***M18x - AMD Crossfire (Driver Questions, Performance, Problems) Discussion Thread***

[Mr. Fox]

Can you also check the scenario below with HWInfo when you have time ?

You may not have the right settings in place for HWiNFO64 to work properly. With HWiNFO64, I have found there is no need to use the HW64inst.exe driver. I have found that installing the driver (or using wrong settings) can sometimes cause hangs during shutdown.

If you cannot find the right combination of configuration check boxes in the HWiNFO64 configuration, you may want to send a PM to NBR member residualvoltage and/or click the link in his forum signature.

[AgentVFX]

Do you have any razer accessories plugged in? I had this problem when I used my razer mouse unhooked it now no black screens Hope this helps you

I think I remember others posting that a variety of USB devices being connect at boot where causing this, including notebook coolers with USB-powered fans.

Yeah i actually have few things connected at boot. Ill try that next time I do the first boot.

[ntrain96]

Hey, just got my m18x in the mail today. Fantastic looking and running laptop. But Im getting some odd red pixelization on the screen(Not a dead or defective batch of pixels). I definetly think its driver related. The driver date seems old(3/11) and the driver is: 8.800.6.1000. I do not see any CCC control panel installed. Am I supposed to use Dell proprietary drivers or? Link to good STABLE drivers that are recommended for these video cards?

[Aikimox]

Running 12.2 Preview here and all is fine. You can get it directly from AMD.

[hi7of3of2hi9]

Hi there,

Anyone has some performance data with Saints Row the third with high settings? (1920x1080, 2xAA, 16xAF, all high, vsync on/off)

Spec is : 2670qm, 6990m CF

With 12.2 Preview, Im getting around 35-50 fps, but the fps is the same with crossfire enabled / disabled even with the correct amd pre-defined profile selected...I suspect this is just because the driver is not finalized and CF is not utilized? or something wrong with my driver?

EDIT: Unrelated to CF, with Witcher 2, the FPS between low settings and ultra settings are almost the same, could it be a CPU bottleneck....?

[Aikimox]

Probably no CF support for those games. Just in case, could you run 3Dmark Vantage and check if your GPU score is 23-24k?

[tala16]

hi guy..my m18x had a problem last week when i was playing bf3. My fps normal was ~70-80 but after 5 minutes my fps droped ~30.However my cf was enable. somebody know what wrong is this ? i'm using
AMD Catalyst 12.3 RC (8.950.0 January 31) + CAP 12.1.
i'm tried to use AMD Dell but the same problem..drop pfs when playing game after 5 minutes ( bf3, skym..etc )

[MVER]

Just got my second pair 6990M's installed by Dell after CrossfireX gave me a flashing screen on my few weeks old M18X.
Now the enable Crossfire option disappeared in CCC. The diagnostics complaints about the Crossfire bridge not properly installed.
Tech reseated it without result, closed the system and left.
Tomorrow another tech will be back with a new cable allthough the cable looks good.
Both GPU's show up in the HW and the status shows both working okay
Is it just plug and play or are we missing something before Crossfire can be enabled?
Or any other thoughts/tips?

Appreciate your help!

[Räy]

After trying multiple drivers to make Rage stable, I ended up screwing up my drivers pretty seriously. I just noticed it after trying to play crysis where I saw sub par performance. In device manager, it appears that windows disabled one of my gpu's. I also do not have the usual CCC icon in the windows task bar nor can I launch CCC. On my factory install HDD, I was able to hit the stock 3dmark11 crossfire scores so I can rule out the gpu's. I can't boot into safe mode when using my SSD so I can't just run drivesweeper and remove them via that way. I also have lost the ability to run on igp using my SSD since it won't boot into windows. I have a feeling that I'm going to have to reformat my SSD and reinstall all my drivers and CAD programs from scratch unless anyone can come up with an idea.

I'm now getting an 8 beep motherboard error code and it will not boot into windows going from igpu to 6970s while using my factory install HDD after Fn-F7 on the first restart. After restarting the laptop a second time during the error code, it will boot into windows with 6970s.

[MVER]

After trying multiple drivers to make Rage stable, I ended up screwing up my drivers pretty seriously. I just noticed it after trying to play crysis where I saw sub par performance. In device manager, it appears that windows disabled one of my gpu's. I also do not have the usual CCC icon in the windows task bar nor can I launch CCC. On my factory install HDD, I was able to hit the stock 3dmark11 crossfire scores so I can rule out the gpu's. I can't boot into safe mode when using my SSD so I can't just run drivesweeper and remove them via that way. I also have lost the ability to run on igp using my SSD since it won't boot into windows. I have a feeling that I'm going to have to reformat my SSD and reinstall all my drivers and CAD programs from scratch unless anyone can come up with an idea.

I'm now getting an 8 beep motherboard error code and it will not boot into windows going from igpu to 6970s while using my factory install HDD after Fn-F7 on the first restart. After restarting the laptop a second time during the error code, it will boot into windows with 6970s.

Did you try a system restore to a point before you messed up the drivers?