reliable source for 680m

I kinda figured my only source to buy a gtx 680m is ebay... (who on ebay.ca ?? )

What is the most reliable source for me to buy a new gtx 680m for my m17xR3 ... (maybe i just dont know where to look) and if its only on ebay.. who is the most reliable ebay source ? i am not too happy to pay a 500$+ hail mary video card to Mr Unknown.

I am trying hard to wait for new AW hardware but i could also give a second life to my m17xR3 paperweight...

Once again thank you for your input!

 

If you can wait until October, the 970M should be a good replacement. Otherwise, you can buy a new 680m here:

NVIDIA GeForce Dell GTX 680M 2GB DDR5 for Clevo Alienware Upgrademonkey | eBay

 

That or the members market here.

 

so.. i guess "upgradeMonkey" as been tested successfully before.. i saw him and eurocom on ebay.. i have never seen the market place on this forum, i'll go check.

now for the noob part.. its been asked a lot around here and sorry to those who are sick reading about this again but i sure could use a few answers below..

1) What is the "for clevo alienware" part means in the title ?

I have tried to read everything i can find in the forum before asking specifics .. but lets say i buy this from upgrademonkey..

2) do i have everything i need to make the change happen in my m17x R3 ? i think there is a heat sink from dell that was suggested.. not sure if it apply to my rig.

3a) Having the 3D version 120hz monitor on my R3, i'll loose the 3D with a 680m upgrade.. i can live with that.. but more about the bios.. do i understand that i dont need to flash with anything special and it will just work ? something about NOT-needing to unlock my bios...

3b) And the nvidia drivers situation.. since i (maybe) dont need to unlock the bios.. will i need to use the modded nvidia drivers ?

Thank you for your time and help!

 

Hi, I'll jump in (again ).

1. The card is the same for both machines (unless it's a 4GB version where it would originally be a Clevo). Both vbios work and the clevo one actually allows higher overclocks. I can help fix this later if you get a dell one. The seller will flash the bios for the machine you specify.

2. All you actually 'need' is paste and the card. Reuse everything else. My preference was to buy an R4 680m heatsink. It comes pre-padded and pasted ready to assemble. I tested this and got awesome low temps right out-of-the-box. There are also kits with the pads and x-bracket. The x-bracket IS important. It sets the GPU to heatsink pressure and can differ between cards. ALIENWARE M17x M18x VGA Upgrade Kit; NVIDIA GTX 680M; 4GB DDR5; MXM 3.0b | eBay but expensive!

3a. Correct no bios changes required.

3b, You will need a modified NVidia driver INF as it's not an 'approved' upgrade - that's why 3D stops working, but 120hz works fine.

Good luck, I rolled the dice with with a private seller. Sent a couple of questions I already knew the answer to and he responded that he would also supply a new x-bracket and paste, about half the price of new .

 

Once again, thank you MickyD1234,

I knew it was the same bloody question that we all ask (expecting eyes rolling) but you still delivered!

cheers mate!

 

I could wait.. for new models or new video card but its the price tag that will come with the 970m that i will not probably like.

680s goes for around 500-600, around 750 in kit
could probably get an older 5xx for 300-400

could most probably buy a brand new alienware laptop for 1500$ with a 7xx-8xx included and a warrenty

beside the nightmare-ish throttleing the 580m was giving me, it was able to play pretty much anything i liked.. i dont expect perfection or the latest Video cards to have fun..
...just a card that can support settings at HIGH or VERY HIGH details

 

haha, no problem, there is an information overload here (but that is a good thing ) but a personal reply relating to your specific machine always helps clarify .

Let me know what you go for and hit me up with a PM if you're interested in overclocking it - it is one of the few NV chips that runs so cool overclocking is almost demanded!

EDIT: The 680m is a complete generation jump on the 580m. I was happy with my 580m and 675m but now almost everything is on ultra

 

What is the logic behind selling a Nvidia GeForce GTX 770M 3GB DDR5 for (378$ US) , cheaper , its the same seller that sell the Nvidia GeForce Dell GTX 680M 2GB DDR5 (508$ US)

i am freaking close to just order a card..
i like the 680m for the good rep it got around here.. but for my knowledge, i would like to know why.. is the 770m a crappy edition like my old 580 and new 880 ?

 

I've seen more people fail to get a 770m work. In fact only one and that is unconfirmed.

