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

Hello guys. What's the best driver for 7970m Cfire?

Also, how many fps I get for Crysis 3 for 7970m Cfire?

Sorry I haven't been on the forums for a long time.

 

Personally I find 13.3 beta 3 to be the best. I tried 13.6 and they didnt stick so I've stayed on 13.3. They are pretty damn solid too.

Crysis rock solid 60+ fps with Maldo on the fly mod
PMed you by the way too

 

Im gonna try find and test 13.3 beta 3 on my single 7970m R1 , so far had just 12.11b7 which I found most stable and no BSOD plus nice performance ... will see how this compares

 

well, 13.3 b3 showed drop in physics almost 900 points in 3dmark11 vs 13.2 b7. So far 13.2 b7 showed most power output at stock clocks... wonder if the driver from guru3d and amd website for 13.3b3 is the exact same driver or guru3d has this patched for better performance?

 

Try 13.2 Beta.. Those 12.11b were the first good ones, but there are some pretty solid revisions after. Stability/performance wise ill stay on 13.1-13.3

I'm pretty sure the Guru3D ones are the same as AMD's

 

yea Im just after trying all, I mean all betas from 12.11 b7 to the very latest, 13.2b7 was best performing of all troughout 3dmark vantage and 3dmark11. not sure how about gaming performance but I feel it cant be much off the truth from the benchmark performance ratio

its damn 1AM here, I got to get soem sleep, have to wake up with the sunrise before 5AM

nite, Im out

 

I think you're right there. It's 13.2b 7 was great for Mark 3d 11. These new ones 13.6 don't seem to install so I don't worry about them

 

Can someone send me a link for 13.7 beta?

 

Dont know man, it doesnt seem 13.7beta is out at all LOL

just use 13.2 B7, the best driver tested by me as of today.

 

The AMD driver cleaning process is outlined in the bullets found in this post > LINK

You can download Catalyst 13.3 beta here > LINK or 13.2 beta 7 here > LINK

 

Is this normal? After clean installing Battlefield 3, I played it and my fps went from 60 vsync to 40 vsync in campaign. Is this the wrong driver for me? Any advice?

 

Hi, I need a help from you guys, just opened my M18xR2 for the first time and unfortunately I damaged the flat cable that power on the control center panel pics in:


Where can I find a replacement for this flat cable?

Next I'm having hard time trying to remove the X-brackets from this 7970M module... any ideas how to remove it easily?


Thanks.

 

for all your spare part needs go to Laptop part-World No.1 stockist

for removing xbracket you want use hair dryer to heat up the back of the card gently so the adhesive between bracket and card gets soft enough and then just push the threaded ends towards the back of the card and it should move off slowly by gently applying little bit of pressure. If it doesnt come off - dont force it, try again to warm up little more, and try again untill it comes off with no force. also - dont overheat the card as you may as well cause more damage than good.

(by the way, I see your media cable has melted burned - how did that happen exactly???)

Good luck!

 

The xbracket (aka support plate) can sometimes be a real bear to get loose and the hair dryer helps loosen the adhesive. Avoid trying to stick a metal object between the plate and the GPU PCB. You will damage the rubber gasket (an absolute necessity) and bend up the bracket too much. As you warm it (don't get it "hot" because you don't want to melt any solder) press on the four threaded "nut" areas where the screws attach the heat sink and this will help push the bracket off, then you can use an old credit card or hotel room access card between the PCB and bracket if you need to use gentle force.

 

^^ I would still call anything at all between card and bracket can cause damage to micro components, so I will urge not to pry anything in between whatsoever, unless you're a risk taker. I have removed over 5 x-brackets without prying anything in between but just heating up and gently pushing the threaded ends toward the back of the card from the front and it took off easy enough when its warmed up properly. best is to warm it up on lower temp but for longer time than too high temp and too short or even worse - too long .

