M18x-R1 with 7970M CrossFire

ok im getting 2 new gpus and ill be doing the install tonight!
id tell what they are but i dont want to give any thing away yet!
ill edit this post as the install progresses!

should be a first tho..lol

ok here are some pics.. to start..can you guess what they are?

here are the drivers encase any one else is looking ... AMD Catalyst 8.97 18 April – 7900 MOD – BenchmarK3D ok these are barely passing the mark.. bsod on damn near every thing with these drivers






first test results with drivers that are incorrect.
Generic VGA video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2960XM Processor,Alienware M18xR1 score: P9452 3DMarks
http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3435917;jsessionid=1tp33fjtgx4f20pzsbosr0sl
HeavanDX11 with 4x antiali and Highest settings averages 162 frames a second.
vantage
http://3dmark.com/3dmv/4075123;jsessionid=pw64o5dvthiy1adhsnf4l4tjs
http://3dmark.com/3dmv/4085967

 

Sounds cool.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

 

updated
lol

 

Where did you get those? looking forward to see the outcome!!! whats the specs of your m18x?

 

i'll do a straight up trade with you. my 6990m's for those blue cards. i don't care what they are. i like blue color.

 

sorry to spoil the fun, but isn't 747m2 the part number of the 7970m's?

 

Awesome, looking forward to the results!

 

Cool, 7970M CF in 18R1!!! I wish you success!

 

yes sir!

and they are in and running.. just looking for the drivers now.. the ones i found do not seem to work..


but on an interesting note.. on stock windows drivers im able to get 1920x1080 resolution and the picture if i may say so is better than my 6990s.. all bs aside..
now maybe im seeing some thing or its effect but i swear with out proper drivers installed the picture is phenomenal!

p.s. these cards are brand new from dell.. they have to put refurbished on the boxs because of the laws pertaining to pallet loads..

 

Hmmm sounds interesting!! Can't wait for these to appear as an option for the m18x r2! Where'd you grab these ones from? Upgradeyourlaptop?

 

Got them from Dell.

I need drivers as of this moment tho lol

 

oh really? i saw a link in an earlier thread with linked dell drivers, can't recall the name of it! ill try and find it. How much did they cost from dell?

here we go
Drivers and Downloads | Dell [United States]

 

yes i saw these also but they will not work..at all..

so i found some that will and ive update my post with the link..

 

why don't u try this driver: AMD Catalyst 12.4 WHQL – 7900 MOD – BenchmarK3D

 

I am using those right now but these are not the correct drivers..
They work but every thing still says generic... no matter what card you have if you use these drivers it fools the system and says 7900gpu.. regardless of the card..
ill just have to wait until proper drivers release.

 

Have you tried the below with your 7970's ??

Also, when using reference drivers, they WILL only show as 7900 series (or 6900 series for the older gen AMD cards) - if you use Dell drivers, you tend to get the full name - nothing to worry about as its just the way these things work....if you check with gpu-z, you can verify the cards are indeed the 7970's (but you don't need to as they have it on the box - aka "Wimbledon") by comparing the shader pipeline and clocks....you can check those figures here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-7970M.72675.0.html

You can also see that the part numbers are the same - 747M2 - by checking the R2 parts list

 

How much did you get the cards for? Are you using the stock cooler?

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

 

yes these cards use the same hardware that the 6970/6990 uses.. so its a easy upgrade..

 

how much

 

DumbDumb, were you able to use those drivers without shutting off your integrated graphics? On the M17x R3, you have to shut off the integrated graphics because we dont' have official feature support yet for the 7970m...stuff like Enduro etc.

Also, can you overclock your cards to see what kind of 3dmark11 scores you will get? You can use MSI Afterburner...the overclocking method is outlined in my 7970m install guide

and

Congratz on the cards

 

On the M18x, the integrated graphics are always disabled unless you boot into IGP mode. The IGP is not even visible at the BIOS level if discrete graphics are enabled. Once you are in IGP mode, the discrete graphics cards are no longer visible, even at the BIOS level... it's one way or the other.




You can change a BIOS setting from PEG to SG so that in IGP mode the discrete graphics cards are visible, but the drivers are not usable by the Windows graphics subsystem and SLI/CrossFire cannot be enabled. It is essentially useless to do that, as nothing is gained. (The GPUs merely receive power and become visible in IGP mode, but they remain unusable.) If you have the BIOS set to SG mode and switch to discrete graphics, the IGP then becomes invisible again at the BIOS level.

 

DumbDumb, two questions: What cards did you have and are their heatsink still okay? How much did you pay for the new cards?

Awesome to you see doing this. Well done.

 

no... the drivers for the m17x-r4 are different and only for your system.. they do not work for are systems at all..
i had another set of drivers that i posted in the 1st post but those are not correct ether..
Altho they do work they are not correct and i bsod on every thing.. mark11 runs fine tho but it still list the cards as generic.. heavendx11 ran fine..
mark03-06 crash tho.. most games will crash with these drivers..

just got off the phone with alienware and they have advised me to wait for drivers and that i should have them in the next 24 hours.. and that i should not run the modded drivers on this card as they are not even remotely close to being correct..
and so i am taking there advice on this one.. im waiting for proper drivers..
once i get them tho ill be giving MR.Fox a copy to dish out to the forum..

