M17x R2 7970m CrossfireX Ultimate Installation and Tweaking Guide

That is correct, was 100% functional, no issues whatsoever, just that memory channel was nacked....but for me it was too much.....i need pure power....

 

I am feeling it too

Even though tweaking can get me to 10500 (6400 of it physics) its not ideal. Very heavy OC for standard CPU.
Problem beeing now. I cant get a cpu for 100$.
If i want another 940 im stuck with a QS/ES. (noone sells 940 OEM on Ebay)
For 920 the only OEM ones i see is used ones. Else its ES/QS.

Not sure i want a used 920XM since it could have been used by someone doing the nasty to it. Someone like me for instance

 

And of course, me and you sangemaru, we do have dual gpu issues.
Could it be something about the 940's?
Or is it the clevo / dell BIOS issue?

 

I'm nuts spending this much on laptop GPU's... I could have bought a Titan considering the total cost involved

 

Yep, but titan is not a mobile GPU..

 

And if you want to go playing a game at a mates house, you can pretty much pack in 3 minutes, carrying a bag only, rigging the same time and game, just as powerful as the next guy, with fantastic screen too.

 

Crossfire cable / cooling / connector issue is my bet. Something m17x-r2 specific, since I haven't heard of this problem on other machines. Could be a power circuit running out of spec somewhere performing slower on our machines, or it could be the crossfire cable under too much strain in that position under the slave heatsink. Like I said, changing the cable greatly improved my situation, though it did not fix it.
What pisses me off is that I can't cool and OC my machine at the same time using thermal paste. The heatsink doesn't sit flush at maximum tightening, and half-screwing results in my TIM degrading quickly over time.

Heatspring isn't here, and this is really pissing me off. Anyone have any ideas for improving my cooling (specifically heatsink copper core to cpu core contact)? this is driving me coo-coo.

 

You are now aware that our machines do approach and may match 780/Titan/R9-290X performance (at least when those cards are at stock).

 

Have you tried another CPU heatsink ?

 

Cant be connector issue. Ive made room for the connector, its not even touching anything on the way out after putting in the new cable.
Could be power circuit, the two of us use 940XM, could be slightly more power consuming at same clocks. (BUT i get this stuttering when i dont use TS on CPU too so i dont think so. Thats an easy 40W saved at least from my top levels, same behaviour. )
I dont have cooling issues either. I can OC my CPU Very much, and running GPU heavy BF4 for 1 hour get my GPU's to max 63 deg. And i use 1mm pads on the memory so all memory should have good contact and still the die get good contact with the copper. (due to ok running temps)

It can be cable issue. Does anyone else have it in a bundle or do thet have it taped together like the original?
Must say, all my knowledge about cabling says that crosstalk should be worst while in paralell all the way, aka original tape. But they could have cables next to eachother that dont care.
There are still no reason to belive that only stock clock will not respond to this.

 

Yea, I have. Better than the first one (that one can't even keep it cool running at non-turbo speeds), but still can't keep stock 940XM specs cool.

 

Well, I'm actually using an original cable, and had to bend it quite uncomfortably in some areas to get it to fit the traced path If crosstalk is an issue with this cable, point me in the right direction to correct that, since so far switching cables HAS helped quite a bit. The first cable I'd been using was a painful bit of hacking and cutting a not-long-enough-cable and stretching the uncovered wires over the surface area to try and get some contact between slot A and slot B really ugly work.
Like I said, my stuttering has to do with voltage, not clocks especially. For example I could pull off a stable 875/1300 or even 900/1250 in most apps with no extra jitter. Touching the volts will ruin it for me, though.

 

Hmmmm if im keeping a veeeery close eye on my FPS in 3Dmark i see an occational drop even at 825/1180.
But GPUZ tells me i cant drop below stock clock it seems. Still showing up at 850/1200

 

What pastes have you used so far? Maybe a thicker paste could help. Something like Shin Etsu X23D? Its a pain to put on though if you dont heat it up. Its more forgiving than other pastes when it comes to uneven heatsink contact.

I know spreading the paste is frowned upon but try the method I posted about here, it'll make sure the entire chip gets covered and is the easiest way for a "spread" method.

The paste has to be hot and you have to work quickly otherwise it will start to break up.

Other than that I'm not sure what else man You've got a new heatsink...

 

Just a slight comment.
How much do you have to back off on the screws?
It is spring loaded too giving contact but with less force. This to be sure to get it on flat when turning one screw a bit at the time.
Tried to increase the spring force meaning see if you can swap springs? Just to be able to not flatten screws all the way?
Also try so see if anything lies below your CPU snagging so that it cant get 100% flat.
Or even try to see where it moves of the CPU and try to elevate CPU from below on that side. Could try a small bit of the cooling tape you got on that side under the cpu if possible.

