*M15X + 6970* Anyone thinking of trying when they come out?

Ok, thanks a lot.

I just realized that only the "Graphic card" tab of GPU-Z seems to report always 3d clocks... the sensor log are actually showing the card downclocking and changing between profiles, so this seems ok (if the information are correct) I still don't like the fan...

 

Is there fake card?

 

That's good news. You need PowerPlay with a card that powerful to avoid heat issues.

 

Didnt inap and rogue say that powerplay was enabled?
Was that because they were using a genuine dell-card?

 

Probably, but my reference was to quality. Some ATI licensees are better than others. Dell (recently) and Sapphire are top notch. Cards manufactured by or for others vary. Asus, for example, tends to cut corners to hold down costs for their notebooks (the Asus 5870m was notorious). Clevos are probably mid-range, but the ranks shift as major vendors switch contract manufacturers and component suppliers. It's not always clear who is building what for whom, so you just have to keep your eye on the final product. That's all I meant, but I have no doubt that graphics card counterfeiting goes on; they produce knock-offs of everything else in China, why not graphics cards?

 

besides Dell are there any other places where you can by the 6970m?

 

Yes, from MXM-upgrade, that's where I got my card. Also the eurocom parts site may be an option, maybe rjtech.
However, the support from MXM-upgrade has been very good so far, you can't expect this from the two others I guess.

 

I order mine from dell and they had delay it two time so I had cancel the order and order it from aikimox(he a clevo reatailer somthing like babyhemi). He a member on here, if anyone interested shoot him a pm and he will give you the detail.

@inap isn't your card idle at 55 when you did the swap?

 

What does MXM charge for the 6970m?

 

it 430 euro so it come out be 620 usd.

 

Wow. Thanks for the instant response.

 

That includes shipping per DHL btw.

 

yeah they were around there, temps were surprisingly good, when i did the swap.

 

In china they developed fake everything. I heard of one 500gb HDD that had 2 screws and a 128 mb usb drive attached to a black HDD case and it said it was a 500gb HDD, they even added software for it to look like it was 500 GB by somehow replaying the 128mb over and over.

 

I didn't know you can buy mobile graphic card from China? I never see a retailer from China before. I just check with my retailer and they said that the card is directly from AMD. So is this mean that it the same as slv7 card?

 

Just throwing it out there, but have you considered trying to flash to the Dell vBIOS svl7? I worked for ichime and a non Dell card.

There is a risk to it of course, but if you write down the steps, you should be able to blind-flash back to the original. I'm also a lot more cavalier with my things than most people.

 

rev i can't seem to be able to download this, is there another link to this.
thanks bud

 

Try this. Slow out there tonight. Sorry about the spelling. LOL.

File name: Cat_11-4_Mobiliy_Preview_win7_march23.zip File size: 116.17 MB

 

hahah thanks rev.

 

Can anyone who upgraded post bc2 benchmarks ? I want to see how much of an improvement there is over 5850m.

 

Benchmark Crysis 1 and 2 while your at it.

 

I haven't got BFBC2 and Crysis 2, Crysis 1 isn't installed atm (I put in a SSD a couple of weeks ago and haven't come around to get everything on the disk again)

But I'll let you know in case I find some time.

Edit: Maybe I can borrow Crysis 2 from a friend for a couple of hours, I'd like to test the gameplay anyway.

 

Have you considered messing with the vBIOS, or is that off the table?

Whatever you do, goodluck!

 

some of the R3 users tried overvolting with no dice, this thing won't accept anything

 

No, not at all, I'm in contact with MXM-upgrade. He has the possibility to "cold flash" a card in case something goes wrong and he is willing to flash the Dell 6970m vbios on the card to see whether the GPU still works with it. But he told me he's pretty busy atm, so don't expect fast results. I'll let you guys know anyway as soon as I have some news. I'm still testing and also looking for a solution with the fan control.

I'm afraid I don't know what you mean... "overvolting with no dice"? Can you explain this to me?

