*Official ASUS W90Vp Owners' Lounge*

No it does not work, I used MM to mod the 9.8 drivers then i installed the drivers, both cards are recognized fine, CCC showing crossfire enabled, but GPU-Z says crossfire DIASABLED (available). I ran 3dmark vantage with CPU @ 2.53Gh and left GPUs @ 550/850... I got 6750 score.

 

I have found that if gpu-z says crossfire is disabled, its a no go. Mobility modder does work at modding the drivers, but gpu-z says crossfire is not working. I have spent hours on 9.8 and no luck.

 

strangely enough, gpu-z freezes on me after installing 9.8 with no errors (according to device manager). but crossfire still doesn't work and I even tried modifying them from the original desktop infs. Looks to me like these drivers don't like crossfire with mobility cards. I'll test older drivers to see if they work using the editing method I did with the 9.8 drivers.

 

Anyone tryed the MOBILE Catalyst Beta 9.8 for Win 7 ?

http://www.computerbase.de/downloads/treiber/grafikkarten/ati/ati_mobile_catalyst/

One person on a german forum has confirmed ... working on Win 7 with Master/Master config including Crossfire.

Can somebody else also confirm this? I'm sorry ... I can't cause I am at work now, and my device is still at home.

 

I just tried them...... not working. Still no crossfire.

But i think i'm getting there...
I have downloaded the latest 9.8 from ati site then went to the .inf file ( the W76A) one... then added this line:

"ATI Mobility radeon HD 4870" = ati2mtag_M9x, PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_945A&SUBSYS_027E1043&REV_00

i then went to update my drivers chosing this one as we do as usual and i got the famous RED ALERT saying this driver is not signed by ASUS, the exact same one I got from when installing the 9.4 modded .inf from E-wrecked...
I then click installed anyway and the driver installed fine.... watch out tho not to get mixed up between this one and the stcok one named Mobility Radeon with a capital R in Radeon !!!
The problem came that the second card doesnot install this driver so i tried to install it to the second card, it installed fine but then the FIRST card got back to the stock driver AUTOMATICALLY.... I could not installed this driver to both cards...
So if someone manage to install it to both cards, might finally get crossfire to work?????

 

I'm sorry to say that it's almost impossible to mod the offical driver to asus one by ourself, especial for this special kind of multi GPU.
After examing the inf files of E-wrecked modified 9.4 driver, I find that he copied some information from the inf file of asus driver as well as keep the original information in 9.4 inf files that indicate it is a 9.4 version.

 

I have already got the genuine version of WIN7 Professional from my university website. Now I am just looking forward to ASUS releasing drivers for the new OS, especially the VGA driver.

 

Based on my experiment with the driver, I don't think it's the inf that's the problem; I think it's the actual resource files used to install the driver (the files in the B_8xxxx folder). I tried mixing some of those resource files with the ones in the 9.4 driver to see which file may be causing the crossfire issue. So far, I narrowed it down to the following four:

atidxx32.dl_
atidxx64.dl_
atieclxx.ex_
atiedu64.dl_

So if you guys want to help me out, download catalyst 9.8 and run the extractor, go into the 9.8 driver folder where the inf files are, go to the B_85444 folder and copy everything from that folder EXCEPT the four files I mentioned. Then paste them in the B_77779 folder in the 9.4 folder (or even the one that corresponds to the original VGA drivers). They should install with no issues (at least from my experience). If they install, run some games and benchmarks and let me know if you see any improvements (I ran Vantage, didn't see much improvement though and my other games stayed the same. I don't have my crysis and far cry 2 keys to test those games).

 

I used the potplayer to play rmvb videos, and saw many flicker lines all over the screen. I am using the asus default VGA driver, and ths lines only appear when HD hardware decoding is enabled(default is enabled for potplayer).
After I installed modified 9.4 driver, this lines disappeared. I guess it is an issue of asus driver, but could anyone else do what I have done to give me the confirmation?

 

I compared e-wrecked mod INF and stock 9.4 INF to see all the difference with ULTRA COMPARE program...
I applied all the mods to the new 9.8 INF regarding what i have found in the modded 9.4 ones. Only one card got driver installed, the other one went back to stock 9.8 driver automatically. I could not get both cards with same driver...GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...
I then looked into the B folder from e-wrecked and copied it all inside the 9.8 B folder, once again, one card installed the driver correctly, the second one reversing to stock 9.8 driver automatically....
But then, i looked into the ATI folder we had to copy inside C: , the one from e-wrecked modded 9.4 INF... Well there are NO B folder, nor .CAT file.. there are just the .INF files... SO maybe if we delete the 9.8 B folder and the .CAT file and just leave the .INF we modded, then maybe it could work???

 

Has anyone dropped ewrecked a message to see if he can shed some light on this for us? Is he still around?

 

I've met with similar situation.

 

I've been going down the same path as you guys. Looked at what ewrecked did to 9.4 (2 INFS modified), executed the exact same procedure on 9.8, got both cards installed, CCC shows "Linked Adapter" but clearly the 2nd adapter isn't doing any work after thorough testing. I even got a set of 9.8 drivers working without doing the mobility modder step but very same results.

