G73JH 6970M upgrade infomation

[DH48]

Well i did the reflow method and the GPU works in the AW. Will swap it back to my JH tomorrow





Was reading a old threads about the 6970M in the AW M17x R2 and well it sounds just like the fault i had a few days back:

"Different types of Radeon 6970M/VBIOSes and their effects on the M17x-R2:

• 6970M Engineering Sample from MXM-upgrade.com (please note: MXM-upgrade.com now sells OEM 6970Ms at this point): Originally had display issues with the original VBIOS. This was rectified by reflashing the card to the VBIOS used in the M17x-R3 6970M. Also found out that this specific ES chip had 1120 shaders vs. the 960 shaders the original 6970M is supposed to have. Nonetheless, functionality was no different than the 960 shader (except for increased performance). While flashed, the system fans did NOT respond to temperature and was stuck on one speed. Also, the system would crash when shutting down, in sleep mode, in hibernation mode, or when unplugged from the PSU.

• The card Dell uses in the M17x R3: Originally tested by Brian K. Same issues I experienced with the 1120 shader 6970M ES sample when reflashed to Dell VBIOS.

• The card Dell uses in the M18x R1/VBIOS from M18x R1: Fixes the fan issue, but does not allow the system to shut down, sleep, hibernate, or remain unplugged without crashing. However, it does support audio over HDMI and DisplayPort."

Really odd as this started a few days back and before that the system was OK.

[codemonkey]

Baked the 6970M. Warmed over 395 deg F. Put card on all 4 corners on 4 upside down cupcake paper on a baking pan. Placed card in oven. Set timer for 8 mins. When done, turned off oven, open door. A little bit of smoke came out (from solder?). Let cool for about 45 minutes. Popped card back in JH, said a couple prayers, turn on...blank screen =(.

I'm going to put the 5870M back in and see if something else might be wrong. But I think the 6970M is dead.

[evgasr2]

Baked the 6970M. Warmed over 395 deg F. Put card on all 4 corners on 4 upside down cupcake paper on a baking pan. Placed card in oven. Set timer for 8 mins. When done, turned off oven, open door. A little bit of smoke came out (from solder?). Let cool for about 45 minutes. Popped card back in JH, said a couple prayers, turn on...blank screen =(.

I'm going to put the 5870M back in and see if something else might be wrong. But I think the 6970M is dead.

heheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheheh
codemonkey didnt I tell you not to bake it, because they are made solder free, so that method wont work., so finally you got your card dead wel done.
hd 5870m will work on your Jh without problems.

[DH48]

Well the oven method is not the best as it might damage other components. A heatgun would have been better.


Well my 5870 seems to have given up Yes the 5870m. I got a GSOD with black lines yesterday and does not boot anymore...the CPU side gets hot but nothing happens. So my last hope is now the 6970. At least it booted in the AW M17.

Edit: Well the 6970m started up but goes black when it get to windows...... Swaped back to friends AW m17 it works

Im lost now. Seems that the Dell GPU is playing games with the G73 as is does not want to work as it should. Starting to get annoyed about this.
Bad news is i think im going to jump ship and gone go look at a AW M17xR3 myself. Prices have gone down and 2 gen CPU + 6970m is only 1699 euro. Just need to get the crossfire wire and can go dual.

Ill do some more tests with the G73 but i think i need to order a new 5870m for it as there is no boot at all. GPU looks ok.

[evgasr2]

Hey its very sad to hear that both of you guys have failed, did you install the heatsink when powering on with hd 5870m? or just you did witout those ??
if gpu not functional the cpu reaches high temps , I have noticed it ,but
I guess the custom modded heatsink didnt fit the jh card and couldnt transwer any heat . did you try clear cmos button?? and can you do manual restart ctrl + alt + del? I saw an hd 5870m vga card for 110$ on ebay last week i dunno if its sold.

[DH48]

No i have two heatsinks one is stock 5870m and other is moded for the 6970m.

I sent a email to a local ASUS shop that sold me the extra heatsink for 26 euro and see what a new GPU will cost.

The 5870 core has a the same mark on the core as the first 6970M did so somehow it fried the core

About the 6970m the Dell card seems to use more pins then the clevo and asus GPU and the GPU is damaged. My friend said that on the M17 he has had two drier crashes with the GPU so the GPU seems to be damaged still.
Well im going to the Dell shop to replace it again aga hopefuly if they ask to test the new GPU in the new rig ill had them my new M17x.

Ill keep the G73 for a few tests and when the new part arrives might sell it.

The 6970 and 6990M work in the G73 but it is recommended to use clevo and keep away from Dell. Ill update the first post later and just add a warning to the dell GPU that it might die. I did manage to find some info on the bios but bad part is that the pins on the 5870 that are as a single pin actualy are the pins that Dell uses as fan control so that why i only got temp. and no signal to the EC about fan. I have no idea what the EC got but it must have been some other signal that just made the fan speed up. We changed the temp specs in the bios but it did not have effect with the 6970m ...but worked with the 5870 so in conclusion the Dell card uses most standard MXM pins but has different pins for its fan control and thats why most Dell GPUS seems to keep the fans at max. It might me only my theory but so far there is no other explanation.

[evgasr2]

So your going to buy an Alienware m17x right??
I also though of buying it because , I can do sli or crossfire ,
if your going to sell yours let me know , I can also sell mine at that time,
but yesterday I bought an DELL HD 5870m in nbr will that also have the same pin problem ?? I bought it for my g73 will it work without a problem?
also bought a spi programmer to reprogram my hd 5870m vbios chip.
one more thing with hd 5870m in and when you turn on does both the fans run 100% ??
and when the vga card is been removed and powered on does the fans run 100%?
if its totally deaD even with the vga card inside the fans run at 100%.

[DH48]

You need to google it if the 5870 will have problems. The 6970 was tested and seems to have some problems. At the moment just looking at the GPUs it seems that the Dell uses some pins that the ASUS does not and the pins seem to go to a controller of some sort. Id google it but the GPU is at the shop now. The Dell 5870 should work but do not know about the fan. It seems the MXM is only standard for the 3d/2d part and fan control is custom job for different brands ....at leat the new GPUs

Yes i ordered the AW from a local shop and if all goes well ill get it on monday.
Bad part is the last 6970m was sold and they only had the 6870m one left. 200Euro cheaper but still will be able to upgrade. I gave the 6970m to the repair shop as well. They sent it to a lab (dell) to get examined. Might be able to persuade them to swap it for a 6990m as i have had to swap the 6970 2 times now

[evgasr2]

dont buy 6870m cards they perform as your old 5870m because both are same card but diffrent vbios. the one your buying , is it R3 and are you buying 6870m crossfire or single? can you post the spects , how much did it cost to buy the whole thing, waste a 300++ to get a 6990m they are realy great ,compared to 6870m or 6970m .
but whats going to happen to your Asus G73Jh?

[DH48]

I paid 1400euro for the the AW with 6870m but back to the topic. I will try to swap the 6970m for a 6990m and then look at how the pins are on that card. I should get a answer in the end of next week. Im not out of the game yet as now i have a second notebook so no problems when taking the G73 apart