M18x-R1 with 7970M CrossFire

So all we got to do is download the 12.5 beta drivers and Radeon pro to enable Xfire performance on games,right?

I'm jus concerned in gaming.

 

It seems you may have got a bad pair 580M cards, bro. I've never had any problems with mine except for the thing with DPC latency and that was a driver issue. I had 3 defective pairs of 6900M series GPUs. That just goes to show that either brand can have problems. That's why it's so silly to be a fanboy for red or green. Fanboys tend to tolerate shortcomings because they are in love with the brand name instead of what the hardware delivers for them. Flexibility is a good thing for true gamers and benchers... no such thing as brand loyalty with GPUs. The best video cards are the ones that run fastest and live long enough to tell the story, regardless of what brand.

 

ahh mine was at stock clock 715MHz, seems like 580m SLI and 6990m is almost similar well 6990m slightly wins.. Alright below is at 800Mhz (tessellation OFF)

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And Core 800Mhz (Tessellation Normal)

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Looks like 580m and 6990m both are almost similar, but wait wait ive just pushed 6990m X to only core 800Mhz so there is still way for overclock it more

 

nop, my card are ok. the only games i have problem is metro2033 and far cry 2.

 

Perfect statement. I want the card that works well and provides the best bang for my buck!

 

I can't wait for WHQL drivers to be released. If the other companies are releasing their 7970m's soon maybe we will see the WHQL drivers then.

 

Hi all, I've been reading all the threads on this but was confused as to the current status of upgrading from AMD 6990m duals to 7970m duals. Is this now totally supported and working with the kits/parts that can be ordered from Alienware? This is for the 1st gen M18x R1 by the way.

Any custom bios needed?
Is crossfireX working in games now?
In terms of physical work, what is needed to be orderd from Alienware and what is the approx cost of parts needed?
How difficult is it to replace these ourselves, eg can the gpus be accessed without totally removing the motherboard etc?

Any answers would be extremely helpful, thanks in advance.

 

I'd like that thank you guys for the hard work and info. I'll be picking up a pair of these soon as crysis 3 is on the horizon and i dont believe my 6970s will make the cut.

 

katana, I moved your post into this thread. No need to start a concurrent discussion on the same topic. I think you will find most, if not all, of your questions are answered in this thread, starting from the very first post and reading forward. Unless you can afford to drop over $1,000 (USD) for the new parts, you might want to just enjoy what you have. It's a terribly expensive GPU upgrade for a used laptop that originally cost between $3,000 to $4,000 (or more) depending on the specs.

 

So dumbdumb's M18x is 1st generation?

 

That's good news, Brother Bumbo. I was starting to be concerned that something was wrong.

Thanks. That's what it's all about at the end of the day.

I hope so, too. Those beasts are too powerful to be held back by crappy drivers.

I'm still kicking around the idea of upgrading. I'm not sure it makes any sense though, as spending $1,100+ on the new hardware doesn't seem worth it. My 580M SLI is still more than powerful enough to do everything except for setting new benchmark records as high as 7970M CF. I may end up taking the leap because I love benching as much as gaming. But, my logical side is telling me to stop and think about it longer. I still want to see what kind of performance GTX 680M brings to the table. It might make more sense to sell my M18x R1 and put the money toward an M18x R2 already equipped with the hardware I want. The cost difference may not be much different than the cost of the upgrade to 7970M CF or 680M SLI.

Yes, it sure is. He had 6990M CF before.

 

Dont know if this is true or not..
and apperntly this score is real.. so that would suck.. i hope its just hype..playing the card down..

 

Honestly, I don't think that information is reliable. Also, some of the yahoos that do the reviews are really not very good at what they do. I recently saw a review from back when the M18x was first released and the reviewer got terrible 3DMark11 scores with both 6990M and 580M SLI that were way less than what my scores were fresh out of the box.

 

I saw the same atricle - assuming that the score is for one 680m, its not sooo bad .....and as Fox said, some of the guys doing these "tests" are one step off being brain dead.....

 

You should upgrade, Mr. Fox. You deserve the best cards possible.

 

Thank you, GTO. That's a very nice thing to say. The thought has crossed my mind more than once. It would be fun to help sort out the issues, that's for sure.

I used to do a lot of diagnostics and fix problems with 6970M/6990M CF all the time. At the time it was a bit frustrating, but there was a part of me that really enjoyed the challenge. Although the GTX 580M has been an absolute joy to own, there have been fewer issues to challenge my problem solving fetish, LOL.

 

lol well we should all upgrade.... id take a bulky 20 pound laptop any day of the week if it had the hardware i wanted in it!

 

That's also a reason why you need to upgrade because you know how to work in these cards. Heck, you did fixed the 6990m cf issue.

You deserve the upgrade, brother.

 

Amen to that brother! lol

 

I'm thinking pretty hard about it, but no promises yet.

 

so how many 7970m does it take to run the Unreal Samaritan DEMO lol

 

did u manage to run 2x 7970m on the m17x r2 ?

 

im sorry friend whom are you asking?

 

btw , im guessing that gtx580 is better than 1 7970m ?

