[Guide] Installing AMD Radeon Mobility 6970 / 6990 in your M17x R2 (Single GPU and CrossfireX)

The bios isn't detecting the wattage of the PSU, it's detecting a hardware ID of some kind that is different between the 240watt PSU and the 330watt PSU. Since two 240watt PSU's have the same hardware ID as eachother, then there shouldn't be a problem with the bios.

 

Sorry again for my questions.But I still can't imagine how to connect two PSU's?And make them working as one. Just make from two wires one wire(that is going in and out of the PSU's)?Again sorry for not understanding.

 

You either strip the cable coming from your PSU's going to your laptop and just splice the ground and high wires together, or you can make a custom PCB with parts from radio shack which simply has two connectors for your PSU's and 1 power cable coming out.

The connections on the board would just be both grounds and both highs being soldered together and joining in 1 wire.

You could do the same for the cable that plugs into the wall, but it might just be easier to plug into two outlets.

 

Is it possible that the bios has a limitation on the wattage draw into the mobo? I know at around 280W-285W power draw the system throttles. I'm not sure if it's a throttle caused by the PSU itself, or the motherboard, but it will throttle down to about 195W, and slowly make its way back up. Particularly frustrating for somone who benchmarks . If you get the dual PSU setup working, I'd be following that thread, if the 330W PSU doesn't become compatible.

I would go the radio shack route. Less financial loss if you should mess up. I'd also rather go with plugging into two outlets. This way if it doesn't work, you can always have two intact PSU's either for sale or dual locations and avoid the PSU transport hassle.

 

Thanks.I will try it in future.

 

I don't think the bios has a limitation on the wattage. I don't think it even has a way to measure the wattage. The only way it can throttle power is if temps get too high.

What's causing you're throttling is the PSU as far as I can tell. My PSU will directly cut out when it hits 250watts of draw. Then I have to unplug it and wait 10 seconds for the fuse inside to reset. I'm still recovering from that $300 mobo hit lol. Once I sell my 4870's I'll go out and look for a second adapter to try it.

 

Ahh, ok, maybe I'll look at radio shack this weekend. I'd still need another PSU, although i do have the M11x PSU Anyhow, I've seen my PSU pull over 285w. I've had it hovering steady without cutting out at 270w. But other times, it will cut out and just doesn't make sense, because I know it can go higher. Very tempermental. I'll have a run of it pulling higher wattage, and then it will have a run of not going near as high. Probably around 250 like yours. I need MOAR POWER!

 

The reason why it's not consistent about where it cuts out is most likely because the fuse inside is heat based - kind of like the circuit breakers in your home wiring. So its possible for it to draw 285watts or higher everynow and then and have the conditions be right for the fuse not to blow.

 

Hi guys,

I too am very interested in the PSU conversation, although I don't plan to do any over-clocking myself, I do like a bit of overhead when it comes to supplying power to my beast. The 330W power supply from the m18x sounds like the simplest (if possible) solution, although the dual power supply sounds like it would be a more likely solution. Besides going to Radio Shack with the purpose of building something electrical is always a fun hobby.

 

I could give a try for 6990's, but if I will not be sure I will have problems to sell them here in Kyrgyzstan. So I'll wait a little bit.

 

Ahh, Guess I never even gave that a thought. Nexy time I bench with dice, I'll be buying a smaller cooler and a few extra lbs of dice and just sandwich the PSU (PSU's?) in a lot of dice. Should leave a fair amount of headroom.

 

Guys. One big question to you. Can someone tell me, will two 6990's work on m17x r2? Could it work normally like 6970m's on m17x r2?Or I should wait some Vbios changes(moddings) on 6990m's?

 

There is no way to know for sure unless someone tries it, chances are will be fine as it is so similar to the 6970, but yeh there is no way to tell otherwise.

 

Bad to hear it. If someone will not try it on their laptop, so I think I will buy one 6990m and try it. But this will happen within a month if I sell my previous laptop fastly.

 

Yeah I am considering being a guinea pig....do you reckon I would be able to resell them easily if it is a fail?

Perhaps maybe a discount is in order for the guinea pig!?!

 

Hi Douse,

I bet they'd be pretty easy to sell if necessary (probably for about the same as you paid, maybe more), although don't quote me on that .

I'm planning to stick with the 6970's (unless Clevo sends me 6990's by mistake, in which case I'll give em a go), but will be interested to see how it goes for people

 

Yes, I think with a discount you will sell them nearly fast. The condition would be like new because of just installing them and then taking them out. So good luck.If all be ok I will follow you. Anyway +1 rep for trying them.

 

For those still thinking about whether the upgrade of the GPU from 5870 CFX to 6970 CFX is worth it versus moving to Sandy Bridge, this might hold some value in the decision making process. This is primarily a CPU test and shows how the first-generation i7 and second-generation i7 compare to one another.

