Alienware M18x R1 upgrades

[Q-1]

Hey everyone! Recently, I acquired a really cool machine - an Alienware m18x R1 (it cost me around $180), which I want to refurbish and upgrade. It seems to work fine (except for the touchpad, for some reason). The current configuration has i7-2720qm, 16GB of RAM, and dual AMD Radeon HD 6990M (2GB GDDR5) in CrossFire. Current BIOS version: A02. The battery is dead because when I tried to check the charge level, it just flashed with three LED lights, and the laptop won't power on without a charger. Unfortunately, I can't find anywhere to buy a new battery. Also, there was no HDD, no HDD ribbon cable, or caddy. I already purchased an HDD cable (9JP9M) and a new CPU (i7-2960XM). I also want to upgrade GPUs and have a couple of questions. I researched and discovered that the best GPU that will work on R1 is GTX 880m. I found a couple of DELL 880m options on Aliexpress and NVIDIA SLI Cable. I want to install dual 880m in SLI, but do I need to change the heatsinks to be able to do so? And do I need custom NVIDIA drivers? Also, I need to update the BIOS to an unlocked version first, but since my battery is not working, will it be problematic to do so? I would appreciate any advice. Thanks a lot!

[razor0601]

Yes you need the 100w GTX Heatsinks and I guess for the 880m SLI you don’t need an unlocked Bios. Without battery you can’t update the Bios. You must have a working one.

[Q-1]

finding a new or even used working battery for m18x is almost impossible

53 minutes ago, razor0601 said:

Yes you need the 100w GTX Heatsinks and I guess for the 880m SLI you don’t need an unlocked Bios. Without battery you can’t update the Bios. You must have a working one.

Hello. Thanks a lot for your reply! I found 100w NVIDIA heatsinks on eBay and will probably order them today. Hopefully, 880m will work without unlocked BIOS. It's too bad I can't update my BIOS because of the battery. I think finding a new or even used working battery for m18x is almost impossible. The seller said the battery worked before he shipped the laptop to me. Maybe it somehow got damaged during shipping. LEDs on the battery pack are blinking, and the diagnostic shows a battery error: "Your battery has experienced permanent failure." Anyway, thanks again for the information!

[Maxware79]

I have plenty of M18x parts if you need, including batteries in decent condition (~75-80% health). Most countries won't allow Li-Ion batteries to be imported via the mail though, unless they are inside of a laptop. I'm in Australia. 

I would suggest the 780M over the 880M, mainly due to the 880M's having a higher failure rate and running hotter. The AMD R9 M290x (8970M) is also a good option and doesn't require modified display drivers. You'd need the AMD Crossfire cable as well though.

You will definitely need to learn how to modify your drivers for the Nvidia cards. It isn't that hard once you learn. 

I believe you will need the unlocked BIOS for the 780M/880M though. Some people also report that they lose the integrated HD audio as this usually needs to be disabled to get the 780M or 880M to work. Sometimes you can re-enable it after the upgrade and it works fine but sometimes it never comes back. 

[Q-1]

6 hours ago, Maxware79 said:

I have plenty of M18x parts if you need, including batteries in decent condition (~75-80% health). Most countries won't allow Li-Ion batteries to be imported via the mail though, unless they are inside of a laptop. I'm in Australia. 

I would suggest the 780M over the 880M, mainly due to the 880M's having a higher failure rate and running hotter. The AMD R9 M290x (8970M) is also a good option and doesn't require modified display drivers. You'd need the AMD Crossfire cable as well though.

You will definitely need to learn how to modify your drivers for the Nvidia cards. It isn't that hard once you learn. 

I believe you will need the unlocked BIOS for the 780M/880M though. Some people also report that they lose the integrated HD audio as this usually needs to be disabled to get the 780M or 880M to work. Sometimes you can re-enable it after the upgrade and it works fine but sometimes it never comes back. 

Hi! Thank you so much for the detailed information on the possible upgrades. I really appreciated it! It looks like dual AMD R9 M290x is also a great option and costs less than NVIDIA cards (I checked eBay). Will they work without BIOS modification? If I go that route, do I still need to change my current heatsinks? And, will my current Crossfire cable (from dual HD 6990M) work on R9 M290x? Or do I need a different one? Also, if you have spare working batteries for m18x and are willing to sell, I would love to buy one. But I'm in the US and unsure if sending laptop batteries here by mail is possible.

[Maxware79]

4 hours ago, Q-1 said:

Hi! Thank you so much for the detailed information on the possible upgrades. I really appreciated it! It looks like dual AMD R9 M290x is also a great option and costs less than NVIDIA cards (I checked eBay). Will they work without BIOS modification? If I go that route, do I still need to change my current heatsinks? And, will my current Crossfire cable (from dual HD 6990M) work on R9 M290x? Or do I need a different one? Also, if you have spare working batteries for m18x and are willing to sell, I would love to buy one. But I'm in the US and unsure if sending laptop batteries here by mail is possible.

As far as I know, you should be able to use the same Crossfire cable from your 6990's, I have way more experience with Nvidia cards though. There shouldn't be any reason to change your heatsinks either. I am just pulling apart an AW 18 with dual R9 M290X's. The M290x is exactly the same as the 8970M but it depends what driver version an vBIOS it has.