m7970 overheating in m17xR2

Greetings gurus,

I have successfully installed the m7970 into my m17xR2, but it overheats and performs a black shutdown on every major game. Keeping my laptop in Power Saver mode and doing anything else besides gaming, the laptop runs just fine for days, but get those polygons going....

The worst of what I have is Bioshock Infinite and Witcher 2. I can force the PC into Power Saver profile, use HWInfo to force the fans to keep at 4000rpm, and use a cooling tray underneath. Still, after 30 min the computer just blacks out, like there was a power outage, and everything I was doing is lost.

It may be a bad paste job, but I've done this for 10 years so I have confidence in my skills. But the heatsink itself seems to be a bit warped, or misaligned, due to the fact that one corner requires many more turns that they others to get tension in the screw. Same goes for the CPU. I would like advice on this subject.

I assume everyone else getting a stable run out of their cards. For reference mine is a CLEVO card with RJJTECH bios.

Thanks for the help
RSGeiger

 

Hi bro, long time no see

Well, i recon the paste job is the problem here + the vram pads may be to thick.

You see, you must use Max 1mm pads, and co op this with thickest and hard to spread paste, like ICD7.

On the beginning, i was heating up the paste before i would apply it on the GPU DIE. Now i just skip this and apply long thin strip across whole DIE horizontally, then, i then apply a bit of pressure on the top of the heat sink and keep it like this until i put all screws in 1.2.3.4 order (cross).

Good luck, if you need help we can talk on skype, just let me know

 

Hey flingin! Yeah, I've been busy

I have the 1mm pads, so i know that isnt it. Plus my paste is pretty good (PK-1). And as far as the rest of your steps, I did it all the same.

I'll give it another repaste tomorrow, and I'll update you on it. But I have a feeling that somehow I'm missing contact in a way I cant fix.

 

yep, another step would be obtaining another heatsink, from ebay ect, some of them are manufactured differently a bit.

You had Nvidia card before (stock) or radeon ?

 

I've always had radeon cards. So the heatsink itself is the right size, plus I got the custom screws and X-bracket for the m7970.

 

You try the x-bracket cut metod? I filed down all leg 2mm,the original size was on 5mm and now all 3mm.This simple but need new x-bracket or should be removed from the card,because of the iron powder dangerous!
In the end have to tighten the screws carefully,because too high pressure kill your card! I use original 5870M's card bolts and the vga temp amazing.This 680M not 7970M but same good the end results.

 

Not sure if this will apply to you or not, but I had a bad driver install that was causing my card to overheat and my system to shutdown while gaming.

On idle temps, the card was running in the mid 50C and after about 10min of playing Rift, the system would crash. I ended up doing a clean driver install and have not had a problem since. My idle temps are around 48C now.

 

And this only shows how effective R2 cooling can be if done properly. My card never goes past 40 while idle, usually 33-38'C, on full load, max i saw, 99.9% utilization was 83'C. I also remember one paste job after witch i was getting 85'C in Metro 2033, but this was straight up after re-paste so i only assume heatsink needed to settle down.

The trick with filing your heatsink is OK if you are willing to accept that one day you may see your GPU core damaged/chipped if you are not carefull. In my old MSI GX740 there was a CPU heatsink where you could apply as much pressure as you want with tightening the screws down, and this way i damaged one of my CPUs DIE, a horrible day, but i learned something...at least.

 

Thanks for the info SkylineLvr. If you have a link to a thread explaining this process, i might give it a go, but I'm considering it as a last resort.

I also dont see the driver being the problem, because I've had 3 different OS installs and 3 different drivers, and the results are the same. What you are describing is what is exactly what is happening to me, but I believe the problem to be elsewhere in the cooling system.

 

@rsgeiger how long have you been experiencing this? I've also got Clevo cards and I'm hoping it doesn't go this way.

I'm using 0.5mm pads on the vRAM and no pads on the VRM's as there's hardly any space to put anything in there.

With 0.5mm pads the heatsink sits flush with the GPU die. If I had to place pads on the VRM's I would probably have to change my vRAM pads to 1mm to have enough space to stick 0.5mm pads on the VRM's.

