per safe mode) , no display abnormalities during BIOS boot or during Windows Safe mode usage.
• Disable driver signature reinforcement (cyan screen) , no display abnormalities during BIOS boot.
• No F8 pressed, (green screen), no display abnormalities during BIOS boot.
• Recorded test boot video through cruddy phone camera, viewable at

 

Looks the same issue as mine. Strange you don't get the whitescreen before boot. I do have a 860M with 2 GB of Vram ... so maybe it's my card that is different or my screen is... itl is a special screen since it's not the standard Alienware RGB LED.

 

So then the ultimate question is: Is there a way to fix this? Should I try posting this on Mr. Fox's thread/bounce him a PM and see if there is a workaround?

My card's the 4GB version (J0M0K). Mine is also a non-Dell 1200p RGB LED screen.

 

I think there is some sort of a compatibility problem, probably with the vBIOS although it could also be something with the system BIOS. If that is a Maxwell 860M that may also have something to do with it. While Maxwell works OK in some machines in Legacy BIOS, it appears they are designed primarily to work in a UEFI environment. The M17xR3 and Alienware 18 won't even POST with a Maxwell GPU installed... 8 beeps, no POST. M17xR4, M18xR2, Alienware 17 and 18 will only work in discrete graphics mode with BIOS set to UEFI without Legacy/CSM support.

 

they are Kepler.

 

The MXM slot ones, as far as I know, are all Keplars since they shipped with the R4s and 17/18 models.

I know I'm running the stock Phoenix A10 BIOS, but I have not tried tweaking any settings in there outside of the RAM/CPU overclocking. I saw no options anywhere that would allow me to choose UEFI, so I'm pretty sure my two options are custom BIOS or modded vBIOS on the 860m (I keep seeing 'slv7' being thrown around). Any wisdom you could share on either of them? I would rather not brick my system, so I'm hesitant on the BIOS option unless there is no other way to fix it.

I'd love to get my system upgraded fully to specs like Blacky's M17xR2 in the end, but I am taking it one component at a time so if something like the 860m failing happens, I can focus on diagnosing the issue with just that one.

 

I am sure both the 860M and the 970M issues can be solved with BIOS or vBIOS patching. Unfortunately no one is willing to do the patching. I guess because these systems are 4+ years old, community interest in them is low. On the other hand, these are the best and last 16:10 1920x1200 laptops ever made. In time they will become a classic .

 

As an update, I started a conversation with @Perma to see if there's a fix.

 

I've talked to him before, we tried several vBIOS on my 860M without success. Maybe you get more lucky.
Although I am more interested in fixing the 970M.

 

As an update, still waiting on Prema, probably has something to do with that vacation thing. I am unfortunately heading off to college soon, so I won't have as much time to tweak and experiment. It seems as if Prema does more Clevo mods than Failienware ones, so would it be safest to wait for a reply or search elsewhere? I'd like to have a laptop I can bring out to the lobby again for college dorm funtimes. I'd consider another GPU like a 770m or 970m if they are easier to get working. Also trying to prepare for Win10 Pro, but I'm on the fence about upgrading after Mr. Fox's discovery.

Worst case scenario I will go get a newer model ASUS ROG or MSI GS/GT 70, but loosing my 1200p glossy LED screen will hurt a lot.

 

Where are you going for Uni?

 

University of Missouri - Columbia. United States. It would be a miracle if there was someone from here who knew about vBIOS patching!

 

Nice. Good luck out there.
Yes, Prema knows and some other guys at TechInferno .

 

For humor value, I tried booting a pendrive version of Ubuntu 11.04 to see if the thing would boot correctly. It did not, and I got the solid color screen when it should have gotten to desktop. I am doubting at this point that it's something the custom vBIOS could resolve, unless I am mistaken in what the vBIOS mod will do. I am looking at using this BIOS mod: https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-Alienware-M17x-R2-A10-BIOS-Unlocked-OC-Options

Know anything about it, or have a better recommendation?

 

I already use the A10 Unlocked BIOS. Doesn't do anything extra, just give you access to some settings which you probably shouldn't touch anyway. It does have some LCD configuration options, but so far I have been reluctant to touch them.

 

So this probably not enough to fix the problem. I signed up on TechInferno to see if svl7 or Prema are around there to help, but they never sent the confirmation email to activate the account. I'm running a test with A10 unlocked while I wait. I've spent 40+ hours reading forum posts for advice, so I'm going to definitely contact someone for a vBIOS mod if I can't get this working with unlocked BIOS. No other thing I can think of to do. I even reinstalled the OS, same issue.

Edit: This is what the 860m reports itself as. Interpreted this to be an A1 version from Dell, 4GB Kepler. For what it's worth I attached an nvflash dump of the vBIOS I have, which confirmed it is the GK104 type card. I can only boot in safe mode, so I can't do the A10 unlocked without swapping back to the 4870s unless it can be done through a DOS/bios tool.

 

Have you tried a different vBIOS. My 860M works great!

 

That's what I'm trying to find. Mine is the 4GB edition with stock vBIOS, so unless our versions somehow matched up vBIOS-wise or something, I would either need one of the modded vBIOSes from Prema or svl7. Still never got the activation email from T | I so I can't download files from them yet.

