Upgraded graphics card?

Sorry I know this has been done to death, but I have further questions about heatsinks and pastes!

First, which card is best to go for that will work literally plug and play, no modding?

Then do you need to do anything with paste or heatsinks?

Thanks

 

Can someone please advise?

Gtx 960 or 970m?

They straight plug and play or do I need to be messing about with new heatsinks etc?

 

The 970m is in my opinion, the best gpu you can put in your m15x, a few lucky ones were able to make a 980m work, but it´s really hard to balance power and heat issues with that card.
Just stick with the 970m if you can find a cheap one. Its basically plug and play in terms of instalation, but you´ll need a modded driver .inf to go with it. (You can find it in this forum).

Another thing you´ll have to consider if you go with a 970m is your CPU. Which one do you have? You´ll need a 920xm or a 940xm otherwise you´ll bottleneck your new GPU.

And lastly If you end up choosing the 970m and 920xm combo, the stock 150W PSU brick may be to small. The way to go is a good 240W one.

Good luck, and I hope these words can help you in what you are trying to do.-

 

Hi matey thank you for the reply

It's an i7 q720 quad 1.6 which I take it means you're going to tell me it's way too slow yeah??
Sadly I think I will need to buy a new laptop, I just feel bad as I love my m15x and it's still working like it should!!

Its like an old friend!

 

It's only really to play the one game as well

It tells me the pc capability for 3d is 1 star and the graphics during the football/soccer bit are terrible

During everything else though its still fast

Is that because my processor is enough for these min specs but the GPU isnt?

I ran hwmonitor during the game and it said the gpu was literally at 100pc!!

Never heated above 74deg though

• CPU: Intel Pentium 4 (64-bit), Intel Core 2 or AMD Athlon 64 – 2.2 GHz +
• RAM: 2 GB.
• HDD: 7 GB.
• GPU: Intel GMA X4500, NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT or AMD/ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 – 256MB VRAM.
• OS: Windows 7 (SP1), 8/8.1, 10 (Update 1803/April 2018 or later) – 64-bit.

 

Ok, so if its only for that game a 970m will be an overkill and you wont be using its full power without changing the cpu and PSU. You'll be better with a cheaper option like an AMD Firepro M6100, an amd 6970 or an amd 7970 among other cards (search for m15x gpu upgrade in this forum to read all the options available).

Don't go the overclock route with the 260m if you don't change the thermal paste first, or chances are you'll end up burning it or thermal throtling it without any gain. But only expect somewhere between 10% clock gains at the most. And that won't make any change in game visuals.

Finally if you want to bring your laptop back to life consider changing the hard drive for any cheap ssd and you'll see a huge upgrade there.
Again good luck

 

Ok superb thank you very much, just seems like it's too soon to say goodbye to my old friend as it still works admirably and as I say, nothing is over heating or anything

If I'm in the uk, is my only option for one of those cards going to be second hand I take it? Are the ones you recommended JUST on par with what the game needs as per below, or quite a bit faster?

7970 one you said is the best of those 3 I take it?

GPU: Intel GMA X4500, NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT or AMD/ATI Mobility Radeon

Ps really appreciate your help

 

Yep the 7970 is about 10 times faster than the 9600m. There´s also the 8970 option. Just do a quick search in the forums and read about them, there are plenty of options to choose from.
Here are some examples of a 3 secs search:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ing-beating-a-dead-horse.768471/#post-9879511

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/8970m-in-m15x.718699/page-2#post-9200586

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/if-you-were-going-to-upgrade-this-m15x.755152/#post-9700449

 

Hi mate ok ordered the 6100 firepro, primarily down to availability!!

Can you advise me on once it arrives, do I need anything else?

Or will this fit into existing bracket and it's just a case of more thermal paste I need to add to the top before putting the old heatsink back on?

Will I need a specific driver or just from amd site?

Thank you again

 

Ok, I have no experience with that particular card, but if I dont recall wrong you'll need to reuse the x-bracket from your 260m. Just be extra carefull when removing it. Secure the card, clean the heatsink, repaste, put everything back again and you are done.

Just try amd official drivers and you should be ok.
And again dont forget you can use the search bar, there are plenty of other people who made the exact same upgrade and you can use their experience, thats the reason for this forum. Use the time you'll have until your card arrives to search for posible issues and how to fix them so you wont waste any time when you get the card and you'll be ready for any doubt you may come across.
In the same way you may find some tricks and mods for improving your cards power and tools such as modded vbios to increase performance.
Good luck

 

Ok very last question!!

