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

Yes, nothing but the best from @woodzstack , 76.4% here perfect for an undervolted/oc'd vbios like SVL7s.
Why is the BUS interface @x8 ? I used to have driver crashes all the time until i re-seated the card and cleaned the contacts on both the card and socket. Mine shows @x16 1.1 under idle (135/324 MHz) & x16 3.0 under load.

 

Yeah thats very high. That's higher then what you'd get if you bought a 980 Ti K!NGP!N from eVGA (though they would charge you ike +25% for it haha)

 

bus speed changes depending on the state it is in and other factors.

Thanks for the comments !

You know, I have a feedback thread. lol.

 

What laptop are you using? I've never seen my pcie slot go above 8x on this one. Also anyone have trouble with HWINFO64 running the fans on a M18XR2 on Windows 10? It helps my temps a ton if I can get my fans to kick on earlier but I believe its causing me random freezing.

 

The 18 line has always had fan issues. Such bad design from Alienware/DELL.

As for the PCIE that happens all the time, in almost all laptops. It goes to what it needs when it needs it, otherwise it conserves power.

 

Sorry if missed sth, but is there a way to run m17x R4 + 980m + Windows 7 + PEG only?

 

I add to that it is possible to run an A17 R1 + 980m + Windows 7 + PEG only/120Hz panel?

 

Windows 7 is a no go, Maxwell + (M17x R4,M18x R2, AW17 R1) requires booting in Full UEFI + GPT drives. You have to install Windows 8 or 10.

 

That's has been 100% proved? I mean I have a UEFI windows 7 installation disc and a GPT formatted drive already. But somehow doesn't properly start to load. My suspicions are that it's because Legacy Option Rom it's disable.

What I was thinking was to temporary enable it to run the installation and after the completes switch back to disable it.

It's just that I'm trying to collect some data first as If I turn Legacy Option ROM I'll corrupt my Win 8.1 start and I'll have to reinstall my old 880m, which is a painful process.

 

Here read from this post , But if you want to test things like that with Windows installation I'd prefer to backup the OS with Macrium reflect and then proceed, I will try some crazy stuff later when I need to use only Win X I'll just go with LTSB..On a side note you are using Prema vBIOS v2 right ? with modded j95 drivers, Is there any throttle, I think there's none with AW17 with Prema vBIOS but just wanted to confirm.

P.S : I'm getting a Maxwell upgrade too but no WinX, Win8.1.1 only.

 

Thanks for the post!

I think that I'll try to trick the efi system as installing Windows 7 with my old 880m (probably with Legacy Option ROM on) and then installing my 980m but before boot get into BIOS to switch back to Legacy Option Rom Disable.

Maybe that will do the trick?

PS: I am quite happy with 8.1 pro + Classic Shell but unfortunately I have to use some old games and programs which I can't find a way to make them work win 8.1

 

I have a doubt , I read ssj92 posting that to run oses from ext drive.
It'd be awesome if we could run the Win7 off from ext drive...

It wont work, Win7 needs Full UEFI but, I've read (Long back when the maxwell + AW experiments were going on..) that J95 managed to get UEFI boot + maxwell on his M17x R4. Still that machine has an unlocked custom sBIOS what we don't have.

 

980M has no legacy support, it can't work with the system without the MUXLESS optimus in windows 7 because there is no legacy loader for the video. If you COULD get it to work, you;d have nothing on your screen until your in windows.
(because yes, it can be done, but shouldn't be done, but I think recent revisions of the bios make it beep and not POST now.)

 

Yep, the GOP comes in way for the Win7+UEFI setup and Win7 needs that VGA output for Maxwell which translates to using legacy option rom plus the BIOS settings I guess, So no VGA option in BIOS means no Maxwell + UEFI (Only in AW) & this locked BIOS of AW17 doesn't have that option, If it has this option the problem should be fixed because in these machines we need either GOP(Full UEFI - Win8+) or VGA (Win7 or any but Win7 doesn't have any GOP) and this coming from sBIOS (if has the option) so all is well, So no need of full UEFI as well. Else no POST and beeping hell.

And I think the Maxwell GPUs can boot with the legacy option support, Since the Clevos can be easily upgraded to Maxwell + Win7 not even using any UEFI restrictions without any B$, the P377SM, P570WM with Prema's sBIOS patch) And they don't have any optimus trash. But I don't know Clevo BIOS implementation except that they have this Aptio instead of the InsydeH2O, Old M15x had Phoenix sBIOS without any EFI which was best and even the Nehalem didn't even have this stupid iGPU crap in them.

