M17x - New System Crossfire not working

In general, if Crossfire is not working in a brand new M17X R2, whats usually the cause? Crosslink cable, bad card or driver issue?

I just got my system Monday and was on the phone with tech for two hours trying to get it up and running. She finally said she would see about checking the functionality of each card and potentially sending me a replacement card. She couldn't do it tonight because for whatever reason, my service tag and express number is not in there system yet....

Thanks!!

 

NM I found a previous thread with the same issue. I'm going to open her up and see if the cable is seated.

 

I worry for mine now.

 

It was easier to fix than I thought. I looked up instructions on getting to the video cards and found the crosslink cable wasn't fully inserted. I pushed it all the way in and it works! But now I need to figure something out if the 5870s are now available!!

 

Congrats.. I am glad mine worked out of the box

 

I suggest to fix it to the magnesium cover with a tape to hold it in place.

 

Where is this manual? I wanna make sure mine is seated well

 

manual location is in the first post of the owner'slounge thread.

 

Thanks! Appreciate it

 

Hi guys,

I am so pissed off atm with Alienware/Dell, I have spent over £4000 on my brand new M17x and the graphics driver just keeps crashing every few minutes.

I spoke to Alienware support and we have tried everything, so now they are going to send out an engineer to replace the graphics card. Well today I get a call from Dell telling me that the part 2x HD 5870's are not in stock and they cannot even tell me when this will be fixed.

The service I have got from them so far has been very poor.

Under the crossfire settings i get the following error:

The CrossfireX internal bridge interconnects linking your CrossfireX graphics cards are not properly connected. Both bridge interconnects must be attached.

So reading this it may just be a cable issue?

Under the config tab I see nothing and the Identify GPU is greyed out.

Can anyone else give me some help as it seems Dell or Alienware are not helping much.

Any guides around that show you where the cable is in the machine?

Thanks for your Help.

 

First of all before going into the system, have you checked if its enabled and through what? Going into the system is a bit of a hassle the first time around an i believe there is a guide out by moo to replacing the gpu

 

Hey. If it's just the crossfire connector cable, I suggest you open it yourself and reconnect it. There are teardown videos on youtube you can follow or download the service manuals. It's very easy.

 

Alienware has posted tear down videos on youtube. I don't remember the exact link though. Getting to the cable is fairly straightforward though you will need to be careful when removing the control cover.

 

That's why I recommend to sand the clips on the touch panel. You can find more details here.

 

Here is a link to the m17x Teardown Part 1 video (you can find others under related videos via this link).

I'd probably try to re-seat the Crossfire cable yourself because as you suggest, it may just be a cable issue. If you aren't comfortable attempting it yourself then call Dell and request that they send out a Dell Tech to do it.

Good luck and let us know how you go.

 

Great video kink. +1 rep

 

This is how I found my crossfire cable. The ram cover was also loose. The screw was not even done up.

 

wow - that is bad. When did you order your system Seiko?

 

Why not send your system back and reorder a new one? Sounds like there is still a shortage of 5870's and none available as parts/warranty.