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

tanderson are the card clocks correct? On mine it was stuck at max voltage and clocks on the secondary card. That worries me as I dont want to fry a card. As for every other driver can people confirm the clocks are correct at idle and full loads?

 

I'm pretty sure I'm sitting at stock speeds. I'll check again when I get home, see what the clocks are with the 12.3 driver and cap i'm running.

 

I have had a random issue for a while where sometimes my second GPU gets stuck at max clock and heat creeps up but never overheats. It usually happens right at boot or after I wake it from sleep. I have found that if I launch a 3D app such as Furmark, Heaven, etc. and then quit it, that the second GPU clock drops back to normal. It will then "behave" until another random time after a boot or wake from sleep.

I make a habit now to just watch the clocks when I wake the laptop. It is annoying but not too big a deal. I have had this behavior with every driver I have installed on my m18x and I have had it for close to a year now.

 

I had a feeling the question was going to jason. I just let mine run anymore, I think I got lucky and got a good stable pair of cards.

 

Hey gang, do we have a list of direct links to download the latest AMD drivers? Like the direct link for the official Dell driver (easy to find), and the official AMD drivers (release and beta)? Downloading from AMD can sometimes be an exercise in frustration because they don't always post the full driver downloads. Be good to add this to the first post.

 

Not sure if this is the right place to ask- Has anyone had any problems with their HDMI-Out from this laptop? I have dual 6970m's and everytime I plug an HDMI cable on the left (output) port, I see nothing on my display (a samsung series 7 hdtv). I do use windowkey+P, display detects, etc, and nothing works.

Maybe I should revert to older drivers? I already swapped to dell's beta drivers and nothing got resolved. Input appreciated.

 

Hello,

I have dual 6990ms and the hdmi out works on my 7 series samsung HDTV. Did you try to switch displays using catalyst or at least see if catalyst can see the HDTV once connected?

 

I know that the HDMI port is quite deep on the M18x and other users have noted that it doesnt always seem "plugged in" - maybe try another HDMI cable. (or you could "DIY trim" the plastic moulding of the HDMI plug so that it indeed goes in a bit further to the m18x port - again, seen others report success with that method......)

 

Here is the AMD One;

Drivers and Downloads | Dell [United States]

 

@evil_mike I always get mine from Guru3D

 

I've been having issue with my GPU1 fan, where it sometimes gets stuck at max rpm and doesn't drop even after the gpu is cool, usually takes a long time until it gets back to normal state.

I have 6970ms in Xfire atm, does anybody have a solution to that? I noticed this issue after upgrading the system bios, but I don't remember if it was A04 or A05, but I currently have A05. for instance, before the update if I had alt+tab out of a game, the gpu fan would slow down, but it doesn't seem responsive any more.

As a side note, I keep the fans and radiators clean, almost once a month, so I doubt it has anything to do with that.

 

Qumars - I believe that fan behavior started with A05. There were some 6990M CrossFire systems that suffered from overheating and thermal shutdown and A05 was released to address that problem. If you flash the BIOS back to A04, it may correct what you are experiencing.

With 6970M CrossFire, your system should not have been affected. More information about the original issue is in this thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...d-re-dell-aw-conference-call.html#post8030512

 

In GPU-Z which temps are we supposed to use again? I'm trying to push my cards a liiiiiittle bit further, but at 790/1115 they get up to 91*C and 87*C (those are Temp 3) but I can't remember which temperature reading we take into account.

 

My laptop has been doing quite well performance wise since the A05 bios update. However, for the past 2 days, I have had sudden gpu fps drops (what I would normally get 100fps will go 10 fps, on games such as starcraft 2 and minecraft). I cannot find any source for this lag, as temp are perfectly find when idle and load for gpus (58min 63max with 100%load) and cpus (50 min 77max). I feel like my gpus are dead, or the problem is revolving around my gpus. I tried to disable CFX, and that still doesn't help the issue. Should I call in Dell for help?

 

My right GPU won't drop below 82*C even when I disable Xfire. Uh-oh...

 

In CCC under power tab, make sure that the power play is set to "Performance" both for battery "mode" and "Plugged in".

 

Hi, I am thinking towards powerplay, run 3D mark 11 and see if your score is what you are used to. I ended up reinstalling preview 12.2 and all is well again.
Good luck

 

Its been a long time since i used the forums. But i'm back. Does any one know where can i find the latest driver for my m18x? the dell website seems to only have the 2011 version.

 

That is the latest Dell driver. If you want the new AMD (not ati) drivers they're posted sporadically in this thread and also on Guru3D. I would stay away from 12.3 WHQL since there are a lot of documented problems. 12.2 Preview are the best imho.

 

Hey bro, what's going on with this? Did you get the issue sorted or still having troubles?

 

Is it possible to run 12.3 CAP1 with the 12.2 preview drivers?

