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Robbo

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Posts posted by Robbo

  1. Thanks for the reply Robbo. So, what happened to me when I tried to upgrade my secondary hard drive to a 2Tb was that I took the page filing option to the secondary drive instead of the main SSD. When I switched out the hard drive, it refused to start. After I switched it back, it worked. So, after figuring out how to get it running, and I reinstalled EVERYTHING, (like (800Gb of programs/ games) I realized that every 30 secs to 5 mins, the computer would freeze for like 5-10 secs, then go back to normal. (lol, I know, just my luck right) The issue was that the a bios setting was incorrect. I can't remember if I had RAID or AHCI, but whichever one it was, I had the wrong one and I couldn't just switch it, so I had to do a clean install and the only way to reinstall the audio drivers to get the computer working without the external sound card is to have the soundcard drivers installed!!!

    I had to swap back to the 6990mHD and install the drivers. It worked fine. I installed everything and all was go.

    A few months later, I decided to play a game that was incompatible with the soundcard and the 780mGTX installed. Anyway, long story short, it was a disaster. Sometimes, the computer would refuse to boot with the 6990mHD installed. I literally did the exact thing for 4 hours straight; CHANGING NO DETAIL with what I did, and only 4 hours later it worked. It was PURELY hit or miss. There were 4 beeps or 5 beeps or 6 beeps sometimes and the way around them was different all the time. Imagine that for one of the scenarios, the GPU had to be removed, sometimes it wouldn't need to. Then I had to put bios settings back whenever I removed the GPU, when it wasn't, I'll have to hold down the function button, then try again. Then when it does start, it will start with the screen flickering in green or red or something. Then I would have to re-seat the card, then go into bios and re-set stuff. Sometimes, i forgot to change it, AHHHHHHH!!!! it was a nightmare and a half, seriously.

    Seeing that you had to go through all that and you have no sound card issue, I think I'm good with windows 7.

    Like they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. In my 2Tb data drive, I have like 1.4Tb filled with movies, games and programs. I might seriously get a stroke this time around. I'll think I'll just have Windows 10 on my netbook and have my m17x run windows 7. I use it like a desktop anyways and i use the M11x when I'm mobile.

    A couple questions; the driver you linked above, do you think it'll work with the 780m GTX installed on a windows 7 machine? I think it will be the same procedure as usual :(

    What a nightmare you had! Yep, if it ain't broke don't fix it, stay with what you've got - you've had too many issues to bother getting Windows 10 to work for no real benefit! I don't know if the sound driver I linked will work with Windows 7 - it's a Windows 8 driver - but as you say, if it ain't broke don't fix it so I'd leave your sound drivers alone if they're working as you want.

    • Thumbs Up 1
  2. Hey guys, I have a situation that I'd like some advice with if you can help. Basically I'm thinking about upgrading my M17xR3 to windows 10. Now, I was thinking that if I was to go about doing that, that the main problem would obviously be the sound card issues as before. Now, lol, I've gone through hell and back with this M17xR3 and I've vowed that I will not open up this computer again. The latest thing that I did was upgrade the secondary hard drive to a 2Tb hard drive so that I can store more media on it. The 500Gb wasn't cutting it, so the act of upgrading that was ridiculous, but I got it done. (Yes, I had to re-format and do a clean installation)

    The latest nuisance with this computer was playing Black Ops 2 on it. Apparently this game has issues with the sound card as well while using the 780m GTX. Anyways, with the 2Tb upgrade solved, I thought that I could at least swap back to the 6990mHD back and forth (that was the worst idea). Long story short, I had a hell ride getting the 780m GTX working again, the computer even refused to boot with the 6990mHD.

    I'm still running windows 7 on my M17x (back up and running) and I have windows 10 installed in my netbook, which really looks promising, hence why I'm thinking about upgrading my 17". Has anyone even thought about upgrading to windows 10 or has anyone even tried with all the upgraded hard drives and gymnastics that needs to be done to get the hardware running? I've been really out-of-date with this forum, so please excuse me if this has been discussed before. Can it be done without issue with the M17xR3 with the hardware upgrades or is it too much stress to manage?

    I found it a bit of a headache upgrading to Windows 10 from Win 7. The in-place upgrade didn't work properly - black screen - had to do a Reset using the USB Windows 10 installation media. I did a backup image of my Win 7 OS partition using Macrium Reflect before upgrading to Win 10, so I could put everything back to how it was without any fuss if I wanted to. After the Reset Windows 10 worked ok but still needed some tweaking to sort various cold boot issues - see post #440 & post #442.

