Aw m18x R2 Dual 980m SLI upgrade!!

Thanks for explanation.

 

Wish we didn't have to run win8

 

I think god hates me and my computer. Soldering the bracket that came loose on my heatsink is useless. A) Tin becomes a solid way before you have the time to mount the bracket on B) Tin is way too fragile and easy to snap.

I need to purchase a GPU heatsink. More waiting. Baaaaaaaaah

 

Bad luck Cloudfire, hopefully it will be worth the wait - the modified vBIOS is out now on TechInferno, so you'll be able to overclock for some monster performance!

 

Well he can always use 1 GPU.. I thought only 1 heatsink was screwed up?

 

lol order it from Dell, you'll get it by next working day

 

I could but I dont want to put it together only to open it up and then put it together again. As of now its in probably 8 pieces and will remain that way until I have a working heatsink.

Dell Norway you mean? I will try calling them and asking about it but since I have no warranty I have my doubts about quick turnaround. But will try calling

Yup bad luck indeed. No warranty but luckily the part isnt expensive.
I saw that vbios. Awesome news

 

Well from Dell UK i get parts mostly next day. If they ship part from Europe depot then it will take 2 - 3 days.

 

Im sorry if this is a noob Question. I did see the link for the Modd Vbios. But even with this Vbios the cards still throttle correct?

I am planning on upgrading but dont want to do it till that gets fixed.

Thanks in advance

 

Any idea about approx the price for a heatsink?

 

Price is depend on Dell representative. In past i got two different quote for same item with-in 2 hours. GPU heatsink price range could be £25 - £45.

 

How do you know which GPU heatsink to get? I currently have a 7970M in SLI. So I have to buy new heatsinks which are used for the Nvidia 780M/880M/980M series? Or other heatsinks?

First experience ever with an M18xR2

 

lol you got to open your system frequently to know more Anyway i had 7970m Xfire 40 days ago. There are two different heatsink parts for AMD and Nvidia. But AMD heatsink is compatible with Nvidia cards, you just need to modify it. Yes i've used AMD heatsink with 980ms.

 

At least for the M17x R4, the difference in the AMD and NVIDIA heatsink is the fact that both are physically the same.. the AMD die is an angle while the NVIDIA die is a square so for AMD cards, they put a black tape to cover the part that won't be used by AMD card.. I just had to remove the tape and my heatsink was ready to be used.. 1 minute job.. Don't know if same for R2..

 

The only difference is the thermal pad placement, tape isolation shape and backplate shape.

 

There was one user that had throttling still - godfafa I believe. And I don't know yet if it's solved the throttling that Mr Fox was having in his A18, although he was only getting throttling when pushing the CPU to really high overclocks. The main point is that those modded vBIOS remove the +135Mhz overclocking limit, open up the Power Slider for you to configure the max Watt consumption, open up the voltage you can use, and remove boost behaviour (default clocks = boost clocks) - so all in all they're pretty good I think, and if I had a Maxwell card I would flash it in a heartbeat!

 

You had to rearrange the thermal pads though right?! I hope you moved them around, as the chance of those matching exactly are probably close to zero! :-/

 

So a VGA heatsink is on its way to me.
£25/$40 for it so I was pleasantly surprised by the offer from the helpful fellow from Dell

 

Well I just put the pads on the GPU chips and slapped the cleaned up heatsink onto it and screwed it down..

Did they send by NBD shipping?

 

Sounds a bit slapdash, but if it's all level and all the chips are contacted via pads to heatsink, and the heatsink is sitting flat on the core then you've done the job! I know when I did my GPU, that was the part that took the most work to make sure it was done properly.

 

I need help!! 980m i just bought. what driver are u guys using. im using the modded Nvidia driver INF V344.75. and the notebook version from nvidia web site. and the driver keeps failing on instill.

 

You need to use a modified inf to install NVidia drivers onto a laptop model that doesn't normally come with a 980M - (it's a non-standard GPU for that laptop).

Here's a guide on how to make modified inf file:
[Guide] Modding Nvidia OEM INF Files

and this site supplies modified inf's too:
LaptopVideo2Go: Drivers

Both could be options for you, should set you on the right path.


EDIT: Haha, I missed the bit where you said you were using a modded inf already - no worries!

 

ok fixed the issue. i had to disable Driver Signature Enforcement to install unsigned drivers on Windows 8.1. lol

 

@cyberter Try to Disable Driver Signature Enforcement! :thumbsup:

 

Since Alienware released the AW15 with GTX980M, will we see anyone ripping out the vbios and making it work with AW18 and M18X r2?

