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

Thanks Greywolf

Well, after a very intense and stressful installation, the 6990's are in and working in crossfire!

Both are detecting, and 11.10 drivers installed without a hitch.

They appear to be running quite cool...so I would love some input as to whether they are working to full capacity.

Just finished a 3dmark2011 run which completed without any issues and power draw was at max about 265.

Surprised at how cool they are as I fairly certain the fans didn't even kick in to max as they should have according to my fan profile.

Anyway, is this a good score? Not big on benchmarking. There is no CPU overclock.

 

The score seems right, but the cards actually look like they are running hot. My 6990s barely reach 80*C-81*C in several hours of BF3. Don't remember what they hit in 3DMark11. Also did you run 3DMark11 with tesselation turned off in CCC? Looks like it given the new "invalid" think futuremark is implementing at the top of your score.

What was so stressful during the installation? Dealing with the brackets?

EDIT: Looking at my sig my cards reached 86*C in my best vantage benchrun when they were overclocked. Don't remember ambient temps. Havn't benched in a while so those temps may be normal. See what they reach in gaming, it may be normal.

 

Ok, so I found that CCC wouldn't open and gave an error.

So uninstalled all the drivers, swept and reinstalled. CCC opens now but still getting AMD Catalyst Tessellation error for 3dmark11.

Got my fan profiles working properly and also maxed out a lot of the settings in CCC.

Temps are a lot better

 

Great to hear your cards are up and running! Also those temps after cranking the fans look really nice, it is interesting how HWinNFO32 reports the 6990s as 6970s but I see that 3DMArk reports them correctly at the bottom.
What thermal paste did you use? did you take any pics of the instal by any chance?

 

Oh! and here is a little something I found on the tessellation error and solution, appears to be fairly simple...

"By default, AMD Catalyst control panel is set to “AMD Optimized”, tessellation is unmodified unless a specific application is detected. 3DMark 11 will not trigger a modified tessellation profile as doing so would be against Futuremark driver approval policy. This is the approved method for benchmarking ATI/AMD DirectX11 video cards with 3DMark 11, any other setting of Tessellation Controls will invalidate the result.

To correct this error, return Tessellation Controls to default in AMD Catalyst control panel and re-run benchmark."

 

Thanks mate!

I am stoked at how well they are running, touch wood they stay that way!!

Only used TX-3 on the die and used Fujipoly 0.5mm pads on the memory and chips at the back. Didn't want to paste it all as I was expecting it to not be as smooth and require me to take it a part quite a few times

Nah no pics, but did cut up the back plates and I think it was the right thing to do.

Actually I got it to stop giving the error by updating the futuremark system info thingy

Now for some games!!!!!!!

 

Douse, what cards did you get? Do you have to manually control the fans? Congrats, as those temps look great!. Can't wait to hear how your gaming experience compares to your 5870s.

 

Thanks DR650!

Well fan control appears to be working great! Just using the fan control functionality in HWINFO32.

I would say they are definitely working, as I just hopped in to SP BF3 and had everything on Ultra. Turned off motion blur (yuck) and its ran fairly smooth. Not completely as smooth as I would like it so turned post AA to medium and AA to 2xMSAA and it was really really smooth.

This is with everything on CCC set to quality not performance.

I bought a set of ES's from Table21, and I think they came from a M18x, but not 100% sure.

In game power draw was around 200...so actually less then my heavily overclocked 5870's and I am experiencing no throttling.

Of course I am yet to try Crysis

Oh and shutdown and restart appear to be working fine.

And DR650, it was stressful cause I was didn't want to bugger up the expensive, non-warranty cards

EDIT:: Skyrim runs better but not as well as it should imo. I think when a new cap comes out performance will increase. Got MAJOR screen flicking, like an out of tune TV when the graphics were set right up. And I still need to do the alt tab thing to get the FPS that I want. Perhaps the CPU overclock was more beneficial then I thought for this game. Also power draw was around 250/260 so no room for CPU overclock...

 

Nice! Did you undervolt the cards? If you get throttling that will help.

 

Nah haven't had a chance yet, but I will as I would like to overclock the CPU.

DR650, your 7939 3dmark run, how did you get it running with an overclock on both the GPU's and CPU's without throttling?

Is it normal to actually hear your video cards? I know my 5870's did it, but these are louder...

 

Would I be correct in saying that I would be good to go if I had the following:

-http://www.frozencpu.com/products/11398/thr-80/Tuniq_TX-4_High_Performance_Thermal_Grease_-_30g.html

-http://www.frozencpu.com/products/11631/thr-84/Fujipoly_Premium_System_Builder_Thermal_Pad_-_14_Sheet_-_150_x_100_x_05_-_Thermal_Conductivity_60_WmK.html?tl=g8c487s1288#blank

-http://www.amazon.com/6132-BA-10-Electrical-4-Inch---66-Feet---0-007-Inch/dp/B00004WCCL/ref=sr_1_4?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1321321373&sr=1-4

-http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Cruzer-Flash-Drive-SDCZ36-008G-A11/dp/B001T9CTRS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1321321469&sr=8-2

My questions would be:

-Is one tube of TX-4 enough?

