Wipper138 Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 For a while I have been on the fence for screen upgrade to 1080 3D or upgrading my 660m. After some thought I figured "Screen has to be easier to get working!" After I made that ell thought out idea. (Found Here: Need help with screen upgrade. - Page 2) I figure I better start asking some questions before I go and do something stupid again. Was wondering what you guys have/have seen put into a M17X R4. Was not planing on going higher then a 680m but want to make sure to stay pretty future proof for atleast a couple more years. Also want to stay Nvidia do to the recent 3D upgrade. Dont plan on doing this until at least spring. And already have the unlocked bios flashed in. So any suggestions or warnings? Also if 680m turns out to be the way I go I have been getting mixed responses for me to need a new heat sink or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J95 Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 R4 3D Vision supported cards 660m,675m,680m.Heatsinks 680m P/N 9CNMG , 580m P/N V1K2G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wipper138 Posted December 27, 2013 Author Share Posted December 27, 2013 ok well only them three cards. So thats that 680m it is, downside is I still dont know what heatsink is on the 660m... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J95 Posted December 28, 2013 Share Posted December 28, 2013 Better use the 680M 100W htsnk but you can still test/660m/temps, thermal pad placement http://forum.techinferno.com/alienware-m17x-aw-17/3702-m17x-r3-gpu-upgrade-gtx-780m-23.html#post71956 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wipper138 Posted December 29, 2013 Author Share Posted December 29, 2013 Is it same for the R3 and R4? Noticed after my recent screen upgrade how big of a hit performance takes compaired to my old one. So definitely looking to get the 680m hopefully in spring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J95 Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 Yeah, almost the same...P/N 9CNMG heatsink (680m) better contact (black metal part) than the 580m, but as I said check temps using the 660m htsnk, then if needed order from dell (heatsink P/N 9CNMG) it's cheaper that way, the 680m is the proper card for 3D Vision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wipper138 Posted December 30, 2013 Author Share Posted December 30, 2013 I noticed. The performance on a lot of my games dropped about 30% when I use 3D and it drooped a bit when it went up to the 1080p but not to much. 3D gaming makes a rather large hit to fps though. hoping to get the 680m come fall just making sure I cover all the bases so I dont run into the same issues I did with my screen. Just so everything is right Dell 680m is green and the clevo is blue correct? And I am assuming that the clevo wont work 3D and the 4g over the 2gb on the two versions of the 680m doesnt matter (atleast what I have been told)Edit. Even the crazy over prices on ebay have the heat snk at about $65. Just going to go ahead and get a correct one. Hope I can find one when the times comes from somewhere else but doubt it. With the unlocked bios I shouldnt have any issues swapping out the cards correct? I know they are both MXM and both meant for this system just making sure there isnt something I am missing in my newbness. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J95 Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Buying the htsnk from dell is only $25 thermal pads included, ask for the 680m kit too...it could be cheaper than ebay. The unlocked BIOS is not required for officially supported cards and since you have the 3D model now (PEG enabled) even the 780M installs fine (3D not supported) using the stock BIOS.Before upgrading uninstall drivers DDU (safe mode) third uninstall option 'No rescan/Shutdown'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wipper138 Posted January 4, 2014 Author Share Posted January 4, 2014 Cool. Really want to do this especially now that I got the screen issue worked out. (thank you again) But realized how blind I went in doing. Since I have the unlocked bios might as well keep it in there now. Was going to try the card a while ago, glad i didnt but hopefully with the new models being out the 680m might drop a bit.Also, anything I should be looking for when purchasing this card? dont want to miss something small but vitally important when upgradeing like I did my screen. From my udnerstanding the green 680m's are clevo and the Blue are dell. other then that I do not have any idea what to look for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wipper138 Posted January 14, 2014 Author Share Posted January 14, 2014 Tring to get info from Dell is awful. Had three people tell me that the card is not changeable because its a laptop. But they will sell the heat sink for $25. Going to wait awhile and try again hope for yet another person who might know something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godfafa Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Hi I am using m17x R4 3D too.I recently added 780m to my m17x R4. As J95 mentioned, the only GPU that supports 3D in R4 is GTX 6xxm. 5xx or 7xx would not give you the 3d function at all.However, 120hz LCD is still usable. For me, 3D didn't matter. I purchased 3d LCD for 120HZ and 400nit. This LCD is better for your eyes and brighter than normal LCD.I am very happy with my new 780m. It was almost plugNplay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J95 Posted January 14, 2014 Share Posted January 14, 2014 Tring to get info from Dell is awful. Had three people tell me that the card is not changeable because its a laptop. But they will sell the heat sink for $25. Going to wait awhile and try again hope for yet another person who might know something.Yeah, it's a mess, send them an email at alienwareupgrades@dell .com with your service tag# and phone number they will call you, if there's no answer try again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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