It's soon time for me to order my Vortex 3 15'6" after having put together a configuration I like, but after having heard about the trouble with the 7970M card I am a bit unsure if it's a good idea to go for it. I've always had AMD cards in the past and I've never really had any problems so I felt it was the right choice here too. But after hearing a bit about some performance issues with it I am very unsure, I have not been able to find anything that says it's been fixed or not so I would like to hear the experience of some customers here? I really do not want to shell out another 200 pounds for the overpriced NVidia card, but I guess it's my only option if the 7970M is not working correctly...
AMD 7970M issues still present?
- Thread starter xxTJxx
- Start date
If you'r planing to buy it for gaming, it is better to buy 680m. However, if you are buying for everyday use, college, programming etc.. 7970m should be just fine.
I was in the same position as you but after researching for weeks I came to the conclusion that spending 200 pounds more for a card is not worth except if you'r ultra gamer. This money can go better spent for a ssd and more ram, or like me save it for a tablet. I haven't bought it yet but I suppose it will be at the end of this month with 7970m even with enduro problems.
In addition to above, there is rumour that AMD will realise new drivers for 7000 series graphic cards until the end of the year but it's not sure that they will fix the problem. You can find more info at NBR forum or Anandtech.
SmokeDarKnight
Author Level
Sorry but I dont understand what the problem is, i've been messing about with my friends Vortex 3 with the HD7970 GPU and have had no problems with it at all. I'd say it out performes my HD6990m.
Perhaps he has just been lucky but evrything seems to be running smoothy with no errors or problems, FRAPS is showing a good framerate on Battlefield, CoD, SWTOR and Crysis etc. Using the drivers that the laptop was issued with from PCS
Perhaps he has just been lucky but evrything seems to be running smoothy with no errors or problems, FRAPS is showing a good framerate on Battlefield, CoD, SWTOR and Crysis etc. Using the drivers that the laptop was issued with from PCS
Sorry, I didn't want to upset anyone, It is just that Nvidia are updating their drivers faster and constantly comparing with AMD, you can find a lot of info about that. As I'm into computer science I can told you that with the new technology you need constantly updates and if a company cannot provides you with that it'snot worth invest too much in it. For me 7970m provides everything I need and works just fine even with games (for what I saw in reviews and videos on youtube) but according to many users its performance in some games is worse than 675m. So, I recommended 680m just for peace of mind (if you'r gamer) as the card is secure and in working order with all games and I'm sure that Nvidia will realise better drivers for it in the future. However, with AMD everything is a foggy future.
For me everyone has to decide by himself which card (product) he wants but some times different points of view and experience can help you decide.
SmokeDarKnight
Author Level
Yeah i totally agree with you, dont worry i wasn't trying to be all fanboy, im hoping to get Nvidia for my Desktop i just prefer ATI in my laptop due to the reduced heat.
Was trying to recreate the problems that were happening on other users ATI becuase i was looking to upgrade mine to the HD7970 but been holding up to see what happens first.
Was trying to recreate the problems that were happening on other users ATI becuase i was looking to upgrade mine to the HD7970 but been holding up to see what happens first.
Thanks for the input guys. I am buying it to play games, but also for uni work(Nothing that requires a really powerful laptop since I'll be studying psychology). But I will be playing games on it or at least I plan to, but I am really not sure I want to spend another 200 pounds on it if the 7970M isn't as bad as some people say...I still hope someone with first hand experience of this card could give their input.
Noble
Bronze Level Poster
AMD used to release drivers every month but they stopped because they didn't have enough time to sort out and test out the issues with the drivers. Since drivers have become more complex, it isn't wise to constantly release drivers since they will inevitable cause issues, even Nvidia has issues from time to time. Now they are going to release drivers every 3 to 4 months, this should increase the reliability of the drivers and the satisfaction of their customers Many people say they don't experience issues with AMD but many do, however NVIDIA is known for their reliability. So right now you may as well go for any GPU you wish to go for, as long as you can afford it.
HurdyGurdy
Member
Issue still there ... Check the various other forums such as Rage3d, NBR and Guru3d for more info. Recent article on Anandtech highlighted the same issue and allegedly some fix is in the offing. However the lack of recognition from all involved so far makes me a sceptic.
IMO stick with a 675 and use the rest as beer money. In your own words you don't need a powerful card so why run the risk ? Obviously if you have the dough go for the 680m, seems to be pretty positive experience for most.
if you do get the 7970, it may be all fine for you but well you have been warned if it does not work for your games. I would not run the risk with the amount of money these things cost these days.
I wish i could trade in my 7970 but PCS don't do that unlike some other European/US Resellers. Games such as BF3, Civ 5 and Saints Row 3 run better on my 3 year old 5870 card to give you an indication of the issue
Hi
Are you still having issues with you laptop? I have a couple of really simple things for you to try which should resolve all your issues!!
I have a laptop with the 7970m too and since I've started doing this I have had no issues what so ever!
In fact it's running that well I'm glad that I never paid more for the 680. Basically all you have to do is:
1. Use the drivers that came with your laptop. (Wait a few months yet for the new drivers, which should hopefully solve most of these problems).
