Requesting Help - Processor Overclock / Heating issue

Hey guys, new to these boards...anyhow I am a long time M17x owner (have had one for 2 years now??? ...something around there), and I'm looking to overclock my Intel core i7 Q740 @1.73 GHz . My specs are:

6GB RAM
Dual ATI xfire'd 5870's
and that intel core i7 Q740 @1.73
with a 218 gb harddrive

Anyhow here is my objective:
My computer isn't "slow" obviously..but I am an avid gamer, and a well known FPS / MMORPG player who enjoys streaming and frapsing etc.....As you can imagine, with this processing speed its hard to do all of that...With BF3 and other amazing games coming out, I want to MAXIMIZE my power without having to drop MORE bucks (we all know our machines are expensive as hell). I want to get the most out of this M17x without it overheating etc (I rely on this for school as well). I want to know what's a safe setting, and how to achieve this overclock (i've never done one...im a hardware noob).

ALSOOOOO...are there any tricks you guys use (externally) that can cool this beast down? It's like I have a heater in my bedroom and my room is like 10 degrees warmer than every other part of the house (My computer heat is average and doesnt overheat at all though...) It's just this beast of a machine puts out some serious heat ....I need to know where I can buy a refrigerated something to go underneath it etc....

If you guys can help me out with this two part question, I would love you all forever haha..these are really the ONLY complaints I have about my machine and I love my M17x overall...This would make all the money definitely worth every penny in my eyes.

Thanks a ton!

Nick

 

Click the bios in my Sig, it will unlock the 5% overclock in the bios for you. As for heat, you could get a notebook cooler, but that won't do much more than push room temp air in your system. You probably won't see more than a degree or two. Propping up the back to open a little space under the system works pretty well too.


More on Overclock, there is a way to use SetFSB to OC the CPU, but you'd have to do it everytime you restarted, and the best way is with the paid version. Much easier.

How to overclock Alienware M17x-R2 using SetFSB

 

Propping the back end of the laptop up with a couple of 1 liter Mountain Dew lids has given me better temperature drops than any notebook cooler. I honestly think they're a placebo.

If you really want some CPU horsepower, buy a 920XM ES off of Ebay. They're cheap (relatively speaking), and will do more than your 740 ever will.

If you're not willing to buy a new CPU, do what DR said (I have typed that a lot today ). You are never going to see better than marginal gains though.

Also, regular maintenance of your cooling system does wonders to keep temperatures down.

 

Ok soooooOooOOoOOoOo......this new cpu? I can just send my laptop back into dell and have that done for me?

 

You could do that, but be prepared to pay a whole lot more for the processor, freight, and payment for the service itself. Especially if you're not under warranty!

Exchanging the processor yourself is not that hard of a job, look into a couple of the guides that are posted here on the website and see if you would manage to do that yourself, its pretty simple.

I'll see if i can find a link to the guide..
- Scott.


EDIT:
Here is a guide on how to do it on the R3. The difference between R1,R2 and R3 is not that big, so if you have an older version, it should be fine.


Don't forget to check that the processor you're ordering, fits the motherboard socket!

- Scott.

 

nope have to be done by yourself. if you want dell to do it, you would have to buy the parts from them.

but there are numerous tear down videos and guides that can guide you through the process. xm is the way to go, since non xm chips can't really oc anyways. also repasting and repadding the system may drop temps too.

 

So..is this something thati s very "noob" friendly..im not a total idiot, but haven't put together anything besides a normal desktop pc (nothing special). I haven't really ever touched my laptop besides installing new ram......so is this something I can do successfully, easily, without screwing everything up....I rely on this notebook for not only gaming but school so

 

oh and BY THE WAY, I put a couple bottle caps under the back of my pc...temps dropped 10 degrees!!! hahahah thanks guys..I think the carpet underneath my pc was insulating the flow and just warming it up...it was idling at around 60..now the cores are atl ike 49-50

 

Its quiet noob friendly, if you have assembled an desktop PC before, i don't think it would be a problem. But you should count about 1-2 hours of "work" if its the first time you take apart an Alienware laptop. Its not that much to screw up, if you care for the connectors and don't just pull them out of there.. The chassis is pretty geniously assembled, if you ask me. Check the guide and see if it is something you could pull off yourself. (Check the different stages of it.)


About the temp, leave the laptop on a hard surface, that will always give better airflow and therefore better cooling .


- Scott.