Can't speak to it's performance since it would not install . And if you are thinking of a 780m then you will almost certainly have audio issues and this can be tricky to fix

 

then.. 680m it is,

at this point, it can't be any more clearer that this! SOLD!

you should charge for live chat support!

i get more helpfull advice here than any other customer support i had to deal with

 

bought the card.. now i am waiting
i'll look into that 680m heatsink as well.. from DELL if i remember correctly
and maybe look at a resurrection scroll for my m17x from the local witch hut down the dark alley around here

 

Cool, the dell heatink is a listed part but only for the R4 so you sometimes have a little difficulty with the sales jockey if you have an R3.

lol, get the shaking stick with feathers and the bag of chicken bones, all my unix friends swore by it (literally!)

 

I didn't realize the m17x models were more picky/less compatible with any mxm cards. You'd think a 770m with a dell vbios would just work.

I know on the m15x, there are lots of cards that work, some just need a vbios flash to do the trick. The 7970m I'm running in my m15x was plug n play lol.

 

Yeah, makes no sense at all! I saw three guys that had bought them because of the price, two returned them and the third said something along the lines that it worked - but he did say without modifying any bios files and I never got to find out his exact spec.

What happened is either it just 8 beeped at power on, or white screen as soon as windows loaded. All the usual fixes, drivers, reseats, nada. The bios did name it though, if you could get to it!

 

That's a bit strange, the 770m work on m7x R2 ... but the 780m doesn't work. There is a long thread about this on an other forum, the one who slv7 usually talk.

 

hard to find.. a rep told me they found this

ASSY,HTSNK,VG,13GE,M17XR4
for $25.99

hope its the right one.. it looks harder to order and find than cureing cancer.

cant get a confirmation if it comes with the x-bracket or pads.. hope its included

 

haha, I checked my invoice but no part number. I'm would think that's the one. All I asked for was a 680m heatsink for my r4 and it turned up. Users with an R3 often have difficulties as you have given over your service tag so all the guy sees is R3 parts. Guess he has to press a couple of buttons to get to an r4 from an r3.

They also get confused as they are not supposed to sell non-standard parts without a disclaimer as to it's suitability. Because I am still under warranty the part was supplied as-is and not warranted as part of my machine. If I had purchased the 680m as well from dell it would have been included in my warranty.

 

since i am out of warranty, and you warned me.. i never said i had an R3.. just asked directly for the part.. i provided zero service tag or express code.. went a little better with the order.

thing got weird when i asked about a x-bracket and pads.. he refered me to a picture on ebay about the heat sink..

saying it looks like this.. but still can't confirmed about the X and pads.. he said what i asked was all i need... (maybe if i had an actual R4 i would have the right bracket..)

 

Great, I didn't remember advising this - but it does work!

The pads and paste are there for sure. They want it to be easy for the engineers. The x-bracket usually comes with the card so you might have to contact the seller. The machines are physically identical so interchangeable for heatsinks. If you reuse the 580m x-bracket it will probably be fine, we are talking thousands of an inch here. It just might not overclock as well before getting a little too warm.

You have to prise it off the card as it's on a stickie. Not for any reason except if someone undoes the retaining screws it does not fall down into the machine.

 

finally received an answer from the seller.. ithe X-bracket does not come with the cards.. it is off course sold separately..

If i dont plan to over clock.. (never done it before, but not close to try it) do you think i should also buy the X bracket ? or would i be ok to keep my 580m one to install the 680m card. ?

 

You can use the 580m x-bracket for the 680m if I remember correctly. Should be a direct fit.

 

Yeah, fit is not an issue. It's the fact that the 680m is a thinner core so the pressure will be slightly lower.

That x-bracket looks like some sort of generic one. The dell one (and the one you have) has a 'shield' that has a pad on it and covers one bank of the memory chips on the underside. Probably not that important since you should have a largish pad already on the chassis (or whatever is under the card!) that contacts the memory. I have seen x-brackets that have two contact plates.

The 675 they mention is exactly the same as a 580m so their x-bracket will be the same as the one you have.

I doubt you will have any issues, it's just one of those 'good practice' things. If I see one I'll update, that price is ridiculous!

When you get it we can do some tests to see if heat is going to be a problem, it certainly won't be a disaster that's for sure!

Good luck .

Edit: This is what the dell one looks like. NEW DELL GPU Spreader / X-Bracket for MXM 3.0b nVidia GeForce 675M 680m 580m | eBay

Seems that the 680 one is the same so no issue with your existing one. Just push on the posts to lift it a little and use something like a credit card to prise it off the sticky backing.

