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

Just to chime in,

The reason I upgraded my gpus was because it was $1500+ cheaper than getting an M18x. $760 for a 6990 and a 6970 and now I have M18x performance in games.

My original configuration was Dual 4870's and a i5 540m. I got a i7 820qm for free - long story.

Processor speed doesn't really have an impact on most games - it's all about the gpu. I'm probably going to upgrade to a i7 920xm or 940xm in the future. You can find them on ebay for ~$260. Using throttlestop, you can overclock those to have equivalent performance to a i7 2820qm or better.

I could have sold my laptop for ~$1200 - probably less. So $1200 plus the $760 I spent on gpu's would not have been enough to even buy the baseline M18x. I would have needed well over $1000 more to get CFX 69XX gpu's and a good cpu in an M18x.

My cards are overclocked to the limit of their current stock voltage settings. I'm able to achieve that due to my dual PSU's. (I spent another $60 for the second PSU - minimal cost). I run them at the clocks in my sig for everyday gaming. I doubt someone with an M18x could get much of a better OC. If you plan on keeping stock voltages and OC'ing, you will need the extra PSU. If I only use 1 PSU in games, I get massive throttling. Plugging in the second PSU solves it instantly.

The only real difference between the M18x and the M17x is the Sandy Bridge cpus - and that wasn't a big deal for me.

1) Games don't benefit from a faster cpu past a certain point. For example. Getting the new graphics cards literally doubled my frame-rates in all games when compared to the 4870's. If it had been possible for me to get a Sandy Bridge cpu instead in my R2, I would have seen very minimal gains like less than 5fps.

2)The i7 920xm and 940xm like I said earlier, with full use of throttlestop can be OC'ed to provide performance on par with a i7 2820qm or a stock clocked 2920xm. So there really isn't a large gap there.

In my other laptop I have a i7 2820qm - so it's not like I'm biased. I know how it performs - and I also know it won't make a difference in games.

I also love the 16:10 aspect ratio. I don't have the RGB screen. I wish I did, but for the sole fact that the M17x R2 is 16:10, I'd want to keep this laptop as long as possible.

If you undervolt the cards you will definitely be fine.

If you plan on leaving the cards at stock voltages there is a decent chance you won't have enough power. If you plan on leaving the cards at stock voltages and overclocking then you definitely won't have enough power.

You would require a Dual PSU setup.

 

Yes, I have undervolted my cards to 1.05V from 1.1V and I have enabled the 5% overclock in the Bios for the 920xm.

So far so good. Only one game is causing me troubles and that's Saints Row 3... I reckon the laptop is trying to protect my intellect and freezing has worked every single time

I am very happy with Single GPU & Xfire performance ingame. I run BF3 on high to stick above 45fps at all times and Arkham city I ran on DX9 for that silky smooth framerate.

Voici donc mon avis

 

Thanks a lot everyone for your responses! I have decided to keep my r2 and upgrade it. With a 920xm and dual 6990s, I think it will perform as it should, I was mainly concerned about stability, and smooth gameplay. I figured any game I'm running now should have double the fps with the new upgrades compared to my current setup. I can run BF3 on mostly high and like one ultra with my i7 M620 and CF 5870s. If I can put BF3 on all ultra and have reasonable fps, ill be happy! I've seen the R3 and the 18x run BF3 just fine (not sure if they are running native resolution) so if the R3 has only one 6990 and the R2 has two of em, I figure double the fps right? Anyways, thanks a lot for the input of the people who did the upgrade! ill be ordering my cpu and gpus in a couple weeks!!! If any of yall could do a high res youtube video of some gameplay at max settings, native resolution, that would be awesome! Ill definitely post some when I do the upgrade

 

Out interest did anyone install a 6990m from a Clevo x7200 and have no HDMI sound was there a vbios mod or update that was used to sort??

Please accept my apologies if this has been answered but only on page 3 of this epic thread

 

Hi James!

Currently there is no fix/mod for the Clevo/Eurocom no audio over HDMI.

