Updating HD 7970M Graphics Drivers - Installation Guide

UPDATE: Discard, issues resolved.

Hey all,

I just thought I'd make a thread incorporating all of the latest up-to-date information regarding the AMD 7970M mobile graphics card, as mentioned here - https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?22378-ATI-7970M-Driver-Issues

As you may or may not know, at the time of release this card was affected by a software issue relating to the AMD Enduro technology (similar to NVIDIA Optimus) which saves heat and power when the resources of the graphics processor are not in high demand. The card was experiencing underutilisation problems, or more simply put, it wasn't working to its full potential and was more prominent on certain titles than others. This was an issue outside of the control of all distributors and suppliers, including PCS, and it has taken a considerable amount of time for AMD to rectify the problem.

After many BETA drivers which have begun to address the issue, AMD have made very significant improvements and the latest driver at the time of the last edit is the 13.8 BETA.

I have tested the following stages on my own machine, to working affect without any problems, and others have also reported similar success. But please note I cannot guarantee this will work on your machine as all hardware can be different! I would recommend you have some idea as to what you're doing before attempting anything yourself. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A SYSTEM RESTORE POINT CREATED BEFORE ATTEMPTING ANY OF THE FOLLOWING. PLEASE FOLLOW THESE INSTRUCTIONS EXACTLY AND UNDERSTAND YOU CARRY OUT AT YOUR OWN RISK.

If you need to revert to the original Clevo drivers they can be found on your supplied driver disc, make sure you have it to hand. Or download them from here... (P170EM) http://www.clevo.com.tw/en/e-services/download/default.asp

To update your drivers to the latest working version: (with most/all previous issues seemingly well on the way to being resolved, if not resolved completely)!

1- Download the latest AMD BETA driver 2nd link Mobility version ONLY from http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/AMDCatalyst13-8WINBetaDriver.aspx

2- Uninstall existing AMD drivers, via Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel. Choose to completely uninstall all AMD software. Go back into Add/Remove Programs and remove AMD Application Profiles, if listed.

3- Uninstall existing Intel HD drivers, via Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel. *NOT APPLICABLE FOR CROSSFIRE CONFIGURATIONS*

4- Delete the "AMD" folder on the first level of your C: Drive to get rid of all traces of any previously extracted drivers, if present.

5- Reboot.

6- Go to Device Manager and under Display Adapters right click Intel HD Graphics 4000 and Update Driver Software. *NOT APPLICABLE FOR CROSSFIRE CONFIGURATIONS*

7- Install the latest AMD BETA driver and reboot.

Done! Enjoy your significant performance gains!

This looks like a lot of work, but if it works it should be great. A few questions. i downloaded the 13.1 compatability program from amd and it says its not compatible with my 7970m and to contact manufacturer of my laptop.

My spec is pretty much the same as yours, PCS vortex III, intel core i7-3630qm, amd radeon hd 7970m, 8gb ram, 500gb hdd etc.

I know when i tried the 12.11 beta i just kept getting BSOD after booting to windows 7, so had to revert to clevo drivers. Im just worried that even if i follow your method i will run into problems.
Do you still get the switchable graphics functions like with the clevo drivers?

Follow these instructions and you should be fine, also when downloading the 13.1 driver keep an eye out for the mobility driver Once you have the 13.1 driver installed your Laptop should work fine without any issues!

P.S I got the same message when I installed the 13.1 compatibility program, don't worry about it. The 13.1 driver is the right driver for your Graphics Card.

KoniTec said:

Do you still get the switchable graphics functions like with the clevo drivers?

Click to expand...

Yep, and the interface has been improved.

Ok so I tried the method you have shown all except for the uninstall of the intel had drivers( wasn't sure which one it was on the programs and features list). It was going well until I installed the 12.11 cap2, I then rebooted and when i got to the desktop it froze and BSOD'd on me, so had to do a system restore. I then installed 13.1 ccc, I've had no BSOD but the switchable graphics window you show above isn't what mine looks like. Mine still is the old style window with less options.

I'm not sure if I've got all the correct downloads or not? Also what do I need to click on to uninstall the standard intel had drivers that came with the laptop?

KoniTec said:

Ok so I tried the method you have shown all except for the uninstall of the intel had drivers( wasn't sure which one it was on the programs and features list). It was going well until I installed the 12.11 cap2, I then rebooted and when i got to the desktop it froze and BSOD'd on me, so had to do a system restore. I then installed 13.1 ccc, I've had no BSOD but the switchable graphics window you show above isn't what mine looks like. Mine still is the old style window with less options.

I'm not sure if I've got all the correct downloads or not? Also what do I need to click on to uninstall the standard intel had drivers that came with the laptop?

Click to expand...

It's called "Intel HD Graphics Driver" in Add/Remove programs. You do need to remove this and install the latest version while still in safe mode (stage 9 as above) or it will BSOD. I had the same issue when testing. The only method to avoid this problem would be a clean install *of Windows* and direct installation of the newer drivers.

The fact that you're not seeing the newer interface suggests to me that there's still traces of the old driver on the system that have not been completely removed. The way AMD handle their driver updates really isn't great in comparison to NVIDIA, who offer a clean installation option every update, unfortunately.

Going to have ago at the above to try and sort out my problems.

