*OFFICIAL* M18x R1/R2 Owner's Lounge Thread

Hey, guys, and particularly Mr.Fox!
Just recently bought a gtx980m from woodzstack666 for my AW m18x r2. Yes, a single card, not SLI. And here's what happened:
Before I started doing anything, I have noticed something off about Win10, especially its outrageous way of violating my privacy and forced "important" updates, so I retrieved back to Win8.1. But it cannot go smooth like that, no, instead it has to f*сk everything up by corrupting my partitions. So I have completely formatted the hard drive and installed Win8. Good thing I don't have to deal with this abomination of a system.
I have installed on my flash driver an UEFI Win8.1, updated my A11 BIOS to the locked A12, disabled Secure, Legacy ROM, enabled UEFI Boot. After that I installed the card, inserted the USB drive and installed the 8.1. During that I had to convert the partition to GPT.

After that I opened BIOS and it showed that the computer has Nvidia GTX card inserted, it did not specify the model of it. When I pressed F12 to run the diagnostics, I kept getting 8 beeps (and I still do, by the way). I could not force install the driver for my 980m, no matter what I tried, it was always the "Microsoft Basic Video Adapter" instead of, you know, 980m. Somehow I had found this thread made by Mr.Fox (PROPS to you, man, for that) with his 345.20 driver, I followed his instructions and actually set this whole thing up. I ran some 3d marks demos and man, I have never seen such smooth framerate. I did not try to overclock and did not seem to have any throttling issues so far.

However, it seems that BIOS does not the recognize card. Could you perhaps help me out with that, if that's possible? I have already tried the CMOS disconnection for 30 seconds, and BIOS did not reset! Maybe I had to do something else, like bridging the pins? The problem is that I have no idea where they are. Would you be so kind to give me some advice?

 

Hello @Hinforta - welcome to our Community. I am glad the driver is working well for you.

The BIOS will not show the specific model of GPU. It will show AMD or NVIDIA by name, but it will not show 780M or 980M (6990M or 7970M in the case of AMD) in the GPU name, for example. It will show NVIDIA GFX or AMD GFX. That part is normal. See this example.

Windows 10 is a horrible mess and you are better off (definitely SAFER) without that abomination installed.

 

@Mr. Fox Thank you for your reply.
Yes, it does look like that. So you mean that I don't need to make sure that my BIOS should run the diagnostics? I was just not sure if that is a good thing, I mean perhaps I could have done something wrong.

It is indeed. I never knew about this catastrophy of blown up LCDs, which is beyond outrageous. I noticed these annoying flickerings that were not there when I had Win8.1, and after being forced to get these updates I knew the system was ****. And what a suprise - a day later I find your thread here about the latest nVidia drivers and Win10 destroying costly displays.

Thank you again for your hard work, I thought I'd be stuck with my "Microsoft Basic Video Adapter" if it weren't for your driver.

 

No need to worry about running the ePSA diagnostics. If everything is working as expected you should be good to go.

 

are you getting those display replaced anytime soon?

with the new skylake HK possibly removing the TDP limit, 64gb of DDR4 sodimm at 3000mhz and dmi 3.0 for 3.6GB/s read/write performance for pcie ssd in raid 0, i'd say its about time we do an upgrade as waited long enough lol. theres also that pascal GPU next year, hope it'll still be MXM.

 

I fixed them with Linux... flashed the EDID to the EEPROM, but the latest NVIDIA drivers just corrupt the EDID and they have to be flashed all over again. It's a pain in the butt. See this post and several that follow for more detail. The new NVIDIA display drivers are messing up a bunch of stuff.

 

So all of those dead displays were able to be recovered? I had sort of been following along with the debacle and thought they were burned out or actually broken.

 

hey i have an alienware m18x r2 with the i7-3840QM 3.8ghz, 32GB 1600mhz with 680m sli and i was considering upgrading the 980m sli (probably through eurocom) and i was wondering if itd be worth it, its like $1700 for both cards and everything i need im just not sure i want to spend that much and have something not function properly. Its alot of money to spend on my 3 year old laptop when there are newer more powerful ones that have full 980 cards in them. Or should i wait to see if there is a newer card that will be compatible with my laptop as well.

