[GUIDE] How to remove bios GPU throttling for M17X-R3 580m with or without 120Hz screen

Disclaimer: If you're messing with bios, you have to take a chance that somethign might go wrong. The blind flashing method should be able to recover bricked bios. That's what it is for, but you take the risk, just so you know.
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*Standard Warning - Note from NBR Moderation Team*

Third party BIOS Modifications, VBIOS Modifications and other system level tweaks (including fan control) can potentially cause damage to your system. Be aware of this before blindly flashing/installing.

If you brick your system or cause damage, chances are very high that your warranty will be useless. Know what you are doing, you are responsible for your actions.
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How to remove bios GPU throttling for M17X-R3 580m with or without 120Hz screen.

I figured it is time to put together the bits and pieces from our throttling discussion into A through Z guide because people are and will be still asking for this even though it is all there.

As far as credits goes, thanks to LVNeptune for the blind flashing method documented in ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...y-case-you-brick-your-m17xr3.html#post7791370 ) and everyone else for helping test and narrow down the problem.

References:
A08 w/ Unlocked Options & 580M GPU Thermal Throttle Removal
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ain-reflash-stock-a08-throttle-removed-3.html

Preparation
Download A04 Bios from Dell support web site.
Drivers & Downloads
Download A08 Bios from Dell support web site.
Drivers and Downloads
Download and install 7Zip
Download

1. Using 7Zip extract bios file M17xR3A08.EXE you got from dell. (Right click on the exe, and use the Win Explorer context menu for 7Zip -> Extract to "M17xR3A08\")

2. The archive contains "PAR00MEC.fd". Rename it to -> "PAR00X64.fd" (without quotes) and copy just this file to a Fat16/Fat32 formatted USB stick. Copy it to the root of the USB stick.

3. Run flash A04 package you downloaded from dell and go ahead flash it. Once done flashing your laptop will reboot. After reboot you can verify through bios that you're on A04 ( I always let it boot at least once into Windows to make sure the system is still operational)

4. Shutdown. Remove battery, remove power cord, also remove anything that you have pluged in like other USB hard drives, devices etc.

5. Plug in USB stick with renamed bios file into ESATA/USB combo port.

6. While holding the END key plug in the power cord in the back. You need to keep holding the END key till the laptop shuts down after beeping for a while. (60 seconds or so total time). It will start up and shut down once or twice after that automatically, just wait for this to finish.

7. When this cycle is finished and laptop stays shut down, just put the battery back in, and hit the power button. Once the system boots remove USB stick and test throttling and 3D if you have it.

This is it. You now got the latest bios with no bios throttling. Same steps can be used to install modified A08 bios that you can get from the bios forum thread above. You just take the moded bios, rename it and drop it on USB stick for blind flashing step.

 

hey thanks a lot for putting this up....can u please clarify step 2 ...after extracting and renaming PAR00MEC.fd. Rename it to -> PAR00X64.fd should i put only the renamed .fd file into the USB stick or should i re archive it ?

 

Yes just put the renamed PAR00X64.fd on the USB stick

 

I updated the instructions to make it more clear. You do not archive the files. Once renamed it has to be placed at the root of the USB drive.

 

thanks will try it right away.....

 

thks gandalf and lvneptune....i just did it and now i have A08 with 3d and no throttle .....played crysis 2 for a while in 3d very high settings and it was smooth no throtle ...Hw monitor shows max temp as 81c........thks again i was very disappointed this morning when i got the laptop and could play crysis 2 ....

 

hey my laptop fans seem to be on all the time after this .........is it ok ? or somethings fishy?

 

No, it should not be happening. Check your temps, if it is hovering around 50-55C or so then it is normal idle temp and fans should not be spinning hard.

Shut down. Unplug the power supply and remove the battery. Put battery back in and plug the AC adapter back in.

See if that fixes it. If not, I would flash stock A08 through windows, verify your fans are back to normal, and then repeat the process in the GUIDE.

You're not running any software that allows you to manually controll the fan speed, are you? Otherwise that may be the issue.

You can also try putting the modded A08 bios from the bios forum link on the USB stick and flash that. What I mean is that you follow the same steps in the GUIDE except you put moded/unlocked A08 on the USB stick instead of the dell one (you need to rename it of course as per instructions)

 

no im not using any fan control software .....i did a shutdown and now its back to normal ....temperatures are around 52-55 ...thks

 

No problem...

Why are you disappointed to play crysis 2? Lol.

 

hey what i meant was , initially before removing throttle my brand new 2800$ laptop couldnt play crysis 2 without getting throttled ....tats why i was very dissappointed ...now im very happy with my laptop

 

hey are u guys able to play games without throttlling ? even after getting rid of bios throttling the nvidia vbios throttles after 78 C .......i cant even play crysis 2 for more than 10 min it easily throttles ....are my temperatures high or what ?

