Aw m18x R2 Dual 980m SLI upgrade!!

Just to address your Furmark point. Furmark places an unholy & unnatural load on the graphics card, so is completely unrepresentative of normal gaming loads. So, in some respects I'm not surprised you're seeing high temperatures of 85 degC when running that. If I was you I'd use Unigine Heaven Benchmark run on a continuous loop to test temperatures or just play something like Far Cry 4 (no loading screens, so no opportunity for GPU cool down) for an hour or two - it's more representative than Furmark.

 

You mean switching with with Fn + F7 to change internal graphics gpu. The continuous use of Furmark destroyed my AMD 7970M gpus, I really recomends another bench to test the gpu cooling.

 

Thanks for the reply. Ill never use furmark again..
playing skyrim I ran a CONSTANT 60fps (awesome.. my first nice gaming rig..) and never got above 75c played quite a while.
Gta iv Bumps me up to 83c after about an hour of play and i see constant fps drops.. down to 39fps at some points.. i know gta iv is terribly optimized but would that explain the high temps?

Ill run heaven today when I am home from work.
What is about the max temp i should see in heaven? Single 980m. Stock clock. AC5 paste(applied correctly..) 3 pipe heatsink in an m18x. No cooler pad.. yet!

As for switching to the integrated graphics. Fn+f7 brings up window saying it requires a reboot to switch graphics. Press yes, reboots right back to 980m..

Edit:Gta iv runs terrible from the start, not just at 83c. Really i dont see much throttle in games at that temp. Did in furmark..

 

I would guess the high 60's to mid 70's (room temperature at approx 20degC) for a stock 980M based on the fact the 980M runs pretty cool at stock and the M18 lines have great cooling, but you'll need to hear back from someone with a 980M & your laptop to truly know what temps you should be getting. It looks to me like your 980M is getting too hot for a stock 980M.

 

Hey Vulcan78!!! Thanks for the info! LOL yes it's still going... I think it will be for a while... I'm out of the service now. I work for Lockheed Martin supporting the soldiers. I was in the Army and deployed in iraq 2003-04. Much has changed.

I picked up two 980's I knew it was over kill but I figured I haven't upgraded in years why now go big! The laptop has been with me forever and now it looks like it will be a lot longer

I got the stuff for the Dual PSU too! I already had two PSU just never combined them.

Thank you for your service!

 

Disclaimer: Upgrading/Mod/Unlocking/Overclocking is your choice and any damages or problems are your fault! Happy Gaming!!!

UPDATED as of 23 MAY 2015

Please note I am not a guru and this is only what I have read and pulled together from many threads. I installed one 980m and am waiting on the heatsink for the second one. I must admit this wasn't very easy. (At least not for me) But the bugs are being worked and the Guru's really deserve thanks! (and donations to keep the work alive. If you buy a $700+ video that isn't worth $200 without the support of these guys I don't know what to say about you) I will try to update this post with everything I have learned to this point so if you choose to do this upgrade you will have an easier (not easy) time. So far I am very happy with it coming from one 7980m!

Guru's if you see anything incorrect let me know and I will fix it.

Procedure for upgrading the M18X R2 with 980m’s

1. You must create a bootable thumb drive with Windows 8 or 8.1. (Or a DVD)

1a. Rufus is a free small utility that creates bootable USB flash drive for Windows 7 or 8.

1b. Plug in USB flash drive

1c. Launch Rufus

1.c.1. Under Partition Scheme and target sys type> Choose GPT partition scheme for UEFI computer.

1.c.2. Under Create a bootable disk using> Chose ISO image then click on box to the right and add your WIN 8.iso file

1.c.3.Hit Start and create you boot drive.

1.c.4.Restart computer and hit F2 to enter the Bios

2. In the Bios,

2a. Click on Boot tab> UEFI = Enabled/ Legacy ROM = Disabled.

2b. F10 to save bios and Exit. (Tip make sure you backup your steam game saves!!!)

2c. Shut system.

Install your Single or Dual 980M How to install GPU and a Pro Tip from Mr. Fox!

