[Guide] Overclocking the 2920XM/2960XM CPUs in the M17x R3 with/without Modded bios.

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Note from NBR Moderation Team -

BIOS Modifications, VBIOS Modifications and other system level tweaks
can potentially cause damage to your system. Be aware of this before
blindly flashing.

If you brick your system or cause damage, chances are very high that
your warranty will be useless.

Please note: If using the Dell stock system BIOS to overclock, the options within the
Performace settings section of the BIOS will not void your system warranty. It is only with
third party modified BIOS use where you start to enter 'questionable' areas.

Know what you are doing, you are responsible for your actions.

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So hey guys, after weeks of research and conversing with the experts over at the M18x forums. I have finalized a straightforward enough method to unlock your CPU potential.

I have split this into 3 sections. They have an order of hierarchy; meaning that Section 1 applies to all CPUs even the non-XM ones, Section 2 applies to users with XM CPUs and Section 3 applies to users with the XM CPU and modded A08 bios.

Pre-requisites: I'm not going to post links, these are easy enough to find on your own. If you don't know what Google search is, you don't deserve to be reading my guide.

Dell A08 bios - Be up to date
An XM CPU - You need these to progress onto Section 2
ThrottleStop - Doesn't really do much in the way of tweaking things but is a very good monitor.
Intel Extreme Tuning Utility 2.1 - For manipulating multipliers.
A decent amount of time and balls - This process takes a while and the second one is self explanatory
Optional modded A08 bios - For the hardcore users.

Overclocking the XM CPU creates masses amounts of heat. And I mean LOTS! Be prepared to see temperatures upwards of 90C. I am not responsible for burnt CPUs, motherboards, chassis, burgers or anything else. Do this at your own risk. I'm only providing you with a method not an obligation.

Right so now you have all these things, we can progress

Section 1
First off, we need you to have your bios ready. Be it the modded one or the ordinary one. So boot into the bios and you will see an Advanced tab (modded bios users this is the first Advanced tab).



What I need you all to do is to enable "Override Turbo Settings". When that is done, some more option will come out. You need to set them to:

Long Duration PWR limit [99]
Long Duration TimeWindow [56]
Short Duration PWR Limit [Enabled]
Short Duration PWR Limit [99]

After you've set that, press F10, exit saving changes. Boot into windows. Open up ThrottleStop and click TPL. In the window you will see that your settings haven't quite been put it. If the "Turbo Time Limit" reads 56, it worked, as Alienware's default is 28.

Now to achieve the unlocked state:

Open up Intel XTU. There will be an index on the left, click on "Processor" under Manual Tuning. Scroll to the bottom. You will see sliders for the multipliers. This will be greyed out for non-XM users. Don't touch them yet, we will deal with this in Section 2. Above that however are sliders for the Turbo Boost Power. Slide these all the way to 99w. It will prompt a reboot. Do so.

When booted back into windows, open up ThrottleStop again and you will see that the 99/99w have been enabled We did this because without doing so, the TDPs would be locked for the XM CPUs. But doing so also unlocks them for non-XM users. Win!

Sometimes this doesn't work. If XTU doesn't prompt a reboot after you set the new TBP, click on TPL in ThrottleStop. it should register the changes immediately. You must then hit OK, MUST. Then reboot. Settings should stick now.

Section 2
So now you have your shiny XM CPU, you want to get it nice and quick. Well fear not for I can help you there.

So a good place to start is at 4Ghz. Yep you heard correct; you got an XM CPU, it turbos at around 3.something so just take that to 4 and you'll be well and kicking.

Open up iXTU, and go to the Multiplier bit we saw before. Raise those to 40x an all cores. Now, drop the Long Duration Power slider (the one on top) to 80w. Keep the Short Power one at 99w.

When clicking apply, it will prompt a reboot. When this happens before it completes post, enter the bios and set the "Long PWR Limit" to 80. We need to do this as it seems that the bios has the last say. I'm not even sure if changing the power in the software makes a difference. I ran a benchmark once with the bios at default and changed the power to 80/99 in both ThrottleStop and iXTU and it didn't work. Still throttling so to avoid throttling, you need to set the power in the actual bios.

So after you've restarted, you will be happily gliding along at 4Ghz. Simple! In my ThrottleStop, the TPL still read 99/99 when I did this. My guess is that there is some kind of bios override so that reading is wrong. I changed it to 80/99 because I'm OCD Remember to also change your TRL's in Throttlestop or else everything would be limited by it. Run a benchmark such as wPrime. Remember to change the Advanced Settings to make it run on 8 threads. The 32m test should be around 6.something seconds. Have ThrottleStop open when doing a 1024m test to see if the 40.00x multi stays for the whole run. BEWARE, running the 1024m test will raise your temp significantly.

So now your shiny new XM CPU's potential has been utilised. If you want anything higher than 4Ghz, you will need to consult Section 3 when I finish it.