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?22656-Need-help-before-i-loose-it!!!!

Ok do quick update on my install progress. I went back to the standard drivers that came on the cd with the laptop. I downloaded the latest intel hd driver, the 13.1 mobility driver and the driver sweeper. I had no original intel driver installed as it was part of the driver on the original cd, so I uninstalled all ati stuff and deleted the folders for ati and amd too.
I booted into safe mode and installed the downloaded intel hd driver. I then booted into windows and installed it again as per instructed above then rebooted again. I then installed the 13.1 mobility driver and rebooted.

So far I've had no BSOD and the latest switchable graphics window is now showing up correctly. I've been playing bf bad co 2 with improvements of about 10-20 fps on high settings.

So fingers crossed I've managed to get it to work, but il see how it goes

I followed the instructions as in the first post and all working now, no more messing for me as long as whatever version I have works fine.

KoniTec said:

Ok do quick update on my install progress. I went back to the standard drivers that came on the cd with the laptop. I downloaded the latest intel hd driver, the 13.1 mobility driver and the driver sweeper. I had no original intel driver installed as it was part of the driver on the original cd, so I uninstalled all ati stuff and deleted the folders for ati and amd too.
I booted into safe mode and installed the downloaded intel hd driver. I then booted into windows and installed it again as per instructed above then rebooted again. I then installed the 13.1 mobility driver and rebooted.

So far I've had no BSOD and the latest switchable graphics window is now showing up correctly. I've been playing bf bad co 2 with improvements of about 10-20 fps on high settings.

So fingers crossed I've managed to get it to work, but il see how it goes

Click to expand...

Glad to hear you got it sorted in the end. Do you mind if I pop this in the top post as a quote to help anybody with similar problems? +Rep.

waynedance said:

I followed the instructions as in the first post and all working now, no more messing for me as long as whatever version I have works fine.

Click to expand...

Glad you got it working.

Tom DWC said:

Glad to hear you got it sorted in the end. Do you mind if I pop this in the top post as a quote to help anybody with similar problems? +Rep.

Click to expand...

Yeah sure no problem

Hi I was doing really well following your instructions Thanks. I have a small problem though, when I try to install the intell HD Driver im told my computer doesnt meet the minimal requirements for installing this software ! Then it exits. What am I doing wrong. BTW ive tried the intel driver update utility and it cant fing the HD Graphics saying I dont have any. Thanks in advance

Dean71 said:

Hi I was doing really well following your instructions Thanks. I have a small problem though, when I try to install the intell HD Driver im told my computer doesnt meet the minimal requirements for installing this software ! Then it exits. What am I doing wrong. BTW ive tried the intel driver update utility and it cant fing the HD Graphics saying I dont have any. Thanks in advance

Click to expand...

Strange, I'm not sure why that's happening. Did you definitely download the correct version for your operating system?

What you could try is to open device manager (use windows search) and under display adapters, right click and update driver software for the Intel HD Graphics 4000. It might not be called this if the driver is currently uninstalled, but there should be a yellow triangle next to it, and see if it will install a functional version of the driver. Then you could try to install the latest driver again.

If at anytime to want to revert you can install the original Clevo AMD driver from the disc, which includes a version of the Intel driver within the AMD driver installaton.

Ok Ive rang PCS and they say i cannot have switchable graphics because i have 2 amd cards in crossfire and the intel graphics cannot turn off both cards. They say it only works if you have 1 gfx card. Can anyone confirm this? Thanks Tom DWC by the way..

Dean71 said:

Ok Ive rang PCS and they say i cannot have switchable graphics because i have 2 amd cards in crossfire and the intel graphics cannot turn off both cards. They say it only works if you have 1 gfx card. Can anyone confirm this? Thanks Tom DWC by the way..

Click to expand...

Ah that makes perfect sense.

In that case you should be able to follow the instructions ignoring the stages relating to the Intel graphics.

Guide updated to support the 13.2 BETA.

It should be much easier and faster to follow the instructions now as safe mode is no longer required due to improvements to the AMD driver uninstallation.

The real question is, does PCS do this with all their new 7970m builds

simper said:

The real question is, does PCS do this with all their new 7970m builds

Click to expand...

I would imagine not, not with a BETA driver. They might be installing the 13.1 release now, though I don't know, merely speculating.

But AMD still don't officially recognize these as valid drivers for the HD 7970M, only those supplied by the "vendor". So in this case Clevo.

If you search for drivers directly for the HD 7970M you still get this very unhelpful page... http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Pages/radeonmob_win7-64.aspx

That tool doesn't even work, by the way.

Which pretty much lays blame squarely on the doorstep of AMD. Pretty poor display for their flagship mobile graphics chip out now since the middle of last year, isn't it.

Thanks for the reply, may need to do this when I get my laptop from them then

they aren't - had really old drivers on mine when it came, however the good part being that as mentioned - all I did was download the latest intel HD driver and install > reboot > download 13.2 install reboot and everything appears to be working ok

the dissapointing thing is that I bought this laptop specifically for MechWarrior Online and I'm getting usage zipping between 45% and 85% and framerates doing the same which is pretty annoying

whatever I run to try and load up the GPU it never seems to go above 85%

CPU is being utilised normally so it's not a CPU bottleneck issue either (3630QM)