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

According to Inap and The Rev a higher PSU won't let you draw more power... which actually makes sense. It's definitely limited by the mobo. The parts on the mobo have a certain rating and if a higher PSU would allow to simply draw more power you could easily kill the system.

Anyway, see whether you can get a kill-o-watt to investigate a bit more on this, it's pretty cheap, especially compared to a 240W brick

 

Just wondering, is there any other place to get the retention bracket for 6970?

 

Yes if you want the heatsink from the M17x r3 as well:
New Alienware Dell m17x r3 GPU Heatsink Complete J9H7X | eBay UK
Maybe email them and ask if they'd sell you only the x-plate.

 

Take a closer look and compare it to a regular back plate... I'm pretty sure it won't fit, seems to be a standard one.

 

Hi widezu69, where you buy your card ? mxm or dell spare part ?

 

Hi doxetu

Widezu69 got an ES version of the card with 1120 shaders (instead of 960). He got it from another user here... pretty impossible to get your hands on such a card.

You can get the regular 6970m from mxm-upgrade or Dell.

 

With the 28nm cards coming in a few months, I think I may wait to see if those will work before making a decision.

 

Well, you can always wait for something better of course... but that's usually not the best solution on world of fast changing technology.
You can still sell the 6970m in case you want to get something better. It's not even sure whether it will work... and as far as I know there's no official announcement of the 7xxx series yet.

But of course it's up to you to decide.

 

My advice is to just go for it. You'll have one of the best GPUs in a 15 inch laptop for a while still. You won't be disappointed! Just look at svl7's benchmark scores. Absolute beast.

On another note, applied some pads to virtually every single diode/IO/chip/module that I could see on my card with a new lick of MX-4 and seemed to stop the crashing. Still taking it cautiously though, pushed to 770/970 and got P14400 for the GPU and P15500 overall. Ever closer to my goal of 775/1000

 

Interesting... I'm still curious about the power draw

 

I can still grab a 6970m when they the new cards come out. I love buying new tech, but I was thinking today: I'm playing ME2 right now and it runs perfect. After I'm done that, I have Baldur's Gate 2 and Star Craft 2 lined up. I don't really need more power as of now. But I can get 2 Dell 23" IPS screens for less than that one card costs.

In the end, I waffle a lot, but I can see the mid-range 7xxx card being a good choice if it's compatible.

 

Hey guys, just seem this on ebay:

ATI Mobility Radeon? HD 6970m GPU MXM 3.0 Type B | eBay

Seems to be reasonably priced, but just not too sure if it fits the M15x? Says it's a 3.0 type B card.

I'm unsure what the differences would be between these cards.

Any input would be appreciated!

Cheers,


Mike

 

It will be fine. Plus upgradeyourlaptop are decent sellers as well. Great price too! Do it!

 

That's probably a Clevo card, ask the dealer to be sure. In this case it hasn't been tested yet but I'm pretty sure it will work. The price is fantastic! In case the card subvendor is Sapphire it will definitely work.

I recommend contacting the dealer and ask whether there's RAM on the back of the card as well... that's the case with some Clevo cards. And it might become a problem because the M15x is not designed to conduct away heat from the back of the card... though I'm not sure how hot the RAM modules actually run.

 

I think it should be fine. Clevo members also mention that overdrive works in their cards which is a bonus. But obviously check. What card does dttran83 have?

 

I mostly worried about the ram in case they have some modules on the back of the card as well... but I don't know whether it can be a problem. The card should work.
dttran83 has probably the same card as I have, also Sapphire/PCPartner as subvendor.

 

Cool. I guess mine being an ES has adopted the dell vBios as its own because mine reports it as from Dell.

 

And you didn't flash the vbios?? Wow, interesting... but it's known that Dell also makes cards for other vendors. Hmm, I need to check your posts in the benchmark thread, I guess I can find a GPU-Z screenshot there

Edit: It's really reported as a Dell card, with the usual Dell nr., cool, I didn't notice this. But you didn't flash the vbios. right? Is audio through DP/HDMI working?

 

No, no the vbios is flashed. I'm just saying is that even on your cards, with the vbios flashed, does it still say Sapphire? Because mine says Dell, with the vbios flashed and yet the card came from Eurocom so I'm guessing it is a Clevo one.

 

No, the Dell vbios has of course Dell in the subvendor entry, it does say Dell after the flashing. It's totally possible that Dell is making some of the cards for Clevo, or at least the ES cards, seems to be like this with your card.
What about audio with HDMI/DP?

 

I expect it works. Can't check until next week. I think that ichime has flashed this card with the Dell vbios, I remember reading it somewhere in the M17x forums. Don't know what the subvendor said before though.