 

Ohhh my they just killed 18 series. It looks like Dell 980m is soldered.

 

Abandon ship. Jump to the Clevo/Sager ship now!

 

lol I still love my M18x R2 :thumbsup: But i will not buy another new Alienware system so called slim

 

That's almost as disturbing (the vid) as Alienwares recent announcements!

EDIT: where's the vid gone!!?

 

Yes this^

Do Dell make vbios available from their drivers page anywhere?

 

Usually in soldered systems it is packaged into the system bios but it is removable with the right unpacking at least.

 

That's kind of good new since Dell provide system BIOS on their drivers page, we might be able to grab it now. Bad news is I wouldn't know what to do with it.
I'm sure Prema, SVL7, Johnksss might...

 

So called slim ? No.. So called GARBAGE.

 

ddr4 laptop memory sodimm out soon ummm Crucial.com - Crucial DDR4
so far broadwell seems promising, waiting for real benchmark though

 

I found the two sites people were using to buy these cards... RJ tech : Laptop Video Cards :: nVidia GTX 980M 8GB Video Card for Clevo Laptops - R&J Technology, Clevo Barebone Notebook kits, Laptop and desktop system builder
and hideveoution HIDevolution NVIDIA GTX 980M 8GB Upgrade Kit for Alienware 17 and M17x R4 - Parts

It looks like RJ tech is over 100 bucks cheaper... is there any disadvantage going that route vs the other? Also, neither side has an option to buy for the m18x r2. RJ tech just has clevo models to choose from, and hidevolution just has m17x models. which site and model did you guys choose that works for the m18x r2?

 

Hidevolution will provide GPU + X-bracket + required screws + thermal pads/paste.. They also have a 1 year parts warranty while RJ tech is 90 days and no return.. Hide will also provide tech support... At the end of the day, I chose Hide because of this and also import charges being absolutely small because of favourable arrangements they have to ship to the UK.. Placed order on 24th Dec (after inquiring and confirming everything on 23rd) and order shipped same day, received 29th and works perfectly!

 

I went with Hidevolution and asked for the Clevo p377sm-a with the standard bios, not their Alienware one. They did it for a better price than RJ Tech was prepared to do and seemed far more enthusiastic about sending me cards to Japan. Make sure you get a quote rather than just order off the website. Ask for Ted too.

 

Won't work right... 4GB vRAM firmware doesn't play nice with 8GB GPU. Also, vBIOS code would likely be different on BGA than MXM module. The new machines should be Optimus, which requires no Legacy VGA because the system boots off of the Intel IGFX. Even if it would work to flash and boot, it most likely would still carry the negative implications that go hand-in-hand with Optimus.

 

I have a question, and normally I would read the thread before asking but due to the....124 pages I'm going to make an acception and just ask.

I'm about to buy a beautiful Nebula Red M18x R2 with Dual 680m's. For now this will do. But I'm planning to upgrade to 980m SLI in the near future. I am not going to be overclocking the GPU's (Maybe just a little) and other then that just use them for gaming. Will they "work" decently normal? I'm hearing stuff like having to reinstall drivers each boot and gnarly stuff like that.

Thanks!

 

Who is the one who keeps saying we have to reinstall drivers at boot? You and that other guy who thinks Windows 8.1 needs you to reinstall drivers at boot both said that today.

 

Haha sure is a small world eh, his post is what made me think so!

 

I wonder if its possible to zero-out/delete the UEFI check in the 970M/980M vBIOS

 

Right after he said that I told him that was nonsense and it wouldn't have gotten past QA and out the gate to consumers with such a problem, and he got annoyed at me.

 

It's not a check for UEFI. It is only a stroke of luck or incidental that UEFI/GOP works instead of nothing working. While it works, it doesn't work well. There is something with the system BIOS that does not allow Maxwell to boot using VGA. It only boots with GOP or iGPU. May have something to do with firmware signatures, but more likely an architectural problem. I would be surprised if this problem can be fixed through hex editing. I think it would take a major BIOS revision, and since these machines are now two generations past EOL there is little or no chance Alienware is going to help fix it.

