whats going on with the 6970m

Everybody does not get their cards from Foxconn.

Clevo is, itself, an OEM/ODM like Foxconn, and manufacturers their own components in the same way that ASUS or MSI does.

AW started off as a reseller of Clevo, and other OEM machines, similar to how Sager operates, but stopped some time ago. The AW machines under Dell have been made by Flextronics...up until the newest releases which have moved on to Compal.


Likely the only company that uses Foxconn to manufacture their HD6970M is Apple.

 

Thats still nothing to worry about. It will not damage your card.

 

Who's arguing the existence of a card defect?.. All I'm saying is that you shouldn't be worrying about it failing after your warranty expires.

Paranoia - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Phinagle which Apple product uses 6970M ?

Sorry me a noob...

 

It was mentioned previously in the thread that the iMac will use an HD6970M.

 

I played civilization V, Battlefield 2, and Mafia II all at once in near 1920x1080 windowed mode with the 6970m, highest temp is still 80C. All settings is at Max. The 2720QM processor max temperature is 65C and usage was only 35%.

 

^ I didn't see temps on mine going over 80C either.

Played Fallout 3 everything max, AA = off for hours.

 

I'm very impressed with this laptop. Build quality is excellent and performance is overkill. It's unbelievable how technology progress so quickly to fit this amount of power inside a light 6.8 pound laptop. Of course, current technology will be doomed by the technology in 2-4 years, but this kind of technology is too good to last for only two years.

 

Well I guess mine falls into the "pass the tests but eventually died category".

Also the laptop has been fine but last night, 2 minutes into BC2, gray and black vertical bars appeared on the screen with a shrieking sound from the speakers. Computer was frozen. Had to do a hard shutdown. Now the laptop screen is black and nothing happens. May be the motherboard but my guess is that's the card.

Mythlogic was great and at 3 AM I had already my UPS shipping label. Thanks Jeff! Mythlogic tested the crap out of my laptop before shipping. I had the tests results on my laptop when I received it so I can't blame Mythlogic. I'm actually really happy that I bought mine there. That's when crap happens that you see how good a company is.

I would still be happy with my 6970 if it was still doing well. But since I have to RMA the laptop I'm putting a Nvidia card in there. I'm back on my Asus G73 for now.

I'll keep you posted....If it's not the card I'll let you know also.

Oliver

 

Sorry to hear the bad news from you. How long did you had that laptop with the 6970m for? I have my laptop for 2nd day now, been playing hard and even played 3 games at once. While on only BC2, my 6970m reached 74C at hottest after 3 hours of gameplay with everything at max.

 

The laptop is 3 weeks old.

 

i ordered an ati 6970m!!i am too anxious if i receive a faulty card........

 

hello people,

I just read this entire 22 page thread and i am new to this forum but i have had a

Sager NP8150-S1 - Gaming Laptops
15.6” Full HD 16:9 Wide screen (1920x1080) LED-Backlit Display with Super Clear Glare Type screen
AMD Radeon HD 6970M 256bit w/2GB GDDR5
Intel® Core™ i7-2720QM (2.2~3.3GHz, 45W) w/6M L3 Cache - 4 Cores - 8 Threads
IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
8GB (2x4GB SODIMMS) DDR3/1333 Dual Channel Memory
500GB SATA II 3GB/s 7,200RPM Hard Drive (16MB Cache Buffer)
6x Blu-Ray Reader/8x Super Multi Combo Drive
7-in-1 Memory Card Reader (All versions of MS + SD/MMC)
Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6230 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi + Bluetooth™ 3.0+HS Combo Card
8 Cell Smart Lithium-Ion Battery 76.96Wh
Windows 7 Premium - (64-Bit installed - 64 and 32-bit CD included)
Full Range 180W Auto Switching AC Adapter

since May 20 and it works great. i did get all the insurance from powernotebooks and donald answered all my questions. I did email donald to ask why the 6970m is no longer available. I am not sure what AMD catalyst software i am using but i am pretty sure it is the 10.5 or 10.4 because i got the bad software error when i tried to download and install the lasted AMD catalyst down load back in may.

from reading the whole thread it seems the UK retailer got the bad shipment and everything else is a low supply back order issue. i think apple may have taken a lot of of the 6970m's for its imacs. but i still want to know why all the resellers (xotic, powernotebooks, sagernotebooks) removed the 6970m option from their website.