 

Try a repaste and elevate the back of your laptop with a book. Might bring temps down a bit

 

repaste ?? my laptop is a day old :-( .......i will try the book trick .......is there any hope of solution by dell or by anyone else ??

 

Well I always repaste a computer when I first get it. Dell's paste is so damn awful a repaste with a premium one such as IC 24 will usually drop the temps a few degrees

 

I was playing Deux Ex last night at STOCK clock with .92v and after about 45 minutes it was throttling every 10 minutes.

The original throttle is still hurting us

 

Try to use HWInfo64 to ramp up the GPU fan to full. Maybe invest in a cooler. I got one coming soon so I'll report on all the methods that I use to keep the temps below 79C

 

is there any hope whether dell or nvidia will fix this ?

 

Not nvidia's fault. Clevo machines don't have this problem. It should be dell that fixes this.

 

so is there a way we can flash clevo vbios and get rid of the throttle ?

 

No both the Clevo card and the Dell card apparently use the same vbios. The thing is the Dell throttles the card within the M17x bios, not the card one. Flashing Clevo vbios is useless.

 

has there been any new updates on this? i just received my m17x with the 580m and 3D screen, i would love to remove the throttle without loosing the 3D

 

There is nothing new to report other than if you OC your card you will still get thermal throttle at 79-80C. You wont run into it unless you run overvolted vbios which allows much higher clocks then you would get otherwise.

I did this on 2 M17X-r3 so far and it works no problem. My current stable max OC setting is 740/1900 and my card will not hit the 79-80C threshold with that.

 

hey i have 580m too , and my temp do reach 79 at stock clocks after 45min of gaming......anyway can i reduce the temperatures further ? and regarding the overclock do you use it all the time ? will overclocking void my warranty ?

 

Get a notebook cooler. I use ZM-NC2000. Or just make sure there is adequate gap under laptop for air to come into vents. Change thermal compound on GPU. The highest temps I see while gaming are between 68-72and this while OC is on.

I use 6.06 NVidia system tools that allows me to save a profile with OC settings and load it on system restart. I run 720/1800 all the time now and push it more if need be.

I don't know if it voids your warranty but that's the risk I'm willing to take. I never blown up anything by doing OC, and the shorter lifespan doesn't bother me as your GPU will be obsolete in couple of years anyway.

 

For people who have done this fix, do you have brightness control?

 

I still do.

 

Yes I do...I did not use A04 to crash my bios etc..I followed exactly what was in this thread sticky..

 

Hey thanks for your post..I got my new M17x R3 a few days back... My throttling happens at 77°C+ without going through any changes steps of bios update with the method you suggested in your post...My furmark video is as follows:
Alienware M17x R3 580M Throttle at 77°C Furmark graph - YouTube
please see in full HD to view chart and reading properly..You can see clearly the VDDC voltage drops from 0.870V to 0.800V after reaching temp 77°C+. I have contacted the dell technical department and reported to nvidia techincal person manuel G too for the same then they said they will soon work on new Dell vbios update...
So you too better contact them and ask all your friends this would really speed up the process...Ask or send them this link to all these forums for throttling of 580m so they can view and take steps rather we working on round through other then dell... we have not paid to be ducks... so please write to them... its great to see we all try to help each other but we need to get what we paid for... so please write to dell and send cc copy to micheal dell too... If you do have his id tell me i'll send you...

Regards!

 

I have just ordered a new M17x, and have a few questions related to this "throttling":

1) are all M17x with 580GTX affected with this throttling issue ?
2) from what I understand, there are 2 throttling. Dell (bios issue) - can be solved by new bios from dell side (hope already in progress), or by the fix on the first page of this thread and nvidia throttling - which can appear on any nvidia card if you OC = it wont appear for stock M17x ?
3) is there any user, that dont have any throttling issue on his M17x with 580GTX ? can you confirm ?
4) do you believe dell will release a new bios that will fix this lets say in a month or so ?

thx.

 

I believe that every system has this throttling error. You are correct in thinking that there are 2 kinds. One is the power throttle, this is in the system bios. It throttles your card down when it thinks that the power consumption is too high. This can happen at any temperature. The other throttle is the temperature throttle which kicks in at 79C. This thread is for getting rid of the first kind. Dell may release a bios that overcomes this but we don't know for sure.

The throttling should only appear if you overclock, if you keep it at stock speeds, the power consumption will be within limits and throttling will only happen if you happen to reach 79C, the trigger for the second throttle.

I myself have applied this fix to get rid of the power throttle, I have also repasted and game while overclocked, with an elevated back and thus, I don't run into the second throttle either.

 

you know, but how is that possible, that other laptop non dell with 580GTX dont have this issue ?

I had toshiba Qosmio, and the throttling sometimes appears too. (too high temperature, quiting game helps.) but what about the thing with dell bios ? They didnt test it ? Or i cannot imagine every M17x system is affected with the dell bios issue....