Is it possible my problem is just the drivers in the gtx260m???

I tried downloading from nvidia but am I right in saying they dont work??

Where is the latest 260m driver I can get, do you know?

 

I dont know what your exact problem is, I thought you wanted to upgrade your m15x with more gpu power.
If its just a low fps performance in a game it could be a huge ammount of things, from glitched drivers to over the top settings in the game. Back when I had the 260m in my system I was able to run crysis very decently just by reducing in-game graphic settings (resolution, shadows, ...) maybe you could try that.
And finally get the gtx260m drivers from nvidias site, no modding is required but you'll get only the legacy drivers options for that model and that is what you need to install.
I dont remember right know which exact version number is tho. (I think it was 342.01)

 

Hey ok so the problem is that the processing parts of the game are fine, but the (really basic) 3d element of it during a football match is terrible

Hwmonitor tells me that the gpu is running at 100pc and the laptop sounds like it is going to take off

From comparing my current card to the min spec required, it is more than enough which leads me to think it is a driver issue?

But getting the drivers is my issue I think and when I try the nvidia site it says I dont have the right hardware, which is wrong as it lists the 200m series

Does someone on here have a link to one that works?

 

It might be your case. Can u post a screenshot of your installed driver version in your geforce experience panel? It should say 342.01

 

If its running at 100ºC its screaming for a teardown, cleanup and repaste, and soon, before you cook your GPU.

 

Ok so got a firepro m6100

Fitted it to machine, booted up and I have a display, so at least the card works!

Tried downloading 2 different drivers, said it failed to install

Tried amd self detect, that installed, seemed to install the drivers and said to restart

I did, but now a black screen...

What could this be??

When I start in safe mode it shows amd radeon hd8950 which is strange since a) it's a firepro m6100 and b) why is this not booting up normally??

 

Ok got it!!

Had to download a specific old amd driver, but woohoo sorted it

Only problem now is it is idling on desktop at about 49 deg which I think is rather high

When I load up a game it jumps right up to a about 94 which sounds dangerous

I've had the back off again to check the paste and pads but they all look ok

One thing I noticed is that to make the screws in the x bracket take, i had to push it down a little, is that normal and ok to do? Or is it maybe too tight now because of that?

 

Does this help?

Does the placement of the pads look right?

It must be something to do with my application of the pads or the paste (not shown in this pic)

What I did notice was that in trying to screw the x bracket back down, I had to push down a lot so is it possible these pads are too thick?

I read somewhere also that nvidea heatsinks are different to amd ones and the nvidea one might not touch the AMD chip properly, is that maybe the issue?

 

Looks OK, probably better than mine;-)

The M6100 Furnace Pro does run hot though. I run HWinfo with a custom fan profile. I've seen mine get into the low 90's running something intensive like the Witcher 3 but limiting FPS with afterburner/rivatuner helps keep things cool.

Also use decent thermal paste. I use Thermal grizzly kryonaut on mine.

 

Fit the heatsink in the card with the card outside the laptop, check for proper contact between the heatsink and the die, take a couple photos showing the card+heatsink so we can help you.
But those pads seem indeed a bit too thick.
What thermal paste did you use?

 

Ok I will do this tomorrow, as I have a good quality paste coming (arctic mx4) as well as 0.5mm pads).

What i did notice was the heatsink, at the bottom corner where it meets the grill isnt sitting perfectly flush which I think is down to it being very slightly raised, probably because of the pads being too thick... could that be causing the overheating?

There has been a very obvious imprint in the pads already too which makes me think they are definitely too thick?

Ps thank you for your help, would be lost otherwise!!!

 

It looks like I am late to the party. I am unsure of the differences (if any) between the stock Nvidia 260m and AMD 5850M X-brackets. I have used the Firepro M6100 in my M15X, but started with the AMD 5850M X-bracket as opposed to your Nvidia 260M. I am therefore unsure if the following information will be correct for you.

1) If the driver shows an AMD 8950M card, that is ok. The Firepro 6100M and the Amd 8950M card are the same. For graphic card drivers, I used the ones that came with the Quarter 1 2019 Amd Catalyst package.

