M17x r3 680M compatability

Yes, it is a non 3D R3. While I don't understand why it must be disabled, not a problem either way.

On a side note, any guides for flashing the BIOS? I am setup for the 680 (flashed my sager), but I am note sure what's needed for the alienware mainboard BIOS..

 

Downloads

Download and extract this.

Run the Insydeflash.exe.

 

Doh.. I had downloaded it, but hadn't bothered to look at it. Damn I feel stupid.

Thanks!

So, flashed the A12 bios ok.

Installed the 680m, and my system boots (unlike when it has the original 580m). I go into the bios, and turn the system to PEG, and disable the IGP, and i get a garbled screen... then no display at all. The rest of the system boots, and i can hear windows in the background. But the display never shows anything beyond the garbled display that i have attached. View attachment 93753

Given the card came from ebay, i wouldn't be surprised if it was also a bad card. But i just have to check before i send back the card (instead of fixing something else). The system runs fine on the IGP, and everything else works.. my only worry is something else corrupt on the mobo that messes up PEG cards...

 

if you are using the same heat sink from the 580m I would remove the card and take the black tape off the copper plate on the heat sink. I am using a 580m heat sink and took the tape off prior to installing because it didn't look like the right size. i would also check to make sure the heat shield on the x-bracket isn't putting too much pressure on the vram.

if the card was bad you would probably be getting 6 beeps at post.

it also looks like the card has had a modded vbios flashed since the top left corner says tech inferno (well would say that if all the letters were there and not symbols) which is how my system boots up now with the modded vbios for overclocking.

 

I guess I can try that, but the tape is there to insulate, so it seems like it should be there. I can't say I am worried about too much pressure, as it is what the 580m had...

You are correct, I did flash a modded bios on, but after the initial boot attempts failed the same way. But thanks for reminding me, I will put it back with the stock bios...

 

The tape must not touch the core or it will interfere with the contact of the heatsink. The 680m is a different thickness and size so you must use the correct x-plate as this is what controls the clearance and pressure of the heatsink. You may get away with it but just as easily it could overheat very quickly?

 

to me it looked like the core on the 680m was bigger than that of the 580m which is why i took it off. I haven't had a single issue with my card even with overclocking and have been using it that way for well over a month.

 

Ok, well, i can take it off.. can't harm the card more than it is now anyway..

 

So this occurred even before flashing the modded vbios, check if the card is well inserted and then flash stock vbios. Clevo card ?

 

Yes, this occured before it (in fact, is the reason i flashed it at all.. i was thinking it might be a corrupt bios). I had reinserted the card a few times, same error.

And it is a dell card (2GB).

OK, so i figure i may as well give everything i can think of -
When i set to PEG and IGP disabled, of course the computer keeps booting, but nothing shows up on the screen (though i can see the backlight turn on). When i yank the BIOS battery, the first time it boots, it just gives me 4 beeps (which i understand to be ram). BUt if i do nothing more than power off and on again, it boots fine, i can see everything again, and all looks good. I have again verified the card seating, i installed without the black sticky this time..

if it wasn't such a process to take apart, i would consider trying it in my Sager 9170... i feel like i might have to soon...

 

Could you upload Bios screen shots of all the settings you changed + main window (service tag not visible). Always load optimal defaults after Bios flash F9>F10 save/exit>F2 enter Bios>set RAID or AHCI>disable IGP>set PEG>F10 save/exit.

 

Well, i guess i could, but to be blunt.. the only two settings I am changing are setting it to use PEG, and disabling the IGP. Could any setting that i am changing ACTUALLY cause the screen to go corrupt?

As it is, i have contacted the seller about an exchange/refund, but i guess i can try one last go......

OK, so here are my settings:

 

Bios detected the card and settings ok, probably faulty vram.

 

Sounds reasonable (and why everything is corrupted). I just hope it isnt' my PEG slot...

 

With the 580m 6 beeps or similar behavior ?

 

Not really - with the 580m, the system refuses to boot at all. No lights, no beeps, nothing at all. The NIC flashes for half a second, but that is the only sign of life. As soon as i take the card out, it boots as if there were no problems at all.

 

Return the card ASAP w/ stock vbios, remember not to use vbios mod screenshot as proof.

 

Card is back on stock, and seller is accepting the return. Now to get to the bottom of the problem on the r3...

