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    M6000 (7870M) GPU thread

    Discussion in 'Alienware M15x' started by Gofspar, Dec 23, 2015.

  1. Gofspar

    Gofspar Notebook Consultant

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    Alright I got my M6000 today and installed it, people have said its plug and play when its definetly not.

    The GPU die is much lower than the GTX 460M and wont touch the die if you dont use a shim under the backplate or sand the standoffs down.

    Benchies.

    STOCK:
    3DMark Firestrike
    http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/9936134
    http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/9651553 (OVERCLOCKED GTX 460M 800/875)
    Unigine Valley
    [​IMG]

    The M6000 DESTROYS the 460m in Firestrike even when the 460 is overclocked, what a beast.

    Will post overclocked submissions for Valley and 3DMark in a bit.
     
    Last edited: Dec 26, 2015
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  2. King of Interns

    King of Interns Simply a laptop enthusiast

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    This is a shame that you need a shim.

    I have never needed a shim with 6970M, 6990M, 7970M and 680M GTX.

    These midrange cards must be put together differently!

    Sent from my SM-A500FU using Tapatalk
     
  3. kosti

    kosti Notebook Virtuoso

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    Crap, I was afraid of this. I haven't gotten my card yet, but I do have a spare shim from my MSI GX640 days that I can always use. Gofspar, did you install a shim? If you did, can you tell us the thickness? Each card is made a bit differently. In fact my 240m GT does not make good contact with the heatsink, but I compensate with a bit more thermal paste and it still runs cool. My 640M GTX however makes solid contact with a paper thin layer of paste. Both are official Dell supported M15X cards. I wonder if the problem lies more with the heatsink's copper plate rather than the card itself. May I also ask what x-bracket you used?
     
  4. fatboyslimerr

    fatboyslimerr Alienware M15x Fanatic

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    I don't believe you need a shim. Get some custom screws from a hardware shop that are longer than the stock C-clip screws and you won't need a shim!
     
  5. guda-tucuman

    guda-tucuman Newbie

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    Hi all. I wanted to see if it supports an ATI 6870m with my Alienware m15x r2 . excuse my bad English
     
  6. kosti

    kosti Notebook Virtuoso

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    Do longer screws allow the heatsink to push further down on to the GPU die? If that's the case, then that's a pretty easy fix.
     
  7. batfinks

    batfinks Notebook Consultant

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    the AMD Firepro M6000 (red pcb) is fully plug and play and no gap between die and heatsink !
    I cannot say about the blue pcb version.
     
  8. batfinks

    batfinks Notebook Consultant

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    I thought about this card many moons ago when upgrading the NVidia 260gtx, and was told by the person selling it that its doesn't work in the alienware m15xr2.
    I never did buy the card, so I cannot say for certain.
     
  9. kosti

    kosti Notebook Virtuoso

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    I've been searching and can't find a single pic of the m6000 with a red pcb.
     
  10. batfinks

    batfinks Notebook Consultant

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    just had a gandrer on ebay and they are all blue pcb versions there also, original dell m6000 pcb was red, the version I got, had.
    I wouldn't mind my friend just picked his laptop up after a all nighter playing battlefront, if I read your post earlier on I could of taken pictures and tests for you
     
  11. guda-tucuman

    guda-tucuman Newbie

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    thank you very much for your answer WANTED SAVER SI was doing something wrong because I WHITE SCREEN AND WINDOWS STARTS BUT NOT SEE NOTHING IN IT
     
  12. fatboyslimerr

    fatboyslimerr Alienware M15x Fanatic

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    Yes absolutely able to apply more pressure. Very easy fix :)
     
  13. King of Interns

    King of Interns Simply a laptop enthusiast

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    But we take no responsibility for cracked die ;) be careful when screwing without c-clips. You can easily screw too far

    Sent from my SM-A500FU using Tapatalk
     
  14. kosti

    kosti Notebook Virtuoso

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    Crack and it will die :D
     
  15. Gofspar

    Gofspar Notebook Consultant

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    Yes I have the blue card, I had to use foam infront the backplate to push it away from the card so there was more tension on the card to get a good mount, if someone can find some screws that'll make it do a direct contact without the mod that would be great.

