M17x R2 7970m Screen problem and HWiNFO settings

Hey guys,

So after a long time I finally upgraded my M17x R2 with an Amd 7970m instead of the 2x5870m.
I bought the upgrade kit from upgradeyourlaptop on Ebay and received the card a few days later.
The Installation of the card went smooth and without any problems. First startup in Win8 went good as well, but when I restarted the computer for the first time after installing the card, I got a white screen and no reaction. So I powered the computer off and tried to start it again. This time the computer did boot but the colors where completely off, the alien startup screen was pink, and images in windows were blurry and twisted. So i yet again restarted and this time it worked perfectly.
So I just want to know if this is a common error with the 7970m, and if there is a fix for it.
I would also be very happy if a few members could share some HWiNFO fan settings too. Can't seem to find the sweet spot for my GPU and CPU.

Thanks

 

I had white screen issue with my laptop and end up replacing LCD.
Somehow but don't how, RGB screens getting defective when working with 7970m.

Here is my post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...er-brightness-issue-v-flash-did-not-help.html

Now I am running A09 mobo bios and living with hope that again 7970m will not damage my RGB.

 

I'm currently using A10 Bios, so u are saying that i could solve my screen problems by running the A09 instead? Maybe trying out this Vbios from TI_RJT could help?
Is my RGB already damaged? got a lot of questions now

 

I've got my screen damaged after when I got white screen first time. In my case after few restarts I still got either a white screen and screen extra bright. TI-RJT bios did not help.
After my screen was replaced I am running A09 bios as this was recommended by Eurocom and with original Eurocom vbios.
I did not reflash my card with TI-RJT vbios.

Hopefully with this set I won't see my RGB screen damaged again and this is my last ATI card because of poor driver support and whole issues I went through.

Maybe your issue is only related to Win8 but I would take extra precaution step and re-flash to A09 bios first..

 

So how do I re-flash my system to A09 bios? I got no clue how to do it.

 

Go to Dell website, download bios A09 for your motherboard, unpack and double click on the exe file.

 

Thanks a lot Andi0000, now I just hope that the 7970m will not ruin my awesome RGB

 

skaun, tell us if that help ..

 

Hmm, I still get wierd colors at startup/bootup occasional after installing A09, but after a few attempts I always end up with normal colors on the RGB screen, but I have not seen any white screen images. The screen has not changed in anyway permanently I think, no insane brightness level increase or such. Screen looks the same, just the Color problem remains. Is there any way to solve this?

 

I haven't seen any fixes around. Since we officially support up to the 5870 on that PC some glitches might appear if anything above that is used on it.

 

Try to clean old drivers from the system.

I used the following guide line as I even could not enter the Windows while there was an old folders/items in register/system.
Once all is cleaned, install fresh drivers.
Maybe old ATI driver is causing your issue.
Try new system if you can or swap 7970 with old configuration (CF 5870) to check the screen.
Unlikely a defective card was sold.

Guideline (originally wrote by: BradleyW):

Driver sweeper has been known to remove important chipset files which will result in errors such as instability. Some users have reported that the sweeper software removes “False positives” and may cause the user issues when trying to install software such as drivers. The error usually reports that an .ini file is damaged. Over long term use of driver sweeper, it could cause several underlying issues which will do more harm than good.
This guide is an alternative, which removes all the files and registry entries that need to be removed for a successful uninstall. This is useful for upgrading/downgrading drivers or switching to another brand of card.
Guide (ATi-AMD)
Do not use this guide if you have an AMD CPU/Motherboard as you may destroy required chipset files.

1. Go to Add/Remove Programs

2. Uninstall the Catalyst Install manager (Express Uninstall)

3. Reboot the computer and log back into windows as normal

4. Go to folder options and select “show hidden files and folders”

The next part of the guide will remove all ATi/AMD files and folders from the computer.

