SuperMG3 Posted November 26 Share Posted November 26 Hello I'm new to the forum. I have read many things about MXM cards on Alienware 18 R1 and M18X R2. Many got the RTX 3000 and RTX 5000 MXM cards working. @therhor70 got the RTX 3060 MXM (GA106) from X-VSION to work on M18X R2 without any VBIOS mods. Sadly, a member called @ssj92 tried to upgrade his AW18 R1 with a RTX A4500 MXM (GA104, unknown vendor) but it didn't install the drivers due to lack of power and lack of 4G encoding on the BIOS. I'm going to buy an Alienware 18 R1 and a RTX A3000 12 MXM (GA104, 60-130W) from X-VSION and I will see if I'll have the same issues as SSJ92 or not at all. PS: I also have a working HP RTX 3000 MXM Link to the MXM GPU 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMG3 Posted November 27 Author Share Posted November 27 Is it riskier to take the RTX A3000 than the RTX 3060 MXM? They're both from X-VSION at the same price but different dies (GA106 and GA104) Therhor made the RTX 3060 work on his 2012 M18XR2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMG3 Posted November 27 Author Share Posted November 27 Today, I bought the RTX A3000 12GB MXM, let's see how it'll go... The Alienware 18 will come soon. I'll also quickly test my HP RTX 3000 if it boots. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerryzago Posted November 28 Share Posted November 28 Best of luck to you making this GPU work especially in the 18. M18x R2 is more tolerable to changes. I made some changes to the unlocked BIOS of the Alienware 17 and made the RTX 3000 run at full 80watt load without throttling. Make sure you have installed the unlocked BIOS for the 18 and setting SG or iGFX prior to install. Waiting for your results Spoiler Alienware M18x R2 i7 3720qm -> i7 3940XM Dual 7970m -> 980m SLI -> HP Quadro RTX 3000 Alienware 17 R1 4710MQ 880M GTX -> PNY Quadro RTX 3000 HP 8570w i7 3820qm Quadro K2000M HP DV6000 T72000 -> T9500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMG3 Posted November 28 Author Share Posted November 28 Hello. This post got a lot of views wow. Yes, I'll install an unlocked BIOS. Do you have one that you recommend? I also had a M17X R4 and it worked very fine with the RTX 3000 with unlocked BIOS A15+. I still haven't got a reply from X-VSION after paying thru PayPal, it's been a day... I'm worried that they ran with my money... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMG3 Posted November 28 Author Share Posted November 28 Hello. The seller from X-VSION told me that the RTX A3000 works fine on M18X R2. For the ALIENWARE 18, the seller doesn't know yet, it's not tested. Also should I get a new heatsink for the Alienware? Like the ranger version of it? Here's a picture attached that shows the offset die and screw holes. I have some bad news, the person who shipped my laptop told me that the shipment has been lost, I don't know if it's true or not I'll see more in details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerryzago Posted November 28 Share Posted November 28 8 hours ago, SuperMG3 said: Yes, I'll install an unlocked BIOS. Do you have one that you recommend? Search through the posts here. A list of unlocked BIOS exist along with instructions. Don't know the exact version for the 18, but there is one one available. 1 hour ago, SuperMG3 said: Here's a picture attached that shows the offset die and screw holes. The screws are only horizontal offset. Better get a 100watt heatsink and trim the fins of. Measure the distance of the offset and remove as needed. A Dremel or any rotary tool will be fine. I managed to do the HP RTX 3000 for the M18x R2 that needed quite a lot of trimming. You will do it, it is simple. 1 hour ago, SuperMG3 said: I have some bad news, the person who shipped my laptop told me that the shipment has been lost, I don't know if it's true or not I'll see more in details. Hope this turns out good... Spoiler Alienware M18x R2 i7 3720qm -> i7 3940XM Dual 7970m -> 980m SLI -> HP Quadro RTX 3000 Alienware 17 R1 4710MQ 880M GTX -> PNY Quadro RTX 3000 HP 8570w i7 3820qm Quadro K2000M HP DV6000 T72000 -> T9500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMG3 Posted November 28 Author Share Posted November 28 Hello. I think the heatsink's fins are flexible? Since they have some sort of flexibility, I can bend them and find the correct mounting for the bracket holes. I know there are many BIOS around here, but I don't know which one is the best and adapted for newer MXM cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerryzago Posted November 28 Share Posted November 28 Look at the page above. A12 is the latest for the 18. Instructions are also there, take your time read through them thoroughly. The heatsink fans are flexible, but bending them will restrict airflow. Trimming them will be your best bet. Here is mine, trimmed down to fit inside the chassis. It needed extra time, because HP RTX 3000 has the core offset both horizontally and vertically. Spoiler Alienware M18x R2 i7 3720qm -> i7 3940XM Dual 7970m -> 980m SLI -> HP Quadro RTX 3000 Alienware 17 R1 4710MQ 880M GTX -> PNY Quadro RTX 3000 HP 8570w i7 3820qm Quadro K2000M HP DV6000 T72000 -> T9500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMG3 Posted November 28 Author Share Posted November 28 Hello. I meant those parts of the heatsink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerryzago Posted November 29 Share Posted November 29 11 hours ago, SuperMG3 said: Hello. I meant those parts of the heatsink I believe these will not be