*OFFICIAL* Alienware M18x Benchmark Thread

Anything that detracts the cpu (background processes) and gpu resources will affect the score. The cpu uss part of its resources to run these so it gives that much less attention to the bench. Try and get cpu idle at 0%. Memory affects it as well, but to a much less extent. So other processes yes. Ssds no. However the will allow the benchmark program to load quicker.

 

I wonder what processes I can end. I have 81 running atm. I can see ending things like roxio and webcam and others are easily detectable as things that can be "killed" off......are there any processes that SHOULDNT be killed.......

 

dont disable anything that says svchost.exe. and remember you arent going to gain any points disabling these. i guarantee it.

 

not looking good for hyperx 1866

G73Sw tested with Kingston's new Plug N Play Hyper X

Quick Look: Kingston HyperX Plug n Play DDR3-1866 SODIMM

very very little gains

I still ordered a kit though . There's even a profile for 2133Mhz :O.

the memory is kinda cute, its so small 8).

 

I beg to differ. Allowing the cpu to give attention to the background processes means the cpu has to multi task during the bench. While your not going to see a 10k pt improvement, it will improve the score slightly. If one is benching for the sake of numbers (like me) every single pt is worth the effort.

As far as disabling other processes, i disable anything not necessary for the bench. One of the reasons i bench on a separate ssd. It has maybe a total of 30 processes max. My raid setup has about 70.

I don't remember which process i had running, while benching, but can probably slim it down more. Only had wifi, chips and gpu drivers too. Bare minimum. Lot of trial and error

 

I'm talking about 3DMark 2011. 3D Mark 2006 is probably sensitive to disabling services by a few points to maybe 20. 3D Mark 2001SE is extremely sensitive.

Benching 3DM11 on a Alienware factory format gave the same scores as a reformat on my SSD with no programs or Alienware OSD drivers etc... That's after a reboot too.

 

That 6539 of mine was with a lvl 3 OC on the CPU

And unnecessary processes should be killed benching or not. I have a few programs open right now in my normal use setup and have 70 processes running....that goes down to around 55 when benching.

Also something people do not realize, the scores fluctuate a good bit when benching between runs. When I have my clocks and everything dialed in I will run 100 runs before I decide I am happy with the best score I have.

Benching hardcore takes patience haha

 

Couldn't agree more with scook. Took me forever, till I finally dialed in on some great setups for my bench scores. From there it was nothing but up.

 

I'm sure this has already been asked before, but what software do you guys use for OC?

Also, would you recommend leaving it OC 24/7?

 

this is my stock store on 3dmark11.

Does any one know why my cpu clock is stuck at 3090ghz? i thought that the 2820QM had a turbo boost up to 3.4ghz. I seem some people here with a intel 2720qm clocked at 3.2ghzz on the benchmark score page.

 

ignore the clock detection, its ALWAYS been screwy

 

Has anyone installed catalyst 11.6? I heard it skrews with overclocking with trixx

 

For me it broke CCC, I am back on 11.5b for now

 

I have 11.6 running fine. CCC running fine. I had to uninstall and reinstall trixx for it to work again though.

 

Scook how do you like your m18x? I am ordering one soon with 2920xm and 6970's also. Is it able to play today's games on max with no problems?

 

It laughs at games. You will be in good shape with such a setup

 

Just one more question scook!
Is there anything you recommend me modifying besides deleting the stock drivers and installing catalyst 11.5 and bumping the stock clocks up just a minor bit with trixx? I want to get the most out of this beast! Thanks in advance for the help!

 

in what way dya mean broken - did it just not work at all.....

 

I am back to 11.5b as well, I installed 11.6 and my whole system crashed....

 

CCC just kept crashing on me.

 

have you tried asder00's version (even though its the same one) as the officials?

 

That is the one I had

Only used it because I was too lazy to mod my own which is what I would normally do

 

id say thats grounds for replacing the 6970s but Dell would just ask you to try the fossilized dell drivers on the website.

 

I used to kill explorer.exe lol when trying to bench. It would boost my points a few hunderd or so. Like the guys said every little bit counts.

Cheers.

 

I have installed the 11.6 + cap and so far so good. After installing the driver and before using TRIXX I just made sure to set any EnableUlps to 0 in the registry, as the Disable ULPS option in the program never really worked for me with any driver -- trying to OC the 6970s trixx would freeze windows.

 

3dmark 2011

P7932

Result

3dmark 2006

23446

http://3dmark.com/3dm06/15830431

 

+rep for an amazing score. Nicely done!

 

Its crazy for 2720 to do 7932 , you got a cpu like 2920 lol (the chosen one!!)

 

i really hate intel for changing the architecture to multiplier only overclocking . 105bclk is crap. this 2720 could easily do 3.8ghz..


thx for rep rafix, will rep u too ^_^

 

Doeat the M18x have a cpu voltage option?

 

nope but knowing sandy it doesnt need any more voltage. these chips are gold for high clocks, just like bulldozer will be.

 

Good work Zero. Hope to rejoin you soon.

 

So, today I gave it another try with 3DMark 11. Once again I didn't want to push CF to its extreme limits, but I tweaked the CCC as DR650SE previously suggested me, and disabled a few more services and programs. As a result I got another little improvement from my former 7564, which is still a score that's way below that of our champions' but that I wanted to share it anyways

7670

Ciao

 

nice score! how did you tweak out your CCC and what services/programs did you disable?

 

Thanks a lot,

Well, in the CCC I went under Gaming > 3D Application Settings and basically, I disabled everything - all turned off, with selectors to the left. Concerning the services I left active only the core Windows services. First, I manually disabled those that I recognized as being related to various software I installed. Then, I used Registry Mechanic to show me which ones were the core Win services, and disabled everything else. You can easily do that using Autoruns as suggested by hoofhearted. I'm sure that with more tweaking and stronger OC i could go further, but I'm just glad of this new achievement

 

Result


Vantage 24K run

 

Nice! What were your gpu clocks on that run? Also what was you cpu speed? You just gave me a goal which I think is attainable in the R2.

 

Following Zero example, I decided to give 3DMark Vantage a try and got this result: 25356

I guess that having the 2920XM helps a lot here.

 

Ya the 2920xm helps in Vantage

 

GPUs @ 852/1180 ---

CPU @ 3145Mhz

Ram @ 978Mhz 11-11-11-32

 

Ok, I couldn't resist and gave 3dmark another last attempt. Some more tweaking, a bit higher OC, and I ended up with a decent 7824.

 

Nice! I bet you can break 8k. Push those cards!

 

I have my doubts man, as I can't push the core clock higher than 845; higher than that and it freezes while benchmarking or gaming. It's not heating as temps keep around 75/77 C, and I'm also using a cooling pad in a room temp of 75 F. I believe that's the limit of these cards. I can try pushing a bit more the memory though. Let see what will happen.

 

Try a more dramatic jump. Sometimes certain clocks freeze up and higher won't. Maybe try 860 or so.

 

I tried several others clock/memory OC combinations, but anything higher than 840-45/1180 freezes the system, shows artifacts or splits the screen. I think that's the limits of my cards. I'm satisfied anyway

 

chances are you will beat my score if your cards hit a decent overclock.

 

Here are some benchies I did tonight with my 6970's @840/1100 and the cpu @4.5ghz turbo with a bclk of 104.

 

well you now have the highest 06 score, congrats

 

Congrats man, impressive Could you post a 3dmark11 with no AMD Control Panel tweak by any chance? How 'bout the temps?

 

congratz on the score. 1 thing, how did u modify the bclk? thought they were locked by dell