Clevo P170HM: AMD Radeon 6970m goodness. :D

First impressions:

The default matte screen from Multicom is beautiful. :O
No washed out colors or oversaturation at all.

Really impressed by the performance, its snappy yet not noisy at all.
(Some fan activity is to be expected, but the fans does their job perfectly.)

The CPU is very cool and did not heat up the fans.
The AMD GPU runs much hotter than the Intel i7 2720QM, but still not unpleasant noise levels.

I even tested it on my lap while running the benchies, and guess what, no burnt flesh.

Also Minecraft v1.4_01 runs at 1920x1080 with far rendering + smooth lightning at 90+ fps.

CPU-Z & GPU-Z:


3DMark 06 (Stock, GPU usupported atm.)


3DMark 11 (Stock, GPU unsupported atm.)

24% Overclock run

Unigine "Heaven" Benchmark v2.5:
Did two runs, all options on and then AA, AF, Tessellation off.
All at 1920x1080
Did one run all options on with a slight OC
GPU 710 MHz and Memory at 1000MHz, all done from the included MAD OverDrive.
I can probably go much higher if i use a different program, but i dont need to do that yet.

Details in the attachment.

 

Shouldn't the ones from the ATI website work?

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Pages/radeonmob_win7-64.aspx#1

 

Thanks for the link.
Works now.

Screenies and benches incoming i hope.

 

3dmark06 benchmark please

 

I will do two runs in 3Dmark 06 (No OC and OC) and then similar in 3Dmark 11.
Still in the prosess of grabbing the drivers.

 

Awesome!!

Please give us your thoughts on the noise & heat... I'm close to purchasing the P151HM1 with 6970M... Only holding out for reviews because of reports that the 6970M is noisy...

 

Im looking at a very simalar system but want the new vertex 3 SSD & 2x seagate Hybrids raided with DVD external. i would use 2x4gb Samsung pc-12800 Ram but bar that its pretty much the same and i am considering the X7200 so if the 6970 isnt quite upto the job i can stick 2 in that and have the ODD inside still

Awaiting your results eagily and with interest

 

Please skip 3DMark06. It's worthless.

Can I get a full-size GPU screen shot?

 

Fixed, so enjoy.

 

Im impressed, Puts the GTX485 only 4000 or so points ahead with the best result and only 5 or so results beating the 6970M

Im sold already and i dont normally like benchmarks, i know its a better card than nvidiats latest CPUGPU botch job called fermi No flaming please, just joking kinda... hehe

Bit OTT for minecraft isnt it mate

 

You can never have enough power for Minecraft. lol

Also gonna run the Unigine 'Heaven' DX11 Benchmark v2.5 just for fun.

 

Nice, are you going try overclock it at all or are you happy keeping things 'under warrenty'

Im thinking is the power of 2 of them in the x7200 really worth it. THe extra cost adds more like £600gbp but it does give the space of upto 4 HDD's

I got just under 6 weeks till i buy so hopefully by them the vertex 3 drives and everything in general will be a bit lower. Willing spend 2k with a push to 2.5k if the specs are worth it.

Alot of benchmarking and reading for me these next few weeks

System does look sweet, bet your well chuffed

 

you talkin 2500 usd? gonna be pushing it to get a x7200 w/ cfx 6970 and vertex3 lol

 

Okay, did some Unigine benchies.
Just check the attachment for details.

Dont trust the 3DMark 06 run because it might give bonus points for PhysX enabled hardware. (aka Nvidia)

Still im pretty satisfied with the purchase and if you do buy the AMD choice, then at least you know it will perform as a champ.

 

hehe, wouldnt it. The great british extortionist pound im on about 2000GBP (3,200USD) t0 2500GBP(4000USD) That may seem like a fully spec'd pc but when something comes to the uk with $300 that converts to £300 there or there abouts so the exchange rate of 1.6USD to 1GBP doesnt mean nothing Good ol' great britain hey

Yes, there 240gb vertex 3 is meant be alot better than the 120GB (anandtech) with a nice price tag of £480 as apposed to £240 for the 120. Pans out about right but sacrifice the x7200 and 2nd 6970 for the randam read being doubled. I got a few weeks to mull things over but thanks for the quick reply on the 6970's performance

 

I paid around 18500 Norwegian Kroners (3179.51 USD, 2369.06 EUR, 2034.53 GBP) for my notebook.
A standard spec MacBook Pro 17 (Sandy Bridge) costs 20000+ Kroners.

 

Hi guys

Does this means that for 6970 we can get driver from AMD website but for 485 we cannot use driver from NVIDIA website (unless using modified INV ) ?

Thanks in advance

 

The latest series of drivers from Nvidia doesn't yet support the 485m for some reason, so yes you'll need drivers with a modified INF for now.

 

we have no explanation for the non-official support? well.. i'm gonna see if i can get some lol

edit: oh, durr... Verde release. have to get info from clevo/sager.. yo comprendo.. my bad

 

Hi Harley

Thanks for the info but in this thread :

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/564375-atmosks-nvidia-clevo-support-modded-infs.html

Doesnt it means that the reason we cannot use driver directly from NVIDIA website is cuz Clevo NVIDIA GPU is vendor branded , so its not compatible with generic driver released by NVIDIA . If thats true than even if NVIDIA release driver that support 485 M we still cannot use it in our Sager notebook .

