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

Hey Chief!!

Yeah this is a new thing for me as well, as it has only appeared since I installed the 6990m's.

Cheers for the advice!! I am currently running 11.9's and overdrive is actually installed and it appears to be also available in 11.10. I would happily install the same or newer/older but without overdrive..... but so far with my research it looks like it is something that is unavailable.

I originally got away with it by not clicking on CCC OverDrive (not accepting disclaimer) and it was all good. Then all of a sudden it is over-riding my vBios for some stupid reason.

I will be buying a better file for my heat sink, as this is still something where improvements can be made.

 

The file is nice for removing large amounts of metal fast. For fine tuning, you need to get a pack of different grits of sand paper. The larger the grit number, the finer it actually is. For instance, 60 grit is a very large grit sand paper, while 1500 grit will almost polish your heatsink to a mirror finish. You will want to use them progressively, i.e., don't skip from 220 grit to 1500.

 

anyone played batman arkham city yet? i get flickering on maximum settings. it may be due to maximum anti-aliasing. i ll try reduce it later.

 

Hello forum. And right of the bat I'm a noon at customizing laptops. Butttt I build desktops for a living and so I do have a idea what you guys are talking about. Now I got my r2 for the best deal imaginable but that doesn't matter. I'm thinking about buying two 6990's and want to installed them cf with the same method the guy did his 6970's. Now only Confusseld part that gets me is the bios vbios part I got my bootable usb and all. I'm currently bios a10. Can anyone help me explaining the bios a bit since I see motercycle picture dude rocking the 6990cf. just list me the steps what to do from once I installed the cards.

 

Welcome to NBR!

Clevo cards and first post of this thread is what you need.

 

Clevo cards are plug and play. They don't need any bios flashing. I only flash my vbios when I'm overclocking. Then I just modify the Clevo vbios.

 

Do Eurocom cards need vbios flashing? I would buy the Clevo versions of the 6990ms but I don't know where I could get my hands on some. Also, if they do need flashing, does anyone know where one might find the appropriate vbios?

 

type 6990m in ebay search, and you will see 6990m from canadian seller named ''upgradeyourlaptop'', this are eurocom cards and they need to be flashed with clevo vbios

user Technos did nice package where you can start undervolting as well, here's direct link to the thread

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/600465-6990m-undervolt-achieved.html

just confirm with somebody that this is clevo vbios, becouse i dont know really.

DR650SE could propably help you out with the vbios as well if Technos one is not from clevo

good luck

 

Thanks for being so friendly. Usually forums aren't like this to noobs* so if I get the 6990's clevo just plug them in and I'm good to go right? But I also like running benchmarks and but will need modded bios to unlock to overclock them correct? And are the 6990's really cooler than 5870?

 

Yeah looking around Clevo cards are pretty hard to find. But thanks flingin for the link to the thread.

 

So any other card, besides a clevo version 6990 is not a plug and play?

 

They are, I think Eurocom cards need to be flashed with the Clevo vbios. If needed I can provide it as well. When you get your cards, if your interested in overclocking them, let me know. PM me and I can walk you through the procedures. Feel free to PM me with questions. Although when it comes to Eurocom cards or dell cards, I may not have the answers as I was able to get a great deal on Cards straight from Clevo through a forum member.

 

And what's that good deal. (Price)? And whois selling them?

 

I think it's Clevo card. Am I right?
Laptop Video Cards :: ATI HD 6990M 2GB Video Card for P170HM - R&J Technology, Clevo Barebone Notebook kits, Laptop and desktop system builder

 

Thanks aldam. So this is the card that will fit plug and play for sure huh. Any other cheaper finds out there?

 

hey guys, what kind of bios should be used to have Dell (M18x) 6970M CF work in M17xR2? Does it have fan/hibernation/sleep issues still? tnx

 

It has just fan stuck on one max speed, you wont get rid of it if you will put m18x dell card into r2, hibernation/sleep works though.

Clevo/eurocom cards FTW

 

Yea Dell cards you will have to use HWInfo64 to control the fans. Otherwise they will be stuck at 100% fans all the time regardless of what vbios you flash on it.

Definately Clevo Cards FTW. The only thing that doesn't work is Audio over HMDI, which doesn't bother me. My brightness works, sleep works, crossfire works, fans work, all like stock. Couldn't be happier. Plus they run cool

 

This is the card I am using. The seller is Upgradeyourlaptop. I told them to send it with the x7200 VBIOS flashed to it, and it was plug and play. No audio over HDMI, but that has already been mentioned. Everything else has perfect functionality. The card runs extremely strong, and I much prefer it over 5870 CrossFire. 15K single GPU with a mild overclock.

This should really be added to Ichime's first post. Seems like the question gets asked multiple times per day.

