M15x crashing.(6990m or BIOS A09?)

Hi. I want to go to sleep soon so I will make this fast. I just received my new 6990 in the post today and installed it and it performs great and has unbelievable temps(under 70) with fan working properly. Before installing it, I updated BIOS to a09 because I thought I read you need that for the 6990. I only used the comp for like 20 min with a09 before installing the 6990. Now, twice the comp has powered off instantly and restarted in a 3 or so hour time period once in BF3 campaign and once in crysis 1. I read some internet about this and decided to disable instant restart or something like that so that I might get a BSOD message next time. I couldn't find any solution on the internet and it is very disappointing because at first I was extremely happy with this graphics card and would hate to have to go back to the old 5870 or have my whole comp be damaged. I don't think I installed the BIOS wrong, because it went just like last time I updated it. Good night, and I look forward to any help anybody has. Thanks.

 

Could be that your power supply is inadequete. Might need to get a 240w PSU. The PSU should reset if you unplug it from the wall when that happens. Does the 150W adaptor have a blue ring around the tip like the 240W? If it does, when you get an instant shutdown, if the blue ring is not on anymore, your power adaptor is tripping. Pulling too much power. Getting a 240W adaptor should solve that.

 

Yeah i just started having the shutdown problem, but my laptop doesnt restart, it just shutsdown. Ive only had it for a week and now that ive got the temps under control i have this problem. Sos time to start troubleshooting.....

I have a 240w psu, and the blue light stays on, so thats ruled out

 

The first thing to try, after you're sure it's not a problem elsewhere, would be undervolting.

 

I believe me PSU is 150w however not entirely sure since its not labeled on it. Its the replacement PSU Dell shipped me, but the problem is far from fixed. I get random power Downs and then auto restarts even when computer idles. Ring stays on the whole time. Warranty is naturally just up so I took it into bestbuy they ran diagnostics and when they computer finally stayed on long enough to be tested, they determined the HDD and mobo were bad. Its 460 to renew the warranty. Should I do that and then ship back to Dell for repairs?

 

I experience the same shutdowns sporadically. I've been using the A09 Bios since January with no shutdowns until relatively recently, so I'm pretty sure that is not the cause. I also used the 6970M for some time before shutdowns began to appear, so while it might be related in some way, I don't think the cards are the direct cause. I have used a 240W PSU for a long time, so doubt that power, or the lack thereof, has any effect. Virtually all of my shutdowns occur at idle, never under load. I suspect the drivers. I first saw shutdowns with the Cat 11.8's, and they were severe enough to make that set unusable for me. The 11.9's were better and are currently the most stable except for the 11.7's, but are not free from shutdowns. The 11.10's are a step backward. HWiNFO64 (or the fan app) may contribute to the problem in some way because shutdowns seem to occur more often when it is active. Again, for me, the shutdowns almost always occur while idling. I am very interested in others' analysis and experiences with this issue, but I don't think it's a BIOS or hardware problem, unless Valdemort's situation is completely different than mine, which it may well be since he seems to be crashing or shutting down under load.

 

Mine are sometimes while playing a game but 9 times out of 10 it happens when I'm not even at my computer (I can hear it power down) and other times it is when I'm browsing internet or doing word processing.

 

It started last night while playing bf3, after every round i checked my temps, my highest temp was 87c after about 2 1/2 hrs of play and right at the end of the round it just shut down completely. So i gave it 30 seconds to see if it would power back on, but it didnt so i turned it back on. So to see if i could replicate the shutdown i decided to run furmark for 2 mins and at about 1.55 it shut down. The fans were running at about max, and was also running my cooler, i also made sure that my xm cpu was running at stock settings, the temps were good hwinfo was reading max of 84, furmark was reading 81. My next step is to see what else i can do for cooling purposes and if that doesnt work its off to some underclocking

Whats weird is that i used to play bf3 for over 4 hrs when it would run at 96c and my 150w psu
And this never shutdown.......

 

I'm having same problem on my m18x's 6990m.

 

Yeah thats weird since your m18x should be able to handle the power and heat.

Well im undervolting my gpu now and so far it looks good, i will keep testing this and report back

 

try different drivers.
also the temps you mentioned (OP) what are your memio temps?

