AW15 / 17 R2 BIOS A05 (CPU Fix?)

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us...de=alienware-15&languageCode=EN&categoryId=BI
Fixes & Enhancements
1.Fix CPU haven't turbo frequency after S3 resume.
No new fan table (most likely), but does this BIOS fix some of the CPU throttling problems?

 

going to DL and try it out now. Will be happy if it fixes the S3 like it says.

 

We received information from engineering saying that the high temperatures on the previous BIOS were like that because it reports the TJunction Temp (internal chip temp) and not the external as it used to. Therefore, as long as it stays below 99C the temps are safe. If you use an external sensor, the machine will report lower temps. However, the motherboard doesn't have that capability. Hopefully that'll clear it out.

 

Like that it's clear So Bios A05 should be the last main fix. What can we hope for the next bios ?

 

I'm trying to get RAID in there but it's been really tough haha. I'll keep pushing for that! I'll be a happy camper when they add it. Many customers want to have that capability and I'm sure that our Alienware engineers will listen

 

Well, It finally fixes the Resume from sleep bug . (yay!)

Unfortunately, Im still getting the power limit throttling bug when the GPU is used, it makes my CPU throttle to 2.8ghz. :-(

 

Do you have a 240W adapter?

 

This would be good to clarify on the download page.
But question. Everytime I put the link, it directs me to some other page. Is there a reason why it's doing this?

 

Yes. I have made a few posts in the 17R2 lounge about it a few days back.

It seems the CPU cannot run at full power whenever the GPU is being used and will throttle itself down to 2.8ghz even though the temperatures are still only in the 70s.
If I monitor my CPU clocks in-game I can see them drop to 2.8ghz a few minutes after playing and they will stay at that until the game ends.
Or if I run heaven bench and 4 threads on prime I can see the CPU start at 3.5GHz then drop to 2.8ghz a few minutes in. Then if I stop heaven bench the CPU will raise clocks back to 3.5Ghz ish. after a few seconds.

This is all with the 240w supply

 

You know the HQ series is a crippled cpu with no way to turbo boost 24/7 like it's MQ/XM series right?

 

What about all the thousands of Aw owners who don't live in the United States or Canada and can't get a free 240W psu from Dell ? ? What should these do with the problems? Buying a expensive 240W psu itself? This is not good enough...
This is an updated MSI Gt72 with new Core i7-5700HQ. Using over 212w from a 230w PSU under maximum load. What is your commenton this? http://www.notebookcheck.net/MSI-GT72-Broadwell-Notebook-Review.144906.0.html

 

Are you having issues to get one? Let me know via PM. I'll escalate internally and try to get it sent out.

Edited:

Policy changed.

 

Yeh, I kinda got that impression when talking to a lot of other people on here.
It's weird how it's only my machine though and nobody else with the same machine who does the same tests will exhibit this behaviour.

 

It's nice to hear... But there are many who are denied a 240W psu. Why is this so?
Did you read about the new MSI Gt72 in post#11. Only differenc is that Msi use a socket gtx980m but with the same amount of VRAM as Aw laptops. A Aw laptop use not + 30watt less than an MSI laptop with similar hardware. Msi opted out old 180w psu and battery boost aka hybrid bios with a more normal 230W psu in its last models.

 

I just flashed it, I'll see how it goes!

 

mine holds 3.6 24/7 . . . and I'm on a 4710HQ OC'd . . . with the graphics amplifier there is 0 throttling. Without the graphics amplifier I get some brief and minor throttling from 3.6 to about 3.2, and rarely down to 2.7. . . silicon lottery anyone?

 

Yes, I have. Thanks for sharing If you'd like to request our developers to change the way they work with hybrid submit an idea on ideastorm.com. They're always checking there for good ideas. I've already escalated this.

Edited:
Due to policy change.


Luis.

 

I had no issues in the UK, came the next day too

 

Does yours hold 3.6ghz in 4 threads of prime whilst running heaven extreme on the internal GPU not the GA?

 

+ rep as usual .

@Alienware-L_Porras you say; We received information from engineering saying that the high temperatures on the previous BIOS were like that because it reports the TJunction Temp (internal chip temp) and not the external as it used to. Therefore, as long as it stays below 99C the temps are safe. If you use an external sensor, the machine will report lower temps. However, the motherboard doesn't have that capability. Hopefully that'll clear it out.....

Have you forgotten that Dell engineers have lowered prochot temp to 97 degrees on the processor in the new Aw laptop and not even use Intel's own specifications that are 100 degrees for i7-4xxxHq?

