M15x & 6970M / 6990M - What you need to know - upgrading, problems, solutions

So I tried putting the card under load again
after a few minutes this happened

the game then hangs and closes

then the desktop turned to


and then it crashes


do you guys have any idea what's wrong?

Edit: This just happened after I booted


And while writing this, this happened


I did remember the vertical line corruption happened a few times with the old 260m
do you guys think this could be related to anything else other than the GPU such as the power supply?

 

Well I changed the card back to my old one and it works fine. The card is definitely busted. Do you guys know any reparation places, is that possible in any way?
Do you think this would work?
MXM Video Card Repair Type 3.0A 3.0B 3.0 Dell Alienware | eBay

 

guys is there a way to change the name from AMD Radeon HD 6900 series to 6970m???thx.

 

You mean a way to make GPU-Z recognizing the card properly? Yes, updating the databases of GPU-Z...

HWiNFO is working on a solution for this as well, the 6990m and 6970m have apparently the same hardware ID string, which makes it necessary to use a different method in order to recognize the cards properly.

 

guys how are your 6990's working? temps, problems, etc? thx

 

still waiting for mine.
don't worry, as soon as i get it i'll let you know.

 

whenever i open up an application, my gpu temps go up to about 80 to 90 degrees for about 1 second and then it goes back down. is this normal?

 

Yeah, it should be there any day now. Mailed on the 26th.

 

Definitely a mating issue somewhere, as temps shouldn't spike that high. Under gaming load (EQII, WoW), that card didn't even break 70 in an M18x @ stock.

I ran into a similar issue when I installed a 460m in a M18x. The pads were too thick/misaligned, and after a few repastings, I ended up tracking down a picture of a 460m and its pad placements to get the 460m properly aligned and temps were within operating range after that.

Here is a pic of what the heatsink of an M18x looks like as soon as you remove a 6970m/6990m to show you exactly where the thermal pads are placed:



Note the pad that seems to be laying on the horizontal memory thermal pad which attaches to the top of the VRM(?). Also the vertical pad will be shifted ~ .65inch to the left more towards the exhaust.

Others here who have had trial and error fun with their personal M15x's can probably help sort out any mating issues or if GPU:HS mating is compromised somehow.

 

would it make any difference if i just put the thermal pads on the card itself instead of the heatsink?

 

No, they should be in full contact with before either way.

Remember to put something on the chips on the back of the card as well.

 

ok so here's all the thermal pads i put on. do you think i should use larger pieces to cover multiple parts or keep it this way?

 

which one is the best???

this one.

Fujipoly Premium System Builder Thermal Pad - 1/4 Sheet - 150 x 100 x 1.0 - Thermal Conductivity 6.0 W/mK - FrozenCPU.com

or this

Phobya Thermal Pad XT 100mm x 100mm x 1.0mm - 7W/mk (1 Piece) (17134) - FrozenCPU.com

 

I once had some Phobya pads, they were really hard, almost incompressible, which makes them pretty useless. Don't know whether these are as hard as the once I used.
A lot of people had very good experience with the fujipoly, so go with them.

 

they need to be soft to make good contact???rly thx for the help!!

 

Well, they need to be slightly compressible in order to allow proper contact between heatsink and die, if they're too hard and can't get compressed then the gap between heatsink and die is too big, which makes the thermal paste pretty much useless and temps will skyrocket.

You might also want to consider 0.5mm pads, but soft 1mm pads should work fine.

 

the heatsink for my 6970m gpu die is saperate from the memory chips heatsink!!i go for the fujipoly thermal pads then!!!thx again!!!

 

fancysauce, why do you have thermal pads on the back side of the card? (side with the xplate)

 

What svl7 is saying is correct, in that if the thermal pads are too thick and/or too rigid in other areas, they will compromise mating between the GPU and its heatsink or even the VRMs and other hot areas. I prefer the softer thinner thermal pads because you can then add them in layers as needed in areas to make contact as needed. You also want to make sure the retention arms are not bent nor the heatsink itself. Sometimes when separating the heatsink from the card initially, you can warp it ever so slightly.

Just little steps here and there to make sure you have proper mating and alignment across the board to make sure you don't suffer overheating in given areas. Normally it is straight forward, but I've encountered all types of nuances which cause temps to go south. The fact the card is shooting up to 90+ and shutting down even just opening applications means there is a mating issue somewhere in there.

 

I though that I was suppossed to. So I'm guessing no?

 

No, you did the right thing. The chips on that side need something.

 

How much give do those pads have? Even with the thinner, light green stock thermal pads, you can clearly see the imprint of the ram chips pressing into them. I definitely prefer the thinner, more malleable pads because it lessens the chance of anything not making optimal contact.