I know that AW17 and the M17x R4 use MUX switch to enable seamless transition unlike all the other optimus laptops implement the MUXless way but they are non MXM...so they can't even think about the upgrade.

Do the M18x R2 and the AW18 also use MUX switch ? I've read about these MUX switches and Optimus implementation on Alienwares but forgot, it was way long back when the M18x R2 + 980M thread was active...

So my guess is this Optimus and iGPU implementation on the M18x R2, AW18, M17x R4 & AW 17 is the culprit to not allowing for booting Win7 or any OS without full UEFI and the Dell can't fix it even in the last gen AW17 with a simple update due to some technical B$ which is highly unlikely because adding an option to VGA in sBIOS update is fairly easy but how about the Alienware 18, I heard that there was an sBIOS update for the Viking machine but can It boot Maxwell with Win7 ??

The auto fan system is broken though on slave, manual override always from HWInfo..oh a huge PITA.

All this is from my AW17's BIOS options and few posts about how this BIOS behaves I don't have much knowledge about the M18xR2, M17x R4.

Oh yea there's also another way to fix Win7 which is M$ can issue a simple patch to enable GOP in Win7, i.e full UEFI support.
This is a much much better fix which is feasible - Buy a Clevo and forget AW, just shut this Dell FFS

 

MUXLESS is seamless switching, when it goes through the HD intel chip. MUX switching is like when the screen blinks and if you were doing 3D it will crash - because there is a second of graphics being interupted and just failing, because there is no graphics device inbetween the switching. Windows desktop can be made to not crash, but games and applications will crash in switching, usually it should prompt you for a reboot.

 

Waiting for Godot UEFI











Alienware M17xR4 - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M - Intel Core i7-3940XM


Still waiting....

 

Hello guys, I've recently installed a 980M 8Gb card into M17x R4 (A12 Bios, UEFI, Optimus enabled, Windows 8.1, Drivers 358.50 from Eurocom) and it seems that the card isn't running at it's full potential - meaning that I can't score more than 6500 in firestrike (graphics score around 7800), although I saw much higher scores from other users.
I don't want to OC yet, the score above mentioned is at stock clocks.
Can you please help me with some information regarding what should I do to increase the performance because I've just spent around 900 USD for not even 40% performance increase from my old 7970M, so I'm thinking that I must be doing something wrong...
Many thanks in advance!

 

How did you make it all?

 

I guess It's the custom sBIOS to make Win7 happen with the M17x R4+980M.

 

Who did you pay 900USD to ? ****, for that price I could have flown to your house, and installed the card for you even... lol

You have rich friends or family ? Send them my way, I will put on the white gloves and treat you like higher beings for that kinda coin !

But seriously, something seems off, your much lower in the score then you should be. Sounds to me like your CPU is throttling and the GPU is following. Maybe you have some sort of v-sync thing going on and capping the frames to 30FPS max when you run the benchmark.. IDK/

It might just be Optimus is just THAT bad.... STOCK speeds for a 980M that i sell are so constantly 9500 GPU score that I'm calling it "The Score" you get with my cards be default. People get higher and lower depending on the rest of the system, naturally, but this is stock with fresh install and fully updated drivers/firmware etc.

I would say Disable Legacy boot, switch to a GPT partition entirely, re-install windows 8 from scratch, update allo drivers and firmware and OSD and AWCC ... then disable DSE and install the modified drivers of choice and then check scores. Then check XTU and then check power settings for the laptop, and check things like power draw based on how many devices you have and such.. make sure your using a 240W PSU/adapter and now some travel one for 180W...etc..

All the info you want is in this thread. Start from the beginning.

 

And look at this, Badass J95 graces the thread with his presence ! Kudos on that !

some of tips I use everyday was some of what you helped me with.

guys, this guy knows laptops and aftermarket support like he was born to it !

you should all click his profile and select "follow" hahaha !
(or just click "Like")

 

Maybe he lives in Canada where we pay through the nose for the exchange with the American dollar (the exchange tanked when the Saudi's started their oil price war and Canada has been feeling it). I've been looking at 980 Ti cards and they're all around $900, or more. Mind you, that's Canadian dollars.

 

He said 900USD not 900CAD....

 

Thanks for the reply woodzstack, I think I found a fix (unusual, but fully working for me and others on this forum like Schurke).

