AMD Crossfire M17x General Discussion Thread

This thread should be used to discuss general issues and performance settings as they relate to Crossfire on the M17x. This thread can be used to discuss both the 4870s and the 5870s.


Thanks!

 

Why is there a 10c degree difference between my primary and secondary gpu? During gaming my temps have reached 90+ in just a couple hours. Is this a serious problem or normal temps?
Any advice would be appreciated thanks.

 

How are you measuring your Temps? There's at least a 10C difference between the memory and GPU, but the difference per actual GPU should not be that high.

 

I'm using the newest version of gpu-z and when switching between gpu's the difference is 10 degrees. Primary idle: 49-50, secondary idle: 39-40 what gives? While gaming for a couple hours my temps are much higher and I begin experiencing bad fps drops and lag.

 

There are 4 temperature monitors in gpuz, you're going to have to be more specific than that or post a screenshot.

 

My apologies for not being specific, the primary card 4 temps read 49, 47.0, 47.5, 50.5. Secondary card 4 temps read 40, 38.0, 37.5, 40.0

 

This doesn't really seem to fit here but oh well,

"Ok for this to make any sense i have to put you guys through a very long and boring story, hopefully someone can help.

4 weeks ago: I buy an M17xR2 from my local retailer. 720qm, single 5870... ect. I decide to get the 2nd 5870 fitted by dell.

2 weeks ago: Dell fit the 2nd GPU system doesn't show anything on screen. FX come on but nothing else. (currently A05 BIOS)

1 weeks ago: Dell try a new 2nd 5870, no luck. they also replace the motherboard for a new one. (A06 BIOS) still no luck with 2nd card.

Today: Dell try a new motherboard (A04 BIOS), new CPU (940xm woops ) everything works including 2nd GPU.

Now here comes the problem. in games i got an insane amount of flickering. So i looked online and apparently the new BIOS helps. So i upgrade to A06... and guess what... nothing on screen. absolutely nothing. so I've took the 2nd GPU one out as a short term fix.

What do i do? I'm guessing my system just doesn't like A05-6. So what i really need to do is get back to A04 then try graphics drivers to fix flickering, but how?

Could really do with some help as if i go through dell they could take my pretty OEM 940XM away!

Thanks"



Ive just tried reflashing bios A06 twice no luck. It almost seems hardware but it cant be as it worked with A04. anyone know where i can get A04 for the R2

 

If this doesn't belong here I apologize:

Here's a problem that's completely stumped me, and it will cause me to return the unit if I can't get it fixed.

Idk if anyone is aware of UDK, but it's the development kit for the unreal engine used for games like Gears of War, Batman Arkham Asylum, Unreal Tournament 3 etc. I need to use this program for development, but the Alienware runs it at very low fps, but can play the games fine. I've tried everything (well, everything beside the thing that will fix it) and am pretty desperate, I have 10 days to fix it.

Thanks for any help,
-Mike

 

if you dont have 8gb of ram then it wont run well.

 

I have 8gb of ram. =\ But it's running at 5-15 fps, when these cards should be able to handle it with no problem.

 

I still think its a problem with your viewport renderer.

Try disabling aero and see what happens.

-Ash

 

Aero as in Windows Aero? if so it does nothing. =[ It has something to do with the way BSP is handled, because I'm getting more issues with them.

-Mike

 

I have an R2 with cf5870's. whenever I play a game that utilises crossfire, the screen flickers as if it was a detuned telly. I have contacted dell and had it replaced with an entirely new laptop (as they tried to replace the cards which were DOA). Issue is still there. Anyone else experience this? certain games like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and cs source are particularly bad for it. drivers are most recent version.

 

Do you have the latest BIOS I think it fixes the flicker issues

 

Yea I have a07

 

Wow that's weird I Have no screen flickering

 

what games do you usually play? it's not really noticeable on all and particularly in dark scenes it's really obvious.

 

please read this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/522450-major-graphics-card-s-issues.html

that is my crossfirex problem.

