*OFFICIAL* Alienware M17x R3/R4 Owner's Lounge Thread

Ta Very much gents, apreciated as always!
POJ

 

Sorry we couldn't help fix your issues man. I really hope its the mobo and not the gpu.

No prob man.

 

Sounds to me like you need to set the 3.5mm jack to "default." You can change the priority levels of each audio device if my memory serves me right.....But I guess a simple driver-reinstall would work fine too.

 

Hi, i bought an Alienware M17x R4 back in 2012 and it currently has the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M graphics card installed in it. Lately i have been having some very odd fps issues when i play higher performance required games such as Battlefield 3 and DayZ and Planetside 2. my fps seems to stay at a steady 60 fps on most games sometimes even 120 on games like LoL but occasionally it will randomly drop to 10 or lower fps every 5 minutes and go back up to 60 fps and will happen constantly making gaming impossible. is there any fix to this that you can recommend? also is it possible to simply replace my graphics card with a better one such as GeForce GTX 660M or something in the 500 series? thanks

 

Hi there, It sounds like it is throttling. If so there could be a bunch of causes.

First I'd get MsiAfterburner and setup the On-Screen-Display to show clock, voltage, fps, and temp, and then play a game where it happens. Clock drop at the same time as fps and you're looking at a throttle of sorts.

Have you cleaned it out lately?

For the R4 the best NV GPU you can get is the 680m, although I find the 675m perfectly good enough. Any higher card and you're into work to get it running . The 580m should work but since dell never sold the model with one it could be a little work.

HTH

 

alright thanks i will definitely install that and try it out and see what happens. also no i have not cleaned it out lately ill check it out hopefully that will help. also if i were to replace my graphics card is there a guide or something you could recommend to me to installing it safely? i have never replaced anything in my laptop before so i am unsure how to do it.
thanks

 

you could probably find a 7970m pretty cheap and get that installed pretty easy Should just be plug and play though if you have an r4 and not the r3.. here is a guide on how. Cheers!!

[GUIDE] Installing and Overclocking the AMD Mobility 7970 in the M17x R3,an illustrated guide

 

You can also refer to this article for help.

 

Hi all ^^ I gave up on my 7970M that one is back in his box. Running on my oldie 6990M

So anyway, I followed this guide: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-17-m17x/617662-guide-overclocking-2920xm-2960xm-cpus-m17x-r3-without-modded-bios.html
If I benchmark on 8 threads I can get 2990Hz for some time but later on it will drop to 2790Hz and stay there indefinitely but if I keep throttlestop open I can get 2990Hz indefinitely. Have 84degr cels max btw


Any way around this?

 

Okay so i ran the MSI Afterburner and my core clock is at 675 MHz and my fps was at around 30 fps when playing DayZ on normal settings. everything was running fine then the fps dropped to about 10-12 fps and the clock went to only 203 MHz. not sure exactly what this means or how to fix this but if anyone can help me out that would be great

 

Your gpu is throttling probably due to temperature issues. I would clean out your fans and see if that helps.

 

The thread you linked is the one I used, it works fine for me. Maybe check to make sure you've followed all the steps. It involves keeping Throttlestop running at all times, and it also involves having installed & changed settings in XTU too (there's only one version of XTU that works too, can't remember which, but it's the one mentioned in that thread - NOT the latest version). Also check using Throttlestop while you're benchmarking how close the current is to 56W when your clocks drop - our CPUs are hardcoded within the CPU to drop the clocks at 56W, so this might explain your throttling. When I run P95 I get very close to 56W, but it doesn't throttle; your CPU has a higher clock rate, so it could be possible it would try & pull more than 56W in P95, which could be an explanation for your throttling. Your temperatures are fine by the way.

EDIT: Haha, I didn't read your post properly - you are getting max Turbo Boost IF you have Throttlestop open. That's absolutely fine, you have to have that running at all times - it can of course be minimised to the Toolbar though. Set Throttlestop to run on 'Log In' using the 'Task Scheduler' function in Windows 7, set it to run with Administrator Rights in Task Scheduler - Task Scheduler will then make sure Throttlestop runs automatically when you log onto your desktop.

 

Well that shows it IS a throttle. Now the cause gets a little more tricky depending on what is triggering it.

First what are the temps it hits when the clock drops down? (add it in afterburner). Any more that 70C (at stock) is usually a sign of it starting to get hot but the throttle can be caused by a high power draw and I've found different drivers can help this.

 

Thanks a lot! I will just keep it open then to get the 2990.

is 2790Mhz indefinitely already an improvement as to the stock performance? Would it normally on stock bios and XTU settings maintain 2790?

 

I don't know what the 4 core Max Turbo Frequency is for your CPU, but if it's maintaining 2990Mhz thoughout P95 with all 8 threads being processed, then that seems like a good result to me. (Your base clock is 2.2GHz, and mine is 2GHz, so I had figured initially that your 8 thread P95 might be 2800Mhz).

