M15X - Gpu upgrade / other mods etc.

[DylSki]

Hi all, was recommended to make a post here. Apparently there might be some old members from NBR which used to discuss about these machines many years ago? 
 

I’m looking to hear from those who have installed a GTX 970 or 980 into one of these fine M15X rigs in the past. If so what was the process of getting everything working nicely? 
 

From doing some research apparently you need to do a copper shim mod, installation of a modded gpu driver alongside a vbios mod to stop the card drawing too much power? I think it’s around 80 - 90 watts the card should be pulling once setup to help with longevity. 

 

I will also be installing some upgraded fans which provide better CFM (used oem dell fans which should be a drop in upgrade into the original fan enclosure) this is mainly to help with thermals even if it’s a couple degrees. 

I plan on installing a i7 940XM and will also be doing some overclocking. 

I do have a genuine dell 240w charger to help with these upgrades which I plan on purchasing in a couple days. 

Any help regarding the gpus / or unmentioned mods & upgrades would be very much appreciated! 

Thank you 👍🏼

[panda_zzz]

You can buy and install a Dell m5000m graphics card, and you won’t have to mess around with the video BIOS or modify the cooling system.
If you want, you can replace the fans with higher-performance ones from the Alienware m14x R2, but some modifications will be required.

[ssj92]

I'm running 980M (1617) Clevo model perfectly fine in M15x. 

 

M5000M should run cooler though. 

 

No mods needed except driver INF mod

[DylSki]

On 5/28/2026 at 3:09 PM, panda_zzz said:

You can buy and install a Dell m5000m graphics card, and you won’t have to mess around with the video BIOS or modify the cooling system.
If you want, you can replace the fans with higher-performance ones from the Alienware m14x R2, but some modifications will be required.

hey, I ended up buying a new old stock GTX 970M for £37 and a I7 940XM for £20 

 

going to see how the 970M performs for the time being and then get a 980M and throw this 970 into my grey M15X I also have. 
 

🤟🏼

[DylSki]

14 hours ago, ssj92 said:

I'm running 980M (1617) Clevo model perfectly fine in M15x. 

 

M5000M should run cooler though. 

 

No mods needed except driver INF mod

 

Awesome, what are your temps like with a 980 out of curiosity? 

I ended up buying a new old stock GTX 970M for £37 and a I7 940XM for £20 

 

going to see how the 970M performs for the time being and then get a 980M and throw this 970 into my grey M15X I also have. 

 

[ssj92]

1 hour ago, DylSki said:

 

Awesome, what are your temps like with a 980 out of curiosity? 

I ended up buying a new old stock GTX 970M for £37 and a I7 940XM for £20 

 

going to see how the 970M performs for the time being and then get a 980M and throw this 970 into my grey M15X I also have. 

 

Temps can get a little high in the 80s but 980M doesn't run full power in m15x anyways. pretty sure I need a vbios mod for that. 

 

970m should be perfect 

[marcgarcia322]

HELLO I'M LOOKING FOR THE MODDED UNLOCKED BIOS FOR THE DELL M15X LAPTOP ANY HELP WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED THANK YOU 

 

 

THE 2 I'VE FOUND ELSEWHERE WERE CORRUPT 

[DylSki]

On 5/30/2026 at 10:40 PM, ssj92 said:

Temps can get a little high in the 80s but 980M doesn't run full power in m15x anyways. pretty sure I need a vbios mod for that. 

 

970m should be perfect 

that's not too bad considering it was a much newer card than the M15X supported "officially" 

Regarding the Dell 970M card I purchased, The only thing I'll need is a modded driver? No need for a Vbios change? 

[ssj92]

12 hours ago, DylSki said:

that's not too bad considering it was a much newer card than the M15X supported "officially" 

Regarding the Dell 970M card I purchased, The only thing I'll need is a modded driver? No need for a Vbios change? 

You'll have to test to find out. If 970M boots in M15x as is, then no vbios change should be needed 

[DylSki]

On 6/4/2026 at 12:18 AM, ssj92 said:

You'll have to test to find out. If 970M boots in M15x as is, then no vbios change should be needed 

Got all the parts today, the 970M worked a treat. Just installing the 940XM and 16gb ram now 👍🏼

[DylSki]

30 minutes ago, DylSki said:

Got all the parts today, the 970M worked a treat. Just installing the 940XM and 16gb ram now 👍🏼

All parts working! The trackpad on the new palmrest assembly is miles better in responsiveness too which is ace. 
 

going to get drivers working, do some testing and install windows 10 LTSC. 

[Salvatore]

Can anyone tell me if I need a power supply higher than 150 watts to run a GTX 970M? Thanks.

[SuperMG]

41 minutes ago, Salvatore said:

Can anyone tell me if I need a power supply higher than 150 watts to run a GTX 970M? Thanks.

Yes, would recommend 240W.

[ssj92]

13 hours ago, Salvatore said:

Can anyone tell me if I need a power supply higher than 150 watts to run a GTX 970M? Thanks.

If you are not overclocking a 920/940XM then 150w should be enough. 

 

for 240w, in order to use it at its full power, you need to remove the center pin.

 

also m15x has a hard power limit for gpu so honestly, try 150w for now since it just works

[Salvatore]

Ok, thanks for the reply. The laptop still has a working battery, so I hope it's fine. One more question: do I need a specific version of the graphics card, or can I install any brand? A 3GB MSI GTX 970M is being sold on AliExpress for €55, and if you confirm it's compatible, I'll order it. For the vbios is there anything I should know or some bios mod to use or is stock ok?. Thank you very much.

Edited 10 hours ago by Salvatore
added information

[SuperMG]

2 hours ago, Salvatore said:

Ok, thanks for the reply. The laptop still has a working battery, so I hope it's fine. One more question: do I need a specific version of the graphics card, or can I install any brand? A 3GB MSI GTX 970M is being sold on AliExpress for €55, and if you confirm it's compatible, I'll order it. For the vbios is there anything I should know or some bios mod to use or is stock ok?. Thank you very much.

As long as the GPU supports LVDS output and the VBIOS is compatible with the laptop's SMBus then yes.

 

You should get a 970M or 980M that's not a G-SYNC version and support LVDS screens.

 

Try to find the Dell variants of these cards, they were available for Alienware 17 R1 and 18 R1. MSI could work but need to check the SMBus compatibility.

 

If you're still confused, you can check the nbrchive website and see if anyone used a MSI card on the M15X.

 

You can always flash with CH341A and test many VBIOS into the Dell/MSI 970M and find the one that works great.

 

I do recommend the 6GB version of this card if you can find it for 10€ more

[Salvatore]

I don't know how to check if the card has these things. I searched on the site you recommended but I didn't find anything about it. A 970M 6GB sells for about 10-15€ more and is advertised as a Dell card. I think, as you said, it would be easier and safer to install a Dell card. I've already used a CH341A programmer because I had a Clevo W870CU on which I modified the GPU and VBIOS with that. I'll try to verify all the information but, after your reply, I'll probably buy a 970M 6GB Dell (although I don't think the extra VRAM will make much of a difference since the CPU is an i7 840qm which I'll replace with an i7 920xm).

[Salvatore]

I found this 970M 6GB that looks like a Dell at a good price. I'm posting the photo in the hope the moderators will allow it. Thanks so much for your help.

Edited 4 hours ago by Salvatore
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[SuperMG]

53 minutes ago, Salvatore said:

I found this 970M 6GB that looks like a Dell at a good price. I'm posting the photo in the hope the moderators will allow it. Thanks so much for your help.

That's an early ZRT card as you can see on the sticker.

 

I mean they all look the same to be honest.