Alienware 17 can hold 4930MX?

Hello everyone!
Few days ago i started thinking about Alienware 17... but i need a good CPU, and i don't want SLI, so 17 is the only way.
Some friends told me, that Alienware can't hold 4930MX @4,3GHz and it can barely hold 4900mq @4GHz. So it can hold or not?

Does anyone have Alienware 17 with 4930MX and 780M GPU? I have to confirm this information. I'm worried about it. Thottling and 95+ temps will disqualify Alienware for me.

According to the Notebookcheck review - Review Alienware 17 (Haswell) Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews - the 4800mq is pushing AW17 cooling to the limits - according to the http://www.notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/Notebooks/Alienware/17_GTX_780M/stress2.jpg - 97*c? God... they can't be serious. If it's true, 4930MX with 30% higher TDP will "burn and explode".

Does 4930MX version comes with 3 heatpipes connected to HS? Sorry for bad english ;-)

 

LOL, they said it will burn and explode. I have the 4930MX in my AW 17 and I did not see above 93C (with factory paste) during intense gaming and benchmarks.

After a re-paste, I see mid to high 70's, at the most. I recommend a re-paste as it is pretty hot, but it will not burn and explode.

 

If you want the 4930mx, get the 18. (Better yet, don't get the 4930mx at all.) Maybe AW will fix the 17" model's CPU and PCB cooling one day...

 

Thanks for reply!
Well, @J.Dre are you always using cooling pad etc.? Hard, flat surface? I'm going to use cooling pad but not always. I'm using IC Diamond too.
@Diaphanous i don't want SLI and 18' is too much for me. 17 is thicker and little smaller. And 17 is... cheaper.

So i don't have to worry so much about temps

 

Yes, I use a cooling pad. I also used IC Diamond to re-paste the 4930MX and the temperatures are excellent.

After a re-paste, I saw 79C (max) -- usually 72-75 -- during 3DMark benching, which is very good for an extreme edition CPU.

 

Usually, if a gaming notebook is advertised to hold a high-end changeable Intel CPU (PGA), you can be pretty sure that an extreme edition chip won't make it explode. This applies to machines of all sizes. MXM GPU slots are similar.

The smaller machines (M14x, W230ST, GE40, etc.) won't let you enjoy an XM chip's full potential, but you can still get higher frequencies with single-threaded workloads.

 

Is this with the cooling pad?

 

So, good cooling pad with 3 fans + IC Diamond 24 carat will help Alien to hold 4930MX under 85*c under 4h 100% load? It's not so bad. I was afraid that nothing will help improve cooling in AW. Thank you for advice
Now i just have to wait till Black Friday...

 

Yes.

@Knight: It also depends on the temperature of your room. It's winter, so it's cool in my room. I'm assuming on hot days it will get into the low 80's, which is still acceptable with a CPU. It definitely won't blow up, LOL.

 

Yes, it's quite cold. And I'm always cleaning notebook cooling every ~~14/21 days. And repasting every 60 days. Is it possible to OC 4930MX to ~~ 4.5GHz with good temperatures (under 90*c) motherboard will hold it? I know... 4.5GHz in laptop is almost suicide but...

 

You re-paste every 60 days? What?

No, you can't overclock it because Alienware has not released an unlocked BIOS for the 4930MX. This issue exists on both the AW 18 and AW 17.

 

What about modified bios? It's not a problem. And for GPU modified bios is "Must have it!".
Anyway, 4300MHz would be enough to hold all compilations/calculations for next 2 years + games for more than 2 years

Yes, i'm repasting every 60 days CPU, GPU every 3-4 months I hate any thottling (it's just killing me from inside). Comfortable work > all. And i just... like it.

 

But you do need some time for the paste to stabilize before you can see its full performance, you know.

 

really depends on the paste. Not all thermal compounds require a setting time.

 

Yeah it diamond is good but man does it stain the die. Took mine off yesterday for a repaste and there was scratches and stains all over it. Kinda pissed me off.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk

 

Yeah, the application of IC Diamond is hard and annoying. Arctic Cooling MX-2/MX-4 is way easier to applicate.

 

If you have XTU, run a five minute CPU stress test, this will test its true potential.

 

I've read the Alienware 17 review on notebookcheck.net too. One of the reasons why it hits high 90's in the review is because they're running absolute 100% load on it using Prime95. Now, I'm of a believer that a notebook should have it's cooling designed to support this, as it's the worst case scenario. Most of the temperatures in this thread seem to be reported after gaming use or during GPU benchmarks. The CPU just won't be hit hard beyond about 50% cpu usage in these instances, which is one reason why the temperatures could look low. If you're going to be buying the notebook to do extremely CPU intensive work that's going to push it to 100% cpu usage, then I suggest you ask people to run Prime95 and for them to report their temperatures and stable clocks after 10 - 15 minutes of running Prime95.

