Upgrading the GPU

Hey guys, I recently bought an alienware m17 r4 (august summer 2012) and I'm looking to upgrading my Graphics card/GPU. I have an NVIDIA Geforce GTX 675M atm and I am having trouble finding what and where to buy an upgrade for it. I know hwo to install one already but my problem is that I read somewhere that you need to buy one that was directly installed from a previous alienwareor soemthing of those sorts.

So basically I need help find what and where? maybe the Gtx 680M?

 

There's basically just 2 GPU's you should upgrade to at this moment, the top NVidia GPU or the top ATI gpu.
Your choices are the GTX 680m or the 7970m.

Which one, comes down to personal preference and budget.
Both cards are about similar in speed, depending on which game you try one will be faster then the other. When overclocking a lot to the limits, the 680m seems to have an advantage. Best bang for buck is the 7970m.
There is no need to buy one which was pulled from another Alienware, you just want a Dell branded card with a correct vbios.

There is a lot of places you can buy one, the NBR Marketplace, Eurocom, RJTech, MXM-upgrade.com etc. I'd advise to look around the NBR marketplace if you aren't to familiar with this so the seller can help advise for your system and sell you something that will work for you, there's oftenly one of both cards for sale from a known and thrustworthy member.

 

Ah ok. Thanks but just so I can completely understand, what do you mean by "dell branded card with a correct vibios"?

 

There are Clevo versions of both cards and Dell ones.

Here is an expamle of a Dell 7970M:

HD7970M Alienware M17x/M18x VGA Upgrade Kit; Dell HD7970M 2GB DDR5 CF Ready | eBay

 

As mentioned above by Joe85, there are CLEVO branded cards and DELL ones.
The vbios isn't a big issue, you can just flash it with a new one.

This is why you should buy from the NBR Marketplace, so someone can help you with this and send you a plug and play card

 

Hey guys,

Im pretty much in the same boat as fisix. Just got a R4 and will be looking to upgrade my 675m to the 680m.

So just to be clear, if i get a Dell made 680m i can just plug in and play? No bios update etc. Just replace the old 675m and away you go?

 

Yep, exactly. Obviously, remove all drivers until you're on the standard VGA adapter before you remove the 675m. Then install your 680m, install new drivers and enjoy!

 

So as i said im a noob. So how would I uninstall the drivers?

 

Go to the control panel and in programs and features you will see the nvidia stuff to remove.

Just double click on one of the 4 items and it will handle the rest, even though it does not look like all of it has been removed it has.

Now shut down, install the new card, power on the machine then install the latest drivers.

If you are that much of a noob as you say! you may or may not want to get some help installing the actual card making sure all the thermal pads and paste are done properly. Mounting the heatsink to the card properly is very important

 

Thanks and I think I'm good did alot of research on the physical installation already. Now to only find a 680m with a bracket and heatsink!

 

Yeh, it's not that difficult. Common sense is all you need. Upgradeyourlaptop, on ebay, provide a decent drawing of correct pad placement for on the 680m.

Slickdude's 7970m installation thread also gives you a good idea on how to remove/install a heatsink and GPU.

For removing drivers, a lot of people on the forum will recommend Drive Sweeper and CCleaner.

Guru3D - Driver Sweeper

CCleaner - PC Optimization and Cleaning - Free Download