 

I've tried AS5, AS Alumina, AS Ceramique, Prolimatech PK-1 and PK-3, Noctua NT-H1, and some generic crap.
Of them all, the PK-3 performed the best when I hit the sweet-spot in heatsink pressure (the 100W TDP 77C temps) but still degraded after about 2 weeks to trash-level performance.

I've always used the spread method.

Regarding the Shin Etsu, any idea where I can buy it from? I confess I'm not terribly thrilled about it, since it adds up to the costs of all I've spent on the machine and if it doesn't work, it's just extra wasted cash.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure I have a slight hardware defect motherboard-side regarding the mounting system and that's the reason for my temp woes. So unlucky. I'm pretty sure heatspring would solve me issues (thermal pad works great with no performance degrade but obviously i have to keep low clocks to stay within its TDP limits). What I need is a coherent sheet of thermal interface material with decent conductivity, that would retain its shape.

 

I have to back off about 1/3rd of the way to removal to get optimum temps.
No point in increasing the spring force since the optimal contact is reached before completely screwing. Screwing all the way starts to bend my heatsink and ruins proper contact. Hmm... i'll check the CPU snag thing, you might be on to something there. I won't use anything under the CPU though, since that sounds like a singularly awesome way to destroy an XM cpu I mean, it's just pins underneath, bro.

 

reason or increasing springforce would then be not to have to screw all the way in and still get high pressure on the die.
Just since it seems all the way inn makes it bend the heatsink away again.

 

you could try what im using.
Im very very happy about my gelid.
Most tests show its the best there is.
Slightly thick but perhaps not thick enough for you since you have problems getting it flat.

The under the cpu ting, if u use the original very fragile heattape from the GPU it shouldnt mess your pins, but id try anything before doing it

 

I normally order it from FrozenCPU but thats only when I'm ordering other stuff too. Buying it alone together with the shipping cost will be rediculous.

I think you're absolutely right though, the Shin Etsu isn't going to make a significant difference and you might as well have used generic paste if your mounting is off.

@Trome71's got a good idea there. Check also if there's anything in the way of the fins thats lifting the heatsink up from that end.

 

Guys I have the same problems with stutter as at you.
I also 940xm and when I play Crysis 3, Battlefield 4 have clock and voltage falling. In other games it seems I didn't see. Crysis 3, Battlefield 4 likely is simple demand a lot of power of the processor.
TS on, clock modulation on, chipset clock mod on, Turbo on, clock CPU don't fall, 25x TDP100 TDC100.
TS off changes nothing.
I thought these problems because of 2x240watt psu earlier, something can is wrong. But you have 330 PSU and problems теже, means 940xm is guilty.
CPU temps depending on game 64-75, GPU 65-73



It is Crysis 3 on high settings, not ultra. FPS 50-60. If to deliver everything on ultra + to FXAA, stutter will be very strong.
Already I tortured honestly it is R2, so much money I invested in it and it doesn't work well.: С ума:
I spat and bought a desktop - the idiot : D

 

I discovered today that reducing the GPU speeds seem to give me better average FPS in BF4.
Remember btw that turning off TS after starting it, doesnt change anything.
It still remains OC'ed.
Test has to be done before starting TS first time.

 

Without a more detailed log I can't be sure, but it looks to me like GPU utilization drops heavily in a few areas. Do you get consistent stutter in those games, or just occasional drop?
From what I see there, it looks to me like 4-5 drops. How long were they?

I don't think it's GPU related in your case. What HDD are you using? BF4 is butter smooth for me. Crysis 3 Very High with FXAA activated I get 40-60fps but no clock drops. The performance is usually consistent, but the game puts great strain on the CPU and loads data from hdd occasionally, and fps drops at those times or very fast moving the camera.
Anyway, no nehalem CPU can play crysis 3 without occasional drops. It's simply an extremely CPU demanding game.
I don't know about BF4, the beta worked fine for me in windows 7 (i do know that it's different in Win8 though).

 

Or you can just set settings to default 62/62 @ 25/25/25/25, save, and then turn off TS.

 

What fps are you getting on bf4 and what settings are you using?

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk

 

I use ultra settings.
Get normally from 45 to 60. (60 is my max)
Occationaly small drops to about 35 but they last very short.

 

is that with 2 gpus? what clocks are you running and the load on the gpus?

 

It is a pain to listen to all that issues you have Bros. ... I do not have any issues in any game you have mentioned..... If i can help please ask questions..

