M17x R3 GPU upgrade to gtx 780m

[veer]

i haven't done any major upgrade on my system since i bought it, i only added RAM to it.

My current spec is:

• i7 2720qm
  
• gtx460m
  
• 256 ssd
  
• 12 GB Ram
  

I wanna get the gtx 780m, i've already done all the research i could, as far as i know as of right now, it will fit and work. But ( there's always a but:distrust:),

i read somewhere that there might be some issue with the TDP. something about the 780m uses 122w and the voltage is higher than my current graphic card.

I'm buying it on ebay from upgradeyourlatop.

they said it should work fine.

So is the TDP relevant or not? will my rig be able to handle the heat and power requirement.

What other issues should i be concern about before buying the card?

'm buying it on ebay from upgradeyourlatop.

they said it should work fine.

thanks for the adviceI

[Tseng]

My guess is it should work just fine on M17x R3.

Thanks to the improved process of GPU, the power consumption of GTX780m should be very close to 100W, which is same as GTX680m.

[Khenglish]

My guess is it should work just fine on M17x R3.

Thanks to the improved process of GPU, the power consumption of GTX780m should be very close to 100W, which is same as GTX680m.

What improved process? They both use the A2 revision of the GK104 core. The markings on the core denote a change in packaging, not the core. The 780m also runs at higher voltage, higher frequency, and has the 8th SMX unit enabled.

Power 780m vs 680m:

(1.012V/.987V)^2(8/7)(771/720) = 28.6% more power draw than the 680m core.

(1.5V/1.35V)^2(1250/900) = 71% more power draw than 680m memory.

The reason both have a TDP of 100W is because the 680m was well below 100W, but top end cards are labeled as 100W parts anyway. The 580m was also labeled as a 100W part, but people switching from the 580m to the 680m also got much lower temperatures, since the 580m was actually close to 100W.

My understanding is that the m17x does have good cooling, so you should be OK though even though the power draw will be higher. You should be OK with the 240W power brick.

[veer]

ok guys, the 780m is on its way in the mail, i will let u guys know how it does. Figures Cross!!!

[Tseng]

khenglish is right, both 680m and 780m are based on 28nm technology, wonder how nVidia takes care of the heat issue?

[joshuachew]

Guys I am new here and I dont know much about computers. So please bear with me.

I have an R4 and I plan on upgrading my graphics card form a 660M to a 780M. What would I need, hardware wise and software wise. Besides the graphic card and the x brackets of course.

And I have been reading about a vbios, does anyone know where I can get that for the upgrade?

[svl7]

You won't need a backplate, the one on your 660m should work fine. What you need is thermal paste and something to clean your heatsink, e.g. rubbing alcohol. You don't need a vbios for the upgrade, it's on the card.

[joshuachew]

You won't need a backplate, the one on your 660m should work fine. What you need is thermal paste and something to clean your heatsink, e.g. rubbing alcohol. You don't need a vbios for the upgrade, it's on the card.

Are all the cards the same or do I have to look for one that says "For Alienware" like the ones uogradeyourlaptop is selling on eBay?

And is a backplate and a X bracket the same thing? And thermal pads are not deeded?

[wuruochong]

you should try to sell your laptop then buy the new alienware 17

[joshuachew]

The problem is that I have just bought it. I really need some help with the graphic card issue. and I cant PM svl7.....

[NomisGnos]

Veer, did your order arrive? You should record your install for everyone to see.

[ljimmymx]

hi Veer, I would appreciate if you can let us know how's your progress, you would be the first man who tested this!

[veer]

Ok, so i finally got my gtx 780m, installed it and everything was perfect, the Thermal paste, thermal pads and the X- Brakets fits perfectly. Plugged it in, then put everything back together AND BAMMMM!!!!! (lol, nah didn't explode). Its stuck at the load screen (the alien head logo boot screen). So i had to reinstall the 460m for now.

Right now, its past midnight, too tired to go at it anymore... I'm thinking it might be the Motherboard Bios, I have version A12 installed. i read somewhere (can't remember where) it requires A11, but its for R4 as far as i know. I'll try to install the bios in the morning and try it once more.

If these does not work, i'll contact eurocom for some help.

[svl7]

Turn off the iGPU and you should be fine.You'll need the unlocked bios.

[veer]

I did install the unlocked bios A12 for the R3, manage to find the video config options, and i did disable the integrated GPU (didn't touch any other settings).

I reinstalled the 780m, got pass the boot screen onto the screen where windows 7 loads( the windows 7 animation) then no login screen or anything, my whole screen is just showing different colours or sometimes just white, then a beeeep, then it restart (or crashes not sure, no BSOD).

So what I did is I booted into Safe Mode, and everything works as it should, got to the login screen, typed in my password and it loaded. I checked the device manager, to verify display adapter, it said standard VGA( ok!!??), so i uninstalled the current nvidia driver which was the 320.xx and had to restart.

Got back into safe mode, installed the driver which is available on the upgradeyourlaptop's ebay page Index of /support/drivers/upgradeyourlaptop/Alienware.

The driver version is 311.27, it detected the device and installed, but there was no screen blinking or anything during the process (which is weird right?) and then said installation completed and i closed the setup (which was the only option available).

I went back to the device manager/Display adapter, where now it shows the GTX 780m.(was so excited). so i restarted the system went back into normal mode.

