[?][P150EM] Removed 7970M, Enable iGPU operation only?

Hey guys, wondering if anyone can help me out...

My 7970M recently got bonked, and now I'm awaiting on my RMA. I sent just the 7970M, thinking since it had the iGPU too, I wouldn't have much downtime. But instead of working, it turns on fine, gets almost done booting up, then the LEDs start blinking, fan starts spinning fast, and it beeps... The same thing happens when I enter the bios screen, too... Any advice!

Thanks in advance,

Trailblazer101

 

I believe Meaker or another user here said that the EM series will not work without a dGPU even though they are equipped with iGPU's.

 

Yes this is correct, there is no IGP mode only bios switch so the EC panics and shuts down the machine after a short period when there is no GPU.

 

That's interesting... Would this be something that Prema could take a look at, being that he has magical bios abilities, then?

 

But why would he? I don't understand what the point is having an iGPU only mode on a Sager gaming laptop. Be a lot less hassle and cheaper to buy a notebook with only an iGPU.
- If you really want that. Send him $20 and he'll get it done. If you want him to do something that is only useful because you were among the unfortunate who purchased an AMD product and had a 7970M break... then you should send him a fee/donation, beer money for the effort.

I understand you situation as I now have a deep hatred for AMD and very disappointed @ Clevo for using such horribly manufactured 7970M in which the solder fell off and there was RUST where the solder fell off and allowing it to be sold knowing how broken AMD drivers are and unfinished and broken Enduro still is. It boggles my mind.

Since I was not as fortunate as you, unable to RMA POS 7970M since it was out of the pathetic 1 year warranty, I've only used the 675MX for less than a week and I've already enjoyed using this card more than I ever did with the 7970M/5870M for about 4 years now. Flashing unlocked vBIOS was a breeze. Afterburner just works, fantastic. Nvidia Inspector is better than any software available for AMD. And games just plain work, shadows are rendered properly and I no longer worry about PhysX stupidity. I still hate PhysX mind you, but I don't have to worry about it any longer.
- I had flickering shadow issues and massive hit to FPS from dynamic shadows on 5870M. But figured since AMD switched to stream processors and GCN similar to CUDA, maybe that would be fixed. NOPE, NADA, Not even close. It was even worse, especially in Borderlands 2 and Skyrim, Rage etc. Blame it on the dev? I don't think so when the list of games just go on and on and on and on.

Just saying, I would request to have your card either replaced with a 675MX or get a $500 discount on a 680M. Totally worth your time to spend another 200-300$ on a 680M. No worrying about PhysX, proper rendering, drivers, Enduro. And even though switchable graphics is idotic, at least Optimus really does make it simple.

 

Don't mean any disrespect, but your hate for all things AMD/ATI just seeps through doesn't it. I know you got the bad end of the bargain in your experiences with AMD cards, but sometimes I think you go a bit overboard with the hate =).

Anyhow, it is worth pointing out that there are some happy AMD customers too(like myself). Also, I feel your lashing out at the OP is a bit harsh too. He is merely seeking out whether it is possible to use his laptop without the dGPU. A simple 'sorry it isn't possible' would suffice. Why lecture him on the perils of gettings an AMD card? =) Personally, I encounter none of the problems that you encountered with your AMD cards.

 

I was very disappointed with AMD during the Enduro debacle last year. When I bought the laptop I was unaware of the issues, and when I found out about them I was very frustrated. My main problem with AMD was the way they handled the situation, i.e. keeping the customer in the dark, and I was worried about the future potential of the card. I was pretty open in voicing my concerns too (as I wanted be part in creating some pressure towards AMD).

That being said, I haven't had a single issue with the 7970M since the 13.1 drivers came out. In hindsight I'm happy I spared the 300€ and went with the 7970M, though if had known about the issues back in summer 2012, I would have gotten the 680M (wouldn't get one now unless the price was nearly equal).

Even when I had the problems I laughed at posts saying they would never buy another AMD card again, as I had also witnessed the same on the Nvidia camp. You should always make your selection based on the current situation, and prejudiced hate towards either one of the companies is just ridiculous.

 

How you spend your money is your own personal choice.

After 5870M AND 7970M and seeing little change in attitude from AMD towards mobile gaming, yes, I will be biased towards them and have great resentment. Especially after having used 675MX for less than a week, it's amazing to me that AMD doesn't just close shop from shame.

I also use hyperbole, cause it's the internet and it's fun.

But I hope the OP read part of my post in regards to asking PREMA to mod the bios.

 

I don't have any problem donating to the issue, I just didn't know if it was even possible, so I was trying not to waste his time, if you couldn't remedy it with a change to the BIOS. Thanks for the advice, though guys, I appreciated it immensely! Buying a new card is still in the cards if these latest drivers don't crank out more acceptable utilization. I understand why this all can leave a bad name in someone's mouth.

 

After reading this thread I might just get 770m instead of 8970m... I can understand ur frustration OP. my 6990m died just a week ago and all my files r stuck in my laptop 2 days away from 2 finals.

 

When I was waiting to RMA my P170EM with a dead 7970m, the laptop booted up without the card in the slot, it just ran at full fans and beeped a bit. It went into Windows.

 

Yes and will shut down after a few seconds in windows, I think it's a 30 second timer you get.

 

Then you have a special one since when I removed the 7970M, even if it reached Windows, it would shut down. It doesn't run without something in the dGPU slot.

Send him an email on his website and see if that's a possibility.

 

There are currently zero problems with the 7970m drivers that I am aware of. Are you keeping tabs on gaming benchmarks my friend ? Seems like 7970m and 680m are very even now. Spend 200-300$ instead of getting a replacement 7970m ? No way ;-)