Upgrading Alienware gtx 880m to 980m?

I was advised to head over to this section of the forums to get more information on this. As title says when the gtx 980m comes out I will be looking to upgrade my 880m. I just wanted to make sure I can swap out my 880m in my Alienware 17 for the 980m without any issues. This is my first Alienware laptop and this is all new to me. Is it pretty simple plug and play or are there software mods that need to be done as well? I have been struggling since April when I got this model with the 880m having less then stellar performance/throttling/heat issues and can't wait to get rid of it. Thanks in advance!

 

Yeah, you can. I may be doing it as well. It will be a straight forward process. Really simple.

 

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eRvAAfN9lOs&feature=youtu.be

Just be a bit more careful than him..

.. Better disassembly \ teardown videos should be out there!

 

Oh I won't be actually doing it myself. I'll have a friend who is a tech. I'm going to attempt to get a warranty exchange from dell on my 880m for a 980m. If that fails I will just purchase the card. Which brings me to my next question... do you purchase the card directly through dell?

 

You can if it's an officially accepted upgrade to your machine. It will be expensive but come with a warranty.

 

Can't help but notice you avatar is from Transitor... great game . Anyways do we know if it will be officially accepted? From past experiences what do they usually charge for a flagship GPU like that? I'm assuming 500-700 dollars or so... but as this gaming laptop scene is new to me I really have no idea.

 

I thought they only come with a 30 day warranty even from Dell

 

It may vary by region, ask when buying of course

At least that price probably. So yeah not cheap.

 

Hi,

I purchased an Alienware 17 last November and got a one with an i7-4800MQ, 16GB RAM and nVidia GTX 770M. Will it be possible to upgrade it to a 980M this time around?

Thanks,
Kenshin

PS: I don't know if this is the wrong place to ask, but any replies would help.

 

I'm hoping that a huge number of GTX880M to hit Ebay; hopefully at bargain prices, as the total techheads upgrade to GTX980Ms.........

 

You shouldn't have any issues with that. Make sure you use a proper heatsink though.

 

If I order directly through dell they can probably give me fan and heatsink with it?

 

Yes they would.

 

Awesome good to know!

 

Why would you need a fan with it. Doesn't the laptop already have one in it. I can see the need to change heatsink to a three pipe .

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

I guess I don't need a fan they just replaced my fan anyways when they gave me a new 880m. I would just get the heatsink that comes with the 980m

 

This video is a great example of the exact wrong attitude to take when you approach a laptop with a screwdriver. Anyone this 'ham fisted' should get some one else to do the maintenance for them

 

I just asked TechSupport and they said that they don't do 980Ms for my Alienware 17 (4800MQ/770M/3D/16GB). Is the upgrade worthwhile?

They want me to buy it off of eBay and install it myself. Is this a safe route to go? (I see only 880m's on eBay now, no 980Ms)

Thanks,
Kenshin

 

You will have to wait for it buddy as there are no official dell branded 9XXM series others are not yet available. The self installation is a straightforward process as suggested by many...try upgrademonkey once those GPU's are out.

Plus it will be expensive as high as $850+, adding to that you also need a 100w Heatsink for that as your 770M is a 75w one, dell is best bet for that heatsink otherwise you might need to purchase it online, making the upgrade nearly $900-1k.

 

I have an Alienware 18 with dual 780ms. I'm interested in the 980ms for the HDMI 2.0 (I have a 4K display). Does the 780s have a 100w heatsink or 75w? Also is that $850 per video card or for the set(dual)? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

I'm quite new to this AW17 R1 as my system is due to be shipped to me, Though i can say that 780's use 100W heatsink & Unlike AW17 all AW18 models must be equipped with only 100W GPU's as it's more powerful configured notebook.

Plus about the 980M's they are still not out in ebay or other upgrading sites (Eurocom) adding to that the cost would be $800-900+ per card & finally they wont sport a HDMI 2.0 fow now that tech is only for desktop GPUs....

And better try out the AW18 forums, they could help you better in this case....

 

The cards are very popular so spare cards will not be readily available for a bit. I'd say around 2 months myself but that's just a guess.

 

Ashtrix, I'm in India right now. Can you help me with an 880M upgrade?

 

Even with HDMI 2.0 support, you AW18 needs a HDMI 2.0 port.. which it doesn't have.. So you will be limited to HDMI 1.4.. 4K at 30fps.. You can use the mini displayport if its still included in the new AW..

 

Is "UpgradeMonkey" even a reliable source for these cards? They ship from China. Never used them before.

 

"Upgrade Monkey" is quite serious, based on what I've heard.

 

Don't upgrade to 880M in any case, People with experience here say that card suffers from heatup I guess. Better u go for the old 780M or 980M when it's out either of them will cost you 700-900USD bracket, the 980M needs testing though even after market availability.

I think your card 770M is also quite good, better use it for some more time then you can upgrade it to a more beefier 980M. You might also need a 100w heatsink, try Dell India. But i'm afraid they are not at all good in understanding us, still worth a shot, As the 100w heatsink is not available at all from Ebay only EU sites have that part no # YP26V for much higher $$.

