M17x R2 7970m CrossfireX Ultimate Installation and Tweaking Guide

Aye, it's the same theory and method, only used at a different point down the cable. Basically this mod eliminates any PSU limit due to signal pull, allowing for it to deliver as much power as it can. And yes, that's usually quite a bit over 330W.

 

Hey

First of all, great thread! You guys have done some awesome work here.

I'm sure my questions might have already been answered, still there is alooot of pages to read through, so I figured I'll post my questions and see if anyone bothers to answer them.

So I was going to dust my computer, m17xr2, when I was done I got the post error message: scroll&caps lock flashing, meaning the GPU/GPU's won't let the POST go through. So I guess either my cards/card or the X-fire wire is broken (2x5870m). The post won't go through when I remove 1 card at a time, does this mean my both cards are dead?

Then I discovered this thread, and I am really thinking about simply upgrading to give the machine some more time to shine, but since these 7970m cards are still quite expensive and I really don't know what is broken in my machine yet I'm not as what to do at the moment.

Is it a big performance difference between 2x 5870m and the 2x 7970m?

Since I am using hdmi daily I really need the audio to work, this means I have to get the dell version of the cards? Or at least 1 of them and plug it into the main port?
If I where to get a dell card, it can not have the vbios version ending with 022 or newer otherwise my computer won't find the cards? I've been looking for dell cards with the older vbios and it seems kind of rare these days, anyone know where I can find them for a decent price?

Any help with my dilemma is appreciated!

// Daniel

 

Try fixing it by reseating the LCD CONNECTOR first. Do a power drain as well.

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Thank you for the answer!

I've disassembled and reassembled everything 2 more times. Tried power drain as well. No success

 

While there is a chance it may be a GPU error, to be honest it's more likely you should disassemble the whole machine, confirm that the CPU is properly pasted and seated, same for the RAM, and then try to boot. It's too weird that neither of them works, but possible.

A single 7970m should be around 4 times as fast as a 5870m. It's an obviously gigantic upgrade. Yes, dell cards are the way to go for HDMI. Even 022 variants may works, but it's not worth the bother to try it out. Look for cards that come with an original vbios sticker with a version other than 022.

You may first have to have the computer serviced if disassembling it, cleaning it and reassembling it doesn't solve or at least identify your issue.

 

Wow, 4 Times' faster? Thats Crazy.

I Will try to disassemble the machine again and se if i can find something. When I check the paste, what should I look for? How do you properly paste? The short version.

 

Try to test both card alone in left side slot (primary)

Again make sure you have seated LCD connector properly, if yes, reseat it again, it might help ( it helped me couple of times )

Proper pasing method for our CPUs is

 

Way faster and it makes your computer way more usable. As you understand even one card will kill your crossfire.

I agree with the two others. Be sure its a GPU issue before buying.
But on the other hand, you should get at least one 7970 regardless, AND fix the error if its another error.

And if you eventually want to upgrade your GPU, upgrademonkey might have ones with correct VBIOS for you.
I got a new one from them about 2 months ago.

 

it is time to share some more news regarding my R2 Cooling Mod....

I will begin with showing you my ....

M17x R2 GPU Heatsink - 3 Heat Pipes Edition Mod



Have to bend the end of the pipe (very carefully) or find shorter one...

 

Whaaaaaaa!?!?!

I didn't think was even possible! Did you solder it on? Brilliant work! :thumbsup:

Details flingin! Details!

 

No solder needed, just Arctic Alumina Thermal Adhesive

 

Lol!

You know I'm going to be glued to this thread waiting for your next update .... you're evil man

 

Pure Evil Yess

 

So I found out it was the on 5870m that is broken. It feels completely useless to buy another 5870m to repair, after finding this thread. I'm going for 2x 7970 I think

So, since I won't have the high end components for the other slots except the graphic cards, do I still need to undervolt the GPUs?

Does my existing X-fire wire work with the 7970m's as well?

Is overclocking worth the hassle?

Thank you for the help so far !

 

for CF 7970m you will most likely need a psu mod, regardless of what cpu/components you have in.

overclocking is always nice but in 75% of cases useless, this is because in some games are to 3D demanding , so your system will not generate more than 20 FPS (and overclocking to get 30FPS is almost impossible), other cases is when you have 100FPS, so why overclock to get 120FPS if your eye can't really see it ?

but yea, OC for giggles why not, even i have my cores at 900MHz

old CF cable should work

so you only need to rob a bank and get the cards

here is one place from where you can get them from, and please, if you plan to get it from other source(s). Get the same brand/version or you can be in a world of troubles.

i got my cards from here as well...

AMD HD7970M 2GB MXM 3.0b;card only...For Clevo Notebooks | eBay

 

That would be great if it was dell cards, i really need the HDMI Audio to work.
Thanks for the tip tho!

 

If HDMI does not work in Clevo cards, then send a request to upgrademonkey about the dell ones.

