Dell Precision M4700 GPU Upgrade

[PhoenixDAS]

I have Dell precision m4700 with i7-3840QM,32gb ram and an Nvidia Quadro K2000M (MXM 3.0a) but my interest now is to find a complimentary or an upgrade for this MXM 3.0a GPU.

I've checked everywhere on the internet but was unable to find something helpful.

[seagate_surfer]

Hi PhoenixDAS,

 

So long story short, It's completely doable but no one does it and there is no market for it. I guess the only upgrade you have available is the NVIDIA Quadro K2100M due to the key form factor MXM 3.0a combination, I saw more in the MXM 3.0b department but for you I guess this is the only one.

 

In the other hand not all manufacturers make these cards and Dell is not an exception, I haven't heard of Dell making MXM GPUs for their laptops so far... There are some other ones like Sager/Clevo as it was one of their biggest selling points, you may wanna try one from them since there is not an official one for Dell and try to look for it on different retailers on line because I am not sure if they still make/sell them on their website. 

[PhoenixDAS]

13 hours ago, seagate_surfer said:

Hi PhoenixDAS,

 

So long story short, It's completely doable but no one does it and there is no market for it. I guess the only upgrade you have available is the NVIDIA Quadro K2100M due to the key for factor MXM 3.0a combination, I saw more in the MXM 3.0b department but for you I guess this is the only one.

 

In the other hand not all manufacturers make these cards and Dell is not an exception, I haven't heard of Dell making MXM GPUs for their laptops so far... There are some other ones like Sager/Clevo as it was one of their biggest selling points, you may wanna try one from them since there is not an official one for Dell and try to look for it on different retailers on line because I am not sure if they still make/sell them on their website. 

Hi Seagate_surfer,

 

Thanks alot I've looked up and I have seen Clevo Nvidia geforce gtx 965m 4gb (MXM 3.0a) on eBay @ $398 with the same form factor as the Quadro k2000m (MXM 3.0a).

 

My question is,

Do you think Clevo Nvidia geforce gtx 965m 4gb will work without a glitch.

 

The same question goes for the k2100m.

[alexhelvetica]

30 minutes ago, PhoenixDAS said:

Hi Seagate_surfer,

 

Thanks alot I've looked up and I have seen Clevo Nvidia geforce gtx 965m 4gb (MXM 3.0a) on eBay @ $398 with the same form factor as the Quadro k2000m (MXM 3.0a).

 

My question is,

Do you think Clevo Nvidia geforce gtx 965m 4gb will work without a glitch.

 

The same question goes for the k2100m.

I'd probably get a HD 7970M, since they are a fair bit cheaper and are about as fast.

 

And no, we cannot guarantee that your computer will work without some glitches. All you can do is look at what others who have replaced their GPU in their Precision M4700 (and similar models), and work out if the glitches with those GPUs are good enough for you and your computer, or if you want to get another model of GPU and hope for the best for compatiblity.

 

And Why would you get a K2100M (It and the K2000M are essentially the same GPU)? Get a K4000M, K41000M, K5000M or K5100M if you are going down the quadro route. (and look for OEM dell parts and the Dell service manual for your laptop for factory fitted part numbers of GPUs)

[seagate_surfer]

On ‎6‎/‎23‎/‎2018 at 12:22 AM, PhoenixDAS said:

Hi Seagate_surfer,

 

Thanks alot I've looked up and I have seen Clevo Nvidia geforce gtx 965m 4gb (MXM 3.0a) on eBay @ $398 with the same form factor as the Quadro k2000m (MXM 3.0a).

 

My question is,

Do you think Clevo Nvidia geforce gtx 965m 4gb will work without a glitch.

 

The same question goes for the k2100m.

