M17x R3 - AMD 6970M cannot update to new AMD drivers?

I am using an very old driver from October 2011, as that is the only one in which the brightness, sleep modes, and everything actually works. (R309894.exe)

If I try an upgrade to any of the new drivers from AMD website over the years for my 6970M, it usually results in the M17x R3 producing a BSOD, and for some reason if I can get it to work (custom option or installing on a particular IGP or GPU active at the time), it is really unstable, brightness cant be changed, sleep modes wake to blank screen, and everything will not work like switchable graphics.

Really sucks that I can buy other notebooks with either AMD or Nvidia discrete GPU and install latest drivers without issues. Hell even my Alienware 14 will install the latest Nvidia drivers. Why not with the Alienware M17x R3, might be old, but still should work right, what am I missing?

Is there anyway to use my old standard graphics card (6970M) with new drivers and maintain everything else working?

 

Have kinda the same issues with my R3 (6990m). First I installed the 'latest' drivers on the Dell site and then on top,the latest AMD drivers. It works but I lost switchable graphics and playing with the brightness doesn't change that much now. Installing the latest HD3000 doesn't work (not compatible or some message like that).


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Yeah you know what I talking about as you are having the same problems.

I am using a Dell driver from way back in 2011, however there is a newer Dell driver dated end of 2013. Althought if I install this 2013 version it's doesn't function correctly hence why I am stuck on very old 2011 driver set.

Really sucks that I paid many thousands of dollars for a gaming laptop I can't upgrade the critical part of the system for gaming, the video card drivers. There are plenty of games that don't run very well with old 2011 drivers.

Wish there was a way to keep it running on a newer drivers. Reason I can't run just on GPU alone bypassing the IGP is that I need for the system to be mostly always on in a bedroom when not gaming, having no switchable graphics mean a lot of fan noise and unnecessary power comsumption.

The 6970M and the 6990M are still pretty capable cards even given their age.

Anyone out there have a solution to allow the installation of newer driver without lossing key functionality?

 

As far as I know. The latest one on the site works for me (switch graphics, brightness etc...)


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I am using version from 2011 in the below link, there is a newer driver that covers multiple cards, although does not work correctly therefore stuck on the old 2011 driver. Which one are you using from the below link?

Product Support | Dell US

 

I was using the 2013 one (first on the list). I might go back to this one since I don't want to be on my dedicated all the time


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That one should work without issues. You can also try what's on this guide for you to get a newer one.

 

I have tried this (exact link) driver dated 2013, but doesn't operate correctly (I will need to re-install it once again to explain fully why it doesn't). Seems kind of weird that it does not work, are you saying I need to follow the guide in order to get it to install the factory Dell drivers?

Driver Details | Dell US

 

I just reformated my laptop and installed the 2013 driver. Seems I have the same issues as T2050. Brightness control doesn't work, pressing Fn+F7 gives me a message but how can you tell which gpu is selected?? Using gpu-z and it gives me the 6990m on startup but I can select the Intel HD (it gives an openCL error when I open cpu-z). I'm confused now too...


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Yeah this is pretty much what I was getting. I kind of figured what the hell is the point if can install an official Dell driver and then can't expect it to work fully. I need to be able to change the brightness. If I cant then may as well ditch the card altogether as it is pretty useless on a driver from 2011 e.g. FarCry 3 plays like crap with the old 2011 driver (and other games).

As you have said too, the driver doesn't function correctly and presents problems, I got the CL error also, along with other errors. the 6970M and 6990M are respectable highend cards back in their day, and are still useful now, shame that cannot be utilised normally today.

This really get me going when I spent near $5000 usd (at todays exchange rate) on this laptop few years back, pretty slack driver support for the money I dropped into this thing

 

Hmmm finally I achieved installing the AMD 14.4 driver AND still manage to switch between graphics. Even the brightness control works now. The only error I still get is the openCL error when I open GPU-Z. Switching between graphics needs to be done through CC, the key combo doesn't seem to do a lot.
When I'm done updating my fresh Windows 7 installation, I'm gonna check if everything still works and try some games and benchmarks.

Really don't know what I did but I removed all my drivers, installed the latest Intel HD driver, then the 2011 Dell driver, then the 2013 one but this gave me a BSOD and last the AMD 14.4
I admit I used the trial and error method....
In the end it's not 100% but close enough for now.

 

I think I was able to something similar sometime ago, and like you I had to do it in a certain order, me too had trouble remembering exactly what I did to get there as there was so much trial and error to get installed. I couldn't get any switching or brightness to work and sleep mode would wake to a blank screen.

Yeah those 2013 dell drivers always result in a BSOD, even coming from the 2011 dell drivers.
I had to install the 2013 again after the BSOD, and only then did it install fully. Switchable graphics does not work for me, and waking from sleep mode results in a black blank screen although I know the system is still running fully under the blank screen.
The only way I could fix the blank screen and brigthness not working issue is switch off the intel graphics in the BIOS and run solely on the 6970M. I am not exactly thrilled about this as the 6970M is wasting energy being always on, also not so great for longevity of the card and cooling fan, especially a problem as I run this system about 12 hours a day, hence the need more so for switchable.

