Non-Dell 485M in the R3? Possibly...

I am going to be ordering the 485M from a distributor that is selling them for about $750-800 and he has agreed to take a return on this if it doesn't work on the R3. I will be the guinea pig and test this myself and see if it does work out of the box or if a BIOS modification will be needed.

Also, to bypass the issues of being detected we might be able to just dump the firmware of the 485M and rewrite it spoofed as a 460M so the dell BIOS doesn't flip out (if they are locking it down which these days I doubt)

 

The only problem with that is the possibility of bricking the card. Definitely keep us updated if you try it. We did it with the 5870 in the M15x and it was successful so who knows.

 

Got a link as to what was actually done?

I would assume it was not as easy as opening the bin file with a hex editor and re-writing the 5870 strings with an older version...was it?

 

Well I know this doesn't mean much right now, but I accidently found this on the Dell US website (dunno if its the same elsewhere).

But if you go to the dell website and search for 'Alienware laptop' the 4th item down out of what it finds is:

Come out to prey.
Get the edge you need to need to walk over your opponents with the Alienware's first 3D gaming laptop.
Up to Intel ®Core™i7-2820QM 2.3 GHz
Genuine Windows ® 7 Home Premium 64-Bit
Up to 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 485M

alienware laptop - Dell - Search - Home & Home Office

Now I know they screw stuff up like this all the time and it could be meaningless, but I wouldnt be completely surprised if the bios already supports or will support it soon. They could have planned it but ran into some kind of problems engineering wise or with prices / contracts with nvidia, who knows really. Either way good luck with your experiment and let us know how it goes!

 

Just FYI, I don't plan on attempting to update the BIOS on this card, bricking it, then sending it back because it "doesn't" work...In case anyone had anything to say about that

 

No, Dell included support for it in a BIOS revision

 

Conflicting information...

 

No we didn't modify the bios to make it work....it just worked.

 

It's not conflicting. You won't brick it from trying to use it but if you try to manipulate the vbios and do you something wrong then you might brick it.

 

I think the reason why the 5870 was plug and play was because there was already support for the 5850 which is basically the same exact card with different clock settings and stress levels. Now from what I know the 485m and 460m are a completely different card/chip so it may not work as others have said. Definitely keep us updated, it would be killer if it worked.

 

keep a copy of the original vBIOS .bin file and in case something goes wrong you can always blind flash it in a machine that supports this action.

 

No problems...Based on what you said after what I said sounded like it was BIOS modded

 

In my opinion it will work, if that is already on Dell's website then it means they have tested the card in the machine and have future plans to release it which means its already in the BIOS

 

Do it! However, like was stated earlier.....the 5850/5870 was not supported in the M15x until a BIOS revision added its support. Obviously this was done because Dell intended to release these cards in the M15x/M17x. But Moo, has a very good point, so I think the odds are in your favor.

 

"
Hi according to your site alienware laptop - Dell - Search - Home & Home Office
15:31:26 Customer stan
the m17x should have a 485m gtx gfx card
15:31:39 Customer stan
but I cant seem to configure with it to complete my purchaise
15:32:12 Customer stan
would you clear this up for me please
15:32:54 Agent Marnel L
I am glad that you chatted in today, I will be more than happy to help you.
15:33:24 Agent Marnel L
for this video card, it can support that one however we don't have option yet for it online, we don't have info when exactly it will be offered but hopefully soon/"


And so the plot thickens....

 

That means nothing. Everyone here knows that Dell reps are the most uneducated people in the world concerning Dell/Alienware products. They will say whatever they want to either sale you a PC or get rid of you because they are in the process of selling one to someone else.

 

yea though they all seem to say the same thing and the site clearly states the gpu possibility... wake up people -_- ... you really think they wont offer a high-end 3d capable card? (gtx 460 i consider an entry-level high class 3d)

 

As does nVidia on their website.

 

I am going to try the 470M on the r3 when i get it just to see if it works

 

@Speedy report back ASAP.

