M15x + ATI 5870 (MOD)

Thanks rev, I got someone who is willing to help me flash it. If doesn't work will ask babyhemi.

 

Good news. Hoping for the best.

 

Thanks rev, but probably need help with instructions on how to flash it with the m17x. Any idea how rev.

 

Dude that really sucks man!
Sorry to hear about the messed up card, wish I could help.

 

Something tells me you guys are going to have issues getting someone to flash it in their M17x but we will see.

Here is my experience playing with the AW 5870.....

I posted here once that the AW 5870 does not work in the M15x. As some of you know I have an extra set of 5870s but I never tested them until today. I had two brand new cards and after installing them the system did not boot. No flashing lights, power kicks on and FX lights turn on then nothing happens. I put my original cards back and they work with no issues. I added just the new primary card back in and it booted no issue. I then added the secondary in the primary slot and again it boots up no issues. I put the new primary card back in the secondary slot along with the original crossfire cable, no boot again. I added the new primary card in the the primary slot and the original secondary card in the secondary slot and it boots no issues again. What the ?!!?#?!? Cards test out fine as long as their in the primary slot and I verified vbios was still the same between all the cards. Now my head hurts....

 

^^^^^My head hurts just reading your experience with the cards....

 

I've installed the 5870 in my M15x. I haven't done any real Benchmarking or anything but it appears to be Running well in my games. BFBC2, CODMW2 etc. I'm not experiencing all the Stutter and slow down I was when I had the 260M.

I do have a Question for the Rest of you 5870 users. The one Quark I noticed is that when the Computer Shuts down the Video Display for power savings it Changes to a White Screen instead of a Black Screen. Is that Typical of the ATI Cards or do I have issues?

If this is a Problem has any one encountered this before and can Point me in the Right Direction?

 

@ Mandrake, how do you like your "500GB Momentus® XT Solid State Hybrid Drive"?

 

So far so good. Things do seem quicker within Windows than a standard drive but I haven't really seen improved boot and shutdown times.

 

I gotta ask you this Mandrake since you have a M15x and a M17x in XF.
In gaming do you see a big difference in performance?FPS?
I have always preferred a one GPU setup.

 

@mandrake: so as far as I understood your message it is possible to boot with the 2 cards but without crossfire (which is exactly what i was planned).

I have now put my 260M again back in the laptop but it doesn't boot either. This time there are some lights blinking: scroll lock and caps lock are blinking, num lock is turned on permanently. Who knows what this means? A bricked card?

 

I haven't played on any games on my M15x. I don't really notice a difference between the G73 and M17x even though is about a 10-15 fps gain. Maybe it's just the games I play they make it seem unnoticeable.

I'm trying to say it's unpredictable. Very hard to troubleshoot because of that.

 

So all in all the 5850/5870 is more than enough.
Thanks Man!
I'm so split as to which way to go.
1)Get a M15x on eBay and doing all the upgrades CPU and 5870(if it's cheap enough)
2)Ordering direct from DELL a base model with 5850 and just upgrading the CPU
Decissions,decissions.......

 

Get it from Dell, less risk.

 

I just let my laptop off for about 6 hours and tried to boot again and it works now with the 260m. Still no progress on the 5870 .

 

Yeah that's the one worry I have.
On the CPU side would you get a 920XM QS from eBay?
I found a OEM one for around $700 but there half price on eBay.

 

I personally don't buy QS and ES procs. $700 is a good price for the OEM. I'm trying to get a 720 off of ebay for $200.

 

why do you want a 720 mandrake?

 

Test for another system that doesn't work with a 920.

 

ah, ok, i understand

 

Had to edit the above...

 

Can you tell me the number printed on the PCB drake from the 5870 Dell card ... is it 109-B96131-00 ?...

 

Whoa Quad! Joined the AW team again?
Nice config&clocks!

 

Thanks ..

Yeah i always get bored without a laptop after awhile and this deal came along from a friend who was buying a Macbook so i didnt want to pass it up...

 

Yeah, I wouldn't pass up such an opportunity as well.
For a second, looking at your config got confused with the 1600mhz RAM and then realized it's a desktop, lol.
BTW, I heard some strange stories about laptop memory @1600mhz being supported by 920XM/940XM (and it actually works at that frequency).
Does anyone know if that's true? Intel only shows 1333mhz as the max supported by i7-quads...

 

AFAIK it only supports up to 1333 as well and i would think if they were supporting the higher frequency it would be plastered all over the web...

 

I got it from here. The guy was referring to Intel and Dell, - weird.

 

That's is correct....is it the same as the PCB of the 5850?


