HD7970M died?

Hi guys, i'm currently using AW M17x R4 with the standard HD7970M installed, been using the laptop for 2 years now w/ no problem at all, but 2 days ago while watching movies via web streaming, my windows garbled and distorted all of a sudden and GSOD w/ static sounds coming out from the speakers.
I noticed a GPU failure and restarted warning few seconds before the GSOD from the lower right taskbar.
Force restart the laptop and it was fine for few hours and problems happened again, this time i didn't watch movies, just doing excel worksheets and some access database.
So, i flush the driver and reinstall the newest 14.4 catalyst w/ raptr stuffs (pretty cool), and everything was fine the whole day until i watched another movie and problem re-occured, did another driver re-install during evening and tried to play D3 when the whole thing crashed (black screen, static sound). Forcing me to restart and the windows just hanged at "starting windows" and followed by black screen.
Restarted again to switchable graphic mode and luckily HD4000 still working as of now, but i can't seem to install even the stock DELL driver for the HD7970M w/o crashing during restart.
I did the build in diagnostic from the F12 boot options and everything is green.
So i thought i'm just going to try reinstalling windows, but now my optical drive keep ejecting the installation disc (2 days ago i burned some audio CDs and everything was still running perfectly).
I'm at lost now, is my GPU died out and in need of replacement or i got virus attack (i have norton 360 running the whole time)?
How would you guys check GPU condition?

 

Not a lot you can do. Lift out the card, clean the edge connector and reseat. Do this by removing the fan and the two card retaining screws, NOT the four screws holding down the heatsink. Good time for a clean of the fins and removing the 'nest' that builds up in there!

Watch the temps though, it might be failing hot so to speak.


If it's still the same after a reseat and temps are not an issue then just remove the AMD. As long as the machine works fine, and you will be able to run some games in the Intel to push it, then it's new GPU time .

 

Hi Micky, thx for the fast reply.
Right forgot to mention i did the clean up already after the first crash and the GPU side was okay compared to the CPU side. No lints on and inside the fins. So definitely not heat issues.
Sigh, guess its new GPU for me. Any suggestions on what and where i should get new GPU kit? Would be my first time to change a laptop's part, any advice would greatly appreciated. Thx

 

Yup, you have to go with a faulty GPU.

I really only know about NV cards as I haven't used an AMD in years! Easiest for you is simply a replacement 7970m. The pads will be reusable so all you need is some (any) thermal paste.

If you wanted to go with... say a 680m :thumbsup:, then the x-bracket and retaining screws will need replacing along with sorting out pad placement.

There IS a full kit but it's a little pricey: ALIENWARE M17x M18x VGA Upgrade Kit; NVIDIA GTX 680M; 4GB DDR5; MXM 3.0b | eBay

You do get everything from one supplier which is nice if you have problems, but you will need to ask them for the x-bracket screws as well, AMD are a different size .

 

awesome, thx, ill check it out, guess 2 years is a good run for a GPU card?

 

Seems that way of late. I am seeing some 7970's die recently and that is new so I'm assuming just age. Any high end card working in year 3 is good value IMO.

Forgot to add, there is another option around a 680m. Get the genuine heatsink for the 680m from Dell. It comes pre-padded and pasted so simply needs screwing together. Then you only need the card, x-bracket, and screws. Much more of a 'kit' assembly and the 2gb version dell use will be cheaper so probably a wash on costs

Good Luck

 

Correct me if I am wrong but didn't we run into a slew of 7970's around the forums that were caving? I seem to remember more then a few...but I am old haha. Anyways, I would strongly suggest going to as Micky suggested the 680m as it just seems like a much more stable and seems like it would last a lot longer in the overall long run. It will def cost more then the 7970m will but if you don't have to replace it again then it is worth it in the long run IMO. As much as I loved my 7970m when I had my R4 the more recent AMD lineup and problems have kind of turned me away from them at least in the mobile market.

Honestly I don't really think 2 years is that great although others may disagree with me. I have an old 8600mGT in my Dell inspiron that was known for overheating and dieing and that has been going for 7 years so....2 years really does not seem like that long, not on a several hundred dollar GPU. In comparison your gen also came with the 680m and I don't see many , or next to any threads about dead 680m's

 

I do tend to refer to the 680m as the gold standard for upgraders. Like you say, not a single bad card reported in two years!

The two year thing just seems the way in the last few years. All the conspiracy theorists say it's by design to force upgrades since as you say, they used to last a lot longer. I just think the thinner these chips get the shorter life they have - and it's only going to get worse with the Maxwell's unless they sort out layout and cooling from day one.