 

Reserved for Section 3

 

Good job widezu69!!

 

Found this but its saying the service is not started. Checking BIOS settings because I installed it before your guide.

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?lang=eng&changeLang=true&DwnldID=19683

 

Ok, make sure you have .Net 3.5 with all updates. What is the problem exactly?

 

NVM my BIOS settings got reset to default. It worked after I corrected it. I've got modded A08 so I had to kinda tinker around.

Definately did something I got about 3.7 off a quick test single core.

EDIT: now I've gotten 4Ghz. and 3.6ish with all 8 cores

 

Ok I'll update the guide soon with Section 3 all about the modded bios such as currents and c-states.

 

What thermal paste you using lol I'm throttling all over the place. Its fairly stable with a core or two. I've had it up to 4.2Ghz now. Not to argue it still only drops to 3.5-3.6 under full 8 core load.

 

I'm using IC Diamond 7 which is suppose to be one of the better ones. AC MX-4 is what i'll be buying next...heard that one is better

 

I am very happy with my MX-4. It gets my recommendation.

 

I've used both. IC Diamond is better by more than just 1 or 2 degrees

 

Good to see someone taking the time to writeup some stock OC steps for XM folks. Nice job!

 

i'm jealous

 

9min 0.427 seconds spi 32MB versus about 10.6 average on 2720qm.

 

Have you tried wPrime? How quickly can you do a 32m one @8 threads? Also try doing a 1024m one and see if your multi's stay the same through out.

 

Yeah i have to work on that now getting my multis to stay the same throughout a run at 1024 and it looks like ill have to flash that custom bios to properly adjust the plane.

If i do that though intel XTU it jumps up in increments of 10 vs 1 at a time through the bios from what i am understanding based on talking to John.

 

Best I've seen is 6.7s on 32m and it seems I'm doing no better on 1024m than not overclocking, it is hitting thermal limits. Going to try repasting (I do have IC7) and some tests Monday in a cold server room.

 

Every motherboard is different. I have mine at 100Mhz with 0% SCC (this is part of the modded bios). To be honest, You have a 2920XM so bclk is irrelevant if you can move the multipliers. Check my OC'ing guide.

 

This is fantastic. Have it at 4.0 Ghz right now.

One thing I find is that if IXTU isn't running, my clock speed gets locked at 4 GHz. If I start IXTU, however, my clock speed will drop below 4GHz based on need. It will hover around 1.9-2.4 GHz until I do something strenuous, and then it will jump up 4.0 GHz.

Does anyone know what causes that or how to fix it? I'd rather not have the clock speed stuck at the ceiling if it's not needed.

Thanks.

 

That seems weird. Check your speedstep or have you messed with the registry disabling c-states? I know one particular SSD tweak that does this.

I've repasted and have the back elevated keeping temps at bay. I hit 100C once but still no throttling. Mainly because I've turned off Short Turbo PWR Limit so the power doesn't fluctuate and the temps stay steady. With 42x I can get under 6 seconds 32m and I'm able to run the whole 1024m run with zero throttling Gonna push to 45 tomorrow

 

Does step one benefit non xm user in anyway?

 

Yes it allows you to run full turbo indefinitely if you can keep your temps in check. On default your turbo will fluctuate.

 

I can't believe this thread isn't getting more attention.

This is the biggest to happen to this laptop since the introduction of the 580M / 6990.

This makes the potential power of the laptop significantly higher, and makes it worthwhile to get an XM processor. It's also huge for non-XM processors. Sitting at the top of turbo is big jump. In real everyday use, my 2820 would only go up to 3.1GHz in the short duration burst and the 2960 would go to 3.4.

I figured out my weird problem from earlier. Then I jacked it up to 4.5GHz and bsod'd so badly that I kinda blew out windows and needed to reinstall it.

Going to start over and see how far I can push it.

Thanks so much for putting this out there. Being able to overclock almost justifies my buying this laptop (exaggeration, but still).

 

Nice. Haha yeah inch it up slowly. I'll put up the modded bios guides soon. The stock bios does not provide enough flexibility to sustain decent overclocks. I've taken it up to 4.3Ghz stable. I use 37/37/39/40 for everyday use.

 

Still want to play around have been busy. Heat is still my main issue. Easily 4.2ish with a single core.

