Expertise needed

Taken from my prior thread (posted in the wrong section?)

Not quite how I wanted to make my first post but it seems like you guys would know the answer to my problem.

I have an Alienware m15x-R1 (the one before the redesign [R2])


I originally intended it to be a work computer (I'm a DJ by profession and I needed to make a statement). That being said I opted for the nVidia 8600M-GT 256MB as graphics weren't as important at the time.

Then StarCraftII came out. I found my m15x...well falling behind. I looked up the graphics card chart on MXM-Upgrade ( MXM notebooks before 3.0) and saw that it ran MXM-IV. Then went to wikipedia and found out that MXM-IV will fit an MXM-II card.

So I went ahead and picked up this:
nVidia GeForce 9600M GT 1GB DDR2 MXM II Not 8600M GT - eBay (item 270612831365 end time Aug-05-10 18:47:03 PDT)

"nVidia GeForce 9600M GT 1GB DDR2 MXM II."

I just finished swapping out the cards and when I went to fire it up, the lights will blink for half a second, and then nothing. Nothing comes up on the screen, not even the BIOS. I can keep pressing the power button all day long and each time the lights will blink on for half a second, and then die out.

What did I do wrong and what do I need to do to get it working?

 

Just because the card fits doesn't mean it's supported by the BIOS, and if I remember rightly, the 9600M GT isn't supported by the m15x. Simply put, it's not going to work, unlss I'm wrong.

The cards known to work in it are:
8600M GT
8700M GT
8800M GTX
9800M GT
260M/280M
ATi Mobility Radeon 3870

If you decide to pick one up I'd highly recommend the ATi Mobility Radeon 3870. It performs nearly as well as a 9800M GT, but doesn't have the well known issue of burning out plus it won't overheat unlike the other powerful cards. And it's cheap, relative to the 9800M GT.

 

Crap. Was there ever a BIOS update for the R1?

 

found the answer to my own question. "X36" is the latest release of BIOS for the R1 - and i'm already running it.

the X36 BIOS allows the m15x to accommodate the 9800M. in theory shouldnt it thus also accommodate the 9600M?

 

maybe but nvidias 8 and 9 series are flawed and the 3870 is far more powerfull then the 9600 and will probabily be able to run with lower heat and risk of breaking

 

^^just read your other post.

what do you mean by "get a system to flash the slave to master your system jsut won't boot"?

does that mean i'll have to do a firmware flash on the video card?

 

if you by mistake get a slave yes you will need some one to extract you a master bios and flash it to master

(how ever i forgot that the m15x had integrated GFX so you will be able to boot and do the firmware flash with no trouble you can't brick your laptop by a bad flash)

if you get a slave and thus need to do so just come and ask for more help we will guide you through the process

 

it seems the 3870 is my best bet at this point. whats a fair price for it?

 

they are becoming harder & harder to some by i did see one go for around $220 on ebay a few weeks ago, but if i ahd one for sale i would ask for around $300 beacuse they are becoming harder to come by.. you can get a 260 for a little less but its going to have heat issues in you r computer

 

Your best bet is always flashing the vbios of an Nvidia FX series card. HP MXM cards are compatible with other laptops and are pretty cheap


8600M GT
8700M GT = fx 1600 450484-001 Refurb HP 8710w nVidia 256MB Graphics Card - eBay (item 190422037954 end time Aug-21-10 05:59:54 PDT) this seller will accept much lower offers
8800M GTX/9800M GT= fx 3600
this is a great card. HP Compaq 8710W nVIDIA IAL80 LS-333AP QUADRO FX 3600M - eBay (item 220653926605 end time Sep-12-10 14:43:19 PDT) Its not worth the extra 200$ for a 3870. If you can try flashing it in under 7 days, then you can return it if it doesnt work.
GTX 280m = fx 3700
GTX 285m = fx 3800

 

there is one on ebay for 300 and i my area i might be able to get hold of 2 of them for 150

 

^^we talking the nvidia quadros or the ati 3870?

 

You definitely don't want to consider another nVidia card for the m15x if you can avoid it. (Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against nVidia-my desktop runs an 8800GT!)

The issue is that with the mobile card series, the 8000 and 9000 series of cards were both flawed. It was an issue in the GPU itself, with the solder I believe. Unless you had extraordinarily good cooling (which the m15x doesn't) then it was pretty much guaranteed to burn out and die. It'd be rare to find an m15x with an 8800GTX or 9800GT working for much longer than a year.

 

You can get it here. http://ztronics.com/en/laptop-video...n-hd-3870-512mb-mxm-iii-ddr3/flypage.tpl.html

 

so i found this:

NEW ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 MXM III VGA 512MG DDR3 - eBay (item 200503099503 end time Aug-29-10 09:44:22 PDT)

$250

how hard would it be to get the master BIOS?

 

Are you talking about an Nvidia problem or an Alienware problem? "you believe"?
The only solder problem I know of is specifically in th 8600 and 8400.

I've definitely known many 9800gt and 8800gtx to last longer than a year...
Even if what you are saying is true an FX 3700 would be cheaper and so much better than the 3870. I mean you can find them almost under 200. Flashed to a gtx 280 and downclocked a little the heat wont be any problem.

 

if it can be flashed to 280 it would definitly send the ati ofring in hell conserning power but i'm realy not shure heat can be controled in the m15x with a such powerfull card

as hard as convicing EvilCorsaiR to upload it
then the procedure for flashing require making a usb botable drive and flashing in dos it seem really stange the first time but it's verry straight forward

EDIT but i can also have you a master card for 220 US + shiping

 

The issue was well known to be prevelant within the 8400, 8600, 8700, 8800 and 9800 at the very least.

