*OFFICIAL* Alienware M18x Benchmark Thread - Part 2

OK I can't push any harder I don't think. With unlocked BIOS and Pri Plane maxxed out, my CPU still throttles back to 3.8GHz under full load in WPrime.

I think I'm hitting the 90C throttle limit. Windows software is reporting around 88C so maybe in the BIOS its high enough.

Remember its around 25C here and i dont have air con in my office.

My new system arrives on Wednesday so I'll see if it does the same thing, but otherwise I'm done. Gonna quit while I'm ahead.

 

You are hitting the throttle temps....and the turbo timers are running out.
Teamviewer.com so i can have look.

 

always willing to help John

ya just get Teamviewer.com let him do his magic

 

I try....



Edit:
So after doing some more testing, Im starting to see that each multiplier above 45x needs to have 5 flex:
46x=5
47=10
48=15 - 20
49=20 - 25
And anything higher is really not long term bench able on 8 cores

 

Yeah It's gotta be temps causing the issue.

When I get my new system tomorrow I'll see if it runs any cooler. The highest I can do on this system is 3.8GHz on all 4 cores before I start to get throttling. It boots into windows at x45 on all cores no problem, but drops under load.

I'll also try with lower flex values to see if that makes a difference. At the moment I'm running 15 flex.

Its amazing that the Dell defaults have a flex value of 25 for just 3.7Ghz on all 4 cores. No wonder it throttles on level 3!

Thanks again for all your help John. +Rep when I can.

 

You get a rep, you get a rep, everybody gets a rep! So what temp do you guys run the AC at? And the clocks for gaming and everyday use?

 

Yep, you don't need any flex at 45x and it's vantage bench able and wprime bench able. Temps will get up there though. depends allot on room temps.

Mine can get as high as 90C on an insane run or trying to keep vantage running at 4.9 ghz. The same for wprime 1.55.




Side note:
But what everyone seems to forget is...You're not running at 45x 24/7 either. You need to have all the speed step and cie states on. then you can function in this mode.....but if you are here to brag and say "hey look at me" you can forget it! Not gonna happen. You will default to the lowest state every time.
These high 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 and 5.0 ghz over clock are not just sitting on top of desktops running some cpu encoding...(well about 99 percent aren't anyways)
But for everything with in normal specs... you can run clocks up to 4.8 ghz..if your on 1 or 2 cores and then drop back to say 4.5 on 3 cores and 4.4 on 4 cores. All this works to ensure an enjoyable experience. But at the end of the day..... It's still a laptop with a super small heatsink. so be realistic.

 

Exactly! Well said!!

 

Hope you get a winner back.

 

I noticed after a run of vantage that my secondary card is 3~5 temps hotter than the primary but I didn't really worry about it.
But now after I played 20 minutes of Modern Warfare 3 I got these temps:
http://img408.imageshack.us/img408/7858/mw3temps.png

I am not sure why this is happening, any idea guys? I believe there are a couple of users here who were having the same issue...

 

That's perfectly normal and is caused by 2 things.

1. Only one card is operating as the PhysX processor, so it is under additional load.

2. SLI doesn't always place identical load on both cards.

 

Sli/crossfire never ever will have the exact same temps. because one card is always the primary card. The instruction card so to speak. They can get close in temps due to how a specific game renders content as well. Or they can be as far as 10 degrees apart. All up in the air and pretty close to normal operation for the most part.

 

so u mean gpu1 is the primary card, not gpu0?

 

I think with these newer cards, it switches between cards...speculation of course.

 

Correct. THe control panel has the option to set 1 or 2 as the primary card, or switch automatically (default setting).

 

I'll buy that for a dollar. lol.

 

i guess that makes sense, might try one of volt increasing mods with svl7, just sent him a snapshot of the back of gpu to compare it with the 6970m, we will see if the same mod (or possibly a new one) can be done to the cards in order to allow volt increase beyond 1.1v...

 

Volt modding isn't really going to help much... Because the pci-e socket can only take a little over the 100W card per slot. I would not waste time on that if i were you...

 

Erm, doesnt Brother ahmadmud have a crossfire setup and not sli (thats what the hwmonitor screenie showed ??) ??? - didnt (or dont recall) there being an option to choose or even enable dedicated physx on the team red cards ? - I know that when I had 6990's the temps were always maybe 3-5c different under load, with the secondary being the hotter of the two - the 580's I have now are alot closer together with temps and are within 1-2c of each other under load - normally 1c hotter on the secondary, and I have not dedicated any card to physx.

