Alienware M14XR2 users doomed?

At least half or more of the users who bought the M14XR2 have faced serious throttling issues with the GPU at 67degrees are unable to use the laptop to its full potential. That includes me as well.

They have now released a new bios but ONLY for the latest alienware m14 which came out in june, but what about the rest of us with the older models? Why aren't we getting a fix, why is alienware blatantly ripping us off our hard earned money?

I swear its like buying a first hand full priced motorcycle without the clutch and brakes, it is just a rip off.

 

Have you tried going back to 307.17. Or the drivers posted by DELL on the website? Those are the ones that are working better for our users.

 

maybe paste issue with your m14x? Mine never up to 65c while gaming, normal use 38c like human temperature :thumbsup:

 

Yes. I've cleaned the vents and sink, used a cooler and it still reaches 65-67 degrees cel despite the machine not even feeling anything close to warm.

The last thing i can do is get it repasted. BUT, it is NOT a fix. The problem is how its coded in the Vbios to throttle at 65-67 degrees which is the real problem that dell chose to completely and utterly ignore. Now they have a new A04 bios to fix it, but it is ONLY for the new Alienware m14XR3 completely disregarding users of the previous laptop.

A GPU shouldn't even be coded to throttle at 65 degrees, heck thats normal temperature for the majority of GPU's out there.

 

I understand your point, but... have you tried the latest BIOS from DELL.com and using the DELL.com drivers? Can you try that and let me know?

 

A13 Driver Details | Dell US

A13 Unlocked with guide fixing the 67

Spoiler

http://forum.techinferno.com/alienw...locked-bios-modified-vbios-now-available.html

 

Yes and it throttles even worse when i do.

Again, it is NOT a driver issue. It is an issue with the BIOS that YOU guys set up to THROTTLE at 65 degrees celcius. A GPU is NOT supposed to throttle at that temperature. it has been a YEAR that this issue has plagued ALL users who bought the m14xr2.

We paid a hell lot of money for this machine yet we can't play any games on it without this stupid persistent issue which dell is too damn lazy to fix or give a crap about. I feel that all dell cares about is ripping people off and not even delivering what was promised.

I am sorry but this is the harsh truth and i will not be recommending an alienware machine to any of my friends due to how incompetent dell is at even acknowleding the issue

None of the links there work unfortunately

 

I understand your frustration, but we have seen users who report that those drivers work good for them. I will escalate the case to the L3 and let them work with engineering on that issue. Update might take a while. We'll post back once we have something.

 

Trust me, Iv checked every single thread i found on google search about this issue. NOBODY has reported those drivers from dell doing anything to fix the throttling issue.

 

yeh i thought that the drivers were irrelevant because this was an issue with the GPU bios or somthing

 

I'd think it is. The irony is the new m14xr3 gets a fix for this issue with their new A04 bios but dell completely disregards the issue on the R2 and gets all of us shafted.

 

if this was still an issue, wouldn't this forum have more than 1 page of people shouting? just saying.

 

People have been shouting for a full year since the release of the R2, why don't you actually google the problem instead of being a smart alec? You would see that a new thread about this throttling issue comes up EVERY WEEK for the past year on google searches and all different forums.

It IS an issue that dell has ignored completely.

 

where is the ongoing thread on this forum then with all the complaints and the responses from the aw reps who are active?

 

I'm shocked they haven't fixed it on the R2!!
I'm using R3, as they fixed the problem so quickly, I thought they have done the same on older machines already...
come on Alienware, I guess a bios update to fix it is not very hard? since I can manually set the throttle limit EASILY with nvidia inspector
throttling is not a bad thing, but at 67 C it just doesn't make any sense.... 80 or more would be more reasonable
My previous laptop throttles massively, I know that feeling bros

 

Buried and ignored. Do a thread search Einstein.

Thats why im so appalled at dells nonchalant attitude, they fix it for the R3 but completely ignore the R2 for a full year.

 

which is what you should have done.

there is no thread. no thread = no issue. try following the advice given already. you might learn something.

 

I will escalate the case and will create a new thread once we have something from engineering. Sorry about the inconveniences so far. We'll try our best.

 

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=alienware+m14xr2+throttling+site:forum.notebookreview.com

Been there done that.

 

I have repasted and I use the dell recommended drivers and still get throttling issues. I shouldn't have to go messing with custom bioses and risk (albeit minimally) bricking my system just so that my GPU won't throttle. While you're at it dell why not let us disable bdprochot in the bios so we can overclock properly.

 

I hope so sir, this throttling in the bios is the only thing that is holding back the potential of the m14xr2

 

Please report back Porras, I don't want to have to risk flashing a modded bios so that I can play my games for the next few years without random fps drops due to throttling. A fix soon would make all of us very happy, if the new 14 got it, we deserve it too.

 

I hope Mr Alex Mason can contain his language! Why should anyone help him if he is openly aggressive and rude to others on the forum...

I hope for the sake of the community a fix can be found soon!

 

A fix cannot come soon enough!

 

Throttling issue makes games unplayable on Alienware M14XR2.Hope Dell will come with a fix soon

Please Dell do come with some new bios to fix Alienware M14XR2 Throttling. Users have been waiting for more than one year. Hope Dell will come with a fix soon

 

My apologies for my aggressive language. But Im sure you would feel the same frustration when you spend alot of money on a machine which has a throttling issue that dell ignores completely.

