In need of help in Upgrading GPU for Alienware M17x R2

Hello, I am new to this forum. I have been searching on google all day and this was the best place that I think can help me out.

So I purchased my friend's Alienware m17x R2 for a great price hoping to be able to play the latest games. However, all the games I tried playing can only be played at the lowest quality and are pretty choppy. So I decided to clean the laptop out. I got all the dust that were clogging up the vents. I also took this time to check out the graphics card. It is a Nvidia Geforce 9400m G.

I searched upgrade options all day, and noticed that everybody who has this model has the Radeon HD 5870 graphics card. So I am a little confused why this Alienware has the Nvidia Geforce 9400m G. I looked up the specs and it seems that my current graphics card is lacking, and the Radeon HD 5870 would be a great upgrade. I looked up and found this graphics card online available to purchase.

So my question is whether or not I should replace my current card with Radeon HD 5870. Also, I found out that this model can have two cards. Would it be better if I kept my current card and added the Radeon one to the other side? I hope to eventually get two Radeon cards and do the crossfire option when I have more money.

Lastly, if I switched the cards, would I have to do anything special in terms of installation? I know how to put in the new card, I am just confused since I have seen posts on here about bios flashing and downloading drivers etc..

I appreciate any help that I can get here, I am pretty new to Alienwares but am excited about having this great computer!

 

You actually have an M17x R1. The Geforce 9400M is your onboard graphics card. You should have a discrete graphics card as well. Check under device manager under Display Adapters.

 

I suggest you sell it.
From what i read from your text, you really did expect it to be th R2 and the R1 has no where the potential that the R2 has.
Also the next gen M17x will be released soon, so whatever price you can get for the R1 i would take.

If you really want to keep it then be prepared to live with gaming limitations.
good luck

 

Are you sure my alienware is an R1? He told me he bought it new in 2010, which I thought was the R2. I tried to figure out what model it is and all my research came to R2. Can you guys please help? I will post some of my specs and tags;

Service tag: F5DT4K1


"You actually have an M17x R1. The Geforce 9400M is your onboard graphics card. You should have a discrete graphics card as well. Check under device manager under Display Adapters."
I checked and it only says "Nvidia Geforce 9400m G" under display adapters. Ughhh?

Let me know what else I can provide to help determine the model. Thanks!

 

Yes it is. R2's came with Intel's first generation Core i processors and did not have an integrated GPU such as the 9400M.

Since you saw the graphic card upon cleaning I'm assuming that it does have a discrete card as well. Did you check under Device Manager for any other display adapters?

edit: According to your service tag the laptop came with a GTX 260M. You need to switch from the integrated 9400M to the GTX 260M for gaming. I'm not familiar with the R1 system but I assume you can select which GPU to use in the BIOS. You might be able to switch using FN+F7 in Windows but thats just a guess.

 

This is what is in my device manager:


When I opened up the alienware, all I saw was the nividia geforce card that I was able to remove and clean. I am pretty disappointed that it is not an R2. I gave him $350 for it, was this a bad deal?

 

Hmmmm... that's wierd. Check in your BIOS if you are able to select a different default display adapter.

I'm not certain about value with R1's but if he removed the GTX 260M its effectively not a gaming laptop. The 9400M is only used as a power saving GPU. Its not meant for gaming.

 

Interesting. The thing is, he complained to me that something is wrong with it. He said that his WOW game no longer had the same fps as it did before. I now that he did not open up the laptop to remove anything because he has no idea how to do that. So maybe this is the problem? Where exactly is the GTX 260M located in the computer so I can check if it is damaged, or not even there? He did say that he used to play games with good fps. I will check out the bios right now.

 

You can check first without disassembling it doing the following:

• Make sure the system is plugged in and the blue ring around the charger's connector is lit.
• Turn it on and start tapping the F2 key to access the BIOS menu
• In the BIOS menu navigate to Advanced > Graphic Settings and disable all four options there
• Save and exit (F10 key)
• Your system should now boot with your dedicated cards enabled.
• Once Windows is loaded check the Device manager under Display Adapters. You should no longer see the 9400M and instead your dedicated graphics card(s) should show up.

Perform the steps above and let us know the result. We can go from there based on your answer.

 

Check watch this video to ensure you disassemble the laptop without damaging it. It also shows you where the left GPU is and how to remove it.

 

I just want to thank you guys for the help. I took some pictures of my current bios, maybe you guys can tell if something is not right (sorry that they are sideways) :



"katalin_2003

You can check first without disassembling it doing the following:

Make sure the system is plugged in and the blue ring around the charger's connector is lit.
Turn it on and start tapping the F2 key to access the BIOS menu
In the BIOS menu navigate to Advanced > Graphic Settings and disable all four options there
Save and exit (F10 key)
Your system should now boot with your dedicated cards enabled.
Once Windows is loaded check the Device manager under Display Adapters. You should no longer see the 9400M and instead your dedicated graphics card(s) should show up.



Perform the steps above and let us know the result. We can go from there based on your answer. "
^ I will do this right now and let you know.

