M17x R3 Upgrade GTX 460M to GTX 580M

I would first want to say hello to everyone :thumbsup:

I want to start by saying that I am a new member of this forum and I look forward to share knowledge with all users

I am watching this forum for a long time and I decided to create an account today. I have found a lot of posts here very useful.

However, after days of searching, I couldn't find something that was particular for my situation. I just bought my M17x R3 3D at a steal, and I started upgrading various components. I managed to upgrade RAM and Dell OEM HDD to two SSDs.

I am now looking for a graphics upgrade and taking into consideration my 3D screen, I want to go for the GTX 580M from my 460M

My questions are as follows:

1. Will any GTX 580M work on my system with 3D? Meaning Dell, Clevo, Eurocom,etc?
2. If I get a Dell OEM card, will the Dell vBIOS work? On other boards do I have to flash the vBIOS?
3. Is the heatsink and x-bracket compatible from GTX 460M?
4. Besides thermal paste, will the existing thermal pads work from the GTX 460M or do I have to buy separate?
5. Taking into consideration that the GTX 580M was available as an option for the M17x at the time of purchase, will it 100% work with all nVidia drives/BIOS upgrades/vBIOS upgrades, etc just as it would have been if it were factory installed?

For this operation, I called Dell and they offered to install it for me, but they can't order the card, so I will have to buy the card and other components separately.

Thank you all in advance for your time

 

Hello David and Welcome to the forums!

A Dell OEM 580m should be an easy plug and play upgrade. However, the heatsink/support plate may be a bit different, these are the original part numbers

460m heatsink assembly - J9H7X
580m heatsink assembly - V1K2G

All drivers and vBIOS should work as it was a validated card for the M17x R3.

If you need any help or want to get the parts through Dell just send us an email at [email protected] with a link to this thread and we'll take it from there.

 

Thank you for your response and help!

So far I have purchased the GTX 580M (Dell OEM) and I'm expecting delivery. It does take some time to ship from NY to Romania (European Union)

I really don't know if the heatsink is compatible, but as it has a different part number, it should be a different model. I talked to the people over at Dell RO and they will do the instalation for me, as the laptop is under warranty and I don't want to lose it.

From what they have told me, the heatsink is 38$+VAT(24%) and the instalattion cost is about 20$ (including VAT). Instalation also includes thermal compound. However, I don't know if the thermal pads from my GTX 460M are compatible with the GTX 580M. As I saw on different threads, there is also a big thermal pad on the back of the GTX 580M and I'm not sure that's the case with GTX 460M. If I would require more pads, where can I get some OEM pads or what brand/manufacturer do you recomend?

Furthermore, the card comes without a backplate. As I have seen, there are two different types of (revised) backplates:

1.PAR10 MXM CARD SUPPORT BRK A88Y - REV:0B(A00) - AM0FM000400-KY-26L (the one with two plates covering the VRAM)
2.PAR10 MXM CARD SUPPORT BRK A88Y - REV:0B(A00) - AM0FM000500-KY-24Q (the one with one plate)

As I have seen, these support pads ar for SLI (such as on the M18x). The one with two plates being for the primary card and the other for the second. Does the single GPU support M17x R3 require the first pad or second? As I was thinking going for the first, so I can be sure to eliminate all possibilities of throttling or shorts.

Thank you for your time!