Alienware 17 R1 980m Upgrade - Which variant to buy?

[SuperMG]

21 minutes ago, mattalienware said:

Hi @SuperMG,

 

Thanks. I've looked at your PDF.

 

I came across one issue. On the installation tweaks page, step 3 where your guide says click on Installed: Dev_ there is supposed to be a device ID. However, I do not have a device ID showing there. It is blank. Is that an issue? Can I just manually fill it in? See attached screenshot. Thank you!

Yes you can manually do it. Normally it should SHOW the GPUID on the software.

[mattalienware]

Hi @SuperMG,

 

I entered it manually per the screenshot. Built the package and ran it as administrator. Unfortunately the installer failed (no NVIDIA GPU detected on your system).

 

Maybe it's because I am getting code 45 in device manager? The GPU is hidden in device manager. When I first installed the physical gpu into the mxm slot and booted it, it appeared in device manager as a normal working device. Then when I restarted the laptop, it appeared greyed out and hidden in device manager with the code 45. This is most likely causing the problem. Is that normal behaviour when installing a GPU that was never officially supported for a laptop?

[SuperMG]

16 minutes ago, mattalienware said:

Hi @SuperMG,

 

I entered it manually per the screenshot. Built the package and ran it as administrator. Unfortunately the installer failed (no NVIDIA GPU detected on your system).

 

Maybe it's because I am getting code 45 in device manager? The GPU is hidden in device manager. When I first installed the physical gpu into the mxm slot and booted it, it appeared in device manager as a normal working device. Then when I restarted the laptop, it appeared greyed out and hidden in device manager with the code 45. This is most likely causing the problem. Is that normal behaviour when installing a GPU that was never officially supported for a laptop?

That's not a normal behavior.

 

Did you use the DDU tool to remove the previous Nvidia drivers?

Did you try the card in PEG LVDS? 

 

I never received such error with any cards such as the Nvidia GTX 980M, 970M, P5200, P3000, RTX 3000, RTX 5000, RTX 3080, RTX 3060, RTX 4070, RTX 4080 and 4090 MXM cards. 

 

Did you try the card in another system? Do you have proof that this card worked before with Nvidia drivers?

[mattalienware]

It is odd behaviour isn't it...it must be a firmware issue. Maybe I should install an unlocked BIOS to put it in PEG mode. I believe I can only do SG mode now with regular A13 bios and my 1080p 60hz LVDS display.

 

I don't have another system to test the 980m in. But it's a backup option, I could always buy one.

[Eban]

I agree. Not normal behaviour.

My 980m was pretty much plug'n'pray....Your Ranger is possessed I think 

[Speakeasy]

On 10/2/2026 at 7:40 AM, Eban said:

 

Hi Matt,

I'm not sure about heatsinks for those cards.

You used to be able to buy 5 pipe upgraded heatsinks from cicichen on ebay, but I can't see any listings from him now 

 

You also want at least 240W power supply...300W is better though. The original 180W won't run the MXM card at full power.

 

I did the 120hz display at same time as 980m and it’s still going well.

Cici Chen Heatsinks for notebooks are on sale for Black Friday Cyber Monday on AliExpress.

 

I just found this on AliExpress: https://a.aliexpress.com/_mM716b5

 

[Speakeasy]

On 10/24/2026 at 3:39 PM, mattalienware said:

I've decided to just disassemble the laptop and take out the CMOS battery and replace it with a new CMOS battery.

 

Hopefully that fully wipes the firmware settings and when I turn the computer on, it will reconfigure and recognise the NVIDIA gpu.

 

I have this feeling that unsuccessfully mucking around with Nvcleaninstall messed it up for me.

 

Does anyone know to how to mod an NVIDIA driver? I will try that instead this time and avoid Nvcleaninstall.

Hi mattalienware,

Here's a video I found on Youtube that takes you through the steps of modding the Dell Alienware NVidia drivers and set up a non Dell GTX980 GPU in an Alienware 17.

I need to do this as well to add an MSI gtx980m to my Alienware 17R1 that has a broken GTX780m.
Let me know how you went.
Regards,
Speakeasy