*OFFICIAL* M17x Benchmark Thread - Part 3

On just the gpus, or do you also keep the i7-920xm at the default multiplier of 24 and not use the 5% bios overclock?

 

When you benchmark for a hobby, everything is at STOCK when not benchmarking.

 

Totally agreed. When I'm not benching CPU and GPU are both at stock clocks.

 

great job mandrake!!

plenty of stock runs all over the place here, but people are more concerned about what the machine is capable of doing.

do you game 24/7(literally)? that would tell the tale....

exactly!
although i do forget to switch the cpu back at times.

+1

 

EVERYTHING goes back to stock.

 

wow nice run mandrake, so what driver were you using?

 

The one that came with the system.

 

and here's the first 16K Vantage run....

 

Very nice, I told you that you'd hit 16k with a 920. I just ordered a system for a friend in Australia + a 940 ES off Ebay for him. Once it gets here, I've got his permission to install it and run some benchmarks, should be interesting.

 

Man....those 920xm scores are LOW.....should they be up around 17-18k?!

 

About 16.5k is what I used to get when I had a 920. His is probably scaled back because of evga eleet.

 

How much? Been kicking around the idea of putting in a 920/940 into my M17x...unless you think for regular use I should stick with the 820 that is in there now...?

 

I just bought a 940 ES for myself. So I've got 2 of them coming from the same seller in Taiwan. Cost is $758 + $18 shipping.

 

That certainly isn't a bad price. Do you think the speed difference between the 8x0 and the 9x0 in normal use will really benefit me?

 

Stick with the 820 if your not into benching etc... Its the perfect CPU really..

 

i concur. 720/820 all the way...unless your a heavy bencher like some of around here.

 

The 920 or even the 940 won't improve gameplay at all?

 

Thanks for the input folks, I will keep the 820 then. I only benchmark to get an idea of where I fall in the grand scheme of things. Heck, I rarely OC at all anymore. Cool and Quiet is my motto for computers.

 

Compared to the 820 not much if any but compared to the 720 it will abit.... 820 is the nice happy middle ground ...

I ran both the 720 then the 920 in a couple machines and some games clearly benefited from it like Prototype for instance ...

But if you had a 820 now then no i would not upgrade but if you had a 720 or below or i might consider it depending on your needs...

Its really hard to say what people might or might not need as this is just all opinion ...

Joker has 720,820 and soon the 940 so if he would be so kind as to run some real game benchmarks he would be the perfect person to say otherwise.... Its a lot of work though ....

 

Thanks Quad. I always try to get the best processor I can afford. The Extremes are usually in the 1k price range. But if they aren't going to help me much, then I could definitely save the $700 to $800 upgrade.

 

If I went through that trouble I'd need some massive rep lol.

 

Yfrog Image : yfrog.com/5pfirsttimegop - Uploaded by Cuellarm

Here is my first bench, not bad.

 

Id be happy to do my part(rep) as im sure others would ..

It is alot of work though but ill bet alot of people would really appreciate it knowing if they are wasting there money on upgrades that may or may not benefit them ...

 

The picutre was too small and I couldn't read it, what were your scores?

 

Sorry man, first time uploading a bench. The 3dmark06 score was 18830

 

Click on the pic to zoom in

 

Question to all the benchers.. Do you all reformat your computers and start fresh before doing any benching?

 

They do.

/10char

 

Thats a good score, about what I get also

 

Heck no I don't. I defrag it and turn it off for a while too cool down

 

I suppose the initial question was somewhat vague. pdogg, did you mean before each benchmarking session, or before starting to benchmark a system at all?

 

Sirh, you're correct I meant only for first time initial setup

 

Morning all, those of you who have done benchmarking, especially on the new xfire 5870 range did you reapply thermal paste before doing so?

I have seen guides on how to get to the gfx cards but not how to take the heatsink off etc..is this an easy process and is there any guides anywhere?

 

I take it a step futher and use a completely different hard drive.

I don't know about the guides but I know there are a couple of tear-down vids floating around.

Yesterday I replaced all thermal pads and paste in my system. I'm trying out IC Diamond this time around instead of my normal OCZ Freeze.

 

Thats the same thing I do. Do you use an SSD since there's slightly less power draw versus an HDD?

 

Yes and only 1 drive while benching.

 

Wouldn't an external usb HDD drive (with its own power supply) consume even lower watts than an internal SSD?

 

Thanks alot Mandrake, I purchases MX-3 but I think I will source some of this IC Diamond too, some say to keep the stock thermal pads and then apply thermal paste on it?

Can you do me a big favour..what dimensions of the thermal pads did you get for a snug fit for your gfx cards? as there are so many with different thicknesses.

Cheers

 

Mandrake, I'd also be interested in how the IC Diamond works out. I mainly use AS5 since I order from newegg from time to time I just throw in a 12gm tube. I'd also be interested in the thermal pads, where you get them, how they compare to stock pads maybe.

 

hang about..wouldnt removing thermal pads off the heatsinks void the warranty?

 

Do not apply thermal paste on the pads. That would be pointless.

.5 mm I bought it from frozencpu.com

The stock pads are extremely soft while the pads I put on only soften up when heated up. It helps when handling the heatsink. The stock pads seem to attract every piece of dirt in the area because the are so sticky.

 

Tricky subject. Dell has let me replace my own GPU's in the past when they were under warranty but it was up to me to come up with my own thermal solution. All the work was technically warranty work.

 

How many thermal pads do you need? for the crossfire setup? I have yet to pull the heatsink off the GPUs. At least on the R1.

 

You have to cut the sheet to the size you need. There are 2 strips per GPU on top of the memory, 1 on the CPU heatsink and 1 on the southbridge.

 

Man, have you guys other than Mandrake opened up your AW yet? I did it when I replaced my cpu and HOLY COW! Talk about a pain. Luckily I put AS5 on but it is something I don't want to do again for a long time

 

Thanks, I'll put in the order tonight, was trying to decide between a sheet and a half sheet. Everything should be waiting for me when I get back in July.

Frozen, I did it on my R1. Got pretty quick at it. I have AS5 here, but am looking to see how much better IC Diamond is than AS5.

 

If you think that is difficult you should try the Asus G73 or the XPS M1730.

For the M17x I also replaced my lid and now have a dual color setup. Silver top with a black bottom. I think it looks really nice that way.

 

When I bought it I bought three full sheets of different sizes. That way regardless what project I'm working on I will have thermal pads handy.

 

Ahh, here is what I had been looking for. Looks like a pretty good review, and was done by Metalsoft at Overclockt.com. Here is the link to the original source.

 

If you use IC Diamond buy the Artic Silver cleaner also. It makes removal much easier.