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I added this post in the another forum a few months ago but felt like it could also help someone here, enjoy... So ive owned quite a few Alienware laptops but out of all of them my favorite has always been the great m17x R4. I love its aggressive looks, its lines and grills remind me of lamborgini design, the 1 glass sheet screen, the media keys looked futuristic and its laser etched name plate added a touch of personalization and attention to detail that they used to have. So considering it still has powerful specs for modern standards, i7 processors, 32gb ram, 2ssd and 1msata slots, 120hz 3D display, mxm slot, sd card reader, I couldn't help but to sell my 2 current laptops (15 R1 980m, 4k, 15 R3 1060) and purchase a pristine example of this machine with all its original packaging to upgrade it up to todays specs. The Original Specs of this particular system were: * Intel i7 3820qm 2.7ghz / 3.7ghz * Nvidia GTX680m 2gb * 8gb DDR3 RAM 1600mhz CL11 * 250gb Samsung 840pro SSD * 1tb Seagate Momentum HDD * 17" 1080p 120hz 3D display Desired Upgrades: * Intel i7 3940mx 3.0ghz / 3.9ghz * Nvidia GTX 1070 8gb * 32gb DDR3 Ram 1600 CL10 Corsair * 1tb Samsung 860 EVO SSD * Liquid Metal and better thermal pads 2019 Specs: * Intel i7 3940mx 3.0ghz / 3.9ghz * Zotac GTX 1070mxm 8gb * 32gb DDR3 Ram 1866 CL9 Corsair Vengeance * 1tb Samsung 860 Evo SSD * 256gb Samsung 840 Pro SSD * Liquid Metal and Fujipoly 17w/mk thermal pads * 17.3" 1080p 120hz 3D display I already purchased the GTX 1070 mxm, 32gb RAM and the 1tb SSD. The GTX1070 is installed and working at its full power. I applied Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut liquid metal thermal compound to both CPU and GPU and Fujipoly ultra extreme 17.0 W/mK thermal pads with my modified GPU heatsink and new X-bracket. CPU is overclocked from OEM BIOS to stage1 4.1ghz 3.9ghz 4cores. No chasis or board was cut or damaged during this process as I wanted to keep its integrity and no throttle issues what so ever. As I already had the 120hz edp screen, it was an easier job to do and thanks to @Striker123 and to @D4ddy for their threads as they made me have the guts to go through the project and to Rick for selling me this perfect example of a computer. Alienware m17x r4 1070 mxm http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/msi-gtx-1070-mxm-successfully-working-on-alienware-m17x-r4-another-socket-victory-against-bga-crap.803637/ Alienware m17 Ranger 1070 mxm http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-17-r5-gtx-1070-mxm-3-1b.800137/ Here are some before and after benchmarks so you can see this baby flying let me know what you think about these numbers... I will be uploading more pictures soon as it only lets me upload 5. If you guys have any questions id be glad to help out. current issues: - the GPU fan does not automatically work so I have to use HWinfo to manually build the fan table but HWinfo sucks balls at this and doesn't start them automatically either, also with HWinfo I take control of both CPU and GPU fans at the same time and sometimes I just want my CPU fan to be spinning. so if someone has a fix for this man that would be great!

I make this thread for people who have bricked their bios on their r4(not the vbios), since the release of the A05 I have seen multiple people bricking their bios. The solution to this problem is really easy. Go to Drivers en downloads | Dell [Nederland] and download the .exe file. Use winrar to extract this file, you will have a file named like this QBR00EC.fd, rename it to M17R4.hdr. Now format an USB stick to fat/fat 32, and ONLY put this file on it. We are almost done!!! Unplug the battery from your laptop and be sure the power adapter is not plugged in, and put the USB in the eSate(NOT USB SLOT). Now hold the end button and plug in the adapter, your alienware should come back to live now!!!! It will beep some times and restart few times. Note: Leave CMOS battery in, or it wont work Thanks to SVL7/Brian, clearing things up for me, just go back into bios flashing