3. Plug in your Win 8/8.1 Boot drive. (Or DVD)

3a. Power on the computer and install Win 8/8.1

3b Install drives and software (Do not install the unmodified nivida drivers. Plus install dot net 3.5)

3.b.1. Windows 8 clean install guide (Tip the Dell/Alienware website isn't updated well for the M18x driver support. You will get though it)

3.b.2. Alienware look and feel after a clean install of windows

3.b.3. “ Disable driver signature enforcement”

3.b.4. Install GeForce Hotfix driver 353.00 to J95

3.5.4.a Extract the drivers using something like 7zip. (with 7zip installed, just rightclick and press "Extract to "/File name here"") Inside the extracted driver folder open Display.Driver. The "nv_dispi.inf" in that folder is what we need to replace it using NV_dispi.inf.

4. Unlock your GPU’s

4a. Disable the 980M in Device Manager

4.b.1. Flash Prema's vbios version 1.1 run modme.bat and modme2.bat answering "y" when asked (Make a donation to him - HERE The Password for all files is: premamod.com or biosmods.wordpress.com) Pro Tip!

4c Enable the 980m in Device Manager

4.c. NV Inspector -> Match P0/P1 stock clocks first -> Run Valley Benchmark then find out how much the card will hold w/ 1.068v , finally update settings. Don't mess w/ voltage offset including undervolting, only when OCing.

Do some benchmark (3DMark FireStrike 1.1, 3DMark 11, 3DMark Vantage...)

Downloads

Rufus is a free small utility that creates bootable USB flash drive for Windows 7 or 8.

Prema's vbios version 1.1 (Make a donation to him - HERE) I did!

j95's modded GeForce Hotfix driver 353.00 drivers and NV_dispi.inf (Make a donation to him -

NV_dispi.inf.

NV Inspector

DDU This program will wipe your video drivers you will need this eventually. If you are updating you video drivers for whatever reason, poor performance, throttling, or updating to new drivers. Run this in safe mode, select "clean and shutdown" then power your laptop on then disable unsigned driver protection. Like in step 3.b.3

Notes

Unlocking the 980 SLI with OC may/will require Dual PSU mod (NON OC is fine with 1 PSU)

ATI to Nvidia Heatsink are interchangeable

Appreciation’s!!!

I do specially thanks to @@Nikos, Peter, Kenny27, and godfafa for procedure. @Mr. Fox@@j95, @svl7, @Prema, For the keys to success!!! @ And finally the Alienware community NRB and Techinferno forums!!!

 

Hello buddies,

I need some help from you, I am having some heat problems with my left card (right seems fine atm). Even if I applied fujipoly's TIM (17.0 watt/mk) and Liquid ultra on the core left card is extremely hot while gaming or benching.
I will try to explain how I did apply the TIM with this picture:



I think maybe the problem is one the following:
1. The heatsink could be bent. (So if this is it I need a new one)
2. As I did not have as many different TIM's thickness as the heatsink may need, I solved that applying as many layers of TIM as I needed to be sure that there were contact between chips and the heatsink.
One card hits (even with stock voltage) 85ºC or so, the other card is like 5-6ºC less hotter.
Maybe using more than one layer of TIM is generating the problem. I am ordering more thermal pads with different thickness to address the issue.

 

What was your MOS? Given that youre working for Lockheed is it safe to assume you were in aviation? I was a 68J, Aircraft Armament Missile System Repairman, which consisted of maintaining weapon and avionics systems aboard the AH-1 Cobra and OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, to include operations on FAARP's (Forward Area Rearm Refuel Point), which were actually beyond the front-lines, deep into enemy territory. Reloading rockets and such at night with only chem-sticks (pilots using NVG's so can't use anything brighter) with the aircraft's rotor blades going never really got old. I wish I stayed in, I'd be nearing my 20 year mark right about now, I got out because the MOS was over-saturated with NCO's and the promotion points were pegged at 798 nearly the entire 8 years I was in. I also got tired of some of the B.S.

Well sounds like you know what youre doing, post some benches when you get it all together!

And thank-you for your service too.

 

Are you manually controlling your fans with Hwinfo64? Reason being is that, at least in my experience, the default fan algorithm tends to let one of the GPU's get about 10C hotter than the other for whatever reason.

I would try setting the fans to the same RPM before moving forward with heat-sink replacement etc.