 

Any particular reason you can't tell us the pricing?

 

ok, then it makes it easier. The biggest headache right now for 7970m is the integrated graphics support in Enduro, but you don't have to worry about that in the m18x

i have drivers for the m18x r2 that were used in 7970m xfire testing. If you are stuck, i can upload them for you

 

Hey bro... You will need to contact Dell for pricing as it is in flux right now and supply is not consistent. I am in contact with the right people at Dell and once pricing becomes static for North American customers that will be posted. It will be a while longer before reliable information can be posted. Pricing and availability can be expected to be inconsistent among different countries, just as it is configuring a new system. Dell's primary concern right now is having drivers that work properly, filling new system orders and taking care of customers with warranty fulfillment needs. Upgrades are a luxury item and will likely be handled as a lower priority matter.

 

yea if you have them by all means upload em for me.. ill give them a go..

 

DumbDumb Very nice! def +rep)

 

I had the 6990s cf and yes the heat sinks are still good on those cards..

why thank you..

 

Vantage ?

 

I'm travelling right now, but will be home tomorrow. I'll put it up on mediafire for you

 

Can we know how much you paid for these cards or the FBI will kidnap you if you do so?

 

See above... yes, the FBI would come after you. And we wouldn't want that.

 

hahahahaha okok guys look I cant tell you at the moment but when i can i will..

 

It's so cheap that the economy would recover world-wide.

AMD's secret plan to world domination!

 

as soon as i get the drivers.. but for the testers im going to load the modded drivers 1 last time and run it.. ill post it in a bit but after that im done until i get the real drivers.

vantage score is up.. keep in mind this is on bad drivers and non over clock.. i expect scores to get better with good drivers..

 

Where is the link to your Vantage run, bro?

 

first post sorry..

but here..
vantage
http://3dmark.com/3dmv/4075123;jsessionid=pw64o5dvthiy1adhsnf4l4tjs

mark11
http://3dmark.com/3dm11/3385384;jsessionid=n8eqbmlwffyf1xysgw4pvy2k7
i dont know if this score is good or bad.. but i can say this.. compared to my 6990s with good drivers... this test ran a hell of alot smoother with these cards and bad drivers.

 

Called Dell, the pricing per card is $565.00, they are on back order for people wanting to know if they can get them right away.

Not sure why all the secrecy lol. Been doing this too many years and this stuff certainly is not a secret. If you have the money and Dell has them in stock you order them.

You do not need to belong to a special secret club or anything of that sort to place the order .

I asked Dumbdumb earlier about the pricing via PM but i guess he did not want to say and i did not feel like calling but after no reply i just found out the long way .

 

Both of those scores are very good. Considering the driver situation, I'd say you had better hold on to your britches once you get a decent driver.

C'mon Brother 'zilla, secrecy is always the best policy, LOL. It keeps those that want to know... uninformed.

Seriously, thanks for calling and posting the price. So, basically $1,200 by the time it's all said and done (tax, shipping, thermal paste, etc.). That's pretty steep except for the hardcore number chaser. I'm sure that will be enough of a financial black eye for most M18x R1 owners to extract a little more mileage from their 6990M CF and 580M SLI setups. I had indicated the same about availability in an earlier post. The price might change as availability changes. Depleted stock has been an ongoing issue, even for warranty replacements. Those in a hurry probably should look into Clevo GPU modules for upgrades. The info about where to get them is posted in multiple threads in the M17x sub-forum, and even some threads in the M15x sub-forum.

 

Lol i understand Fox and if the part numbers were not plastered everywhere i could relate to wanting to keep it under the radar for abit but the cat is out of the bag so to speak with the first post and all the nice pictures .

Also most people will not want to pony up $1130 to upgrade the GPUs so i generally believe people want to know but that does not mean they will actually buy them .

 

The prices were supposed to follow the part numbers right away. They didn't. I had the part numbers a couple of weeks before I could post them. I'm still waiting for "official" prices for all of the GPU modules. I'm not sure they have decided what the magic price tag is going to be for all of the GPU choices. I'm not sure I like all the choices... seems a option between red and green (only offering the best GPU available from each OEM, in a single or dual-GPU config) would make things a lot simpler.

 

Based on past mobile GPU pricing i believe it should be pretty close to what i was quoted minus some discounts etc.

The Nvidia GPUs will be of course 50% more expensive then any of AMD's offerings .

 

thanks vantage is kind of low and how 11K gpu on 3dmark11 can be compared to 6990's lol

my bad you said it runs smoother

 

well given the fact that the drivers im using are not correct ..lol
and my 6990s never came close to this score at all..

and why do you say vantage is low? is there a base score?

 

I was just expecting like 40K GPU if the single card is like 22K that's why but is amazing any way

 

ok i have been looking at those scores closely on those results and it seems they are highly over clocked..on every thing.. I dont know if that plays a part on the score, but mine is all stock..stock score..

 

I trust you'll be overclocking yours like that, too. No reason not to if the temps are fine. But, first things first... gotta have a driver that works right.

 

I'm no expert but I'd imagine it would be pretty hard to get a bump from 28k to 40k by drivers alone.....assuming stock clocks applied....

 

he got almost 33K GPU so 40K is possible