M17x R2 8970M Crossfire Upgrade

@Raidriar
Are you planning on getting a 330W PSU and test the full potential of that notebook? Would be interested to know how far it can get with CPU at a good clockspeed and OCed GPU's

 

I have 330W PSU, I don't have the CHIP mod done.

 

for some reason i cant PM you directly.

few questions i wanna ask

1. is your 680M 2GB or 4GB variant?

2. understand your 680M is dell branded. does it work flawlessly with M17xR2 without any vBIOS mod? meaning does auto fan work without additional software? and video outputs (HDMI, DP) work?

3. how much are you willing to sell?

thanks

 

Dell version is only 2GB, no 680M works in the M17x with native fan control, need Hwinfo to control fans. Clevo or Dell it doesn’t matter. SLI connector present unlike some MSI cards. Svl7 throttle free vBIOS flashed. Can run latest driver without problem, 8970M cannot (brightness broken)

 

how much are u selling? PM me. thanks

 

Hey, the post is very up to date and I hope you can help me. Have a M17x R2 with defective GPU 7970m (LED RGB colorful strip, HDMI out has picture but green stripes in the bios, no picture in Windows). Now I have a Clevo 8970m 4gb and wanted to install it. What do I have to consider? Do I get a suitable vBios for it? Or another GPU?

Christian

 

Raidriar
Raidriar,

I'm new here on the forum, and I'm looking for information to help me upgrade my notebook.

I recently realized my dream of having an Alienware, due to the autos taxes here in Brazil, it was not possible to buy a new notebook, I bought a used M17x R2, it is in great condition and with all the original settings.

Full configuration: https://www.dell.com/support/home/br/en/brdhs1/product-support/servicetag/g2nlsm1/configuration

To improve performance, I bought a 480GB SSD, and noticed a very significant change in performance.

I have some doubts regarding the next upgrades:

- My processor is an Intel Core i7 740QM Quad Core Processor, 1.73GHz (2.93GHz TuRbo Mode, 6M Cache), what would be the latest model released by Intel compatible with my M17x R2?

- Currently my M17x R2 has 6 GB of RAM, I wonder if I can put 2 x 8 GB, and what do I need to get this? because on the site of Intel says that my processor support for a maximum of 8 GB. ( https://ark.intel.com/en/products/49024/Intel-Core-i7-740QM-Processor-6M-cache-1_73-GHz)

- I want to upgrade my GPU that currently works with "Dual 1024 MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 with ATI CrossFireX technology", I already read here in the forum that it is possible to do for the "Single Nvidia Geforce Gtx 680m", which is compatible with "CrossFire ATI HD 7970", and I was happy to find this upgrade tutorial for the "Single and CrossFire Clevo 8970M". I want to know if this Upgrade is reliable and easy, I would also like to know if some function of the notebook will be lost, eg HDMI? (I want to put the best compatible GPU, preferably CrossFire.)

Thank you all.

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Raidriar,

Sou novo aqui no fórum, e estou a procura de informações que me ajudem a fazer um upgrade em meu notebook.

Recentemente realizei meu sonho de ter um Alienware, devido aos autos impostos aqui do Brasil, não foi possível comprar um notebook novo, comprei um M17x R2 usado, ele esta em ótimo estado e com todas as configurações originais.

Configuração completa: https://www.dell.com/support/home/br/pt/brdhs1/product-support/servicetag/g2nlsm1/configuration

Para melhorar o desempenho, eu comprei um SSD de 480 GB, e notei uma mudança muito significativa no desempenho.

Tenho algumas duvidas com relação aos próximos upgrades:

- Meu processador é um Intel Core i7 740QM Quad Core Processor, 1.73GHz (2.93GHz Tu rbo Mode, 6M Cache), qual seria o ultimo modelo lançado pela Intel compatível com meu M17x R2?

-Atualmente meu M17x R2 esta com 6 GB de memoria ram, gostaria de saber se consigo colocar 2 x 8 GB, e o que preciso para conseguir isso? pois no site da Intel diz que meu processador da suporte para no máximo 8 GB. ( https://ark.intel.com/pt-br/products/49024/Intel-Core-i7-740QM-Processor-6M-cache-1_73-GHz )

- Quero fazer o upgrade da minha GPU que atualmente trabalha com "Dual 1024 MB ATI Mobility Rade on HD 5870 with ATI CrossFireX technology", já li aqui no fórum que é possível fazer para a " Single Nvidia Geforce Gtx 680m", e que é compativel com a "CrossFire ATI HD 7970", e fiquei feliz por encontrar esse tutorial de upgrade para a "Single e CrossFire Clevo 8970M". Quero saber se esse Upgrade é confiável e fácil, também gostaria de saber se alguma função do notebook será perdida, Ex: HDMI? (Quero colocar a melhor GPU compativel, de preferencia CrossFire.)

