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    Video card specs

    Discussion in 'Alienware 18 and M18x' started by INTJ, Nov 17, 2015.

  1. INTJ

    INTJ Newbie

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    Hi guys,

    Just after some help with a couple of questions.

    Back in 2011 I bought a high end Alienware M18X laptop for my son, had it delivered directly to him as he was living remotely from me, and that was that. He is not really PC minded and is basically happy if it turns on, runs and doesn't hang.

    Recently he moved back home and has started having some performance issues, with the machine freezing. It was running very hot, actually uncomfortable to touch in top left corner facing screen, which looks like the processor. So I gave all the fans a good clean and also did a fresh instal to clean it up as he had downloaded a lot of junk, malware, bloat ware etc. Also flashed the BIOS to V05 which seemed to make a big difference.

    Anyway here’s the potential issue I noticed, when I ordered and paid for Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6990M Cards, however when I run DXDiag it tells me we have two AMD Radeon HD 6970M. ie 6970M versus 6990M. Is this bad – have we been given an inferior card or is this the same card described differently? How can I be sure?

    Also, when I reinstalled the OS and drivers using the original disks, none of the extra alienware software was installed. It’s basically 63 bit W7 with some alienware backgrounds and icons. Is any or all of the alienware software (respawn and so on) worth downloading and installing, or is it mostly bloatware?

    Thank you very much for reading, and for any answers.

    Regards

    Craig

    PS: In case it matters, here are the key components:

    (M18X) Purchased : July 2011

    Intel® Core i7-2820QM 2.3GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)
    8GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM (4x2GB)
    750GB 7200RPM Hard Drive x 2
    Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6990M AMD CrossFireX
     
    INTJ, Nov 17, 2015
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  2. inasense

    inasense Notebook Geek

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    I used to own an m18x with 6990m's - several hardware scan/identification programs would (falsely) report them as 6970's. A fairly certain indicator to ID each card is running GPU-Z https://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/ on each, checking the shader count ("Shaders" on the spec page). The 6990 has 1120, versus the 6970's 960. Also, the base core clock of the 6990 is 715mhz, versus 680mhz in the 6970.

    Regarding the proprietary software, it's usefulness (or lack thereof) depends on the user preference. I would recommend at least installing Respawn, Command Center & the OSD utility. These are fairly necessary for full system functionality.
     
    Last edited: Nov 17, 2015
    inasense, Nov 17, 2015
    #2