M17X R4 GTX980M Upgrade

It never goes above the base clock of 1038 on mine. Guess that's not a downclock but it seems like it. The card stays at 65-67 degrees no matter how long I run a bench or play a game, so it's not a temp thing.

Even if I try to overclock by +135, it stays at 1038.

N


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then i am curious if it's a hardware issue or just a driver issue.

EDIT: If anyone can answer that feel free to do so!

 

so what i've been hearing so far about the 900M series GPUs is that....

1) dedicated only = throttling

2) optimus enabled = full speed

3) 347.09 drivers = no OC, 344.75 = OK

though this is mostly on M17x R4s and not the AW17s. i'm not fussed with having optimus enabled but this is really strange that having the card in dedicated mode is having more issues.

i'm still (very) confused about which modded drivers i would need to use or even about how to mod them.

i hope new drivers will fix 1) and 3) soon!

 

Using Mr. Fox's desktop modded 344.75 makes them work better but they throttle, atleast in the M18xR2 & try these threads if not read already - > http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-18-m18x/765169-aw-m18x-r2-dual-980m-sli-upgrade-118.html & http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...driver-mod-780m-880m-980m-mobile-gpus-15.html will give you an overview of these GPU's but in short they seem not to work properly in the Alienware machines while Clevos are doing perfectly fine.

OT - I guess the newer Dell machines will be lockdowned with 0 upgradablility factor, IMO we might not see anymore future dell MXM cards...locking us down to the clevo cards, making the future look even worse for our old machines....

 

Isn't that the whole idea.
To make us have to buy complete new systems to have the latest and greatest.

No that couldn't be it must just be a conspiracy theory.

 

That happens because your base clock TDP and 3D clock are stock 1038. Once your card its a power MAX it will default to the TDP for a second or two, then return back to the boost clock.

 

could it be a thing with the M17x R4s because the AW17s are different systems? I haven't heard of anything solid for the AW17s.

 

Nope, this is limited in the vbios. During gaming you might never hit stock max power but using benchmark tools like 3Dmark expect the clocks to fluctuate. If you plan to run a modded vbios you can eliminate that issue but understand that the drivers have some sorta of restriction forced upon the card that will create throttling after a system shut down. The vbios could also have this fail safe built in but it's hard to tell at this point since the drivers are so immature.

 

Mike, can you post how you have flashed vBIOS? Unlocked Maxwell vBIOS is out..

NVIDIA Maxwell VBIOS mods - 900m series overclocking versions

Mike so I'm in Optimus mode with full UEFI.. if you enable legacy ROM to flash the vBIOS, the thing won't boot.. So have you flashed vBIOS before in Optimus mode Mike?

 

Yes i had to flash with optimus enabled legacy rom enabled.

 

Wait, does your R4 boot though with legacy being enabled? I thought you'd get 8 beeps error.. So the only thing I have to do is enable Legacy in BIOS and then follow steps to flash the vBIOS in DOS..

 

i wonder if those vBIOS are fully unlocked or partially unlocked?

 

Yes make sure you have Optimus enabled.

 

Ahh but don't you have to disable the driver/GPU in device manager before you start the flash process? So in essence, I guess it is disable driver/GPU in device manager, reboot, go to bios and enable legacy, reboot and then run the nvflash in DOS.. Am I correct? Sorry if it's a bit stupid but I don't want the 8 beep crap error

 

sounds fiddley!

 

That's why I want to be 100% sure before doing anything.. I just don't have the time to reseat the GPU if I get the 8 beeps crap.. Also I have no idea how to remove the whole GPU assembly like the AW tech did.. It means u don't have to open up the heatsink and remove the card and the whole GPU assembly just comes out.. So Mike, if you could provide a bit more detail when you get some time, it would be great

 

I run UEFI. Not pure Legacy. So i enable legacy rom with optimus enabled. Still ensure you disable the 980m in device manager to be safe then just switch it back on after the flash.

