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    M17x R1 m5870 Crossfire no fan control?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by AluminumHaste, Jul 29, 2012.

  1. AluminumHaste

    AluminumHaste Notebook Enthusiast

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    I've recently purchased and installed a pair of m5870's in my first generation m17x, and after a few days and vBios modding I'm finally able to play with crossfire turned on.
    On issue that remains is the fan profiles for these cards is, well....moronic. The fans will be on low until the cards reach around 80c then they spin up a little and then keep the cards around 74ish and stays there the whole time. I've not heard the fans at 100% except on boot.
    I've dumped the vbios but the fan settings section in RBE is greyed out. Not sure what else to try as I've downloaded and installed every single fan control program I could find, but none of them will actually control the fans.
    Help please, I'm worried about the life of my cards.
     
    AluminumHaste, Jul 29, 2012
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  2. bigtonyman

    bigtonyman Desktop Powa!!!

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    Have you tried HWINFO64? I know it supports the m17x r2, so maybe it will work with the r1 too? might be worth a try if you haven't already.
     
    bigtonyman, Jul 29, 2012
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  3. AluminumHaste

    AluminumHaste Notebook Enthusiast

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    Tried it thank you for the suggestion, keep em coming :)

    EDIT: Sorry I should elaborate, the CPU fan is the only one with control, the other 2 fans are greyed out:
     

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    AluminumHaste, Jul 29, 2012
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  4. AluminumHaste

    AluminumHaste Notebook Enthusiast

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    Anyone else?
     
    AluminumHaste, Jul 30, 2012
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  5. Alienware-L_Porras

    Alienware-L_Porras Company Representative

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    I believe that those temperatures are perfectly fine. I would just let the laptop do it's work with the fans. The 80C temps and 74C temp is fine. If you would like to stress the laptop and make sure it does not overheat please take a look into this article.
     
    Alienware-L_Porras, Jul 30, 2012
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  6. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

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    The fans are controlled by the EC (Embedded Controller) and they plug in the motherboard not the card itself like on desktop cards. That's the reason the sections are not available in RBE.

    They are grayed out because you can only control all three fans at the same time in the M17x and not separately like the M17x R2. Moving that slider will affect all three fans.
     
    katalin_2003, Jul 30, 2012
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  7. AluminumHaste

    AluminumHaste Notebook Enthusiast

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    Yeah I forgot to mention that I figured that as I saw that the fans plug into the motherboard so didn't realize until later that the GPU does not control the fans hence those are greyed out.

    However, when I force the fan to full speed, the GPU fans do not spin up, unless they are just way quieter and blow a lot less air then the CPU fan. I will however try again tonight as you were kind enough to point it out thank you :)
     
    AluminumHaste, Jul 30, 2012
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  8. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

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    I remember that while testing different versions of HwInfo for the M17x in the past with the developer, not all of them were giving the same result.
     
    katalin_2003, Jul 30, 2012
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  9. AluminumHaste

    AluminumHaste Notebook Enthusiast

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    Do you happen to remember which version it was?
     
    AluminumHaste, Jul 30, 2012
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