Clevo P370EM - AMD Radeon HD 7970M Crossfire - Settings update issues?

I need some help updating the graphics drivers on this system, I regret buying this thing with AMD Cards but it was a good deal and I needed a new Laptop. Anyways, this is of course a Clevo P370EM with Crossfire AMD 7970's, the issue; I can't for the life of me get the drivers/settings application to update without killing the display. Here is what happens and the steps I've had to take to resolve said issues:

Install fresh OS of Windows 10 Pro, everything works fine and Settings App 17.1.1 installed and working.
Uninstall or Update to AMD Settings 18.5.1/18.6.1, seems to work okay then the LCD just goes black and stays black, never comes back on, plug in external monitor and it works fine, re-enable crossfire, still no display.
Rollback settings to older version, still no display.
Wipe and re-install Windows OS Fresh, everything works fine again on 17.1.1.

I really need to get this thing updated as the drivers are causing some issues being outdated but I can't seem to figure it out. I would be extremely happy if someone with more experience or has run into the same issue can help me figure this thing out. I have been using the computer very sparingly until I can get things updated just in case I need to wipe it again.

Thank you.

 

Which vBios version is running on those AMD cards?? You might have to reflash the vBios to a clevo one in order to fix this issue,

 

Hmm that I did not know and or think of, nor have I ever done such a thing!
If this is the case I might need some help but according to Windows;

GPU Bios:
BR42768.008

For completeness, ran GPU-Z
Bios Listed:
015.021.000.002.042768

 

vBios seem fine. Interesting.

Have you tried the last catalyst driver?

 

I believe that's what I downloaded from AMD, it was 18.6.1 or something.. it installed mostly fine, you could hear the sound Windows makes when it disconnects something, but instead of reconnecting the LCD it just kept it disabled, I could plug in an external monitor and "finish" the setup but it didn't seem to fix anything and I don't have enough experience with GPU's to know what could be causing the issue.. When I install the update I can see the Cards through the Settings App and re-enable Crossfire but even after a restart the LCD just never gets re-detected..

I found this thread where Prema lists a different version as the "default", can't download it though..
https://www.techinferno.com/index.php?/forums/topic/5015-ati-7970m-clevo-p370em-vbios-file/

 

Try this driver and see if it works.

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't that going backwards from where I am at now lol?
Windows seems to install 17.1.1 which works, but I needed to upgrade from there.

 

Well the issue is that AMD has kinda dropped the support for crossfire, so newer drivers cause blackscreens etc.

 

Well then that makes perfect sense now.. explains why Windows installed 17.1.1 instead of the latest, I would assume that's when they dropped support for it.. I am new to this whole Crossfire Setup, can I disable it and just run off the individual cards or are they designed to run together.. I would like the latest drivers to resolve some gaming issues but I don't necessarily need both card for the games I play on this thing.. If not I suppose I will make do until I can afford a better computer or sell these stupid AMD Cards and get some Nvidia Ones..

 

AMD is still supplying Crossfire profile updates. They did not drop Crossfire support, however, the onus is on the game devs to support it. (Same goes for SLI) The paradigm is shifting towards DX12/Vulkan MGPU support vs OEM support.

As for this situation, I see the 7900M series is still supported in latest drivers. Make sure you are installing Mobility drivers, and not the desktop ones.

https://support.amd.com/en-us/download/mobile?os=Windows 10 - 64

 

Yeah that's where I downloaded the setup from and ran into issues.. so no clue then.. I don't really know what to experiment with next on this haha..

 

IIRC there's later vbioses for 7970m than 015.021, look on techpowerup's vbios database

Try swapping the cards around if you haven't already.

Treat them like time bombs. Those cards were notorious for solder join failures and ebay being full of "baked" ones resurrected in an oven that last a month tops

 

I am using the 015.021 version currently, also yes I was reading about that haha.. I can reflow them if need be, I have the equipment needed here at work, but with them working currently I don't believe it's the cards correct?.. also with the amount of buildup in the heat sinks and fans I had to remove I'm quite sure the previous owner "baked" them himself.. filthy..