 

Tcase is core temp on these processors.. After doing the math as TCase isn't linear based on Vcore and other factors, the TJunction (Or TJunction Max, or TJMax in some apps) on these processors is 100C, but ~ 6C from TJunction throttling begins (PROCTHERM).. But then we hit TJmax, shutdown occurs (THERMTRIP).. We have seen users with 93-95oC.. Throttle...

This is all in the Intel Specs.. These temps are NOT safe... We should have 10% or more room to play, not run it almost at the limit.. As soon as a user has a bad fan, or dirty fan, they now have stability issues, and maybe damage.. We should have 100% fan speed over 85C as there can be a difference ~ 5-7C on the processor.. This will break down the paste and add more heat to the pipe that's shared with the GPU..

The fan profile in A00 was fine, it kept the machines cool.. I am using a modified fan profile in A02 and my temps never exceed 80C load. Whoever develops these BIOS's (Compal, MSI, IGN, etc) need to fix this properly.. Why 5 weeks to be told this is normal?

 

I note that the prior BIOS A00 or A02/A04 are no longer listed, just A05.

I do not want to upgrade from A00 to A05 and not be able to downgrade should it not be any better

 

It holds around 3.51 on 4 threads under stress while running furmark - I haven't tried with Heaven yet. During loads on both the GPU goes up and down from 99% usage to 50 to 99 to 40 to 12 to 99% . . . etc etc.

 

A02, A00, and A04 are listed under "Other Versions". If you want, I can provide a download link to whichever of the three you want.

 

Dell engineers have also lowered the prochot temp to 97 degrees on the processors and not even use Intel's own specifications that are 100 degrees for i7-4xxxHq. What is Dell engineers afraid? It is normally only companies such as Acer and similar companies that use lower prochot temp because they often have a poorer cooling of the processor. Often below 96 and down to 86 degrees and even lower. That's why they can can continue to make useless cooling on their crippled laptops.

 

Hi - getting We apologize for the inconvenience, but this service is temporarily unavailable. Please try again later.

try to download A00

 

Well I can confirm that the 30W TDP throttle bug after sleep has been resolved. This is after the laptop was asleep for a couple of hours, then I ran a 5 min CPU stress test in XTU. The CPU was using up to 47W.
This is good news cause I like to use sleep a lot!

 

Don't we all.

I was able to download A00 fine. Want me to send you an .exe of it?

 

it's all working now.

I tried A05, running into 90'c playing project cars, hardly any fan use so reverted back to A00

Will has the fan profile from A00 not migrated into the A02-5? I rather the fan comes on at 70'c

 

let me try it!

 

Unless the new CPU's are capable of this, most apps can't access PROCHOT, infact, once Intel has programmed the specs, it CANNOT be modified or re-programmed.. Also, PROCHOT# is the signal from reaching TJMax, since 3rd gen CPU's.. If PROCHOT# is reduced, it means our TJMax has also as PROCHOT# is only a signal on 1 pin, which cannot be reprogrammed unless they're implementing a different system in the BIOS..

Also, most BIOS today can read Tcase for internal core temps instead of DTS to control TFan.. This excuse is BAD and doesn't make sense.. If the PROCHOT# signal is lower, our TJMax is now lower..

Can we get someone from the BIOS coders (Compal or whatever company is programming this) to come in??

 

Never ever run furmark, it's a power virus and it'll potentially ruin the GPU.

 

For this CPU, Intel set the thermal throttling temperature to 100°C. Dellienware decided that was too much so has used a feature provided to them by Intel and reduced the thermal throttling temperature down to 97°C instead. LoL. Dell should/must put the throttling temperature back to Intel own specification but Dell has now instead begun the same way as Acer and similar **** laptop manufacturers. Destroy hardware functionality with a crippled bios. It does not matter soon what laptop brand one should choose. All begin to look like each other with the same garbage bios and crippled hardware in a thin laptop design that does not run on hardware manufacturer's own specifications. This gets worse and worse now. It is time to choose the brand that does not cripple hardware as much with the bios. Maybe it is time now to consider a gaming desktop and buy a mini laptop for web browsing and e-mail instead of a crippled gaming laptop.

 

With BIOS A05 temps are higher than A04 or A00 in my experience so far.

CPU is getting up to 92 and GPU up to 74. Never went above 86 on the CPU or 69 on the GPU with A00.

I think I'm going to go back to A00 despite the sleep TDP bug fix.

 

I am so confused on how those of you get XTU to run, let alone install so I'd be able to run these types of tests

 

Here's the link to the XTU homepage which has some details and a download link:

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us...p-boards-software-extreme-tuning-utility.html

I just downloaded it from there, installed it by running the downloaded istaller and restarted. After you restart just open XTU.
What trouble are you having, I've never had an issue installing XTU on several systems?

