M17x R3 GPU upgrade (ATI to nVidia)

Hi all,

Just a quick post as im at work and dont want to get myself in too much trouble.

I currently have an old 6870m in my machine, but its becoming more and more redundant. As such looking to upgrade to 7970m or, most preferably an nVidia card.

I know the 680m will work in it, but dont know if theres any issues regarding the bios etc...
Any information/links you guys could kindly supply me would be awesome.

If anyone knows of reputable sellers that will ship to the UK too that would be pretty handy.

 

Hi there,

I can help with the NV question. The last plug and play card for the R3 was the 580m - the worst card I have had the misfortune to own. Multiple failures and at least a dozen more I saw on here. The 675m is the same and simply a 580m rebadged for the R4.

I recommend my 680m as one of the best cards I have owned. Overclocks to a super high number (+240mhz!) and easily matches 780m performance. The problems with using a non-standard GPU the R3 are a pain though.

1. You need an unlocked bios to be able access the options you need to disable optimus. I believe the version you will need is A012 unlocked.

2. The nvidia drivers will not recognize the machine/GPU combination and refuse to install until you modify an INI file (or get one from laptopvideo2go/drivers).

3. Heatsink, you'll want a 3 pipe 100w one. I got mine from Dell (for the R4) for under £50 delivered and it comes pre-padded and pasted so a lot of research on this is unnecessary .

There are two variants of the 680m available. 2gb, this is the Dell one and 4gb, this is a clevo. Both work fine and the Clevo one does not have the overclock locked to a max of +135 - although this is easily fixed on the 2gb model.

The 780m has been used successfully by R3 owners BUT a couple of them reported sound issues with the on-board not working. It runs a little hotter so care needs to be taken with the paste/pad work.

880m - disaster, 9xx - tricky but doable.

If the 7970m is easier then this is probably a good option, having similar performance to the 680m, but I know nothing about putting one of those in an R3 .

Can't help with a seller as I got mine used from a UK private seller (£260 ebay) but I have seen good reports for laptopmonkey: http://laptopmonkey.co.uk/

Good luck

 

I had had a little bit of a read so assumed a response as something like this.

I have not had much practice with tinkering with BIOS versions and INI files so am a little hesitant, hence the post.

I know my BIOS version is the A12 on dell support currently (R3 Early 2011 laptop) but how far this is "unlocked" I am unsure ( BIOS Version here).

Could you elaborate on the INI file process (or link me) so I can have a read through.

In regards to the beefed up pipes, can these come from any Alienware as I am assuming? (they were pretty good at inter-changable parts). Would also probably need the X Bracket too.

Doubt I would go any hight than a 680m (or 7970m) due to both cost and increase of potential problems during the process as it would be a pain and time consuming systematically working through possibilities for fixes, even though these forums usually throw up all the necessary answers.

Also aware of upgrade monkey. There is a Dell 2gb 680m and 7970m listed for £250 Buy It now or offer, thought the price might have dropped by now though!!

Also, what thickness pads etc... would you recommend if I do go ahead?

Thanks for the initial reply, much appreciated and clearly highlighted a couple of things I didnt know!

 

NP .
I don't have a link to the exact details but user J95 publishes them and might be worth a PM for a guide. Basically you have to add the device ID to a section of an ini file. From what I see most people just search and replace an existing ID. On laptopvideo2go/drivers they publish all the NV drivers (win 8 is the same as win 7 on that site), and when you select one you get offered the ini as well as the driver. What I do is to try to install the NV driver. When it fails all the driver files will be expanded under c:\nvidia and you simply match the version on laptopvideo2go and replace the original ini file - it will be in a sub-directory titled 'display.driver' below the version number.

You can use the whole driver install from laptopvideo2go as it's not modified but it will expand wherever you run it from and not under c:\nvidia.

Yup R3/R4 heatsinks are interchangeable, I was even told that the AWR1 is the same but I can't confirm that.

That's less than I paid used although it was a couple of years ago I think.

The pads were varying thickness, ranging from .5mm to 3mm (thin strip across one edge. I'll PM you a link to my 680m files as there are a couple of pics in there. Like I said though, If you can get the dell R4 680m one it is all done for you. They use some sort of thermal putty strip and I never found this stuff for sale. You can safely double up on pads.

Yow will need the x-bracket for sure, the screw sizes are different with NV to AMD. This should come with the card. If you get the right one it will have a 'tab' that has a pad on it for one of the RAM chips below but my original had a large pad on the underside (2mm) between the card and the... whatever it was under the card.

Good luck.

 

Thanks again for the reply.

That pretty much clears everything up now so its much appreciated. Should be alright with the process/workaround as it seems straightforward and not as complex of re-writing line upon line of code at lease.

Big thank-you for sending those files too, will have a good old read and look at them when I get home later this evening. Safe to say i'm keeping an eye out for one at a reasonable price. Also posted in the NBR Marketplace to see if anyone is willing to part with one now.

Cheers again!!