 

Sorry for the multiple replies. Thanks for posting this! I will definitely go by this as I am most interested in adding a single 980M when finances allow.

I'm assuming these instructions are still good, with the exclusion of seating the secondary GPU steps later on?

Is Win 10 still going to be a free upgrade for those currently on Win 8 and 8.1? It would suck to purchase 8.1 only to find that it is no longer supported a year from now and not having access to DX12....

 

Yes for sure I am manually controlling the fans with HWINFO64.
Any other idea? (Regarding ThermalPads)

 

What thickness thermal pads did you go with? I'm not at all positive but if you went with say 2mm and the original's were 1mm there is a remote chance that the thicker pads are preventing an as-tight-as-can-be contact between the heat-sink and the GPU die itself.

 

Well I can't continue to comment as I don't even know the thickness of the original pads but I'm fairly certain the memory chips were less than 2mm, I think they might actually have been 1mm.

I'm still waiting for my replacement SLI bridge and then I'll be going in and replacing the TIM I used on the memory chips with the same Fujipoly thermal pads you used (17 m/ kw or whatever) albeit the 1mm variety.

The 2mm pads you used on the components on the back might be the problem. We need to hear from others what the actual thickness of these pads are before proceeding. Going by memory and eyeball I'm fairly certain the memory chips are only 1mm. I've recently replaced the copper shims used on my desktop's 780 Ti's and Kraken G10 AIO coolers, going from 1 to 2mm and these 2mm copper shims were about double the thickness of the thermal pads I removed from the memory chips on my 680M's. I think 1.5mm is still too thick.

 

You could also inquire with the Clevo and MSI Titan GT80 crowd as to the thickness of these pads as there may be height differences between the memory chips and the GPU die on 980M and 680M. I'm pretty sure the heat-sink part of the equation is moot as they are all usually flattened copper pipes that are all on the same plane. You could also replace the thermal tape with thick, viscous thermal compound designed specifically for memory chips to completely remove an inconsistent heat-sink plane from the picture.

 

The 1.5mm and 2.0mm pads you are using are too thick. This is probably raising the heat sink too much and causing die contact to be poor. The heat sinks for the M18xR2 have a stair-stepped area that fits between the big square inductors (see blue boxes in second image below) and having too much pad there can also be a problem. Because of the raised square on the heat sink, a thicker pad should not be installed in between the inductors.

I used stock thermal pads and had no issues with 980M overheating in the M18xR2. Try using either 1.0mm or 0.5mm pads instead.

The factory-installed 1.0mm pads (like the first image below shows) worked flawlessly for me with 980M. You can stack 3 small 1.0mm squares on that one location--versus buying a sheet of 3.0mm pad for such a tiny piece--if you need to, but everything else is 1.0mm. Note the raised area between the inductors also uses 1.0mm pad.



The inductors (blue box) should use the same thickness pad as the memory, not thicker.

 

After about 10-15 minutes of Heaven benchmarking on "extreme" I was at 82c (flickering to 83c).
Let it sit a little longer and it would go up and down between 79c And 82c. Never went over 82c. Opinions? Too hot? Repaste? What kind? The IC diamond supplied was like playdoe so i used some ac5 silver..

Sorry maybe I didnt word my second question correctly.
"Is it possible to switch from the 980m to intel 4000 using the fn+f7 reboot method?"

Edit: In case it helps..
3720qm
m18x r2
Single 980m (originally single 680m)
drivers from eurocom
thermal pads from HIDevolution
ac5 silver
83c after 15min in heaven..

 

As always! outstanding!

Thank you so much for your time helping me with this matter, I guess now we know correct thickness.

 

If that is with a fat overclock and overvolting, the temps are good. If stock, a bit higher than ideal. You don't want them to go any higher than that if you can avoid it. If it does, you may encounter thermal throttling.

Yes, FN+F7 worked for me in the M18xR2 with 980M SLI. I didn't really care if it did, but it was nice that the functionality was not broken.

 

Stock clock... CPUID says its at 0.83v. Guess I will repaste.. again..

Uninstall 980m drivers, reboot, auto install microsoft basic display driver. Try to install intel gfx drivers from dell "no supported devices".

