M17x-r2 Looking to upgrade GPU

Im looking to upgrade my GPU's, currently I have 2 GeForce 285m. Looking for the best option for a novice at upgrading laptops like myself. Im not opposed to taking it to someone to have them install them but I would just like to know what cards I can put in there or even just a single card if i dont have the power to run 2. Also was wondering if there was any way to upgrade the GPU to be compatible with Directx11.

1st gen i7 1.7ghz
2 - Geforce gtx 285m

 

Are you sure you have 2 285m in your m17x r2 ? Or it's really an R2 ? The R2 can't take sli if i am right, just the R1.

Anyway in the R2 you can put :

AMD :

- single and crossfire 4870m/5870m/6970m/6990m/7970m

Nvidia

- single only : GTX680m , and older like 260m/280m , don't know for the other.


If you plan to stay on single gpu, go for the 680m, run cooler than 7970m and better driver. If you want dual gpu , go to 7970ms , you will need a good cpu, 920xm overclocked only, the 720/820qm and other are too weak. The system will run but you will see a lot of fps drop when cpu is charged.

You will need a better power supply for two 7970m , dual 240w psu or single m18x 330w psu.

 

I'd say a single 680m for a novice, lots of room for tweaking no crazy power requirements.

 

Hey,
Thanks for the replies and yes im sure I have 2 285m and my i7 is a 740. I guess ill stick with the 680m then. Anything special I should know about drivers and start up because I doubt I can just plug and play with it. Thanks for the help in advance.

 

You will need to modify the driver, pretty easy. There is a thread about that and you can look for the last 4/5 page in M17x R2 of owner's lounge thread. I think i have made a step by step for almost every thing that can happend when you put an 680m in the R2.

 

What 680m should I be looking for, I would think they are all very similar but im still pretty new to this. Anything I need to watch out for when buying one?

 

A clevo 680m is usually the choice to go with. Just make sure to flash the vbios of the gpu if you wanna overclock it. You can find more info about flashing gpu vbios at techinferno's forum

 

The R2 is indeed capable of SLI, the single card config started with the R3.

 

Yep, my mistake , i always forgot about 260/280 and 580 sli because of 680m sli that won't work.

 

One final question, could I possibly run 2 580m's or would a single 680m be more powerful than those 2 SLI together?

 

A single 680 should be better... You will also be able to OC it a lot... Dual 580's will require a high power draw and not only that, the 580 is a card which has a high tendency of dieing...

 

What supplies will I need to put this card in right? I know some thermal adhesive anything else?

 

You'll need thermal pads.. Get 0.5mm ones (I think)..

 

7970m FTW!
:hi2:

 

Hey, I have the cards,the thermal paste and thermal tape. Could you link me the latest modded drivers needed to run a 680m?

 

Ahh what did u get? As for modded drivers, look on this alienware subforum.. J95 has plenty of these modded drivers...

 

I got a Dell branded 680m, some artic silver but my dam thermal patches did nothe come in on time before I had to leave for the weekend. I brought my m17x r2 to a friends house 4 hours drive away for the weekend and we are going to do this after he gets out of class. Will I be OK without the thermal patches or should I wait? Also, will my 1st Gen i7 be the bottle neck on this graphics cards capabilities?

 

Don't risk it without proper pads, a vrm could overheat and take out the card. If you make sure the vrms are being cooled the rest don't matter as much and could be left for now.

 

Yeah, the i7 will botleneck, i can play a lot of game with mine but there is sometime masive fps drop. I have managed to overclock it to 2.1 Ghz but not a single fps increase ... When i see some people with an 920 xm oc to 3.5 Ghz with 1 hd7970m , they put a lot more fps.

 

ok so I have the 680m, im my laptop, put back together and now im trying to getting everything working properly. Where are these drivers you all keep talking about, iv tried finding them but that owners lounge thread is huge. Also, J96 would have some as well?

 

In the last page of owner lounge thread. There is no pre-modded driver, you just have to download the regular driver and modify it with the .ini files. There is a thread about 680m driver where all is explain step by step: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-17-m17x/696220-m17x-r2-680m-driver-assistance-needed.html

 

Thanks you SOOO much

 

AMD HD 8970m 4GB...
Works flawless in my R2 with a 920xm...and it was plug'n'play with the proper pre-installed bios to boot :thumbsup:

 

Can you identify the bios version on your motherboard and gpu and what version if any the 8970 is?

TIA

 

DELL Card (at least GPU-Z says so);
Bios Version BR44618.001 --> non-Enduro version pre-installed by vendor
MoBo Bios: A10
VGA works
HDMI (Video/Audio) works
Displayport not working ---> If I could get this to work, I could run my 2560x1080 Monitor HDCP compliant with Hardware Video acceleration. BUT for now, I have to patch the catalyst-driver to run that 2560x1080 Resolution, which breaks HDCP

 

Thnx D.Vine.

Could you please do me a favour?
Download techpower GPU-Z from here and post a screenshot of what GPU-Z shows?
I ask as future r2 owner may upgrade to this card and would like to know details of vbios, etc.

One last q, is this dell 8970m 2GB or 4GB? If you have any photos of the gpu itself this would help identify if it is dell or clevo. Thnx