Did you try reinstalling your 5850 as a check to make sure temps are still within norm under load with that card?

Also looking at your pics, your GPU:Heatsink mating doesn't seem optimal if that is what the thermal compound looked like after separating the GPU and the HS. It doesn't have the telltale full GPU dispersion pattern from edge to edge from pressure/full contact.

Something isn't making contact or is preventing the GPU from making proper contact.

 

yeah i just ran out of thermal paste when i was applying the paste. i put my 5850 back in a while ago and the temps were fine. really cool actually. i'll put my 5850 back in and when i get more paste i'll attempt to install the 6970m. should i stack layers of thermal pads on each other in order for it to make contact with the gpu and the heatsink simultaneously?

edit: should i stick with ic diamond again or should i go for arctic silver 5?

 

I would use MX-4 for now, as it applies easier, spreads quicker with no additional micro scratches from the particles I see in the pic of your card and where it has caused some light abrasions already. Only downside of IC Diamond.

I would re-apply with NO thermal pads, apply thermal paste (any at this point), set it, make sure the heatsink is firmly secure/screws tight, let it sit for ~10 min, then detach it and note the dispersion pattern of the thermal compound (take a pic for comparisons sake).

Then I would reapply the thermal pads, clean the die (make sure to clean the die and heatsink between each application), and set it again, let it sit for ~10 min, then remove it again and see if the dispersion pattern is the same.

This will let you know if the heatsink and/or pads are compromising the mating between the heatsink and GPU die.

 

What thermal paste n thermal pad should I buy for the 6970M?

 

Try these:

MX-4 thermal paste is highly recommended. http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...uctive_Thermal_Compound_4g.html?tl=g8c127s769. Innovation Cooling Diamond 7/24 Carat thermal paste is new and highly regarded, but expensive. http://www.frozencpu.com/products/7...hermal_Compound_-_48_Grams.html?tl=g8c127s754.

Thermal pads: http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...ermal_Conductivity_60_WmK.html?tl=g8c487s1288.

 

Hello I was wondering if upgrading from the 5730m to the 6970m would let me play bf3 on Ultra? Also is it worth it to upgrade from 4gb 1333mhz to 8gb 1600mhz? Would I see any difference?

Thanks guys!

 

I doubt you can play bf3 on ultra with a single 6970m, but you'll see an unbelievable increase in performance when upgrading from a 5730m to a 6970m. The M15x only supports up to 1333Mhz RAM, so you wont see any difference with 1600Mhz RAM since it will be downclocked to 1333Mhz. You wont see any difference in performance while gaming if you were to upgrade from 4gb to 8gb.

 

What's goin' on folks! I'm always looking around at the prices of these things and I saw this one, although they use a different name for it... I was wondering if it is infact the same card? I see it says compatible with Dell Mobile Workstation and AW M17x so I'm guessing it would be fine with the M15x but I thought I'd just double check with you guys first! Always better to be safe than sorry eh.

Link!

 

Well my 5730 handles Bf3 on ultra totally maxed out 10-20fps. Most people on this forum said triple and even quadruple frame-rates. So it seems like 30-60fps is plenty for me

I think I may still upgrade to 8gb of ram because my mom uses my computer as a workstation, and Minecraft is a memory hog when i'm creating mods.

Thanks

 

You want to stay away from WareSphere and those cards, Laxxi. Several members purchased them and had nothing but trouble.

Check here (@ Post 1100) and follow thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ading-problems-solutions-110.html#post7917628

And here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m15x/611932-warespare-6970-a.html#post7922038.

 

Damn, that's disappointing!



Don't suppose you know whether they were the new cards or the refurbs?

Thanks once again for invaluable advice Rev!

 

Okay I ordered my ic diamond paste n pad just waiting for my Dell 6970m


Oh ya how should I paste the thermal pads n paste??

 

Inap's Thermal Paste Guide will walk you through it, with step by step directions and pictures. Download THERMAL PASTE GUIDE.rar from Sendspace.com - send big files the easy way.

Also see: Download M15x GPU.rar from Sendspace.com - send big files the easy way.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oam6GIIslGo&NR=1.

 

I second this. Also, FrozenCPU has been around for a long time and is a good home for those seeking cooling/OC items.

 

except there's nothing to transfer the heat to on that side...

while it doesn't hurt, i doubt it will do anything since the surface area is too small and it can't dissipate. you might just get the opposite effect keeping it hot when it would usually cool off quicker.

cards which need this cooling on the back side, usually come with a metal housing for the card. i've seen them in some laptops, i was actually surprised the m15x didn't have one tbh, but meh.

