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

Cygoris - I'm getting artifacts at 735/1470 in 3DMark11 also. I tried it a little bit ago to see if I could replicate what you are seeing.

725/1450 seems to work better... Very seldom see any tearing or artifacts at that speed. I am using Verde 285.79 beta reference drivers from nvidia.com on my system.

 

Same results for me, the mild OC from your batch files is the best OC for me so far, safe and stable, I'm not experienced enough to do more anyway.
I don't know what to do with the memory frequencies though, did you change the values?
My drivers are the verde 285.62, so far so good, I always wait for feedback before updating to new ones.

 

Same here, I get Artifacts as well in 3DMark 2011 at 735, however Artifacts disapear as soon as I inject more power... No artifacts at all with 0.92 and up to 815/1900! The card clearly needs more power at those speeds, at least for 3DMark2011, I don't see any Artifacts while gaming at 740!

There you go, a great point (if I may say so myself), the fact that you can flash the VBios this is a clear advantage of 580M SLI setup when OC.

 

I'm happy to hear that is working out well for you. If you want my feedback on the beta drivers I am using, I do recommend them. They're great for me. With the goal of having an incredible, throttle-free gaming experience, the small software tweak is all that is needed. I am actually very pleased with the performance of my 580M SLI setup using nothing more than the software-enhanced settings.

I have not changed my memory frequencies. I have 1600MHz memory and have manually set it for that speed in the BIOS. I bumped the voltage up to 1.55 and have my CPU bus set at 104MHz and find that is enough. It's also well within in the safe zone. Until I can afford an XM CPU to make up the difference in total performance, I'm good with this setup and find a lot of pleasure in knowing my M18x is numbered among the fastest mobile gaming rigs on the planet.

It is a great point, Xeneize. And, you are correct about putting more power to them producing incredible performance results. My main focus in the other thread was to cure the throttling and provide help to those that find the idea of flashing their vBIOS with settings that Dell never intended to be intimidating. Mission accomplished, I would say. The intimidation, I think, shows wisdom from folks treading in uncharted waters. This is not something anyone should go after like a bull in a china cabinet, LOL. Doing so is a great way to ruin an awesome machine, real quick. There is always a certain amount of risk, especially so if inexperience comes into play.

 

I agree, I don't even use the modded VBios, currently using stock Dell VBios and OC using your method, however the option is there, if I may add, GPU's are known to have a much higher failure rate then CPU's when OC... The option is there but only to be used by Enthusiasts...

 

Yes, flashing a VBIOS is certainly not something I would do for 2 reasons:

1) My skills are limited to say the least
2) I can't afford a new M18x every day

I don't even know how to adjust the power of my SLI..

@Mr. Fox I think my English let me down with my memory question, I was talking about the Vram value (1500 stock)
I don't touch it because I have no idea what kind of frequencies they tolerate.

 

@ Saliwok,

Kombuster doesn't have an SLI profile either. Programs without it need to be manually set in the 3d settings in the driver otherwise they'll run with only one GPU If you create profile for Kombuster manually, set it to Force Alternate Frame Rendering 2 as oppose to the NVidia default. You'll notice a huge performance jump in Kombuster.

 

Finally got a replacement 580M SLi system initiated. Should be here in a week and hopefully they configured it correctly (e.g. didn't toss in a single 580M or worse yet 460M SLi). So what do I need to do to get up to speed? Edit the vbios and change the clocks to match 3D clocks, what else?

 

Depends on how far you want to go, bro.

This thread has the throttle fix and OC details...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-throttle-fix-no-vbios-flashing-required.html

Fixing the throttle involves applying the latest Dell vBIOS and setting P1 state clocks the same as P0.

 

Ok I guess I'll go with the vbios flash route rather than use software since I want it to be permanent. Are there side effects such as the cards running hotter at lower clocks because of this?

 

Nope, the lower clocks are other states (not p0 or p1). In total the 580m's have 4 states and go to the lower 2 at low load/idle which are at 0.80v at super low clocks even if you choose vbios overclocking. Vbios overclocking only touches the two performance states. Gaming temperatures will go up but low performance/idle temps and power draw will remain the same.

