***M18x - NVIDIA SLI (Driver Questions, Performance, Problems) Discussion Thread***

I'd rather just get a infrared module and use my Dell Remote that I purchased and cannot use because somebody endowed with great wisdom and the ability to know all things decided nobody wanted infrared on the M18x. I really miss that feature. Maybe I should see if I can yank it out of the M17xR2 and find a place for it on the M18x.

Yeah, I think I'll just leave the phone as is. Probably not worth the effort.

Back on topic... Reinstalling the Verde beta made PowerDVD 11 Ultra behave just fine. I tried 4 BD movies and the all play really nice now. Not sure what was wrong with the previous driver installation not playing nice with it.

BluRay movies just look so much better with the 580M SLI than they did with 6990M CF. It's actually kind of hard to believe this without seeing it. (I wouldn't have believed it otherwise.)

 

Or, you can buy an infra red transmitter like the wifi/wireless and bluetooth radios.

 

I found an internal one a while back that I wanted to look into and then lost track of it. I am wondering if the empty slot on the mobo near the palmrest would accept one. I may just order a cheap USB mini IR dongle from overseas and use it for the remote. They're only like $5.

 

Good morning to all:

I have a couple of questions about the method to follow to achieve a higher overclock with my 580M. First of all, without any kind of flashing the VBIOS wI have a completely stable overclock of 725/1450. But if values ​​go up to about 750/1500 I can just pass 3Dmark if I try to play 5 minutes after the computer fail.

Is there any way to change the speed of the memory by software? I have them in their default value because the afterburner msi wont let me to change it.

I had read this post:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...problems-discussion-thread-2.html#post8127953
and I see a VBIOS pack to download. I'm interested in 0.92V's vbios.

My question is regarding the VBIOS, the VBIOS only changes the voltage? or also change voltage and clocks at a certain frequency?

After flashing my cards What will I should do to raise the core, shaders and memory?

PS: My temps during full load of my cards are no larger than 72°C after 3 or 4 hours playing BF3 (725/1450). I'm using U3 coolerpad also for your information.

Thanks in advance.


EDIT: I found the option to change the memory clocks. Sorry about that my bad :S hehe

 

Quick question (do not own M18x) - when it says Dual 2GB 580M, does that mean each 580M has 2GB? Or is it a collective of 2GB (1GB each)?

 

Yes, each card.

 

It depends entirely on what ROM you use. The ROM I'm using sets the core to 750MHz. But there are other ROMs that retain the stock clocks and just raise the voltage.

 

So what FPS are you guys getting with BF3 on Ultra when playing multiplayer (on average)? Are many of you overclocking your GPUs? Would you recommend this? I would say that I use my M18x for gaming at least once a day, so I'm just curious to know if minor overclocking wouldn't be very costly.

 

What exactly are you getting in fps when you're in heavy gun fights?

 

at 0.92V with 750MHz core I'm getting about 7FPS more in BF3 than I did with the stock clocks and voltage. Up to 52FPS average from 44FPS average.

Temps are about 5 degrees hotter.

 

Best to have a look here. This will give you an idea what a single gtx580 dt card is doing..
bf3 gameplay gtx580 - Video results

 

Thats a 580, not a 580m

 

There you go jumping the gun my young grasshopper.

Single GTX580 = Desktop Card or DT
Single GTX580M = Mobile Card Because of the M following.
Dual GTX580M's are close to a Single GTX580 DT Card.
If a Single Desktop Card is getting 60FPS then you can best believe the mobile version will be lower.

That's why I posted the link to the video of the Desktop Card.

 

LOL. ................Fail

My bad Master.

 

No worries! I learn more from you than you can ever fail!.

 

I'm getting 580ms as a comp replacement for my 6970' which were a comp replacement for my 560's. Yeah crazy eh?

Anyway each time the systems been upgraded the tech wasn't sure how the right cards bottom plate with only 1 arm to cover the memory chips instead of 2 like the primary card should be oriented.

So im hoping someone has a pic or is authoritative on the matter.

Thanks in advance

Mods: please don't merge this with other posts. It will get lost and fo unanswered.

 

Where I can find more ROMs for the 580M? Like 0.92 with 800core and so on?
Because my gpus stay stable at 730/1460/1650 at stock voltage, if I go further I think I'm getting throttling on the cards. After watching the msi afterburner graphs I could find some throttling down to 475 or so.

