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

    Discussion in 'Alienware M15x' started by svl7, Apr 19, 2011.

  1. Fancysauce

    Fancysauce Notebook Consultant

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    what drivers should i be using for the 6970m at the moment? i tried the 11.10 preview drivers and i saw a loss in performance. right now i have some dell drivers installed.
     
  2. xeroxide

    xeroxide Notebook Deity

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    omg svl7!
    so sweet, don't have the heart or stomach to do it myself though.
     
  3. electrosoft

    electrosoft Perpetualist Matrixist

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    11.8's are rock solid for me. Unless you are playing a game that can experience a direct performance boost with 11.9's, I'd go with 11.8's.
     
  4. Ldmoose

    Ldmoose Notebook Consultant

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    That takes some serious balls to take a soldering iron to a $400 card. Since I can't shake your hand, rep will have to do :D

    I second the 11.8 drivers, they're the most stable and best performing from my experience.
     
  5. Fancysauce

    Fancysauce Notebook Consultant

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    can u guys send me a link to those drivers then? im not sure if i found the right one from looking through google
     
  6. johnnyman27

    johnnyman27 Notebook Lover

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  7. FuRioN

    FuRioN Newbie

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    Im thinking in changing my 460m GTX for a 6970m but first i want to ask if its possible the ati 7xxx or nvidia 6xx can work in the m15x or wont because the 28 nm arquitecture. What do you think?
     
  8. JohnnyFlash

    JohnnyFlash Notebook Virtuoso

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    There's no way to answer this question. We have to wait for release, then for someone to try it.
     
  9. IrateMike

    IrateMike Notebook Geek

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    So I received my replacement card for my 6970m from Eurocom yesterday.. fired it up.. does this mean it is actually a 6990m? Looking at the shaders and GPU clock..

    [​IMG]

    Running slightly hot for my liking, anyone know if it is safe to undervolt these cards? My 6970m seemed to undervolt fine, just not sure about this one..
     
  10. johnnyman27

    johnnyman27 Notebook Lover

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    yeah,its 6990m!!!nice!! :D
     
  11. Hel20eS

    Hel20eS Notebook Evangelist

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    how do we know if it's a 6990 ? the default clock ?
     
  12. johnnyman27

    johnnyman27 Notebook Lover

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    the default clock and the shaders.6970m has 960 shaders 6990m has 1120!!
     
  13. Hel20eS

    Hel20eS Notebook Evangelist

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    i see. another question, does the difference between 6970m and 6990m similar to between 5850m and 5870m ? meaning just better shaders ?
     
  14. JohnnyFlash

    JohnnyFlash Notebook Virtuoso

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    The 5850 and 5870 use the exact number of shaders, but yes, you're right. You got a lucky pull, that's awesome!
     
  15. masteraty

    masteraty Notebook Enthusiast

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    okay, i just got my 6970m but doesnt come along with a x-plate. so what am i suppose to do now? how should i paste the insulation tape?
     
  16. MrValle

    MrValle Notebook Evangelist

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    You take the x-plate from your previous graphics card.
     
  17. masteraty

    masteraty Notebook Enthusiast

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    quote

    The retention bracket of the 6970m has a different size than the regular M15x cards (260m, 5850m etc.)
    When your card doesn't come with this x-plate you need to take the one you have on your old GPU, but this one won't fit properly. Nevertheless it works, even if it covers some resistors on the back of the card. Make sure you're not shorting anything. Usually the retention bracket has an insulating black plastic pad on it, this will work. However, if your x-plate doesn't have this pad on it, you must cover it with some thin, insulating tape.

    ask: waht should i do with the insulating tape where do i place it?
     
  18. DraZziW

    DraZziW Notebook Consultant

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    Doesn't your xplate have some sort of plastic on one side of it already?
     
  19. masteraty

    masteraty Notebook Enthusiast

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    Oh icic okay thx. I'm gonna put the card into my m15x wish me best of luck haha!.
     
  20. Dangeel

    Dangeel Notebook Enthusiast

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    Have received and installed my 6990m
    Am a happy man! ^^
     
  21. Ninefingers

    Ninefingers Notebook Consultant

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    Did you guys get a Dell or Eurocom card?
     