 

so is that UEFI + legacy or just pure legacy?

EDIT: Interesting, the Eurocom upgrade videos on youtube show the AW17 or their AW17 at least with optimus enabled so maybe i might have to live with optimus on....no biggie.

<iframe width='560' height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/mZkkRfPwpdk" frameborder='0' allowfullscreen></iframe>

here's another vid of the AW17 with windows 8.1 using the 980M in optimus with what appears to be in BIOS mode and not UEFI mode....unless windows 8 fastboot was disabled.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2...nvidia-geforce-gtx-980m-unigine-heaven-4_tech

so it works but the issue with getting the clocks it does not address.

 

So far I've learned about the 900m series behavior on our Alienwares in the following environments....

Optimus Enabled / 60Hz - Pure UEFI / no - UEFI / UEFI with legacy option all work.
Optimus Disabled / 120Hz - Pure UEFI (Win8 or later is must as only a few machines managed to get Pure UEFI in win7)

vBIOS Flashing

A- In order to use NVflash DOS we must need to enable legacy ROM & disable the GPU from device manager then flash and enable the GPU, reboot & this is fine for 60Hz machines.

B- For systems with 120Hz one can flash their cards easily only if they have Unlocked BIOS mod by svl7 (the M17x R4, M18x R2 both have unlocked BIOS so they can enable the SG to boot from IGPU for the POST and can flash) but for 120Hz AW17 first disable the GPU while in the OS (Pure UEFI boot) then enable to legacy option rom in order to flash the vbios but doesn't this method fail to POST, So how does one with an 120Hz flash their cards with the nvflash so how does this flash work on the AW17 machines with 120Hz panel ??



Correct me if I'm wrong, thanks !

 

Yes, don't know how you would flash a 120Hz single GPU machine if it involved disabling the dGPU, because iGPU wouldn't be able to display anything on a 120Hz screen!

 

I'm afraid that the 120Hz AW17 systems can't get a modded vBIOS any sooner as this restriction applies through the BIOS making them unable to POST, the AW18, M18x R2 with 980M's must also go through a hectic way to use 1 GPU + Optimus / SG + 1 GPU only and then follow the same procedure for flashing. Damn it, all this is because of Dell screwing up with the BIOS (Secure Flash) on this newer lineup, wish they release a BIOS update atleast to make the 900M series work, though they will never remove the secure flash..

I never thought that Alienware machines couldn't be upgradable, pnp as it was back in the old times....

 

Edit: Major panic over vBIOS flash. I have flashed unlocked vBIOS successfully and wll update OP with information.. And new benchmarks..

 

I still don't understand the circumstances of the throttling if it only happens when the laptop is in dedicated mode or in Optimus mode?

 

It happens only in dedicated.. 0 throttling in Optimus mode..

 

What clocks are you getting I games? Is it maxing out?

 

Getting full Boost clocks... This is with stock vBIOS.. Modded vBIOS stock clocks are boost ones and these are held too..

 

Got any logs to show?

 

Just finished playing BF4 and I can confirm this.. It works perfectly

 

Tom,
Glad to hear its working for you, are you running that modded vBios with Optimus? Start running some benchmarks and posting results.

 

Mike, done some results already in my thread however here it is..

Stock 3D Mark 11: Intel Core i7 3940XM @4.2GHz and stock 970M(running on full boost): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3940XM,Alienware M17xR4

For Firestrike: Stock 970M (full boost ) + 3940XM @ 4.2GHz: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3940XM,Alienware M17xR4

Anyways, max stable OC I've done on 344.75 is +300 core and +600 memory (+300 on boost memory clock) with power target on 130% and 1.056V..

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3940XM,Alienware M17xR4

Will be doing more benching later today.. Need to ramp the voltage up a bit..

 

Do you have to be in windows 8 to use these cards, too ?
Or just UEFI but with legacy so you can run windows 7 (is that what is needed?)

