7970m Black screen

Hello,

I recently installed a 7970m from a 260m onto my Alienware m15x. However, when I try to start it up I just get a black screen; I can hear the tune when you arrive at the login screen but I'm unable to see anything.

Any suggestions on what I can do?

Thanks,

EDIT: The BIOS is up to date at A09, the PSU I got is the recommended PSU for the m15x when using a 7970m.

 

Where did you get the card from? Did the seller say it was compatible with your M15x? I'm thinking you might have gotten a card that supports dual GPU's (Integrated and Dedicated) and the Enduro based cards have issues with this machine. You may have to "Blind" flash your card's Video Bios to a version that supports only a dedicated card. You may also try connecting the machine to an external monitor if you have one. Others here with a 7970M may be of more help to you.

 

I got it off E-bay and it was stated to work for the M15x, Any way for me to check if that is indeed the problem? How would i go about in flashing it???

Thanks for your help

 

I would contact the seller and let them know that it does not work. What ebay item number is it? Can you link it?

 

I actually got it several months back- i only got around to installing it recently. However the seller seems to be selling another 7970m at Alienware AMD HD Dell 7970M 2GB GDDR5 for M15X M17x M18x | eBay.

It seems be the same one as the one I bought before.

Edit. Typo

 

I would contact the seller, let him know that it isn't working. The 7970M's are usually a blue PCB Board color. I would ask people who have a 7970M to see if they know of where you can get a vBios for your card. The problem is, If you don't know what vBios you have or what subvendor your card is from, it will be difficult to tell. Maybe just have to ask someone who knows about the 7970M's.

 

If you can connect it to an external display you can check and see if it just has a problem displaying to your screen. If it doesn't display even on there but you can hear sound then it may be an enduro problem. There should be some vbios's you can find just do a google search.

 

Thank you for the advice! I'm not very familiar with how all of this works so please bear with me; I did a google search for a AMD 7970m vbios and came up with this: AMD 7970m - modified VBIOS

Would flashing that work?

 

It will control the voltage but you may be having an enduro issue. It's up to you if you want to try it. I'd go with the .975v or 1v undervolt.

 

So, I should possibly find a vbios that disables enduro functionality?

 

I'm not sure. King of Interns has a similar setup and is very knowledgeable he may be able to help you more.