Hi @mattyb3 thank you for your 17 R1 upgrade insight. Did not find the official Dell Alienware best upgrade path for their systems. Consequently we value your real life experience and guidance. Kind regards.
Hi @mattyb3 just had a look on eBay and there are many Clevo 8970M on a blue PCB. Image is a [CLEVO/EUROCOM] AMD Radeon R9 M290x/8970m - MXM Graphics Card GPU for laptop. Which variant is suitable for the Alienware 17 R1? Kind regards.
Any of them should be suitable. I believe the Clevo vBIOS will work fine in the Alienware but it's very easy to flash a Dell vBIOS if required. One of the guys on NBR got two of them to work in Crossfire on an old M17x R2.
I managed to put a RTX 2080 MXM card that has been working great for me as I got the seller to do $450 just before the new 3000 series has been released but my performance is amazing.
Hopefully you can get a card that works but I'd personally recommend the 1070 or the 980m as both are older but with a lil overclocking and tuning its like new!
@Alienware Area-51 ALX 2006 How did you get an MXM 2080 for that price??? They are still worth far more than that. 2-3 times more, usually.
Also, the 3000 series MXM GPU's won't be coming out for a long time (if at all) so the 2080 is still the top choice for MXM cards in compatible machines. Their value won't go down much over the next few years
I messaged you before with the eBay link
@mattyb3. I managed to get the guy to lower the price by saying since it was previously used in a Cleveo laptop that must mean it has been used for around maybe 1 or 2 years depending on what year it was bought so that's why I explained to him why would you need an RTX 2080 in your laptop if your going to be doing light gaming because If you aren't doing light gaming or anything like that you must be using it for intense work thus lowering its lifespan.
Because my poor 970M in my 15 R1 that I overclocked so Hard that it literally plays 4k 60FPS on High to Very High in all games like warzone and everything like that.
but yeah, if you have the 980m just make sure to get the 8gb model so you don't run into VRAM limitations.
Hi @Sorpa yes, it is essentially plug in the new GPU and play. Get a GPU with plenty of onboard memory from eBay, etc., watch a YouTube video to see what sundries are used and how it is put together. Then sit back and enjoy your excellent Alienware 17.
If you just want something like your old GPU then I’d just go for an M290x or 8970M. They will be plug and play and perform better than a 780M or 880M. Yes the 980M is a better card but it’s generally more expensive and you’ll have to run a modded driver.
This Dell update package provides the driver for nVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M/960M/965M/970M/980M is supported on Alienware 13/15/17 that are running Windows 10, 64-bit. Compatible Systems are Alienware 13, Alienware 15 and Alienware 17 R2.
From what I remember, they only released the 18 with the 980M option right before they discontinued it. I don't believe that the 17 R1 was ever released with the 980M but I could be wrong.
crimsom
7 Technologist
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6.1K Posts
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October 14th, 2020 17:00
Hi @mattyb3 thank you for your 17 R1 upgrade insight. Did not find the official Dell Alienware best upgrade path for their systems. Consequently we value your real life experience and guidance. Kind regards.
crimsom
7 Technologist
•
6.1K Posts
0
October 14th, 2020 17:00
Hi @mattyb3 just had a look on eBay and there are many Clevo 8970M on a blue PCB. Image is a [CLEVO/EUROCOM] AMD Radeon R9 M290x/8970m - MXM Graphics Card GPU for laptop. Which variant is suitable for the Alienware 17 R1? Kind regards.
mattyb3
5 Practitioner
•
1.7K Posts
0
October 14th, 2020 19:00
Any of them should be suitable. I believe the Clevo vBIOS will work fine in the Alienware but it's very easy to flash a Dell vBIOS if required. One of the guys on NBR got two of them to work in Crossfire on an old M17x R2.
A51-06
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•
3.1K Posts
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October 15th, 2020 06:00
I managed to put a RTX 2080 MXM card that has been working great for me as I got the seller to do $450 just before the new 3000 series has been released but my performance is amazing.
Hopefully you can get a card that works but I'd personally recommend the 1070 or the 980m as both are older but with a lil overclocking and tuning its like new!
mattyb3
5 Practitioner
•
1.7K Posts
0
October 15th, 2020 14:00
@Alienware Area-51 ALX 2006 How did you get an MXM 2080 for that price??? They are still worth far more than that. 2-3 times more, usually.
Also, the 3000 series MXM GPU's won't be coming out for a long time (if at all) so the 2080 is still the top choice for MXM cards in compatible machines. Their value won't go down much over the next few years
A51-06
5 Practitioner
•
3.1K Posts
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October 15th, 2020 15:00
A51-06
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3.1K Posts
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October 16th, 2020 05:00
It's got to be the 980m.
Because my poor 970M in my 15 R1 that I overclocked so Hard that it literally plays 4k 60FPS on High to Very High in all games like warzone and everything like that.
but yeah, if you have the 980m just make sure to get the 8gb model so you don't run into VRAM limitations.
crimsom
7 Technologist
•
6.1K Posts
0
October 16th, 2020 06:00
Hi @Sorpa yes, it is essentially plug in the new GPU and play. Get a GPU with plenty of onboard memory from eBay, etc., watch a YouTube video to see what sundries are used and how it is put together. Then sit back and enjoy your excellent Alienware 17.
mattyb3
5 Practitioner
•
1.7K Posts
0
October 16th, 2020 06:00
If you just want something like your old GPU then I’d just go for an M290x or 8970M. They will be plug and play and perform better than a 780M or 880M. Yes the 980M is a better card but it’s generally more expensive and you’ll have to run a modded driver.
A51-06
5 Practitioner
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3.1K Posts
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October 16th, 2020 06:00
Didnt they make a 980m model of the 17 r1?
crimsom
7 Technologist
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6.1K Posts
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October 16th, 2020 07:00
This Dell update package provides the driver for nVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M/960M/965M/970M/980M is supported on Alienware 13/15/17 that are running Windows 10, 64-bit. Compatible Systems are Alienware 13, Alienware 15 and Alienware 17 R2.
crimsom
7 Technologist
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6.1K Posts
0
October 16th, 2020 08:00
Is the Alienware m17x r5 GPU card plug and play?
A51-06
5 Practitioner
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3.1K Posts
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October 16th, 2020 08:00
Yeah, Its also a standard MXM card.
A51-06
5 Practitioner
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3.1K Posts
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October 16th, 2020 08:00
what about the Alienware m17x r5 edition?
mattyb3
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1.7K Posts
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October 18th, 2020 14:00
From what I remember, they only released the 18 with the 980M option right before they discontinued it. I don't believe that the 17 R1 was ever released with the 980M but I could be wrong.