davenam

Or you need upgraded bios for your gpu and flash it then it will work

Upgrade with what version ?

I am planning to put 7970m into m17x R5 . Anyone knows if it is possible and if any vbios would be needed for that ???

3-pipe heatsink is the standard.

in this upgrade movie - he has 2-pipe heatsink ...

which confuses me

might both be ok ?

I am planning on buying R5 and installing 980m.

Does anyone know which of those two heatsinks is correct for m17x R5 + 980m ?

Hi

I have removed my GTX 980m which was working very well ( over 11.000 marks in 3dmar11 which I screened before ) and put back my 7970m .

Unfortunately suddenly it stopped working and now DISRETE CARD [ Not detected ]

I tried Fn+F7 many times, i tried to ununstall and install all drivers , i even reinstalled the whole system and reflashed bios - nothing. card still not detected.

I donwgraded A13 bios to A11 unlocked to force PEG on start - the laptop would not start at all, the 8x beep only and black sreen. So I restarted bios , reseated the card twice

still nothing. only SG Intel Card works, the Discrete Card [ Not Detected ]

please help if any ideas

downloaded the 347.12 drivers + all associated modded files and have already made 2 driver sets that are ready to go when i order the card.

can you please share it to download

right now I am using 347.09 modded with results ca. P11050 in 3dmark

would like to try new drivers - might be a better performance

Have you successfully got a 980M working on your M17x R4 with the 120hz panel? HidEvo claims that it does not work in that configuration

EDIT: You need to update your signature. You keep saying you don't have a 60hz panel but your signature says otherwise. Fix it to fix the confusion among everyone =/

I'm sorry about that. There was a mistake in my signature. I do have 60hz screen without 3D .

using optimus or dedicated?

dedicated as I said before

another run - it gets better and better

The 3dmark11 score is not very good - that worries me

maybe its because of the drivers ?

[ATTACH=CONFIG]13689[/ATTACH]

it was indeed because of the drivers !

I have udated the drivers to 347.09 ( modded ) and the score is now quite decent

Do you have 120hz screen or your optimus just does not work?

I have 60hz screen. The optimus does not work with current drivers. Maybe it will when Alienware releases official drivers, dont know.

For now I use Fn+F7 to switch graphic cards - reboot necessary.

Just checking that those whom have upgraded to the 980M or 970M on the Alienware 17s or R4s are able to run Win 7 fine?

Win 8.1 full UEFI mode is not required?

Thanks

I am using WIndows 8.1 in UEFI mode. I need to use dedicated mode - Optimus not working .

Have not tried Win 7.

Dedicated FN+F7, if it's not working then you need to install AW OSD

Yes, in the meanwhile you were writing that, I have installed OSD and switched the graphics manually Fn+F7 .

The computer had to be restarted and booted up on just a sigle graphic card ( Microsoft default ) - so I had to install the drivers once again and this time they all work !! :-)

It is a disadvantage that I have to use only one graphic card now without restart - the Optimus nvidia does not work - but I got the 980m working !!! juppie

The upgrade from 7970m to 980m has been made on my m17x R4

I am using drivers Mr. Fox 344.75 Desktop Mod v2.0: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bwdqi25LDwZya3E4OGVfN3V5dEE/view?usp=sharing

but if you guys recoomend any other - please let me know !

The 3dmark11 score is not very good - that worries me

maybe its because of the drivers ?

thanks for all the help !!

So you upgraded screen 120Hz & GPU?

no I have 60hz display - from what I have read - if I have 60hz screen there should be an easy upgrade but unfortunately the card does not seem to work.

I have installed some drivers that seem to detect the card - it is detected in the Devices

but nothing else - I cannot switch between cards and turn it on - the computer uses Intel Graphics 4000

I have installed hardware - took off 7970m and installed 980m .

but I cannot find and install working drivers for it

pls help

does anyone have the hidevolution drivers which are supposed to work on m17x R4 ?

or any drivers that would work ?

i got the needed sccrews for x-bracket today. taking care of the 7970m -> 980m upgrade on my m17x R4 quite soon now. will keep you updated !

Assuming you mean Dragon Age: Inquisition, since Dragon Age 2 has been out for a while now, I'm with you there. Also: Star Citizen, GO!

Dragon Age Inquisition is the game I've playing for few weeks now - it is brilliant !

It goes on Ultra settings with my 7970M 2Gb .

Also waiting for The Witcher 3 - this one will be best game of the year.

hmmm. I have ordered IC Diamond 24-carat, which everyone recoomended but according to your test, it is actually not very effective

Hi i do have 980m now in my hands but waiting for diamond 24 carat paste to come and screws for clevo xbracket . So still playing Dragon Age on my 7970m ... Already win 8.1 working on UEFI and drivers downloaded . Should keep you updated on the upgrade soon :-)

I have decided on buying 980m and it has already arrived :-)

Waiting though for screws to the x-bracket (clevo) which are thinner than alienware default.

Therefore I cannot let you know if it works for me

Korean clevo reseller let me test their gtx980m in my alienware.

With my folks from Korean alienware forum, I am gonna test

1) whether it works in alienware m17x R4, m18x R2, AW 17

2) how heatsink and gpu chips match hardware-wise

3) do some benchmarks (3dmark11, new 3dmark...)

I've got a desktop modded- nvidia gpu driver (thanks to LEEKM) which doesn't need inf modding.

Too bad I am not getting two, so I can't test sli.

I think I am getting it in a few hours, but gotta go to my wife's parents house. So I will be able to test it tomorrow night (korean time) ie about 33 hours from now.

Wish me a good luck folks.

I have succeeded finally.

Click here.

Congrats !

I am myself now wondering on buying GTX 980M and upgrate my 7970M !

Little afraid of complications but optimistic using Win 8.1 anyway.

Do you know any sites where I can download the modified drivers you have mentioned ?

Hi Guys,

I am David.

I;ve been an Alienware user for several years now - always interested in upgrade :-)

I have joined you to get latest updates, read and share experiences.

Best regards

David