Windows 10 and nVidia 980M GTX upgrades for Alienware (M17X-R4, without Optimus: Working Great!)

Actually i think you mean, it uses the same screw to hold the videocard down, the screws to attach to the X-bracket surely are larger, then the ones all over the laptop.

 

would like to see some bench mark result using peg in windows 10 with 980m

 

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/10227403 here is one guy obviously not using Optimus.

He also has things maxed out.

 

Great thanks .. im upgrading to windows 10 now .. anybody now which latest nvidia driver that doesnt throttle? would like to know if there is ..

i currently using the latest nvidia driver i got higher result on haven benchmark but my games got only 20-40 fps its really low compare when im using windows 8.1 gonna try 352 driver

 

How much lower are we talking here ? Are we talking like 1/3rd the performance ? or we talking like 4-5% less only.

 

Hi , like -4 -5 fps playing gta V and elder scroll online in ultra high settings .... I switch back to windows 8.1 the loading in windows 10 with 980m is taking so long like 1 min ... while on windows 8.1 its only 5 sec ....

is it because im using a11 bios? the windows 10 boot loading is really long but each time i do safe mode it took only 5 sec....

 

weird. But that's windows 10 for you. No one understands its dysfunctionality, not even microsoft.

Your saying you get -4 -5 FPS compared to what you used to run ? Or compared to ...when your in windows 8 ?
What laptop are you using, what OS version, what bios and are you on the stock vbios we flashed the card with ?
There is A LOT to consider when trying to help. Its more or less narrowing options down and then going from there, otherwise, it could be anything from cpu throttle to power to drivers to game updates etc..

 

woodzstack, you using m17x R4 980m win10 right?
Does your 980m holds clock even after power drain?

I believe I've mentioned this in other thread. Mine only holds clock wiht 352.84 driver.
Other drivers works sometime but not othertime after power drain.

 

I haven't owned a M17X-R4 since those drivers...lol (now seems like a blessing, haha, j/k)

When you say 352.84, your specifically mentioning my driver on the front page, aren't you ?
I ask this, because I think it was modded differently. I still believe its the best driver. Before that was stuck using 344.75 for 4-5 months. This is a normal pattern with nVidia.

***added TEP pad/plates for cooling the VRAM at end of OP**

 

No I am not mentioning 352.84 because it is the one you used.
I myself tested alot and found 352.84 works flawlessly even after power drain.
Other driver works fine someday but not the other day after power drain.

 

Well, that was the last driver I had when I sold my M17X-R4. had the thing for years, didn't know nVidia drivers were going to go THIS much further to hell. LOL. give it sometime, usually something creeps up that will work better in a few months.

 

So I'm not sure what I might be missing, but I can't seem to get this to work. I purchase a new GTX 980M from woodszstack and it arrived earlier today.

First I unistalled all of my old drivers using DDU and shut down the machine.

Then I followed the instructions on the first page.

The first time I got nothing, only a red screen and beeping. I put my old card (780m) back in a went through the entire process again.
This time, I booted up OK.

I installed the drivers you linked as well (358.50).

However, when I start windows it runs fine for a minute or two, and then windows freezes. No blue screen or error, just a total freeze. I repeated the process again and get the same result.

Any idea what might be causing this? I'm really only interested in using this in dedicated mode.

My system:

Alienware 17 60hz screen (manufactured March 2014)

Windows 10 64bit

i7-4900mq

Bios: A14 (from Alienware not unlocked)

 

Have you tried other drivers? I had many problems using different drivers, eventually you'll find one that fits your needs.

 

So far I've tried 4 separate modded drivers all with the same result.

358.50
352.84
358.91
344.65

 

wow, your as far back as the 344.xx drivers.

When you did the windows 10 install, it was a fresh install, no partitions on the drive ? Did you convert it to GPT as well ?
When your in windows before it freezes, can you confirm if there is only 1 display adapter in device manager (can you try safe mode too, let me know whats happens)

When you install these drivers, do you disable DSE each time, or you only did it that one time ? I ask this because, Windows 10 makes it look like it's installing them, but in reality unless you get the message that pops up asking to "install anyways" because its not a WHQL driver, it basically only pretends to install, and its not there on restart (or it gives you errors like this).

