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

I think ulps is the reason you second card isn't clocking up, I just don't know how you would disable it if you have already done the registry tweaks, the saphire trixx utility has a ulps disabling function maybe give that a go?

I have installed my new secondary 6990m and undervolted to 0.98v so far BF3 is running around 45-60 fps almost max settings (for some reason it gets real jerky when I enable MSAA4x, MSAA2x is fine tho). the m18x crossfire cable I modified is also work well, haven't checked temp or power draw yet.

 

Hey Kenny,

Glad that your second card is up and running.

 

gpu-z shows ulps is active on second card when computer started up.

Trixx doesn't work, although checking this option in setting panel.

ULPS Windows registry is restored after each computer's shutdown.

Perhaps powerplay restored it, i will try to disable powerplay and edit windows registry.

I'm very happy for this upgrade (My problem can be easy solved by a new driver install)

 

laban you could try reseating the cards/cfx cable, I had this problem a few months ago when I was mucking around, I just cant remember what i did exactly to fix it :/

 

thank you for your information so far greywolf, it says that it includes matching screws so i guess thats ok for me to get the 6970 and i'll ask if they have a 6990 with soldered posts but my main problem is that my gpu heatsink, one of the screws had to pulled up with force and theres a silver thing on it, how would i put new screws into my heatsink? does it involving the retention clip mod?

 

Hi theredninja,

When you pull the c-clips off the screws they should just fall out. I'm assuming that the piece broken off is stuck in the screw slot on the xbracket itself and the other half is partially attached to the heatsink? Please correct me if I'm misunderstanding the situation. Anyway if that's correct pulling the c-clips off will remove all the screws from the heatsink so you can reuse it. Worst case you can buy another heatsink off the board or eBay. I see them posted there fairly often. Let me know if that helps.

 

i'll try taking a picture maybe 2morrow but i think i pulled up the whole of the silver thing that the screw goes into, i can tighten all of my screws other than the one in the "1" section, i just have to push it down and hope it stays that way

if i can get one of them adjustable wrenches i may just be able to get it off the screw so i can get it off, how do i put the c clips on the new screws or do i just leave them off? i'll be ordering this card soon hopefully but i don't know whether to wait for a 7970 but then this deal might be gone.

i have completely no idea how to put an x bracket on a vga card so i'll be needing one with soldered posts

 

With the soldered posts you won't need the c-clips anymore. Which is a blessing because getting the c-clips off is probably the hardest part of this entire upgrade. If you can get a picture that would be helpful.

 

Hi Laban, congrats on your upgrade!

You haven't happened to try your DisplayPort have you? I would be interested to see if it works for you considering you have Dell cards.

Also, you will want to make sure the ULPS is off as you would need manual fan control and ULPS makes that difficult as HWinfo needs to see it to apply the fan profile.

I haven't had any issues with it being re-enabled so I can't provide a suggestion of what might be causing that I normally just do the reg hack. ULPS is re-enabled when I reinstall drivers though.

Oh yeah, Trixx stopped working for me when i installed 12.2. Working perfectly with 12.2 previews though. Another thing, turning Powerplay off stopped my second card from clocking up....I have it set to max performance and it is fine.

Make sure OverDrive is off

 

Finally tried my other card as primary, only to be greeted by sanskrit looking characters filling my screen and 2 blue dotted strips on black equally distant from each other.
From this and the fact the drivers wont load ( though it works in windows safe mode) I can only conclude the card is defective, whether it was defective before I started installing/handling it is the real question, however as they dont take returns i guess either i spend more money and buy another card or forget it and run with one 6970 and put the money towards a new, more than likely desktop computer.

 

Hey Geiler,

It's worth a call (or e-mail) to Eurocom, even though they claim that they don't do returns a few folks have had them replace defective cards. So I would definitely go that route first.

Sorry to hear about the defective card though

Good luck!

 

Im eyeballing them 6970m's going single or x-fire soon, I want to know if they would work for eyefinity setups as well. Anyone tried it also would eyefinity work if you use different resolution screens. EG: 1680 x 1050 Left and right center screen is my beloved 1920 x 1200 LED RBG. Someone has answers or tried it let me know. Thanks!

