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

Very nice! But i doubt it will benefit us amd users since there is no vram chip on the other side.

 

@widezu: Phobya pads? Aren't they really hard? When I got some of them they were almost incompressible... no use in notebooks since the heatsink doesn't apply a lot of pressure.

 

Yeah well I got them as the description claimed you could compress them up to half. You can't. I got 0.5mm and 1mm ones, 0.5 wasn't enough and 1mm was just a bit too thick but I stuck with the 1mm ones. I think they are ok. I can't get fujipoly ones anywhere here

 

Beat my scores by a teeny weeny bit, every little helps

AMD Radeon HD 6970M / 6990M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2920XM Processor,Alienware M17xR3 score: P18141 3DMarks





45/45/45/45
5 Flex
1080 Priplane
BCLK 99.4

As you can see the temps are pretty much touching thermal shutdown.. any voltage increase gives too much heat. No voltage increase at 45x across means no boot or BSOD

44/44/44/44
0 Flex
880 Priplane
100.5 BCLK

Is perfectly stable and gives the the same result as the post above this one

 

Nice! That's a great result. Got to get my act together and try it out

 

I think it's time for a thermal re-paste... temps just get higher by 1 degree a day, quite noticable

And yeah, widezeu get your act together!! Wanna see you posting some benches

 

Nice scores again, GeoCake.

Using your settings as a starting point, here is what I was able to achieve... LINK - thanks again, bro.

 

GeoCake, Mr. Fox, super runs. What are you fellows using for Long Duration and Short Duration Power Limits?

 

Mad!

Isn't the M17x R3 CPU cooling the same as in the M18x - a similar 2-pipe heatsink?
Temperatures just go through the roof if I increase the voltage, which is required for me for anything 45x or higher. Yet you seem to keep them under control?! 25 Flex!?!
Also I can't work out why my BCLK refuses to go higher than 100.5, could it be the HyperX?

For benching I just disable the short boost and set the main one on 99w for max possible power.

 

The M18x has shorter heatpipes. Basically, the heat doesn't even travel much before it is dissipated by the fins. Slightly more efficient cooling.

Anyways, I got it to boot @45x with 1080 priplane like you said and 10flex because I'm using 100Mhz bclk. Will try benching later when I get time.

 

As Geo mentions, totally disable Short Duration... causes more harm than good. That tip from Geo worked out excellent for me. Also disable the non-turbo flex support and disable the L1-L3 overclocking. Having them enabled with manual settings seems to make my system buggy, but it is rock solid with them disabled. I am running 99 for Long Duration power and 56 for Time Window.

I will post some BIOS screen shots in the next day or so. For now, if you click the web page links to my 3DMark scores you will see the BIOS settings I used for Vantage and 3DMark11. These settings were added to the comments section just below the 3DMark score.

You have to increase flex to maintain higher BCLK to avoid BSOD. To run at 105MHz I need at least 30-35 Flex VID.
Freq : 4903.33 MHz (100.07 * 49)

This 4.9GHz clock speed is with Flex VID set at 60, only 2 cores enabled in BIOS, HT disabled and C states disabled and Pri Plane set to max (8191). At Pri Plane 0, press the minus (-) key once. Try disabling C states instead of using T-Stop and this effectively keeps the cores running at or near full speed even at idle without CPU load. The CPU can run at very high GHz at idle. It's only the load that causes heat. Vantage does not load the CPU much, so it stays cool most of the run. If you start having freezing in Vantage or 3DMark11, increase your Flex VID a few points. I had to do lots of experimenting with different combinations of Flex VID and Pri Plane to not run into a BSOD. I am now running 47x on 4 cores without overheating under load with BCLK at 100, flex at 10 and Pri Plane at 935.

If the Flex VID is too low you cannot increase BCLK without getting the 0x124 or 0x01E stop errors. If you increase Flex VID and Pri Plane in unison, with small changes from stable settings, it seems to work better. Flex VID up to 10 is very stable at 100MHz. Increasing Flex VID to around 25 or 30 you should be able to run at 104-105MHz BCLK with around 935-950 Pri Plane without overheating or crashing. I have to change the settings between Vantage and 3DMark11 just slightly to get good results.

For what it's worth gents, I am having far more success using just the BIOS for manual settings. I find that results using XTU can be inconsistent and sometimes causes crashing that does not occur after setting things manually in the BIOS. I only use XTU to set multipliers above 45x, reboot and wait for XTU to load to confirm the new multipliers, then reboot a second time (to stop XTU from loading with Windows) with new multipliers. Simply stay off the BIOS screen for setting multipliers from that point forward. The multiplier settings from XTU stick as long as you do not re-enter that screen. Once you have the multipliers set where you want them, you can make the Flex VID, memory speeds and voltage, and other settings from other screens. (I am assuming the M17x unlocked BIOS has the same secondary menus as the M18x. That is one of the reasons I will post BIOS screen shots, so you can compare the menus.)