Also if i purchased the cards through eurocom and installed them myself is it really difficult or what should i be expecting?

 

hello everyone, i am kinda stuck, and getting really annoyed, so if someone could please help me out, or point me in the right direction, that would be amazing.

so i am trying to get a 870m from a clevo p570sm to workk in my m18x r2,
the hardware id is "PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1199&SUBSYS_05501028"

but i have no clue how to modify the inf, can i use the latest nvidia drivers or should i use the older ones.

or if someone can send me the inf file which is already modded for this hardware id, that would be amazing, thank you in advance.

 

Your right it is a lot of money for an "old" laptop, a new 980m sli computer is also a lot of money... I guess it depends how much you like the R2 a platform and wether a newer computer has features that you want/need.

I would not say it is especially difficult, there are tear down videos and guides that you can find on these forums to help you out. Check out the M18x R2 980m upgrade thread for more details. Its not plug and play though.

J95 over at techinferno has all the modded inf's ready to go including the latest drivers and your 870m, I'd use the newer drivers so long as you don't have windows 10

 

Hey guys, a good friend of mine has been offered an Alienware M18x R1 with these specs: i7-2670QM, 16GB DDR3-1600 RAM, 1TB HGST HDD, GTX 580M SLI, in close to almost perfect condition for about ~1100 USD (~975 EUR). Now, I'm in EU, not US, so prices in second hand market may be a bit different, but do you think it's a good offer? He has about around 1000 USD to work with, or 1100 USD at max, so I think you really can't get any much better than that... But I would be glad to hear some more opinions.

 

See that's what i was wondering about, when i was emailing eurocom they told me its basically plug and play all you need is to download the correct driver from their website. But who knows i dont want to spend all that money and end up with a big hassle

 

Your also going to need to change a few bios setting and probably reinstall windows... so its not a big hassle but no its not just plug them in and install the right driver. The biggest "hassle" is setting up a new installation of windows in my opinion.

 

its a so-so offer, electronics go out of date fast though. some people may think its a killer deal. does your friend want the best? if so, then its not a good deal. if your friend wants decent gaming performance, this is great deal that would last a long time.

 

Yeah, he pretty much wants a decent machine with which he can play newer games, and a lot more older ones. Funny thing is, a lot of the time he plays casual indie games. But mostly likes it because of the big screen, good audio, good upgradeability, and for the money you can't really get anything much better as a whole package, if I can say so. The most heavy games that I can recall at the moment which he wishes to play are pretty much GTA V, Witcher 3, MGS V, BF3/BF4, CS:GO, and maybe some Skyrim. So yeah, I think the machine will be more than decent for those titles. And as far as I know him, anything above medium to high settings - he's a happy camper. So yeah, he's pretty close to pulling the trigger on this.

 

high settings would be no problem, especially if targeting only at 30-40 fps

 

Good day to everyone. I want to run an unlocked BIOS and I got some great advice from Mr. Fox on the route to take. With that being said, the only information I could find on unlocked BIOS information was from Tech Inferno ( http://forum.techinferno.com/alienware-m18x-aw-18/1966-[m18x-r2]-unlocked-bios-versions-48.html) which is over 3 years old. Is this still the location to obtain the unlocked BIOS software, or is there another site for this information.

 

That's still the only source. That is exactly where I got mine.

 

Thanks dude, I'm finally pulling the trigger on the unlocked BIOS area. After reading OC and Win 10 posts it looks like something that is needed to keep up.

 

hello everyone,
i was just replacing my gpu, and i noticed a free flex cable kind of port on my m18x r2 mobo,

can someone please tell me what this port is

 

mate, on your signature it says "dual heatsink fan mod"
im just curious as to what you meant by that,
if you dont mind me asking.

 

I no longer have an M18x, however IIRC it's either a one of the cables from the display, or possibly keyboard... if you can post a pic of the top casing laying over the board, I can provide a better answer.

 

That socket is for the connection to a discrete Bluetooth module. The Bluetooth module mounts on top of the metal post just below that in your photo and rubber stand (not showing in the photo, if you still have it stuck on the motherboard).

