Need help putting gtx 880m in m17xr4

Hey guys. i have an m17xr4 and my 7970m just died. So i decided to get new gpu the nvidia 880m. Im new at opening this pc but ive opened previous models like the r2. What i need help with is stuff like which bios should i get, any special heatsink modification i should be aware about. Any link to a vid, thread or service manual will be helpful. i just want this transition to be as flawless as possible. Thank you and i greatly appreciate it.

 

Hi,

Follow the steps in my 970M upgrade thread.. Ignore the bit about BIOS settings.. The main thing is that are you happy using your card in optimus mode? If so follow my thread.. If you want to use both modes (Optimus and dedicated only, you need to flash unlocked BIOS).. Stuff such as pads layouts etc is the same.. Make sure you use good thermal paste like IC Diamond/Gelid GC Extreme and make sure you also have good thermal pads like Phobya XT ones..

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-17x-r4-970m-upgrade.767872/

 

Hey. thanks tomjgx. I was actually researching some info on the 880m and i hear that it has been a pain and headache for many. As far as performance and your experience goes, are you happy with the 970m? I might just go with that card and if possible any good sellers? I saw an ebay a seller from china was selling it for 618. Im not sure if they're dependable.

 

Hello Tomjgx, thank you for the info. I did some research on the 880m and i hear a lot of horror stories about it. I was thinking of going with the 970 and wanted to get any input on your experiences so far with its reliability and performance. If you could recommend any good sellers, that would also be really appreciated!


P.S the seller from china is UpgradeMonkey

 

I would not get the 880M... The 970M beats the 880M and runs much cooler.. It's actually quite easy to upgrade if you follow the steps in my thread...

I would not get it from upgrademonkey... Prices are high... Look at my following post for a cheaper price in Europe..
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/dell-gtx980m-part-number.770798/#post-9918700

If your'e not in Europe, can you tell me where you are located? US? If you are in US, the best place would be either Hidevolution or Powernotebooks.com

 

I'm located in the US. MA to be exact.

 

Call up hidevolution and ask them to send you a quote through the website.. Try to get a discount and they'll give you $20 off.. Their price is a bit higher then other retailers but they offer 1 year parts warranty.. Make sure you place your order and call them up and insist to them that you need everything in the upgrade kit.. You can reuse the 7970M heatsink so don't buy that heatsink they offer... I got everything in my order.. Just ensure you call up and remind them that you need everything in the kit.. Especially insist on making sure they send you the correct screws.. these are needed to screw the GPU down.. The screws are different for the AMD 7970M...

 

i decided to go with HIDevolution just because they provide warranty,support, and services if i ever need it. Cant beat that for 600 bucks!


P.S Followed everything you said and they actually offered me a free 2 day shipping since the weather is bad over here. Everything is included screws, pads, paste and all.

 

Call them up and confirm this.. Don't depend on what they say.. Call and confirm.. Then they will make sure you get everything..

 

I just called and they sent me a quote before i called too. Everything seems to be in order, and i made sure with two representatives on what i would be getting with the upgrade kit along with my shipping arrangement. I also printed everything out as proof.

 

Also wanted to ask, and this is just for info. What is the easiest way you can brick your new card just so i can avoid any pitfalls. I dont want to damage the gpu or my pc for that matter and have to go through steps trying to get it working again. Also is windows 8 really necessary with this card?

 

Well the easiest way to brick it is to

1. static electricity: Make sure you are grounded whenever you change the components.. You need to get a electrostatic mat/wrist strap to do this
2. Make sure the pads are layed out as follows in my thread... Those pads need to be laid properly to prevent the vRAM from burning out.. Hidevolution gives you enough pads but honestly, wouldn't do any harm to get a bit extra because there will be some wastage.. As a matter of fact, get some of your own 0.5mm/1mm Phobya XT pads if you have the budget as these are much better then the stock ones provided..
3. Be Gentle.. Don't be too rough with any of the GPU components.. You don't want to break a capacitor or something..

 

Now whenever I have to install new drivers do i have to modify the inf file or am I limited to just the one custom driver. Also still wondering about windows 8 , can I still use windows 7?

 

Hi,

Currently, you need to UEFI boot and use Windows 8.1 sadly.. Windows 7 is seeming to be impossible to boot using UEFI... Also drivers wise, you have to modify inf each time but it's usually done by J95... I'm curretly using 344.75 which is a bit old but works perfectly and has OCing for Maxwell mobile cards unlocked unlike the newer 347 drivers where NVIDIA have locked it for some dumb reason..

