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    AW18 won’t turn on with gpu fan plugged in

    Discussion in 'Alienware 18 and M18x' started by expresstyle, Nov 22, 2020.

  1. expresstyle

    expresstyle Notebook Consultant

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    Hi guys, as I wrote in title I have this issues since today. that’s very odd the laptop doesn’t post with the gpu fan 1 plugged in .I thought that the fan was dead so I tried to replace it with the gpu 2 fan but same issue. Controller fan dead? Somebody had something like this?
    UPDATE: after some test it works again.
     
    Last edited: Nov 22, 2020
    expresstyle, Nov 22, 2020
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  2. expresstyle

    expresstyle Notebook Consultant

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    Anyways I ve tested to put an gtx 1060 on slave mxm in SG of course it works perfectly also In second slot. The second slot it’s way bigger than the first it also would fit an zotac gtx 1080 so put bigger gpus it’s possible
     
    expresstyle, Nov 26, 2020
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  3. Mastersbest

    Mastersbest Notebook Geek

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    Zotac gtx 1080 will not work in the second slot, since it is a slave, this card will only run in the main slot, but you will need a specific modification to run the card.
     
    Mastersbest, Nov 26, 2020
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  4. Mastersbest

    Mastersbest Notebook Geek

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    I had a similar problem, I described in another post: The 1060mxm fan does not turn on on Alienware m18x r2 | NotebookReview. I was not able to revive the fan, although I tried all the BIOSes and in the end I was able to establish normal operation of the GTX 1060 card only through the HWiNFO64 program, in which you can set the fan values yourself.
     
    Mastersbest, Nov 26, 2020
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  5. expresstyle

    expresstyle Notebook Consultant

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    Why gtx 1080 or others one wouldn’t work If I am with a pascal one working on it?
     
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2020
    expresstyle, Nov 26, 2020
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  6. Mastersbest

    Mastersbest Notebook Geek

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    If you put any card in the second slot and the main slot is empty, your laptop will not start. If you want to try it yourself. Zotac gtx 1080 does not fit in the main slot, and more than one card will not work in the second one.
     
    Mastersbest, Nov 26, 2020
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  7. expresstyle

    expresstyle Notebook Consultant

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    I have mine AW18 with empty main mxm slot and an gtx 1060 on the slave mxm slot and it works fine. The slave slot doesn’t work for display on internal screen but in switch graphic it works. Seriously haha I put it in the second because have better heatsink for mine gpu
     
    expresstyle, Nov 26, 2020
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  8. Mastersbest

    Mastersbest Notebook Geek

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    I don't understand. You launched the card in SG mode in the second slot and it works on your laptop as well as in the first slot or only with the monitor connected?
     
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2020
    Mastersbest, Nov 26, 2020
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  9. Mastersbest

    Mastersbest Notebook Geek

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    I don't understand. You launched the card in SG mode in the second slot and it works on your laptop as well as in the first slot or only with the monitor connected? And I have a card in the second slot 1060 in SG mode did not start, the laptop just beeped.
     
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2020
    Mastersbest, Nov 26, 2020
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  10. expresstyle

    expresstyle Notebook Consultant

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    Yes I have the gpu on second slot and it works same as the first, with internal display of course and optimus works flawless. The only issue it’s the fan doesn’t start automatically in windows but I have hw info fan profile and works great with it
     
    expresstyle, Nov 26, 2020
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  11. expresstyle

    expresstyle Notebook Consultant

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    So, no needs for example to mod heatsink for gtx 1070 msi in mxm 2 slot msi gtx 1070 pcb would fit perfectly. I am the only one that get it working on slave mxm? Weird thing. Saying doesn’t works for internal display I mean that it shouldn’t display in peg either with lvds vga if it’s settled in slave mxm
     
    Last edited: Nov 26, 2020
    expresstyle, Nov 26, 2020
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  12. Mastersbest

    Mastersbest Notebook Geek

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    Thank you for the info, my friend, I will try.
     
    Mastersbest, Nov 26, 2020
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  13. expresstyle

    expresstyle Notebook Consultant

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    The very odd thing it’s that in main mxm slot when gpu reached pwr limit it throttle for few second (like 12 seconds) . For example, I have mine gfx at 1797mhz at 0.85 max, with msi 88 tdp bios. When it reaches sometimes 88watt it was throttling at 1680/1720 and so on even if the 3D scene was lighter after reaching max limit. Now in the 2nd slot , it will go down ONLY in that second that reaches the tdp limit and fast it keep his normal frequency
     
    expresstyle, Nov 26, 2020
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  14. expresstyle

    expresstyle Notebook Consultant

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    Performance in SG are great too I noticed something like major latency maybe 1 FPS lost in 3d scene maybe. Performance are % equal desktop counterpart. Temps 38 degrees in idle and max 76 in games but I have a very bad thermal paste waiting for thermal grizzly one haha
     
    expresstyle, Nov 26, 2020
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