M15x GPU Upgrade to hd6970

Hello all,

I have i7-740QM M15x have the HD 5850.
Can I just upgraded to HD 6970 GPU?
Is hd6970 will work properly with the i7-740QM?
I know it is best to raise 920-940xm processor, but for now it is cash only on the GPU
Sometimes I play Battlefield 4, and I wonder whether, if the HD 6970 GPU work with 740QM it will be a visible difference in fps?

 

youll be fine. that cpu wont hold that gpu back too bad

 

150W AC will be good?

I read that the M15x with the HD6970 can be a problem with the fan control.
http://www.mxm-upgrade.com/m15x3.html

Is it true that after replacing the HD5850 to HD6970 may be necessary to control the fan by hwinfo ???

 

You will not have auto fan control if the card is Clevo branded, even if a Dell vBIOS is flashed. I had a Clevo 6990M that did not have auto fan control and it was annoying as hell. There is a way to make HWINfo64 auto start on the fan control page but you'll have to google that.

 

Thanks for your reply.
I think I'll stay with my HD 5850
Hwinfo is not a problem, and certainly the HD 6970 is much better than the HD 5850, but I do not want to have under the care of an additional fan control.

Is there any M15x GPU card, which is significantly better than the HD5850 and fully compatible?

 

Yes if you find a Dell-branded 7970M like the one I have. It is plug and play in everyway!

 

any dell branded card is 100% compatible.

i went from a 5850 to a 770m and it 100% works fan control and all

 

These information are very helpful to me. Thanks
Both cards are allready different price than 6970
How can I recognize that the card is Dell-Brended?

I have one more question.
Can I upgrade my M15x to 7970m with i7-740qm?
Everything can work?
I think I must buy AC 240W. Now I have 150W.

 

I have the same setup as you, with the 740QM and 5850M... Works solid and never let me down, ran every game I ever threw at it, Battlefield 4 being my primary game as well. I could get 80-100 FPS with the right settings.

Now, I'm in the same boat as you, cash is tight, so I upgraded to the 7970M GPU first. It works perfectly fine with the 740QM processor and stock 150W power supply. BUT if you want to overclock it or get all of the potential out of you, you'll at least need the power supply sometime down the road... I'm still waiting to buy my power supply. The processor should be your next upgrade once you get the power supply and video card, it'll really compliment it everything and you'll honestly have the potential to match today's newer system with performance (overclocking of course!).

Now with the 7970M, it's very plug and play. The video card will be sold as a Dell/Alienware video card for any of the M15x or M17x or M18x models. Make sure you buy some IC Diamond thermal compound and a sheet of thermal pads that measures 100 x 100 mm and 1.0 mm in thickness. Also make sure the video card comes with the x-clamp/spreader, or else you will need to buy one separately.

Other than that, you slide the card in, apply the thermal pads to the respective areas, apply your compound, secure the heat sink and fire it up, and it's ready to go.

 

I have thermal paste and pads.
I am currently using Prolimatech PK-3 and Thermal pads 1mm 6.0W / mK.

If I buy 7970m which V-bios I have to upload it ???
When I upgrade GPU to 5870m in another M15x (my brother alien) I downloaded V-Bios from the M15x 5850m on Dell web site.
Where can I find the V-Bios for 7970m and supported M15x?

I repeat my question how to identify if the 7970m GPU is dedicated to Dell-Brended?

UPGI2AYDD you have 80-100 FPS on Battlefield 4 with 740QM and 5850m?
On what screen resolution you have enough FPS?
I play at 1920x1080 and I think I have a lot, lot less.

I have a 130W and 150W power supply and when on the current configuration (740qm and 5850m) I plugged 130W AC, it had probably 10-FPS in game.

Thanks

 

You won't have too do anything. Just start the system and enjoy. But it is recommended that you flash a vBios designed to run the card at a lower voltage to allow it to run much cooler. You'll have a selection from three different voltage levels from the stock 1.250V, to as low as 0.950V... What Bios you decide to run ultimately is up to how low you want your tempatrues and what voltage your card likes to run at. 0.975 being the popular one I see. My card on the other hand will only run the 1.000V bios without any boot issues.

