Dell M6700 with GTX 980m upgrade, Windows 10?

I bought 980GTX graphic card, it's comming to me, i should have it by the end of the weekend. I just have question about PSU, is my orginal 210W PSU will be enough to run with this baby?

 

Your original AC Adapter should be a 240W. Though a 210W should have no problems running your laptop with a GTX 980M installed.
Just keep in mind that if you currently have an AMD GPU installed you will need to replace the heatsink and X-bracket with the Nvidia compatible versions.

 

Thanks for information, i have quadro k3000m, X-bracket should fit from this card to 980m. Last question, how about thermopads, is this from K3000m will be fine for 980m? I ask for that becouse most pads are not so good like this original from dell?

 

Thanks for this information, I was confused as to get an upgrade or not, what games do you play?

 

Just tested Monster Hunter World. Running maxed out settings at 1080p around 30fps
Agents of Mayhem max settings @1080p
Marvel vs Capcom Infinity max settings @1080p 60fps (vsync locked)
Hellblade Senua's Sacrifice max settings @ 1080p
Overwatch max settings @1080p
Diablo III max settings @1080p stays locked at 60fps no matter how crazy the action gets
Mass Effect Andromeda almost max settings @1080p (started at max then tweaked a few things down a bit)

Pretty much everything runs max or close to max settings @1080p

 

Thanks for every answers i get here. Now my Dell m6700 working with GTX 980M, work like crazy badass! No need to worry about any compatibility with heatsink (i have from my k3000m) i didn't need to repleace my thermopads(i just add some little extra piece where is additional coil). Besides, that was just plug and play work. I just little worry about temperatures, in my room i have now about 30C, gpu on idle it has 42C, but when i run Witcher 3 i have i have aprox 75C. That's a big value. Are this temperatures are ok ?

 

75c while gaming is perfectly normal for a laptop with a well designed cooling setup.
My GTX 980M idles at about 40c

 

Well i was wrong, temperature jumps to 80C. That's to big i think. It's strange, i use Gelid GC Extreme under my graphic card. And still temeperatures are so big... . I am quite sure that i tighten all the screws. Damn i think that's too big

 

If it jumps to 80c and holds it steady for the entire gaming session, then I would not worry.
80-85c is completely inside the normal operating range for modern GPUs.
There are some tricks you can try to lower your core temps.
-- Use a thinner layer of thermal paste
-- Use a piece of foil tape to cover the gap between the fan housing and heatsink
-- Make sure to have your laptop on a hard flat surface while gaming
-- Prop up the back of your laptop a little to maximize air flow into your fan assembly
-- use a cooling pad when playing on non-optimal surfaces (like your lap)

 

Ok, i made my job again, i replace thermal paste one more time, but now more carefully and with new thermal paste one more time. Much more better, on idle i have 39-45C(depeds if fan working), on full load it goes on aprox 77C - 80C but this is on full load, when i play full session on game and all graphic settings are set on max(of course the same game i tested before, WItcher 3). Now i think this is good temperature. Well, it's really worth, when i had K3000m i coudn't even run this on fullHD with details set on minimum. Now i can play on almost max settings with stable 60 fps, this is awesome . I have worries, because i had dell precision m4600, when i replace card to m5100, i had really low temperatures, 65C was a max value on full load. Of course this card are on totaly different power and efficiency level, but still thought that dell heatsink are better and can take more heat from peripherials. Anyway, i think is still ok.

Thanks for JamesJAB for all informations.

 

I run my GTX980m undervolted @1.000V on full load and it hits 80C sometimes when the power draw reaches 110W. This is a completely normal temperature for such power consumption.

 

OK, now i have what i need, i just give my card time to "heating" thermal paste. Now i have on full load 67-70C, in some cases 72 which is great . I don't need to undervolt graphic card to get that results .

 

hi and thanks for this very educational thread. I just ordered a gtx 980m, i think its an MSI one but the seller claimed its compatible with alienware.... i guess we'll see. Anyways, I'm upgrading from an AMD card, and I ordered the nvidia heatsink and some extra thermal pads. I'm just not sure about the x-bracket. I don't see why the one from my AMD card wont work, are the holes in a different place on nvidia cards? thanks

 

I'm not sure if the AMD X-Bracket will work the screws on the Nvidia Heatsink, or if the studs are the correct height.
Also, some of the compatible AMD GPUs have a different shaped spreader.

 

Oh, by the way - is there any know 980m -> Quadro mod? I want to install Premiercolor panel, but IIRC 10 bit display works only on games with GeForce cards.

 

So with the proper x bracket, the studs should be pretty much flush with the top of the card? As in, not protruding?

 

Just reporting another successful upgrade, though technically this is the wrong thread as I'm still on windows 7. I used the x-bracket from a firepro card, it seemed almost too tight of a fit at first, but I think the contact is good.