i played crysis 1, crysis 2 (which sucks, worst purchase ever), BF:bad company 2, champions online (horrible), mass effect 2 demo (amazing), supreme commander 2 demo, bulletstorm demo, dragon age 2 demo, red faction armageddon, sins of solar empire, galactic civ II, just cause 2, starcraft 2 (husky!), and elder scrolls oblivion on my computer. (most through steam)

best graphics award goes to crysis 1, i have tried to get crysis warhead to work but my cd is damaged.

the only problems i have had is elder scrolls oblivion which crashes once an hour (probably game issue not hardware). when I play crysis 1, 2, on max everything it is a little slow but not bad, the only thing that has really slowed my computer is star craft 2 maxed everything playing 4 (me,3 ai) vs 4 (4 ai) using custom huge map with extra resources and extra unit supply (300). starcraft 2 uses about 1.1-1.2 gig of ram during these custom games and there was a pop-up that said "your computer is slowing down the game" but that pop-up only appeared once and i have played that custom map many times.

i will post again when donald at powernotebooks gets back to me about where the 6970m has gone or why is has gone.

i do recommend the 6970m if you can get one but if i was buying soon i would go for the nvidia 485m since it is the only thing available.

-i forgot to mention the rubberized track pad is pretty bad but i use external mouse, my heat has been below 80C, the fans pull heat from the back and push it out the bottom and i use the Antec Notebook Cooling System

( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834999850)

which pulls air down and then pushes it out the sides, front, and back

-donald emailed me back and said it is a supply problem not a performance issue, i wish i had seen the amd guy's face when he got the email from apple placing an order for thousands of 6970m's for a desktop machine

 

According to the note in Chinese that was in your order, which was translated here in the forum by a gentle chinese member : They will retest your card again before the shippment to ensure that there is no problem

 

thank u my friend.really appreciate!! ur the best!!

 

General rule of thumb: if a game is sandboxed, the PC version will suck. This is not the same as a game which is multiplatform but has been built for the PC mainly (BF3, Fallout 3, Brink). Remember it. And yes, Crysis 2 was Call of Duty: Nanosuit. Only 2 weapons at a time? Get real nubs, Crysis Warhead is where it's at.

Speaking of Crysis Warhead, if your CD is broken but you have your key, simply pirate an untouched version, use your CD key, then use a no-CD crack if necessary. You already own the game, nobody can fault you for getting a copy of a game you own. You aren't breaking the law.

Oh, and if you want the best graphics, go tax your GPU with Metro 2033.

 

I think one of the things to think about here is that the resellers for Sager/Clevo really test their equipment, and are far more likely to find issues during this phase than other retailers that mass produce machines. I also think that Sager/Clevo and their resellers have a much higher bar they set as far as quality control and standards they adhere to.

As far as Sager pulling the card, I do not believe it is because of shortages, as they could let you know it can only be backordered, but instead they pulled it. They and their resellers have much more at stake reputation-wise than much larger manufacturers do. I bought mine because of the upgradability and reputation of these.

One final thought, it can not be easy for them to make this decision, as this was a very popular card, but when weighed against their forcast for returns (RMA's) and the frustration of their customers, they made the right choice. Rather than just take buyers dollars (short term profit for the reseller) and worry later, they are working to make sure we end up with the best product we can, since a laptop in RMA is still a useless laptop until we get it back, and if their are a significant number of failures, there will be a significant number of frustrated customers. As one seller stated, they saw a 40% failure rate. That still means there are 60% cards that passed. Rather than bank on the 60% they are protecting the other 40% too. From my perspective, +1 to all the resellers, Sager, and Clevo. This is exactly why my next laptop will be one of these too.

 

so if my local dealer (not from US) has 6970m, I should grab it while it last ?
or wait for 585M... ?

 

You should wait and see what the 580M has to offer. That being said, there are still many users out there with a perfectly functioning 6970M.

Mr. Mysterious

 

Wow I cannot believe we are starting to see MOBILE chips in desktop platforms. Using Apple's new iMac as an example, they use the 6970m.

It seems in the future we might all just have a unified laptop if mobile chips are becoming so powerful now. (Though desktop chips will always be more powerful).

 

Well technically the iMac is not a desktop, it's an all-in-one.

Mr. Mysterious

 

Definitely grab the 6970M, while it's available.

 

I concur, grab the 6970m.

 

All-in-ones frequently use laptop chips since they have similar space and heat requirements to laptops.

 

Any news on the 6950m haven't seen it anywhere

 

I think the m17x r3 was released with it, so you can get it from Dell.

@mrmysterious: Imacs have been built that way for years... They have had MXM 3.0 4870s, MXM 2.1 8800m GTS and many more.

 

Hey guys, I'm new to the forums and I'm off to college this fall.