Obrigado a todos.

 

Maybe i can help to answer some of your questions.

1. Max CPU for M17xR2 is intel Core i7 940XM

2. Max intel spec for RAM is 8GB, but there are people who successfully used 8x2 = 16GB RAM for this laptop. I'm personally still on 8GB

3. Unless u have a 330W PSU mod for this laptop, going crossfire is going to be a very bad idea. The best GPU for this laptop now is AMD 8970M. I recently upgraded my 5870M Crossfire setup to a single 8970M and with some heavy overclocking, the GPU can be as fast or faster than even Nvidia GTX 880M in 3DMark firestrike GPU score. That said, the power consumption wil be very high to the point of shutting down the 240W PSU if you are too aggressive with both CPU and GPU overclock.

Hope that helps.

 

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Thank you for your help.

1 - Would the performance be remarkable with the exchange of I7 740QM to I7 940XM? compensates

2 - I will start by putting 1 x 8 GB, then post again on the performance improvement ...

3 - I intend to only place a Clevo 8970M GPU. Are many adaptations needed for the Clevo 8970M to work, or is it "Plug and Play"? HDMI is working?
- What games are running with the 8970M?

 

Hello, couple things to say here:

1. Best CPU is Intel 920XM or 940XM, which ever is cheaper. Both give major performance boost when using throttlestop program to overclock, make 740qm look very weak.

2. Official limitation is 2 x 4GB, unofficially you can use 2 x 8GB. I personally have 2 x 8GB work fine (shows up as 0mb in the BIOS), but full 16gb recognized in windows.

3. You cannot use 680M with 7970M, only one or the other. Early Dell 7970M will give HDMI video + audio, but no proper native fan control (must use HWinfo). Clevo 7970M v1.2 and Clevo 8970M will give HDMI video + native fan control (no HWinfo), but no HDMI sound. Dell 680M will provide HDMI sound + video, but no proper native fan control (must use HWinfo). 680M uses less power than 7970M, if interested, I have one card for sale. If you cannot make 330W PSU mod with 240W ID chip, crossfire will not work for you, not enough power to power up all the components.

Hope this helps

 

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It helped, thank you.

1 - Changing the processor would bring a remarkable performance?

2 - What frequency of memories are you using?

3 - With this information, I think the best option will be the Clevo 8970M. The upgrade will be "Plug and Play" + Driver Installation? or do I have to make any other changes?

 

1. Absolutely

2. DDR3-1333

3. If you get Clevo 8970M, you will also need Clevo screws, Dell screws not fit xbracket, and cannot reuse 5870M xbracket (different size, crush capacitors on back of card). Get fresh thermal pads to install, good quality thermal paste, then install latest driver from AMD website, but be aware, brightness control broken since 17.3.3 driver, will be stuck on maximum.

 

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3 - I am buying the GPU with xbracket but I need the screws, do you know where I can buy?

Regarding Bios, I am currently using the A10 version, do you know if I have to make alteration altema?

 

I do not know any suppliers in brazil, or any US supplier that ships overseas, sorry. you can substitute with 7970M dell bracket if you can find. No bios mod needed a10 factory is fine

 

IMPORTANT UPDATE #2
I have finally gotten around to test displayport output. I can happily say, the 8970M gives full audio and video over displayport to HDMI, which was the one thing the 680M held over the 8970M. Since this has been accomplished, it can definitively be said the 8970M is the ultimate graphics card for the M17x R2.

