The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Problems with ATI 4870's on M17-2x

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Mikeobwan, Oct 20, 2011.

  1. Mikeobwan

    Mikeobwan Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    23
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    So some time ago i noticed a performance drop in some of my games. Nothing extreme but I swear they used to run better. So poking around I noticed that the second GPU has some funny settings on it and the vBIOS is screwy. Does this look normal. And if not what is the solution to the problem. Just last night i pulled the laptop apart and reseated the xfire cable, and stuff looks the same.

    Notice the Default Clock/Memory
    [​IMG]

    Notice the BIOS GPU/Memory
    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29536459/ati03.jpg

    For Reference this is GPU #1
    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29536459/ati02.jpg

    Thanks for the help
    Mike
     
    Mikeobwan, Oct 20, 2011
    #1
  2. DR650SE

    DR650SE The Whiskey Barracuda

    Reputations:
    7,383
    Messages:
    8,222
    Likes Received:
    182
    Trophy Points:
    231
    M17-2X :p

    Remove all traces of your GPU drivers, and install the dell drivers. Than install the AMD 11.9 mobility drivers OVER your dell GPU drivers. Do not remove the dell ones first. That should clear things up.
     
    DR650SE, Oct 20, 2011
    #2
  3. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

    Reputations:
    14,963
    Messages:
    5,671
    Likes Received:
    1,521
    Trophy Points:
    331
    Reflash the one with the corrupted vBIOS.
    Even in HwInfo the vBIOS version is not reported right.
     
    katalin_2003, Oct 20, 2011
    #3
  4. Mikeobwan

    Mikeobwan Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    23
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Does my GPU0 have the correct vBIOS on it or is there a newer one than that. I assume I can backup the vbios from the one and put it on the other one, using ATIFlash?

    Thanks for the quick responses
    Mike
     
    Mikeobwan, Oct 20, 2011
    #4
  5. DR650SE

    DR650SE The Whiskey Barracuda

    Reputations:
    7,383
    Messages:
    8,222
    Likes Received:
    182
    Trophy Points:
    231
    You can do that and it should be fine.
     
    DR650SE, Oct 20, 2011
    #5
  6. Mechanized Menace

    Mechanized Menace Lost in the MYST

    Reputations:
    1,370
    Messages:
    3,110
    Likes Received:
    63
    Trophy Points:
    116
    Also you can actually grab the VBIOS from GPU0 by clicking the button circled in yellow in GPU-Z. It will save it as a .BIN file you open it in RBE and save it as a .ROM file.
    [​IMG]

    Uploaded with ImageShack.us
     
    Mechanized Menace, Oct 20, 2011
    #6
  7. Mikeobwan

    Mikeobwan Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    23
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Ok so I copied the vbios off of card 0 and posted it to 1 using atiflash. I totally unistalled 11.9 and installed the Dell ati drivers. The card looked good in hwinfo (BIOS showed up properly). I then installed 11.9 and the bios goes all crazy again.

    4870 GPU1
    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29536459/ati05.jpg

    4870 GPU0
    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/29536459/ati04.jpg

    So i'm back at square 1.. Not sure what to do at this point. Can I use 3dmark to test, and see if the cards are working properly. What score should i be getting, and how should i setup 3dmark to get said score.

    Thanks
    Mike
     
    Mikeobwan, Oct 20, 2011
    #7
  8. Mechanized Menace

    Mechanized Menace Lost in the MYST

    Reputations:
    1,370
    Messages:
    3,110
    Likes Received:
    63
    Trophy Points:
    116
    I think about 15k maybe a little less in vantage.
     
    Mechanized Menace, Oct 20, 2011
    #8