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

Ok, here's the test with Furmark 1.9.1:

Settings


Burn-in test

Spoiler

Is the temperature of the GPU normal? 78 degrees Celsium seems a little bit high to my understandings...

Cheers!

EDIT: This was not supposed to be posted here...

- MOD EDIT: yes it was! benchmark results should be posted here. Also crossposting is not allowed! -

 

Spoiler

I get even higher temps with furmark, around 81 and 78 while gaming stock clocks. So you shouldn't worry

 

Spoiler

78C isn't really that high.
imight wanna run prime95 for a bit if you wanna stress you CPU, but that's up to you. Furmark is designed for graphics card torturing, Prime95 is the CPU torture. I'll post more things as I think of them.

 

Yeah, but still, as I explained before, the CPU doesn't clock above 800 MHz unless I start ThrottleStop once at least. It's a bug, I've found a couple of threads in this and other forums. And it's not uncommon thing among other laptop brands, like HP and Asus as well, they are also suffering from non-working speedstep...

I'm really unhappy with this machine now. I am in a process of reading throughout forums of what can I do to fix this issue but it seems more & more that I will have to contact support again.

At least, could anyone here give me some hints on how to improve the performance, I can live with ThrottleStop workaround for now, but why are my 3D Mark scores so low???

 

ill do a stock 06 run in a sec to compare, are you in powersaver mode? that might cause issues.

here is my score at stock clocks. Wonder whats cause you so many issues?

 

Ok,

Sorry MODS!

I created the post here by mistake and then tried to copy the same post into the right thread. But now I saw that was deleted

Anyway...
Here's my stock result in 06 and I'm definetly not in PowerSave mode:
AMD Radeon HD 6970M / 6990M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2630QM Processor,Alienware M17xR3 score: 14107 3DMarks

Cheers!

 

Seems like you have a problem with your GPU : no information on core & memory speed. Why don"t you use you waranty to let a tech replace your cpu/motherboard if needed ?

 

Thanks for the effort! I guess that my score can be improved a bit by using better drivers, but I really cannot say if I should compare to your overall result because you have different graphics card. Could you please share your CPU score only? Offtopic: I am under the impression that nVidia based cards score higher results than ATI when comparing the same class of hardware. Is that true?

I don't know if I have a problem with the GPU. Sometimes it reports it fine, sometimes it doesn't. I guess it's a driver issue. And I already changed both my motherboard and GPU, due to failure in the old parts...

I compared some results from other community members which have HD6970M and the same or similar CPU specs. It turns out that I'm close to their score so I guess I don't have much to talk about now
Probably will have to upgrade the CPU to get better results. I've reinstalled all drivers with latest versions and even spent some time researching ways of using AMD drivers for the GPU. Ended up installing 11.11a drivers and now I feel the machine is stable enough, runs smooth and I'm enjoying some fine gameplay.

Cheers!

 

nah, my card is actually not as good as yours as to the CPU score, do you want a 3dmark06 run or a vantage run?

Edit: gonna do a vantage run real fast for ya

 

Thanks again!

If your card is "not as good" as mine then are you suggesting that I should be getting better score? I was just about to settle with my current scores and now you started the fire again...

 

well if I run vantage stock I'm only hitting about 8500 with the current drivers I have gotten over 9000 stock and overclocked I get over 10k. I'm sure you could easily beat that anyway here is my CPU score, hope it helps you

Spoiler

 

My result:

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z92/chaotic_george/ResultCPUOCed.png

My Clevo 6990M can't be clocked more than 860/1060 unfortunately, memory just spazzes out (I game at 830/1030). Doesn't really show its potential in benchmarks, but beasts at games.

I can just about hit 16k on GPU max, but not anymore, as the beta drivers don't really help xP

CPU is at 100.1Mhz BCLK with Unlimited Turbo, guess I could push it more but I don't really need to

 

Hi There,

I'm a longtime lurker of these forums but not a frequent poster. I find them the most useful source ANYWHERE to get the best answers that even the laptop manufacturers themselves seem to have trouble answering when speaking to technical support/customer service.

With that, I've tried to search this thread to get information on the m17x r3 580m throttling issue, but nothing comes up. (So I've tried to research this question before blindly re-asking).

Could anyone give me a sense of whether the 580m throttling is a serious issue for someone who won't likely be overclocking their GPU in the m17x r3? I'm essentially choosing between two identical r3's for the same price with the only difference being 580m or 6990m.

Thanks very much!

 

^ widezu69 is like Jesus when it comes to the 580M. Check out his thread about it here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...throtting-fix-no-need-modify-system-bios.html

Once that is done and a *decent* thermal re-paste job by yourself, you shouldn't get any throttling at all. Lifting the back of the laptop with like a book will drop your temps on top of that too, since the laptop will be able to draw in more air. Bam, easy.

 

Thanks GeoCake!

Do you know if the 580m is likely to get throttled during regular use? Or is it something that will only come up in an overclocked situation?

I notice you seemed to have chosen the 6990m route...

 

Well, once you have done everything above it should not throttle even when overclocked for gaming...

I have a 6990M because I just took it from my previous laptop.

 

Thanks Geo, yeah check the throttling fix thread.

All the info is there. Te fix also helps regular use. just making things stabler. The 6990m is a good buy but the 580m is a good investment. Requires work but will be fully unleashed when you get to know it.

