M15x + ATI 5870 (MOD)

I would probably wait alittle bit to see temps and some real benchmarks before getting it.

 

You might consider that the 940XM only provides 1 additional bin (.133MHz) at each level of turbo boost. So, with one or two cores operating, you get about 4% greater speed; with 3 or 4 cores active, its about 6% faster. So in round numbers you're getting 5-6% increased performance for a 62% price increase (assuming $748 v $460). Hard to make that calculus work, particularly when you can just take a 920XM and raise the multipliers to 25/24/18/18. I have o/c'ed my 920XM to 940XM levels and run a few throwaway benches. It's barely noticeable.

 

I think I might just get the 920xm. So when I replace it to the 920xm the bio will automatically let me overclocked the cpu?

 

Unless you disable speedstep Dell sets all the cores to 24....it's odd.

 

Not in the M15x.

 

You mean you can't raise any 920XM multiplier above 24 if it's in a Dell? That's bizarre. How do they do that? Why do they do that?

Edit: more Dell nanny-itis.

 

So, who did this upgrade with the 720QM want to try this benchmark for me? Actually, any processor is fine.
Low settings.

FINAL FANTASY XIV Official Benchmark

 

At low settings (1280x720):

​

 

man rev, you everywhere, i googled 920xm overclocking and found a thread with you in it, lol. thats awesome.

 

Hi! I wondered has anyone tried putting Dell's Mobility HD 5870 into the M15x? Well, I just tried and the driver won't work as it gives me a dark screen after reboot. Now I have to stick with the VGA driver. Can anyone help?

 

i think your the first to do so. have you tried the M17x driver for it>

 

Appreciate it.

 

Between the World Cup, U.S. Open and NBA Finals, I been glued to the TV(s) lately, which provides lots of opportunity to scan the forums. Pretty natural multitasking with a laptop. Re-entry is going to be hell.

 

I think Mandrake tried that and it wouldn't work, at least initially. Don't know why or whether he found a workaround. He would be the person to ask. Most, maybe all, of the successful M15x transplants have used the Clevo 5870m.

 

Hell yeah! I have just made it work! All thanks to InappropriateName_3 and Quadzilla! Cool! I have just turned it into an official Dell HD 5850! Well, what I did was I put that new card into the M17x and flashed it from there as it wouldn't work in the M15x. Now I have just turned my newly bought HD 5870 card into a Dell HD 5850 with 700/1000 clocks and 1.05 volt. I guess that makes it a 5870 right?

PS. You might asked why I did this and wouldn't just buy a HD 5850 from Dell? Well, I got it for only 100 USD.

 

You put it in the M17x, flashed it with the 5850 bios then put it in the M15x? Interesting, have you tried flashing it with the clevo bios after that?

 

Yes I did. It works just as aspected. Well, ATIflash didn't work though, I had to use atiwinflash.

 

Just wondering before I pick up a M15x Certified Refurb Off Dell for around $1,250. Is it worth it for the 5870 or are the temps out of control? BTW the system I am ordering is..
-I7 720QM
-4GB DDR3 1333
-500 GB HD
-Cosmic Black
-ATI 5850
-15.6 inch Wide FHD 1920x1080 (1080p) WLED

Oh and am I better off just flashing to 5870 Speeds? (Would I get the same performance as a 5870?)

 

Ingenious. I wonder what that M17x thought when it discovered the newly anointed 5850 in its midst?

 

wow it worked!!! sweet congrats bro.

 

i'd say just the atitool to OC it inside the OS.....easier and safer, same results.

Where on dells site did you get that price? I dont see a 5850 with that price.....that would be a fantastic deal.

 

same here. I would like to know where you got yours for that price

 

I got it as a Certified Refurbished with a 15% coupon. I am pretty sure the coupon expired though.

 

where did you get the refurbished alienware store?

 

Thanks a bunch to you and Quadzilla who supported me in this.

I bought a refurbished HD 5730 and they ended up telling me it went out of stock so they sent me a new HD 5870 instead.

 

Nice work, can you please answer the following questions about it:
-Where did you get the dell 5850 bios?
-Can you install the dell 5850 drivers of the m15x?
-Does stealth work with the card?
-Does sound work over displayport?

The last three questions were the disadvantage of the 5870 in the m15x.

 

1.I got it from another owner of the M15x with 5850.
2.Yes
3.Yes
4.Yes

 

Glad it worked out for you .... I went to bed and i never saw a message or Email by morning so i had no clue whether you had success or not ...


Thats one heck of a upgrade over a 5730... Im convinced the 5850 and 5870 are the exact same card, Xfire connectors and all...

 

Can you post the firmware for us? I think that everyone is very interested in that bios.