Honestly, I can build another laptop, pull the 485M from it swap in my 460M and still resell it for more than the 485M BY ITSELF. It's kind of ridiculous IMO.

 

I really can't comprehend how can someone work for a company and not be able to answer a simple question on compatibility and availability. I understand you guys don't like them because they are salesmen, but to go to such an extent as to call them out as "the most uneducated people in the world concerning Dell/Alienware" seems to be a bit much. Perhaps I'm too green or just too gullible in this forum, but for some reason I still have some faith in their words for the simple fact that they are people, and in the office where they work - they sit and chat, they talk computers and I'm pretty sure most of them are owners due to employee discounts, putting them in a similar phylum as us. Although I did catch them on BS quite a few times, everything they mislead or omitted seemed to be because of the "no comment" policy. And here it seems like he actually did mean what he said.

Besides, lets not run away from the obvious. The listing for 485m is still up on the site despite numerous storms and bombardments of the DellChat link by your's truly as well as dozens of other users.

 

StZu- you're at the green stage a lot of us were at at various points in time. I don't know if I'd go as far as calling them the most uneducated people in general, but I can promise you this don't trust the word of anyone from Dell/Alienware underneath a tech manager or engineer level. Most of the standard sales reps and tech reps you are going to talk to barely have a high school education, have never actually fixed a computer, and have a computer in front of them with drop down scripts to answer your questions. If you ask them something in that script one of three things will happen 1-they will lie and tell you what they think you want to hear 2-you'll be on hold for 15 minutes while they find someone they think knows the answer, or my favorite 3-they'll hang up on you or tell you to call someone else. I don't think these people are stupid, but I can tell you most of them would be able to identify the difference between a stick of ram, cpu, and gpu if set in front of them which doesn't build confidence in them for me after being lied to so many times.

 

What Dane said. With the ability for most of us to research extensively on the internet things we are interested in, it is no surprise at all we (the consumer) generally know more than the sales people. It was refreshing when I was dealing with the Ford sales manager when buying a new mustang and he said, paraphrased "You guys know way more about this new tech than I do, I deal with money and profit margins." Needless to say, we struck a deal that worked for both of us.

Back on topic, I went with the 460 expecting full well it will be upgradeable to the 485 down the road. Then again, I suspect there won't be much software (if any) I won't be able to run on the 460 with the 2830qm.

On a side note, it isn't only Dell that has this issue. I cannot remember the last time I walked into Best Buy and wasn't better educated on what I was looking for than any "associate" that wanted to help me. Heck, when I went to buy an iPad when they first came out, I had to bring it up on one of their display iPads to prove they had it in stock...

 

I would like to clarify, I have never called anyone dumb or stupid or uneducated for that matter. I said "Dell reps are the most uneducated people in the world concerning Dell/Alienware products".

I meant they are not educated when it comes to Dell/AW products. Please do not change my words...

Now StZu, I understand that you want to believe the sales rep and maybe the 485M will come out at some point but remember we all have stories here about stuff on the Dell website for months and it was not the truth.

- 4870M GDDR5: That never happened and it was on the site for 3 weeks
- The dimensions of the R3: It's still to this day the dimensions of the R2
- The weight of the R3: It's still to this day the weight of the R2
- A rep that told me the 5870M was coming on the R1, I probably still have email somewhere. (It never happened)
- A rep that told a guy here that the R3 only comes with 2 slots of RAM unless you get more than 4Gb of RAM. (Again complete crap)

And I could go on and on and on and on...

 

I could probably add a minimum of 50 to that list with proof lol. It's all good and well to want to trust Dell's reps, but at the end of the day they are basically just used car salesmen in the computer world lol

 

lol i totaly belived that i was like: i have to get the 8gb :S

 

I actually have that in my email.... I asked about the dimms, and to now thought there are different mobos for the r3...