5. Go to your C drive and remove the “AMD” folder

6. Double click the “Program Data” folder (Normally hidden) and remove all ATi/AMD folders

7. Go back to C and double click “Program Files” and remove all ATi/AMD folders

8. Go back to C and double click “Program Files (x86)” and remove all ATi/AMD folders

9. Go back to C and double click “Users”

10. Access the name of your windows profile and double click “AppData” (Normally hidden)

11. Check the “Local”, “LocalLow” and “Roaming” folders for any ATi/AMD folders and remove them.

12. Go back to “Users” and check the “Default” folder (Normally hidden)

13. Double click “AppData” (Normally hidden)

14. Check the “Local” and “Roaming” folders for any ATi/AMD folders and remove them.

The next part of the guide will remove registry entries left by the AMD drivers.
15. Close everything down and go back to your desktop

16. Click start, then type “regedit”.

17. Click “HKEY_CURRENT_USER” and extend the folder

18. Click “Software” and extend the folder

19. Remove all AMD and ATi Folders

20. Click “Wow6432Node” and extend the folder (Within the software folder)

21. Remove the “AMD” folder

22. Click “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE” and extend the folder

23. Click “SOFTWARE” and extend the folder

24. Remove all AMD and ATi Folders

25. Click “Wow6432Node” and extend the folder

26. Remove all AMD and ATi Folders

27. Click “HKEY_USERS” and extend the folder

28. Click “.DEFAULT” and extend the folder

29. Click “Software” and extend the folder

30. Remove all AMD and ATi folders

31. Click “S-1-5-18” and extend the folder

32. Click “Software” and extend the folder

33. Remove all AMD and ATi folders

34. Click “S-1-5-21-1632250243-966907716-928185508-1000” and extend the folder

35. Click “Software” and extend the folder

36. Remove all AMD and ATi Folders

37. Close down regedit and empty your recycle bin

38. Undo the folder options change to hide the hidden folders

39. Reboot

40. Install your AMD/Nvidia drivers and reboot

(Remember, if you look in some of the folders mentioned in this guide but don’t have any AMD/ATi folders, just move to the next appropriate step. This means the uninstall option has removed such files for you. But as we know, the uninstaller still leaves a lot of things behind)

 

Thanks Andi0000, I'm gonna try this. I have always used Driver Sweeper when installing new drivers, and my Windows 8 was brand new when I installed the AMD drivers for the card.
I guess that some driver files could make this screen problem occur, so It might be worth a try.

 

You might also want to reseat the screen connection. I've had similar issues with screens when the connection was loose. the connection on the m17x r2 is somewhat loose/hard to tell its in properly so this would be another place to check

 

I had that issue happen to me after isntalling my 7970. It did not happen immediately, but after my first prolongued shotdown... of about 3 hours. had a white glimmery fading screen at start up.
Tried a few times, adn no luck... then, I treid this and it worked, I hooked up at enternal monitor through HDMI, and that fixed the issue... afterwards, i have never had to the issue happen again. i know it soudns completely retarded, but heck, perhaps pluging an hdmi screen once somehow does something

 

I'm for sure trying this out, and hope that it solves the issue However lately I have had another problem. Instant shutdowns with the 7970m while playing games.
So I looked around for a solution to this problem as well, but no luck so far. The shutdowns occur with temps at 70-80 degrees, I have already repasted and still no luck. Is there any fix for this?
Maybe it's a driver or bios problem?

 

I have that issue too, but its only nice in a while.. Also lock ups. I am researching if its too many peripherals connected ( even thought i use a powered usb hub to reduce power draw) let me know if u figure it out

 

Sorry for Bump guys, but do none of you awesome people know what's up with these random shutdowns?
Checked out some other posts, where a person thought that the option of changing shutdown time in the modded A10 BIOS would do the trick.
Others just thought of the retention mod, any ideas??

 

I'm not a AMD fan nor an Nvidia fan, but to judge a company product becouse you had a bad experience in having working properly in a laptop which isn't designed to support it is kind of incorrect...

 

The 7970m in the M17x-R2 will shutdown (thermal shutdown) at around a bit above 80 degrees Celcius. This is likely your problem.
With proper Thermal paste and pads, and controlling the fans with HWiNFO, you should be able to completely avoid these temperatures.
Without HWiNFO and crap thermal paste, I also experienced these shutdowns. I then decently repasted the GPU with Diamond paste, applied proper thermal pads where I should, and made my own cooling scheme in HWiNFO, never had a thermal problem after this, I hardly get above 70 degrees in the most demanding games (only Far Cry 3 manages to get it around 73-74 degrees).

 

jiggymf could you please tell me about what kind of thermal pads you are using and maybe share ur HWiNFO settings? It would be a great help

 

If you mail Dell they will send you decent ones. You can also buy them in any computer hardware store. Which type of pads is not that important, as long as you apply them correctly where they should.