 

Mr. Fox thanks for starting this thred.
This may seem off topic, but started as GPU problem, "post http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/625617-help-video-card-issue.html " I recieved my replacement M18X yesterday, and its running great. Alienware I have to admit came through for me. Not only am I up an running again, but they also upgraded my CPU form the 2720 to the 2760, and SLi GPU's from 460M to the 560M's. I also noticed a programe that was not on my old M18X called AlienAutopsy. I felt I needed to post this for folks to see, especially after my rant. Also to Mr. Fox and several others who offered advice, a big thank you!


If this has been answered, please forgive me. I am running dual GTX560M in SLi with driver 269.03, I tried to update to the driver 285.62 but was then unable to access the nvidia controll panel, so I rolled back to the 269.03 driver. Am I missing something when installing the new driver. Oh, and I downloaded the driver from the Dell websight. Thanks.

 

Best Practice for this Process is:

1- Remove every Nvidia display drivers from the Programs/Uninstall (Display/PhysX, NV Audio/3D)
2- Reboot
3- Run Driver Sweeper and check all Nvidia Display Driver items ( Driver Sweeper - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com)
4- Reboot
5- Install the new Drivers, I suggest you do a custom installation and remove 3D Vision and Nvidia Updater (unless you need them)
6- Reboot
7- Enable SLI
8- Reboot
9- Enjoy!

 

By the way guys, I'm using Red Line's Undelvolting Method (just different Mod) and I can say I really dig this technique, currently set at 700/1600 @ 0.85 and runs everything I throw, has absolutely no issues at all and the temperatures are between 68-73c in extreme gaming situations (BF3/Crysys2 etc)

I could go higher but I found 700/1600 to handle anything and be very low risk as far as OC goes, my cards @ 725/0/85v had issues in Vantage, but that was enough to keep testing. Red Line's 705 was also a great mod.

I did try going up to 725/1700 but I got lockups in Vantage, so was not worth it for me, unless it's 100% stable and has absolutely zero artifacting, i was not going to go this route....

Also the Mod I'm using has the throttling P states also set at 700, so there's never going to be throttling with this VBios.

If anyone is interested I can post it on some downloadable site (not sure where, so send me some tips).

My Vantage scores are ~28,000k and 3DMark2011: ~7300, although I am using 42x OC on the CPU.

I believe that undervolting will ultimately run games faster/cooler and technically prolonging the life of the GPU..... makes me wonder why Nvidia/Dell isn't actually doing something like this out of the gate.

I'm gonna go ahead and Rep+ Red Line as I'll be completely honest, this technique was something that never crossed my mind, in the middle of me trying to get overvolt, I ended up settling for this and loving it!

 

I might try it, this seems to be the perfect setup: more performance, more battery life.

 

I might try it, this seems to be the perfect setup, more performance, my best will be here tomrrow. he

 

Thanks Xeneize it worked that time for me.

 

Good to hear

 

Just thought I would post a benchmark of the new M18X NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2760QM Processor,Alienware M18xR1 score: P4129 3DMarks Since the system that died only scored 1731 Im more than happy to see a score of 4129

 

Team - let's not get off-topic with benchmarks. It's OK to reference your benchmark result in the context of a tip or tweak, but posting benchmark results that are not part of a discussion will take us off in left field.

Kat32 - congratulations on the new system. We are excited for you and hope this one works out great. I am looking forward to seeing more of your benchmark results posted in the other thread. I will leave your post here since you were working with our brother Xeneize on getting new drivers installed and recognize it as being in relation to that. Good job working through that situation. (Just want to avoid having this thread turn into Benchmark Thread #2, LOL.)

 

Hay Xeneize. The 290.36 driver it is the best one?, cos I'm getting my beast today! Can't wait. Lol

 

I think so, but can't say for sure, works better on the latest games for sure.

 

OK Installed it work fine, thanks a lot

 

no problema

 

I'm using 290.36 beta drivers currently. Seems they are quite stable.

580m 290.36 beta Drivers

 

Thanks, Dan. I had not noticed there was a new beta out. I'll grab them now.

 

Spent a little more time trying to find the source of the M18x DPC latency. Initial tests pointed to the NVIDIA drivers. Seems I confirmed that today. I did a clean uninstall of all NVIDIA software, checked latency and reinstalled Verde package. See below...