I'm attempting to install a gtx 980m into an m17x r4. I have an unlocked a15 bios booting in pure UEFI. I haven't really messed with any other settings in the bios. I used DDU to uninstall previous Nvidia drivers and all system drivers are up to date. My issue is the 980m is not being detected at all in the bios or device manager. I believe in the bios, "Discrete Graphics" says "Not Detected". Is there any possible explanation for this other than a dead card? The old gpu still works fine on this device when I switched back,

So I just received a 980m in the post and after installing it I was greeted by multiple system crashes on my Alienware m17xr4 and was unable to install new drivers. Is there a step in the intallation process I missed? A bios setting I was supposed to change? The laptop is already set to UEFI mode in preperation for this and upon putting the old 680m back in the system it now works again. I have heard that I need to change INI files to install drivers but I expected it to at least function without large bugs such as these. Do you think that this GPU is faulty or have I done something wrong? Thanks for any help you can give. - M

Hi Guys, may be someone could give me a good advice... The system: Alienware m17x R4 with 120hz panel form r3 (LG - LGD02C5) Bios Dell A15 (Also tried unlocked A11) Now installed GTX 860m 4gb (Kepler edition) works with no issue Bought GTX 970 6gb Aetina production Works under MS driver Does not show image on eDP internal screen right after installing Nvidia modded drivers All external ports ( HDMI, eDP VGA) works with no issues - tested on benchmarks the card itself works great The internal screen could blink several times depending on vBios flashed ( so the card is trying to fire it up) Internal screen is not recognized properly - Using Monitor asset manager i observed that: GTX 860 create two monitor entries 1) Realtime and 1) Registry GTX 970m creates two monitor entries 1)Registry and 2) Registry If I change the max Hz using CRU to 100 and Close/Open laptop screen it will show picture in 1024x768 resolution with no possibility to extend and it also see a "Virtual monitor" attached to real one ( extended) So the main issue is that INTERNAL Display is recognized AS 2 displays 1 connected to the internal laptop port and one into Display port: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gehYFsabXcrB9bvaKwsTSCqIS4FGSGIF?usp=sharing vBios tried Premav2, MSI,Dell,Clevo Drivers version tried: 340,350,380,411 I searched for a something related to my issue here and found themes which are really near - but with different problems

hello all, i just got a gtx 980m from a seller on amazon. i have the card installed in my alienware m17x r4, i have updated the bios to A15 stock, in the bios its showing the card is there, in windows 10 the card is also shown in device manager, but it has the code 43 error, i have disabled driver signing and installed a modded driver but its not working, i have uefi legacy mode enabled, i need help getting this working, do i need a modded bios to get the card working? is my card a g-sync version ? any help with this would be great, also if it is a g-sync card, can i vbios flash it with a non g-sync vbios? how can i tell if this card is a clevo or msi ? thanks in advance

Hey all, just got my m17xr4 and put my 980m from my m15x (old) in it. I was able to score much higher graphics score in firestrike even though it is a much older machine. I made a custom vbios for the m15x to get rid of any throttling, and am in the process of making on for the m17xr4 but I'm wondering if there is anything else I have missed to deal with the throttling. any help would be appreciated

bonjour, je souhaiterai unlock mon bios A15 de mon alienware m17x r4 . pouvez vous m'aider? je possède l'unlock A14 est il compatible avec le bios A15?

Hi there, I'm planning to upgrade my gpu to the gtx 980 from my now knackered cooked 9 times hd7970, but looking at pictures and videos on the web I have a different 3 pipe heatsink to most it seems... Others appear to have more copper present on the memory cooler section than mine. My question is for anyone who has the same heatsink or knows of this one, have they been able to cool another gpu successfully?