And last question, ok, this thread is solving the first one (the second one is simple overheating right ? this has nearly every gpu card sometimes (in laptops)). So. Isnt it too risky, to follow the blind flash ? I mean, some features are not flashed, some are... But is the laptop 100 percent functional after that ? what about 3D, brightness control, and other things.... ? And is there any official sttement from dell to this "first" throtling issue ? Do they work on new bios ?

 

Because both instances of throttling are put it by Dell to protect cards from failing so they don't have to replace that many. They put in the power throttle mainly to stop people from overclocking and the temperature throttle to maintain the card's longevity.

To Dell, these aren't "issues", we only think they are because it is a nuisance to us. Other companies like Clevo don't put in these limitations because they aren't as uptight as Dell and they know that people want to overclock so they allow it.

 

Yeah, i completely understand that....
I wont OC, so i hope im not touching the first one. But with the second one I really dont know. I read a M17x review somewhere else, and they reported the second throtling appear in stock rates. (they reached 77+ Celsius on card with refference clocks.) after 1 hour of playing C2, which I think is something that should be somehow solved from dell side. (you know, this isnt 500$ crap, in main its around 3000$ and more..... what do you think ?

When I ordered the M17x i order also Diamond silver paste for both CPU and GPU, hope this will help to lower temperature...

 

Yes the Diamond paste will definitely help prevent thermal throttling. Some users have reported throttling even when using stock clocks but the best path is to get your laptop, play something and see what happens.

 

thank you, ill do. Now im waiting to be delivered. BTW, i went through dell forums also, but this here is more "comfortable"....Thank you guys, for this support. Ill report here as much as I can with my experience after I get my new M17x.

 

Hey friend,
Nothing solve the throttle... you answers...
1.> I don't think so since there maybe pver 10K alienware users and may max 50 are complaining here in forum... That's why i'm getting my whole system replaced... my new system will come by 10 october so then i can confirm if there is throttle in new system or not...
2.> With new dell bios version 8 you get throttle only after reaching specific temps like 77°C or more... but i reduced my clocks to 500/100/1200 as core/shader/memory but still i feel throttle for maybe 0.5 seconds every 10-20 minutes but its tolerable... but temos remain just close to 65-70°C only but still it happens...
3.>Well not every user search for this forum throttle for 580M they search only if they are actaully facing throttle but still no one has comfirm such report i can update you only after i get my new system or after you get your new system...
4.> Dell is not giving proper response but i think they are aware of this issue and thier product group is working as told to me by dell techincal agent... if you have not ordered then you can wait... but i also read in one of the forums that 6990m also throttles...
Regards!

 

can u remove the power throttling?

 

Hi!
I got my laptop replaced yesterday and the same result no improvement but now it is prooved that dell is aware of this issue... they have come with new bios for 580M you can download here...

580M Bios by Dell

This has just come up today... But let me tell you what it does... Instead of Dropping the voltage from 0.870V to 0.800V on 77°C+ temps of GPU what it does is it reduces the Voltage from 0.870V to 0.850V when the temp reaches @63°C and hence your core speed is dropped from 620MHz to 475Mhz and hence the rate of rise of temprature is reduced but it does not solve the problem it only delays it by few more minutes... You will get throttle after its reaches 77°C+ temps... So best option is to keep the book or something at bottom of Laptop at back and keep laptop elevated and this really helps keeping laptop cool and does not allow to reach 77°C... But for sure this product 580M is complete Flop for Dell... Hope this helps...

 

sorry widezu69 for doubting you, but i was wondering if anybody has done this already on the newer processors. I am a little scared that the motherboard won't recognize the cpu when i put the A04 in.

 

Please continue chatter on the updated 580M VBIOS HERE:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/616015-new-driver-nvidia-geforce-gtx-580m-bios.html

Thanks.

 

I tried almost everything on my m17x r3 but nothing seems to fix the throttling problem

Can somebody help me here ..........

 

Can you provide more details so someone can see about helping you? Saying you tried everything is not very informative or helpful.

What are your specs, issue description, temps, things you tried etc.

 

Will this throttle issue still effect new r3s being sold without 120hz screen? I am asking because I just order a m17x today with 580M, but without the 120hz 3D.... just getting myself prepared if I have throttle problems.

-Tim

 

Finally Solved...
[Solved] Alienware M17x R3 Nvidia 580M Throttle at 77°C+ temps Furmark graph
Hope this helps...

Regards!

 

@T Hefner, vginside's method is good. You can also check my sig for another solution. I have a guide for both 3D and non-3D users

 

Hey Widezu,
If you check my description on youtube the link referes to go for your sig links... and at end credits is for you too...

Regards!

 

Yeah I saw that yesterday. Thanks and credits to you as well. Should we call yours throttling fix ver.3?

 

widezu69,
Yes, I'll look over your guide, still waiting on m17x, In production as of now, if I have any questions I'll ask ya, if its ok with ya.... I'm still a week or so away from receiving the m17x... so.. we'll see

Thanks
-Tim

 

Feel free. I'm always reachable by PM