***M18x - AMD Crossfire (Driver Questions, Performance, Problems) Discussion Thread***

Greetings AMD M18x Owners...

We've had a rash of new threads concerning AMD GPUs and the M18x. Many of these new threads already have been covered here in the forum.

In an effort to centralize discussions on driver questions, settings, etc., please begin using this thread for posts which fall into the following categories:

• Which Display Driver Should I Use?
• General Items Related to AMD Reference Drivers
• Dell Release AMD Driver General Discussion
• Crossfire Discussion
• Anything else related to getting your AMD configured system up and running

Moving forward, if a thread is created and can be placed into one of the above categories, it will be closed and redirected to this sticky thread.

For system/GPU Benchmarks, we have a dedicated thread here in the M18x sub-forum. All benchmark questions, observations, tips belong here:

*OFFICIAL* Alienware M18x Benchmark Thread

While related discussions should be continued on this thread, answers and insight to problems associated with AMD 6990M CrossFire issues can be found here:

*Official Alienware M18x AMD CrossFire Discussion Thread (re: Dell/AW Conference Call)*

Thanks everyone - have fun with your M18x!

USEFUL THREADS

[GUIDE] Fix for Jittery display AMD cards!

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/601148-6990m-crossfire-guide.html

AMD Clean Driver Installations Instructions [How to Avoid Driver Installation Problems]

AMD GPU-Specific Parts List - Courtesy of DELLChrisM

• V9XKH AMD Blackcomb XT 6970m Right
• 074TJ AMD Blackcomb XT 6970m Right Kit (Video card V9XKH + Thermal Assemblies 29NC1)
• JNXHW AMD Blackcomb XT 6970m Left Kit (Video card V9XKH + Thermal Assemblies Y8T9Y)
• RDRGR AMD Blackcomb XTX 6990m Right
• 1Y9YM AMD Blackcomb XTX 6990m Right Kit (Video card RDRGR + Thermal Assemblies 29NC1)
• XCVCG AMD Blackcomb XTX 6990m Left (Video card RDRGR + Thermal Assemblies Y8T9Y)
• RYVMN AMD CrossFireX Cable

Edit: for second-generation M18x GPU parts, please refer to this parts list: LINK

ADDITIONAL INFO/UPDATES

For those without display brightness control, the DimScreen app works excellent with the AMD cards even without proper driver support. Try it, you may like it.

 

8.902-111012a-128052C-Dell.zip

Link to Dell's Optimized 11.10 Driver

 

If this is the driver Louis and Bill worked up for us - do we have a link to the actual driver on Dell's site? If so, lets get a dedicated discussion thread started. For any Dell released drivers/updates which address a given issue, we need a dedicated thread. This helps to provide feedback to the community in addition to our Dell Peeps who are monitoring.

Anyone have the link?

Thanks.

 

Not yet since it's "beta".

 

I just checked and it's not posted on the Dell Support site yet. As soon as it is, I will start a thread and close down the existing beta test thread with a link to the new Dell AMD Driver thread.

 

So what was the Crossfire 6990M fan problem after all? They updated the system BIOS, which points to changes in the EC as well.

 

No worries. As Bill mentioned yesterday, they are having issues with getting the new releases up on the 18x support driver page. I should have been more specific in my earlier post - If there is a 'funky' page (like the one we have on the A05 BIOS), then we could use that. Either way, its fine.

Thanks for keeping an eye out!

 

Bill and Louis have not disclosed any technical details on exactly what was implemented in A05 to correct those problems. I'm not sure they want or need to disclose that information to us. I will leave it to Dell-Bill_B to disclose what he can, if he can.

This was a wonderful thing for the AMD 6990M CrossFire owners that had their issues resolved.

 

has anyone played the new Assassin game yet ?

my 6990m CF laggy at all high, 8x aa...so I put down to 2x its smoothier..is that normal ?

 

8XAA is more demanding that 2XAA, so yes, it would be totally normal for the game to run better at the 2XAA setting.

 

i'm getting like 45 fps non OCed for bf3 on high settings with the new beta drivers bill gave out =\

 

install cap 11.11 cap 2

 

im getting stuttering in BF3 with latest cap and drivers... 6970m cf
have tried re-installing drivers.. using driversweeper, reg cleaner, windows install clean up... you name it. sight

 

I cant piece it together, is there a sticky or step by step guide? its soo confusing.

thanks in advance !

