[Guide] Installing AMD Radeon Mobility 6970 / 6990 in your M17x R2 (Single GPU and CrossfireX)

[jedinorth]

howdy everyone.
got a funny issue i just noticed and not sure how long its been going on for

im running an m17x with 6990 xfire and when i close the lid and come back later my slave card (right side) is running hot

i check with gpuz and it getting %100 usuage for no reason

if i fire up a game or do something after opening lid, the temp will go back down.

i also did a clean install of 12.1 with 11.12 cap got no change.

i also found when i went to insatll the beta dell drivers that ccc was not installed along with it

should i install 11.10 then the dell drivers?

[Greywolf22]

Hey Jedinorth,

Are you running with a second monitor attached? Or simply closing the lid on your laptop with no secondary monitor attached?

I never close mine, so I haven't noticed (plus I have 6970's if that matters), but I'm willing to give it a try.

[jedinorth]

no second monitor,
the only reason i noticed is that i could hear the fan running, was wondering why since it should be idle.
right side was warm, sitting at about 65c

[True_Talk_Snake]

I finally received my cards, and started the operation on the R2, Got two Clevo 6990's once, deleted old drivers and installed the 11.10 MObility drivers, Restarted, checked GPU-z temps are the same as my 4870's that I had in the R2. Then I went to CCC, and went on the gaming tab, and it says I cant enable crossfire. It says this, The AMD crossfireX internal Bridge interconnects linking your graphics cards together are not properly attached. Both bridge interconnects must be attached. For more infromation, see the users guide for your graphics card.

So, I went back into the R2, the cables all seem to be connected good, disconnected them and connected them again. After that I went back to the CCC and tryed to enable the crossfireX, But still no go, says the same thing again, could it be something is wrong with my CF cable or maybe its something driver related? Please help. Thanks

[bennylaws]

Hey, there
got a problem with my newly installed 6900M.
(CLEVO)

I recently installed the single ATI HD 6990M into my M17x R2. The problem seems to exist since this upgrade.
The failure (blue screen + restart) only comes up, when the external monitor is connected and I try to wake up the system then from standby or hibernate... with the internal screen only, standby, hibernate, wakeup,... work perfectly! What do you suggest?
Graphics driver maybe?

(I tried different driver versions in the meantime and the failure looks a bit different every time... but the main problem itself is always the same, just looks/behaves a bit different.)

I got an input in another thread, I should ask here and the guy mentioned it could also be a vbios issue?!
But remember, without external monitor it works great!
Vbios is original one, did not flash it!

[Greywolf22]

I finally received my cards, and started the operation on the R2, Got two Clevo 6990's once, deleted old drivers and installed the 11.10 MObility drivers, Restarted, checked GPU-z temps are the same as my 4870's that I had in the R2. Then I went to CCC, and went on the gaming tab, and it says I cant enable crossfire. It says this, The AMD crossfireX internal Bridge interconnects linking your graphics cards together are not properly attached. Both bridge interconnects must be attached. For more infromation, see the users guide for your graphics card.

So, I went back into the R2, the cables all seem to be connected good, disconnected them and connected them again. After that I went back to the CCC and tryed to enable the crossfireX, But still no go, says the same thing again, could it be something is wrong with my CF cable or maybe its something driver related? Please help. Thanks

Hi True Talk Snake,

I spent much time troubleshooting this exact same problem with the Clevo cards. Question for you, are you using the crossfire cable that came with your alienware (Dell one)?

If so, I'd highly recommend purchasing a crossfire cable from upgradeyourlaptop (from ebay you might want to write them directly if they don't list a cable) or mythlogic (mythlogiccorp.com). For some reason some folks have had trouble (myself included) with the dell crossfire cables.

If you do end up purchasing a crossfire cable, make sure you get the one that is for the Eurocom panther 2.0. The length is perfect and it's one route to consider.

Other then that, you might try flashing the vbios on the cards or installing the modded desktop driver.

Just some thoughts, I feel your pain as it took me months to get my crossfire going.

Good luck!!

[thenzfarmer]

Hey Truesolid
In line with what the Greywolf legend has said, ensure the cable is connected the right way - ie. flipped the right way around!
This happened to me and all I had to do was flip the connector upside down on one of the cards. It should slide right in without forcing That's if you are using a clevo xfire cable.

[brlowe]

Sorry I tried to use search but it was not working for me.
Do the 6970 cards on ebay from upgradeyourlaptop work in the m17xr2?
If not where are you getting working card now?

Thanks

[Greywolf22]

Yep they are perfect. I highly recommend purchasing the 6970's WITH posts. Makes installation easier..if you are buying the 6990s they include the x-bracket.

Make sure you ask them to include the crossfire cable (for a Eurocom Panther 2.0 or just mention you are doing it on an alienware system) and make sure you ask for them to include SCREWS.

I can't emphasize the screws part enough since the dell screws will NOT fit.

[True_Talk_Snake]

Thanks so much otacon

I checked the cable again and realized, one of the gold pins are a littel bent. Tried straighting it, but still no go. And I seem to have to force it a bit. Btw its merely impossible to straighten the cf cable little golden pin. Should I order another cable from foxhound, or use the clevo one I got even though it seems to short, I can take off the tape and make it go straight diagnal. ?

Oh and what's the nodded desktop driver (confusion) lol