need help M17xr4 on GTX980m

hi guys
so i bought gtx980m have my windows 8.1 in full UEFI mode with a unlocked A11 bios.
i have it set up with PEG mode on the video settings too but for some reason the laptop uses the integrated card which is the on board gpu instead of the discrete card which is the gtx 980m already tried turning the integ enabled and disabled but no success.
i have a 120 hz 3d screen with non optimus.

Thank you any reply would be great <3
--edited--

i forgot to tell my boot setting its windows 8.1 in UEFI mode with windows fast boot Disabled + legacy boot disabled + secure boot Disabled.

 

of course you can't use the intel GPU because it don't support 120hz.

 

@thegh0sts
hi so is there anyway i can set the laptop to use the GTX980m instead of the on board gpu?
since thats my problem

 

get a 60hz panel and a cable.

 

do you mean use an external monitor with 60hz or buy an LCD that has 60hz for m17xr4?
thanks.

 

Hi, from what I have read you don't need to do any bios changes related to the on-board GPU for a 980m. On the 60hz models it boots from the intel and fires up the 980m when gaming I believe?

With a 120hz model it has to boot from the Nvidia card and dell have done that with a different connection for the 120hz panel.

Upshot, use a stock bios with the settings you mention and you should then see the 980m in windows.

Good luck.

 

yah i already tried that been playing with bios and stuff but no success the laptop still uses the on board GPU of my mother board instead of the gtx 980m.
ill try something and if it works ill share it here..

thanks for the response

 

ok it works now thanks to Woodzstack for helping me with the modified driver he sent to me.
and thanks you all for responding.

 

That is strange. The 120hz panel causes the machine to fail POST if the on-board is visible. I very quickly managed to brick my 120hz R3 when I tried to activate the on-board with an unlocked bios (before I understood why it was disabled).

Glad to hear you got it working though .

 

thanks lol
to me everything is weird like i can totally see that nvidia gfx is enable on my bios and the on board gpu was disabled but once i complete my boot up and check device manager viola~ microsoft basice adapter was in there instead of gtx980m which drove me nuts last night tbh lol

 

Ahh, now I understand! The NV card often shows up as a basic MS adapter before the driver correctly installs. It runs the card in a basic VGA mode. So you were seeing the 980m all along, and why a driver mod fixed it.

 

help, i bought a 980m to woodstack, and everything was ok for a couple of weeks, then i just noticed that my card was kindda hot, i just check and whooala, the heatsink was kindda curved, so i decide to pull out the card also, and when i put it back, nothing, just 8 beeps, i have 120hz screen, and can't even log on bios, nothing i'm just kindda bored, screen goes black, i tried everything, pressing 30 sec with the cmos battery, without cmos, card in card out etc., everything, i know my bios its on default mode, and cant do nothing cuz my screen dont turn on., anyone, plz help,even tried with an external monitors and nothing. i read that i must need a back up card for this, but this is almost absurd, i don't have money to bought one, if i can't resolve this, ima sell my laptop.
kindda desperate.

Alienware M17x R4 120Hz Screen
3940xm
980m
16GB G.skill
250 SSD Sand disk,

 

is your BIOS in UEFI mode and not in legacy mode?

 

yes was full UEFI, but i reset the bios without cmos battery, got a full restart i guess.

 

I remember same thing happened to me while I was playing with the Bios. Restarted -> 8 beeps.
I removed the CMOS pressed the power button for 30 seconds which I think will force Legacy default settings (which will not work with Maxwell GPU).
Same thing -> 8 beeps.
So I thought what If I started the Computer with the HDMI plugged in? Voilà no 8-beeps - > changed bios to pure UEFI immediately.
Surprisingly the computer booted with HDMI in Legacy!?!
Might be worth a try?

Good luck.

