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

The left card was much cooler than the right. The right card heatsink was extremely hot even after I removed it. Not a good sign.

Yeah, I thought about doing this but never did. Derp!

 

Yeah I think if I ever get crossfire going I'm going to set up HWinfo to log for awhile. I too tend to forget about doing that until I run into a problem and then it's too late.

 

Greywolf, Something occured to me. have you ever tried installing AMD Drivers OVER dell drivers? I know that worked for one guy with the R1. Just maybe thought it might have been an overlooked detail.

 

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this but CAP4 is out.

 

Wow that was quick. I'll try it tonight. Hey question for anyone regarding CAPs. Are you supposed to uninstall the old one? Does it matter? When I uninstall drivers, I normally only install the latest CAP. Is this how I should do it?

 

Hi Dr650,

Yep, over the dell drivers, without the dell drivers, drivers for m17x-r3, drivers for the m18x, clevo drivers...heck if I knew how to write a driver I would have tried that too

Unfortunately I didn't have any luck with the above, but thanks for the tip. I think someone here might have had that work for them, so definitely worth a shot for those who are having problems that haven't had any luck.

I'll be giving it the old college try again tomorrow...so lets hope the 3rd time is a charm...well 3rd time not counting all the swaping, repasting, crying, etc.

 

Greywolf22,

I just got a set of 6990Ms installed on my R2 and used the original CF cable that was used in my 4870s. After all was set up and installed, I was unable to enable Crossfire through CCC. I made sure that the cable was installed properly and gave it another go, but again unable to enable crossfire. I put my original 4870s back in and checked to see if I had crossfire capability which it was allowing me to do. I then double checked HWInfo64 and was getting a downclocked slave GPU on my 4870s. I then took a continuity to each of the tiny leads of the original crossfire cable and found that about 6 of the leads were not transmitting.

Since then, I ordered a replacement cable through mythlogic, put my 6990Ms back in with the replacement cable and have crossfire established with both cards running at full clocks. I've partially followed your plight of not being able to enable crossfire, and if your original GPUs are allowing you to enable crossfire, troubleshooting logic would lead to your CF cable not being the culprit. I found differently.

Just my 2 cents and hopefully you can get your machine running with your upgraded GPUs.

Good luck.

 

Well I repasted my second card and still no joy. Reflashed the vbios and still no joy. Haven't tried swapping card positions because I wanted to play a little BF3 tonight. Running on 1 card with High settings is pretty nice. FPS stable at 40 or better. When I get back home next week I will try and swap them out to see if the suspected bad card can function as a single. Help me with a moral dilemma gentlemen. Is it bad to ask for another replacement after going through 2 bad 6970s? I feel unsure considering these cards are not supported on this machine and I'm going to ask for a 3rd replacement. But I have sunk 1100 USD into this endeavor. Someone confirm that I am just in asking for yet another replacement. Or tell me I'm a noob who doesn't know what he's doing. The 6990s burned through COD BO and MOH with no problems. Had them for a few weeks now. Can't believe this one died on me.

 

Hi Whapachow,

This is very good news, and one item that I had considered as well. I'm also under the impression that there may be something different between some of our crossfire cables that are not allowing the communication between the cards.

As you probably know, I had ordered another R2 cable (before I knew mythlogic sold long enough cables) and had the same results...which was why I had originally disregarded the cable as being the problem.

After receiving another set of cards and having the same problem, I began to re-think the cable as being a likely culprit. I did send one of my cards to Clevo for RMA and they ran numerous tests and had no problem getting crossfire to work.

So, with that being said, I have ordered a set of cards from Eurocom complete with a cable (the same as mythlogic sells) in an effort to narrow this down further. My hope is, that I can either narrow it down to the cable, or narrow it down to a card.

I think with your results, and if I can recreate the results with the cable from Eurocom, we can maybe put this mystery to rest.

I know of at least 2 or 3 other folks who are having the same problem as we are, so if it's something as simple as buying a $20 cable to make them work that would be fantastic news.

Great news and I'm glad yours are working now. I know the feeling all to well when you get your cards only to not have them work.

Thanks!!!

 

Hey Ghost,

This is just my opinion so folks please feel free to disagree with me. I don't know how the company will respond, but this is how I feel.

Assuming that everything was installed correctly (which I'm certain it was) and damage wasn't caused by over-clocking, not pasting properly, etc. Then I feel you are still within your right to ask for a replacement.

I do understand that what we are doing is technically unsupported, but at the same time I don't think you were doing anything unreasonable that should have caused the card to fail.

It wasn't due to you installing it incorrectly, or over-clocking it, or running it without the fans operating, etc. So I think it's perfectly reasonable to say that the card was faulty and should be replaced.