Which is why we need the driver from Sager/Clevo website or using modified INV . Am i correct ?

Pardon me if im making wrong conclusion here , im a noob lol

Thanks in advance

 

The way I understand it, Atmosk is kind enough to modify INFs to support the 485m because the official series of drivers from Nvidia simply lacks the card as a supported entry. I'm not sure how "vendor branding" comes into account since the old laptopvideo2go modded inf drivers could get anything from Dell to HP to other OEM drivers to work for a wide range of other systems with the same card provided the INF was appropriately modified.

 

I believe it's on Nvidia to add the support. When the GTX 460M and 470M first came out, the direct from Nvidia drivers did not include them in the INFs either, but they do now. Hopefully the 485M eventually finds support as well.

 

I see , so when NVIDIA released drivers that officially support the 485 M , we wont need the modified INV anymore , is that right ?

Good then since the drivers from Clevo / sager website is always outdated

 

Cat 11.4 Preview (.dlls, etc dated 3/22/11). Website Dated 3/29/11 - Guru3D.com Forums

6970M Driver: Catalyst 11.4 Preview 29Mar11

 

Correct, however that doesn't seem to be happening in the short term. The card will definitely receive support eventually so 485m owners will have to make do with modified INF drivers for now.

 

The preview driver dident lod with the GPU for some reason. D:
But standard AMD Mobility reference installs fine.
It even unlocked the OC features.

 

Thanks DEagleson for the review!

 

Try overclocking it yet? I'm curious to know whether it can reach 775/1000, which is the default setting on the desktop 6850.

 

If it can't OC as high or higher than the 6970M in the M17x R3 (860/1200), then I would be very suprised.

 

Oh wow, that's nice.

 

If i can get a link to a proper OC software il try it.

Btw running 710 core, 1000 memory with AMD Overdrive.
Not even a lap killer with that heat. xD

 

AMD Overdrive is proper OC software.

 

And its limited to a max of 710 GPU and 1000 on Memory. D:

 

Hmm, interesting.

Try MSI Afterburner.

 

Would Afterburner work on the 485M?

Curious 'cause I've never used it. I'm used to RivaTuner.

 

Still wont allow higher OC. D:
Even latest beta of ATI Tray Tools failed.
OCing above the stock clocks crashes it.

 

Well that's too bad since MSI Afterburner is powered by RivaTuner.

Here is the newest version of MSI Afterburner: MSI Afterburner 2.2.0 Beta 2 download from Guru3D.com

Sorry to hear that. Try uninstalling it and then using DriverSweeper to clean the leftovers. Its your choice though if you want to use the 11.4 preview or not.

 

I saw someone use this utility on their 6970M:

Sapphire Technology - TriXX Tweak Utility

 

that accepts higher clock settings.
so thanks.

 

Will this work on NVIDIA cards?

Mr. Mysterious

 

TriXX only supports AMD / ATI hardware.
At least thats the message you get when installing.

But i am happy to tell you guys that i can run 860MHz Core, 1200MHz Memory now.
Will screenie GPU-Z and do a bench to confirm its stable.

Stay tuned.

 

how much hotter is it running when you oc to 710 and 860 if you can check.

 

Running 860MHz Core, 1200MHz Memory was not a stable overclock.

Im gonna benchmark a 24% increase overclock, check temps. and rerun Unigine Heaven and 3DMark 11.

 

Did a run with 843 MHz Core, 1116 MHz Memory.
Still not 100% stable, but i managed to complete one run on Unigine Heaven, all settings high + tessellation & a 3DMark 11 run.

Max temps was around 90 degrees celsius when the Unigine run without AA, AF and tessellation failed.

Will update first post + update the Unigine attachments.

I wont run my GPU at the speeds mentioned anyways, just doing this to enlight the community.

DEagleson

 

Wow, nice scores with that OC.. Hopefully I'll be giving you a run for your money when I get my 485 on Monday

 

DEagleson, a word of advice:

To find the most stable clocks, you should first overclock each separately. Find the max stable core, then do the memory, and then try them together.

Finally, what thermal compound are you using? If you're going for extreme overclocks, it's very important that you use quality stuff, and apply it correctly.

The temperature hitting 90 may be what's crashing the driver.

I have some ICD7, which I'm going to apply when my machine gets here.

 

Im still using stock paste.
Just grabbed it friday night, and the closest computer store is miles away.

Just crappy stores like norwegian counterparts of Best Buy ect.

 

Just ran some Unigine benches too, OC and without. OC are 700/1400/835. Stock is 575/1150/750.

Max temp (OC) was 78c with my laptop on my lap. 83c with stock settings on the table.

EDIT: I have the P150HM.

 

By the looks of it both our cards perform like champs.

 

They do, but if I was buying today, I think would have chosen the AMD.