2. Every time you install games or Benchmark software, plus any games or software you already have installed (basically anything you want to use the 7970m as default) open the switchable graphics software. Then under the other applications section, select the game or software that you want the 7970m to run as default. This will probably show up as being selected under high performance anyway, but make sure you click it off and back on again and then select apply.
3. Then when you go to launch your game/software make sure you left click it and select run as administrator and that's it, all your performance issues should be a thing of the past.
Since I have started doing this I have had no issues with performance at all. On some benchmark software it will still say that it is using the integrated GPU. But as you will see by the huge performance increase this is not the case.
Hope this sorts all your issues out, it has for me
Are you still having issues with you laptop? I have a couple of really simple things for you to try which should resolve all your issues!!
I have a laptop with the 7970m too and since I've started doing this I have had no issues what so ever!In fact it's running that well I'm glad that I never paid more for the 680. Basically all you have to do is:
1. Use the drivers that came with your laptop. (Wait a few months yet for the new drivers, which should hopefully solve most of these problems).
2. Every time you install games or Benchmark software, plus any games or software you already have installed (basically anything you want to use the 7970m as default) open the switchable graphics software. Then under the other applications section, select the game or software that you want the 7970m to run as default. This will probably show up as being selected under high performance anyway, but make sure you click it off and back on again and then select apply.
3. Then when you go to launch your game/software make sure you left click it and select run as administrator and that's it, all your performance issues should be a thing of the past.
Since I have started doing this I have had no issues with performance at all. On some benchmark software it will still say that it is using the integrated GPU. But as you will see by the huge performance increase this is not the case.
Hope this sorts all your issues out, it has for me
HurdyGurdy
Member
Hi
See my reply to xxTJxx if you are having issues. My card (7970m) is running all my games fine now
Thanks for the suggestion - i have no issues getting laptop to recognise the 7970 and use it. The problem lies with how the card distributes its load back to the IGPU and as a result does not work to its full potential. Again unless you monitor the detailed behaviour of the card within games with MSI afterburner or another monitoring tool you won't realise the issue. You are right that the card may play fine based on your games library but for BF3, SR3 and CIV5 it for sure does not give you what you would expect. There is tons of evidence to show that so far no one is able to get it to work. I for sure don't consider 22fps on low setting for BF3 to be acceptable.
Various solutions have been proposed but none work to the extend that for affected games the card delivers the fps it should at a consistent performance level. The only way to get the full performance is to to remove the enduro features and 15/70EM users don't have that option.
I am now eagerly awaiting the 31 October date for the promised new drivers ( only six months after launch of the product :taz
. Till that date I will keep encouraging folks to look the other way when looking at this product. For now purchasing it remains a cr*pshoot - so if folks still want ignore the now rather well documented evidence, for sure buy it but don't come and complain afterwards ! I wish i had the data available now when deciding and i would have gone 680m without a second of hesitation.
No I have noticed the issues you have mentioned too. But it was running even worse for me before I started to do what I mentioned. I couldn't even run Crysis on full settings without the game grinding to a halt. But yer I wish I had looked into the 7970m a bit harder. On Youtube everyone was raving about the 7970m in the reviews, even recommending it over the 680m (Thanks Xotic P.C)!! Oh well I'm still happy about my laptop, it gives the card a bit of a personality if nothing else lol. Hopefully the new driver will sort out most of the issues. Keep me up to date on any info I'm still new to p.c gaming and would appreciate any help.
I'm still new to p.c gaming and would appreciate any help.Thanks for the suggestion - i have no issues getting laptop to recognise the 7970 and use it. The problem lies with how the card distributes its load back to the IGPU and as a result does not work to its full potential. Again unless you monitor the detailed behaviour of the card within games with MSI afterburner or another monitoring tool you won't realise the issue. You are right that the card may play fine based on your games library but for BF3, SR3 and CIV5 it for sure does not give you what you would expect. There is tons of evidence to show that so far no one is able to get it to work. I for sure don't consider 22fps on low setting for BF3 to be acceptable.
Various solutions have been proposed but none work to the extend that for affected games the card delivers the fps it should at a consistent performance level. The only way to get the full performance is to to remove the enduro features and 15/70EM users don't have that option.
I am now eagerly awaiting the 31 October date for the promised new drivers ( only six months after launch of the product :taz
For now purchasing it remains a cr*pshoot - so if folks still want ignore the now rather well documented evidence, for sure buy it but don't come and complain afterwards ! I wish i had the data available now when deciding and i would have gone 680m without a second of hesitation.
AMD have announced that they plan to release an official driver in the next few weeks for the 7970m
Hopefully this will sort out most of the issues, fingers crossed!Here's a link to the AMD forum
http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm?catid=448&threadid=160995&enterthread=y
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The web site Tom's Hardware have spoken to AMD about the problems people are having with Enduro and the 7970m. AMD have released some new info about the official driver that they are due to release very soon and the improvements they have planned. It's worth a read, plus it sounds like they have the problem worked out.
Here's the link:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/xotic-pc-sager-np9150-radeon-hd-7970m,3294-11.html
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AMD today released a new OFFICIAL driver for the 7970m!! The new user interface has been implemented, and the utilization fix will be released next month in either hotfix or driver/CAP form.
Here's the link for the 12.9 beta driver
http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/AMDCatalyst129betadriver.aspx
Here's the link for the 12.9 beta driver
http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/AMDCatalyst129betadriver.aspx