Get your Catalyst 10.7 (non-WHQL) here

now that you mention it... i can only clock / view one card...

and this might be the solution:

 

i did it with furmark already and same thing happens. i can see both cards in AMD GPU clock tool, but can only clock one.

 

Well i'm not sure if i wanna use it.

With the 10.7 drivers i can play SC2, APB, WOW etc. On ultra with no probs at all.

With the old 10.5 that came with the computer. I couldn't play any of the new games i play. I had to play APB on a lower res to just play it. Now i can play it on ultra.

I hope something will fix it soon. Yes i can play every game i play right now.

But i can't boot my damn computer or get it to sleep. It is just so anoying :S

 

I am running Dell stock drivers.

SC2 max setting. Everything in CCC at max except AF and I get great FPS in SC2 native res 1920 x 1200.

 

Please see my SC2 tips in regards to your "great fps".

We want a specific number, not a generalization.

Use fraps to show you what fps you are actually getting. "Great" isnt a number.

-Ash

 

Engineering is working on an updated driver now and hopes to post as a beta ASAP - the WHQL version will be a bit futher out. I'll let you know as soon as I have an ETA, but they are aware that we really need to get something posted ASAP.

 

Brian, please confirm whether or not that FSAA fix for SC2 is included? (was released in the 10.7a beta driver)

Thanks

-Ash

 

Guys is it worth me going through all the trouble of cleaning and then reinstalling the 10.7 driver? I have no interest in playing SC2 just starting to get sick of my 5870 CF always being automatically disabled on the latest dell drivers.

 

I got the 10.7 to work but after an hour of gaming my games would crash and my computer would lock up on battery so I went back to 10.5's

 

StarCraft 2 works fine for me on the dell drivers. Max out all the settings on CCC except for AF which should be 2x. On StarCraft, enable vsync and set Textures and Graphics to Ultra.

 

We all do that.

You will eventually get to a point in the game where you cannot complete a mission because the game renders the terrain on top of you units stopping you from ever selecting them.

You will then realize you spoke too soon.

 

Hey Brian, any chance Dell can release an updated bios that allows us to use ATi reference drivers without issue? I think that would be the best solution. BTW, thank you for your efforts on these forums.

 

Am I the only one that is experiencing large fluctuations in frame rates in SC2? When things get really hectic on the screen, my fps dip into the 20s-30s using the built in fps monitor. All my settings are on Ultra @ 1980x1200 w/ 10.7 drivers. I've tried messing around with settings and such and there doesn't seem to be a huge difference so I keep the settings on Ultra. My specs are in my sig.

 

Check out my SC2 tips thread for the fps killers.

-Ash

 

Take a look at this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...erformance-tip-native-resolution-high-aa.html

 

Same settings I use Works great!

Done!

I got about 70 fps early game 4v4 zvz

This hasn't happened to me as of 100+ games.

If this is the case, hopefully a fix is released asap!

 

...hmm...

there might be something wrong on here.
this morning my laptop booted just fine.
now when i am at work trying to boot wont get me past the 'starting windows' text. not even the windows logo shows up.

tried cable out, battery out, boot 20sec, battery in, cable in, boot.
tried safe mode... doesnt load
tried repair... doesnt load
tried load last working configuration... doesnt load

any suggestions before i re-install when i am back at home? (and pray to god that will fix it)

 

I second that! Let us be able to use ATI's driver updates without this hassle!!

 

And you are running the Dell 10.5 drivers?

 

NO the 10.5 are the 8.732:


Dell driver are based on Ati 10.2:

ATI Mobility Radeon 5870
Date du pilote = 02/03/2010
Version = 8.692.2.0

 

If those are stock drivers then yes

EDIT:

Cancel on everything I said.

Just played a few games now and WOW

HORRIBLE FPS

I dont know what I changed or what happened but ultra im getting about 35 fps?? ?

 

5th here

if they did this then they could let us all crack on and they wouldnt have to bother with this problem no more.

have companys ever released another bios for a graphics card other than what it comes with. or any chance of amd including the code needed for the cards in their drivers

 

Dell actually has released bios updates in the past for NVIDIA, infact I see a lot of similarities between this thread for ATi and when Dell release the M1730 with SLi. Months inbetween driver releases, power related issues with reference drivers. It like a different graphics vendor but same issues from Dell/Alienware.

 

Yeah because Dell always tries to save on cost and they choose to use a bad and low powered PSU which does not supply the necessary amount of power for the M17X with 5870XF to run correctly.

