And another.. 7970m in M17x R2..Installation with photos

Help! I'm having some problems transferring the heatsink to my 7970m.

The screws are too big so I need to remove them and replace with smaller screws (which I have), the problem is that I can't seem to remove those pesky C-Washer things from the heatsink. I tried to put a small knife and needle in the holes but I can't remove the C-washer and hence the old screws are stuck there.

Is there some sort of technique to get those things off? So close to getting it installed and I'm stuck at removing the darn screws

***Nevermind I got the c clips off. Just very tedious dislodging them from the screw!***

 

Get a micro screwdriver and pull outwards away from you, I did this is a bag and flung them straight in there. Hope this helps

 

I found that a pair of little curved scissors did the trick nicely...but what a pain it was. Those little C-Clips have got to be the absolute worst part of any GPU upgrade. Even sending cards back and forth and trying to get the temps down seem less infuriating then those little guys.

 

Haha yea, it was so frustrating getting them off. the main problem was holding them stable so that I could use the little screwdriver to "pluck" them away from the screw. Because they're so small any amount of pressure sent them spinning around, just kept trying till they flung off.

On a side note, I'm using A10 BIOS and 2.8 AMD drivers and the card seems to work fine. Though when I open CPU-Z, it shows the 7970m, but all the other information is missing. My HWinfo shows all the details and so does my dxdiag.

Haven't had time to run any tests yet, but I did open up Guild Wars 2 and cranked it up to high settings. HUGE DIFFERENCE from my dual 4870m in crossfire. So happy with it so far!

 

I've cut, scrapped my hands in multiple places when I was removing the C-Clips on mine.

Yeeesh...

 

i got a 7970m about a week ago i want to underclock it to keep temps down because im currently deployed overseas and so i downloaded msi afterburner 2.2.0 i read thats the only one that works with the 7970m on the m17xr2 but when i lower the core clock to anything lower than 850 the temps automatically shoot up 15C+ degrees on idle without using msi afterburner i get 25-27C idle in gaming it shoots past 80C with msi afterburner on and 7970m underclocked i get 40-44Cidle and 50-75C gaming

i cant figure out if im doing something wrong or that im missing a step anyone have a idea if this is normal or not?

what i mean is why do the idle temps shoot up like that

 

Hi sqkiller.

try to use HWInfo to monitor your temps while you are experimenting with Afterburner. What I think is happening, is this:
Normally, the ATI card idles at VERY low clocks (300MHz Core, 150MHz ram). Using afterburner, when you force the max MHz down from the default 850, the card thinks that it needs to be running at that EXACT speed. Thus your idle is bumped up to 800MHz if that is what you set it at.
Your best chance to underclock is to leave the max speed at default, and in your power profile, under advanced settings, force the GPU to always save power. And also just make sure you dont run games . You can try to underclock right before you play games and maybe your overall temps will be cooler while gaming, but remember to turn afterburner back off for web and work.

 

I found a cheap pair of tweezers, with the nose filed down to a fairly thin point, are able to get a grip on inside and outside edge, then I'm able to just pop them sideways off the screw.

 

I'd like to upgrade my graphics card in my M17x R2. I currently have two 5870m in crossfire. Would one 7970m be faster than two 5870m in crossfire? Also, if it is faster, where is the best place to buy a 7970m that will work in an M17x R2? Thanks for your advice in advance.

 

Yes, one 7970m will outrun two Crossfirex 5870ms.

 

I'd like to upgrade my 5870 xfire in my M17x R2 to one 7970m, (which would also get rid of one fan being that it's not xfire anymore) and was wondering if it's an involving process to upgrade (without reading through 31pages of this thread)? Is there one place I can buy the 7970m from that includes all the necessary hardware, like brackets and screws that will fit in the M17x r2, kind've like a kit?

 

Yes upgradeyourlaptop on eBay sell full kits including x brackets etc and you can leave the second fan in there if you like

 

yep what the ninja said. I got mine from upgradeyourlaptop also and all I did was unplug the second fan.

 

Wow...$625 for the 7970m. Is that actually a competitive price?

Hey brooks93, when you upgraded your card to the 7970m and unplugged your second graphics card, did you notice if your system became a lot quieter?

Sorry for all the questions, but does anyone know why the compared to the M18x R2, the M17x R2 sounds like a turbo jet fighter, while the M18x R2 is whisper silent almost?

 

I did not unplug the 2nd fan, and I really cant complain about the noise. Although I found it to be louder the 1st-2nd day after installation, it doesn't bother me any more. After some experimenting, I found the best fan control settings that reduce fan noise at idle(web browsing/tying/emails) and gaming. But I wouldn't worry about it.