I hadn't been gaming much on this system until recently and are still impressed how good the old 6970M is, certainly still can handle decent games and settings.

I have had some luck with newer drivers in the past, as in getting them to install and game ok, but I did have issue with various things not working correctly.
Did you just install the 14.4 drivers and everything like wake from sleep, brightness, no BSOD during install, is there anything special you did to get it to work?

 

Due to a corrupt W7 update, I had to do a fresh install again so I tried a different approach now: install Intel HD driver then Dell 2013 drivers and finally the AMD 14.4 driver.
Still it isn't 100% perfect. The Fn+F7 used to work but not anymore. Switching GPU's using CC is the way to go now (and I can live with that). Brightness control works so far.
Getting kind of annoyed now since this laptop needs some workarounds to make it work properly. It's for sale now and I'll stay with my desktop for gaming.

 

Shame you have to sell it due to the on going issues, I have felt like selling mine to but I will stick in there and replace the card for something else more powerful, but for now I am trying to get the most out of it as possible.

Which version for the 14.4 drivers from AMD did you use, was it the normal desktop drivers or the mobility drivers?

 

The mobility driver. I don't know if the desktop one would even work.


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So what is the "best case" solution to this? Personally, the switchable graphics was never a big deal to me in a machine of this size, but the loss of brightness controls drives me crazy. The outdated driver performance isn't exactly my first choice either though.

I'd consider replacing the card if I could reasonably expect an nVidia chip to work without these problems, they seem to have a better grip on getting the standard drivers to work in mobile products at this point.

 

I am now running just the 6970M on the latest mobility drivers 14.4 without switchable graphics.

1. Started out on the Dell 2011 drivers
2. Installed Dell 2013 drivers, they BSOD for me
3. Installed Dell 2013 drivers a second time after the BSOD reboot, this time it installed without BSOD and worked.
4. Reboot press F2 go into BIOS and disable Intel graphics complete selecting PEG which is just the actual graphics card.
5. Install AMD mobility drivers 14.4 and reboot.

Btw. Pretty sure once only PEG graphics is enabled the brightness level drops to around 80% and this is with the stock Dell 6970M.

 

The above post is for the installation of the latest at time of writing 14.4 mobility drivers udder Windows 7 with notebook that has been running the same OS for years. I found overclocking to work by was somewhat broken, I had to change the resolution lower and then switch it back to 1080p, otherwise there will be crazy lines all over the screen, this would cause other issues once playing a game, with the screen borking out in mid game very strangely but still running.

I had enough of the aging Windows 7 with it dumb video driver issues that have plagued me for many years, so decided to ditch it for something I can actually upgrade drivers on. Some people will hate to hear it by I love it personally, Windows 8.1

Windows 8.1, now running just the 6970M on the latest mobility drivers 14.4 without switchable graphics

1. Reboot press F2 go into BIOS and disable Intel graphics complete selecting PEG which is just the actual graphics card. (If you are not on this already)
2. Install Windows 8.1
3. Install AMD mobility drivers 14.4 and reboot.

Installed couple of R4 drivers for the two missing in device manger, and there are a few other applications that you can add in for good measure to bring back functionality, which none of this line matters as the video card drivers work very well, and also overclock. I found my experience gaming on Windows 8.1 seemingly more smooth. Castlevania 2 is all I pretty much play now, so that was pretty sweet after the upgrade.

Upgrade to 7970M while on Windows 8.1

1. Uninstall drivers 14.4
2. Remove 6970M and install 7970M
3. Install driver 14.4

Overclocking the 7970M is seamless using Sapphire Trixx v4.8.2, no other tweak required.

Easy and works a treat, way faster, and can tap into things like AMD Mantle, fired up the Star Swarm Stress Test and it runs really well


Bottom line about this post is there are zero issues with Windows 8.1 and driver installation, it just works directly from AMD website, no need for work around installs and modded drivers.

 

Thanks T2050, I'm thinking about going that route. For what I use this machine for Windows 8.1 won't be that much of an annoyance... or at least less of an annoyance than the driver issues would be.

 

I have been running Windows 8.1 and it is running beautifully, I would not change back to Windows 7 for the world. There is the odd game which will not play, but usually easily fixed by selecting run as admin or compatibility mode. Pretty much most of every steam game I have works fine, which from where I am standing is really a non-issue compared to others that have blown it out proportion.

To me wrestling with essential video drivers with Windows 7 has now becoming a distance memory to be forgotten.

e.g. Far Cry 3 was one of those game that benefited hugely with the latest driver set. Even now while the game is aging, I was stuck on a crappy frame lagging and jerky mess of an old driver. Steam pretty much demand the driver be up to date with this game, huge difference once on 14.4

Just to be on the safe side, I recommend that you take a clone of your hard disk, that way you can roll back if you want to. Even after taking a clone you may want to do a factory restore, then take another clone of that fresh image for safe keeping later on down the track.

If you can afford it, go 7970M and believe me you will not regret it. If power saving is worry, remember that you can turn the display off and the 7970M will drop now in to a low power state while the screen is not being physically displayed.
Recommend this software to allow you to turn off the monitor at will Dekisoft - Monitor Off Utility