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

Turbo, Your sig says single 5870, did you sell the other card or just disable it due to XF issues? Just curious.

 

Yes, say Panther 2.0. And also tell them if you're planning crossfire, they'll send the cable too.

Fans work just fine, be sure to flash the cards if you're going crossfire to avoid lockups in games.

I am running two from them and they're fine.

P.

 

Hey DR. I sold the other 5870 which had been previously removed because of CF issues. I've got a Eurocom 6970 on its way. When that arrives, I'll be selling the other 5870. And now that the prices have dropped on those Eurocom 6970s, I might consider going with CF again, even though it is a pain in the butt.

 

Ahh, gotcha. Figured something like that. The nice thing about the 6900 series cards is that they are plenty of card for most games. So you can use Crossifre in games where it works properly, or just disable it and not worry about it. I havn't gamed nearly enough to run into those issues. I think I have most of the benching out of my system, so it'll be nice to actually do some real gaming.

 

My single 5870 is actually a beast. I am looking very much forward to that 6970 though. It is something new and exciting, and it puts down impressive numbers for a single GPU. 6990 would have been ideal.

 

The eBay deal looks enticing but I just can’t get around the lack of even a DOA warranty...

Don’t want to just throw money away when I may get something faulty that isn’t even my fault....

 

Yes, it sucks. If my card is faulty when it arrives, I will kindly let them know that I am a member of an Alienware forum, and that it will be my duty to humanity to let other folks know not to order anything from them. They will still probably tell me where to shove it.

 

lol I imagine they will probably do exactly that :|

I dont get it though, someone could sell these for a higher price (not too high) with a DOA warranty and they would be guaranteed the sales....

I would pay an extra 50 or 100 USD for a warranty..

 

Douse,

I completely agree with this...especially regarding DOA. I did ask them yesterday if they test the crossfire port before shipping the cards out. They replied that they only test the crossfire port if you order BOTH cards and a crossfire cable. Then they also stated that in the 5 years of selling cards they've never seen a crossfire port problem. Given my recent experience with crossfire and not being able to communicate between the cards, that didn't give me a warm fuzzy.

Does anyone know if Paypal buyer protection covers DOA on a product even if the seller doesn't guarantee it?

 

I think the Paypal buyer protection would cover it. If not, why couldn't we all just sell broken crap on Ebay, and just say 'no returns accepted'? If my card shows up broken, you can bet that I'm opening a complaint with Paypal.

 

Greywolf, interesting call with Paypal....

It would be a tricky one because they specify that it is no returns, which means when we buy from them we agree to those conditions.

Hopefully it doesn't come to that for anyone, however over time someone is going to have a problem.

 

Up until not too long ago, it was unheard of to modify laptop GPUs. You got what you got, and when it went out of date, you bought a new one. So yeah, you get these guys that want to try to get the latest tech to work in their laptops, flash a wrong VBIOS, or get a bad flash, and Eurocom is supposed to buy back a bad GPU? I don't know. I kind of understand their reasoning. They guarantee that there cards work when they ship them. I'm just hoping I don't have any problems. Paul bought two from them and they worked great from what I understand.

 

wher to download ati mod driver 11.9 for ati HD6970m ya?? i means for dell system

i cant find from the google. pls help...

 

So you will in that case forfeit your warranty.... if you sell those 5870m ...

 

At least they test them before shipping which is better then simply saying "new in box" and not accepting returns. And they are priced right, my only concern is if I were to have to buy a new card simply to get crossfire working only to have a problem with the connector. I don't really want to buy 2 cards just to verify that it works properly. That being said, I'm sure there are exceptions to every rule and I hope they'd take something like that into consideration if there was a problem. Hard to weed out those who know what they are doing and get a bad card vs those who are "messing around" and break the card.

 

go for this

[AIO] AMD Catalyst 11.10 Preview (8.901.0) Win7.7z

 

Hi Turbo,
Yes I did and I do understand perhaps I got lucky. I guess I was up for the risk.

My reasoning was that they're a laptop manufacturer with a good name. They're fully aware of the failure rate of the cards as they use them in their own production. If they were to be sending out garbage they'd soon be found out.

I'm not sure they're testing them tho. Mine seemed to be factory sealed and I see this as a good thing. I expect the card manufacturer tested them fully and I like the idea they've not been messed with since. I may well be wrong here, perhaps they sealed them.

Skill levels vary wildly and as you’ve said above, more and more people are experimenting with the guts of their laptops. I guess these guys don’t want to be paying for the learning curves.

From the very little communication I had with them, they sound like a reasonable bunch. If you have problems, speak to them.

P

 

any idea for Dell OEM 6970m flash mod vbios and unlock more shader? as well the voltage to more higher?

 

Thought I would mention that the BF3 Beta runs fine with crossfire 5870's and my setup (see sig)

Had it on high with v-sync and a a few things tweaked. Could run better but also could be running a lot worse

Bear in mine this is the Beta...

