TO: Joker and other M17X Experts!

I see on the wiki article written by joker that he has all of the drivers on the setting up for first time use page. Shouldn't all of the latest drivers be installed on the system when I get it? Also - what exactly is the load time issue with the M17x driver, or any issue for that matter? And what is Riva? What does it do?

-Thanks in advance!

Edit: Also, PC3 10600 is the correct ram to buy for this laptop, correct? Or is it 10666? Does it matter if I put the new ram in before turning it on for the first time?

 

Some drivers have been updated since the system's release but if you're getting a new one from the factory then you don't need to worry about it. The only update you'll need are the video drivers once dell releases the new beta's shortly. I wouldn't worry about Rivatuner and other tweaks until you have had a chance to familiarize yourself with the R2. You can use PC3 10600 (1333) or higher I believe. Kingston HyperX seems to be the aftermarket memory of choice. You can run your system with the default ram and then switch it out when you get the new ram without issue.

 

As far as I'm aware, both of these are effectively the same. They're both DDR3-1333.

You can swap out the RAM at any time (so long as the system is off!!!). When you next power up the system will pick up the RAM change, and the worst it'll do is ask you to hit the necessary key to go into the BIOS and check the new RAM quantity.

 

I saw the drivers on your 10.7 page, Joker. Is all I need to do just install them? I don't mind dealing with lack of sleep or unplugging if they're good drivers (until dell comes out with newer ones). Just do a regular uninstall of the previous drivers and then install the new ones from your link?

Is kingston hyperX better than Gskill / Corsair?

Edit: According to newegg hyperX doesn't come in 4 gig sticks. I'm upgrading to 8 gigs. Should I get Gskill or Corsair?

 

Yep that's pretty much it. You can read that thread for other questions you might have since it's covered a lot. The consensus seems to be that Kingston is the way to go. I'm still using factory ram.

 

^ Read my edit if you get a chance

 

Yeah, seeing as our FSB is pretty limited, higher speed ram is largely not required.

The main overclocking to be done with the M17x R2 is with eleet and i7 XM models, from what I have experienced.

-Ash

 

Eleet doesn't work with the M17x, you get no gain even if you raise the multiplier. ThrottleStop is the de facto tool for that since it allows TDP manipulation as well as multiplier changes. BCLK can also be raised beyond the 5% in the bios via setfsb.

 

isnt that what DR650 was using to get his scores? it didnt look like he was using FSB with the 920 he was raising the multiplier..at least thats what it looked like to me.

 

He was using throttlestop. Eleet is crap.

 

he was using throttle stop to raise the multiplier? i dont think his score would have been the same if he used only throttle stop, idk though i dont have the same setup

 

Yea, Jokers right, I was only using Throttle Stop to raise the TDP/TDC and multiplier to 26x. I messed with Eleet early on, but Throttle Stop did everything I need. I didn't mess with SetFSB at all. I'm actually just now experimenting with it using the i5 520M CPU. Looked at if for a while before I got the pattern down on how the registers change through the BIOS 1%-5% OC. Made a chart with a 1%-15% OC. Can't really go that high though due to Voltage. When I get the 920XM and 940XM in the system I might try Vantage again to see if I can work harder on getting 20K. Though I think the key to 20K lies more with the GPU's then the CPU. And the GPU's require more voltage to go above 925MHz on the core so it's looking slim. Once I get home and can do much better cooling it might be a differant story, but as it stands, the system won't boot at 1.2v on the GPU.

 

Riiiiiight.

Turns out the throttlestop i was using was way old. While eleet IS working for me, throttlestop (current version) blows it out of the water.

/noob.

-Ash

 

With my system config should I OC my machine? Do you people always keep it at a certain place? Or do you just do it depending on the game you play? What apps do I need to download when I get my laptop to OC it? Can't it do it just fine with its inherent software?

 

How do you get throttle stop to raise the multi mine is stuck at 16?
edit never mind I found it.I am a retard

 

You might have found it, but I am stuck where you were... Help?