 

at the moment it doesn't look like it will support 3 screens not in eyefinity any way mainly because the displayport isnt working (3 screen eyefinity must have one as DP), the different resolutions would make any difference, otherwise the 3 screens would probably work if you hooked up via hdmi and vga

 

amazing wealth of information in here, thank you!

i'm currently thinking about upgrading the gpus in my alien; been neglecting it for a while now so it's only fitting that i make due and get me some solid upgrades before i miss out on any more pc gaming. i'd like to use the guide listed on page 1 and install the 6990M in crossfire of course, but i have a couple of questions before i get to it.

first off where can i find the vbios for the 6990m? or can i just use the 6970m vbios listed on page 1?

should i, or do i need to have the A10 bios already flashed before the installation of the gpus?

from what i read i should be able to use my existing crossfire cable for the new gpus, correct?

and the kicker... easiest way to get my hands on a pair of 6990s? this seems to be harder than i thought it would be haha.

specs are posted in sig; i'm currently deployed in a very [s_itty] and sandy place of the world, but am heading home within a month. i vaguely remember flashing a bios version and a vbios version on my current gpus before i left but i can't recall either one, go me! any and all help is greatly appreciated.

 

I can get you a copy of the vbios and instructions to flash when you want. Just PM me. But the vbios that comes on the cards should be good. check upgradeyourlaptop on ebay for the cards. Be sure to get them with the posts, and ask for a crossfire cable and screws for the heatsink. Goddspeed on the rest of your tour.

 

done deal, just found their page on ebay and was about to edit my post; many thanks for the help and advice. will hold you to it eventually haha

 

Welcome Dec0y! Let us know if you have any other questions. Lots of pages worth of info here, but you never know when something new comes up.

 

Thanks for the tip greywolf, eurocom want me to try loading 11.6 AMD Catalyst drivers with both cards first then if that doesn't work they replace it.
Another pasting and padding round this weekend for me

 

Awesome news Geiler...glad they are willing to replace them for you. Generally they have been really good, although there have been some instances to the contrary.

Hope it goes well...I doubt the AMD driver will help (and I'm sure you agree), but worth doing so if they have requested it so that they will replace the card.

 

You guys reckon the 7xxxM series would still fit inside the R2 chassis? Just wishful thinking I suppose, considering how much power those cards might hog and how much heat would be generated. Looks like 6990M is the end of line.

 

Assuming they stick with the MXM 3.0b format then the new cards will physically fit in the R2
From what I have read/heard they will be using the 28nm process so in theory heat and power should be the same or less.
the main issue will be bios/vbios compatibility and that will only be determined when you try it

 

Salut Laban!

Those are my cards he has

Good temps!

Guys, one question:

just wondering on the battery power drain with 1x or 2x 6990m : what kind of battery times are you getting?

i'm wondering cause when i had 1x6970m, i still had 1.5 hour of laptop time in "no game" mode...

but with my actual 1x 580m i have 1h max and that's without gaming!

Wondering if i'll go back to 2x6990m ...

 

I wouldn't expect any more then an hour from my laptop but I'm always plugged in so i don't have any accurate figures.

 

Battrey life is bad. Under an hour for me. Buy then again my battery has 35% wear. Need a new one. You won't be gaming on battery. Too much power draw. The battery won't be able to deliver the amps and the laptop will cold shut down.

My guess is they'll fit fine. I can't find the link, but I found an article stating the 7970m will simply be a 6990m. The 7990m will be based on the new 28nm chip.

 

could you please look at this card.
does it fit to R2?

It's clevo 6970m. But look at post. I don't know if it good.

 

The card will fit. Also a Clevo card is a better choice than a Dell card in the M17x R2.
Concerning the backplate, as long as you have screws that fit the posts, you'll be fine.

 

What Katalin said...I know the Clevo backplates use a smaller screw size then the dell backplates do. If it's the standard Clevo backplate the screw size "should" be M1.6 X 3.5mm.

 

so I can't use the backplate from aw cooler?

 

Only if you cut the corners off and use the corners to secure it (the standard x-bracket from the 4870/5870's will not fit).

Some folks have gone that route, unfortunately I can't think of who at this point (need sleep)...so folks who did that mod feel free to speak up.

 

hey guys just wanted to leave a update..i've been using the m18x PSU for about 3 months now maybe abit longer everything is great cept not being abe to change brightness without a app. im on driver 12.2 no issues

 

You mean you using it on R2? How did you do that? Directly plug and play?