Like most hardware, if a hardware component is going to fail, it'll typically do it within the first few days. I remember the days where companies would "burn in" components prior to selling them. Or when building a PC you'd run software that would tax the hardware (within limits of course) for 24 hours to confirm that everything seemed to be functioning properly.

So I don't think you are morally in the wrong here. Now I suppose it's possible that there is a short in your motherboard or something causing the failures, but I think that's pretty unlikely.

Good luck though on whatever you decide and keep us posted on how it goes.

 

Well I was looking forward to some serious BF3 last night, started to get some issues mainly plenty of BSOD, and my laptop not wanting to play any games or benchmarks...... Sod it i thought its format time, did a quick install of win 7 but having driver issues again, where the non preview drivers dont install, is there a 11.9 preview driver about?

why is it that even with a fresh install it will only install preview drivers?

This is what I didn't want from these cards...... I know I'm not having issues of non working cards and Xfire like some, but hastle like when I want a game its a format job bugs me

Back at work now so got tinkering to do later

 

Not sure mate, but I always uninstall the old CAPs before putting on the new ones. Makes sense to me to do that.

I also driver sweep every time I do a driver upgrade.

Regarding you moral dilemma, definitely go ahead with a warranty replacement as this is what warranty's are for....dodgy hardware! Maybe express your concern about the poor quality of the 6970's that you have received so far. See if they can maybe work something out so you can get 6990's again as they appear to be more reliable.

 

What error are you getting with the BSOD?

Are you still running that undervolt? I'd try backing that off if you haven't already, cos that could produce those symptoms. Perhaps it's a little too far for your cards.


As for the preview driver issue, I have the same. They work well for games tho, but I've seen issues running virtual machines windowed. My guess on the drivers refusing to install is that it's to do with ID's. We have Eurocom cards with Clevo BIOS in a Dell machine (that shouldn't have them) Don't worry, I'm sure we'll get it fixed.

BF3 runs perfectly. I get a solid 60fps in multiplayer with default settings. I haven't undervolted my cards yet, so I'm using throttlestop to back the cpu off a bit. I've had no stuttering at all.

P.

 

Yeah still have the undervolted bios, BSOD related to an ati file (driver i think) should of made a note.

I flashed the undervolted bios a couple of weeks ago, then went on holiday to Egypt cameback and was ill for a few days so last night was probably the first real try at gaming since the undervolt vbios install........

I'm at work till 3, so have prepped a usb stick for flashing back to stock (clevo) vbios, then plan a fresh install with 11.10 preview 3 drivers and cap4 and see how I go from there.

What have you backed your CPU back to? mine is @ 25x as a rule? also what BF3 graphics setting are you using? you still running 11.8 previews?

 

Mate, I feel for you.

I do have a theory as to what's going wrong tho.

Perhaps the 69XXm cards use a higher density BGA footprint than before. AMD are clearly concerned that this may lead to BGA cracking and have fitted a shoulder surrounding the die to ensure no undue pressure can be applied.

We are fitting a heatsink system designed for the 5870m these have a smaller thermal contact pad and can in some cases drop into the protective shoulder and apply too much pressure to the GPU die. After a few thermal cycles this will eventually lead to the contacts breaking under the die.

I fear one of the heatsinks in your machine is like this. So, each card thats fitted here (after a period of time) will be broken. Can you inspect the contact point of the heatsink and see how uneven it is?

Others have had symptoms that fitted this theory too. Once the card is broken applying a different pressure, perhaps by swapping the cards or re-pasting, can either make the symptoms better or worse as broken points are either pushed together or further apart. When they do work again, (pushed together) the effect is unlikely to last. Often the fault will return as the card is warmed.

A couple of sub-contractors I use at work have BGA re-work stations. They use x-ray to check the connections under the chip. Faulty units can be put back through the oven to re-flow the solder. I can ask them to see if they think these cards could be repaired, as I suspect they can.

I would replace the heatsink before you put another 69XXm card in your machine.

P.

 

@jus71n

I lower the TDP to 48W no other changes, works a treat and I'm on 11.10 preview 3 drivers CAP3 atm.

Let us know how removing the undervolt goes, I suspect thats the issue.
P.

 

I'm sure it was said earlier in the thread undervolting wouldn't cause any issues? infact it was supposed to be a win/win as in no performance loss, and lower temps, but ultimately it seems unstable? Is it just a case of the card needs 1.1v to do something and mine can only have 0.96v so it craps out?

Temps were not an issue for me, undervolted as a precaution because I overclock my CPU.

