***M18x - NVIDIA SLI (Driver Questions, Performance, Problems) Discussion Thread***

Greetings NVIDIA M18x Owners... We've had a number of new threads concerning NVIDIA GPUs and the M18x. Many of these new threads already have been covered here in the forum. In an effort to centralize discussions on driver questions, settings, etc., please begin using this thread for posts which fall into the following categories:

• Which Display Driver Should I Use?
• General Items Related to NVIDIA Reference Drivers
• NVIDIA SLI Related Discussion
• Dell Release NVIDIA Driver Discussion
• Anything else related to getting your NVIDIA configured system up and running

Moving forward, if a thread is created and can be placed into one of the above categories, it will be closed and redirected to this sticky thread. For all system/GPU Benchmarks, we have a dedicated thread here in the M18x sub-forum. All benchmark questions, observations, tips belong here:

• *OFFICIAL* Alienware M18x Benchmark Thread

Thanks everyone - have fun with your M18x!

Update #1: If you have come to this thread looking for a solution to the GTX 580M throttling problem, please go to this thread:

• http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-overclocking-no-vbios-flashing-required.html

Update #2: If you encounter issues with display artifacts during normal use, code 43 and revision FF showing in GPU-Z, see this thread:

• http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...gtx-580m-error-code-43-revision-ff-error.html

Reminder: It's perfectly fine to share facts and personal experience as an owner of an AMD-powered M18x in context as long as the central theme of the post is discussion about your NVIDIA product as noted above. This thread is not intended for side-by-side pro/con comparisons the two products. If you have a question about something or information to share that is focused on AMD GPU performance, by all means please share it in this thread:

• http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...s-performance-problems-discussion-thread.html.

NVIDIA GPU-Specific Parts List - Courtesy of DELLChrisM

• GDMRG Nvidia SLI Bridge Cable
• VDV04 Nvidia M460m N11e-GS
• 5DWH3 Nvidia M460m N11e-GS Right Heat Sink
• 0TYGV NVIDIA M460m N11e-GS Right Heat Sink
• 4C3FW N11E-GS GeForce M460m Right Kit (Video card VDV04 + Thermal Assemblies 5DWH3)
• 8X55H N11E-GS GeForce M460m Left Kit (Video card VDV04 + Thermal Assemblies 0TYGV)
• GDMRG GeForce SLI Bridge Cable
• YT99J N12E-GS GeForce GTX560m
• 5DWH3 N12E-GS GeForce GTX560m Right Heat Sink
• 0TYGV N12E-GS GeForce GTX560m Left Heat Sink
• 3WWGG N12E-GS GeForce GTX560m Right Kit (Video card YT99J + Thermal Assemblies 5DWH3)
• FXXC9 N12E-GS GeForce GTX560m Left Kit (Video card YT99J + Thermal Assemblies 0TYGV)
• 3MF8R N12E-GTX2 GeForce GTX580m
• Y48TK Right Heatsink GeForce GTX 580m
• 5G1VJ Left Heatsink GeForce GTX 580m
• 3MHHT nVidia support plate GTX 580m
• 3Y6PW N12E-GTX2 GeForce GTX580m Right Kit (Video card 3MF8R + Thermal Assemblies Y3WC7)
• PR9WN N12E-GTX2 GeForce GTX580m Left Kit (Video card 3MF8R + Thermal Assemblies JW8P7)

Edit: for second-generation M18x GPU parts, please refer to this parts list: [ LINK]

 

I have been looking around for a simple artifact scanner that is not the AtiTool one. I know EVGA OC Scanner has one but I don't have an EVGA card any longer so I can't download it. is there any other scanner out there besides AtiTool? I can't seem to find one after about an hour of searching. Just want to abuse these 580M's in my new M18x.

Aedaric

 

Or you can just go and abuse them with good games? Seriously, what's the end result you are looking for? max OC without artifacts?

 

Essentially, I'd like to be able to just set it on while I'm working on my desktop for a few hours. Don't have to really worry about burning up the system this way and typically is more accurate then just watching for artifacts while gaming.

