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    M15x & 6970M / 6990M - What you need to know - upgrading, problems, solutions

    Discussion in 'Alienware M15x' started by svl7, Apr 19, 2011.

  1. svl7

    svl7 T|I

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    svl7, Jun 22, 2011
    #701
  2. dttran83

    dttran83 Notebook Deity

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    Hey slv7,

    What happen to your 6970m? Did you brick it?
     
    dttran83, Jun 23, 2011
    #702
  3. svl7

    svl7 T|I

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    Yes, flashed it with a modified copy of the beta vbios, afterwards the system didn't POST anymore, so I can't reflash it...
     
    svl7, Jun 23, 2011
    #703
  4. migualo

    migualo Notebook Consultant

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    Oh man, so sorry to hear that. Hope you can fix it.
     
    migualo, Jun 23, 2011
    #704
  5. kingkong8

    kingkong8 Notebook Consultant

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    from whom vbios you reflash??..
     
    kingkong8, Jun 23, 2011
    #705
  6. svl7

    svl7 T|I

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    Hahaha, a beta vbios of an engineering sample. Apparently this wasn't a good idea, lol.
     
    svl7, Jun 23, 2011
    #706
  7. kingkong8

    kingkong8 Notebook Consultant

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    sorry to hear that bro.. from whom vbios??
     
    kingkong8, Jun 23, 2011
    #707
  8. svl7

    svl7 T|I

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    svl7, Jun 23, 2011
    #708
  9. kingkong8

    kingkong8 Notebook Consultant

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    sorry bro.. where is your card now? can you return it or ask for replacement from your seller?..
     
    kingkong8, Jun 23, 2011
    #709
  10. svl7

    svl7 T|I

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    Haha, no, I definitely can't ask for a replacement, since I broke the card, and the guy who sold it to me would easily find out that it's because of the vbios.

    I think I can get it reflashed, but since I don't have to equipment for this it's gonna cost money.
     
    svl7, Jun 23, 2011
    #710
  11. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    Hey svl, why don't you ask on of the guys with a M17x or M18x to put it in as their second card. Then they'd still be able to post using their existing first card then boom flashed and problem solved.
     
    widezu69, Jun 23, 2011
    #711
  12. svl7

    svl7 T|I

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    That's what I thought first, but apparently this won't work, at least not with a Dell system. It won't boot with a bad card, or if you have a one card system it will boot from the integrated GPU and ignore the bad GPU, that's what I heard. It may work with Clevo systems, no idea.
     
    svl7, Jun 23, 2011
    #712
  13. dttran83

    dttran83 Notebook Deity

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    Do you still have your 470m? Use that atm then.
     
    dttran83, Jun 23, 2011
    #713
  14. svl7

    svl7 T|I

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    Yeah, I still have it. I'm about to sell it, should be gone until Sunday if the buyer doesn't cancel the whole deal.

    Probably I'll put back the 5850m until I have my 6970m working again.
     
    svl7, Jun 23, 2011
    #714
  15. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    I hope you are not taking a big loss, it only cost me about £20 incl delivery to get a card recovered.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Jun 23, 2011
    #715
  16. The Revelator

    The Revelator Notebook Prophet

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    I recall that you said MXM Upgrade can cold flash a card that has suffered from a bad vbios flash.
     
    The Revelator, Jun 23, 2011
    #716
  17. kingkong8

    kingkong8 Notebook Consultant

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    how you get your card fixed?

    how MXM Upgrade get the card fixed from a bad vbios flash?
     
    kingkong8, Jun 23, 2011
    #717
  18. destinymax

    destinymax Notebook Consultant

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    svl7, I'am sorry to hear that :(
    I hope your card will recover soon...
    Then I have a good message, I will got a non-ES 6970m from DELL which cost less than ＄500.
     
    destinymax, Jun 23, 2011
    #718
  19. MegaVA

    MegaVA Notebook Enthusiast

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    Good deal man I am waiting on mine from them now too.
     