I just put it in cash investment terms. Year one - expense, year two payback, year 3 and onwards -free time. That way I don't get too angry shelling out a bunch of cash every 2 - 3 years

 

I would get a 780M honestly.. Its only 40 quid more and hell, rest of the X-bracket and heatsink from Dell is much cheaper than the upgrade kit... Only issue with 780M is the extra pain when installing drivers...

 

And disabling the intel by finding and flashing which is not for the noob. Also I've seen reported audio issues with the 780m. Way easier to stick with an 'approved' GPU until something that can kill an OC'd 680m comes along.That kit is very overpriced but that's how it goes with a kit and support all rolled into one.

Quite a bit cheaper for just the card. Nvidia GeForce Dell GTX 680M 2GB DDR5 for clevo Alienware upgrademonkey | eBay

The 780m appears to run much hotter than the 680m as well and I like a cooler card. Gives me plenty of headroom for tweaking

 

If you no longer have a use for that 7970M and you don't want it, can you send it to me? I want to try a repair method to see if it might help anything, involving liquid flux and a heat gun.... old PS3 YLOD style fixing lol. If I get it working again might cost you less than a 680M or a 7970M, but I could also ruin your card for good. Your call

 

Now i am getting worried,

my 7970m is 2 years old too....sugar....

Just wondering, have you got your bios upgraded, and did you ever OC the 7970m?

 

thanks for all the great advices guys.
i was looking at 780m and about to ask why not 780m myself, but reading around this forum, seems 680m is more stable, just like micky said.
and i also read here in the forum that you can actually OC 680m mildly and get to 780m performance, w/o sacrificing heat and durability. good for OC newb like me.
when i bought my R4, 7970m was the top of the line GPU offered, at that time 680m release date was still in leaks and rumors, even then i'm looking at around 3-6mths wait time.
and then when it actually released, you need to gamble on a new card, which is a win in 680m case, but not the case for the recent 880m.

i'd be happy to send it to you, let me sort this replacing part out, then ill check back on you.

i generally stay away from upgrading bios, especially when theres a chance of bricking the whole laptop by doing it. don't fix whats not broken. so i'm still @ A02.
and no i didn't OC the 7970m since the card was doing fine w/o OC, performance wise in game.
in comparison my old asus g73 w/ 5970m still going strong after 5 years, but the laptop itself is falling apart lol.

 

Done, ordered the 680m. Last one in stock now so if anyone need, better hurry.
And now to apologize to Intel HD4000 if i ever say anything bad about it, w/o it now i wouldn't be able to still use this laptop for productivity. Thank you switchable graphic.

 

Yeah, in an R4 the 680m is by far the easiest upgrade, no bios messing, no driver modding, and easy to add a small overclock that gives around 20% better FPS in many games over stock. With a vbios mod I'm getting 50%!! FPS hike in BMAC benchmark. All this and around 5c increase in temp. I still haven't even gone near a voltage hike which it looks like it would easily handle.

I thought that maybe I got lucky but working with a guy that already had a 680m the same numbers and temps were achieved .

I also had the 675m at the release of the R4 with 680m supply and who-knew-what other issues it might have. After a couple of 580m's in my R3 I was not getting a warm feeling that NV were going to come through. Seems the 680m is an anomaly (780m is OK but hot) among a bunch of poor top-of-line cards. They should sell the 880m with a bag of chicken bones and a stick with feathers. Call on the Gods for a good experience . The experts are scratching their heads .

@black-bean, you really should update your bios though. It went through a lot of updates and fixes, who know, it might have even been something to do with the upcoming (for you) 680m. The later bios releases, from A08 I believe, all the windows 8 stuff was added as well - not that I recommend THAT as an upgrade.

It's the first thing Dell techs do when you call with pretty much any problem.

Good luck with your new purchase

 

I hate doing BIOS update, i think every time i did that, i had small heart attack. lol.
And i stand corrected, just now i downloaded the A12 bios from DELL support site, its a single .exe file. the icon marked as a 7z file.
so i double clicked thinking it would unzipped and extracted into a folder where i could then transfer the files to my usb boot flash disk.
turns out its the windows bios update program, and it just start running and updating my BIOS right away with a big red writings saying "DO NOT TURN OFF YOUR COMPUTER" in red. wth. there my heart just slumped to the floor yet again.
fortunately everything went perfectly well. phew.
really this BIOS updating business is very health deteriorating.

anyway, ill update this post when i got my card replaced. hopefully successfully.

 

Yeah, I almost mentioned Dell's bios update is the single worst I have ever come across. I complained a few times but they still insist on a auto-running exe without any chance to abort!

