Upgrading an 8600m gt to a Quadro 3700m

Ok, so I think it's about time I buy another video card as a backup for my system. I have chosen the Nvidia Quadro 3700m because the specs and benchmarks seem better than the others.

I want this card as an upgrade from my 8600m.

My laptop is the Alienware m15x (the 2009 release) and currently the specs are:

Intel Core2 Duo T8100
Nvidia GeForce 8600m gt
4 GB Kingston DDR2 Memory
Windows 7

Here is my current GPU Information:


I've been reading up on people who put this card in the m15x and their stories of how they have to flash the VBios of the 3700m to make it like a gtx 280m. This is the card I found:
488125-001 HP nVidia Quadro FX3700M Graphics Card | eBay

The VBios on it is 62.92.51.00.05

What is the outlook for these cards? Meaning are they looking to still be sold in the future and are the prices going to go up or down, etc?

Think this a good choice? Should I buy it now? Is it a reasonable price?

 

It's a great card but there is a major hindrance to that plan. It runs HOT and will downclock itself while gaming. Even undervolting won't help the problem much, look for the Radeon 3870 as it would be cheaper, and offer about the same performance as the 8800m gtx. You would need to buy a new heatsink for either card but the Radeon is more reliable than the nvidia card and allows for newest drivers to be installed. Still a good laptop to own though

 

By how hot, what do you mean? My nvidia 8600m runs at about 55 C when in idle and gets up to about 70 C when gaming. I don't think it can get hotter than that by what I've seen.

 

my 3700m in my sager(better cooling) will still hit 90+ in some games....

 

ok so then in that case I think I would need a BIOS revision. Are there any BIOS revisions for the Nvidia Quadro FX 3700m with version 62.92.51.00.05?

I would need to flash to either a 9800m gtx VBios or a GTX 280m.

 

I don't think the m15 needs a special bios flashed...

talk to niffcreature, he'll know for sure

 

for the quadro 3700m? how come people had to flash their VBios for the m15x? Mine is the 2009 release by the way.

and will this heatsink work for the 3700m?
New Alienware Area51 m15x Thermal Module Heatsink M88XT | eBay

 

By hot I mean reaches 100c+. No special bios should be needed for it, I'm actually not sure if the flashed 280m works in the m15x. If you flash to a 9800m gtx you lose out on 16 stream processors, mxm upgrade I think has a more detailed upgrade process for the m15x

 

ok. what about the heatsink then? will the one I mentioned above be ok?

and how did people manage the temperatures? copper mod?

 

and also, how does this card do with games? The benchmarks for it said it could run Battlefield 3 at medium at a good framerate.

Do you have to install GeForce drivers for it?

How does the Quadro 3700m compare to an ATI Mobility 3870?

 

the card will have no problem in BF3.... IDK about your CPU though, you might want to look into the x9000, or the x9100 if your into pinmods(lowers the FSB)


standard nvidia drivers install fine, IRRC its a little faster than the 3870m.




I'm not 100% sure the card will work in a m15x, double check with niffcreature to be sure.

 

The 280M definitely works in an m15x, but like whitrzac says, no clue about the 3700M. The 3700M worked in my M9750, so I wouldn't be suprised if it worked.

The card was very fast in my M9750, and with a weak T7200, ran BFBC2 very well. A CPU upgrade would be a good idea.

 

ok and is this with or without a vBIOS flash? Bios version on this 3700m is 69.92.51.00.05

did you have to install GeForce drivers to make it perform for gaming?

will the laptopvideo2go driver 186.82 be good?

 

I did install the latest GeForce drivers to use it, and you should no matter what. However, dosen't the m15x have some wierd problem with drivers higher than a certain number? That was without a vBios flash, however I did at one point flash it to 280M.