 

Some other gaming notebook manufacturers like MSI also offer MXM upgrade kits, you may want to take a look! And talking about compatibility... A leading reason why a new MXM module may not work in your old notebook is lack of BIOS support for the new GPU in that notebook. The BIOS in the notebook must support the vBIOS of the MXM card itself. It’s possible, for the notebook’s BIOS to be vBIOS agnostic. A VBIOS update requires a system BIOS update. To update your VBIOS, you need to update your system with a new system BIOS that includes a new version of the VBIOS. Contact your computer manufacturer to check whether a system BIOS with a newer VBIOS is available for your computer or to ask if it can be flashed or if the BIOS supports VBIOS at all (and of course for instructions on how to update)

 

In some other cases, the notebook’s BIOS will only support MXM cards running a certain vBIOS version. This is the reason why some notebooks may work with a generic MXM module, Clevo, MSI, etc... And others will only work with MXM modules manufactured by the notebook maker for that particular notebook.

 

Chances are that the computer can be upgraded from K2000M to the K2100M but upgrades to more recent modules will definitely require firmware upgrades, driver updates and a couple of reboots. The best advice we can give is to check with Del to see if they offer upgrade kits which I don't think and haven't seen so far.

 

Some custom PC builders use Clevo-based notebooks and they have a list of compatible MXM upgrades for each notebook, maybe checking with MSI as I mentioned earlier can also help you find out more about this upgrade. You’ll definitely need to do your research beforehand. Checking in forums first before trying the upgrade is probably your best bet, as the chances are that the upgrade you’re contemplating in you particular computer model number has already been tried or discussed.

[immerrr]

I'm considering such update myself. Being limited to Type A GPUs, the top selections would be Quadro M2200, M2200M and GTX 965M, all at 55W TDP just as K2000M, so there should not be much problem hardware wise, unless the heatsink doesn't match.

 

There's some success shared in the thread on notebookreview: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/m4700-owners-thread.682758/page-120#post-10554046

But make sure to check some of the troubleshooting messages as well: some tinkering is required with driver installation procedure and/or optimus setting and/or vbios.

[seagate_surfer]

Thanks for sharing the link, the threat discussion looks very complete! 

[Dreznon]

Okay, M2000M is the best for your computer

 

You will have to switch some lines in a file for it to know your computer (not hard).

 

Usually an Ebay seller will be able to help you, ask before you buy.

 

I forgot exactly how, but I did this with my old HP elitebook 8570w.  search for how to's on that and apply the same techniques to your dell.

[seagate_surfer]

I'm not sure if he's still interested, this post is about 9 months old.

[Michiro]

Hello there! Sorry for reply this late. I hope you've solved this. I just wanna share my experience about this topic if someone else search for this trying to get a similar upgrade.

 

One year ago I bought a used M4700 with a K1000M (and I love it), although I find this GPU very weak nowadays, so I looked for an upgrade just like you did.

 

Then, I found this out...

 

- Obviously this workstation only uses MXM-A (55W TDP MAX) GPU.

 

- The notebook BIOS must support VBIOS from the GPU, so you better get it's latest BIOS version.

 

- Dell offers support for Nvidia drivers up to "K and M Quadro Series" according to M4700 official drivers on Dell website, so the newest graphic card generation it's going to handle is Maxwell.

 

- According to the newer Dell M4800 official drivers description, it can handle up to Pascal GPU generation, so it should works with a P1000 or 1050/ti MXM card.

 

- After learn all this, my conclusion was that the must powerful GPU that an M4700 will support is an M2200, just as you thought. So I purchased one from eBay for 200 USD.

 

- This GPU particularly was picked from a Dell Precision 7510/20, the last model that Dell made with MXM support. Any newer model from Dell Precision uses soldered GPU chips.

 

- The guy who sold me this laptop wanted to try this method with another Dell precision, but he picked an M2200 from an HP ZBook laptop, it didn't work. Dell notebooks BIOS only works with GPUs fabricated for Dell, so it's VBIOS must match each other.

 

CONCLUSION:

 

Lastest and must powerful MXM GPU for Dell M4700 workstation is the Quadro M2200, if you want to pick one, it must to be a model made for Dell Precision, no any other brand. I'm an M4700 with Quadro M2200 owner and I have to say it works very decent even in 2020. I'll write my specs down below if you're curious:

 

CPU: i7-3840QM

GPU: Quadro M2200

RAM: 16GB DDR3L

SSD: Samsung PM871 256GB

HDD: WD BLACK 750GB 7200RPM

 

 

[seagate_surfer]

Thanks for saring man, sharing is caring and I actually always wondered what about this thread! 