  22. Dangeel

    Dangeel Notebook Enthusiast

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  23. masteraty

    masteraty Notebook Enthusiast

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    I got myself a dell card. :) Erm would like to ask where am I suppose to paste the thermal pads? Can give me a picture to see or paint so that I can stick those thermal pads
     
  24. masteraty

    masteraty Notebook Enthusiast

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    okay i just done installing haha =D...weee
     
  25. gunner1905

    gunner1905 Notebook Geek

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    Yes!!
    It's back from the dead, my 6990m
    It's showing this on gpuz on idle
    [​IMG]
    and I just ran 3dmark vantage and nothing broke, it didn't turn off, I didn't get a blue screen. and I got a P13149 3DMarks (standard clocks) that should be normal right?
     
  26. The Revelator

    The Revelator Notebook Prophet

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    Glad to see you back in action with that powerhouse. Temps look good. Vantage score is a good start, but need full screenshot set (Vantage result screen, GPU-Z and CPU-Z) to really tell much. Plenty of time for all that. Congratulations.
     
  27. gunner1905

    gunner1905 Notebook Geek

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    Thanks, I actually had this card repaired at one of those ebay GPU repairs and fortunately he was able to fix the card and just in time for BF3
    Just in case somebody notices anything wrong:
    GPU-Z
    [​IMG] [​IMG]
    CPU-Z
    [​IMG]
    3D-Mark Vantage
    AMD Radeon HD 6970M / 6990M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-940 Processor,Alienware score: P13190 3DMarks
     
  28. kaizenmx

    kaizenmx Notebook Consultant

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    I noticed that my gpu temp is higher whenever I use external monitor.
     
  29. gunner1905

    gunner1905 Notebook Geek

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    How high? I'm also using an external monitor and my temps hover around 53 ish
     
  30. svl7

    svl7 T|I

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    Yeah, when you use two displays (don't disable the internal screen) the GPU idles at 300/900 instead of 150/100 (if I remember the numbers correctly)... this will result in a warmer system.
     
  31. JohnnyFlash

    JohnnyFlash Notebook Virtuoso

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    Just change that setting to 250/150. It doesn't cause problems on my 5850m, and your card has twice the bandwidth per clock.
     
  32. Hel20eS

    Hel20eS Notebook Evangelist

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    Just received my 6970m Eurocom today...

    By the time i know it, the card is in my 15x. :D

    So test it out, play some bfbc2. Great performance

    after about 10 minutes of gameplay, the laptop shuts down, and restart a few seconds later. Wonder what is causing the trouble. Don't think it's the temp issue though, check it right after the restart, temp stays around 50

    I'll test the game out again and see if the problem persist.

    Loving it so fast eventhough the bumpy start.
     
  33. flo6813

    flo6813 Notebook Guru

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    I too had shutdown with a waresphere card. So i've bought one from MXM UPGRADE, and still had shutdown. So i bought 0.5 and 4mm (phobya) pads and put them everywhere (see post 1216). I also disabled windows aero, and set the power consumption mode on "normal" use. NO MORE SHUTDOWN!! (it's crazy but it worked for me!).
    I also noticed that a lot of people using the 720qm+6970m has shutdown issues.
     
  34. Hel20eS

    Hel20eS Notebook Evangelist

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    hmm, might try that, thanks flo

    *UPDATED, one round of game with no shutdown issue. Using 11.8 driver. Will test some more*
     
  35. JohnnyFlash

    JohnnyFlash Notebook Virtuoso

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    Test it with OCCT to get load temps, it will have cooled right down after a full restart.
     
  36. Ldmoose

    Ldmoose Notebook Consultant

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    Hel20eS needs to monitor temps with gpu-z or HWiNFO while gaming to get accurate information on temperatures. Did you put thermal paste and thermal pads on when you installed the card?
     
  37. Hel20eS

    Hel20eS Notebook Evangelist

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    yup i did monitor those, never past 75 C. i just repaste and do all the cleaning.

