Update on Radeon 7970m (Sager/Resellers)

A BSOD is usually a driver issue, in most cases the GPU driver...

 

I don't know if that is true. BSoD can happen, especially to a new computer, also because of a faulty RAM chip or a RAM chip not completely plugged in, or (not accusing the guy that posted this, just making a statement in general) because the OS was not genuine. MS went through something recently. I know of people whose copies of Office and W7 U stopped working (or started giving errors saying they were not genuine) all of a sudden, after working perfectly for several months.

 

I like the sound of this. I've always had soldered graphics cards, so I am unsure on how difficult it would be to upgrade. The physical swap would be no big deal of course but how hard will it be to find the specific 7970M to fit in my laptop? (I have a Sager NP9170 order pending)

 

Well, it's usually the graphics drivers presenting issues from my experience. This can be seen from the erroneous file mentioned in the kernel memory dump: Usually NV??? for nVidia cards, not sure what it is for ATI cards. If it were a RAM card issue, I'm sure the BSOD would show up more than just once...

 

So I talked to Michael at Xotic and asked him to cancel my order, he was cool about it and said ok. Now just to see how long it'll take to get my money back.

 

When i was playing it crashed to desktop, displayed a box that said amd graphics driver has faulted, then proceeded to bsod.

I used windows debugging tools to take a look at the crash dump, and it listed the amd driver as what was running when the crash happened. It's always possible that it was bad memory, but it seems more likely that it was an amd issue. The drivers themselves aren't available anywhere except through clevo and sager, and everything else seems to run fine making me doubt it was a memory issue. Hopefully it was a one time thing, but it was enough to make me set my hardcore diablo 3 character to the side for a few days while i make sure everything's stable.

 

I am one of the people in the 2nd shipment for this card.. so say i downgraded to a 670m for now... does anyone know a reseller that would sell the 7970m or the 680m so i can upgrade the laptop later?

And any rough guesses on the cost of the card?

 

I'm pretty sure the Sager resellers would be glad to sell you the card, standalone, soon after this whole rush phaze is done with!

 

Also interested in the cost of a 7970m

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk

 

Mythlogic stated to me that the card retails for $475 and would run you $446 with their Pheonix upgrade plan.

 

^ You may not be able to fit the 7970m so easily. The entire heat sink, imo, would need to be changed. Since the chassis has an upgrade option for the 7970m you shouldn't have a hard time with the physical dimensions, but you might want to make sure that the heat sinks on the two match. I doubt they would.

 

Dont say that... I sold my MSI 780DX because of all the random BSOD I was receiving.... Last thing I want is another computer which does the same

 

Keep in mind the drivers for it are in their extreme infancy at this point.

 

So $200 for it with the system and a 2-3 week wait or $475 + extra shipping to get my laptop a week or two sooner...

This thread needs a tiny violin playing...

 

Just FYI, regarding the AMD delays and issues...

Taken from the AMD M17x thread from an hour ago..

BSODs some of you have been having = Impending video card failure?

 

Playing a Sad Tune on Tiny Violin - YouTube

 

That's pretty much how I feel as well. I know it's not their fault that there is a delay but when ordering so early I expected to be on the first shipment, not on the 2nd to end up w/ a delay when others are getting theirs already. In the end it doesn't really matter anyway because the first round is gone out so there's nothing they can do.

 

I am going to switch to the 675M. I wish I could hold out for the 7970, but after the delays and now the issues that are popping up, I am going to stick with NV.

 

That Eurocom (upgradeyourlaptop) post is definitely disconcerting. I already have had TWO 6990Ms fail on me so I'm definitely considering heading over to NVIDIA even with the vast drop in performance.

 

This is concerning for people who are in the first batch of card sent by Xotic PC. Justin can you please comment to this.

All I'm saying is that if my card buggs out I'm going to EXPECT my reseller to send me a new one no questions asked (free shipping and all). I live in Canada and I don't want to I incur significant cost and time on top of that if something goes wrong.

 

It really irks me that I was guaranteed to be in the first shipment, yet I received the email telling me mine was delayed. Supposedly "the first and second shipments were so close together that they didn't consider them different, and the third (largest) shipment was the one we were hearing of as the second batch." It was definitely a case of misinformation.

Plus, I ordered on April 30th, and I believe I've seen people on this thread have their laptops shipped when they ordered after my order date. I paid with a credit card too, so it's not that my payment was delayed. I understand that the more you customize your laptop, the longer it will take to ship, but it's only logical to assign the card to the laptops in order, not by how easy it is to make. Mine wasn't really customized much either. My only real upgrades were to the network card, regular matte screen, and IC Diamond.

