AMD Radeon 7970m 12.7 Driver Question

Hello, I'm getting an Alienware M17x later on this month with AMD Radeon 7970m graphics and I had a few questions.

1.When I receive the computer, eventually turn it on to set-up, is the 7970m graphics card already enabled? I understand that there are two GPU's the Intel HD 4000 and the 7970m. How would I be able to switch between those graphics and is the 7970m the default card set when it is shipped?

2. Does the laptop come with the 12.7 AMD Driver?(I assume not)and is it safe/preferred to install the driver over the stock driver that is already set? If not how would I go about doing a clean install. What exactly would I have to do in order to make sure that the card is all up-to date with software and drivers? Isn't there supplement software I have to download along with Catalyst?

3. I know there's been issues with the card overall. Does the driver help with anything of those issues?


Thank You

I appreciate the help

 

fn+f7 key is needed to switch between switchable mode or 7970 only.
how to make sure? from the device manager.
right click "my computer" ==> properties ==> device manager menu should be clickable on the left side ==> under display adapter you should only see 7970m if you're in 7970 only mode or otherwise you'd see both the 7970m and HD4000

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/675248-amd-7970m-drivers-new-2.html
thats the step-by-step directions on how to install 12.7 beta driver.

make sure you install the driver under 7970m only mode.

 

I'm not sure that fully answers my questions. But thanks for the information

 

would be best if you receive your laptop first, rather than trying to imagine the problems.

 

well I just want to be sure that's the thing

 

not sure myself what you want to be sure about.

if you opt to buy 7970 then you will get 7970, how can it be not enabled? i don't know. but if you can't find the 7970m card then you'd just have to call DELL support. i've already told you earlier about how to switch between switchable graphic mode and exclusive 7970m mode by using fn+f7, and how to check which mode are you on.

the 12.7 driver is still in BETA, that means its not official, so if you want it you have to use outside source to install it.
feedback says 12.7 lower your benchmark scores but raises your fps in game.

as far as i know there are no issues with the card itself. except for crossfire. but thats not an option since you're buying m17x.

 

( As soon as I received my m17x R4 I installed a SSD and reinstalled Win 7 and the Dell drivers as described by the Dell FAQ. So your experience may be slightly different if you use your system as delivered. )

When you first switch on, the system is in dual mode and both the 7970m and HD400 are present. You can select which GPU you want to run on an application by application basis. The ATI control panel will nag you to make a choice.

So far this has worked fine for me, but some people choose to run in 7970m only mode as explained above. (Apparently the dual mode selection can be a bit hit and miss with some games.) This effectively "removes" the HD4000 and the 7970m will be active all the time. The first time you switch to 7970m mode the screen res may be low and the system may say it can't find a video card. Don't worry, just leave it to automatically install the correct driver. Once that was fixed I switched back to dual mode and then 7970m again, and the drivers were fine from that point on.

Corius

 

oh okay thank for for the help black-bean and corius I appreciate it

 

This is why I prefer the M18xR2 because instead if switching between power express and always 7970, you get to switch between always 7970 and iGPU. This means no guessing about whether running in performance mode or maximized battery life mode.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

the problem is only because theres no easy way to see which mode you're switching into.
so if you forget which mode are you in, then you wouldn't be able to tell w/o going to the device manager.
correct me if i'm wrong with this matter.
btw as of now power express mode seems to mean only IGPU as well, auto switching in some games didn't work properly and the games only recognized IGPU instead of the supposed 7970m, even if you already set the game as high performance.

you don't have any problems running the crossfire like many others in this forum jywang?