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GTX 675mx in m18x R2 is compatible, sort of. [used 75w 660m heatsink]


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The short:

675mx is compatible with the m18x r2, however:

1. You need to use dell 680m backplate, or clevo backplate with clevo screws.

2. If you are coming from a 660m you need to buy a 100w Nvidia heatsink, or alter your 75w 660m heatsink [see below].

3. Custom Inf drivers from LaptopVideo2Go is needed, 314.22 works great!

4. P0 only attainable with AC power (seems to be a normal thing)

5. You lose ability to switch to integrated GFX, not detected anymore.

These are my conclusions, if you guys know any fixes let me know!

The long:

Made the jump to buy a 675mx for my m18x r2 without find any proof that it can be done.

I chose to go with a 675mx because for the performance-to-price ratio to upgrade you just can't beat it. (if you prefer Nvidia like I do)

The good people at Mythlogic only charge ~$390 for a 675mx (as compared to 500 on ebay lol)

[75watt 660m heatsink modification]

Before I tore my laptop apart I had been told by Alienware that there was only one kind of Nvidia heatsink for the m18x, this is not the case as it seems.

For the 660m Dell made a different heatsink labeled "75w", it appears to use the same amount of copper and surface area but is molded slightly different to properly touch certain

parts of the card (power regs, voltage stuff, ect.). Along with that the area for the core to touch the heatsink is smaller and was designed for a lower resting GPU core

, so it required some tinkering to get it to work.

In this picture I used a razor blade to cut out a bigger surface on the copper base of the heatsink.

post-9229-1449499512171_thumb.jpg

After that cleaned all the surfaces on the heatsink AND GPU with Articlean multiple times.

Pictured beside 660m for comparison.

post-9229-14494995121962_thumb.jpg

Installed into m18x, applied Liquid Ultra.

post-9229-14494995122189_thumb.jpg

Applied heatsink, which allowed to you over tighten the screws because the core rests a good 2mm higher then the 660m so be careful!

Done!

Required heatpad thicknesses for use with 75w heatsink.

VRAM: 2mm

Square blocks (power regulators?): 1-0.5mm

Outer edge chips (voltage regulators?): 2mm

Temps are normal: 50-75C max

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well this is interesting, very :) price-power ratio is good indeed.

what about performance and I wonder if its sli capable?

Ive M18X R1 and wonder if it would work, pricetag is tempting..

post some 3dmark11 and 3dmark vantage scores

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  • 2 weeks later...
Hi Max, really appreciate for your post. I have a question. With the cut, is 75w and 100w heatsink identical?

The two heatsinks are not the same, the metal heatsink for the voltage and ram are different with different heights on certain raised parts to better fit the chip layout of the 100watt style cards.

You can still make it work though, just requires thicker heat pads in certain places. That's how mine is, never goes above 80C with an overclock.

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  • 2 months later...
The short:

675mx is compatible with the m18x r2, however:

1. You need to use dell 680m backplate, or clevo backplate with clevo screws.

2. If you are coming from a 660m you need to buy a 100w Nvidia heatsink, or alter your 75w 660m heatsink [see below].

3. Custom Inf drivers from LaptopVideo2Go is needed, 314.22 works great!

4. P0 only attainable with AC power (seems to be a normal thing)

5. You lose ability to switch to integrated GFX, not detected anymore.

These are my conclusions, if you guys know any fixes let me know!

The long:

Made the jump to buy a 675mx for my m18x r2 without find any proof that it can be done.

I chose to go with a 675mx because for the performance-to-price ratio to upgrade you just can't beat it. (if you prefer Nvidia like I do)

The good people at Mythlogic only charge ~$390 for a 675mx (as compared to 500 on ebay lol)

[75watt 660m heatsink modification]

Before I tore my laptop apart I had been told by Alienware that there was only one kind of Nvidia heatsink for the m18x, this is not the case as it seems.

For the 660m Dell made a different heatsink labeled "75w", it appears to use the same amount of copper and surface area but is molded slightly different to properly touch certain

parts of the card (power regs, voltage stuff, ect.). Along with that the area for the core to touch the heatsink is smaller and was designed for a lower resting GPU core

, so it required some tinkering to get it to work.

In this picture I used a razor blade to cut out a bigger surface on the copper base of the heatsink.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7247[/ATTACH]

After that cleaned all the surfaces on the heatsink AND GPU with Articlean multiple times.

Pictured beside 660m for comparison.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7248[/ATTACH]

Installed into m18x, applied Liquid Ultra.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]7249[/ATTACH]

Applied heatsink, which allowed to you over tighten the screws because the core rests a good 2mm higher then the 660m so be careful!

Done!

Required heatpad thicknesses for use with 75w heatsink.

VRAM: 2mm

Square blocks (power regulators?): 1-0.5mm

Outer edge chips (voltage regulators?): 2mm

Temps are normal: 50-75C max

hay man thanks for sharing ur experience with us its really helpful

i need to ask u question

i'm upgrading my m18x R1 gpu from the gtx 460m to the new gtx 780m and i have the 75w heatsink with the three plads of copper , and i checked the 780m and the 680 ram and electronic parts they looks almost the same so my question is (and excuse me for that question because i'm new to laptop upgrade ) what did u meant by cutting out a bigger surface on the copper base of the heatsink ? do u mean the area touching the main gpu processor or u men this small recessed afea on the main heatsink metal ? if u can mark it on the picture u post pefore i really appreciate that

thanks again

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