 

That's right lol I forgot I had removed mine since it was interfering with my Intel 7260ac.

The discrete bluetooth card is about 0.5" (w) x 1.5" (long)

 

thank you so much, i was just wondering what i am missing on, dont need a bluetooth, and dont have a dedicated one, wifi/combo does the job for me,

thank you

 

connecting cpu and 2ndary gpu heatsink by contact with additional heatpipes soldered together. it helps reduce temperature of cpu when 2ndary gpu not underload.

 

ahh sweet, sounds quiet easy, i wanted to do something similar my self, i wanted to take aluminium tape, and bridge all the heatsinks,
but at the moment i dont have a second gpu, so im holding back on it.

could you please share a picture if you have one

 

i can, its actually a lot more hassle than it sounds. the redirection of heat only work well if you use additional heatpipes make contact with existing cpu and 2ndary gpu heatsinks. solder is only good if can be done properly which is extremely difficult as i have a spare mobo thats not working and a chassis hold it in place i can work on.

aluminium tape prob wont give u much advantage in heat transfer at all reason to that is copper is better than Al and rated at 401w/mk however design of heatpipe internally is actually vapor transmitting heat and thats 1000x better than copper itself, AL tape would only hold heat but transfer would be extremely poor and you'd hold heat inside your system so not recommanded.

my solder didnt go so well so i use fujipoly extreme cool pad 1mm for 17w/mk normally better than thermal paste as i find using liquid ultra only good for a bit hard to clean up and not durable to movement as my mod isnt completely pinned down on CPU side, only GPU side.

also toughest part isnt the actual heatpipe itself its the chassis, i use 2mm heat pipes x 3, but palm rest piece there are no space so you'll have to cut it yourself to make it fit, thats the hardest part LOL.

temp pretty good, reduce by 8c under load shared between 2 fans not even maxed fan too.

 

hey, thanks for the detailed reply,
yeah i am a engineering student, and have been studying thermodynamics for quiet a few years now.
and besides having quiet decent soldering skills, i dont think i have the need to go down that path unless later i decide to absolutely squeeze the last big of performance out of this machine, for now its doing what is suppose to, and thats all that matters, thank you for the info.

i might just be hitting you up again in the future when i decide to go down that road.
cheers

 

when i said solder, i meant to say overall contact surface level. if we simply solder the edge of the heatpipe to cpu/gpu heatsink it'll stablize and stay there but the actual surface contact is a mess and its just as bad as heatsink to cpu without thermal paste, or much worse as top of heatpipe is uneven. which is why i use fujipoly thermal pad.

also i did it because i hate loud fan noise, and im more of a cpu person rather than gpu. i have 780m sli right now with lowered clock as long as i get50-60 fps in game 900p im happy on high settings and i can afford to do that. when i get 980m sli in m18xr2 it'll be even better as they run cooler with higher performance, so it'll be even better for my mod.

 

Guys, I am thinking to upgrade my GPUS on my m18x R2. Now it has 2x 7970m with 3920xm cpu and 32gb of ram. I have the money to get two 980m for SLI and maybe also sell the two 7970m on ebay to get some cash back. Is it worth it? I mean its an old laptop now and I read here that this upgrade have many problems (hdmi out not working, Bios problems, integratetd intel not working, nvidia driver problems etc). Will I get the same performance as a new laptop with 980m SLI? My second thought, instead of spending nearly $1500 for two 980m is to sell the M18x r2 and get a newer model with better screen also (g-sync, more Hz for less motion blur etc). What are your opinions and what you suggest me?

 

Only option if you want real hardware and not BGA junk as all other brand use
http://www.eurocom.com/ec/configure(2,347,0)ec
https://biosmods.wordpress.com/2015/10/21/sky-x9/
http://www.eurocom.com/ec/configure(2,336,0)ec
https://www.mythlogic.com/2015_Models/phobos8715s.php

 

HDMI out and Integrated graphics are working just fine for me, not sure where you heard that from. The bios problem is essentially lack of legacy support for the 980m in the R2, this means several things: windows 7 wont work, and that you will need to remove your 980m to reset the cmos or do anything such as flashing bios etc in the MS DOS environment. As far as drivers go, nvidia cant seem to make drivers anyway... however pretty much every one (as far as I know) is running the @j95 modded drivers with updated SLI profiles with good results.