Yeah I guess I understand what you guys are saying, probably my inexperience with these guys led me to be a lil more gullible than I normally am. I personally work with apple, but in retail as a reseller (#1 in the world i may brag) and in my line of work, if one of my reps cant tell a difference between a mini-dvi and a mini display port, hes out in matter of weeks, or just goes on to sell printers. I guess I kinda expected this from dell... of well

 

If you take what they say and actually attempt to understand how it was explained to them it makes sense. If you order 4GB of RAM you get 2x2GB sticks, 2 DIMMs in use. The way it is explained to them I can see them on the understanding it's 2 DIMMs and not 4.

EDIT: Or they are preying on the uneducated...But I don't think that is on purpose/malicient.

 

anyway... back to the 485m in the R3? any updates, has anyone heard anything new, or tried it? I contacted a AW support tech, they gave me the same speech they give everyone. "yes we 'plan' to release the 485m in the configuration soon, but have no set date".

I really dont want to wait for months for this if I am not sure it will happen, or in a timely fashion. I am getting my M17x R3 at the end of Feb, and that is that. If later I find you can upgrade, I will prob- get a 3rd party chip, and put that sucker in.

One more note. I am kinda upset with dell for releasing the R3 with the only 3D option being the 460m. It is quite a basic 3D card, and B4 dell got their hands in to AW they would have had more options, and a much newer card available.

 

stop the side chatter - use the owners lounge for these type of q's/comments. This thread is about:

There has been no word from Dell on releasing the 485M for the R3. trust me, if there were we would see a thread on this. Please stick to the thread topic.

Thanks.

 

The supplier got them in FYI, I am awaiting his stock count to make sure he can spare one.

 

Good stuff, feel free to ask for any help you may need (that we can give over the forum obviously...unless you are in Northern Virginia )

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m15x/538265-m15x-nvidia-470m-mod.html

You might want to peruse that topic just for some background info and such. The M17x R3 should have no problem supporting a GTX 485m electrically speaking. Even the R2 could support a GTX 485m (single - no SLI) electrically speaking. It's just a matter of whether or not manufacturer dedicated pins have been activated in the MXM standard on the card/laptop and if so, then is the bios currently compatible.

Good luck on your quest! I'll be following this closely.

Also I would NOT recommend flashing the card to a GTX 460m. That will almost certainly brick it.

 

Hey, sorry to sound rude, but did anything come of this? Very interested if it'll work because I would like to get an r3, but the 6970 doesn't support 3d, supposedly.

 

There's no telling KillerBunny, ATM you can't even buy an R3 because of the Intel chipset situation. I would guess with the chipset set back that we're at least a few months out of seeing any possibility of a major GPU upgrade, but then again Dell may throw something out the second it hits market again to try to entice people back to the R3 after the problem. Only time will tell.

 

Darn, thanks for the info. Sorry to get off topic, but is there any word on if the 6970 will ever have 3d capabilities?

 

Nope, the only info that is known and especially guaranteed is the info on the specs it was briefly released with. There's more speculation on just about everything to do with the computer than I care to go into but again it's all just speculation at this point. Patience is your best friend, without it in the computer world you're left with nothing but a dream of a rig that doesn't exist Again......only time will tell.

 

As soon as I end up getting the 485 I will let you know

 

I eagerly await the results.
If you can, please pm me some contact info of the supplier. I'd like to try the same with a Quadro 5000

 

Update:

It was EuroCom...Still going back and forth with him.

If I can not get a 485M BY ITSELF. I WILL buy another laptop with the 485M already and just switch it for a 460M with my laptop and give it to the girly...

Will update when I can.

 

Update again:

Just found out RJTech is selling the 485M's by themselves finally. Ordered one directly from them.

 

Sweet! Definitely keep us updated.
When is it set to come in?

Btw, NICE desktop rig you got there. Isn't 3x580 really cpu bottlenecked?

 

Just ordered it. Assuming it ships out on Monday, I would have it on Tuesday, they are 6 hours or so from me.

Mostly CPU bottlenecked at this point. Going to switch out board and CPU for a 2600k here shortly, I saw someone OC to 5.3Ghz on STOCK COOLING. It was nuts

Also: Thanks I would have switched out for dualie 590's but they seem to be slightly faster than a single 580 so I am sticking with my 580x3