M17xR4 upgrade 680m to 1060I kindly apologise for my atrocious formatting, I have never written such a long thread before. Hey everyone, this is my experience regarding upgrading my m17xR4(2012) with a 680m and a 3D 120hz display to a GTX 1060. Please bear with me as it will be a long story.A little bit of background, on May 11, 2017, my laptop suddenly shut itself down when playing some Witcher 3. No response, no power, no lights, certainly dead.http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...t-motherboard-replaced-but-still-dead.805508/Called Dell India, they recommended motherboard replacement (not quite as much as a recommendation but as an only option.) 15000INR for that. (~235USD)Still not resolved, no light, no post, no power. But if I remove the 680m, the laptop boots but gives 8 beeps, indicating a GPU or LCD failure. Putting the gpu back in causes a short circuit and no power to system.Dell technician recommended GPU and LCD replacement. Will cost about 15000INR(235USSD) for GPU and 8000INR(125USD) for the LCD.Sure, why not.New GPU time. And boy oh boy, I was in for a headache.Initial plan was for GTX 980m, easy and simple upgrade, tried and tested.I contacted @woodzstack, he suggested me the 1060, approx. 30% more performance for the same price. I went ahead with that.He is a well-known and an excellent seller here on NBR and other forums.So I got myself a 1060 with a heatsink. The heatsink on my 680m had worn out screws and I couldn’t remove it to reuse it (tried a Dremel to make grooves). The 1060 was available and ready to ship, the heatsink was on back order which caused some delay. Thankfully, woodzstack provided me with a free upgrade to faster shipping. Thanks! Then came the headaches. As I didn’t have a backup or fall back gpu (680m died), I wasn’t able to change the settings in bios required for 1060 and the system won’t boot with a 1060 ass the settings were incorrect. Also, I had the motherboard replaced which had stock bios. Got 8 beeps with 1060 installed, indicating gpu or LCD failure, which it wasn’t. Also, being a 120hz 3d display, I couldn’t use the intel gpu, as it won’t be able to run the display.Stuck in catch22 situation there. I contemplated returning the gpu as I hadn’t gotten it to work, and it had gotten quite expensive(motherboard+gpu+heatsink). I posted on various forums for 2nd hand 680Ms or even lower gpu. Woodzstack offered a 680M but shipping was quite expensive.Then @maxslo came to my rescue, he offered a used Quadro K1000M. Just pay for shipping and its mine. Notebookcheck states that its equivalent to a GT 630M, so it was from my series of gpu. I didn’t know if it would work or not, I took a gamble, if it didn’t work I would return all the stuff and get a new laptop (or a desktop maybe?)It took its own sweet time to come as it was via national post (can’t complain, got the card only for shipping cost)And when it came, I installed it, hit the power. I TURNED ON. It was alive!I quickly got into bios, changed the settings and installed the 1060.But alas, it didn’t start. 8 beeps again. Woodzstack helped here again.The issue was default display setting in bios and the uefi settings. Uefi needs a compatible gpu to save that setting and boot with that gpu. As k1000m wasn’t a uefi compliant gpu, I was stuck again. But changing the graphics settings to auto and then it let me disable the legacy settings. After applying these settings and installing the 1060, it let me boot.Somewhat.No bootable media detected. Press any key to restart.Turns out that the gtx 1060 is fussy even about bot drive partitions. Had to reinstall windows on a GPT partition. MBR to GPT conversion did not work. Needed a fresh install.Finally, after 3 months of patience, I could revive my laptop.II would like to thank these threads and their authorshttps://www.techinferno.com/index.php?/forums/topic/10982-m17x-r4-gtx-1060-upgrade/https://www.techinferno.com/index.p...x-r4-another-socket-victory-against-bga-crap/Note: for 680m, the benchmark was done on max overclock +300 core and +500 memory. Stock score would be nearer to 3DM11 P=6300-6500, Ex=2200-2400Unfortunately, I don’t have 3dmark scores for 680m Note: This is same as my thread on NBR. Posting here as well for people not on NBR. http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/m17xr4-upgrade-680m-to-1060.808327 Some benchmarks