 

Hoping to get these running stable soon, as my plan was to sell the 5870's

Just dont have enough faith in the 6970's yet to get rid of them

 

Interesting theory Paul!

It would explain the constant issues being experienced.

Although it is strange that it appears that more 6970's are going bang compared to 6990's......but this may be explained by the fact that more people have 6970's.

 

Thanks guys. I will probably ask for one more replacement. If it dies, it dies. That will be the end of it.

That is an interesting theory Paul. I would explore this more. What exactly am I looking for in the heatsink? It appears to look exactly like the other one, which is holding fine. I would think that if it was a heatsink issue, it would be happening to both cards. When I looked at the card last night, I couldn't see any visible damage to it at all. But you might be right about the contacts under the die.

Since each card that has failed has been in my second (right hand) slot, could it be a mobo issue? My 5870s worked fine, which would strengthen Paul's opinion about the heatsink.

How can I get the heatsink replaced? I can't exactly call Dell and ask for a new one. Can you purchase them somewhere?

 

You would need to offer up a straight edge, a ruler perhaps. If it rocks about over the copper pad, I guess it could be pushing onto the die.

Dell sell them, or they did. I guess you coud ask.

P.

 

Each card is different. If they'd all undervolt, I guess they'd have done it at the factory.

P.

 

Ghost, have you looked to see if your heat sink is physically touching the metal 'square' around the GPU die? I had to file down parts of my heat sink so they weren't sitting on that square. I was overheating too.

 

for those interested 11.9 cap4 removed my stuttering on BF3 even with vsync on. Constantly over 45 fps with everything on ultra, blur off, 1920 x1200 etc.

 

IT WORKS!!!

Hey all, so I just received my new 6970's from Eurcom with the crossfire cable and they work!!

So, based on everything I'm beginning to suspect that the problem is indeed with the cable. Now I haven't tested my Clevo's yet so this is unconfirmed, but now I'm beginning to suspect that people who are having problems should try purchasing a crossfire cable from Eurocom or Mythlogic...or an M18x cable.

Now why 2 of my cables would be problematic, I don't know.

What I don't understand is why some cables work and some don't. Makes very little sense to me, but right now thats what I'm suspecting is the problem.

 

Congrats
Are you off into the silky smooth world of BF3 now?

 

how can you be sure it wasnt the gpus themselves instead of the cable?

 

I can't at the moment, I'll try to do a recreate using the Clevo cards (to be honest I'm a bit afraid to take it apart again).

 

Hey guys,

Ok question for you. I'm a bit concerned by the temps that are being reported by the cards. Not that they are too high, but that they are too low. What I mean is, stressing the cards (using vantage or 3dmark11) they only go up to about 60 degree and idle they run about 50 degrees.

This is concerning because I don't know if I really believe what GPU-Z is telling me. When I load HWINFO64, it only reports the temps on one card (and not the secondary card).

Has anyone seen this before? I know both are working, and I'm getting great scores, but just curious how I can know how accurate the temps are and potentially find out why HWINFO is only showing one card.

*Edit* Just did some benching with Crysis and card 1 got up to about 72 degrees, which is still much lower then my clevo cards.

 

CONGRATS! Bout time Id rep you for your commitment but Im you generous.


Open gpu before hwinfo and hwinfo should then see both cards. What benchmark scores are you getting in vantage? Also which cards are you going to keep if the cable was the issue? Do Eurocom cards work well with the fans like clevos?

Also update your hwinfo to the most recent beta. Words for both cards for me.

 

Hi DR650!

Thanks!! I'll give it a try with GPU open and see how it goes. I just did a real quick benchmark to verify that they were working, but my first run at stock
is 5775 3DMARK11 and 19932 in vantage.

Regarding the cards, I'm thinking I'll probably keep the Eurocom cards and sell off the Clevos. If I can verify the cable is the issue then I'll definitely recommend if someone buys both to pick up a cable from Mythlogic or Eurocom. Otherwise I'll probably sell them as single 6970 cards.

I'm running the Clevo bios that Ichime provided on the first page and they seem to run like a charm. No problem with the resolution, fans are running fine, etc. I have a later Clevo bios that I might try to upgrade to, I don't know what it resolves however, so it may not be worth it.

I'll let you all know how my testing goes. Good to at least see crossfire for a change!

 

better stay with the question than destroying the new working configuration. Things are simple. If machine didnt boot at all then one or both gpus were faulty. if it booted but you got flickering and other stuff related with crossfire then it could be the cable.