Press fn+f7, try again, still "no supported devices".. the function reboots my system and all but just boots to the 980m everytime

 

When you press FN+F7 within Windows you should be prompted to reboot. Does that happen? It will say something like "Binary Graphics Detected" and prompt for reboot in the window that pops up when you press FN+F7. If not, what if you go into the BIOS and change from PEG to IGFX? (Don't try anything except PEG and IGFX.) IGFX should switch you to Intel HD Graphics. PEG will put you back to discrete GPU. Alienware OSD uses FN+F7 within Windows to flip the same switch in the BIOS between PEG and IGFX.

Do you have two 980M or just one? I ask, because FN+F7 with one GPU installed often does not work. It never takes effect, but switching manually within the BIOS usually does work with only one GPU installed.

Edit: OK, I just re-read your post. I suspect the fact you have only one 980M installed is why it does not work. One 680M and one 780M never worked right for me either. Manually flipping it in the BIOS does. Something with the software in Windows doesn't like just one GPU.

With only a single 980M you can use SG mode (won't work with two installed... fails to POST with 8 beeps on SG mode). This would enable Optimus. I cannot imagine why anyone would actually want Optimus enabled, but it's an option available with one 980M if you do for some reason.

 

2 Questions on this, Do you still have to flash one card at the time??

Wow those are a lot of steps... for a noob like myself haha..

I have 2 questions. I thought with the new NVFLASH you didn't have to pull out each gpu in order for you to flash them. Im i correct??

Also, Is that the official perma release for the vbios? i thought he is still working on it.

Thanks in advance

 

Wait is it your CPU or GPU temp that is at 83C? GPU temp that is kinda high, I just repasted with IC Diamond and with an aggressive Hwnfo64 fan algorithm (will post below) my GPU's would not exceed 72C in Heaven and Valley with the voltage at 1.025V and the clocks at +200 core / +400 memory.

With the GPU's I actually recommend the spread method, that way the entire die gets covered. Also be sure to crank down the screws as tight as they will go.

Hwinfo64 Fan Algorithm by vulcan78 posted May 5, 2015 at 4:07 PM

 

WOO HOO!
Got everything back together with IC diamond and Heaven maxed out at 63c on desk without a cooler pad!!!

As for my Intel 4000 problem. I have no option in bios to switch between peg to igfx (which tab should it be under?)
While my 980m was out i booted and installed the 4000 drivers successfully.
Still reboots to 980m when i press f7 combo..

I did not plan to overclock this being the most up to date card and coming from a 680m i was pretty satisfied with.
I care more about the life of my card than power..
That being said if i did overclock (since you have pretty much same specs as me) could i go off of what you said and be safe? Or even a little under? Sorry im sure its covered i am just at my whits end tearing my brand new m18x r2 apart and going through the struggle of installing the 980m i dropped 850$ on.. ready for a break..
0.84v
core 405
memory 324
is current.. stock

 

@Filthimoney - you need an unlocked BIOS to access that menu in the M18xR1/R2. Advanced > Video Configuration. With a stock BIOS there are a TON of hidden settings.

 

As I figured.. I looked into this when downloading all drivers. Ended up going with the new official a12.
From my understanding 980m will only work on m18x r2 with a11 bios.
I cannot find an unlocked a12 or even a11.. just going to have to wait?
No big deal just would be nice to switch to the intel during class/work/car trips or other non essential/non gaming extended situations.

 

Nope, that is not accurate, but it does not surprise me if you read that some place. I used 980M with A09, A10, A11 and A12 trying to get 980M to stop throttling. None of them worked for that purpose, but and I several other people tried it to find out if it made any difference. I went back to A09 and left it there. It will not work with the earlier BIOS versions that lack pure UEFI mode. A11 and A12 did not add anything of value, so @svl7 did not unlock them. He actually did unlock A11 for a few testers to tinker with, but some systems acted a little odd with it, so it was never released for public use. I am still using A09 unlocked now. I was on A10 unlocked for more than a year, but it doesn't offer anything useful compared to A09 unlocked, so there was no reason for me to bother with A10.