 

think I missclicked a thread on that specific question , or perhaps several posts backward 1 guy tryed running 2x 7970m on this m17x r2

 

I think it works on M17x R2 Kamzan. IMO I think with an overclocked 7970m its nearly the same as a stock gtx580 (on air as thats the only fair comparison)

 

Hmm, would love a more based info on thath since if a single 7970m performs as a PC gtx 580 then I would sell my m18x and settle for an m17x with a single 7970m card instead of my 699m CF m18x which weights 1.5 kg more than a m17x

 

well if weight is a concern... or keep M18x and get single 7970m for now and later get another for one uber rig

hey here is some 7970m info but can't find a overclocked 7970m vs gtx g580 :|
http://amdfx.blogspot.com/2012/05/amd-7970m-overclocked-vs-7950.html

 

to buy a 7970m would cost me around 1200$ ( or more) . brand new m17x r4 with 7970m costs 1800$.
its why im thinking on selling the m18x and getting the m17x R4

 

:| i thought they cost about that for two my mistake. In that case if you get a chance to sell its a good swap...

 

well that how much it would cost in dell israel

 

so , 7970m = gtx 580 ?

 

only when OC'd. At stock it is on par with GTX 570 desktop.

 

I see u have one urselsf. Im thinking on selling my m18x and getting the r4. Which games do u play and what sort of fps u getting on ultra ? Or better yet, how would u compare ur r4 to an m18x r1 with dual 6990m ?

 

Just get a 7970M crossfire and prolong your laptop's life. Sell the 6990Ms, technically you are paying just for 1 7970M if you can sell your 6990Ms. Try the Marketplace and/or eBay.

 

that is sound advice Patrck 744. Plus later you could still get another 7970m to go in Crossfire if you keep your computer and just sell both your 6990m's.

 

Im not sure it would pay off... Dell israel gave me an offer of 1000$ for a single 580m + installation. So imagine how much a single 7970m would cost.... I can probably buy a brand new m17x for almost what a single 7970m will cost me

 

AMD cards are usually cheaper though. There are a lot of videos out there how to disassemble your machine. Sometime you just have to jump in the water to learn it and do them properly if you are not sure with your skills.

 

yeah those figures seem a little high... see its true the 580m kit may be $1000 but actual 7970m cost shouldn't be that at all.. should be lower. Maybe just wait for the dust to settle and negotiate a 7970m purchase... if you are persistent you may get farther with dell Israel... supply limits are only thing keeping the cost so high over there. BTW stock 580m SLI (dual card) vs 7970m single card barely scores just a hair lower than the two in SLI at stock clocks though...

take the following chart with a grain of salt... stock clock comparisons in the type of tests are often done on bad drivers and like mentioned in the forum before with someone missing some knowlege upstairs. AMD Radeon HD 7970M Review and Specification

2330 points gpu score in Vantage away from dual 580m compared to just a single 7970m.

 

I wouldn't get rid of the m18x for the 17x R4. The m18x has superior build quality, chassis, cooling (very important) ability to CF or SLI and is just the "flagship" of the AW notebook fleet. Those are things you cannot "upgrade" if you decide to make this switch.

You can always get the 7970s and they WILL lower in price (everywhere). You may decide in 6 months to get the Nvidia offerings if they pan out to be even greater.

I would strongly suggest thinking further on your decision because while you may get portability and about the same power you have with CF 6990s Vs 1 7970, you lose the chassis quality, cooling, screen real estate and overall build quality.

Good luck.

 

well spoken Daveh98 I am glad you agree with me on the M18x being a great computer to stick with. Its up to you but its worlds apart when you add a second 7970m to the M18x

 

I could not agree more. The M17x R3/R4 cannot compete with the M18x R1/R2 on any grounds relating to build quality or performance potential. It is only a little bit smaller, so I don't see the portability as being significantly different between the two systems.

 

not to toot my own horn...awe screw im tootin it!
I just broke a 40k on Gpu score!

Spoiler

 

So how did u do it? Is using the 12.5 beta drivers recommended?

 

yes please in one of these threads list the driver you are using succesfully please I have a pair shipping out Monday jumps up and down and also toots ones own horn

I see the catalyst 8.97 but is this the beta and or what mods are needed to driver on M18x R1 is it the guru3d modded drivers?

we have like more than one M18x R1 user with 7970m maybe someone can clue me and GTO in?

 

ok the drivers im using are the ones i listed... the 12.5 beta drives! the 3dguru ones sucks... stay far away from them! mods? no mods.. slight over clock and gpu over clock. thats all..

the 12.5 beta driver ae the way to go for now. there the best ones at the momment. but there not perfect/ just semi stable.. enough to do certain things. But cf on most things does not work still.

 

thank you so much DumbDumb i'll go through and find the link you provided in the thread thanks alot i'll stick to single card in games... thanks so much. how you liking all this? i can't wait till mine arrive.

 

well its awesome.. best computer ive owned to date.. minus a few hicups..

 

here ill link it.. AMD_Catalyst_12.5_Beta.rar

 

CF on most things? Like what, my brother?

What about games?