Alienware 17 and the i7-4900QM...

So I was reading this thread here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...7-4900mq-isnt-overclocked-factory-how-do.html

Talks about how the 4900QM in the Alienware 18 is not OCed and basically running at less than advertised speeds... is this problem specific to the m18? Or is it the same issue with the Alienware 17?

... a bit disheartening

 

I have an Alienware 17 with a 4900mq and I have tested it with Geekbench and 3DMark 11 with the UTI set to overclock to 4.0gz and with the default setting. When I run the overclock setting I get a better score than with the default setting. Yes, my 4900mq does not run at 4.0gz consistently when being stressed, but when stressed it runs around 3995.26Mhz to @4040Mhz (Core Speed listed in CPU-Z).

 

Is this UTI you speak of in the Bios? ... and was said UTI set that way when you received the machine or did you have to tweak it? Thanks in advance...

 

Hi Turmoil, I am sorry I mistyped the initials. I meant to type UEFI. In the UEFI Firmware you can change out the core ratio limits. It is set to <OC LV 1> with factory preset limits.

 

The Alienware 17 is actually running better then the i7 4900MQ or 4930MX at stock then the Alienware 18. All because of the Core Current limit. Anyway check this thread. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=742785

 

It comes factory overclocked, but it is a locked CPU, so you can't push it further. The level of overclock it comes as from Alienware most "overclockers" here on the forum would not say is an actual overclock, but it technically is - it's a very small overclock that does nothing in regards to performance seen in games. So, yeah, I'd probably say it's not a "real overclock" either.

It shouldn't matter either way. The 4900MQ is more than enough to support gaming on any [gaming] mobile GPU (even the 880M and rumored Maxwell 880MX which isn't even available yet). People are running 780M SLI and 4700MQ and haven't complained about any performance issues. More than 90% of games will utilize much more of the GPU than CPU.

 

It's all about silicon lottery. Someone with a gold sample 4900MQ broke 1000 points in XTU benchmark on his AW 18.

Meanwhile my 4930MX would never go past 950 points. Apart from the fact that I have high ambient temp since I live in a hot region, I didn't win the silicon lottery.

With slight tweak the 4900MQ will run at 4.0GHz on all 4 cores. So in that case, due to heat constraint a 4900MQ is as good as the 4930MX. Also, the AW 18 is more limited in terms of power than the AW 17. Say a 780M has a max TDP of about 120W. With the 240W PSU, the AW 17 has at least 120W for CPU and the rest of the components.

The 18 has a 330W PSU, with dual 780M, that's 240W. That leaves 90W for the CPU and the rest of the components. That's 30W difference, and 30W makes all the difference when you're trying to push to higher oc on the CPU.

All things considered, there's really no point in getting the 4930MX. Unless you're rich, and you're dead set on making your mobile platform as powerful as possible. The m18x R2 didn't have this PSU limitation problem, as one could just do dual PSU mod to get 2x 330W power.

For me, from now on I'd prefer to save up and go for a desktop setup. On a desktop, at least I know ambient temp and heat will be less of an issue (considering the fact that I can put everything under water if I so desire), and PSU limitation won't be an issue.

Also Mr. J.Dre, I noticed that you've been trying to sell the 17 for quite some time now, I'd say more than 2 months now? Just a suggestion from my part, perhaps you should consider lowering the asking price for it.

 

Yeah, I have. I lowered it another $300 yesterday. It's now pretty much as low as it is ever going to be. After the first couple of weeks, I never really expected it to sell to someone on NBR. The people here prefer brand new stuff directly from Alienware, especially at this price. But that doesn't make it worth any less than what I'm asking.

EDIT: Have a few interested people on eBay, though, so I'm assuming it will sell on there eventually.

 

Just be very careful when selling on eBay, make sure you take every steps to make sure you won't be burnt after selling it. eBay could be a pretty treacherous place to sell expensive stuff. They tend to side with the buyers too much. I have had not so nice ppl trying to take advantage of me some time ago when I was selling stuff there.

 

Yeah i'd almost be more attracted to sites like gumtree where all trades are done in person and in cash in a public place.

 

Yeah, I know eBay is risky. I put in the advertisement that the purchase is final and I'm not providing refunds under any circumstances. Hopefully that helps with a dispute, if one should arise.

I am also advertising on Craigslist, but nobody has emailed me. I'm assuming 98% of the people who look to Craigslist for a computer are wanting to spend under $2,000. There's obviously a very small group of people (in my area) who are willing to spend $4,000+ on a laptop.

 

Sorry to dig an older thread up, can owners with the 4900MQ post their temps and whether they repasted?

I think I need a repaste (running without turbo now until I get it repasted, waiting for some Arctic MX-2), hitting up to 100°C but get around 840 Marks on intel XTU. With occasional throttling.

 

It doesn't matter what CPU you have: if you're seeing 100C, you need to re-paste. Hell, if you see 95C+, you should probably re-paste.

 

After re-pasting with liquid ultra my temps dropped from almost 97*C to a healthy 84 to 87*C when running at full load. You just paint this compound on the die and it works wonders.

 

I just had to redo my 4800mq last night as well. I had MX-4 on it but maybe I didn't use enough because I was seeing thermal throttling while stressing using the Intel software. Reapplied with the crappy startech stuff we have at work and man that stuff is garbage....as soon as I started to stress it the system would shut down from hitting thermal limits, and I repplied twice to make sure. Got home, used my MX-4 again and it is sitting happily at 76 while stressing the system with Intel now. The only problem I seem to be running into is it seems to be evaporating after a period of time....

 

This was happening to me as well with arctic silver and prolimatech pk 1 - 3. After switching to the all metal compound of liquid ultra I dont see any more of the weird evaporation. Although you have to be very careful when applying it. As it is all 100% metal. Regardless it being on the gpu and cpu makes a hell of a difference.

 

There is a huge difference between a good and poor application of thermal grease. See the example.

 

Absolutely , but I have been doing this for years and it is my job

Either way I will keep an eye on it, I am actually suspecting that my heat isn't making proper contact and it dries it out in one spot very quickly but I will monitor accordingly.

 

Applied Arctic MX-2 and temps stayed the same for GPU around 75-80°C and CPUdropped from 100°C under load (benchmark intel XTU) to around 85°C

 

I am getting around 77 on the Intel stress test with the MX-4. It spikes to 85ish but thenthe fans kick in and bring it back down to around 75-77 and it seems to hold there for me. I wouldn't say 85 is bad under load either though.

 

Thanks for your temps, sounds like mines acting OK then, tbh it only spikes up to 85 but sits in high 70's usually during load. To be honest room temperature isn't helping being summer here (high 20's) so I suspect its having an impact as well. I would have bought the MX-4 wanted to see how the cheaper MX-2 performed.