If the HD intel graphics are still present, then that could be the issue too, you can't use this very easily or very well with Optimus, it screws everything over, because it tries to do switching MUXLESS and have everything go through the HD Intel graphics on the CPU, which for a UEFI system is not good. now we're not going to be ding any switching if your in dedicated, but if you did it would be Muxed, which is fine, meaning it blinks/or literally switches to the other graphics device.
since there is only 1 graphics device - it handles all graphics directly, without anything in between. But if your in Auto or SG mode and not properly configured for UEFI, it will enable the HD intel graphics, and thus all graphics will go through the insanely buggy Optimus/Muxless switching/integrated graphics.

This is what I recommend when using windows 10. Install windows 10... but before installing the graphics card..triple check there is only 1 display adapter and that its the right hardware ID as the driver your going to use. THEN - most importantly, finish ALL OTHER HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE UPDATES, AND REBOOT MANY TIMES... windows will screw you over if you do not do this, in some shape or form, trust me.

P.s

358.50 should be the best to use, ATM, as of this posting.

but read what i posted above. very important to many people who forget to update all updates and drivers before installing the drivers for the 900M series. It also works as a triple check for making sure your in UEFI, and that only 1 graphics device is on the system. If anything funny happens, windows might literally even install a driver from nvidia directly, ive seen it do this in the last few weeks, trying to install 361.xx drivers, which cause issues, and people think its the other driver they're using, but secretly windows installed it when you were rebooting. Sneaky sneaky friggin windows 10, I know.

 

\

Yes, fresh install.

This may be the issue, no matter what I did, I still had 2 devices showing on the device manager. I'm not sure how I would be able to eliminate that. When I tried to run through the process in dedicated mode from the start, the computer would show red lines and and error out, never even booting to the BIOS.

Yes, DSE was disabled each time.

I just finished going through the entire process again, double checking each step. I'm still showing 2 display adapters.

 

Its stupid retarded hard to trick the system into dedicated mode. The easiest way is to get a unlocked system bios, so you can just select PEG.

On the fresh install, this was from a DVD / USB formatted to UEFI with GPT partition (i.e if you used USb format too/rufus etc..) ?

In Bios, in the boot menu, what is selected. What is NOT selected ?

 

I used rufus to do a complete reformat and fresh install formatted to UEFI with GPT and no other partitions.

For the boot menu: "Boot list option" = UEFI "Load Legacy Option ROM" = Disabled "Secure boot" = Disabled " Windows 8 Fast Boot" = Disabled

I'm pretty nervous about using a bad BIOS and I'm not sure where I'd be able to get an unlocked one that was trustworthy and stable.

 

Surprised to hear 358.50 may be the best drivers as of yet. I thought 352.84 was the best drivers without throttling. Should I try the ones you suggest? I have the svl7 bios flashed on my 980m I got from you running in dedicated mode. I think my last score in Firestrike was 9700+ and over 3000 in Heaven on Ultra no tessellation. I don't have the 1080p panel though..900p max. What program should I use if I want a little overclock to core and mem and what are some starting settings? I know its different for each computer and card but whats a good starting OC to the core and mem?

 

I use NVIDIA Inspector. KEEP AWAY from EVGA Precision X no matter what!!!
OC settings depend on the ASIC quality of the card, not all cards are the same. @woodzstack cards are high quality so overclocking will be easy and stable. I have +400 on the memory, for now.

 

I have not really heard of anyone having an issue with MSI after burner. But its very similar to EVGA Precision, so who knows, its a gamble IMO.

There are some that are very stable and work flawlessly, and are on TechInferno. Create an account(or login), download and install as per instructions.
Print out a paper with instruction if needed for blind flashing if your paranoid, by marking down every single step you have to do from a boot.
It might be a bit of work, but it pays off. I've personally never had a flash go bad on me, in my entire life.

 

I've searched over at TechInferno for an unlocked bios for the AW17, but I'm not finding anything. Would anyone happen to have a link or suggestion?

This is really the only other thing I can think of since I just went through the same process again and ended up with the same issue of windows freezing one or two minutes after the drivers are installed.

 

which Driver ?

I will start a private convo and see if I can help you on a more individual level, didn't know your still having driver issues.

 

My primary issue is that I can't seem to get Optimus disabled. I'm not sure if the driver which I use (again I've tried quite a few) will matter.

My most recent attempt I used 358.50 and 358.51

 

Ah, okay. I will help you get it into dedicated mode tomorrow when we speak.