 

The unlocked R3 and M18x bios are the same apart from multiplier control which the R3 has none of. It the bios had that, then I could just remove XTU completely. I only need XTU to manage multis.

 

Constantly getting shutdowns at 45x. Defo hitting the 100C on the Vantage CPU test (it is stressing my CPU insanely). I am going to do a re-paste tomorrow, and have a look inside. Just seems strange that when I put my hand on the vent the air that's coming out isn't really as hot.. even my idle GPU seems to be giving out hotter air :/

100 BCLK, 935 Pri Plane and 10 Flex looks like the perfect combo for 45x, no BSODs!

Thanks for the tips Brother Fox.

 

Is that on 44x?

 

45x

44x needs 880 Pri Plane and 0 Flex. Never had a shutdown.

45x needs the 10 Flex and gets too hot on Vantage atm

 

You're totally welcome. That was the least I could do to return the favor for your helpful tips. If you ever get a freeze or hang in benching with the "driver stopped responding and successfully recovered" message, changing flex to 11 might stop it. (This error message and freezing is why I am using different flex and Pri Plane settings for Vantage and 3DMark11.) Through trial and error I found the lowest settings possible for each benchmark that produced no BSOD, freezing or driver error messages while not elevating temps.

Edit: what prompted me to try different settings for different benchmarks was looking closely at the differences between benching screen shots for johnksss. It seems that no two of his top scoring benches use the same settings. With that in mind, I experimented more.

Does the M17x R3 have the menu for thermals? If it does, you can raise the CPU throttle point to 90°C and thermal shutdown threshold to 110°C or 120°C

 

^^This, change the throttle and shut down trip points.

Edit: so now my settings are 11flex, 960priplane and 99w with short power off. Need to run some actual benches. I'll wait till my living room gets cold again. Snow is on the way

 

Well I just hit 30k thanks to my freezer. My mum is shouting at me but pics in a sec ^_^



I had to hold half of the laptop inside and put a pack of tissues between screen and keyboard so it would run Vantage xD

 

Woooo! Nice! There you go shows that I can be done. What are your settings?

 

Same as Brother Fox:

45x @ Priplane 930, 10 Flex, 100 BCLK

I will defo check out the other options now.

EDIT Gonna be -4 here outside soon!

 

Nice. +rep and here's mine. Specs are 2 posts up all thanks to you Geo hopefully your shiny new SSD tomorrow will add to your R3's worth

 

Aye, Brother widezu! Gives me more reason to re-paste since I am going to open it up. But them temperatures man, how do you keep it that cool, anything extra?

Defo pushing to 46x tomorrow. I set the shutdown point at 110C now, pretty damn scarey temp zone!

Thanks guys.

 

Well before I run the bench, I ramp my fans up to full. Let it cool to perhaps lower 30's. Then I run the bench. Helps a bit with short runs.

@Mr Fox. I'm using 11flex at the moment. Any reason why I should be using 10 instead?

Edit: Gonna start doing full runs when nvidia comes out with their newest driver batch.

 

Killer runs, big R3 barrier overcome. +Rep all around.

 

If 11 is working well, probably no compelling reason. You might try 10 to see if it improves the score and reduces your temps. There certainly could be some variance between processors where 10 might work better for one person and 11 for another, or vice versa.

Outstanding, Rev! Thanks for the rep, and I'm glad it was useful info.

 

Just for kicks

 

The Patriot Wildfire arrived this morning ^_^

 

Nice! Virtually empty windows installation though right?

Edit: gonna chase 46x?

 

Literally empty, just got all drivers and basic software installed. But then again, I disable everything else on start up anyway. It defo feels faster than the M4, I am happy

46x?
Maybe not now. I re-pasted though, might give it a shot.. maybe later today. It's a serious number for sure

 

can someone let me know im doing ok

Well how does she look see specifications in signature..

This is with default setups and firing up the apps....
3D Mark Vantage P13761 3DMarks
3D Mark 2011 3501
3d Mark 2006 18741

 

Semper Fi til I die

 

Lock and load, Semper Fi.

@blitz16v -- those scores are just fine, right in line with expectations.

 

foxfire I see you have a bit of an overclock on your 6990m you are also a good 4000 points ahead of me, I have a different CPU do you think that explains the 4k point spread? what did you use to overlock is it stable at that speed?

damn I am getting crushed....

 

Damn my new 580m is a absolute sissy. No even stable at 845 core

 

BUURRRRRRRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNNNNN

Google and download: Trixx

Very high clocks are only used for completing a stable benchmark run, usually you don't game on them

Overclock to 850/1150 and run Vantage. Report your scores
Enable unlimited turbo for your CPU by reading section 1 here: http://ow.ly/7MtvY

Getting a high CPU score will help, for example if I get 30k CPU it will boost the OCed GPU score by about 2k for the overall score.