 

So is the video fine? If so, can I still use hdmi and plugs speakers into the headphone jack and it'll work? Imo, I don't think its much of a hassle to plug speakers into the computer, especially if its cause I'm matching the performance of an 18x

 

Hi Airborn,

Yeah no problems with video at all...only audio (for whatever reason). Personally I don't use my HDMI slot at all, but if I did I'd either plug speakers into it, or headphones, or whatever.

A small price to pay for the performance in my opinion, and a much better option then having to manually control the fans with the Dell cards.

 

Agreed with Grey wolf. Only reason I'd use my HDMI would be with en external monitor, which I have yet to get. I use my DAC for audio.

 

I have a question regarding that.

Say I buy a big monitor that I want to use as my primary. If it connects via HDMI, is there any way for crossfire to actually work?

Or does it only work out of VGA?

 

My crossfire works when i plug to external monitor using HDMI.

 

Strange, from memory I thought HDMI only utilised one of the cards....

When I would hook up my tv to the laptop, only one card would get hot...

EDIT:: Ok, nevermind. For some reason I was under the impression that when using HDMI it only used one card......just did a test and you were right. It does work fine on HDMI.

 

I will post a vid tonight (in about 13 hours - long days at work) of BF3 gameplay. the video quality will be quite average but the fps will be shown on screen.
It will be single player though as the connection is terrible here.

 

Thanks alot farmer in the description can you list the settings?

 

In regards to the Audio over HDMI issue, I only tested it from the HDMI port. The only fix to getting audio over HDMI is via using the Dell VBIOS (the one that causes BSOD/Freezes when sleeping or shutting down). HOWEVER, I didn't realize back then that the R2 also has a DisplayPort (right next to the HDMI port) and therefore did NOT test to see if sound was working from the DisplayPort instead.

If you're interested and still have the 6970M or 6990M setup (single or CF), you can test this yourself. If your monitor has a HDMI port, just use a DP-to-HDMI cable or adapter. If it happens to work, then it's a moot point with no audio-over-hdmi since DisplayPort IMO is a much better technology (i.e. DP doesn't have a resolution/bandwidth cap, meaning that we don't have to wait for HDMI 1.5 or something when a monitor with a resolution higher than 2560x1600 comes out).

 

+rep if that works!

 

Thanks Ichime!

I think someone (aarpcard maybe?) tested the display port and sound DOES work over the display port.

Its lost somewhere in this massive thread, but maybe he can comment (if it was someone else I apologize, I know one of the regulars posted that it works)

 

General throught was that it was because he was using a Dell card as the master GPU.

 

Well, if someone has a monitor that has DisplayPort or has a DP-to-HDMI cable and can test it and report back, that would be great. I really hope that audio-over-DP ends up working as it's definitely the trend for future notebooks. Hell, even the Elitebook I got my dad axed HDMI for a DP.

 

Would be very interesting to find out for sure. I unfortunately don't have anything with a display port. Might look into picking up a DP-HDMI cable just for testing purposes. If anyone else can report back that would be great.

 

Guys, I found this:

DELL DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter for Dell Latitude / Alienware Laptops / OptiPlex Desktop / Precision Mobile WorkStations : Desktop Accessories | Dell

If you look at the specifications, it shows that the graphics card must support audio over HDMI.
Testing might be the only way to go.

Yes I will, note the image quality is quite average but should be satisfactory for our purposes

Edit: I was getting a stable 60fps with vsync last night on high settings so expect to be amazed! Of course that was in single player...

 

Would be cool if it works, however I disagree with this point. DP will be and has been phased out over HDMI regardless of whether it is better then HDMI.

In fact, the only people who really use DP extensively is HP and that is because they are trying to save costs and DP is free to use.

Majority of technology comes out with HDMI these days.

Not that it matters, but just my opinion

EDIT:: Just read that Apple and Dell also support it. Maybe this is getting more backing then I thought. All I know, it is painful when you get a whole heap of HP computers to roll out at work and you find they only support VGA and DP....

Just received a new Dell laptop at work, and it had HDMI instead of DP.

