M18xR2 single GTX 880m installtion help, Cant get it working

Hello guys ,

i have been a silent reader of NotebookReview forums for quite a while now, and always found it helpful. Today i decided to finally signup because i am having trouble getting a GTX 880m working in a M18xR2. it's a refurbished M18xR2.
i have tried digging through many forums but either they already have the 880m installed and need only advice in installing the Nvidia Driver, or they are talking about throttling issues. And over half of the relevant threads end up with the buyer opting for 780m/970m/980m instead (which is not an option for me). Been looking for a procedure to install the 880m i have in my M18xR2 but can't find that.

The Problem
The default system config was M18xR2 with 3610qm and 7970m CF with Stock A11 Bios, 12Gb ram and a 1080p panel.

the dual 7970m died (Yes, both at the same time), tried reflow, didn't work.
i got a 8Gb GTX 880m pulled out from an MSI GT70 Dominator Pro and i saw various online websites selling GTX 880m with "for Alienware/Clevo/MSI" in titles so i figured it should work.

What i tried so far
>> Firstly, simply removing the dual 7970m, rebooting the system to see if it worked fine on IGFX, it worked.
>> Installed the GTX 880m i had, the heat sink fit perfectly (almost). Installed the GPU in the Left Slot as i understand its Slot 1 (looking at the laptop with laptop in upright position)
>> Booted it, booted fine into windows until i realized it didnt detect my 880m and was running on Intel GPU.
>> Booted into Bios, is said "NOT DETECTED" on both GPU slots. so bios didnt see my GPU.
>> Went Online, found out i had to use the Unlocked Bios for GPU Upgrade.
>> Removed 880m. Laptop is now without GPU at this stage.

>> Flashed the A11 Unlocked Bios (Swick's Mod), Disabled "CPU NO FLEX SUPPORT".
>> Installed the 880m again, Booted machine.
>> Greeted with 8 Beeps and a Blank Display
>> Removed 880m, went into bios, the default GPU was set to "PEG", so switched it to "IGFX". Booted once to check if system is ok now, got to the windows screen then a crash which was ok since i figured i'd be installing OS again anyways.
>> Installed 880m again (default GPU in Bios is still "IGFX")enabled UEFI and went onto installing OS.
>> OS Installed finished, tried installing Nvidia Drivers, got an error "Hardware not Found".
>> Went back into bios, it says "NOT DETECTED" on both GPU slots, so my 880m is still invisible to the Bios.

Current state of the system
>> Bios is A11 Unlocked by Swick
>> 880m is installed in slot 1 (left one while looking at the laptop in upright position).
>> Bios cant see 880m, both slots shown as empty
>> Windows says "Microsoft Basic Display Adapter", which i am guessing is the Intel GFX since bios has been set to "IGFX" as default display device and 880m is not even detected.

TLDR, OR My Question Simply
>> i have an M18xR2, with unlocked A11 bios, want to install a 8gb GTX 880m (pulled from an MSI GT70).
>> Bios cant see my 880m
>> Laptop only gives display if i set it to "IGFX" as default display device, set it to "PEG" and i get 8 Beeps.
>> Kindly if anybody here reading this has successfully upgraded a M18xR2 from 7970m CF to a GTX880m, guide me please.

Any help is greatly appreciated as its been over 5 days since i have been trying to get it done, this machine is also a pain to disassemble and reassemble again and again -_-..

Best Regards and thanks in advance.

 

I think I might have bad news for you.

Please install the 880M into the MSI system again and see if it still works. I have the suspect you might have killed the card.

 

hello @Danishblunt and thanks for the prompt reply,

well the reason i pulled the 880m from MSI was that the EC on MSI GT70 got messed up so its not detecting the GPU or the MSI Keyboard lighting features etc.
i did test the 880m in a Clevo i have before i installed it into the M18xR2 , and it works fine.
so the card is okay i suppose.

did i do the upgrade things right??. i mean besides flashing the unlocked bios and other stuff i have mentioned in my post, was i supposed to do anything else?