 

This is missing some info. What do you mean by "kinda hot". 75 deg for a 980m in my case would seem "kinda hot" as mine doesn't go over 68-69. Anything over would be hot, period. And how can a heatsink get curved?? Was it placed wrongly or is it actually the heat that warped it??
The GPU could have been damaged somehow. Did you place the thermal pads properly? Not sure what GPU you were using previously but I had to use i think 3 extra pads when replacing my 880m with the 980m. And what TIM did you use? (I assume it's IC diamond which is the one that Woodzstack includes with the 980m).
Two other things: Did you ensure that the heatsink you are using is the 3 pipe one? And what power adapter are you using? It should be the 240W at least.

I really don't think it's the BIOS reset that caused this as you mentioned that you did the CMOS 30 sec reset AFTER facing the 8 beeps.
As a last resort I would advise you to reopen your laptop, recheck everything (heatsink, GPU pads/TIM, connections) , connect via HDMI to your TV or a monitor, and IF you are able to access BIOS, check all settings there (UEFI, etc..)

Good luck!

edit: I would also suggest you open a separate thread for your issue to ensure your query gets noticed. Hijacking someone else's thread, aside from not being cool, can just lead your post to being lost in the middle of actual replies to the OP's initial query.

 

overtight screws can cause bending/warping.

 

Already did, nothing, i read about Alienware m17x R4 don't go on bios with external monitors, and 3940xm dont go on 120hz screens, right?

well was hot, 79 to 80 C, and the heatsink is 3 pipes, when i bough the laptop came without card, but the heatsink came in a backpack, was kindda curved when i recieved, i though it was ok, but when i check my temps, i just power off my laptop and check, and i noticed that my heatsink was making bad contact with the thermalpads. i remove the heatsink and fixed, but also remove the card later to c if the heatsink was ok, everything seems ok, but the moment when i put it back, got 8 beeps, i tried pressing 30 secs without battery, and nothing, 30 secons without cmos battery, got a full bios restart, plug the power cord, turn on, 2 secs, restart, then power on again, 5 beeps, then power off again, and no sound now.i tried almost everything.

 

yo 79 to 80C is way toooooo hot for 980m my hottest was @ 74C i'm surprise ur laptop didnt shut it self down with that temps and that only happens when im playing FF14 which is behaving like crazy on 980m atm, it makes ur card like ur stress testing mode which makes it hot. my usual temp while playing other games was only 55C sometimes it reaches to 60+..
and i play with 1 external monitor that has 144HZ (havent set it up to 144hz yet still waiting for the mini DP converter) currently using it as 60hz.
got 120hz 3d (disbabled because its not supported -_-) panel as default.
curve heat sink is actually a bad indicator you need to have it replaced.
8 beeps only happened to me because for some reason my lappy isnt recognizing the 980m as 980m and will later thinks its a basic on board GPU.

guys would 980m work on A13 bios? im curious im using A12 ATM..

 

did you ask @woodzstack for help?

 

I didn't use the HDMI to go to the Bios. I just used it to bypass the 8 beeps during POST. The internal display + external monitor worked at the same time. Then after the internal display worked, I went to the Bios and changed settings to pure UEFI.
The 120Hz display has nothing to do with the 3940xm or any processor for that matter. XM processors (3920-3940) will work with any R4.

Currently running A13

 

wouldn't the R4 BIOS need to be modded?

 

nice thanks ima update my bios now i just updated from Moded A11 to offcial A12 since my laptop has been giving me .exe not responding when being open for more than 12hrs which is 12hrs of game play typical for a gamer like me lmao..

--Edited---
ok im using A13 bios now so far everything is working.. hopefully it fixes my not responding .exe

thanks for the reply btw...

@thegh0sts
not in my case i think i just needed a moded nvidia drivers for the 980m to get recognize

 

whats up ? Who tagged me, why am I it ?

*goes off and reads*

 

wait, why does the R4 need to have a modded bios ?

Okay - if your on the HD Intel graphics - that IS in fact Optimus. Its the term used for the switcheable graphics or something like that, i really never cared to find out exactly what it refers to, but its when your using the switcheable graphics.

