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

where did you get the videocard from ? GPU-Z you have also can show you the vbios version, it should say something like 84.22.00.04.10 if it's anything else it's not the right vbios, really.
but if it has no number scheme, then its a custom vbios, maybe renamed by Prema or someone else.

As for getting things to not overheat in windows 10, its because windows 10 hasn't finished all it's updates, and everytime it is updating it uninstalls things, or it removes running programs from running, and thus your fans would stop working or stop responding until you restart. If you do not fully update everything, windows 10 will never works on the M17X-R4 properly.

Also, there are more things to it then just that. you can no upgrade to a windows 10, it has to be a fresh install, you can later on import all your files and settings etc.. but it has to be fresh, theres so much that has to be done to make it work flawlessly.

 

Use Win7 Pro or Win8.1 Pro can even use Win10 but need latest, the Windows 10 doesn't support 120Hz with 980M on Alienwares with latest drivers (need to downgrade the refresh rate to 60Hz) and with older drivers you'll need to use Prema mod v1.1.1 instead of 2.0 (2.0 for post 359.xx drivers). And Threshold 2 10586 version of Win10 is needed to work properly, TH1 and RTM 10240 blackscreens with ngreedia's borked drivers & that OS is an abomination, DX12 is the only reason for using Win10 nothing else...Even though DX12 is miserable now vs DX11.

Try at TechInferno forum as well, J95 has an m17x r4 with him running Win7 Pro Win8.1 and Win10 AFAIK the only Alienware without support from Dell which boots Win7, with custom sBIOS and vBIOS the system should work fine...Too bad when we upgrade our machines things turning sour hurts most..


Win10 LTSB is the best windows10 but that's stuck at TH1 unfortunately...Better off with Win8.1 UEFI if you can't manage to get CSM Win7 boot.

 

You dropped a lot of technical jargin in there, not sure we all follow.

 

I think what he basically meant was the new NVIDIA drivers + Windows 10 suck

 

Your saying what he thought, twice ! lol

 

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).

 

I would not worry about that too much. If you have integrated graphics enabled, that low score is probably caused by the pathetic Intel HD Graphics running desktop performance instead of discrete GPU. Truthfully, I'd be more concerned about the endorsement of Windows OS X Malware Edition with all of its personal information security risks and tracking filth than the third-party WEI score.

 

WHY WE YELLING ?
lol, yeah the score seems like a HD intel score, cause it's dating to something that would be akin to windows vista era scoring for GPU. (i.e onboard HD intel) Could also be they simply assign a value because of a modified driver. WEI is ****/garbage anyways. We use Firestrike.

 

Fire Strike is a great GPU test. I like 3DMark 11 better personally. It's more demanding overall and doesn't dismiss poor CPU performance to the degree Fire Strike does. If you have a crappy CPU it is still possible to get a fairly fluffy score with Fire Strike. A crappy CPU is going to serious hurt your score in 3DMark 11. I really like that about it. For someone shopping for an honest to goodness beast machine, I recommend they ignore Fire Strike and focus on 3DMark 11 comparisons for a broader perspective on overall system performance.

 

Well our opinions differ. Because of the ease and relative availability of firestrike scores, I believe it is the standard anyone should go by. If your going to read something by the numbers, and only ever understand a single benchmark, it's fine, for such a casual user. Now, while CPU does affect games, it's marginal, 3DM11 counts the CPU too much. It makes it more important to the bench mark then most game would ever. You can run the witcher 3 off an old Pentium 4 using a 980 Ti and it still runs great. Firestrike score will clearly show your physics are based on the 980 Ti and not the CPU for once, and other things, but your overall score it sill decent. 3DM11 will punish you heavily, giving you the impression the game will not run at all, or you should expect only 10% the FPS.. which is not true.

I find over the years people have placed way to much hope and attention to their CPU's. I'm a bit different, personally, I don't give a hoot about firestrike, but I'm not an average user either. On my Haswell-E 5820, I have 2 of the cores (4 threads) disabled in the bios, just so I can clock the rest of the cores at 6Ghz. My score - in XTU and such doesn't budge much. yet I have only 2/3rds the CPU, technically speaking, but my score is like only 10% less then it was when I had all 6 cores running.
However, it performs much better in games. My multi tasking is sure to be affected, a bit, Same as the P4 though, can still run a game, or a single task very very well.

