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    5870m CF switching around

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by superman3486, Sep 25, 2011.

  1. superman3486

    superman3486 Notebook Consultant

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    My friend gave me his R2 to take a look at and he seems to be getting graphical artifacts in any type of gaming, I tried multiple drivers and monitor temps and the temps are excellent as I applied MX4 to the gpu's for him a while back.

    so my question is can I just switch the cards around ,put master card in salve and salve in master slot after switching the Heat sinks to see if it might fix the issue? or do I have to flash master card bios with slave first?
     
    superman3486, Sep 25, 2011
    #1
  2. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

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    Yes, you can swap them. There's no need for a master/slave vBIOS in the M17x R2 even for ATi.

    Cheers
     
    katalin_2003, Sep 25, 2011
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  3. TurbodTalon

    TurbodTalon Notebook Virtuoso

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    I swapped mine and my laptop wouldn't boot. Both of mine worked in the Master slot with no modification. You'll just have to try it for yourself. If you find out that one of his cards are bad, I have one for sale.
     
    TurbodTalon, Sep 25, 2011
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  4. superman3486

    superman3486 Notebook Consultant

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    yep I swapped both it wouldn't boot but they both work in master slot WTH lol yea it seems one of his is bad (initial master card ) so I guess I need a master card?

    am going to RBE flash the bad master with slave bios, I still don't understand why it wouldn't boot with them swapped and they are A00 rev cards if that means anything.
     
    superman3486, Sep 25, 2011
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  5. superman3486

    superman3486 Notebook Consultant

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    so I pulled off the bios file off the slave flashed the master with it, then put the slave in master slot, and master in slave laptop doesn't boot so am going to swap them to there original state for the 8th time lol,

    I still dont understand why when there swapped it just wont boot, can anyone give me some insight on why it doesn't boot when it swapped
     
    superman3486, Sep 26, 2011
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  6. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

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    Clear CMOS.
    Both should work with the vBIOS on the primary card.
     
    katalin_2003, Sep 26, 2011
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  7. superman3486

    superman3486 Notebook Consultant

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    already tried that with them swapped, still no go, the only way to boot together is with both of them in there originally slot or one at a time in the master slot.
     
    superman3486, Sep 26, 2011
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  8. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

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    There's no physical difference between them, they might not have the same vBIOS.
     
    katalin_2003, Sep 26, 2011
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  9. superman3486

    superman3486 Notebook Consultant

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    I wish that was the case but they do have the exact same bios, RBE is stating the bios on the master is the exact same as slave but yet if I insert the master in the slave MXM slot the laptop wont boot, fairly strange if your ask me.

    Have you ever tried swapping your cards and see if it boots out of curiosity? thanks for your help much appreciated
     
    superman3486, Sep 26, 2011
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  10. aXaki

    aXaki Notebook Enthusiast

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    yeah, i think u can not sure tho :)
     
    aXaki, Sep 26, 2011
    #10