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

Hehehe, I'm curious... where did you order it?
Hope you get a good card!! Looking forward to seeing your scores...

 

Well where I got it from is a secret but I won't hold back on bench scores.

 

By the way? I have HWInfo on autostart, is there a way to bypass the Welcome screen? You know the one with the Sensors only check box.

 

Yeah, but it's a secret, you know?

 

Hehe, I was about to write the same

Edit: Some tweaking with the .inf file will do the job... here you go. I use build 1250, but it will probably work with 47, 48 as well, but the latest version is usually the best.

 

The 470M was a secret too, if you recall.

 

Thanks svl7. @Rev I'll let the cat out of the bag once I have it in hand. Clue: It is the only one of its kind that I know of...

 

We breathlessly await your revelations.

 

The ES with 1120 shaders? Hehe

 

Looks like it's off the market.

 

The 470m GTX was no secret, people could have guessed, it came from Eurocom. Got myself a new blu ray drive and a new heatsink with fresh pads so hopefully it will keep the GPU nice and cold.

 

Yeah, I don't know any other maufacturer who has a 470m...

 

Whaaaaddup! I'm finally back in England. Sweet. Been looking at GPU's and can only find 5870 and a 6970 (too expensive). Does the 5870 go in with no issues? My warranty is out so a bit of frankensystem isn't out of the question.

 

The 5870 will work. The Dell 5870 will need the original vbios to run, not the updated. The Clevo version works as well in the M15x, I'm not sure whether audio through DP/HDMI works though.

The 6970m is a great card but expensive.. yes.
On a side note, MXM-upgrade seems to have lowered their prices a bit... €20 less than previously for EU and €25 less for non-EU shipments... I paid the old price.

 

Yeah get it from mxm-upgrade they are located in Belgium and shipping shouldn't be an issue to the UK

 

Why do they charge more for the EU than the US?

 

Because of the VAT (value added taxes). They're pretty high in the EU, about 21% if I remember correctly... If you live in Europe but in a country that's not in the EU (e.g. Switzerland) you can contact them and should be able to get the card for the cheaper price.

 

Yaaa! My 6970m is at Heathrow! Getting close! Gonna so fail my exam on Thursday!!!! On a plus, I'm going to see Penn and Teller on Friday.

 

Hehe, hope you have to fight a bit before beating my scores

Btw. Never heard about Penn and Teller... so I just checked out some youtube clips, pretty cool!

 

Yeah they are here in Narnia (UK) doing a show called 'Fool Us' in which magicians attempt to do tricks and if they can't figure it out, the hopefuls will get a chance to open for their Vegas live show. Pretty cool really.

My bro is gonna be uber jealous as I just bought him a M15x for his birthday today but comparing his laptop to mine...

 

Just a question, if I my 6970m is flashed with the Dell vbios, what installation procedure for drivers must I perform? Do I install the Dell AMD drivers then the 11.5a on top?

 

Hehe, MXM are openly selling the 6970 for the M15x and admit theres a fan issue.



Alienware m15x upgrade guide HD6970

Amg they're using your pictures Svl!! Copyright that stuff quick!

 

Dude that's old news but there are ways around that. HWInfo now has automatic fan control so it's no longer an issue. Plus with the new Dell vbios from the M17x R3, even audio over DP works. Just a waiting game for me now. Damn you UK customs!

 

But you still have to run HWinfo whenever you use the computer right?

 

Yep but with the newer version, you can run it, it'll autostart and minimize to tray all by itself and you won't even have to worry about. After you set the desired fan speeds for the different temp intervals, it saves and you don't have to worry about it ever again.

 

I installed the Dell M17x r3 drivers with the Dell vbios, but I guess the AMD driver should work as well.

Actually I wrote the whole article for them... he even mentions that it's written by me. He was very helpful and I hope this guide will be of some use for people who want to beef up their M15x instead of selling it.
It's also part of their beta agreement to report about the success and I think their service is very unique and worth supporting.