 

A month ago i purchased an Alienware M17xR2 with the following specs:
Core i7 840QM
4Gb DDR3 (PC 10666)
Intel X25-M (160Gb)
1 x ATI Radeon Mobility HD4870

This system runs very good (and fast, WEI score mean of 7.2) but after some browsing i found a second ATI Radeon Mobility HD4870 which i bought. My goal is to install this card as a secondary with crossfire.

Here is the story:
After many hours on the phone with an Alienware/Dell Tech i receive the message "we cannot sell you the crossfire cable, to obtain it you must buy the whole secondary video card package..."

Thing is: now i got a great video card i cannot use: does anyone on this forum have experience with this kind of "Alienware adventures"

I am in the proces of finding a heatsink for this system for the seconday video card and the crossfire cable, I have managed to find the partnumbers of the Heatsink: H754T and the whole secondary video card package: 2YVP1

Can anybody give me contacts or adresses of resellers who do sell these parts on its own to private persons?

 

Will be near to impossible to find one same goes for the SLi cables. I'm posting this for other people that might buy a secondary card somewhere else than Dell to buy it with the cable and if possible with it's heatsink(m17x).

 

Post an add in the WTB section. I know a few members sometimes part out systems or have odd parts for whatever reason.

 

Hello everyone , i purchased an m17x r2 back in december beefed up with 940xm, 5870m CF , 6g ram , and an ssd to be able to play games on max or near max settings with no issues. My problem is that when im gaming my temps go up high. In modern warfare 2 i seems to be getting between 90-92c. When i run Heavens benchmark i hit 90c as well.

After reading these forums i saw that there is a guide for thermal paste and pad replacement, and before i go and do something like that i had my cards replaced twice. Same temps again. On the third attempt to get them replaced Dell offered to cancel the laptop and build a new laptop. I Received the new laptop today , ran the same tests again and received the same temps. So now im thinking is this how the 5870's temps supposed to run?

I checked with hwinfo32 and saw my fans stay at 30% fan speed under heavy load. I don't know much about how to control fans so im wondering if its recommended for me to raise the fans. Id like to add that these temps were achieved using the NZXT Cryo LX. with or without it im receiving 90c, no difference.

Any help on what i should do or how to change fan speeds would be highly appreciated. My experience has been solely on desktop and not used to seeing temps this high so not sure if its meant to be like this on notebooks. Thanks in advance.

 

Is that 90° celsius? wow might want to check the paste(since it happened with 2 different machines) but if it's under warrenty i would advice you to call them and get it fixed this way you'll avoid any damage you might cause if you're not used to tearing laptops appart.
In the case you're not covered by warrenty anymore NBR got you covered and comfortable into opening your machine up there are a few threads here where you can find how to correctly apply paste/pads do a retention clip mod etc.

HERE it is enjoy reading!

 

I'm downloading Heaven to give it a try and i'll report back my temps. With others common benchmarks/test/game i don't reach those temps.

Wich ambient temperature you got there?

Edit:

i run the bench twice. Highest temps on main GPU was 79 °C (stable at 76 after the fans kicked in) and on slave GPU 75 °C (72 once the fans kicked in)

Anyway afaik (and there is a FAQ from AMD about it, im sure) those cards are meant to run hot (on the FAQ it states that 95 °C is "normal" and even over 100 °C is still acceptable. (thermal protection should kick in >130 °C)

I'm not saying that those above temperature or condition when you can get so high is ok, just i don't think you are going to fry anything (at least not the core.. the board maybe... jk!)

The fact that you are getting repeatable readings (even changing the whole system) make me think something about the environment where you are using your machine

 

Thanks for the info guys, talked to dell and theyre sending another tech out in a week to replace the card, they're out of stock on the 5870's for my luck. Now for the environment thing, i live in new york, stuck in the middle of the snow storms, my heater doesnt go up high either , its at 70F in my living room. I also travel to work with my laptop where i do most of my gaming from , and its alot cooler there , same temp issue.