 

Screenshot (1) by David Kirchik posted Jul 1, 2015 at 10:48 PM

Every time I try this pops up, since I don't have 8.1 pro - getting to GPEDIT to even work around is a no go for me.

I've gotten it to work on all other systems but this one. I don't get it

 

Then it's all in BIOS.. They CANNOT change the TJMax once programmed to CPU, this is not possible.. The old 4700's and the new 4700's (Like 4710 to 4720's..) have the same Tjunction.. 100C. Intels own spec sheets say that once a temp has been specified, it's basically baked in, only way to change it is a new batch of CPU's.. So this is all being handled by a bad BIOS, again.. You can't change the PROCHOT# temp, it's a signal to the system.. That's all.. It's only a flag of ON or OFF to activate throttle or shutdown.. When PROCHOT is enabled, it's in Thermal Protection Mode until the temps are back to safe operating range and PROCHOT goes back to OFF.

 

Check the statement from @unclewebb in trottlestop guide. Asus puts Prochot temp to 85 degrees on their Hq processors in some laptops.. Even worse than Dell's 97C Both use the same prosessor(i7-4720hq). http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/the-throttlestop-guide.531329/page-313#post-10026166 Everything can be crippled by the laptop manufacturer's engineers if they collaborate with Intel.. LoL

 

Hello all, with my laptop's specs, do I need to be asking for a 240w PSU? I've read in other threads that I don't, but now I'm not so sure.

Thanks!

 

Hi everyone, I just updated to A05.

The throttling after sleeping your pc and resuming it, has now gone.
I did a quick firestrike banchmark.
It is a very hot day today where I live. My room temperature is 31°C
My firestrike score was good, slightly lower, but I think it's in the margin of error. Since it was caused by a slightly lower graphics score + a slightly lower CPU score, and the same Combined score compared to my best result.

And these were the temperatures. Of course, these would be higher if I was talking about a 1 hour gaming session in this hot weather, but the benchmark alone gave these numbers, without reaching the max fan speed:
the cpu cores: 83, 84, 88, 83
GPU 76.

And I did this run after resuming from a sleep, which before A05, caused the CPU to throttle and gave a low physics score, resulting in MUCH lower firestrike scores.

So overall, so far so good

 

This is the best solution for the fan issue that will never be fixed in the new Aw 2015 and also maybe 2016 models(the same solution recommended to use on the previous model AW17r1 and 18)... Recommended by Dell's engineering team. http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-15-bios-s-information.775039/page-2#post-10004377

 

Suck

 

double

 

Are you overclocking your cpu? I ran that test and I received 756 marks and max freq of 3.37

 

OK when i try to flash bios as soon i click it fan full spin then nothing whole system hang
i need to unplug battery connector to reboot it
tested 3 times same issue

 

Intel sets the thermal throttling temperature at the factory but includes an easy way for manufacturers to lower the throttling temperature if they need to. Intel sets the Temperature Target to 100°C and then individual manufacturers can use the Target Offset feature to reduce the throttling temperature. The dirty details are in the public documentation.

http://i.imgur.com/dcNBK2L.png

A 15°C offset used to be the maximum amount of offset available so instead of a CPU starting to throttle at a peak core temperature of 100°C, it will start to throttle at (100°C-15°C) or 85°C. Kind of dishonest when a manufacturer doesn't have the guts to post that on the sales sheet so a user can make a buying decision based on the facts. Even worse that review sites are completely oblivious to this trickery. Why isn't NotebookCheck, etc. posting this very important number?

If that above documentation is correct, it looks like the maximum offset might have been increased to 63°C. This could be a a mistake in the documentation or perhaps Intel increased the maximum to keep tablet manufacturers happy. Perhaps the future is cool and quiet devices because they have all been crippled to death with this new feature.

 

It's no wonder that I have lost the desire to buy a new so called high end laptop. LoL. Everything is becoming increasingly crippled the thinner design is on new laptops. Laptop manufacturers save money doing this. Lower heat producing less phone support and repair during the warranty period of laptop. LoL With a lower throttling temperature it becomes also easier to use a weak / flimsy cooling solution. This fits well in a thin laptop .
It is also much cheaper to produce heatsink with fewer heat pipes.

 

As per your suggestion i've posted the issue on ideastorm. Link:- http://www.ideastorm.com/idea2ReadIdea?v=1435896219920&Id=087700000009q8bAAA
Please upvote this all, as it is a shot to improve our experience with our laptops

 

Any idea?