Whats the best driver version for a 6970m in an M17x R3?

As the title says, whats the best driver version for a 6970m in an M17x R3, currently? Asking just in case there's a notoriously unstable new one or something along those lines, I think accidentally installed old drivers instead of new ones last time I updated so I figured it would be better to ask this time around.

 

I don't have a 6970m but the lower 6870m. After reading all the stories from people using non-Dell drivers, I have decided to just stick to the default Dell 6870m drivers. Works fine for me! No problems whatsoever.

 

Hey, I have a 6990m, which I think is similar to a 6970m, with higher clock speeds, and I am using the AMD Catalyst 12.11 Beta drivers (version 11 latest ones) and they seem to be working well for all my games (so far I have played far cry 3, assassins creed 3, skyrim, max payne 3, and black ops 2) and they have a relatively decent improvement on some games. Default dell drivers are definitely guaranteed safe and will work, but they are very outdated and may not properly support new games, unlike the newer official and Beta AMD ones. The 12.11 beta are also applicable for your gfx card (AMD 6000m series).

The only issue is installing AMD drivers on an Alienware system, which is different for everyone and can be complex to install (even after many successful driver installs I still have trouble to this day on exactly what to do) it is sort of a hit and miss process, and many people have different techniques. If you are not careful you can seriously mess up your computer with these install attempts (which is why you should at least create a restore point, among other things, if you chose to do this), so proceed at your own risk. Also make sure you try to install the cap drivers (caps are fixes for beta drivers).

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/610780-m17x-r3-driver-problem-6970-a-2.html
I use this guide (post #15, longest one on the page) for my AMD driver installs and it generally works well and is comprehensive.

ATI Radeon
here are the 12.11 drivers beta and the cap2 (I am not sure if you need the beta drivers with .NET support, but I did not use them). 12.10 drivers are actual whql drivers, while 12.11 drivers are beta (I have not installed 12.10 so I dont know how they work).

 

Took about two and a half/three tries, but I got it to install the way you linked Adeg, thanks a lot. As usual, the real problem was CCC being a huge PITA during the process.

 

I would stick to the DELL drivers but if the BETA 12.11 works good for you then that's awesome! enjoy your lappy

 

Glad it worked, and yeah process can take multiple times and can cause multiple issues with computer drivers and software (which is why I recommend at least creating a restore point) and sometimes beta drivers don't work, but official whql ones usually do.

I usually only have issues with the AMD display driver in the installation process, not ccc, but honestly this process gives everyone different problems.

Also if you care about it check to see if the integrated gfx works.

 

Hi Lakart,I have been using 12.11 beta drivers for some time & I can say they are very stable,with noticeable performance improvements.
Although the majority of the users recommends clean install,the actual method may vary between individual systems.
For me,the installation only works when I install the beta drivers over the official Dell drivers after uninstalling everything & doing a driver sweep.
I can never successfully install the 12.11 beta driver on its own & I have tried for countless hours before discovering that only this method worked for my system.
It goes like this: uninstall all-->driver sweep-->Dell drivers-->Beta drivers-->BSOD-->Beta drivers-->Voila!
Take note that if you do go the 12.11 beta route,you will lose the FN+F4/F5 brightness function.
F7 integrated gfx still works though & you can adjust the brightness settings there.