advice on nvidia 660m

hi guys/gals,
will this model work in my alienware m15xr2 without issue ? "Dell M3XJV Nvidia Geforce Gtx660m 1gb Gddr5"

by issue i mean without vbios flash/mod/tweak ?

thankyou in advance.

just so you guys are aware i shall be upgrading from a nvidia GTX260m, so am also wishing to know will the x-bracket fit without issue and the screws from the hsf marry up also without issue. again thankyou in advance.

 

Take a look here [Guide] M15x with Nvidia GTX 660m

Short answer is no. Think you'll need to alter the vBios to get this card to work.

 

erm what is the colour of the pcb for dell cards ? blue, when it comes to the Nvidia GTX660m ?

A TAIWAN 1226AZT0A236.M2PN13E-GE-A2 info from dye if that helps, just need to make sure before i buy.

 

I think so as there is currently a gtx 660m on eBay (in UK) that was taken directly from a M17x. Think I read somewhere also that the dell version is blue.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gtx-660m-...t=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item3f22c107c0

 

looking at the pcb layout its exactly the same card i have just purchased which is good to know. all be it i paid haf the price hes asking and mine was 4 days old :laugh:

 

new graphics card has arrived Nvidia GTX660m and installation went fine and without issue and i have internal display working fine, but latest drivers from nvidia will not install and drivers from another site will also not install, any help on this issue would be helpful and much needed, thankyou.

 

Have you tried modding the INI file for the drivers?

 

just done that now seems to of worked, playing bf3 now for last 32mins and temps close to 90c eek... but at least the drivers are on and working fine, as is Audio and DP just goto wait till my new thermal pads turn up and get a thermal pad layout for the placement for the card.

 

well even better news, its a 2GB version not the advertised 1GB version, im a happy chappy.

 

just a update on temps for the graphics card, cold boot temps are around 36-39c and stable, after 30mins temps are around 42/43c and stable, when playing supreme commander forged alliance temps are around 67-71c max thats after 1hr gaming. when playing bf3 temps are 77-81c max and stable,again after 1hr gaming, all be it i get a initial temp jump to 89-91c for a splitt second when the game starts and soon drops when then fan kicks in.
all in all im a happy chappy. will benchmark it soon but dont expect eye watering scores :tongue:

 

Those temps sound good. My 6990m possibly runs a bit hotter but I have a copper shim on the way. I've also been benchmarking heavily using 3dmark11 with some ok results. Are you going to OC it? I increased by graphics score from 3212 to 3600 by OC!

 

Those look like great temps to me I'm glad that everything went fine with the upgrade. The m15x is a beast!

 

Yeah congrats on this upgrade. It is nice to see other GPU possibilities in the machine. I reckon your temps though could improve even further. My 7970M shows 25-30C at cold boot and climbs to roughly 35C in ambient 20C. The 660 is a kepler core meaning it ought to be at least as power efficient in idle mode so perhaps you can see what can be done to improve the cooling further I personally have done a few mods.

 

Did you do any heat pipe/ heat sink mods?
Also did I read you took the intake grills off the bottom case?

 

Yeah I completely stripped the intake grills of mesh and the plastic bars too. I can now quite easily reach under and touch the fans if I want

Really helps airflow. Sure a little more dust gets inside but that isn't an issue in the easily opened M15x. I also use these great gel notebook prop legs along with the 9 cell battery it gives about 3-4 cm of clearance under the intake fans and about half a cm at the very front of the laptop. A gently incline on the keyboard also helps comfortable typing.

anyways seems I was lying after an hour idle temp is 38-39C not 35C

 

for the Nvidia GTX660m is was almost a simple case of plug and play. I had to use a 10mm x 10mm x 1mm copper shim to remove the slight gap between die and heatsink using the 660m own x-bracket and I removed dell's own thermal pads which were 0.5mm thick and installed some Phobya Thermal Pad XT 7W/mk 1mm,(compresses to 0.5mm thickness) this combination made very good contact between the heatsink and both the die and memory chips. to test the contact between both after applying Arctic thermal compound MX-4 I simply installed and screwed down tight the heatsink, left nice impression on the thermal pads on the memory chips and the thermal paste was nice spread over the gpu's die. maybe I should try a 10mm x 10mm x 1.5mm copper shim and some Phobya 7W/mk 1.5mm Pads.
As for the driver, im using the latest version and just altered the inf file and installation went without a hiccup.
I like "King of Interns" idea of removing the intake mesh from the grills that would allow more air to be drawn up by the fan and should help with cooling. im using a 9 cell battery and I find this gives good clearance, so im rather happy there.

 

Yeah it really helps. I also tried removing the metal grill exhaust vent covers but it seems a tradeoff. While they do impede airflow they also act as a second heatsink! Removing them for greater airflow as a result seems to make little difference. Plus it looks plain ugly!

What I want to do is find compatible higher cfm fans. Perhaps we can all have a look together. Dual 10-12 cfm fans would help far more than shims!

 

Something like this?
Cooljag Everflow 75mm x 15mm Blower Fan (B127515BU) - FrozenCPU.com?

 

Nice man im about to upgrade a GPU on my m15x as well.

 

Is the connector compatible. I have forgotten if the M15x fans are 3 pin or 5 pin. Otherwise looks good!

edit; the fan is 12V that is more than the fans in the M15x I believe!

 

Are you able to post a copy of your vbios? I've installed an identical card as you, the 660m 2gb, but my blacks are green, colours look 16bit, but all is fine with an external monitor.

Would be awesome if you can help out.

 

I will make a backup of my vbios and upload it and drop you the link, sorry for the delay

http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/130850/Dell.GTX660M.2048.120308.html

my vBios forgot I already summited one hehe

vbios file is GK107.rom link will take you directly to it, just check under details its GK107 and you will be good to go.
hope this solves your issues.