m17x R3 with 2960xm and 780m, CPU multipliers missing for OC

Hello there,

First off I would like to thank everyone on this forum for being so helpful as I have upgraded my laptop

Alienware m17x r3
i7 2960xm
gtx 780m
12gb 1333 ram
M17x R3 BIOS A12 - unlocked & 'SATA fix

So during the upgrade process I installed I believe svl7's BIOS via j95's guide for 780m GPU. After loving my gpu I decided to upgrade my cpu to a 2960xm thinking I can overclock it some to about 4.0 ghz to use for play the game we all know and love WOW as prep for their expansion. The game is extreamly cpu dependent and poorly optimized thus the need for speed XD. I have a cooler master PLUS for cooling and max out at 85C doing a prime95 test after repaste. Since this game won't use the cpu as much heat not really a worry for me.

My issue is while following widezu69 overclock guide for m17x my BIOS options match what he displays. So I thought everything is fine. I realized in the BIOS their are no multipliers and the only thing I can OC is the core clock, but since his didn't show I continued. I installed intel's-XTU latest version originally and lone behold only the core clock was available. So I went to the XTU 2.1 which was said to have more option and the one his guide mentioned. I tried opening 2.1 up and I get the splash screen staying on screen forever until getting a message saying failed to contact XTU service. Every other version works just fine.

SO is it my BIOS that needs to be changed so that both my 780m can be used and multipliers be available or do I need to get 2.1 XTU open somehow as others said it finally worked when they had same issue but don't know how they fixed it.

thank in advance

 

First thing's first, I would not stress your system with Prime95. It is an unrealistic benchmark that basically "redlines" everything beyond the point that any other program would. However, considering that you only saw 85C, I'd say that's pretty good. 3DMark 11, FireStrike, etc. and Unigine Heaven are more than adequate for testing.

As for the BIOS not showing multipliers, I think it will require an update. It should show them either way. What version are you running? And is there a later version available on Dell's downloads page for your system? You may also want to try reinstalling the BIOS from svl7: http://forum.techinferno.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=28/

 

well I'm running M17x R3 BIOS A12 - unlocked & 'SATA fix (svl7's) which is basically what you have linked me. I do believe there is a A13 that just came out, but since I upgraded to a 780m I do not believe I can use dells versions. I guess the better question is what BIOS are people using to overclock a 2960xm while still using a 780m? I know there is people doing it. Also I may just not know where the multipliers are in this BIOS. I see the Bclk option just not multipliers. I looked everywhere in my BIOS I swear. We shall see if a reinstall does anything since I put the processor in after I upgraded BIOS, mabye something not recognized.

no more Prime95 for me

 

So in the end it looks like I had a corrupted installation of intel XTU. I think there is still some scattered fragments on my computer as I had to restart comp a few times due to crashing/screen shut off after installing XTU again after system restore. Either way I can now see multipliers in XTU 2.1 (no other works for this comp, also not in BIOS). Computer seem stable now no more crashing

yay OC time

 

That's what I was thinking. Didn't make sense to not see them. A reinstall was a wise choice. Glad it's working now.

 

First, the temperatures you are getting seem pretty good for me. Second, make sure you continue to monitor the temperatures if you plan to overclock. Finally, I'm glad to see that everything is working as it's supposed to now.