 

2nded I believe Eurocom manufactures their own cards but they are identical to the Clevo made cards.

It's the dell cards you have to worry about. Seems like every 3rd post is asking about this. It's been established many times throughout this topic but I guess people don't want to take the time to read through all the pages which is understandable.

There is a lot of useful information buried in this topic though that many people are missing, I suspect.

Perhaps some sort of an index should be made.

-Cooling mods
-undervolting
-throttling problems
-hard shut downs
-undervolting
-overclocking
-Dual PSU's
-etc

All can be found discussed indepth in this topic.

 

I'm thinking of reformatting the original post with all this information and emailing the info/code to ichime to copy and paste in his original post. Can't tell you how many personal PMs I get regarding the subjects above.

I don't mind getting the PMs, but I feel bad when I don't always have time to answer the questions for a few days. This will make it easier as it can be linked in sigs and referenced.

 

^^
Very true!
We may find it annoying because we follow this thread every day, but for a new reader it must be a pain searching all these pages for a simple answer.

 

Agree with all the above. There is a lot of great information in this thread, but it has definitely become one of the largest threads on here and it can be difficult to sift through everything.

Great idea DR about providing an update to ichime as to where the items can be located.

 

These posts helped me a lot as a newbie to alienware products. So even if some of the questions are annoying and over asked im sorry but you guys really helped me alot. Thanks especially to the motercycle dude and some others =]. But in the future I will help out with some benchmarks and new products =]

 

DR
good idea

 

"these cards/VBIOSses do NOT support audio over HDMI/DisplayPort (but hopefully this could be fixed with a VBIOS update/mod)."

Also from the front page. Anybody know if there is anybody working on a fix for the HDMI issue?

 

No fix for Audio over HDMI.

 

No fix ever? or no fix as yet?

 

No one is working on it, and doubt it happens, as for me, I rarely use HDMI for audio, so it hasn't been to much of a concern for me.

 

Is the HDMI problem specifc to the vbios on the cards? IE if there is a new vbios released for the Clevo cards will it address the audio over HDMI issue? Or is it simply specific to the cards in our R2's?

Just curious who would fix it if indeed it could be fixed (fixed at the card vbios level, or fixed somewhere else)

 

I would think it has to be in having clevo cards in our R2. I'm sure Clevo owners don't have audio over HDMI issues.

Although given that AMD has audio drivers with there drivers package (I think) I'm not sure where the issue would lie. I mean we run the same cards, and the same O/S So it has to be a conflict with the vbios/R2 system or car/R2 system. Should be an easy fix if somone knew the root of the issue and had the knowledge.

 

I'm a little confused on how the guide says to install the latest drivers to prepare for the upgrade, then it says to uninstall the current GPU drivers.

 

Just have them installed with your 5870s, and it should recognize the cards. If you have the latest installed already, than there is no need to uninstall and mess with drivers.

 

agreed, that's exactly how I would do it. Install the latest (or whichever version you like) and then remove the 5870s and install the 6970/90's. I wouldn't uninstall the driver, unless their is a problem.

 

Before you swap the cards you should uninstall your video drivers preferably with driver sweeper. After you install your new cards and have the vbios's flashed how you want, install the latest drivers.

It may be different because I have a dell card in my system, but I could not get crossfire to work until my video drivers were uninstalled and then reinstalled.

(However it's probably not a good idea to install the 11.11 drivers from AMD - as so far as I know they still haven't fixed the .ini file adding support for 6970m's)

 

i think i made a 570w PSU with m18x 330 psu and m17x 240 psu. what i did was this. EVEN WHILE JUST HAVING THE 240 PSU PLUGED TO WALL ONLY it seems to use the 330 psu and give more power the just the 240, Just this alone allowes me to play BF3 on max settings on overdrive at stock voltages and no modifications made to CPU with no PSU trips (it triped with i moved clocks up to 800\1000 with trixx). BUT IT GETS BETTER then i pluged in the 330 psu (after playing abit BF3 with max overdrive set. with just the 240 psu pluged) with both PSU's on i was able to play BF3 at 800\1000 max settings@stock voltages no changes made to my 920xm CPU(just 5% bios oc).
http://i42.tinypic.com/33yjjhv.jpg

going to run some Benches

my last method (hotwire) only allowed me to use 330 psu as a charger but could game without it triping. x.x

 

If the power supplies are not isolated from each other (which looks to be the case from your description and pictures), then the PSU that has the higher voltage (even if the listed voltage is identical the actual voltage between the two will never be the same - might be different by 0.000001 volts for example) will take over and supply very close to 100% of the power to the laptop.

You need to use a set of diodes to isolate the two PSU's.

 

so i just got the 330 PSU to take over the power consumtion even while gaming? :/ oh well no epic 570 psu but its still better then having 240. i used to power trip alot on the 240.

