Area-51 m15x and Nvidia GTX 280M

also didnt some one here say they were not going to use their 280 in their m15x?

 

The ATI HD4850 from the benchmarks I have seen, seem to be about the same as the GTX 260M. Just my oberservation. God Bless

 

Just wondering JDELUNA how much of an increase in performance did you see when upgrading from the 8800 gtx in terms of % ? I hope its atleast 25 %

 

I am at work right now, but when I get home I may have something written when I did some testing with the 8800M GTX. I do know that with the stock 8800M GTX I scored about 9700+ with 3DMark2006 and with the stock GTX 280M I would get about 10,700+. I hope this helps. God Bless

 

What resolution of 3DMark2006 are you talking about? I am using 1280x1024 and I got about 102xx.....

 

For the 8800M GTX score that was with the default of 1280 x 1024. The GTX 280M score was done with 1440 x 900 which is about 1% difference in size from the default of 1280 x 1024. I hope this helps. God Bless

 

What version of drivers? Still 182.48 Dox?

 

Yes using DOX 182.46. As you can see from my other post on this forum, I am having problems installing the new Nvidia drivers. God Bless

 

I got into 186.03, but that's what I got, 102xx....I need to re-arrange the data a little bit, and I will format the OS to Windows Vista Ultimate X64. Should get all the stuff soon.

 

You should be getting higher than me as your CPU is the X9000 I only have the T9500. God Bless

 

JDELUNA,
Are you running the 280m in stealth mode with power settings in vista set to high performance? When I run mines without stealth and high performance my temps jump to 74-76 on idle.

 

Did you remove the black sticker surrounding the GPU core? That sticker gave me temp probs since it prevented the heatsink from having a good contact with the GPU.

Furthermore, why not try out the copper mod as mentioned by Jdeluna. I think It'll help out alot.

 

000022,

Mines did not have a black sticker around the sticker, but I will try the copper mod as JDELUNA mentioned. I have to make a trip to the hardware store to pick some sandpaper and get some artic silver. I have never sanded heatsinks before, can anyone provide me more details.

000022,
do you have the 280m also?

 

Managed to get to 107xx after the update of Windows Vista Ultimate to Windows Vista Ultimate SP1. The service packs did help.

 

@shoot2kill

Yea. M860TU+GTX280m. I had it clocked at 550/900/1400 on stock voltage. I downclocked the core and shader because I'm using setFSB to raise my FSB for an extra 200mhz, thereby effectively overclocking the core and shader clocks by approximately 10%, so it's more like an O/Ced 600/900/1540.

On load temp is great, 82c max after 30 minutes of furmark. Maybe you should consult Angelakers or Jdeluna about this. I see that both of them have a GTX 280m in their m15x, they'll be able to provide good advice.

 

00022,

Thanks for the info. I downloaded fbset, but how do I find out what the pll of my motherboard is?

 

nobody knows the m15x' PLL number... good luck finding it.

 

damn,

Ok. Well my current issue is, the default settings for the 280m is 585,1463,950. Once I take the system out stealth mod, it pushes the gpu to 630,1566,799. This makes the gpu run very hot within the matter of 1-2 minutes. Is there a way to keep the defualt settings once I take the system out stealth? This pretty weird because I thought placing the system in stealth mod was just underclocking it and once you place the system out of stealth it was just take the gpu back to normal settings. I can play games with the system in stealth mod because it underclocks it too much, however I play game or do anything for that matter out of stealth mod because it overclocks tooooooooo much. How can I overcome this?

 

I dont want to oc the gpu or the cpu, I want to stop the gpu from oc'ing once I take the system out of stealth mod..

 

So, by default, your memory clock is 950? I think what you meant to type was 800, right?

Any chance that you can provide a screenshot of your predicament? From what you're saying, the core and shader clocks of the GPU automatically goes up whenever you exit stealth mode, maybe you could try flashing the core and shader clocks lower, as in to balance out the O/Ced value, assuming the overclocking done is relative to your default clocks.

 

I think 000022 is onto something here, you might want to look into re-flashing the bios of the GPU to try and kick the clocks down...

I have no idea how to do this, it's just my $.02.

maybe someone o/c'd the card previously? or it was programmed wrong in the first place? who knows?

 

i think you use nbitor or n tune .... not sure though

 

Yea. It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it, although the nervousness never dies off whenever you do flash the card.
H-emmanuel taught me how to modify the rom file of the GTX 280m

1) Extract Bios via GPU-Z


2) Load .Bin file unto Nibitor 5.0 then select the additional tab


3)Rename the device ID from 060A to 0608. Click on the rescan Bios button


4) Go back to the clock rates tab and lower your core and shader @ extra profile


5)Once you're done with everything, please rename it back to 060A, or else.


When you're done, you're ready to flash your card's BIOS via a bootable USB and nvflash. Remember, flashing is a dangerous procedure, do it at your own risk.
My NP8660 boots up alright with a modded bios, can't say the same for the m15x since I don't own one. Try asking around.