 

Thanks for all replying, you all are a big help. Btw a hair dryer is hot enough for the task of removing the brackets? About the media cable i forgot to fit in properly when mounted back the laptop... problably it circuit shorted with something inside when i turn on the power.
For me it seems like a normal flat cable connector... can i find a generic replacement in a normal eletronic store? If not where can I find another one?
Thanks and I hope am not annoying you guys with all this questions =)

 

hair dryer can be so dangerous if used wrong, you can damage/desolder components of the card, totally mess it up! so be cautious and carefull (of course not with your 5 dollar hair dryer, but taking in to consideration proper 500+Watt hair-driers, and most woman's use like 1000-2000w etc mine does)

you should be able to easy fix current with little soldering skills and some DIY, but after that must insulate well, or just get it from the link I have posted above before

 

I dont find the ribbon media cable in PCHub website, it seems the only place I could find one is in EBAY, but its too expensive, 39.95 US$ plus 39.99 shipping

 

oh, email them, they do get stock in uppon request, it would be just a little matter of time. also, you can DIY that cable, take the one thats melted, razor blade shave the closest un-burned pins and use thin radio copper wire join missing tracks using thin soldering iron tip and some solder with flux, easy as that, but dont forget to isolate the baked wires with some flexible sealing insulating tape

 

I opened my laptop and cleaned everything and reseated the cables. I still get the white screen which goes if I press left of the touchpad or around the alienware logo. Is my screen dying, if yes I am planning to get a monitor will it work seamlessly with the HDMI cable ?

 

hmm that is really strange. I don't think the screen itself is dying but possibly the supporting components/wiring/circuitry.
You could get a monitor just check on your tv or friends monitor make sure that you don't get same problem.
You could also ring dell up and see what they think the problem is...
Then you have the option of getting them to fix it or buying the parts and fixing it yourself, you may even be able to renew your warranty if you have run out and they will fix if for "free"

 

With the updated drivers, how many fps do you get for Arkham City max settings on 7970m Crossfire?

 

I am getting very poor performance out of my single 7970M out of nowhere. I haven't been in the forums much lately, and I was wondering if there was some newsflash that I missed. Was there a Windows update that may have crippled me? I also installed the newest beta driver, but I can't confirm if the poor performance was already there before I installed it. I have not been gaming very much because I have been trying to do more stuff outside. The card isn't overheating, it just...sucks all of a sudden. All benchmarks and burn-in tests run, but the score is 1/5 of normal in all of them. Also, my laptop will not switch to integrated graphics. It keeps saying that 'Binary graphics are detected...' when I hit SHIFT+F7, but I'm already running on the 7970M as evidenced by all of my monitoring software, so I'm wondering if I need to do a fresh install of Windows.

Like I said, I haven't been monitoring the forums, so if there was some odd anomaly recently, please let me know. Thanks guys.

 

Hey Turbo, you haven't missed out on any news that would be responsible for something like that.
I'm surprised you got new drivers to stick. I'm on 13.3 beta 3 still. I'd try some older drivers before resorting to a new windows installation.

 

Alright, brother. I'll give some older drivers a try first. Thank you for the input.

 

I had to reinstall Windows. The problem is gone now.

My laptop still doesn't recognize the Intel HD3000 though, no matter what I do. BIOS and chipset drivers are up to date, but still nothing. I can't get into IGP to even install the IGP driver. When I unplug the laptop, it doesn't offer to switch to IGP anymore or anything. I have also done a complete power drain, nothing's working. I recall reading about this problem before, but I can't find the thread. Any help is much appreciated.

 

Did you remember to install OSD? If not, graphics switching will not work. If you did, manually browse to the installation folder and see if you can launch the executable for graphics switching.

If you have an unlocked BIOS, check the video configuration screen to be sure that PEG is the default. If it is, you can try switching it to IGFX and see if that works.

 

Ok guys I've got an issue, I purchased a 7970m from ebay a few days ago. I installed it in my m18x along with a crossfire cable, heatsink, and fan. I am using a proper 330w power supply. Bios detects card perfectly, however in windows it detects the additional 7970m, but it says "This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use. (Code 12)". I looked under CCC and it sees the additional card but it has a device ID of 0000 and does not give me a crossfire menu.. I ran GPU-Z and it shows the additional card, however I noticed it has a different vbios version than that of my original card. Can anyone help me? Is the vbios the reason the card wont run? If so what do you recommend. If not the vbios what else can it be?

Already tried:

Re-installing drivers
Updating motherboard bios to A05.

 

Thats a bit of a bummer mate. I wouldnt be suprised if it was driver related. What AMD CCC are you using ?

 

Catalyst version is 13.4.

 

Ive had that once before that I never saw a CF menu, it came down to a crappy set of AMD drivers. Do a clean install and try 13.1 since they are rock solid stable and see if that works.

 

Thank you, I'm trying it now.

