Alienware M17X R4 + 970M in SG mode

[MicroAlex]

Hello guys,

Having s bit of a headache with a latest upgrade. Essentially I took my friends Alienware M17X R4 for an upgrade as the 7970M has kicked the bucket. We have decided on the 970M as the best option for an upgrade at that point, so we proceeded hunting one down in Ireland. Eventually we have located one for a decent price, however it was noted that this 970M is a 3GB version and if I remember correctly it was originally listed as compatible with MSI and Clevo laptops. We decided to try our luck.

So after removing AMD drivers with the cleaning tool, flashing back from A12 BIOS to an unlocked A11, installing the card and trying to boot I got 8 BEEP error on post. As a result took out the card, tried PEG mode, etc... eventually go the laptop to boot with a card installed under SG mode. Installed a test driver from Eurocom and it worked! 
The card was running well in a benchmark and also Dead Space 3. However it is not detected properly by either AIDA64 or OCCT. MSI Afterburner on the other hand does see the card and reports values correctly. More important than that is the fact that nVidia Control Panel crashes when I try to grab the hardware information sometimes, and always when I am trying to add a .exe in 3D settings to override the iGPU. 

If it wasnt for the nVidia control panel I would not even bother figure this issue out. So now I am wondering is it the vBIOS? If yes then is there any available for the 3GB version of 970M that would be compatible with AW R4?

PS, the laptop is with a regular non 3D panel, runs at 1080p.
MSI & Clevo compatible GTX 970M 3GB 
Windows 7 64BIT
GPU fan works
Let me know if you need more details.

Any help would be much appreciated as this is going beyond my level of knowledge. Thank you.

 

Edited May 21, 2016 by MicroAlex

[MicroAlex]

Anyone? Still stuck

[aaronloveweed]

After a year I'm on your same boat (but on m18xr2), with still no fix, SG mode + legacy is ok,
instead, PEG + legacy 8beeps, did you find a solution?

[atricus]

I think that u have to startup ur aw18 in HDMI and then try to go setup and change to uefi full no legacy