I got the Eurocom(upgradeyourlaptop on Ebay) 7970m that the others are referring to. I noticed a substantial difference in gaming performance from my CF 5870 . To answer your previous question, it's not too difficult to perform the upgrade. If you have ever repasted your gpus in the R2 , it really isn't much different or difficult. The card was plug and play for me. It has worked well since, and temperatures have been <80C while overclocking. Overall, it is extending the life of my R2, and I find it worth the buy. The GTX 680m will also work with the R2, but priced at $840 from eurocom. There are a lot of smart, helpful guys with experience with the 7970m on this forum to help out. This was improtant for me.

Hope this helps your decision making.

 

Does games like Metro 2033 run smooth with everything maxed out at 1920x1200 with a 7970m?

 

Yes, Metro 2033 was the first game I tested after installing 7970m

 

Thanks for the info...how much did you sell your 5870m's for?

 

I wouldn't sell those 5870m's . If you have a warranty, or ever renew it, you will need the original GPUs to reinstall if the notebook were to ever need service. Dell will not service or depot your R2 with a 7970m installed.

PS: Is there any news from ichime regarding a VBIOS mod to get the issues worked out of the 7970m and the R2 (like the HDMI/DP functionality, or fan issues)?

 

one thing that bothers me a lot here ...
I changed my video card for two 7970m and i'm not satisfied with the results of the benchmark,the 3dmark 11 was made ​​an average of 3600 points, I was seeing here in the forum and there are many people who got just over 5000 points with one videocard
anybody can help me?
here's the config

alienware m17x-r2
gpu 2x 7970m cf
catalyst 12.8
a10 bios
2x ssd 250 gb
cpu i7 920xm (repasted thermal paste)
8gb memory 1333
330w m18x psu (cut the id cable)

battlefild 3 this running on 35-45 fps not know if this on the average

sorry for my english

thanks to all

 

Are you using the 330w psu correctly? are both cards active?

 

both cards are active (checked in gpu-z)
in relation to the psu I just cut the cable id and took the notebook battery
thats right?

 

as "active" do you mean like running max potential each? and cutting ID is 1 part of it.

 

Hi, new to m17x R2 here.
Just wanted to know if I wanted to upgrade my 5870 to 7970M but the one that I have got is 7970M from clevo laptop.

Is there any problem if I installed the Clevo version? Just wanted to clarify if theres any problem and what the problem is before I install them on.

And which one is better to use.. i7 720qm + 7970M or i7 2630qm + 6990m crossfire?

Cheers!!

 

Stealth55, can you pass me some tutorial explaining How to use the gpu and the psu correctly?
Thanks for helping =)

 

Would this work for an R1 ?

Are you selling your old 6970 card ?

Thx

 

Will it work with a cpu 820qm alienware m15x?

 

So would a clevo 7970m work in a M17x r3, if not how can i flash it?

 

Hi all,

After having my M17x r2 for a year and a half now, it seems that the 5870m is starting to lose in the graphics card race and becoming a bit of a low graphics card for some of the games being released nowadays.

I recently got into the beta for Planetside 2 and thought that I would at least be able to run the game on a medium-high setting. Oh no... Can barely even run the game on low!

So this got me thinking of maybe upgrading my graphics card (and maybe eventually upgrading the CPU). I've been looking at the 7970m as a good upgrade as it seems the best mobile graphics card around at the moment and I wanted to know if theres anything I should need to know about upgrading the laptop when it comes to it.

I.E. M18x power block (read this on another forum)? I took my laptop apart last night to give it a clean with some compressed air, put it all back together and the keyboard and AC adapter weren't working but fixed it in the end so I am quite wary of doing this loads and loads of times.

Does anyone have a definitive list of what would be the steps to take in order to upgrade?

Many thanks,
Charlie

 

For anyone that bought the first batch of cards from L2G, have you gotten your displayport working?

 

7970s cards from upgradeyourlaptop Dell the version and displayport doesn't work for me. Though they assured me that it will work with.AMD of the card not well, there will be a return.
Really guys displayport works for somebody?

 

Yeap, both display and HDMI works for me. No issue with audio via HDMI as well.
I have Dell version of 7970m in my R2 and 920XM cpu.

Only fan control is manual via HWinfo because of 920XM fitted in my laptop (known issue).

Andy

 

Andi0000,
displayport works for you, so, I correctly understood? You where bought card?

 

Guys somebody has such problems in Crysis 2 and Metro 2033?



There is no water



There should be a smoke, instead white spots.
The smoke sometimes appears sometimes disappears.

Check somebody please, there can be at me bad cards!

 

Yeap, display port is working for me. I have my card purchased from ebay, same seller as other users...

 

Hey All, been quite awhile since I last posted. Anyhow, I have recently ordered a 7970M for my M17X R2, to go with the 16GB of 1666 Ram, and dual 512 M4 Crucial SSDs I just installed as well. Now, I have read conflicting reports about HDMI, Audio, and fans. Some of these posts seem to be a bit older, so I am not sure maybe things have changed since. I ordered my 7970 kit from Eurocom. Now, my list of questions is as follows:
Is HDMI going to work with Audio?
Does 3D function through the HDMI?
Will I have to manually adjust my fans?
Will this card work out of the box, or will I need to flash it to get it to work?
Would it be beneficial for me to trade this card, and get a 680M? Which one of the two performs better? (I know the folks around here, including my friend DR650SE will really put things through their paces) Which one should provide more longevity?