Troubleshooting Modified driver Installation. If you are able to successfully modify the .inf to install GPU driver but games still using dedicated graphics or crashing, this is how I got it to work. Also link to the instructions I used to modify the .inf (Credit to Yuki Rea Founder and Creator of null-src.com) That tutorial can be found here https://null-src.com/posts/nvidia-notebook-driver-inf-mod/post.php Soapbox - Gaming Laptop GPU Upgrade

Hello, I have a 2nd hand M17XR4 from 2014. (I bought it 2nd hand because I wanted an alienware but had no money for brand new ones, its my first ever personal purchase after saving up when i had a job, my first and only laptop:( ) The issue happened suddenly while playing League, it crashed and wouldnt boot up anymore. It gives 8 beeps when powering on. No LCD light and 8 beeps when powered on with gpu. LCD lights up when gpu is removed but still 8 beeps and stuck at black screen. I cant bring it to a service center because there is none here in Philippines. The LCD is 3d capable as I recall. Im hoping to buy an old gpu from you guys just so I can make it work again. The old gpu on it is a GTX 675M (see attached). I brought it to some guys who tried to have a look but they couldnt find any visible issue on the motherboard, lcd, and gpu. (They opened the laptop up.) They also tried to reheat the solders just in case but it did nothing. I already spent 200$ in travel and expenses going to those shops because I live far from the capital but still no luck. Can you guys help me out what should be done?

My Alienware M17xR4 has started shutting down immediately after the fans start spinning loudly. This has happened even before the OS boots. I have Windows and Linux in dual boot using Refind. Sometimes even as it reaches the Refind menu the system freezes, fan noise gets loud and the unit immediately shuts down. Once when I managed to get to the OS I ran the Dell CPU stress test, the test started properly and even the fan got very noisy. I left the system alone and after 15mins with the test still running thought to check the status and when I tried to move the cursor found the system was frozen and it immediately crashed. The fan ran loud the whole time. How can I find out if the issue is the CPU or the GPU or the motherboard? It seems to behave properly when running on battery, compared to running off the charger. Could this be an issue? The way I see it, with cpu, gpu, ram and hdd upgradeable, this as an awesome unit and I'd rather not see it go.

Hello im new to owning an alienware laptop and i got some problems with that custom nvidia drivers for my model. There is no Dell driver for the 765m, i´ve read about changing the nvdmi.inf and i sucessfully installed the driver already by doing that. The problem i have is that i got no clue how to find out which section is the right for mine. I run into some weird error as my laptop freezes on restarting or shut down, or i get the message that UxdService needs to be stopped in order to shutdown. I tried to download the Dell Driver for the old 680m and find the right section from there but i guess im to stupid to understand as there are a lot of numbers. This is my hardware ID. I tried using section 62. Section 64 was also already tried. PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_11E1&SUBSYS_05801028 I can play games just fine but it annoys me not to be able to shutdown without pressing the power button for a few secs. Very thankful if anyone could help. Also if anyone would explain me how to do it right i´d be glad to help other members.

I’m running an Alienware M17xr4. Problem is when I change my A11 bios configuration to PEG and disable my igpu, my screen reboots to a blank screen followed by 1 beep. Then the screen lights up but is all black and seems to remain that way until I run out of patience. Does anyone know what is happening?

Hey Everyone, I'm looking for some testers to see if we can get LEGACY SUPPORT for the m17xR4. Furthermore, I've also done MANY updates on this bios, too... I updated RAID (EFI & LEGACY) to v12.9.0.2006 (This may need to be downgraded as the chipset you have may NOT support this raid version, but this is the latest version that will work IF youre running RAID. It also supports TRIM in RAID0. If you are not running raid, I can update to v13 if you want, but we need to test one at a time!) Updated GOP Drivers & GOP Policy Updated vbios from 2098 to 2171 Updated Microcode for all cpu's Added M.2 Support Added NvMe support Updated Atheros Lan Firmware & PXE Boot Firmware Updated To Possibly Give Legacy Support, BUT....... I NEED TESTERS!!! Please contact me if you want to try. Understand, HOWEVER, that am NOT responsible for ANYTHING that happens to your system if it goes wrong. (Just a SMALL disclaimer, heh) Thanks, Swick

