M17x Radeon Mobility HD 4870 Discussion Thread

Since more and more of us are getting M17x's delivered with ATI Radeons (GDDR3 ), it would be good to have a discussion and centralized information thread around these new cards, primarily drivers, but anything else around the cards as well. How does it behave with the integrated 9400m? How is the sound and performance?

I am personally interested in a driver discussion to kick it off. From my understanding, Dell is offering 8.x drivers, when our desktop enthusiasts who paid less for their hardware get to enjoy version 9.10, how do we get these working on the latest driver version? I am experiencing buggy behavior, when I install the catalyst drivers - the screen goes blank after a while an never comes back, I end up needing a reboot or power down.
There's tons to talk about, including how to overclock. ATI users unite and share information!! Why don't we start with how to get the latest drivers to these cards?

 

After a fresh install of Windows 7, does anyone know how to get the integrated graphics set up so that the 9400m runs properly? Would be nice to get good battery life but use the 3d functions of the 9400m so far I can't get it out of VGA Mode even with installation of Nvidia drivers.

 

I would rather like to see the real life performance results compared to 280s ... ))

 

I have a quick question: does the 4870 have different ports, specifically a Dual-link DVI port?

 

laptop gfx cards are different than destop gfx cards

the ports are all from the mobo. the cards themselves are all entirely internal, they don't even come with built-in fans.

so unless the mobo changed as well (which i doubt), the ports won't change, unless it's just a software/driver change, but i don't see why they can't just update that without changing the gfx card.

 

Yeah all ports are exactly the same. I'm trying to figure out how to get software installed for the 9400m that will play nice when you switch to discreet and so far I have no idea!

 

Might be able to suggest a few routes but need some additional info Nick...

1. What is the system's current state now (i.e. ATI driver installed, 9400M showing as Standard VGA Adapter in DevMgr, etc.)?

2. Is there any difference in the Graphic submenu of the BIOS? Both Hybrid Graphics & Integrated Graphics are listed?

3. What driver are you currently trying to install for the 9400M and what steps (install process) have you taken so far? Also, which driver did the 9400M ship with on your system?

4. When you say 'play nice when you switch to discreet' I am guessing there is some kind of error showing when disconnecting AC and attempting to switch directly to hybrid - correct? What happens?

 

Hi Batboy,

Edit: I was gimping it, modified drivers worked fine. Going to reboot now to see if ATI accepts that the 9400 M drivers coexist. Downloaded 195.39 drivers from laptopvideo2go.

Just hit fn + F7 and after reboot it switched correctly back to my ATI graphics cards.

 

Nice! So it's working fine now. Great to hear! Which driver is that (NVIDIA Control Panel screenshot)?

Here is the next hurdle:

There was an article not long ago on LV2Go in reference to having PhysX active in an ATI + NVIDIA environment where PhysX was enabled on the NV GPU and the ATIs handled the rest. I did not read the full article however it may be of interest to you.

BTW, disable that 'Touchpad disabled' icon in the tasktray and shutdown that keyboard notifier also - lol (j/k).

 

Alright I just hit FN + F7 a few times and rebooted back and forth, it's correctly going between ATI and Nvidia drivers. When NVIDIA GPU is enabled, the both the Nvidia Control panel and Catalysts still show up when I right click my desktop, however, when the ATI GPUS are enabled, the Nvidia control panel dissapears.

To get this setup working this is what I did with a fresh windows 7 install

1.) Install 7
2.) Install Nvidia Chipset Drivers
3.) Install Dell ATI Drivers
4.) Install OSD
5.) FN + F7 Reboot
6.) Download 195.39 with modded INF from laptop video2go, Install and reboot
7.) Joy

Seems pretty straight forward but you do have to use Modded Nvidia drivers. I could not get the ones from Dell's site to work properly or from Nvidia's site.

Now to figure out how to get a better version of Catalyst than this 8.6 Dell offers..

 

LOL I know you're not kidding - You seem to be OCD like me about this stuff. Haha! I have to keep the keyboard icon because my external keyboard is a USA based, this thing has a UK keyboard and i switch between the two, but yeah i'll get rid of the touchpad icon

Unfortunately, I don't believe that this is going to work out. The nVidia 9400m is COMPLETELY SHUT DOWN when the ATI Graphics are enabled. Check out the picture attached for the bios settings - the hybrid setting is PERMANENTLY GREYED OUT.

If you look at my device manager screenshots above you'll see that the GPUs are independent of each other and only show up seperately when they are specifically enabled. There is no way it seems to have the 9400M graphics component of the chipset turned on while the ATI graphics are enabled. Unless i'm missing something...

 

Just need to find out what the bios is reading to determine the cards are ATI and kill communication.