I know the resellers can't do anything about the information given to them, and they don't control which laptops get built first because most upgrades are done by Sager, but it still irritates me that many people, myself included, were misinformed like that.

I'm just upset about all of this that's went on. Many people were given incorrect info, and it doesn't seem like they're prioritizing orders by the day they were ordered. I have faith in Xotic, but Sager is losing it.

 

Join the club, I ordered before you and in the same boat unfortunately. Along with two friends who I helped order as well. So that's 3 people who ordered before you even who didn't get it either. All we can do is just wait or cancel now. That or switch cards. I've decided to wait.

 

I think I might go 660M in my Clevo and upgrade to 680M when it comes out in August. Emailed Mythlogic.

 

I ordered on the 29th. It's really Sager's problem, not Xotic's, anyway.

Deciding to wait is probably a good idea for you.

 

Think I'll do the same...

I can't honestly believe how ATI had this one good chance to really shine against nVidia, and they pretty much completely blew it!!

 

What do you mean blew it?????

Their new card is a monster and its out like 3-4 month before NV's card even when taking into account the delay. On top of that its probably going to be cheaper and will likely be on par with NV if not better.

We are all purchasing the newest and most advance (B@dA$$) technology available on the market. It's normal that there are going to be some problems here and there.

Just take it easy. All will be good. You will be pwning newbs very shortly, don't worry.

 

Dated info on notebookcheck... Now that the 7970m is released (sort of) they really need to update that or they might lose some important credibility...

Malibal was corresponding in their own forums? I had no idea...

I think a lot more people come here to find out what's going on with their laptops than go to AMD's website. "Hmm, I think I'll check on AMD's website to see if there's been a mass recall today."

I thought shipping it back and forth was a huge problem for you.

ASUS just released the G75 w/ivy and 660m, I doubt there will be a new one so soon. Also, when was the last time an ASUS supported 100w cards?

So even if they published a public notification, it would probably be useless.

Then get your expectations a reality check and don't order during a launch month. Or go buy a pre-built ASUS or something.

Just buy one from someone like Mythlogic.

Mass recall confirmed. Panic mode activated. Oh wait, Mythlogic just called and said that the 675m's arrived and they offered me my spot in line back if I downgraded Build time, here I come! Farewell AMD, I'll try again in a few months. Maybe. No promises.
Anyway, my 675m-equipped P150EM should ship around a week from now.

It's called a warranty, bro. I hope for your sake that you payed extra for Canada shipping because otherwise tough beans.

Back with SB AMD was way off in the distance and yet intel still blew it. It doesn't matter how close/far off your rival is, when something miles ahead of anything else on the market gets a mass recall and makes this big of a mess it's called blowing it. When it's bad enough that a bunch of customers defect to the other, left-in-the-dust team, it's called blowing it.

 

My interests aren't so much in "pwning newbs" as they are in getting reliable hardware from a company I can wholeheartedly trust with my good money! And from recent events as well as past experiences, that's becoming ever-increasingly doubtful...

 

Its one thing if something breaks, i understand that and im willing to pay shipping etc because I didn't chose it as an option. Its another thing if the company sent you a card they knew was faulty or had problems. This is completely unacceptable.

Im sure everyone here agrees with me.


It's called a warranty, bro. I hope for your sake that you payed extra for Canada shipping because otherwise tough beans.[/QUOTE]

 

wonder if you can extend your warranty even after you receive your laptop and your initial warranty isn't up...

 

I thought I read that Sager and Co. have like a 30-90 day grace period or something. Not really sure on the exact duration.

 

Does anyone know if I get a 7970m would I be able to upgrade to the 680m when it comes out, or are you suck with the brand you choose?

I really want a new laptop but all the delays and enduro problems with 7970m make me want to wait for the 680m.

 

It's official. Downgraded my laptop to an Nvidia GTX 660M. Going to upgrade to a Nvidia GTX 680M in August/September. Mythlogic estimated the cost will be $500-$600 (and I get my 660M to re-sell). I saved $200 by downgrading. Should get my laptop late next week or early the week after.

They said they're going to be calling all of their 7970M orders in the near future to see if they want to downgrade - because they expect news mid-next week from their suppliers and in case it is bad news they want to make sure everyone had the option to make a move.

 

They said that it was a BIOS issue with the Clevos but that the Alienware laptops were ok with the 7970s... has anyone seen an review/benchmarks from someone who went with alienware? I'd really love to see it!

 

Shhhhh! let them cancel their Orders and get the 670 instead, so my order can be built even sooner patience really is a virtue.

seach 7970m on youtube and you'll see the m17xR4 benchmarks and even gameplay.

so how come the first batch were ok for clevo's? some in this forum already got theirs and haven't heard much crashing or bsods... yet.

it must be the second batch of 7970's had a bug that messes up with clevo's Bios.