What if you're low on power, what if you accidentally double click the file in explorer, no warning until it is too late - DELL SORT OUT YOUR BIOS UPDATE PROCEDURE!



Edit: breathes deep, At least you're on the latest and Dell appear to have total confidence in their updated bios

 

i don't think this is the case when i upgrade A02 from A01. oh well.
btw, i forgot to ask, can i re-use the 7970M heatsink? or its a completely different setup for the 680m?

 

Yes. The components layout is the same for the bits that need the heatsink, but;

The clearances will be different so you need to test (not the core) for pad thickness'. And probably source some pads of different thickness's 1,1.5,2mm are the most common and you can double up if needed.
You must use the NV x-bracket for the 680m - This sets the pressure of the core to the heatsink.
The captive screws on the heatsink are the wrong size for an NV bracket so you need to remove them and use the correct screws (4).

You could just roll the dice and use all the 7970 bits, it might run a little hotter but you're unlikely to screw it up that bad .

Yeah about the bios updater. It seems that some point it got dropped (the pre-warning) and never returned.



Good luck

 

My 680m package tracking just indicated that it has reached its final destination, and its already in custom clearance.
So i'll be expecting the package to be delivered by tomorrow (friday) if not then monday at the latest.
Any tips and advice for the installations? this would be my 1st time switching laptop GPU. But i do know and had done several cleaning and reseating of the GPU in the past. So, taking the old GPU out would not be a problem.

 

Successfully replaced the card, i hope. Thermal pads placement worries me the most. So i tried to check idle and running temps on the new card via hwinfo, but the GPU part didn't show any data.
Any ideas on how to check the card temps? I'm a bit nervous to benchmark it right away w/o temp checker.

 

Strange, you are using hwinfo64? The monitors may be turned off, they have a 'x' next to them?

I use msiafterburner. On the monitors tab in settings you can select the items you want to see while gaming. Scroll down the screen and you will see the check-box. 3D mark disables it but it works pretty much on everything else when in a game.

Use heaven 4 and see if it shows the temp, it should, and you can leave it running to make sure you don't have temp 'creep' which is a sign of poor pasting

Good luck.

 

there my hwinfo64 nothing under the GPU.
i use drivers supplied by eurocom btw (modded i presume), got the link from ebay site.
should i use the nvidia site driver instead? btw when i switched off iGPU via Fn+F7, followed by a restart, device manager shows the GPU as "standard VGA " and the driver from eurocom refuse to install, says it didn't detect any nv card.
seriously this switchable graphic thing (both optimus and enduro) always giving me headaches.

UPDATE:


MSIAfterburner works. Weird HWinfo.

 

This is weird. The 680m in an R4 is an approved upgrade and as such no bios or driver mods should be required. Have you tried Heaven 4 to see if it displays temps? I'm really wondering about that card TBH, especially with the switchable graphics screwing up.

It could possibly be a clevo bios issue needing a vbios flash to a dell one but most early adopters of the 680m recommended the Clevo vbios as it unlocked the card.

Try DDU to clean it out and use the Dell published driver (old but works) and see if it's any better.

 

Unigine Heaven 4 works... shows as using the 680m...
temp stable @65C FPS also stable above 30
guess i'm using this setup for now... unless a game refuses to use the 680m even when whitelisted.

 

Cool. Did you try msiafterburner on-screen-display. You get to see what is happening during gaming. Also look for Compal EC in hwinfo64. This has basic GPU stats and temps.

Let me know how it goes

 

i don't have the OSD option unfortunately. and the HWinfo64, i've been using it since the first time i got my laptop w/ np, and i haven't changed a single setting. Downloaded the latest ver. of hwinfo64 and still it won't show the GPU status.
anyway don't think i would be needing hwinfo64 if i already use msiafterburner.

Update : reinstalled the msiafterburner and the options shows, must've accidentally unchecked the riva tuner box

 

Yeah, I rarely use it when i can see it all realtime.

OSD is at the bottom of the monitoring page in your pic

 

Do you have an unlocked bios to set the video to PEG only?

 

couldn't find the unlocked bios, so i went ahead and flash DELL bios. Thought i could use Fn+F7 key to PEG or simply just disabled the iGPU from device manager.
fortunately i don't have to do that and so far the optimus haven't gave me problems of not switching etc.

 

That's how it should work on an R4 with a 680m. It's a supported GPU .

 

Did the problem disappear when you changed the GPU? This is the first thread I have been able to find that seems to describe the same problem I am having, "black screen/sound noise". Dell has already replaced my 7970m and the problem has re-surfaced.

(sorry for necro, but have been paging through the forums searching for someone with the same issue as me).