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I received early in the morning a couple of 7970Ms and a cfx cable from MXM Upgrade Home Page 3DMark11 Unigine If you are upgrading from the 5870Ms, the screws are a bit bigger in diameter and they won't fit the backplate of the 7970M (probably a clevo card? I will find out soon). Other issues I encounter is that both display and HDMI port don't work so I attach my Dell 2410 with a VGA cable... Temps are fine and I am idling at 56-58 C with the external monitor attached (which brings the clocks up to 300/1200 @0,825V) so not that bad. 7970M.zip

So after reading endless discussions on another forum with respect to the 7970M and 680M and which is truly the better buy, I wrote the following response: This has been on my mind for quite sometime and once we rev up T|I reviews again in the future (we will likely have to hire full-time writers since admins are too busy), I plan to implement a scoring system similar to what I described above. I'd like to hear what our members think of my proposal as well as your own suggestions.

ADMIN EDIT 12/15/15: The original referenced zip pack is now restored. Did some tests with the VBIOS of the AMD 7970m, here's what I've got so far: - Overvolting: So far no success, when I increase the 3d voltage the card simply stays at the 2d profile. Fixed that Be aware that overvolting should only be done by experienced users and can seriously harm your GPU, shorten the life of its components and lead to unsuspected effects and / or system instability. I take no responsibility for any possible damages. Overvolting has been tested by me and @widezu69 (thanks!). It works, but can lead to instability, you need to find your limit. The M15x doesn't handle it well. I noticed similar behaviour as with my overvolted 6970m, drops in clocks, instability etc. At 1.15V even immediate crash at GPU load. The M17x R3 seems to handle it a bit better, there's probably more headroom in the voltage supply circuits which are providing the voltage for the GPU. I was able to run some vantage tests at 1Ghz with a 0.05V overvolt, my previous core clock limit was at about 950Mhz... so it definitely works. Different systems will behave in different ways, only way to find it out is to test it. Don't do it if you lack overclock experience. - Undervolting: Only did some quick tests, but it seems to work. The driver crashed all the time at clocks which normally worked fine. And at more sane clocks the card worked as expected. - Update: Yes, works very well - Core / memory clocks: Works fine so far, I only tested the 3d settings, but I assume it also works for the other clock profiles. In the GPU-Z screenshot you can see the changed clocks: A package with a selection of modified VBIOS files can be found here: AMD 7970M vbios pack There's quite a bit of work behind this, so just in case you want to buy me a beer... Here's a list of what the package contains. The names are pretty self-explanatory. "uv" for undervolt, "ov" for overvolt, clocks are "core-memory" Keep in mind that you need to rename the files before flashing due to the 8 character file name limit in DOS. Modified clocks: Dell7970m-900-1250.ROM Dell7970m-925-1300.ROM Dell7970m-940-1350.ROM Dell7970m-940-1400.ROM Dell7970m-950-1350.ROM Dell7970m-950-1400.ROM Undervolted: Dell7970m-uv-0950v.ROM Dell7970m-uv-0975v.ROM Dell7970m-uv-1000v.ROM Overvolted: Dell7970m-ov-1125v.ROM Dell7970m-ov-1150v.ROM Overvolted & modified clocks: Dell7970m-900-1300-ov1075v.ROM Dell7970m-900-1300-ov1100v.ROM Dell7970m-950-1400-ov1100v.ROM All files are based on the OEM Dell 7970m VBIOS. Instructions: For flashing refer to this guide: There's a list with the checksums of all files included in the VBIOS package, I highly recommend to check the integrity of the file before flashing it. This can easily be done with ATIflash, if you don't know how please check the guide linked above. And as always, flash on your own risk, you are responsible for your system and the changes you make on it. Feel free to ask questions, feedback is welcome as well!

Got my Dell 7970m (ES) today... and so far it rocks! Native fan control, runs cooler than the 6900m series, and it simply kicks ass. It's pretty much plug-and-play, no issues so far, though I will need to continue the testing (and benching ). Only did a Vantage and 3dM11 run so far, with GPU and CPU at stock, Tess on, check it out, hehe: Confirmed for the Dell 7970m (part nr. 747M2) in the M15x: Fan control is working properly Sound per DisplayPort / HDMI is working GPU clocks and performs as expected Possible issues: The card runs slightly warmer than the officially supported cards, due to it's higher power draw. This also leads to less overclock headroom. The card works fine even if you have an i7 920XM in your system, but if you overclock the CPU too hard, the GPU voltage drops, resulting in a drastic performance drop. (This is actually not directly caused by a power limit due to the PSU... the CPU can draw as much power as it can get, but it seems that when the CPU draws more power than usual, the GPU voltage supply somehow doesn't get provided anymore with enough power, even though there's headroom power-wise, it's probably caused by the circuit design of the mobo). Things to do before changing the GPU: Download working drivers. At the moment you can either get the drivers of the M17x R4 from Dell, or the modified, but actually more recent (12.5) from "benchmark3d". Get some thermal paste, e.g. Arctic MX-4, or Prolimatech PK-1, or whatever you prefer, you'll also need something to clean the GPU die and heatsink, isopropyl alcohol or similar will do. I highly recommend using an ESD mat and wristband whenever working Get familiar with the upgrading procedure, respectively disassembling the system. Refer to the M15x service manual if you need help, or to this pictured guide which explains how to replace the GPU in the M15x. The upgrading procedure: Uninstall your GPU drivers. Make a power drain (Turn off your M15x, remove the power cord and the battery. Then press and hold down the power button (Alienhead) for about 10-20 sec. Remove your GPU - Here's a little guide with pics in case you need some help. Clean your heatsink, if necessary replace the thermal pads with new ones. Make sure the 7970m has the correct backplate on it. Insert your GPU, make sure that it sits properly. Apply the thermal paste, and attach the heatsink. More to come.