Terribly Low Performance from XFire 5870's on new M17X R2

Hey guys I just bought an M17x R2 w/ an Intel Core i7 720QM, Dual Mobility HD 5870's in Crossfire and 8GB of 1333mhz DDR3 RAM. I downloaded and ran 3DMark Vantage and my graphics score was 2522, CPU score 10717 which gave me a total 3DMark Score of 3119.

Now I know I don't have the best system out there but I'm almost positive it should be doing better than that. I just reformatted my system so I could put my two hard drives in RAID-0. After I did that and I had to reinstall my drivers from scratch, I decided to use ATI's newest drivers for the HD 5870, so I installed them and restarted the computer. Everytime it would get to the login screen the screen would black out and I wouldn't be able to see or do anything, so I ended up having to go into safe mode eventually and get rid of the drivers with Driver Sweeper and install Dell's driver off their website. I have Crossfire enabled in CCC, so I'm not too sure what the problem is.

I pushed the Stealth mode button and it asked if I wanted to enter Stealth mode and I pushed No so I assume I am not in Stealth Mode but I am not exactly sure I guess. I also have my power options set to High Performance and in CCC I have Crossfire Enabled. I deleted the ATI drivers, restarted into Safe Mode and used Driver Sweeper to get rid of any leftover ATI Drivers. I then restarted and installed Dell's driver for the HD 5870 and restarted my computer again. I started up Vantage and it's the same thing, about 4-7 FPS on the first test so I just exited it and knew it would be about the same. I also ran the Video Stress Test of Counter Strike Source and it was only in the 60 FPS range, which is ridiculously low, my old dual core desktop with an HD 3850 gets almost tripple that.

Now, I just got this computer on Friday, and I called them after I started it up the first time because it always says that the "AC Adapter is a Non Dell Adapter" when the BIOS starts up and when I enter into Windows, Alienware OSD says the same thing and won't charge the battery, however it will not drain the battery either. Now I have all the power settings in CCC and Windows Power Options set to Maximum Performance whether it's using the Battery or the AC Adapter. I also have taken out the battery and just have the AC Adapter plugged in while doing these tests and it gives the same results.

 

You definitely have a driver and/or stealth mode problem. Since the system is new, I'm assuming you haven't done much to it. To skip a lot of trial and error to resolve your issues, I'd recommend pressing F8 after the alienware logo appears at boot, choosing the repair option and then using the Dell datasafe to restore your system to factory settings.

Once that's done, I'd suggest you update your 5870 video bios + driver set. It would be good if you visited this page: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...x-m17xr1-m17xr2-driver-discussion-thread.html

 

Well after I received my computer on Friday, the very first time I started it up it was giving me the problems with the battery so I'm waiting for a Dell Tech to come out here Monday or Tuesday to either replace the motherboard or the AC Adapter and see if that fixes the problem. Anyways besides that it was supposed to come in RAID-0 with both of my HD's which it didn't so I set up RAID-0 and reinstalled Windows 7 and then put all of the drivers from Dell's website onto the computer including the ATI driver. I've already uninstalled and reinstalled the ATI driver twice now and it hasn't fixed anything. I keep pushing the Stealth mode button and pushing Yes to enable it and when I go into CCC it doesn't say anything about it being enabled. I've tried this several times now and I don't see it being Enabled or Disabled so I'm not sure if that's even working right. I don't know if pushing F8 at this point would be something I would want to do since I just did a whole reformat and that didn't exactly help anything, but I'm running out of patience and ideas...

 

What no way Don't get it repaired! have them replace it with a new one or tell them they can have it back for a refund!

 

thats so weird i just got my new m17x r2 on Wednesday with crossfired 5870's and having the same exact problem...even downloaded 3dmark and was only gettin 5-9 fps. if you get your problem resolved PLEASE post back on how you did it

 

Get replacements as that is ridiculous to receive a several thousand dollar high end notebook that is having problems out of the box!

Completely and totally ridiculous.

 

I completely agree. They're putting in a new Motherboard but the guy has to come to the house to do it. I am more than likely going to be returning this computer because it seems nothing is working right.

I just tried the new Dell Beta ATI Driver and it did the exact same thing that the ATI's Official Drivers did, as soon as it gets to the Windows Login screen it causes the whole screen to like turn off or go black and won't come back on. I have to manually shut down the computer and start it in Safe Mode and either uninstall the drivers using Driver Sweeper or do a System Restore to before I installed them. I really wish I knew what the problem was.