DPC Latency - No NVIDIA Drivers (Standard VGA Adapter, Windows Hi-Def Audio)


DPC Latency - NVIDIA Verde 290.36 beta (same result with Verde 285.79 driver)


Not sure yet if it is the NVIDIA hi-def audio driver or display driver. May try with standard Windows 7 hi-def audio driver to see.

 

Interesting, you may also wnt to test it without the WiFI card, as I'm wired and have no latency issues at all.

 

That was the first thing I tested. The DPC count for the WiFi was higher than anything else and I assumed that would be the culprit. I uninstalled my Intel Ultimate-N 6300 drivers and it had no effect whatsoever.

The NVIDIA drivers were up there on DPC count, but not in the top spot. Since I was updating to the new Verde beta, that was the perfect time to test. After doing a DriverSweeper and CCleaner nuke of all the NVIDIA files I decided to check it out and... well... you see what I saw.

It's interesting that yours is different. Are you on A03 (Dell or modded A03)? I am on A05 right now.

 

Mr. Fox. I've appreciated all the great info provided here - +1 to you for the great throttling solution (and OC) using nvidiainspector!

I have a 3 part question...I appreciate your input (and input of other's here as well).

1) can you recommend a definitive guide to overclocking the 580M SLI configuration? I've a mind to use the nvidiainspector solution if possible because it seems so easy to use. Also, my pc is an AW M18X with a 2860qm processor.

2) Mr. Fox, I see the settings for the memory, voltage and shader clock below in the batch file you posted for nvidiainspector. Can you tell me where to find the setting for the GPU clock in the batch file? Also, I assume that if I simply change the clock settings below and save, then I'll have a different OC setting, yes (i.e. no other steps are involved)? BTW, i could change the voltage below by simply change the "870" to say "880" yes?

start C:\nvidiaInspector\nvidiaInspector.exe -setShaderClock:0,2,1240 -setMemoryClock:0,2,1500 -setVoltage:0,2,870

start C:\nvidiaInspector\nvidiaInspector.exe -setShaderClock:1,2,1240 -setMemoryClock:1,2,1500 -setVoltage:1,2,870

start C:\nvidiaInspector\nvidiaInspector.exe -setShaderClock:0,3,1240 -setMemoryClock:0,3,1500 -setVoltage:0,3,870

start C:\nvidiaInspector\nvidiaInspector.exe -setShaderClock:1,3,1240 -setMemoryClock:1,3,1500 -setVoltage:1,3,870

3) Finally, what are the pro's and cons of simply increasing voltage to .88 or .89? How much more of an OC would that support? My goal is an additional 5 fps (minimum), and I am already using Mr. Fox's suggested "light" OC of 725/1450, with generally good/stable results in games (however neither 3dMark 11 or Vantage seem to run right despite reinstalling them a couple of times and trying to run without OC).

Thank you!

 

Did you try the 6300 drivers from Intel? - mind you, if uninstalling them made no difference, that aint gonna do much good....(sorry for my "Homer" moment..d'oh )

 

I'm using A03 Unlocked, been using that since summer. What DPC software are you checking it with? I'll run that one as well to have a solid baseline.

 

LatencyMon from Resplendence.com (noted in utility title bar - see screen shots)

 

Right, you'd think I figure that one out lol...

Anyhow, seems to be an issue with this software as well....

UPDATE:

After removing the Nvidia Audio Driver:

 

I found no changes after removing the NVIDIA hi-def audio drivers. I'm not sure if that is what you meant in your post with the 2 thumbnails. Am I understanding correctly that DPC latency is running high on your system with the unlocked A03 or am I misunderstanding?

I ran a series of tests... there's good news and bad news.

Good news first... Dell's "recommended" video driver fixes the DPC latency. I installed the Dell beta 285.62 and Dell recommended 269.03. So far, all Verde drivers except Dell 269.03 have high DPC latency. Just to be sure, I reinstalled them a second time after 285.62 and the other reference drivers, and sure enough, the Dell 269.03 has zero DPC issues.

Now the bad news... 3DMark11 and Vantage scores drop using the only driver without DPC latency. So, I am going back to the NVIDIA Verde reference drivers. The DPC latency irks me a little, but other than discovering it with the LatencyMon utility, I perceive nothing adverse while using the system. There are no symptoms from the DPC latency that I have noticed.

In the process of all the testing, my NVIDIA Control Panel systray icon is AWOL and I cannot figure out how to turn it back on again. I'll Google for that. Below are the screen shots from my testing.