 

I taught i could use more of you guys expertise as of what is the current most reliable NVIDIA driver that is recommended as a good working stable not-too buggy driver for the soon to come GTX 680m (inside my m17x R3)

should i just get the latest modded version 340.11 ? the search function gave me about 3 years worth of reading so i got lost.. mesmerized by all those pages..

I was think there is maybe a holy grail v 3XX.YY whatever outthere for 680m.

 

Hi Doc,
No holy grail yet, thankfully. Once a driver gets identified as 'gold', like the 314.22 for fermi cores, then you are not going to get any of the later 'game optimised' versions without the risk of problems . IMO this is NV BS anyway, game profiles are what is needed for a new game and NV already have a mechanism to just update game profiles only.

Anyhoo, the latest one is working just fine for me but I would go for one version earlier. The latest has been messing up some peoples windows (desktops mainly) but users here have not reported any problems. The actual improvements are small to negligible. Most are like me and saw exactly the same performance figures. This driver (340.11) is another rush job by NV to have a driver out for the new 9xx series cards - and they couldn't even get that right . 9xx cards now get their own later WHQL!!

 

If anyone care about this story.. i received my GTX 680 from china 3 days ago and i am still waiting the heat sink from DELL..

Both were ordered between 30 minutes of each other and China won! i would have never guessed.

Can't wait to see if it work.. (HOPE SO!!)

meanwhile i need to learn how or where to create/download modded nvidia drivers..

 

Hi, typical! I've seen a few people having trouble with getting the HS from Dell. You could always just reuse the 580m one. The dell option is the easiest but as long as you transfer all the pads correctly and clean well before pasting you should be fine. Might get 1 or 2 degrees higher but the card runs so cool it's not going to hurt. Just use heaven 4 benchmark to monitor the temps for around 15 mins. It should stay under 70c at stock, I'm running a small overvolt and around 30% higher on the GPU clock and it never goes over 74c even on warm days.

Check out posts from user j95 for the modded inf file and instructions, he posts for each version. Alternatively go to laptopvideo2go and follow the links for the inf file for the version you want to use. Win 8 on this site refers to win 7 as well.

Remind me - do you have the 120hz 3D model?

 

yes.. it is the 3D model.. 120hz.. but i made my peace with loosing 3D

also i could reuse the original HS but i ordered the correct one, i rather wait for it.. im still gaming on my ghetto geforce 750ti mini itx cube while waiting, its not too bad.

 

Cool, I was only checking if you need an unlocked bios, which you don't .

I was the same and got the correct part as well.

Good luck

 

I can't beleve the "good for you sir, we got one in stock" 680m Heat sink from DELL is still in freaking production.. received a auto-phone call telling me there was a delay with my order.. i kinda figured that out already.

I dont know what stop me from just ignoring the new heat sink and shove the vcard into my alien! and would it be of any help to remove it and install the new one when it finally arrive home in december 2019.

I mean, are we really talking about 2-3 celcius.. and also.. risk of breaking something by installing 580 HS for a few week and then installing the 680 HS inside my R3

 

Seems that Dell AW parts are becoming an issue for a lot of things .

I've only actually worked with one 580m heatsink on a 680m but there was very little difference in temps. Easily small enough to just be 'within expected tolerance'.

You should be fine. Just take your time, check out the pad layout on the new card (the card sellers on ebay have pics). Clean the heatsink with alcohol, I use medical wipes as they are cheap and convenient. Use a credit card to prise off the x-bracket while pushing on the posts. The sticky is not important as you will be assembling it before installing it.

You won't break anything, even if you make the biggest ba**s up for the pads and paste (and it's not brain surgery) a rapid rise in temp will shut the machine down.

Get some decent paste but don't spend too much time on this, you'll see plenty of names recommended around the forum and there is not a lot of difference in the high-quality ones in tests I have seen.

First thing you are going to do once it is running is to check the GPU temp. If it stays in the mid to high 60's at stock clocks when gaming then it is all good. No need to swap it out when the new one arrives unless you have high temps, over 75c, often. This is still OK but will need addressing before even considering overclocking.