16k GPU + 30K CPU = 18k overall

At least make your dupe accounts not so damn obvious pl0x?

 

Blitz16v I have a 2960; when I run Vantage I seem to do better when i run 40 on all 4 cores. As you can see my 6990 is clocked 860 core,1175 memory.When I run 3DMark06 I run 44x4 and 836/1165 and I've gone well over 26K.


"Uncommon Valor was A Common Virtue"

 

Foxfire and Geo thank you for your expertise...

 

Widezu I cannot do 46x whatsoever (I can boot but not long enough benchmark runs).

The thermal shutdown temp option in the bios does not change a thing, I hit 100C for a second and my laptop powers off. I have tried -3 ambient temps outside as well as -20 in my freezer, doesn't help. With 17 Flex needed to power 46x, the CPU gets too hot for the Vantage CPU run

Dry Ice is an option, but there's a limit to my enthusiasm. Let me know what you can do!

Also: What's a good 'Package Current Limit (A)' for 40/39/37/37?
97 seems too high.

 

Well there is alwasy liquid nitrogen
Jk man you're doing great

 

bro, that's not a good idea. you'll get condensation on your laptop internals with the sudden change in temps. Water + electronics = very very bad

 

Thanks for the headsup. Seems like the poor M17x R3 just won't cut it.

Edit: Pack Current is the same as Priplane/8. So 800 priplane = 100 current. It shouldn't matter really.

 

I'll leave that to you. Report back with the results.

It's all insulated inside with the plastic though?
I thought it would just help the rush of cold air really (-3 isn't so bad, I got cold myself and just quit after like 15 minutes anyway).
As for the -20, I was putting half of my laptop in the freezer for a few seconds, couldn't be that bad

It's certainly up for it, just can't cool it down! I would rather have it throttle than shut down though

Pripane = Core Current Limit = Package Current Limit (silly names for the same thing -.-) - Ideally I want to know what's best for our default of 40/39/37/37, we need the lowest highest value if that makes sense, which would mean it runs at its fastest but coolest. You can have it at 100 but it will just run the same but hotter, right? I want to find a good limit that still lets it run it best

 

I don't think that the current affects the temps that much. I'd say 100 is more than enough and and lowering it won't affect the temps that much.

So 17flex is needed for 46x then?

 

For the 46x: I got a BSOD on 15, it's either 16 or 17.. try it!
And I put the PriPlane up to 1100 and throttlestop reported 100w + usage, dropped it down to 1000 and TS reported 90w + ish for the same really.

I'm just thinking of a Package Current Limit 80 or 90 for normal day use (600 PriPlane?), so it doesn't use too much power for every day tasks.

 

Personally, I just have everything jacked high, using PriPlane 960 ie 120amps current. Works will for 45x. I have that 24/7 now but I use throttlestop to lower it to 3.6Ghz during normal use. It is plenty and I from what I can see, it will only use as much power as it needs and no more so I'm not too bothered by fiddling. This allows me to use 4.5Ghz whenever I need it without restarting. Win!

 

Nope 17 flex should not be needed. Amps are more important at this point. At least 110.(And that seems still to low)

You would need to run TS & Wprime 1.55 side by side. So you can watch how many watts you are using vs how it's holding your multiplier. If it can hold for about 45 seconds...then it's "usually" good to bench vantage.

 

Ah the overclocker master arrives *bows*. So johnksss, what are your guidlines for 45x100? What we are looking for is as conservative settings as we can get without compromising stability flex and amps as low as possible. Our TDP is jacked up to 99w but the CPU never uses more than it needs from my observations on TS so I'm not too bothered about that. I have 120 amps and 10flex, do I have enough headroom to go lower?

 

johnksss..

QFT


Ideally how much Flex for 45x and 46x?

If my Flex is higher than 0, I will get thermal shutdowns if I don't use very cold ambient temps :'(
I want to get the God damn number down without the darn BSODs.

I have re-pasted like 3 times now, but feel that the air vent should be venting hotter air... Hmm.

 

Well.. What ever settings you want me to try I can test and see.

We just set 45x and like 1000 primary plane and just go. You use ts to go above 99 watts. And these chips usually max out at 130 watts or so for the oem's. The es max out around 90 watts or less.

Side note:
Lets get an understanding about how this works in terms of every day life....You can run these high over clocks if you "are not" planning on running it that fast 24/7 on all 8 cores. It's best to stagger the cores since most apps are not using all 8 cores. so run like 47/45/43/41 or 45/45/44/43 and be a happy camper. 45x on all 8 cores is just bragging and since that's not what 95 percent of the people are doing. It's really a waste of time.

You favorite game uses 2 cores....Then open the game then tab out and open task manager and set it to run in dual core mode. That way you get the speed without the heat.

 

I guess a good way to test would be to start with 10flex and around 960pp, then lower the flex until you lose stability, restabalise but raising it one value, then start lowering the PriPlane.