 

It's nice to see 2 seperate threads dedicated to each brand of gpu's individually. I know that I have contributed to the green vs. red debates here in the threads. I can't help but jump in when I read false statements posed as fact. Hopefully we can keep the 2 threads clean or have Batboy and Mr. Fox step in so I don't have to succombe to ridiculous posts.


Thanks again mods!!
+ rep for the both of you.

 

So, is there a thread somewhere where the nVidia folks can post their own benchmarks? I'm tired of looking through the benchmark thread and seeing nothing but 6970's and 6990's. I know my 580's beat those, lol, I want to see where I stack against other 580 owners.

 

Go Mr Fox this a great thread to open Green Team here

 

Thanks, Dan! I'm glad your green machine finally landed.

 

As I am moving from red to green (and it's not because I'm a hater...I just got what I believe is a kick- deal on an aftermarket upgrade on the 580M cards), if there are any tips, tricks, and best-practices, I would love to see them posted on this thread (undervolting stuff, etc.).

Thanks!!

 

Our friend from the Ukraine, Red Line, seems to be the guru of undervolting. Maybe he will stop by here and provide some tips for us.

 

Maybe he or someone else can post a good modded vBIOS flash guide for dummies for the M18x, so that everyone has the opportunity and know how.

I'm sure the thread would appreciate the info.

 

yeah, a detailed how to do for performance boost is a good addition to this thread, specially to those who have 2 580m's

 

I've got mine sitting at 725/1450/.87v atm which I believe is considered a "light" overclock. I ran MSI Kombuster a bit at 750/1500/.87v and noticed quite a few artifacts appearing in the beginning through the shadows. I have also noticed that under the GPU Burn-In my GPU1 was reaching 74 C, which I know isn't necessarily BAD, I was hoping to keep it under 70 until I started overclocking my cards higher. I haven't repasted or done any modifications to my system yet as I received it on the 1st. Any recommendations?

 

STANDARD WARNING

Third party BIOS Modifications, VBIOS Modifications and other system level tweaks (including fan control) can potentially cause damage to your system. Be aware of this before blindly flashing/installing.

If you brick your system or cause damage, chances are very high that your warranty will be useless. Know what you are doing, you are responsible for your actions.

-

Thanks, Mr. Fox and, of course, +repped for separating 2 dedicated threads, that's a wonderful idea

As we would like to leave this thread as clean as possible i'd love to make a general post for those who want to Overclock/Undervolt their Nvidia 580M GPU's in M18x with custom vbios.

Special thanks to barcode, mavke, saltius and others for providing bioses and flash guides! So here we go:

Windows 7 x64 bit only

nvflash 5.100.0.1 only works within windows itself will not work in msdos link

(1) Download nvflash v5.100
extract it to C:\Nvflash folder (or whatever is comfortable for you) "you should have nvflash.exe nvflash32.sys and nvflash64.sys" and upload suited 580M bioses you want to work with (for eg called **.rom).

(2) Load command prompt cmd (with admin rights) in windows start menu

(3) back in command prompt direct yourself to that nvflash folder by cd.. cd.. then cd nvflash (cd c:\; cd nvflash)
When you do a dir listing you should see all your files there ready to go.

(4) As i was running DELL SLI 580M in my m18x they are maked as number 0 and number 1

(5) BACKUP YOUR ORIGINAL BIOS FIRST

i did it like this for both in command prompt type
nvflash -b backup0.rom (for the first card)
nvflash -b backup1.rom (for the second card)

(6) To flash just type the following

for the first card
nvflash -i0 -5 -6 ***.rom (*** means your file name you want to flash.rom)

A few messeges will come up are you sure etc type "y" and "y" all done

for the second card type
nvflash -i1 -5 -6 ***.rom

A few messeges will come up are you sure etc type "y" and "y" all done

In case - Error: Firmware image filename must have a *.rom or *.nvr extension

just use --index=o(1) instead of i0(1)

After every flash reboot is REQUIRED to take effect, no complete driver uninstallation needed That's it! Sample here

Stack of 580M bioses here, where:

- 06(04) represents a bios version, 06 is the newest (P0/P1 clocks matched with no throttling);
- 620_750 GPU clocks (that's the stock 580M clocks);
- 087(092) the end result GPU voltage (087 is stock).

