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Installed 980M in M17x R4(120Hz, 3D)!


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If throttling persists with your system, try this Hibernation method :
-Cold boot
-Hibernate
-Wait 1 minute
-Resume
-No throttling!
The secret thing is to never let you computer power drain, never unplug the adapter or remove the battery with it sitting off or you'll have to hibernate again.
I'm using the 330W PSU, the 240W is not enough to power an OC'd 980M & OC'd 3940XM.


Hello all,

I'm new here, this is my first thread.

I bought an Alienware M17x R4 (new) back in May 2013. With the following specs:

-Intel i7 Quad core Q3630.

-NVidia 680M

-16 GB ram

- 256GB SSD

- 750 WD black HDD

-120HZ + 3D screen

-Windows 7 Home premium 64-bit

For the past 2 years the 680m did a fine job handling games at maximum detail. However, with recent games: GTA V, DAI, Witcher 3 ..... etc, ultra settings were not an option anymore. + I wanted to have the best card clear.png

So I went to eBay, bought the card from woodzstack.

I'm spending the summer holiday in Saudi Arabia, and shipping took less than two weeks. Transaction was smooth, fast, and James Wood was an excellent seller.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

While I was waiting for the card to be delivered I changed the boot settings to pure UEFI, Legacy disabled, secure ,disabled, fast boot disabled, the result is black screen.

I knew before that UEFI + Windows 7 is a no go, so I used legacy, converted my partitions to GPT, changed to UEFI and Ta da !!!! booted to the desktop using Windows 7 + pure UEFIbiggthumpup1.gif

TBH I don't know how did Windows 7 work with pure UEFI while most users couldn't make it workconfused2.gifconfused2.gifconfused2.gif

Sadly when I got the card, I used DDU to remove the old 680M drivers, which somehow prevented the system from booting using UEFI again icon8.gifclear.png

So I knew that windows 8 or 10 preview is a must.

Installed the card, then windows 10 (10130), used the drivers woodzstack provided in his thread.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...m17x-r4-without-optimus-working-great.777145/

From installing the card to the drivers to benchmarking, everything went smoother than I expected.

I only tested the card with GTA V, and I am amazed at how powerful the 980M is, compared to the old 680M. I'm getting more than 60fps on ultra settings!

The card is freakin cooooool, a slightly overclocked 980M is still cooler than a stock 680M clear.png I can barely notice a change in fan speed, always below 3500, maximum temp 65c.

I will upload scores later on.

*******************************Detailed steps**************************************

Here is what I did (I made a clean OS install):

1-backup your files.

2- download DDU to remove the old drivers.

DDU Download

3- boot in safe mode, and run DDU. -------------> you need this step only if you have Win 8 or 10 on a GPT drive running pure UEFI although, I suggest a clean install.

4- restart.

5- go to Bios and change the boot settings:

Boot list option Legacy to UEFI.

Secure mode : disabled

Fast boot : disabled

Load legacy option rom : disabled

20121025_131150.thumb.png.fd7c1d0c261eb3

6-save without exiting.

7- shutdown.

8- Remove battery and charger.

9- hold power button for 30 seconds.

10- remove the bottom cover.

11- remove the GPU fan 3screws.

12- remove the GPU heatsink.

13- remove the 2 screws holding the old GPU.

14- install the 980m, it required some strength to seat it correctly. (DO NOT GO CRAZY ON SECURING THE TWO BOLTS HOLDING THE CARD, THE CARD WILL LOSE CONTATC WITH THE MXM SOCKET, AND CAUSE RUNING ISSUES).

15-use the heat sink screws that came with the card, as the old 680M ones didn't fit.

16-I used thermal pads both from the old GPU and the ones that came with the 980M.

post-36623-14495000475078_thumb.jpg

17- this might be optional, I put pads on the rear 980M vram.

18- Clean the GPU die. I used the alcohol solvents that came with MX-4 thermal paste.

19- apply the new thermal paste.

20- install the heat sink, then the fan.

21- carefully plug in the charger to check if the computer turns on, and go to Bios. if you have under Graphics adapter: Nvidia GFX then you're good to go.

22- put back the bottom cover.

23- install Win 8 or Win 10 preview. (Or the final version if you upgrade after July the 29th)

24- install the appropriate driver. I installed 352.84 (Best version) from J95. NO throttling at all!!!!! :)

25- Game on clear.png or whatever you use your pc for.

980m.thumb.gif.d81feb0e4670614e16841a148

3DMark 11:
Firestrike:

 

Faiz

 

Edited by Solo wing
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Currently using the 330W PSU, as the 240W is not enough for an OC'd 3940XM +980M. 

************update******************

Driver 352.84 is the only useable driver, anything else will cause SEVERE throttling , both the core & the memory.

I think the same can be said about 353 for windows 8.

Edited by Solo wing
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  • 8 months later...
14 hours ago, umbrellacorp said:

Just got mine working today I was using the 60hz first trying fallout switched to 120hz screen running 30 fps.

Is it constant 30Fps (capped/limited)? try changing vsync settings. If the fps keep going up & down then you have throttling. Report back.

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Yep working good ! Now I modified a script in the game folder in documents for fallout and skyrim works great set vysnc on locked. Games staying at 60fps. Sniper elite nazi zombies ran at 140 150 fps before was nice. Funny thing while I'm playing SE zombies and plug in headphones it disables the vysnc and the fps go way up lol. Click out and back in goes back to 60fps locked.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hello good evening, the latest NVIDIA driver you use is 353? I use the 359.06, mod for myself, but starting from this version, I can not do the mod, to install the driver hangs, someone knows something?
Alienware m17 RX4, I7 3610q, 32Gb Ram, 980M 057B1028

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  • 6 months later...
On 5/14/2016 at 3:04 AM, Mavericky2k said:

Hello good evening, the latest NVIDIA driver you use is 353? I use the 359.06, mod for myself, but starting from this version, I can not do the mod, to install the driver hangs, someone knows something?
Alienware m17 RX4, I7 3610q, 32Gb Ram, 980M 057B1028

Sorry about the late reply mate, did you find a solution?

On 12/3/2016 at 10:49 PM, motorherz said:

Hi, do you still have 3dvision with the 980m on the internal laptopscreen available?

3Dvision will not work with the internal display. However It DID WORK with an external 3D screen.

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