Hi everybody, I come to you for a real problem i get since 2 days : A month ago, i had recovery the bios with the E-sata method and A05 bios. No problem, i just reinstall W7 and all is all right. But 2 days ago, Amd ask me to Update GPU driver, and i do it. Since, every time i try to launch anything or install AMD driver, the M17 carsh in black screen and i was forced to shut down. I supposed after a complete day to try some answers that my HD7970 was dead, because Under the integrated GPU, the computer works absolutely fine. Thanks in advance for Help, Config : M17Xr4 (01/2014) HD7970M I7 3630QM SSD Intel Maplecrest 8Go Corsair Vengeance BD ray disk W7 64

Please help... I am trying to give my trusty M17xR4 a new lease of life and have flashed the unlocked vBIOS from svl7 (thanks, btw!) 80.04.33.00.32__'OCedition'_revised_00. Trouble is, I can only overclock by about +160MHz before the video drivers crash while running 3DMarkFS, and I lose video completely in FarCry4 - I can't get anywhere near the +405MHz NVidia Inspector now offers..!! (The temps are fine, so that is not the problem: getting 62-65C under load) Forgive me, but I'm no expert with regards to overclocking... To get stability with higher frequencies do I need to increase voltage..? Strangely, the voltage tweaking options are greyed out for me in Nvidia Inspector. Or do I need to try one of those over-volted vBIOS images instead..? Thanks.

I posted about this over here, but that has not gained much traction, so I figured that this might be a better place to ask. The full details are in the Reddit post, in case I forget something here, but essentially, I am having trouble with what appears to be a CPU TDP throttle restricting my 3920xm overclock when the package power reaches 55W. My specs are: System: M17x R4 CPU: 3920xm GPU: GTX 980m RAM: 16GB (4x4GB) DDR3 1333MHz OS: Windows 8.1 64-bit (MBR/legacy boot with Optimus) PSU: 330W BIOS: A11 Unlocked No matter what multiplier I set in the BIOS or Intel XTU for any combination of 1, 2, 3, or 4 cores active (currently trying 42x for all) my CPU still throttles back to 3.6GHz under a benchmark. Moderate loads of around 50% see a max ratio of 40x~41x but still not meeting the overclock I set. Under a full load at 3.6GHz my CPU is only reaching about 88º C with both an upgraded CPU fan and a repaste, so I don't think that thermal throttling is causing this trouble at the moment. ThrottleStop lights up the "TDP Throttle" indicator when this happens, and looking under TPL shows that ThrottleStop is reading a Turbo Boost power limit of just 55W (which is Intel's factory max). I do have "Turbo PWR Limit MSR Lock" disabled in my BIOS, and current limits maxed. To be fair, though, this BIOS is still very unfamiliar and difficult to navigate for me, so I could very well have incorrectly adjusted some values. Is there a way to force the (Turbo) TDP limit higher than 55W? Is my system actually capable of sending more power than this to the CPU? Is there maybe something wrong with my CPU that causes it to ignore my BIOS settings?

I did upgrade to a GTX780m but I can not install the driver. I use the A12 bios blocked and can not find the unlocked to download. here in the forum says I 'm not allowed to download the files. I need help, please.

Hello, I try to install a GTX770M on my M17XR4, origin is a GTX660M. Problem, I have read several forums looking for specific information, but it is difficult to make sense of things. I seek a tutorial that shows all the stages of change. Can you help me "how to". thank you

hi guys, excuse my bad English!i got some trouble with my alienware, i got a m17x R4 with gtx 880m (last owner swapped the video card) for a time and this week i just format with windows 10, and i can't install the video driver(nvidia), can someone help me? i got the A12 Bios downloaded from the Dell support page and a 3D 120Ghz 1080p screen and again excuse my bad english ty guys1

