Another AW18 980m SLI thread

Hi all, just wondering if with the 980m's if they are drop in replacements from 880m's? Like, can I reuse the heatsinks, X-bracket and SLI cable that are currently in place from the 880m's?

Also, I've tried searching through past threads for this info but I didn't feel like I could find the right info. With the V-BIOS's, can I drop them in my machine with whatever bios they came with, then flash them to the right ones after? Or do I have to go through swapping them in one at a time and flashing them one at a time?

Thanks for the help, new here, but if you use the LTT forum you've probably seen me there.

 

You can flash to the right vBios if you don't have the correct ones.
They should be plug and play, yes.

Depending on your AW 18 model you'll need 2 seperate vBioses.

 

Hey thanks for the reply, so some AW18's need different VBIOS's? Is there an easy way to tell? I believe this is the 2014 model as it came with the 880m's and not the 770m's.

 

What CPU do you have, that way I can tell you which one you have.

 

I have the I7 4810MQ

 

@Theguywhobea if it came with anything newer than 700 series stock its def AW18

 

According to @ Raidriar that model needs 2 seperate vBioses

@TheDantee
I know, there are 2 different versions tho, one with BGA and other witch PGA.

 

Okay cool, thanks for the info. As far as I've seen, the heatsinks that are used on the 880m's work fine on the 980m's, that's still correct right? I'd just probably need to get some new thermal pads?

 

Not quite, some components are slightly off which forces you to use a dremel or so to get rid of some aluminium from your heatsink.

 

THERES A BGA AW18!? what is that non sense.... I thought that was only the newer 17 models AW 17 R1 was the last PGA was it not AW18 was all PGA if I remember correctly

 

If there is a BGA version of the AW18 the one I have is not it, I've removed the CPU before and it was definitely PGA.

 

Oh okay, I think I had seen this video once before, looks like they are using a proper router in the video, is this actually something that can be done with a hand dremel?

 

Yeah it was me getting confused, sorry. I was somehow thnking of the Aw17. ._.Am to tired :'D

Yeah most people used a dremel. Hell a friend of mine used sandpaper to grind it down (i'm not joking, he literally spends hours on that crap)

 

You can use this thread as a guide:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/step-by-step-980m-install-in-alienware-18.768916/

 

Hahaha okay awesome, and last question I guess, sorry if I'm repeating myself. Do the X-brackets from the 880m's work on the 980m's or would I need to buy 980m specific X-Brackets?

 

Okay wow thanks, that helps me tremendously!

 

So I ordered a couple 980ms from ebay, do you have any recommendations for dremel tips to mod the heatsink? Never tried cutting into aluminum before.

 

I never used a dremel before but I don't know what you possibly could do wrong tho. Just get rid of the aluminum on like on the pics on that thread.

 

It's not necessary for this mod lmao. Stock 100 watts nvidia HS works fine.

 

Are you saying that the mod is not necessary?

 

yes , its not necessary.

https://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/11198091

 

Wait, are you talking about the AW18 or the M18X? From that 3dmark you sent it looks like you're referring to an M18X.

 

Same for AW 18 also. stock 100 HS , you can use either nvidia or AMD.

https://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/11361145

 

Lol even I don't need to mod the heatsink and I'm using a gtx 1070 running decent at 82c max load.
Then again I'm using a 100w amd heatsink.