Calling out to Alienware Support Where are our Official AMD 7970m Crossfire drivers ??

Here is the link to it. I ran the test and got similar results to the M17xR2

http://download2-developer.amd.com/amd/GPU/executables/PCIeSpeedTest_v0.2.zip

 

Thanks! Not sure why that did not come up in any of my searches. Appreciate the link.

 

so you guys think the gtx580's maybe faster if installed on the R2 because the pci difference even if is not much ?

 

Thank you for your quick reply Mr. Fox. I have also installed now the beta to check if there is any difference... I too feel it is a bit sharper and brighter. I thought I am mistaken, or as you said, I'm imagining...

I wish there was a way we can enable the 'overdrive' like in the old 6990m from the registry... Maybe you guys can help on that?!

Thank you.

 

I dont know if those cards were behind the bandwith we already had on the R1 so it might make no difference but it would be an interesting experiment.

The new cards are clearly starved to a degree for more bandwith though.

 

It's possible they might fun a bit faster with the higher PCIe bandwidth. I doubt it would be all that much difference. From everything I have read, the real-world difference in performance between 8x and 16x because the bandwidth is mostly never maxed out. Only way to know for sure would be to try it out.

Funny you should mention that. I have been thinking about it. Trouble is, I am so used to having Afterburner with the on-screen display working that I hate it when that is turned off, LOL.

Have any of you played with the overclock setting in Afterburner? If you change the "1" to a "2" it disables PowerPlay and allows the GPU to run at full speed without downclocking.

 

the bandwith limitation is because the cpu has 1PCI Express Ports at 16x. i think


Intel Processor Specifications

 

Still good results with further testing. Updated info in the 7970M upgrade thread.

 

What settings are you using in Skyrim to maintain 60 FPS solid? The darn game goes from 35 to 50 FPS for me using 12.7 June 29 betas and 12.7 caps (just like all the other drivers)

 

Try this... Run regedit and change all instances of EnableULPS (I have like at least 21 instances in my registry) that have a DWORD value of "1" to "0" (zero) and reboot.

 

Your cards are broken I'm sorry to say. I get constant 60.1 to 55 fps but remember, there are parts in Skyrim which causes fps to lower down (Solitude).

 

Here's a 3DMark06 run with stock GPU core and memory clocks, CPU overclocked to 4.6GHz using the Catalyst 12.7 beta for desktop computers.

AMD Radeon HD 7970M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2920XM Processor,Alienware M18xR1 score: 32908 3DMarks

 

Any one know if is possible to make a one click app to change the registry settings because for a couple of times it's fine to go and change that but once you start testing a lot of drivers it gets old

also I don't know if you noticed MR Fox but the more drivers you install the more folders with ULPS instances we have that means not even running driver cleaner get rid of those and I was thinking if we can manually delete them

 

Modify the inf ulps entries instead, it will save a lot of time.

Sent from my GT-N7000

 

Quick question...I installed the 12.7 BETA drivers on my R1 (6990M's) after uninstalling the Dell drivers I had installed. After installation,GPU-Z shows my driver version as 8.981.2.0 (same as yours), but doesn't show "(Catalyst 12.7 beta)". Despite that, does 8.981.2.0 equate to 12.7 Beta?




Also, my GPU-Z screen seems to be more complete that yours. Is that because GPU-Z doesn't know how to read the 7970M's yet?

 

yes it is possible, it would be like 3 clicks but you need to know exactly what you need to change.

 

ok im on the 12.7 beta and ive got to say these are not optimized for are cards in the slightest.. why would i say that you ask.. well after playing with the card and the ulps and msi and stock.. and all the benchmarks.. there really is not alot of improvment.. 5-10 fps and from what i can tell the second gpu hardly gets used.. ill go into detail later as im very tired from being up most all night palying with this..

but here is the deal.. 12.7 fixed the xfire in the sense of it gives you a false sense of it working.. instead of bsods and black screens you would get if the second card was inabled it cures that.. but there is not a real improvement and I hope alienware addresses this.. you some improvement on mark11 but not second card improvement.. and that goes for vantage as well..
on 06 and 03 i saw no improvement.. i got damn near the same frames as 1 card..

 

Can you elaborate? please

can you make something like that?

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Class\{4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} 0000, 0001, 0002, 0003, 0004 etc / ENABLEULPS...and set the value to zero

 

Yes, I have noticed that. Back when I had 6990M CrossFire I tried uninstalling the drivers, running Standard VGA then manually deleting all of the registry keys for AMD, then reinstalling the drivers to have only those needed. It made no difference in how things worked and it was time consuming. I haven't tried it with 7970M because it's not causing a problem and I don't want to have to deal with more issue if problems arise from deleting them.