 

Thanks! I believe that is all for now..
I have to make an account and post 5 times before I can download on techinferno site which is only place i can find a link to unlocked a09..
My temps after IC Diamond did reach 77c playing GTA IV for quite some time (better than 83c.. i dont understand skyrim runs CONSTANT 60FPS never above 66c, gta IV gets down to the 27fps and as high as 77c.. both official steam,no mods..) on desk no cooling pad. Moved over to set on my lap with gpu fan hanging off to side And it never went above 66c in GTA..
I will repaste using the "spread" method next time..

 

@Filthimoney Skyrim runs at 60fps because is has v-sync force on by default, your 980m will not be close to 100% load at 60fps in a graphically unmodified skyrim hence the lower temps. As a side note: dont mess around with vysnc in skyrim as strange things can happen.

The only time I have ever seen the spread method recommended for thermal paste is for Liquid Ultra, a line, dot or x shape is usually recommended so that you don't run the risk of getting air bubbles... and because dies on laptop gpus and cpu are pretty small coverage shouldn't be an issue.

 

@kenny27 is absolutely correct. I agree on both points.

If you disable v-sync in Skyrim, chances are great the game will behave very badly. I do not like v-sync and almost always disable it... but not on Skyrim. You will likely see severe screen tearing, flickering, flashing, characters and animals jerking and jumping wildly and uncontrollably, etc. It basically ruins the game and sometimes even renders it totally unplayable.

Liquid Ultra is the only exception, as it must be applied by brush (included with package) and for best results "paint" it on both surfaces so they come together wet. For all other pastes, I have always used the round dot/glob method in the center of a square die and a thin line on a lidless CPU die, or an X on a desktop CPU IHS. Gelid GC Extreme comes with a spatula to apply it by spreading. I found it worked fine that way, but I still prefer letting the compression of the heat sink against the chip do the spreading to minimize bubbles and reduce the mess from excess paste squirting out along the sides. What matters most is getting the results you want. Other than Liquid Ultra application, the only wrong way is the one that does not produce the results you are shooting for.

If you repaste often, (which is necessary with heavy overclocking using pastes other than Liquid Ultra,) you will appreciate having as little mess to clean up as possible. It's not a huge deal with pastes that are not electrically conductive, but it is a waste of paste and time to have a mess to clean up. Using no more paste than necessary for full coverage also helps avoid waste and mess clean up.

 

I've tried different methods of TIM application with Arctic Silver 5 paste, and the best results I've seen is by using the spread method (but a VERY thin layer spread & as smooth and flat as possible) - Arctic Silver 5 recommend the spread method on mobile CPUs. Not much difference in my experience though between spread method & small blob method (for GPU), or line method (CPU) for that matter. Using AS5 I'd recommend the spread method on both GPU and CPU, but I'll probably try Gelid GC Extreme next time.

 

Nikos,

I order some of these. You can try them out and see if the make a difference.

 

Hey Vulcan!

Yeah I was a 35E COMSEC repairer (94E now). I repaired the radio systems. I did four years in the army and I was in the same boat 798 the whole time I was in. It was easier to become an office lol. So I got out, I have friends in that just now are getting E6 because they had to switch MOS. Now I do the eye in the sky stuff can't say more on here about that. Its pretty awesome I love my job just wish it would ex-span back home.

 

LOL yeah its not really Just install Window 8 then one gpu flash at a time. I just made the list dummy proof (so if someone can't follow it then they probably shouldnt do the upgrade lol. And yes you will have to do them one at a time.

As for Perma's release I am not sure of his plans but I did see him say that he was working with a re-seller to have the vbios installed already. I couldn't wait lol.

 

LOL funny I think I just ordered the same but from other store
Let us know how it performs

 

Guys,

I have a question can you skip the Stock unmodified Nivida drives and go straight to the Modded 350.12?

 

Sure no problem at all.

 

So long as the pads are good on the power parts it should not be an issue, be more concerned with the core. 5W/mk pads placed right will do the job no problem.

 

Do you know why the laptop locks up when the voltage is set up for example to 1.125 V? There is people who can push the cards to 1.2 V with no problems at all but I can't even get closer there. It can not be thermal problem... It has to be something else.
Is there any option in BIOS that I can enable or something to make it more stable?
Something like PriPlane in CPU?
It is driving me crazy, after a short period of time the laptop reboots itself and that is all. Maybe the motherboard is not able to deliver 1.2 V on the cards ?
It does the same even if I choose to disable the SLI and just use one card. Or if I just do overclock to the core not to memory at all.