-On a scale of 1 to 10 how hard is this mod to execute properly?

 

Don't know what mod you're talking about. Judging by the electrical tape, you might be talking about the whole ducting mod, but other than that it looks like you're just trying to replace your pads and paste.

Don't do the retention mod, it isn't necessary. It bends the hell out of your cards. Yes, you may have seen me advocating it elsewhere, but I don't anymore.

 

It was a pretty lucky bench. I've tried to duplicate it but kept getting throttling so after that i didn't bench much. Just gotta reduce power draw from the system. Had alien fx off and little things like. Every bit counts. Running the same settings gave me throttling. Benchers luck.

 

I apologize for not specifying what mod I was speaking about. My questions refer to the replacement of my two 5870s in exchange for 6990s.

 

Coming up with the money was much harder than actually installing mine. Two would be a lot of money. The GPU die and RAM chips are in the same spots, so you can use your current heatsinks and fans. Two 6970s are very powerful, and won't break the bank as badly. Both are the same installation process. Depends on your funding.

 

I've looked for a video regarding how to apply the thermal grease and pads but I haven't come up with anything. Anyone know of a guide or have any suggestions? That's the part that I'm nervous about with my rig.

 

There isn't really much to it. For the pads, make sure they're the correct thickness. .5mm on the VRAM. You then cut two rectangular pieces, one for each strip of VRAM. This is much easier than putting a tiny piece on each VRAM chip. Make sure you take the protective film off of both sides of the pad before application.

For paste, put a bit of it on the center of the GPU die. Then, put a sandwich bag over your index finger and spread it light coat along the whole surface of the die. Carefully set the heatsink on the card, and then sequentially tighten the four screws bit by bit until they are all tight. You should be set to go.

 

I just got my 6990m in the mail yesterday however... no screws . Retention bracket is in place but I cant seem to find any that fit it. How did you guys get around this?

 

Turbod, I didn't undo the retention mod for the 6990m's but I was careful not to screw the screws all the way down due to the added pressure.

There would be no way the PCB would be bending as there is way more flex in the heat sink bracket.

I think the retention mod is safe just have to make sure people are not screwing the screws all the way in.

 

Hi Ragnarok,

I luckily didn't need to worry about it, but the screw size I believe is M1.6 3.5mm. I ended up buying screws from these guys on e-bay. They didn't have 3.5mm, but had 3mm and 4mm so bought both just in case. I didn't have to use mine, but I did test them and they fit perfectly (I'll re-test them again tomorrow to be extra sure if you'd like)

eBay - New & used electronics, cars, apparel, collectibles, sporting goods & more at low prices

This is assuming you are using either Eurocom or Clevo cards. Dell cards use the wider screw that the 4870 and 5870's use.

 

I just did a very interesting test, of which I am over the moon about the results!

AUDIO OVER HDMI WORKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

Was not expecting that, perhaps it is because mine are Dell cards. Either way, very very happy

 

Thanks for that, much appreciated. I will check them out.

I wish they used the same type as the 4870's then I would have no issues.

 

I am getting throttling in BF3 multiplayer. Appears to be when draw is over 275.

I am running the video cards 0.96. It has been reduced but not completely gone.

I am running 3 HDD's in my system though (1 SSD and 2 mechanical)

Reckon I can go lower voltage?

Is there an app that records voltage to the cards? GPU-Z doesn't read correctly.

 

Ok, so I got rid of the throttling but the results are a little confusing.

My GPU's are dropped to 0.95v, however because it was still happening I started playing with Throttlestop

I don't know if it was possible but could my processor have been stuck on an overclock without throttlestop being open?

Because I have now gotten rid of all throttling and I have my 920xm running at 27/24/18/18 @ 62w/55w with the multiplier set to turbo

Now I was under the impression that this is higher then the stock clock, yet I am now drawing around 260 in game.

I ran a 3dmark11 test and I dropped by 100 points.

Any ideas? Am I throttling due to lower TDP/TDC?

 

interesting! but you have to manually control gpu fans as known for 6900 dell cards on R2 right?

 

Yeah, however HWINFO32 does a brilliant job on that.

So far the fan control is the only issue with these cards.

My machine is shutting down and restarting fine, however I haven't tested sleep as I don't ever use it.

Drivers installed fine as well, no resolution issues and crossfire enabled automatically.

Only problem is the throttling, which seem to have been fixed by undervolting the cards and adjusting CPU clocks.

Might take an image of my machine cause it is running so well LOL!

 

even 6970s have throttling without downclock. i guess its must worse with 6990s. i also have mine at 0.96V for long time now and forgot throttling. cpu without extreme overclocking. I personally prefer to forget fan control and hearing sound from speakers rather than the opposite but thats only me. Right now it feels like R2 came with 6970s but dont use HDMI very often.