2) The thermal pads you want be using for the VRAM need to be 0.25mm thick (or even less). If you use 0.50mm thick, those pads need to be able to compress by over 50%. That card likes to sit very close to the heatsink. I therefore recommend you use thermal paste for thermal pads. I was using K5 Pro. If you really want to stick with those thermal pads, I suggest that you use a graphite pad between the GPU chip and the heatsink. The graphite pads that Coollaboratory sells are just the right thickness(with the correct amount of comprehensibility) that those 0.50 mm thermal pads will be the correct size. Keep in mind that if you go that route, using the graphite pad alone will produce subpar cooling results equivalent with cheap thermal pastes. Now if you were to combine the graphite pad with with liquid metal (or low temperture melting metal pads sold by Coollaboratory) on both the GPU and heatsink side, the thermal transfer will be greatly improved. Use the low temperature melting metal pads if you don't know how to use liquid metal. The difference between both is minimal.

3)The Firepro M6100 can reach 110 degrees Celsius before it automatically shuts off (I've tested it plenty of times). That card was designed to handle hot loads and there should be no surprise that this card runs hot. If you want to make sure it runs cooler, take your time doing a proper paste job, lift the back of your M15X, and finally look up the M15X fan upgrade thread for information on how to upgrade the stock fans. If you pay attention to those three things you can possibly get sub 80 degrees Celsius at full load. I plan to update that thread but have been too busy to post my results. Hopefully I will have some time to do so this year. With that said 90 degrees is ok, just keep in mind that the fans will be running at full speed.

 

Judging by the imprint in the thermal paste, only the top left corner of the heatsink is making good contact with the die, the rest of the heatsink is being pushed away from the die due to the thermal pads, you need as @bartuc66 said, slimmer thermal pads or to use K5 Pro, so that the heatsink can touch the whole die.

 

Thank you both

Better paste and thinner pads are due today, will try them and feedback!!!

 

Team, just a note to say THANK you

New pads came, used the 0.5mm ones instead on the vram and other chips that were sticking up and...

Not only does the game I play now tell me my laptops graphics ability is 5 star as opposed to the 1 star for the gtx260m (it's not an overly taxing game hence the high rating!) But now the temp hasnt risen above 60deg

Thank you so so much, its brilliant having fonts of knowledge like you guys to help novices like me keep my beloved m15x going!!!

Thanks again

 

Just as a side note, I've been playing a bit with 8950/FurnacePro in my M15x R2 and M17x R2 and there appears to be a small difference in performance in favour of the card being detected as 8950M.

Also, EXTREMELY IMPORTANT - do not use default GTX heatsink. At least get the 48-5870 heatsink. The X-bracket is absolutely interchangable, but the heatsink is not. It won't cover the dies properly, or you will need extra thick pads, which is pointless due to the fact that the layout of components is different. Be sure to include all of the small dies between ram and the edge of the board, called the chokers, because they can generate quite a bit of heat.

From my experience, say your farewells to brightness controls, I've tested a lot of possible solutions for it taken from this site and none of them worked. It's stuck on 100% on PSU and around 60% on battery.

That said, if you have a bit more scratch to spare, M4000M will do wonders, with stock vBIOS and nVidia Inspector OC you can run modern games fairly well, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order ran at Ultra with 15 FPS, and with some CPU OC and details set to medium/high it kept a fairly stable 30 FPS. This card requires a tiny bit of workarounds, such as disabling digital signatures while installing the driver, but it runs cool as a winter breeze. 70 C is a very rare occurance, even with modern games due to more RAM and a wider bus, and offers a lot of calculating power for most titles. And gives you brightness support

I've been using my upgraded M15x for a better half of a year with a config you can see in my sig and it's been wonderful. Quick, reliable, pretty, pretty heavy ( ), sturdy, solid, but as a budget solution (as in not for hardware pioneers that buy an RTX3080 because it just came out and they need this 1/2 FPS increase) it will do wonders and still isn't as obsolete as it might seem. They sure don't do those laptops as they used to be. It has a soul, as I keep repeating everywhere.

 

Sorry just seen this after posting a new post!


Originally it was running really hot after installing, as in over 70 at idle

So took the back off, reapplied thermal paste again and bingo, idles at 40

I am seeing according to hwmonitor that it maxes at 99 when playing football manager 20

Now, is hwmonitors max reading 99 so I am maybe going higher than that?

I read that this card runs hot so is 99 actually ok?

If not, what could be causing it

I downloaded speedfan but it doesnt even recognise any of my fans despite me knowing for a fact they do come on

Is this anything to do with either the fan itself even though it runs, might be broken?

Or is using the 150w power brick causing issues?

 

I've turned the game graphics down and now running at 70 max

Take it the card just cant handle the higher settings?