FYI
I did not get a positive answer if they had VBIOS older than 022 ones.

But in the end i ended up ordering a card that was marked to work on a M15X since it is said that those will work in our laptop if they work in M15X.
Use searchwords : Promotion Alienware AMD HD DELL 7970M 2GB GDDR5

After ordering the card they all of a sudden asked me what VBIOS i wanted to be sure it worked in my laptop.
I got an original 021 VBIOS card, that i run now.

You might have to use Clevo VBIOS though, mine stutters under heavy load using dell VBIOS.

Havent gotten to check if HDMI works on the dell cards with Clevo VBIOS.
I normally dont need HDMI, and I plan to swap VBIOS if i need to use HDMI for a while if it doesnt work as it is now.

There are slight differences in the cards though, so its not impossible it will work even with the Clevo VBIOS on the Dell cards.
But I will not be able to test this for you until tuesday beeing offshore atm.
Someone else might have the possibility using DELL card (one or two) with Clevo VBIOS.
Think ive read that soneone else uses it too, and that it works.

 

That's a CLEVO card, if you're looking for a Dell card for HDMi Audio be sure the listings title says DELL 7970M. To differentiate between the cards see below...

Dell 7970M
- Has silver/white screw holes
- AMD logo present on the PCB (Printed circuit board)
- PCB is blue

CLEVO 7970M
- Brown screw holes
- No AMD logo on PCB
- PCB is blue-green

Even then, message the seller to confirm it is a Dell card and not a CLEVO as most sellers use both Dell/CLEVO cards images interchangeably for their listings. In the message to the seller also ask them to take a photo of the back of the card if possible and post it up here. As sangemaru mentioned previously to be safe you need a card that was shipped with vBIOS earlier than 022. The sticker on the back of the card will tell you what version was shipped with the card. See below for an example of the 022 vBIOS card.

 

Nice.
You dont stop do you
Since I have very low temps on my GPU's i will not do anything with it though,,,,,,,,,,, I think
This very often means i will do something about it

When it comes to bonding this, if you use something that needs burn in.
You are off course aware of that you cooking stove will do the trick on about 100deg for as long as you think you need. Burn in on other stuff can be done there to. Much easier to keep the temps absolutely stable not overshooting.

 

Flingin pretty much said most of it.
I would advise you to also undervolt just to keep temps down, fan spinning quieter, less wear and tear.

 

Thank you guys for all the help!

Promotion Alienware AMD HD Dell 7970M 2GB GDDR5 for M15X M17x M18x Upgrade | eBay

This card seems to be the correct one. He have got 3 in stock, compared to 10+ on the .022 cards. It says it does not work plug & play on the gen 3 laptops and does not have the "check compability for older Alienware before buying" in the description. Should I still ask for a backside picture before buying?

 

You can ask just to be sure, but they usually know which cards they're handing out and if it works in m15x, it's good for us.

 

the exact one I got
They normally will ask you about VBIOS when you order, but it doesnt hurt to ask them first to "downgrade" it or supply you with 021 VBIOS cards.
Remember also to buy heat pads at the same time AND probably be very carefull with the ones you take out.

I see that they get more and more pricy again.
Adding 40$ since i got mine.

 

Be careful though Once you get used to this level of performance, you won't tolerate going back again, most likely. Even the thought of a single-780m machine (even overclocked) feels sort of... weak to me.
And I wouldn't be able to even tolerate a desktop weaker than the laptop, which sets the bar kinda high.

 

Also make sure to get the Dell x-bracket if the card does not come with it already. The 5870M x-bracket will not work with the 7970M. The x-bracket is the bracket that attaches to the back of the card and is what your heatsink screws, screw into.

... in other news, did you guys read about the new WD Black2 drive? It's a 120GB SSD + 1TB HDD in a single 2.5inch drive form factor. It's not one of the hybrid drives, it's two separate drives and it's 9.5mm height!

StorageReview.com reviews it here. Performance isn't amazing but the R2 is stuck on SATA2 anyway so this makes it quite an interesting product.

 

Much overprice. I'd rather use a nice 240GB with one of these babies WESTERN DIGITAL Drive Green 2.5" Sataii 2Tb Wd WD20NPVT | eBay, or a hybrid storage solution like I'm already using .

That thing's 300$, you can get a 500gb ssd for that.

 

Have to think of another upgrade i can do to continue pimpin, but will wait doing disk upgrade.
What i have is not close to full and about as fast as it gets in our R2.
I also have a DVD bay that possibly can turn into more SSD space if needed, and then get an external blueray for the few times i use DVD or blueray with my computer that is hardly ever.

But what else is there to upgrade?
AC wifi cards?

 

Nah, it's pretty much maxed out until the next generation of video cards or unless you feel like getting twin 500gb ssd's or something.