EDIT: looking at that review in more detail it seems as though the 4800MQ throttled to it base clock during that test - 2.7Ghz: that's pretty rubbish in my eyes.

 

The CPU test in the 3DMark package got my CPU way above 50% usage.

 

I would need modified bios (anti-throttling). It's not a problem. Anyway, IC Diamond 24 + NotePad U3 and it should be enough. Hmmm... XoticPC have upgraded cooling options if I'm not wrong. So they probably... have triple heat-sink for CPU?

"COPPER COOLING UPGRADE - Extra Cooling Copper Heatsinks Applied to the Heatsink/Heatpipes" hmmm... interesting.

 

Yes, for about 1 or 2 minutes during the CPU test, and during the GPU tests probably no more than 75% usage for 3-5min periods.

 

Unless they made a custom heat sink for the AW 17, I doubt they'll give you a triple-pipe. There simply isn't enough room for the triple-pipe as it is now. You'll need to email or call them and ask.

 

What do your temperatures & clocks stabalise at if you run Prime95 for 10 minutes continuous? (I know that's not relevant to everyday usage for most users, but this guy seems like he might be using 100% CPU for extended periods of time during his work perhaps - so Prime95 temperatures & clocks could be relevant in his case).

 

I'm not seeing anything above 80C. I re-pasted, though. Before that I would see like 93C. I definitely recommend a re-paste with the 4930MX.

I'd recommend the 4900MQ over the 4930MX right now because you can't overclock this thing and the 4900MQ comes with an unlocked BIOS. So, you'd technically get better performance from the 4900MQ because of this, and save $600+.

 

Sounds like good advice. So, not above 80 degC for 10 mins of Prime95, I'm surprised by that? What do your clocks stabilise at during the test? (If you're getting the full 4 core turbo at less than 80degC on Prime95, that's very good).

 

My last Prime95 run: CPUID shows:

Spoiler

• Core #0: 79C
• Core #1: 83C
• Core #2: 81C
• Core #3: 78C
• Package: 83C

So, yeah, it did get above 80C. Not by much, though. It usually stays around 77C - 79C with the fans at full blast and a cooling pad on.

 

That's good! What did the clocks stabalise at? (after 10mins)

 

I wonder what clocks and temperatures it would maintain without a cooling pad.

 

What is you CPUs fan CFM rated at?

 

I didn't mess with the fan profiles. My external cooler is running three fans at 3,000 RPM pushing cool air into the bottom of the system, where Alienware conveniently put a ton of grills. My room is pretty cool, too. It's like 67 degrees Fahrenheit in my room. I doubt these temperatures are consistent. If I were to run the test on a warm day, I bet it'd get into the high 80's, low 90's easy, which is still not too warm for such a test. Although, if I were to run this test on a warm day, I would have custom fan profiles and have them on 100% the entire time, which should keep the temperatures steady.

 

He's talking about this http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...mod-idea-share-your-knowledge-opinions-4.html

 

Oh, well, I didn't change the fan. I'm assuming it's 3CFM. It may be worth while grabbing those 11CFM fans, though.

 

Well, until Dell decides when is suitable to release the triple pipe htsnk for the M17...after all the forums feedback on R3/R4 XM ?.....

 

Hi, I've asked you 3 times already what your clocks stabilised at during your Prime95, and you've not responded, someone else asked you too (if you don't want to divulge then just say so). I also asked you if you ran Prime95 for at least 10 minutes to allow temperatures to reach their maximum. You obviously don't have to answer, but the clocks your CPU stabilised at when combined with the length of the Prime95 run shows the true potential of your CPU under worst case scenario. If you don't confirm these things people reading your temperatures aren't getting the full picture. (And yes, I know Prime95 is not a realistic environment for most users, but the OP specifically wanted a fast CPU and it sounded like he was going to be running it at full whack for extended periods). Can you let us know the answers to these questions? (You can use Intel Turbo Boost Monitor to view in real time as you run the Prime95 test, or you can use Throttlestop, or CPUZ, and probably a million other programs). Here's the link to Intel Turbo Boost Monitor:

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=19105

 

I didn't monitor anything except temperatures during the last test because that's all I cared about at the time. And yes, it ran the entire test... I did that when I re-pasted, and now I'm planning on selling my system. I didn't answer your question because I don't have an answer. I haven't done anything demanding with my AW for a while now because I'm selling it. My intentions were to put this thing through a lot of tests, but Alienware ducked out of our deal, and I'm no longer keeping the system.

EDIT: My computer has been returned to factory state and awaits shipment. Maybe someone else can answer for you. I'd be a little concerned, though, running this test straight from Alienware. I bet the temperatures would get up to 95C, easy, with that factory paste.

 

Fair enough, thanks for the reply.

 

I think about the Topic/Thread in which the owners of Alienware can share their temperatures in Prime95 and FurMark.
so that everyone can check if their temperatures are normal