So all I needed to do was put my M17x R4 into "Hibernate" state and after that it performed admirably in Firestrike 1.1, getting around 8200 points total score and an average score of 9500 points in GPU test at STOCK clocks.

What I did:
1. I've benched 4-5 times before the enter the "Hibernate" state and got sloppy results in Firestrike 1.1 (around 6500 points general score and around 7.200 points GPU score);
2. Went into "Hibernate" state once and after that I tested 4-5 times in Firestrike and got much better results - see the second line of this post;
3. Restart the pc from Windows ; shut down the pc from Windows and push start button to turn it on ; shut down the pc from the start button and push start button to turn it on - none of those seem to affect my Firestrike performance anymore (tested 4-5 times each).
4. Also disconnect the pc from power source and reconnect it back didn't affect my Firestrike performance (tested 4-5 times) as long as before disconnecting the pc from power source I entered "Hibernate" state (working only with the battery attached).
All in all, it seems that all it needed for an improved performance was to enter "Hibernate" state before actually using the laptop for gaming / benching.

Also, I've noticed a small but constant performance increase (around 200 extra points) in Firestrike 1.1 using "Let the 3D application decide" in Nvidia CP and not the "Quality" preset (tested 4 times each).

My pc configuration is: Alienware M17x R4, 60Hz panel, standard / manufacturer Bios A12, Windows 8.1, UEFI Mode, Optimus enabled.

My GPU has the following configuration: 980M 8GB, Eurocom 358.50 driver, 84.04.22.00.10 GPU Bios version, stock core and memory clocks.

Naturally now I'm looking to OC the GPU, so guys please tell me - based on my above mentioned configuration - if you consider that I can safely try some soft OC on my 980M (my ASIC quality is 79% according to GPU-Z ; the maximum VDDC that I saw in GPU-Z during Firestrike was 1.0180 V ; the idle VDDC I see in GPU-Z is 0.8370 V) because I'm new at this and don't even know what program to use for OC and what to look for in order to obtain a relatively safe OC (maybe make sure that the voltage doesn't exceed a particular limit - I suppose you know better).

Thanks again for the tips woodzstack !


Edit: I don't live in Canada, but Europe - and purchased the card from Eurocom (850 USD + transport fee), so yes the final price for me was around 900 USD.
Sorry I didn't know about you earlier woodzstack...

 

79% ASIC is very good. You should be able to reach 10% constantly without ever having to think about it. You could easily hit 20% OC, and maybe even 30% but then I'd say its whatever else you do to the atmosphere around the laptop, and also the laptop would factor into it a lot really... but this is only an average, based on the performance of my cards with that % ASIC. 30% OC would be a goal to reach. I do not think you will be able to sustain it though. Like it will require effort on your part to maintain.

 

Woodzstack I've already managed a stable increase of +130 on Core clock and +260 on Memory clock using MSI Afterburner (which I saw that has a standard limit for Core OC at +135) and the GPU score in Firestrike 1.1 is now around 10500 points, so around 10% more than with stock clocks.

I've tested the stability at these new frequencies with Furmark stress test for 30 minutes and it showed a maximum GPU temp of 78-79 celsius, which is preety good I think.

The only problem - I guess - was that my power adapter (240W) was at it's limits, since in Furmark I started to notice a fluctuating (0 /1) message "problems: power 0 / 1" - no throttle though, but I'm thinking that it will be safer to leave it like that (+130 / +260) and don't try a more aggressive OC.
What do you say about that?

 

What system do you have? If you are running an Alienware 17 (Haswell machine) you can use a 330W AC adapter instead of the 240W. It's plug-and-play on that machine.

 

I'm not sure about that Haswell thing (since I'm not at home now and therefor I can't check my laptop), but I have an Alienware M17x R4.
Anyway, I will check and get back to you Mr. Fox

 

m17x R4 running Ivy Brigde, not Haswell

 

Don't use Furmark. This stress test is banned by vbios modders and Nvidia.
And if you don't know... Never use Evga Precision X16 for overclocking of your graphics card. You risk bricking your laptop screen.

 

maklakiewicz mine is indeed Ivy Bridge - this means that I can't use a bigger AC adapter (330W) ?

Thanks for the tips Papusan.

 

No, it should work without problems.

 

Better than most people. It is very hard to NOT throttle when missing power.

 

Something about the clock right ?

 

So maklakiewicz I guess that even with Ivy Bridge I don't need something else in order to use the bigger 330W AC adapter - it's just plug and play like Mr. Fox said ?