"Nospheratu

Check watch this video to ensure you disassemble the laptop without damaging it. It also shows you where the left GPU is and how to remove it. "

^I have worked with a few laptops before; I have replaced many parts and also replaced a motherboard before so I should be able to do any troubleshooting or repair that you guys tell me. I just never worked with Alienwares before so I appreciate the guidance. I will check out the video thanks.

 

Yup, we are now 100% sure we're dealing with a Alienware M17x not a M17x R2.
Wow i see you also have a QX9300, that CPU is a beast and overclocks very well if properly cooled. But more about that after we solve this issue.

By the way, if you want to reply quoting multiple users, you can use the multi-quote button on the far right under the member's post and then click the Reply With Quote button under the last post you want to include in your reply

 

Alright so I did what you told me for the bios and got some results! So when it started the resolution was now bigger. A installing new device popped up. Then it said "Nvidia Geforce GTX 260M installed". So then I restarted the computer. Then I looked into device manager and now it does say Nvidia Geforce GTX 260M under display.

I forgot to mention that the person I got this from told me that the problem started after he had reinstalled windows. After he did a fresh install, it did not work right. When I got the laptop, I did a new install as well using the Alienware disc. I figured that he did not install drives after the install, so I went to dell and used my service tag and installed all the drives that they gave me. They never gave me the GTX 260M driver.

Could I be missing additional drives? Can you explain what the difference between Nvidia Geforce GTX 260M and the Geforce 9400 I had? Also, should I go back to bios now and put in default settings? Any other useful information about my laptop is also appreciated as I have much to learn! Thanks!

 

Awesome!

For starters you can check the Owner's Lounge for some useful links.

Did you only see one 260M in device manager? Asking you this since the M17x can take two MXM 3.0B cards (not all models though).
The driver on Dell's site is quite ancient and will not give you optimal performance in newer games. So you should try uninstalling it and experiment with a newer version. Bear in mind that a newer version might not install out of the box but don't worry, that can be arranged. Actually, if you search this forum, i along with some other members have posted steps to installing newer versions of nVIDIA drivers.

One thing to keep in mind related to what happened to your system is that it will always boot to the integrated 9400M if unplugged (the BIOS will enable the options you just enable).

The two cards can run along but i advise you to always keep the PCIe Gen2 option to Disabled in order to enjoy newer drivers (search the forum for more info on this).

The main difference between the two is that the 9400M is part of the North Bridge and therefore part of the motherboard. It's purpose is to enable the system to run consuming less battery power in exchange for lower performance.

 

Thanks, I will check out that link.

I only see one 260M in device manager. Are you saying that I can upgrade by adding an additional Nvidia Geforce GTX 260M? I am a little confused. I have the nvidia 9400 card on the left slot and it is removable so I am a little confused when you say that it is a part of the mother board.

 

What you have in the left hand slot is the 260M, the 9400M is under the CPU slot.
Take a look at the attached image, i circled some components.



As you probably guessed by now, yes you can add a second 260M in the left side MXM slot. Actually the best confirmed functional cards for this system are the AMD mobility 5870 and the best officially supported cards are the nVIDIA 280M.

 

i would say to upgrade to m17x r2. its easy to do. just get a m17x r2 motherboard, audio board, magnesium tray, cpu, and cpu heatsink. it sounds like alot, but if u can get the upgrade to a r2 u can install an array of gpu's on it. maybe even 780m.

but if ur not sure, thats cool too. r1 is great, but it is showing its age.

 

Thanks for the useful info! So your saying I can upgrade to either AMD mobility 5870 or a nVIDIA 280M? Can I have my 260M in and put in one of those to the other side at the same time or do both cards have to be the same?



Also I need some help with a missing driver:


It won't find the driver when I try to update it. What is the driver that is missing??

 

Glad you got it working again!

Excellent advice/help by katalin_2003, he seems very knowledgeable about your system. Lucky he stopped by

I did a quick google search for you and it seems the missing driver is packaged with the chipset drivers for your motherboard. Check this thread, Mandrake posted a link to the download.

 

Just to clear things up for you.
You can use 2 cards together in SLI (for nvidia) or crossfire (for ati) and you will gain almost a double performance compared to having just one card in.

BUT THEY HAVE TO BE THE SAME MODEL
So you can't install a 5870m and make it run together with your current 260m
You must either buy another 260 m and make it run together with your current one in SLI OR buy 2 5870s put them both in (take out your nvidia 260m ) and run them together in crossfire

I currently have the 5870 in crossfire in my R2 and they are capable of running most modern games in medium or high with 50+ FPS

In fact just 10 mins ago I sold them in eBay (will make the jump to 7970m

[MOD EDIT]: No transactions outside the marketplace please.

 

That's true, the coprocessor driver will be installed along with the chipset driver pack.
Here's where you can grab the latest one:
Driver Details | Dell US

IMPORTANT: Also please note that when you install the chipset driver, uncheck the nVIDIA Ethernet driver because combined with the stock wifi card driver it will mess up both of your connections. Instead, let windows install a generic driver, it will work perfectly.