***M18x - AMD Crossfire (Driver Questions, Performance, Problems) Discussion Thread***

Try to flash another vBios-file

 

What vBios shall I flash? There are no updates on the Dell site.

 

If you want, I send u my vBios via Mail. My 7970s are rockstable, except I overdo overclocking.

 

Hey guys,

i've a problem with my M18xR2. After a fresh install of Win7, i tried to install the graphic cards (7970M CF).

The installation has been completed and a restart was required. Once the notebook boots up and the windows logo appears, then it stops. Only a hard reset helps. On second boot the windows starts normally, but the drivers are not installed. I've tested the Dell driver and also the AMD. Both with the same issue. The event log shows nothing about this.

I've tried the same with Win8. In Windows 8 the display turns black and stays that way, during the installation. Nothing happens anymore. A hard reset is necessary.

The BIOS shows me both graphic cards as "ATI GFX". The device manager of win8 shows me both as 7970M (Win driver version v. xxx). Win7 shows me only 2 standard vga cards.

Whats wrong with the system? Dell has replaced the motherboard and both graphics card. Still the same issue. May it be that the crossfire cable is broken?

 

@Gerd -- I am thinking about flashing the vbios of my cards too. could you mail the vbios to me as well?

 

Ok, so I have had a few days to play with this new machine and so far I am happy with just a few issues with some games and crossfire..

Far Cry 3 - xfire mode gives me stuttering - but when it is smooth, full settings look so nice

Crysis 3 - have to turn shadows and object detail to medium but runs and looks great

Tomb Raider - no problems so far

I guess my big question is are the 13.2 beta 7 drivers the best to use? If not, what is the best / most stable for xfire I also installed 12.11 cap 2.

Any other things that you all have figured out already that are things I need to do? Flash vbios? etc

So far it has not crashed, not blue screened, just sometimes the xfire seems micro-stutter, but not on all games. like say some are butter smooth.

 

By the way, I installed the 13.2 beta 7 on top of the factory dell drivers as some had suggested in other posts

 

Good morning. Far Cry 3 has stuttering issues with CrossFire and SLI, if I'm not mistaken. What you're seeing there is normal. I have limited dealings with Crysis 3, but with the newest drivers and CrossFire, the game awesomely. I don't own Tomb Raider yet.

There are newer 13.3 beta drivers also, if you're interested. AMD Catalyst 13.3 BETA 3 Download

Congratulations on your machine man!

 

What driver are you attempting to install?

 

Crysis 3 runs like a hot knife through butter. Get the 'Maldo on the fly' mod for it. Look in the stickied optimization thread for more details.
Sadly I've given up on Farcry 3, that stutter is a deal breaker.

 

The official Dell driver and all AMD driver since 13.1 WHQL. With all them i've the same issue.

 

I know I have seen others post about similar problems. Perhaps someone that ran into the same issues can share what they did to correct it. I doubt your CrossFire cable is causing the problem. CrossFire (and SLI) have to be enabled after installing drivers and you are not getting that far into the process before the problems occur.

With Windows 8, you must disable Driver Signature Enforcement to get most drivers to install correctly. Since you are having a problem with Windows 7 and Windows 8, that may or may not be the fix. But, you can try disabling DSE on Windows 7 as well. If your BIOS has UEFI Secure Boot enabled, try using the Legacy Boot options instead. The seems to be a plethora of functional and reliability issues associated with UEFI Secure Boot and Fast Boot. That alone might solve it if you are not already selecting the option for Legacy Boot. To disable DSE in Windows 7, press F8 during startup as you would to enter Safe Mode and select the option to disable Driver Signature Enforcement. Install your AMD drives, then reboot. DSE will be turned on again after rebooting.

 

I don't think that the issue is related to the xFire cable either, it seems to me that the issue could be cause by the DSE as well. Try disabling that and disabling the auto look for drivers online.

1. From the Start Menu, select Devices and Printers.

2. Select the single device, right click, and in the menu click Device installation settings.

3. Under “Do you want Windows to download driver software and realistic icons for your devices?” select “No, let me choose what to do”.

4. By selecting No, the choice will be expanded. Select also “Never install driver software from Windows Update”. Under this choice Windows will not do any searching for recommended driver updates for that specific device. Save changes.

 

That'd be great.

 

Greetings all,

Im depressed & i need help very fast.

i want to flash my vbios to an older version due to throttling issues, & i dont know what to type into the command screen, can someone undertand this & let me know how to do it :

Here.

Plus, i have all the files into my flash drive, but didnt know what to type.

 

Might want to let us know your specs buddy.
I have a great link if your using ATI flash i can give you once I get home.

 

Look at my specs in my sig, my friend.