 

What is your configuration? If you are not overclocking a (3920-3940xm cpu) you won't need the bigger adapter.
If you have an R4, a 330W adapter will be P&P, no modification needed, no error messages. Just be careful from where you buy it, i got a defective/fake adapter from Amazon, got it returned and bought one from Dell directly (Y90RR). The 980M needs a lot of juice especially when OC'd.

 

Yes, it will work. Nothing special, you don't need to modify it with a chip to produce the same digital 8bit I/O "key" (theres a chip inside it, so small, just a few logicgates on a single IC giving off a code programmed by NAND gates and sent over and over by 60hz)..it normally operates a logic high on the greenwire inside.

 

That is true... the higher your ASIC% usually the better off you are for power too, but Ive seen a card drawing pretty much ALL the available power from a 330W connected that the CPU couldn't OC either, if you go high enough. i.e 50% OC will just crush the system powerwise (if you can manage to A)get a card that good B) keepit cool, volted properly and avoid spiking too much i.e very very clean power..)

 

Hi Guys,

It's been a while since I last followed this thread. Just wanted to share my experience here.

To sum up:

- Bought a card from @woodzstack
- Got into PEG mode (flashed unlocked A11 BIOS and Prema's vBIOS)
- Installed Windows 10
- Read the thread about bricked LCDs
- Got scared
- Reverted to Win 8.1.
- Firestrike graphics score around 9600
- Monday flashed Prema's v2 vBIOS
- Updated to Windows 10 again.
- Installed 362.00 Nvidia drivers
- Firestrike graphics score around 10400. No throttling, everything working great. 240 PSU, no OC. GPU temps around 47-49 idle and 64-68 under load.

So the title of this thread is definitely true: "Windows 10 and nVidia 980M GTX , M17X-R4, without Optimus: Working Great !"

 

Windows 10 and 8 boost the Firestrike scores, I think we are better off with the 3DMark 11...But yeah the thread title is justified

 

Yes, WITHOUT Optimus. Screw Optimus, it's a cheap MUXless crap they forced onto us to have switchable graphics. It's okay - except losing 10% performance on the GPU.

 

Someone please test this driver, see if it works windows 10 please. I want to know specifically too if Rise of the tomb raider works DX12
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/k7d1jr57tdv1bg6/AAA74IN9HDqcn-wNpRSbCvFha?dl=0

 

Thanks guys for all the helpful information, will buy a 330W AC as soon as I catch a brake - been very busy lately...

 

Um, your welcome, on their behalf

 

**update pics on first page were killing me so put them in spoilers...**

 

hi, my paypal address is *snip*. im from ebay

 

Hey there, lol, I have a sales thread. this is a tech support-ish thread, but no worries. You can also click on a name/avatar and get a "start conversation" in the future !

but Welcome to NBR !

 

I installed a GPU (GTX 980M) into my Alienware M17X R4 with Windows 10. It would always overheat and go black screen after 10 minutes of gaming or so.

I then re-installed Window 8/8.1 and GPU (GTX 980M) temperature remain stable and no black screen issues.

I am unsure what V-BIOS is in it and I am not sure if the V-BIOS has a roll not being compatible with WIndows 10.

I also had to mod the the NVIDIA driver as well to get it to work:

Just want to share my experience.

APRIL 2, 2016 - ACTUALLY I GOT THE GTX 980M TO WORK WITH WINDOWS 10. TEMPERATURE HAS BEEN STURDY AND NO CRASHES SO FAR. I PROBABLY HAD OTHER STUFF IN MY LAPTOP INITIALLY THAT CAUSED THE GTX 980M NOT FUNCTION PROPERLY WITH WINDOWS 10. I DID A CLEAN WINDOWS 10 INSTALL THEN FOLLOWED UP WITH MODDING THE DRIVER (SEE YOUTUBE LINK ABOVE). NOW IT'S WORKING FINE EXCEPT CHRIS PC WIN EXPERIENCE INDEX SHOWS 6.6 IN THE "DESKTOP GRAPHIC PERFORMANCE" CATEGORY (SEE ATTACHMENT).

 

Thanks for sharing. Windows 10 is garbage and there have been other users that have black screen problems with Windows 10 that mysteriously go away with Windows 7 and 8. Not sure what's up with that, but you're probably much better off with Windows 8 anyhow.

 

yup , like mr. fox mentioned , Windows 8 or 8.1 ....