Solace21

I have surrendered. I uninstalled the GTX 980M. I reinstalled one of the original GTX 675M cards and it works properly in the slot. Either the card I got out of China off of Ebay was bad, or there was a proprietary issue I was unaware of. I don't feel comfortable trying to modify any of the pins on the card, and I feel it was seated properly even though it was not detected in the Bios. In any event, I will get a refund for now and run my laptop as is. If I can find "new" or American sourced parts, I may try this again. Thanks for all your help!

One of the PCI slots is no longer working. This prompted me to look for a single card. The "new card" is an 8 gig GTX 980m. Here's the old hardware configuration: 225-2944 : Alienware M18X R2 - Direct225-2944 : Alienware M18X R2 - Direct Part Number Quantity Description 320-9497 : Dual 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M SLI Enabled320-9497 : Dual 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M SLI Enabled Part Number Quantity Description 3GRJR 1 ASSEMBLY, CARD (CIRCUIT), GRAPHICS, GTX675M, W/CBL X0TYN 1 ASSEMBLY, CARD (CIRCUIT), GRAPHICS, GTX675M, M18XR2 342-4400 : 512GB Solid State Drive SATA 6 Gb/s342-4400 : 512GB Solid State Drive SATA 6 Gb/s Part Number Quantity Description HHCWG 1 SSDR, 512G, S3, 7MM, LATIN/LATIN AMERICA, M3S-M 318-2003 : Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ra y Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD- RW)318-2003 : Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ra y Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD- RW) Part Number Quantity Description 23RM2 1 DVDRW/BD-ROM, 6X, 12.7, Serial ATA, HITACHI LG DATA STORAGE 496GG 1 LABEL, PART NUMBER, BLU-RAY, WORLD WIDE 331-6865 : Alienware Documentation331-6865 : Alienware Documentation Part Number Quantity Description KJKGJ 1 KIT, DOCUMENTATION, AW SERI/WSI, DAO/BCC 421-5830 : Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit Serv ice Pack 1, English, w/Media421-5830 : Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit Serv ice Pack 1, English, w/Media Part Number Quantity Description DYHHR 1 KIT, SOFTWARE, W7U64SP1, MUL17, ANW T5FWH 1 LABEL, CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY, OPERATING SYSTEM, W7U3/6 430-4709 : Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3 x3 MIMO for Gaming and Video a nd Bluetooth 4.0430-4709 : Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3 x3 MIMO for Gaming and Video a nd Bluetooth 4.0 Part Number Quantity Description 7WCGT 1 CARD (CIRCUIT), WIRELESS, KILLER, 3X3 CMYKC 1 LABEL, REGULATORY, WIRELESS, KILLER, WORLD WIDE 320-3263 : 18.4 inch (467.36 mm) WLED Wid eFHD (1080p) display (1920 X 1 080)320-3263 : 18.4 inch (467.36 mm) WLED Wid eFHD (1080p) display (1920 X 1 080) Part Number Quantity Description HGT3J 1 LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY, 18.4FHD, WLED, TLF, SAMSUNG 331-6910 : English Keyboard, 101 Key, M18 X R2331-6910 : English Keyboard, 101 Key, M18 X R2 Part Number Quantity Description 93M0G 1 KEYBOARD, ANW, 6, ADDITIONAL, WORLD WIDE, AVENGER 8GWD6 1 KEYBOARD, ANW, 101, ENG-US, W8, AV MLK 430-4704 : Internal Wireless Bluetooth 4. 0430-4704 : Internal Wireless Bluetooth 4. 0 Part Number Quantity Description 3YX8R 1 CARD (CIRCUIT), WIRELESS, 380, BLUETOOTH, HF WXK2J 1 LABEL, WIRELESS, BLUETOOTH, 380, WORLD WIDE, CSMB 317-9708 : 32GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600 MHz317-9708 : 32GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600 MHz Part Number Quantity Description 8H68R 4 DUAL IN-LINE MEMORY MODULE, 8GB, 1600, 1024X64, 8K, 204 331-6854 : Alienware M18x 330W A/C Adapte r331-6854 : Alienware M18x 330W A/C Adapte r Part Number Quantity Description 5120P 1 CORD, POWER, 125V, 6FT, SJT, UNSHIELDED Y90RR 1 ADAPTER, ALTERNATING CURRENT, 330W, DELTA - AC ADAPT, 3P, PWA INTEGRATED, WORLD WIDE 319-1455 : 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3 840QM (8MB Cache, up to 3.8GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)319-1455 : 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3 840QM (8MB Cache, up to 3.8GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0) Part Number Quantity Description YMT57 1 PROCESSOR, I7-3840QM, 2.8, 4C, IVY, E1, P KT2TK 1 LABEL, INTEL, NO BIOS, CI72 X4KPF 1 ASSEMBLY, HEATSINK, CENTRAL PROCESSOR UNIT, QUAD CORE, M18X 331-6858 : Placement, M18X R2331-6858 : Placement, M18X R2 Part Number Quantity Description FX8M5 1 PLACEMAT, ANW, AVENGER, M18X, R2 630-AABX : Microsoft Office Home and Stud ent 2013630-AABX : Microsoft Office Home and Stud ent 2013 Part Number Quantity Description X7F3W 1 KIT, SOFTWARE, OFCHS-2013, MPI, DELL AMERICAS ORGANIZATION 312-1333 : 96WHr 12-Cell Primary Battery312-1333 : 96WHr 12-Cell Primary Battery Part Number Quantity Description FCPW3 1 BATTERY, PRIMARY, 96WHR, 12C, SIMPLO 331-6908 : Resource DVD, M18X R2331-6908 : Resource DVD, M18X R2 Part Number Quantity Description 49N Sorry if that's bulky... did you need anything else?? You think the card is just bad? Or a proprietary issue?

Negative success. I tried changing it to PEG. Just to cover my basis, I then tried changing it to PCI. Is there a specific driver I should be trying? I've tried the latest one, 390.7.7 and I've tried the old one, 360.0.0. The GTX just does not show up in the BIOS, or in the control panel under hardware, and can not be detected by the GeForce experience software. Any other thoughts?

Sorry, I've been on these crazy 16 hour days. It happens more then I'd like since I'm in the medical field. Let me try that when I get home next. If that's all it takes I will literally wake up half the neighbor-hood with a victory cheer!

I tried both Legacy and UEFI for boot modes. Neither seems to make a difference. I have disabled driver signing and that does not help. From what I understood, though maybe incorrectly?, is that I did not have to modify the INF file for the graphics card thanks to the latest Bios update. Is that not the case? I've tried with the most recent drivers for the GTX 980M and I've also tried with an older 362.0.0. The graphics card was a Clevo, that is allegedly compatible with Alienware devices. I'm at a loss. I read through page 6 of this forum and I don't think the pins are the issue as the card is seated properly. Any thoughts on needing to mod the INF and if so, any idea where I might look for directions to do so? Thanks!

I've downloaded and installed the new BIOS. However, my M18xR2 alienware laptop still does not detect the Nvidia GTX 980m graphics card. I have downloaded the proper driver from Nvidia, but I can not install the driver because the system does not detect it. I thought once this new updated Bios was installed I would be able to install the new driver? Please advise.