 

Hi. I just read all the replies to my thread. Sorry I didn't reply sooner I didn't get an email saying anybody had replied until just now. FYI I have only used the 6990 for a few hours as of now, and the shutdown has only happened twice so far, but I can start gathering information from now on. I'm glad lots of other people are having this problem too, not just me, and hopefully we can find a solution. I do remember the power ring on the power cord turning off some time while I had the comp on with the 6990, but I don't remember if it was during a shutdown. Some people mentioned just having shutdowns instead of restarts, and I beleive that is because you have some option in control panel turned off to restart. I turned this off because I read that now I might get a blue screen with writing on it, but maybe not based on the replies. Every time I have checked my MAX temps on hwinfo they have been under approximately 70,72.5, and 71 respectively. I don't know what memio temps are. Is that a program I should get? I think we should definitely try starting with older drivers, or maybe modded drivers if anybody know how to do that, and then try undervolting the cards, and then anything else anybody thinks of.

 

ok, since i had some free time, i'm going to list the things that you can do. (from the person who also had shutdowns)

1) VBios -> Newest from dell is the most stable so far (for me at least). Use the 2nd post of svl7
2) Thermal pads on the back of the GPU. -> paste on the 4 points. What stands out in the back just put a pad on it
3) Thermal Pads on the ram, yeah the ram 4gb 1333 things
4) Heatsink mod also by svl7 -> Check other threads on the picture
5) Undervolting -> So far 1V is stable enough for 3-4 hours of gaming. (Still shutdowns though, lower than 1V for me causing crashes and such, more than 1v fasten the shutdown)
6) Repaste, i mean it could be heat issue, but for me it's not the case. Get this shutdowns at around 80C.
7) PSU, some people had too much powerdraws (also not my case, the ring didn't turn off for me)
8) Other drivers, 11.10 seems to crash a lot. (11.8 is the best, for me again)
9) ram conflict, some said taking one out leaving only 1 ram helped some people.

This is all i did, helps extending the gameplay, but still shutdowns. Oh well i'm also still waiting for more solutions from the forum.

 

Wow. Thanks. That is an extensive list that looks pretty useful. Here is kind of a response list:
1)sounds good but what 2nd post by svl7?
2)will there be room for the pads on back to fit? I thought it was like flush with some plastic thing
3)This may do something but I never thought RAM get very hot-otherwise they would just already have a heatsink right?
4)sounds good
5)GPU z doesnt show my voltage but RBE said that depending on dif profiles they are like 1.1 for gaming, .9 for idle, and like 1v for this 3rd setting it sometimes goes to when not gaming for 1 second...(info based on watching clocks change on GPU-z and the clocks are listed in RBE with voltages)
6)definately not a thermal issue IMO lol it happened 1 hr after pasting the first time
7)I don't really want to buy a new PSU if I don't have to. Don't they cost like $150?
8)sounds good
9)sounds good

Besides this, it sounds to me that perhaps the card is actually slightly broken. Maybe AMD will recall them... Hopefully somebody will find a solution.

 

OP did you try and put your old GPU back in to see if it's just the 6990 thats wonky and causing restarts/shutdowns.

 

Sorry. You have a good point, but I am pretty lazy and that takes like half an hour so it's my fault... I really should try that. I was going to try it but kind of don't want to...

 

Yea that's where I would start Hope you get it sorted out

 

It couldn't be the card problem also, since some people reported with no issues using the same card bought from the same place.

As for the 2nd post Vbios i mean to go to the thread '6970m - what you need to know' and use that vbios.

As for PSU, people using 240w also reported that shutdowns still occur, so leave that aside also.

Lastly, notice that people having this issue use the i7 720/740 with 6970m/6990m combo

 

sorry to post jack but you guys seem to know more about AMD vid cards and flashing than i do. I recently bought a 6990 ES for my M17x r3 and i went to install it today, however i couldn't get the card to show up at all in the bios or in win 7. I tried a bios mod and when i disabled integrated graphics with the 6900m in it i got a repeating 6 beeps. I had to stick my 460m back in and switch it back. I was thinking about flashing the card but idk what V-Bios to flash the card with. If you guys could give any advice i would be very appreciative.

 

you don't have to flash the card actually before slotting in. i did the flash AFTER the change. somehow it feels like there're problems with the card you're having, but that's just my opinion.

 

problem is my computer isn't even detecting it so idk if i can flash it

 

the thing is you can if you choose to, not flashing the card it at all for it to work, basically the card is plug and play. that's why the problem lies within the card. if it's not detecting then the card is faulthy.

 

hmm wonder why its faulty

 

Make sure that the card componant and the heat-think are isolated with thermenal pads even the RAM's, otherwise it will make a shortage and the laptop will not start

 

This thread is 2 years old dude!