 

Gaming for me is an afterthought. Extreme CPU and GPU overclocking is what I value most in a beast machine. If you nail that, gaming falls in place with no effort because you've gone overkill on everything else beyond the GPU. Given the plethora of crappy console ports designed to run on hardware with anemic performance potential, with little more than a healthy GPU you can actually have a fairly decent gaming experience with a crappy CPU. Hence the explosion of filth with disposable BGA turdbooks, which have catapulted the digital retard market to unprecedented levels of mediocrity.

 

I still believe it is important that everyone with proper socket hardware max out their Oc'd hardware in Fire Strike and post the bench results in 3dmark.com. In this way, the ******** BGA hardware must lie far far down on the ranking list . It would be sad to see crippled garbage hardware near the top of this ranking list . Fits best on the bottom on all bench results list.

 

LOL.

DELL be like : " You Mad bro ?"

 

Good point. Never thought of it like that. The more we can push the trash down on the ranking totem pole the better. The numbers will speak for themselves. We likely don't see many benching a BGA turdbook with 3DMark 11 or Vantage because those wheezer machines suck at it.

Ha ha... not really mad as much as very disappointed.

 

Hi guys, I am returning to laptop life, one thing I enjoyed the most with my experience with my desktop is 3D Vision and I am interested in getting this experience in mobile form factor. Right now I am looking into picking up an M17x R4, GTX 980M (Clevo?) and transplanting the i7-3920xm out of my M18xR2.

So far I have only a rough understanding of the M17x R4, is it the case that all units with an Nvidia GPU have the 3D Vision screen?

Is the above doable?

Thanks in advance.

 

Not all R4 units have 3D. If you have a 60Hz display you have Optimus (no 3D). Only 120Hz screens are equipped with 3D Vision. Highest Gpu that supports 3D is the 780M.
880M & Maxwell M gpus are a no-go.
I'm talking about losing internal 3D Vision, I don't know about external 3d displays.

 

Damn. Well at least I got an answer. Yeah I'm really only interested in internal. Any other options?

 

3D vision will be 680M and you can get it to work with modified drivers with 780M on the M17X-R4. On the AW17R5 no worries, 780M is supported 100%. Just need the 120hz and 3D glasses/hardware to be able to enable it.

 

you realise your BGA crushing notebook, is a bit misleading in your signature, it uses a desktop graphics card and a desktop CPU. None of it is mobile focused. Talking about the signatures. I saw the score and I was like, WTF ? That's not a 980M... yeah its the P870 with a 980 MXM 3.0 card but not the 980M MXM 3.0B, kind of misleading. I wonder if people misinterpret that and then think their 980M is not performing well.

 

LOL, for me is Kunshan P870 BGA Pussy-Crushing Beast Killer Edition(see pict) a mobile pc aka portable (laptop/notebook ). At least not a desktop computer, HaHa
It's the correct hardware and benchmarks in the sig... I misleads no one if they take the trouble to look at the signature.
Should perhaps not posted in the thread... My sig might scare your customers . Not good for the business

Spoiler: Kunshan P870 BGA Pussy-Crushing Beast Killer Edition

 

No, it is fine @Papusan. Brother @woodzstack cannot help anyone with a BGA turdbook. They cannot upgrade or replace their GPU if it goes bad. They're screwed for life with a dead-end piece of junk. The only business you might be hurting by showing off that amazing monsterbook is the lame outfits selling BGA jokebooks to unsuspecting customers. And, they deserve to go out of business for their abominable sins.

Also beware... it has a plastic chassis (not the awesome anodized aluminum you are used to) and some CPU overclocking TDP limits and memory overclocking limits your M18xR2 does not have. You would be far better off in terms of money, quality and performace buying a GPU from @woodzstack and sticking it in your M18xR2 instead of buying an M17xR4. Like the guy I quoted below...

 

Nah your fine, I'm talking outta my arse. But that's HARDLY a laptop since it boasts a DESKTOP cpu and DESKTOP gpu.
(even though the 980 is actually a mobile MXM card)

You know, it's actually only MARGINALLY faster then a 980M OC'd 50% lol

 

More is always better. I'll take it any way I can get it. And, the 200W 980 max memory OC is much higher. I can run 2000MHz (actually 8000MHz) on memory clock and most 980M start getting flaky somewhere between 1400MHz and 1500MHz.