Any help anyone can provide would be greatly appreciated, and I thank you in advance for your assistance!!

To DR650SE, Brother how in the hell is it going? I left out of Baghdad about 6 months after you, and been loving life ever since. Did you get your M11x fixed when you got home? Drop me a line Bro!

Stats on my system are 17 920XM 16GB 1666mhz Corsair Vengeance RAM, 2x Crucial M4 512GB SSDs in RAID 0, and currently 2x 4870s RGB Screen

 

Just got my 7970M from eurocom.
Not sure how or why and..............
Could be upgrade of the software on the card.
Could be the A10 cracked BIOS.
Could be the drivers found here
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-12-11-9-010-0-enduro-performance-driver.html

But my card runs with HDMI also containing sound.
My fans run, all of them, (even the one for the card removed from crossfire to 7970.M) but not sure if it adjusts it.
Im using HWinfo64 for running the fans to be able to adjust them.
Dont know about 3D.
Mine worked of the box, of course first uninstalling drivers removing card (the two 4870's), mounting card(the 7970M), and then installing drivers from the DVD you will receive from eurocom.
Just be sure you put the coolingpads on the right places.

 

Thanks for the reply. I am running the A10 factory bios, I guess I should be searching for a cracked version? So, do you think the 7970 is the better of the two cards? Thanks again!!

 

Really dont know what is the best of theese cards, but its a good card, and if you bought a dell kit with paste and screws its pretty easy swap.

Read a lot of good things about the 680M but i kept with the same vendor to make it easy for me, and getting advice in here to get that card. Its also cheaper.
Guess it depends what you use it for.
But then again im not an expert in here.

 

Hey man how you been? Sorry I can't comment on the question at hand. I traded my system for the Clevo in my sig. I had a beast of an R2 though. Dual 6990s was as far as I got. I'll shoot you a PM.

 

You mention putting cooling pads on the right places.
Is there something wrong with the placement of the cooling pads in the screenshot at the beggining of this thread?

 

Dont think there is something wrong. I put strips on a few more components.
I watched videos from eurocom (youtube) they also present description on ebay, you'll see the picture and link where to find more documentation. ( Index of /support/drivers/zip/Alienware )
Most important is to apply on all components that will heat and have contact with the metal.

If you buy the upgrade kit for Alienware, everything is there, even the pads and you dont have to buy extra, and the job is fairly easy.
They are pre cut.

My card runs fairly cool. Dont know if i can se the memory temperature, but CPU termal diode is maxing at 80 deg during burn-in. (Furmarks long test)

 

hello just wanted to add that i have installed and am running at 65C while playing battlefield 3 now and 40ish while not i did have some problems at first i have the mx17r2 also and i somehow broke the lcd and my termps were in the 80C+ and the pc would turn off, then it decided that it wasn't going to detect the charger anymore so i called dell and put everything back in that i had before and sent it away, a few days later i got it back and they replaced the lcd, motherboard, video card and video card heat sink. re installed everything and is running like a FKIN BEAST on BF3 low im getting 175-200 avg on ultra im getting 60-70. oh and everything works hdmi video/aduio and vga. i also have installed the i7-940xm which is running perfectly also temps are at 70-80 while playing and like 40 while not

 

Does the card from eurocom now work with the HDMI/display port? or some are still having problems?

 

I just installed a eurcocom 7970m and HDMI and sound is working fine (no display port to check)

However I've lost auto fan on both the GPU and CPU and am making do with HWinfo.

Is anyone able to give me some tips how to get auto fan working?

I am running the A10 bios and using the latet driver from the AMD website.

 

you will have to use HwInfo. Mine does the same thing.

 

Thanks mate,

I'll just configure hwinfo to auto start via task scheduler then.

On the upside, i repasted mine and it can survive a furmark burn in now

Stablises at 86 degrees so I guess I"m happy!

As for hwinfo, does anyone notice that sometimes it closes itself?

 

hey im still a little new to this but i was wondering where i can grab 2x the eurocom 7970m? assuming they can run in crossfire and also if there is a in dept tutorial on teh installation process also where i can grab a i7-920m or i7-940m...

sorry if this is the wrong location its just i honestly dont know where else to look.
thanks alot guys

 

I just get a 7970 from Eurocom they contact me befor to ask which computer will be intalled in order to send the correct driver, I suppos all will be ok in my M17xR2, I´ll check and my Bios version is A10, I´ll make the upgrade soon but I nne to ask, just in case I´ll get the blak/white screnn, how do I flash the bios? Thanks

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/688656-guide-blind-flashing-amd-7970m-modded-vbios-clevo-p1xxhm-laptops.html Unfortunately, I also have a problem as some people have.The lcd is often almost white glow startup.I hope correct this compatibility issue.