    If you're not willing to have to tinker with your laptop again, then I wouldn't recommend upgrading to Window 10 - for gaming DX12 games probably aren't going to start coming out till sometime next year, and I think I read there's only 2 DX12 games slated for 2016.

    EDIT: your sound issues, you might have to do the same installation process on Win 10 to get it to work - I don't know.

    • Thumbs Up 1
  3. Wow thanks for the info Robbo! Maybe if I get time this week I may install it. If not I am pretty happy with 8.1. But defiantly want my free copy of 10. Do you disable driver signing the same way as in windows 8?

    Note I'm having some cold boot low GPU performance at the moment due to PCIex1 rather than PCIex16, which is fixed by a restart (warm boot). However, I've updated to the latest Windows 10 IMEI drivers and it seems that now only half the time I have Cold Boot Low GPU Performance. Will be experimenting with different intel chipset drivers to see if that improves the situation. Note that a restart solves the problem, so it's not a massive problem, but is an inconvenience.

    Yes, I think you can disable driver signing enforcement the same as Windows 8 (although don't have Windows 8 to check). There is a good way though to get the legacy boot menu back - accessed by pressing the F8 key repeatedly during boot (which enables you to select Disable Driver Signing Enforcement quickly & easily for that particular one boot), you run an elevated command prompt and type the following which will bring back the legacy boot menu:

    bcdedit /set {default} bootmenupolicy legacy

  4. I'm running my Clevo 680m SLI @ +135/+500 with stock vBIOS. Is it worth flashing and going for higher oc while remaining stable? Bro tips are welcome!

    +135Mhz is about 850Mhz on the core right? If that's the case, then you could probably get another 150Mhz to break the 1Ghz barrier using one of the unlocked vBIOS on here if your temperatures are ok. You'll have to do the testing to find stable settings of course, just like you've done with your current OC. I think it's worth doing, but you want to see definitely less than 90 degC on your GPUs, and hopefully less than 80 degC.

  5. Chahn did you try a clean install of Windows? I have had the 780m and a 2960xm running on my R3 with Windows 7 and 8.1 for a while now. Followed the instructions from this thread. On a side note... has anyone tried to do a clean install of Windows 10 yet with the 780m R3 combo? I'm little nervous about jumping in right away to a new OS.

    I don't have the 780M, but I do have a non-standard GPU in this laptop (the 670MX), and I managed to upgrade sucessfully to Windows 10 from Windows 7. It wasn't without issue though. The in-place upgrade only worked for me by running the setup.exe (from within Windows 7) from Windows 10 USB installation media created at the following link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10. Even then, it wasn't without issue: I was greeted by a black screen after updating, and could only access the PC by Ctrl-Alt-Del, Windows Task Manager, and then right clicking on a Process to 'Open File Location' - the desktop was just a black screen & non-responsive. I managed to do a Reset though of the operating system by starting up with the USB Installation Media I had created - at which point I chose Reset and Retain Personal Data. So, that erased all my programs, but kept my data - meant I had to reinstall all my programs, but it's working flawlessly since then. Obviously I had to disable Driver Signing Enforcement & then install the NVidia driver with a modified inf, but it's working well now. So, I'm expecting that you'd be able to install Win 10, but you might have issues with an in-place upgrade.

    Note also that I lost control of the Alienware lights, I haven't bothered to try to install Alienware Command Centre to see if I can control the lights - my keyboard lighting setup has remained from my previous install, so I don't want to change it anyway - quite possible that I could install Alienware Command Centre & regain control, but I'm not interested in that.

    (Using drivers for all hardware components that Win 10 installed automatically, apart from NVidia driver, and I decided to install the latest Killer Wireless driver (now Win 10 approved)).

    EDIT: Alienware Command Centre does work, but use the Win 8 version from the M17xR4. You can find the link at the following post: M17XR3 IDT Windows 8 Driver v.6.10.0.6421 Maxx Audio 3 + Quality | NotebookReview

    You can also install the IDT drivers from that post too.

    Also note that I was having cold boot issues with Windows 10, but I found out how to fix that, make sure you have Fast Start-Up disabled in the Power Options, see following screeshot for where you disable Fast Start-Up:

    post-14345-14495000621103_thumb.jpg

  6. I'm up to 1.075V now and +150mhz and it's stable. Seems like it likes more and move voltage. Temps are 67 max with stock fan control, probably would be under 60 with manual.Does this bios have unlocked fan control? The only way I have found to adjust it so far is with hwinfo64.

    The vBIOS is not related to fan control. Your fan control is determined through the EC & BIOS I believe.

    Any way to raise the perfcap on the 770m version 2 bios? Locked in nvidia inspector.

