Update on Radeon 7970m (Sager/Resellers)

Hm... I wonder if I should be worried if I haven't received any updates from my tracking number, since the last update I got was that it left the warehouse on Wednesday night, and no updates on Thursday or Friday. I hope it didn't get lost >.>

 

Strange that the temp is in F instead of C.

 

Lol The screen shots have temps mentioned in both F and C
Does it even matter?

 

Mine had the same issue. It took a couple days, but just updated with a local UPS address. I'll have mine in hand tomorrow.

 

Mine is still shipping to the Nebraska plant from Xotic to avoid tax. Does it typically take 4 days for that?

 

Hey guys, has anyone had an update from any of the resellers as to when Clevo will start sending machines yet? Malibal's been worryingly quiet for a few days now.....

 

I'm pretty sure they are as out of the loop as the rest of us on this matter. Last I heard from Malibal was either last thursday or friday saying there is a delay w/out any ETA from clevo. Meanwhile it seems like Clevo and AMD are just procrasterbating rather than actively working to solve this shortage.

 

Nobody is procasterbating...they are working very hard on getting the issue resolved. However it is very difficult to estimate when they can ship because their crystal ball broke, so they just have to keep working on it until it is resolved, and until it is resolved it would be a bit tricky trying to guesstimate how long it is going to take.

I would expect to hear something more concrete by the end of the week.

 

Had my heart set on SSD RAID 0.

What are you recommending currently? I can wait a few weeks but not a few months.

 

Biggest nicest SSD you can afford. We'll see how things settle out when TRIM support comes out later, but yea for now, get the biggest fastest single SSD you can get.

 

Is it true 7970M's can't have their Enduro disabled in Clevo's P170EM???
I hear there is a 20% performance loss with Enduro on.

 

Yes the Enduro cannot be disabled completely in the Clevo. You can neither go completely into the dedicated or the integrated GPU.

The performance issues while gaming in the Clevo has not yet been confirmed by any of the users but I feel the Clevo's will be affected though. May be any of the resellers can clear this one out. Xoticpc, Mythlogic, Powernotebooks any 1?

 

The performance loss is no where near 20%...it is only a few frames per second, which still keeps it way ahead of anything else that is available in a laptop.

 

We only know that there's a problem with Enduro in Alienware laptops, but not Clevo's. Apparently, a couple owners of a Clevo 7970M's have said their performance hasn't taken any hits with Enduro on.

 

Is the performance loss noticed in spite of manually selecting the right GPU for the particular task/game? I heard the auto detection capability of Enduro is very poor but we can manually select the 7970m by selecting "High performance". So is the dip in fps noticed even after selecting the 7970m?

 

AMD is not the cause of this issue, everyone involved has said their cores are working as they should.

 

So I can get 7970M with P170EM with no worries?
And what do you mean Enduro can't be disabled completely? I don't need Enduro bc I'll be using the laptop as a desktop replacement so it'll be in the mains 24/7.

 

The only noticeable dips are with the CrossFire, not with a single card.

In Windows, each time you open an application for the first time Enduro will ask you which card you want to use. Once you select it, it is saved, but you can always go back and change it. Or, you can right click on the desktop and select Configure Switchable Graphics to select the card you want for any application.

 

Sounds indefinitely better... oohh wait a minute.

Yeah okay, it sounds better than Optimus that is

 

I myself am getting the NP9170 with the 7970m (Phase II) and I am not worried abt anything in particular except for may be further delays. You cannot completely disable the integrated GPU. Meaning there is no simple way to make the computer work completely on the integrated or the 7970m. You will have to configure each task of yours as paladin44 mentioned to work on the respective GPU.

 

Hey guys, quick question here - are minors allowed to sign for UPS packages?

 

Nah. Doesn't really matters. Your signature only indicates you've received the package..

 

just call Mclovin to get you a fake I.D. from Hawaii.

 

Unless it is an Adult Signature Required (21 years) anyone old enough to make their own breakfast at that address can sign for it.

 

Ah, I see. Just hope the package Xotic sent me doesn't require an adult signature there's still a chance the UPS man might come when my parent is somewhere else temporarily.

 

Really? I can tell the system what GPU I want it use when I launch an app that requires GPU? I.e Crysis 2, Battlefield 3 etc???
Then if that is the case what is all the fuse the other guys on Post "What is wrong with 7970m" about? Quote: "Oh, you lose 20% of fps with enduro and it can't be disabled.. bla bla bla", "oh I'm cancelling my P170EM or and getting an Alienware instead".
I mean those quotes gave me a scare.

 

That's mostly on alienwares. Clevo drivers seems to not be affected by enduro by much according to some people here who has the first batch of clevo's w/ 7970m. lurk moar. =D

 

Just consider the source, and ask for detailed verification.

There are a lot of opinions thrown around on forums. You have to be able to discern which are credible and which are not.

 

Is Clevo going to use a different source for the 3rd party chips, and if so, how long would it take for the new 7970Ms to go out in laptops? Is is possible in June?

Oh, and this problem is happening with the Alienware models as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuNqtYr82tw

 

One card does not mean all Dell cards are bust when many other users have had working cards.

 

The guy mentions that Alienware has had many calls on the no boot problem.

 

Yeah just caught that in the video, hadn't watched it all the way through.

Crap. Hoping this is still isolated.

 

Come on guys...this is a Sager forum.

Take your Alienware discussion over to the Alienware section.

