The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    A05 differences

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by dragonx254, Oct 6, 2011.

  1. dragonx254

    dragonx254 Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    34
    Messages:
    83
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Haven't tested it out too much, but just updated BIOS to A05 from A03.


    Is "fan noise" the only difference? Also, doesn't this mean it will run slightly hotter now?
     
    dragonx254, Oct 6, 2011
    #1
  2. CGSDR

    CGSDR Alien Master Race

    Reputations:
    285
    Messages:
    1,477
    Likes Received:
    10
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Well that what the description said to change - fix the fan noise. For the heat, I dont think it will because since I update to A05, my CPU is cooler than A03 for some reason.
     
    CGSDR, Oct 6, 2011
    #2
  3. Nalada

    Nalada Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    23
    Messages:
    633
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Maybe I am too cynical... but this is not the first laptop which had a BIOS update to address fan noise or cpu temperature issues. Is it possible they aim for maximum performance for the initial release and then (once the reviews are done) Dell release a toned down BIOS which may??? perform a bit slower?
     
    Nalada, Oct 7, 2011
    #3
  4. TwelveV

    TwelveV Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    72
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I just received my M14x a week ago Friday, and it shipped with A04. A05 is the only one available on their support website, so I'm wondering why they ship A04, especially given how long A05 has been out.
     
    TwelveV, Oct 7, 2011
    #4
  5. creagan1

    creagan1 Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    88
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I've seen a couple people complaining that the A05 bios update makes your CPU temps a lot hotter ( around 90-100 ). I've been running with the A03 bios and I haven't had any temps get hotter then 85.
     
    creagan1, Oct 7, 2011
    #5
  6. CGSDR

    CGSDR Alien Master Race

    Reputations:
    285
    Messages:
    1,477
    Likes Received:
    10
    Trophy Points:
    56
    For you I dont know, but for me on the A03, my CPU always stay between 95C ~ 99C even with cooler, however when I test it on A05, the high temp problem is gone, the temp would just stay between 83C ~ 95C.
     
    CGSDR, Oct 7, 2011
    #6
  7. dragonx254

    dragonx254 Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    34
    Messages:
    83
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    You can actually download all of the others, if you click "Other Versions" next to BIOS.
     
    dragonx254, Oct 7, 2011
    #7
  8. DarkFame

    DarkFame Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    1
    Messages:
    47
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I think the benchmarks show that the A05 does not affect performance.
     
    DarkFame, Oct 8, 2011
    #8