All the Undervolting session info is provided in my sig, please have a look

A few advises for the first-timers:

- If undervolted slight OC is possible but not required;
- If bios flashed, don't jump straight from undervolted to highly overclocked ones, in order to prevent the card from friyng up;
- Furmark is not required for stability testing, 3DMarks + actual gaming is recommended;
- Better keep the temps less than 75C for everyday use, and less than 80C for OC sessions!

 

Thank you Red Line. +rep!

 

@Red Line - thanks, bro! +1

If I could give you rep twice for the same post, I would.

I just linked to your post in my thread for the throttling fix for those that want to flash.

 

I've got the M18x with dual 580m's, but I'm starting to worry that my second GPU isn't doing anything.

I've got it set to SLI in the Nvidia control panel, but when I run MSI Kombustor, the 2nd GPU doesn't do a thing.

Is there anything else that I can use to check on this?

 

Hello, saliwok. Happy Sunday to you, friend.

How do you know the 2nd GPU doesn't do a thing? How are you testing that to know? Have you tried running MSI Kombustor full screen to see if it changes? SLI and CrossFire generally only kick in when necessary. You may be able to use the NVIDIA control panel to create a custom profile for Kombustor to force SLI. The other thing is, if Kombustor and Furmark are the only things you are having issues with, don't sweat it. Those are both unnecessary utilities in the grand scheme of things. If SLI is working properly in most benchmarks and games, it's not worth losing any time or effort with Kombustor or Furmark. (These are just my thoughts.)

An easy way to confirm SLI is working is to disable it, run a quick Jane Nash routine in Vantage. Re-enable SLI, reboot and run Jane Nash again. The difference will be unmistakable.

You may also be having a throttle issue. Check out the link in my signature if you have not already addressed that. (If you haven't taken steps to correct it, it's guaranteed you have a throttle issue.)

 

@Red Line - the BIOS stack you linked is not coming up for me at MEGAUPLOAD (temporarily unavailable?). The nvflash was available at the link provided.

 

Thanks a bunch. Ran the Jane Nash bit as suggested and did notice a substantial jump in FPS with SLI enabled.

That's a relief!

I also got Kombustor up to full-screen (ran it alone, instead of as an add-on to Afterburner). It still doesn't seem to make much use of the 2nd GPU (clock speeds and temp stay low), but I'm less inclined to worry about that, now.

Thanks again, Mr. Fox!

 

You're welcome. And, good job! Glad you got it sorted. +1 Rep for the quick follow up.

 

Looks like the good thread for me.
The other one was locked because someone thought my problems were related to the throttling issue.
It was not, I would have liked a less arbitrary decision.

My performance issues remain, I don't know why my SLI is 25% slower than all the other SLI on the M18x, but it is and I'm seriously considering selling it.

Here's what I've done so far:

- Applied Mr Fox's solution for the throttling
- Installing different drivers, even betas (using driver sweeper in safe mode to clean everything before installing a new one)
- OC the cards a little
- Windows clean install
- Bought a pair of 1866mhz 4gb Ram
- Checked if everything was OK with GPU Z and it's bloody perfect

Nothing worked, even with the discrete OC from Mr Fox's batch file my 3dMark11 score barely goes beyond 7000 point, @ stock it's consistently around 6200 point.

I don't know what to do anymore.

 

What are your vantage scores?

 

Cygoris, your 3DMark11 and Vantage score are almost identical to mine. There is nothing wrong with your system from what I can see. Notice your scores are in the tall orange graph bar? That's a good thing.

Here are mine with a mild OC...

3DMark11: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2760QM Processor,Alienware M18xR1 score: P7186 3DMarks

Vantage: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2760QM Processor,Alienware M18xR1 score: P25265 3DMarks

3DMark06: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2760QM Processor,Alienware M18xR1 score: P24978 3DMarks

And for comparison without an OC...

3DMark11: P6237 (stock)

You're not going to hit 8k in 3DMark11 or 30k in Vantage without an XM CPU. You're also not going to benchmark as high with your current CPU as an M18x with AMD 6990M CrossFire. The 580M SLI setup comes to life with an XM CPU, but without it, the 6990M CrossFire does better at benching... but, not better at much of anything else.