I have the same problem still, the screen stays white or red or pink or..... then a beeep and it restarts (my guess it crashes cause i got a crash report when i went back into safe mode). In Safe Mode its still show the adapter the is 780m.

I'm not sure what is causing this, my guess, i have to tweak something the the bios setting or maybe installed a Vbios update or a modified version. Or maybe the driver is not working properly. As i said i'm not sure.

I also checked the screen resolution/ advance setting, and no information about the GPU is available under the adapter tab. it all says not available. Checking the adapter properties, the driver is 'VGAsave'.

I need advise, anything u got is most welcome.

thank you everyone.

[svl7]

Did you change the primary display to PEG and IGD to disabled (internal graphics device, igd - if I remember correctly)?

You might want to try the latest Nvidia beta driver.

[veer]

i changed display to PEG and the IGD was disabled. i still have the same problem. Now in safe mode i cant install the drivers, its not detecting the card. i also tried a new driver 320.49 beta with no luck, it did not detect the hardware either.

When the display is in SG, the 311.27 does detect, but not the 320.49.

how about the pci express graphics, should change anything in the options.

[svl7]

You need to modify the .inf file in order to install the driver.

[NomisGnos]

You need to modify the .inf file in order to install the driver.

Can you elaborate on how he should modify the inf file? What exactly does he have to change?

[J95]

M17XR3 60Hz. Enter the Bios>F9 load optimal defaults>F10 reboot>F2 (don't let windows load) Set AHCI or RAID mode>Disable IGP>Set PEG>F10.

Use nvdmn.inf>open copy / paste http://forum.techinferno.com/nvidia/3907-modded-nvdmn-inf-v320-49-alienware-m17xr3-r2-m18xr1-r2-nvidia-gtx-680m-780m.html

Download / Install NVIDIA DRIVERS 320.49BETA

Installation Failed>Close dialog>Browse C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\320.49\Win8_WinVista_Win7_64\International\Display.Driver folder>Copy / paste downloaded nvdmn.inf>Run setup.exe \International\folder.

[veer]

M17XR3 60Hz. Enter the Bios>F9 load optimal defaults>F10 reboot>F2 (don't let windows load) Set AHCI or RAID mode>Disable IGP>Set PEG>F10.

Use nvdmn.inf>open copy / paste http://forum.techinferno.com/nvidia/3907-modded-nvdmn-inf-v320-49-alienware-m17xr3-r2-m18xr1-r2-nvidia-gtx-680m-780m.html

Download / Install NVIDIA DRIVERS 320.49BETA

Installation Failed>Close dialog>Browse C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\320.49\Win8_WinVista_Win7_64\International\Display.Driver folder>Copy / paste downloaded nvdmn.inf>Run setup.exe \International\folder.

Thanks for your input, i tried to do it this way but it did not work.

when i set IDE to AHCI, to gives me BSOD then restart even in safe mode, so i had to set it back to RAID.

my hardware ids for the GPU is

PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_119F&SUBSYS_04901028&REV_A1

PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_119F&SUBSYS_04901028

PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_119F&CC_030000

PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_119F&CC_0300

i cant find these line in the modded .inf, maybe this might be the reason, not sure. As i said im not good at modding drivers.

any advise would be appreciated.

thhank you

[J95]

Every time the system Bios is flashed load optimal defaults then restore settings.

Use nvcvn.inf v320.49 instead, it's already modded.

nvcvn.inf.zip

[veer]

do i paste both the nvdmn.inf and nvcn.inf into the 320.49 driver "display.driver" folder or only the nvcn.inf.

[J95]

Only nvcvn.inf.

[veer]

Tried installing driver v320.49 with only the nvcvn.inf, it did detect and install, but when i booted back to normal mode from safe mode, i got the blank screen again.

here are the steps i did (hoping this helps) :

Step 1.

turn on the system

press F2 to get into BIOS

press F9 to restore default setting. I cannot immediately reboot after this as i'll get stuck at the boot screen.(alien head logo boot screen)

Step 2.

Entered Video Configuration

Special Features - enable

powerXpress - muxed fixed scheme

Primary Display - PEG (was SG)

Internal graphic - Disabled (was on AUTO)

Pci express graphic:

ASPM - AUTO

PEG workaround - Disabled

Always enable PEG - Disabled

PCI Express Configuration(under the advance tab):

Dmi link ASPM control - Disable (was already disabled but i was wondering if i should change it)

Step 3.

F10 save and exit

F8 to load boot options

booted into safe mode with networking

Step 4.

copied the nvcvm.inf

launch the 320.49

waited for extraction then the setup wizard failed to detect the hardware.

Pasted and overwrote the nvcvm.inf into the extracted folder C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\320.49\Win8_WinVista_Win7_64\International\Display.Driver.

went back to C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\320.49\Win8_WinVista_Win7_64\International, run the setup.exe

Wizard detects the hardware and installs it successfully.

(I chose the express installation first then after fail to boot in normal mode, I redid everything above then chose custom where i selected only the driver itself and the nvidia audio, where it fail again in normal mode,both installation were successful according to the setup wizard.)

I went to Device manager/ Display Adapter, it shows GTX 780M.

Step 5.

Restarted into normal mode where it boots and get to the window7 animation loading screen after this my screen goes completely white or pink or blue, etc.

i'm attaching some pics for more info.

Again i would really appreciate any help i can get from you guys.

thanks.