Also,
i will take your advice and test the 880m in my clevo again, just to be sure. i dont see how it could have died just during installing into the Alienware but never hurts to check .
Thanks again for the help i appreciate it .

 

qamar198,may be you should flash dell vbios to gtx 880?

 

Hello there and thanks for the reply

Can you point me towards some sort of guide on how to do that??
Also,
How do I flash the vbios if the GPU wont show up in the bios or Windows at all?

 

Did you test on your clevo yet?

Also there is no way.

 

You can flash it by another laptop.Any way you better check your old 7970 on another laptop also because your alienware motherboard can be damaged.

 

Well one of the screws on the back cover of my Clevo is stuck (stripped), i couldn't do it. I am working on getting it open though.

The 7970s are damaged for sure, its not the mobo. Here is why i think that,

> mobo registers the 7970s immediately if i install them (sinlge or CF)
> in case of CF, i get a black screen when trying to install AMD drivers. Also happens if i only use the 7970m that was working in slot 2 prior to failure.
> in case of single GPU, one of the GPU works for a few hours (regular usage), or for a few minutes (under load), then it starts to show discoloration and garbage. Video Driver crashes. Tried to get it reflowed, but that only prolonged the time to failure a bit.

I have one more option though until i test the 880m in my Clevo,
I got a Dell M6600 with AMD Firepro M6100 (Radeon 8950m), its almost the same fit with the heatsink as the 7970m,
Anybody have any idea if that would work??
Though I really want to get the 880m working.

And,
If the 880m works in Clevo, can I flash it with Dell Vbios once it has booted into windows in Clevo??

@Charger67RT just confirming if that's what you meant by any laptop, it doesn't need to be a dell laptop??

 

Even without Dell vBIOS the card should run normally. The thing is that when a BIOS can't recognize a card, then that's always a very terrible sign.

 

The problem is AW M18xR2 don't play well with Gtx880m. Take look into the AW sub threads. Maybe @Mr. Fox @Raidriar @GodlikeRU have some advices.

 

Yes, you can use any laptop with mxm slot.I have AW 18 R1 with one 970m.Before it was clevo .Also my old 765m was flashed to clevo vbios and successfuly installed to msi gt680 laptop.But any way
your laptop must run with 880 even with clevo vbios.
P.S. If your AW have unlocked bios just try to put it in SG mode:both Intel HD and 880 msut be discoverable.If 880 works fine in another laptop it is not good sign for your AW.

 

That means the second card has probably bad further memory regions. I got the same result with piece of dying **** called 6990M

If BIOS can't see it then it's either bad connection or bad card. I think BIOS should see it even with very wrong vBIOS but im not sure, @woodzstack may know though.

Im using Dell vBIOS. You can flash it without laptop using hardware flasher by yourself or go to the shop where they can do it for you. You can get last Dell vBIOS from my signature.

 

Heyy guys,
thanks for all the help, i spent last 2 days in market searching for another GPU. but problem is where i live (Karachi, Pakistan), half of the market doesn't even know if some laptops have replaceable GPU. the other half doesn't have a single clue about the MXM type or they will just argue that a 2gb Quadro 2000m (which was abundantly available, comes from many dead Dell m4600s and m6600s) will be as good as the 7970m since it was also 2gb -_-. This is a market that deals in systems that are refurbished, resold, repaired,resold and then imported here to be sold again . and i can't afford importing a 780m or a 970m since it would cost me around $450+, the m18xR2 i have was bought for an equivalent of around $600.

right now this 880m is the only option i have, i did check many threads here and on other sites, and i did see that people were having trouble with 880m in AW m18xR2 but some of them also seem to get them working okay just by flashing unlocked Bios.

unfortunately while prying open the cover of my Clevo the screwdriver slipped and hit a capacitor, pulling it out of the mobo so haven't gotten around to flashing the Dell vBios on 880m yet..i will try the SG thing though.