 

The R2 heatsink not 100% compatible to 7970M or 680M.The left side memories enough 0,5mm pad,but the other side need 1mm.When i cut the legs use all side 1mm and gingerly pressure the gpu die.Now play BF3 multi 2 hours and max.GPU temp 62°C (760/2000MHz).It could be even less but hwinfo switch 4000 RPM when a GPU 62°C

 

Hi Nos,

I have 1mm on the vRAM and .5mm on the VRMs, just as you described. Flingin is using 1mm pads all around, both vRAM and VRM. I've had this issue since I installed the m7970 a year ago and have just been careful not to push the GPU too hard. It is just my sad tale.

My cross brace is 100% Celvo m7970, with crappy screws and all. I dont have the tools, time, or money to experiment cutting up x-brackets and other pieces of metal, so it works with this setup or it doesnt.

I dont think the card brand matters that much. In reallity, after checking the photo from the other m7970 comparing the Dell and Clevo cards, I think I actually have a Dell. But I still needed to use the RJTECH BIOS to get it to work in my machine.

As an update, I've re-pasted. The old CPU application was good, but the GPU application might have had a bubble in it, given how it crusted off. Overall it does seem to run a little cooler now, but before I tempt fate with another gaming round, can you guys tell me what your GPU fan stepping is in HWInfo? What is your max fan speed?

As an addition. I ran the Valley Benchmark for 10 min and I still reach 82 degrees. Even in idle (balanced power mode), CPU is doing 48 (max 74), GPU idle 35 (max 86). So I dont think this is good enough to game yet.

It really does suck that there is only one thermal sensor for the GPU now. I cant tell if the core, the ram, or the VRMs are to blame.

Thanks

 

If you're using HWinfo to control your fans it looks like you do have the Dell card. Easy way to tell is the Clevo has brownish screw holes and the Dells have white.

Since my fans are on auto I haven't paid much attention to them but my idle temps are around 31c and load is at 65c. They may seem low but its winter here so thats helping. If you don't mind going through the whole process again I would suggest trying the 0.5mm pads on the vRAM and don't use anything on the VRM's as there's barely any gap there anyway.

Also you mentioned you have a Clevo x-bracket and screws. This would mean you aren't using c-clips. Are you screwing the heatsink completely down? I didnt, I turned the screw just enough to make each numbered metal arm bend slightly downward.

 

thanks Nos,

My temps are still higher than yours it seems. I also just barely make sure the arms on the heatsink go down, no major bowing as far as i can see. If I really need to reseat all the pad again, then I need to order supplies. And in germany they are just not that easy to find...

 

Hmmm interesting results.

I am on sechedule to to receive a clevo 7970m with my r2. The r2 has currently a 4870m installled. Should I be aware of any tips here which screws to use, etc?
rsgeiger good to hear the repaste is working and let's hope it's just the bubble./poor prior paste Also I have on order 1mm pads on the way. I think 0.5mm is too thin or am I wrong?

 

thanks tron, but the repaste is not enough.

either my pads are bad, for which I need to wait for the reorder, or the clevo heatsink isnt sitting right, which I have no fix for.

flingin says use 1mm pads everywhere. I tried that but I couldnt get my heat sink to sit right with that. I have 1mm for the ram and .5mm for the "other chips". It still could be wrong, though, as my temps just wont stabilize.

 

Yeah I too am concerned how to correctly use thermal pads for the vram etc on my new arriving 7970m. I assume my old 4870m heatsink will fit on the 7970m?
Are you using a clevo heatsink? I thought we should be using the alienware heatsinks and clevo screws, x brackets..???

 

unfortunately, at least for me, the old x-bracket does not work. This is the metal X on the back of the card. I still use the same heat-sink that came with the alienware, but with out the x-bracket, the heat-sink cant stay screwed on properly. That is why i bought the clevo x-bracket, and that means using clevo screws too.

problem is the clevo screws and the alienware heatsink arent an exact match. the heatsink expects fairly robust screws, and the clevos are much tinier. Anyway, im still in the middle of an experiment that hasnt had success yet.

 

The Clevo screws although having thinner shaft to match the Clevo x-bracket have heads that are sufficiently sized to be used on the Alienware heatsink. If you still have some thermal paste for the GPU die I would suggest re-install the card in the mean time and re-use the 0.5mm pads on the vRAM. Remove the heatsink slowly and carefully and they should still be intact. If you cut them up to the exact size of each vRAM chip you might have enough for covering all. Actually you can use a piece half the size of each vRAM chip. People who have been using thick paste on the vRAM chips never cover the entire chip.

