M15x GPU Thread: General Discussion on Upgrades, GPU Troubleshooting & Repairs

My 5850 idles at around mid 40's to 50's with of diamond and stock pads. Sme goes for my 920xm

 

get .5 mm pads, my temps went from 85 C max to 67 C max on vantage, i had 1mm ek pads switched to .5 mm fujipoly... its clearly a contact issue

 

Fancy if u got 1mm pads or even stock pads its prolly giving u a contact issue, .5mm pads fujipoly fixed my temps by far... i havent tried with the 5870 but i tried with the 460 and my temps went from 85C max to 67 C max on vantage... so that says quite alot

 

guess i gotta get those pads as fast as i can then. i switched back to my 5850 since the heat of the 6970 was too much for even normal use. i hope the pads are the problem because i don't know any other options.

 

Did another Furmark this morning and it hit 95c, i remember with my old one it was 90c so i cant see this paste hitting that even after it settles.

I have just ordered some 0.5m Thermal pads from the US which set me back $30 inc delivery to the Uk ouch.

It will take some time to get here so i was wondering if i can add some thermal paste to my current pads in the meantime.

 

would this stuff be good to use as replacement thermal pads

http://specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/Coollaboratory-Liquid-Metalpad-for-GPU-pid-13246.html

or would it be best to stick with something like this

Thermal heat transfer pads from Specialtech |Specialtech UK Water Cooling Shop

 

Go with the second choice

 

Is it ok to put thermal paste on the thermal pads?

I'm going to be waiting at least 2 weeks for the replacment ones to arrive.

 

I'm going to try and re paste using this stuff as my current paste seems a bit poor.

Will this be ok?

Arctic Silver 5 3.5g Thermal Paste: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories

 

AS5 is fine, but MX-4 is even better and very easy to apply. Arctic Cooling MX-4 - Thermal paste: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories.

 

Too late amazon have already dispatched it to me

Ah well

 

You'll be fine.

 

I re-pasted yesterday and tried many differant methods using a paste called Atrix and my temps have risen since applying the new paste.

Do you think this could be the paste or my thermal pads?

I tried with differant amounts of paste also which didnt make any differance at all to be honest.

This are the temps before Furmark and the settings i used:
https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Public/Capture.JPG?w=d8b3efc2

And these are the temps after Furmark (running for 2 mins:
https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Public/Capture2.JPG?w=a761d89e

 

That wouldn't be gpu related. Sounds kind of like the interal power supply has issues, or the motherboard. I cannot say for sure on whether baking would solve this issue, but I would not think so. Typically this issue would be capacitor related or the IC fried.

 

how did u apply the paste? line or spread method?

 

i tried with the pea method and the last was a line method. The only differance was the amounts i used, but to be honest it didnt make any differance.

I'm running wow now on lower setting than norm and the highest so far is 91, before that my highest was 88c and the GPU was overclocked to 700/1000

 

That's really high.
I used IC Diamond and I'm idling at about low 50's and high 40's. OC'ed to 26x across the board while playing BF3 maxes out at mid 70's celsius. I made an "x" with the paste
Oddly enough, when I repasted, there wasn't any thermal pads on my CPU. I didn't check out the GPU since the temps were fine.

 

Hey you guys I was just wondering since i have an Alienware M15x and I would like to know how I can change the gpu from a gtx 260m to something a lot stronger. I know itis possible but can I maybe upgrade to a gtx 580m. It looks beast and I would be able to play any game on max settings right. Where can I buy it. I am new to this forum. Thanks Where can I buy laptop gpus and what are all of my upgrade options.

 

a single 580m won't play everything on max.

I'm also pretty sure you can't stick one in an M15x.

 

I think the gtx 260m is plenty. Just get a new laptop in 2 years and save yourself the time and trouble

 

Yea something is to miss here, ive either not pasted it right (which i cannot see) or the pads have had it, they dont look in the best of shape to be honest.

I guess all i can do is wait for my new pads coming from the US and my paste which will be here in a few days.

 

Why would one want to max every game out in the first place?
Past the 'High' or 'Very High' settings you get diminishing returns when it comes to graphics for a huge performance impact.

I'm also relatively certain that you can't really place a new gpu inside because Dell has a tendency to either solder the gpu's onto the motherboard, or they invert the MXM slot

 

As far as I know, no one has tried putting in a 580m. the best card i have seen that has worked in an M15x is a ati 6990m. you can buy these from dell but you may have problems with them selling it to u some sales reps will not and it will not be covered by warranty if they do sell it to u. Also they are not cheap ($450+) from what i remember.