 

Hmmm - yeah it does appear that way. So even if there was a way to implement that 'patch' the article mentioned, unless the BIOS is modded or updated by Dell to support this (doubtful), its not going to work. Hit up ZFactor on this - he might be able to suggest something.

 

I've also experienced the auto-dimming "feature" of the screen. Slightly annoying but I don't mind it because the display is overall very nice.

edit: Success! (keep in mind i'm a total ATI noob so if you knew this already bear with me.)

I've gotten catalysts 9.1 up and running. Steps

1.) Download and install Mobility Modder from http://www.driverheaven.net/modtool.php

2.) Download ATI Drivers for Radeon (not mobility) 64 bit Windows 7 4800 Series

3.) Attempt to install them (failed for me, lead to black screen)

4.) Reboot PC, and run Mobility Modder

5.) Point Mobility Modder to C:\ATI\Support\9-10_vista64_win7_64_dd_ccc_wdm_enu\Driver

6.) Run Setup.exe from C:\ATI\Support\9-10_vista64_win7_64_dd_ccc_wdm_enu\Driver

7.) Dance!

I'm going to do a quick regression test to make sure the 9400M is still working well.. But seems situation is sorted.

PS: Avoid installing Nvidia Chipset drivers.. I don't see the benefit in them, they just seem to harrass my Wifi Card.

 

Anyone know how to monitor ATI Gpu temps? They don't show up in HWMonitor..

 

How about Everest

 

Temps could also be in ATI control pannel under overdrive?

 

Anyone know when the M17x will get the ATI HD 4870 XT version? See this discussion ...
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=432442

 

Babyhemi, they are already available. They released them when the M15x was released.

Edit: I read through the link you posted. If you think this is yet another version of the 4870s I would love to see more info on it and how it's different. I have my doubts that ATI decided to release the same form factor cards and just decided to OC a new version.

Edit2: I think I see where this is all coming from. The two new Clevo I7 system will now have the option to get the ATI 4870s (something Eurocom has had on their website for a while now) but it's funny that some think it's different than what is currently released.

 

Yeah the only thing that would make them different is the clock speeds which im almost certain they are the same.. Both are GDDR3 though ...

 

Everest works, just disable crossfire before your click the "sensors" tab or your computer will lock up. once you are getting a temp reading you can re-enable crossfire

kind of annoying I know, but I haven't found a workaround

 

What he is really asking is when will Alienware get the 4870's that clevo Is getting .... Because those are XT versions and well ours are not so ours must be worse .... Never mind .


Cheers ...

 

Someone OCCT burn these GPU's baby!!

 

Yes. The cards must be some sort of special edition.

 

Can a fellow ATi owner please try this before I call Dell. LINK

I want to know if it's really a defect or something odd with the ATi systems. Thanks!

 

Link to a quick VIDEO. Anyone willing to try it??

 

Check check checkit with memory 1333/ 1260 fsb in BIOS

Now be a good corporate citizen and cancel your replacement order, it will probably be the same.

IMHO, this is easily fixed in a BIOS update, however funny enough below 1250 my RAM works at 1333mhz (??)

The question is really.. does this have any real effect on performance? Arent they pretty much linked anyway with the CPU FSB bottlenecking

 

In day to day performance IE gaming etc it will not have any effect say on your framerate... But with benchmarking every little bit counts ...

 

+rep, thanks.

If a majority of what you do is benchmarking and tweaking, not having the ability to control your own memory divisor does handcuff you a bit. Even if 1:2 tends to be the more stable ratio with this system.

I'm not canceling my replacement because my keyboard also needs to be replaced. Now I know not to bother complaining about it when the new one does the same thing.

 

There were people from Dell participating in the GDDR3/GDDR5 topic... Maybe somebody could contact them to reach the engineers.

 

I'm guessing it's known but undocumented issue.

 

So did everyone who go the ATi 4870 cards did your system come with Vista?

 

Nah Windows 7 Here

 

Tool for managing ATI Crossfire profiles like nHancer

http://go.notebookreview.com/?id=525X832&url=http://epichardware.com/index.php?topic=12.0

Not sure how good it is but seems to work for Borderlands for me.

 

I've been testing out ATI Tray tools.

 

Mine did, but I sent it back already. I found that with Vista, I get less blue screen and boot up ratio is more than when running windows 7.

Now waiting for a replacement.

Edite: Mandrake I like your Avatar, is she part of ATi parties?

 

No, it's Maris Brood

 

Join the ATI party

 

Congrats. That config looks familiar. All you need now is the Intel drive.

 

Congrats on your new machine ...

 

lol I run out of money....

 

SSD Came back repaired (well crucial just sent me a new one), throwing it in now and rebuilding windows 7.

PS i havent had a single blue screen on this machine, ever, not once. Mine is no different than yours, should run windows 7 fine??