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

 

Are you steady at 60 on BF4 Flingin?

 

2 GPU's, crossfire enabled, 13.11 beta7, 100% load, stock clocks, 0.975V.
CPU @ 24/24/24/24 @ 55W/55A.

 

coming back from work to do some more, in depth testing ..... stay tuned...

EDIT:

Yep, steady on 60 on stock clocks most of the time, some areas 57 for 2 seconds.
In some areas Frame Rate will go down to 40, then after 2 seconds go back to 60, but only is SOME AREAS, so that is BF engine optimalisation issue and not our CF issue i would say.
In some areas Framerafe will go down to 40...and stay at 40 until i turn into the wall, but thats where the skycrappers are and it is raining + flying choppers with loads of lighting effects, so understandable framerate drop, but constant, not stuttering.

Indors framerate stays at 60 +/- 1 FPS

Trough the game no stuttering overall, tried to look around, walk + look around, no stuttering.

Also tried:

DIRT 3
WRC 4
DIABLO 3
Starcraft 2
GRID 2
Max Payne 3

All good no stuttering at all, but all those games put less stress on GPUs than BF4

Seems like some areas are more optimized than others....lazy programmers.....any other questions please let me know

Temps GPUs Stock clocks GPU 1- 68 GPU 2- 73 MAX
CPU 81 max (85/80----23/25/26/26)

 

Will test this tomorrow.
Could be my slightly underperforming cpu causing this.
If not the stuttering/lagging could be the fact that at least me and sangemaru have original dell cards. Does anyone having original clevos have this stuttering? Or others with delle gpu's? Ive read that the dell cards are slightly more complex.

 

I have both clevo. No issues at all

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

 

I have both CLEVO as well and my experience is same as flingin's.

I also agree with game optimization as before the last TR patch some areas would drop to 33fps with CPU or GPU overclock not affecting it at all. After the patch the same area is rendered at a solid 60fps. Also Crysis 3 "Welcome to the jungle" mission where there's long grass my fps drops to around 29fps at times but that's a known issue due to the physics calculations.

On a side note I played Crysis with 1000/1400 clocks on my cards and the primary GPU temp hit a max of 93C The secondary GPU hit 83C. So its not possible for me with our current cooling. I may have to do the complete GPU cooling mod with tape around the heatsink directing the airflow. On stock clocks I get around 75C on both cards (It's beginning of summer now, 34C ambient today).

 

Ha!

and in Winter ambient temp is like what....32'C ?

Also....My Cross Fire cable is barely long enough to fit in the Groove in the R2 Magnesium chassis, i think this is the case for everyone here ?

I think if the cable would be 5mm too short i would not be able to make the connection trough the designated area....

I was thinking about getting M18X CF cable because it appears it is a bit longer, what do you guys think ?

 

Huh, I researched that ducting mod, but it makes no sense for my machine. Already checked the heatsinks and fins. The fan is perfectly flush to the fin ducts, no leakage.
Nice GPU temps, heh

 

Lol Its Africa but winter does get really cold, sometimes we even get light snow.

I have the cable that was provided by MXM-Upgrade I think. I bought my cards from .Cameron and he ordered from MXM-Upgrade. Its the un-taped cable with loose strands and is long enough, actually slightly longer. The M18X cable could work if its not taped, or if it is, you can remove the tape to make it more flexible.

Yeah the ducting mod, couldn't remember what it was called

It does seem pretty close already but I guess it couldn't hurt giving it a try. I need to repaste my CPU soon anyway, its been ages since I repasted and I'm hitting 100C on at least two cores when I run 90TDP. So I'll try the ducting mod at the same time.

 

CPU you dont have to remove to tape.
You get access when removing keyboard and bottom plate.

GPU's are more fiddly.

 

But from the type of cards and the stuttering.

Are there any more 920/940 CPU and/or Dell/Clevo GPU experiences?

How about you neklec?
You have the Dell ones?
There are more of us....

What i also see is that for me its fiddling the GPU0 speeds that causes the stuttering mostly.
The GPU1 can go quite high as long as the GPU0 is slow.

But result speed when running different clocks isnt that impressive. Only slightly above then when both cards running the lowest speed card. (100-200 difference with big difference in speed from equal speeds)

 

Trome71
I have dell cards from upgradeyoulaptop. At me also still is 920xm and old 840qm. I want to try to put 920 instead of 940, only laziness.
I was mistaken, during Battlefield 4 clock GPU and voltage doesn't fall (there was a problem, it was necessary to set a limit 60 FPS, now it works smoothly), it occurs only when I play Crysis 3. In other games isn't present.
But me all the same I already finished this game.