 

Basically yeah. That's what you did. And if the voltages between the two PSU's are very, very close, it's possible that every now and then it might revert back to the 240 watt PSU taking 100% of the load.

 

I'm trying to decide whether or not to go with the 6970 or the 6990. Can someone outline the advantages / disadvantages of each? Does anyone know a reputable supplier for the best (I assume Clevo) cards? Which would cause less heat? I'm having issues right now with CPU heat and when I put in the new card I'll repaste my system and clean it out so hopefully it will help. I'm getting 90C on my CPU when gaming. I'm really looking for something where I'll have as little hassle as possible. I'd like to avoid adding a PSU, but if necessary I'll do it. I'm not a benchmark junkie so I don't need to OC any of my components.

Does anyone here live in the New Orleans area who would be willing to help me out? I'd be willing to pay well for your expertise. Doing it myself is out of the question given my right hand being "less than" fully functional due to a surgical complication @ my ulnar nerve.

Thanks!

 

well after reading a whole bunch of this thread i went out and got two 6990's
put em in yesterday and cant get the xfire working
both cards are clevos. 1 came with the xfire x7200 bios other with the non xfire bios.
flashed to the new bios and cant get xfire working
did all the swapping around, tried 2 different cables
even put the 4870's back in to make sure. (they work peachy)
anyone got any ideas?

also i cannot get ccc 11.11 to install without a bluee screen.
11.10 works fine

thnk guys

 

I hope you don't have the same problem Greywolf had. (I haven't caught myself up full as to how he finally solved it). First off, the 11.11 drivers are broken. AMD/ATI forget to include the 6970m and 6990m in a .ini file in the driver to allow them to recognize those cards I believe. 11.10 is the latest working driver for these cards. Someone correct me if I'm wrong please.

Have you tried completely uninstalling your drivers and reinstalling them? Have you tried swapping the cards into the opposite slots? You said one card didn't come with a CFX bios. I hope that doesn't mean CFX is disabled on that card at a hardware level.

Are there multiple revisions of the X7200 6990 CFX bios? I know there were at least 2 revisions for the 6970 version and strangely only the most recent revision worked for me while the original worked for others.

Is there any visable damage on either of the cards CFX ports?

Are you using bios A10?

 

@jedinorth - if I am not mistaken, Greywolf's issues were resolved by purchasing a different set of cards from Eurocom. The first set of cards purchased from another source never worked properly in CrossFire on his system.

It is relatively common for AMD Catalyst 11.11 to cause a BSOD during installation. Need to wait for AMD to get their act together and continue using 11.08, 11.09 or 11.10 for the time being.

Or, you may want to try the new Dell driver that Alienware is letting NBR members test. It will be posted on the Dell Support site for the M18x and M17xR3 soon, but you can get it here right now if you want it. (Be sure to do a "clean driver installation" by uninstalling, running DriverSweeper and CCleaner registry tool before installing the new drivers.) Initial reports are positive.

If you haven't already discovered it, check out this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/601148-6990m-crossfire-guide.html

Additionally, the opening post on this thread may contain some information about AMD drivers that we obtained directly from Alienware Lead Engineer Louis during a recent conference call: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ussion-thread-re-dell-aw-conference-call.html (Review the meeting minutes.)

 

i have been messaging grewolf and ya his problem was solved with fresh cards.
i did clean installs, swapped side to side etc.

also taking second 6990m out let the 11.11 drivers install correctly.

im not sure if the are multiple revisions of the bios. both cards have identical bios flashes on them.

im thinking that the card that did not come with the xfire is causing the issue
the cards seem to work individually.

the cards where purchased as clevo cards from eurocom

 

There could be something wonky about one of the video cards, but I think the other information provided in the links above may still be of interest to you (or any other AMD GPU owner) if you haven't already seen it. Especially, the teleconference meeting minutes.

 

thanks guys
going to read through that tommorow, i have been working on the issue for too long today.

ps:
i hopped further back in this thread and found ghost awp had an issue with a particular bios
BIOS Part Number BR40793.004 ( one of my cards is 40793 the other is 40794 and the 40794 is supposed to be the card for the clevo xfire)
a master and slave bios from the dr650 and his issue cleared up
im hoping to get the same bios from him.

fingers crossed

 

Jedinorth...you should be able to use the vbios DR650SE provided me to fix your issue. I sent you a pm. If you need the vbios, let me know.

Question...Can I post a vbios here as an attachment or is that against the forum rules/bad idea?

 

Heres a link to the vbios that I posted.

 

Hey Jedinorth,

I hope the vbios that Ghost sent you clears up your issue.

@Ghost not sure about the forum rules, maybe Mr. Fox or one of the other folks can chime in.

*EDIT* DR beat me to it...speedy typing on his phone no doubt

 

Lol, not on the phone this time