Now, if your on PEG mode - you should not be able to get HD Intel Graphics at all... afaik, thats REALLY weird.
(or can that happen if it literally does not have any other graphics card??)

 

I can help you with that NP.

Do me this favor, go do device manager > display adapters> right click on the MS basic adapter you see there - select properties > go to Detailsa > in details scroll down to Hardware info/ID and give us the line that has 13D7subsys05xx1028...etc..

we can create you a modified driver, and explain how to install it, or in best case maybe you can use the system bios DELL gave you and have no problem with nvidia drivers... let me know... sorry this thread was expanding faster then I could keep up once i woke up from the text message of being notified for being tagged...

 

I almost ALWAYS warn people to specifically NOT overtighten. the heatsink only needs to make contact evenning - not be holding on for dear life with extra 15lbs of force per square inch...


So mr. SC_blackcatguy ...when you reset your CMOS, you should get a 5 beeps, then the screen blinks and restarts on its own after, and you have to reset time and date etc... thats when you know it reset.
I sometimes used to have issues where I would set over and over and over... and it wouldn't work. SOOO frustrating. never figured out what it was really. But then I'd go 6 months no issues. Okay that doesn't help you, let me think... (Half asleep here)


Take the card out, check that the heatsink is not bent and that it makes an EVEN distribution on your videocard, you should see the thermal paste evennly spread thin, if for some reason when you take it off and it looks like its all piled up on one side and thin thin seethrough in another corner - that would indicate uneveness.. if thats not the issue, lets move on...

after a teardown, and inspection, and repasting, when your 100% sure its not the cards fault - lets try booting your laptop without the videocard. Start with a reset without the videocard. BTW just keep the heatsink on the card, no need to remove it after a triple check during the teardown.

Do you get an issue when your just on the intel HD graphics ??
If not - and without changing ANY default bios settings (though change date/time etc)
what happens when you put the 980M back in, and restart the laptop, does it beep ?
If it doesn't - proceed to windows.

If it beeps, lets remove it, and try a full UEFI boot, no secur ROM, no fast boot, and legacy -disabled. The restart.
if it beeps still, if you are using a unlocked bios you should be able to switch to PEG mode, see if that changes anything. (like remove the card, go into settings, change it etc..install card..restart)


Now, if you have no unlocked bios, sometimes you can force a change. You have to remove the videocard. drain the power. remove cmos. drain the power. put back CMOS. turn on the laptop. 5 beeps, then restarts automatically, go into bios and change to UEFI mode as mentioned earlier with everything else disabled. Then - shut down, after SAVING settings, not saving and exitting. Click save, without exit, then just exit. Then replace videocard, and turn power on. what happens ? Need all details, seriously.

 

Most heatsinks, because of the pipes being easily bendable when put in a box for shipping can bend a tiny bit, usually not much of an issue if it still fits, but the parts over the videocard itself need to always be level if they are not level - you need to make it level - as much as possible, and then maybe to be careful use abit more thermal paste, and check if it evens out of if it gets spread unevenly. If its even abit unevenly, then you of course need a new heatsink, or need to use more then usual amount of thermal paste.. use your judgement though, like, if its the tiny tiny amount of uneven, like, your VERY good at detecting imperfection and no one else would notice.. then forget it its considered even, you get my drift. Now the next thing - if it was uneven, how bad was it, and did it damage the card ? Usually it will crack or chip one of the tips or corners of the GPU die if it was uneven long enough.

Yeah these 900M should be very cool, about 15-20C cooler then 780M for instance.

 

yeah done a bit on testing on other games now and my hotest is 60C tried running ff14 on DX9 client and i got the same result,
so finally its 100% that its just the DX11 client of ff14 was making the GPU over heat or something... drats NVdia drivers as always..
whats your opinion on gelid extreme is it better than IC diamond when it comes to thermal paste?

thanks~

 

I have one question towards the "full UEFI mode" :

I recently installed Win 7 Pro. I installed it with booting from UEFI and the HDDs are also formatted with the GPT-scheme. Anyhow, Legacy ROM needs to be enabled, otherwise the system will hang at loading Windows screen. I plan to upgrade to a 980 in the future, is this any problem? Personally, I'd appreciate very much, if I could stick with Win 7 and wouldn't need to take Win 10.