    Wouldn't shorter screws allow it to clamp down farther towards the card?
     
  16. Gofspar

    Gofspar Notebook Consultant

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    I'll try removing c clips, yolo boys.

    If I kill the little thing I'll just buy M290X.
     
  17. Gofspar

    Gofspar Notebook Consultant

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    Also mine overclocked to 1Ghz core and 1400 memory ez.
     
  18. kosti

    kosti Notebook Virtuoso

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  19. Gofspar

    Gofspar Notebook Consultant

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    sanded the backplate down and its fine, card hits 60c overclocked on stock fan curve.
     
  20. jaybee83

    jaybee83 Biotech-Doc

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    sanded down backplate?! details! pictures! benches! screenshots! cant just leave us here hanging like that :D

    Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
     
  21. Gofspar

    Gofspar Notebook Consultant

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    I used Thermal Grizzly and new thermal pads dont wana mess then up, just sand a few mm off of the backplate stand offs.

    doing benches now.

    EDIT: CHECK OP
     
    Last edited: Dec 26, 2015
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  22. jaybee83

    jaybee83 Biotech-Doc

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    aaaaah,much better now :) which thermal grizzly paste are u using?

    Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
     
  23. Gofspar

    Gofspar Notebook Consultant

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    Kryonaut, I do extreme overclocking on hwbot.

    It doesn't freeze on dice and LN2 unlike other pastes.
     
  24. jaybee83

    jaybee83 Biotech-Doc

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    good choice, using the same on gpu and clu on cpu :)
     
  25. guda-tucuman

    guda-tucuman Newbie

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    hi , could show such as the installation, pardon my ignorance I am again thanks .
     
  26. James D

    James D Notebook Prophet

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    What's the highest stable OCing you are able to set and what are benches for those? Thanks.
     
  27. Gofspar

    Gofspar Notebook Consultant

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    975 core, 1400 memory.

    still working some stuff out.
     
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  28. guda-tucuman

    guda-tucuman Newbie

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    Guide M15x with m6000- 7870m installation, forgive my ignorance.
     
  29. kosti

    kosti Notebook Virtuoso

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    Got my card today. It appears brand new like the seller said. I can confirm what Gofspar said about the heatsink not making good contact. It wouldn't spread the paste and only seemed to make contact with the very center of the die. First thing I noticed was the thermal pads I was using were a bit too thick. With my 460m GTX I was using Arctic Cooling 1mm pads for the memory and .5mm pads for the VRMs. Problem with these pads is that they are rather stiff and don't compress very much. For the m6000 I switched to .5mm pads for the memory and 1mm pads for the VRMs. The pads make solid contact and switching to the thinner pads allowed the paste to spread a bit better, but still not good enough. I decided to remove the heatsink screws and c-clamps and replace them. I had some spare screws which are the same length as the originals but are threaded all the way to the screw head unlike the originals. This allows them to be screwed in further and put more pressure on the metal tabs that hold the heatsink to the card's x-bracket. I did not screw the screws in tight to avoid any damage to the die, and now the paste (I'm using MX4) spreads nicely over the entire die.

    I'm in the process of testing it but so far I am getting about 34C at idle, and peaked at 62C after running three benchmarks consecutively (3Dmark06, 3Dmark11, and Furmark Benchmark). Room temp is about 20C. I'm happy so far.
     
  30. James D

    James D Notebook Prophet

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    The thing is that card is HEEEEAVILY downclocked from its desktop colleague so that's why you can OC the hell out of it (temperature-wise) and that's why I am waiting to see the real-world 3Dmark11 benchmark of OCed m6000.
     
  31. kosti

    kosti Notebook Virtuoso

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    Well bad news here, all of a sudden I got a white screen and black lines. System would not post and scroll+caps would flash. I removed the heatsink and while the die seems intact, I think I still managed to tighten the heatsink too much, damaging it. I can actually see the imprint of the letters on the die now on my heatsink :eek:. Funny thing is I swore I didn't tighten it too much, but apparently I did. I Tried reseating the card several times and nothing. Back with my 460M GTX now. So let this be a warning to you guys. You can damage the die if too much pressure is applied. I was warned but I still managed to kill my card :p. Oh well, it's not a huge loss at $65 so I'm not gonna worry about it.
     