your problem. Besides they have some adjustability to them. The cooling fins might be your problem. The ones I show in my photo. They are white (or silver) because the black color on them is trimmed away. But you can actually see these modifications, after you have your hands on the GPU and laptop Spoiler Alienware M18x R2 i7 3720qm -> i7 3940XM Dual 7970m -> 980m SLI -> HP Quadro RTX 3000 Alienware 17 R1 4710MQ 880M GTX -> PNY Quadro RTX 3000 HP 8570w i7 3820qm Quadro K2000M HP DV6000 T72000 -> T9500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMG3 Posted November 29 Author Share Posted November 29 Hello. I get it now, I just need to trim the heatsink if needed. If I'm not receiving my laptop on Saturday or Monday, I'll probably get contact the post office and marketplace to obtain a refund. Is the Alienware 17 (M17X R5) the same generation as the Alienware 18 Haswell? I could probably try to make this work on this laptop and the laptop itself is cheaper. I still haven't got any tracking number from X-VSION yet, they've been testing the GPU for like 2 days straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerryzago Posted November 29 Share Posted November 29 Yes, they are the same generation. But keep in mind, 17 may have the 120Hz screen so no SG can be used in that configuration. At least I think it is. I also have a 17 because it's a lot cheaper. Spoiler Alienware M18x R2 i7 3720qm -> i7 3940XM Dual 7970m -> 980m SLI -> HP Quadro RTX 3000 Alienware 17 R1 4710MQ 880M GTX -> PNY Quadro RTX 3000 HP 8570w i7 3820qm Quadro K2000M HP DV6000 T72000 -> T9500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMG3 Posted December 1 Author Share Posted December 1 Hello. I have received the laptop. It has BIOS A15. It has dual GTX 770M. So I removed one of them, now it runs with only one. I see that the unlocked BIOS Is A12 and not A15. As well I installed 32GB of RAM and 1TB SSD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMG3 Posted December 2 Author Share Posted December 2 Is the Bios chip of the Alienware 18 the Winbond one? It's a 8MB chip, 25Q64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMG3 Posted December 3 Author Share Posted December 3 I think it is. It's the only chip that has 8MB of size on the board. I did a backup of it just in case. Is it safe to downgrade to A12 unlocked? The flashing method tells me to put my laptop on sleep then wake it up to start the flashing with the bat file Or is there an A13 or A14 unlocked BIOSes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMG3 Posted December 4 Author Share Posted December 4 I also found another 8 pins chip. It's a 256kb "cROM", it's a MX25L2006E chip. Just in case I have 2 backups, so If I brick my laptop well I can easily restore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMG3 Posted December 5 Author Share Posted December 5 Hello. The RTX A3000 12GB MXM card has been shipped thru FedEx! It'll arrive in the next 6 days if everything is going normal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMG3 Posted December 5 Author Share Posted December 5 To test the RTX A3000 further, I also purchased a very cheap and rare M18X R2 with an issue. It does the 1 beep at boot. Which means corrupted bios according to the forums and the net. I'll do the blind flash technic. If not successful, I'll do the CH314A flash technic but I don't have the backup files for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maro97 Posted December 6 Share Posted December 6 Blind bios technic will solve that issue 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMG3 Posted December 6 Author Share Posted December 6 Hello. I flashed the unlocked A12 BIOS. It went well but the service tag was not the same one as mine. (unlocked has beefed specs service tag 5819F72) So I used the CH314A USB module to read from the SOIC8 chip and then did some hex editing by searching for the string "cn0". Now I have successfully changed the service tag to mine! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMG3 Posted Monday at 02:13 PM Author Share Posted Monday at 02:13 PM Hello. I have received the RTX A3000 12GB MXM card today! Sadly, I didn't receive my GPU heatsink yet. So I have to wait. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMG3 Posted Monday at 02:25 PM Author Share Posted Monday at 02:25 PM On 11/29/2024 at 9:37 AM, Jerryzago said: I believe these will not be your problem. Besides they have some adjustability to them. The cooling fins might be your problem. The ones I show in my photo. They are white (or silver) because the black color on them is trimmed away. But you can actually see these modifications, after you have your hands on the GPU and laptop I should cut like this? Below the red line, we get rid of those fins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerryzago Posted Tuesday at 01:23 PM Share Posted Tuesday at 01:23 PM Yes. Cut accordingly. Trim some, test fit and trim some more. You need these fins as long as possible 1 Spoiler Alienware M18x R2 i7 3720qm -> i7 3940XM Dual 7970m -> 980m SLI -> HP Quadro RTX 3000 Alienware 17 R1 4710MQ 880M GTX -> PNY Quadro RTX 3000 HP 8570w i7 3820qm Quadro K2000M HP DV6000 T72000 -> T9500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperMG3 Posted Thursday at 12:36 PM Author Share Posted Thursday at 12:36 PM Hello. I'll receive the heatsink in 2 days. This one is taking a long time to arrive... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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