M17x : Dual 4870s flickering when running games

...and in one fell swoop, Alienware has stolen my heart again. Just amazing. Sorry I haven't been on here to post about the replacement.

It was brand new in the box. All of the accessories, etc, were there. First thing I did after powering it up was download/installe FurMark Multi-GPU test.

I had been seeing the flicker so much on the original Alienware that I had to rub my eyes and blink a few times to make sure. Zero flicker.

Just plain amazing. I played a quick skirmish of Command and Conquer Tiberium Wars with Crossfire enabled and it was beyond butter smooth....more like Royal Purple motoroil smooth.

I am quite happy to have an M17x R2 with Crossfire working like it should.

I already moved my stuff off of the Original M17x R2 and have packed it up to be sent back.

Only thing I need to do now is figure out why my front USB ports are not keeping a constant power output for my Razer Mamba to be able to charge from while the laptop is powered off and plugged in. I did find that if I plug the Mamba into the E-SATA port, I get power and it can charge.

I understand that E-SATA works with USB (I think it is essentially another USB port) but I thought it was the USB ports that were going to be charging the mouse. Not the E-SATA.

Regardless, I am finally an Alienware M17x R2 owner....and quite proud since this is my first ever Alienware machine.

 

I'm pretty sure only the esata port can charge when powered off. At least thats how mine works with my iphone and mamba.

 

Ok, see, that's what I figured. I will just continue to use the E-SATA then. Just let one device use the power. I don't have any other devices that need power yet. My phone just charges through the power outlet. That and my iPad.

The iPad battery lasts REALLLLYYY long so it doesn't have to charge everyday like my phone.

 

Did you check your bios and for the power share usb setting to power things even when notebook is off? I think thats in there I may be wrong.

 

Well, sadly my happy ending has taken a turn for the worst. I installed Saints Row 2 for PC and crank the graphics all of the way up......screen turns bright white and computer reboots. Seems that Command and Conquer Tiberium Wars Kane Edition wasn't enough to push the limits of Crossfire. I think maybe the cards aren't cooling right so they overheat and the safety kicks in. I will have to call in to Dell Support tomorrow.

 

Did you monitor your temps to confirm? Did you do a stress test on the gpu to see if it replicates the issue?

 

You know this has to be one of the reasons why the 5870 in crossfire isn't released yet, the 4870 still has issues in crossfire mode.

 

Well this is my first post here. I just received (5/3) a brand new M17x-R2 with Crossfire. Installed a number of games on it, and each game has the flickering/out of sync rolling type action when Crossfire is enabled. Everything seems to run fine in Non-crossfire mode, or in windowed mode.

So I called dell (5/4), very helpful and nice we did a bios upgrade and a couple of other things but still no resolution, so Dell sent out a tech on 5/5.. Very very quick, the tech had a brand new secondary gpu for me. He proceeded to install it but now the second card is not even recognized at all.. Multiple reboots, uninstall and reinstall, and we even reinstalled the new card again, to ensure it was seated properly.. Still no workey workey....

So the tech mentioned that someone would be out in another day or so, to do some more work on it, or I would have to send it to depot.. Not going to happen. I waited well over a month for this thing, I can't image they are going to make me send it in for an undetermined amount of time to fix a problem that should not be occurring from the factory..

Anyway the tech just called me (5/6), and said he had another box of parts for me.. I must say so far the parts delivery, and tech support has been beyond outstanding and speedy... Unfortunately I don't have time today to meet with the tech so I have to put it off till tomorrow..

Anyway, if the tech comes tomorrow and it does not fix the problem, can i just fight for a replacement system, or just submit, and send my laptop to the depot for repair??

Or should I just forego the Crossfire all together and just request one of the new Ati 5### cards instead...

Thanks
Mike

 

Well, I had FurMark keep a log of the temps when running the FurMark MultiGPU test, but the FurMark test doesn't cause the issue to occur. I can run it for hours and the fans just kick in and keep going through with the test.

I think what I will do is install another game (MW2) and see if it still crashes the system. Then I will do more benchmarks with FurMark.

I will also download the gpu application (forgot the name of it) that I had on the other laptop and see if that will show me if temps rise/fall.

If it is a temp issue, I think it will be an easy fix. I can get some thermal paste/tape and reattach the heatsink and that will be it. Otherwise, this system is quieter than my Original.

Fan doesn't make a weird noise when you first turn it on like the other one did.

 

Oh, and I forgot to post the bios is newer. A04 is what is installed on the new laptop. I thought that was very interesting.

 

@Mikeobwan,

Do you by chance still have the old GPU? A rep from Dell here on this forum was asking if anyone had the flickering on a new machine. They need to grab that system and test it.
Looks like the issue is quite widespread. They would replace your system with a new one, of course.

But if the tech took it away, never mind.
As for what to do, - I'd recommend returning the system for a full refund and ordering a brand new with 5870s when the Cross FireX is out.

 

No unfortunately the tech took the old card. I should have had him put it back in, cause at least that one worked, not well but it did work..

I hate to do the whole refund reorder thing, cause that's going to take 2 more months....

Thanks

 

If reapplying the heatsink, etc does not work, then that's what I am going for. Refund time. Then just wait for a new 5870HD Crossfire M17x.

 

I gotta apologize to everyone. I was wrong about the game issue. It turns out that Saints Row 2 is a buggy game. All it does is act up on everyone. It was ported over from PS3/Xbox 360. I am going to have to tweak the drivers/game to make it work properly.

I installed Bioshock and MW2. No issues whatsoever. Game plays buttersmooth in Crossfire mode and never crashes.

There is a line in the readme of Saints Row 2 and it says this:

"3.3 Video Issues
-----------------

Most video related issues can be fixed by installing the latest drivers for your video card from the
manufacturer's Web site. Links to popular video card manufacturers are available at the bottom of
this document.

Graphical corruption might occur if your video card is forcing to override Saints Row 2's graphical
options."

Go figure it has problems. I have AA set to 4x in MW2 and the game plays really smoothly. Had to turn on Vsync for Bioshock though. I was getting nasty flickers before turning Vsync on.

System runs good. Crysis is next! lol.