The Nvidia 8800 GTX is a MXM Card....Why Won't it Work for the m9750?

How's it going everyone,

I know this is a well debated subject, but I don't really see why the Nvidia 8800 GTX can't be offered for the Area 51 m9750. I can see that there might be some heat issues....but I'm sure there's a work around. An MXM standard card should fit into any MXM slot. Also, I noticed that the same Nvidia 8700 GT cards offered for the Area 51 m9750 are available for the Area 51 m17x as well. What's there to stop an Area 51 m9750 user from ordering a couple of cards for the Area 51 m17x and installing them??? Other than a possible heat issue, you could could just grab some modded drivers like all of us have been using all along....​

Just a thought,
Gabe

 

The 8800 has special heat and power requirements, and will only work in computers designed to accept it.

 

there are many types of MXM. plus it might require a new BIOS which AW to lazy to work on. bottomline, they are business organization, not a charity, no way for them to do something "non-benefitcal".

 

i think it wont fit in m9750

 

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the speedy replies. I understand that there's different versions of mxm, and also that there may be a size issue, as well as a heat issue. However, if an 8700 card fits in a m17x, then why can't a 8800 fit in a 9750. I really wish I could take a look inside and see.​

Thanks,
Gabe

P.S. - I honestly don't think that Bios would stand in the way of that upgrade....but maybe......Anyone tried putting their m15x 8800 card in a 9750???

 

I didn't really keep up with the Alienware end of things, but I did with the Clevo/Sager end of things, and I know that the original Sager NP9260/1 series wouldn't support the 8800M because of the fact that NVidia decided to make most of the card in-house and did not provide support for the standard type of EDID-less display units used in most laptops (i.e., a display is EDID-less if the manufacturer has not implemented the ability for the display unit to directly provide its own VESA data (e.g., refresh rates, supported resolutions, and the like) directly to the video adapter of the notebook it's in).

As a result, the usual methods of providing EDID data to the video cards - typically a separate ROM BIOS, or a section in the system BIOS - could not be used, with the result that most then-current notebooks could not support the 8800M for the simple fact that the cards would never get the VESA data they needed to function.

The fix for the Clevo/Sager NP9260/1 was a motherboard revision (an upgrade method was provided for existing owners that, among other things, required soldering additional components onto the existing motherboard). My suspicion is that this basically put a chip of the type used in displays to hold EDID data onto the mobo in such a way that the cards would be fooled into thinking the data was coming directly from the display unit itself.

If Alienware is not supplying 8800Ms for the old m9750s, then my guess is that the same sort of display incompatibility problem is plaguing the m9750s, and Alienware has simply chosen not to do anything about it.

Basically, if the problem with the m9750 is, in fact, the same as was the problem with the Sager NP9260/1, pretending to buy an 8800M for the m17x and then sticking it into your m9750 will not work. Sorry

Finally, on the point about the cards being MXM - unfortunately, MXM to-date has been more of a Nvidia wishlist than an enforceable standard, although, as bad as it was for all of the unfairly disappointed customers, I think that the move to restrict implementation of the 8800s was actually NVidia's first step toward making it an enforceable standard, which will, eventually (maybe before you and I retire ) bring about the sort of upgradeability we have all been promised.

 

cos 8800 is bigger then 8700...+ it ll cost about 600~700,maybe you should sell your m9750 and buy m15x?

 

Thanks Shyster1,

I can see where that would be a technical limitation that couldn't be easily resolved. I just wish the standard was more universal, allowing us to do that self upgrades. However, I'm not too worried about it. My m9750 has dual 8700s, so I figure I'm close enough to an 8800.
@ Xirurg - My original plan was to return this system and try a m15x. However, a restocking fee put a nice little road block up for me. If you follow my posts, you'll find that my system is less than a month old. It came as a lemon, and was recently serviced to bring it up to that Alienware gold standard. However, I still remain skeptical and dissappointed overall.​

Thanks,
Gabe

 

both SLI system, you do realize that m17x is much bigger than m9750 right? don't you think AW would make it as 1.5" thick if possible?

 

well for one thing alienware wants people to use the m17x for sli 8800 cards. so i would never count on them.

 

imho the 8800 wont fit in the m9750 because AW like it to fit only in the m15x/m17x

 

well,to be exact,8800gtx is about 30% faster then 8700gt

 

It's also a commercial thing. They want to get rid of their m9750s, the product, I think, has reached the end of its shelf life.

 

it has already been addressed as to the exact reason why the 8800m will not work with the m9750, and that is because it is physically impossible to fit one in. not because they are bigger cards or anything. in fact, they are the exact same size. it is because the 8800m cards ahave an extra set of copper pins that the m9750 gpu slot does not accomidate because it physically lacks the extra connection slot. it is really simple.

yes, i was an extreme hopefull as well but the reality is that we all must accept this fact and move on.

here take a look at the m9750 gpu slot and take a look at an actuall 8800m gtx and you will see the physical impossibility of putting it in unless there is a major motherboard revision.

edit; the smaller gpu pic is the 8800m gtx. the larger pic is the m9750 i used to own with sli 7950 gtx.

 

well put ARGH. To answer the question on why can they use the 8700, the 8800 is MXM IIIHE. The 8700 and 7950 are MXM III (non-HE) The connector for the HE cards are backwards compatabile...the will accept a non-HE card. That is why the m17x can use the 8600 and 8700 as well as the 8800