*edit*
i finally had time to install and play with my shiny new 6990m. initial signs look GREAT

 

Congratulations on your new toy. Very nice Vantage run. What clocks, temps? +Rep.

 

awesome!!!! well that puts me in the market for a 6990m also well

 

i haven't undervolted or overclocked yet, but max temp i had was 85C.
my cpu is (as always) overclocked to 24/24/24/24 @ 88/88 TDP/TDC.

it's definitely hotter than the 6970m but still manageable.
the vantage run was with the special rage drivers amd released, since i'm playing rage atm. using the ultra hd scripts i've found it runs smooth as butter with those drivers.

 

I don't think an M15x can get anymore powahful.

 

alright so i got the temps fixed (thanks electro) and im idling around 40-50's. while browsing it gets around mid 50's and load goes around 80's and shader temp went 90. i just repasted but havent checked the load temps yet. what's the range of temps that i should be getting with load?

 

hey that's what we said when the 5870m came out....
now it's almost as powerful as 5870m in sli

it's amazing for a laptop over 2 years old since release. if it wasn't for the power limitation, it would be perfect in every way. funny, but i had more throttling issues with the 6970m than with the 6990m... i suspect issues i had with pci-e speed throttling had to do with the fact that the 6970m was eurocom, the dell 6990m stays at pcie2@16x. it's why i'm hesitant to sell the 6970m, don't want anyone having issues with the pci-e throttle as i did

sounds good, you using a 9cell battery or a laptop cooler?
(or you could use those laptop balls which cost a few dollers)

i have mine raised with the 9c battery at all times. i also had undervolted my 6970m to 1.025v (can check if stable using trixx or ati tray tools prior to flash) max of 80C and 85C running furmark for 15min

 

i have the 6 cell battery but i keep it elevated with books to let the air out. can i undervolt it to that voltage without a flash using ati tray tools? trixx doesnt allow me to go below 1.1. also is there any difference in performance with that voltage?

 

no difference in performance, the only thing effected is stability.
however there is some leeway and in my case, at 1.025v it was 100% stable.

i know ati tray tools allows you to add custom voltages to the overclock section however it's a little iffy to use and setup. it is safe to use however than just blind flashing without knowing if it's stable.

here's a pic to show you what i did in ati tray tools to set custom voltages
the custom voltages are set up in milivolts i think?
NOTE: INPUTTING WRONG VALUES MAY HAVE DIRE CONSEQUENCES!!!! PUTTING A VALUE LIKE 10000 WILL MOST LIKELY KILL THE CARD... COUNT YOUR ZEROS!!!!
basically 1000 = 1v so yeah, 1.1v = 1100 and 1.05v is 1050
only values i tested was 1100, 1050, 1025, 1000, 900




900 was only for 2d, low power modes though, i noticed some game crashes at 1000 (1v) on my 6970m so a bump upto 1025 (1.025v) made it stable. once i knew it was stable for long sessions of gaming, i flashed the card to have 3d settings of 1.025v.
oh don't forget to set the clocks to 3d settings as well, so drag the sliders to 680/900 in the 6970m or 715/900 for 6990m.

since ati tray tools is rather outdated (or parts of it) i disabled the osd and stuff, i used it purely to check my voltages and clocks. shame it's somewhat abandoned, it's one of the most powerful tools ati/amd have to date.

 

Well....after finally wading my way through 126 pages of 6970m information I think I'm going to dive in and upgrade from my 260m.

Checklist:
Arctic MX-4 thermal paste
Eurocom 6970m via eBay (WITHOUT THE DAMN SOLDER!)
Drivers
vBios
Deep breath

anything else I'm forgetting?

 

Well, I tried to overvolt the card with ATI Tray Tools and with VBIOS flashing... doesn't seem to work, so you don't need to worry, you can put in 100V and nothing will happen, it might even undervolt it.
And the voltage regulator only gets up to 1.5V anyway... (which still won't be very healthy for the card, but as I said, it doesn't seem to overvolt anyway).

 

Some rubbing alcohol for cleaning the heatsink

 

you forget the crucial point, money

 

oh that's right svl7, forgot you had issues overvolting.
still, wouldn't want someone inputting something ridiculous and burning the card.

did you end up finding a way around that btw?

 

Yes, I did... but I don't know whether you like it, hahaha, check it out:



And all the details can be found here: AMD 6970m voltage mod for higher overclocking | Tech|Inferno



Had some runs at 935MHz core clock, but the power supply for the GPU isn't really sufficient for this... (the PSU can handle it well, but the voltage supply on the board is limiting the overclockability...)