 

Many thanks for confirming that, for those that may be having similar problems I wouldn't advise flashing your clevo 6990m with the Dell vbios or vice versa - will brick your card although could prob be re flashed if someone has a dual GPU setup and is willing to re-flash to crrect bios

 

so i have a question for you guys since i havnt really seen anything on the internet and i really dont want to read through 378 pages on this fourm. im looking at buying the 6970 from the seller upgradeyourlaptop but will this card work in the m17x the first one from dell with the core2quad instead of the r2 with the i7? thanks for any help

 

Ok Airborn, I have uploaded a vid on youtube of BF3 gameplay on Ultra.
Until I get fraps sorted out, my fps will dip by half so there is a vid, compressed as well as possible that should give you an idea of how it runs.
Graphics set to Ultra with 920xm, 6990Ms in Xfire (enabled) and undervolted to 1.05V. Max CPU temp = 87 Celcius, Max GPU temp = 87 as well, how convenient.

Battlefield 3 M17X-R2 6990M Xfire Gameplay - YouTube

Edit: I am going to bed now (droopy eyes) but before I do so, as per Douse's comment below, the R2 owns BF3... simple as that!

 

That vid doesnt quite do it justice either, it makes it look a little bit jolty. I play at 1920x1200, everything at Ultra, AA Deferred at 2x, AA Post at OFF and motion blur switched off.

My multiplayer FPS goes between 50-80 with a guess at the average being around 60 fps. Looks amazing and feels very smooth during all conditions.

I do have my CPU and GPU overclocked, but was playing for quite a while with stock CPU and GPU (due to throttling) and I would say at a guess the average was around 50fps.

Most definitely playable

 

Nice vid, but you should have had the console command on that shows the FPS so there is a better idea. render.drawfps true shows game FPS.

Also this could be helpful

A video with these items can be very helpful.

Just keep in mind that since your creating a video, the system is using resources to do that, so it will bring down your FPS considerably. Using FRAPS to monitor FPS will not bring FPS down, but using it to create videos will

 

'Also render.perfoverlayvisible 1 - When set to 1, this command displays a small chart on the bottom left corner of the screen designed to provide you with key information about your system's performance during BF3. It shows your graphics card (GPU) usage as a green line, and your processor (CPU) usage as a yellow line. The aim is to ensure that during gameplay neither lines spike frequently to very high levels, as this indicates that the particular resource is being overtaxed, and possibly causing lag and instability. If necessary experiment with your in-game settings until you see a reduction in such spikes.
Use render.perfoverlayvisible 0 to close the overlay.'

Cooooool, gonna try this when I get home! Thanks DR650

 

No Prob

 

Cool, thanks for the tip, I'll buy myself a decent cam first and then try again Cheers DR650

 

I tested one of these a few months or so ago. With the Dell cards it works. With the Clevo ones it doesn't.

EDIT: I'm going to reconfirm it doesn't work in a bit. I have one idea that might get it to work. . .

 

What type of GPU does it have?

 

Wow thanks so much Farmer for this video, EXACTLY what i was looking for. DR, thanks for your response, im glad you pointed that out as i thought it was kinda choppy for dual 6990's and wasnt sure why. i bet if it was created differently it would have done it more justice but, knowing that the recording was what made it kinda choppy really gives me the assurance that it can handle this game NO PROBLEM! Thanks again! +REP

"Uh-oh m18x, competition? Sorry m17x r3. The R2 rules! Enough said"

 

At home atm, but from memory I think it was an HD 4200. I'll confirm when I get to work.

 

Hi guys i just ordered my 2X 6990m from eurocom

I'm comming from a 2x 4870 So i hope i will see alot of difference and i will not regret this update but i guess not !

they will be adding
1pc CF cable
2pcs GPU X-brackets + GPU backplate
matching screws -4pcs per card + 2pcs spare = total 10pcs

can't wait !

 

how much did that cost??

Im on SLI right now so i'd probably need a CFX cable if i ever wanted to go 6970/6990 correct?

 

I think its a Vbios issue. This could be fix (if coding is similiar) by replacing the HDMI coding from dell Vbios to clevos coding or just replacing dells fan coding in vbios with clevos coding(for fan issue on dell card).

