Alienware 17R1 4930mx

I wasn't sure what to title this because this is not a guide nor am I an authority. The 4930mx is a decent cpu and is great for the 17r1 but the heat put out by this little devil can really be a hassle. I have been working on taming it for the better part of 2 years and in that time I have seen a lot of opinions and options put out by people who know and have worked on these laptops for sometime. I've adapted and modified some things but for the most part all credit goes to @Mr. Fox and @unclewebb. There are a lot of roadblocks for the 4930mx in the bios and that's where this starts.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ly-have-it-run-full-stock-turbo-speed.734696/

The Bios:

In the stock bios there is a tab for overclocking on the mx sku cpus. Setting the average 4930mx to 1.2v at 43x multiplier and raising the max power limit is the key here but the cpu has bios protections that disallow consistent overclocks. These settings are C-States, Energy Efficient P-States, VR Faults and VR Efficient Faults. Disabling these and setting your settings to Mr. Fox's 4930mx guide will get you to 4.3ghz theoretically.

The Heat:

The next issue is the tremendous heat this thing will put out. The culprits are the TIM used by dell, the stock heatsink and the stock fan. I recommend Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut Liquid Metal but at least get some ICD7. The stock heatsink is flimsy and not up to the task of duking it out with this demon. You should step up your heatsink game with one of these. https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Heats-Fo...651269&hash=item3acd6c81b6:g:jSAAAOSw8HBZMWj2

This alone will not save your cpu and keep it from throttling. The stock fan is the weak point here and although some alternatives have been presented like the m14xr2 cpu fan it has made little difference for me and I just use the stock fan on my 17.

The Software:

Even after all this you will be frustrated and demoralized by the fact that your cpu still throttles even after everything you've done. This is where throttle stop steps in. I will share my settings but some of you may be able to get lower temps by running at lower voltages. My cpu can run at 1.15v at 4200mhz without throttle and without a crazy amount of heat. Mileage will vary. Also I recommend getting some thermal pads on the motherboard vrms that sit right underneath the heatsink tubes and behind the cpu if you are facing it. I don't know if this helps a lot but it did take the edge off of vrm throttling.

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I cant go higher than 3.8Ghz without VR Therm tripping. Essentially anything above 55w. Im hoping I can fix this with some heatsinks on what I believe to be the VRMs (under the heatpipe?)

Ill start looking into a cooling pad. I remember people were modding the Cooler Master U3 back in the day with positive results, maybe I can do the same...

 

http://hwbot.org/submission/2852892_papusan_cinebench___r15_core_i7_4930mx_857_cb

Still a respectable CBR-15 score from an old mobile i7 from early 2013. Today's so called high end mobile BGA Crap score's aint much better (this 4.5 years after Haswell Hotwell was released)

This below is what review sites like NBC call high end nowadays https://hwbot.org/benchmark/cineben...Id=processor_5361&cores=4#start=0#interval=20

 

You shouldn't need to do that. The chip is very capable of those speeds without additional mods.

 

I wish I had a better chip. yours is the best. I can get 4.5ghz but it throttles quickly.

 

Have you tried Wprime 1024M and checked max temp? No point in 4.5GHz if the chips start throttling. Better let it run 4.2/4.3GHz. Damn, It's Hotwell http://hwbot.org/submission/3005419_papusan_wprime___1024m_core_i7_4930mx_2min_47sec_460ms

 

VR Thermal limit is killing anything above 3.8Ghz for me. Fixing it is my only option at this point. I cant even test to see how far I can go with it until I can get the VRMs under control.

Even when temps are kept around 75C VRM limit still kicks in and throttles the CPU to about .92v @ 3.0Ghz

I am hoping I can resolve this with some heatsinks and more airflow.

 

you are overlooking something. your cpu is performing under stock. that tells you that something is wrong. have you checked your bios settings? what have you changed? your cpu should at least be able to maintain 3.7ghz at stock voltage without throttle otherwise its worse than a 4800mq

how do you have your voltage setup? it sounds like you are starving your cpu. .92v is very low for the 4930mx. it may be why it's under performing.

 

.92v is what is applied after VR Thermal limit reason is tripped to reduce the package power, once under control it goes back to default 1.2v

I tried starting at 1.2v default just to see what it would achieve at that point but at that time I was overheating with the stock heatsink. With the new heatsink and settings applied I get the VR Therm power limit reason probably 7 seconds into any stress test. As I can easily get around 6.4 or there abouts at 4.4Ghz in the 32m TS bench. 1024m will result in VR Therm limit reason.