 

it's an interesting card. I would much more prefer it if they built a laptop ble to use 2 of those.

 

The GT80S TITAN uses a GTX 980 SLI, downside is it's crippled with a crappy 6920HQ.

 

Yup, BGA is always going to be a deal-breaker for true enthusiasts. No way, Jose. No for this hombre. A little bit leaven affects the whole lump of dough. That they did this to the GT80S Titan is huge joke, but not a funny one. It would have required minimal effort to have used a socket and 6700K and the outcome might have been amazing with the right cooling system to handle it.

 

wait, they did a dual desktop VGA SLi but put a BGA CPU on it ?? LMFAO !!!!!!!!

 

Yes, stuff like that makes it hard to say nice things about half-hearted efforts. The trouble is too many people are so OCD about GPU naming conventions they lose sight of overall system performance and pay zero attention to engineering excellence. I'm sure the mechanical keyboard and obsolete Alienware 18" screen they used on it was a huge distraction for some as well. Kind of like a gold ring in a pig's snout. Having a so-called high end machine becoming a disposable piece of trash with a BGA CPU is absolutely ridiculous.

 

Like, how much of a design oversight can there possibly be.. you create a crazy laptop that uses MOBILE versions of DESKTOP cards, not even the mobile versions themselves, but a hybrid that is a desktop card inits entirety except it connects via MXM 3.0. Then your like HEY it only needs 200W instead, so you fix that with extra power.. then even fix the cooling to handle it, and then sure, why not give it Sli and add a second card too. Now, lets be stupid and solder the CPU on so the SLi is a waste and the CPU will limit the potential, we can then charge more and give less *snicker snicker*
IDK.. I think someone should hurt the person who made such a decision. So infuriating. lol. If I knew him, I'd grab a salty fish and smack him twice with it.

 

Verified: Alienware M18xR2 New/Updated BIOS Mods - NOW WITH MAXWELL LEGACY SUPPORT - Testers Needed

@Swick1981 is offering to do the same mods for M17xR4 owners... lots of good mods (listed in opening post) in addition to Maxwell Legacy BIOS support. The 8-beeps crap is now officially nothing but bad memories for those that do the Swick update.

 

Not only do they put in a ******** BGA processor. They finished with providing this Machine a single 330W brick... A damn single power brick, LOL. I think the rest of the power is from the battery aka Hybrid bios functionality

 

Excellent news! Hopefuly I can ditch Windows 10.
*putting tinfoil hat on*

 

Really ? That's just.. retarded.

Thats soo true....

 

This Ser, deserves it's own quote !

Yeah I hope all goes well. I have an email list of 2500 people with aftermarket M17X-R4 sitting on my desktop...
If only I had some artsy skills to put together a nice email to tell them all. (I'm relatively sure it'd be like SPAM if I emailed all my customers lol) But, I wish they would all offer to help. Would surely kill some bugs easily, by the thread your linking is a M18X-R2 thread. Would need to become separate and make it a Alienware M17X-R4 thread on it's own.

 

I have suggested that to @Swick1981 in another thread. Most people don't spend a lot of time in threads that are not relevant to their model unless they are gathering pre-purchase intelligence. I know I do not, just because it is not relevant to my interest.

An alternative could be a thread in the main forum with a new title that mentions both machines. But, keeping them separate for any bug tracking or questions would be easier to manage. If you start mixing things up it becomes difficult to keep things straight about model-specific questions and comments.

LOL, I agree. Nasty malware OS, indeed.

Seems like only yesterday I posted this...

 

Hey, I also just heard something that I DO NOT KNOW IF IT WORKS, but the tester "CLAIMS" that it does...
If you throttle your CPU in the power profiles in control panel on windows 7, and bring it down to 90% as the MAX % CPU is used, supposedly the GPU will not throttle. MUST be a power issue with Drivers
I thought it was the DSDT tables, and I couldn't find ANY settings that would effect it, so it's HIGHLY likely to be the drivers, not bios/DSDT tables / ACPI...
Give it a shot and see what happens, maybe?

 

Hey @woodzstack ... My brother is supposed to call me tomorrow. He said he's come up with a few ideas that PERHAPS we can expand on. (Assuming you want to)
So, I'll be in touch at some point soon. I'm hoping we can figure SOMETHING out... (maybe?)
Anyway, I'll talk to you soon!

