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

so how many of you guys have actually installed the ati hd 6970's or higher into your m17x r2 and it worked great without problems?

 

Oh, you asked them about the 6990s? For some reason I thought you only asked them about the 6970s.

 

6970's here. Not a problem they feels like they were stock. Couldn't be happier

 

i would love to install the 6970's or the 6990's since both are considerably better than the 5870's, even though 5870's are great.

thing is i just dont have enough computer skill to get it done correctly.

 

I asked about both and no answer yet

 

shame they dont make the m17x r2's anymore. i should have bought two.

 

At least 4-5+ I'd say including me. Only a few have been completely problem free. But the problems that have existed have all been easily remedied (Not counting RMA'ed cards). Read through this whole topic and you'll have a better idea of what's been going on.

 

I'd think it's likely more. A large percentage of people read and don't post.

I have two 6970's on order, should arrive at the start of next week
I wouldn't usually bother posting regarding what I get up to, but I think as people are looking for confidence, I'll post to let everyone know how I get on.

For me, this is what having the R2 is all about, and I can't wait.

P.

 

Where did you buy the card´s? I think i wil try the eurocom cards....

 

That's what I have coming. These chaps have been very helpful. Ebay

They're sending me a crossfire cable too. As this is for the Eurocom Panther 2.0 I doubt it'll fit the R2, but may prove useful.

P.

 

You can get Clevo 6970's with CF cable for $1000 at Mythlogic. That's were I got mine. Haven't received them yet. Should have them next week. I'm sure they can get 6990's too if you are interested. And they offer 1 year warranty which was why I got them there.

 

[OFF-TOPIC ON]

I tried what you said, went to adapter parameters in windows 7 and changed the DNS info in IPV4 (I deactivated IPV6) to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.

It did not work.

If I recall well, DNS is to get the domain info and IP from a website. Ebay is not reading my DNS... nor neading it.

Here, ebay is reading and blocking my IP (country-bases like you said)..

don't know what to do...

[OFF-TOPIC OFF]

1000$ for a XFire setup is still quite expensive.

A single 6970m is quite good for most i Believe....

 

yeh $1000 is a bit steep when compared to pkhetan who sold x2 6970 for $640 :O

 

They've blocked France and Germany. So even if you managed to get the page up they won't send it.

They've added the following text to that item:-

Please also be advised we have had to place France and Germany onto our Restricted Shipping list because of recent problems with unscrupulous customers and huge delays by customs officials in those countries.

P.

 

A single would be $480 and it is a Clevo card so shouldn't have any issues with fans/power issues. No need to flash the vbios and it comes with a year warranty. Based on the degree of probability for something to go wrong, I would want the warranty. I wanted to buy the most problem free card possible and the Clevo card is the one that people have had the least issues with. In my opinion, the extra money is worth it.

@Kenny, yeah I would have loved to get in on that deal. But I missed the bus on that one.

 

I was benching a single GPU (6990) with massive CPU overclock lastnight, and had Zero power issues. Also beat all the M17x R3's in the top five benching list .

 

I'll just change my shipping adress and see if it works...

 

looks like you are going the single gpu way now on...

 

Just for benching. One of these days I'll do some gaming, but Having to much fun benching.

 

I call dibs on that other 6990M if you get rid of it anytime soon DR650.

 

Hahaha, don't expect that to happen anytime soon. But if for some unforseen reason, I'll keep that in mind.

 

I'm waiting to see what RJTech says about their 6990Ms. It would be nice if they worked in the R2.

 

I'm hoping they work. I love the R2 and am hoping others find good deals that enable them to keep the system. I like to have a larger following here for the R2 as it helps to have lots of minds around. Not to mention is a solid and sexy system.

Alienware M17x R2, Last of a dying breed.

 

I bet you're just a vBIOS flash away.

 

I completely agree!

 

It Didn't...

Damn it.

I think it's my IP which is being blocked / recognized by ebay...

I want one of those cards!

 

Perhaps contact them direct.

148 Colonnade Road
Nepean, Ontario, K2E 7R4
Canada

Email: [email protected]
Phone: (613) 224-6122 ext. 301
Fax: (613) 224-2511

 

Have you tried to contact the seller? Maybe they'd make an exception?

