Back After 7 Years!! :) Need Help in Upgrading!

Hello fam! Remember me? Probably not...

Im the one that created the OSD icon set back in 2011
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/deceptrons-alienware-osd-icons-set.597021/

Its great to be back in the community and I would love to have little help in upgrading.

Im currently having a 460M graphics card default in M15X but I'd love to upgrade this card to something better
that can run fortnite in decent settings. Is it possible ? What card would be best ? Preferably nVidia Cards pls.

Looking forward for you replies

Love you all!

PS: if this thread violates any rules. please move to appropriate section.

 

970m 980m is what most people cap off at.

There is a project somewhere to upgrade to Pascal but I dont know the results of that yet

 

Thank you for your reply. Sorry, Im not a highly tech person so please excuse me...

I found these cards online here :

GTX 970 6G : https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nvidia-GeF...sh=item2a99594e7e:g:bV0AAOSwrsZaMSUc#shpCntId

GTX 765M : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Original-GTX-765M-GTX765M-2GB-Video-Card-for-D-e-l-l-Alienware-M15X-M17X-M18X/32835946144.html?ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_1_10152_10151_10065_10344_10068_10342_10343_10340_10341_10084_10083_10618_10630_10307_5711211_10313_10059_5722311_10534_100031_10103_10627_10626_10624_10623_10622_10621_10620_5711311_10142,searchweb201603_2,ppcSwitch_7&algo_expid=3e63ad91-f93c-4577-9561-d519d8864f8c-4&algo_pvid=3e63ad91-f93c-4577-9561-d519d8864f8c&priceBeautifyAB=0

Do you think I can just unplug the old one and install this new one without any installing or messing the BIOS or anything inside ?


Im looking for something that I can just remove old one and put new one without touching the OS or BIOS..stuff.

 

@Raidriar would probably be able to get you more specifics than I could.

 

Maybe @woodzstack can give you some advices. And he sell graphics cards as well.

 

970M best confirmed plug and play card. Many have upgraded without issues and thermally it is suitable too. 980M works but really hot so not stable.

 

yeah you can use 1070 or 1060 or even I think, with optimus in legacy mode. Or either way for the 1060, if I recall correctly.

 

wrongo

Yes, 970M is the best route. I think we have one M15x member who went with 980M, and he says it never goes over 79C for him, but I don't know what magic he is working. So, the things you need are:

1. M15x updated to the latest BIOS

2. Clevo or Dell 6GB 970M

3. Appropriate screws. I don't know if the M15x standard screws work with a Dell 970M/xbracket, they may not provide enough contact. For Clevo 970M, you may need clevo specific screws, ask your vendor if they can provide them for you, or I can point you to a source where I bought mine if need be.

4. Fresh thermal pads (I use arctic 1.0mm blue thermal pads) and diamond based thermal compound (I use antec formula 7, but really all diamond compounds are within a couple degrees of each other)

5. Modified INF installation files (similar to what you did for the 460M), graciously provided by our resident driver modder @j95

6. svl7's glorious vBIOS that drops the voltage significantly if you get a quality ASIC card. I have mine running at 0.95V vs 1.0V

And that's it. I'm happy with mine, you can see it in my signature. Pascal cards are 10000000000000000% a no go territory (no 1050, no 1060, no 1070, no 1080), as M15x are purely LVDS and unmuxed.

Note: If you are on a tight budget, a Firepro M6100 runs about 55-60$ now used, and they are still extremely capable cards (really a radeon 8950M). Might be worth looking into instead of the 970M.

 

You sure the HD intel graphics when on Switcheable graphics , will not load a 1060 ?
I will check, of course.

However , yes, the 970M and 980M work. I do not recommend the 980M in it though, because it is a card that runs hot, and might be expensive for such an older upgrade, considering the performance - though if the 1060N works, considering it's relatively the same price as a 970M, it would be the best alternative.

The 1060 has no problem working with LVDS displays - so long as it is not on a dedicated mode. The HD Intel graphics, Optimus loads the panel display, just like it does in all the other Alienware and DELL and HP laptops. It also works when you have a dedicated mode if in UEFI in the other laptops like M17X-R4 and AW17 , however the EURO 1070 can not load the LVDS itself, but the HDMI and mDP still work but you need to have something plugged in externally. This is why the 1060 is so much more popular.

 

No mux or muxless switching in the M15x, nevermind the lack of an iGPU in the nehalem mobile quad cores........kinda puts a hole in your Optimus method doesn't it? Nothing to route the eDP signal through for conversion...gg

 

I'm currently using a single AMD HD5870 in my m18x R2 for fortnite in medium setting (My dual 860m finally died).

 

oh they didn't call it Optimus back then right, (started with Sandybridge ?) but your saying it had no switchable graphics ?

