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

Take a screenshot of that, something similar. Click TS Bench, then 32M, then print screen and upload.



Sexy Skyrim?

 

If you can post a GPU-Z screenshot too, that would be great! Just to show the running clocks !

 

i may have to get an R4 if you're able to raise the multi on a QM.

Anyone interested in a fully loaded R3?

 

can Ivy bridge really overclock that much higher than sandy? according to this, temps will be worse because they changed the thermal system inside the chip.

The Switch From Fluxless Solder to Thermal Paste is the Cause of Poor Ivy Bridge Overclocking Temperatures

 

svl7 said overvolting the 7970M is now possible

If this really means what it means, expect 1100Mhz...

 

expect 1100mhz and lots of burned cards

 

Well it's still a couple weeks before I get mine. I hope some brave people will test the waters.

 

Mobile CPUs have no Heatspreader! Heatsink is on the die and between there is thermal paste. +1 for Mobile CPUs
So its just a smaller size vs Sandy Bridge

 

I've tested the vbioses. The default stock is 1.05v which I max out @975/1500, I tried a 1.15v and it allowed me to run clocks beyond 1Ghz but it was hella unstable with black screens etc, I tried the same 975/1500 and the scores were significantly lower, much beyond margin of error. So we tried 1.1v which was stable and I could still hold 1Ghz without issue and the scores were consistent. I'll attempt to push 1100/1550 tonight and I'll keep all y'all posted because it still needs some testing. I'm sure in the coming days, svl7 will be happy to let me release it but things are indeed looking up.

PS just out of interest, with 1Ghz and tess on, I scored 6642. GeoCake's card seems to be a bit more efficient and scores more per clock and the other cards here.

 

Widezu69, are you using AtiFlash to flash? Are these svl7's vbios's or have you found a way to edit them yourself? Great news. +Rep.

 

I helped svl7 supply the vbioses I've gathered from this forum and he uses his HEX editing skills to alter them and then I test them. Credit goes to the people who have extracted their vbioses and svl7 for his skill. Only credit I can take is the testing

I'm using AtiWinFlash. It is doable in the windows environment so there is no need for a bootable thumb drive, plus it give a report afterwards in case something goes wrong. Gonna do a 1Ghz run with tess off now, just because I can

 

Man, if my M17x R4 order gets canceled, it looks like I'll have fun with dual 7970's. Thanks to svl7 and widezu69

 

You should keep the M17x-R2. It's better than the M17x-R3/R4 IMO. Just swap to dual 7970Ms and you're set.

 

Being able to play with the voltage should pretty much allow all m15x and m17x r2 owners happy here as it gives them a legit upgrade path.

Just a warning boys and girls...remember what happened to all those .92volted 580's on this forum a few months ago?

I guess some of you are gonna be calling me grandpa soon lol

 

I couldn't agree more. I sold a bunch of stuff to get two 7970's, but AAFES had a sale. I ordered the R4 with i7 3720, 500GB, 7970M, DVD, 1080P, 6GB RAM for $1,211 shipped. I think it was a pricing error on AAFES part. So if that gets canceled I'll order the 7970's pronto. If not then the deal was too good to pass. Either way, the R2 will remain my main system and eventually I'll get 7970's for it. Had to sell off the 6990's for the money.

 

That was only due to Furmark and the way nvidia cards are built. I think it was the fact that they also sucked more amps than AMD cards.

 

how far have you gotten on the core clocks?

 

1Ghz is now a piece of cake. The card has no problem pulling 1000/1500. I'm gonna try 1100/1550 tonight.

The problem seems to be that higher voltages decrease the clock speed yield. I've tried 1.150v, 1.125v, 1.1v and the default 1.05v. The thing is that the higher I go, the 3DMark score drops using the same clocks.

@1Ghz/1500Mhz
1.150v -> 6371
1.125v -> 6587
1.100v -> 6695
1.050v -> unable to run @1Ghz.

 

When i look on the slides it says, that the AMD HD 7970M has a power target.
When u increase the voltage, it will not turbo as much as it did before.
I hope that we can set the power target soon like with desktop graphics.
What about trying to set 1V and maybe only 950 Mhz.
Btw. theres a new version of Afterburner!
Maybe its easier to set Voltage now without flashing

 

thats crazy great work!!

 

Well done

 

Great work widezu69. Interesting how the score relates to the voltage.

 

yes, great work indeed!

From the looks of things, maybe 1.075+ but less than 1.1 would be the ideal place for 1ghz core

 

Desktop 7870's voltage is 1.15v I believe, good for maybe 1200mhz core clock with really good cooling.

 

VBIOS package with modified packs is online, check here for the download link and more information.
Included are undervolted, overvolted and clock modified versions.

When it comes to overvolting a lot will depend on the system used. The M15x doesn't handle it very well, the power supply circuits responsible for the GPU are simply too weak. I already realized this when overvolting the 6970m.
Widezu has been able to get some nice scores at a 0.05V overvolt. Your mileage may vary. I'm curious about the results in the R4, M18x R1 and R2, M17x R2... and also Clevo systems.

