*OFFICIAL* Alienware M18x Benchmark Thread

Lol, u have only 8gigs while he has 16 and also some bus overclock + XMP profile.

 

I'm confused, how does this benchmark work? How exactly will 16gb be faster than 8gb? (excuse my noobness)

 

more points doesn't mean it's faster, but the total capacity apparently affects the scores directly/linearly in this test. That's why I think it's best if you compare different RAM within the same system.

 

Use MaxxMem to test memory, shows your performance numbers without taking capacity into account afaik

 

John, thinking I will use my MCW-NBMAX on the GPUs. Found a 2nd one for $12 hopefully the guy gets back to me soon.

Once I have the 2nd one I can start actually implementing the loop. Got the rad ready to go already.

 

Hello,

I have read many post but I canot find an information, Do Optimus works with SLI ?

And in the end do the autonomy is very different in "web" use with SLI 580m or a crossfrie of 6990m?

I've other questions but i think i can find a more appropriate thread.

[EDIT]
OK I get an answer in another thread.

Now Optimus don't work with SLI, it probably need a new motherboard chipset.

 

Here's my spec:
Intel XM2920 2.5GHZ (Turbo mode enabled), 16GB ddr3 1600 memory, GTX580m Sli, Windows7 ultimate 64bit,
Here's my result:
( Windows7 = 7.6 , 3dmark Vantage "GPU = 23880 CPU = 22020" )

One question:
My M18x seems can't run hwinfo, everytime I try to start the hwinfo64.exe, my laptop will freeze when it start to "Check memory module", and I must shut down the laptop (alt+ctrl+del not working), run 40 mintues of memtest and have no errors, any idea?

 

Is a desktop 5970 (dual GPU card) actually slower than the 6990 crossfire? My research shows it is...I've just took delivery of my laptop and am now thinking I need to update my PC!

 

The 6990's should more or less be equivalent to XFire 6870's, while the 6970's should match up to the 6850's.

 

does anyone want to try smth like this to cool your components even more?

i've ordered a few myself, it's free intl shipping BTW! don't know if it fits AW M18x though... you can find it on ebay)

 

That will yield a minimal benefit and be a pain to put in (especially since the laptop has to stay disassembled while they are installed).

Tricks like that for cooling tend to be more fun on bottom accessible parts like pretty much every other laptop but the M18x

Do not expect a significant boost from them. You would be better served to just remove the bottom cover and elevate the bottom of the laptop so it gets better airflow.

 

that guy stated 6C drop in temps for CPU and 4C for GPU, but it's still worth a try for me, especially for 4.5$ a set

 

I cant see them doing much good to be honest....they obviously have some kind of adhesive stuff between the copper of the heatsink and the copper of the "gadgets" themselves....this in itself will not conduct heat away, more likely insulate it IMHO.....I know it says "Thermal Adhesive Tape" but anything other than copper to copper is gonna be a barrier to heat dissipation, right?

They look like copper "stickle bricks" with a bit of adhesive goo to stick 'em to you components....not my cup of tea....

 

Heat will still flow, just not as efficiently. Thermal paste (ANY of them) is lower conductivity than copper too......but we still love it

Going through all that for 6c on the M18x would be not worth it. More likely the guy only saw that difference because he now has the cover removed and the fans are getting more air flow.....

 

You can lower your temps by the same margin doing what scook said earlier, elevate it(by not even 1 inch) using a book, DVD cases etc or a stand/notebook cooler.

 

i know, i have CM U3 laptop pad already, but even 4-6C can be very helpful for my system, cause 2920xm ES 2.4Ghz is on the way too and 84C compared to 90C can result in extra 100Mhz OC with lower temps. Anyway, that's not a 500$ investment, just 9$. I'll give it a shot)

 

Do these WEI values looks about right?

Processor 7.5
Memory 7.8 (only 8GB of HyperX 1600 installed sofar)
Graphic 7.6/7.6
Disk 5.9 (basic 320GB 7200)

 

Yes, pretty much exactly what they should be. I do not have 1600MHz memory (standard 1333Mhz here) and here are my WEI ratings.

The 0.1 difference on graphics is negligible. If you are running the original Dell graphics drivers, that might account for it. My WEI utility seems to be kind of fickle... one day WEI will give a 7.6 graphics rating and the next time 7.7 or 7.5, so I would say you're in good shape. You may not see any change in your WEI memory rating when you install the additional 8GB of RAM. I think the rating is an indication of RAM performance more so than capacity.

 

Interesting, I have 7.9 in memory )same 1866 one)....

 

You also have a 2920XM CPU.

 

your scores are so close to mine's!!!!!
except I got a 2920xm, GTX580M sli, 16GB memory (1600),
but your score are so close to mine!!!

( CPU 7.6 memory 7.8 graphic 7.8 disk 7.8)

 

Thanks all.

Ok. So my rattle that I have, near the back left. My machine feels perfect, accept for the rattle.

Should I get a tech round to dismantle her and find the rattle...or risk sending her back and getting one that might not be so good?

 

When you have hardware performance that is approaching the maximum WEI rating (7.9) differences in performance make for smaller differences in the WEI rating. It's not really all that meaningful as far as benchmarks go. It has more usefulness as a tool to identify a problem than it does to measure performance.

Fix what you have if at all possible. Never use depot repair service if you can avoid it. Some folks are not comfortable doing so, but if I were you I would do it myself rather than having a hired tech rip into your M18x like a bull in a china cabinet. Slow and methodical, but easy to do... most techs try to go fast because time is money for them. If you have a tech come out, watch him take it apart and reassemble it, but don't let him leave without a call to Alienware to dispatch new parts if he breaks something. A don't be too surprised if he does. If he hasn't worked on one before and does not refer to the service manual as he goes along, it's almost a given he will bust something. Unless you are an accident prone person and break things a lot, nobody is going to handle your machine with the same tender loving care that you will.