 

http://gizmodo.com/5290473/nvidia-geforce-200m-graphics-cards-just-made-your-notebook-old-and-busted

to bad you cant use those a little less powerful but less power

 

Can anyone point me to a step by step on how to create a the usb boot disk so I can flash my bios? I followed the steps 00022 gave me detailing how to mod the bios with his pictures above, but I do not know how to create the boot usb to actually flash the card. PLease help

 

http://www.bootdisk.com/pendrive.htm

method 2 is fairly popular, i believe.

 

I have the 1920 x 1200 screen. I saw a 1920 x 1200 LED screen on ebay and considered buying it to replace mine because the one that comes with the m15x is not very bright.

Also I have been noticing the number for 3dmark 06 and the GTX 280m and they seem kind of slow??? The 9800GT already gets almost 10,000. I would have expected 12,000 or higher for the 280?? It could just be a driver issue but they seem low to me.

 

led screen will not fit in your laptop

 

Hey Everyone,

Do you think purchasing some upgrade such as the 9800m gt for 399, and the Intel X9000 for 499 is worth it. I currently have the [email protected] and 8700m gt. I have the 280m GTX but I think I going to sell because it runs too hot in my system once I take it out of stealth mode. Altogether I would spending around 950 for the processor and gpu. ALienware has then listed at 350 for the gpu and 900 for the cpu.

 

OK, I took the plunge and purchased the intel x9000 gpu and the 9800m gt gpu for a little under 900 us dollars. If anyone is interested, I will be selling my 280m GTX that is only a month old. You can check the logs on this thread to see when I bought and when arrived. The 280m works perfectly, I juts get could get the temps to run at a decent level in my m15x like others have been able too. I spent 499 for it, but I will be willing to let it go for 300 plus shipping. Thats a savings of over 200 bones. If interested please feel free to PM me.

 

Would this mod be doable on an MSI GT627?

(Sorry if it's been asked, I only read the first page.)

 

It is possible. You will have to try it and post the results for us. God Bless

 

How about the old m17x? Possibly in SLI too? I tried skimming the entire thread but it's possible I missed it being brought up.

I'm having a hard time finding some old info on the m17x, anyone care to help out a little? Mainly looking for reviews and such about performance and build quality. Thanks

 

Well I mean, are the sockets compatible with each other?

 

Does anyone that upgraded still have their old working video card? my M15x is artifacting like crazy..

Also did anyone ever get the external monitor to work? read through all 18 pages and never was really touched on except on the first couple pages.

Thanks
Mike

 

I'd wait for the 45nm version of the 280M if the M15x is gonna be refreshed or something.

 

JDELUNA,

Did you ever get the HDMI to work correctly with the 280m GTX? I was finally able to get my card to run without getting hot, it now runs like a champ. However, when I try to use the HDMI it blue screens or just dosent recognize the output.

 

Sorry if this got addressed already, didn't read all 19 pages, did you get the pci-e connection up to a full x16?

Your GPU-Z shot shows that you have x16 of bandwidth available but are only using x1, I would think this would severely choke the GPU for bandwidth? Otherwise awesome job.

 

Sorry I have not really been in the mood to do much of anything with my laptop since my mother moved to Heaven. Maybe in a few weeks I will try to do some troubleshooting and will update you. God Bless

 

How are you keeping the temps low? Do you have any bench numbers to share? I'm very interested in this mod. Thanks

 

when you say it doesn't work with external monitors, does that count HDTVs too?

 

bump...

has ANYONE else tried this? if so, how are your temps?

 

where can i buy a 280m gtx in uk which would work in m15x(early 2k9 model)??

 

Can any of the Moderators rename this to the "1st Generation Alienware M15X and Nvidia GTX 280M" ??? Thanks and God Bless

 

Most likely, nowhere.

 

Import it from RjTech in the US is probably the only option

 

Hey i have an old m15x with a dead 8800m gtx as well and since you manage to get a gtx 280 to work, will 9800m gtx be compatible as well?

 

God, today I notice a strange issue with my GPU Quadro FX 3600M, the screen shows a wave of colors ( like a visual effect or like you place your cellphone on top an CRT TV and someone calls ) then it shows a random solid color ( green or gray color ) and the computer came none responding, I had to wait several minutes after the screen work again and after about 10-15 min the issue came back. This problem disappeared when I switched to integrated GPU I think 99% my GPU got problem.

Can anyone tell me, am i able to use this method to change my GPU to a new one? maybe a new 280 GTX like the topic's owner ? Does the heatsink fit ?

Bad day for me

 

Since the Quadro FX3600M is the same as the 8800M GT then the heatsinks *should* be the same and so there for the GTX 260 / 280M should work for you too. I hope this helps. God Bless

 

Thanks man,
Could you tell me there's somewhere to buy one ?