 

open throttle stop right click inside the throttle stop GUI and there are more options

 

Thanks lol

 

Any takers?

 

check this thread out.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/495203-how-oc-m17x-r2s-920xm-940xm-using-setfsb.html

 

With your configuration, you don't really need to have a constant OC on your machine for everyday gaming. I'll save you some of the hassle of sifting through the thread. There is a bit of CPU OC built into the BIOS. You can also up the VCORE there. Download ThrottleStop to further take advantage of what your CPU can do. To overclock your GPUs, use Rivatuner WITH Furmark running in the background to up your clocks. After the clocks have 'taken', you can of course turn off Furmark. This will only get you so far. Sooner or later if you're competitively benching, you will have to raise your GPU voltage. You'll have to reflash the VBIOS to do this, and it's the only way I know how to do it. There may be some other way. Download HWinfo32 to monitor system temperatures. Go a few Mhz/TDP/TDC at a time, watch those temps, and have fun. Good luck to you.

 

I have no intention of competitively benchmarking. All I want to do is get the best performance in games as I can, without doing damage to my system. Should I leave it @ stock or OC a bit? An actual number for what I should OC to would be great!

 

using the bios oc should be more than enough for the cpu, i don't think you'll need to OC the gpu for everyday gaming use, the 5870 kills it. your machine should be good to go

 

I run the CPU overclock available in the BIOS all of the time, as well as a 50Mhz GPU overclock on the core/memory all of the time.

 

Do you change the TDP of the 920 as well? I've found that if I raise my 940's TDP to say 70 W and set 5% BCLK, bad company 2 crashes after 10 minutes. The only way around it is to raise the cpu voltage but that's not a good solution since it adds a ton more heat.

 

No. Just for benchmarking.

 

I've been testing this out.
Crashes after 15 minutes on 66W
Crashes after 35 minutes on 70W
Crashes after 45-50 min on 78W.

Raised it to 82W and it didn't crash. But my temps weren't pretty.. even in winter weather here... where I'm freezing my bum off.

And I do hope you reconsider benchmarking. It's heaps of fun, and you learn heaps more about your system when doing it.
It's also quite competitive so a small group of us love it (plus you can make quite a name for yourself here.. INSTANT RESPECT )

 

Like Jubbing said, benchmarking/number chasing is all about competition either among others or just yourself, and you do learn a ton. But when I'm not benching, everything is set to stock speeds.

 

Deex is continuously trying to tell me that the M17x throttles. I assume none of you have any issue on stock / a little over stock speeds? By OCing, how much frame rate improvement do I really get?

 

A lot of it depends on the game. Differant games respond differantly to GPU overclocking. As for the CPU, most games are GPU dependant and CPU overclocking will result in no visible differance. As for throttling, I've only had it when the CPU gets too hot. Even with the BIOS 5% overclock, it's not enough to generate enough heat to throttle. At least not in my experience. I've had it thermal throttle when I crank up the CPU TDP (Termal Design Power) for benchmarking.

 

Yea. I'm sure I'll be fine. I have a surgical issue with my right hand which has left it without much fine dexterity. Should I hire out someone to replace the thermal pads with a higher quality paste when I get the laptop? Or should I use the stock thermal pads long enough to make sure the computer has no issues that I'd need to send it back to have amended, wait a few more months, then maybe repaste it?

Or is the stock stuff fine for a few years provided I won't be heating up the hell out of it with TCP OCing?

 

I eould say the stock paste is fine until you decide you don't have to send it back. Changing out the pads is something I like to do because the ones dell uses are kinda "gummy" and dirt can stick to them. But if you have a clean environment, I wouldn't worry about it for now. Changing the thermal paste might drop temps 3-5 degrees C, maybe more. Really it's not essential that you do it. I like tinkering and once I got it all apart, I liked to change things out. As long as you watch some of the guides, and have a small screw driver, You can probably do it with one hand. I've changed my paste about 3-4 times this week alone swapping in and out differant CPUs. But if you open it up just have a clean area and something to hold your screws seperately so you don't mix them up.