 

Sorry only older drivers for the m15x, nothing newer than the 186xx I believe. While normally a 3870m is faster than the 3700m the drivers are what makes the difference, the 3870m can get the latest Ati drivers while the Nvidia card is crippled on older things. You would need an 8800m gtx heatsink for either new card, and copper does help with temps but not by enough. Another option is to force the face to run on high all the time to keep temps lowered in those machines. I had an m15x and dealt with quite a few issues it gave me, mine was using the 8800m gtx. With games like Battlefield Bad Company 2 I played at 1280x720 medium settings and had 25-35 fps on big map 32 player games, on a Sager np9262 with the same card and settings I was getting 35-45fps. The difference was the Sager got new drivers while the m15x didn't. Trust me, go with the Ati card for much less worry. From what I've read everybody takes the 3700m out of their m15x because of all the trouble you have to through with it

 

I forgot about the driver issues... is there a way you can disable the onboard 9400m and just use the dedicated card?

 

It's not a 9400m, Area 51 m15x used an onboard Intel chip and there is NO work around for newer drivers. Trust me, I had one and there is no updating it past the official Alienware release.

 

So how would the ATI 3870 do with Battlefield 3 for example? Even though its a 512 MB and the 3700m is a 1GB.

You said the 3870m is better than the quadro 3700m?

 

Because of drivers, the 3870m would probobly perform better in BF3 than the 3700M, despite being a slower card overall.

 

So I should go with the ATI Mobility 3870 over the Nvidia Quadro 3700m just because it will run better overall? What does the ATI run at temperature wise?

Will this heatsink be ideal for it?
New Alienware Area51 m15x Thermal Module Heatsink M88XT | eBay

 

No idea what the 3870M will run in in that system, anyone around here have an m15x with a 3870M?

 

I've read about the copper mod. Does that help with this system and card?

Also I plan on adding the Diamond 7 Carat Thermal Paste I have, which is about 4 times as conductive as Silver.

What is the right heatsink for this card?

Will this one work? LOOK - http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Alienwa...C_Drives_Storage_Internal&hash=item256516b66f

 

The heatsink you linked would be fine, you have to grind some off to fit the 3870m but the temps will under load be about 65-70c. The copper shims won't take off enough heat from the graphics card to make it stable. I'm telling you the 3700m isn't a viable option for this laptop

 

Just curious, would an 8800m gtx run battlefield 3? Would an ATI Mobility 3870 run it?

 

Yes the 8800m gtx would run Battlefield 3 and the 3870m would run it as well too. Though the 3870m would run it better due to driver support the Nvidia card lacks. If you want raw power for older games by all means get the Nvidia based cardss but the Radeon is cooler and has better support with drivers.

 

ok, which one is better? The ATI because of 320 pipelines, or the 8800m gtx because of the 1250 shader speed?

and would this heatsink fit either of the cards? LOOK - http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Alienwa...C_Drives_Storage_Internal&hash=item256516b66f

 

The Ati because of superior driver support and better thermal temperatures. I've already answered that heatsink will work for EITHER of those two cards. With the Ati card though you must modify it to get a proper heatsink fit. It has an extra mosfet that requires dremeling of the heatsink. The 8800m gtx requires no such modifications but has much higher temps and poor driver support.

 

ok, so here we have what I am going to buy.

The ATI Mobility Radeon 3870 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Alienw...961?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item416091f339

The heatsink - http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Alienwa...C_Drives_Storage_Internal&hash=item256516b66f

Look good?

 

Just out of curiosity again, if I were to find an ATI Mobility Radeon 4850 somewhere, would it work, as in would the system recognize it? What heatsink would I need?

 

Those look fine, 4850 doesn't work in that system to my knowledge

 

why wouldn't it?

if the Nvidia GTX 260m and 280m, the Quadro 3600m and 3700m, and the ATI Radeon 3870 can work in it, than why can't the ATI Radeon 4850? If those cards can be recognized by the BIOS, than I bet that this one can also.

