M17X R4 Upgrades and Compatablility

Bought it from "upgradeyourlaptop" on ebay http://www.ebay.ca/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130844103674&ssPageName=ADME:X:AAQ:CA:1123 I beleive it's "eurocorp"

By chance is there anyway to make my 180w PSU actually charge my machine until my new one gets here?

 

Double post

 

Thanks. Not seen anything about getting that PSU to work. Will it startup without any battery?

Just to confirm, you didn't need any modded driver and one from the NV site works - good information!

 

I'm still at the office for about another hour. I'll check if the machine will boot with out the battery in it then.

So, with it just being plugged in, no battery. I'm just allowing myself to run until my 280w gets in correct? (knowing my battery wont last until it gets in)

 

That's my theory

You could also check what power state the card is running in. P1 is the power throttle setting, around 30% slower clock and a small drop in voltage. I see this often when overclocking. If you're interested I'll post how I monitor the clock P states

 

I believe your PSU might be enough, but your laptop will start discharging the batteyr when you play games. The 180W charger should charge the battery and should be enough power for general use, I wouldn't game with it though.

 

You use Nvidia Inspector, correct?

 

No, the PSU is not compatible with that GPU. When I plug it in I receive a message that says the AC power adaptor is not compatible please switch graphics cards. In my display at the lower right. It will show that it is plugged in and says plugged in but not charging. My new PSU should be here in a few days anyway. Not to worried about it.

 

I know the PSU is not compatible but i meant you can still use your computer for normal tasks just dont do anything to stress the GPU, or that PSU will get very hot. It will actually 'trickle' charge to the computer and battery if you leave it plugged in long enough, it just will be very slow.

I think you can check your power states with GPU-Z or just look a clocks with it, or even MSI afterburner. You should see the core clock at ca. 135mhz and memory clock at I think 324mhz they wont go higher when its in the low power state. They will dynamically go up and down normally.

Hope you got a decent deal on the PSU , I got mine from amazon, cheap OEM replacements and they were identical to the one which came with the laptop. Just make sure it is definitely the 240W

Hope it all works when you get your new PSU.

 

Okay, I understand what your saying now.

I use Nvidia Inspector and it shows that I'm running very low clocks when I ran 3dMark 11 my score was some horrible P1100 lol.

I believe I payed $60 for the PSU on Ebay. OEM replacment.... I lied I payed $50 http://www.ebay.ca/itm/130870423039?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

Once I plug in the new PSU will my laptop auto recognize and re-configure my GPU to run higher clocks? Probably even auto update Nvidia Expierence?

 

You got it, also afterburner to see the clock speeds on-screen so I can see any throttle (by setting P1 slightly lower than P0)

 

Lol, P1100 sounds about right for the HD4000 doing all the work maybe? Playing games on battery sometimes it better to use the HD4000 vs the 680m for me usually. I think your clocks are just locked at the lower power state for protection although I did have driver issues on w8 when my clocks were just randomly stuck at 324mhz, but they since have been fixed.

Your new PSU, should tell the BIOS the right PSU is connected and allow everything to run at full power, from what I know, its a protective measure forced by the BIOS to require the right GPU otherwise it goes into a 'limp' mode where power hungry components are tamed, especially since the GPU alone is 100w.

Your clocks should go up and down between 135mhz and 719mhz or even 758mhz (boost) when our new PSU arrives I think.

I think your system is just waiting for the new PSU to arrive to it can go mental and get P6000+ (with stock clocks) scores on 3dmark11
We have similar config and I'm pretty sure you should be able to get 6000 pretty easilly, high 6000s is possible with a overclock.

 

That's what I'm wanting to see

I was able to get my 660m from stock clock P2200 up to P3001 using Inspector, so I'm sure i will have same results with the 680m. Excited for the PSU to get here that is for sure.

Such a pain to try and ship stuff to Aghanistan while deployed. Takes forever!!!! lol

 

Hope it don't take too long, at least your laptop is running now anyways It will be a nice boost once you get it up and running though

I don't even overclock mine, just run stock clocks, so I know I'm just running within stable limits.

 

So, i was able to snag a PSU from work before I left to tied me over till mine gets here Lucky me, right? 240w works great. Ran 2 separate 3dMark 11 tests. Results are as follows,

Stock 680m


+135, +400 680m


Anyone have any advice as to possibly getting even more out of this? or is that about the max this GPU can handle stable?

 

Looks good, I think any higher clocks requires a bit of work, see this thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/gaming-software-graphics-cards/677169-nvidia-mobile-kepler-6xx-master-overclocking-guide-workaround-max-clocks-oc-stability.html

From what I remember a core clock of around 900 is the maximum stable, but I could be wrong. Don't think its worth going any higher except for benchmarks.