 

Here's what I do

Download and install driver sweeper

Uninstall old driver and don't reboot

Run driver sweeper and clean out amd display

Reboot

Install new driver

Reboot

Install latest cap

Reboot



Many say driver sweeper should be run under safemode but I'm just too lazy.


And watch out for new amd drivers from amd which will result in bsod.

Anything under 11.10 should be safe, not after.

 

hello, I got 6990m xfire, after installing 11.11 driver i got bsod as everyone else...I re-installed window and installed 11.10 driver...and now wont be able to control screen brightness (fn+f4, f5)...Am I missing some driver ?

PS :the screen is not vivid as the G73 ( ftx 460m ) that I have

 

Dr gin ... the new dell driver is great for performance... but the 11.8 AMD drivers were the last to allow brightness control ...

your call.

 

Agree with Shaden. If you go with the new Dell AMD driver, grab the Dimscreen app that SOS4DELL told us about. You can download it here: LINK and that will give you back brightness control that the driver lacks.

 

The new Dell AMD driver is this one right? http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...md-driver-release-scheduled-dell-shortly.html

After downloading the dimscreen that u provided, how do I install ?

PS : just wondering if 6990M CF have optimus mode ?

 

I found an article that may come in handy for some people, im notsure if its ok to link to another forum in here, however: Battlefield 3 Crossfire issues? Complete list of known fix's here! 11.11b link inside!

 

Yes, download the driver that Steviejones linked on the first post. This is Dell's beta of the new AMD Driver. It's a big download... 200+ MB (over twice the normal size) so it will take a little while unless you have a blazing fast broadband connection.

With AMD drivers there is a deliberate process you must follow to have a consistent good result. The steps are very simple, but it takes time to do it right. Taking a shortcut usually results in problems, so taking the extra time is worth the effort. Here is how you should proceed:

• Download and install DriverSweeper
• Download and install CCleaner
• Uninstall all AMD/ATI software - you can do this in Control Panel or using the CCleaner uninstaller. "All" includes any CAPS installations and Catalyst Installation Manager (CIM). You will get an option to uninstall CIM when the driver uninstaller reach the end of the process. You want nothing left with the AMD/ATI name.
• Reboot into safe mode and launch DriverSweeper, add a check mark to the box by "AMD - Display" (do not select anything else, or you will remove everything that has a box checked)
• Click on the "Clean" button and when prompted, reboot
• Press F8 right after the BIOS splash screen to get the menu option of entering safe mode again
• In safe mode, launch CCleaner and run the registry cleaning tool (it would be smart to select the option to back up the changes, just in case - you can always delete the backup files later on)
• Choose the option to "fix" all of the problems (the fix is typically involves deleting invalid registry keys... and that is exactly what you want to do)
• Re-run the CCleaner registry cleaning tool and fix the errors it finds as many times as necessary to have the scanner find no more errors
• Reboot into Windows normally and run the driver installer
• Reboot when the driver installation completes
• Confirm CrossFire is enabled
• Optional (Highly Recommended) - Install the DirectX End-User Runtime Update for Windows 7 after every display driver update
• Use the Dimscreen app as necessary if you wish to adjust display brightness

​

Hope this helps.

 

Nice find! Thanks for sharing it. Have you also posted it on the http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...elease-version-m18x-discussion-thread-30.html yet? I'm sure the members on that thread with AMD-powered systems would appreciative knowing that information is available.

 

Really??? I have 11.9AMD and brightness working without problems.

 

Hi Just quick question , not sure if this the right place to post but as regards to fan speeds , while running speedfan my fans will run at 3800 rpm max , but without speedfan the max i have seen is 3500 , just wondering why the full fan speed is not ultralized even when the gpu hits 89 ? this is while running furmark , the difference in temp can range from about 4-5 degrees more heat on the gpu while not using speedfan due obviously to the fact its running 300rpm less , just wondered if anyone else has this probs and is it poss to change the fans for faster ones ? maybe 4000 rpm ones ? , i have had no issues with shutdowns never have and thats without any 3rd party software running , i have the A05 BIOS installed .
Cheers

 

That can be deceiving. You can set the fan speeds for an RPM higher than they are capable of actually spinning. The sensors readings on the RPM is not deemed reliable. They spin plenty fast at maximum RPM, so there is not any need that I can identify for faster fans.

Glad the A05 BIOS is working well for you. One nice benefit to A05, even for those that did not need problems fixed... NUMLOCK is now turned on by default. It used to be off by default, so the numeric keypad now works without having to set NUMLOCK on.