[ZzLy]

On 6/22/2018 at 2:40 PM, PhoenixDAS said:

I have Dell precision m4700 with i7-3840QM,32gb ram and an Nvidia Quadro K2000M (MXM 3.0a) but my interest now is to find a complimentary or an upgrade for this MXM 3.0a GPU.

I've checked everywhere on the internet but was unable to find something helpful.

Theoretically any MXM GPU should work, but you just have to make sure that it physically fits in your laptop as some MXM cards are longer than others. It looks like yours is on the shorter end, so you need to be careful. Also you should make sure the mounting holes for the cooler will be in the same place on the new card.

[seagate_surfer]

  

On 2/1/2020 at 6:35 PM, ZzLy said:

Theoretically any MXM GPU should work, but you just have to make sure that it physically fits in your laptop as some MXM cards are longer than others. It looks like yours is on the shorter end, so you need to be careful. Also you should make sure the mounting holes for the cooler will be in the same place on the new card.

This is a type A MXM GPU as mentioned the day of this post, the type b cards are larger. Someone has already said that the best for this laptop is the Quadro M2200 and it has a MXM-A interface....

[Darksimps1]

I know this is an old topic, but I found it recently in my search on how to upgrade a Dell M4700 with a Quadro m2200m. After finding a Nvidia driver that would work with the m2200m I could only get the GPU to work on an external monitor. If you switch Optimus off you only get blackscreen on laptop display, however with Optimus on you can go into Nvidia control panel then 3d settings and set your programs or games to use the m2200m GPU and they will work flawlessly on the laptop display, but Optimus has to remain turned on unless you want to use an external display.

 

[Guest]

On 1/30/2020 at 8:11 AM, Michiro said:

Hello there! Sorry for reply this late. I hope you've solved this. I just wanna share my experience about this topic if someone else search for this trying to get a similar upgrade.

 

One year ago I bought a used M4700 with a K1000M (and I love it), although I find this GPU very weak nowadays, so I looked for an upgrade just like you did.

 

Then, I found this out...

 

- Obviously this workstation only uses MXM-A (55W TDP MAX) GPU.

 

- The notebook BIOS must support VBIOS from the GPU, so you better get it's latest BIOS version.

 

- Dell offers support for Nvidia drivers up to "K and M Quadro Series" according to M4700 official drivers on Dell website, so the newest graphic card generation it's going to handle is Maxwell.

 

- According to the newer Dell M4800 official drivers description, it can handle up to Pascal GPU generation, so it should works with a P1000 or 1050/ti MXM card.

 

- After learn all this, my conclusion was that the must powerful GPU that an M4700 will support is an M2200, just as you thought. So I purchased one from eBay for 200 USD.

 

- This GPU particularly was picked from a Dell Precision 7510/20, the last model that Dell made with MXM support. Any newer model from Dell Precision uses soldered GPU chips.

 

- The guy who sold me this laptop wanted to try this method with another Dell precision, but he picked an M2200 from an HP ZBook laptop, it didn't work. Dell notebooks BIOS only works with GPUs fabricated for Dell, so it's VBIOS must match each other.

 

CONCLUSION:

 

Lastest and must powerful MXM GPU for Dell M4700 workstation is the Quadro M2200, if you want to pick one, it must to be a model made for Dell Precision, no any other brand. I'm an M4700 with Quadro M2200 owner and I have to say it works very decent even in 2020. I'll write my specs down below if you're curious:

 

CPU: i7-3840QM

GPU: Quadro M2200

RAM: 16GB DDR3L

SSD: Samsung PM871 256GB

HDD: WD BLACK 750GB 7200RPM

 

 

Hi. this is old but i have m4700 and just going to upgrade it with m1200 graphic card.

was it easy for you to install driver? any config?

actually i am wondering is that possible for m1200 and m2200 to work fine and having output on laptop screen while optimus disabled.

thank you.