You will get the same STOCK GPU performance as a new system running 980m SLI, but until @Prema releases his vbios for the M18x R2 overclocking performance will be be bad.

In order for you to decide what option is worth while for yourself you need to figure out what is important to you. The upgraded m18x will probably be cheapest but will have the most compromises when compared to a new system with faster storage solutions and better screens. If you want to go the MSI GT80 Titan you will need to decide if you can live with a soldered CPU, the price tag and the interesting keyboard design. The SKY X9 as Papusan has suggested is the ultimate.... but only has a 17" screen and will also be more expensive... do your research, ask questions!
Hope that helps.

 

After reading this I Finally pulled the trigger and bought a used 980m 8GB from ebay for my M18xR2... My main use is 3d modeling-rendering in 3dsmax using cuda acceleration and some gaming in my free time. So I start with one card first and selling the two 7970m on ebay (to get some cash back from the upgrade) .. If it is like you said, same stock gpu performance as a new system ,maybe I will end up buying a second 980m for SLI, but I wasnt brave enough to buy both now , I want to see first how it works with one gpu.... An overclocked 3920xm like mine still has enough power for me for a laptop, even though my personal desktop workstation computer is a 5960x overclocked with 980ti SLI and 128gb ram

Do I need any specific bios for my M18x r2 to make the 980m work better?

 

I personally would flash svl7's unlocked A10 bios (from TechInferno) before you upgrade, just because if you ever want to flash it later (more options/control for overclocking your 3920XM) you will have to take the 980m out so that you don't get beep codes. But otherwise I am not aware that it improves or affects 980m performance.

With an single 980m you will be able to do some overclocking as it wont go over the power draw limits like SLI will

 

dual psu mod like mr. fox

 

I already flashed the A10 unlocked bios now and I am ready for the gpu upgrade
two last questions:
1) If the system reverts back to legacy mode and cant boot, by removing the 980m is it working with the intel graphics or I need to keep one 7970m just in case ??
2) Can I use my AMD heatsink with some modification or I must buy the nvidia heatsink?

 

I wish that would fix the problem but the throttle is caused by a limit defined in the bios not a single PSU having a hard time keeping up.

1) Yes, removing the 980m will force the intel graphics to be used allowing you to change back to the UEFI settings, its annoying but does work. No need to keep your 7970m. Just make sure you follow Peter's instructions in the correct order so you don't pull your machine apart more then needed.

2) I have used my 7970m heatsinks with no issues, just do a trial assembly to make sure you are getting good contact on the gpu die and that the thermal pads are not to thick or thin on the rest of the components that need cooling.

 

Hey Everyone...
So, I've modded the m18xR1 bios to update the Intel RST OpRom (v10.8, 11.2, 11.6, 12.9.0 are al, intel onboard GPU v2171 vbios, Atheros lan 2.0.6.6, microcode updated for 2920XM & 2960XM, unlocked A05 BIOS. If anyone would like, just send me a PM and I'd be happy to send to you. Just let me know what version some people have reported issues installing Windows with 12.9.0. I and a few others were lucky enough to have it work, but you never know. However, the update of the bios with the new OPROM version does not cause any issues with the RAID array - that will still be in tact (most likely), and from testing results. But, you may have trouble with 12.9.0. I've even got 13.5, but 12.9.0 is the best oprom for the HM67 chipset - that's what's on the m18xR1. If interested, please let me know and I'll send you a link to my dropbox. it DOES work! Also, I have an update to the intel Management Engine Firmware, too! (But make SURE you do bios updates first, and the IME last. Anyway, let me know if youre interested!
Thanks,
Swick

 

If ya'll would like me to update the m18xr2 bios, let me know... or, send me the BIOS for your machine, and I'll see if I can update the microcode for you, the LAN, iRST, vBios, etc... I'd be happy to help the m18xR2 community if I can - and as a side note, I'll be getting my R1 converted to R2... So, wanted to have something ready by the time I get machine converted... Send BIOS files and I'll mod for anyone that would like!
Hope I can help!
Swick

EDIT: BTW, I can upgrade the iRST OpRom for you with modded ROMS to support RAID0 TRIM, in ANY VERSION. From 10.1 iRST all the way to 14+!