BTW, I'm giving up on the M17x....it's way to finicky of a machine for me and the fact that the Dell drivers are the only one that works for the 5870 is a big downer. I'll be having a M17x upgrade parts sale soon.

 

It is the same PCB .. Just as i suspected and the part number stickers are what identify the cards but other then that it is the same exact part...

I knew something was up when they had the Xfire connector on the card and yet there was no 5850 Xfire solution in sight for the M17x.... Makes perfect sense to only manufacture one card and just flash the clocks according to the machine...

 

There's also a huge CF problem with most M17X systems. Looks like either the CF cable or/and connectors are too sensitive and easily damage during regular maintenance work.
After having numerous GPU replacements on both R1&R2, I'm moving towards single GPU systems.

 

Man! I felt very bad that it didn't work for clevo card. Here are what I learned.
1.Dell HD5870 works in M15x as far as the standard VGA driver is in use.
2.To make it fully functional in M15x, you have to flash it in M17x ( or the original system where it belongs ).

I did noticed that the Dell HD5870 even runs at the PCIE x8 speed in M15x, so it's more like a setting by Dell to make it works in M17x.

 

So even after flashing my 5850 bios to your 5870 card its still running at 8x ?...

 

I am very certain that is, the system cannot detect a working video card as my GTX 260m burned out last time and it showed the exact flashing lights upon starting up.

 

Yes, I am quite sure about that.

 

Hmm thats strange.... Mandrake mentioned there being a jumper cable on the card(5870) so im wondering if thats whats locking it to 8x ?...

Other then that since they are certainly the SAME card it makes no sense its running at 8x ....

 

Wait, I meant that with the 5850 vbios, it will run at x16 but not with the vbios from 5870. So, basically, the vbios from 5870 fixed the speed at x8.

 

Ahh gotcha now ... The way you had been explaining it was throwing me through a loop....

 

My apologies, I was confused too when I read it. So, how's the clevo card working? I noticed that it didn't work with Dell's bios.

 

I have the Dell card but as far as i know the Clevo card seems to work fine in these machines ...

Now that its confirmed the 5850 and 5870 are the same exact PCB there is no need as far as i am concerned to get the Clevo version ..

I think most people saying the 5850 could not clock as high as the Clevo 5870 card were not raising the voltage of the 5850 to that of the Clevo 5870 so from that stand point it would never clock as high...

 

Yeah true, I saw that 1.15 volt in Clevo vbios and that is pretty high as compared to Dell vbios running at 1.05 for 5870 and 1.00 for 5850.

 

Clevos cooling is far superior as far as im concerned after having owned both so i can see why the undervolted the Dell cards to keep the temps at bay....

Clevos heatsinks are huge slabs of copper ... The CPU heatsink weighs probably 1 pound by itself lol...

 

Wow, it looks like Dell is selling the second class video cards. Do you mean that the heat sink from Clevo can be somehow used in the M15x?

 

No it cannot be used but i wish it could(heatsink) ...

These cards are by no means second class and infact are first class since they are manufactured by AMD themselves unlike the Clevo ones.... Thats not to say the Clevo ones are any worse or better they just are not built by AMD...

Dell cards RED PCB = AMD manufactured.. Clevo green cards manufactured by Clevo or a third party...


At the end of the day what matters most though is all our stuff is working how we want it and in that regard i am very satisfied ... My card is rock solid overclocked 24/7 with great temps so i could not be much happier...

 

Actually the 5870s don't have the cable. I was just wondering if the 5850 did.

 

Yeah i dont believe i saw anything like that when i yanked it out yesterday or atleast anything out of the ordinary ....

 

For what it is worth, that 3rd party is most likely foxconn - they make everything in the computer world it seems....

It is quite interesting to see that dell is using the same pcb for the 5850 and 5870. Can anyone confirm if there are different GPUs on the pcb? They could be the same reference board and just have different GPUs (like one is XT and the other is not)

 

Personally I don't think the GPU is different either. It's just a 5870 flashed to 5850 clocks and voltages. That's why the M15x 5850's have a Crossfire connector on them. I'm sure in time Dell will eventually start using binned parts sans the xfire connector.

 

Are any of you who upgraded from a 5850 to a 5870 looking to sell your old cards? I can afford a 5870 but I don't want the extra heat but am willing to pay quite a bit for one but not what Dell is asking for, I don't want to give them anymore money.

Also what kind of temps are you guys with 5870's getting on idle/load @ stock/overclocked? If they're not too bad I might just get a 5870 since they seem readily available in multiple places.

Thanks

 

I just tried the Dell 5870 today in the M15x and I was idling in the lower 40s and that dropped by 10c on top of my Cryo.

 

wow those are crazy low temps. normally with the clevo 5870 i idle at mid to high 50's.