 

Good it's working for you, to unlock OC a vbios flash is required, better wait for the new PSU . To start use a Clevo vbios w/ stock voltage, clock 758/1800 OC 915/2250 mine gaming OC for Crysis 3, higher memory clock for AA.
Follow this guide (bottom), try DOS method it's safer http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/672230-m17x-r3-680m-compatability-63.html#post9038829

Nvidia inspector is the best tool for OC, MSI Afterburner for in-game monitoring and Rainmeter beta Direct2D rendering HWiNFO plug-in (edited HWiNFO.ini for dark wallpaper), watch temps Rainmeter plug-in for HWiNFO

Now it's time for Barcelona , adiós.

 

That's great, at least you know now it will be OK when your PSU arrives . And, as I understand it you'll need a different vBIOS to go over +135 as it's been locked, but as DDDenniZZZ says, unless getting a big benchmark number is your thing it's way powerful enough at that speed!

When the new top-of-the-range 7xx card hits then maybe games will come along that will stretch it?

 

I'll only be deployed for another 3 months. Then I'll be back state side to tackle my next project. Building a desktop

 

So, just a quick question. I'm sure it will get answered easily. While playing I get these random spikes every once and awhile that will drop my GPU load down to 0 or fairly low and I get these spikes in game that feels like a very quick freeze. But jumps back up to normal with in milliseconds. Anyone have an idea as to why this may be happening?

 

Check the power settings in the nvidia control panel, basically the GPu will clock down when it doesnt need to run at 100% to maintain 60fps for example. Might be due to that, not 100% sure, it just keeps temps down anyways

Change it from adaptive to high performance should do the trick

 

I have it on High Performance now. I never unplug it so no need to save battery. Also, I gamed for a good 5 hours session last night, and the GPU never saw a temp over 63C.

This doesn't seem like a clock down symptom. It will be running a smooth 60-65% usage and then SLAM, It will drop to 0% usage for a millisecond game spikes with a quick freeze and immediatly back up to the 60-65% usage.

 

This is with the 240W PSU ?

Windows power options>high performance.

 

Yes, the 240W PSU and I have all power setting on high performance.

 

Stock clocks ?

 

No, +135, +400

 

Probably stock vbios OC is unstable, lower the memory clock. Test with other games then flash a Clevo (svl7) vbios, for gaming stock voltage version is more than enough.

 

Sounds like a resonable answer. I figured the 680 should be able to handle that little bit of OC. The 660 i had in it previously handled +135, +400 with ease and that was a stock vbios Dell card.

 

The 680 is a monster card for overclocking, just needs more juice

 

Do you have a link for the vibos you are suggesting?

 

Follow this guide (safer method) [GUIDE] NVIDIA VBIOS flashing vbios here Downloads

Remember to backup current vbios first.

 

Thanks much, I'll look into this.

 

Watch temps, for gaming 915/1800/2200 each card is different regarding OC stability (stock voltage).

 

Do you have to use a flash drive in order to make this work?

I currently do not have one, as I'm limited to my resources while being deployed.

 

Alternative (riskier) Flahing within windows.

Set default clocks (Nvidia Inspector)

Download nvflash 5.118 to desktop Download NVFlash 5.118 for Windows | techPowerUp>extract>open nvflash folder copy/paste .rom file (vbios).


Open Command prompt (Admin)

1-Type "cd C:\Users\"your user name"\Desktop\nvflash_windows_5.118" (without quotes) hit enter.

2-Back up first. Type "nvflash.exe -b backup.rom" hit enter (with spaces)

3-Vbios flash. Type "nvflash.exe -6 vbiosname.rom" hit enter.

4-Type "y" twice to confirm (override mismatches)

5-Flash successful, reboot.


Clevo cards Downloads

 

when i type in "nvflash -b backup.rom" i get a no NVIDIA display adapters found message.

 

Yes.
10char

 

Do i need to put my current vbois in that folder as well? If so, where do i find that " ".rom file to put in it?

 

It will store the backup.rom in the nvflash folder.

 

But it didn't. I still only see the CLEVO .rom and the nvflash itself.

 

Both files are in the same nvflash folder.
command prompt (change directory) C:\Users\"your user name"\Desktop\nvflash_windows_5.118>

 

double post

 

That is all that I have in that folder. That is on my desktop where i put it.

Download, extract, copy/paste CLEVO.rom into that folder. Ran the command prompt but i get the NVIDIA display adapter not found when I try to do a backup.

 

command prompt>right click run as administrator.

 

Did that as well.

 

This is what I get.

 

That is strange, try disabling anti-virus.

 

I get "unexpected at this time" message

 

Still the same with anti virus disabled.

 

xZorbZx Administrator account ?