 

Mine do the same. I think something might be getting too hot on the GPUs even though the core temps might be fine. Are you benching with AC cooling or just running stock fans? You can leave the memory clock stock and only overclock the core and it still does it. Since 980M doesn't have all of the MOSFET chips installed, the three that are there may be working harder than necessary, overheating, etc. I am pretty sure my GPU overclock was not nearly as limited when benching on AC, and my 980M core temps are fine. I need to get my AC unit hooked up again to test this and confirm it.

What are you going to use the 15mm square shims for? They are too small from what I can see... too small to cover the CPU or GPU die surfaces.

 

It has to be something like that. I can not understand why is that happening.
My order was with this not the other ones, maybe I can find a use for them.

Pure Copper Thermal Pad (15mm x 15mm x 0.3mm)
Pure Copper Thermal Pad (15mm x 15mm x 0.5mm)
Pure Copper Thermal Pad (15mm x 15mm x 0.8mm)
Pure Copper Thermal Pad (20mm x 20mm x 0.5mm)

 

Nighthawk,
Thanks for the response. I'm familiar with flashing since I flashed my 780ms to slv7 vbios. I'm also familiar with opening my laptop just try to avoid doing it much, there are some frágil stuff in there that I don't wanna damage, so far I've been good.
You mentioned u were waiting for you 980ms, I woul like to wait for u and get some feed back from you. Also, do any of you here have tried the 980m sli with a single power adapter 330w? I noticed most of you have dual, and for me, that's a deal breaker since I do travel with my laptop alot. I barely deal with the weight of one if you know what I mean. I have my 780ms and OC +120 core and +300 memory and my single power adapter is doing the job.

 

Your welcome, I think you will be fine with just one PSU it's when you OC and push them to the max you will have problems. I'm sure someone that has them installed will confirm. I personally will try it with the Dual Mod just for fun, but not planning it on a daily sort of thing.

The one at a time GPU flash is something to do with the Maxwell platform and is unavoidable. So if you don't feel comfortable doing that, which is very understandable. I would wait and see if Prema's contact does ship pre flashed cards. In my line of work I have had to swap $16k cards like its cool, so I have never fried any of the them. Kinda (I reflashed them if I corrupted there memory). I have been rooting and swapping roms on my phones for years. Had a few close calls but never a brick. Also did my ps3 and psp back in the day. SO my comfort level is high. BUT if your not careful you will have a very interesting paperweight. So always be safe and only do what you can afford.

 

I installed 2 980m into my m18x r2 2 weeks ago.Right now everything works out beautifully, no throttle issues, no temp issues, great performance in game. I only use 1 psu since i dont do overclock for gaming.

 

that's awesome to hear tony. Where is everyone buying their 980m's from? I'm in Canada so the exchange rate is bad, but I'd like to find a pair i can pick up for as reasonable as possible

 

I recommend you to buy from rjtech, the card itself comes with thermal pads and x bracket, but you need to purchase the screws separately(which is like 5$), also i recommend you to get a good thermal grease.

 

I'm assuming you also had to do the flashing of the GPu one by one

 

Agreed RJTech looked after me as well, it was the cheapest as well, (still cost over 2K AUD)
980m in sli works great with a single PSU, I am extremely mobile with my M18x R2, I take it to university every day on my motorbike and a monthly LAN me and my mates have set up. I'm just building a dual PSU so I can overclock and benchmark once prema releases his new vbios.

@N!GHTHAWK just realized what was wrong with your list, separate gpu flashing is no longer an issue since the new nvflash will work while booting in UEFI.
1. Just uninstall your drivers
2.(disable cards in device manager...? have heard this is no longer needed as nvflash automatically does it... I still disabled cards anyway just to be sure)
3. Flash both cards using prema's modme.bat and modme2.bat (just makes life easy)
4. Reinstall drivers.

 

I'm assuming u also had to go thru the flashing procedure?

 

Okay, this is a big plus for me. I was thinking if u had to flash one card at the time now, then when the official perma vbios is released then open up the laptop again to reflash them one at the time would be a lot of work. At least for me.