 

You have to get the Vbios for the 5870 that is the fix to the problem it is in Beta mode right now and some of the NBR users are testing for AW. So, that should be released soon as well as update your BIOS to A07 if you are running an older BIOS I.e A05 or lower. In HWMonitor 32 you can view the BIOS version under summary.
HWiNFO32 Download
techPowerUp! :: Download TechPowerUp GPU-Z v0.4.5

 

Definitely check which system Bios version you have? A07 I'm guessing. Check for stealth mode too. Just for testing go into stealth mode and then go out of it again.

Yep you will definitely need to use the Vbios if you are having sleep, black screen, blank screens not responding, issues running on battery, hibernation and shutting down problems.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...x-m17xr1-m17xr2-driver-discussion-thread.html

It was mentioned up above as well. You will need to do this if you are having any troubles. Even if you get a replacement it will still happen. So best to try and fix it 1st if it is the driver problem.

Have a read here and go to page 33 to download it and install. Cheers.

 

I have the BIOS version X30. I tried going into Stealth mode by pushing the Stealth Mode touch button, I tell it Yes to enable it but nothing changes. I go into Alienware CC and it doesn't say anything about it being enabled anywhere. So I repeat this several times, each time checking CC and nothing shows up about Stealth Mode. HwInfo32 also shows my GPU clock on the first GPU at 100Mhz, I then try to check the second GPU and it bluescreen's me.

 

Download and install teh stealth mode indicator: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/463382-stealth-mode-indicator-9.html#post6589020

It will notify you if it's enabled and I think his newest version even shuts it off automatically if enabled. I highly recommend it.

 

Seriously....

Pay close attention when you press the stealthmode button and see it.

Mode on = Light is brighter
Mode off = Light is dimmer

You want the stealthmode to be OFF/dimmer light!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It really does sound like stealthmode is on according to your scores.

 

I did what i think was a bad driver install once and my system gave me almost the exact same points in vantage.. Uninstalled it and back with the old one and same points .. Finaly i did a reinstall of the hole system and everything went smooth but same points.. gpu-z showed me 300/ 400 in games so i was puzzled.. What i tried was take out the battery,ac and did a 30 sec powerdrain.. Started it up and vantage gave me the right numbers again and also gpu-z. Dont know what had happen but it had locked somehow even whith a fresh install of the system.. But i still have the thing when i just use the battey until i have let say 10 % left and plug ac back in again." Plugged in , but not charging"..

 

I'll download the Stealth mode indicator and see what happens. I know you say that the button Dims and what not, but I'm telling you no matter how many times I enable it, the light does not change, I don't even think Stealth Mode is working or it just wont' come out of it. I've done a power drain by holding down the button for over a minute while the battery and AC Adapter is unplugged. I did that at least 3 times so far and nothing has changed.

As far as the driver installs, I've uninstalled and installed the driver over 4 times now. I also had to do a whole system reformat so I could get my operating system back on my hard drives after I put the two hard drives into RAID-0. Does the new A07 Bios show up as X30 in your systems?

As for the battery problem, it will not go away no matter what I do so I'm just waiting til tomorrow when a Dell tech comes out and replaces the motherboard and AC Adapter and see if it finally starts to charge the battery and stop giving me the error everytime I turn on the computer.

 

x30 that is wierd but where did you took the bios info ?

 

X30, holy crap, i just googled that, and everything i read and find concerns a M15x Bios, did you flash the wrong bios update from support.dell.com? Is that even possible? Go get Bios A07 and try to flash that:

M17x-R2 Bios A07 -R276847

Anyway lol, if it's not that, i'm pretty sure it's Stealth Mode. It will always ask you the same question to either Enable or Disable it:



You have to click YES to ENABLE StealthMode and you also have to click YES to DISABLE StealthMode, so much for the Onscreen Confusing.

To Check if Stealth Mode is ON, it will look like this and the GPU is throttled below 800Mhz ( BAD):





And this when StealthMode is OFF, with the CPU in normal state ( GOOD):

 

that's a area 51 mm15x bios or it's a version of te bios provided by the original board manufacturer like the .2X bios we got for the m17

 

I have no idea why it's giving me the X30 Bios... I'm downloading and running the A07 Bios from Dell's Driver downloads for my M17X R2... I'm glad you guys found out that it's not what I want though, I just figured that A07 went by that name LoL.