I never owned the M15X so I wouldn't know entirely. When I got into Alienware I went straight the the M17X-R4 when it came out.

Do you have a M15X ?

We apparently do not have one for a test bench any longer, so I can not have anyone test.

So tell me about it, does it not have UEFI boot ? Does it have a legacy boot mode as an option ?

it would need something to boot an eDP signal, yes. Having an HDMI 1.3 or higher on it would do it, or a mDP. But might not help with an internal LVDS alone.

 

M15x/M17x R2 never had switchable graphics.
Optimus was even around before Sandy, but it wasn't quite called that M17x R1 had "hybrid graphics", meaning dGPU on MXM 3.0 slot, and integrated nvidia 9400M to fall back on for battery.

Check my signature, I have M15x, M17x R2, M18x R2 w/ sandy extreme, and M18x R2 with ivy extreme. I had an alienware 18 that burned out, and I've decided not to repair that one. I've offered all of these systems to Mark to be tested, never heard back.

M15x/M17x R2 has no UEFI, it wasn't even an option. However, they use Phoenix BIOS instead of Insyde H2O Bios, so their video module was written differently. M15x can POST with a 970M/980M without any special tricks. However, M17x R2 RGBLED display was never handled correctly by Maxwell 2.0 cards.

I have a second 5870M if you want to crossfire

 

hmm thanks for clarification. I knew the laptop better when it was more relevant but I haven't touched one in like a year myself. I also never personally owned it.
Yeah I had removed what I was saying about optimus earlier , I know it existed earlier but had a different name but I can not for the life of me remember what, back then I never paid it a thought. (talking like 10 years ago or almost)

 

@woodzstack could you do a test if possible on M15x for a 1060N. M15x has not optimus but has PCH intel 3400 for 5 series hm55/pm55. The features in that PCH work like optimus but much better because has embedded display port hdmi and FDI flexible display interconnection... For that reason the M15x show proof against any vga that mxm slot recongize... pascal has lack of randac that generat signals outputs for lvds but also the M15x has it bult in in the platform so that reason the screen on M15x is a route from Dp signal converted to screen. In sandy bridge and above the optimus is managed by igfx and lack all these features. On M15x the PCH reconigze any Dp signal send to FDI interface and recompile with randac to get LVDS. At project M15x has support for 3d but they had it apart and missed the pieces not soldering leaving it only on the Dp port output. Is one of the best machines created ever. Check it out!

iPCI Express* Base Specification, Revision 2.0 support for up to eight ports•PCI Local Bus Specification, Revision 2.3 support for 33 MHz PCI operations (supports up to four Req/Gnt pairs)•ACPI Power Management Logic Support, Revision 3.0b•Enhanced DMA controller, interrupt controller, and timer functions•Integrated Serial ATA host controllers with independent DMA operation on up to six ports•USB host interface with support for up to fourteen USB ports; two EHCI high-speed USB 2.0 Host controllers and 2 rate matching hubs•Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet MAC with System Defense•System Management Bus (SMBus) Specification, Version 2.0 with additional support for I2C devices•Supports Intel® High Definition Audio •Supports Intel® Rapid Storage Technology•Supports Intel® Active Management Technology•Supports Intel® Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O•Supports Intel® Trusted Execution Technology

•Supports Intel® Flexible Display Interconnect (Intel® FDI)•

Supports buffered mode generating extra clocks from a clock chip•Analog and Digital Display ports—Analog CRT—HDMI—DVI—DisplayPort 1.1—SDVO—LVDS (Mobile Only)—Embedded DisplayPort

•Low Pin Count (LPC) interface•Firmware Hub (FWH) interface support•Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) support•Intel® Quiet System Technology (Desktop only)•Intel® Anti-Theft Technology•JTAG Boundary Scan support


I can’t afford right now for pascal but if so i would test it. I think it will work fine, better if got a pascal N card for sure.

 

970m for sure... its all about price. If the price was equal go for 980m.

My 980m is downclocked... i use original bios edited with maxweel bios editor. Svl7 push so much for m15. I limit my max clock and after increase significantly the boost table so the card can work at high frequencies even at low volts. So the low volts work better according the clock is low. The curve is fair at the beginning so you don’t need to push much voltage for clocks around 850-1000. I like 900. At 0,8 0,77v card cool. If you want i can give you my bios if you got a 980m. But 970m is more directly and simple....

For CPU the best is use 15-18x max multis. And increase a tdp for any tdp you want. The processor will push max energy from wall that is possible at these multis. And for the coreclock be so low the cpu will work cooler. More frequency doesn’t more work... the cpu will avoid generate heat that is common at higher frequency but will have a good performance per watt. Get a ssd any ssd will be ok. The max transfer rate will be 250-300 MB/s.

For OS windows 10 is fully compatible. Only bluetooth misses drivers that can be found at lenovo website. Search for the name of bluetoth and lenovo. Or buy a new one.