 

Hey Douse. What kind of FPS did you get? Is the beta a campaign or multiplayer? I got the email but haven't been able to check it out yet.

Also thought everyone should know that Mythlogic appears to be working with me to test and probably replace my faulty second card. Should know more next week.

 

Ghost, I used fraps and did about eleven 60 second benchmarks on both maps which are both indoors and outdoors. I can do a proper bench later but strapped for time atm.

These were actual game play. The first half are from one map and the second half from the other. The second map is more outdoors so performance feels less.

I have also attached a screen of my settings....but I don't know how accurate they are being the beta....it doesn't seem to change much when I adjust them :S

Not sure about the AA settings yet (post and deferred?? ?)....like I said haven't had a lot of time to play with it.

EDIT:: Oh yeah, this is multiplayer. I think FPS will be lower in the full version as maps will be bigger, have more players and of course have vehicles.

 

Ghost that's great to hear. If they are good to work with and are willing to assist folks who get DOA cards (assuming anyone else does), then I'm sure there are lots of folks here who might throw a little business their way. Just sayin'

 

@Douse. Those are better numbers than I thought. I know it doesn't mean much being a beta, but it is a start. Thanks! +1

@Greywolf. Yea. They have been helpful in replacing my cards so far. They are close to my home so I can go there to get the cards. I feel bad that I have had 2 dead cards and they have had to work with me. I told them that we can even install it at there office so they could see what I was doing. They did tell me that the 6970s are causing them grief. I would not be surprised if they no longer offered the warranty on them. But they are willing to work with me so I am happy about that.

 

Hi Ghost, it's great that you have a place nearby where you can get the cards, I wish I was so lucky. A bit concerning regarding the problems they are seeing on the 6970's...makes me wonder if there were some manufacturing flaws or problems with this cards in general. Also these are the folks that also provided a longer crossfire cable? Just making sure I'm not mixing up some of these vendors.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

Ghost I am glad to hear they are honouring their warranty with you, and as Greywolf said, you are VERY lucky to live near them! It will make the whole process a lot more painless!

It is disconcerting to hear about the 69xx problems, and I am inclined to agree with them. Just from the experiences on the forums the success rate is a little too low for me to want to buy some without warranty..

I don't recall people having this many problems with the 5870 re-pasting and retention mods, and it is essentially the same thing....

 

Yes Mythlogic gave me the longer CF cable that fits perfectly in the R2. $20. From what they are telling me the 6990s have a much better success rate after they are installed. Sounds like the 6970s are great cards if you get them working, but there have been problems with the initial installs.

It is scary not to have a warranty. I wouldn't buy them without at least a DOA warranty. That's why I didn't mind paying a little extra to go through Mythlogic. If the 6970s don't work for me, I may upgrade to the 6990s. Hopefully I will know this weekend.

On another side note, after using IC Diamond and running out of it (too much repasting and swapping) and having to go back to AS5, I like the thickness of IC Diamond much better than the AS5. Looking to get some more. But I did feel ripped off at the amount of paste I got with IC Diamond. They shouldn't have used that big of a plunger if it wasn't going to be filled all the way. But their temps were about 8C lower than AS5. And it was a smoother application.

 

Ouch. I bought a 6970 from the ebay seller. No DOA warranty AND they used the slowest shipping known to man. I think the card will show up in a horse drawn carriage. Paul got his to the UK in under a week. I live a couple of hundred miles from the Canadian border. I ordered it a week ago today.

 

I think you should be ok, just be really careful and thorough!

 

Ouch, and definately take Douse's advise. Be careful. Ensure that the system is unplugged from the power cord when inserting and removing the card. And make sure the battery is out and you hold th epower button to drain any power. I've found that if it's plugged in, it creates a tiny spark when inserting a card with the power cord in. Though it didn't fry my card, but scared the crap outta me.

 

^^Duude never do that again, unplug the coincell battery too and drain it just to be on the safe side especially with no warranty.

@Turbod good luck, buddy, but i do think you're covered if they'll be DOA even if the seller states otherwise.

 

If we are talking about the Eurocom affiliate on ebay selling the cards, I can attest to the shipping being a bit slow. Took a week to get from Canada to NYC - but that was in the middle of the canadian postage strike so that might have affected it.

My experience with them was good. I bought a card from them back in June. I'm pretty sure at that time they offered a DOA, but I didn't need it.

Keep in mind it is Eurocom we're talking about though and they don't have a sparkling history for customer service. But my experience was good.

 

well this happened on my R1. it fried both the gpu card and the motherboard input.. I paid the motherboard only but then got a replacement to R2.