 

Which is why I ask, all I see in your signature is a 560M. If you're wanting to flash your 560M you're definitely better off asking in the nVidia thread, you'll get the best answer there.
If your going to flash an AMD card you can use ATI flash but I believe the commands differ from NVflash and vice versa.
If I've missed something in your sig, here is a link to some AMD commands which I find useful

 

Hey there guys, I just got my m18x with the 7970 in crossfire.
I would like to know how much of an improvement I could get by overclocking this baby. Is it right to assume that it will be around 10%?

Cheers

 

Chrusti,I have mine OCed at 900/1250 which is around 10% give or take, I keep them at this level 24/7. You can definitely OC more. Just make sure you watch your temps.

 

I have been noticing some problems when playing games recently. In the middle of the gameplay, I sometimes see lots of artifacts. I'm using 6990M crossfire but there are no overheating problems as far as I know. My temps are around 75 C max when gaming. Could this be a driver issue?

 

It very well could be. Have you changed anything recently or is it in any particular game? Or have you OCed?

 

@TBoneSan

I recently upgraded my video card driver and I don't overclock. Since I couldn't get rid of the issue with catalyst 13.1, I rolled back to 12.1 and it seems to be running a lot better. No issues so far.

 

hey guys and girls
so about 4 months ago i bought the m18x r2 with the AMD Radeon 7970M crossfire it has windows 7 64bit . last month i began having problems with the screen going black and it would tell me that my display driver has stopped and restarted again. i called in and they helped me update my drivers. the problem stopped however shortly after i tried to run diablo 3 and got the blue screen error, so i called again they said my video cards were defective. so after about a week of having differnt techs come into my home to fix it they finally got it, but now im trying to play warframe and the game keeps crashing on me the only way to get out of it is to hard reset my comp. i am also getting the blue screen again from time to time, i called dell again and there telling me to reformat and that should fix it but id rather see if anyone else is having a simaler problem before i reformat it. i think its a hardware problem but i dont know how to tell. the system cost me 3500$ so im getting very frustrated with the dell techs over the phone. if some one can provide some answers i would be very greatful! if anymore info is needed let me know thanks

 

Hi slayes. A couple of things first. Whenever you post a new thread try to give it a title that summarizes your issue. A just "need help" is too generic and might stir people willing to give help away. Be brief and specific. For instance: "7970m defective?," or "7970m keep crashing after Dell replacement." Second, you need to summarize or list the main components of your system. That's going to help who's willing to help you.

In regards of your issue, have you tried running a diagnostic? Start the PC and press F12 and run it. Or you could download Alienware Autopsy and run a full diagnostic from there. You need to exclude everything else before blaming the GPUs itself (memory, disk, GPU vram, etc). Give the diagnostic a try and report back when you can.

 

Pretty much what is said above. Please provide a list of what components your comp has and run per boot diagnostic test, pressing f12 while turning on, I think it's option5. If it passes then try autopsy and see if that gives any error. If both give no errors then try running a stress test for gpu/CPU.

 

hey sorry i was a little light on the information this is my first time using fourms. appreciate the reply though. i ran the diagnostic and it detected no problems. the rest of the info on my system is as follows.
windows 7 64bit ultimate
version 6.1.7601 service pack 1 build 7601
system model m18xr2
intel R core i7-3630 QM CPU @ 2.40 GHz, 2401 mhz 4
total physical memory 24 gb
total virtual memory 48 gb
bios alienware A10
AMD radeon HD 7970M

ummm not sure if this is the info you guys will need or not. so just let me know thanks again
im currently running the autospy test

 

Also, if you download and run Who Crashed it can help in pointing to the culprit behind the BSOD. If you can do that and post the results, we can see if we can help further....chances are that it's video driver related.

 

heres all the info i got from who crashed.


Crash Dump Analysis
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Spoiler

Crash dump directory: C:\Windows\Minidump

Crash dumps are enabled on your computer.

On Thu 28/03/2013 8:20:36 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\032813-36597-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: atikmpag.sys (atikmpag+0x9410)
Bugcheck code: 0x116 (0xFFFFFA801399A010, 0xFFFFF88004C42410, 0x0, 0x2)
Error: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\atikmpag.sys
product: AMD driver
company: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
description: AMD multi-vendor Miniport Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: atikmpag.sys (AMD multi-vendor Miniport Driver, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.).
Google query: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. VIDEO_TDR_ERROR



On Thu 28/03/2013 8:20:36 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\memory.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: atikmpag.sys (0xFFFFF88004C42410)
Bugcheck code: 0x116 (0xFFFFFA801399A010, 0xFFFFF88004C42410, 0x0, 0x2)
Error: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\atikmpag.sys
product: AMD driver
company: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
description: AMD multi-vendor Miniport Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: atikmpag.sys (AMD multi-vendor Miniport Driver, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.).
Google query: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. VIDEO_TDR_ERROR



