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    [HELP] Alienwary M18xR2 780m SLI downgrade due to dead graphics card

    Discussion in 'Alienware 18 and M18x' started by Kaine_L, Jun 17, 2016.

  1. Kaine_L

    Kaine_L Newbie

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    Help, my laptop is dead!

    I have an Alienware M18 with the 780m SLI upgraded thats been working fine for years. Earlier this month, it stopped turning on or posting and I feared the worst.

    I sent it in to a professional for diagnostics and they gave me some good and bad news. The good news, everything is fine except for one dead graphics card. The bad news is they cannot get the machine to operate with only one of the cards. They believe the board is hard wired to need two cards running SLI.

    I'm not in a position to buy new cards right now, (and would rather wait even longer than normal to save up and put in 980m SLI if I have to replace both anyway) but I would like to get the laptop running in the meantime.

    Are there BIOS options that I can enable to the machine will run with only one card, or is it hard wired to need two?

    Regards,

    Kaine
     
    Kaine_L, Jun 17, 2016
    #1
  2. Raidriar

    Raidriar ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

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    That's a load of BS. You can run 1 card dedicated, I have it on my M18x R2 currently....

    Removed the dead one, put the good working on in the left slot, set bios video setting to PEG, and you're good to go.

    That being said, I have replacement 780Ms if you need one :D
     
    Raidriar, Jun 17, 2016
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  3. Kaine_L

    Kaine_L Newbie

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    Thats is really good to hear. Ill be trying it as soon as I get the machine back.
     
    Kaine_L, Jun 17, 2016
    #3
  4. GodlikeRU

    GodlikeRU Notebook Deity

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    I was using one HD6990M for almost a year. Just use one GPU.
     
    GodlikeRU, Jun 18, 2016
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  5. maxslo

    maxslo undefined

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    Probably the primary 780M died, and they just tried to boot with it removed, it will only start on Intel HD from my experience if the main slot is empty.
     
    maxslo, Jun 18, 2016
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    GodlikeRU likes this.