Geekbench: Compare i7 2720QM Alienware M18xR1 with i7 720QM Alienware M17xR2

 

Two things, I think a fairer comparison would be the i7 720qm versus the i7 2630qm since they are both of equal tier for their respective generations. Secondly, an i7 920xm or i7 940xm overclocked using throttlestop will match an i7 2820qm.

No doubt the Sandybridge parts perform better. Clock for clock they're 15% faster, but they're also clocked higher. However, when it comes to gaming, you will see a FAR greater performance increase from CF 5870's to CF 6970's than you would from an OC'ed i7 920xm to a i7 2820qm.

 

I agree. Having already upgraded from 740qm to a 920xm, I think the difference in games will be minimal if moving to the sandybridge

And since gaming is what I do mostly, I think you will get more bang for buck upgrading the video cards.

I guess it all depends on what your use your laptop for.

 

Also, the laptop in my sig came with an i5 540m. I upgraded it to an i7 820qm. I gained about 2-5fps across the board in most games.

My gpu upgrade CFX 4870's to CFX 6970's saw me a literal 120% increase in literally every game. I don't think switching from an i7 820qm to an i7 2920xm at 4.0ghz if that was even possible would produce even 1/10th of that result.

 

Yeah I know what you mean.

With the 920xm clocked up, I did notice an increase in fps....but only maybe 5 frames. I found it made games feel more consistant and gave a generally smoother feeling....if that makes sense??

Hopefully moving to the 6990's, game performance will jump at least 50%...

 

I doubt you will see anywhere close to the performance increase from 6970 to 6990 that you did going from 4870 to 6970. If you look at the difference in specs between the 2 GPUs in the 6900M family, a 50% performance increase (I think) would be an unrealistic expectation. I expect the 6990 to definitely be more powerful, but I do not expect anywhere near 50%. Whatever percentage it turns out to be, more is always better.

It's sort of humorous that you talk about fair comparisons and then shift gears and talk about using TS on an overclocked 920/940XM to match a 2820QM. I understand your point and the 920/940XM are excellent, but that seems like a double-standard to "fairness" to me. That's OK, because I don't really care about being fair that much, just care about results. I think lots of us feel that way, but could not resist pointing out that observation.

I can tell you from my personal experience there is a remarkable increase in performance going from my M17x 720QM/5870 CFX to my current M18x. I am still waiting to see some decent benches on the 6990 CFX and 580M Sli on the M18x Benchmark thread and I am watching this thread to see how well either of them perform on the M17x R2.

I think you're missing the boat dismissing the effect of the CPU on the GPU. With AMD products especially, graphics performance is partially dependent on CPU performance. If an AMD GPU is "CPU starved" performance will suffer. My M17x 5870 CFX with the i7 720QM was put to shame in benches against the 920XM with all other specs being equal.

I'm not able to compare the i7 720QM to the 2630QM because I do not have access to that CPU, but the i7 2720QM is the direct replacement for the 720QM. So, from that aspect the comparison is directly on point. That's sort of the point of an upgrade, right? Downgrading to create an artificially level playing field sort of defeats the purpose altogether. And, there's not much difference in system benchmark performance between the 2630 and 2720 if you look at the M18x benchmarks.

I would really like to see some CPU benchmark comparisons between the 920XM and the 2920XM. Do you reckon we can get some R2/R3/M18x owners to Geekbench their results so we can put them in a side-by-side?

 

I've hit 192sec on wPrime 1024. and 6.23sec on wPrime 32M. Never ran Geekbench though.

 

I'm not sure who's talking about going from a 6970 to a 6990. I was talking about going from Dual 4870's or Dual 5870's to Dual 6970's.

The reason you saw a remarkable increase in performance was mostly due to the fact your gpu's are twice as powerful.

I think you don't really understand how benchmarks work. While it is true, that yes gpu performance is dependent to some extent on the cpu, (and it's not just amd, it's nvidia as well) if the cpu is not acting as a bottleneck - i.e. not being completely maxed out - then gpu performance will not suffer. A more powerful cpu will only aide in games where the cpu is acting as a bottleneck - and those games are rare - GTA4 is the only one really that will cause significant cpu bottlenecks.

Benchmarks on the otherhand - unlike games are designed to stress all segments of your computer to the max. Benchmarks are very cpu dependent unlike games which are largely gpu dependent. That's why more powerful cpu's will always have a big advantage in benchmarks. However when it comes to real world gaming, two computers with the same gpu's but different cpu's will perform similarly while when running 3D mark, there might be a few thousand points separating them.

No, the i7 2720qm is a replacement for i7 740qm or i7 820qm. The i7 2630 and i7 2635 is a replacement for the i7 720qm and the i7 2620qm is a replacement for the i7 620m.

 

I exactly know that I will go for 6970m or 6990m and soon I will have enough cash for them. But one thing, could I go with 6990m's? Will they work properly(no manual fan control, shut down, sleeping mode and other problems)? And would it be better to buy m11x ac adapter(240w+65W=305W working in parallel), not to have problems with power?Also I'm waiting for Douse's experiment. Douse,good luck with your experiment!!!