@Mr. Fox I'm probably a total idiot and dense, but.. that score of 7000+, was that on the R2 or AW18? I'm assuming it was r2, but you never know. Just checking... heh
(Sorry for being a total dumb @$$ -But I didn't see it labeled so... )

 

Sure, I'm down for whatever, as you know.

 

Oh, I know... heh
TRYING to get the damn 17r4 to work in legacy mode. The mod I have SHOULD do the trick, I HOPE! heh
(Never know, but I THINK it will / should?)
Anyway, I'm waiting to hear back from the testers... assuming I haven't screwed up their systems, heh

 

keep those fingers crossed !

 

It could be a difference with 60Hz LVDS versus 120Hz eDP. @j95 and @Solo wing both have the latter. It would be interesting to know if the 60Hz LVDS Legacy functionality is present like the M18xR2. You need a tester with the LVDS screen to help with the testing.

 

Hello

I am a bit of newbie, and I wish to ask you guys a few things..
I have a R4, currently running win7 on it, I don't have any dedicated card in it atm. but in a few days I`ll have an 970m installed.
Will it work? do I need to reinstall my win7? do I need to change anything in bios (A12)?
I read the first page a few times, but I didn't really understood...
please reply if anyone able to help me.

 

It will work with Optimus, but it will be 5% lower in performance. Or worse. That's all. You will of course still need a modified driver to use it, and it might throttle if you do not have the proper vBios, also depending on the cards own efficiency, it might behave odd.
But i would give it a decent chance it would work satisfactory, in any regard. It really depends on where you purchased it, as in which version of the 970M it is, or what they flashed it to afterwards or the drivers your using, and the rest of the system contributes to performance and issues too. like do you have the latest drivers and system bios etc..

 

Thanks for your reply m8,

My card is a Clevo gtx 970m, I assume with the latest vBios, since it is a brand new one, I have all the latest drivers as well as bios (A12)
By any chance that you can provide me with a modified driver link? also what do I need to change in the Bios?

 

Which Clevo, you will also probably need the latest EC.

But, if you need support, you should first contact whomever you purchased the card from, because I do not want to be blamed for you voiding or breaking your warranty if such things are not covered.
This thread is also for Alienware laptops and 900M series. Your asking for Clevo drivers and bioses and after aftermarket support (potentially) in the wrong forum section.

I can probably still help you, but send me a PM instead.

 

So I bought a 980m from Woodzstack for my my m17x R4 with 680m & 120Hz 3D screen. I have followed your instructions but I'm stuck on the Alienware Bios for Disabling Legacy Rom under UEFI.
I get an error that says MXM GOP Driver not found, thus I cannot disable Legacy Rom & install 980m card.
I currently have Win10 installed in GPT under UEFI and Stock BIOS 13 , but with Legacy Rom enabled. What can I do to remedy this?

 

hey there ! I didn't see the post, or would have replied sooner. Get an unlocked bios. here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/xplgniw1jrolnx3/AABCQ6OkLAP1ZZCqmct3YYiAa?dl=0

find the new hidden menu that wasn't there before, and switch SG/AUTO to PEG mode. Then go into windows to verify its there, your 680M and everything. run display driver uninstaller from safe mode and get rid of all the display drivers you have. then shutdown. Switch to the 980M and load into windows, when in windows disable DSE for next boot. reboot, and then install the modified driver with admin privileges

 

First off i dont have access to TI to download the ftp or prr.exe. Also, I thought it was not possible to downgrade after A09 Bios, im on A13

I was able to change the vbios on my 680m and now able to disable in regular bios...

disabled DSE, 980m installed, now I have trouble installing video driver. Do I need to modify
my own?

 

Yes, your hardware ID is not in the driver INF because Alienware never sold your machine configured with 980M.

So, you need to mod the nvdmi.inf as described here: [Quick Tips] GPU Driver INF Modding for 'Aftermarket Upgrades'

Or use @j95 drivers from Tech|Inferno that are tweaked for Alienware to help reduce the throttling problems they have with 980M GPUs installed. Here is a link to his thread: GeForce 353.00 - PEG MOD >Throttling FIX<

 

Mr.Fox

Do you understand the concept of the profiles with J59 GeForce 353.00 - PEG MOD >Throttling FIX< ?

Did you tried it your self with your old M17x R4?

I've couldn't make work the profiles with Nvidia Inspector..