The display port work very nice on any tv... also converting to hdmi. 4k is not possible due to displayport hasn’t enough bandwith. But 1440p is that possible. Also fHd.

Buy a usb 3.0 and attach to Expressslot very useful. Mine has three ports.

That is all i remembered if i find something i will post here!

 

a powered mDP should get you a higher resolution then the HDMI, should all specs of mDP be able to give 4K ?

 

@woodzstack send me a card and I'll just batch test on all my systems at once. Can be 1060 or 1070 doesn't matter as long as it's pascal. That way we can get you and everybody else all the answers we need.

 

It's an idea.

 

Preferably 1060M as it fits the correct form factor. 1070 would not physically fit in the M15x for example. Looking forward to this.

My thoughts are it will work but only via mDP out...

Edit: do I read correctly Cleber that your think Pascal will work!? M15x uses DP signal natively and recompiles to LVDS woot! This would be amazing!

 

I have had customers, who purchased it, and never got back to me once they got it, last year.

I assume it had worked, but not conclusive. Maybe they just put it to another system if it didn't and they didn't mind, and didn't say anything.
Wish I knew 100% now. But Raidrrar says 1 billion percent does not work, not sure what that changes though.

 

Eurocom now has what I believe is their repackaged edition of the GeCube GTX 1070 which is the standard MXM 3.0B form factor, and is limited to 90W-115W vs the 145-150W MSI card and 180W Clevo card.

Cleber's theory is wild, but possible. Stranger things have happened.

 

So will we test and put the issue to bed for good?

 

All depends on @woodzstack and @Eurocom Support

 

Excellent. I would love it is Cleber's theory is correct. 9260 card would be a great low power card for the M15x while the 1060M would deliver a 970M replacement. That said if what you say is true about the updated the 1070M then even that would be a viable option, although massively bottlenecked by the CPU.

 

I may be getting a card from a different seller who will be allowing me to test and return a MXM 1070, will keep you guys posted if it pans out.

 

Thats cool, keep us posted

 

Fingers crossed you can get hold of this card.

 

Alright guys, I ended up bidding on a Zotac 1070 MXM and got it for 400$ on eBay, and the seller will accept return if it doesn’t work (the machine was dead with no power, he thinks the card should work fine).


It’s getting tested in all my systems to see if it will work. M15x will be the first to test since you guys have been clamoring about it for so long. M18x with SNB will be second test, followed by M18x with IVB. I doubt it will work in the M17x R2 but I’ll pop it in there for craps and giggles.

 

Saw that listing earlier today.

Requires the msi 1070 vbios on the ranger to work so if your having no luck it may be worth the time to flash in your efforts.

Best of luck!

 

Then I may just test in the M18x R2 first since I can flash the card there with the MSI vBIOS

 

As far as I know they only support eDP signal output as well, and has only worked on the eDP 120hz panels so its possible that the Zotac card uses LVDS as default though thats just a hopeful guess. Im sure your already aware that there is a host of boxes to check for cards to work properly.

The only card I know that works with Hybrid / Optimus is the Eurocom 1070 so if all else fails maybe you can source a vBIOS from @woodzstack

 

Rubs hands with glee. This Zotac card is in standard MXM 3.0B format without the additional pcb tabs?

 

Except with the M15x any card works vbios wise. Just output compatibility is the question. If this works it proves the M15x was seriously over engineered and that the crap we get these days is overpriced garbage.

 

Its standard MXM 3.0b 90-115w iirc

 

Do you have a pic of the card or a link to the listing? @Raidriar

 

There is a picture in this review

http://www.funkykit.com/reviews/barebones-systems/zotac-zbox-magnus-en1070-gaming-mini-pc-review/3/

 

This is the card i bought:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nvidia-GTX...748028?hash=item4b3ab8f8bc:g:WcgAAOSwvgtal1v-

I will likely be reselling it (for what I paid for it) when testing is over. No PEG is a deal-breaker for me, I'm not interested in using Optimus.

No way in hell was I going to pay Eurocom $600 for a "test" with no returns. The layout is the same, but the Zotac card is missing some MOSFETs comparted to the Eurocom card, but these can be added back in later. Important part is vBIOS, Zotac has a weird one, but I'm assuming the MSI version will work fine. Eurocom's vBIOS, naturally, is proprietary and isn't publicly available.

 

that card in the listing says for parts or not working though.

 

Host machine went kaput but that doesn't mean the gpu is dead.

 

You'll have to grind the GPU heatsink on your M18x in the middle section just like for us who have installed 1060. But for basic testing purposes you might be able to get away without grinding if you use a super thin thermal pad.

 

I’m thinking about skipping the thermal pad and using thermal paste on the tight spaces, or I may dremel a old 6990M heatsink for practice