First question, yes... 8.981.2.0 is the driver version. Catalyst 12.7 is the version for software GUI that goes with the driver. Catalyst and driver versions do not always go hand-in-hand. You can have a new Catalyst version without a new driver version. In fact, that has happened many times with AMD Catalyst packages. As a default, mine shows the exact same info as yours, so nothing is wrong. If you want yours to look like this, change all of the "DriverVersion"="8.981.2.0" registry keys to "DriverVersion"="8.981.2.0 (Catalyst 12.7 beta)" and you'll be set. (When I was doing this tweak on my system I paused because I knew there were going to be questions about why my system shows "Catalyst 12.7 beta" and nobody else's system does, LOL. I almost did not do it to avoid questions.)

Second question... Yes, that is why. I think the architecture of 7970M may be drastically different than previous generations of AMD GPUs and that is why we are having issues with multiple things. It may be a while before third-party apps support it properly. RBE does not support it and all of the Windows sidebar gadgets seem to have spotty support for it.

For the moment, I am going to just be glad the cards are working fine with these drivers. As long as things work correctly, everyone that owns 7970M has what they are entitled to have. (Unfortunately, the entitlement does not include the ability to overclock them without problems.) These 7970M cards were pretty much junk with the older drivers, so not having black screens, freezing, BSOD, extreme flickering and CrossFire not working are all nice things to experience with the first proper driver. It could be months before the drivers allow the cards to do their absolute optimized best. It's always that way to some extent with new technology. At least we don't have issues with overheating and thermal shutdown like some of the 6990M CF owners had and no throttling issues like GTX 580M had.

You could make a text .REG file to change them, but it would take longer than it takes to change the keys and it might not be usable on the next driver update. I have never done that because it would be too much hassle.

Making the DWORD changes is very easy and very fast. I can change all of them in about a minute or less using nothing but rapid keystrokes. I have always needed to do this to overclock AMD GPUs and has been that way for several years. It was nice not having to do that with NVIDIA SLI, but I've come to accept it as the norm with AMD desktop and notebook video drivers. Here's how...

1. Launch regedit
2. Click "Computer" at the top of the registry
3. Click Edit > Find
4. In the "Find What" field enter EnableULPS
5. Click "Find Next"
6. When it finds the first EnableULPS, either hit the enter key or double-click the DWORD icon
7. Replace the 1 with a zero (if it is already zero, press F3 twice to find the next key)
8. When it finds the next EnableULPS, if it is a 1 repeat to make it a zero
9. If it is already zero, press F3 twice or "Find Next" twice to go to the next one
10. Repeat until all EnableULPS keys have been changed from a 1 to a zero
11. When you reach the end, close the registry and reboot

The way I do it fast is with my right hand on the number pad and my left hand ready to press the F3 key. As soon as I find the first instance, I hit enter-0-enter, then F3 twice to go to the next registry key. (Use F3 twice to skip over EnableULPS_NA keys.)

 

wow thanks that will definitely save time and yes I am afraid deleting the keys too that's why I ask

 

I still freeze up playing BF3 wth the 12.7 Beta Drivers :/

 

I've seen issues with BF3 with both GTX 580M SLI and 7970 CF. What CPU do you have? If you have BCLK cranked up above 100.0, drop it down to 100Mhz and see if that helps. Run your GPU as stock speeds as well. BF3 does not do well with overclocking, and neither does Crysis.

 

ive really dont see any reason to OC neither 7970m X nor 580 SLI, Im playin both of game frequently on my U2410 @ 1200p, literally both of them runs great at stock clocks at their max settins. I had give a shot to BF3 @core 890Mhz but its not stable at all, randomly got freezes and flickerin issues.

 

I'm OCed to 925/1300 on my 7970s, and Spec Ops: The Line gets 40 to 64 FPS (vsync off). GPU utilization is 84+%, so there is room for driver improvements, but without that OC I wouldn't see 60 FPS. 12.7 Desktop betas installed.

EDIT: I am using 1.075V on the 7970s to get that gaming/stress stable.

 

Wohhh thats great improvement mate, well we all know that there is still not stable driver for 7970m X, so there is a lack of card utilization, result poor game performance, ive remember before while using 12.5 beta with crysis 2, i was gettin around 45Fps but both Gpu utilization about 50 to 60%. Now im on 12.6 Whql driver and ive seen a lots improvement as @1200P im gettin around 70Fps at 75 to 80% gpu utilization. I wish next official release of 12.7 will fix issues with some well known games.

 

I agree, there is no need to overclock 7970M CF or 580M SLI for gaming. They play fine at stock speeds. However, those games have issues with lockups and such when CPU and/or GPU are overclocked. That means I have to lower my settings to play them and that was my only point in response to Insane Beast. If his system is overclocked, set things back to stock speeds and BF3 most likely will work fine. BF3 works just fine for me unless I have things overclocked too much.

