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    M17x R4 7970M died, what are my options?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by cuse, Jul 18, 2016.

  1. cuse

    cuse Notebook Guru

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    I have a M17x R4 I custom-ordered four years ago. It came with an AMD 7970M.

    GPU has since died, and now I'm using its onboard video.

    What should I do? Replace it with another 7970M (is it still good today or what?) or upgrade? Is it possible to swap GPU to a Nivida GPU?
     
    cuse, Jul 18, 2016
    #1
  2. deadsmiley

    deadsmiley Notebook Deity

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    Top card for this is GTX 980M. It is pricey. We don't know yet if mobile pascal (GTX 10xx) will run in this machine.

    980M need a modified INF file to install and you will have to disable driver signing on Win 8 or Win 10.
     
    deadsmiley, Jul 18, 2016
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  3. Raidriar

    Raidriar ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

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    You can go with 780M, 880M, 970M, or 980M. Your pick, depending on budget
     
    Raidriar, Jul 18, 2016
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  4. deadsmiley

    deadsmiley Notebook Deity

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    This is a much better answer!

    Sent from my overpriced Galaxy S6 Edge +
     
    deadsmiley, Jul 19, 2016
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  5. danger007

    danger007 Notebook Consultant

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    You could also seek out a 680m as well, but the cost to performance I would be able to give you an exact amount in comparison to the models @Raidriar suggested. Depends on how much effort to modify you are going to be willing to put in as well. My 7970m died and I am still fighting to get what is supposedly a PNY 2gb 680m to work in my R4.
     
    danger007, Jul 27, 2016
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  6. Mobius 1

    Mobius 1 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Please don't use 880M...
     
    Mobius 1, Jul 27, 2016
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  7. cuse

    cuse Notebook Guru

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    Didn't the 680M come with 60hz screens on R4? I have the 120hz screen. I don't remember if Nivida cards could run with the R4's 120hz screen at 1900x1080 when they were new.

    A replacement 7970M is about $200-$250. I don't feel like it's worth $250 to me. It also needs to be branded Dell, whatever that means. How much is the 780M and 970M?

    Also, is it a pain in the ass to "convert" from an AMD GPU to a Nivida GPU on this laptop? Full reinstall won't be a problem, I'm saving up for a SSD and doing a clean win10 reinstall.
     
    cuse, Jul 31, 2016
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  8. Raidriar

    Raidriar ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

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    You can find 7970M for 200. Drop in replacement, just make sure its a later card. 780M is 300 at a minimum, more like 350-400 these days. 880M is a garbage card. 970M is a good option as well as 980M, I couldn't put another 7970M or 680M in there.
     
    Raidriar, Aug 1, 2016
    #8