M17xR3 GPU Upgrade questions

So I know there's been a hundred of these type of threads and I've read a number of them, but I guess I just want to be double-and-triple sure before I go and do this.

So my 6870M has been having some issues and I have no warranty on my M17xR3 (long story)...

Anyways, I'm looking to replace it with a 670m and have a few questions.

First, will the heatpipe/heatsink assembly that exists on my 6870m work fine with the 670m or is there something else I would need to use instead of, or in conjunction with, the new card.

In addition, I'm sure I'll need replacement thermal pads, what would be the correct size to get?

Finally, I found a listing for a 670m pulled from a Toshiba Qosmio that is affordable for me, is this an option or does it need to be from a Dell?

Any other 'gotchas' that anyone can think of?

Thanks a bunch, and again, I apologize that this is likely answered in many other places, but between this cold I have and all the reading I've already done on this, I'm not thinking terribly clearly and hope someone can just lay it all down for me.

 

i dont want to highjack your thread but i have been thinking the same thing for a while but going for the 675m (so i can game in linux), but i have seen a big drop in performance with my 6870m in the last few weeks after playing around with new drivers and bios, i was wondering if you have been doing the same?

i am using:
Windows 8
a12 stock bios (with switchable disabled)
13.1 catalyst drivers

i have tried a few other combinations of drivers and bios and seems to have the same performance problems, every thing was running fine when i 1st upgraded form Windows 7 and i cant remember how i had it set up then.

 

I think, and i'm not 100% sure, but the most recent card supported by Dell is the 580m/7970m. Anything later would require modded drivers/BIOS. This is definitely the case with the 680m and the 7970m. Also, i don't think the 670m was ever an option is Alienware laptops so you'll have a tough time installing that. Feel free to correct me, anyone.

One thing for sure, for optimal cooling, you would need a Nvidia heat sink to go with the Nvidia card as well as some new pads.

 

Thanks for the response. If anyone else has any experience with this please let me know. The issues with my 6870M are becoming problematic.

BTW I did run across this post of someone having put the 670M in an R3

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/654010-nvidia-gtx-670m-how-can-i-get-install.html

 

Just wanted to post the results of my upgrade.

I was able to successfully upgrade my graphics card in my M17xR3 to a 675M that I found on Ebay. It was removed from a Clevo. I'm using the modified INF for driver 314.22 in Windows 8. I'm also on bios A12 unlocked although I made no changes to the bios outside of the ones I had already made for the 6870M (running with the IGP disabled all the time is the only change).

Everything runs great, no issues.

I used the repasting guide for the 580m that another user posted here and Fujipoly 1mm thermal pads from FrozenCPU on the V1K2G heatsink I also purchased from ebay.

If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask, I'll answer as best I can.