Update:

Unfortunately, this did not work same issue. While my Left side card seems to be functioning perfectly, right card is only recognized but will not run. Device status is as before "This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use. (Code 12)". As I mentioned earlier vbios is different on the two cards. They're both Dell but different vbios version. Is it the vbios that is the issue? Could it be the cf cable that is causing this?

 

Right-e-o.
I did a little searching around but everyone that's had your problem never posted any fix. I'd def try checking the CF cable is properly connected like you mentioned. I dont think the different bios should make any difference but its worth a try too. I'd also add resetting your CMOS chip on the to do list as well.
Sadly it might all be a process of elimination unless someone that knows for sure can chime in.

 

Ok, I will be trying these I keep you updated. Thank you.

 

Are you guys having the AMD External Events Client Module background process sucking CPU usage and making games lag?

 

No me. But I'm still using my old ye faithful 13.3 beta 3's

 

Just checking if that's an issue with AMD legacy drivers only.

 

I updated the vbios on both cards and it still did not work. Just as before, one card is functioning, the other is shown in the device manger but I'm getting a code 12 This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use.
BTW this is an M18xR1 with an A05 bios. Also tried clean install but same thing as before. Will try removing the CMOS battery next.

 

Hi folks,just tried to gain more fps in game with overcloking my 7970M CrossfireX setup(M18X-R2), but I havent`good resuts: First flashed with 900-1300-ov1075v ROM and play Tomb Raider with it, tested with the internal game benchmarking that shows a increase in 10-15 in the FPS levels, but just passed 15 minutes of play and the machine hard crashed with a horrible sound. Thereafter I turn off the laptop and flashed back to the original bios to try the same level of overcloking, but this time configuring the AMD overdrive with 900 GPU 1300 MEM to test it again in the same game and monitoring the temps played Tomb Raider again and about the same time the game soft crashed turning back to desktop screen...

My ASICS scores as follows are 76.6% to GPU 1 and 81.6% to GPU 2. Are these ASIC qualit scores too low for a good overclock? Any ideas about what could I do to safely find the sweet point of these GPUs? Can I overclock if the GPU is downclocked to 1.000V?

Thanks for the help in advance =)

 

Hey Buddy, too be honest I think you might be running a little too much voltage for those lower overclocks.
My stock set of 7970m cards had a stock voltage of 1050mV and I was able to overclock to around 950/1400 before it complained. So you might just have too much voltage.

Right now my 24/7 OC is 925/1300 with 1025 mV. Temps are never above 75 and its extremely hot and humid here now.
Try some lower voltages and see if that gives you more stability.

 

Thanks for reply, I could try that but a 7970M bios with these settings are not found in my "AMD 7970m (Dell) VBIOS package" downloaded in Tech Inferno forum. Do you have access to a Vbios modifier or a 7970M Bios with this setup for sharing? Sorry if its too much for asking.

 

I overcloked my two 7970m again with 930/1400 overvolting 1.075v and testing my GPU1 was ok with 1.075v but GPU2 even working wuth crossfire only indicates 0.950v in VDDC sensor in GPU-Z... is it normal? I think the second graphics card can't keep up pace with the first one so it crashes.

I dont notice later but now my default card voltage for GPU1 is 1.000v cant go back to 1.075 even when flashing back to default VBios, my second card is 0.950v no matter VBios I flashed in it.

 

Sorry I couldn't get back to you sooner. Do a search for 7970m vbios patcher svl7 and I'm sure you'll find a download link to his excellent piece of work. I'd link you but I'm replying from a clumsy iphone at work.
I don't pay too much attention to what GPU-Z says. I've heard reports that it can tell fibs regarding voltage.

 

new drivers avaliable AMD Catalyst 13.8 BETA (13.200.0.0 July 23) Download, let me know 7970m CF users

 

They are brilliant.

 

no problems at all, runs great for me, nice AMD with this beta, also Tbone, did u use caps? 13.5 caps 1? i just installed 13.8 without any complement.

 

Great to hear they are working well for you too. No, I didn't install the CAPS, no need, it should have all the profiles rolled in ready to go.

 

I got a doubt. Is normal that when i enable crossfire in the right margin of the screen, appears from time to time a vertical black line? it looks like stuttering to me, but im not completily sure. I just installed the 13.8 drivers, but the issue remains the same.

 

Something like that is totally unrelated to microstutter. What your experiencing is not normal but not not unheard of.
1)Are your cards overclocked in anyway?
2)Did you propery do a clean install?

 

The gpus are slightly overclocked, do you think that could be the cause?