 

Any updates mate?

 

None yet, it may take some time. We'll create a new thread once we have something.

 

Given that the 14 got a throttle fix pretty quickly, why would it take long for us m14xr2 users to get the same treatment?

 

Simple. Because Alienware want us to upgrade M14 instead

 

Each specific behavior needs to be handled differently. We'll try to come up with something on a timely manner. Still may take some time to get things running. Have you guys tried to publish something on ideastorm.com? The engineering and marketing team are always looking in there.

 

Everybody vote on ideastorm Idea Storm

 

Yeah right... That would make me want to get another brand. M14 isn't the only game in town. And to be honest I cant wait to replace mine.

 

We have been suffering from this issue forever!! I know of MANY people here and on other forums who have this problem. I have found a fix, but it is a rather tedious process that we shouldnt have to go through. These gpu's can handle a lot more (I've pushed mine to about 75-80) so there is no reason why we shouldnt have to deal with it, especially considering the aw 14's got an update ridiculously quick. Thank you for taking the time to look into this, I know a lot of people will be much happier customers if this gets fixed, myself included.

There is a new bios availible, i wonder if it includes a fix...

A14: Driver Details | Dell US

 

thanks for the update. will give it a try.
but based on what it say

 

I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case. Ever since i ordered this computer from Dell, i realized how dodgy they really were, i mean their delivery is preposterous when they mess up the dates and then pin it on me.

And then comes the biggest ballbuster of em all, this throttling issue...

 

Adding my voice to this. My M14x R2 always throttles at 67. I don't understand why this is taking so long. The only people who don't experience this are those that somehow have the right amount of paste/air flow and don't get up to 67. For me, this is ruining games. I have to use throttlestop and a cooling pad to try and stay under 67 (and I usually fail to do so). As an example of how bad the throttling is, I can get 45-50 fps on a game (e.g., RTW:2), and then hit 67 and it will drop to 12-15 fps. Ridiculous.

 

Idea Storm

Do something then^ Vote on ideastorm.

 

They don't seem to have any new info on idea storm, but if everyone could please vote!

Also, since there has been no new info, do we have any alienware reps here on the forum to give us a hand??

 

Each specific behavior needs to be handled differently. We'll try to come up with something on a timely manner. Still may take some time to get things running. Have you guys tried to publish something on ideastorm.com? The engineering and marketing team are always looking in there.

Alienware-L_Porras ......We have addressed this issue for more than 1 and a half year and there are lot many posts about this issue in other sites too,,we voted on idea storm too,,still no fix nor support from dell regarding this issue.We as customers didnt receive any fix regarding this throttling issue of gpu in alienware M14XR2 laptop..Please do help us regarding this issue.It is a request.Not able to play games on this laptop for more than 10 min due to this throttling issue.Please do help regarding this issue to help out to come with fix soon. Hope you would help out.

 

Well if Alienware does not fix this issue then i am going to consider suing dell for fraud.

 

Any progress on this?

 

I wouldn't expect anything mate. I've always been scrutinized for owning an Alienware by my peers and I've been first in line to defend them but after owning one first hand [m14x r2]. I got to let go of the bullshhh with this fiasco.

M14x R2 users have got majorly f-ked over. Considering we pay a premium pricepoint. We get bent over and f-ked so dirtly. Oh but I do love the lights.

I'm a M14x R2 owner and I have buyers remorse.

I know every computer tech company has issues, it's how they handle it that makes them stand out. This whole ideastorm idea is great....but it's really just ideas. Waste of time if they don't pull any results. They had a year to sort this issue out yet it's la de da land with them.

 

Well i smell a lawsuit coming over. We paid for a product that does not work as they had advertized, they ignored us for over a year, they refuse to even acknowledge that there's a throttling problem.

Dell, do you know what this falls under? This falls under Fraud.

 

wow, this explains so much, I have to have a cooling pad, and a box fan blowing on my PC at all times. FIX THIS OMG

 

Ludicrous response from the Alienware team now....

 

guys PLEASE POST here in the comments. Alienware needs us to post our info, results and pictures of throttling ---->> Idea Storm

 

Not sure why my system dif with you guys. Because I could hit above 67 C without doing any tweaks / mods on my M14x R2.
FYI I do to get throttle previously but not now.

 

Curious, which bios and driver do you have?

Also, are you using nvidia inspector to force a pstate or lock clocks?

Because usually, if the load is at 99% the boost should turn on and make the clock to 835 mhz

***EDIT:

To somewhat answer my own question I found this in the notes for 331.65 driver version:

"Here are some bugs still open with this driver (updated 10/31/13):

1358403 - Desktop browser freezes/crashes with Geforce 460/560 cards
1392369 - GPU Boost not working with some notebook GPUs
1394264 - Optimus: Can't use dGPU after update to Windows 8.1.
1394783 - GK104: Folding@Home perf..."

Would i be right if I assume you are using 331.65? I am, and have noticed no boost, but ALSO NO THROTTLE.
Can anyone else confirm this on 331.65?

Now, dont be too excited, as throttling only happens in the "boost" powerstate, and there is a bug that prevents boost from working. So, no boost=no throttle. When this bug is fixed It will be possible that the throttling will come back

 

Same thing happening for me on Win7 with same drivers. I rather have no boost than having it throttle.