I am using the following settings for HWiNFO for the 7970m:
- 40 : 2500 RPM
- 50 : 3000 RPM
- 55 : 4000 RPM
- 60 : 4500 RPM
everything above: 4500 RPM

This should give you cooling with normal use without to much fan noise, and decent cooling while gaming. There is no problem having it go full speed on the fans earlier then the above, but I find the sound of the fans annoying with normal use.

 

i am also thinking of upgrading to 7970m . i want to ask if eurocom ones work ok now on (thought to be dell?) without hdmi and fan issues. Also will be the 240W adapter be able to handle i7 920xm and dual 7970s? I know i cant overclock the cpu. i just want to use it at stok clocks. also where to find this Rj vbios?

 

When I first bought a 7970M for my R2, I had severe artifacting issues, but only on the built-in LCD. After checking that the screen connector was seated properly, reflashed the VBIOS, reinstalling drivers, etc... and it still persisted, I had it replaced and never had another issue. Obviously exchanging it is a last resorted after you've exhausted more probable and expedient options.

When I still had 5870Ms, they could go >100°C without causing a thermal shutdown. My 7970M has never gone over 75°C, so I can't say for sure that it wouldn't cause a shutdown, but I'd be surprised if it would where the same motherboard with a different card wouldn't.

As for using dual 7970Ms, I'd avoid that: I have two in my M17x with a 940XM, and it just doesn't work. It doesn't matter whether the processor is running at base clocks or with Turbo enabled, if both cards are in use and you're getting higher framerates than you would have with just one card, it'll shut off (even with the cards underclocked and undervolted). I also tried doing the chip swap mod (getting a 330W to identify as 240W), but it doesn't seem to make any difference whatsoever.

 

I had this white screen issue off and on from August 2012 to February 2013...tried all of the little workarounds and didn't make much difference...the occurance was random but always on power on/restarts (I was afraid to reboot my machine unattended in the case that it would restart and stay in this condition for a long period of time and fry my RGB screen....which others have reported happening)

However, a few months ago a went ahead and flash my vbios with that RJT version and my HDMI port startng working and I have yet to get that white screen or any other screen corruption issues on startup... I have since starting shutting down my laptop everyday and doing windows updates without issue/worry.

Note: I am using the A10 dell mb bios , windows 7 and latest amd beta drivers

I would suggest doing the vbios update if you keep getting these screen issues....

 

So After watching AMD's new 8xxxm series of cards I noticed that the 8970m is pretty much a rebranded 7970m. So I was just wondering if it maybe would be possible to flash the 7970m into an AMD 8970M
and then maybe avoid the sofware related problem of the Dell 7970m shutting down the M17x r2 when the card hits 80-85°C?. This is still a problem for me especially when I run intensive games like Crysis 3 or the new Metro Last Light.
My temps are always in the danger zone with about 80°C and I have had several shutdowns because of this, it just ruins the experince
Even with ICD 7, expensive thermal pads and aggressive fan speed settings in HWiNFO the system still has shutdown issues.
Any toughts on this matter?

 

You can overclock 7970m's to 8970m clocks fairly easily... my 7970m is an even higher clock.

 

That is not my point. My point is that if we can flash the card into an 8970m it could somehow solve the issue of the card shutting down in the M17x r2 system.
The M17x r2 system which has been updated with a Dell version of the 7970m card, has a major problem because it for some reason forces the system to shutdown when the card reaches 80-85°C.

I don't know if a reflash would have an effect it's just a thought. But I was just wondering that someone smarter than me in here could explain why this could/couldn't work.
I have not seen any software solutions to this problem in any threat yet so maybe there is still some hope left. I really don't want to use a notebook cooler

 

I dont understand, you think flashing a 7970m into a card with higher clocks is going to make it cooler? A GPU shouldnt really be going over 80 degrees...

 

Well,

The 7970m was not intended to run with the M17x R2 to begin with. The systems cooling system and architecture is not build to fit a 100 Watt card. That is the reason why I get so high temps.
That being said, 80-85 degrees should not cause a shutdown. The Eurocom version of the card installed in an M17x R2 do not have this problem.

So I know that I probably can't lower the temps more with a flash, and frankly I don't care because to me the temps are reasonable given that the GPU is not optimally cooled in the computer
and I know that 80+ do not harm the hardware in any way.

I don't know why the computer is shutting down at these temps, but for some reason it make sense to me that reflashing the card, maybe could overwrite some code or whatever that could prevent the shutdown issue.

 

80-85 is not silly when looking at the clevo models they run in.