Oh driver will matter, cause when you put the laptop in dedicated mode, i think (someone correct me if Im wrong here) but it will change your hardware ID even

 

Just intalled M14X-R2 CPU fans instead of the M17X-R4 CPU fans today. It dramatically dropped down the cpu temp. However, when I ran 3DMARK, I noticed my 980m throttling even though the temp is only 64C... When I ran the Division, I also noticed the fps randomly dropped down to only 9. I checked GPU-Z, it shows Pwr under PerfCap reason. Is that because of the M14X-R2 fans? since I never had this issue before... Anyone could help?

 

What specs do you have?
Pwr throttling can be solved by using a modified vbios or a suitable driver.

 

I got i7 3720 qm, 16GB RAM, 980M 8GB with 240W PSU Windows 10 Home 37, Driver 361.75 with modded inf. I tried to switch to 330W PSU, it did not throttle at the default clock but happened after I increased it. Should I flash a modified vbios or just switch to another driver. Appreciate!

 

I've tried 358.50, still has throttling problem. I think it might be the fan. I'll switch back to M17x old cpu fan once I receive it, and see if the throttling problem persist or not. It's really wired since the difference between two fans is really the CFM. They both 5V 0.5A

 

When I was on stock vbios, throttling was unbearable. Flashing a modded vbios defintely cured the throttling. I'm using driver 352.84 on Win10.
I installed the CPU fan from the M14x R2 and it didn't cause any issues. Try doing a power drain/ disconnect the psu, remove battery and hold power button for 30 seconds.

 

What modded vbios u are using right now?

 

Currently using Prema's V2 vbios. Give it a try and see if it performs well for you.
It can be found here: https://biosmods.wordpress.com/gtx9/
There's also johnksss & svl7 vbios: https://www.techinferno.com/index.p...vbios-mods-900m-series-overclocking-versions/

 

svl7's has a lower core voltage and for me it crashes when playing games so it's no fun. Prema's has a higher stock voltage to cover the majority of cards.

 

Prema's mods are donationware, you can show your support by donating
https://biosmods.wordpress.com/

Strange thing is I used svl7's vbios for 7 months problem-free. Post-installing 3940XM 3D apps started crashing due to voltage, that's why I switched to Prema.
I would like to ask, how did you OC the core? under load it always switches from P0 to P1. P-state matching works for memory clocks.

 

The stock vbios is great, unfortunately everyones situation is so vastly different and we're all struggling to get power out of our components, and then you have nvidia screwing things up from one driver to the next. Nothing can be very consistent.
I usually recommend Prema vbios before SVL7's but thats just my flavour, I think both are great, depending on the situation.

 

I just created a bootable dos USB drive using Rufus following the guide in Techinferno, but I can't boot from the USB stick cause I can't even see it in the boot list.

 

If you're running pure UEFI mode, you cannot boot DOS. UEFI and DOS are incompatible, which is one reason UEFI sucks. You will need to use Legacy/CSM for DOS booting abilities. Depending on what Alienware you are using, that may not even be possible due to the 8-beep Maxwell compatibility problems.

If you're trying to flash the vBIOS, you don't need DOS to do that. Just use the version of NVFLASH provided by @Prema and flash in Windows.

 

whats your laptop, and what OS , and what is your boot settings in bios ?(all of them)

 

Alienware M17x r4, win10. Upgraded from Amd 7970m to gtx 980m.
I'm following exactly as ur thread for the bios setting. UEFI mode

Yeah, but I don't know how to back up the original vbios

 

I remember backing up my 680M By using GPU-Z. I didn't try it with the 980M though.

 

Thx! didn't realize I could backup with GPUZ l'll try it tomorrow

 

I think you can SAVE the vbios from GPU-Z even, no ?


EDIT... didn't see you found that when I typed that.. anyways - I have a bunch of vbioses in a link on original post's page, try using the 84.04.22.00.10 vbios.

 

84.04.22.00.10 is a good choice?
I'm using this vbios right now. After a power drain (solo wing's suggestion), it seems like the throttling problem has been solved

 

Yes, its a good stock vbios, as in tested and sure to work fine.

 

So how do I flash back to the stock vbios from Prema if I can't boot from DOS?

 

Do it in Windows @willoc.

 

always windows, unless you need a blinflash. In the vbioses I linked on front page you should have a batch file that just auto-does it.

 

Thx!

 

Your welcome!

 

Just wanted to drop this here for @woodzstack , this is a card I bought from him and once I get the kinks worked out I'll probably pick up another one. Nice ASIC Quality