    I'm surprised to hear you're knocking up against the TDP limits in the vBIOS. When I used Kepler BIOS Tweaker to look at the svl7 vBIOS that I'm using (out of curiosity), I saw that the TDP limit had been changed to about 145W if I remember rightly. If that's also the case for your 770M I don't think you'd be knocking up against that.

  7. Any good links or advice on voltage? I don't want to fry or significantly shorten the GPU's life. I lost the silicon lottery with my 770m, could only do about 35mhz on the stock vbios/voltage. Finally flashed it last night and got it up to 130mhz with +.0625 voltage. Max temp was 67 with stock fan control, 58 with them at 100% manually, so it looks like I have a ton of headroom with the stock heat sink.

    I've been using my Kepler GPU at 1.05V for 2 years now, no issues. I wouldn't want to use more than 1.1V if I was you, if you can keep it in the 70's or below.

  8. Hi Robbo thanks for the response my card Clevo 8970m 4GB. It is possible to flash it with 7970m Vbios withing bricking the card? I

    You might be out of luck considering you've got the 4GB version of the 8970M. I don't think the 7970M ever came in a 4GB variant, therefore flashing a 7970M 2GB vBIOS to your 4GB card could well brick your card I think. If you had the 8970M 2GB variant, then I think it would have been safer to flash it to a 7970M 2GB. If you like, see if you can find examples of 7970M 4GB cards, but I don't think they exist - if you could find a 7970M 4GB vBIOS then you could probably try flashing that (pretty sure they don't exist though!).

  9. I have followed the directions on that post. I have also uninstalled/reinstalled the IDT drivers. However, I am still having the same problem no matter what I try. I installed a program called WhoCrashed. It says:Error: CUSTOM_ERROR

    A third party driver was identified as the probable root cause of this system error.

    Google query: CUSTOM_ERROR

    Right, that's a pity it's still not working after following those instructions. I don't know what else to suggest, I hope some other people reading this will be able to offer some ideas or help.

  10. Hi anyone succesfully installed clevo 8970m on alienware m17xr4? I need help after driver install the screen turns blank no display. I already flashed different vbios but still no luck.

    The M17xR4 shipped with 7970M as a standard option, and the 8970M is effectively a 7970M with a slightly higher core clock, so perhaps you could try flashing the 8970M to a 7970M using a 7970M vBIOS. Then perhaps it will be compatible with your M17xR4, then you can just overclock it a bit to get the 8970M performance. Make sure you've got the same amount of VRAM though as the 7970M vBIOS you're going to flash, and if I was you I'd also check for examples where people have flashed from 8970M down to 7970M just to be certain there's no problems doing so - can't imagine there would be though as they're the same chip (make sure same amount of VRAM though).

  11. I don't know if I read the thread wrong, but isn't the IDT the High Definition Audio Driver.

    I followed these directions:http://forum.techinferno.com/alienware-m17x-aw-17/4829-780m-gtx-m17xr3-integrated-soundcard-working-again-no-more-usb-soundcard.html

    Still have the same issue.

    Ah, you're right, my mistake, I got confused with IGD (that needs to be disabled in the BIOS - that turns off the Intel iGPU). This is the guide to follow for installing 780M in M17xR3 (post #92 at following thread):

    Alienware M17x R3 460M to 780M - Questions/Concerns | Page 10 | NotebookReview

    (Maybe you need to reinstall the IDT drivers if you're having strange problems with games freezing when IDT is enabled).

  12. I finally got a chance to recheck the computer, but I am still having the same issue. I checked the padding, added more padding, andrepasted the GPU with different thermal paste. I can complete the Skydiver test with no issue. However, when I go to play a game I have approximately five minutes before it freezes. When I restart the computer it goes all the way to the alienware screen before windows and freezes. If I reboot the computer same issue. If I reboot the computer and go into the BIOS to disable the IDT then I have no problem. Today I reenabled the IDT and the computer is acting normal again. However, playing a game the computer freezes.

    You're supposed to have IDT disabled - that's the onboard Intel iGPU.

  13. Ok. so here it is:

    Original MSI stock vBIOS:

    - colours are messed up on the laptop display

    - display port, VGA and HDMI are fully working.

    - the image is crystal clear on display port and HDMI.

    benchmark: http://imagizer.imageshack.com/img905/690/UnOgxG.png (ran on my secondary display)

    Nvidia GTX 970m - 'OC edition' rev0

    - image on laptop display is messed up even worse

    - system will post

    - there is no image when I get to Windows unless I boot into safemode

    - unable to test HDMI, VGA, DP

    - even when placed in the secondary MXM port the card won't start and device manager will show an exclamation mark with code 43.