 

So, I'm confused now... do you have the original vbios of your ES card on it, or the Dell "regular 6970m" vbios? I mean, did Ichime flash the original one back or not? Seems a bit weird to flash the regular vbios since your card has more shaders... hmm.

 

I'm really sorry for being ambiguous. When ichime got the card, he got it from Eurocom, so it was presumably Clevo made. Apparently he had to flash it to the Dell vbios to get it to work properly in the M17x R2. I haven't flashed it so it still has the Dell vbios on it. Flashing the Dell vbios did not reduce the shader count, in fact I think that it did the reverse. I think the original ES bios locked the extra shaders away, the Dell one apparently unlocked them.

 

This is really interesting, so you're running it on the Dell vbios with apparently all shaders. I'd expect the Dell vbios to have problems with the card... really intriguing. You have a copy of the original vbios I guess? Did you ever compare them with RBE?

 

I'm afraid I don't have the old bios. I could ask ichime for it but I'm not sure that he'd've kept it.

 

So, i have ordered one of those:

ATI Mobility Radeon? HD 6970m GPU MXM 3.0 Type B - eBay (item 110692404813 end time Jun-23-11 12:29:18 PDT)


Should have it maybe late next week or so.
I will try to flash it with the short guide on this thread and hopefully it will work.

 

Good luck! Welcome to the club!

 

Very nice, let us know about your success!!

 

It should be the same the others. I may get one too, that price is much better.

 

I don't think it's the same, but we'll see. I thought clevo has it's own version... Price is very good, but shipping is expensive and you don't get warranty on the card.

@MrValle: I forgot: Please make a screenshot of GPU-Z when you get the card (with the original vbios on it)
And before flashing test whether DP/HDMI audio works with the vbios it comes with But I don't have to tell you this, lol...

 

Hi,

So I got in touch with the vendor of those cards I posted the link about. He originally thought they did have ram modules on both sides of the card. I asked him to send me some pictures, and it turns out to his suprise, they don't have ram on the back of the card.

Edit:

- upgradeyourlaptop


ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting

Maybe someone knows if Eurocom cards work in the M15x?

Regards,


Mike

 

That's really good to know, thanks for posting this!

 

No problem. So you think these cards should work in the M15x svl7?

 

I have the clevo card and it's green. It also has a black plastic covering around the central part of the die.

 

Soo many colours! We've seen green, blue, dark blue, my ES is black.

By the way, the 460m GTX has ram chips on the back, at least mine did and it worked fine.

 

I just compared the pics you posted with my card and it seems to be exactly the same, identical parts and same layout. Maybe Clevo simply uses the a different vbios or they're even using exactly the same hardware and software configuration (Subvendor Sapphire/PCPartner).
I definitely think it will work, but I can't guarantee this of course.

Can't think of a reason why it shouldn't work tbh.

 

Until it died No, just kidding... thanks for the info. Hope it works out with the G73, haven't had time to mess around with it so far... I'm pretty busy and the wheather is too great

 

I know this kinda isn't that relevant but this thread is about pimping out your laptop so, my Roccat Kova [+] arrived today, customisable lights and all check it out. Image attached:

 

Looks very nice... but, does it blend?

What I'm really interested is, do you now have access to a kill-o-watt or similar? Some numbers about the power draw of the additional shaders would be great.

 

I know you keep asking, I'm going away for a month and I can't get access to one I'm sorry. I'm curious to know as well.

 

Hehehehe, sorry, I know... I should shut up

 

My card arrived today. How do you take out the x-plate from 5850 card and place it on 6970?

 

With your hands, start with the corners, loosen them carefully until you can lift the plate. It sticks a bit, you need to apply a little bit force.

 

Do you have to install the driver before swapping the card?

 

Uninstall your current driver and download the one you want to install.
Then install the card and then the driver.

 

Hi,svl7. I want to take a 6970m on my M15x, and have some questions now. I appreciate if you can help me. According to the words you wrote on the 1st. floor, can the card DELL used in M17x-R3 work well in M15x without any additional operation? (such as control the fan with HWinfo32) Is it to say that the card can control fan speed itself based on different temperature?
I can have a card from DELL and the only problems I worry about is the fan control……

PS：English isn't my first language, so don't care about the unsuitable expression I did.

 

That is correct. The Dell M17x R3 card is fully compatible. No fan issues etc.

 

Yes, the Dell card is confirmed to work without any issues with the fan control. The fan control will be completely automatic, now additional software necessary. That's the best possible solution, really great if you can get a Dell 6970m!

 

Everyone should try the new RC5 drivers, they work really well for me that is.

 

Who confirmed it? I thought this point was still debatable?