Tia.

 

hmm i think if ur optimus and using a 60hz u can? not too sure,
yah i had experience with UEFI on win7 but for some reason i fix it by having a 2nd monitor lol but i also remember a post of having a moded driver for this problem too i forgot the name of the thread...

 

So mr. SC_blackcatguy ...when you reset your CMOS, you should get a 5 beeps, then the screen blinks and restarts on its own after, and you have to reset time and date etc... thats when you know it reset.
I sometimes used to have issues where I would set over and over and over... and it wouldn't work. SOOO frustrating. never figured out what it was really. But then I'd go 6 months no issues. Okay that doesn't help you, let me think... (Half asleep here)

(i did that, got 5 beeps (120hz screen stills black)

Take the card out, check that the heatsink is not bent and that it makes an EVEN distribution on your videocard, you should see the thermal paste evennly spread thin, if for some reason when you take it off and it looks like its all piled up on one side and thin thin seethrough in another corner - that would indicate uneveness.. if thats not the issue, lets move on...

(Thermalpaste it's ok, same as thermalpads.)

after a teardown, and inspection, and repasting, when your 100% sure its not the cards fault - lets try booting your laptop without the videocard. Start with a reset without the videocard. BTW just keep the heatsink on the card, no need to remove it after a triple check during the teardown.

I DID card on, card out but nothing happens, still black screen.

Do you get an issue when your just on the intel HD graphics ??
If not - and without changing ANY default bios settings (though change date/time etc)
what happens when you put the 980M back in, and restart the laptop, does it beep ?
If it doesn't - proceed to windows.

no beeps when i put the card in, but i noticed, that the fan remains quiet, not even turn on,
still black screen.

 

5 beeps = CMOS failure.

maybe replace the CMOS battery just in case and see what happens. alienware suggests holding the FN key when booting.

 

ok ima try it tonight already got one new.

 

i'm done with this, shame, its a nice laptop and in perfect condition, ima sell it.

 

i bought cmos battery and nothing.

 

FYI...Selling in the market place you will need 100 posts to list it or it will be deleted ..sorry

forum.notebookreview.com/threads/read-before-posting-new-criteria-for-selling-100-posts-and-3-months-membership.699583/

 

hmmm found a new issue.. so i was playing witcher 3 for 2 hours then my laptop freezes and shuts down temp was 65C around that time, next day i played again for 3 hours on ff14 freaking laptop freezes and shuts down again with almost the same temp but a bit higher. 68C not content with the results i did another play through of ff14 but with a much lower setting for another 4 hours or so i hit the same temp around 69C but my laptop didnt freeze or shut down the only difference is that this time the GPU activity wasnt @ 100% for 4 hours it was around 70 to 80% only.. so what 980m cant handle 100% GPU activity for 3 hours? ughh this is a major pain for gamers like me who spends time gaming with the sole reason of upgrading to 980m.
gonna do another test for 3-4 hours again but with temp prioritize @ 70c and see the results..


@sC_b4n3
sorry to hear ur problems feelsbadman..
u had a different problem from what i have encountered.
have u tried using ur old GPU then going for a modded A11 bios before installing 980m back again? aside from needing it to run on full UEFI u also need it to be running on PEG mode which u can only set up on a moded bios.

 

Maybe the heat sink is not making full contact with one of the components/ vram? Or the draw was higher than what the Bios or PSU could allow for?
The 980M draws many Watts.