 

I want to thank all the tech gurus for the information in this and similar threads. It's obvious that your knowledge is vast and deep. It's convinced me to try and upgrade my M17xR2 instead of buying a new machine. You can see my specs in my signature that I typed up back in January of 2010. Here are my issues:

1. I'm thinking of buying two 7970m from MXM-upgrade (unless someone points me to a better source in the USA). Based on my reading, it seems that you all are using the Clevo vBios. MXM offers both. So which one should I pick? I just wanted to confirm that the Clevo vBios is better overall than the Dell vBios.

2. While I'm gutting my machine, I'm planning on changing out my SDDs with two 512GB
Samsung 830 series SSDs (in fact, I purchased them 21 months ago but never made the time to install them!). I also want to reseat my CPU as the fan keeps ramping up lately to the point of being annoying loud. What is the best thermal paste to use?

3. Also, I want to upgrade the optical drive to a BluRay burner. Any recommendations to make/model?

4. Finally, does it make more sense to upgrade the video cards before I put in the new SSDs? I was planning on doing a clean installation of Windows 7 (maybe 8.1). Thoughts?

Thanks again!

 

1. MXM upgrade prices are well higher than Eurocoms. Get the bundle from Eurocom Canada and maybe ask for a little discount if they can.

2. Repaste CPU with IC DIAMOND ( can be also obtained from Eurocom in a bundle )

3. Do not waste money on BR, why would you need that ?

4. you can install Windows on New SSD, then upgrade the cards, or vice versa, make sure you install newest drivers.....

5. You will need to MOD your PSU

6. There is a LOT of work for you to get it running, get some Pain Killers from local pharmacy if problems arise ( if you o it correctly it shold be smooth sailing )

 

Thank you for the very quick response!

1a. Presuming I go with MXM-upgrade, I still want confirmation as to which vBios is most practical.
1b. I went to Upgrade Center. Looks like I have to send an email? Is this the correct procedure or is there a different website I don't know about?

2. IC Diamond it is.

3. I do not currently have a BR writer on any of my machines. I've been wanting to backup a lot of my BR collection. So far, I've been storing the rips on my server; however, it's impractical to watch, especially for my 3 young children. A BR disc is so much more easier for them to pop into a player. Plus, you don't know know how many discs they've scratched up! I didn't want to get a USB BR writer... I don't remember why now... But since I'm entertaining the idea of opening up my M17xR2, I was thinking I would just do it.

4. Thanks. I guess it really doesn't matter. As a perfectionist, I hate installing and uninstalling stuff. I like installing everything fresh, then creating a "gold" image of it.

5. I thought I saw something about having to modify the power supply. I'll try to search for it; but if you have a link handy?

6. I've done system integration, deployment, etc. but you make it sound daunting now... Does it take that much time? If so, I think I might just go ahead and buy the latest M18x. I'm no longer young and time is more precious than money.

 

FYI, i run my SSD discs in RAID0.

It is even faster, and you still get your storage.
If you take an image every once in a while to a spinning disc you dont have to worry about one of them going to heaven since you can restore.

Ive used this raid for 6 months now, dont have problems.

SSD vs HDD | Why Solid State Drives Are Better Hard Drives
The power part is important for you with an upgrade idea to X-fire. Saving you about 8W on SSD alone.

Also remember that the burner also uses more power. The more power your system consumes, the more likely to get problems. Power is limited in theese systems.
I hardly use my DVD player. Blue ray is normally even higher. Up to 30W AKA about 10% of your total power.
Most likely you dont burn while utilizing your GPU power but its worth noting.

 

Some other things to consider...

1. The brand of the card is more important than the vBIOS. If you need working HDMi audio or Display Port then the Dell card is the one you want. But you will have to use HWinfo to control your GPU's fan speed (currently its speed is determined by the CPU fan speed. @sangemaru, @AlienHack correct me if I'm wrong). To be safe try and get a Dell card shipped with a vBIOS earlier than 015.022. See sangemaru's first post on this thread for more information.

CLEVO cards have proper auto fan control but Display Port and HDMi audio does not work. I would recommend a CLEVO but make sure its hardware revision is 1.2 as 1.1 has issues with our RGB screens and cannot be flashed with the vBIOS that resolves this.

5. The link to the PSU mod is in my signature. It fairly simple but does involve a bit of time to construct. That said if you have no intention to overclock your current 240W should suffice. It's not gauranteed though as some users PSU's weren't able to handle the power draw. My PSU and AlienHacks works perfectly at stock although his is much stronger than mine and is able to game overclocked.