After they realize the mistake instead of making a better PSU they spend thousands of man hours which cost them a lot of money to make fixes, drivers, etc that will actually modify the performance of the machine on the lower side to cover for their mistakes.

If they did like Asus and provided the correct PSU none of these issues would exist.

 

Would the PSU really affect the GPU's to the extent they cause so many probs / wavy lines etc??.....

 

6th here.

And thanks for the update erawneila.

 

Well the PSU can affect the whole PC not just the GPU by not providing the right amount of power which is the reason Dell wrote a specific vBios for the CF 5870.

Without that special and downclocked vBios the 5870 would work correctly with the most recent catalyst drivers therefore eliminating most of the problems we know.

This is why I suggest Dell stops to try to save $2 or $3 on a PSU of expensive PC like the M17X and they will therefore save much more money in driver support and vBios rewriting that was absolutely not necessary.

I remember a recent comment from a Dell engineer telling me "we've been doing this for years"....

I believe it's time for Dell to hire a lead engineer with a more up to date and open mindset...

 

Great news.....good work that fella.....Well done Brian!

 

This problem has happened to me. Basically you need to start in safe-mode and uninstall the video card drivers in device manager.

I found out it does this problem after you start the computer from the battery.

edit: Oops, re-read your post and noticed you can't boot in safe mode. Did this happen after you tried starting from battery at work though?

 

think it may be better for people to wait till Brian has some more info on dell updated drivers...these seem to be causing too many problems...i for one aint gonna mess up my system trying to install them.

 

He posted an update in another thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/6552556-post73.html

 

Things are certainly looking better for us then I would gather.....now all I need is for my replacement to ship. Yet another saga.....but Im still smiling.....

 

I am starting to wonder where this is going to take us as it seems ATI will start shipping mobile 6000 series in late September.

Will the 5870 get fixed before the new ATI cards coming?

 

Will that really matter!!! - I doubt Ati would discontinue support for their current flagship mobile gpu even if this did happen. For those of us who want to keep bang up to date, then maybe, for those of us who have 5870's and want them for a yr or so, i dont think a newer card would make any difference..........

 

Obviously we cant use reference ati drivers so we have to rely on Dell to "play with them" to their best ability?

 

Yeah, I guess I could live with 10.7a until the new 6k series come out, or the 460m's have decent TDP (which... they probably wont).

Ill just buy them from somewhere other than dell next time.

-Ash

 

What do you mean by less restrictive platform? Are you referring to a different brand than AW/Dell?

 

No,
When i went to sleep on monday, i noticed my laptop was still on.
So i shut it down by pressing the alienhead for a few secs

Next morning on regular power it didnt load into windows.
Restore with cd's didnt even load.
I still had the original AW install on the original hdd's so i was able to boot a working config.
Then i litterally had to wipe the ssd with all partitions before i got it to load.
Seems now like i messed something up in the hidden partition or bootloader. Since a format of just C: didnt work.

Luckily its just the windows and programs drive, no personal data lost.

 

Yeah, dell is restrictive in the fact that you must use dell drivers for optimum usage.

-Ash

 

Im wondering if someone can enlighten me here; I cannot get any driver above 10.5 to install on my R1, without ruining the ability to OC the 2nd GPU.

I have tried everything in the book as far as installing drivers.

Here is what my ATI Clock tool looks like in regards to this problem;



when it should look like this:



Does anyone have any clue what could be causing this?

I have my regular use OC flashed to the vbios' and it works fine this way, but i cannot make any changes to the 2nd GPU from windows. I'd like to get 10.7 working properly since it supposedly gives an AA performance boost.

 

This thread isn't about Sandy... You want to discuss something other than 10.7, move to another thread.

Questions, send me a PM or check with one of the other mods.

Thanks.

 

what are you referring to? the AMD GPU clock tool not working with these drivers?

 

Batboy is probably referring to a lot of offtopic talks in this thread (including the Sandy talk, including probably me having to reinstall, etc etc)

regarding the 'unable to clock 2nd card':
someone posted here to be able to see the second card in amd gpu clock tool, you might need to run a CF game (e.g. BFBC2), exit, and immediately after that open the AMD GPU clock utility

 

ah ok.
that includes me too i guess.
just thought it was related to the driver upgrade, and it was the reason for mentioning it.

 

Well, I a total noob to posting in forums. I have read them on many occasions for info but never posted until now.