 

Sorry Mr. J95 sir, when you have a spare moment would you mind adding the .inf for 314.22. Thank you!!

One more thing, when I play Tomb Raider for any extended period the card gets hot, I mean really hot... No problems in any other games though - anyone else experiencing anything similar??

Thanks!

 

I have noticed it runs a few degrees hotter than others - around 72C after a couple of hours. I have seen his in other games and usually as updated drivers come out it gets cooler. I see P1 (power throttle) more often as well.

 

NVIDIA DRIVERS 314.22WHQL

GTX 680:
Up to 60% faster in Tomb Raider
Up to 41% faster in BioShock Infinite
Up to 23% faster in Sniper Elite V2
Up to 13% faster in Sleeping Dogs

nvdmn.inf v.314.22


Driver installation guide http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/672230-m17x-r3-680m-compatability-63.html#post9038829

Guide Optimizing GPU FPS Rendering http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/710325-crysis-3-performance-r3-2.html#post9107772

 

Thanks J95, ever the hero.

 

Looks like nothing can be done with the 3D conpatability problem yet .
I Hope Dell doesn't continue with this non 3D compatability policy with the R4 3D and the future high end 700M...

Meanwhile I'll still wait for some (hopefully) good news from svl7.

 

I'd say it's a certainty if they introduce it with the R5. I'd be prepared to donate to svl7 when that happens!

 

Complex mod, I will wait.


M17XR3 Bios unlock Insyde bios mod requests. - Page 665

Insyde bios mod requests.

 

NVIDIA DRIVERS 320.00BETA

Has anyone had success installing this driver under Win 8 without black screens ? (modified nvdmn.inf - probably NvCplSetupInt installer Experience incompatibility - Driver signing disabled)

 

following your guide j95 I have had no issues installing the drivers with windows 8

 

So you used nvdmn.inf v.314.22, does this one installs nvidia experience ?

Probably issues regarding 3D Vision.

NVIDIA DRIVERS 320.00BETA

Black screens uninstall driver under safe mode, uploading nvdmn.inf v. 320.00.

Windows 8 users :

First enable safe mode option at startup, open command prompt (Admin) type "bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy"> hit enter>"The operation completed successfully.">reboot.
Now you can use F8 to enter safe mode.

Disable safe mode to restore startup speed: again command prompt (admin) type "bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy standard" > hit enter>"The operation completed successfully.">reboot.

 

yes I did use nvdmn.inf v314.22, It did not install nvidia experience, but I did install it on it's own.
as I don't have 3d I never install the 3dvision drivers.
downloading the 320.00BETA drivers now so will install when finished and see what happens.

 

sorry misread your post if you were asking if i was able to install 320.00 with the 314.22.inf file no i didn't try that.

 

Double post.

 

So you're talking about installing 314.22, if black screen occurs when installing 320.00 shutdown>power on>select safe mode>uninstall driver.

First enable safe mode option at startup, open command prompt (Admin) type "bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy"> hit enter>"The operation completed successfully.">reboot.
Now you can use F8 to enter safe mode.

Disable safe mode to restore startup speed: again command prompt (admin) type "bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy standard" > hit enter>"The operation completed successfully.">reboot.

 

Just a thought on this black screen. It used to happen a lot for me back in the bad old days of vista and I noticed the disk was still accessing so I tried to leave it for a few minutes until the disk access dropped to a heartbeat. Always happened at the point the driver installer was switching over. Power down and back up and the new driver was installed! Saw it once on my R3

 

That was my first option but it didn't work>shutdown again, entered safe mode (not enabled) by pressing F8,F9,F10 interrupting boot.

 

Oh well, it was a long shot but I thought I'd mention it

 

Hi All,

I was wondering if you were able to help point me in the right direction. I am looking to purchase the Nvidia GPU heatsink for the Alienware M17x R3.
My R3 currently has the 6990M GPU in it however I am thinking of switching over to an Nvidia GPU to conduct some testing.
Also is the GPU heatsink from the R3 and R4 model the same or can be used vice versa?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/wan...7x-r3-r4-nvidia-gpu-heatsink.html#post9193935

Thanks.

Cheers.

