580M SLI throttling Discussion Thread

look who decides to show up after the meeting! i think the batboy needs a bat.

j/k

 

lol john....

 

This conference was definitely a first between end user & engineering. Maybe Charles could write an article about it. I think people outide of the Alienware threads should have a chance to hear about Dell's involvement with the community.

 

I tried to call in twice, but could not get through.

 

Hi there

A question from my side:

Is the throttling problem caused by the power limitation of the MXM port only related to the M18X (SLI?) or is it also the reason for throttling on the M17X R3?

 

for those thinking it's an easy task to change fermi clocks....lol
curtesy of civato
if this was implemented on our cards...throttle could be controlled pretty well....if all the settings worked...that is.



Give his post a good read through...
Fermi bios editor guide - Guru3D.com Forums

 

johnksss, good link there!

 

yeah it is...it's what nvidia is using to control these mobile cards...only difference is...they control all the settings...haha. these are some variations of their tools used in the 480/580 series cards.

 

My fault. I copy/pasted the dial in info from an old email. Since the time I originally got my first Dell conference bridge, they switched over to a new service. I got the new dial in details in a different email and never deleted the old one. Hence, defunct dial in info was sent out by me. Very n00b mistake. Sorry for the hassle.

BatBoy tells me you are going to organize the Team Red call like 0x29A did for Team Green. T/F? I sent you a PM with my email. We're ready to get the ball rolling on the next one when you are. There is a growing interest here at Dell for interactions like this.

(Just got the LinkedIn invite.)

 

waiting on team red discussion as well...

 

Kind of, in that the fix will be similar, but the root cause is slightly different. Sorry for the lack of detail, but I'm waiting on approval for what I can say and when. We are working on the issue as we speak.

 

Yes, we need to do that. This is great interaction. I'll reach out to you on this before starting the process.

 

what could we possibly change about the red cards. the voltage regulation is maxed at 1.1v unless its hard-modded isn't it? the reds dont suffer from throttling or dpc latency either.

 

this is what im very curious about myself...they pretty much run almost flawless. and asking for more voltage is NOT an option.

 

exactly lol, a meeting isn't worth the hassle imo. if anything i want a meeting to have my 2760qm not throttle below 3.4ghz, ever : p.

 

Might be a good idea to bring the 6990 thermal issues up in the meeting.

 

Yes, that is an issue on the red cards with some of the newer systems. It seems there have been some defective AMD cards shipped in the last month or so. Fans are not working properly as well. Unfortunately, I have one of those systems. It is also a problem obtaining replacement parts at this time. I will start a new thread soon and gather intel for topics to be covered with our partners at Dell. Things are very busy at work right now, but I'll work on coordinating this soon.

 

(maybe this should be saved for your thread Fox but ...)

Yea this was sort of my point when people were discussing the team green meeting, that I couldn't really see anything special team reds would want to talk about and if the conversation were to be about more than throttle it should include team reds. What would we talk about:

Fan Control ... (apparently already talked about, not happening?)
Voltage control (also not going to happen)
Better radiators (copper) on the Heat sinks ? (this would be useful)

All common issues with the 580s ... although they can adjust their voltage if they want to. Not sure if there is a need for a special purpose meeting with team red per se. as opposed to team alienware, what more can be done.

 

when you say there is a problem with the fans...define? i know they dont ever fully kick in till the gpu temp is about 90+ degrees or at least with the 3 boards i tested.

 

One of the issues is the fans sometimes not turning on at all, or only one GPU fan will operate, as well as one or both cards hitting 100+C during gaming followed by forced shutdown. There are a number of folks posting in our threads about it and Alienware Tech Support has acknowledged there was a run of defective AMD cards shipped with new M18x systems in the last month or so. Replacements cards will be available around the first or second week of November.

 

hummmm, i wonder if i was in there as well....it did act screwy from time to time...i just chalked it up as user error....now im not sure....

 

It's difficult to imagine a user error in your case when a computer is involved, my friend... or mine for that matter. At least as far as the current issues are concerned. If you haven't had a chance to yet, check out the thread that Bill linked earlier. http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/620449-6990-overheating.html

 

thanks. will do.

 

A new thread for AMD-based M18x issues has been created to help prepare for a conference call with Dell/Alienware.

*Official Alienware M18x AMD CrossFire Discussion Thread (re: Dell/AW Conference Call)*

 

I'd like to be a part of team red for the conference. I found the last conference to be an awesome opportunity, full of info that is not readily available here in the forum.
Please get me an invite when the time comes.

 

So at this moment we are still waitin for news from Mr. Bill, right?

