M18x R2, dual GTX 880m or 1060 ?

Question

Have alienware M18 R2 with dual slit 880m card, but one has broke...

So my question is it worth getting a single GTX 1060 and having that over 2x 880M's ?

I'm I correct can't do dual with GTX 1060 (2x)?

What is the top dual cards that can be used?

Found this page which lists GPU's can have, but might not be totaly updated?

Think going above GTX 1060 would mean a lot of work (power/heatsinks etc)

My machine

Alienware M18x R2

Processor: i7-4940MX CPU @ 3.10GHz, 3200 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s)
Mem: 32gb
Graphics:
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M (broken yesterday)

Thanks!

mattyb3 · Accepted Answer

A single 1060 is far better than dual 880M's as SLI support has pretty much ended with most games these days.

No, you can't SLI 1060's in the 18. You will need to flash the unlocked BIOS to run the 1060 as it has to be in SG mode (Switchable Graphics / Optimus) to run the card. SG mode means SLI isn't possible. Also, most 1060's don't tend to have SLI connectors on the PCB.

Head over to https://efgxt.net/forum/63-alienware/ if you'd like to ask some more technical questions on how to go about the upgrade.

Vqmp · Answer

Thanks. Do you advise stopping at 1060 gtx for alienware m18 r2? That's the max without a lot of work/cost?

mattyb3 · Answer

Whatever is within your budget. The 1070 is pretty much the same to get working but will be more expensive. There are also RTX options like the Quadro RTX 3000 but they can be very expensive.

Vqmp · Answer

I was hoping you would see original post as a bit famous.

A friend said the following, what do you think?

Believe you can go up to 1060 safely.
For 1070 / 1080 may
need power upgrade/ cooling too.
May not be stable as well

Any further advice/comments/recommendations ?

mattyb3 · Answer

The 1060 and 1070 are very similar upgrades, you just need to try and get the standard MXM 3.0b form factor. Some cards have a different shape and are hard or impossible to physically fir into the laptop.

There aren't too many 1080's that will fit. The Zotac and Aetina versions are the only ones that fit and have the GPU die in the right place for the heatsink. They also require more power than the MXM slot can provide to get the full performance.

The 1060 is only slightly more powerful than the 980M while the 1070 is a good jump up. It all depends what you can find for a decent price.

The problem with the 980M is that most of them come out of China and they are 'clone' cards. Basically made in peoples garages so the quality is poor and they don't tend to last long.

crimsom · Answer

Hi @Vqmp  welcome to this free user to user Alienware laptop discussion forum. This is not Dell Support. @mattyb3 is providing free information. Please remember to say thank you by clicking on Kudos as this user's only reward. thank you.

Vqmp · Answer

So sounds like go for: 2 x 980M so can run in sli mode 1 x 1060 Otherwise: 1070 1x but require X and X and X from ? 1080 1x but require X and X and X from ?

mattyb3 · Answer

Dual 980M's isn't cost effective as you won't get the performance benefits from SLI in modern games. You can buy a single 1070 for less that two 980M's and you'll get much better real world performance. Benchmarking will show higher performance with SLI 980M's but that means nothing.

If you want to fill the second MXM slot up with something then you can get an MXM to NVMe adapter like I did with my M18x.

The 1080 is basically out of the question. Finding one that will work is difficult and then it's performance won't be much higher than the 1070 due to its power requirements.

A51-06 · Answer

My 980M still preforms well in games now with the 8Gb of GDDR5.

But I highly recommend Mattys advice on the 1070 or 1060 with NVMe setup.

I did hear about MXM 2000 Series cards so I'll get back to you on that.

Vqmp · Answer

31st update comment above. When you say with NVMe setup what does that mean? Assume that's an adapter? Basically seeing my nerd expert Tue and will say go for 1070 from advice here. Leaves spare slot and guess leave empty.

A51-06 · Answer

MXM to NVMe Adapter upgrade - Alienware 18 and M18x - NotebookTalk Well, this the adapter me and @mattyb3 mean.

Vqmp · Answer

Two related questions :

1. Anyone got best explicit bios I can use for nvidia 1070 gtx mobile card in the m18 r2/r3?

2. Can bios be installed with new card fitted say via USB drive?*

*Person forgot bios needed to be flashed, so blank bootup screen/8 beeps. Need bios!

Thanks

mattyb3 · Answer

Hello @Vqmp You will need the Unlocked system BIOS to run the 1070 so that you can swap the video mode to SG. This can be found for free in the Alienware section of the NotebookTalk.net website.

Yes the BIOS is flashed via a Bootable USB drive but I'd suggest to remove the 1070 first. You may need to anyway. Flash at your own risk.

You will also need to use a modded Nvidia driver. If you don't know how to mod the driver .inf then I can help with that.

EDIT: Upon having a quick think, you will have to remove the 1070 or you will still get the 8 beep error after flashing the BIOS. You need to access the new BIOS to switch the video mode to SG and you won't be able to do this with the card installed.

Alienware

M18x R2, dual GTX 880m or 1060 ?

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