infosk8er

I like thinking outside the box and like to see others do it. The idea is sound and is to some extent doable but the direction everyone is heading in is a one chip that can do all the necessary demanding tasks without a cough. Maybe sooner or later in the next 10 years the first quantum computing processor will be produced to the public. And then everything you know about computer will be negligent and that technology will rule with nano tech supporting those processors. Call me crazy i know.

Hey Arulin, Many question so I will try to answer as much as I can. would a 780m GTX pulled from a Clevo not post at all on a Alienware x17m R3? That is possible, if you have the wrong BIOS running, the wrong drivers,... Many things can add to this. Is there any reason why a Clevo 780m GTX be any different then a Alienware 780m GTX except for the bios? Nope, Clevo uses univeral cards or generic as well they should work fine in Alienware. Would CPU heatsink grease cause any issues on the memory chips instead of using heat pads? I do not understand this question well can you elaborate. Yes thermal grease should not be used as a thermal link on the memory chips, if you see some there clean them with a very fine soft brush and dab of alcohol on a cotton and without pressure wipe the chips off. When five and six beep codes happen from a freshly installed MXM card is that a sign that the card is bad? That beep code is usually a sign of bad RAM stick or Dimm slot, try uninstalling some ram and retest again. Best option here is to leave one stick in and do a CMOS reset then try again. If a mxm card is working, no matter what bios is on it will it still POST? Unless the card is shorted the laptop should post, the reason why it is not posting i think is from ram or something else, try unplugging the card and revert everything to original, does it post then. If yes boot couple times and do clean restarts, shut down uplug, cmos and install the card boot into safe mode and delete all drivers and start from scratch. If you can not boot at all then I think the answer is "BAD GPU" Is there any reason why a pulled 780m GTX from a Clevo would not work in an Alienware x17m R3? No, it should work fine if the card works fine, inspect it physically any missing chips or damaged, look on google for a reference on how the chips should look like. Send it back and get your money back if you have the option for a refund if not then try to express buyers protection on ebay. Goodluck.

A minor cosmetic scratch on the die does not actually deemed it nonfunctional or make it run hotter. Thermal grease is used to make a flat contact to transfer heat from the die to the heat-sink and it would fill the scratch without an issue. I am not saying it should be scratched but if it is and not deep it will not cause any issue.

I would try this, uninstall the Intel HD Driver, boot in safe mode and use DDU to clean all the traces of the gpu drivers. Shutdown, CMOS (remove the cmos quarter size battery) Unplug charger and battery and hold power button for 60 seconds. Remove and reinsert your dedicated card, plug the cmos battery, battery and charger back in and power up. If it is still not detected then your BIOS can not detect the cards VBIOS, go back to where you got the card from install it in that laptop, get it detected and change the VBIOS on it and redo the first process. If I am wrong here I hope someone will correct me, but that is how I got my 870m to get detected in my 17xr4 upgrade.

Just saw 300 and for the 2nd time, it was even better then the first time i saw it. THIS IS SPAAARTTTAAA

Hello, Good day to whomever feels like it. I am new here and been a PC builder since the mid 90's. Yes I am quite old and love computers. I am a gamer at heart but tend to do professional work for money and sometimes pleasure. Just saying Hi. I am currently running an Alienware M17xr4 and I will probably be sticking to it for the next 2-3 or 10 years if they completely remove legacy support. Anyways looking forward to support and receive support here, best wishes.

Alienware M17XR4 i7-3940XM Nvidia Geforce 870m 6GB 32GB(2x8GB Kenigston)(2x8GB GSkill) 1600Mhz RAM 120GB OCZ SSD 1TB 7200Rpm HGST HDD Killer 1202 Wireless Dual Band Windows 8.1

Honestly, use copper tube/plate on top of the cpu and gpu and maybe ram, but use plastic elastic bendable tubing to link to your pump and radiator. Much easier to work with and wont be needing all the cutting and bending of the copper tubing. Also plastic tubing is easier to make it cosmetically good looking. Just my 3 cents.

Any CPU supports liquid coolers, you have to check if the case fits it and fits the radiator and it should work fine.