These vRAM chips are very efficient and unless you are overclocking, which by the looks of your temp problems you aren't, they don't even require active cooling. A good example is the vRAM chips found on the underside of the 4gb 680M.

I may be wrong but I think the 1mm thermal pads you have may not be as compressable as the ones flingins using. If that's true, the heatsink is not making proper contact with the GPU die. Since I'm using 0.5mm pads and my heatsink is sitting flush with the die I can say with some certainty that 1mm pads on the vRAM chips that don't compress well is most probably the cause of your high temps.

Another possibility is that your heatsink may be warped. Try taking some pics when you get around to re-installing and post them up if you can. Best of luck! :thumbsup:

edit: @tron2^ Your 4870M heatsinks should be fine but you need the 6970M/6990M/7970M x-bracket.

 

Thanks Nos, that was a very well thought out explanation.

It could be as you say, that the 1mm pads don't compress. The problem is my .5mm and my 1mm pads come from different companies. And the .5mm are VERY compressed. If I use the .5 on the vRAM and install the heatsink, I can grab a corner of the thermal pad and just tug it right out. That tells me it wouldn't make enough contact between the heatsink and the chip.

I'm still worried about the VRMs. Those things get hot very fast and I'm wondering if contact on those chips, or the pads I am using, are good enough. I will take photos of my next application tomorrow. And i really appreciate all the help.

 

Thnx nospheratu for that.
I am keen and ready to go with the install when the card arrives with the wealth of knowledge here. Interstingly opened it up yesterday and got to the hdd screws and watched youtube videos of dismantling. My god it's so different compared to doing a gpu/cpu repaste on clevo. This alienware is like dismantling atomic bomb...
Rsgeiger post some photos of heatsink side view and let the experts diagnose it

 

Tron2, you're getting a clevo 7970? Make sure that that card has been flashed with a compatible vbios or it will not work in your alienware.

 

You can always just Vbios flash the card to use a lower voltage. It's what I had to do to maintain fair enough temps on my 6970M. I imagine that I'll have to do the same thing here when I move to the 7970M.

The R2 is rated for a 75w TDP maximum per GPU slot. They aren't capable of naturally cooling off a 100w GPU without a few mods. But I agree with the idea of swapping out a new heatsink. it definitely helped my i7 stay cooler.

 

Still waiting on new pads guys and gals. it will be a while before I can update the thread.

 

I think I'm going to do the same my vddc sensor readings are inconsistant. I think its the poor quality components Clevo used to cut costs. Hopefully padding the VRM extends its lifetime.

 

Yup go with the new thermal pads guys will definitely provide long term protection. Out of curiosity which vbios flash program does everyone use? I have heard of nvflash but must be done in dos?. Any programs that work in win 7 64bit? Also will use thames.rom not sure what it will ship with but its a clevo 7970m

 

When was in my 7970M,i always using autoexec.bat,because simple and safe.
Here the tutorial: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/688656-guide-blind-flashing-amd-7970m-modded-vbios-clevo-p1xxhm-laptops.html

 

my card never exceeds 85'C, it is just a matter of thermal paste used + pads + skills + a getting a good alignment on the card+ sometimes the heatsinks differs between each other

If a single thing of above is missing, it can just lead to overheating.

 

why are you all so anxius about vrm temps? i dont even have thermal pads on them. i only use ads on memory . and everything works fine!

my 7970m temp idle is 37 when the ambient temp is 29 and when gaming max temp goes to 80-85C
everything stable and all for hours.

 

Yes, that is correct, but, those pads are there for a reason you know.... i know from my personal experience that Vram chips are not getting hot as well, ....putting pads on them helps to remove some heat not only from vrams, but from PCB as well....voltage regulators tend to heat up a bit.....as well
Anyways, i mentioned pads because if you get too thick ones, or you install them ..in the wrong way....the contact between GPU core and heatsink may be compromised leading to GPU overheating.

For a example, look at this guy and skip to 6:50
Alienware M17X R2 laptop GTX580 video card upgrade - YouTube

580m with crappy stock dell pads teared into pieces worked for him, i would say, lucky he is.