You will have a very sellable item for your work when it does arrive

 

well.. its in.. took plenty of photo for nostalgia but it was a piece of cake... after the modded driver and installation, i see the 680 in the device manager..

screw DELL for making me wait 2 weeks more and its not even shipped.. i'll try to cancel the order.

now the temp.. i'll run heaven 15 minutes and watch the Celcius

EDIT: so far it stays around 61-64 C while Heaven is running

 

MickyD1234 , thank you for your inputs from the beggining to the end of this thread.. you took me from nothing to a new working system.. so a big thank you for the support and advices.

im off work tomorrow and will hammer the shlitz out of that card playing all day for testing purpose.. off course.. this is not enjoyement, its work someone have to sacrifice himself playing all day!

as soon as i am done with Walking Dead.. i start my gaming marathon.. with hope i dont see any black screen in the first 24hr

 

That's great news . You're very welcome.

Your temps are perfect, in fact about 2c lower than mine was at stock. That is probably down to careful pasting, like I said I just went with the dell pre-paste knowing it would not be as good as aftermarket. I wanted to know if the fact it was so easy, would it just work without any thought? Of course that ease relies on dell supplying the part!

If it does arrive I'd be inclined to keep it, or sell it on. Anyone wanting to upgrade from a 75w card MUST get that heatsink. Also, think about the future. In about a year hopefully the 980m will have proved itself and you might want to upgrade again? Having a spare HS just makes swapping easy and reselling the 680m a snap.

I hope your 'work' is not too exhausting! That is exactly what I said when I first put in the 680m haha.

If any of your games have in-game benchmarks check out the FPS you are getting. When you are ready a 30% increase in performance is easily achieved and having some numbers gives you a base mark - and it's fun. I have put together a package of the things needed and some instructions just PM me for details

 

I make it sound easy .. and have been working in IT for a good 21 years but its still the first time i had to change that kind of hardware.. it was easy since i have read a lot about it.. asked questions to my every concern, check compatibility, took my time and not rushing anything.. followed a youtube video of R3 dissassembly just to be sure i did not forget something.. it was easy.. yes.. but there was work behind getting ready.

I dont beleve in the chance or luck of just shoving a 550$ hardware inside a Alienware and hoping it will work

 

Haha, you have one year over me in IT but I started with pulling PC's apart .

Yup, it does take quite a bit of research and sorting through what relates to you. This is why I was testing the dell heatsink. No research needed with respect to the pads/paste so it is a good recommendation for a first timer. Preparation + Planning = Performance

Good work

 

Maybe nobody cares, maybe 1 person will follow the same path as me.. but i decided to take 2 minutes to report..

3 months later

the 680m still kick some major %|#*&.. work flawlessly.. never seen it throttling once.. soooo happy with my move. also, never updated the nvidia driver.. i still run modded 344.11 and play everything in my steam account.

 

Excellent. :thumbsup:

 

I'm selling my 680M if anyone's interested NVIDIA GTX 680M 2GB GDDR5 MXM 3 0 B Laptop GPU Clevo MSI Alienware Gaming Laptop | eBay

 

tempted.... but not right at the moment

 

Dooooo ittttt.

 

Or you can buy it here Dell Nvidia Geforce GTX 680M Alienware M18XR2 M17XR4 Laptop Video Card 680M 2GB | eBay

I have bought him an 7970m , real pro and good price ... 450 $ for an used 680m LOL

 

Nothing "LOL" about it. You just linked to one that is $390 + $39 to ship = $429. There are almost none for sale on eBay they are all selling for $400-500 when they do sell.

 

Yep and i am pointing a new one in esd bag versus an used one with some paste on it ...

 

Yes, it's also missing the x-bracket.

 

Damn , who would spend 400$ + on a old card while you could get a gtx 880m for that price.

 

880m = throttle and power , apparently it was one of the worst GPU's to date. I originally planned on upgrading to an 880m and was about to buy the card and everyone stopped me because the throttle is so bad. 680m can perform as well as the 880m with tweaks. Plenty of "new" 680M's are selling for more than the 880m (probably due to the aforementioned issues with throttling).

 

The 880M will still beat a 680M even with throttling etc.. Slight tweaking and you'll be fine with a 880M.. Your'e 680M price is too high neptune and it won't sell for that much..

 

We'll see. I'm in no rush.

 

The biggest advantage with the 680m over the 780m and 880m (IMO) is that it runs much cooler. You'd have to really mess up on the paste/padding to cause an issue (throttling). It overclocks great - on the latest NV driver my boost clock (which is maintained all through tests and games) broke the 1Ghz - 1006Mhz