Well I have now banged my head against this wall for a week. Here is the basics of my system, all other parts are standard: Alienware M17xR4 (delivery date May 2012) Intel 3720QM processor w/Intel HD 4000 iGPU AMD 7970m 015.017.000.000.042717 (if I read the right sticker) Samsung 850 Evo SSD msata 1TB (removed other 2 Mechanical HDD's to simplify troubleshooting 8 GB Ram Windows 7 64bit service pack 1 - installed fresh not a factory install, manually installed drivers myself (Winupdate last run in Feb 2016, then ran it on May 17, 2016 with a restore point being created before the windows update started, windows failure May 19, 2016 approx 10pm local time for me) System Bios: A12 Overclocking Notes: No overclocking attempted, ever. All parts are running at system spec settings Driver notes: AMD are Leshcat drivers 15.7 WHQL Unifl. IntelRST 11.x - version required with Dell drivers for Alienware OSD, Respawn, and other related software, all drivers where possible were most current on site or by maker of product, i.e. Intel Management Interface) Trouble started: While I was playing a game a week ago, the computer froze, no mouse movements, alt-f4 would not close the program, no keyboard response. It was typical as this game has issues with the switchable graphics and only sees the Intel HD4000, even though in the AMD CCC I set it Max Perform (main reason for running Leshcast drivers since Dell and AMD had old versions and/or drivers that were having issues or had the CCC lock some programs into one performance category or another and user couldn't change). Inital Action Taken: So when I rebooted nothing showed up. So I did my normal routine, windows recovery environment off Windows 7 Sp1 64bit retail disc. Nothing happened. sfc /scannow wouldn't run, chkdsk with the various / settings found nothing. I thought this was strange never had this issue before. So I figure well lets go into safe mode and find out what is going on. It just went to a blank screen with a mouse cursor I could move but no shortcut keys brought anything but sticky keys up. After spending hours trying different things, I started to get the 0x07b error. So I did something I don't like, system restore. The only restore point I had was just before a Windows Update was done. Now everything started to go wrong. I would find one solution, but it would not work. Possible Mistakes: I deleted the prefetch directory and removed the Panther directory, in hopes of resetting the prefetch setup. Trying to learn how to put back together the Windows Boot Manager/BCD. I can't confirm if the BCD has been configured in the registry or not since I am only able to load the 5 hive keys in the c:\windows\system32\config and the date on the registry backups were almost 2 hours after the problems started, so they have been of little use. No additional restore points, just the one that I already tried and of course that leaves me with nothing. Reading to many forums Some of the Solutions attempted: rename amd drivers and oem file safe mode safe mode w/networking windows system repair x3 sfc /scannow - won't allow rebuilt the bcd, uefi partition correctly labeled adjust entries in reg to remove amd/ati (but made backups before deletion of the keys) removed all drives but the SSD and no usb devices ran Norton Tool (ISO) for scanning for viruses/malware - results clean as a whistle (and that was with SSD + 2 HDD). Other Notes: I have seen about 5 different errors show up in the Windows RE, but they change frequently, I get the Boot Status Indicates that the OS booted Successfully. I even put in an older clone of this computer, it was from around August 2015. It got into Windows normal mode. I looked around in the SSD for some sort of errors, bad files, etc. Then I made the mistake of seeing if I could boot again into Normal mode on this clone. Opps! Now it won't boot. I can off and on get into safe mode on the clone (not the ssd). Finally it went to the black screen with mouse cursor. I gave up and removed it as it obviously wasn't of much use now. The Alienware model physical installation location of the Msata part is not at all easy to get too, as it all but requires a system tear down almost down to just the frame holding the motherboard. When I had access to safe mode/normal (fyi, I do not have either ways to access Windows) I had Samsung Magician 4.7 software check the status of the SSD and no issues. A new issues that started to appear was in the bios of the laptop. It no longer called the discrete graphics AMD 7970m and Intel HD 4000, now calls them ATI gfx and Ivy Bridge, respectively. I eventually got Windows RE command Bootrec /scanos to say there was a windows install. Now it says there isn't, so it sounds like the BCD/UEFI Boot manager/etc is again wrong. Where am I now on this problem: I just don't know what else to do. I want to try and avoid a reinstall as it can take a long time with all the software and *cough* games I install. Didn't bother contacting alienware as it is really Dell support and someone reading a script that tells them to have me reinstall immediately, so pointless. I can use the help at this point. I have way too many websites/forums, etc. bookmarked it could take years to clear all of them. So I feel I have reached that point that this problem is beyond my knowledge or expertise or lack their of. UPDATE: MAY 28, 2016, Sat, 10pm, as noted below I removed the GPU to verify it wasn't the 7970m, while out I think I came across the sticker that shows the bios version of the video card, it was the only sticker that had a proper looking vbios, 015.017.000.000.042717