I have needed to blind flash my M18xR2 three time to correct weird glitches with 980M. Doing so also cures throttling (until the problem returns) but the machine has to be apart. Blind flashing (A03) defaults to PEG mode and there is only Legacy BIOS so the machine fails to post with 8 beeps after the blind flash completes, and to clear that requires running on IGFX so you can change the BIOS settings. If you are running one 980M you can use A03 unlocked to set the BIOS to SG mode with Legacy BIOS. If you are running SLI you have to flash to A08 unlocked for pure UEFI/GOP. It has to be an unlocked BIOS or there is no way to set SG mode.

If that sounds like a major pain in the butt, that's because it is a major pain in the butt. You have to want 980M really, really bad and not object to tearing your machine apart a bunch of times or it is not worth the hassle. I've already needed to replace a couple of small cables with thin wires from taking the machine apart about a dozen times in the past few week. (We all know what happens to wires that are flexed over and over and over again, LOL. Sometimes being gentle simply isn't enough.) Maybe we will get it down to a science if the compatibility issues get fixed so it can be a one and done operation like 780M SLI upgrade was, but I am skeptical that will happen at this point.

 

for the hidevolution site... this link... HIDevolution NVIDIA GTX 980M 8GB Upgrade Kit for Alienware 17 and M17x R4 there is no option for the clevo one. just the alienware 17 upgrade kit. I dont want to buy the wrong one and get screwed out of 1600 dollars.

 

Okay, so other then throttling issues when OCing and having to use Windows 8.1 it's mostly fine?

 

Nope, not even that.

The throttling problem doesn't care whether it is Windows 7 or 8, and if you are running SLI you can use anything you want for an OS as long as it's newer than Windows 7.

The throttling problem is not isolated yet and it comes and goes. Doing things to upset the apple cart can stop it or trigger it, but we have not identified the cause or solution yet. I think it has to do with NVIDIA Battery Boost (drivers) or something in the BIOS that impedes power delivery to the PCIe slots with Maxwell.

Interesting Observations: watching my 900W UPS power meter in more than 20 hours of testing, ~230-240W is consistently the throttle trigger point (when throttling is happening) with one GPU and ~315-330W with SLI. Sounds like an AC adapter rating, or a mighty strange coincidence, doesn't it? I think (can't prove) that it is something in the NVIDIA drivers is talking to the BIOS, which is talking to the ID chip in the AC adapter.

Another interesting fact... STOCK (i.e. no overclock) 980M comes right up on each of those power limits, so overclocking potential is slim to none when the system is in a throttling mood. It cannot even hold stock clock speeds when that is happening.

 

That's quite weird... isn't that a wall-draw rating though? I was fairly certain stock 980Ms drew far less than stock 780Ms... other Clevo users are able to maintain OCs with them + their CPU, no? Unless what you mean is, wall-draw rating of ~330W will kick it down a notch, even though the system isn't being fed with the full 330W it can take.

 

Oh no. Stock maybe so. Overclocked they draw MORE than 780M. Look at my post here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...enchmark-thread-part-3-a-167.html#post9884848

At one point (although very brief) I had SLI working with a vBIOS mod and no throttling. At about 1350 on core clock and 1.165V it shot up immediately over 600W, tripped a breaker in one of my AC adapters and immediately shut off from lack of power. It did that to me twice, and then throttling commenced. I did not even have a chance to do any more modest overclocking with the modded vBIOS before the throttling kicked in at the ~330W trigger point.

I have seen a brief peak of about 625W draw from 780M SLI, but very rarely. It's usually in the 525W range with a big overclock.

This is the digital meter on the front of my 900W CyberPower UPS. It's the wattage output from the PSU and represents the amount of power the system is pulling from the PSU.

 

Well then. Seems like another haswell. Of course I'd expect a 300MHz+ OC to make it draw more, but to outpace 780Ms... that's... odd. I guess maxwell's efficiency is really in all the tricks. Even then; I doubt I'd go past 1200MHz on those with the modded vBIOS. If 1058/6000 SLI is more than I need right now, 1127/6000 should be all I'd need there. Assuming it gets to 6000 memory. I guess I'm gonna need that second PSU and converter box anyway haha.

But with something like stock 1127/5000 SLI 980M and an OC'd extreme CPU (say 4.2-4.5GHz) you think it'd be okay on a 330W brick? Or would I definitely need an extra brick? The reason I ask is that while traveling with one brick is fine and dandy, I'd like my daily clocks and stuff (if I go to others' houses or whatever) to be fine on a single adapter.

Just want to be 10000% certain about how things'll work due to the ridiculous cost for me. You know me XD.