 

I wonder if any of you guys with Nvidia gpu's could check your MB revisions and post them over on the AMD thread here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ussion-thread-re-dell-aw-conference-call.html

At this point, I know Dell are investigating the cause of problems with thermal shutdowns and other issues for AMD owners - as stated above, Mr Fox is organising a "Team Red" conference call like "Team Green" recently had.

Its suspected that faulty MB's *could* be a reason and that's why I thought if it *were* the reason, Nvidia owners would suffer the same issue too, right?

Anyhow, MB revision is identifiable by just removing the battery and the bottom cover plate - its visible right near the ram slots for those who don't know where to look but Im sure most of you do.

If anyone wants to do this, great. The more info we have, the better.

Cheers guys.

 

Is there a "Team Green" panel as well, or has this issue been resolved? I returned my pair of 580's months ago. In retrospect, at least my GPU fans worked...

 

with the new flash...gpus run fine... you might want to get them back...lol

did not know amd was having all these issues..that's for sure!!

 

I'd beat myself up over it, but I might lose... my evil half works out

 

Great line! +rep - made me laugh that did!

 

Thats because AMD Gpu's run hotter then Nvidia hence no throttle for AMD therefore causing all sorts of problems due to heat. This is not a motherboard issue, but rather a GPU heat.

 

Interesting. That would explain why I've gone through 4 6970M's & 2 6990M's in different machines. Maybe they should have throttled the 6970M/6990M's to avoid heat problems.............

 

Yep! Heat is a biggest KILLER! I hope there is a solution for AMD users soon, this is disturbing to say the least, I personally thought the M18X had very good gpu cooling, in a way now im glad we have the throttling on 580m's.

Good luck ppl!!

 

My AMD's run really cool off a stock factory job.

 

Nice....I hope you doubled up on atleast a 2yr complete care warranty. At first all my AMD GPU's in the M18x were all good........and you know the rest....

 

What kind of temps are you guys getting with the green's? info for both cards at idle and under load would be interesting. No OC....

 

At idle 50 to 52C and at full load 72 to 76C.

 

Thanks Gunner, tell me....do you have a huge difference between primary and secondary at idle or under load? - even at idle, my 6990's have a 10c+ difference with the primary being at least 10c hotter....

 

They usually report a difference of a few degrees. Not like AMD gpu's.

 

haha, yea i'm good until 2016. (at least it worked out for you thuogh, id kill to be on 580ms)

 

It's sort of like the old saying, "If you don't like the weather in Texas, wait a minute." This could soon change with a fix for the issues/defects with AMD cards and better driver support. It remains to be seen, of course, but I'm not ruling out the possibility. Red and green have been trading hits on the crown for a long time. Hopefully, that battle will never end because it spurs competition and improvement in products for everyone, both red and green fans.

 

I sort of worry about AMD a bit. In the wake of recent layoffs that mostly took out marketing and PR roles, I'm wondering who's next.

 

Man, I hate that. That could be bad for many reasons. Not only for the unfortunate layoff victims, but also a monopoly for NVIDIA could turn out very bad for consumers.

Trouble at AMD might explain some of the problems we are seeing with reliability and defects... not sure. I also wonder about some of the components used in electronics manufacturing and what effect the tsunami/quake had on component parts quality and availability.

 

yeah. Apparently we will hear the CEO's plan tomorrow. Very interested. I'm a big AMD fan.

 

I have been for a long time... not a die hard fanatic, but with a strong preference for AMD GPUs. Having malfunctioning AMD GPUs followed by totally dead AMD GPUs in my new M18x has been a huge disappointment for me.

I built a new gaming desktop for one of my sons a few weeks ago. I installed an XFX Radeon HD 6670 and it has been somewhat of a disappointment as well, although its not dead... yet.

 

The Dell warranty is the most important upgrade in configuring a Dell/AW computer. You did right.

 

Lets hope someone like IBM or MS buys them out. MS could leverage AMD technology for their xbox, PC's (discrete gfx + cpu) and windows mobile phones (lower power fusion chips). On it's own, AMD is finished, the upper management sucks and they have always been a money blackhole. Their CPU division isn't competitive at all. ATi was much better off on its own although it also used to bleed money due to sucky management. One thing all of us have to admit, nVidia has very competent management and rarely loses money.

 

Hi,

I'm wondering if there's still any problem with 580 SLI now? I'm from the red team and i think I'm receiving a new replacement with 580s because of the ongoing cold boot issue on AMD cards.

I read about the throttling issue but i'm not sure if it's fixed or not. I know there's vbios released by Dell, but i'm not sure if it's still necessary to flash the new vbios? Is there anything else I have to do when I receive the new system to enjoy the beast perfectly?

thanks any help appreciated!

 

all these replacements (580m's for 6990m's) im gonna ask for a partial refund. my amd machine has serious issues and i didnt get a free upgrade.