I think you can find comfort in this and enjoy owning an awesome system. Your stock scores in 3DMark11 and Vantage, if they are similar to mine, are better than the vast majority. Many competing gaming systems sold by competitors (even with an XM CPU) don't score as high.

 

That's interesting, I thought the difference between the 2960xm and the 2860qm was very small, just a couple of mhz so to speak.
Synthetic benchs are not my only concern, my results in game are not even close to an M18x with i7 2820qm and Xfire 6990m.
Anyway your post is comforting but I still don't know why I paid so much for a slower computer.

 

Here's my first run with CPU = 44x all cores 0=Flex 99=short 85=long GPU's = Standard - more to come


Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

I agree with Mr. Fox and I think you may have what we call "GPU Performance Paranoia" .... it's when you read all the benchmark people post not knowing that most people post benchmarks with heavily overclocked systems...

Take for instance my scores in my signature, they are nothing like my stock speeds which are right around where yours are, a little higher on Vantage and 3DMark 2006 due to those two benchmarks being influenced by a faster CPU.

Try OC your video card to safe settings and you'll achieve what most people get and as far as gaming, if you want a baseline, run a few of the game benchmarks and I'll do the same with stock clocks to show you where we're at.

Trust me, chances are that there's nothing wrong with your SLI setup....

 

The difference between QM and XM CPU speeds is not so much the factory default clock speeds and turbo limits as much as capacity to maintain maximum speeds when multiple cores are in use for a sustained period of time. My 2760QM CPU hits 3.5GHz with one or two cores, but is incapable of maintaining 3.5GHz when all cores are called upon. The multipliers are also locked on a QM CPU so there is no real way to overclock them. You can change a few things, but not very much.

Properly equipped with an XM CPU, the 6990M CrossFire and GTX 580M SLI setups are close with the speed crown tilting in favor of NVIDIA. With a non-XM CPU, the 6990M CrossFire setup seems to have the speed edge.

I have been an ATI graphics user for several years and recently made the transition back to NVIDIA. The 6900M Series video cards are beasts, but they have experienced a plethora of technical issues and they have a rather diminutive feature set that makes them less attractive. If speed is what you want the most, I am sure you can get a very long line of AMD-based M18x owners that are willing to swap GPUs with you. I am not saying that to be sarcastic in any way... I'm actually very sincere in mentioning that as a real possiblity if you are unhappy with the 580M SLI performance. Or, you can keep what you have and upgrade to a 2960XM CPU when your wallet allows. (You can grab an ES or QS version from Shirley's on eBay if you're not financially able to blow a grand on the XM upgrade).

 

Your temperatures at such high CPU OC are fantastic!

 

Could not have said it any better, bro. I've got to remember that phrase, because it's very true. I have to check myself on that same thing all the time. It's too easy to let envy and paranoia stand in the way of an awesome ownership experience.

Cygoris - here's some more proof that you're not missing out on anything.

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Dan - awesome stuff! I'm looking forward to seeing more from you on the http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/574780-official-alienware-m18x-benchmark-thread.html!

Congrats on your new beast. Seems she is purring like a kitten, mate. +1 Rep

 

oh really awesome that is with dell thermals lol (all standard) and no cooler just flat on the desk. This is going to be fun lol

 

Trust me I know about AMd's issues, I have 2 M18x, one with Xfire 6970 + 2820qm and the one I'm using right now with the SLI.
I even tried swapping the mother boards hoping for some performance gain..

Spoiler

My experience with XM CPU on laptops is not that great, it's a story of a lot noise and heat for a very small performance edge.
I had an i7 920xm and after that an i7 940xm, both were faster than my 840qm but not enough to compensate for the heat and noise.
I agree that a lot of AMD based owner would gladly trade their Xfire for an SLI, but I disagree as to why.
I think they would first because an SLI is expensive and also because nVidia still has a mystic in this little house of fools.
As far as performance goes, the 6990 are ahead, that's annoying to me because we Europeans have to pay 1220 € (1 637.24 US$) to have the SLI.
I don't have financial problems but I'm not rich enough to not give a .