Also, to TheMacs or whoever else this may apply too, have you tested the 12.2 preview against the dell optimized drivers? I currently have the optimized drivers and don't want to switch unless i have some empirical evidence of an improvement.

Regards,
Phill

 

I get significantly better framerates in BF3, Skyrim, Witcher 2 and Crysis 2, CCC just didn't want to work with the optimized driver, and I find my overall performance is better.

Pretty basic troubleshooting fixed it. I shut down, pulled the battery (just in case) and flipped it upside down while I went to get groceries. When I rebooted I had to toggle Xfire in CCC to get both cards, but the issue is gone.

 

I just installed the 12.2 preview. Crysis 2 seemed to run a bit better, I will see how they preform in the Tera Online open beta this weekend and some battlefield 3. The pair of replacement cards I got for my old cards blow them out of the water, its pretty ridiculous. Full load temps barely reach 70 degrees.

Anyway, checking out for the night. Thanks for the response.

Regards,
Phill

 

hi guys
I have a problem with my amd crossfire 6990m
When i play in crossfire the screen is red
When i play in a single gpu the screen is normal
These are two photos
In the first i'm in crossfire ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting
In the second i'm in a single gpu ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting
I have the same problem in all games
So i want ask you if there is a fix for this problem
Guys please i need your help and sorry for my bad english i am italian
Thank you

 

I am pretty much done with my M18x there is nothing wrong with my hardware, just finding the best drivers to run with my system. Does anyone have any feedback for 6970m crossfire, and what the best setup for that is. I have the A05 bios but I read that I don't need that because I have a 6970m crossfire. When ever I try to go back to the dell drivers I uninstall, and then do a driver sweep, I install the drivers but then when I load windows all the colors are messed up, washed up and just look weird. Please help before, I just pack up my M18x leave it and just play xbox.

 

Use 12.2 Preview.

As far as the screen, make sure you run DriverSweeper AND CCleaner in safe mode before you install new drivers.

 

Alright so I'm having a bit of fun with tech support right now, i recently sent my computer in because i was getting a 7 beep post code. I also told them about my issue with my fans essentially "locking" at 30% power and my cards overheating. I was hoping they would they would look in to it but no such luck. So now after talking to them again they're going to replace both my cards, the only thing is i don't know if its actually a hardware or software issue and i don't really want to play hot potato with tech support until they replace everything in my system

I'm going to ask them to wipe my system and re-flash and re-install everything, anything else i should add?

 

Hi all,

What are the best drivers currently for the ATI 6990 xfire cards. Is it ATI owns or Dell's.
What are your thoughts.

And currently to install non dell drivers currently you have to install the dell driver first, as if you switch between ATI and Intel card you will get a ATI CCC error, when switched to Intel GPU.
Or has someone solved this issue?

Does anyone know when the Dell driver will finish beta,

Drivers and Downloads | Dell [United Kingdom]

 

I just updated my drivers from the Dell driver to the AMD/ATI driver yesterday (12-3_mobility_vista_win7_64_dd_ccc) and everything works perfectly.

I did an auto-detect and install from -=-

AMD Driver Autodetect

 

But when you boot into discret GPU, do you have the ATI CCC loading failed. I have only noticed this if you latest from fresh an ATI drive but not if you install a dell deriver first then upgrade or does anyone know how to get round this ATI CCC fail on a fresh installation?

 

I am happy with 12.1

For some weird reason, brightness didn't work with dell drivers, but they worked with 12.1

Although in BF3 I do get jitters, the game runs at 60fps (all ultra) but it doesn't seem completely smooth. Not smooth like MW3

May try some other drivers.
To install the 12.1 drivers, I completely removed the previous Dell drivers (use driversweeper) first. You do not install them over the Dell drivers (unlike in the M17xR3)


The 12.1 install file is called: 12-1_mobility_vista_win7_64_dd_ccc_ocl

 

I moved your new thread into the thread established for AMD CrossFire driver questions.

To answer your question about when the "Dell driver will finish beta" it will never finish beta because Dell does not write or publish drivers. Drivers are provided by the device manufacturer. In the case of video drivers, AMD and NVIDIA submit their reference drivers to Dell for "qualification" and if they meet Dell's standards they become the "Dell Recommended" or "Optional" driver. So, until AMD publishes a driver and submits it to Dell for review, and Dell finds it to be good enough to endorse it, what you see on the driver download page is all that there is. Having said that, there is no need to rely on Dell for your drivers. Reference drivers often work excellent. Just keep in mind that the latest driver is not always the greatest driver. New driver releases are often lousy. AMD and NVIDIA have both gotten pretty sloppy with driver development as of late, and AMD has tarnished ATI's reputation for quality over the last year or so by putting out drivers with issues.

 

Ok, but if you install a fresh ATI driver (non Dell) and boot into discret intel GPU you will see the ATI CCC fail error once booted.