Overvolting should only be done by experienced users, seriously. Don't blame me if you kill your card or system. Some common sense doesn't hurt when benching.

Have fun overclocking and tweaking!

 

Will try in my MSI 16F2 - for now 984/1500 was the highest I could do @ 1.05V - P6632/P22668 - lets ready to rumbleee

+rep ofc (when allowed )

 

How did poor Samadurai manage to get himself banned already?

 

Random ban hammer strikes back?

 

I'd like to know this too... Mr Fox please tell us

Good luck to everyone overvolting/undervolting, etc, I'll pass..

 

these cards seem to be shaping up nicely!

 

I'll go ahead and answer this one. When a user is banned, they are banned for life. Making a new account does not give a person a "clean slate" at NBR. Let's just leave it at that and go back to the original discussion. If you have any further questions about this please PM the lead moderator.

 

wow, you have lojack on his name? man, that was a quick response!

 

Nope, that answered the question. Thanks.

 

I just tested 1.075v and it yielded the same score @1Ghz as 1.1v within margin of error so they perform the same. It holds 1Ghz easily and is a good place for those who wish to have that performance but not needing to go any higher. I'm on 1.1v from now on. Any higher and the performance per clock decreases for me.

Peace

So been trying to get 1.1Ghz at the moment, but keep getting CPU BSODs and I think the GPU is sucking power from the CPU so I upped the voltage to the XM giving it over 1.4v. I OC'd my ram to 1866Mhz CL9 (which required 1.65v) and it helped with the scores. I decided to save the 1.1Ghz pursuit another day but here's a 1Ghz run. I finally broke 6.7k. I dunno what is up with GeoCake's card scoring so high, honestly, that dude is lucky and I'm well jelly Here is my first official bench screenie:

Spoiler

What do you think ladies? I'm just here to prove that the OC'd 7970m is potentially faster than the desktop GTX 580 @stock. Yes my GPU really does idle @38C no air-con

 

that's good work svl7 and beaver! I'd rep you both but i have to spread it around first lol

 

​

you need to readjust that...
meaning... an over clocked 7970M is faster than a stock 580. because in reality...that card is nowhere even remotely close to a 580 over clocked..

 

We've seen 1Ghz benches widezu, push for 1.1Ghz!!! Push dear boy!

 

I'm trying mum!

 

I'm not sure if this is the right thread, but my new R4 just arrived, and the BIOS has all kinds if interesting options:



I still need to figure out what these do, but it might be usefull

Mine has the 3820, so definately no XM processor.

 

Looks interesting, almost exactly like the M18x R1 bios. Definitely bodes well for XM overclocking

 

Yep, you can run your 3820QM (max turbo boost) at 43/41/39/37 meaning 4.3Ghz on 1 core, 4.1Ghz on 2 cores, 3.9Ghz on 3 cores and 3.7Ghz on 4 cores indefinitely (beyond the default specification, mad right?). Poor samadurai discovered this and made a few threads.. and then he was banned.

I wonder if only the 3820QM can do this, can the 3610/3720 do it too?
43/41/39/37 seems the max you can overclock in the bios, and Intel XTU cannot push it further.

However the downside is (apparently reported by samadurai) you cannot adjust the BCLK higher than 100Mhz. Still, great for XM Ivys... but what if Intel XTU limits even XMs?

 

Well I'm sure the guys over at bios-mods will be able to unlock the bios. As currently in the R3 we have control of everything but the multis and seeing as the stock R4 has control of those already, I'm guessing that with an unlocked R4 bios, XM users can forgo XTU completely.

1.1Ghz needs more power. I'll try with a higher voltage tonight but I've finally beaten GeoCake score by a small amount with 1025/1550:
AMD Radeon HD 7970M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2920XM Processor,Alienware M17xR3 score: P6897 3DMarks

 

*patiently waits for overvolted vbios* Lol, I'll let you do the testing to find a stable voltage for 1.1Ghz

I am hoping you can get an extra 100Mhz stable so that we can game on it.

How's it holding for Vantage?

 

looks like widezu now holds the title! waiting for some push back from Geo

Question...the 3820's are factory locked, correct? but you can still run them higher because the bios allows it? Or do Ivy's have another higher level of overclocking built in.

I just need to know if there is a way to run my 2820 higher through a tweaked bios...don't even know if that is possible or not. Currently with the unlocked A08, it is not possible

 

Seems like the R4 bios is to thank... it could maybe overclock a 2820QM that's inside it?

 

no idea. But i don't think the R4 bios will work on the R3 and i don't have the time to play with it...especially today. I've actually cleared my whole schedule for D3 today lol

 

I meant if you put a 2820QM into an R4 it might overclock it thanks to its bios... but that's a little pointless when you get an Ivy Bridge anyway. Long wanted to tested the R4 bios in his R3, but we all know that's a bad idea.

 

Its only a bad idea if you try it...but if someone else tries it, its a great idea lol...but really, your computer probably won't work...black screen city. I wish these laptops came with a dual bios. I would try it if it did

 

That would be something Dell would never implement lol.

 

ya, that's too bad. I wonder who has the balls to install the R4 bios into the R3?

Well, on a happy note, i have diablo 3 installed!!