You guys have the overclocking feature enabled in the BIOS via BIOS or cTDP ? I assume it was the former to get the power time limits set appropriately. I guess I can always reset the BIOS defaults and try again, I wouldnt be surprised if I altered something when I was testing without the internet.

 

cTDP is Trash!!

 

I havent used it lol, but just wanted to confirm I was going about this correctly.

I loaded defaults in the BIOS and disabled C states along with energy efficient p states.

then loaded into OS, disabled VR options in TS. No dice, still getting VR therm limit for anything over 55w.

Heres hoping I can resolve the VRM temps when the copper shows up.

Right now I can get a 721 in R15 @ 4.2Ghz but I am power throttling to 3.0Ghz throughout maybe half the benchmark.

 

have you disabled vr limits in bios?

 

What is cTDP exactly? I can't find any documentation on what it is. I have this option set and it might explain why I can't set my multipliers any higher than 42x without getting a BSOD.

 

Configurable TDP.
Some insights into How Dell cripple performance. Old tech but in Emperor's new clothes.

Edit. More info https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_design_power#Configurable_TDP

Started with Ivy Bridge. As stated before... It’s Trash!!

 

Thank you very much for the info Papusan. I could not find that anywhere and google did not want to help me.

 

Yeah, I know Just use some...

 

I have had similar issues for the 2 or so years I have owned my aw17. VRM thermal throttling is always the cause for me too. I got VRM thermal throttling even with everything set to completely stock. The only reason I have had any luck is with major undervolting. I am using a modified U3 notebook cooler with high cfm 120mm fans mounted directly under the cpu and gpu inlets. I have the m14x fans on both CPU and GPU. (Gpu side made a bigger difference but thats a different topic). I tried adding thermal pads to my VRMs but what happened is the cpus temps caused the heatsink to actually heat the VRMs faster which caused even more VRM throttling. I removed the pads and got my 4ghz stable again but if I push 4.1 i need more voltage and all the nightmares return. The only mod I havent tried is the 4 pipe heatsink.

 

Yeah I added mosfet copper heatsinks to mine and no luck.

VRM limit seems to have nothing to do with CPU temperature, I get throttled even when I am running 4.0Ghz, temp is at 80C, sometimes spiking 83C and still throttling. Usually 75C.

Ill check for VR limits in the BIOS right now.

Sorry I would have replied sooner, it seems this forum has a problem with notifications....

EDIT: Didnt really see anything baoutVR limits in the BIOS, would you be able to tell me what sub group it falls under?

I wonder if I can get chichen to design a heatpipe to go over the VRM's and just sell it individually

I still cant hold anything over 55w package power.

 

Im in contact with chichen ebay reseller and proposing him the idea of a heatpipe that runs the length of the VRMs to the fin array. Since his company designs and manufactures the heatsink we purchased getting a heatpipe out shouldnt be too difficult.

I like my 4930mx but disappointed in the 17r1 motherboard, I cant hold anything above 3.5Ghz due to VRM thermal limit

 

Have you tested with MQ processors on same MB?

 

My 4930mx can hold upwards of 90 watts. I've owned 3 and all of them could do that. The motherboard is pretty good man. Something else is going on.

 

I do have a 4700mq, 4800mq but Im running low on Liquid metal. I do have NTH1 but its not good enough for the 4930mx (w/ overclocking in mind)

Any ideas on what to look at? If it werent for VR Therm limit I could easily hold 4.4Ghz, 4.5Ghz requires a lot of voltage and would likely need more heatpipes for daily operation. R6 Siege will trip VR therm limit and CPU throttles to sub 3.0Ghz for a moment before going back to my applied settings.

Ill take a look in the BIOS again. The only additional item I changed was disabling BDPROCHOT in BIOS. Though that had no effect.

EDIT: Spoke with the ebay seller cicichen and he has told me that making a heatpipe to cover the VRMs would be a simple task.

The real work would be from cutting the frame and attaching the heatpipe to the fin array to allow for the heat to be dumped properly for displacement. We can either cut the currently existing fins but I have been considering the idea of re-using the aluminum fins from the OEM heatsink so no cuts to the aftermarket heatsink have to be made.

cicichen has taken some pictures of heatpipes that could work for this, I am in the process of asking permission to share them here with you guys.

@loafer987 I figure you may be interested in this to also resolve your VR thermals, ill be sure to keep you in the loop as I learn more.