 

It is overpriced, but then again it's a unique solution and the only one of its kind. I would also go the 2TB route if I'm looking for more storage space. Although, the drive you linked to is an older generation drive that's 15mm height so we would need to mod to accommodate it. I do know WD and Seagate's Samsung HDD division have fairly recently released 9.5mm 2TB 2.5inch drives though.

I was thinking of getting those flush slimline expresscard slot USB 3.0 adapters but they look a bit dodgy quality wise.

 

I just got one off ebay a week ago.

3x USB 3.0 Express Card.

Card came with ''Driver'' CD that was .....completely blank ( i could still burn it LOL )

Otherwise i found drivers quickly and the card is working... Just Fine

Extra 3 USB ports - Yolo

3 Port Hidden Inside USB 3.0 HUB to Express Card ExpressCard 54 54mm Adapter | eBay

 

Awesome news flingin, congrats on the card

How's the performance compared to your USB 2.0 ports? Any power issues when using more than one port?

Take a pic and post it up please if its not too much trouble?

 

So much for pimpin over time.
Bought.
Thx for the link.

 

Pic of the card ?

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of your computer with the card installed i would guess. But perhaps not very visuable?

 

very visible with a decent camera

 

@Trome71, Thanks, exactly what I meant :thumbsup:

@flingin, Yeah perfect shot Thanks. Is the card seated properly ie. it doesn't move when you plug in or pull out a USB cable?

 

When i pull out USB device the device comes out with it

I have to keep it with finger and then pull out USB device in order to keep it in...but.....this is a port that i will use only for my external HDD that will be connected only time to time,

In the future maybe USB 3.0 memory stick, anyways, i dont mind that issue, you just slide it in and it works in 1 second....who cares...

As i said, what is the point of having USB 3.0 ?....faster external HDD that is in most cases 1TB+ and file copying takes AGES...

 

Yeah that's not a biggie, anything else worth mentioning? Is the power sufficient for self powered drives/peripherals?

It seems AKE is the only only who makes these flush mounted expresscards and a lot of other companies re-brand it.

 

Yes, my caddy ( still 2.0 ) with 1TB 5400RPM HDD is working fine off only one port..so far so good

 

I am not sure if this 7970m is a Dell or a Clevo Card. I would really appreciate some help, Thanks.

 

I'd say... Dell.

 

Dell card

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I have a Dell 7970m sitting in a box begging to be used in my M17x R2 that has everything in it, but a video card, First I need to see if the card is dead or not. (please don't be dead). Then I need to clarify what vbios version is this card running. I have no clue how to find these things out, so if I can have some help that would be awesome. Thanks!

 

Seems as if you have 021 version, but not a good pic.



If it is a Dell and a 021, it should normally work after just installing the card.

Remember heat pads on all the right spots.
The first part of this thread about how to put it in. Read it first.

 

Hey guys. I know this isnt the correct place to post this but everyones always so helpful. Turns out kids, dogs and computer cables dont mix well. I need a new indicator panel cable (one from MB to panel) and a new monitor cable. Anyone know the best place to get them (dell?). can find R1 monitor cables on ebay but not the other ribbon cable. Currently booting off the MB and using a VGA monitor. F*ck my life its been a few weeks. Found out my second 7970m has a cracked die and now this. Ive never had issues tinkering with my computers but i must of pissed off some computer god recently. on a positive note i got my two new 250gb ssd cards setup in raid 0 which makes me happy.

Thanks in advance guys.

 

You will be better in getting whole new indicator panel from ebay than ask dell, quote from Dell may be very high ( if they even have it in stock) comparing to ebay bro.

About the LCD cable.... I don't know...I think i saw some cables like this, try looking up using dell part numbers of the screen...

And I can imagine watching kids and pets rolling trough your R2 was kind of a slow motion matrix situation with you screaming ...noooooooooo
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Sorry for the bad pictures, I had to resize them. It dose say 015.021.000 and it's a Dell. In the OP he said that it is not compatible and will not post, and if I try to downflash it will brick it. So do I have to blind flash it with new vbios?

 

The OP warning is for the 015.022 vbioses. 021 should be safe, try it out.

Oh man, that's so unlucky. I always try to get my room clean and empty when disassembling for that reason though. Try to just look up the Dell service centers in your country and ask if you can order replacement parts. They should be able to help.

 

You know you use ATIflash, the one for DOS? NB: Need to make a boot disk too.
Using windows ATI flash will not be as good for a primary card making you loose contact with the screen during flash.

Follow the links on Sangemarus guide

 

Gods, I'm really wondering whether or not to try the 024 vbios. Not only for the extra clocks, which would be awesome if they worked. The reason is because AMD have been updating their desktop GPU's vbioses for cards under the GCN architecture as well (7870/7970) and our cards are basically 7870's. I'm interested because there have been quite a few PowerTune optimizations and I was wondering if we get them. So form what I can tell, Trome, your card shipped with the .024 vbios and booted in the r2? I wonder if it's usable on dell cards...