I'll give the new card a test run and if it continues ill just give up and get full refund. Also for those that dont know, when you purchase your alienware you will be under 60 day warranty from purchase date to get replacement of malfunctioning parts for brand new parts. Unfortunately, Alienware techs and dell techs are two different groups, Alienware sends the order of new cards to replace the malfunctioning ones and dell techs send out refurbished cards. Everytime i mention i got refurbished cards to AW techs they sound so surprised and wont believe me until they do alien contact and look at the dated serial coded pictures of the replacement refurbished cards i take as proof.

 

Wonder if its worth you downloading furmark multi gpu and giving your system a run on that....its the only software that will really stress out your gpu's....

As an example, my gpu's heat up to a max of 89-90c when i run the extreme burn in mode at full res....thats 5 mins of furmark. It will literally heat up your gpus in seconds so you should watch the temps like a hawk using gpuz and/or hwinfo32 to be on the safe side - if they climb too high, end furmark right away.

If your temps go over 90c (or even higher) i would say something isnt quite right and you may need to repaste.

Hope that helps.

 

^^ he doesn't need a software to stress his GPUs,read his 1st post,they reach 90 even in MW2 so it's pointless.
Also the thermal protection is set @130° Celsius and Graphic cards fry above 150° Celsius so at 90° you're far from doing it,but still no good in running them like that(it will shorten their life).
I'd say it's eighter bad luck with them or they all needed a good repaste!
See what you can get calling them as that's why you paid for warranty in the first place!

 

Nice point here from Steaviejones, Furmark is really the only thing that can stress the gpu and heat'em up quickly.

When you run the test keep focus on the test window with your monitoring software in background (but visible) if anything goes wrong don't panic and just it ESC. it will immediatly end the test.

@Steavie:

I'm getting exactly those temps you are saying when i run furmark (but just the main GPU, the slave one is always a tad cooler, like 3 - 5 degrees, also for you?). But when the fans kicks in, the temp drop around 85 degrees. (this is after 10 min of test) Are you experiencing similar behavior?

Also, the temps drop really quick as soon as the test ends

 

Is anybody reading the 1st post?

Furmark will stress them way beyond MW2 so point is if the game manages to lift the GPUs temps that high then useless to run the benchmark.

 

Your temps seem to be in line with what mine were.
You need to just bite the bullet, get your favorite thermal paste and maybe even some new thermal pads (I use 1mm thick) and go to town on the core and mem. chips.

I replaced mine last night and while running furmark my primary will hold at ~83C and my secondary holds at about ~103C.
It looks like I need to redo my secondary (will tonight) to see if I can make it run like the primary.

Also, for the ram chips, I bought a big thermal pad that I cut to size to make sure the chips are correctly covered.
I have noticed that those temps also dropped ~10C (if GPUZ can be trusted... which it should)

Also, I have gotten better results with IC7 than AS5 (my previous favorite for the past ~5 years.. and AS3 etc. before).

I just think that with what your experiencing you will just need to change paste (and pads).

Oh, and for my temps I did NOT do the retention clip mod.... I just lightly bent the arms which hold the screws up a bit to help keep tension at it's best (dont think I did it evenly on the secondary which is why my temps are higher and I need to redo)

D.

 

Yep...exaclty the same....the secondary is always behind the primary by maybe 4-5c....system fans stay fairly static at just below 4000rpm ....ive only ever had the fans kick up to full speed on a few occasions, one where I ran furmark for maybe 7mins or so and the other , whe flashing bios. (seems that when bios gets flashed, the laptop thinks its about to take off LOL )

And, Katalin....point taken....even so, I would still be kind of interested to see what kinda temps the OP does get with furmark. Its really the only way to ensure you get a fairly accurate idea of how high your gpu temps will go as NO game will heat em up as much.......thats what i was trying to get at

 

Hi guys.

I've played Metro 2033 for maybe an hour with HWinfo in background, and it shows the max temp for the master card 108 and for the slave 99.. But I guess these temps stayed not long at that level because every time I pressed alt+tab to check, the temps were around 70. I hope that these temps are not critical, as katalin said that the protection is set to 130..


edit: my system is new, 1 month so it must not be very dusty inside, and the room temp is about 25

Is there maybe anyone who got higher temps?..

