6990m crossfire cards in GPU-z question..

Got my m18x today!
Yay.

Though.. I think it has a few issues.. Wondering if anyone could shed some light on this.. And yes I have searched the forums, and google...

in GPU-Z 0.5.5 on the dropdown at the bottom, it shows both cards. 6900M Series. Same under Windows device mgr.

On the first card under GPU-Z
Shaders shows 1120
Texture Fillrate shows 40.0 GTexel/s
GPU clock 715 mem 900

On the second card however,
Shaders shows 960
Texture Fillrate shows 34.3 GTexel/s
GPU clock 715 mem 900

Is that "normal"?


Also, when I try to enable Crossfire under the CCC, its telling me
"The AMD CrossFireX internal bridge interconnects linking your graphics cards together are not properly attached. Both bridge interconnects must be attached."

....
uh... ok...


Any help is appreciated.

 

You definitely have 6990's. The bios versions are identical and the clock speeds are correct. You're going to have to open the laptop and check the crossfire cable because the guy who connects them was at lunch when your laptop came rolling off the assembly line. If you're up for the project, say the word and I'll type up a quick and easy guide to disassemble your laptop.

 

Screwdriver, bubblegum and soldering iron ready.

 

Start on the bottom side of your laptop. There are screws labeled with "P" "I" and "D". Remove the battery and the 4 screws under the battery that hold on the bottom cover. After sliding the cover off, you'll see the screws I was talking about. Be very careful when removing any ribbon cables, as the plastic retaining clips are fragile (I like to use a small flat-tip jewelers screwdriver for this). Remove your hard drives and then remove all of the previously mentioned screws from the bottom of your laptop. Flip it over and gently pry the plastic bezel off from around the keyboard. There are 5 screws holding the keyboard on and 1 holding the macro keys. Take care with the ribbon cables on the underside of both.


STOP - you can check and fix the crossfire cable from here - no need to go further unless you want to.



You need to remove the black "D" screws that are keeping the monitor attached, as well as 3 more "P" screws from the palm rest where the keyboard used to be. Make sure you disconnect the wifi cables and the 2 other connectors coming from the monitor - you'll be removing the monitor completely next. Close the lid about halfway and gently lift up to detach the monitor (it goes back on just as easily). Make sure you remember to route the wifi cables out as you lift the monitor off.

At this point (assuming you've removed every screw required) you can pull off the palm rest assembly and have full access to repaste your cpu/gpu's whatever. There are several connectors under the palm rest that need to be removed (as well as your xfire cable) so don't just beast it off lol...

 

Poor guy might end up just having cold boot issues after he connects his xfire cable. This may also help you with the disassembly:

1. M18x service manual: Documentation

2. Teardown video: Alienware M18x complete teardown / review - Hidevolution.com - YouTube

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence haha

No xfire. Or cold boot issues. Hmm. Lesser of two evils are...

 

Hmm... ok.. maybe I am missing something...


Where does the xfire cable plug into...

To me.. looks like the actual plug is missing..

 

Oh wow, it is missing! You need to call Dell and ask for a system replacement immediately. If I were you, I'd ask for 580M SLi in place of the 6990s. WTH is going on with AW lately? The quality control is getting worse and worse.

 

OK so Im not completely mental.... I see card.. I see wire.. I see wire not plugged into card.. uh.. wait.. how exactly do I plug it into the card....

The Aliens dont seem to be checking their work...

 

Wow, that is the first time i see this on a Dell system

 

Well.. good to know they arent doing this to a lot of people...

 

Those look like cards made for Mx17 R3s or something, since there are no provisions for Xfire at all due to the lack of a ports.

 

one of them has the port... the other one doesnt. the cable is there as well, obviously.

Im just so confused. Oh well.. calling Dell tomorrow to figure this out.

 

I stand corrected, I didn't see the one that had it properly. You have posted a pic of only the right GPU, I passively assumed the two pics were left and right

Looks like they mixed and matched cards and didn't even bother checking things properly if the cables connected. Wonder who is doing work for Dell's outlet. I bet they are contract workers. Might explain the downwards slide in QC and basic service.

 

Ha! To make matters worse. I called tech support...
They claim I only have a single gpu.

That's weird. My build sheet shows 2. My bios shows 2. Windows shows 2. I can SEE 2.....

Sorry sir. Your spec is only one gpu.


........ Now what.......

 

What's your invoice say? If it says single GPU then you have an uphill fight.

 

5chm3 is the part number.

Also I have the 330w power brick..

 

LMAO that would be so funny if he was single GPU so their solution was to break 1 end of the cable/card so it wasnt usable haha...

 

That and you can't configure an m18x with a single 6990m....... Can you??

 

Wouldn't that constitute as cruel and unusual punishment?????

 

Not punishment if he did not pay for it, but it seems he did..just a joke hehe.

 

I suggest you fight with them to send you Xfire port enabled card and you do the installation yourself, these 3rd party techs would only destroy clips and ribbon cable sockets if they have no prior experience with M18Xs

 

There should be a cable from card to card, if u can`t see any there wont be any


If u see the cable just plugg it in, it`s very easy...


_________________________
Laptop: Alienware M18X / Intel i7 2860QM (sandybridge) @3.6Ghz / 2x Radeon 6970m 2GB @800/4000 CF / OCZ SSD Agility 3 120GB / Seagate Momentus 750GB 7200rpm / 16GB Kingston HyperX 1600mhz / 18.4 HD LED / Sony Bluray.
3DMark11: 6168

 

There is a cable.. It goes from one card to the other.. The problem is the "other" card doesnt have the plug to plug the cable into.

 

Wow, that really is shocking. The whole crossfire port on the right card is AWOL! - obvioulsy you have a crossfire cable, so there should be crossfire cards with crossfire ports to plug them together.

Here's a photo of my system (actually, was of my last M18x with 6970's) - you can clearly (zoom in and check the red circled areas) see the two ports for each card whereas on the OP's pics, the port is just simply not there.....

 

Thanks Steve!

Yep.. AWOL.

Tried to explain that to the service tech... Who kept trying to explain to me where to plug the cable in.

 

EternalGraphics,

Send me the following information via a private message -
Email Address:
Name:
Shipping Address:
Phone Number:
Computer Service Tag number:
Reason: 2nd 6990 video card missing CFX connector
http://forum.notebookreview.com/att...m-crossfire-cards-gpu-z-question-img_2318.jpg

 

@EternalGraphics Call Dell customer care and tell them you are returning your computer because is defective if they don't offer you a replacement you can re order a new machine later but I am almost 100% they will offer you a replacement machine

 

I'd just let Chris deal with it - he wont let you down

 

sorry...

Whos Chris?

 

The guy that asked you to send him your info.

 

Chris works for Dell - just send him your system info as he requested and he will have you taken care of....in a good way

 

Correct. If you are in the US, Chris will get it sorted out for you ASAP. The sooner he has the requested info, the sooner your issue is fixed. Sorry for the hassles.

 

Ah ok.. Just thought it a bit strange for someone to ask me all of my contact info.

 

Trust me, Both Bill and Chris are strictly legit. and work for Dell - I appreciate your scepticism about giving details over a forum but they are bonafide employees here to help you.

Do yourself a favour and reply to Chris' request to PM him with your info..... he WILL look after you.

 

Done

Thank you to everyone for your continued help and support.

Ive owned Alienware PC's and laptops in the past. Never had as much "issues" as I have with this one, however its very comforting to know that there are people out there to help such as you!