    MegaVA, Jun 23, 2011
    #719
  20. svl7

    svl7 T|I

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    That's true, I'm in contact with Kris. I'm not sure how he reflashes it... maybe he has a kind of special adapter only for the MXM cards. The other possibility I can think of how to reflash it is a bit crazy, it would need desoldering of the eeprom chip, no idea how he's doing it. Would be interesting to know.
     
    svl7, Jun 24, 2011
    #720
  21. ichime

    ichime Notebook Elder

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    Might be a long shot, but try playing with the memory modules; try running your system with one ram stick or both (but with the positions swapped). I remember my system was acting funny (not the one I have now) In terms of Vantage benchmarking and other games, but replacing my ram sticks actually fixed the problem. Also, what does your CPU overclock look like?

    Hmm...try reflashing it to the Clevo VBIOS (i know, no audio over HDMI) just to see if FN+F6 works. I'm trying to see if I can fix the audio over HDMI issue with the Clevo VBIOS, and it's hard as he!! reading through all this Hex in the VBIOS :(

    You could try the ram swap I addressed earlier in this post to see if that's the culprit. Also are you using the latest motherboard BIOS version?

    Another way would be to send it to a Clevo X7200 or person like me who has 6970Ms already. What they or I can do is put the bad card in the 2nd GPU slot and reflash it via ATiflash or RBE. It only works if the primary GPU is a 6970M else it won't post (like when I had a 5870M in the primary and the 6970M in the second slot).

    EDIT: Can't you run off/Boot off the integrated graphics in your M15x?
     
    ichime, Jun 24, 2011
    #721
  22. svl7

    svl7 T|I

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    Could also be stupid vantage simply acting stupid :D I had some problems with it once in a while. Low performance for no reason etc. Atm I'm using version 1.0.2. and it works fine. The latest version caused problems.

    FN+F6 doesn't work with the clevo vbios either.


    That was my first idea, but according to Brian this won't work, he said the AW systems won't boot if one card is dead. I'd try it but I don't have access to a dual 6970m system atm. Maybe it works with a Clevo.
     
    svl7, Jun 24, 2011
    #722
  23. JohnnyFlash

    JohnnyFlash Notebook Virtuoso

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    JohnnyFlash, Jun 24, 2011
    #723
  24. Mi10s

    Mi10s Notebook Enthusiast

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    Can anyone post gaming/benchmark video with this card?
     
    Mi10s, Jun 24, 2011
    #724
  25. DraZziW

    DraZziW Notebook Consultant

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    DraZziW, Jun 24, 2011
    #725
  26. migualo

    migualo Notebook Consultant

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    I didn't realize that I had A08 and 1.16 EC version. After updating to A09 and 1.18 EC no more shutdowns! Could run Vantage with no issues ;)

    Thanks a million ichime, +rep
     
    migualo, Jun 24, 2011
    #726
  27. svl7

    svl7 T|I

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    Check out this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-powerful-m15x-benchmark-thread-part-2-a.html

    There are quite some benchmarks in it, you have to look at the last 20 pages to find the 6970m benches.
    The first site should get updated with 6970m scores as well, very soon.

    Yeah, but it seems that when you have a working card there's no problem... at least that's what they say.
     
    svl7, Jun 24, 2011
    #727
  28. kaizenmx

    kaizenmx Notebook Consultant

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    Do dell use clevo 6970, or is it just Dell version of 6970?
     
    kaizenmx, Jun 24, 2011
    #728
  29. svl7

    svl7 T|I

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    Dell has it's own version, e.g. different VRAM modules (Hynix instead of Samsung, which apparently can get pushed harder).

    The hardware as some other differences I guess, this would also explain the fan issue, no idea. Also the core usually can be pushed a little bit more than by the Clevo, Sapphire versions.
     
    svl7, Jun 24, 2011
    #729
  30. Mi10s

    Mi10s Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thank you!
     
    Mi10s, Jun 25, 2011
    #730
  31. jimiglen

    jimiglen Notebook Enthusiast

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    If anyone has any idea of how to get a dell 6970m in the uk let me know :)
     
    jimiglen, Jun 25, 2011
    #731
  32. svl7

    svl7 T|I

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    Call them. Try to convince them. And good luck.... :rolleyes:

    It's pretty hard to convince these guys to sell you something that isn't supposed to be in your system... but if you're lucky you might have a cool guy at the phone.