Also the one thing I haven't tried yet was swapping them but I did a complete cleaning of all components and heat sinks when I bought this and reapplied thermal paste.

 

Here's the 015.024 stock vbios off the 7970M my second hand P370EM came with. I never tried crossfire though.

 

SO there is indeed an update! I will work on this a bit more tomorrow and let you all know how things explode. My only question, how do I apply this update to the vBios?

 

https://www.techpowerup.com/download/ati-atiflash/

Try one at a time in case there are different card revisions (I don't have lots of experience them) and it doesn't work, far easier to swap the cards and unbrick what is now the slave card

 

Haha sounds good and thank you, will try it when I have time later today

 

I would personally drop the 7970m's ASAP, and go for the cheapest cards you can find that work, ex:770m SLI or 970m SLI, even 680m SLI

 

Yeah that would eventually be the plan, I hate AMD haha..
I haven't actually even had time to do any Bios updates so I am still trying to get by as is for now.. would these work?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nvidia-GeF...m=302793396052&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851
Right now I honestly don't even need anything expensive or super fast I just need something that works with the option to update my friggin drivers without issues..
Eventually I can upgrade further if everything else will just work for the time being..

 

I do and don't understand why you hate AMD. As for the GPU you showed, utter garbage. If you want, I'll sell you my 765m for cheaper than that ($100) and it even performs far better (desktop 460/465 vs 650 ti). The cheapest GPU that is half decent for anything is the Firepro M6100/8950m. The cheapest that will work in that laptop is a 670m, but its worse than one 7970m. 680m is next best option, but still performs worse than your current config and is overpriced

 

Every AMD product I've owned seems to be the wrong ones, I've yet to have a good experience with them, and I am glad to have community members such as yourself. I don't know enough about Graphics Cards to know what is good or not, and also glad I asked before buying them haha!

I would definitely be interested in purchasing your card then, let me know how you would like to process said transaction or if you wanted to post it on eBay or however.

 

AMD's desktop products are pretty high quality, but they really fudge up on their mobile GPU's, most of them die after a short life. I would personally stay away from any AMD Mobile GPU, unless you know what you're doing, as they seem to be filled with issues. Yeah lol be glad you didn't buy that worthless garbage, probably would have died faster than the aforementioned AMD GPU's. As for the ebay link, https://www.ebay.com/itm/163124740474?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 Shoot me a DM on here or offer on ebay if you have any questions or concerns, I out for the week, but I come back the 13th

 

My HD5870M in the G73JH lasted my 5 years until I shorted the mobo. As for returns, Asus didn't get many AMD systems for RMA except when we had that vBIOS fiasco with a revision of that card.

 

5870m's were truly the last great AMD "m" GPU's, excluding a few oddballs. Hopefully the RX 480/580 MXM turns out to work in newer machines, and well.

 

You should stay with AMD if you plan on having decent performance for good money. The problem is that kepler is not being supported properly anymore, the AMD cards utterly destroy kepler. For instance if you pair the HD 8970M vs a GTX 680M (note, the NVIDIA one is MUCH more expensive) the AMD card will absolutely smack the NVIDIA card in modern games.

It's kinda scary how well the HD 7970M and newer AMD cards are supported compared to the NVIDIA counterparts.

 

$160 on average vs $200-250+, definitely agree with you

 

5870m came from ATI and not from AMD.

 

Fair enough

 

This is all good to know, and believe me if it weren't for the issues updating the drivers on this thing I would be happy to stick with the cards I have.. I just run into more issues than necessary..
also @Grant B Gibson I sent you that offer on eBay this morning

 

My bad, I just woke up an hour ago! Vacation baby! EDIT: I set it to auto decline under $100, Im stupid, let me change it to$90, send it again so I can see it, I really am extremely stupid

 

By this morning I mean like 5 seconds ago lmao, I just got up and to work myself so no worries!