 

katalin probably means attempted to mod the voltage with no luck.

 

Ok. Btw, I checked the vbios yesterday, the 3D voltage is at 1.1V...

 

Svl7, can't wait to see how your card performs with the 920XM. Hoping you don't run into power issues, are you using the standard 150W psu?

 

Yes, I use the standard 150W PSU. Check out the benchmark thread, I posted some runs yesterday. I have to be carful, but so far it seems to work.

 

Keep up the good job, if you manage to make this work a lot of people will jump in and it will be thanks to guys like you.
This thread is being followed by hundreds of anxious M15x owners waiting for the conclusion.

 

Good luck SVL7. Glad to see you are making progress!

 

can't w8 for time to tell if it's worth it ... Would undervolting be necessary with a 740qm processor? Can the m15x supply enough power?

 

I have the 920xm... I'm sure it's borderline, especially with Throttlestop, but so far it works.

 

Are you running the 920xm at stock or overclocked?

 

New Alienware Dell m17x r3 2GB ATI 6970M V9XKH | eBay

in this Dell 6970m auction he writes "will require a manual fan controller" so maybe the fans will blast away at 100% even with a DELL 6970m card as it does with the one from MXM-Upgrade.

 

Yeah but he commented that for the M17x R2. The Dell version worked fine in the M15x with fan control etc. Remember the 460m made all the fans blast 100% in the M17x R2 but work fine with the M15x. I know this doesn't help with a solution but I'm just saying that we should wait for Clevo and Dell and Sapphire comparisons.

 

Hey slv7 have you try this program to control your fan?
Alienware Fan Control

 

Hi svl7,

seems you have the same issues as me with the test of running a MSI 5870m in a G73JH.

 

Hang on, are the fans blowing full speed as long as the laptop is running??

 

They're running at a high speed all the time, but not quite full speed. And they won't go to the highest possible speed, even under load. I'm using HWinfo32 at the moment to control the fan speed manually. However, I'm working at a better solution for this, but it may take a while since I'm pretty busy atm.

 

Trixx allows you to set manual fan control for different temps.

 

I have 4 noob questions for you. Apologies, but I dont want to kill my Alienware and Ive not tried anything other than a straight swap before.

1 - Ive noticed that you have mentioned your processor. Does it matter which one you have? I have a lowly I7 620m

2 - Is it right you used the 260m Card holder?

3 - Did mxm provide the relevant heatsink/fan?

4 - Once installed, do you have to be careful how far you push the system?

 

1 - No it doesn't matter what processor you have. In fact you'll be better off with that dual core as it isn't very power demanding leaving the GPU with more to use.

2 - You can use the heatsink in your laptop, they are all the same for every GPU and it works fine as far as we know.

3 - MXM-upgrade won't provide a heatsink.

4 - You always have to be careful how far you push the system no matter what parts however, things are fairly idiot proof as the parts tend to shut down and restart before anything else if it thinks its going to die.

 

Thanks very much. Looks like svl7 and inpa have gotten it running easily enough so I was considering the upgrade myself. Hopefully this wont kill the machines a month or 2 down the line!!

 

2 - The metal bezel on the back of the GPU won't fit properly when you take it from the 260m... I can post a picture later to explain it better, maybe you need to wait until tommorrow, there's a nice concert in town tonight, hehe.

Otherwise, everything like widezu69 said.

 

Thanks svl7, enjoy yourself tonight!

 

Yes, this is what i meant, i think it was DaneGRClose that tried multiple values but BSODs everytime(you need a restart for the new voltage to be applied)

For the fan control i think you missed my post, have you tried Mumak's HWinfo32? It supports the M15x

 

I'd like to know if, simply because of pipeline count, etc, the 6970 can outbench my OCed 5850 w/ safe temps. I run at 800/1000. Any feedback, svl?


-Kojaku

 

The previous pages have benchmarks... the obvious answer is yes. If it couldn't, we won't be spending all this time trying to do it.

 

Just to let you know, we have the cards now, directly from AMD. PM for details.