 

yes you need a new cfx cable.
i think you could get 2x6970 plus cfx cable and x-brackets for about 600USD +/- 50USD if you haggle a bit.

 

Anyone have any idea's on how to pull the HDMI coding from a dell 6990m vbios?

 

Just a heads up: my Clevo card in my r3 does output audio via HDMI, but the laptop seems to think it's a Dell card (as reported by everything)... I think it's just how the motherboard works.

Afaik all that needed doing was installing the Hdmi audio drivers from the CCC install.

 

Hi Truly,

I came from a dual 4870 setup and it's a MASSIVE improvement!! You will be quite pleased

 

Hi Pewpew,

If you purchased two 6970/6990's from upgradeyourlaptop (Eurocom) they'll include the crossfire cable, so won't be an issue. Just make sure you ask for the crossfire cable for the Europanther 2.0 so you'll get the one that's long enough (and an almost perfect fit) for our R2's.

 

Sweet man!

From memory I think someone did try to install the specific audio over HDMI drivers but unfortunately it didn't help.

Perhaps it is different for the R3?

 

I have a question
Actually a lot of questions before I pull the trigger on the 6990's
I read a post saying that you can't start the laptop when its unplugged. Can anyone clarify on this? Also are the temperatures acceptable? Is it better to use pads or paste on the memory chips. The main thing I'm concerned about is not being able to use my computer at school. I understand that I can't game on it on battery but I would like to be able to use the battery to use the internet and take notes. (Also I like all the looks I get )

Edit: Also is it adviseable to use 6970m crossfire instead of 6990m crossfire. I'm not worried about price only functionality and performance. 1920shaders vs 2240 seems like a pretty big jump in performance that I would love if its functional enough.

 

hi guys, my 6990m has arrived today and i'm about to install it into my m17x r2 system. Before i begin may i know which vbios should i flash to as im currently using an eurocom from this seller eBay Australia: Buy new & used fashion, electronics & home d?r

i know that an eurocom vbios is available somewhere here in this 300+ paged forum but if anyone bookmarked it and is willing to share it would be really helpful.

Another question here that i would like to ask is if would flashing my card with dell or clevo's vbios brick it? thanks guys! (Noobie here! )

 

Sure you can start the laptop unplugged but you wont get much more then an hour of battery life out of it, my temps are fine on with dual 6990m, I use thermal pads but you can use paste, I wouldn't recommend it but it still works

As for 6990m vs 6970m, if you dont mind the extra cost and undervolting your cards the 6990 are the way to go if not the 6970s wont disappoint either

Upgradeyourlatop is eurocoms ebay account so that means your cards will come with eurocom vbios, so you dont need to flash any vbios unless your undervolting or overclocking, you can make a back up of your bios using gpuz if thats what you wanted it for.
As far as I know flashing the dell or clevo vbios will not brick your cards, again Im not sure why you would want to flash them any way
hope that helps

 

First signs of throttling here playing BF3 on ultra. Might have to try pushing the voltage a little lower on the GPUs. Don't know how greatly a 5% frequency OC on a 920xm affects juice consumption...

 

and yes, that does help a lot there. I was just wondering if i needed to flash the cards because the guide here states that i need to flash the cards again before installing the drivers.

 

It could just be your 920xm throttling. ThrottleStop for my 920xm fix my throttling on bf3. All i did was checkin the clock modulation and chipset clock mod option's while set at 100%.

 

Hey guys,

I've installed a 6970m originally pulled from a Alienware M18X in my clevo system. I want to gain access to the Fan Settings in Radeon Bios Editor. I see that the vbioses linked in the first post allow this.

Will it be OK to flash my card with the vbios included in the first post? I am afraid that it will be bricked, but reading the above it seems like someone has already done this successfully. Is that true?

Sorry for being a bit off-topic and for not reading the 300+ pages if this thread

 

Laptop vbios has no control over the system fans. That is just in there from the support for desktop cards. In laptops (regardless of brand) the fans are all controlled by the system bios.