 

Mine has 2GB of vRAM.

 

Are you running the Prema or svl7 vBIOS? If you think it would work the same on the GK104 (Kepler) 4GB edition, could you PM it to me to try? Can't seem to get on tech inferno because it never sent out the activation, so I can't download it from there.

 

Any vbios update to try it on my m17x r2 ?

 

I have a large number of vBIOS. None of them worked.
I've given up. I also damaged my M17x R2.
Will switch to a 880M.

 

Then il forget about it.
Does 880M work on R2 ?
Does your gtx 860m fully work on R2 ?

 

My 860M works in the M17xr2 with the following exceptions:

• GPU-Z only reports 2GB of usable vRAM, even though card has 4
• HAVE to disable IDT internal audio through BIOS, so must get external sound card and headphones to get audio, or run it through external monitor via HDMI audio
• Due to above, speakers become nonfunctional, but the lights still work on them
• There are two instances max where you must reset the display (close lid, then open it) during boot. Once when you turn on the computer, the other when the drivers are loaded. The screen will either be all black or all white when this happens. The first screen reset is required because the mobo keeps something loaded in the buffer when it is turned off, but has power, so you can avoid it by pulling the battery and plug to flush it.
  
• Runs on 860m stock vBIOS*
  
• Unlocked BIOS is not necessary for this to work, but is nice to have.

More details here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-m17xr2-and-860m-4gb-gk104-issues.780880/

*I want to try a vBIOS patch of sorts to fix the above issues, but from what I understand from @Blacky the current vBIOS patches probably won't do much to fix this, as their main focus is to allow overclocking of the GPU. I am unfortunately taking an insane workload at Uni due to a dual major and trying to get into Medical School, so I have no time to tinker with the vBIOS any further. If you would like to test one and post results, there is a download in the thread I mentioned above.

 

GK104... so it's still Kepler. Funny bit is that under Win 8.1 , it worked without disabling the IDT. After I clean installed Win 10, it stopped working. I think it's a driver issue. Wasn't there a patch for it?

 

Yes, according to my images they are in fact GK104. As far as I'm aware only ASUS ROG laptops used the GM107 variants of the 8XX series, so there should be a hardware incompatibility for Alienware anyways (ASUS does not use MXM form factor). Mine was under Win7, but I also tested it with a few Ubuntu distros (11.04 and 14), with both still reproducing the colored-screen-of-death issue. I'm still using Mr. Fox's driver discussed in that link as of a month ago. If this was a patch with an official WHQL driver and I don't risk any loss of processing power/thermal regulation, I'd be willing to give it a try. I would truly love to upgrade to Win10Pro (Win7 Ult on a Samsung 850 EVO and it's still drawing the Windoze logo after I install my essentials). In all honesty, the only things scaring me off are the f-ing ridiculous amount of tweaks required to fix all of the bloat and phone home junk, and the vulnerabilities of a bad driver roasting hardware when they force roll one out (you should all know what I'm referring to). I need full control over what my OS does, and it best not be doing things without me telling it to, especially auto updates and usage tracking.

 

This is exactly the screen i get when i put 980m in m17x r2, i have 1200p RGB screen too

 

Yes I got the same screen when I had my clevo gtx 970m installed.

 

Anyone tried a 970m on a non 1200p screen?

 

Probably would work... but fitting a 1920x1080 into a 1920x1200 closure would be downright impossible on dimensions alone. My feeling for the only way to work would be dismiss the wonderful rgb led 1920x1200 screen and use direct throughput via hdmi onto big screen. This would be the only way a 970/980m would function with this older notebook.

 

I think he meant the CCFL version, or the lower res options, since they are 6bit.

 

this r2 doesnt have the 1200p screen, it has the very basic screen that was offered at the time.

 

My plans are to find a card bus usb 3.0 adapter that would produce faster reads and write speeds than sata2, as i remember the r2 had issues getting sata 3 speeds right? This is after the 970m is installed.

 

I wish you luck and keep us updated with how it goes.

 

Will do.

 

Hello everyone , my English is not their native language . Is the 970m to m17xr2 something happens I follow a lot of information in this forum . For now, I have a gtx 680m and I have to control the fan if there is automatic control in addition hdinfo

 

was anyone ever able to get a single 6gb 970m working? I've been trying to do a Clevo vbios flash and it is basically saying there is no Nvidia display adapter, i can still see everything but like everyone else the image is distorted. am i better off getting another AMD 8970m 4gb card? i think i saw something about MSI vbios might work for the m17x r2?

 

i did exactly that by buying a m17x r2 board and install it in an m17x chasis and changed out the stock cpu cooler and palm rest no mods needed
works great no issues.

 

i might attempt to install a 980m in my m17x r2 it could work with a 1920x1080 display

 

the M17x R2 is a 16:10 system, 1920x1080 is 16:9, so the panel will not properly fit inside the LCD assembly due to dimension discrepancy. Best bet is to get the 2CCFL version of the 1920x1200 panel and then run a maxwell card, but it will be a trade off. Would be difficult going from a RGBLED display to a crappy 2CCFL display.