All in all to put a new card into a laptop is a right pain especially if you dont no what you are doing you need new thermal paste and pads and then you have to take care of the temps of the card personally I would stick with wat you have or go by a new laptop.

 

You can probably only upgrade to like, a 285 or something, and it will cost you an arm and a leg. MXM boards aren't cheap.

 

Ok, well buying a new laptop is ouut of the question and how much does 1 6990m cost because that card looks beast. Plus I am kind of disappointed with bf3 since I can only play it on medium settings at like 30fps. So I am kind of disappointed with the gtx 260m performance.

 

Dell has never inverted the MXM slot, you're confusing.
And except the small M11x and M14x the rest M15x, all M17x and the M18x use MXM 3.0.

@OP the 580M was not yet tested but you can run a 6970 or a 6990 which will be waaay above your 260M.

And, yes the 260M is showing its age with current games.

 

I have noticed when dell have done their paste job, quite a lot of paste has managed to get under the plastic of the GPU which surrounds the main chip, also a bit of my paste has made it under there.

Shall i leave it or remove the plastic and clean?

I'm guessing the little plastic square wont stick back on after ive removed it.

 

You should post this in the Alienware m15x area you will get much more help

 

I would leave it, the paste isn't doing any harm.

 

It costs a lot. $500 minimum. And there's no guarantee that you'll get it working, or that it won't generate too much heat for your 15x's cooling system to effectively manage.

 

Ok i take it the temps are recorded from the main die?

If they are recorded from the mini chips on the same board that coulkd be my heat issue.

 

Take a look in the M15x subforum, you'll be surprised how many GPUs these systems can handle. AW in general have great cooling.

OP, there's already a huge thread about this with lots of useful info, just take a look.
Definitely not worth upgrading to another laptop.
These cards can be found in the 350$-480$ range .

 

I didn't say it couldn't, but there IS NO guarantee. And I'd like to see a 6990M for under $500.

 

I am really surprised by hpw bad the gtx 260m is doing with bf3

 

I removed it, the first time i repasted

 

Please be more negative. He can get it working if he follows simple guides or goes to a shop that knows what they are doing. And I have two 6990s coming at under 500 a piece (450). So maybe just doubt your current knowledge of Alienware; or else you just sound really negative.

 

How is telling the truth being negative? Is there a guarantee that a 6990M will work well in a 15x? And every 6990 I've seen is well over $500. I don't know why you guys are getting upset about it.

 

Yes a 6970/6990 is guaranteed to work IF you follow the correct steps posted in the m15x forums. If the card doesn't work it's due to a faulty card. All these people telling you that the cooling is bad or that it will only accept a 285m are wrong. Please refer to this thread for any doubt and instructions on installing a 6970 or a 6990:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m15x/571445-m15x-6970m-what-you-need-know-upgrading-problems-solutions.html

Good luck!

On a side note, the m17x r2 can accept 2 (crossfire) 6990's as well! Point is that you'd be surprised what Alienwares in general can handle!

 

Did you stick it back or leave it off?

 

Threw it away, it went in the trash can

 

I left it on for now.

Went out to buy some MX4 as recommended and i have just got my system back up now. If this fails i will do it again and remove the plastic.

Sitting so far at idle 42c from a cold start.

On this occasion as i am waiting for some thermal pads to arrive i applied some paste to each chip that makes contact with the thermal pads.

So lets see...

 

Ok this has been solved.

Atrix paste is 100% utter rubbish!!!

MX4 rules as was far far easier to apply.

Before: Furmark 100c (dell paste)
Atrix paste: Furmark 115c is the worst i had
After: MX4 pasted 76c!!!

Based on 2 mins runs on furmark.

So there you have it, thermal paste can make a huge differance.

 

Go for the 6970M or 6990M.

 

But does a gtx 580m fit in the AW M15x can someone try it.

 

You want it, why don't you try it.

 

glad it worked out for u

 

Because I don't know how to install gpus in laptops and i dont know where to buy it so can u please tell me where to buy it

 

how exactly do i put thermal pads on? theres one side that i can take off and is that it? do i have to take off the other side too? because the other side seems impossible to take off. im using the fujipoly pads

 

Call Dell. Do you realize that the 580M is at least $800 USD? Even if you did figure out how to get it working, it wouldn't be worth the cost.

 

take them both off, yes its a bit complicated but you'll get there