    Other option is ebay... once in a while you can find Dell cards for more or less reasonable prices. I highly recommend to check it everyday in case you really want a Dell card.
     
    svl7, Jun 25, 2011
    #732
  33. jimiglen

    jimiglen Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks- i'll do that. I've tried a few different email approaches. I'll give em a call and keep an eye on ebay- cheers
     
    jimiglen, Jun 25, 2011
    #733
  34. dragonthl

    dragonthl Notebook Enthusiast

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    If u call them please ask them for the price.
     
    dragonthl, Jun 25, 2011
    #734
  35. ichime

    ichime Notebook Elder

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    Glad to help :D
     
    ichime, Jun 25, 2011
    #735
  36. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    Hey guys, I was wondering how to get the MemIO temps down a bit. I recently bought some 0.5mm pads thinking that they would fit, turns out, they are too thin. Is 1mm the optimal thickness? I have 12W/mk ones @1mm they are a bit hard though. Any other recommendations?
     
    widezu69, Jun 27, 2011
    #736
  37. svl7

    svl7 T|I

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    MemIO is the memory controller... located on the die, make sure the whole die is covered with paste.
     
    svl7, Jun 27, 2011
    #737
  38. pras1011

    pras1011 Notebook Consultant

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    I have 1mm and they are too thick. 0.5mm will be correct.
     
    pras1011, Jun 27, 2011
    #738
  39. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    Hm ok. Must have been a coincidence. I changed to thin 6W/mK pads, must have mis-pasted the die because temps went down after I changed back to the 1mm 12W/mK ones.
     
    widezu69, Jun 27, 2011
    #739
  40. svl7

    svl7 T|I

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    I just did some measuring on my spare M15x GPU heatsink and the my 6970m. The difference between the memory modules and the heatsink is just about 0.5mm.

    1mm pads will work fine if they're soft enough, but if they're easily compressible, the gap between die and GPU will be about 0.5mm more than necessary, which will have an influence on the temps.
     
    svl7, Jun 27, 2011
    #740
  41. dragonthl

    dragonthl Notebook Enthusiast

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    Waiting for 6970m from ebay, so excited :p
    Hope no problem when it runs with my laptop :)
     
    dragonthl, Jun 27, 2011
    #741
  42. svl7

    svl7 T|I

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    Cheers!! Great news, looking forward to seeing some benchmarks, :D
     
    svl7, Jun 27, 2011
    #742
  43. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    M17X R2 with 2x 6970s and 920 ES? Gaming heaven on a portable machine considering the specs.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Jun 27, 2011
    #743
  44. MegaVA

    MegaVA Notebook Enthusiast

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    Woot! card just showed up today, waiting on my intel 320 300gb now. Using mx4 but wondering if I need some pads as well. Suggestions?
     
    MegaVA, Jun 27, 2011
    #744
  45. The Revelator

    The Revelator Notebook Prophet

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    I bought new .5mm pads in anticipation of installing the 6970M, but after removing the 5850m, the pads on the heatsink looked fine, so I just wiped them off and reused them. So far, so good. Congratulations, look forward to hearing your results.
     
    The Revelator, Jun 27, 2011
    #745
  46. MrValle

    MrValle Notebook Evangelist

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    MrValle, Jun 28, 2011
    #746
  47. MegaVA

    MegaVA Notebook Enthusiast

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    MegaVA, Jun 28, 2011
    #747
  48. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    Might sell my 6990/6970 to a worthy user of my choosing to fund a M17x R3 with 580m GTX. I'll make a decision by August if the 3D option is available with the higher nvidia GPU.
     
    widezu69, Jun 28, 2011
    #748
  49. destinymax

    destinymax Notebook Consultant

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    I just got the response yestoday that I can't got a DELL 6970m with a nice price. :(
    The Clevo card may be the last option...And it has various color? Such as black, blue and green. What's the different?
     
    destinymax, Jun 29, 2011
    #749
  50. IrateMike

    IrateMike Notebook Geek

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    Hey guys

    Got my 6970m all up and running. Couple of issues though, in hwinfo GPU0 is reporting 90degrees constantly but not altering at all. Not valid? All other temperatures (including MEMIO) are fine, around 45 degrees at idle, and 68-72 while gaming.

    Also I'm getting great framerates, but a lot of screen tearing in Starcraft II - even with vertical sync enabled.

    Any advice guys?

    Cheers,


    Mike
     
    IrateMike, Jun 29, 2011
    #750
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