M18x r2 wont boot with drivers

I'm good with this option I'm going to try and find a schematic somewhere that shows me which side is master and which is slave. This confirms my thoughts that there are two individual cards.

Is it ok to just leave one card out? Also can I reuse thermal pads or should I get some new ones. If so what thickness?

 

Yes, using one GPU is fine. The master GPU is the one on the side without the eSATA port, to the left of the CPU with the front of the laptop facing you (with the chassis in the same position as if you were using it). You cannot use one GPU in the slave slot, it has to be moved to the master slot to work.

The M18xR2 was primarily sold as dual GPU configuration and that would be the common configuration, but it is possible that has already changed at some point. If you have two video cards you should see them both in the BIOS. And, Device Manager and GPU-Z would show them both. Of course, that is assuming you can light up the screen and read the menus in the BIOS or load Windows. And, it also assumes that a dead GPU isn't so dead that it is no longer visible to the BIOS or Windows.

If you have not replaced the thermal pads they are probably dried out and crumbling by now. They are generally good for 2 or 3 years.

Info on thermal pads is available here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ness-placing-on-m18x-r2.787998/#post-10197204 and should be the same for AMD GPUs.

 

replace with 980Ms and enjoy more than double the performance. I have replacements cards for sale

 

Out of curiosity what's one or two go for? Location?

 

Thanks Mr fox. I'll give the one card a try when i get some new thermal pads in. I'm running another laptop right now so this isnt a huge priority but I would like to get this back to running soon as I miss it. Both cars do show up in bios, and device manager. Found a test tool in the bios says I have a memory error in one of the gpus (did not specify which one)
So for sure one of them is screwed, maybe overheated or just died.

 

A pair with the correct heat sinks and SLI cable, brackets for 525 shipped in the USA

You must flash my BIOS before installing the cards or else your system will not work.


http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/release-improved-m18x-r2-maxwell-legacy-bios.800447/

 

Can you run firestrike with SLI and SLI off so I can see where they perform in the M18xR2?

 

My M18X-R2 has one 980m so I can run firestrike with a single card ( won't be till tomorrow probably)

Also a little of topic but @Raidriar and @Mr. Fox wonder if either of you the answer to this because I can't find it. My 980m is running Prima Bios (came from Ebay with it on) for SLI do both cards need the Prema Bios on them or just the master ?
I'v tried many times messasing Prema about the Vbios but never get a reply so if I do need the Vbios on both cards I have no way of getting it in the first place

 

For SLI, ideally you want the vBIOS on both cards to match. SLI should still work if they do not, but they will perform differently and the weaker performing GPU will drag down the better performing GPU. Just use NVFLASH to backup your stock vBIOS on the second card. Backup the @Prema vBIOS on the existing card, then flash it to the second GPU with NVFLASH. Put a copy of both vBIOS in a safe place off of your computer so they never get accidentally deleted.

 

I can do 3dmark11, not a fan of fire strike and I don’t have it installed. Will run a bench when I get home from work. Here is an old bench with my IVB equipped M18x R2, running on the undervolt we 1.0V bios Prema made for me a long time ago:

https://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/12739553