 

I apologize for the double post, I am going to reinstall Windows in a moment because Win10 keeps randomly stating that my license is not valid so I will be dropping off some pictures and last minute details from my testing.

These are the pictures from cicichen, he said it was ok to post them.



I believe these are the size they use in modern smartphones. We would be able to use .5mm thermal pads on the bottom and top of the pipes for fitting. I may take some more measurements to see if a thicker heatpipe is viable for use. Since a few of us use his products hes happy to provide another product for purchase knowing its not a simple bolt on upgrade like his heatsinks that he currently offers. Well at least I hope that is the case, he is based in China so there may be some language barrier preventing the finer details from being communicated.

Lastly, there was my last run on R15. I tripped VR Thermal limit even at 3.5Ghz. IA: VR Thermal limit, IA: ElectrialDesign Point, Ring: VR Thermal Limit and RING: Max VR Voltage, ICCmax, PL4.

Im going to reinstall Windows after using another key. I think I can use Windows 8 and upgrade still but ill be checking before I go through with that.

Lastly with the m14xr2 fan, we can force max fan in HWINFO, however since the fans are different the GPU fan I think turns off. Still works out fan I think for benching CPU alone but just wanted to drop that by you guys. The max it will allow is 7000rpm.

@loafer987 @EepoSaurus @Papusan @Ashtrix

 

Stop the Panic! Users Will Be Able to Avail Free Windows 10 Upgrade Offer Even After December. All yoo need is <give> them your genuine Windows 7 or 8.1 key

 

Yep! Thatswhat I plan to do, I was testing my m4600 with Windows 10 before using it on what ever laptop I got next. Like a fool I forgot that its tied to the motherboard. I still have Windows 8 key from dream spark. So I just have to install 8 then upgrade to 10. No biggie there

 

Any update about the HS for Processor MOSFETs?

@TheReciever, do you have the CICICHEN email?, I want to ask him about a cooper HEATSINK for my 1070.

 

He makes a 5 heatpipe heatsinks for the Rangers GPU.

He hasnt gotten back to me about the heatpipe though, and I havent had time to dive back into modding. I will after school is finished though.

I dont have an email but his ebay contact.

http://www.ebay.com/usr/cicichen594?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2754

 

Long time since I posted Cpu bench from my Alienware 17. From the last normal and decent 17,3 inches laptop from Dellienware factory. But here it is... Cinebench R15 and Wprime 1024M
http://hwbot.org/submission/3740465_papusan_cinebench___r15_core_i7_4930mx_865_cb/


http://hwbot.org/submission/3740456_papusan_cinebench___r15_core_i7_4930mx_867_cb/


http://hwbot.org/submission/3740449_papusan_wprime___1024m_core_i7_4930mx_2min_47sec_323ms/


*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 and M17x Benchmark Thread - Part 4 is closed

 

A few new benchmarks from my old Alienware 17 (the last true AW17 from Dell's factory). @Ashtrix +++ all not mentioned, but not forgotten.

https://hwbot.org/submission/3843980_papusan_cinebench___r15_core_i7_4930mx_876_cb


https://hwbot.org/submission/3843983_papusan_superpi___1m_core_i7_4930mx_8sec_384ms


https://hwbot.org/submission/3844005_papusan_wprime___32m_core_i7_4930mx_5sec_280ms

 

Any way to fix the vr tripping? I'm getting it as well

EDIT: I put some thermal pads on the vrms and now I'm not getting vr throttling. Thanks to @EepoSaurus and @TheReciever for the awesomeness in this thread

 

Yeah I think my main issue was the board was on its way out I just didn't know about it definitively. The AC adapter blew when I got the laptop and likely damaged some of the power delivery mechanisms.

Haven't overclocked on the replacement board yet though

 

Pads seem to fix at least for me but I would like to know how to control this new turbo fan I have for the CPU. Not familiar with what dptf is

 

Hey @EepoSaurus

Do you happen to remember the specific number used to unlock the turbo time and currents etc. I seem to recall it may have been something like 42766 or does it not matter?

I am about to revisit OCing in my Ranger now that I have a different board and have been getting the parts together for overhauling my heatsink.

I remember seeing it on the forum so ill keep searching in the meantime.

EDIT: Got it, its 32767 lol

 

@TheReciever
I have a spare ranger. Complete short of a graphics card. It has a 4930mx too if you need a cpu

 

Im still running mine at the moment, but if the lottery on my CPU sucks I'll be sure to contact you.