The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Downgrading my Bios Help

    Discussion in 'Alienware Area-51/Aurora and Legacy Systems' started by stephends, Mar 5, 2012.

  1. stephends

    stephends Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    24
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Hey Guys

    I have an Alienware m5500i-r3 (m5550). My bios is 2.07 and I need to downgrade it to 2.06w for my 8600m gs graphics card to work?

    Could someone please provide me with the 2.06 bios? And a guide or instructions to help me please?

    Thanks
     
  2. protivakid

    protivakid Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    88
    Messages:
    613
    Likes Received:
    28
    Trophy Points:
    41
    Why not throw a HD 4670m in there? Not only will it work with the 4GB bios for these notebooks but it will be better than the 8600m. The 2.06 bios will limit you to only 2GB of ram.
     
  3. stephends

    stephends Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    24
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I didn't realise this was an option. I will look into it. Does the HD 4670m compete with the 9600m gt though? I mean temperature wise is the HD 4670m okay?

    Thanks
     
  4. protivakid

    protivakid Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    88
    Messages:
    613
    Likes Received:
    28
    Trophy Points:
    41
    I have a m5750 (17 inch version of your laptop) with a 4670 and my temps are fine. Looking at both of our heatsinks they look similar so I see no reason why heat would be an issue. Performance wise the 4670m (and even the 4650m) beats the 9600 GT in both 3D Mark & Cinebench according to notebookcheck.net.

    Check around before doing any bios flashing but I am 99.9% sure that your m5550 has the exact same motherboard of a m5750/m5790 so you could use the 1.19 BIOS which will work with the 4670m & allow 4GB of ram!

    The 512MB DDR3 version of the 4670m is the one that will give the best performance but is VERY hard to find. I myself have the 1GB DDR2 version from mxm upgrade which works perfectly. You can also find this version on ebay pretty easily for not much $$. Good luck!
     
  5. stephends

    stephends Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    24
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    hey! could you possibly provide the link for the 1.19 bios please?. Well i have successfully got my 8600m gs working today. Il give it a week and upgrade :) Thanks for your suggestion
     
  6. protivakid

    protivakid Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    88
    Messages:
    613
    Likes Received:
    28
    Trophy Points:
    41
  7. stephends

    stephends Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    24
    Messages:
    37
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Thanks!
    Close Thread