I have searched to see if there is anything that can be amended in the ATI driver installation before you install but nothing. The only way i have got round this was tp install the first Dell ATI driver then install the latest ATI driver over the top.

Has anyone got any idea on how to reoslve this as i am planning to wipe and rebuild OS etc on my M18x.

Sorry that is want i ment, just worded different. Currently the drivers on Dell's site still stat "Beta".

 

Yes, with the Dell driver I didn't used to get that message, but with the 12.1 drivers I get a message saying it could not be booted. No problem, I just click OK and it's gone..

For me its not a problem because I use my M18x on the Intel GPU a lot more than discrete GPU so it serves as a 'reminder' for me that im on the integrated GPU in case I want to game, I should switch to discrete GPU

 

Agreed, if you don't use the Intel GPU alot then not that much of an issue, but for me i do and it is annoying. There must be something writen into the Dell ATI installation, but i have compared and cannot find it.
This is way i am asking as someone must have found what needs to be edited in a later ATI driver if installed.

Message to All,

Any idea?

 

Should i try 12.1 or stay with 12.3 ?

 

Dell might have tweaked something with the installation process, but the drivers came from AMD. We learned from Louis Bruno (Alienware Mobile Gaming Graphics Engineer) that AMD drivers are often missing important code that is needed for proper functionality. Display brightness control used to be frequently absent in AMD drivers because of missing code.

The discrete graphics is the AMD or NVIDIA GPU, not the Intel HD 3000. The Intel graphics are integrated, not discrete.

The error message you are referring to is completely normal. It occurs because running on Intel's integrated graphics the AMD hardware becomes invisible. If you disable Catalyst Control Center from automatically starting with Windows, that error message will go away. The error message happens because CCC tries to run and cannot find the supported hardware.

There is no need for CCC to run in the background when using discrete AMD GPU, so you can disable CCC from starting with Windows. Other that being a minor annoyance, the error message that occurs when running on the Intel IGP is not causing any problem.

If 12.3 is producing good results for you, there is probably no need to try 12.1 unless you want to do so out of curiosity.

 

Really?

 

Yep, really. When I was still running 6970M and 6990M CrossFire in the M18x I had that disabled and everything works fine. You can still launch CCC manually if you need to change settings, but there is no need for CCC to run in the background. (The same is true for the NVIDIA Control Panel, but that topic is for the NVIDIA thread.)

 

I believe i know which files need to be amended but can someone confirm,

ATI Dell Package,

Dell\111012a-128052C-Dell\Packages\Drivers\Display\W76A_INF\C7128052 file

It also holds the Intel driver installation but within an ATI package it contains two setup information files, which one would need amending,

ATI 12.3\Packages\Drivers\Display\W76A_INF\
C7135750
or
CH135750

or maybe within the setup information there is a registry value set but i cannot see it.

 

Look at the opening post on this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...d-re-dell-aw-conference-call.html#post8030512 and scroll down to the "Conference Call Minutes" for more info.

You should be able to stop CCC from launching with Windows by running MSCONFIG and simply unchecking the appropriate box. No need to modify anything with the driver package.

 

Cheers, Thank you. Just would be nice to have everything streamlined.

Thanks Mr. Fox

 

You're welcome, buddy. I edited my previous post and added the suggestion on using MSCONFIG.

 

News to me, thanks

 

You will find that the majority of the stuff running in the background with standard installation adds little or no value. You can uncheck tons of stuff with MSCONFIG and free up wasted system resources. AMD CCC and NVIDIA Control Panel are just two of many unnecessary apps that load with Windows. Acrobat Reader, iTunes, QuickTime, MS Office, OpenOffice.org and a virtually endless list of other apps and utilities think they need to load automatically with Windows and almost none of them actually need to.

You need very few things (such as antivirus software, Alienware OSD) to launch automatically with Windows. You'll never miss most of the apps you disable from autorun using MSCONFIG. This is a hold-over from the days when RAM was expensive and the average user did not have more than enough RAM. By having their apps run in the background, it gives users the false impression that the app is responsive by loading faster from memory. The end result is that apps load faster when running in the background at the expense of total system performance. If you still have a cheap computer without much RAM, having programs running in the background will noticeably impair performance.

 

Hm interesting, I thought CCC would be running a service or something which is why wouldn't normally want to shut it down. But I suppose it makes sense that CCC isn't required since its only the actual drivers that are required for the cards to run. Does Overdrive keep it's clock settings then?

MSCONFIG, takes me back to the good old days when computers would take a good 20 minutes to boot up.

 

I have a question, I installed 12.2 preview, any need to change default settings for gaming? I play RIFT and LOTRO mostly.


Catalyst Version 12.2

 

why dont u try 12.3 ? is 12.2 preview know for better performance ?

 

apparently less issues?

do I need to do anything else? ie, set up application profiles etc. xfire is enabled btw

 

You should consider installing the latest CAP. You can get AMD's CAP file from their web site, or the latest optimization available from Rage3D.