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    AW 17 R3 memory undervolt

    Discussion in '2015+ Alienware 13 / 15 / 17' started by abdullah_mag, Mar 12, 2018.

  1. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

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    Hey all,

    I have the 17 R3 with 2x 8GB Micron ram sticks as stock, i'm a little bit cincerned that they might be nearing their max operating temperature (rated at 95c according to micron), while i don't have the means of actually recording its temps, i feel the bottom of the chassis under which the ram is located to be getting a bit too warm.

    So since undervolting my cpu has helped a lot with my temps, i thought maybe doing the same for RAM will reduce their temps, but idk how that affects performance or stability

    My ram is rated at 1.14~1.26v, and by default it runs at 1.2v, so shall i go for an undervolt or is it a lil too risky?
     
    abdullah_mag, Mar 12, 2018
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  2. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    For the record, you cannot undervolt RAM chip since BIOS is locked out. Instead try a layer of 0.5 mm arctic thermal pads. For me temps reduced by 5-6C at idle when checking ePSA and never crossed 70C, I didn't check it though. Only witcher3 made by cpu temps to 67C and gpu 70C and all other games are well below 65C.
     
    Vasudev, Mar 12, 2018
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  3. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

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    ePSA has memory temperature sensors?

    Are there other alternatives to cooling the ram down?, believe it or not thermal pads are an absolute PAIN to get where i live.

    Note: thanks for reps
     
    Last edited: Mar 12, 2018
    abdullah_mag, Mar 12, 2018
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  4. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    There is BIOS support to monitor RAM temps but disabled or locked not to use by Dell. I flashed modded BIOS but it bricked.
    ePSA allows very fine grained temp monitoring on HDD,SSD, RAM,CPU,GPU,PCH,battery and other sensors.
    Where do you live? I used amazon india to get arctic pads from the US which took a month.
     
    Vasudev, Mar 13, 2018
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  5. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

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    Egypt.

    The problem isn't just the pain of getting these things into the country, good ones are expensive, roughly 1/5 of my salary
     
    abdullah_mag, Mar 13, 2018
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  6. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Hmm, then try any chinese thermal pads that comes without any brands/generic ones. @Mr. Fox said he uses the same chinese branded ones instead of branded expensive in his machines. I went with arctic ones because India is too humid.
     
    Vasudev, Mar 13, 2018
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  7. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

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    It's dusty in here, which ones do you recommend?
     
    abdullah_mag, Mar 13, 2018
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  8. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Is it humid like India with ambients reaching above 35C.
     
    Vasudev, Mar 13, 2018
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  9. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Vasudev, Mar 13, 2018
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  10. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

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    Indoors ambient reaches around 27c, not very humid (we're not a coastal city), the main problem is dust so it's gotta be something that doesn't dry up after a couple of months.
     
    abdullah_mag, Mar 13, 2018
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  11. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Arctic didn't dry off even after 3-4 hardware disassembly. Its quite good.
     
    Vasudev, Mar 13, 2018
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  12. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

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    Hmm, i guess i'll invest then.

    How many degrees improvement did you notice?, and are the 0.5mm ones thick enough to contact the bottom of the chassis?
     
    abdullah_mag, Mar 13, 2018
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  13. Vasudev

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    Depends on your PC, every chassis is different & has imperfection. I sandwiched two layers of 0.5mm on SSDs and a single 0.5mm layer on RAM chip esp. the black chip. For PCH I used 3 layers of 0.5mm.
    I noticed/observed 10-20C decrease on CPU temps on full load AIDA64(CPU,fpu and GPU) and 5C on GPU esp. on VRAM chip.
    On RAM 5C was reduced and on SSD max load temps reduced by 10-15C and idle SSD temps remained the same w/o thermal pads.
     
    Vasudev, Mar 13, 2018
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  14. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

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    Wait, why did cpu and gpu temps drop?, did you put pads or paste on them?
     
    abdullah_mag, Mar 13, 2018
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  15. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Used on VRAm,Chokes,PCH and heat sensitive areas that touch Heatsink and provide even fitting of heatsink. Mine was warped slightly. Had to lap it.
     
    Vasudev, Mar 13, 2018
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  16. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

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    So those cpu and gpu temp improvements were from repasting not from the pch and DRAM thermal padding.

    I've had the stock paste job ever since i got the lappy on November 2016, since then I've undervolted the cpu (6700hq) by 130mv, and OC'ed my gpu (965m) by 135mhz.