 

I agree. Since I use widezu's method. Not even a single pb in games and benchies. From my point of view, the 2 cards have the same performance, the 580 have a huge o/c poential and drivers are betters.

 

Thank you both of you, +rep!

Although I've put together a desktop or two in the past, I'm not sophisticated enough for tasks like re-applying thermal paste to a laptop GPU. Therefore, I likely won't be tweaking voltage and the like in my m17x r3.

Your guide looks pretty awesome a simple widezu69, thanks for putting that together.

Another quick question widezu69 - how often do you update your r3 drivers? Which ones are you using now?

Thanks again!

 

I update them whenever I see there is something new on the Dell site. Apart from the Killer ones and the nvidia ones where I use the ones from their respective websites.

 

Sorry I should've specifically designated. I meant the 580m drivers. Which ones do you use currently or where is the best place to find the latest drivers other than the derelict Dell site?

 

Bro, the best place is Nvidia...get the verde mobile drivers. If for whatever reason, it doesn't install, you'll probably need a modded inf...go here:

NVIDIA & Laptop News | Latest NVIDIA drivers and related news | laptopvideo2go.com

 

Ah of course here you go:
Graphics Driver - Verde 290.36 Driver - GeForce

Problems with these is that you lose HDMI in, and sleep doesn't function properly for 3D users. Other than that they perform well and have the latest BF3 optimizations.

 

you done any benching on these drivers? they have seemed to lower my scores

 

I don't bench @stock so I can't say but yeah they may lower the score a bit. They do provide better gaming etc especially for 3D although MW3 3D is broken for some reason, no biggy finished that in one sitting all about BF3 now.

Best scores I've had are with 285.38 although I don't really recommend using older drivers for everyday gaming.

 

alright thanks, was just kinda curious why my gfx scores suddenly dropped.

 

Finally got my stock results looking normal again:
3D Mark '06: http://3dmark.com/3dm06/16300859?resultType=3dm06&resultId=16300859
3D Mark Vantage: AMD Radeon HD 6970M / 6990M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2630QM Processor,Alienware M17xR3 score: P12593 3DMarks

Specs are: Absolutely stock Alienware M17x R3 i7 2630qm / HD6970M 2GB DDR5 / 8GB DDR3 1333 / 750 GB 7200 rpm Seagate
Running on Win 7 64-bit Home Premium with 11.11a AMD graphics driver.

 

Thank you guys again! Alienware customer service should be paying you in gift cards or something.

 

glad to see you got that fixed, now go play some games

 

Maybe because they are not WHQL one ?
Personaly, the best score I had was with 280.26 drivers.

 

*sigh* where are all the benches. Come on peeps this is a benchmark thread. Push your systems to the limit and then some more!

 

i'd love to post some benches, but my system isn't up to speed with you crazy's on this thread lol

 

The do some folding!

 

Crazy it up! You don't have to post to be the fastest of them all. Benching is a good way of showing what you and your system are capable of achieving. Also can be a good indication of what to expect from your specific spec.

PS My benches are never that crazy. I don't use any auxiliary cooling, no Dice no nothing. Just the book. Friggin' extreme man!

 

Haha, I think I'm about done benching my system till I get a "special" single 6970 in the mail. After that it may be some volt moded 940XMs benches, but for now since I don't have much time, I'm spending my system resources folding while I'm away from it. It's been folding straight since Thursday, and I fired up the M11x last night. CUDA is great for folding Now I just need to give my GPUs an overclock for some quicker folding action...moar points!! lol

 

Is that 6970m from a certain Swiss friend of ours ? Anyway what is "folding"? I'm confused...

 

Check the link in my sig for a better understanding of folding. It's a lot to type out again

Your correct, I do have a swiss 6970 in the mail Can't wait to give it a whirl

 

I totally agree... they don't need to be crazy or the fastest to have fun and show potential buyers how great these machines are. Let's face it, our Alien beasts running in a stock configuration are way faster than most of the so called "gaming notebooks" out there. That's definitely something to celebrate.

 

Ok, you crazy guys have convinced me

Expect some 3dmarks soon

 

All right! That's what I'm talk'n 'bout.

 

^^^^
Not now, but RIGHT NOW!
Whatcha waiting on Xmas!
Fast! We are jones'ing right now..

 

rolling back to the better nivida benching drivers and then i'll post some scores. Don't expect to much from my 460m though

 

Most of us just like to see new benches from time to time. The good, the bad and the ugly. We don't care..

 

best run I have personally ever had just need to get an extreme processor, and my 6990m working and then I can really have some fun

Spoiler

 

nice!
your run beat this guy here.

Spoiler

 

Good job, Big T! See, your Alien already stomped an Asus with a 460M. That's got to feel good.

 

Mate us Aliens stomp over anything in it's equivalent class.

 

yeah, lots of asus people do not like alienware!
that goes for a few in the sager forums as well.

brother fox, can you go over there and check to see that im not out of line. thanks!
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/631221-gtx580m-weird-pricing-discuss-2.html#post8154905

 

Agreed... don't mess with an Alien and expect to live to tell about it.

 

haha thanks everybody, I might try and push it higher we shall see. Waiting for dell to ship me a new palm rest, Chassis, media bar, and Mobo since they refuse to replace my machine. would have been fun to play with a 560m and see how High I could push that.