 

1. 940XM is quite powerful once you overclock and more importantly increase the TDP limit using TS like what @Raidriar suggested

2. 8GB is the absolute minimum these days for gaming. I had to close my browser just so that games can fully utilize the 8GB RAM. getting 16GB is highly recommended if you still can find one

3. Clevo 8970M will somewhat work if you have the right vBIOS in it otherwise you will see a blank screen on power up. That's what happened to me and i had to blind force flash the vbios to make it work. the existing heatsink will work but u need lots of thermal pads of different sizes and thickness to cool the power delivery components like VRM, chokes etc. and you need the right x-bracket and screws too. When you have all this ready, it's basically plug and play. Fan controls work well, only brightness not working and stuck to max which is alright. HDMI i did not test as i dont use it but according to others the sound is not working over HDMI.

as to what games are running, with an overclocked 8970M, i can run games like rise of the tomb raider at max settings at about 31-33fps. latest DOOM can be played at just over 40fps at max settings. 3DMark firestrike GPU score i'm getting about 6600+ points on my best run which is on par or even faster than GTX 880M.

to put things into a more modern perspective, the GPU when overclocked is faster than GTX 960M and also GTX1050.

 

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3. Would you have a picture of the correct way to apply the thermal pads? What is the correct Vbios to avoid the white screen? That would help me a lot.

Thank you.

 

[QUOTE = "Raidriar, post: 10780969, member: 255921"] ATUALIZAÇÃO IMPORTANTE # 2
Eu finalmente cheguei para testar a saída do DisplayPort. Eu posso dizer com alegria que a 8970M oferece áudio e vídeo completo sobre a porta de exibição para HDMI, que era a única coisa que a 680M mantinha sobre a 8970M. Como isso já foi feito, pode-se afirmar definitivamente que a 8970M é a melhor placa gráfica para o M17x R2. [/ QUOTE]
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Aproveitando a oportunidade e seu conhecimento, estou enfrentando um problema ao iniciar meu M17x R2.

Ele da 2 bipes e mostra a seguinte mensagem:
"Sua bateria sofreu uma falha permanente e precisa ser substituída" "
Press <F1> to resume, <F2> to Setup.

Você sabe me dizer o caminho para desabilitar esta mensagem?

Obrigado.

 

I dont have pics but you need to identify the VRM and chokes and they all need customized pads. just make sure the pads make good contact with the heatsink. i dont remember the exact number but you can use the vbios posted by @Raidriar if you dont mind undervolting the GPU but sacrifice overclocking potential. I edit my own vbios tweaked specifically for my GPU to get the better overclocking stability. Needless to say, like CPU, not all GPU are built the same.

 

what is the asic score on your 8970M and what clocks/volts are you running?

 

my ASIC is 78% and i'm running at 1GHz core, 1.4GHz GDDR5 4GB when load. Voltage is 1.025v (unstable at 1v even at 950MHz). Max temp at gaming full load is about 78-79C. so far i've not had the courage to cross 1GHz mark for GPU core and i dont really plan on crossing that because the temps are within acceptable range and my 240W PSU will not hold up if i go higher. If i have a watt meter i could measure what my power consumption is now but i dont have one so i can only speculate. vbios TDP is set to 81W which is the default value for factory vbios.

 

That ASIC score is very good, better than both my cards (71 and 77), very surprised you cannot hold 950 at 1V. I run 900/1300 at 0.975V

 

Ya i'm a little lucky i guess. it's 78.4%. with my previous defective delta PSU 240W, i can run the card 0.975V @ 925MHz/1350MHz stable max. if i go any higher voltage, the PSU will trip and shut down. now the flextronics 240W PSU allows me to run 1.025V @ 1GHz/1400MHz stable. i dont know the max tolerant for the core due to insufficient power from the PSU. i can run my 940XM at 62W default clock and overclock the GPU further but that's a trade off not worth going for in my opinion. so i keep my CPU at 26x 75W TDP.

 

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Taking the opportunity and your knowledge, I'm having a problem starting my M17x R2.

It gives 2 beeps and shows the following message:
"Your battery has suffered a permanent crash and needs to be replaced."
Press <F1> to resume, <F2> to Setup.

Can you tell me the way to disable this message?

Thank you.

 

never seen it before. just remove the battery or buy a new one

 

No way to disable this message, you must purchase a new battery that can hold charge (good luck finding such a battery...) or simply remove the battery and run on AC power only.

 

Hello , here Krex4 from Brazil , i have this m17x R2 w/ a Dell 7970m gpu ( vbios 015) and i need a vbios , because when i play w it , simply runs 75 deg celcius ( very hot) , the v core is oem . Someone could please help me.

 

That’s not very hot for 7970M in m17x r2

 

75C is alright for 7970m. nothing to worry about. even if you undervolt and run at stock speed, you'll be getting around 72C on M17xR2.

