Alienware M18x R2 7970 CF, best GPU upgrade option?

1. True and verified by me and many others

2. Not required on the Alienware 18, factory stock BIOS allows legacy mode to be used. This is tested by me, since I have a factory issued 980M SLI Alienware 18. This was true only on the M18x R2, but has since been corrected with the modified BIOS provided by Swick, svl7, and I.

3. Not necessarily true. This could also be caused by enabling nonturbo flex support in the BIOS. This is not necessarily a graphics card problem. Known ways to trigger 8 beeps include 980Ms installed in legacy mode prior to having the legacy mod BIOS installed, enabling non-turbo flex support, and setting graphics setting to PCI instead of SG, PEG, or IGFX.

4. This is fine

5. This is true and it works

Everything else he has said is fine. All I can say is read through every thread carefully. Several of us have 980Ms installed and working fine, and there is no trickery or special steps involved after the custom BIOS is flashed.

 

Thank you for the corrections Raidriar. I was writing down having in my mind only the M18x R2.
Unlocked bios for R2 gives us legacy support. Official only works with uefi.

My system is on legacy with windows 10x64 and official driver support. Here is an old snapshot from speccy.

 

My cpudont have the flex support. I do already all you write me guys, I rading all with attention before, and nothing. i just give up and return the cards.
since guys, if i need to try again, I want be sure the card work like stock, I dont want use trick for trhottling or everythings else. so i give up, but thanks for the help.

 

^ you dont make a lot of sense... Do you...

 

980M should be as easy as plug and play... You could try with no drivers and then a fresh vbios on the cards if absolutely needed...

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i do all right, not wring. seem the cards have some problems. after the seller warranty the card is perfect, today is admit mny of the last bench of the cards he purchase as returned for RMA.. a lot of time waste.. at this point I dont know if I try again with 2 980m or try for a single 1070m that it seem more complecated to fit in the m18x r2.
anyway guys, please sorry my tone of before, I dont think any of you are liar, just I want so frustrated because I do all right and the seller sayed the card was already full tested in a m18x r2... so I go completely crasy, hope you all dont mind..

 

Here are my results(default clocks) with my old M18X-R2 with the latest nvidia drivers using SLI 980M ... even now this beast can run any game with 1080p max settings. There's no problems if installing A11 unlocked before installing card.

 

WOW! Nice score.... I think it is scoring better than my AW18 with a 4930MX..... do you have the dual 330W PSU Mod?

 

No, I only flashed my GPUs with Prema's 2.0 bios and installed HWInfo64 to maintain low temperatures in full load(< 60~70C). This score was achieved with default clocks in mind because I think is more than enough for gaming in 1080p for now.

 

nice. just a stupid question, cab be my CPU the problem? I mean, you guys all have a XM cpu how I see, but I have a 3630qm, can the card dont be recognize because of the cpu???

 

I also have an SLI with a 3720qm. Cpu is not a problem.

 

What's your sBIOS version? Absolutely make sure you're using Raidriar's A11 unlocked BIOS before install any GPU in.

 

eh? I try only the a11 of wick... but maybe people say the card should recognize with stock bios too...
anyway, if I try again... my budget for 2 980m is 100USD, where i can buy 2 980m that can surely work in my m18x r2? since,if again all dont work, i go crazy..what bios the card should be? and what apparence? I see differnet980m with different position of the component and different memory, what is the safe one?
Also, the card i already try, when i check with gpuz, gpuz say samsung memory, but the card really have hynix... is this normal?

 

100 USD for 2 980M!?

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I start to think you may bought a defective 980M if it came for you for a very low price... a new one can reach 850US$ in most notebooks sites like Eurocom. I bought mine new and it was almost a plug and play installation, just looking for a modded driver to work in it and play games afterwards, never got a black screen after install the GPU like you did.

 

I think he made a typo, 100$ for two even broken 980Ms is nuts.

 

You can pick em up for like 350 400 USD off ebay

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sorry, typo... I mean 1000USD. happy with 700-800USD if used.

Also, i see some 980m version with 4gb and some with 8gb, my last try was with 8gb, what is the most compatible version?

where I can buy them with a warranty of working condition? eurocom is a little bit too expensive.. how about the 1070 in the m18x r2? still it have issue??

 

do you think this card is ok guys???
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Top-Alienw...368802?hash=item3ad5ff1b22:g:NoIAAOSw44BYYewh

 

seem the vendor write two type of item number for this card,
- CN16E-GX-A1
-N16E-GX-A1

do you think this have to do with my past problem???

 

also, some 980m come with a blue board and other with a green board, what is the good one?

 

I have the blue ones

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I have 4 working 7970m, someone is interested?

 

is possible my cards was the gsync version? i dont understand how to feel the difference from gsync-not gsync cards..

 

guys, please...
i try to re buy again the 980m, can someone with a worked sliof 980m into m18x r2, share some good pitures front/back of the card own (of coruse, if you already have it, I dont ask for tear down the laptop..)?
I start to understand whay some card work and some not, and if I find the reason maybe this can help all the community..