Does GTX1070 GPU work in 2nd GPU slot, instead of the 1st (Alienware 18)

[Sebastian Ramirez]

Good afternoon,

 

So I found this heatsink for my future GTX1070 MXM for my Alienware 18, but its for the right side of the motherboard, will the laptop work properly, if I install the GPU on the right side? (this heatsink only fits for the GPU in the right side)

 

Thx

[ssj92]

It can work in PEG mode if you use a oem gpu in slot 1 (such as 880M, 980M, 780M etc.) but it's more of a headache. Better to do slot 1 for less issues. 

[Sebastian Ramirez]

Okay, thanks

[sliderfra]

On 11/13/2025 at 5:54 PM, Sebastian Ramirez said:

Okay, thanks

Hi, best is to stick with MASTER MXM slot as you'll be able to use it with SG mode (needs modded BIOS though). Then you may use any mxm nvidia card up to RTX 4000 gen. Be aware that throttle is reported with AW18 with some GPUs (PNY Quadro RTX 3000, Geforce RTX 3060, RTX 4070...). Pascal GPU do not throttle, nor does Quadro RTX 3000 from HP (not standard MXM).

If you need parts for AW18 I may have heatsinks (primary & secondary I think)

[s4lem0nsen]

On 11/18/2025 at 7:06 AM, sliderfra said:

Hi, best is to stick with MASTER MXM slot as you'll be able to use it with SG mode (needs modded BIOS though). Then you may use any mxm nvidia card up to RTX 4000 gen. Be aware that throttle is reported with AW18 with some GPUs (PNY Quadro RTX 3000, Geforce RTX 3060, RTX 4070...). Pascal GPU do not throttle, nor does Quadro RTX 3000 from HP (not standard MXM).

If you need parts for AW18 I may have heatsinks (primary & secondary I think)

Anyone tried A3000 from x-vision in the Viking? I have the PNY myself but thinking about putting that in the m17 instead…

[sliderfra]

I've got 3060 RTX 12GB in my Viking, which is basically A3000 consumer version. Card works ok although plagued by throttling due to Haswell chipset limitations (happens also on AW17 and MSI GT60/70 Haswell). Card does not throttle at all on m17x R4, M18X r2 nor MSI GT60/70 Ivy Bridge.

Same behaviour happens with quadro RTX 3000 PNY and RTX 4070 from x-vsion

[sliderfra]

Just now, sliderfra said:

I've got 3060 RTX 12GB in my Viking, which is basically A3000 consumer version. Card works ok although plagued by throttling due to Haswell chipset limitations (happens also on AW17 Ranger and MSI GT60/70 Haswell). Card does not throttle at all on m17x R4, M18X r2 nor MSI GT60/70 Ivy Bridge. On msi GT60/70 haswell throttle is close to none when a (good) battery is plugged in and when MSI Dragon Control is set to allow extra unload from battery.

Same behaviour happens with quadro RTX 3000 PNY and RTX 4070 from x-vsion

 

@Jerryzago: did some tricks on his aw17 to prevent throttling (with PNY RTX 3000) but I did the same and it did not work on 18 or 17

 

[Sebastian Ramirez]

I understand, thanks so much for the info sliderfra