 

Yeah I'm leaning that way. Both cards worked great as single cards. Both were detected individually, but nether could talk to each other over the cable (both of them). Clevo has confirmed that the one I sent to them is functioning fine and that crossfire is working well (in an X7200 of course), so that leaves me with either my primary cards connector or something with the cables. I've used the primary card as a single card for the past 3 weeks or so and it worked great, no problems at all. So at least as a single card I know it works well.

 

NICE! +1! Literally. Glad to see it is working for you. I wouldn't even test the old cards. I would leave it as is. Sell the other cards as singles and say that you aren't sure if the CF works or not.

Your temps are awesome. As long as it shows your GPU utilization at 100% I would say that you did a very good paste job. My temps were in the low 70s for my benching too. It was BF3 that turned my card into a heater. Play some BF3 and see how your temps hold up.

 

I'll try that when I am able. I did clean it and inspect it last night. It looked fine though. I did notice some issues with the heatsink not fitting properly on the RAM. It also looks like the heatsink is on the slightest of angles on the card. Towards the connecting end, I can see the heatsink is firmly touching the 1rst RAM module. It isn't touching the 4rth chip at all. There is light showing between the heatsink and the .5mm thermal pad. But I think this is because it is resting on the grey chip right next to the 4rth RAM chip.

It does look like it is resting on the square around the die. I have no way of knowing whether the square is too high though.

 

Thanks man! I'm glad to finally have it working and able to actually put all my screws back into my laptop (been months since it was completely put together)

Hope you can get your card sorted out, been a long road for you as well.

 

Hey Guys,

Back up and running, Playing some BF3 and getting throttling down to 14fps...... I think this could be down to throttlestop having my cpu @ 25x, I remeber when I set this up it was abit trial and error, but cant seem to figure it out?

Could do with some advice/guide on setting throttlestop up properly with profiles maybe? any help would be good

 

downclock your gpus to 0.96 V and dont overclock your cpu. Not needed at all for BF3.

 

I did have my GPU's undervolted, was giving me BSOD issues

 

Any luck running the CPU at stock settings no OC?
No need to use TS for most of the games. The 6900M series GPUs should provide enough grunt
BF3 fun fun fun!!!

Cheers.

 

There is a stop/start button in throttlestop but with it on or off cpuz is still reporting the multipliers @25x? Do I just delete throttlestop altogether?

Paul posted something about lowering the TDP?

 

then you should try a little more voltage maybe 0.97 or 0.98 till you dont BSOD

 

Do you have your cards undervolted? @ 0.96v?

There are 7? )if i recall correctly) profiles with various clock speeds and the voltage it can take at that clock speed..... are all yours @ 0.96v and all game running with no problems? with CPU overclocked?

 

Hmmmm..............Have a look in the system bios. See if you can set everything to stock in there in terms of the OC performance settings.
Start from stock again to make sure everything works and if so then you can start OCing again.

The X25 multipliers for the 940XM CPU is normal though. That is the stock multiplier setting for that CPU if I remember correctly.
The bit you want to check is the BUS SPEED; it should be 133Mhz when everything is set to run a default settings.

If you are still having issues you can try and do a power drain. + Also try 150mv and 75mv settings for the CPU in the performance system bios OC setting.

Good luck man hope you get everything running stable.

Cheers.

 

Yes the bus speed is 133Mhz.

In throttlestop I have ticked the disable turbo button and saved, thats fetched the CPU's down from 3.3Ghz to 2.2Ghz, running vantage now with no stuttering, will try BF3 once that is done

 

Cool man. Will be interested to see your Vantage scores. BF3 should be fun with the 6970Ms

Cheers.

 

was doin 19.5k as a rule, with lower CPU clocks 17149

 

OF course you can try a little more voltage as this BSOD must be because your gpus may need a little more to be able to handle the power at maximum clocks. Not all gpus are the same. both my gpus are at 0.96 . Never got a BSOD because of this (except one issue when using windows media player and DLNA services but then it was the driver crashing). There is more space for cpu overclock but when you exceed default turbo clocks then you never know when you will get throttling. I dont have any cpu overclock right now. only turbo mode on without issues. BF3 runs pretty fine on highest possible settings. Well we usually overclock gpus and cpu while its not needed at all if you ask me.

 

Done 30 mins of gameplay (single player) 50-70fps with only 1 drop off in the 30 mins, will try backing the CPU off a little more later and try again

 

Just to point out, with or without TS the R2 bios will set the xm cpu at their turbo multiplier across the 4 cores. that's 24x for the 920xm and 25x for the 940xm. To use it really at "stock" frequency, TS has to be used to set the multipliers across the 4 cores @17x for the 920xm and 18x on the 940xm. Also the TDP will be 62w on the R2 instead of 55W as it should be.