 

My temps hit 110C when running furmark (these cards are less than a month old).

So, I replaced the TIM with IC7 and put new 1mm thermal pads on the memory.
Now, my main runs max of 83C and my secondary at 89C
(not sure why my secondary is hotter since I redid the paste 3x and this is just where it holds now).
Also I SLIGHTLY bent up the 4 screw arms to make sure the heatsink made as good as contact as it could (without doing the retention clip mod).

I would recommend changing the paste (TIM) at least.

D.

 

Whatever happened to the mod Ashtefere did? http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ll-internal-cooling-mod-huge-improvement.html if you want results this will get you results those little c clips are a PITA though so good luck.

 

Yeah I see..

But not really want to intervene inside of new rig and tune it's intestines which are supposed to stand well such kind of load as gaming. 108 C is still a bit too high for game, but Metro is really heavy GPU intensive. Maybe I will have to do these mods in future, we'll see how it is going to go..

 

my friend says he has a m17x with 5870 2gb, thats crossfire right? because 5870 are only 1gb standalone am i right?

 

On crossfire, the memory is not combined, so he only has 1gb whether using crossfire or not. The two cards together have 1gb each, but only 1gb of the total available can be used.

 

Hi,

I think my 5870's aren't performing the most they could. I checked gpuz and CCC and it seems my cards are running at PCI-Express x8 v1.1 when they could be running at PCI-Express x16 v2.0.

CCC says that my maximum bus setting is PCI Express 2.0 x 8.

Is this a problem and how should I fix it? Thanks.

 

According to alienware documentation, we have got 2xPCI 8.0 v2.0

 

mine is running at Pci Express 2.0 x8 which is faster then Pci Express 1.0 x16. what i have been told

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...e-gtx-260m-only-running-x8-2.html#post5109438

From this thread ^

Here's an image from Intel on the P55 chipset.

 

Hi All,

I have recently got an M17X with dual 5870's. I have noticed that when playing games the screen towards the bottom starts to shake, and then the screeen rolls up from top to bottom.

I haven't done anything that I can think of to cause this (I have the latest drivers etc - always have done as its only 1 month old)

Any thoughts please as I really don't want the dell warrantly guys touching it if at all possible

Thanks

 

Hi,
Play with your Catalyst settings (RMB on desktop). Try adjusting the setting "Wait for vertical refresh" under 3d/all.

It sounds as though the display is refreshing whilst updating.

Regards,

Paul.

 

Thanks Paul, I have just tried that but unfortunately it didnt seem to make any difference

Anyone else have any ideas please, all I can think of is that the lappie has been turned on for the last week constantly (I have been away on training with work and have accessed it remotely), before going away for the week it was fine, it's only since coming back that it has been playing up.

There is nothing odd with the remote access that I know of, I have used TeamViewer 6, and it has been ok before.

Thanks for any help

 

You have a bad crossfire cable and/or defective secondary card. You will need to call Dell for servicing.

 

The exact same thing is true with SLI configurations.

 

if this is true surely it could be tested first by disabling crossfire?

 

Thanks guys, I have just run a 3d mark 06 test with Xfire disabled and got a score of 13913, I then enabled it and got a score of 17013.

Not sure what this proves, but since running the 3d mark program, the screen blinks everytime I type a letter on the keyboard (In Xfire mode or not) and when I scroll up and down it looks really jerky.

Anyway, I have just called Alienware support and have been told to download the GPU bios and drivers and install them.

Fingers crossed it will work.

 

Unfortunately reloading the drivers didn't make any difference so Dell have decided to swap both graphics cards to ensure they get the dodgy one.

Cheers everyone for your help

 

So, to let the readers of this post know, i got my cable from a friendly forum member (thanks cjnicosia!) haven't installed it yet cause i am waiting for other parts (dell..................................................) you know.

Anyway follow the advice from katalin 2003, do buy it WITH crossfire cable.