 

Most likely it´s a poorly heatsink seatting case. You have to remember that your old 260m is way different to your new firepro. Double check that the thermal pads located in the other chips of your card are also making proper contact with the heatsink. Don´t forget you must cool them too and your old pads may be inadequate for them.

 

Seconding that. Be REAAALLY sure that there is good enough contact. I've ran Witcher 3 (with severely reduced graphics, mind you, and Dark Souls 3 with If I remember correctly high settings) and never exceeded something around 85C.

- Good pastejob is key.
- Make sure that the pads have good thermal conductivity (the higher the value W/mm2 on the box the better)
- Avoid reusing old pads, but if really necessary be sure they are clean, even, and not compressed.
- When using pads, remember that compressing them DOES NOT improve efficiency - they actually lose their properties and start acting as insulators. They need to be slightly to not-at-all compressed. Firm enough to not move, soft enough to depress when touched.
- For CPU/GPU die, I prefer liquid metal (Gallium-Andium amalgam) for you need just a tiny drop on your silicon. All that is needed is a less-than-a-razor thin layer to provide good contact with the heatsink.
- As mentioned in this thread before, be sure not to squeeze your screws too tight. Without mentioning damaging the x-bracket nuts, it will decrease contact (will stick on the edges, as the material is a bit flexible, and create a dome over the center of the die). Generally not much force is needed. Sometimes 1/1,5 turns of the screw can be enough. Just at the edge of the heatsink 'legs' bending downwards towards the card. NEVER screw them all the way in, unless it's the only way you make contact.
- As I've stated in above, be sure to apply them to small dies behind memory chips - they really like to heat up.
- Also, PROPER HEATSINK. Buy AMD M15x heatsink. It's dirt cheap (I can get one for around 5-10$ in Europe. In US I believe it's far more commonplace). They are different in layout of components, so with a right one you won't waste that many pads.
- Cutting out thermal pads can be a time consuming task, I take up to an hour to make a proper set, cutting all the pieces and applying them to proper parts. Take your time. This is hands and crafts project, but it will pay off.
- Don't waste money on garbage. Who saves money at any cost - pays twice. Get pads that do 8+W of heat rather than ones that do 3W. Your trusty ol' Alienware museum piece will be grateful for it

For the fan speed, I dunno, while using M6100 never had issues with fan speed. Maybe try changing the drivers to an older version, I remember loosing brightness control, not fan support. Shot in the dark here, which distribution is it? Dell, HP? Not sure if it's the case here, but cards with different setup meant for another brand have a tendency to have some functionalities unavailable when put in the not designated machine.

 

First of all, what a fantastic response, thank you

I am absolutely certain that the pads are applied properly, and the paste so it must be the heatsink

The game tells me the laptop can manage "very high settings", but when set to just "high " the card hits 99 and the game starts stuttering. I dont thinking will even be that graphically intensive a game (football manager 20)

When I lowered the settings to medium, the gpu never got above 70ish so it COULD just be they whilst it's a new card to me, it's still about 8years old so just can't handle the game at very high?

Does the amd m15x heatsink slot in or is modding required?

Thank you again

 

Another thing to consider, how about the fan? And the radiator? Maybe they are clogged/bent? Or not running at right trip points? With manual setup you should set max speed earlier. Also prop your Alienware on something, or get a stand with a fan. That's my solution for a couple less degrees for 940XM on 26 to 27 across all cores

GPU heat transfer can also be problematic, because each generations differ in height, so different thickness is required.

As a guess, maybe get some thick thermal pads an put them around the die as well, not only paste on the core? That's just something I would have tried in your situation.

One more thing that is crucial to thermal padding and pasting - before each application clean the component with ISOPROPYL alcohol. Do not use ethanol and God forbid the polish remover, you can do serious damage to the enamel on the board. Willow it clean with some microfiber or other non-shredding pads (gauze?) , No need to dry, it evaporates quickly. This way you remove any grease/dust and so on to ensure proper contact

If you get your hands on one (the radiator that is) it should be plug and play.

 

What heatsink am I searching for?

Cant for the life of me find one!

 

Sorry, that's a mistake on my part. There is a distinction between M17X radiators. With M15X there is just the one. My bad. However all other solutions should be exhausted, else maybe get another card, because these temps are bad.

I have ordered another M6100 for myself (as a vbios donor, since I bricked mine with a wrong vbios ) and for general use, with some spare time I will try to recreate your conditions to see what can be causing the problem. Give me a couple of days so we can return to the conversation.