    *UPDATED*

    The shutdowns are back again. I did a log using HWinfo

    GPU TS1 (MemIO)
    46.5 ฐC
    46.5 ฐC
    47.0 ฐC
    46.5 ฐC
    47.0 ฐC
    47.0 ฐC
    47.0 ฐC
    47.0 ฐC
    47.0 ฐC
    47.0 ฐC
    47.0 ฐC
    47.0 ฐC
    46.5 ฐC
    47.0 ฐC
    47.0 ฐC
    47.0 ฐC
    47.0 ฐC
    47.0 ฐC
    47.0 ฐC
    47.0 ฐC
    47.0 ฐC
    48.0 ฐC
    48.0 ฐC
    48.0 ฐC
    47.0 ฐC
    47.5 ฐC
    47.5 ฐC
    47.0 ฐC
    47.5 ฐC
    47.0 ฐC
    50.0 ฐC
    51.5 ฐC
    52.0 ฐC
    48.5 ฐC
    47.5 ฐC
    47.5 ฐC
    48.5 ฐC
    48.5 ฐC
    48.0 ฐC
    48.0 ฐC
    48.5 ฐC
    48.5 ฐC
    48.0 ฐC
    48.0 ฐC
    48.0 ฐC
    47.5 ฐC
    50.0 ฐC
    48.0 ฐC
    50.0 ฐC
    49.5 ฐC
    50.0 ฐC
    50.0 ฐC
    51.0 ฐC
    50.5 ฐC
    50.0 ฐC
    50.0 ฐC
    53.0 ฐC
    57.0 ฐC
    58.0 ฐC
    59.0 ฐC
    59.5 ฐC
    60.5 ฐC
    61.5 ฐC
    61.5 ฐC
    62.5 ฐC
    63.0 ฐC
    63.5 ฐC
    64.0 ฐC
    65.0 ฐC
    65.0 ฐC
    65.5 ฐC
    66.0 ฐC
    67.0 ฐC
    67.0 ฐC
    67.5 ฐC
    68.0 ฐC
    68.5 ฐC
    69.0 ฐC
    69.0 ฐC
    69.5 ฐC
    69.5 ฐC
    69.5 ฐC
    70.5 ฐC
    70.5 ฐC
    71.0 ฐC
    71.0 ฐC
    71.0 ฐC
    71.5 ฐC
    72.0 ฐC
    72.0 ฐC
    72.0 ฐC
    71.5 ฐC
    72.5 ฐC
    72.5 ฐC
    72.5 ฐC
    72.5 ฐC
    73.0 ฐC
    72.5 ฐC
    73.0 ฐC
    73.5 ฐC
    73.5 ฐC
    74.0 ฐC
    74.0 ฐC
    74.0 ฐC
    74.0 ฐC
    74.0 ฐC
    74.5 ฐC
    74.0 ฐC
    74.5 ฐC
    74.5 ฐC
    75.0 ฐC
    74.5 ฐC
    74.5 ฐC
    75.5 ฐC
    75.5 ฐC
    75.5 ฐC
    75.5 ฐC
    75.5 ฐC
    75.5 ฐC
    75.5 ฐC
    76.0 ฐC
    76.5 ฐC
    76.0 ฐC
    76.5 ฐC
    76.5 ฐC
    76.5 ฐC
    77.0 ฐC
    77.5 ฐC
    77.0 ฐC
    77.0 ฐC
    77.0 ฐC
    77.0 ฐC
    77.0 ฐC
    77.5 ฐC
    77.0 ฐC
    77.5 ฐC
    77.5 ฐC
    78.0 ฐC
    77.5 ฐC
    77.5 ฐC
    77.0 ฐC
    78.0 ฐC
    78.0 ฐC
    78.0 ฐC
    78.0 ฐC
    78.5 ฐC
    78.5 ฐC
    78.0 ฐC
    78.0 ฐC
    78.0 ฐC
    78.0 ฐC
    78.5 ฐC
    78.5 ฐC
    78.5 ฐC
    79.0 ฐC
    78.5 ฐC
    79.0 ฐC
    79.0 ฐC
    79.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.0 ฐC
    79.0 ฐC
    79.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    80.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.0 ฐC
    79.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.0 ฐC
    79.0 ฐC
    79.0 ฐC
    79.0 ฐC
    79.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    80.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.5 ฐC
    80.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    79.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.5 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC
    80.0 ฐC

    i guess it shuts down at 80
     
  38. masteraty

    masteraty Notebook Enthusiast

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    My temp runs. High at 70-83 while benchmarking while idle at the 40-50 is this okay??
     