@GodlikeRU trust me brother, as soon as i mention flashing a BIOS on a GPU to any shop here, they will start looking at me like i am some alien . i have to argue with these people to explain that they are not selling an OCTACORE laptop, its a QuadCore with hyperthreading -_-. i gotta find some way to fix this with what i have at home .

thanks for the advice guys, really appreciate it. i will flash the vBios (and also confirm that 880m i have is still working and didn't die while installing into the AW), and also thinking of pulling out the AMD Firerpro m6100 from my Dell precision M6600 and see if the AW sees it in bios.
that way, we'll be able to rule out bad 880m or bad mobo. (though i put n the 7970m again and mobo detected it fine.)

 

well i do live in the same country(Pakistan) but different city (Lahore) ... if you have any plans of visiting Lahore or if u have any friend there send him the card along with heatsink .. i will check it for you in my M17x R4 .. and secondly where did you get the 880m from ? i hardly and luckily got 780m from here xD

 

Nice to meet you brother
That 880m was pulled from a MSI GT70, you were quite lucky to find that 780m believe me. I can't even get a decent 2gb GPU, been searching for over 2 months now.
I could not get that 880m working in AW m18x, so I gave it back

 

I have 4GB 8970M crossfire cards that work fine (tested in my M18x R2) if you want to buy those...very good quality cards, high ASIC. I have flashed undervolted vBIOS to them to keep them cooler and extend life (0.975V vs stock 1.0250V)

 

aah thats sad ... btw did you get that card from a local market or from a friend? im willing to test it in my laptop PM me your contact numbver so we can talk there in detail

 

That's great to know, I can't view your profile page but I'm gonna assume you are also from Pakistan, and I hope we can arrange something.

Seems like I currently don't have the privileges to PM anybody
I might need to wait for the system to register my messages to complete the required count for the privileges.

I will PM you both as soon as I can, or if a PM from you could do the trick please do send me one and I'll reply ASAP.
Thanks guys, appreciate the help ☺️

 

Not from Pakistan, from USA, but shipping to Pakistan is possible.

 

Check PM !

 

I don't exactly remember but wasn't there a problem with 8970M and EC fan control?

 

So I finally got a 6970m 2gb last week (pulled from some HP laptop according to the guy), tested it on Sunday ,it kind of works.
Also tried another 880m from another MSI GT70, didn't work

Now the 6970m I have is in primary slot, Bios set to SG mode, GPU detected fine in Bios as well as windows
Drivers also installed without any issues
But the GPU is overheating like crazy just launching GTA V takes it to 100+ centigrade INSTANTLY, and it stays between 100 to 102~103 C, with tons of throttling.
GPU Z shows shader clock as N/A, and synthetic loading using GPU Z's built in test does the same to GPU temperatures (immediately shoots to 102~103)
Idle Temps are 60~65 for the GPU, under 50 for the CPU
Load Temps for CPU are around 75

Could the GPU be faulty ??? (although it runs GTA V fine apart from the stutter due to heavy throttling

The GPU is in slot 1 (primary ), tried it in slot 2 (as there is a fan directly under it, so I thought that'd improve Temps) but of course it didn't work ,
The fans test in Dell Diagnostics was OK, but I don't feel that they're running at full speed in windows, (all Dell drivers are installed, I don't see anything in device manager without drivers, Is there another utility or driver necessary for the Fans to work properly ??

