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

It seems like my temps are actually pretty good for not using thermal pads. I'll just keep it as it is for now, and when my thermal pads come I will do some extensive checking. Also is it worth it to take the cpu fan off and clean the fan (it's clogged with dog hair). My temps seem fine though.

 

dog hair yes of course get rid of all that....

 

I tried to install 12.1 drivers today, and when I did my whole screen basically turned black...you could see some red and some white, like all the colors were washed out. I had to system restore after this too, anyone know why that occured?

Also it appears I don't have CCC installed anymore. When I right click, there's no option for it and I can't find it in any folders.

 

It doesn't look like the radeon 6990m can't handle crysis extreme immersion mod.
disappointing.

edit: scratch that I had stealth mode engaged, sorry for being a noob.
wow impressive I get an easy 35fps with everything very high 8x AA and the extreme quality mod. SO IMMERSIVE

Ok so it looks like that crysis runs nice and good 30-40fps then BAM 10fps, so I change it to high and 40fps then all of a sudden back down to 10 then I change it to very high and it goes back to 30-40fps. This is getting super annoying because I want to be able to play it smoothly, and it never does this on normal unmodded crysis. No it's not my temps I checked they are fine 60-75C

 

What's this "stealth mode?" I don't really see the point of it....

 

Stealth is toggled by pressing the radar on the lightup buttons. It switches between your dedicated graphics and integrated graphics to save power but most people find it to be pointless since it is always off anyways.

 

Anyone know whats wrong with crysis?

 

download gpu-z and create a log of you play crysis(play thru the log sessions aswell) then post up your log here on the forum to have a closer look.

No it just runs the gpu at lower clock as well as the cpu to preserve more battery power( basically switch the power plan), as far as i know the m15x(atleast the quad core ones)only support discrete graphics

 

Oh, my bad then. By the way can anyone look at my post at the bottom of 176? Thanks >.<

 

Which one exactly? Not everybody have the same posts per page layout so page number is irrelevant..Can you copy the reply number?

Also the M15x can't benefit of any sort of integrated graphics

 

hard to said really i haven't use those preview drivers, try installing 11.12 they are working go for me(i just installed them today, they appear solid). also are those the first drivers you have tried? you may have installed the wrong version drivers.

here is a like for preview 11.12 drivers that i know are solid with my 6990m,they worked perfectly for me (get the ll.12 not the 11.11)

 

Anyone know where I can pick a 6990m up? I was looking on the market place and they are all sold.

 

I'll run the test of crysis with detailed logs tomorrow but for now I'm going to bed i'll edit this post when I have the data!

 

820/1100 crashed for me. Darn..

Also trying to install the 11.12 drivers caused the same result >.<

And is the processor the most likely cause of shutdowns? :s

 

Ok so I figured out why my game runs at 40fps then all of a sudden (completely random) drops down to 10-15fps It's because my processor decides to downclock to 916mhz all of a sudden! Anyone know of an overclocking software I can use to prevent this?

It's not in stealth mode either.

 

you can try ThrottleStop open it up and check on chipset clock mod and turn it on, you cant do more than that as you dont own an xm chip. That should take care of your throttling cpu, more info can be found on this Thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...arket-upgrades/531329-throttlestop-guide.html

 

Have you ever logged the temps? Only time I've seen my CPU do that is when I play with the power settings. Jumps all over the place.

 

My temps for gpu are 60-70 and my temps for cpu are 55-60

 

Can too much paste have any effect? My first couple of paste jobs were a bit messy and there is some paste covering the little components around the die.

I'll try take a photo next time I've got it apart.

 

I believe too much paste will cause the system to overheat because the paste will actually prevent heat transfer if the layer is too thick..?

 

Whoo! I finally fixed it. Had to go into safe mode and update the 6900 display drivers, I guess they got uninstalled or something. I'm so happy right now...

 

GOOD NEWS!

I was having to downclock to 620/800 as I was getting shutdowns around 82-83 deg.

Today I removed my card to clean up the paste from around the die (my first couple of attempts were a bit sloppy) and I was a bit worried I'd used too much.

Before cleaning:


After cleaning:


Much better afterwards! I then repasted using the "dot" method bolted the heatsink back down, removed again and checked the spread to get it how it is in inaps pasting guide. All good.