 

murphey1965, did you try repaste your GPU's. Mine with stock paste also ended 10 min Furmark run with 89deg (pretty hot). After repasting with IC Diamond 7 they ending at 83deg also after long gameing sessions like Crysis, Metro2033 or BF3 they newer went above 78deg. It's worth trying...
Mr. Fox is right I don't see reason for faster fan, better thermal paste - yes.

 

Thanks for your replys guys , but even re pasting and that was something i wanted to do anyway when i can find some good guides on putting the m18x back together again , there is plenty on stripping them down but not putting back together again , the fact remains with speedfan running the gpu is still cooler which means the fans are turning faster , but will do that but will wait when i can get my 2 pipe heatsink for my 2960 chip i have lying around for the past month and do it all at the same time , but gaming its around 78-82 on the hottest gpu the other one is allways around 70-72 .
Cheers

 

In the past installing OSD after installing a driver that did not support the M18x's brightness function would usually bring back the lost functionality. Has anyone tried reinstalling OSD?

 

You know, that's a great idea, 'gunner. Thanks for mentioning it. This is very true and it totally slipped my mind.

If you have not already done so, you may want to post this suggestion on the http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...md-driver-release-scheduled-dell-shortly.html thread. This might save some frustration if removing and reinstalling OSD restores brightness control for those that have lost it.

 

I posted it. Hopefully someone can give it a shot. You may have to perform a reset after re-installing OSD.

 

how long does your laptop take to load BF3 game ?
My laptop took like 1.5-2mins when it was 4gb ram
Now I just upgrade to 12gb ram but it still load hella slow.
Any idea ?

 

We have a special thread for BF3 discussions: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...3-release-version-m18x-discussion-thread.html

Please stay on topic.

Also, please review Forum Rules.

 

Hi tried the above on my system , still no brightness control after unistalling and reinstalling the OSD software .

Cheers.

 

Thanks for trying

 

No problem

 

I received my laptop back from the depot yesterday. Didn't get a chance to test it out yet but looks like they swapped out motherboard, heatsink, video cards and an LCD cable according to included paperwork.

 

i got my second m18x for my nephew and in display manager it showed dual 6970m's

did fresh reinstall etc etc and hwinfo64 is showing 6970m/6990m the unified shaders are 1120 but is this normal? can anybody confirm, or is dell just doing dirty .inf tricks, it claims blackcomb xt/pro btw.

 

Yes those are 6990Ms, 100%

They may show up as 6970Ms as accuracy is down to the programs used to report that string.

6970M are infact 6990Ms with 160 SPs cut off.

 

Just reinstalled the dell osd to see whether I could fix the brightness issue. No joy. was worth a shot though.

 

As posted before, for those (like myself) that need the brightness control, try: Change Monitor Brightness using DimScreen

It will do the work until the issue is resolved by Dellienware/AMD...

 

We can get CrossX to work in Skyrim by pressing ALT-TAB in and out in the game. Work ok for me, I get over 90% usage on both GPU's according to GPU-Z. Give it a try.

 

In case anyone is wondering. The thermal pad thickness needed for the ram chips are 1mm.

 

I need help from a couple members here, I performed a complete repaste of my graphic card (Not just GPU die), but I have lost my data and screen shot of temperature from before the change . If you can take 10 minute of your time by doing a Stress Test under OCCT 4.0 GPU 3D Burn Test and post your screen shot from HWiNFO here, I will very appreciate .

Here's a link for OCCT 4.0 Download - OCCT Website .

You need to choose this Setting. Put your lappy on desk, with Fan turn on at 100%.




Thanks in advance

Picture of what I did.

Spoiler

 

Why my thread was move here ? I would a Thread for it not single post ...

 

Please refer to the opening post.

 

noticed the beta drivers on dell site are up for 69xxM officially now.

 

Installed them. No improvments in performance and brightness control is gone. Back to 11.9

 

Yup this has worked for me since day 1, and it helped me survive my first play through. +1!

 

In case you somehow missed it, the DimScreen app that SOS4DELL told us about works excellent with the AMD cards even without the driver support. I don't need with my NVIDIA powered M18x, but still use it because it's a nifty app. If you have not tried it yet, you may want to.

 

So I just received my new m18x with dual 6990s the other day and when running benchmark tests i noticed one GPU is hotter than the other. I figure a few degrees isnt much but its about 10*c difference. I then ran GPU-Z which is showing the fan is pretty much stuck at idle and is not revving up. Is their a fix or do i need to replace the fan or whatever else has to be replaced. i have already gone ahead with contacting my technician i deal with and awaiting his response.

Thanks ahead guys