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    M17x-r2 with 280m gtx?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by claxdog, May 23, 2010.

  1. claxdog

    claxdog Notebook Evangelist

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    So I have A r-1 and a r-2 and was wondering if the bios for the r-2 would support 280m gtx sli from my r-1?I Would like to see the performance diff. between the two.
     
    claxdog, May 23, 2010
    #1
  2. DR650SE

    DR650SE The Whiskey Barracuda

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    hmm, might be interesting, I say time to take apart the systems if there is BIOS support
     
    DR650SE, May 23, 2010
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  3. claxdog

    claxdog Notebook Evangelist

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    thats what i am thinking maybe just switch them for a while.
     
    claxdog, May 23, 2010
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  4. FXi

    FXi Notebook Deity

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    R1 has a different pci-e slot, 1.0 vs 2.0, so I'm not sure they are compatible on a physical level. Countering this is that the MXM spec (from memory) was the same between the two, so I'm not 100% sure they are incompatible.

    Hope that made some sense.
     
    FXi, May 23, 2010
    #4
  5. Glzmo

    Glzmo Notebook Deity

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    I don't think SLI works with the R2. However, a single card will likely work, since I've seen R2s with single GTX 280 and 260 advertised at the local Saturn market (although that could just have been a misprint, the advert did say Core i7 with GTX260 and GTX280 respectively).
     
    Glzmo, May 23, 2010
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  6. stamatisx

    stamatisx T|I

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    That's incorrect, there is no physical difference between R1 and R2 concerning the pci-e slot or their version.

    What we don't know is if the NVIDIA cards in SLI mode are supported by the R2 BIOS and there is only one way to find out, by trying.
     
    stamatisx, May 23, 2010
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  7. claxdog

    claxdog Notebook Evangelist

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    I thought the new bios had support for the new nvidia cards.Does the new nvida offering not have sli?
     
    claxdog, May 23, 2010
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  8. claxdog

    claxdog Notebook Evangelist

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    I think I might try it this week.
     
    claxdog, May 23, 2010
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  9. trikster

    trikster Notebook Evangelist

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    I would be very interested to know if this works.
     
    trikster, May 24, 2010
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  10. GreaseMonkey90

    GreaseMonkey90 Notebook Evangelist

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    ive tried it before...it doesnt work. as soon as i boot it up...the whole screen is fileld with coloured artifacts. but thts on the A02 bios. not sure about the A05. i will try it again maybe tomorrow
     
    GreaseMonkey90, May 27, 2010
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  11. Aikimox

    Aikimox Weihenstephaner!

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    Might be worth giving it another try with the latest BIOS. I wonder if the latency issues will appear on R2.
     
    Aikimox, May 27, 2010
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  12. stamatisx

    stamatisx T|I

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    Indeed, that would be really interesting.
     
    stamatisx, May 27, 2010
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  13. claxdog

    claxdog Notebook Evangelist

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    I tried it this week and it did not work.Could not get the drivers to install.gpuz recognized the cards hwinfo32 also recognized the cards.When I tried to install drivers it gave me an no compatible hardware message?tried different drivers tried installing via have disk method nothing worked.
     
    claxdog, May 27, 2010
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  14. stamatisx

    stamatisx T|I

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    Claxdog, did you try it with the latest BIOS?
    Also, did you try to delete both devices from device manager and let windows reinstall them and then try to install the drivers?
    I can't think of something else except from the fact that those cards are not being supported by the BIOS
     
    stamatisx, May 27, 2010
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  15. claxdog

    claxdog Notebook Evangelist

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    Yeah I did that and it is the new bios so I tend to think the bios does not have support.
     
    claxdog, May 27, 2010
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  16. stamatisx

    stamatisx T|I

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    Yeah, that's what it looks like. +rep for the effort
    Too bad though, otherwise it would be a nice alternative
     
    stamatisx, May 27, 2010
    #16