On Thu 28/03/2013 7:29:03 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\032813-28080-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: atikmpag.sys (atikmpag+0x9410)
Bugcheck code: 0x116 (0xFFFFFA801351E010, 0xFFFFF88004809410, 0x0, 0x2)
Error: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\atikmpag.sys
product: AMD driver
company: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
description: AMD multi-vendor Miniport Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: atikmpag.sys (AMD multi-vendor Miniport Driver, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.).
Google query: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. VIDEO_TDR_ERROR



On Sun 10/03/2013 2:54:36 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\031013-35084-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: atikmpag.sys (atikmpag+0x9410)
Bugcheck code: 0x116 (0xFFFFFA80142054E0, 0xFFFFF8800302F410, 0x0, 0x2)
Error: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\atikmpag.sys
product: AMD driver
company: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
description: AMD multi-vendor Miniport Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: atikmpag.sys (AMD multi-vendor Miniport Driver, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.).
Google query: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. VIDEO_TDR_ERROR



On Thu 28/02/2013 6:36:53 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\022813-31886-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: atikmpag.sys (atikmpag+0x9410)
Bugcheck code: 0x116 (0xFFFFFA80144BD010, 0xFFFFF88004C09410, 0x0, 0x2)
Error: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\atikmpag.sys
product: AMD driver
company: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
description: AMD multi-vendor Miniport Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: atikmpag.sys (AMD multi-vendor Miniport Driver, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.).
Google query: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. VIDEO_TDR_ERROR



On Thu 28/02/2013 6:13:21 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\022813-32869-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: atikmpag.sys (atikmpag+0x9410)
Bugcheck code: 0x116 (0xFFFFFA8014150010, 0xFFFFF88004E2F410, 0x0, 0x2)
Error: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\atikmpag.sys
product: AMD driver
company: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
description: AMD multi-vendor Miniport Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: atikmpag.sys (AMD multi-vendor Miniport Driver, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.).
Google query: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. VIDEO_TDR_ERROR



On Thu 28/02/2013 6:08:44 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\022813-36785-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: atikmpag.sys (atikmpag+0x9410)
Bugcheck code: 0x116 (0xFFFFFA80198D6390, 0xFFFFF8800455C410, 0x0, 0x2)
Error: VIDEO_TDR_ERROR
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\atikmpag.sys
product: AMD driver
company: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
description: AMD multi-vendor Miniport Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed.
A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error. It is suggested you look for an update for the following driver: atikmpag.sys (AMD multi-vendor Miniport Driver, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.).
Google query: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. VIDEO_TDR_ERROR




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conclusion
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7 crash dumps have been found and analyzed. A third party driver has been identified to be causing system crashes on your computer. It is strongly suggested that you check for updates for these drivers on their company websites. Click on the links below to search with Google for updates for these drivers:

atikmpag.sys (AMD multi-vendor Miniport Driver, Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.)

If no updates for these drivers are available, try searching with Google on the names of these drivers in combination the errors that have been reported for these drivers and include the brand and model name of your computer as well in the query. This often yields interesting results from discussions from users who have been experiencing similar problems.


Read the topic general suggestions for troubleshooting system crashes for more information.

Note that it's not always possible to state with certainty whether a reported driver is actually responsible for crashing your system or that the root cause is in another module. Nonetheless it's suggested you look for updates for the products that these drivers belong to and regularly visit Windows update or enable automatic updates for Windows. In case a piece of malfunctioning hardware is causing trouble, a search with Google on the bug check errors together with the model name and brand of your computer may help you investigate this further

 

Well, there's no question that it is related to your AMD video cards. Whether it is software/driver related or a hardware problem remains to be seen.

I'm a fan of reinstalling Windows, but first try a clean driver installation. I would download and install the Dell Recommended driver at first, see how the system behaves... If it is stable, then do an in-place upgrade to a new driver and see if stability holds out. If not and you continue to experience the TDR errors and BSOD, reinstall Windows at that point. If problems continue with a clean OS install, you've got a hardware problem.

Download the latest AMD Dell Recommended driver and have it handy. Here are the steps for an "AMD Clean Driver Install" process...

 

Disable crossfire and look if the Problem already exists. Probably one of your GPUs is damaged.

 

ya i did that and stopped getting blue screen but games still crash. currently updating the driver as said above.

 

Hopefully that will work. When 7970M first came out it behaved that way a lot even though there was no hardware issue because the driver support was absolutely hideous. I don't know what driver version you were using, but if it was one of the really bad ones or if it was corrupted by intermingled file versions from multiple driver releases that can basically bring an AMD system to its knees. That's why I mentioned being a fan of a clean install. I have had a few times that nothing allowed my AMD video cards to function properly and a clean Windows install worked miracles for it.