 

It's interesting, I had no idea that the way in which the the HD4000 and 7970m cards were set up on the most basic level were SO incredibly different on the Alienware model as opposed to the Clevo model. Now it actually makes sense why I see almost none of this "Enduro dropoff" that other users are talking about with the 7970m performance on the AW, and it probably has something to do with the fact that the GPUs are clearly set up to interact in entirely different ways, even down to the way that they POST at startup.

 

Sorry I am kind of confused by your post. Could you rephrase? What you are saying doesn't seem to connect to the problem with the 7970M giving black screens/no boot. I feel like the video I linked shows that the 7970M in general is having problems, leading to a possible conclusion that either AMD screwed some thing up or every one is building the 7970M with bad parts, not just Clevo.

 

Use QUOTE or address the poster with your question so we know to whom you are talking.

 

Sure hope that problem with the Alienware M17x won't happen to my P150EM... considering it was fine for 8 hours before the problem began springing up makes me doubt that Sager and Clevo's QC could detect that problem.

Prayin' away...

 

So is 7970M good or what??? If I launch my games and set it to 7970M gpu will I have problems with enduro?

 

Donald have you seen the notebookcheck benchmarks of the AWm17x with Enduro enabled and disabled? They certainly show a lot more than 3fps difference and definitely not with Crossfire enabled as it was a single card.

Taking your advice regarding considering the source could you let us know the results of benchmarks you have run with Enduro enabled and disabled which shows the minimal drop in fps with a single 7970M?

 

I'm sorry, I was more talking about the way that the HD4000 and 7970m were set up on the Alienware vs Clevo systems, and how Alienware users could switch to exclusively using the 7970m, whereas I could not with my Clevo. And that this mattered because AW users reported better performance with exclusive use of the 7970m, as opposed to having GPU-switching enabled via Enduro. All I could tell, since Enduro is permanently activated on the Clevo, was that my performance specs and benchmarks were closer to what the AW users got with Enduro disabled, whereas I had Enduro enabled, and I couldn't really figure out why this was.

Now seeing that video, and how the M17x uses a toggle key combination a hard restart to actually perform the GPU switch, it makes me realize that the two systems must be set up somewhat different in terms of the motherboard and/or BIOS, since there is no feature even comparable to that with my Clevo and its GPUs. Which makes me think that the performance loss in Enduro that AW users get really is just exclusive to them, and does not extend to the Clevos with the 7970m.

This is aside from all other supposed issues with the 7970m, but I wouldn't think that what that youtube user is experiencing with his M17x has anything to do with the Clevo 7970m debacle. The issue with Clevo has to do with third-party components exclusive to the 7970m chips that *they* developed, and any AW problems would be exclusive to their company. As far as anyone knows, the actual chips supplied by AMD are fine.

edit: Just to summarize: I have a Clevo laptop w/ 7970m. It works perfectly. There is no significant performance loss from using Enduro. All the GPU benchmarks I've run have matched or exceeded the maximum of what I've seen posted from the M17x on notebookcheck, regardless of whether Enduro was enabled or disabled on the M17x.

 

I refuse to respond to any more Alienware questions in this Sager forum.

As I have said twice before, this discussion does not belong here, and it is just not right to highjack this thread.

 

Hey we are just trying to help each other regarding the possible problems with the 7970m cards.

And as far as i see people asked for benchmarks of your Clevo against the Alienware (posted on notebookcheck) with the 7970m.

We are not making this an Alienware thread regardless.

 

I've been trying to follow the P170EM and 7970m threads pretty closely, have you got a thread where your results have been posted? I'm very interested to see your benchmarks.

Cheers

 

Eduro should be able to be completely disabled if AMD added the option to their next release of CCC. Otherwise I don't know whether to buy P170EM 7970M or not. I'm confused -_-*

 

From people who currently own or have used a Clevo with 7970m, nobody has noticed any lack of performance. I tend to trust people who have actually used it rather than the rumor mongers. I wouldn't worry about it. I'm certainly not worried and I have one on order. I never once considered cancelling based on anything I've read. The Alienware m17x is not a Clevo, and therefore problems it may be having cannot be concluded to also be a Clevo problem. Don't worry yourself to death over a non-existent problem.

 

I don't know how you retailers deal with all the rumors during delays like this from people who have too much time on their hands and read too much into everything. You guys actually have to answer these questions. I can just overlook them and they still get on my nerves.

 

There is something special about the huge group of manchildren that are the early adopters of technology. The hyperbole and mongering that crops up as soon as a minor problem is mentioned is astounding. YOU CAN'T PRESS Z+L+CTRL AT THE SAME TIME?! AND YOU CALL YOURSELF A GAMING COMPANY?
I guess the problem here is that people will actually change preorders based on stuff like rumours, instead of videogames, where people will just whine and moan about how bad a company is and then still buy their product in the end.

 

Well said, +1 rep for you!

 

Guys do you think AMD will fix Enduro from conflicting with 7970m in their next driver???
And guys how long do you think 7970m will last me @ 1920x1080 + Max settings?

 

The 7970m should last you some where from 2-3 max yrs at high/ultra settings. There are games right now that barely get 35 fps at ultra using the 7970m. So there will always be games that your card wont be able to play at max after a year or so. But if you are not that concerned then the 7970m should last you at least 2-3 yrs.

AMD hopefully will resolve the issues with Enduro. This is the case with all new technology. It takes a while for them to refine it.