17 R1, GPU upgrade from GTX 765

Question

Hello,

So I own Alienware 17 R1 and I want to upgrade my GPU. But I'm trying to find the best upgrade. I've read about 880M 8GB or 970M but I want to do research before buying anything. I've also read about new heatsink and PSU compatibility. Do I have to change the whole system to do this upgrade? What do you think is the best option?

My system:

i7-4700MQ, 8GB RAM, GTX 765 2GB, SSD SAMSUNG 500GB

Thanks in advance

mattyb3 · Accepted Answer

Hello, personally I'd stay well away from the 880M. It runs very hot and has a higher failure rate than any MXM card I've ever seen. The 780M is a much better card if you want a plug and play option.

The 970M is the way to go if you're on a budget. It will have similar performance to a mobile GTX 1050 but you will need to change your BIOS to run in pure UEFI (if it's still in Legacy mode). This usually means reinstalling Windows. You'll also need to use a modded Nvidia driver to run any card higher than an 880M. It's not too hard to learn how to do this though, a little tricky the first few times.

The 980M is also a very popular option as well as the 10 series cards like the 1060 and 1070.

Alienware M17X R2 · Answer

Any luck getting an AW M17X R2 working with GTX 970m? I tried, modded the .inf files and still only got a distorted screen. Hdmi TV display worked perfect. So would a GTX 980m work with modded .inf file and an u locked BIOS?

mattyb3 · Answer

I don't think the R2 can take the 900 series but I could be wrong. For some reason the M15x can take them so it must have something to do with the type of display or BIOS.

Alienware M17X R2 · Answer

I tried the 970m in my M17X R2 with u locked bios and modded .inf driver and only got screen distortion. So I'd say it's a no go for the 970m

Alienware

17 R1, GPU upgrade from GTX 765

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