    Temps under heavy gaming load (battlefield 1 multiplayer) now sit around 62.5c for the PCH, 71~75c for cpu cores, and 65c for GPU.

    What's you opinion on those numbers?
     
    abdullah_mag, Mar 13, 2018
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  17. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    I repasted and repadded at once after multiple repastes didn't improve temps and soared it to 97-100C.
    Those temps are pretty impressive. Do you use a A/C?
     
    Vasudev, Mar 13, 2018
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  18. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

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    Not really no, in summer yes, but it's been like 9 months since i turned it on.

    The undervolting shaved off 10~12c off my cpu temps.

    Additionally i've turned on "cpu performance mode" in BIOS, which makes the fans much more responsive to temperature increases.
     
    abdullah_mag, Mar 13, 2018
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  19. Vasudev

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    Vasudev, Mar 13, 2018
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  20. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

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    abdullah_mag, Mar 13, 2018
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  21. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    980M. For additional info, click my signature and spoiler.
     
    Vasudev, Mar 13, 2018
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  22. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

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    Btw, i also have these additional feet i use to give more room for airflow, they're about 1cm high.
     
    abdullah_mag, Mar 13, 2018
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  23. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    I use a stand.
     
    Vasudev, Mar 13, 2018
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  24. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

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    do you run an undervolt on your cpu?
     
    abdullah_mag, Mar 13, 2018
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  25. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Indeed. -125mV on cpu,cache,system agent and analog IO on AC and -150mV on battery.
     
    Vasudev, Mar 13, 2018
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  26. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

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    what noticeable differences does UVing the system agent and analog IO give?, and what software did you use for it? (i use throttlestop)
     
    abdullah_mag, Mar 13, 2018
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  27. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Same here TS is the best. I prefer to undervolt all components(except iGPU) for see a decrease of 5-8C in CPU and have configured a profile that switched to battery based on ac source.
     
    Vasudev, Mar 13, 2018
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  28. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

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    a question regarding the main topic, do you think i'm being a little too paranoid about the RAM temperatures?, i haven't experienced any OS crashes or file corruption or boot issues, i'm basing all this on my unscientific test of putting my hand on the bottom of the chassis and checking the temperature after all.
     
    abdullah_mag, Mar 13, 2018
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  29. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    95C is too high. How did you measure it?
     
    Vasudev, Mar 13, 2018
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  30. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

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    I'm not saying it reached that temps, i just felt (with my hand) the bottom of the chassis and it felt warmer than usual, and more of the chassis heated up as a result, so that has me a lil worried.
     
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2018
    abdullah_mag, Mar 13, 2018
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  31. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Do you a picture of your laptop after using rubber feet? Try taking a picture where I can see the angle of elevation for efficient airflow.
     
    Vasudev, Mar 13, 2018
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  32. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

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    Gonna do that when i get home

    Note: when i said 95c i was referring to the rated maximum operating temperature on Micron's spec sheet, not the actual temperature it reaches in my laptop
     
    abdullah_mag, Mar 13, 2018
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  33. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

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    Before and after rubber feet
     

    Attached Files:

    abdullah_mag, Mar 13, 2018
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  34. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

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    And these are my cold boot ePSA thorough memory test results:

    Cpu (max): 74c
    Gpu (max): 46c
    Mem(max):55c
    PCH (max):64c

    Gonna do another one after a gaming session tonight
     
    Last edited: Mar 13, 2018
    abdullah_mag, Mar 13, 2018
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  35. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

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    Uodated previous post
     
    abdullah_mag, Mar 13, 2018
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  36. abdullah_mag

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    These are the temps using the same test after a couple of hours of heavy gaming load:

    Cpu (max): 80c
    Gpu (max): 53c
    Mem(max):64c
    PCH (max):71c
     
    abdullah_mag, Mar 13, 2018
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  37. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

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    No need to do anything about those temps. They are well within spec and pretty good for this system.
     
    rinneh, Mar 13, 2018
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  38. abdullah_mag

    abdullah_mag Notebook Evangelist

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    my conclusion as well, once Vasudev said that i could monitor Memory temps from ePSA (and i did), my mind is at ease.

    thanks for the response rinneh.

    and special thanks to Vasudev for helping me out for the past 3 pages :p
     
    abdullah_mag, Mar 13, 2018
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