*Paul beat me to it*

 

Oh Jeez. There's a 6990M on Ebay for $850. Free shipping though...

 

BRAND New Dell/Alienware m17x R3, m18x Video Card 2GB ATI 6990




This will work in the m17x r2 but will require a manual fan controller. It is not officially supported by dell alienware so its "try at your own risk"


This auction is for the video card only. Backplate and heatsink are sold separately. picture is of the exact item.

 

Yea, I would stay away from Dell Cards. With Dell Cards, the fans will run at 100%, 100% of the time.

Clevo cards on the other hand work perfect.

The only issue with the upgrade is sound output via HDMI doesn't work. But to me thats not an issue. I <3 6990 XF

 

It can be flashed, that's for sure but the price also without a back plate.

 

Flashing it won't solve the fan problem. The fan controller seems embedded in the hardware and not the vbios.

 

The fans are all controlled through the system bios and have nothing to do with the vbios or GPU. The motherboard bios gets the GPU temps somehow and uses them as the trigger for upping fan speed but it is all controlled by the motherboard and its bios.

 

It is related, that's because wrong values are read so the controller keeps them at 100%.

 

Has anybody tried going to Clevo direct? or one of their service centres? I have just fored off an email to the UK service centre...... see if I get any reply

 

Unless a miracle happens, I will probably end up buying one of the 6970Ms off of eBay.

 

Those of you that did upgrade to 6970s or 6990s, did you reinstall the OS and drivers after installing the new cards? Or just leave everything as is? Trying to figure out what the best plan will be once I get my 6970s.

 

I just left all as is. Though I think I needed to reinstall my gpu drivers. Other than that all was fine.

 

I'm sure you can find a 6990 somewhere for cheaper than that one on Ebay. Besides, I thought CF 5870s was slightly better than 1 x 6970. Unless you only have 1 5870. In that case, I would hold out for cheap 6990.

Thanks. I'll try your way. I have always had a problem installing AMD drivers, so I may do a reinstall once I verify it works. Maybe before BF3 comes out. Can't wait to get these cards!

 

I would just install them over the dell drivers. I think there were issues with a clean install of the drivers. I just installed over.

 

OK. Perhaps that is my issue. I have never uninstalled the previous drivers and always installed over top because otherwise the actual driver wouldn't install. Thanks again.

 

My Dell card is running a Clevo vbios, and the fan's are stuck at 100%. I've tried many different vbios' on this card (2 different dells, eurocom, 2 different clevos) all with the same results - fans at 100%. The Eurocom card by itself with any vbios doesn't have a fan problem.

Thing is ALL the fans are stuck on 100% - cpu, gpu1, and gpu2. I find it strange it affects the cpu fan too.

 

Seems very strange that Clevo 6970m's work perfectly in the M17x but Dell ones don't and yet it is the EXACT opposite with the M15x. In that laptop, for proper fan control, you need the Dell one. Very strange...

 

I've done it both ways, many many many many........times. And I honestly didn't have a problem either way. Initially just updated the drivers, when crossfire didn't work I then did a clean install. Still didn't work, but individually the cards have worked fine either way. So unless you want to do a fresh install, I'd just update the drivers and how it goes.

 

Yup. Only running on one 5870M right now. My CF cable is acting up and I get really bad screen roll unless it is perfectly aligned. My laptop travels with me daily in a backpack, so even the smallest jarring seems to screw everything up. Less power, but also much less overall heat and noise. That's why I would like to have a single GPU configuration with a pretty beastly card. I re-paste my CPU quite often as well, and then the nightmare of aligning that CF cable starts all over again.

 

Get dual 6990s and a new cable. Problem solved. Or tell Dell they are crap and get a new set.

 

Have you cleared the CMOS after every attempt?

 

I want to start out with a single 6990M, and I'll move to CrossFire later if I see the need. By that time, prices will have dropped on the 2nd card, or someone will have figured out how to get the next iteration of cards working in the R2.

 

I got my two 6990's in from mythlogic, I'll deal with installation tomorrow. Hopefully I'll have no problems.