The 3870 was originally a m17 part too, but people had it confirmed working in the m15x. So why wouldn't the 4850 work?

AND ADDING ON TO ALL OF THIS......The ATI cards still have driver support, unlike the Nvidia cards. That makes it all the better, and it gives a higher chance of the BIOS recognizing it.

 

I'm not in charge of what it will recognize or won't, the 4850m doesn't work in the Clevo d900c while the 3870m does. It's your money to spend and you can look it up but I'm pretty sure the 4870m doesn't work in the m15x.

 

The 4850m may well work in the m15x. If it does, it'd be a kick butt system. I'd say try it if you can find one.

 

I already found one. A $200 used ATI Mobility Radeon 4850.

I'm ASSUMING that by the term USED, they mean it has just been tested, judging this by all of this sellers other items.

Would you buy it for this price, if it was just tested?

Also, if it had a 7 day warranty, would you buy it?

I THINK I DEFINITELY WOULD!

 

Heads up, theres two for $100 in the Marketplace. Also, I have a longshot offer for you, yhpm.

 

Its the Asus 4870 that was tested in the m15x and did not work, the Alienware version may very well work fine.

If no one mentioned, you can't flash the .05 BIOS HP 3700m to a GTX 260m or 280m, it just doesn't work, it only works with the .10 versions.

The 4850 will run hot just like the 3700m, they are both hot cards. If you want something that will run cooler, I'll send you a PM about it.

 

You know what is a great card? The 160m.

 

Still the problem is driver support on the Nvidia side or I'd be pitching a great speech for Niff's 160m. If I still have an mxm 2.1 laptop I'd buy it for sure and have a blast torture testing that card >

 

I am still thinking about it. Problem is would be finding one. I am pretty sure it would work inside of the m15x if it worked in the M9750.

And it still has ongoing driver support for the hybrid part, UNLIKE nvidia. ATI is the better manufacturer.

 

Hint Hint, Wink Wink...

 

I think I am just going to end up running the 160m in this one. Seems to stressful to try the 4850 or any other rare card.

 

Hello everyone! after much research I found in this post I may have what it takes to me ....
I have assembled a m15x-R1 with a X9000 CPU, 8GB DDR2, 60GB SSD.
The PC with the integrated intel video card to boot, but if I insert the fx3600m PC starts for few seconds and then goes
Stand by pulsing with alienhead ......... how I can solve? thanks for the help

 

It sounds like you have the card seated wrong.

There are three possiblities here:

1) You seated the video card wrong.
2) You applied too much/little/no thermal paste.
3) The heatsink is on the card wrong.

Post up a picture of the card and the heatsink that goes on it.

 

3)this is my heatsink Alienware Area-51 m15x notebook review - Image Gallery - TechSpot

2)the thermal paste that I used is right quantity and the heat sink there are also pads that adapt to the heat dissipation of the same ram

1)I thought that the Quadro FX 3600M is correct for m15-r1

 

I don't know what the problem is here then. The 3600m should work.

Possibly, you should try to reseat the video card and also the system's memory.

If not, make sure both of the fans are plugged in fully, this meaning the CPU and GPU fans. Also, make sure the fans are clean. No blockage.

If that doesn't work, I am out of ideas.

 

The GPU fan is not connected.....i will try

 

Anything happen after reattaching the fan?

 

no......pc is in stand by, and the both fans are always enabled on max speed.........

 

I will upgrade and I implore your help !!!!!!
My bios version of the video card (fx3600) is 62.92.27.00.09 ( techPowerUp! :: VGA Bios Collection: HP Quadro FX 3600M 512 MB );
I discovered that there is a bios 62.92.27.00.05 ( techPowerUp GPU-Z Validation g7ud5 ) which should make the card compatible with the Alienware m15x, so I ask anyone to post the bios 00.05 or otherwise who has the video card running on Alienware m15x to save the bios of the video card and maybe send it ....... Thank you!