 

Yeah I have hit 4.3 on all four cores temps max out over 90C. wPrime 1024m run with no sings of throttling

 

Nice job and write up Widezu... I see you got the hang of things since we last discussed the 2920xm. I've got mine at 4.4ghz on stock volts but with very high amps and 97watt tdp... Stays 4.4 through wprime 1024m entire time. IBT bounces around 3.6-4.0ghz all while staying under mid 90C on IBT and much lower on wprime. As you go over 4.4ghz you will need small amounts of voltage added. All of it depends on amps and watts though since you could set 4.5 on stock volts and not crash but amps and watts would need to be lower than that... so since watts and amps would be less you'd find the chip dropping to lower speeds when heated up but stays stable because of that. If you kept same amp/watts and used the 4.5 it would then warrant a voltage increase. This correlation continues on up through its entire operating ranges. So have at it... If your really running cool these chips can run 49x in wprime and 50x in a lighter load... That's 8thread. John K last I knew runs at 48x on a daily basis. Me I use core states disabled to stay at max turbo unless tdp/tdc limits cause the speed to drop. So to get higher peak speeds for light loads and lower speeds for heavy loads use higher max turbo but either amps and or watts a little lower... Otherwise drop speed to match volts supplied or raise volts and deal with the corresponding temp increase.

Widezu btw the long watt limit is 80w in bios menu with baseclock and the sectttion of the bios with primary plane or amperage the listing there for long watt limit has a max of 99 watts there instead... Weird I know but figured id elaborate since you mention something of a bios glitch above.

 

I might be missing something, I have modded A08 and XTU. But when I get into the bios I dont get the overclocking options in step 1. I dont have an XM, I have a 2630QM. Is it because these arent unlocked versions? Im not well versed on anything since the days of 333mmx. Lol, been a long time since I dabbled in overclocking.


System: 17xR3, RAID0 Hybrid momentus XT's, Nvidia 460M, 6gb 1333, 2630QM, 64bit Ultimate, 3D

 

Your 2630 is locked. you won't have multiplier tweaking options. Best you can do is increase your Max turbo TDP to 57w so that you'll have advertised turbo speeds forever...instead of it dropping after 1 min...and increase your BLCK to a conservative 103-104mhz

 

Are both of these hiding in the bios? I dont have the BLCK option like on the screen shots i have seen. But under the ICC options I beleive there is a BCLK option, but the computer locks up if I try to access it.

I bought mostly low end options with the intent of being able to pick up parts over the next year or two cheaply, and possibly better than what was currently offered. Looks like an XM processor is on the list.... speaking of which I thought I read somewhere that the memory speed is limited to 1333 with the 2630, but you can go faster with a different processor?

 

The 1333 thing is a marketing ploy, 1600 works just fine and dandy. Having said that I still plan to upgrade to the 2860QM (keep changing my mind between that and 2920XM), I fear messing with all the overclocking options will become OSD for me.

 

"OSD" haha you mean OCD.

 

first thing you have to do is enable overclocking in the bios.

Go to the advanced menu option

OVERCLOCKING FEATURE [ENABLE]
OVERRIDE TURBO SETTINGS [ENABLED]

Reboot.

 

Hmm, I have the overclocking feature enabled, and everything else still stays greyed out, even after a reboot.

 

Awesome guide widezu69, followed section 1 perfectly. Although I needed Intel XTU version 2.1 for it to work, as the latest version - 3.0 - had everything greyed out for me. Now I can enjoy infinite turbo yay ^_^

I think I max out at 75 degrees on full load (3.3 Ghz on 4 cores) which is something I can most definitely work with.

 

Here is what i have with the modded A08 bios.

 

Where did you get the bios from?

 

@Crash you're in the wrong tab.

Go to the 2nd tab and then scroll down to performance options

 

AHA! I knew I was missing something. Lol

But everything is still greyed out in intel extreme tuning. I guess I need to find 2.1 instead of 3.0?

 

Correct!

I had a hunch and installed the older version and voila, a lot more options could be changed.

You can download it from the same place as 3.0, just make sure you get the older version.

 

too bad my download speed is only 6kb/s right now. Living in a tent sucks!! maybe i'll get some decent speeds after everyone is asleep. Im trying to get the 2.1 tuning utility and the new killer driver

 

Update section 3... or even better, PM me with it

 

Sorry guys. Update 3 will come soon I promise.

 

Giving serious consideration to picking up a 2920XM. Got a 2630QM in my r3 at the moment, reckon the extra 1ghz or so when reasonably overclocked would make a difference when combined with my 6970M?

 

Well the 2630QM runs @2.6GHz on all 4 cores on full load. I use 3.7 on 4, 3.9 on 2 and 4Ghz on 1 core. So yeah you will get a decent boost and the 2920XM is a good investment if you are into OCing and fiddling.

 

Very pointless if gaming, very.

 

Geo did you change all your setup?? what happened (again)?

 

Just flashed the 6990M to a M8900 -> [Softmod] AMD 6970m -> FirePro M8900 *UPDATE* 6990m works too! for a test

and I ordered an OEM 2920XM off eBay for a stupidly cheap price of 320 pound. I'll sell the 2860QM later as well

@widezu69 Can't wait man. Appreciate your work

 

looool wow £320 thats so cheap...

 

Jesus I will I got that kind of deal. Paid a fortune for mine! I'm OCD and need OEMs. Won't settle for QS even though I know there is nothing wrong with them.