New on Alienware 18 2013.

Below are the specs of my beast that I just gotten it.

Alienware 18 2013
CPU - Intel core i7 4900MQ @ 2.80ghz (8M cache, Turbo up to 3.8ghz)
Ram - 16GB dual-channel ddr3
Graphics - 2x NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 780M SLI with 8gb ddr5 memory
Storage - 750gb WD Black (RAID), 80gb Intel SSD (RAID)
Optical drives - DVDRW +Bluray reader
Running on windows 10

Have some question regarding about the it.

Question:
1) How do i fully utilize this beast? Overclocking? Or any settings I need to do to enable the SLI? Am very noob in PC technology and also new to overclocking.

2) Do I7 4930MX has really really much better performance than I7 4900MQ? Should I upgrade the processor? And why?

3) What's the best drivers for SLI gtx780m?

If you have any tips & tricks, do let me know!

Ps: Please explain in an more laymen terms, cause am really kinda new to gaming on pcs.

Thank you so much for your time! Especially Mr. Fox!

 

if your not an overclocker u dont need to overclock just normal bios overclock lvl 1 is good
and yes you have to enable SLI from nvidia control panel -> configure SLI, surround ,physX -> maximize 3D performance
i use the latest drivers i have 880m's 359.12 but i have svl7 vbios for my cards
and for games i never use overclocking because its unstable so any other questions just ask xD

 

Where do I enable this bios overclock lvl 1? There's many different levels? Does this bios overclock making the gameplay unstable?

Because I heard that 780m drivers are kinda sucky.

Sorry for my noob question.

 

this bios overclock is stable there is only 1 lvl for the 4900mq more for the 4940mx
to enable it : normally its enabled by default but to make sure go to your bios under advance -> performance option you have to see extreme edition core ration limit <oc lv 1> under that i guess for the 4900mq it will be : 40 ,39 ,38 ,38 ---- 60 - 28 - 75
and for the 780m's that u have u can flash them with the svl7 vbios and its will be fine with all drivers it wont throttle or anything and it will be running on turbo clock on high with games

 

and if u dont know how to flash the vbios i can help u with that 2

 

How can you help? Thank you so much!

 

i can give u easy way to do it with everything ready just to flash en restart

 

i made you an easy way to backup your vbios and flash
its easy ill send you the file but you have to under stand what it does there 1.bat,2.bat,3.bat,4.bat
nr 1 it backup your vbios that u have now and name it back1.rom
nr 2 does the same for the 2nd card and name it back2.rom
nr 3 flash the first card with the new vbios
nr 4 flash the 2nd card with the new vbios
then you have to restart
there is 1 problem with this vbios that you cant use your pc without the power and if u do you better FN+F5 and use intel graphics until you plug it back
and if you dont like it and you want to restore to the original vbios just use the restore1.bat ,restore2.bat
if you dont understad let me know

 

So I just download the file and flash?


Thank you so much!

 

yes that easy

 

Okay thanks! To be more precise, I download and double click, it will auto flash by itself right? I don't have to do anything I suppose? Any stuff I need to do in order for it to work? And it's suitable for the 780m?

 

you have the orders per number 1 then 2 .3 and 4 and keep the files if you want to restore and yes this one is for the 780m's and you need to restart after and you can see it work if check the difference before and after with TechPowerUp GPU-Z by checking the gpu clock
and do you have the last bios from dell A12 ? and did you check your cpu overclock ?

 

Yes, bios is A12. I just enabled the cpu overclock . What You mean by orders per number 1 then 2 .3 and 4 and keep the files? Sorry for being so noob.

 

when u use the 1 and 2 they make backup files of your current vbios and put them in the same folder as back1 and back2 so keep them the hole thing so if you want to restore for later

 

So, I have to run 1, 2,3 and 4 in order?

 

yes and after keep the whole file so you can restore later if you want and restart after

 

Should I change my panel refresh rate? What does it do? Mine was reading at 60hz, can I improve it or should I just keep it as defaults?

 

Hi, just flashed the vbios, now my gpu clock, gpu clock boost, default clock and default clock boost changed from 771MHz to 850MHz, is these the changes that we want to see? I suppose memory MHz will always remain the same? And 850MHz is the max and safe level it can goes?

Thank you!

 

this is all safe and thats it and i dont recommend that you play with your screen refresh rates you dont want to break you screen

 

Thank you so much for the help, any more tips to share with me to improve my 18? Thanks.

 

Hi, just tried playing dota 2 on my alienware 18, it runs very very smooth, however sometimes when i alt tab to my browser and back to the game, it became very choppy and after a short while it will resume back to normal, any ideas why is this happening?

 

Its normal..

 

you play dota 2 ? what your steam account add me encor50

 

Hey, started a conversation with you.

 

But I don't get this on my AW 15. So is there any setting that I forgot to turn on or? I'm on svl7 bios for my cards.

 

maybe something with dota ? i dont get that and i have svl7

 

I have same specs A18 as OP and I get 850mhz when playing game and temps run max 73 degree. I dont see any reason to flash the bios. I am running 353.84 drivers.

 

No, it will go higher than that if you overclock it, if you want to. You don't need to for playing games.