You can download the service manual on the same page as the drivers at support.dell.com.

 

But isn't WI scores really just a reference? being that the same memory would score the same across any system and so forth?

This is my WI and no matter how much I OC the CPU it does not change...

 

WEI Is worthless. If you were able to OC the TDP of the CPU, you'd probably see a change in both CPU score and memory score, assuming you could get turbo boost working on all four cores.

The memory will go up as well, at least from my experience. I've pushed the memory score and CPU score up on my machine when benching. At this point you just can't OC the CPU far enough to make a significant impact. At least not like you could on the first gen core-i XM CPUs. the first gen, you could OC an insane amount from factory speeds by increasing the TDP and obtaining turbo on all four cores/eight threads.

 

Well, we can take the 4 core turbo speed from 3.2 to 3.8, that is not insignificant. We could probably do higher with a better TDP setting

 

we have the amps...just dont have the watts to support it...if we could get the watts upped by as little as 10. that would show a nice improvement...provided you can keep the heat in check. we have more than enough voltage to run the chip.

 

Hi all, got my M18x this week with the 2920xm chip so thought would do some benchmarking. After a lost day due to Hwinfo64 locking up my notebook have the machine benching stably on 40/40/42/45 in the bios. However when running Prime95 loaded @ 8 threads I see the cpu speed go as high as 3.8G then cycling down to 2.5G then back up to 3.8G etc. The temps were peaking at 91 degress on one of the cores but heat seemed to be manageable.
Is this normal behavior when overclocking this chip? Is there any way to get a constant speed instead of switching to turbo then back down again? Any help much appreciated.

 

yes, it's normal...to a degree...

 

From what I understand with these I7 chips, there's no way of forcing any speed past 2.5 really, in reality these processors are really self overclockable based on conditions. In other words if the temperature is right and the software demands it it can hit anywhere from 2.8Ghz to 4.5Ghz... This is of course, provided you allowed the chip to do this from the BIOS by defining the parameters. That said, you can set it to 45,45,45,45 the CPU will throttle itself back if the temperatures aren't adequate.

If you ask me, unless you are planning on doing some hardcore benchmarking, there isn't any reason (today anyhow) to go past the predefined Level 3 set and leave it default, you'll still peak at 4Ghz.

I kinda miss the QX9300 OC ability, but this seems safer. It almost feel as it's OC gone mainstream

91 seems a bit high but then again I pretty much never seen any app that pushed temp limits to a CPU as Prime95, so safe to say that is your cap.

 

Thanks Fox.

Did it myself...broke one of the clips on the control center piece, at the back right. Nothing too bad..just doesnt sit completley flush, but is still very secure because of the 5 screws.

The rattle was a screw. No where obvious for it to go, so just left it out.

I've put my 16GB in and done a memtest and all is fine!

 

Hey, hey! I knew you could do it, lnoton. +1 Rep for the DIY venture. Had a hired tech done, there probably would have been more than 1 broken clip.

 

Clevo 6990M CF in M18x

Just installed a pair of Clevo branded 6990M's in my M18x and got mixed results:

The Good:

Primary card detected
Temps are fine (under 80C in benches)
No fan issues

The Bad:

The secondary card doesn't appear in the BIOS, so no CF

Before I start messing with vBIOS and swapping the cards (will be around Tuesday next week), do you guys have any ideas on what could be done to try and enable CF? I'm on the A03 BIOS and 11.8 drivers.

Thanks

 

make sure the second card actually works first.
and you will probably have to flash something on the second card...no sure.

 

That would require swapping and I already got the system assembled and no time to mess with it till next Tuesday.

 

now...i know you know this already. ....but.... when dealing with new gpus...we never fully reassemble till we know it works...

boot to dos
and run the atiflash and see if it shows 2 gpus.
if it does...i would think you would need to flash a dell slave bios on it...speculation of course...

when i put the xm in here...i left this thing apart till i was good and sure it was going to work...lol...just me of course.

 

Was at the lab and couldn't leave my main system apart. I may find some time tomorrow morning to quickly swap the cards and see if it helps.

 

try the atiflash thing...im a bit curious as to know if it will still see the card. that should be a quick thing for you to try.

 

Will do later on, meanwhile stock Vantage GPU score 13,360. No CCC tweaking, everything default.

 

that's about what i got as well. default everything including ccc

 

Johnksss so you have the highest Vantage score ey! awesome stuffs.

What was your highest 3d mark 11 score to date?
+ 3d mark 06?

Cheers.

 

p8484
29830 or something like that for 06

 

Awesome! Thanks.

You should put your scores up here OFFICIAL: M18x Benchmarking Thread
Show them whos BOSS lol!

Cheers.

 

John, what is your workaround for vantage crashing on the 6990m's? Or is that a special problem for just me?

 

Just swapped the cards and got the same result, only primary slot detected. Meaning the cards are fine, it's either the system BIOS or vBIOS.

BTW, can someone create a thread for this topic - Clevo M6990M CF in the M18x (I'm not allowed)?

Thanks

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/605198-clevo-m6990m-cf-m18x.html#post7835994

Made the new thread buddy.

Hope you get the answers and assistance you need.

Cheers.

 

Thanks a ton, M8! Will take it from there. Rep is coming

 

What clocks are you guys running with 6970s in CF?

 

where are you crashing on that test?

cool deal! speculations, but im thinking it's the vbios.

 

I don't think anybody is overclocking either 6970's or 6990's because they handle all the games fine at max settings we are just overclocking for benchmarks