Area-51 m15x and Nvidia GTX 280M

Finally a progress! After installing driver from Dox windows index gave me first time proper GPU rating so I guess it started working, didn't have time to do more testing but it looks positive! Another problem is that I read here somewhere that with those drivers HDMI will not work, which would disappoint me as I just bought 24" LCD few weeks ago :/ Anyone got experience with HDMI and GTX 280M adn those Dox drivers?

 

HDMI will not work with the GTX280m and M15x, sorry. It is a well know issue.

 

Well card seems to be working now, but still having few issues. My 3D mark 2006 gives me around 8000 score which is pretty much the same as my old card, and also when I run GPU-Z it doesnt have physX ticked as a supported technology even when I have physX installed and enabled. When I wanted to try world of warcraft FPS were very nice, but I couldn't move any settings to high as my options were still blocked out the same way it was when I was running it on the integrated GPU, so some part of my system seems not to recognize that card is running as a external one. Maybe OSD issue or something. But still 8000 in 3Dmark is very weak...

ps:I will post some screens when I got home.

 

Maybe you should just post what the clocks are, no need for us to look at GPUz readings...

 

As HDMI isn't working decided to return back to my old card. If anyone would be interested to buy NVIDIA GTX 280M - MXM 2.1 TYPE III contact me or check ebay listing bellow.

NVIDIA GTX 280M - MXM 2.1 TYPE III on eBay (end time 17-Apr-11 12:36:52 BST)

 

I know this is a little old thread, but I want to give a feedback of my experience.

I bought one of those quadro cards from ebay FX3700m to upgrade my old 8700GT which I burned, lol. It says that it can be flashed as GTX 280M, which in reality is not true. After flashing GPU system will freeze on boot with weird artifacts. There was a thread somewhere about this problem.

Other than that card installs fine with some small issues (had to cut radiator a little in some places since 8700GT board is little different due less RAM), and runs fine with 186.xx drivers. But yeah, here is the problem - no hdmi. That sux a lot since not too long ago I obtained for 22" LCD monitor.

So here is what I did. Since 280m ROM does not work on FX3700m I tried GTX 9800m ROM and luckily everything works perfect, including hdmi.

I moded BIOS to set default FX3700 frequencies and voltages. I could get 8737 score in 3DMark06, but I think my low result is because of my crap CPU P8600 2.1Ghz. With x9000 or similar it should be close to 10k.

System runs hot, as I expected. So to improve ventilation I removed back cover and put my m15x on laptop cooling system. Now GPU idle temp are around 53°C (before was 69°C) and full load under tests around 80-85°C (before was 85°C-97°C) so that's it.

My system is Win7x64, 4GB RAM, 186.06 drivers, CPU Core Duo 2.1Ghz, GPU FX3700m as GTX 9800m.

Tonight I'll try to OC to 285M clocks and will report back my results.

P.S. So I don't know if downgrading yours 280m to 9800m could maybe make hdmi working.

 

Which 3700M did you get? HP or Lenovo? (hp looks like an 280m, the lenovo one has yellow capacitators). HP card but not the 0.10 bios version (sticker on the card) or lenovo cards can't be flashed to a 280m but can be flash and function as an 9800m gtx!

I had a HP 3700M, no 3d clocks unless i flashed an 280m bios...which caused me to lose HMDI.

Might be a simular problem with your 3700m.

And i think your temperatures are a bit hot, do you have fancontrol? I had my fans at 100% and my 3700m idled at 35-40°c and load at 85°c.

 

Unfortunately it is Lenovo card with .05 bios.

As you already said the only drawback using 9800 bios is that powerstates are not recognized. So card is running the whole time at max clocks. Hopefully stealth mode is still affecting speeds and cutting them by half. But at least I have a working hdmi.

Currently I OCed card to 640/1600/900 with 1.05 voltage. Did stress tests whole evening yesterday and system is running stable without any problems and with temp going no higher than 85°C. Actually I did manage to run it with 650/1620/900 but then its getting really hot and temperatures start to go above 90°C. So I think this is the best I can get with this card and default cooling.

Eventually I could tweak RAM timings and get RAM to 1020. With default 9800 bios timings it does not work. I'm getting artifacts and system crash on boot.

I don't have fan control yet.

I got a hands on 285m bios. Do you think its worth trying or there is no point?

 

285m is mxm 3.0b, i would not flash the card unless you have a way to recover (the laptop still boots even with a faulty card, blindflashing through usb shouldn't be a problem)

With a hp fx 3700m i couldn't get above 2d clocks except with the 280m bios. Really strange.

 

hmm Not sure how but i thought this was an m17x topic! Not sure if the m15x will still boot with a faulty bios!

 

Hey JDELUNA quick question or anyone for that matter, i have an alienware m15x circa aug 2008 and i just tried to upgrade my gpu to a gtx 280m but ever since my last card fried i've been using integrated onboard graphics and my device manager can't find the card i put in. i've scanned for hardware changes, even upgraded to windows 7 but my display monitors don't read the card!

and there is no switch button on the bios... i'm following your instructions from page 13 installing the drivers but i can't even see the damn card to install it manually.

 

Sorry I do not visit this forum as much anymore, but the card should be easily recognized by your device manager. Could your card be bad ??? Is there anyway you can try another card in the slot to see if it is recognized by device manager ??? If you or anyone else is wondering, YES my m15x with the GTX280M is still working fine !!! I hope this helps. God Bless

 

Hey one question what type of mxm connector does the 280m have ? I want to replace the 9800m gt on my m15x and it has a 3 pin HE type connector whereas both the 260m and 280m have two pin type 3 b connectors ?

 

They seem to come in both connector types, you can find GTX 280m cards with the 3 pin HE connectors like the ones I have.

Like these here,
https://dav-sth-se.diino.com/dav/gunner6999/Gunner6999/iPhone3GS/799.JPG

 

I have been searching for the HE 260 and 280m cards but can only find ones with the mxm 3b connectors unfortunately

 

This is the first website I found when I was looking for a HE 280m to buy. I didn't buy from them however, their prices are quite high. But it's a good place to start I think.

Alienware m15x upgrade guide