I've experimented with various versions of the ati*.dll and amd*.dlls and I'm also not having much luck. I believe something has changed in the driver binaries since 9.4 and we're currently S.O.L. until AMD starts making the mobility drivers. I hope I'm proven wrong.

 

....Well, I'm also considering selling out my W90VP-A1, for I'm quite tired with its poor VGA driver and unpromising driver support.
But there are lots of concerns:
1. I only found one person who was interested in it for $1600, which is unacceptable for me. As a $2400 notebook, W90VP-A1 offers quad core, 4870 X2, 640G, a bag, copperhead and blu-ray. It's rather a good bargain. For a alienware M17x with similar configurration, I need spend around $3500.
If I really sell out my W90VP-A1, I would like to wait for next generation notebook with DX11 video card(s)(released by alienware is best) rather than getting M17x. But when will it be released? A year later or even longer? That's also a bitter pill to swallow.
Furthermore, I found I didn't pay much time on playing games, so maybe I neednt' such highend notebook...

 

If you're not happy I'd say sell it for as high as possible, buy a more sane gaming laptop (e.g., G71) and pocket the difference. Or you could just hold onto it for a year or so until something (substantially) better comes along.

Still though, $1600 is way too low a resale price for a w90vp-A1. I sold a stock w90vp-X2 two weeks ago for $1850 and the guy thought that was a good deal (and it was imo). I'd think you should hold out for at least $1800 or don't sell. As you stated, this is a laptop that performs and has features close to or on par with a $3000+ sager or m17x...

 

I would advise you to wait till win7 is officially released to see if asus made something working out for us. If not, then you can start doing like we are doing in france, joining our forces with a lawyer and getting a complete refund from asus via the notebook reseller....Here ti is on its way for complete refund... We are waiting on Asus end to give green light to reseller... Or finally give us a decent driver!

 

Soit sur de nous Gardez au courant à propos du procès. S'il arrive qu'on doit se battre, faut se combiner avec des autre pays. Ce serait mieux pour les forcer de se soumettre. Pardonne mon français affreux

Good point on waiting a bit for Win7... w90vp was listed on Asus' supported laptop list.

 

thanks for your guys' advice. Though asus has promised me to release new driver,I feel they are totally untrusty. I will try to find other "customer" for a good deal, and meanwhile wait for the new driver on the horizon

 

Your french is great, don't you worry one bit!!!
@ Deathell, if it is just a mater of driver, just wait, because for this money, you cant expect anything even close to this machine....
In france we are getting very sick and tired of asus not doing anything about it but to my sense they will have to update the driver for windows seven since their stock cd driver doesnot work on seven.. If not the whole world will start yelling!!!! Even if it had just one card, i still think this a great laptop... One guy offered me 1300 euros LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL (about 1800 dollars) for mine OMG is he nuts? he cost me like 4k euros with everything i put on it!!!! Yeah you guys are lucky to live in the US, everything is so cheap!!!!
Back to business, i tried to take the whole e-wrecked driver and just change the .INF file number according to the new 9.8 B folder... Not working.. CRAP!!!! i changed the some .dll in the B folder too and no result.. I long to see is Asus makes a new driver, analyse it to see where the problem is...

 

Wow....blast from the past...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220503

Wonder how long these puppies have been back around. Unfortunately a boat load more expensive.

 

Wow, that IS expensive! In fact, it's almost TWICE what I paid for mine!

They'll still probably sell out though...

 

i don't like nuts...

 

Neither do I???

 

i like peanuts

 

the new directx 11 cards are ATI. they are scheduled to release in october of this year. it will be Mobility cards first, then desktop cards. the source of this info is on the alienware forums somewhere. i was too lazy to look for it. but alienware is going to launch the 4870s for the m17x in october too(not too sure about this happening either) don't know if it's going to be ddr5 but i doubt it. maybe the alienware drivers will work with the w90vp.

 

OK guys,
I got in touch with ZARDON from driver heaven, he works closely with ASUS techs... He says he is going to look into it after i have explained our matter.. So now let's wait and hope!!!!

 

Here I list some of the driver issues
of default driver:
flickering lines of playing rmvb videos when HD hardware decoding is enabled;
flashing objects of running resident evil5 benchmark version-dx10 mode- all set to high;
lose of the "power play" option in catalyst control center;
cannot be installed in win7
out of date;

of modified 9.4 driver:
lose of the "notebook panel properties" option in catalyst control center;
secondary card always runs at 550/850;
Bionic Commando is full of screen tears and huge screen rips and sometimes blackouts;

 

yep. bionic commando was the main reason i decided to get the M17x. it scared me.

 

what do u think about this: http://cgi.ebay.it/Asus-W90VP-A1-18...?hash=item19b631857a&_trksid=p3286.m63.l1177?

ok, it's refurbished, but cost only 1k euros (at the end, tax and ship, it'll costs about 1400 euros (=2k $), a very good price here in europe! in italy a w90 costs about 4k $!!!)

 

So I have sent my unit to get the screen replaced. It has been almost a week with no news. Do any of you gentlemen know the direct number for the Indiana repair facility. I really want to know what they are doing to my notebook and how long they think it will take.