Hello again. Well I gave up on saving windows install and working on fresh copy. However with fresh copy, once amd drivers install, system will freeze up at the windows 7 box (I call it that, it glows and glimmers). I then have to go into safe mode, ddu and restart. I have every driver on system up to date. Tried Leshcast 14.4, 14.12, 15.7, 16.2.1, no luck. Upon reading elsewhere I noticed that my system has one of those nvram bios, where taking out battery isn't enough. What has bothered me is that on the first screen of the bios (Main), when you go to entries for Integrated Graphics and Discrete Graphics 1, they use to say Intel Hd 4000 and AMD 7970m, respectively, now just Integrated Graphics Intel Ivy Bridge and Discrete Graphics AMD Gfx. Even if I remove the graphics (amd) card, I can't get the bios (a13) to say Intel HD 4000 (or some combination of those words). I does detect and name the CPU type on the main page. So this is why I am starting to wonder if I have a bad nvram or corrupted data in the nvram (as all of this occured when my SSD install of Win764sp1 froze in game about 3 weeks ago - yes I am a determined type). Now I cannot find a guide that is exactly for the M17xR4. There are guides that say to short out the Cmos Clr location. Others call for the RTCLS to be shorted. Still others say look for a password bridge. Yet still others say move a jumper or pin (which I don't think laptops have because of being moved around). So I guess the question is, how do I get the bios screen main page show Integrated Graphics Intel HD 4000 and the Discrete Graphics 1 to show AMD 7970m (this also is a possible way it was shown, since I haven't seen it since I can't give the exact name it used but close to what I just called it, you will know you have a 4000 and 7970m in your system). As mentioned stuck at A13 bios, they flashed bios during repair to A12, so can't go backwards without major risk). Everything else is being listed with its proper name in the main page (ssd, optical, cpu, etc.). That is when I jumped on the NVRam issue in terms of not truely clearing the bios (with the old fashion way of pulling the cmos battery, laptop main battery and ac adapter, power on once, then go back and replace battery, etc.). Note after rebooting with amd driver in win installed, first attempt at system repair says "bad driver" but second and on just say no reason. I have even disabled the hdmi audio and other audio from Intel in device manager to make sure the AMD driver for audio isn't clashing with intel/Microsoft version. (Intel driver v 10.18.10.3958) Please put me out of my misery over this.

