Hi @An0npl4y, with so much support and love for the Alienware M17X R4 in the community, I knew I had to create an account to start pitching in. I've been following a lot of threads across different forums to accumulate the ultimate upgrade list for this laptop. I'm an upgrade addict XD. In your original posting you mention someone else to be the guinea pig for a GTX 1080 MXM. Well I would be quite willing to be just that guinea pig in about 6-8 months down the line when I'm done with graduate school. The only condition is if I see the power headroom. So, my questions to you are:
1) For your temp issues, what thermal paste are you using? Have you considered applying liquid metal?
Liquid Metal Guide: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-17-r4-gtx1080-repasting-with-liquid-metal-my-experience.799962/
2) When you stress test both the CPU (3940XM no OC) and GPU (1070) at the same time under 100% load while using the 330W PSU, can you measure the power drawn from the wall using a clamp meter? You can find one on eBay for around %15 USD: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Electronic-AC-DC-Voltage-Clamp-Meter-Multimeter-Current-Volt-Tester-Lead-/110790015230?epid=1200385571&hash=item19cb9978fe:g:968AAOSwwzhZQkWD
If you'd like, I could purchase one for you and have it shipped to you to save you the cost.
3) According to Tom's Guide - List of MXM GPUs and Resellers: http://www.tomsguide.com/answers/id-3429775/list-mxm-gpus.html the GPU I'm looking for is the MSI N17E-G3-A1 Type 2 since it's the only 1080 without a power connector. Do you know if there any other cards available from different manufacturers that fit our no power connector requirement? Since you mentioned that you have a ver1.2 MSI GTX 1070 card, which is upgraded from the v1.0, do you know where I can find out what the latest revision of the manufacturer's card is?
As far as sourcing the correct GTX 1080 MXM goes, I've only been able to find this listing on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/MSI-MS16L1-VGA-Upgrade-Kit-NEW-NVIDIA-GTX-1080-8GB-DDR5-MXM-3-0b-/122498233515?hash=item1c8576b4ab:g:HZUAAOSwK6RZGfg9
Hi @An0npl4y, with so much support and love for the Alienware M17X R4 in the community, I knew I had to create an account to start pitching in. I've been following a lot of threads across different forums to accumulate the ultimate upgrade list for this laptop. I'm an upgrade addict XD. In your original posting you mention someone else to be the guinea pig for a GTX 1080 MXM. Well I would be quite willing to be just that guinea pig in about 6-8 months down the line when I'm done with graduate school. The only condition is if I see the power headroom. So, my questions to you are: 1) For your temp issues, what thermal paste are you using? Have you considered applying liquid metal? Liquid Metal Guide: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-17-r4-gtx1080-repasting-with-liquid-metal-my-experience.799962/ 2) When you stress test both the CPU (3940XM no OC) and GPU (1070) at the same time under 100% load while using the 330W PSU, can you measure the power drawn from the wall using a clamp meter? You can find one on eBay for around %15 USD: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-Electronic-AC-DC-Voltage-Clamp-Meter-Multimeter-Current-Volt-Tester-Lead-/110790015230?epid=1200385571&hash=item19cb9978fe:g:968AAOSwwzhZQkWD If you'd like, I could purchase one for you and have it shipped to you to save you the cost. 3) According to Tom's Guide - List of MXM GPUs and Resellers: http://www.tomsguide.com/answers/id-3429775/list-mxm-gpus.html the GPU I'm looking for is the MSI N17E-G3-A1 Type 2 since it's the only 1080 without a power connector. Do you know if there any other cards available from different manufacturers that fit our no power connector requirement? Since you mentioned that you have a ver1.2 MSI GTX 1070 card, which is upgraded from the v1.0, do you know where I can find out what the latest revision of the manufacturer's card is? As far as sourcing the correct GTX 1080 MXM goes, I've only been able to find this listing on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/MSI-MS16L1-VGA-Upgrade-Kit-NEW-NVIDIA-GTX-1080-8GB-DDR5-MXM-3-0b-/122498233515?hash=item1c8576b4ab:g:HZUAAOSwK6RZGfg9