 

My GPUs and CPU are both at stock clocks and my system still freezes up in BF3. I think Im going to try a fresh install of windows, Ive had 10+ different drivers on this thing since I got it.

 

I have had no major issues since a windows clean install and going straight to 12.6. I still see under-utilization of the 2nd card, but this will be solved in driver updates I am sure...I am getting 75-90 fps stock settings in bf3 (max settings) solo and mp. Left for dead 2 max settings 200+fps. D3 145-160 fps. metro2033 is the only one still with issues, max settings 40-60fps max...testing more games as as type this...Which program are you guys using for FPS readings in game, is Fraps fine?

 

Something much better than Fraps... http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...mperatures-game-benchmark-screen-display.html

 

I'm getting random crashes in The Witcher 2 (during cutscenes) with 12.7 desktop drivers, also getting kdbsync.exe has stopped working error on boot. Haven't tried The Witcher 2 much on other drivers but performance has been vastly improved over previous drivers, although I think I remember it crashing once on 12.5 as well.

Has this happened to anyone else? I want to make sure it's a software issue, and not something up with hardware. It hasn't happened in any other games so far.

 

The Witcher 2 is giving everyone fits that has 7970M CrossFire. From what I have read, it works OK with one 7970M, but fails miserably under CrossFire. NBR member residualvoltage has posted about his woes with this issue. Unless AMD fixes it with a CAP, the only option is to disable CrossFire.

The kdbsync.exe issue seems to be unique to the M18x R2 and the solution I remember seeing posted was to not install any of the extra AMD software. Only install the bare necessities such as drivers and CCC, but skip the Drag and Drop encoding, Hydravision and other "extras" in the Catalyst package.

Edit: After a quick search, I find the kdbsync.exe file is located in the C:\Program Files (x86)\AMD AVT\bin folder. So, skip installing the video transcoder and you'll probably be in good shape. You may be able to uninstall that using Catalyst Install Manager. Not sure why it only acts up on the M18x R2. Also, in CCC, try changing the setting for "Enable acceleration" from checked to unchecked, or vice versa. You can find that in CCC under AMD Video Converter.

 

Alright, good to know it's not a hardware issue then. Problem is I don't want to disable Crossfire and drop to "borderline playable" rather than 50+fps which I get in Crossfire. (Amazingly, I can even run it with Ubersampling on and still have it playable...I choose not to because I prefer sharper textures to perfect edges)

And thanks for the advice about kdbsync.exe, I'll look into getting that fixed when I can be bothered to (it's not exactly a major problem, just a minor annoyance)

 

So, how is everyone's rigs running?
I've tried everything and can't get my m18x to run stable unless I turn crossfire off.

I'm still calling out Alienware Support, how are those drivers that are supposed to be released this week coming along?

 

If AMD gave Dell the same drivers we are using (12.6 WHQL or 12.7 beta) we cannot expect anything different than what we already have. Hopefully, AMD provided something newer and better for them to work with, but I would not recommend holding your breath. Asphyxiation can prove to be fatal. I suspect great drivers will require a longer wait. If 12.7 WHQL or 12.8 beta improve as much as things did with the current drivers, it will be a good thing. (It was a remarkable improvement, but not enough to be great.)

 

Thanks Mr. Fox for the reply

@Insane_Beast:
As soon as we have them available we will let you guys know, we are working as much as we can to get you stable drivers.

 

I really appreciate all the help and information you guys dish out, and the fact that there are actual Alienware representatives here. Can I expect the 7970m crossfire configuration to be fully functional within a reasonable amount of time? I'd rather just game on one card for now and wait for proper drivers than deal with the hassle of returning this laptop and upgrading to a 680M SLI configuration.

I bought this laptop specifically for Planetside 2 which will be coming out in the next few months, I am hoping for full crossfire functionality by then. (Maybe some early buyers of the 6990m R1s can shed some light on this?)

 

Sometimes the issue is not with the driver but with the game itself, hopefully the game will be fully supported, as of now we are still working on full functionality of the current games and in the future we will have to test and make sure everything works fine with the new games that are coming.

 

I agree, we do appreciate all the effort. I know that the support team has been working diligently on this and it is considered a high priority.

Some folks act as though Dell should be able to wave a magic wand and have everything be perfect. Thankfully, this is not representative of the view of the majority.

Edit: I softened my words so as to not be offensive to friends in the Community.

 

unreasonable mr Fox? it's been almost 2 months since DELL released the 7970 and we still can't enable crossfire on a lot of tittles because the performance is worst

I know AMD has to work on the drivers but DELL should push AMD a little bit harder

 

It would only have been unreasonable if they did not make people pay for the 7970m upgrade but yeah that did not happen, so people should not just be unhappy they should be foaming at the mouth raging after almost 2 months if misery....