 

does the 100w limit also apply to the 580m ? if so, then how far can you overvolt it without experiencing any power issues?

 

100W would apply to the 580M as well because it's a limitation set on the motherboard socket, not the card itself.

 

I concur. We can add all the voltage in the world, but that 100W slot will not allow you to capitalize on it.

 

is there any way I can measure how much each card draw individually?

 

As of right now...no...there is "no easy" way to do that, But this should not even be high on your list of concerns my friend. With any product.....It has it's limits.

 

I agree with John's comment.

Pushing the M18x to the point of causing problems just doesn't make sense. It's not necessary for phenomenal gaming performance. It already does that at stock CPU/GPU clock speeds.

It's the most wicked laptop available for benchmarking and that alone stands for something awesome. There are limitations to what can be done and being happy with the idea of owning the best and baddest should be enough. It will never have the flexibility of a desktop and trying to push it to that level will break something.

 

you are right, i was just looking for something new to try

 

Hi you guys are awesome these benches are crazy Okay I have a question I put all my Multi to 45 what should I put the flex at currently it's at 25 that seems to high right

 

Unlocked BIOS: multi 45, flex 0, PriPlane 900.

 

Hi Aikimox thanks for the response I'm actualy running bios A00 can you give me numbers for that thanks

 

Without unlocking the BIOS your best is to set multis 45, flex 0, Long PWR 75, Short PWR 95 and your best is 3.8-4.0 on 4 cores/8threads, 4.5 on 1-2 cores.

 

Thanks again Aikimox Testing now. Darn BSOD should I raise the flex a bit

 

set all PWRs to max and try again. if bsod - set flex 5

 

Ok thanks one more question what's the Long duration TimeWindow mines at 28

 

Set it to max.

 

Ok thanks looking good at flex 20 no BSODs yet Thanks again Aikimox

 

You dont need flex..just up the plane till bsod stops. 20 is too high.

 

Is that only on unlocked bios johnksss. Also my CPU is a ES-stepping 6-revision D1 if that matters at all

 

*face palm*
My bad...You are on the locked version correct?

 

Yea I'm on A00 so is the flex ok then

 

Yes. It's ok.

 

Ok thanks for the help +Rep for you and Aikimox

 

Hey guys, if you've slowed on your benching, or are looking for the next challenge, can I suggest joining the NBR Folding@home team? We've (NBR) has managed to crack into the top 1300 teams, but now we have our goal set on the top 1000 teams. We could use some help and Sandy Bridge seems to do really well. I'm sure an OCed XM Sandy Bridge will do really well. this is great if you leave your system idle all the time when not in use. Also 580M seems to crush through Work Units. It's a great way to foster some competition and push those overclocks.

 

I wonder how my desktop would do as I don't use it very much Count me in

 

Sweet, welcome! Your system will probably crush out at least 30K points perday at the very least! If you join in over at on the thread we can show you how to best set it up. It's pretty easy

 

im still on the evga team for folding.

 

Make the move!

 

M18x has been at the depot, thus no benching or gaming for a while.

It's on the FedEx truck for delivery today. I'm crossing my fingers that it's not torn up or damaged by the depot, and hoping to find that everything is working. I'll report on what I find when I open the box. It will be interesting to see the work order to find out what was replaced.

Does anyone know if scook9 got his mobo issue resolved?

 

I'm keeping everything crossed for you Brother Fox. I hope she comes back to you in fine fettle.

 

What happened to your new M18x?


John have you considered a friendly alienware vs clevo benchmark shootout? Clevo guys regularly claim they have higher performing systems and its time that's put to test. I think a fully OC 2960xm should easily give the 980/990x a run for its money in games and benchmarks. In fact excluding the few apps that can take advantage of the extra two cores I'd bet M18x would win. The R3 should also be able top keep up or beat its clevo single card equivalents. I think a lot of clevo owners are living in a fantasy with regards to their perceived superior performance.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

 

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There's no way 990X can beat an OC'ed 2960XM (@4.5+) even in multithreaded runs. And given the fact that there's virtually no OC' on the Clevo (anything past 4ghz proved to be unstable thus far), the M18x is the clear winner. But of course, when it comes to the cooling, you won't run heavy rendering @4.5ghz on your desk for hours. That's when the x7200 has an edge. Still, it's a very tiny edge if u ask me.