One last thing,
The GPUs and Heatsink in the M18x were with thermal pads, I can't find any thermal pads locally (only option is to import from Aliexpress, wait for upto 15 days) so I peeled them off of my old 7970m for use with 6970m (they're kinda not in ideal condition)
Can I remove the pad on the GPU die and use thermal paste instead ?? (will it fill the gaps as I understand pads are used when the gaps between heatsink and die is significant)
I've got Arctic Silver Ceramique II, can I use that?
And any chance at all to run the card in secondary slot !? (I am using Unlocked Bios)

Thanks

 

woaahhhhhh? did u just say thermal pad on GPU DIE? dude u always have to use THERMAL PASTE on GPU DIE ..never ever use thermal pad on it ..thats the issue which is causing ur GPU to heat up that much ... old thermal pads will work fine on the VRAMs but use a good thermal paste on GPU DIE.. i would suggest GELID GC EXTREME ...

 

Actually both the 7970ms that were in the laptop previously had thermal pads on them, not paste ...
I thought this must be one of those cases where the gap between Die and Heatsink is too much for paste.
I just reused the pads from the 7970m on the 6970m

Are you certain that the 7970m setup in m18x uses thermal paste, not thermal pads??? (as this is a reconditioned laptop, I've seen many refurbished laptops with idiotic pasting jobs. The pads on the heatsink for VRAMS were also stuck on it, thermal paste + thermal pad on top of it)

If m18x with 7970m and AMD heatsink is originally supposed to be installed with thermal paste on die, not pad.
Then......... Did that kill my 7970s originally??

 

Did you put thermal pad on gpu chip?That will kill your gpu and can be reason of 7970 death.

 

No I didn't do it
My m18x came with thermal pads on GPU die of both 7970s
So when installing the 6970m,i reused the thermal pad from 7970 and put it on the 6970m

 

Thats strange..

Even if it was the grey colored pads those where only decent for GPU's up to 35Watts TDP, anything above that and running at 80ºC is a guarantee, if the heatsink doesn't touch the die, buy a bag of varied sizes cooper shims and shim it, because your GPU will run way too hot.

 

I'm trying to find out if m18x with AMD GPUs come with thermal pads or paste originally, '
I'll try putting on some paste when I'm home and see if the situation improves
Can anybody tell me a utility to manually control the fans on the m18xR2?
@senso, I doubt I'll be able to find any shims locally
Especially in the computer market here.

 

Put a tiny bead of paste, fasten the heatsink, remove the heatsink and see if there is good contact, better yet, take a photo of the result and post here before putting it all back together so we can help you confirm if its OK or not to run without the pad.

Judging from @Mr. Fox video:



It doesn't use any thermal pads on the GPU dies.

 

Thank you,
I guess this also explains why the pair of 7970m died
I'll try to do it tonight and get back with the results.
Hope it works because it took me 3 months to find a GPU locally .

 

So I removed the thermal pad from the GPU Die and put some Arctic Silver Ceramique II on it,
Firstly, Yes thermal paste is the actual requirement here not thermal pad. My laptop was refurbished and apparently the guy who was assembling it didn't know that and he just put thermal pads on it, and that killed my pair of 7970s

The idle Temps were definitely improved around 48C on average on regular system usage.
But the load Temps on GTA V and GPU Z synthetic load were 100+ again, though it did take more time than before to gradually go from idle 48 to 101~102 than before.
But GPU didn't drop below 100 after that, tons of throttling too.
The contact between the heatsink and GPU was good, I removed the heatsink and checked it, it was covered evenly by thermal paste from the GPU.
But it only improved the idle Temps, and gave me a couple mins before going to 100c+ under load.
The guy who sold me the 6970m sent me a part number of another GPU he pulled out from some Japanese brand dead gaming laptop ,I Googled it and fount out its a 2gb gtx 675m
So I'm gonna give that a try now.

Thanks for the help in clearing up the thermal pad/thermal paste confusion
I'll report back when I've checked the gtx 675m hopefully with better results

 

good chance you 675M is already dead lol, they were terrible unreliable cards worse than the 7970M by far.

 

Drop the idea of getting 675M. If you get a working one... Only short time before you will see it die.

Rather see if you can find new/used Heatsink. What you have now seems not't work properly.