You can find the Bios package done up by a really well known guy around here at this link:
http://forum.techinferno.com/general-notebook-discussions/1736-amd-7970m-modified-vbios.html

You can find video drivers for the cards on www.amd.com

Part number: 747M2

I mentioned that the card will be listed as an upgrade or a part for a M15x, M17x or M18x Dell/Alienware system. Worst case, if you find one and are unsure, just post it here or send one of us a PM with a link.

I ran everything at low at 1600 x 900 resolution. I generally run 1600 x 900 resolution as it doesn't show any real noticeable distortion on my 1080P monitor.

The 130W model runs at a much lower voltage then the 150W model, hence why the system can not run at peak performance. You'll need the 230W model after you upgrade your GPU/CPU. It's sold as a Delta model for M17x and M18x models.

 

Big Thanks for the valuable comments.
Tomorrow I buy 7970m. Is described as the M15x, M17x, M18x and see what will happen
If I change the 5850m to 7970m I should see the difference and I think I stay to low Voltage and lower temp.

 

Any time!

When you first get the card installed, just install the newest video drivers from AMD and jump straight into whatever benchmark software you prefer. Keep a very close eye on fan speeds and your temperatures - if it creeps past 80*C shut off your system (I can confirm 85*C is thermal shutdown, as I hit it once or twice myself). This will be your opportunity to ensure the card doesn't have any noticeable defects before you flash your vBios or do any modifications.

 

Today I bought a card.
I think tomorrow should be with me and begin to test
Are there any standard stronger fans for M15x?

 

I received a card and today was the start.
When I put the card and ran the system, the GPU temperature hovered around 50 ° C.
Everything looked OK but when I ran immediately BT4 temperature rose above 80 ° C, and the system has been turned off.
I checked the x-clamp and compared to 5850 had long sleeves screws.
I fixed pressure of the heatsink and the card worked very efficiently but on the border between 70-79 ° C.
BT4 with 1080p and Ultra settings worked very smoothly.

I started to check the V-Bios and found a description of the "TEST" ROM.
Patches VBIOS RC1 Vbiosu showed such settings:
Core3D - 1502 MHz
Memory3D - 117964 MHz ????
Voltage3D - 1876 mV ????
Core2D - 1971 MHz
Memory2D - 1318 MHz
Voltage2D - 1028 mV

In these settings, the system during normal operation was 50 ° C, and at BT4 ~ 75-80C
Memory3D and Voltage3D had some extreme setting ???

This card is 747M2.

I changed the V-Bios on:
Core3D - 900
Mem3D - 1300
Voltage3D - 975
Core2D - 300
Mem2D - 150
and Voltage 2D - 825

Card works as normal, but has a much lower efficiency.
When I play BT4 with 1080p I have 26 fps with High Settings.
With Ultra does not pass the test graphics.
Temp during normal operation I have 40*C and in the BT4 about 50-55*C.

How can I change the V-Bios to be the most optimal for the M15x with 740QM?
I usually play and work on 1080p

I checked on Code3D 850, Mem3D 1200 Volt3D 1050, Core2D 300, Mem 2D 150 and 825 Volt, and the performance was comparable.
How to choose the best settings?

Original Dell settings, I think it is:
Core3D - 850, Mem 1200 Volt3D 1075 Core2D 300, Mem 2D Volt2D 150 and 850.

 

Now I have a problem with overheating GPU.
In normal operation have from 39 to 58 * C.
When I play in BT4 is more than 75-79 ° C. In BT3 almost immediately 80-81 ° C.
Shrunk settings and 0.950mV 800/1200, but it did not help.

I may have a high thread x-Clapm with 7970?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dkvrujcbwr9qf5y/7970m.jpg?dl=0

in 5850 I have:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/mav3kjolkyna6bc/5850m.jpg?dl=0

 

Your not getting enough pressure applied to your GPU.

You have two options:

- Order a set of smaller screws

- Remove the x-clamp from the video card and file the threads down to about the same height as what you see the 5850 has.

I went with filing mine. I kept test fitting the heatsink to the video card with it removed from the system until I felt the pressure was proper.

 

Tries with screws and I bought a 240W AC. We'll see if anything changes.

Thanks

 

Screws really helped, but most gave a 240W power supply with a central pin removed.
The power supply to the central pin not much has changed, but his removal could VERY much.