EDIT: Wikipedia tells me 4 core turbo is 3Ghz, so at 2990Mhz you're seeing your full turbo you should be getting.

 

Yes but suppose that I hadn't done anything with the CPU settings at all, would 2790Mhz then be indefinitely or would it drop to 2.2Ghz after some time?

I want to know how much I have improved in permanent performance from this guide

 

Yes, it would drop to a lower frequency after a set period of time if you hadn't have done that little mod. That's the purpose of that guide (if you don't have an XM CPU). You have successfully souped-up your CPU!

 

Thanks that's awesome because I needed the extra power for SC2

 

Probably gonna swap my r3 back to windows 7. To many problems with windows 8.1 video card drivers, and Adb stuff for android development. Guess I'll through 8.1 on my desktop for now.

 

Good choice bigtonyman!

Just thought I'd let some people here know that I managed to overclock my RAM by using a program (which you have to buy, quite cheaply) to flash my RAM from 1600Mhz to 1866Mhz. I used this program and the method outlined here in this post:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...enchmark-thread-part-4-a-234.html#post8381346

I used the Corsair Vengeance timings: 1866Mhz 10-10-10-31, 1.5V. Flashed x2 sticks of Kingston HyperX (1600Mhz 9-9-9-28), and x2 sticks of Corsair Vengeance (1600Mhz 9-9-9-24); seems stable so far with Memtest86+, Prime95, WPrime, Gaming, 3DMark. Windows Experience Index CPU went from 7.4 to 7.5, Physics scores increased by a small amount in 3DMark benchmarks, and a few seconds off wPrime 1024. Not a big change, but I wanted to see if I could optimise the RAM in my laptop.

However, I did notice that Prime95 no longer runs at 2600Mhz on the CPU, but instead fluctuates between 2550 and 2600Mhz. I think this is because the CPU is consuming very slightly more Watts with 1866Mhz memory & bumping up against the 56W limit for non-XM CPUs. Previously, with 1600Mhz RAM Prime 95 would consume about 55W max, thereby just keeping under the 56W limit & not throttling the CPU. No real world loads push my CPU to 56W anyway, so a very small net gain for me to be had by using the 1866Mhz memory!

EDIT: Only just started playing a game you might know called Skyrim, I am a late comer! With the memory overclock I seem to be getting about another 5 fps in some areas, gone from 37 to about 42fps in one particular area with a load of trees in the outside area. Apparently Skyrim is quite CPU dependant, especially if you modify the ini's for increased Shadow Resolution, so I think I'm getting the extra fps in those areas due to the CPU-RAM relationship. I'm pleased with that. Although, it is hard to do a like for like test in Skyrim, because there's no benchmark. (Just to note I'm getting quite low fps outside due to Ambient Occlusion & Transparency AA in NVidia control panel, combined with uGrids=9, and other enhanced ini settings).

 

Good choice man glad it gave you a nice performance boost.

 

I have just done some tests with prime95 and 3Dmark11 on my m17xr4 (i7-3740 with HD7970m). Should I lift the lid and give the vents a clean and do some repasting?

For the 3Dmark11 tests the highest cpu was 93c and highest gpu was 78c.

For prime95 the high cpu was 95c with average of 88c.

Average for both cpu/gpu when not under load is around the 65c.

 

I have the same cpu like you.
My prime95 tests results in max temps of 88c and average 81c.

While idle the beast has a average temp of 50c.

I assume a that cleaning and repasting will lower your temps.

Cheers tom

 

Got windows 7 installed and everything is back to working again. Can't install the latest AMD drivers though.

 

How come they won't install? I don't know a lot about AMD drivers, but for NVidia & Alienware it often makes sense to install the Dell NVidia driver after installing the Intel Graphics driver, and then installing the latest NVidia driver from the NVidia website over the top of it. (Might not be relevant to your problem).

 

@OP That's a little high. a repaste should help

Same with AMD you need to install the latest one from them on top of the DELL one.

 

I tried that, and ended up with no driver installed at all when the installer finished. Guess I'll mess with it later and see if I can find a fix.

 

Try it this way.

 

Very Good, that's the kind of blue screen I like to see! Sorry!

Good guide there, seems to make sense, quite a long process though. I think NVidia have made driver installs a lot more reliable over the last year or so, with their 'Clean Install' option in the driver setup proces.

 

Quick update to one of my earlier posts (post #5070). Managed to tighten the timings of my overclocked RAM to 9-10-9-27. I had to do this by editing the XMP profile by using that program that I linked in that post - changing specific timing values in the BIOS didn't work. So, those timings and speeds are the same as the desktop version of Corsair Vengeance now, this one:

Vengeance®

I had to increase voltage from 1.5V to 1.6V in order for them to run stably in Memtest86+, Prime95. Some conflicting advice on the internet about whether 1.6V is safe for Sandy Bridge and the CPU's memory controller, but on balance I figured 1.6V is safe - some people run 1.65V, and some memory kits come with XMP profiles at 1.65V as standard (which are advertised as being compatible with Core i7 2nd generation).

