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M18x R2 - 880M install issues


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Hey guys. I know there aren't many of us around still using the M18x but I'll give it a try here anyway.

 

I've had my old girl for a long time and 5-6 years ago I put dual 780M's in it without an issue. Earlier this year I got a cheapish 880M off eBay and I was going to put it in my old M17x R3 but couldn't get it to work so tonight I decided to try it in the M18x. I flashed the unlocked BIOS, removed my 780s and shoved the single 880 in there. I set it to PEG and restarted but now I'm just getting 5 beeps. I've tried to do a few power drains with and without the CMOS battery and holding down the FN key but no dice. I have also tried booting with no card and also with one of the 780s.

I'm just wondering what to do now so I can get back into the BIOS and if I ever do, what can I do to get this 880M working.

Cheers.

 

EDIT: It's still running Windows 7

Edited by MattyB
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I bridged the CMOS pins and reset the BIOS so I'm all good now. The 880M looks to be dead unfortunately, unless there's another reason I'm only getting beep codes when switching to PEG. 

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  • 8 months later...

The guy sold me a dead 880M. I have since realized that the 880M was a pretty crappy card. I rebuild and fix Alienware machines as a hobby and since this post, I now have 3 dead 880M's from different machines. The 780M has just about the same performance as the 880M but runs cooler and has less failures. The 980M is a great card but a lot of people had issues with SLI as they are pretty power hungry. 

I now have a GTX 1070 in my M18x R2. The only issue is that it likes to power throttle so each time I boot I go into the BIOS and set the video to iGFX and then reboot and set it back to SG. Then it works really well.  

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I thought I was going to be able to fix the card that I have by soldering new mosfets on the card but I can’t seem to find what I need so right now I have my HD 7970s running in crossfire but unfortunately most games now don’t utilize this so that kind of stinks. 

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Yeah it's a shame that SLI and Crossfire are pretty much dead. That's why I decided to go for a decent single card to keep the old girl running. 

 

If you want to keep it relatively cheap then I'd suggest a single 980M or a 1060 if you can pick one up cheap. If you sell the 7970M's then it shouldn't be an expensive upgrade. 

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That’s funny I never thought to actually sell these cards, I guess I figured they weren’t worth anything. But they are actually selling for about $200-260 on eBay so maybe with some luck I’ll be able to. Thanks for the advice.

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What did you have to do to get the 1070 to work. I was thinking about doing a 1060 because it can more than handle what I want for gaming. But I know there are some modifications and steps to take to install 

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You'll need the unlocked BIOS (downloadable on here when you've done enough posts) and a modded driver. The driver is easy and I can make you one in about 5 mins. I was going to grab a 1060 but then this deal popped up and it was less than what a 1060 was selling for on eBay. 

 

I thought I bought a faulty 1070 but I soon realized that the wrong vBIOS was installed on the card. I worked out how to flash a different one and she started working. I'm not sure about the 1060 but there are are a few different versions of the 1070. The MSI card has a small extra piece coming off the PCB. You can still install it but you have to modify the chassis and the heatsink. The standard MXM card is the easier way to go. 

 

I have a second M18x R2 that I'm currently respraying and I've been thinking of doing a 1060 upgrade but I may just sell it as is. 

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