TY I'm learning a lot here! hehe

 

That's a very common misconception. Some of our most knowledgeable forum members monitor key threads and contribute from their wealth of information, but not everyone watches for new threads that are started by folks needing quick answers. Many devoted forum contributors hit the forum daily and almost religiously start reviewing their favorite threads from the spot where they left off.

Mods look for those new random threads so they can place them where they belong. This helps the forum remain organized and people with similar answers can later know what thread to look in. Threads for quick questions usually die out quickly and fade into oblivion. Ultimately, useful information becomes more difficult to find later on, fragmented among multiple threads with overlapping discussions; especially for folks that don't know how to effectively search the forum using Google.

All of that aside, today is your lucky day, my friend. I had the M18x apart and took the photos of the secondary GPU that you are wanting, plus a few extras for good measure.

Spoiler

Also, here is an M18x Parts List (for those that don't know it's out there)

Moving this to the NVIDIA SLI thread...

 

Hey, bro. You don't need different ROM files. You just need one with .92v, flash one time and from then on use NVIDIA Inspector to make clock changes to P0/P1 on the fly. You put your system at unnecessary risk by repeatedly flashing without a real need to do so. Look in my signature for the link on curing the M18x 580M Throttling (the link with bold green letters) and I explain how to do that effectively in the first post. You can create as many batch files as you would like for a variety of clock speeds and simply double-click your way to GPU bliss.

Here is a link for a Dell 580M vBIOS at stock clock speeds with P0/P1 matched to prevent throttling and 0.92v: LINK. It should be perfect for everyday use and for overclocking P0/P1 with Inspector.

Edit: BTW - glad you are learning a lot. That's awesome. I learn something new on this forum almost every day. And, for those considering flashing, a message from the NBR mod team...

STANDARD WARNING

Third party BIOS Modifications, vBIOS Modifications and other system level tweaks (including fan control) can potentially cause damage to your system. Be aware of this before blindly flashing or installing.

If you brick your system or cause damage, chances are very high that your warranty will be useless. Know what you are doing, you are responsible for your actions.

-​

 

a tech came by today to install the 580's to replace my 6970's. 2 hours after he left the right card died. Windows error 43. device cannot start and is reporting problems to windows. Left(main?) card working fine.

It was setup with sli and i was just web browsing. I had hwinfo running and gpus never exceeded 64c. My screen flashed, went black and the system locked. I had to power button kill it. then it wouldnt boot to windows. So i booted safe mode, removed the driver (dells) and then was able to boot windows and reload the drivers but the right card wont work.

I called dell and after troubleshooting with them they are going to call me back tomorrow with options. this system just came back from depot friday and the 6970's werent working cause, it turns out someone at the depot forgot to connect to the cable.

So are these cards so friggin delicate that they just fry after 2 hours? Its not like you can install them incorrectly as far as i can tell. pop on the bracket and heatsink and slot in the card, screw it down. done.

Is there like a huge failure rate on these cards 580's in particular? A 560 blew in my first exchange in 3 days. its the reason why i got 6970's, the 560's were back ordered.

/frustrated.

thanks MR Fox for the reply and the pics. It was done correctly. sadly the card lasted 2 hours and died. dunno why. wasnt overheating and the thermal paste had good contact.

/bummed.

 

Sorry to hear about this. Electronics are either good or they are not. The good stuff usually lasts for years. The bad stuff dies quickly most of the time. It seems the 580M cards are about as (un)reliable as the 6990M cards... maybe a little better than the 6990M. I remember hearing about approximately 4 bad 580M cards in our Alienware Community. I had 4 (2 pairs) of defective 6970M cards in my first M18x and the second M18x with 6990M the GPU system died in less than a month. Others have had zero problems with the 6970/6990 cards.

I'm sure they will get this sorted for you, but your frustration is totally something I can relate to.

On the bright side... you're under warranty. Good for them to die now so they can be replaced than to die shortly after the warranty expires (less likely unless something out of the ordinary "kills" them).

 

There are plenty of things that can go wrong during installation, mostly relating to how the cards are handled by the technician.

Did they use any anti-static precautions?

Sometimes its as simple as a piece of conductive airborne crap landing on the card that is enough to build up a charge and then zap the card, or just straight up short it out.

Remember we are talking about very high current levels across very small printed circuits consisting of millions of tiny transistors. It's really quite surprising that things don't break more often when you really think about it.