I then used a marker pen to check if the heatpipe was touching the card anywhere, turns out it was touching slightly so I took to it with a hammer (gently) as was demonstrated earlier in this thread (I think it was widezu69). Checked with a marker pen again and this time no contact. Excellent.

Finally I covered the back entire back of the card (excluding the Xplate area) with 0.5mm fujipoly pads as I had extra lying around so thought why not.

Put it all back together, started up...idle temps where the same...ok try some gaming. BF3!!

Now usually I have to downclock to 620/800 to play BF3 for longer than 15 minutes, tonight I played for over 2 hours at stock clocks 680/900, and even cranked a bit of AA in game on high settings to give the card a good workout.

Shader temp hit 93 max and where generally around 90-91 at 100% utilisation...waaay higher than I've even had it before without shutting down.

Temps came back down to what they usually have been afterwards.

So still to be tested further, but the signs are looking good.

I've been aware of all these things since reading this entire thread a couple of months ago....really these are probably all things I should of checked waaaay earlier. If you're having trouble with your 6970m, I really suggest you try all these things....something in there is working!

 

... -.-

Ehm... I think we / I suggested all these things long time ago... just saying. I 'm wondering a bit why I should keep giving the same advice over and over again when it doesn't get followed in the end...

 

hahahaha, i know how you feel svl7.

oh well glad it worked out for you ninefingers. do some more tests.

 

I know how you feel, but your still cool in my book slv7

 

Man this issue is so frustrating..

 

Very true, bad wording in my post. You're right I wasn't the one to discover this at all.

I had read the entire thread and was aware of the things people had tried, business/apathy/laziness had prevented me from going further than downclocking (simple 1 click solution).

Just wanted to reinforce these things DO actually work and people should try them all if they're having issues.

BENCHMARKED: P11799 in Vantage
Temps did hit 88.5...but no shutdown (wouldn't even pass the first scene of the benchmark previously)

 

Hi Ninefingers,
Did you try Skyrim? For me it's the only game that sometimes causes shutdowns and i'm sure the contact between the gpu and the heatsink is good

 

Is the Radeon HD 6870m card able to work using the same solutions used on 6970M / 6990M? Im bidding on this one wanted make sure it will work.

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 6870m GPU MXM 3.0 Type B Dell M17x R3 Pull | eBay

 

Hey all,

Well i finally have the del 6970m arrived and just bought a 920xm, pads, paste and 8 gb crucial, as soon as everthing has arrived i will update the good old m15x too super specs.

But i do need to know some stuff:
Is powerplay supossed to be on?
do i need the original dell driver or do ati 11.12 work just as good?
if i dont overclock will there be enough power, or do i get throttlestops?

I am willing to make a video on the update, so if interrested let me know.

Thanks all for the work on how to and tips you may have.

Gr Mike

 

1) Yes powerplay is supposed to be on.
2) Like in the main post I used the m17x R3 dell drivers first for the 6990m then I updated to 11.12 perfectly. Been running stable on every game I've played.
3) There will be enough power.

 

thanks crazycrossing.

 

Cranked it up on ultra for an hour, 1080p, 4x AA and 8x AF...no worries.

Temps did hit 95.5, but generally around 94.

 

Ninefingers what's your cpu?

 

i7-820QM. 4GB of ram. Heatpipe mod+good paste+pads all over card=stable.

Have you heatpipe modded yet Kumquat?

 

Yeah, I did it a while ago. I also placed pads where flo had shown in his picture, did you put anymore?

I'm also wondering if my processor is probably weaker...i'm not sure though (i7 620m).

 

So I was just playing LoL and I got BSoD saying bad_pool_header....what does that mean?

 

Hmm I'm not sure...quick google came up with:

This error is generated when a driver or part of Windows does not allocate the memory properly, and can be caused by any of the below possibilities.

Bad hardware drivers.
Issues with NTFS file system or disk write issues.
Issue with software program, e.g. anti-virus scanner.

I guess do a harddisk scan for errors? Also I wonder if your memory is healthy.

 

Yeah, I checked the memory and according to the computer it's fine. Also did an error check on the hard drive. I was looking around and someone had crashes (albeit a while ago) due to Punkbuster and Realtek Audio not cooperating..does M15x use realtek?

