Replace 6990 -> GTX 675m - new heatsink?

Hello. I have to replace the 6990m of my M17xR3, because it does not work anymore. Is it possible to replace it by a GTX 675m, or is it necessary to buy a new heatsink too?

 

Firstly, are you out of warranty? - if not, that's the best place to start.

You would need a new heat sink as AMD heat sinks are not compatible with Nvidia graphics cards - you would probably end up overheating. As the 675m is practically the same as a 580m, the heat sink for either should be fine. Pretty sure the part number is V1K2G. You might pick one up cheap off Ebay if you google the part number or you might be able to purchase from Dell. Here's an Ebay one I just found for information purposes:

NEW GENUINE ALIENWARE M17X R3 VIDEO GPU CARD HEATSINK AND BACKPLATE V1K2G | eBay

Another option would be a single 7970m or even 680m - depending on your budget.

 

If you are covered by warranty see if you can upgrade to the latest 7970M and 680M. Perhaps dell will oblige.

 

Thank you for your answers. I'm not covered by warranty, that's my problem. My AW is noch 14 month old. Thanks for the Ebay-Links, Stevie. I was not sure which part number is the right one.

wfr from Germany

 

There is a forum member who is selling a 675m, here's a link to his NBR Marketplace advert: http://forum.notebookreview.com/computer-components/703443-sale-dell-clevo-675m-580m.html - I don't think the sale includes a Dell heat sink but you could ask him once you have Private Message access - you need a few more posts on the forum (around 5) to get full forum privileges. If you click on his NBR Username, eventually you will see an icon to send a private message - or you could just post on his sale thread if you were interested. I've linked him to this thread so maybe you two could come to some kind of arrangement!

Not sure if the card is a Dell or Clevo card so you might wanna make sure....both should work fine: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/703099-clevo-gtx-675m-m18x-r1.html#post9035459

Good luck with it all!

 

@Stevie
Thank you for your help. I bought the heatsink by following your link. Now i'm going to buy a GTX 675m from the seller upgrademonkey. I think 230€ is a good deal. Do you have some more important information where i have to pay attention for while replacing the grafic cards?

 

Well, I'm pretty sure you will probably need a modified driver to allow them to recognize the 675m in your R3 - afaik, they were never released as an official upgrade for the R3 and as such, you will have to add the hardware ID's to allow install. The 675m is practically the same as a 580m so there is not much difference, hardware wise. Other than that, I don't think there is too much to worry about but I have asked for a more experienced 17x owner to comment on this thread. Hopefully, if there is any additional info that you need to know, they will post here in due course.

The only other thing that you might need are thermal pads if the gpu you have bought doesn't ship with any.

 

Is it difficult to add the hardware id? Can i use LaptopVideo2Go: NVIDIA & Laptop News to get a driver with a modified .inf? Sorry for the questions, but it is my first time replacing a laptop GPU. I don't wanne kill him

 

That should be fine. I always use them for 'unrecognised hardware' issues and everyone I've pointed to them has had success