So, now running at 1866Mhz (9-10-9-27), that gives me a whopping 2.5% increase in Physics score in 3DMark11 in comparison to these same RAM sticks that were running at 1600Mhz (9-9-9-27) prior to overclocking! ;-) The general system feels a little snappier opening up programs, but I'm aware of the placebo effect too! Fun to maximise & optimise the RAM though, even if the benefits are not large.

 

Nice dude!! I used to have my ram overclocked, but I think it reverted back to default when my bios settings got wiped. Gonna have to play with once I get finished overclocking my desktop. +rep for sharing!!

 

Cheers bigtony. For the life of me I couldn't get the BIOS settings to influence the timing values properly. Whatever I set in the BIOS values wouldn't relate to the timings that were actually set. So, for example, if I set CL 9, it would still show CL10, and all the other timings would be all over the shop. That's why I felt like I could only get the overclocking done by editing an XMP profile, and then telling the BIOS to simply use the XMP profile at a certain voltage level. Cool if you can tweak your BIOS settings to overclock solely using the BIOS. If you ever work out how to do it, I'd be interested in hearing how you did it, it might be useful in the future.

 

Hey have and m17x r3, bios a12 unlocked. I enabled igfx in the second advance menu
Option in the a12 unlocked bios. Now my computer powers up, lights up, no beeps just a blank screen. I tried taking out the cmos battery but no go. Please help.

 

Oh yea my internal graphics said not detected on the first tab of the bios. I performed the step mentioned above to try to activate it.

 

you probably have a system with an 120hz screen. you cannot use integrated graphics and an 120hz screen as its not supported.

 

Does that mean he's inadvertently bricked his laptop if he set iGP with 120hz screen? I think I read once that MickyD accidentally did something similar, maybe if it is bricked he might know how to fix it.

 

it is a 120hz screen. It seems as if the computer
Is stuck in a loop looking for the igfx. How do I reset
The bios in this case. Thks

 

I'm not sure if MickyD is going to want to shoot me for recommending that you PM him! But if I were you I'd contact him, I'm pretty sure he's had experience with the problem you're facing. He posted in this thread a few pages back (MickyD1234). He often seems happy to help.

 

thks robbo99999. i will pm him. well i did make some progress i blind flashed the bios with the dedicated gpu out it flashed and restarted twice and now i get 8 beep which indicates LCD failure. the computer wont recognize the external monitor. will HDMI work?

 

- Unplug power cord
- Remove battery
- Hold power button for 30 seconds
- Remove CMOS coin battery (next to GPU fan)
- Reinsert CMOS battery
- Plug power cord
- Power on
- Beeps, hold power button until shutdown
- Power on, F2 -> BIOS -> set date/time
- Shutdown
- Put the main battery back in

 

If that doesn't work you can try a bios flash. BIOS Recovery in case you brick your M17x R3

 

@J95 ok i followed your instructions. on the second power on pressing f2 it just continued beeping then stopped and started beeping in increments of 8. Should i put my gtx 460m back in?

 

@bigtonyman i used that guide and it flashed and rebooted twice then i got 5beeps which indicated cmos battery failure. I plugged in cmos battery in and now i get 8 beeps. My screen was fine prior to enabling the igfx.

 

Yeah of course man, there's no way to boot from IGP (3D screen)...put the 460m back in, if it boots normally enter the BIOS and set date/time if not repeat the whole process, second power on -> press F2 only after booting normally.

 

No problem man, just been off-line a bit the last few days. Only too happy to help

Yeah, I busted mine by trying to force a non-existent iGPU

The method I used is called a 'blind flash'. You need to search out exact instructions for the model as it's specific. Basically you nave to put a ROM file with a specific name onto a fat32 formatted USB then there is a key/power/battery in/out combination that will trigger the reflash of the BIOS.

Very scary with something like 30 beeps at one point and a lot of restarts and full blast fans.

Also be aware that if you use a wrong ROM file you may well end up with a completely dead machine and require a MB replacement

Good Luck

 

MickyD, is that the method that bigtonyman linked in his post a few posts above?

 

Almost, the R3 and the R4 use a different file name though and the ROM files are not interchangeable between R3 and R4.

Also somewhere along the R4 line dell did something with a BIOS update and the file size doubled. I saw at least 3 dead machines and it appeared to be a ROM file mismatch back to an earlier version .

 

Ah ok, tacu has an R3, so that link that bigtonyman linked should be fine then, and then there's J95's stuff he can try too. Good luck tacu!

 

Yeah but he doesn't need to that, if he fails holding the END button during the whole BIOS recovery process -> FUBAR

 

ok update i did the blind flash with the gtx 460m in the machine it flashed and rebooted three times and then it gave me 5 beeps. I followed the dell guide to fix this; holding the FN key until the computer restarts and then releasing and upon boot i get 8 beeps. Where do i go from here thanks guys for brainstorming this issue.