m9750 upgraded to 8700m GT SLi

Hi,
recently I had Alienware m9750 with single 7950gtx video card. Vista installed.
Today I bought dual 8700m gt cards from ebay.
But when I plug them in, I see distorted video screen.
Please take a look:
img532.imageshack.us/i/p1020845u.jpg/
img638.imageshack.us/i/p1020844n.jpg/

 

Links don't work. Did you update your BIOS? What about your drivers?

 

I did not update the bios, neither the drivers. As soon as i start the laptop, it shows the view like this, even in the start-up screens..

You need to add h t t p : / / in front of the links for them to work, i have too few posts to allow me posting links >_<

 

Start by updating your BIOS and your drivers.

m9750 Downloads - Drivers / Apps

 

Where do I get bios ? I can't find it on alienware support site...

 

I'm not sure about the BIOS because I'm a novice too. But have u tried booting in safe mode (hit f8 during start up) and instal the drivers? That will be a nice machine once you get those cards running. Good luck.

 

No I didn't try this. But I think that at least I have to see normal BIOS screen which I dont. When I turn on my laptop, alienware logo is split in two parts with dots around etc... It is almost impossible to read the text. There is no difference I boot windows, go to safe mode or bios screen.
My current Bios version: v02.59 / V8350C02 / KBC: 7310.
I would like to update Bios, but don't know where to get them, because I can't access My Hive.

 

The 8700Ms may be damaged. It sounds like an issue with the graphics cards themselves, or your laptop. Put the 7950 back in and see if it works fine, and if it does, then it's most likely an issue with the 8700Ms.

As a note, you DID apply thermal paste correctly didn't you? It might be overheating or the such.

 

If you ask me either one or both of the cards you bought are broken looking at the pictures. One other thing why would you go from 7950GTX to inferior 8700 cards anyway? Your much much better off getting a second 7950 as they are more powerful than the 8700's.
The BIOS for the M9750 is available in one place and one place only, your MyHive on alienwares website - you'll need to login to it and the BIOS should be listed there.

 

I applied thermal paste correctly. I'm using Arctic Silver 5.
I put the 7950 back in and everything is fine..

 

According to benchmark results. 8700m are better that 7950gtx. notebookcheck.net gives 800 more points on 3dmark 06 with 8700m...
My Hive requires "Account Number". I bought my laptop 3 years ago and I don't remember that number....

 

Well I do know this to be true, call up AW they will give you the log info you need. Just have the serial number of your system ready and they will give you the info. Good luck.

 

Just had a look at the pictures - at least one of the 8700's is faulty. Try them individually to see if you can work out whether it's just one or both.

Either way, I'd send them back for a refund. If you don't get anywhere with a refund, send them to me and I'll pop them through my reflow oven for you - that should fix the problem (as long as you pay postage both ways I'll do it for free).

Whatever you do, DON'T put them in the oven to try and fix them. Reflowing is a very precise technique. I was horrified to read that people were putting their cards in their ovens to try fix them. Not only is it likely to cause more damage to the card, but it is also DANGEROUS. Solder fumes are TOXIC.

 

Yes you'll have to phone alienware and get them to give you your account number. Dont pay any attention to notebookcheck, it is at the best of times inaccurate. It's good as a rough guide but nothing else. I can tell you from when I tried the two sets of cards, the 8700's did not perform as well as the 7950's in both benchmarks and gaming performance.
You must also remember that as 3dmark06 is incredibly CPU dependant that unless on notebookcheck they were tested in the same M9750 with the same CPU and memory then the results will not be accurate on the cards performance. Chances are the 8700 SLI benchmarks could have come from the original M17x which had superior CPU's.

 

One of the cards have "M" sticker. Maybe it marks the master card. I tried another card and I see no video at all. I think, I got damaged video cards. I will try to get a refund.

I will phone them and try to get that number. Thanks for the information. I wish I could buy hd3870 crossfire for my m9750 like you

 

either cards are not proper connected. but i've seen this before and 95% that one or both cards are defective. defective ram on card.

 

If your in the EU you can try getting Alienware to sell you 3870's, i've heard people having success buying them from Alienware in the past from the EU. Think they said that they were buying them for an M17 that they didnt have the account details for or something along those lines.

 

I successfuly updated Bios 0C02 -> 0C03. It didn't solve the problem.

 

In which case I think you have to accept that the new cards are broken and return them.

 

well one thing you could try is flashing the bios on the card itself. the master card will go in the slot opposite of the subwoofer the one with the heatsink only for that card and the northbridge. most likely it is going to be the master card that is bad. one thing you could try is use nvflash and swap the bios of the master and slave card. Then you would want to swap places with them and hook them up. once it boots up and you get the drivers installed try turning on sli. If it gives you a bsod then its going to be the secondary card that you swapped into the slave port. if when you first boot it and it is still looking all funny then it would be both cards are bad or you might not have them seated properly. also check to make sure the contacts are clean.

 

Hi Marty. If you still have the cards and want to test, I would first download official drivers from nvidia. Next I would uninstall all video drivers from the laptop before switching more cards. Next I would install the "M"aster card, install drivers, and test drive. if it works great. Repeat by adding daughter card and SLI cable. if it doesnt work then the daughter card will be defective OR the SLI cable is defective. That way you can track down exactly what is at fault.

Always uninstall drivers before putting in new hardware, even if it is from the same company. Most of my hardware problems are avoided doing this (just in case you weren't doing it before)

 

I wish people would learn the terminology used in the M9750 before rabbiting on about master cards. The primary/Master card in the M9750 is called and labelled "Daughter" the secondary/slave card is labelled "Parent". The Master/Slave terminology was used in the M17 but not the M9750.

 

that part on Parent/daughter is completely upside down.

you would think the parent is the main one, and the daughter just follows...

weird.