 

lol, can you send it again? I accidentally set it auto decline under $100

 

It take it that time lol?

 

Smh I didn't hit save I am literally the stupidest person on earth. Try it one last time, and if it doesn't work, you can have it for free

 

Dang it took it

 

If only *sigh* You don't have to make payment until the 13th, thats when I get back anyways, if you want you can do it now, I really don't care tbh

 

If only indeed and I can do it now, I get paid tomorrow so I should be alright

 

#payday lol , Yeah good luck with this 765M man, and if it doesn't work for some odd reason, you can send it back for full refund (except shipping) and you might gain reputation as the first person on the forum with such an upgrade

 

Indeed and haha sounds good, hopefully it works out well. Has the 765M never been used in a P370EM lol?

I honestly wish I had saved up and bought a new system but I didn't, nor did I have time as I needed it for work so I bought the best system I could find at the time.. unfortunately it was from a shady retailer and I didn't know until it was too late, he talked a good game though XD..

 

I've never seen a P370 series laptop with specifically a 765m, I've seen them with 780ms and 680ms. Yeah I wish I had enough money to get a P870TM1 (8700k and dual 1080s) but I've saved up enough to buy a P370SM3 and a P870xxx for me and my brother. If you aren't happy with your laptop, your seller might accept a refund, but if it plain out doesn't work, contact eBay and ask for a refund, and hopefully YOU can talk him a good game GL with your 765M, and again, sorry for the delay, but vacation man, its the life. EDIT: assuming you don't want the AW 17 heatsink? I can ship it with it if you want EDIT #2 Man, you are forgetting that laptop has an amazing upgrade path, up to a 3920/3940xm, 32GB RAM, and dual 980m's.

 

It was a local guy unfortunately and I've already tried to get ahold of him again, really don't want to go to his shop as I might get violent.. and no worries, been dealing with this for a few weeks so another won't kill me Also yeah I just need BT now, and I do have 24GB in here atm, still need to figure out updating the Bios so that's my next path. Also I don't mind how you ship it, with or without the heat sink. Also yes I've done some preliminary research and this isn't a bad computer it just needs some TLC, and updates XD

 

Is anything specifically wrong with it? It seems fine from your posts, so I would assume so. TBH, if its only the 7970m's that aren't working jut resell them on ebay for $100 a pop, somebody will be silly enough to grab them. I'm glad that you're already on the road to upgrading. I'm not going to ship with the heatsink, as it will be utterly useless to you, its for an entirely different laptop (the one in my signature). Yeah man, best of luck.

 

Well it has some weird issue with shutting down/restarting, but I believe it is related to Windows. The Bios is pretty outdated so working on figuring that upgrade out and waiting to here back from Prema to see if he has anything better than what I found. The Graphics seems to be the biggest issue, can't upgrade the drivers without the system failing.. I think that's about all I have encountered so far.. and sounds good, I figured I wouldn't need it

 

What specifially with shutdown and restarting? If you want, I can include a cheap 120GB 2.5 SSD with the 765m, I have no real use for it anyways

 

That would be awesome haha! You're making me like you more and more

Just about every shutdown/restart it will lock up and just not power off until I force a shutdown, I did some reading and it seems to be related to Windows but haven't experimented yet, it will very rarely actually shutdown cleanly.

 

Same thing happened to me, I think its driver related. And you're welcome! Though seriously, I have so much computer junk that I just want gone

 

Very interesting, yeah only things I could find were A) Windows or B) Graphics Drivers, so helpful Google! I wonder if installing the 765M will actually help resolve that.. hmm.. and lol, whatcha got?

 

Every single kind of PC part, ex CPUS, GPUs, RAM, SSDs, HDDs, MOBOs, PSUs, Cases, alot of it. No laptop parts, except for the 765m

 

Oh my haha, well if I had the money I'd probably take some off your hands.

 

'Tis fine