You will need a different heatsink module if you swap from AMD to NVidia, if you try and use the AMD heatsink on the NVidia GPU you will burn it out.
The R3 is a few years old now, which means the thermal TAPE (Not paste) is also old, personally I would not spend hundreds of dollars on a new GPU without spending a few more to purchase new thermal tape
You WILL be able to use intel HD graphics after you change to a NVidia GPU, the only time the intel HD graphics wont work is if you have a 3D 120Hz LCD screen as intel HD is not strong enough.
It's not as complicated as everyone thinks to change the graphics driver so it works on your laptop.
Basically the driver does not recognize GPU's that were not issued with the R3, so all you have to do is find the line of code in the driver and insert your device hardware ID (Found in device manager display driver/properties/details/hardware ID)
Here is a link so you can compare the 580 and 680 together
You can't remove the Intel graphics, it's not a separate card. It's built into the Intel processor.
I put a GTX680M into my m17x r3 a couple of years ago, and it works perfectly. Officially, Alienware will tell you it's not supported, but I can assure you it's compatible. You will need to remove your existing AMD GPU first, and make sure you use a compatible heatsink.
It's a very technical, quite complicated task to swap over the GPU, don't attempt it if you're unsure. I seem to remember I followed a YouTube video and a couple of threads in the Notebook review forums.
Also, you will no longer be able to swap between Intel and discrete GPU, you will be using discrete GPU all the time. Also worth noting is that graphics drivers downloaded from the NVIDIA website won't work without being modified first, as they will not recognise your setup. There is a thread on Notebook Review forums where a member regular posts modified .INF files which is what you'll need to use.
so, for no complication, the better is put the 580M instead of 680M? 580M will be remove and install with not thermalpaste, no new heatsink, nothing. right?
AndrewSi
3 Apprentice
•
901 Posts
1
June 6th, 2016 06:00
Almost got it.....
You will need a different heatsink module if you swap from AMD to NVidia, if you try and use the AMD heatsink on the NVidia GPU you will burn it out.
The R3 is a few years old now, which means the thermal TAPE (Not paste) is also old, personally I would not spend hundreds of dollars on a new GPU without spending a few more to purchase new thermal tape
You WILL be able to use intel HD graphics after you change to a NVidia GPU, the only time the intel HD graphics wont work is if you have a 3D 120Hz LCD screen as intel HD is not strong enough.
It's not as complicated as everyone thinks to change the graphics driver so it works on your laptop.
Basically the driver does not recognize GPU's that were not issued with the R3, so all you have to do is find the line of code in the driver and insert your device hardware ID (Found in device manager display driver/properties/details/hardware ID)
Here is a link so you can compare the 580 and 680 together
http://gpuboss.com/gpus/GeForce-GTX-680M-vs-GeForce-GTX-580M
sjgore
16 Posts
0
June 6th, 2016 06:00
You can't remove the Intel graphics, it's not a separate card. It's built into the Intel processor.
I put a GTX680M into my m17x r3 a couple of years ago, and it works perfectly. Officially, Alienware will tell you it's not supported, but I can assure you it's compatible. You will need to remove your existing AMD GPU first, and make sure you use a compatible heatsink.
It's a very technical, quite complicated task to swap over the GPU, don't attempt it if you're unsure. I seem to remember I followed a YouTube video and a couple of threads in the Notebook review forums.
Also, you will no longer be able to swap between Intel and discrete GPU, you will be using discrete GPU all the time. Also worth noting is that graphics drivers downloaded from the NVIDIA website won't work without being modified first, as they will not recognise your setup. There is a thread on Notebook Review forums where a member regular posts modified .INF files which is what you'll need to use.
Good luck!
pcampeao
8 Posts
0
June 6th, 2016 07:00
so, for no complication, the better is put the 580M instead of 680M? 580M will be remove and install with not thermalpaste, no new heatsink, nothing. right?
AndrewSi
3 Apprentice
•
901 Posts
1
June 6th, 2016 17:00
Hi.
No you will need a GTX heatsink, you have a AMD heatsink at the moment - They are not interchangeable.
You WILL need to repaste, and considering how old your thermal tape is it would be a good idea to change that too.
The whole idea behind this is to keep the temps low, the lower the temps the longer the GPU will last.