 

I'm confused again. 120hz works out of the box or not? These threads are getting out of hand with information contradicting each other.

How would a person who has a 120hz panel be able to reflash the GPU? Someone, somewhere, said the MiniDP on the R4's is linked with the iGPU so one would assume if you disconnected the LCD cable you could just use the MiniDP to boot the system up but I don't know.

Really want to order this 980M but so much contradicting information =/

 

Just got a reply back from hidevolution. They say the R4 w/ 120hz screen is confirmed NOT working........

 

I emailed them about the AW17 R1 (aka M17X R5) and 120Hz but they never got back to me

 

Weird, they literally replied 5 minutes after I emailed them. They said the AW17 aka R5 works w/ 120hz.

 

hmmm... i emailed them on january 13th and no reply since....odd they reply to you. though i did ask how they pulled it off rather than "does it work?"

 

How long ago did you email them.

Nevermind. I skipped the last post. Ha ha.

 

i'll probably order around early to mid feburary - hopefully in that time you would have gotten the card working.

 

Hey mike, seems like hidevolution managed to sort out my GPU dilemma and provided me with a working one. However, I'm currently facing some issues that you previously did with your 980m. Im getting 7719 score on fire strike with 344.91 drivers and was wondering how do I bypass it to reach the 8k range. 3dmark11 seems to be at the lower range of 10k, seems okay there but slightly bummed at the low scores. Which driver are you using mike?

 

i would use the 344.75 that Mr.Fox modded and uped the sliders to +135/+400, But that driver will cause your card to throttle once you shut down the PC and reboot it, so you are better off using the 347.09 drivers that are modded since they do not throttle the cards at stock. As for my scores being higher i modded my vBios, you can flash yours using Slv7 and Johnkssss vBios and then just download Nvidia inspector and start to adjust your settings as you please.

 

Unless you have a purchase that was made and is being handled by them directly those scumbags will not email you back. You need to feed their piggy bank first to deserve a response. Don't waste your time with them go to RJtech

 

They actually replied to me twice yesterday. Dunno lol

 

Are there links in this thread with the vBIOS. I read ~60 pages and only saw modded INF's.

Also, is there any confirmation that I can use the 980M on my 120hz R4? I don't care if it actually displays ON the LCD. This will be permanently connected to a monitor after upgrade anyway.

 

Yeah I have already flashed mine with svl7's vbios. I noticed too that at stock my scores at at least 500 lower than most of the other 980m attributing mainly to lower graphical scores.

 

Can you update the OP with links to the posts containing the vBIOS?

Also it's a "GPT" partition not "GTP" it stands for GUID Partition Table

You also made a reference to booting up on your old GPU w/o a heatsink. That is not a very good idea no matter how quick you are shutting it back down. Booting to BIOS without any hardware acceleration can still heat the card up to 30c+ without a heatsink and possibly more.

 

Not sure about you guys but I can boot up without a GPU. It is way better than booting up without a heatsink as LVNeptune mentioned the card still heats up.

 

You are running a 60hz panel right? Makes me wonder if I can boot up without a GPU on my 120hz since the iGPU is supposed to take over and display through the MiniDP. That would be sweet if that worked.

 

I'm going to say this again for all those who can't read my thread or haven't read any of my posts...

The 970M/980M don't throttle in Optimus mode in M17x R4 and AW17 !!!!!!

Stop whining your heads off and just use your NVIDIA GPU in Optimus mode! You can OC and do everything with unlocked vBIOS + EVGA Precision X!!

 

Isn't optimus still broken with some games?

Doesn't help those of use with a 120hz panel though Can't use Optimus

 

1. Optimus was broken in like 1 of the games I played.. it took me like 30s to figure out how to set the NVIDIA GPU to be used in the NVIDIA control pannel..
2. Not applicable to 120Hz screens since you guys chose them, you now pay the price