Hello fellow Aliens, My specs: Alienware M17xR4 got it back in Dec 2011 (Dell decided to upgrade my M17xR3 that crapped out on me) Intel Core i7 3940XM Upgraded from 660m to 780m 16GB Samsung 1600 RAM 2 500GB Samsung SSD in Raid 0 ( i know sue me) This will be a little guide with my journey of upgrading my dedicated GTX and CPU. Eagle vision activated and started the hunt on eBay for something that would not leave my bank with a massive dent. All i wanted to do is breathe more life into this monster that i have grown way too attached to. A quick search revealed people want way too much for their hard ware . How ever i started making offers and messaging people to negotiate a better price. I think it took me two days before i found a nice 3940XM listed for 350$. Messaged the dude and surely he replied with 200$ is a no go . But i can do 300$ . I had to come back with 280$ and to make the story short he accepted . Put my 3610QM after looking up on eBay they were going for 80$ give or take. So i listed it for 60$ with 4$ shipping . I got an E-mail from eBay; congrats on your listing...and your item sold . I did not want any negative feedback, so i removed the CPU wiped the thermal paste and decided to be with out my baby () until the 3940XM () arrived ( which took 3 days). That package was like a in my arms being delivered to its rightful owner. Reading all the replies on the offers i had made on 680m and 780m listings. From hell no to sorry you are crazy, there was a fellow that shared with me that the money is not a priority and his new 980m made him so happy he would sell his 780m for 300$ . Naturally i offered 280$ with paypal invoice = no eBay seller fees. What you know he accepted!!!! Listed my 660m for sale and till this day it is still there . I dont want to share my agony with you, waiting for a seven business day delivery by UPS ground , so lets fast forward to when i got the 780m and installing it. Seller advised i would need a 100W heat sink, which my poor 660m oddly had. So 780m is installed and a dual boot of Win10 and Win7 in order to see which Win the 780 preferred. Windows recognized the new hardware, so did the Bios, so i went to www.Nvidia.com and downloaded the latest drivers . The installer kept on saying no compatible hardware was found so that drove me . It was not until i googled " M17xR4 780m upgrade that i found out the 780m is not compatible the "Legal way" and a INF file modification was in place to get the drivers installed. Again googled M17xR4 780m upgrade drivers, and i found numerous of people crying for help as well. I thought to my self ( i will never see this work today, better try this in the morning, but before i went to sleep i needed some wisdom of a fellow Alien to come to my aid. A guy that goes by tanzmeister replied and guided me. Here is a copy paste for yas. These are the links you should check in order to install drivers properly:Flashing vBios:1- Guide:http://forum.techinferno.com/nvidia-video-cards/2166-[guide]-nvidia-vbios-flashing.html2 - vBios for the 780mhttps://www.techinferno.com/index.p...king-editions-modified-clocks-voltage-tweaks/Modded drivers:http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...od-for-780m-880m-and-980m-mobile-gpus.767644/I am not actually sure these drivers are modded... They might just be "Enhanced". So check out this link as well to learn how to mod drivers yourself (really not that hard)https://www.techinferno.com/index.php?/forums/topic/4055-guide-modding-nvidia-oem-inf-files/To install a modded driver you need to restart Windows with DSE disabled (driver signature). Please google this to find how to do it. I personally haven't tried MrFox's drivers but I read they yield fantastic results on Kepler GPU's (780m included) so you can give these a try. Everything worked!!!! Red Alert 2 and Age of Empires 2 were running!!!! Joking aside i launched Gta v and The witcher 3 which ran at a decent 30+ FPS. Castlevania Lords of Shadow 1 and 2 i could play at Ultra. I was genuinely happy with my rig. Until today, for some reason i wanted to try an unlocked Bios. I was on A13, looked up Drivers on Dell's website and downloaded A12, A11, A10 and A05. Did you guess what i did next? I flashed them all one by one, A12 first which was a sucess, A11 which also yielded good results. A10 finished flashing and instead of restarting my Alienware decided to take a nap. Turn it on, and what i feared has happened. I HAD BRICKED MY BIOS!!!! Pulled my crappy Pentium laptop and googled M17xR4 bricked Bios. Thank the merciful lord of forgiveness, of light, of hope, of all that is great. I had stumbles on T|I: Following that i Blindly flashed A05 through recovery (which you really do not know what the hell is going on, Put the file on a flash drive, insert it in eSata. Shut down and remove both battery and AC adapter. Hold the END button on your keyboard and plug in your AC-adapter. Fans turn on 100% All the lights where showing, but then it started beeping and i had to go to work in 30 mins so i left it and proceeded to a warm shower. Finishing up and coming back to the room it was still beeping so i unplugged the AC-adapter reinserted the battery and AC-adapter. Pressed the and voila my tears were sucked back in. Thank you for reading, i know i am not much of a writer, but i just wanted to share my journey if someone was thinking of doing the 780m upgrade.