M17XR3 (3D Model) Upgrade from Nvidia 580m > 765m failed

Hello everyone,

my 580m recently decided to die after warranty (surprise surprise ")
So I got a new 765m.
Ive done really everything which is needed for that upgrade

I have the 120Hz panel
Ive done/have:
unlocked A12 Bios
restart
Peg on
integrated graphics is disabled due to 3d
integrated hd sound disabled
Thermal pads and paste on new gpu
..fail
The screen is black. it means the background light is on but black screen. No Bios, no Windows. just nothing

Ive resetted Bios again, removing Battery and CMOS and pressing Power on 30 Seconds...many countless time
Configuring Bios with old..semi-working card
replacing the new one...blank screen again..
now its beeping 8 times..sometimes

Is there missing anything..anything i forgot? No compatibility? The seller told me that it should work.
I could scream and throw that Alien out of the window, really. Im so frustrated.
Luckily I can send the 765 back.
I was browing forums and guides for the whole day...and pls dont refer me to the existing upgrade guide bc ive done everything. : /

kind regards

 

Hi there, sorry to hear of the problems.

This is kind of weird. Yours is something like the third or fourth R3/R4 having black screens and occasional eight beeps. They were non 3d models so I just wonder if it's 'upgrade time' and a lot of people are trying this? Take a look through my recent posts (on my profile page). When you get a complete 'no post' startup it is not detecting the new GPU at all OR it is trying to start on the non-existent Intel.

What I can say is that unless you are having sata3 issues then the unlocked bios is not needed, indeed you can easily brick it with an incompatible setting - as may have already happened? With the iGPU hardwired out on the 3D any NV card should work fine. You will need a modified inf to install the driver and you will loose 3D but I guess you already know all that stuff.

I suggest you install the latest dell bios, default it, and see if you have any luck - but not holding out much hope.

It could simply be one of those strange incompatibilities, I have heard of some 7xx cards just not working despite trying everything.

If on stock you still cannot get it to start then I would try the seller for a 680m. It's a faster card and so many R3 owners have gone down this road that there is plenty of information available. The sound issue with the R3 also seems limited to the 7xx cards, so no need to mess with that either with a 680m.

One benefit of the 3D model is that problems with switching cannot happen, but this also makes problem solving more difficult because you can't get it to fire up if there is a problem with the dGPU.

Good luck

 

I flashed back to normal stock A12, was hoping very much thats its not crashing in the meanwhile lol but everything was fine
But no luck with the 765. 8 Beeps.

I decided to sell my Alienware Laptop. Its on ebay and an other forum. So if someone is interested PM me

For that euros I could get a decent desktop.
Ive thought about so many alternatives. Used 580m from ebay...nearly 300 euros. But thats a half of a new desktop.
And 680m is a bit expensive too with just limited 3 months warranties..

And a new 580m from Dell costs 470. Thats insane.

 

You could look for a 580m/560m online as long as it's the DELL version of the card it should work fine. It could be that you got a Clevo or MSI version of the card. What color was it?