 

Hi, there are subtle differences in the heatsinks between the card models (but R3/R4 is not an issue) but I've seen people successfully use AMD heatsinks on NV and vice-versa since the layout of the chips is the same (the putty for the VRM's is probably not there on an AMD though?). Getting the correct x-plate is the most important as this sets the pressure of the heatsink and is specific to the thickness of the GPU core. You should get the x-bracket with the new card. Any tape on the heatsink around the core area should be removed.

Alternatively, you can purchase a heatsink complete with pads/paste/putty pre-applied from Dell. They quoted me £25.00, but if you give them an R3 tag they will only sell you a 580m one, not the 680m - you need to work the phone jockey, I've seen one guy that managed it!

Good luck

 

Thanks for the info MickyD1234,

I was wondering if any of these were the correct HS that I need for Nvidia GPU's?

NEW Genuine Dell Alienware M17X R4 Video GPU Card Heatsink TDMDJ 0TDMDJ | eBay

Alienware Nvidia Video Graphic Card M17X R3 R4 Heatsink 580M 675M GTX580M MT1DN | eBay

New Genuine Dell Alienware M17x R3 Video GPU Card Heatsink VH0YK 0VH0YK | eBay

Cheers.

 

They all look OK but without seeing the other side for pads and putty it's something you'd need to ask the vendor. The one with a x-bracket has to be specific to a GPU but it does not say. You'd have to cross reference the part #, hopefully it's a dell one.

All way more expensive that dell quoted me and I've seen it for $24.00 USD from dell US.

Give then a call, and try to get the sales guy to work with R4 part numbers, then you can get the specific 680m one

Good luck!

 

Thanks again,

Unfortunately I'm not in the US and they don't sell us parts over the phone so I usually have to rely on ebay or the marketplace here.
So I was hoping to pick one up a little cheaper from here otherwise last resort just pay the overpriced ebay prices.

Cheers.

 

That part number came back as a 6870 but this place ships worldwide and is reasonable

Dell Parts Cooling Heatsink VH0YK

 

Awesome thanks for the link Champ!

Yes strange ey? Is the 6870 referring to the AMD GPU or just part number?
This Heatsink should be compatible for Nvidia GPUs yes?

That is indeed an awesome price. With free shipping as well amazing! I'll purchase this straight away lol. Thanks again. :thumbsup:

Cheers.

 

I'm pretty sure it's referring to the AMD but like I said, the chip layout is part of the MXM standard so only thickness's will change. My 580m had 2 different thickness's of pads and a strip of putty-like (that I've never found for sale) material along one edge. Eurocomm have a pad placement diagram if I remember correctly.

Ask if they have one for the 680m?

This is a shot of my 580m pads/putty as delivered from Dell:

 

Yeah, I ordered M18X triple pipe CPU heatsink from them (modding R3 Heatsink i7 2960XM 4X4.3 GHz) but free shipping will result in 45+ days and still counting.
Good customer service.

 

Ah true that. Free shipping but takes half a decade to get to you. LOL
Hmmmm, I might have to just try out the original 6990 HS 1st and see how it goes. I know I won't be able to wait once all the parts for my special project arrive hopefully later next week.

Now I've just been through only 36 pages of this thread and still reading.
Do I still need to disable IGP before I boot up with the new Nvidia GPU?
Also is the unlocked A10 system bios the latest and up to date still?
I'm like a M17x noob all over again HAHA!!! Thanks.

Cheers.

 

It's all about thermal pad placement GUIDE: Installing Clevo GTX 680M in Alienware M18x, Latest unlocked Bios w/ sata III fix A12 Downloads, disable IGP.

Better have the right x-bracket for future use.

Good luck!

 

Brilliant,

Thanks j95
Reading through this thread and a few others has caught me back up to speed for the good old M17x Alienware range.
Thanks for the links.

Cheers.

 

NVIDIA DRIVERS 320.14BETA

This is the GeForce Game Ready driver for Metro: Last Light | GeForce providing up to 10% faster performance.

M17XR3 3D = Blank screen http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/718600-new-geforce-drivers-issue-blank-screen.html


http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...river-v-6-10-0-6421-maxx-audio-3-quality.html


Driver installation / vbios flash>guide http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/672230-m17x-r3-680m-compatability-63.html#post9038829


nvdmn.inf v.320.14

 

I was excited for metro until I found out it has a narrow FOV and no way to change it and it would just make me sick

 

As usual sir, Thanks!