Do not sell something if you know it does not work comes to mind .

In this case they knew it was broken out of the gate with NO ETA in sight but yeah they happily took the money.

 

I'm not saying it's improper to be upset and disappointed. AMD should not have released a product to retail distribution that was not ready. We have every right to not be happy about CrossFire being broken and AMD's drivers being garbage. The 7900 series (including desktop graphics) has problems in a multi-GPU setup. It's apparent from all my web searches for solutions that AMD dropped the ball in a way that goes way beyond the misery in our corner of the world.

Most of the malfunction issues should have been discoverable with proper testing. That did not happen and it should have. But, I don't expect there is a magic wand to wave over our GPUs to make them work right now. I expect Dell to take care of its customers. They have always done that for me and countless others. I have no reason to believe that they will leave me holding the bag, so I am not losing any sleep on a silly GPU. Sometime things happen fast and sometime things happen slow. I don't expect Dell to take a bullet for AMD for manufacturing products that are not properly supported. I anticipate the problems are only driver issues and I hope so because the 7970M CrossFire setup has incredible potential.

I just learned a valuable personal life lesson through this. What I learned was: (1) AMD products should be avoided going forward; and, (2) trust my instincts... I knew better based on personal experience and took a risk that I should never have taken based on recent prior quality failures I had with AMD products. (These are my personal take-aways and I am not offering them for public debate.)

This is my opinion and it's OK if we differ a little on a few points now and then.

 

Yeah i understand there is 2 sides to every story but by no means at all does Dell deserve a pass on this one and mainly because its been almost 2 months now which to me is totally unacceptable and there is no way to sugar coat it.

2 months in the computer world is an eternity for most people and they should offer people who have been miserable(since not everyone is unhappy) some option to upgrade/downgrade/refund etc.

 

I agree, I don't care who Dell buys their hardware from whether its NVIDIA/AMD. They should test their damn product before they start shelling it out at 3 grand a piece, I expect a full refund or free/extremely CHEAP upgrade to 680M SLI at this point. Defending Dell by laying the blame on AMD is nonsense, Dell is FULLY responsible for the end-product they sell. They are responsible for insuring the hardware they install in their laptops is fully functional and of the highest quality. They never should have started selling 7970m laptops, I don't understand how a product makes it out on the market without being tested at all.

How about I start selling cars with engines made in china, and when my customers start complaining to me about the engine I tell them to phone up the Chinese engine manufacturer?

Dell is supposed to be calling me back on Monday as I told them I'd wait for any new drivers this week. I'll see how they handle my situation before I judge completely, their customer service has been great so far... but that's all I can say that's positive.

 

Hi guys,
My apologies I only pop up when I've got a problem! I really am an uber noob!
Anyway, today I was prompted to download and install the latest AMD catalyst driver 12.6. Me being the noob I am, went straight ahead and did it, assuming that the update was for my 6990s, yes problem!
So here I am typing this on my phone, because I have the black screen of death. I've tried booting in safe mode, but only get the black screen there too. I have visuals of mouse cursor, but that's it. The only other graphics I'm getting is the windows starting graphics, then it goes into the BSOD without fail.

Please help!

Many thanks in advance, and I apologise for my level of noobness

 

Just realised I probably should have posted this under the AMD problems/etc board. Sorry mods.

 

If the drivers were not supported for your card they wouldnt install. Though when you did the installation, did you choose custom? If so, you may have installed the amd sata drivers. This will render the machine unbootable. The only way, to my knowledge, to fix this would be a system restore. Press f8 before the windows splash screen and choose recovery mode. You can then perform a system restore.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

 

Thanks for the prompt reply!
I'm pretty sure I chose express install, because I was not prompted to do anything else after that. I really don't know what happened!

I followed your advice with the system restore, and now things seem to be sweet again! Thanks! I really don't know what happened with the driver earlier, but I sure as hell won't be trying that again!

Thanks js042507
+1 rep for being so quick and getting me out of the pickle!

 

No problem. I'm glad you got it resolved so quickly. By the way, it could have been just quirky update?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

 

Thanks for popping in and keeping us informed as much as possible.. Its good to see the support..
Please feel free to pm or email me any thing you need tested.. Ill be your Guinna pig if it helps the fine people of this forum!

 

hey bro, look this kind of attitude is fine if you dont want to get any where..
I mean demanding on a forum that you get some thing free/cheap or discounted is not the best way to get any thing resolved..
To me its just not appropriate.. and you will never get a reply form one of them this way..
why dont you try pming one of the reps and politely explaining your situation..
it might help a tad bit better than going off on here..and losing your cool..