You might have known the 9800GT and 8800GTXs to last that long, but perhaps they were in laptops with very good cooling. There were few m15x's that could make their 9800GT or 8800GTX last much more than a year without issue. Some people have been lucky, many haven't.

If you downclocked an FX3700/280M to levels that create acceptable heat and power consumption, it definitely wouldn't be much better than a 3870. Those cards suck a LOT of power and create a LOT of heat; the 280M when tried out in the m15x easily clocked over 105C. It'd need serious downclocking to bring that below the ideal 90C mark, which the 3870 will fairly easily run at with a good thermal paste application.

Pretty much. I'd just need to know how to extract the master card's BIOS and I'd do it for you.

Still, granyte's offer sems very good...I'd definitely look into it.

 

get GPU-z and set it on the right card and press dump sadly i've been flashing my 4850 for a while and i'm still not sure wich bios is master and wich is slave


or you can use the usb drive methode wich i used i'll link the tutorial in the edit



EDIT: here

 

I'll take it. lmk where i need to send the $$$

 

give me a week i'll test the card and all so it's not doa

 

sweet. much thanks. time to go eBay that 9600M

 

preatty much yes lol

ok i'l have the card on monday 23 i should be able to ship it during the folleing week i hope it's not to long for you

 

that works. thank you

 

anticipation is building

 

the card landed but i don't know if i'll test it today or not

 

k. no worries. just let me know when/where to send the cash

 

i'd need you to pm me where you wan the card shipped an wich carrier you prefer so i can get a shipping cote

 

PM sent. check inbox

 

everything seem fin how ever you will likely need the driver from alienware to make it work at start cause my system reconised it as a 3870x2 until i instaled that driver

the powerplay options on that card make me see how much the 4850 where some rushed boards the voltage drop from 1.20 to 0.90 onthe 3870 wich is better then i could ever dream of reaching with the 4850

 

ok. understood. so long as i can actually power it on. lol

 

Hate to burst your bubble here but if you got the system with an 8600m GT then the heatsink supplied either wont fit the Hd3870 or wont cool it properly. The heatsink you would need to obtain is one for an 8800GTX.
They use different heatsinks between the low end and high end cards and they arent interchangeable.

 

love how nvidia mess with the standars -.- it's possible why won't they just respect the standar

but i learned the bracket for the nvidia and the ati where not the same

edit that does not seem true the 8600 seem closer to the 3870 then the 8800

http://www.ztronics.com/en/laptop-parts-by-model-number/m15x.html

http://www.ztronics.com/en/laptop-v...n-hd-3870-512mb-mxm-iii-ddr3/flypage.tpl.html

 

where there is a will there is a way.

*pulls out an angle grinder and metal file*

 

i found the diferenc you would efectively have to grind a corner off to allow a chip on the ati board to be free the other way the heat sink will not sit properly on the card

 

not a problem

 

ok. so i got it in. i installed the drivers. when i boot up i have no graphics only sound

 

1) plugged in the card (no heat sink; just tried to power on to see if it worked)
2) went to "windows is starting" screen
3) screen goes black

I then tried to modify the 8600M heatsink to fit the 3780, two words - epic fail.

simon was right, there is NO way the 8600M heatsink will fit on the 3780. its not even close.

where are all the guys that put 3870s in to their m15x? no guide? no writeup? i assume all of them were lucky enough to get a heatsink with their 3870s

if anyone knows where i can find a 3780 heatsink on the cheap let me know.

sorry. im just frustrated. two graphics cards and $400 later i still dont have a decent gaming laptop. i think i give up.

 

the 8600M's heatsink bolts up in a square pattern. all 4 mounting points create a square. the 3870s mounting points are in a rectangle.

 

okay i'll try to help
boot on integrated then switch that ati needs specific driver at first instalation i'l provide them
edit: here they are http://go.notebookreview.com/?id=52...6562-official-alienware-m17-drivers-page.html /endedit
at start also if you don't have a way to cool it down the card will overheat befor window can even finish loading simply cause the card makes a diagnostic run in it's own boot up sequence and it will do a thermal shutdown

there is non on ztronic and none on ebay you could try to call alienware they should have some or i can try to see if i can pull some string to get one for you

 

found this one on ebay

Alienware Area-51 m15x MD2THERMMODULE1 Heatsink - eBay (item 370362981459 end time Sep-06-10 18:53:00 PDT)

that is the one i need right? i have "MD2THERMMODULE2" whereas this is #1

 

as far as i can tell from the pic i got of the 3870 i shiped it would not fit (requiring a small mod) and if the screws are not fitting it's nvidia who srewed and modified thier mxm format so that won't fit no mather wich nvidia's card it's ment to be

cause on the pic i can't tell the diference for the crew holes


Item:M15X BRACKET FORTHERMAL MODULE4 (M88XT), this is the part you need sadly my suplyer does not have it in stock

 

grrrr...

 

still out of stock?

 

an he will likely not get it at all end of life product's...

have you chequed if alienware got it in stock?
if you can't because you don't have a customer number with them or W/E i can try to cheq it for you

 

guess i'll try giving them a call. i have a feeling they're going to charge me an arm and a leg

 

Don't worry it's cheaper. I got it for $15.00.

 

tried calling...i can't connect for some reason

 

can't connect?

 

1-866-287-6727? Option 5, then Option 2.