 

It makes me wonder if Eurocom offers DOA warranty from their website either, or if their policy is the same as Ebay

 

from where some of NBR people got 6990m's ?
i cant find them anywhere :/

 

Most of them from phaketan :/

 

Well my 6970's are spending the weekend in a warehouse in Tamworth....... bout 150miles away from me hopefully they will be here Monday. (probably a good job as I would be too tempted to fit them and my new thermal pads aint here yet)

Reading the last few pages has made me nervous about the fitting job, just going to take it real slow and methodical being super carefull!! If they then boot I'll be happy, once I've flashed the vbios etc I would be kissing bye to any warranty anyway? so fingers crossed.

As a side note I'm sure if it's DOA theres got to be a case with paypal protection, as you are actually buying something thats supposed to work (as opposed to spares or repairs etc) Hope non of us have to find out

 

anyone has the issue with some graphics not being good ( colours grey but not flickering) after ati driver upgrade? this always happened to me with 5870s and the same with 6970s. i tried both upgrade over previous (good working driver) and clean install (after uninstalled everything ccleaner, driver sweeper etc). Please help i dont to want to format everytime a new ati driver is out.

 

Hi Aristotel,

I'm only running a single 6970 currently, but haven't had any issues with the 11.9 driver. Just upgraded from the official AMD site (not using a moded driver) and no problems so far. Sorry to hear about that, odd that it happened on both the 5870's and the 6970's.

Good luck

 

I had problems with ATI lastest drivers, CCC would not open, etc.

ended up having to uninstall, clean, etc. before reinstalling dell originals, then updating again.

after that they all worked fine.

 

to be specific on 5870s i had flickering while on 6970s i have this issue (dont have it with any driver when installed after format..) i ll try reinstall 11.9 (it was working properly) and see whats the case

 

any news on the audio over hdmi issue?
I'm planning on getting the 6990's soon but am still having 2nd thoughts because of this issue. I hook the laptop up to the tv from time to time.

 

i am still trying to understand if there is no sound at all or sound comes out from notebook

 

ok i solved the graphics issue following this guide

How to Install :

1. *RECOMMENDED* Additional steps to ensure compatibility before installing ATi Catalyst drivers :

A. Install the latest hardware drivers from your manufacturer's website. For Intel based systems (Pentium,Core2Duo,Core i3/i5/i7 etc.), also download and install the latest INF drivers from here:
Intel Chipset Software Installation Utility v9.2.0.1030 (21/04/2011)

B. Install .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 , required to run Catalyst Control Center :
Full Setup (230MB) Download Link

C. Install DirectX 9.0c components for maximum compatibility :
DirectX 9.0c Download Link

D. Run Windows Update and install all software updates for your operating system.

2. Perform complete uninstall of your previous drivers :

A. Go to 'Add/Remove Programs' , select the ATi drivers package and click Modify. Use ATi's 'Express uninstall all ATi software'.

B. Reboot your computer.

C. Install Driver Sweeper v3.1.0
Driver Sweeper v3.1.0 Download Link
Run it and remove all ATi files.

D. Reboot yet again.

3. Download the driver for your system, using the links posted above. Simply run the installer and follow the instructions on the screen.

4. When setup completes, you'll be asked to reboot for the last time. Do it instantly and without delay.

5. Make sure you're running 11.9 Catalyst drivers - Go to CCC and select Information>Software .

 

It will only be sound over HDMI that is affected.

If you set your default sound device to headphones or speakers you will still get sound.

All this means is that for people hooking up to their tele using HDMI, they will need to run an additional cable from the headphone jack to the TV.

I frequently hook up my laptop to the TV using HDMI so it will be annoying, but definitely workable.

 

well thinking of my speakers (on my sig) i prefer sound to come out digitally from x-fi & 5.1 system rather than tv

 

Oh there's definitely sound - just not through HDMI. If there was no sound period, believe me, you'd hear a lot more complaints here. I don't have an HDTV with HDMI in so I can't test it though. I'm using a HDMI to DVI connector to connect to my external monitor.

I'm using an external sound card to run my sound system.

I think I remember reading somewhere in this topic that the sound issue only affected either Clevo cards or cards running Clevo vbios's. Since my primary card is a Dell card, I'm kinda curious to test this to see if it works even though it's running a Clevo vbios.

 

So you will be fine then

Hrrrrm, that would be interesting!

 

i doubt its related to gpus brand. i think its vbios-bios related

 

hello guys anyone know what happened to Pkheten i need a RMA for my 6990's. i have no idea how to. the problem was that i can play rly demanding games on main card fine on max sett. (like windowed or with CF disabled) but when both cards are running in full-screen on some games i can play with out system crashing but it had to be at a certain resolution or at super low sett. on other games it just shut it down no matter what sett. i've tried placing thermal pads on back then front but no luck. x.x... i was on vacation

 

You should be able to contact Pkhetan via a private message.

What troublshooting have you done again?

And does it crash or does the PSU trip?