 

If this is true, I am going to find where you live, knock down the door, grab you by the shoulders, shake you and ask you where you've been for the past three months lol.
No mod, plug and play on M17X-R2 with A10 bios?

 

He has an M17x R2 running a 330W PSU with the PSU ID cable hotwired to an M17x R2 PSU. Trust me. It's not plug and play.

EDIT: See the following thread for details on Stealth5's setup.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/604757-how-get-m18x-330-watt-psu-working-m17x-r2.html

 

stealth you have the 6990m in cf right? do you get any throttling with over clocks in crysis/battlefield3 or similar?

 

I just want to confirm a few things before I go spelunking into my case...

I picked up a 6990 "Eurocom" from upgradeyourlaptop to replace my single 4870 in my R2.

1. I already have Catalyst 12.3 installed and running smoothly with my 4870. Do I need to remove it before replacing the card and then re-install afterward? And if so, do I need to install some "Dell driver" that is mentioned first? Or does that only apply to R3 owners?

2. I understand that I need to update the BIOS on the 6990. The original post on this thread lists a BIOS but mentions the 6970 specifically, and not the 6990. Do I actually need to update anything, and if so can someone point me to the exact BIOS update I need to be using?

3. According to "upgradeyourlaptop", the 6990 does not come with a "soldered posts" option. We need to use our original X-Bracket along with the right screws instead. I bring this up because some replies on this thread seem to imply that there might be a "soldered posts" version of the 6990 available - but it seems that option is only actually available for the 6970.

4. Is there a source for the GPU fan assemblies other than Dell/Alienware? This is for the primary GPU. Mine works fine in that it spins and cools properly, but there is a grain of dust in the bearings or something and it produces a loud raspy rattling on occasion. Or does Dell still carry these?

5. I am already on main system BIOS A10. I think this is the correct one?

6. Any information at this point on if this card and the AMD drivers runs well at all on the Win8 Consumer Preview?

That's it for now. I won't be doing the swap just yet (I will also be upgrading my secondary drive at the same time, and need to move about 100G of data around first).

 

Upgradeyourlaptop also sells the x-bracket for the 6970's / 6990's for those that don't have the soldered posts (I know 6970's do, but haven't seen it for the 6990's). They are a bit pricey though

GPU Spreader / X-Bracket for MXM 3.0b AMD HD6970M/HD6990M VGA Modules | eBay

$25 seems a bit steep for a little x-bracket..but for ease of installation I HIGHLY recommend buying one (if you can find it cheaper, all the better..maybe they give you a deal when you buy the cards too? Not sure)

To answer your other questions:

1)No you shouldn't have to...although some people prefer to do a clean install. If for some reason you have any issues, then you'll most definitely want to do a driver sweep first. Don't need to install any "Dell" drivers.

2) I know DR650 has posted his 6990 bios on this thread somewhere. Try searching on his replies, or maybe he can repost it for you (might just send him a PM, that might be easiest)

3) answered above

4) Ebay or on the board here...otherwise there probably is, I just haven't looked..sorry

5) Yes that's correct

6) Don't know about that..sorry.

Good luck to you!

 

I misspoke in number 3 of my questions list above; I meant to say "provided X-Bracket" and not "original X-Bracket". I bought both from upgradeyourlaptop, and they were pre-assembled together (it looks like they test each of these before shipping them, but it was still clean and well-packaged). So the shipping costs were reduced substantially. I didn't even try to negotiate a lower price - I was just happy to have saved a bunch on the shipping charges.

Thanks for the answers to my other questions. I will PM DR650 to see about that updated bios before I swap the new hardware in.

 

Thanks Easirok for the clarification on point 3, as I do see this question come up a lot and it's good to know.

 

this actually confirms its the M18X PSU id cable not recognized by R2 bios but i guess this is known for log time now

 

i dont have that since i found another way to just use the 330w psu alone. i just wrapd the ID cable in same 330w psu cord to a black power cable in same thick cord.

so yes ive just been using the 330w psu nothing else for over 3 months now.

 

Nice Stealth! Do you happen to have any pics?

 

Here i found my old post with pic and directions. http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/605322-m17x-r2-gtx-580m-sli-24.html#post8268928

 

The 6990 seems to be working fine, temps are good too.

But I can't seem to get the VGA out to work at all. I have three external flat panels, and with the 4870 I had no trouble using HDMI for one, VGA for another, and an external USB adapter for the third.