No, you don't have to, but if you don't run it the fans will be at full speed all the time.
I working at a a little hardware mod, with some NTC thermistors and thermostats you can easily make a basic fan control... but I'm looking at making a little PWM board... but I'm very busy at the moment and I've never created a PWM control circuit before... and since the latest version of HWinfo32 has automatic fan control this project isn't on the top of the priority list tbh.

 

Thanks svl7 but could you do me a favour. Could you possibly install the 11.5a hotfix drivers and let me know if audio over DP works? Thanks

 

I'm back to the AMD vbios, but I'll see what I can do. Didn't lot of testing, maybe I have to install the Dell HDMi audio driver again. I'll let you know when I find some time later this afternoon/evening.

 

Cool no probs. Why are you back on the AMD vbios?

 

I thought I had some issues with the vbios at first, but I think it was actually the Dell driver causing it. The card changed from 2d clocks to 3d clocks and back all the time.

 

Oh right well thanks in advance for doing what asked. In your own time, there's no rush

 

Does HWMonitor read the 6970? I know it refuses to see the 5850 in an M15x.

 

I don't know. I use Hwinfo32 and it works perfectly.

 

You couldn't donate the time to test it out?

 

HWInfo reads the 6970m absolutely fine. If you check the screenshots svl7 posted before, you can see that every component's part is listed properly. I can't wait to get mine. Scheduled delivery tomorrow!!! Yay! Had to pay a shed load of tax though Svl7 I'm coming for you

 

I know, but the gadget I use only reads HWMonitor. That why I want to know if it works.

 

Sure, just got home and tested it. Seems to work fine:

 

Works, I just did some testing. But it only works with the Dell vbios, at least that's what I experienced. I did testing with a lot of different drivers and it didn't work until I had the vbios from Dell flashed back to the card.
11.5 works fine so far, no problems with PowerPlay like I experienced with the Dell drivers.

 

Great news you are an absolute saint +rep when allowed

 

Updated the first post with
- link to latest modded drivers
- link to instructions about flashing the Dell vbios

Updated the second post with
-instructions for getting the Dell vbios on the Sapphire card (Subvendor 174B)
-Dell vbios file

Please let me know in case something is inaccurate or I missed something important.

 

BTW I'm sorry to ask again, did you have to install the R3 drivers first or could I get away with just installing the 11.5a drivers. And also I'm an ATi noob so why do they need to be modded? Why can't I get them straight from the AMD site?

 

Actually I installed the Dell DP/HDMI drivers, but my guess is that it works as well with the other drivers. Completely forgot to test this.
I just tried to update the HDMI/DP audio driver with the latest 11.5 installer and it said it's already up to date... so I'd say just install the 11.5 drivers and if audio through DP doesn't work simply uninstall only the DP audio driver and install the one from Dell.

When I got the card I had some problems to install drivers. With some drivers I got error messages about incompatible hardware. The modded files should work anyway so that's why I linked them, it simplifies things.

To be honest I lost track of which driver I was able to install with the Dell vbios and which with the original vbios... But as far as I know the regular 11.5 should work anyway.
I was unable to install the Dell driver with the non-Dell vbios.

 

Thanks, informative as always. My card is coming tomorrow so I'll have some numbers up

 

Can't I just get the Dell technician to come over and install the card for me? I'm a computer illiterate and I'm afraid to break something or do something wrong if I swap the card myself.

 

If you get the card from Dell, yes. If not, I doubt so... of course you could give it to a local computer store or someone who has experience with this, but I doubt they will do a better job than you would. I'm sure you'll take more when working with your system than anyone else.

It's not that difficult to exchange the card. Check out my pics on mxm-upgrade, they show every necessary step (except the pasting). I didn't upload them here since there are a lot of useful guides around, e.g. the one in Inaps signature. (I can attach them to the first post if you guys wish so)
It's really not that hard. If you prepare yourself and take enough time to do it you should be fine.

 

I dunno about you guys, but I'm waiting for the 6990M.

 

I'm pretty sure that's what widezu bought.

 

Whaaa?!???!?? HOW. I NEED TO KNOW. I WILL NOW SELL MY LEFT KIDNEY.

 

It not that much different. It like 600 point point different in vantage.

 

It's like 1400 from what I remember. I can pull up the post comparing the two.