 

Hey guys, I'm looking for but am having difficulty finding information on overclocking the display in M18x R1 / R2. Any info greatly appreciated!

Also, any way to get 3D Vision going internally or is there a way to transplant an external display into chassis?

If the above is not possible, are there any 980M laptops that support 3D Vision internally?

 

Most likely no, since no 18" Alienwares were made with 3D displays (17"s were the largest offered for 3D)

 

I think you might want to leave that alone....Or risk bricking the lcd....Now if you have a second lcd handy....Then test away.
You can use nv control panel to over clock the screen.

 

Yeah and as far as I can tell no 17" units have 980M working together with 3D Vision (they all require Optimus). It's either a newer 17" model with 980M and no 3D 120Hz panel or an older unit (AW R1, M17x R4) that can take a 980M but will only work in Optimus.

Is it that dangerous, I remember a few posts from here with some members seemingly safe at 75Hz without issue, except trying to get V-Sync to play nice.

How are you holding up John? You disappeared here for a long time.

 

It can be....Windows 10/The right nvidia driver/EVGA precision and presto change o....bricked lcd.
I just did it last week on a M18XR2. (60hz screen/new nvidia driver/EVGA precision/Windows 7 Pro) But was able to reflash the screen and fix the setup.

 

Looks like @Swick1981 may have a breakthrough with Maxwell on the M18xR2. Changing the BIOS default to IGFX to avoid 8-beeps and allow blind flashing with Maxwell seems to have worked and it looks like maybe Legacy mode might be working.

 

Oh well I guess I won't attempt it, I have Win 7 Pro so your experience is particularly relevant.

This is great news!

 

Indeed. Looks like it might be fixed now. From what I understand, those testing with 980M are now able to boot in Legacy Mode and run Windows 7 on the M18xR2 without 8 beeps.

@Swick1981 also changed the BIOS default to IGFX mode, so if you flash or blind flash it will set to Intel Graphics by default and avoid any discrete GPU related 8-beep problems. This could be of benefit for future GPU developments. Having PEG mode as the BIOS default was a problem dealing with incompatible upgrades. This change should avoid the need to pull out GPUs that will not boot due to compatibility or hardware failure issues, so that's really awesome. This could be very beneficial beyond 980M... even for AMD owners that have GPUs that die and cause 8 beeps. If pulling the CMOS battery clears the BIOS and flips it over to IGFX that is perfect.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...s-testers-needed.789322/page-10#post-10233127

This could mean our buddy @woodzstack will end up selling more Maxwell GPU upgrades to people that are turned off by all of the UEFI compatibility crap and don't feel like dealing with a bunch of hassles with Alienware upgrades. This would give the M18xR2 a second lease on life, for sure.

 

So 980M might be on the way to working in UEFI environment? Would one still need to "upgrade" to Windows 10 in order to get 980M working in the M18x R2? Is / has the bizarre throttling been addressed and / or will we still need to have the newer drivers modified by Prema and others or would 980M now work normally with new drivers? If we go with Clevo hardware will the fan(s) work on their own or would we need to manually control them with software?

Sorry for all of the questions. I'd love to move from 680M SLI to a single 980M, especially if I can overclock it to it's full potential (i.e. 13k GPU Firestrike or better).

 

No, that already works. The reason the mods are important is to have LEGACY support (not UEFI) and have the option of being able to avoid crappy OSes like Windows 8 and 10, and eliminating the 8-beeps and failure to POST without special BIOS settings. That made the Maxwell upgrade an unattractive prospect for many, and even for those content with Windows 8 and 10, there were other severe complications that have been pretty miserable to deal with.

We don't know about throttling yet. Hopefully, that problem will go away with the BIOS mod. If it does not, at least the lack of basic support is taken care of and the throttling can be a secondary focus. Until now, Maxwell upgrades were unnecessarily troublesome and there was not a good incentive to upgrade.