    Prema's 970M Clevo vBIOS mod (https://biosmods.wordpress.com/clevo-mxm/)

    - image on laptop display is messed up (worse then on stock, not as bad as with the one in this thread)

    - system will post

    - you can boot into Windows but now, besides the colour problems you get ghosting and lines

    - I didn't test VGA, HDMI and DP, but I think they will work

    So, no luck yet. But I think this could be fixed with the proper vBIOS.

    My Kepler based 860M is working fine so far in my M17x R2, apart from the fact that when the display is turned off, it actually turns completely white instead of of going dark.

    I don't think I've ever seen anyone test a Maxwell GPU (eg 980M/970M) in an M17xR2. It's possible that Maxwell just aren't compatible for whatever reason. For instance, Maxwell are not compatible with M17xR3 - won't POST. Maxwell is compatible with the old M15x though. If your system is heavily related to the M15x in terms of when the product was released and the way the BIOS and system is set up, then I think you've got a good chance of getting Maxwell to work in your machine - could just be incompatible though. I'm not convinced a different vBIOS is going to fix it for you. If anything I would think that your BIOS settings and other factors might be more important in getting it to work. For instance, Maxwell in dedicated GPU mode (No Optimus) will only work on M17xR4, A17, and M18xR2 if you have Windows 8, disk GPT partitioned, and within a 'pure' UEFI environment (no legacy boot option selected) - so these Maxwell GPUs can be very specifically incompatible or compatible based on very specific factors and settings. The factors needed to get a Maxwell GPU to work in your M17xR2 might be very specific as well, that's even if it is gonna be compatible - just letting you know what I've learned in case it can help you at all or give you some ideas.

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  14. I was wondering the excact same thing, I have an AW17 with a 120hz screen and recently flashed my 980m with the prema 1.1 bios. The reason for this i stumbled around and found a nvflash version that would let me flash it in windows after i had disabled the gpu in device manager.

    the previous gpu i had (780m installed) was a solid performer and worked really well with the svl7 bios loaded onto it. So what are the differences between the two bios's as i would love to try the 980m svl7 bios if i can flash it the same way i flashed the prema bios..

    Thanks in advance

    Ian

    Might not be worth trying the svl7 980M vBIOS if you're getting good overclocked performance with no throttling from the Prema version. I think there's the ability to overvolt/overclock/unlocked sliders on both versions (certainly on the svl7 version anyway).

    • Thumbs Up 1
  15. Okay, I checked all the padding and everything appears to be done correctly. I turned the GPU over and added padding to those chips also. I ran 3dMark and got the following results NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2860QM Processor,Alienware M17xR3.

    The diagram I used was http://forum.techinferno.com/alienware-m17x-aw-17/4132-alienware-m17x-r3-upgrading-gtx-780m.html on this page.

    SkyDiver seems ok when I compare it to my score. Padding up diagram is fine, although I also padded the red cross marked section (but apparently you don't have to pad that area - but I padded it anyway) - the thickness of the pads is not stipulated in that diagram, so you just have to work out the correct thicknesses yourself, which you probably did. So, are you saying you don't have an issue with your 780M anymore? Your SkyDiver score is fine as far as I can see. Are you still getting the strange freezes during Windows startup & occasional crashes when running games & benchmarks?

  16. [ATTACH=CONFIG]15541[/ATTACH]

    The computer freezes on the white or black screen. After I reboot it usually logs into Windows with no issues. I noticed that if the computer crashes after running Heaven it wont reboot into Windows unless I wait a while. Regarding the padding, I followed the diagram exactly the way it is outlined. There are parts on the back of the GPU that are not covered. Could this be an issue? According to the diagram there are certain parts that are not covered with padding, should they be covered with padding? Thanks for the reply.

    I'm not sure which diagram you're referring to, but the diagram is only going to be applicable for pad thickness & position if you've got the same heatsink as the person who created the diagram. I don't know if that's the case. The only parts on the back of the GPU that need to be covered are the VRAM chips that surround the core - I used an x-bracket which had a little padded heatsink sticking off from it to cover 1 bank of VRAM chips, then I re-used the thermal pad that is on the motherboard to contact the 2nd bank of VRAM chips. You might want to check everywhere is padded up properly, you might see little indentations in the pad which will help you verify that they're making contact.

  17. Hello,

    I just flashed the 660m ghz edition on my m17xR4. It seems that software locks in oc-software are still active... Is it normal? I also have the new bios with uefi support if someone needs it. Are there any ov edition 660m vbios with unlocked sliders? Asking this a second time since I am still interested in an answer. Maybe someone could make an overclock of the uefi supported version that I can upload?