Spoiler

No NVIDIA drivers installed - Standard VGA and Windows hi-def audio

Dell Recommended 269.03 Driver (no DPC latency issues)

Dell Beta 285.62 Driver (major DPC latency issues)

Dell Recommended 269.03 (installed a second time - no DPC latency issues)

 

Very good tests Mr. Fox.... I do not have that problem, it's very weird.... I have two screenshots, the first one is with the NV Audio the second without, that seems to have done it for me...

I'm sure we have some deltas between our setups (Services disabled, etc) that could be the conflict here ....

 

As far as I can tell all my previous nVidia laptops with SLI had DPC issues.
The M17xR1 with SLI GTX 280m just was a wrong machine, it's one of those PC that never worked.
I just sold my Clevo M980nu and it was even worse, I couldn't watch a youtube video without drop outs, even the audio was affected.
It took me a year to find the right setup, and still it wasn't perfect.

My M18x also has DPC latency, but compared to my previous SLI laptops I can live with it, I don't notice it at all.
Funny thing is, I never experienced DPC latency with my M17xR2... with a Xfire of 5870m.

 

I'll answer above in a different font... hope this is helpful, bro.

 

I'm sure you're correct on that. I am not going to burn any more calories on this.

I agree, Cygoris. It's there, I wish it was not, but as far as I can tell it is hurting nothing with my user experience. I suppose the latency level must be borderline... enough to show up in tests as "not good" but low enough to not produce any significant symptoms.

 

Here's the difference between my clevo when I received it:



And the M18x:



And the Clevo again after a year of hell:




For comparison, the dpc latency of my Xfire 5870m:

 

Wow, that Clevo was way out of control. It's good you were able to finally tame it, but you were not kidding about the DPC latency being off the charts.

 

About the DPC issue. I had a problem with the Killer-N spiking my DPC latency, but I installed the latest drivers from Bigfoot, and removed the software from startup and services (I think). That part disappeared. My DPC latency goes yellow quite frequently, but the moment I actually run a game my latency is all green and very low. Those of you fighting your DPC latency, start up a windowed benchmark and watch it.

In an ideal world I don't want to see any yellow bars at any point, but if I am seeing all green the entire time the systems under load, then that is good enough for me.

 

You're exactly right. Launched 3DMark11 in Window'd mode and DPC latency is very low when the GPUs are under load. Interesting.

 

Oh I have to check it when I get home!!!

 

Hmm, interesting. Didn't realize there were Latency issues, or at least I didn't pay attention. Driver related?

 

Yes, all NVIDIA drivers except for 269.03, A01 - the "official" Dell driver. (The beta posted by Dell has it bad and so do the reference drivers.) If you uninstall the NVIDIA drivers there is no latency. It's just really interesting that when the GPUs come under load the latency problem goes away. As soon as they enter power saving states it comes back.

I never tested this with 6990M CrossFire, so it would be interesting if an M18x owner with AMD could test it to see if the behavior is the same. If it is, then the latency may be masquerading as a video driver problem, when the problem is hiding elsewhere.

The good part is that the DPC latency has not been showing up in audio or video playback... at least not for me. It is "latent latency" with no adverse symptoms so far... knock wood.

 

I did test this with 6990M crossfire, and the AMD don't have DPC latency.

 

Thanks, bumbo. Good to know. I can vaguely remember checking this out when skygunner found DPC latency issues with the first 580M setup he had and I did not remember DPC latency being a problem with the AMD-powered M18x. I may start a thread on this soon and ask for some screen shots from owners of M18x with AMD video cards.

 

Hi all,
There are 2 problems with my M18x.
1. Does anyone know what the cable is? I found it dangling in my refurbished M18x.

2. There are 2 Nvidia 580m in SLI mode in my M18x. After running some programs, the BIOS only detects one video card. Is there any tools or programs can detect the problems?

Thanks for any help!

Best regards,
Ejean

 

That cable looks like the one for the wireless HD card. They probably just took it out (or it never had it) and left the cable in there.

As for the video cards in windows does it detect two card or one? Also is SLI enabled in your driver options? The card could also not be 100% seated correctly but that would require you to take the computer apart.

EDIT: One more thing that might be causing a problem is the SLI cable that could also not be seated correctly.