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  32. James D

    James D Notebook Prophet

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    I feel sorry for you. I guess it was really tight if you could see letters which imprinted through a layer of thermal paste.

    Maybe... it is also due the fact that it was not the equal pressure on the square of the chip. Due to that gap you needed to eliminate, opposite from the heatpipe's direction part of the chip could have bigger pressure so if you do it too hard....
     
  33. King of Interns

    King of Interns Simply a laptop enthusiast

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    Oh dear! What a shame :( the M6000 is at least twice as powerful as the 460M!
     
  34. Gofspar

    Gofspar Notebook Consultant

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    I have mine CLAMPING down on the card like hard and its fine
     
  35. Borja

    Borja Notebook Enthusiast

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    Im thinking on buying the m6000, how it does run gtaV and league of Legends, somebody can tell me?
     
  36. fatboyslimerr

    fatboyslimerr Alienware M15x Fanatic

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    For GTA V I would guess you would get 30-40fps on medium settings but with all AA and AO turned off! GTA V can be quite demanding when you start turning on the eye candy. No idea about LOL but doesn't it run well on low-end hardware?
     
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  37. jaybee83

    jaybee83 Biotech-Doc

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    LOL shouldnt be a problem with everything maxed out...

    Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
     
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  38. Borja

    Borja Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks you two, i think im gonna save more money and go to 7970m
     
  39. fatboyslimerr

    fatboyslimerr Alienware M15x Fanatic

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    I have a broken 7970M that I'm going to try and bake. If it works you can have it. Might only get 6 months out of it though :)
     
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  40. jaybee83

    jaybee83 Biotech-Doc

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    good choice as well, since the 7970M is faster than the M6000 ;)
     
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  41. Borja

    Borja Notebook Enthusiast

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    If you can send it to Spain we can negotiate something if it works :D
     
  42. fatboyslimerr

    fatboyslimerr Alienware M15x Fanatic

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    I am currently in Madrid! :p
     
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  43. jaybee83

    jaybee83 Biotech-Doc

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  44. King of Interns

    King of Interns Simply a laptop enthusiast

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    Ah good old jaybee our personal M15x fan :) when you getting yours?

    Deadsmiley was like this and ended up buying two M15x's ;)

    It is afterall a special machine

    Sent from my SM-A500FU using Tapatalk
     
  45. jaybee83

    jaybee83 Biotech-Doc

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    lol im not getting one, but i have to admit i caught myself checking out price listings for m15x machines a few months ago :p
     
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  46. Borja

    Borja Notebook Enthusiast

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    I bought one yesterday with 240gb ssd, 740qm, 4gb ram and 260m for 460euro ship inc. Im not very patient... I want it to arrive soon xD
     
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  47. kosti

    kosti Notebook Virtuoso

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    Welcome aboard amigo :D

    Just installed an i7-920xm on mine. Huge upgrade over the 720qm I had before. Everything is much snappier even at my current stock clocks. Temps are good too, I'm getting around 49C idle and 79C after 10 minutes of prime95. I'm not gonna try overclocking until my 210W PSU come in. I am also waiting on a 7970m that I ordered to replace my 460m.
     
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  48. Borja

    Borja Notebook Enthusiast

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    What do you think is better upgrading first (if i dont have too much money and have to do it on parts) cpu or gpu?
     
  49. kosti

    kosti Notebook Virtuoso

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    The 740qm is still a fast CPU, even by today's standards. I'd say upgrade it eventually, but I would definitely upgrade the 260m first. I also think you should look into doubling your RAM to 8GB before upgrading the CPU.

    I would look at the AMD 7970m or Nvidia 680m GTX. Just keep an eye on the NBR marketplace or post in the Wanted to Buy forum.
     
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  50. Borja

    Borja Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks mate! Im gonna wait until i can afford a 7970m, is the most expensive upgrade, 16gb ram are 75 euro moreless, is cheap
     
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