 

Now what about the rest of the drivers for the audio or the wifi etc. does any of that change?

 

Nope all that stays the same..

 

Hey so I just manage to install everything but with a few bumps in the road and a detours.

So first off I had to install windows 8 through legacy mode, because uefi wasn't working for me. So I got windows 8 running and I installed the card before installing the OS just to get out of the way. So got the beeping so I restarted the cmos battery by removing it. Afterwards was beeping but then it booted into the windows 8 startup. Its installed. I didn't install any gpu driver except for the one HIDevolution sent me as a link which is a modified gpu driver for windows 8 for m17xr4. Now that's working well and fine and ran some stress test. Now my only concern is gpu sees I have 6 gigs of ram, but Canurunit.com says I have 3, and alienautospy says I have 2. What gives? do I assume gpuz is right on the money

And in regards to gpuz look at my screenshot. There are discrepancies with yours and mine even though I using the same card. Could it be different drivers or bio fixes you did or is something wrong here?

 

Those programs are wrong.. You have 6GB vRAM... Now driver wise, if you download the driver from laptopvideo2go ( I have 344.91), the inf is already modded for 970M..

 

What is the difference in performance compared to an overclocked 970m vs stock ?

 

Stock: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4065611

OC: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/3857967

That's the difference.. NVIDIA locked out OCing that's why.. Sign the petition against it..

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/no-more-overclocking-on-nvidia-mobile-gpus.771169/

 

Looks like I'm deleting my drivers.

 

Yup download the 344.91 drivers from Laptopvideo2go.. That's what I'm using... Modded inf is there, literally download the file (save target as) and replace the inf in display driver folder once driver package is extracted.. Also sign the peition..

 

Hey so its been a little over a week and everything's working fine. However the bottom of the laptop gets warm even when not using any gpu intensive task. I check gpuz and the temp is not going above 53 or 58 c . Is this something normal you've experienced or does the gpu need some pasting again?

 

Not normal... What is stressing your GPU? It should idle at 39-40... Did you follow the pad layout which is in my thread? Also what thermal paste did u use in the end?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-17-m17x/767872-alienware-17x-r4-970m-upgrade.html

 

Well I used the thermal paste it came with and used the pad layout in the video with the pad supplied by HIDEvolution.
.

 

can it be because the intel discrete gpu is on? Drivers, did one of my gpu pads go bad or melt? Do I have a faulty gpu! Now im worried ?

 

Also Tom can you post your 3d mark score too, i dont know if its the drivers or what not but i see discrepancies between other users core clocks. Does unlocking the vbios or using those modified drivers really boost it that much? Sorry for the bother. Just trying to get this horse up and running ya know

 

if you look through my thread, quite a few 3D Mark FS scores etc...

However in essence, on stock clocks, your Firestrike GPU score should be 7500.

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4065611

In 3D Mark 11, it should be close to 10 000 on stock..

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/9431405

This discrepency you see in core clocks is due to vBIOS.. In unlocked vBIOS, gpu boost is disabled so max clocks are always the full boost clocks.. hence 3D Mark reports those when I did benches with unlocked VBIOS (all the ones here in this post is with unlocked vBIOS)... Your also garunteed more performance hence with unlocked vBIOS.. I would flash it if you are comfortable doing so...

 

my graphics score is 7350 is firestrike

and sky diver is 23596


Is that within normality?


Also can your lower temps be attributed to your cooling pads and your better thermal pads?

 

Hey i just ran intelburn test and real temps and my i7 3630qm climbed within almost less than 2 seconds to 88- 90 95-89 and those where the maximum test. From what i gather those are abnormal temps for the cpu, and i might be the cause of my gpu getting some extra heat?
What do you think TomJGX, should i go ahead and repaste my cpu?

 

Well that's normal temps with Dell's stock paste which is ****.. Get some Gelid GC Extreme or IC Diamond.. GC is better though.. Make sure you keep either of the tubes in a cup of warm water before applying as this makes them "melt" a bit and easier to apply... Thanks to @TBoneSan for this tip and it makes life much easier...

 

My idle temperatures on two 880Ms are about 49-53C if you ask me. Maximum gaming temperature is 77C.

My CPU on 4x 3,8 GHz goes up to 93C but that's extreme Sandy Bridge CPU. You should have much lower temperatures.

 

He has a 3630QM which runs at 3.4-3.6GHz tops and those temps are baddd... Even mine did that with stock paste though.. Makes you wonder how miraculous IC Diamond and other pastes are now that my 3940XM reaches about 85C @ 4.0GHz...

 

My CPU is 32nm and it's ES. That's why.