 

My estimate of 50% was referring to an upgrade from 5870s to 6990s

Also, it may be worth pointing out that in game fps is a different ball game to benchmarks, where CPU power matters a whooole lot more!

I will hopefully be getting some 6990s soon, once I have them installed I will do some benching Bear in mind that I am fairly certain I wont be able to overclock anything due to power restrictions....

 

I have been trying to find out whether it will work and information is limited at best...

Personally, I think it should be fine, however overclocking will be limited.
And if there is a problem, I will just down clock everything until something can be sorted out with the PSU.

I cant comment regarding the other issues, but seeing that the standard Clevo vbios on the 6970's worked, I am hoping the 6990s are the same....

 

How a thread about installing 2 GPU on a laptop not meant to use them has shifted to what has it bigger? (the chip, i mean the chip)..

talking about gaming performance wich is, i believe, the main purpose of this upgrade, all the cpu starting from the 740qm and up are up to the task. Even the high-end dual core for that matter.

shall we go back On topic ?

 

Can you please direct me to an online resource at Intel.com to verify this information? I am going based on the naming convention Intel used and the fact that is was provided by Alienware as the direct replacement for my i7 720QM. I'd appreciate it having a chart or something from Intel showing that.

 

Mine are now back in China, awaiting replacements to be sent...

Just call me Mr. Back on Topic

 

Could you do the same for your claim? Can you link me to where Alienware or Intel specifically says the i7 2720qm is the direct replacement for the i7 720qm?

Naming schemes rarely mean anything. The HD 6870 is not a replacement for the HD 5870 for example. Manufacturers always name their products in a manner to which they can sucker the most people into buying a specific model. My reasoning for the i7 2630qm and 2635qm replacing the i7 720qm is due to the basic hierarchy of both generations of cpus.

The i7 2620m is a replacement for the i7 620m. Both have 2 cores, and both are the lowest end i7 models offered in each generation. The next step up is the i7 2630qm and i7 2635qm which are identical in nearly every way. The i7 2630qm is the second lowest SB cpu offered by intel. It is the first SB cpu to have 4 cores instead of 2 (if you follow the hierarchy.) Likewise the i7 720qm is the second lowest first generation i7, and also the first in that hierarchy to have 4 cores. And so on.

 

I have a question about undervolt.

my cards are running @1.0V rock solid, i can OC'em stable up to 735/1000. 750 will lock them up. Temperatures are amazing and the laptop has never been so silent, by consequence.

I believe that the gpu's can run at stock even lower than 1V. It is possible to flash them for example @0.98V? or it must be of 0.05 inc/dec?

Edit: rock [email protected] stock and 700/1000 clocks

 

Nice to hear Mr. Back on Topic!

 

Thanks Douse,

Will be really interested to see how the 6990's go.

 

In the proccess of buying a pair of 6990's from pkhetan now! cant wait

 

Ditto! just getting my bank to sort out the transfer

 

Good luck guys. Let 6990m's be in our m17x r2's!!!!

 

Awesome guys! Looking forward to your results!

 

Is there any where to buy the crossfire cable?
I have 285's in SLI in my R2 and want to go to the 5870's or 6970's.

 

I bought an extra one from here:

Dell Alienware M17x Various Item

However I paid for normal shipping which is 5-14 days, and haven't received it yet (only been a couple of days), so I can't vouch for them yet...but it was one of the only places that I was able to find one.

 

Well, I have officially placed the order....feeling both and

Hopefully they work!!

 

I completely understand the and

Good luck with them!

 

So let it be

 

i wish you

 

2+ months and still running strong.

Anyways, I think it's time to try some nVidia cards. I've placed an order of an nVidia SLi kit to see if it will work on the R2.

Also, I would like to see if both the nVidia cards I ordered as well as the 6970Ms I have would work in the M17x- R1 chassis (the one with the Core 2 processors and the nVidia chipset). So, if anyone has a M17x- R1 and would like me to test these cards out, let me know. I've done something similar before with old school Alienware notebooks to test if 3870M cards worked. I will be responsible for shipping both ways and if anything happens to your R1 under my hands, I will loan you my system until we figure something out (hopefully it won't come to that and it never has from my experience). I'm a trustworthy person (I think) and I've done a lot of business on these forums and ebay. So if you're interested, PM me and we can work something out.

Hopefully I'll be able to get all this done before class starts

 

Repped for your effort,

Also here cards are running fine, flashed them @700/1000 0.98V overdrive up to 735/1050. They run really cool, also i've replaced the stock clevo memory thermal pads with shin etsu paste. i think the heatsink fits much better and my temperatures improved a lot.

 

you guys are making me anxious for my new cards to arrive

 

Hey man,

Which Nvidia cards did you get?
The 470Ms or 485Ms or the 580M's?

I was thinking of trying the 580Ms one day!

I really want to see some higher Nvidia GPUs in the R2s. The 285Ms just don't cut it!

Good Luck!

Cheers.

 

I'm waiting for my 6990's to arrive soon also for r2. :S