 

Sentinel is right. To add to that, you might even be lucky enough to find some lint in the contacts or even just re-seating the card might make it work properly. If it were me, I would take it apart and look, blow out the contact in the PCIe slot and re-seat it. The SLI cable may also not be making proper contact. The fit more securely than the cable on the AMD card, but it may not be snapped fully into place on one end.

Another thought... are you still on the same mobo? After three sets of cards (if it's the same one) of different variety, I would be wondering if the cards were actually OK and the mobo has an issue.

 

TY for the info!

Just one question more:

If I flash with the 0.92Voltage mod vbios, Would I get throttling? Or the throttling was fully remove on that vbios?

I mean if I use inspector for overclocking to 800Mhz the core for example, It will always be running at 800? Even if the temps get higher?

TY

 

I believe those questions are answered in the thread linked in my signature. Read the information in the first post of the http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-throttle-fix-no-vbios-flashing-required.html thread. You have to set P0 and P1 for equal clock speeds to circumvent throttling. The voltage will not affect throttling and the act of flashing vBIOS has no effect unless the ROM sets P0 and P1 at equal speeds. It only allows better stability of drivers above 750/1500.

Also, in the event of thermal issues, your system will still throttle to prevent damage. Once your GPU hits around 88C-90C it will throttle no matter what you do. That's not something we can prevent, nor would we necessarily want to. Chicken-fried GPU doesn't taste very good, LOL. :wink:

 

Hey guys,I have a kinda unique question i havent seen answered,sorry if it has.I have a new m18x with single gpu 560m,dell is sending me a new mobo,sli 580gtx and a new ssd,for a mistake they made.I was wondering if the sli upgrade is a problem?Dell wasnt sure if sli was compatible with my system.I thought sli was a fairly mild upgrade,maybe change vbios etc?Thanks for any help.

 

Hi Joe,

As the m18x comes with the option of 580m Sli, thats not a problem for you with your M18x - it WILL work. The cards themselves *should* ship with the latest vbios onboard - if not, simple to flash them to the latest Dell version (or modded vbios if you prefer - see Mr. Fox's Signature link). You can re-install your OS to the SSD (or clone it) but I would suggest a fresh install, preferably, for correct alignment of your new shiny SSD.

Is a tech coming with the parts or are you doing it yourself? - if its a tech, let him (or her!) do their thing and if anything does go wrong, you will be covered. If your doing it yourself, you know what your doing anyways, right?

 

Hey Brother,I was wondering how you made out? I got a single gpu (dell mistake) they are sending me a new mobo,new sli 580s,new ssd also,Im guessing all heatsinks and required parts,I am still waiting for order confirmation info.You know how that goes,Fingers crossed.I am doing it myself stevie,The tech they sent out 3 times before was bad,and Ive done the replacements since,I swapped mobos and pretty much everything on my m14x.Thanks stevie so much,Dell told me that the 560 mobo was different so their sending another.lol,I knew it was the same,so maybe vbios you say?

 

I actually now have a fully working / functional rig - the one in my signature, after all the troubles. I am really pleased thus far.....fingers crossed. I am so glad they did the right thing by you too, Bro. Those are some nice upgrades which you deserve for all your problems.

I think Dell just like to swap out mobo's at any given opportunity....there isnt a different mobo (afaik!) for a 560m gpu - can you imagine the cost to have loads of different mobo's for various configs? - your new 580's should ship with the latest Dell vBios onboard..technically, you should just be able to install the new hardware and you're good to go....you can check it with gpu-z or by opening Nvidia control panel / system information. The latest Dell version is: 70.24.2B.00.06. If you want to play with the modded vbios', check out Fox's "LINK" in his sig....all you need would be right there!

 

Thank you Stevie Ill rep ya again it says i have to spread,I guess i repped ya last,lol. I am so happy for you bro you deserve it also,I am glad all is goo and you got the nice ssd 830s,thats awesome! My m18 is barely a month old and I got the older 470.Maybe theyll send an 830 this time,although honestly real world wise the 470 is pretty great.Fox is like sam wa fair hes everywhere,Lol.I missed his sig link.Yeah Stevie,My rep tried to push me till next week to see about the mistake,I told him to call me imediately and he did! After a nice chat he was so eager to help and says hes putting in all needed parts order,he even had his boss the social media manager make sure if I was good and told me to never use support and go to him direct.I thought that was really cool.You know Stevie,we get so used to getting poorly treated that its awesome when the little guy gets a much deserved break.I appreciate your input bro,and I will let you know how it goes.Thanks and again glad to hear your good!