I just downloaded and installed the Stealth Indicator by the way and I don't have Stealth mode enabled. I checked by enabling it via the Icon and seen that the Stealth Mode button on the Touch screen lit up brighter so I know it enabled it, I then disabled it and it went back to the way it was. Still don't know what to do next except download the A07 Bios again and Flash it. I'll get back to you guys, thanks for helping me out so far.

Edit: BTW guys I just tested using the Stealth Mode touchscreen button without the indicator running and with it running and the button always brings up the prompt asking if I want to enable it, and I push yes but it never enables it or makes the button light up any brighter.

 

Don't rely on the light. It is very hard to see the difference. Rely on the stealth mode indicator you downloaded.

If it is in the system tray and RED, stealth mode is on. If it is GREEN, stealth mode is off.

You can also right click on it and try autofix.

Also check in the CCC (catalyst control center) to make sure crossfire is enabled.

It is important to reboot after you shut stealth mode off if it was on.

Good luck.

 

Well guys I just downloaded and installed that A07 BIOs again. After it extracted the file it opened up the program that asked me if I wanted to Backup and Flash New Bios or just Backup Bios so I chose to Backup and Flash. It completed the thing and then shut down the computer. I started it back up and checked msinfo32 and it still says BIOS X30 7/29/10 . I made sure it was BIOS A07 that I was using and I even downloaded it from the link you guys provided for me. I don't know what's going on with this computer, even right now as I'm typing to you guys it takes forever for the letters to show up, it's really laggy, but the only processes that are going are svhost 106,000.

Edit: I just got off the phone with Dell and X30 is the A07 BIOS as I thought it was. When I went into the BIOS on start-up it showed the BIOS as version A07 so I guess it's just listed differently in HWInfo32 and MSINFO32. A new motherboard will be installed tomorrow along with a new AC Adapter so we'll see if that fixes the battery problem and possibly the performance issues. If it doesn't, I'm just going to return this computer and get another one.

 

I don't really know what to do. I've updated to the latest of ALL drivers and BIOS firmwares for both the main system board and both video cards. Yet, my FPS on Battlefield Bad Company 2 & Arcania are worse than on my Cheapo Asus with an Nvidia 260M.
By specs, this system should be far superior to my cheapo ASUS.
I'll never again buy an alienware nor anything by ATI.
I am in afghanistan (deployed) so I really hope a solution comes out soon for these issues.

 

Yes, I personally don't like ATi

 

Nice first post areswargod. Welcome to the forums. Instead of coming in here and griping, why don't you post some screenshots of 3DMark Vantage scores and maybe your system specs? There are many factors that can cause bad performance. Most are user malfunctions. Updating the drivers and the BIOS are not fix-alls.

 

I have had my new M17XxR2 for just over a week and I am very pleased with it updated all Bios and drivers and it is working like a champ

I am also in Afghanistan but my deployment ends in a month or so.

I still plan to do a fresh reformat/install so I can get everything just the way I want it but waiting till I get home to my 24MB/s internet connection instead of the 24kb/s I get here.

But yeah doing a search for a post that is similiar to the problem you are having and then griping doesn't help us to help you, especially as a first post.

 

I just bought the Red unit in my spec's last week. Have the same problems with low FPS Heaven 2.0, 6 to 7 the CCC shows CF on but only 1 gpu. Also when I check Hwinfo32 for second gpu it BSOD.
Called tech they reloaded drivers checked Vbios on so forth. Said they would change slave gpu, but never got to service call. Got a call from Corp and said they were replacing my unit with a new build? Strange so quick, now waiting for order and spec's to show up.

 

Hey Guys and Girls,

Any progress on this? I have had a similar problem
I am about to do a full format to see whether it fixes the crossfire performance issues, failing that i will (begrudgingly) call Dell service.....

 

Please review post#1 in this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...5870-gpus-5870-vbios-discussion-non-beta.html

Be sure you follow this first. Verify you are running the 8.763 Dell issued driver and that you have applied the VBIOS. Once done, we can begin addressing issues.

Please post follow ups in that thread - this one is old and is being closed.

NOTE:
If you want your issue discussed here you are going to have to post the details. I and most likely the rest of the members here who assist those in need rather not take the time to visit another forum to read about an issue.


Thanks.