FirePro w7170m, testing install in Precision M6600

Is there a way I can check if it supports LVDS? I can't seem to find that info anywhere. Thanks for the other info as well.

 

I got both an m6600 and two m6700s, the edp connector on the M6600 is very different from the later models and don't think that just swapping over unless you happen across a compatible cable which is unlikely. The two M6700s I have are equipped with EDP panels one with the 120hz panel (luck of the draw) and a covet edition with the RGB that was bought with the glass smashed but anyway in both cases this card worked just fine minus the lack of fan control. To top it off the card only installs with the AMD heatsink that is very tight as the screws are short.

 

Right! Well techpowerup has 3 vbios listed for the w7170m, one isn't as validated as the others. Not sure what the difference is in them other than an arbitrary version number! But I emailed AMD and they said that all laptop products are made by the manufacturer of the laptop, even though this says "AMD" with a big AMD symbol on it. So they want me to email Dell, who probably will tell me to email AMD to find out the display modes of the w7170m that I have!

So I think I'm gonna swap back in my m6100, and make sure my panel/cables aren't borked. If that works, well... That'll my confirmation that the w7170m is outputting to eDP. From there, its just a matter of hoping I get good news about the card supporting both display output standards, I guess!

 

For laptops, GPU vendors only sell cards to OEMs, and they are specced to work in only and exactly the systems that they were designed to work in, and part of that involves the GPU vendor providing the vBIOS and driver to the OEM. OEMs are exclusively on the hook for end user support, so they are just following normal procedure when telling you to go to Dell. If the GPU vendor needs to be involved in a support issue (maybe to fix something the the vBIOS or with the driver) then it will be a request coming from the OEM, who is their customer, not from the end user. Now I would not expect Dell's response to be "go talk to AMD"; it will rather be along the lines of "We've never sold a M6600+W7170M, that is an unsupported configuration, no wonder it doesn't work." Of course they are not obliged to support products that they didn't sell.

(Really there's no Dell support person who'd be able to answer your question anyway; it'd probably have to go to a system engineer, and they hate getting those guys involved in support issues. For a 10-year-old system, there's going to be no way to get traction on an issue like this.)

If a GPU designed for one system happens to work in other systems, that's a "happy convenience" for end users. MXM is convenient for upgrades, but it is not a standard designed to allow free swapping of cards like desktop PCIe. If there is trouble with an upgrade, there's only community support to fall back on. You're not going to get any help from the vendors. (Not trying to be "negative Nancy", just laying out the realistic expectations.)

 

Hopefully your M6600 is fine, plugged a S7100X into mine and the board or display panel quit though thankfully the M17X R2 I also tried with that card survived. My guess is that this card doesn't support LVDS even though the M6100 supports both just fine.

 

I don't know, the panel might be messed up. I'm running Valley Extreme and ExtremeHD with the palmrest partially reassembled at the moment with the r9 390x (on rear HDMI output with external monitor) just to have the numbers for my specific system, so I can compare with the m6100 when I put it back in.

I did have a thought. A lot of posts say that LVDS vs eDP output is determined mostly by vbios. Is it possible to flash a R9 M390x vbios on this to output LVDS? It shows up as an M390x so I had a thought that they are so similar, it might work if a known "LVDS" vbios exists. Or hell, even a M290x bios?

I really want this to work! No Man's Sky and Warframe both run immensely better than with the m6100, so much smoother with less input lag.

 

As mentioned above, if the card supports LVDS, flashing a different vBIOS on it is probably your best bet. There's most likely a different vBIOS version for each different laptop model that was sold with the W7170M. If any of them had LVDS panels, then there is possibly one that you can find that would work. (I've heard people cross-flashing the vBIOS from other AMD cards with the same GPU chip but a different "product name" so that's also something that you could try. I would not suggest flashing the vBIOS from another card which did not actually have the same chip.)

 

Close to 1300 score (Valley ExtremeHD) with 2720QM and the M390x. The m6100 is next. In my excitement to get this together, I didn't really test the m6100 because I figured it would be soundly thumped by this card, but now I'm curious.

Also, a rock-solid 723 mhz core, with 1250 mhz memory speed (shown in GPUz as 1250). Temps never got above 73c, the thing is great!

 

TechPowerUp has a vBIOS collection and there is one for the W7170M. Not sure if it's the same version that you have (you should be able to check with GPU-Z).
https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/224387/224387

 

That is for an 8gb card? That's weird! Did they make a W7170m with 8gb?

Either way, they have 2 others listed that are different than my current one (mine is 015.048.000.069). They have (last 3) 059 and 040. One is Dell, one is AMD. I'm guessing... the AMD one would probably be the best bet because the Dell one is likely from the 7710!

But Aaron, I'm finding that the M295x was released in the Alienware 15, and the M295x is Amethyst XL as well, exactly the same chip and layout as the M390x, which is exactly the same as the W7170m! I'm trying to find out if the Alienware 15 was an LVDS machine, but past that, the M295x was offered in 27" iMacs as well. Maybe there is hope!