 

Hello a few days ago I was able to replace 5870 on 8970 4gb clevo Of course, I upgraded the vbios to the one from the first post. everything works as you need but today I got a mistake "I blocked the app access to the graphics card" according to the advice on the forum I downgraded the core 850mhz and works could anyone make a vbios for me? my ASIC result is 68.3% My Alienware setup is i7 940xm (very hot) in stock clocks... 8gb of ram, PSU Delta 240w

 

Yeah that is what my Alienware m17x R2, I7 920xm, ATI HD 7079m 2GB, 16 GB Corsair ram runs at when taken to the extreme with 3D marks benchmark. Just remember to elevate the laptop on something like a Coolemaster U3/U2 thing. And if you want it to drop a few degrees in temp more then add some fans under the U3 cooler(I don't use the fans that came with the U3 cooler since they broke for me and the temps are just fine). I am using UE4 a lot to dev on the run on my Alienware m17x and it is not really getting hot at all. 75 is perfectly okay.

 

Hi, i need vbios for my 8970. this vbios from 1 post is stocking my clocks at 300Mhz

 

Physically what’s is the difference between 8970m from Dell an 8970m from Clevo?

 

Green pcb vs blue pcb

 

Thank you!!, and Physically what’s is the difference between 7970m from Dell an 7970m from Clevo?

 

Hi, can you upload your vbios??

 

Hi there,

After recently reading this thread I decided I would try and update my sons M17x R2 with the 8970m. I have never attempted anything this before but am well capable of following instructions! the computer currently uses a 4870m, has a i7 q720 cpu and 10 gig ram, using A10 Bios.

I purchased this card:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/AMD-Rade...621058?hash=item3fa97f2282:g:fyYAAOSwDehbgdgV

The seller told me it came from a Clevo P170SM.

I followed the instruction on here and removed all previous GPU drivers. Shut the computer down, then added thermal pads and paste where necessary and placed the card into the primary MXM slot.

I turned the computer on and all I get is a black screen, if I leave the computer for a minute of two the fan kicks in but the screen stays black. I have tried plugging in a VGA cable to a separate screen but that is black also.

I do not get the flashing CAPS lock/ NUM lock like the card is bricked or anything so I presume the computer can recognise the card?

Does this sound like I need to do a blind vBIOS flash using Raidriar's from the first page of this thread? will this solve my issues or is the card just not compatible with this machine, have I purchased the in correct card?

Any help would me much appreciated to a noob like myself.

Cheers,
Lee

 

yes correct. blind flash a non enduro vbios will resolve this issue

 

Thank you very much for your reply.

I have done a little bit of searching and I came across a thread about blind flashing the vBIOS for 7970m. Would this be exactly the same process for flashing the 8970m but substituting the vBIOS with Raidriar from first page?

Can I brick the card if I do it incorrectly?

Thread I found:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...modded-vbios-for-clevo-p1xxhm-laptops.688656/

Should I use the "update 2" method with the autoexec format from that thread?

Sorry for all the questions, just want to make sure I do it right first time.

 

so I have followed the instructions in the above linked thread regarding vBios flashing, did a dry run using my working 4870m so I could see on screen that my computer was booting into dos command etc. Replaced the 4870m with the clevo 8970m, booted machine, blank screen as normal, waited a minute, typed in the command as instructed but nothing happens? what am I doing incorrectly? created the memory stick using HP Usb disk format tool, atiflash and moddified vbios on the memory stick as thread suggestd. Im lost.

Any help much appreciated

 

Got it working, well happy, thanks for this guide.

 

I need to know where to buy 2 hd8970 4gb Clevo to install on my alienware m17x r2 and put them to work in crossfire

 

eBay/Taobao

 

Hi!! , anyone can help white this, I just bought a 8970m Clevo and when I first flash the bios my laptop have beeps three times and scroll/caps flicker I don’t know what to do, I use this guie to have a blind flash http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...modded-vbios-for-clevo-p1xxhm-laptops.688656/


Anyone can help whit this?

 

hello, what kind of configuration did you have in your m17x r2?

 

If anybody is interested in selling my pair of 8970M for 600 USD

 

I am interested but, I would like to know if you would be so kind to wait at least 1 month to buy them and I would like you to put the bios stock as I plan to do the dual psu of 240watts.

 

I am in no rush, message me when you are ready

 

Why so much? Are they specially binned?

 

clevo 8970M give native fan control in M17x R2, no other 8970M/R9 M290X does. This pair can also do stock clocks at 0.975V, much better than 1.025V