THE EDIT BUTTON...USE IT!

 

Wow. Mass recall. I really hope note.

In any case.. I spoke to Jeff at Myth he was more than happy to "uncharge" my credit card (was charged back on the 29th). This wont boot me from the Q either. I just dont want to have to pay that bill (i usually pay in full each month) early next month if I dont have my laptop. They will just charge me once they have a more firm ETA on the 7970's.

In other news, my wifes current laptop stopped working so I got her the Clevo W110ER. LoL. She says I can use it when shes at work. Luckily I get home a few hours before she does AND she works at least one day during the weekend. So yeah, no more whining from me. Good luck to everyone else in the forums!

 

Vote for this guy for president and get rid of the bad economy. Oh president of the world I mean. He knows everything and everything he says is right.

 

Yikes. This really, really, sucks. I sincerely hope there isn't a mass recall causing me to return my laptop, but, well... if that's what it is, that's what it is...

For those of us who already have/are in the process of receiving "working" laptops... not that there are many of us... how would this mass recall work? Do we downgrade in the meantime if we want a working laptop? Yikes. I've never had to go through this. Talk about bad times >_<

 

LOL now there is going to be a shortage of 675/660ms. THAT would be epic.

 

Hopefully that BIOS issue can be fixed by a simple update... D: and I hope my arriving laptop doesn't have any issues.

 

Good time to start designing/engineering your own GPUs and build a decent IT firm, I'd say....

 

WOHOO My np9150 with 7970m just shipped!

 

hire computer/electrical engineers and design own mxm gpu. call it NBR 1000.

 

Also, guys, for the record, I posted this before in some other threads - I did a 3DMark11 benchmark for my NP9170 and the graphics score (with Enduro on) was right on par with an Alienware M17x R4 w/ 7970m got in from running the same benchmark twice, both with Enduro on and with Enduro off. So:

3DMark11 GPU Scores:

M17x R4 - Enduro ON: 5576
M17x R4 - Enduro OFF: 5538
NP9170 - Enduro ON: 5656

So, what does this prove? That at least by one benchmark, my Sager NP9170 has graphical performance that is on par with what Alienware is getting, regardless of what is Enduro is doing. I haven't had time to test very many actual games, but what I've seen thus far has been encouraging. Starcraft 2 with the settings cranked to the absolute max gets around 80-105 FPS, just glancing at the FPS monitor in the corner while doing some messing about against the AI with various amounts of stuff happening on-screen.

If there is some impending issue that is going to become apparent with my Sager, it does not SEEM to have made itself known yet. I have received one BSOD, but it came the first time I attempted to watch a Blu-Ray film on this fairly awful piece of included software called cyberdvd or something. The problem did not repeat and the same BR film wound up playing just fine on some freeware Blu-Ray viewing software. No other BSODs whatsoever, and that one has not repeated even when repeatedly attempting to perform the same function with the same software.

 

Plan for curing the economy: government subsidizes triple A video games -> workers are motivated to work faster so they can get home sooner to play the new games -> businesses are more productive and efficient -> profits are boosted -> employees get bonuses -> everyone has more money to spend -> economy goes up.

According to Mythlogic, there already is. I ordered with 675m on the 29th and they just got in today.

 

^ Is your word also going to make a 7990m possible? 'Coz I heard AMD were not gonna make any of those.

EDIT - I am probably not gonna get AMD again but I was just curious if my info on no 7990ms was wrong.

 

Rest assured guys you that have received or will be receiving your new 7970m have nothing to worry about. Not only did they pass Sager QC but also Clevo QC. I think most can put 2&2 together why this "report" surfaced as jessi3k3 posted.

 

Has anyone tried gaming on Windows 8 with their 7970m yet. I just downloaded the preview and wanted to give it a shot. I know it works well with desktop cards, but not sure what driver I'd use...

BTW, this 7970m is sick.

Edit: JHC, people are getting their panties up in a bunch in here

 

I think there will only be a 7990m if nv decides to release a 685m with all of it's shaders unlocked that beats the 7970m by more than 10%. I'd be more interested in a dual GPU model (690m?) though, because that would truly be something new and not just a sped up version of the previous model.

 

I think one of the biggest reasons there haven't been dual GPU "m" models is because generally, they do not outperform two singles in SLI by a whole lot. The only advantage you really get is that you can add ANOTHER dual GPU and get a quad CF or SLI. In a desktop, that's fine. In a laptop, the heat will be way too high for current technology to beat. I don't see any other reason why the 6990m didn't follow in the footsteps of its desktop counterpart.