    Try using a different NVidia driver. Some NVidia drivers went through a period of blocking overclocking - try the latest NVidia driver on the NVidia website. (Although it may have just blocked Maxwell GPUs, eg 980M, but can't remember exactly, but might be worth trying a different NVidia driver anyway).

  18. Hello. The Nvidia GTX 580m stopped working in my Alienware M17x R3 so I replaced it with a Nvidia GTX 780m. I did a lot of research about this upgrade and bought all the recommended supplies to properly install it. I also thoroughly researched on how to properly to install it with hopefully no issues. After installing the GPU and following all the instructions it still does not work properly. When you first boot up the computer it will go all the way to the Alienware logo screen before freezing with either a black or white screen. When it finally does log into Windows 7 everything appears to be working correctly. I downloaded Heaven Benchmark 4.0 and performed a test. The standing temperature is around 53-55 degrees celsius. The test appears to be going well until the system reached 70-73 degrees celsius. The computer crashes and leaves a different colored screen eveytime, the sound also crashes. I tried to play a game and after approximately five minutes the system crashes with a different color screen also. Can anyone provide some insight as to what I can do to repair this issue.

    Alienware M17X R3 with A12 modified bios

    Windows 7 Premium 64 bit

    Intel I7 2860QM @ 2.50GHz

    20 GB of system memory

    Thanks...

    Hi, it's strange to hear you say that it freezes when booting up, but then you say you can get into Windows, how can it do both? Does it sometimes freeze forever on that white screen unless you reboot, or does it just freeze for a while & then eventually continue to load into Windows?

    The fact that you can run Heaven Benchmark, but then get these crashes with different colour screens - it sounds like a hardware problem to me, like the card is losing stability. I'm thinking that maybe the card is not padded up properly and some of the components on the card are overheating & then causing instability - I think this because your core temperatures are OK, the other components on the card such as the VRMs do not have temperature sensors so those components could be overheating. I suggest you double check your heatsink padding, making sure that all chips are contacted & covered.

  19. New with these BIOS is a lot, bug fixes, cpu microcodes, performance tweaks, RAM SPD writes, latest BIOS & EC base, removed RAM locks in systems that throttle fast RAM, additional BIOS options, latest Intel vBIOS - LAN - SATA/RAID, updated style, latest ME Firmware, improved stability, proper support for latest GPUs and FAN control, unlocked vBIOS with removed throttle on W230SD (now also runs all cards @ 1202Mhz and not only for the select few)...etc...

    Sounds super good - I want a Clevo!

  20. Thanks Prema. Nice results all round and exceeding the "Gaming PC (Oculus Rift spec)" in all 3 Firestrikes even if it's only a just in the last two cases.

    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-4720HQ,Clevo P65_P67SG powered by PremaMod.com (normal)

    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-4720HQ,Clevo P65_P67SG powered by PremaMod.com (extreme)

    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-4720HQ,Clevo P65_P67SG powered by PremaMod.com (ultra)

    Overclocks are 170MHz on the core 275MHz on the memory with no increase in voltage.

    My PSU brick is the limitation now and my power meter is showing 180W draw on it so I have ordered a 330w one and an adapter.

    Appreciate your work :-)

    -Wastey

    Excellent, looks like you've got a good chip for overclocking! Will be interesting to see how far you can go with a 330W at stock voltage (assuming the +170Mhz you have now is not the max stable - from your post sounds like you're limiting the core overclock due to the small power brick).

  21. I have seen in a picture that is should use 0.5 ... that is why i was asking:) . Ty

    Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

    Well, you can use 0.5mm pads & stack them, but you probably get better heat transfer efficiency by stacking 1mm pads, because then you don't need to stack to so many together, and the interface join between each pad would decrease heat transfer slightly I would think. I didn't need to use 0.5mm pads anywhere, apart from leaving the existing 0.5mm pads in the same position, and I think I stacked a few 1mm pads on top of the 0.5mm pads in some areas, can't remember exactly. The 0.5mm pads are the ones that were in contact the with the big square raised inductors.

  22. Just had a 780M upgrade from 6970M and having the white screen when i enable the HD Audio in A12 BIOS unlocked. i got the video driver installed no problem from eurocom, just would have the problem when turning on Audio. Kindly someone help please.

    Hi, make sure you're following the procedure than j95 outlined in Post #92 at the following thread:

    Alienware M17x R3 460M to 780M - Questions/Concerns | Page 10 | NotebookReview

    Hopefully that will fix the issue.

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