6. With my CLEVO cards it was just plug and play. With Dell cards it involves setting up HWinfo to run on startup to control GPU fan speed. Other than that the only other quirks are disabling AMD's power reduction technology called ULPS everytime you install a new driver but ULPS causes issues on most CrossFire systems, even desktops.

As these cards are three generations older than your 4870M's there's definately potential for things that may need tweaking but for the most part it works surprisingly well. If you don't intend to overclock the cards its pretty much smooth sailing. I may be biased though since I have no issues at all.

As for upgrading to the new AW18 I would recommend it if you want peace of mind. If you do encounter any issues Dell will be there to sort them out. That said, you WILL miss this awesome RGB screen that we have Apart from the amazing colours, we have a bit more screen real estate with the 1200p resolution.

If you decide to make the jump, we might not be Dell but we will be here to offer all the support and advice that we can. This mod is quite mature now so we have most of the kinks and quirks sorted out so you don't have to experience them

 

To BUY m18x, this best decision. You will really spare time and..... and nerves! It is finite more expensively, but it is worth it. New machine, other level, warranty...
If to count how many I spent money for all this upgrade, I would buy one more desktop because I already have one. I bought it when was already tired to upgrade m17x and there was a wish to play and have a rest simply, and m17 continued to upgrade)))) It is necessary to complete business up to the end!

Simply when I began this favourite business I ordered two 6990, it was to note two years ago. One of 6990 burned down after 2 weeks and I exchanged on a warranty (guys from EUROCOM nice, but the first time it was difficult, I long with them corresponded, and then replacement was made like clockwork). Then one more burned down 6990, that with which they sent on replacement, and a spring and 7970 quitted))) They made changeover on 7970+ bought one more 7970.
It it is necessary to wait delivery, delivery costs $69 (I am Russia - Ukraine) and I already paid 4 deliveries.
Then EUROCOM to advise to me instead of 7970m to take 680m. They told it more cold, quicker, more safely they are right certainly.
I to pay in addition and buy 2 680m, but from where to me was to know that this ty m17xr2 didn't support sli? F.... k! ! ! ! !

Again replacement to send back, to wait, pay delivery. It is good that I agreed directly with eurocom that if penalties don't work in sli, then they will make changeover on 7970m. I doubted that sli will work, but wanted to try. And Eurocom too cunning, they needed to experiment.

Okey. I wait 2 7970m, a difference in деньга returned. I already offered them the services in quality to test cards)))
Already to note I passed 1 year, I began in November and a November came.
OKEY. Mine arrived 7970, I think -" I will play now".
One card worked badly, overclocking is bad, all the time the blue screen. Well I think drivers while bad, at a forum too all complain - "that the blue screen, black".
In about 5 months this card failed...... F..... k! ! ! ! ! !
Well everything, I think that the warranty ended, and I plainly didn't use my upgraded computer!
Then I recalled that Eurocom PROMISED the first buyers who bought on an advance payment 7970m, a warranty of 6 months.
I fast wrote them the message, who reminded I am.
We together laughed and they made to me replacement!
I already received a card in May, 2013. It seems now everything well works, fingers crossed! Fuuu
Yes, and still trick. When eurocom to send me 2 680m, ATTENTION............ they to suppose to me the sli cable from m18xr2. And again payment of delivery of $69 and again to wait! ! !
Naturally for all pleasant time of communication they did discounts for me and quite quite good!
And to buy the processor, 240watt to buy power supply unit, thermal pads,
different to try thermal past! One more power supply unit
330watt, it failed (itself it is guilty), one more power supply unit 330watt now I wait for delivery.

Generally for what I wrote all this, simply the person wants to do upgrade and I recalled the history! ! !

To take M18x, or a desktop if it isn't necessary to transfer. And not f.... to itself brain! ! !

 

I share the pain with you BRO !
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Strange thing came into my mind, can we use, in the Primary GPU slot, Ati Card to render the GFX and in the secondary slot put Nvidia card to do the PhysX ?

LOL that should work

 

Meh, it depends. Afaik, this trick stopped working quite a while ago unless you use old drivers, anyway. I have a 285M card to try, but I doubt I'll ever be willing to go through the pain to be honest
@Neklec: Definitely, doing this kind of mod or buying the machine to do the mod is not really a good idea in the long term if you're looking for no trouble It's a niche machine, because of the size and the screen and the dual-gpu, and only for those that care about that or already own the machine and want to keep it alive and kicking.

 

Yes i do understand.

We R2 users know the best what the pain is

 

Mhm, hurts the head.
AND hurts the wallet in the long run