 

kk so i just did all that i re enabled the crossfire so im gonna try and running my games again to see if it worked. ill keep you posted on the progress. thanks for all the help.

 

so far so good guys. no blue screens and no crashes. seems that it worked, if i have any more issues ill try the reinstalling windows. thanks soo much!

 

Nice! Glad to hear it seems to be working well now. That's wonderful news.

 

Not to sure what it is. Try 13.2 beta 3. They are rock solid for me. This might sound obvious but make sure you are 100% doing a clean install.

 

Cool. Seems like it was a corrupted driver install after all. Glad you are back up and running nicely!

 

Yeah those AMD drivers really need to be installed with care. Awesome that things are working for you now

 

Glad you've work it out. Enjoy your beast now ;-)

 

Hey Guys

So I just went through all 160 pages of this tread and my head is spinning at the moment.

My M18x i7-3630, 7970M XFire, 16gb 1600mhz ram, 64GB SSD Cache + 750gB drive is on its way.

All of the information is a bit jumbled in this thread so my questions are this. When I get the system, what would you recommend to do to make sure its running games rock solid? My thoughts were:

1. Clean install Win 7 64 bit (not sure if this is needed) and follow the guide in the other threat

2. Clean install the latest 13.2 Beta 2 drivers from AMD

However, I see a lot of talk about bios and vBios available for flashing. What would you all recommend? Just want to make sure this system is running balls out shortly after I get it.

Mike

 

Hey Fiveohmike,
Welcome to NRB. Its good you had a read through the thread, it seems like you have a pretty good idea of what needs to be done :thumbsup:.
When you get your machine the drivers on there should be rock stable. If you want some performance thrown in I'd clean install those 13.2 beta 2 + drivers.
I wouldn't bother with a clean install of Windows, I think that is unnecessary unless you want to make your 64Gb SSD into a stand alone boot drive.
I wouldn't worry about flashing your bios/vbios just yet..not until you feel the need to OC some.

 

Aint 100% sure but i think you might get the latest "22" VBIOS or what it is called in that case i dont think it is possible to change the vbios to a OC one, anyone that knows for sure feel free to tell me straight ^^

 

Need some help Gents....

After my Killer 1103 wireless driver started creating problems on Win8 Pro, the next morning I didn't boot at all. My recovery usb was unable to repair the startup, and then the 'Refresh' deleted all my programs.

With the (to me) useless Metro interface, constant increased CPU overhead, no start menu, and now this, that was the end of Win8 for me.

Restored my Win7 backup, updated everything, including AMD drivers (even ran their cleanup tool too), and now my graphics performance is MUCH WORSE.

I am on the latest 13.3 Beta, with the 12.11 CAP listed below the download.

Is that a viable configuration? That is what is offered underneath the download, and that is what I've used.

3DMark11 ran just now at 5100ish, and that is with 2x 7970Ms enabled. I'd expect 11000ish normally. BOPS2 barely 60 fps with everything maxxed-out. Normally it can hit 190's max fps.

GPU-Z confirms Crossfire is enabled.

CPU multipliers are 44,43,42,41.

Not sure what else to do to get this running correct again.

Any ideas?

 

Try clean install of amd drivers. Using driver sweeper and any registery cleaner.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

 

Tried all that.

Used driver fusion, CCleaner, and the AMD cleaning tool.

Still no difference.

Cheers.

 

Are your GPUs actually entering 3D performance mode? They might be getting stuck in 2D mode, which will give the horrible performance you are encountering. That's actually a fairly common problem with AMD GPUs. I don't mean to asked a stupid question, but you are running with AC power, not battery, correct? (Can't game or bench on battery power.)

 

Try latest drivers not the beta. Im using 13.1 mobility and it is rock solid.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

 

Hit the nail on the head.

GPU-Z reported it was not entering PCIe 3.0 mode, during the built-in benchmark.

Choosing the High Performance profile solved it, and 3DMark11 is now 11000.

So what is the usual solution to this AMD driver problem?

Regards.

 

More often than not, I have found the usual problem with AMD drivers is corruption with old drivers and file versions getting mixed together. Sometimes an in-place driver update goes off without a hitch, but sometimes it does not. The Catalyst Installation Manager has improved over the past 6 to 9 months and it does a much better job of removing old files and registry entries than it used to.

Disabling ULPS and forcing crossfire mode by modifying registry entries has always helped my CrossFire-powered systems perform much better. An explanation of how to make these changes is explained in the opening post of this thread. http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...sink-7970m-crossfire-upgrade.html#post8568526. You have to redo these changes whenever drivers are installed as doing so changes everything back to default values in the registry.