Jump to content

Need help with HD7970M on MSI GX740


Conquistador

Recommended Posts

Hello!

I have MSI GX740 and a couple of days ago my new HD7970 has arrived, but when I plugged it in my notebook it just didn't show anything on the display.

Here's the photo of the card:

https://yadi.sk/d/F61G-U-xTDKog

I'd like to know is there something special that I should do to make it work? Should I flash custom vbios? If yes, then what version should I search for?

Please, help me with advice, I spent almost the same ammount of money on the card as on the whole laptop.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

is it a dell card ?

you will need to flash unlocked BIOS for your laptop and enable Legacy ROM booting for graphics card.

No idea if it exists for GX740 though.. Are you sure 7970m is compatible with that laptop ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for reply!

Yes, it is compatible, I saw people who have this combination on another forum. I read something about special Vbios with disabled enduro mode and downloaded it.

But it seems, that I have to make blind flash because my laptop screen doesn't show anything when I plug in this card.

As for the graphics card, yes it is from Dell Alienware.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

in that case no vBIOS needed.

all you need to do is insert your old GPU (so that you can see at least something on the screen) go to BIOS - Advanced (Not sure about the exact path) search through all of the options.

There is something for vbios it's set for "EFI Compatible" - change it to Legacy ROM.

Save BIOS settings.

Replace the card. - insert HD7970M.

Enjoy.

Edit:

You need unlocked BIOS for this... you cant change EFI compatible to Legacy in stock MSI BIOS.

You can find unlocked BIOS somewhere here on the forums.

Edit2:

That "disabled enduro vbios" is not required.

It works even with the latest DELL vbios. (tested it myself 3 weeks ago.)

That card seems to have 2 bios chips, you just have to tell your motherboard which one you want to load. i.e. The Legacy ROM.

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for your help!

And I have one more question. I know, that I will need to upgrade the cooling system on my laptop. I've ordered a mini fan, but I'm not really sure is it real to connect it to the power contacts of one of the USB ports? I mean, inside of the laptop, while leaving the port not busy. The fan has voltage of 5V, the same as the USB port and should fit by its size.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for your help!

And I have one more question. I know, that I will need to upgrade the cooling system on my laptop. I've ordered a mini fan, but I'm not really sure is it real to connect it to the power contacts of one of the USB ports? I mean, inside of the laptop, while leaving the port not busy. The fan has voltage of 5V, the same as the USB port and should fit by its size.

not sure about this at all. I wouldn't use any extra fans...

Does the fan fit inside and you can still close the bottom cover ??

- do NOT keep the bottom cover open! - it is there for a reason, it helps the airflow, the main fan is sucking the air from the holes in the bottom cover, the air helps to cool the GPU on its way to fan itself and then cools the radiator on the heatsink, If you open the bottom cover, there is no airflow!

HD 7970m uses 28nm technology. - it runs even cooler than 6990m or GTX580m!

There are good chances you will even decrease temps by doing this upgrade!

Happened to me on MSI GT780. gtx580m (40nm technology) was running 86°C.

Upgraded to HD7970m (28nm tech.) - twice the performance and its running 79°C max!

I'd recommend you to do the upgrade first, see how it works. Do some tests. After that, do some cooling modifications if you consider it necessary.

.

Here, see how it works with and without bottom cover:

post-12643-14494997840089_thumb.jpg

without cover, only the fan sucks cold air.

with cover, the cold air flows through the holes, inside the chassi(thin lines), cools the components and then flows through the fan outside.

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you very much!

I have flashed the modified BIOS on my laptop and turned on the function you mentioned about (it's called Legacy Rom or something like that and located in advanced->PCI preferences).

Then I installed the graphics card and it worked! I launched 3D Mark and I'm waiting for the results now. It's really not as hot as I expected, maybe I won't put the additional cooler fan inside (although it should fit with closed bottom cover - it's height is only 7mm) and install only metallic heatsinks.

I don't know how to thank you, I will donate you if you give me your paypal account.

I think this thread could be closed now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you very much!

I have flashed the modified BIOS on my laptop and turned on the function you mentioned about (it's called Legacy Rom or something like that and located in advanced->PCI preferences).

Then I installed the graphics card and it worked! I launched 3D Mark and I'm waiting for the results now. It's really not as hot as I expected, maybe I won't put the additional cooler fan inside (although it should fit with closed bottom cover - it's height is only 7mm) and install only metallic heatsinks.

I don't know how to thank you, I will donate you if you give me your paypal account.

I think this thread could be closed now.

LOL, you are very welcome :)

I'm glad it worked for you. Let me know the results of your benchmarks! I'm pretty interested how that card works on GX740.

I was trying it in GX660 but it didnt run that well as I've expected, probably i5 CPU was bottleneck.

Would you mind also mention what is your CPU ?

I'd like to upgrade CPU but I dont want to buy 920XM ...

  • Thumbs Up 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Hello again, Bugii!

Pretty much time have passed since I wrote here my last post and many things have happened.

Well, I'm gonna tell my story and I hope it will help someone (if someone still uses such an old laptop as me).

First of all, after I had ran benchmark the result was not very impressive - the graphics card got a lower score than my old HD5870 (about 11-12k vs 13k with HD5870).

I started to dig information and make tests. After a while I observed that the card works with lower frequencies than it must (300 Mhz on core and 450 Mhz on memory under the load vs original 850/1200 MHz).

I continued to search for info and found someone's modified vbios for my card (I dont exactly remember why did I decide to flash exactly this version to my card but it was definitely wrong decision). Well, I bricked my card. Then there were many unsuccessful attempts to bring it back to life (those times I found out that my laptop doesn't support blind vbios flashing) after which I contacted the seller and persuaded him to return card (I know it wasn't right but card was in fully working condition except the vbios (which I believe was right but not for my laptop model)).

But as the song says: "I'm not going down that easy". After a while I ordered another one HD 7970M.

While I was waiting for the parcel I gathered information about the problem and found a post on this site (under the title "AMD HD7970M with Enduro vbios modify and flashing (For P1x0EM and etc)"). That post was about modifying Vbios of HD 7970M with hex editor to change its clocks and voltage. When I got my card I took hex editor and started to conjure.

Firstly I found a clocks and voltage which I had to change (300/450 900mV). I changed them to the desired values (but still lower than original ones, because I was afraid that my cooling system couldn't handle it) and it worked! But my happiness didn't last very long. When I tried to run a benchmark my laptop started to shutdown after a half of a minute. But it was working in idle or under the small load.

I thought that the issue was in high temperatures (although they were not high enough for overheating ~90 C) and decide to experiment with clocks and voltage further. Well the end was a little bit predictable - I bricked my card again (never deviate from the guide that I mentioned unless you are sure that you know what you're doing).

The card gathered dust for about a month until I decided to go to a one of the laptop services of my town.

While using my HD 7970M as a stand for a cup of coffee I found out that my problem was in my PSU which is producing only 120W of power (While my core i7-840QM needs 45W and graphics card needs 100W). So I ordered a new PSU (180W), paid another $30 for the card repair (flashing original VBios) and then (Maybe I'm a kinda fool) changed the VBios again.

Now my settings are 900/1200 1000mV and my laptop is working well (but without serious loads, because I'm still waiting for my new PSU to arrive).

Well, my way to success was a little bit difficult, but I'm almost there - at least standard Win7 hardware check gives me 7.9 of a 7.9 for my graphics card performance.

Sorry for my not very fluent english and good luck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.