 

Interesting enough, I do believe your CPU is throttling, make sure you change it to throttle at 95c from the BIOS.

Saying that because here's a quick run I made with 42x/0flex/900 pri/160min and max pwr

Also stock GPU clocks.

Edit: Sorry Mr. Fox I know this should probably be posted in the CPU OC thread....

 

You might be right, I probably have some kind of paranoia lol!

No, what I have is a serious case of: "why did I work so hard for something that's so expensive and slower than the cheaper version"

It just doesn't cut it.

 

@Xeneize - As long as we don't stay on a CPU tangent we're OK. This discussion started all around the perception that the problem was the NVIDIA GPU. If it warrants further discussion specific to CPU, I will gladly follow you and DanXbix to that thread, LOL. Good discussion. Thanks for helping us stay on topic.

 

Thanks Xeneize. I am running std A05 bios and have yet to try A03 unlocked bios. 900 pri, max pwr, 160min? sorry i'm a noob with SB can you elaborate these settings? when running wprime155 CPU is deffinently throttling under 8 thread load.

 

Well, I guess it's time Xeneize... I want you to elaborate as well. Any knowledge I can gather to prep for the day I have my own XM/QS/ES CPU the better.

See you both at: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...920xm-2960xm-cpu-overclocking-discussion.html

 

not you dont, we are in the same canoa! he,he,he.lol

 

hey, just checked! it needs a few minutues to get available

 

I am getting my 580m SLi anyday now. I feel pretty positive still

 

Good! These beast are amazing!! I highly recommend you update your Verde driver to Graphics Driver - Verde 290.36 Driver - GeForce and test out your system. If you experience throttling in game like I did with Crysis 2 and a few times with BF3 you may want to take a look at Red Lines Post simplifying the custom vBIOS flash process. Congrats!!!!! Also keep in mind that the 580M's excell in-game where it matters not in benches w/o serious tweaking!! Unless you are johnksss and Co.

 

OK team. No reason for worries about being banned for drifting off topic a little bit. I have deleted some posts that were out of place. I have cleaned some up a little and left what adds value to the discussion. Thank you to the gentleman that alerted me that we are drifting off course. (You know who you are, LOL.)

If anyone sees more posts that I missed that you think are questionable, drop me or BatBoy or Katalin_2003 a PM with a link and we will have a look. If you see something that is obviously objectionable or violates forum rules, always use the link to report a post so any mod that sees the report can delete it.

Let's stay on topic and avoid directing posts toward specific members when it comes to personal interpretations. We should let them speak for their self. Use PM where appropriate.

Remember, this thread is intended for discussion about NVIDIA display adapters in the M18x.

• Which Display Driver Should I Use?
• General Items Related to NVIDIA Reference Drivers
• NVIDIA SLI Related Discussion
• Dell Release NVIDIA Driver Discussion
• Anything else related to getting your NVIDIA configured system up and running

 

Just added this blurb to the opening post:

 

When i'm running my SLI at 735/1470 I noticed some artefact's in game (Starcraft2) and with 3dMark11, why do you think that is?

 

I just received my first return of the Aero/OSD Bug going from IGPU to discrete. Hopefully that is the one and only time. The Aero Fix program written by one of our members brought Aero Back w/o a log off or restart. I'm glad I saved that program.

 

The same thing happened to me twice yesterday, but it was a C++ crash by a seldom-used utility that made it happen. It's not something that I am concerned about, since I hardly ever use it.

 

Could very well be the driver and OC. Back it down to stock clocks and see if you encounter the same behavior. If not, then its the OC.

Details. Without additional information on the nature of your 'bug', can't provide feedback.

---------------------------------------

@all:

This is not a chat room thread on all things NVIDIA. Lets stick with issues, performance related questions, etc. If you have a problem, post your issue and details and the community will try to assist. If you have general chatter on the 18x, then you should be posting in the Owner's Lounge.

Also, and this goes without saying as its item #1 of the forum rules...

Thanks.

 

It's definitely the OC, I will try a different driver next time.