 

double checked the heat sink and its in full contact. its usually the 1st thing i do
so i did another testing earlier what i did was putting the slider to prioritize temp @ 70C, what ends up happening is when ever it reaches close to 70C the card only uses 1062V instead of the normal 1075V
GPU activity still remained 100% most of the time going down to 70 - 80 % for 5 hrs.. hmmm... card temp was 68C to 70C majority of the time i didn't get any freezes or shut down.
so its the voltage? lol card couldn't handle the being in 100% gpu activity with 1075V..
week end today so ill play for like 10hrs and check the results again lol

thanks for the reply

---Edit-----
@Solo wing after changing the heat sink to a new one, i got amazing results now
i can play for hours @65c to 70C with gpu usage at 100%
it seems that something is wrong with my old heat sink that its not making in contact with the vram?
weird anyway thanks for the idea

---Edit----

Tried over clocking it and the temp went to 78C, laptop only last for 3 mins before shutting it self down. seems that thats the thresh hold temp for my 980m lol.
680m can still go way hotter than 980m i guess XD

 

This is most likely not temperature bound, but rather wattage is causing the issues. Are you using 240W or 330W PSU? What clocks did you use for your overclock and which nvidia driver version? 980m runs a lot cooler than 680m (I had 680m before 980m upgrade).

You might want to update your signature to Win 8.1 64bit by the way

 

im using a 240W PSU dont i need to mod the PSU it self so i can use it as 330W on m17xr4?
hmm i'm using the stock clocked atm when it crashed i added 100 to base clock off set and 100 to memory clock off set only.
using a moded 353.00 PEG mode throttling fix by j95

 

330W PSU does not need any mods with R4 Dell part number XM3C3. Are you on stock or modded vbios? What is your cards ASIC quality (GPU-Z right click on the top left corner and choose read asic)? Are you overclocking your CPU and giving it more power via BIOS/Intel extreme tuning utility?

 

cool thanks for that info ill prolly look and order one now.
yes i am using a modded vbios unlocked vbios by prema to be precise, ASIC quality is only 64.6 lower from what i saw from other users.
as for the cpu i was before but as of now im running it with turbo by default cause for some reason even if i tried overclocking it via bios the intel turbo monitor values doesnt change anymore unlike before it showed me from having max of 3.7GHZ at turbo to 4.0GHZ.
Thanks

--Edit--
now that you mention the voltage i think its prolly the reason why i cant over clock my cpu because the GPU was taking soo much power. it takes 1075V compare to my 680m which only takes 1050V with Vbios modded already.

i already bought 330W so ill wait for it to arrive and do another test.

 

necro time not because i do it out of boredom.
just letting anyone who follows this thread that the auto shut down i have been experiencing was in fact cause by a PSU problem just like @mariussx said.
it not the heatsink contact. i will admit tho by replacing my heatsink and repasting i did experience better cooling like a 5C less of heat.
anyway i tested this running witcher 3 with my GPU load @ 100% with OC of +180MHz base clock offset and +250MHz memory clock off set and my laptop only reach a temp of 61C with out OC
my Temp for witcher 3 was only 51 to 55C, unlike before i was running this game with out OC and my temps are as high as 68 to 70C then my laptop shuts down after a few minutes.
it seems that 240Watts of PSU isn't enough to power my GTX980m to the extent of handling heavy games like witcher 3.
i was able to use it with 240watts running games that aren't as demanding as witcher 3 and my temp was was always around 63 to 68C.

so probably for laptop users that uses the same model as i do i would highly recommend using a 330watt PSU instead of 240watts especially if your gaming for like 10 hrs a day like i do.
and also visiting threads like 980m benchmark thread also hold some good infos .
my nvdriver is 358.50 in case some one wanted to ask.


that's it to those who helped out by answering on this thread thank you very much and to those who are asking if its worth an upgrade from 680m to 980m my answer is definitely YES.

 

hey man. after buying out your laptop, i have finally discovered that it was bad video card, unfortunately. also look refurbished to be me with some yellow re-solidering on some element, never seen this before on any "new" card!

too bad you have not returned it at woodzstack, right away, as now he does not want to accept it, though it got broke on you how fast? 1 month? earlier?