 

I've asked this question before but I currently have a 7970M and want to upgrade to a 980M a few months down the road. Will I be able to reuse the AMD 3 pipe heatsink or will I have to get a NVIDIA 3 pipe heatsink?

 

I think 3 pipe heatsink from AMD is different to Nvidia, in ebay you can found too many heatsink for nvidia, I have mine 100w ready for 980m....

 

The heat sink comes with the system from Alienware. Pretty sure they're all the same, in that, if you order a high-end GPU (100W), you'll get the better heat sink (3-pipe). Lower wattage GPU's come with a dual-pipe heat sink. The bracket that holds the GPU in place is what is different, if I remember correctly. I don't own AMD but that's what I read.

NVIDIA to NVIDIA upgrade should be "plug and play" with the exception of some software compatibility on rare occasions. AMD to NVIDIA requires some new hardware components, and obvious software changes.

 

I've read of a similar upgrade and AMD heatsink was fine.. I'd probably get the X-bracket with the GPU so shouldn't be a problem..

 

World's first gtx980m in ebay is available

nVidia GTX980M 8GB GDDR5 VGA MXM 3.0B ALIENWARE 17 18 R1 R2 XMG EUROCOM CLEVO | eBay

It comes from CLEVO....

970m is too available

http://www.ebay.es/itm/NVIDIA-GEFOR...er_Computer_Graphikkarten&hash=item462a4d5885

Seller ensures item is full compatible with AW....

 

Just a heads up on that. I've seen a couple of people use the AMD heatsink on an NV card BUT, although the mounting centres of the spreader are the same, the captive screws in the heatsink were slightly thicker. Meaning either use the AMD x-bracket (assuming it fits through the holes on the NV card.), or get new screws and use the smallest screwdriver to release the original captive screws, along with a cloth to catch the e-clip as it 'pings'!

Good luck.

 

With all that info I have a question:

My aw17 comes with gtx765m, could I use the heatsink with a 780m, 880m or 980??? I installed a 780m, and gpuz didn't show Temps for my card, is that heatsink compatible with my laptop???

 

I couldn't say off the top of my head. If the 765 is a 100w card then yes the heatsink should be good for any new card. If you have a two pipe heatsink then you should try to get a three pipe one. Depends on just how hot these new cards run. The 680m is a 100w card but runs so cool I would think a 75w heatsink would cope OK.

Try msiafterburner to monitor the temp (settings->monitoring) and check the OSD box to see it while you game/bench.

Edit: rereading you ask specifically about the 780m. This does appear to run on the warm side so it's important you monitor it...

 

I don't believe the 765m is compatible as it is a 75w card and you will need the 100w heatsink

 

It wears 3 pipe heatsink, I believe 765 is 75w card, but when I installed 780m it didn't show Temps, I would like view Temps because I got now a 880m, and I don't want to get fire in mine Aw, is there any temp sensor in any place for vga??? I try msiafterburner, I hope it shows me temps

 

Sounds like you got the 100w heatsink anyway.

Heaven 4 benchmark has a temp on-screen as well.

This is afterburner:

 

Extremely expensive, 1000+ USD is too much..

 

I installed finally msi afterbuner and I can't view current temp


I use w8.1pro 64bits

 

I've never seen that before. No stats at all and this is on the original 765m GPU? If it is then default the bios back to original.

Also try heaven 4 to see if it kicks it into life. The temp will be in the upper right if it's working. https://unigine.com/products/heaven/

Not a lot of ideas I'm afraid.

Anyone?

 

Can you see the temperature of the GPU in hwinfo64 ?

 

If you switch off the optimus either with software or with the one of the F1-12 buttons(it called i/o fx or something) which turns off the integrated video card and enables the geforce directly you will be able to see temperatures for geforce in cpu/gpuz as i remember.

 

Anyone buy upgrade kits from these guys on ebay? Selling 980m's for clevoes and alienwares but Ive never got anything expensive on ebay.

Alienware 18 M18 17 M17 VGA Upgrade KIT NEW Nvidia GTX 980M 8GB DDR5 | eBay

Clevo P1XSMA P37XSMA VGA Upgrade KIT Nvidia GTX 980M 8GB DDR5 MXM 3 0B 103W | eBay

 

There is just no reason to spend this much on a 980M. For 500 dollars more you could buy a fully functioning SLI 980M laptop vs the price of 2 of these.

 

The prices will go down soon. Just wait it out.

 

Where did you see an SLi 980m system for $1,500.00 (Card is $1000 + your kind $500)? No offence, but atleast make a reasonable statement please...

 

Vs the price of 2 of these...

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Definitely expensive but all high performance mobile cards are around that cost. 880ms were around 800-900 as well.

I'm seriously thinking about getting this to upgrade my laptop. If any body has any experience or a video of the 980m upgrade please send aliong!

 

I am waiting on a couple more parts before I crack open my AW 17. I have the 120hz/3D screen and currently have a 770M video card. The best price I have found is a 980M for Clevo and the seller doesn't provide any information about using it with an Alienware. I assume the difference has to do with the video bios. First, is there any issue using a Clevo 980M with an AW 17 and second, will I need a different heatsink (or anything else) to make it work? I've read the related threads here and at TI and can't find a straight answer. Thanks.