Oh yeah,Stevie could you imagine having a different mobo for every gpu option,Wow dell would be in serious trouble.I knew that he was wrong about compatibility but I was just so happy to finally get somewhere I was agreeing to most,correct or not.Lol.Now I just gotta pray there aren't any famous dell issues.Fingers crossed.

 

Yep. Fingers crossed....and toes too!

I know both yourself and I (and many others ) have had our fair share of issues but the ONE reason I stick with Dell is that in the end, they do take care of you. I don't know of any other manufacturer that would do the same to ensure customer satisfaction. Most would probably just try and fob you off, let alone acknowledge their misgivings by such system compensations. I think I will always be a loyal Dell customer now, even through all the trials and tribulations.

 

I have to agree. The issues I've had so far have been to do with incompetence on one individual's part, and every time, they have pulled through. Unlike my experience with Apple, where they won't help you at all unless you go in to a store to visit their hipster bar.

 

I couldn't have said it better myself. It took a while but it's getting done and that's the main thing.I don't know another co,that would've done what Dell did.

 

I just saw the order for the sli and cards man they are expensive wow! I just had a thought,I had a single gpu so it had a 240 watt ac adapter I need the 330 watt larger sli right?

 

Yep. That's correct. Good spotting! - get Dell to issue you with a new psu to accomodate the new cards.

 

Stevie I was sooo hyped up to get sli 580gtx I completely forgot about the sli power requirements,I emailed about an hour ago but my fedex shows partialy shipped already(fast) so I missed the rep,I left him a message that the sli 330 was also needed but hes off tomorrow.I'll email his boss tomorrow as now they're gone.I just hope someone gets my email,it's always something man.Lol,I am happy that at least it got done so quick.I talked to him at like 3pm and its already shipping,I gotta give Dell props.

 

It was an easy thing to overlook, given the excitement of 580m sli....I woulda done the same thing tbh!....good thing is though that Dell will know you cant properly run 580m sli without that brick...I'm pretty confident they will, at the bare minimum, exchange your 240w for a 330w psu.

 

Im sure dell will give me the psu,it's just that some parts shipped and I am actually moving next week,so I was trying to get all wrapped up today,I still have to prep and replace all parts and then reload windows and then drivers and test and benchmark cards to make sure all is good to go.Im happy bro but you know what we went through,I think the worst untill all is well tested.Been burned to many times,brother.I gotta say stevie this time it took less than 2 hours from when I hung up to ship!That's awesome in itself.My orders dont show the ac adapter so 2moro Im emailing the VP at 9am!LOL

 

Thats a crazy fast turnaround. Dell must have you on VIP status LOL! - im sure it will all come out well in the end Bro....let us know how things pan out! - btw, congrats on finally getting resolution!

 

Stevie thanks for the help bro,Vip.lol I wish.I do appreciate your advice and all the positive feedback.I will definitely post all info as it pans out,right now im showing 5 parts ordered and half shipped,I have to get the ac adapter squared up and get the parts then Im locking myself in and swappin parts Lol.I am so jacked up! I cant believe they gave me sli 580gtx and had it ordered while on the phone.It's to bad they don't do as well for others that have been through the drama.Stevie,i already have the machine half apart.lmao! Thanks again bro!

 

Hehehe, your well prepared Bro ! - the 580m's will certainly spank your old 560m into the ground and the SSD will simply make your whole experience with your rig SOOOO much more enjoyable. I know when I got my first SSD (Crucial C300), it was mind-blowing just how much of a difference it made...now that I have two uber-fast SSD's in raid 0, getting to the desktop from pressing the power button is like greased lightnening...all other programs and apps open instantly. I know when you have rebuilt her with all the upgrades, you wont be able to believe your eyes !.....god, even I am excited for ya!

 

HA HA!Your Awesome Stevie,I am excited! I have an ssd already this will be 2 also not the uber 830s but im ok with raidn up a pair of 810s! I see from the benches that our man John took out of this universe,and all the others that smoked.I keep checking my fedex,all has shipped!Yay! I have to give majaor props to Dells social media upper level guys,Just awesome!Stevie your comments are making me even more excited,thank you bro.