With the 6990, the HDMI works fine and the external USB adapter works fine too. But I can't get it to use the VGA output. Windows sees it, but won't let me turn it on or extend my desktop to it. When I try to do so, it gives me an error message as shown here:





Likewise, Catalyst can see the third monitor (although it can't see the USB one, which I wouldn't expect it to). It sees it correctly as "analog" (since attached via VGA), but shows it as being disabled with no way to enable it:



Is this a known issue with the 6990? If so, is there any workaround? Perhaps using the DisplayLink port with a DisplayLink<->HDMI converter?

 

Vga or hdmi works fine for me but I'm only using 1 external screen, I have had troubles with displayport not working and I know others have this issue as well
But this is the first time that I have seen the vga to not work properly.
Have you just tried just connecting the the vga port to see if its actually the port, if it works then I would say the 6990 wont support 3 external screens (unless some one has any other ideas?)

 

(I know the 6990 will not support 3 external screens - neither will the 4870 - I am using one of these to power the third one and it works very well for this task: Universal Multi-Display Adapter. You won't be gaming on that display, but I use it to keep Outlook visible and other stuff like that while I work on the other screens)



If I disconnect the HDMI display (and make no other changes), then the VGA display wakes up immediately. However, it does not allow me to bump the resolution to the proper level - it appears to think my VGA connection is only 4:3 instead of 16:9.

Then, if I plug the HDMI cable back in (so all three displays are connected again), the VGA display remains operational and automatically switches up to the correct 16:9 resolution. The HDMI display which is now connected remains dark.

Upon clicking the "Detect Displays" button it goes back to the starting point where VGA has no signal but everything else seems fine.

I can only conclude that the 6990 seems incapable of emitting a video signal on both HDMI and VGA ports at the same time. Or at least my card cannot.

The other thing that might be potentially going on here is that I have not been able to flash this new 6990. I am not sure if I even need to, but so far all of my attempts to create a bootable CD/DVD with the flash files have been unsuccessful, and none of the handful of USB flash drives I have tried has worked as a boot device when following the procedure mentioned on page 1 of this thread. If anyone has a suggestion for solving that issue, I would very much appreciate the input. Also, this is what GPU-Z is showing for my 6990. Perhaps I already have an up-to-date BIOS?

What kind of issues? Is it buried in this massive thread somewhere?

One of my options would be to get a DisplayPort<->HDMI adapter and use that instead of the VGA port. But if DisplayPort isn't going to work then that would just be a waste.

 

Display port to HDMI/DVI works fine. I think display port by itself works fine too. Might be wrong on that.

What doesn't work is the displayport specific pins that enable the use of 120hz monitors or eyefinity.

Still skeptical on the eyefinity. . . I'm able to run eyefinity fine using my laptop screen and an external on HDMI. I'm going to try running a third monitor now both on VGA and displayport.

But yeah all this was covered pages ago.

 

Yep, I picked up a DP -> HDMI converter today and tried it - works fine. I now have all three of my displays back up and running as an extended desktop, just as it was when using the 4870. Even better in fact, since the one panel is now attached via hdmi instead of analog vga.

My only concern now is my video bios version. I will go back and dig through this thread to see if my current bios is appropriate or if I should consider trying to get an update flashed to it (and resolving my USB boot difficulties in the process).

And, I solved my USB Boot issue. I just needed to enable the option in system BIOS to "Enable Legacy USB".

My 6990 card came with the same version of the bios that DR650SE has. As shown in my screenshot a few posts back, GPU-Z reports it as "AMD Radeon HD 6900M Series" / "Blackcomb".

So, everything is good to go here. The upgrade was pretty painless really. Worst part was those C-Clips. Figuring out the perfect way to remove the first one took probably half an hour. The other three took about 2 seconds each after that - super easy once you figure out how to get the proper leverage on them.

 

Agreed...once you get the c-clips off everything else seems like a piece of cake

 

sorry for my noob question but does the DP to hdmi cable also transfers sound unlike hdmi when using 69xx gpus?

i am thinking of this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Display-P...uting_CablesConnectors_RL&hash=item27bf311ed2

does it also transfer sound on M17X with clevo 6970 gpus? deserves to buy? have something better to propose?

 

Aristotelhs, this is the cable you need:

Male Dispalyport to Male HDMi cable

But if HDMi doesn't already output sound, this cable won't solve the problem :/