I've lived with this pos dell desktop that can barley run Left 4 Dead 2 on low settings at 20 fps.

I'm looking forward to getting Battlefield 3 since I've always been a Battlefield Fanboy since 2005.

I'm on a pretty tight budget and i've been looking at the sager notebooks with the 6970m card.

But after reading this i'm reconsidering...

Any suggestions? thx

 

Wait for the NP8150 with the 6990M. You may still be able to get a 6970M from some resellers.

 

When will the NP8150 with the 6990M be released??

I'm going to college in August, I need a laptop by then.

 

My suggestion: Go to Mythlogic (or Malibal; I cannot remember if they had too) and ask them for a P150HM with a 6970M. A cool 2630QM or 2720QM and 8GB of ram to carry you on (I don't even think you can buy less than 8GB hehe). If you cannot get the 6970M, I suggest a default to a P151HM1 with a 560M; it'll cost less. Still a strong card.

Mythlogic builds and tests the machines directly in-house and will make sure your card works. I believe Malibal does too, but I am *not* sure. Feel free to ask them.

 

Hmmm the 6990M is most likely going to be cheaper than the GTX 580M. If it is, I might be better served by going for that instead.

But for me, any GPU has to survive this obstacle course:

1) Time and review tested. Many people would have to have had good experiences with this card and very few would have to have bad ones.

2) Reasonable price. The definition of "reasonable" varies wildly here

3) Good warranty support. Most resellers are fine with this.

4) Great driver support. ATI/AMD and NVIDIA both seem to have cleaned
up their acts by now.

Mr. Mysterious

 

Is the 6990m coming out for sure? I just thought it was a speculation, if so what is the ETA. Do people still trust AMD after 6970?

If it wants to compete with the 580, it should be coming out around the same time...I hope...

 

Lol, it won't come out around the same time. Not unless ATI/AMD has been keeping an extraordinarily tight lip over the details (no rumors or whatever at all).

I'm just going by what Aikimox, one of the resellers, just said.

Mr. Mysterious

 

boo that sucks

 

If you are on a tight budget (as most college students are) an NP8130 or NP8150 w/ GTX 560M is no slouch and it is $300 cheaper than an 8150 with a 6970M.

But a 6970/6990M's extra cost over 4 years of college will probably be worth it.

 

The 6990M is best treated as 100% blind speculation, until something solid surfaces.

 

Yes...there is no information on a 6990M at this time.
_

 

But there will be SOME info in a month

lol, everyone keeps assuming I'm going to buy the GTX 580M right when it comes out. I never do that; it's not my style. I'm perfectly happy to wait as long as 3 months before making a decision.

Mr. Mysterious

 

AMD is waiting for the 580M to be released so that they can clock their card 10 MHz over obviously

 

Yup, most likely that's the case

 

Ok so should I just go with the 6970m?

 

If you can find one than yes

 

Actually I would say go with the 485m since it's being offered with a $200 discount on most resalers with the release of the 580m. Honestly 580m seems to be a 485m with an OC - so it's a great value.

 

Earlier this thread, I mentioned my 8150-S1 was RMA'ed and they suspected it was the GPU, turns out it was the CPU at fault. I feel relieved that it wasn't the GPU.

 

Since the price of GTX 485M is just a bit expensive than the 6970M, if my 6970M suddenly got issue and need to RMA, will Sager change it to GTX 485M instead? Hehehe

 

Oh, I didn't even notice that the prices have changed.
$200 off a 485m upgrade is defeniatelly nice, I retract my previous comment and I think 485 is a better deal at the moment.

 

485 buyers should demand $200 rebate now...

 

They got rid of the S-1 though and the deal on the upgraded screen. Xotic contacted me about upgrading my order I'm waiting for and the same exact configuration with the 485m would cost me $200 more. Crazy (They wouldn't just let me upgrade the video card on my order, I would have to submit a whole new order with the revised pricing scale)

For example I upgraded to the Super Glossy 95% gamut screen for $45. It's now $125

 

I know how you feel, I contacted xoticpc with the same thing.
I was a 8150-S1 customer in waiting for phase 2 to finish and got contacted as well with probably the same email. With my same exact configuration, the 485m would cost me $175 more approximate.
The glossy deal is off as well as the cheap $10 upgrade for the wireless cards.
I don't know why yours is over a $100 difference than mine though, I guess they changed more stuff?
I'm thinking about what to do, might just order the np8170 instead and get the 120hz screen ahaha

 

The Super Glossy 95% gamut screen is $95.00 on the NP8150 and only $30.00 on the NP8130...
_