  39. JohnnyFlash

    JohnnyFlash Notebook Virtuoso

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    Don't worry, 83 isn't that high. Seems fine to me.
     
  40. Hel20eS

    Hel20eS Notebook Evangelist

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    does anybody has shutdown issues before ? 20 minutes in games with 80C shown in HWinfo log shuts down the laptop, then 3 seconds later the laptop restarts by itself.
     
  41. JohnnyFlash

    JohnnyFlash Notebook Virtuoso

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    Could be a power draw issue. Have you tried messing with the voltages?
     
  42. Hel20eS

    Hel20eS Notebook Evangelist

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    as in flashing the voltage before ? i do actually, do you remember the throttle investigation thread a while ago? there's a part about flashing to 1v. I did that.
     
  43. JohnnyFlash

    JohnnyFlash Notebook Virtuoso

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    If you already did that, then I don't know. Maybe it's not the card, I would run memtest overnight just to be sure. I had restarts after I dropped in the 940XM, and swore it was the CPU; turned out to be my ram. Can't hurt to test.
     
  44. Hel20eS

    Hel20eS Notebook Evangelist

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    xeroxide mentioned that 1v is not enough as some of his games crashes. maybe i should volt to 1.025 that he said stable.

    the thing is i forget how to overvolt the card, plus last time i did it with 260m card.
     
  45. xeroxide

    xeroxide Notebook Deity

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    not all hardware is created equal.
    some react better than others to over/under volting.
    mine just happened to crash at 1v whereas some other ppl managed it no problem.

    all volt mods i did was using the radeon bios editor and my own bios dump.
    to test the voltages (temporary) i used the overclock/underclock features of ati tray tools. once you find a good setting that you like, flash it for perma effects (or just keep using ati tray tools and reboot to reset the voltages/clocks)

    however as svl7 i think mentioned, he had issues overvolting it, first hitting a regulator then after bypassing that, hitting the M15x wattage cap (150w) and having the cpu steal available power.

    (or something along those lines)
     
  46. masteraty

    masteraty Notebook Enthusiast

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    I would like to know which power supply is good? Cause I'm currently using a 150 if I'm not wrong then it runs hot when i benchmarking or gaming. Im keen on getting an upgrade of my psu
     
  47. Hel20eS

    Hel20eS Notebook Evangelist

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    mine crashes when gaming with temp around 80, which is suppose to be normal with this card when put into load, so i don't think it's overheating issue. the only thing i can think of is voltage supplied, or i did something wrong that i missed out. when i had 260m i did flashed to 1v before. does that mean my 6970m has 1v now ? or i have to flash again
     
  48. svl7

    svl7 T|I

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    True, the only way to overvolt a 6970m is a hardmod (as I did with my 6970m, see here), but that's not what the average user will/would do to his precious card. And xeroxide is absolutely right, the CPU seems to have a higher priority when it comes to the voltage supply of the board... an overvolted 6970m will quickly run into issues while the CPU can be pushed to crazy levels... bad design imo, but to be honest, the board was never designed to handle anything beyond a 5850m (regarding the voltage).
     
  49. JohnnyFlash

    JohnnyFlash Notebook Virtuoso

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    You have to flash again. When you flashed the 260m, you only flashed that specific card, not the system. Just dump the vBIOS with GPU-z and edit away. I've seen that you can test settings first with tray tools in another post; can't confirm that though.
     
  50. Hel20eS

    Hel20eS Notebook Evangelist

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    i see, thanks for helping me along the way johnny, you deserve a rep. i guess i'll look into a little modification, hoping that my card is overvolt-capable. haha

    which guide should i use to volt my card ? most of the guide out there is for the older card like 5850, so just wondering if it is the same.

    *UPDATED* i've tried volting using tray tool + monitoring using HWinfo. the last record was 75 degree before shutdown. Sigh, i'm running out of ideas. Oh yeah, there is no sign of artefact at all, so it's not the card issue and not about overheating.
     
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