Thanks

 

It's probably an issue that only ATi could fix. If anything, get in contact with someone who is close with ATi/AMD.

 

ATi is known to suck with crossfire performance and compatiblity. Drivers are nVidia's realm and they are exceedingly good at it. Next time you guys contemplate a dual card solution, don't go for anything besides nVidia's SLi. I was watching the gentech Crysis videos and I couldn't help laughing. He was hitting the 20s with dual 4870s which was pathetic, pre-release demo or not. I know ATi traditionally sucks in Crysis but that is still quite dismal for a dual card high end solution. Contrast that video with the G51Vx w/the GTX 260m and you see the nVidia card pulling higher framerates.

ATi's shoddy drivers is part of the reason I got rid of my Dell Studio XPS 16. I was playing Frontlines Fuel of War and no matter what I did (e.g. drop resolution to 800x600 low details) the game stuttered and performance was abysmal. This is no high end game either, it runs the Unreal 3 engine and should easily run with an ATi 4670 on high settings but it doesn't. I'm 100% certain when I get my G51 tomorrow, that game will work with flying colors.

 

I do not understand why you guys want to sell it? the rig is under 2 years warranty, this means it needs to work. PERIOD. So, when seven is out, either we get a new driver, either we get refund from warranty since they won't be able to fix the problem....
The stock driver on the disk, does not work on seven, we all know that. This means new driver or refund because it will be fake advertising selling a laptop mentionning crossfire, when it actually doesnot work.

 

We should take screencaps for safe-keeping anywhere w90vp is being sold/advertised as being Windows 7 compatible.

Anyone wanna provide links they've seen?

 

I am about to purchase one of these in the UK (Dual Core Version)

If I stick to the Asus drivers etc, can i expect the system to remain stable and run all games etc?

 

http://www.brightsideofnews.com/new...ins-silent-on-its-crossfire-driver-snafu.aspx

 

that is one of the smartest articles i have ever read ....

 

Hey I submited that a couple pages back with another article.

 

LOL sorry buddy..
Did someone try to modd the 4870 drivers but the desktop ones, not the mobility ones?

 

^ That's one big picture.

Yes, the W90 is eligible for the Windows 7 upgrade just like the other Asus models as long as it was purchased after June 26.

 

Ok guys i'm not home so i cant try it out but can someone try this for me and let us know please?
I re-read the post from vicious explaining how they made it work with e-wrecked to make crossfire work.. it says clearly that they took the desktop driver and then got it modded...
I tried at work to mod the mobility driver (9.8) and then compared it to the stock 9.8, no change at all in the B FOLDER...
BUT, BUT, BUT..... WAIT A MINUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE!!!!
I then tried it again, i took the desktop 9.8 driver and then used mobility modder on it, and magic, all the _DLs files in the B FOLDER changed size....
So there is maybe a path to explore ....?

 

Hmmm... I wonder. Weren't there a bunch of reports a while back that an updated 4870 x2 mobility driver was "very close" to being ready? Maybe it was near ready and the Asus driver team decided to work on certifying it for Windows 7. That's, at least, what I'd do if I was project managing the team... That way, you kill two birds with one release: an updated driver that's compatible with the new OS.

 

I got it to install fine, device manager shows both cards ok, no errors. GPU-Z hangs unfortunately. CCC recognizes a "Linked adapter" and 3dmark06 scored 9971. Based on that performance, I can only suspect that the driver is installed on the 2nd card, but xfire is not implemented.

It's close, but not quite. I'll be rolling back to 9.4 from limit breaker to get xfire back.

 

Rolled back to 9.4, CCC still shows linked, GPU-Z works again and shows xfire enabled. 3dmark06 reports 11163.

It seems the 9.8 is well on it's way, even working for the 2nd card, now just need xfire to start working.

 

Well, for those who are interested, I broke the Vantage 7k GPU score barrier running off a single card. Card was overvolted to 1.2v, clocks were set to 650mhz core, 950mhz memory. I haven't tested anything higher, but I think I can push the core higher a bit with the overvolt.

 

great job there ichime!!

 

Amazing stuff Ichime keep it up man +Rep

 

Thanks guys

Well, here's the official run. Oddly enough, this was with slightly higher clocks and the CPU was OC'd. The 7k run was at 650mhz core and 950mhz memory and the CPU was stock. Could have some diminishing returns here.

The highest I've gotten individually was 670mhz for the core, and 1010mhz for the memory. The card didn't like putting those two values together, and it started to act up after 660/960. It could also be a cooling issue as I haven't touched the GPU heatsinks since my RMA. I'll take care of that later.

As for the voltage, the BIOS wouldn't allow me to enter a custom value. Rather, it had stages for me to select (.9, 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2). I would have put a more conservative value, but other than random instances of the display driver halting and the increase in heat, it seems to handle 1.2v.

I'll try to OV both GPUs and see where I get later.

 

Sounds good I'm ov"ing now

My 260 has hit 745 1100 1815 .... Hopefully I'll hit 6500 or higher

I can't wait to get ati cards in my machine ..... Everyone said the ati cards sucked