 

IDT audio as far as I know

 

Well I turned down my settings to medium and the game doesn't crash anymore which is definitely nice, but why can't I play on high...? My temps are also jumping up from winter break (80c) to 90c so I think I should probably repaste. My computer did just abruptly shut down on me at the score screen, is that most likely due to thermal throttling?

Edit: I turned the fan to like 65% and the max temp only hit 85 so its a bit better but then I just experienced a crash again so back to the drawing board..

 

Hey i finally put the 6970m in my system did everything according this site and when i started my m15x it did everthing except show graphics.....not even boot menu of my system.

screen stays black al the time.....is it bricked??? PLease help me with this problem.

Thanks in advance Mike

 

Do you use the proper backplate? Remove the card, clean the contacts with alcohol and properly reseat the GPU.
Are you on BIOS A09?

 

Yes i use A09 motherboard rev 12, gone try that tommorow.
Backplate is from my 5730 put some thick tape behind it so there is insultion.
kinda weird when i put in my previous card (5730) it runs ok.
laptop start and i see nothing but it also runs windows after refiting my old card it start at safe mode (thats normal).

Thanks for fast reply svl7

 

If the system starts up and there aren't any blinking lights, then the card is working properly... otherwise it wouldn't POST. I experienced similar issues once in a while, and reseating the card helped.

 

Ok did reseating but same problem, maybe i was not clear or wrote it down wrong

when card is installed system seems to start but i dont see anything not even post, but there are no lights blinking and it seems it does work, only screen stays blank (black).
so i cant see boot or windows starting fans start spinning and looks like everything works except for the black screen.

hopefully this is more usefull....

 

I tryed it again and for 5 times.....still noting just black screen....no POST but i do hear system start up, after i put in the 5730 windows goes in safemode/normal i choose normal and everthing runs like it should.

please help me.......

 

Hi Mike,

How are you? I am sorry to hear about your problem.

First of all, I appologize if my reply is out of the way (in this thread).

Actually to make sure, before I shipped the card, I tried it out again in my system to make sure there are no problems with it what-so-ever.

It is a Dell original GPU and yes, I have removed it from my M17x R3 system (at the back of the card you will see the model no V9XKH, which is the Dell part no.). Bought a 6990m and that was the only reason I wanted to sell out the 6970m (though I was doubtfull for warranty purpose).

I guess your first solution is to get someone (closer to your place, if possible) to try the GPU in their system (M17x R3) and make 100% sure that the GPU is still functional, unless something went wrong and got damaged.

If there is a way you can try out the GPU and make sure there are problems with it, I am willing to take it back and fix it in my system (unless you have damaged something on the board; ex scratches, marks), and call Dell for a replacement. Once I get the replacement, I can ship it back to you.

But please, you have to make sure there are no issues with the GPU, to go for the replacement. Otherwise you will have extra expenses just to ship the GPU to me (if it functions).

If there are no problems with the GPU, I cannot take it back (as you know in my thread, I did not guarantee that it will work in any other system except m17x R3).

Try different bios for m15x maybe that may help.

Hope you will be able to try the card in another system (m17x r3).

If you have any solutions or suggestions, please let me know.

Regards,

Julian

 

Did you do a full power drain (while opened up to replace GPU, remove coin cell battery and press and hold power button for 25-30 seconds), to reset CMOS/BIOS to facilitate recognition of new card?

Did you fully remove the display drivers for the 5730 so that it's using the Windows VGA device/drive when you first try to boot with 6970M? Then, if successful, install the drivers for the 6970M.

Carefully clean the contacts of the 6970M before seating. A pencil eraser and soft cloth work well. You'd be surprised how often this fixes the card recognition problem.

Good luck. Must be very frustrating.

 

Hey Juliant,

No worries mate i knew this could happen.

Well i tryed everything:
Removed old drivers (also with a sweeper).
Drain alienhead
Disconnected the CMOS battery 30 sec alienhead.
Cleaned contacts (alcohol, pencil eraser).
Reinstalling the 6970m (like 20 times).

what ever i do i dont see BOOT but system seems to run if i wait the windows start/logon sound plays but only blackscreen. Bios version A09, Motherboard chipset rev 12, pm55 rev 06. memory 8gb Crucial, i5 m 430.
I am running out of thing to try (that i know off).....