I will try to be as concise as possible, but I believe I am in the same boat as many of you.

First my specs: core i7 720, 4gig 1066 RAM, 5870 w/gddr5, 1 TB HD in raid 0 (500x2), at this point I have the stock dell drivers installed but have gone back and forth with 10.7 from the ati website (installing ati drivers causes system not to shut down sometimes and other times it wont boot properly)

Next games installed and average fps from fraps:
**all settings on max**
Bioshock 2 (50-60fps)
Fallout 3 (45-60)
Mass effect 2 (50-60)
Ghostbusters (9-13)
Batman Arkham Asylum (10-5)
COD MW2 (10-15)
Metro 2033 wont even install...

The last 3 ran ok (25-35fps) on my gateway p7811fx with nvidia 9800m gts. On this computer (which specs ages beyond that gateway) they barely work. I bought this laptop so I could get more into the 40-70 range on older games.

I can not get the 10.7 drivers to work (I tried the work around = false thing etc). The alienware tech is convinced that the video card is bad and has sent a tech out tonight to replace it.

I am pretty certain that will make no difference. Which, friends, leads me to my point...if dell has no answer RIGHT NOW as to how to solve this obvious driver problem then should I keep this $2800 laptop? I am seriously at a loss. My 2.5 year old laptop runs half my games better and NEVER gave me this much trouble and cost half as much. So...

To Brian from alienware: Whats the time frame for this new driver...PM me, email me, whatever you can do...otherwise in 24-48 hours alienware will be out $2800.

BTW...the first 3 games on that list started getting those FPS ONLY after I got a 240 watt PSU in the mail from dell so I could install the second 5870 I ordered for crossfire...who knows what level hell that will put me through...

**edit**To clarify, before I received the new PSU the first 3 games on my list were only getting 25-30 fps at best (which is stupid because I got at least that with my gateway).

 

One thing I keep seeing in this thread and I dont fully understand...

What makes you think a reference driver direct from AMD should install without issue 100% of the time? Now, before people break out the flame thrower and torch BatBoy for asking that question... consider:

We have seen this before with NVIDIA (and prior ATI releases). Sometimes reference drivers are not specifically written (think INF), to install with every GPU - especially mobile GPUs. Sure we can mod the driver to install but this does not always work.

Anyway, I know everyone is hot for a current, up-to-date driver. I would be as well if I was in your place. Just wanted to mention the reference driver/compatibility possibility.

Hopefully we will see a driver released by AW shortly (Thanks for keeping the thread updated Brian).

 

I think i would just be happy with a modded Dell driver release that sorts the issues out....dont care if it is reference ati or not...as long as the thing "does what it says on the tin" according to Dell/AW (be the ultimate gaming laptop which it isnt at the moment for obvious reasons!)

 

Keep in mind that graphics vendors release new video drivers all the time. They typically don't test every system and configuration that the cards could have shipped with - they simply don't have the hardware or the time. Some vendors choose to restrict their drivers to retail versions of the hardware only - others allow them to install (without hacking) on OEM cards. While Dell has some influence on this, this is still up to the vendor to control in the end. Once installed, these drivers may work fine, they also might cause all sorts of problems...

Keep in mind that when Dell releases a new non-beta driver, it has gone through a relatively extensive test to ensure that it is going to work well for all of our customers, including those that aren't nearly as savvy as most of you on this forum. Granted, we're highly delinquent with the AMD releases, and I've escalated to engineering to advise that we really need to have a much more regular cadence of driver releases for Alienware systems. They are actively working towards this goal, and we have some new test resources to help out. So, in the short term, you'll see more frequent beta releases of drivers from Dell - these will be tested but not to the extent of a WHQL of factory installed driver release. I've also asked if engineering can work with our vendors to have the reference drivers tested (at least to some degree) on Alienware hardware and have the required INF changes to install properly on our boxes. This is still TBD, but given that we have an awful lot of crossfire related issues, I think it makes sense. Of the "failed" hardware that comes back for F/A, 95% of it is can not duplicate in house.

Engineering is doing some test on the new driver as we speak and we can hopefully release very soon. As always, I will keep you updated here.

Thx.

 

Agreed - exactly what I was getting at in terms of the vendor direct driver (reference driver) not always working without issue. Thanks for clarifying.

 

Thanks!

Good to get a feeling on this 'track'.
And it is also good to hear some sort of statement from alienware regarding the intended support. Because you can only win a customer once, but you can lose him every day.