The card idles at around 36°, it gets up to 79 with the high performance profile and maybe 72 with the fans on all the way (ultra performance profile)

I was pretty sure it was an MSI card, though after modding the inf and installing the driver, it now says subvendor Dell in gpu-z

 

Hello I have also changed gpu from k4000m to GTX 980m. I bought version Clevo 8GB (blue). I get the xbracket from quadro, new termal paste (grizzly kryonaut). Temps are max 68C. What version of vbios are You using guys? (also the mainboard bios A20?) Do You noticed any problems with procesor throttling? I have some problems with cpu 3740qm. It is not getting higher then 2,4ghz.
If I use TS then it is ok. Should I worry about that? Using win10.

 

Hello I need assistance with my m6700 my battery is at low health and I have random black screens when not connected to power along with my under keyboard ram slots not working (core i5 model, Radeon mobility 6100m, 8gb ddr3 1600 ram, Samsung 860

 

First off, the RAM slots under the keyboard are only active when a quad core CPU is installed. For the Precision M6700 that would be Core i7 CPUs that end in "QM".

When unplugged, your "Low Health" Battery is most likely not outputting enough power for the laptop. You might want to consider buying a used battery that is in good health.
Do not buy a grey market "New" battery for you model laptop as most of these are counterfeit.

 

What’s the cheapest quad core for this laptop also where do I get a battery

 

so where do i get 980m drivers FOR the alienware card

 

Hi!

I've a M6700 (k4000M) like the OP. I found a GTX 980M of a Clevo P751ZM Notebook. Is this Card compatible with my Dell?

Card details:
N16E-GTX V2.1 4G / 6-77-P15SL-D02-G
Vbios: 80.04.3E.00.01

Thank you

 

Just go get the nvidia ones on their website. You'll most likely have to modify the inf file once you extract the driver download with 7-zip. For Dell laptops it's the nvdmi.inf in the displaydriver folder. There are inf modding guides here and elsewhere if you need to do that.

 

Should be almost all of them are, I've read on here that the HP cards are the ones to def avoid. But clevo, msi, alienware are fine. Aetina is fine but I don't think they ever made a 980m. I had a k4000m in an m6700 as well and it is a beast of an overclocker if you can find an unlocked vbios and figure out how to flash it, got it to a firestrike equivalent of an 680m/870m. It most likely won't be a plug and play though, you will most likely have to modify the nvdmi.inf file in the driver package using notepad. I think 980m is the 13d7 and 1028 is Dell, 153F1=optimus on, 053F1=Optimus OFF, so something like PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_13D7&SUBSYS_153F1028 you'd have to replace that in there.

 

Hi @hertzian56 thank you for your response!

I don't like the idea of overclocking the GPU in a Laptop .

I will try to get clevo, msi or alienware 980M. Is there any step by step instruction for such an upgrade?

 

Yeah on normal laptops heavy ocing is a problem but an M6700, esp w an xm cpu like I have, is as good as the dedicated gaming laptops are when it comes to cooling. Quadros are gimped by nvidia as well, mine never got above normal temps and it's free upgrade instead of buying an 870m/680m which are still over 100 bucks on eb! I have posted the unlocked vbios up here I used and it worked like a charm, using msiab +390 core and +729 memory it screamed. Flashing is a nervy thing at first but this worked for me. Ofc w a stock 980m you'll get more than 3x the firestrike score in it's stock state. 2820 stock k4000m, 9300 stock 980m. My k4000m was around 4600 oc'd.

-I recently did get a 980m myself and install it, works great. I'm not sure what brand it is, it's blue so my guess is alienware since the gpuz screen had dell as the vendor. It's not too hard physically to swap it out but is time consuming and there is a LOT of screws to keep track of, you'll need some new thermal grease, I used arctic silver 5 off eb for like 6 bucks, I recommend some tweezers too since those screws are small, plenty of room and light and a lot of just taking it slow not rushing. The problem w the m6700 is that you have to take out the fans to get the heatsinks out, then you have to take out the cpu heatsink before you take out the gpu heatsink, it's a pain, the m6800 fixed that. Also be very gentle taking out the keyboard/palmrest bc they are plastic and you don't want warping same with the connectors just be gentle. I'd look up youtube videos and ofc search the forums here. I think partspeople has some videos too but I think they're up on yt too.

As for the inf modding I went through this in the m6700 forum here recently w a 970m so you can look that up, got some help from people here and it worked out well. I am not able to install the card without optimus turned on though, not a fan of optimus. I'm not ocing the 980m bc it's hard to find an unlocked vbios now since it's so old and the stock performance of a 980m is all I need. I do oc it lightly with msi ab +135 core, +200 memory no problems never gets over 70c playing outer worlds 1080p. Based on my light ocing 970m that's like 200-300 extra benchmark points in firestrike, nothing amazing. That'd be like gtx 780 or gtx 1650 desktop card score in firestrike.

-Note: I'm still on win7, win10 might just do the driver install it for you w no inf modding, no idea though