 

Yeah, it's pretty much the same card. But for those of you who wants to flash it into a HD5850, first you have to make the card in working condition, for example like HD5870 in a m17x with working display driver.

By the way, here is the vbios
View attachment newbios.zip

PS. Yes, they are indeed the exact same card, the only few differences I noticed are the highest clock at 700 and its voltage at 1.05.

 

Yeah im at 750/1050 flashed and its been working like a charm all day long with lots of games and testing... The lower voltage is a good thing for Temps that is ...

 

It's also possible to use the original ati drivers on the m15x by selecting the card manual and use the ccc of the m17x drivers. But i'm really missing the sound over dp. It's not nice to view a bluray with stereo sound .

Edit: I did the bios update (finished successfully) but... now my laptop shows a nice black screen when I turn it on. In short: I've now a nice bricked card in my laptop.

Since I don't have a R17X here I can't reflash it back to the original bios (I've created a backup of the original lenovo bios). If anyone has a solution to flash it back (with a bootable usb stick or something like that). I'm blind on the laptop and it doesn't seem to boot (harddrive lights are not very much on so it doesn't seem to load windows 7)

For all the others I don't recommend the 5850 bios posted previously.

 

Are your num lock, scroll lock or caps lock keys blinking?

 

No they were not blinking, power light goes on, keyboard backlight etc goes also on.

I have now build my 260m in the laptop so I can still use the laptop (glad that I didn't sell that thing).

I've read something that there is a method in the bios to force a boot from an usb stick but it wasn't sure if dell has build that method into the laptop.

What I already tried:
inserted a bootable usb stick with in the autoexec.bat the commandline to flash de vga bios
pressed F12 in the beginning
pressed a few times the arrow down followed by enter (this has been done several times since I didn't knew on which part the usb boot was, I now know that it is item 3 so pressing 3 the next time may work if the machine boots up)

What I'm wondering and maybe is a solution:
To flash the m15x bios back to A05 or more early and maybe the laptop detects the videocard, I now have version A06. But this can also put me into more problems.

And a final solution (which can be very difficult) find someone willing to loan it's m17xR2 to flash the card in that machine (any volunteers from the netherlands?).

I've attached the bios which I have exported from my card (for the ones who have also troubles with the 5850 bios and forgot to backup their own bios).

Edit: I've downgraded the BIOS to version A05 and tried the following steps:
Power on (with the usb stick inserted)
Wait about 7 seconds
Press F12
Wait about 5 seconds
Press arrow down
Press arrow down
Press Enter

But nothing happened (the light on the usb stick is not flashing so it looks that it's doing nothing). So it looks like the laptop doesn't recognize the card at all and doesn't boot anymore with that card. So I don't see another solution than to get in touch with an m17xR2 owner. Any help is still welcome.

Only this looks interesting, but I'm not sure if it's possible with this m15x. source: Alienware m15x Bios flash crash.. Unable too boot up anything. need help.

 

man did this also last nigh,lol now my card is dead too. need help also.

 

got to blind flash it back or bight the bullet on that

 

can't seem to blind flash it, usb stick won't light up.

 

that thoroughly sucks....have you tried a power drain then trying to blind flash? maybe pull the cmos as well?

 

did, did and did. all nothing. need a duo card setup maybe.

 

what went wrong.... inap...

 

dang

maybe someone with an M17x can flash it for you using the other card as their primary

 

Wanted to do some testing with the 5850 bios. But now it won't boot, won't even go into bios.

 

Same here, a dual gpu setup looks like the only solution. I've already put an advertisement to borrow a m17x from someone but no luck yet...

So any solution is welcome.

My usb sticks light goes on but what I told in the previous post it wouldn't boot from the stick with blind pressing the keys.

 

yeah just did the same, hopefully can find someone.

 

You will have better luck sending your card to someone to flash....a $300 card or a $3000 laptop...

 

yeah thats what i posted willing to send the card to get flash, not borrowing a laptop, hahahah although that would be awesome.lol

 

I have the following options in my ad:
-Bringing my 5870 and flash it (if it's not too far).
-Sending in through mail (and hope that the person is qualified enough to flash the card by himself)
-Sending the laptop to me and i'll flash it by myself and send the laptop back

I prefer the first choice.

Edit: I also got the tip to ask dell support for a solution, maybe it is possible to force the laptop to boot without a graphics card. I'll do this on monday.

 

sweet thank, please keep me posted. i think i found someone willing to help me.

 

Inapp, since what you really need is for that card to be restored to a Clevo 5870, why not contact Babyhemi and see what he can do. Chances are he will know who or where in the Clevo/Sager/reseller chain a bricked card can be reflashed back to factory specs and might be able to help get it done.

 

Wow man sorry to hear that.... Strange how the Dell cards can handle the Clevo bios but not the other way around ?....