 

Well, my fan control starts with windows so it is basically set and forget.

I use audio over HDMI probably every night so it is a big deal for me.

I no longer get throttling with my above set up, so pretty happy with the results.

Aristo, have you done a 3dmark11 run with your setup?

 

Awwwww I can't stand to read this thread, my 6970s are still on the way and saturday I'm taking a two weeks leave, so it's likely I won't be seeing them in my r2 before next month

 

hmm... will eurocom 6970m work in cf with clevo 6970m ?
is it only vbios diff ?

 

yes i did. i cant remember how much it scored as i run it only once just to see everything works. i ll try find the pic. i must have it somewhere but dont expect much as i dont even know how to use throttlestop for cpu. i couldnt say i am a good benchmarker if i dont find it i ll try a quick run just for the history.

 

haha nah tis all good. Just wanting to see if there was much difference between the 6970's and 6990's in benching.

I got around 6100 without touching Throttlestop or undervolting the cards. So everything stock basically.

I feel your pain man! I was expecting to have a pair of 6990's about 6 months ago!!! All good things come to those that wait....or something of that manner

 

Ichime: You may want to fix your guide. Phketan got a C&D from Clevo and is legally no longer able to sell parts.

See: Pkhetan's Feedback

Jason

 

ok i got 5718 with gpu clocks at stock but 6970s at 0.96V (didnt want to undergo the whole process to set this to default)

 

Cool cheers man!

No no, definitely dont revert the voltage just for that!

Right before I left for work this morning I did a run of 6002 with it set up not to throttle.

Perhaps undervolting does have an impact on performance...although I dont see how.

ARG hate being at work when all I want to do is go home and tinker

 

i am sure it effects performance on such benchmarks because it stresses the system to its limits and voltage etc matters. But i dont see any obvious effect on games so i live with that for long time now. if gpus are stable during benchmarks then they are on games too.

 

Yeah you are right. I doubt a 100 points in a bench is going to have any noticable effect in game.

EDIT:: OMG playing BF3 with these cards is SOOO nice!!

 

Does anyone know the part number for both GPU heatsinks for the M17XR2? I want to order 2 more if they aren't too expensive. Thanks

 

I know right?? I was playing lastnight 64player Metro, crazy ness and heavy firefights and explosions everywhere with all settings to ultra. It was glorious. Awesome sound through my bose QC2 headphones and Nufore uDAC 2. Loving every min of it. Check out the Gaming section and Join the NBR Clan, tonight there is a game on the NBR Server, you should join in. I won't be on till late, if I get on.

@Ghost, Search ebay, as far as I know all heatsinks for the M17x and M17x R2 are the same, regardless of video card. Looks like they can be had for $25/ea.

 

Doh was too busy enjoying the pleasures of Skyrim

Can I play without being part of the NBR clan? I am currently in one just for fun but would love to get online and play with you guys!

 

can you guys now sort out the 8GB limit for m17x R2's? that would be great hehe

 

Sure you can. Here is a link to the server thread that was setup by ValkerieFire
Official NBR Battlefield 3 Clan Server Thread

 

Word of warning, don't install 11.11's yet

Has raped my machine even when using 11.9 and 11.10 as well.

 

Did you get it sorted? I havn't bothered even downloading the drivers since 11.10 is working for me, and otheres are complaining about the BSOD issues.

I see in the gaming section, almost no one has complained about the BSOD. Looks like it may just be Alienware related. I was kinda miffed that I only saw complaints about the BSOD in the Alienware section. Maybe something in the driver related to Crossfire was botched? Who knows.

 

Dont know, but a little frustrated at the moment.

Seems to have stopped my 11.9s and 11.10's from working so I dont know what else to do besides uninstall -> driver sweep -> reinstall..

Anything else I can try?

 

Hmm, I don't really have much of an idea. I mess with drivers as little as possible. Reverting to the last know config didn't undo everything?

 

Thanks. I'm assuming the heatsink for the 280 and 260 will work on the 5870s and 6990s?

 

Yea, as far as I know, they only had one style of heatsink for the R1 and R2 regardless of GPU.

 

Hey Douse,

Sorry to hear about the driver issues with 11.11. I had a random blue screen in Crysis 2 due to video driver issue (I'm assuming 11.11). Luckily I did a complete backup of my system prior to installing them, but for the time being I'm gonna leave them on and see if I encounter other problems.

Hopefully they'll sort out the problems and release a fix, this is the first AMD driver in awhile that's really got me wishing I had waited to upgrade.

Good luck getting the drivers sorted out, for some reason AMD drivers are the worst to uninstall and re-install...not sure why.

 

Thanks Greywolf, and here I was thinking that everything was going a little to smoothly!

Good work on creating the backup. I was thinking last night that I should create one. I would have been laughign if I did, but alas

I have tried everything I can think of, so I am just going to format.

I don't mind too much as I want the beast to be running as quickly as possible with the new cards