Oh also Stevie,I got an email at 12:25 last nightfrom the team leader Jason Duty.from his home! He said he ordered my ac adapter personaly and gave me a # to ck.He said never call support call him or his 70 plus media people directly and they will handle everything from here on!He said they own my account now.I am ecstatic!The ac adapter shows shipped! I tell ya buddy,dell banged me up a bit,but they really stepped up and scored when it counted.I'm writing some nice letters for some very deserving staff.Thanks stevie bro you have and always are a big help im glad to have you to chat with.Thanks

 

That's great Bro! - sounds like Dell really did look after you - the same guys looked after me too - I was fortunate that Bill (who frequents the forums here as you may have seen) managed to nudge the EMEA team to sort me out. If it hadnt been for him, I would have been banging my head still, trying to deal with EMEA myself.

Its great that Dell have this "interaction" with its customers - again, they go above and beyond their remit to help out where they can.

Your story (like mine) is proof that Dell really do look out for its customers - something to be said about such a huge global organisation, right?

Glad you got the a/c sorted too - that was QUICK and again, a great example of customer care....amazing.

 

Thanks Bro! I talked to Bill 1st also who got me to Terry B,Then the Boss (JD)! Now they have me bypass l1 completely and speak directly to them,what a difference as you know from experience,I got an email confirmation at 8:25am From JD,I am so grateful and still amazed that the boss emailed me from his home last night and today as soon as he logged on he shot all confirmation records to me 1st thing! Stevie Dell may have dropped the ball on a few of us,but man,they made up for it 10x over.Now I went through over a year of pure hell,but the great work and service now is amazing.The PC Gods heard our prayers Stevie, lol.I wanted your advice on the raid ssd since we are going to have about same systems,when you get a sec,I will rep you again i repped you and Fox last I have to spread the love then I'll hit ya.Thanks Buddy!

 

A bit off topic sorry,but Stevie another difference with Dell,I had a broken key on a new 2 month old toshiba and they jerked me so for 20 bucks us,I picked one up online and popped it in,in about 2 minutes.Now for 2 minutes and 20 bucks they lost a customer and possibly more potential cash.I now have 4 Alienware's and an xps and am happy,I will let ya know how sli goes as it's on the truck to be delivered by 3pm est.Thanks again Stevie.I am so glad your issues are handled so far.As always good luck Bro!

 

See - you hit the nail on the head there buddy. For a pathetically small amount, Toshiba ended up shooting 'emselves in the foot, eh? - if you need any advice Bro, just hit me up and I will do my very best with what I know. My old system gets picked up tomorrow so I will be down to 1 Alien in the house....still, she is a fine specimen!

+1rep to you too, my friend!

 

Ahhh Im stuck they sent me a mobo thinking that was heatsinks,I am all apart with only one heatsink.Im calling dell now,my guy will take care of it but I have to go away 2moro.lol There's always something bro.Arrrggg

 

I guess you were bound to hit a small snag somewhere along the way, lets hope they rectify it asap. Bit of a downer but I am 10000% sure it will get solved swiflty with your "guy" on the case !

 

Stevie Im bummed I had the"guy"going crazy at 345pm he ordered 2 new heatsinks left&right new keyboard assy cuz I had a issue,the new 330 watt adapter and tim material assy.And put a rush but since I had a single gpu there is one often forgotten part that hit me while reading up on some stuff geating ready for next delivery and BOOM the slave fan!I didnt even think about the fan as I was scrambling at 4pm to get sli heatsinks and the 580s rectified that now it's too late.Oh well Stevie theres always 2moro.But Im moving into a new house over the weekend.LOL I feel cursed Bro.

I just checked my order status and I have 6 parts shipped! But Dells part descriptions leave alot to be desired.It looks like everything for sli and a keyboard and side board.Sadly no fan for 2nd 580gtx.Im tempted to try with a rigged m15x fan just to make sure it works.But if I dont get all 2moro Ill just wait til after the move and I know my reps will make good on the mistakes.Thanks stevie and ill definitely need your experience on a few tests and temp checks to make sure all is well,if you wouldn't mind bro.

 

Thanks my friend,and yep they were foolish for 20 bucks.I am truly happy your monster is hittin it hard now.I know it's hard lettin one go even a bad one.I can't wait to see what you do with that setup!You have a smokin rig Bro! Best of luck "Cheers"

I was curious about a few things I think if not mistaken Mr fox recommended using the dell tim that comes with the heatsinks as opposed to say ac5 on the die?I have a new tube of as5 and I'm getting new heatsinks with all tim supposedly a kit.I was wondering what's preffered tim or AS5 on the gpu die?I can't remember foxes exact comment and im looking at everything with my order so getting confused.Lol.Thanks