*OFFICIAL* Alienware M18xR1/R2/18 Benchmark Thread - Part 3

Gonna leave this right here as a point of reference for anyone thinking about buying an Alienware. Grass is greener on the other side.

Here are some 4.7 and 4.8GHz benchmarks running on AC with @Prema's magic monster firmware. Don't be alarmed by the voltage. What you see is idle voltage. Under load it is in the neighborhood of 1.350-1.375V, not the high value.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 (notebook) video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-6700K,EUROCOM SKY X9 powered by premamod.com
(1450/4000 GPU OC)



NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 (notebook) video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-6700K,EUROCOM SKY X9 powered by premamod.com
(1500/4000 GPU OC)


wPrime 32M and 1024M @ 4.8GHz


Cinebench R11.5 @ 4.7GHz


Cinebench R11.5 @ 4.8GHz


Cinebench R15 @ 4.7GHz


AIDA64 Memory Benchmark - 32GB DDR4-2666


AIDA64 Memory Benchmark - 32GB DDR4-2800

 

Holy cow!
No words :|

 

Wow, that is insane, I can't believe 16k GPU and 15.5k CPU out of that thing. That CPU score is about the same as my hexa-core 4930k at 4.5GHz! I had to look up the processor to see if it was hex or quad core! Congratulations.

 

Thanks... quite the machine, really... and a gorgeous beast.

For those that have been following my review at PremaMod.com (which still is not finished) you saw the memory performance of the various modules.

This evening I was able to do some tweaking and got the 16GB (64GB total) Crucial/Micron 2133 modules to run a stable 2400 CL15-15-15-36 1T. (I was able to do CL14, but got a few errors in tm5 testing, so I locked it down to the SPD at CL15 in a custom XMP profile.)

While not as fast as the smaller 4GB and 8GB HyperX Impact sticks running at 2800, it's still a nice performance bump for such huge memory sticks.

Stock Performance

Overclocked Performance (CL15)

CL14 example...

 

Congratulations on those results brother Fox. What an insane piece of hardware. I might have to start saving for one of these - I want one in my life This is how it should be.

You must be thrilled you didn't have to resort to a desk anchor.

 

Thanks Brother @TBoneSan - Yes, I am pretty stoked about how nice it is and how well it runs. This machine is not mine, though. It has to go back to Eurocom at some point. I'm waiting for 980M SLI parts to come in for testing.

 

I want to petition compal to build an updated board for the m18x chassis

Literally leave everything the same except updated chipset and socket.

 

This!

 

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/6875236

Alienware 18 980M SLI 1.1v +225/380

 

I just love my M18x R2. Look at this. My Alienware 18 couldn't touch that frequency at that TDP and package temperature after finishing a Wprime 1024 run. JUST LOOK AT THOSE STABLE LINES!!!!!


And a 3dmark11 run with 780M overclocked at 0.975V (not sure why it is showing 1.0V, when the graph only ever reads 0.8375V or 0.975V)

 

16k is really impressive from 780M SLI! I think my 680M's stable best was around 11k for reference.

 

Hang on . . . 11k for GPU score? That sounds rather low. Here's a rather modest showing from a similar system and even that's at almost 14k.

Link: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/9623327

 

Sorry, I should have specified Firestrike Normal. 3DMark 11 it's around 16k GPU if I'm not mistaken. Frequencies for that run are shown but sometimes they aren't reported correctly.

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4708907

So yeah, when I say I was impressed with the 16k GPU score I was referring to Firestrike Normal. I didn't know 780M was 150% faster than 680M!

 

I'll expand by responding to the last part of your statement. The GTX 780M is not 150% faster than the GTX 680M. Not even 50% based on the information I have seen and provided. That score that you were impressed by was not from Firestrike, but rather, from 3dMark11. It's a great score, no doubt. It is a considerable step above a very generously overclocked 680M SLi setup, but it is from 3dMark11, and it's around -- give or take -- 2000 to 3000 points ahead of a similar GTX 680M SLi showing.

In Firestrike, a similarly clocked GTX 780M SLi solution would yield around 12k in graphics score department. As it stands, @Mr. Fox holds the current record on the same rig with a hefty overclock, and this tops out at almost 15k, which is quite a feat to behold.
Link: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/2330540

For reference, here's Nikos practically touching a full 13k with a similarly hefty overclock on the 680M SLi -- with a largely similar system -- also a very excellent showing that is not too far off from the 780M SLi above.
Link: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/3542605

 

I sold my mediocre 980M cards on eBay and borrowed 780M SLI from the M18xR2 until I can find a pair of 980M that overclock well enough to keep. These old GPUs sure do run nice.

780M SLI - http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/10939010

 

Heh... my 980Ms have very nice ASIC ratings but the vRAM can't do the typical 1450Mhz.

 

The ones I sold did fine with the memory overclocking, but not well with a high bump in core voltage to support higher core overclocking. If I gave them enough voltage for more than about +150 to +160 offset on core they would always throw a black screen. Using AC to keep them cold was helpful, but not enough to turn benchmark scores similar to what @Kpaxx and @johnksss do. If I can't turn over benchmark scores in the ball park of what they are doing, then there's really no point in even having them... they were basically worthless for anything except playing games.

 

780M SLI - http://www.3dmark.com/fs/7575198

 

780M SLI - http://www.3dmark.com/3dmv/5414373

 

Here's another round with 780M SLI using the 4960X @ 4.7GHz. These old monster machines still put the hurt on the best of the best current BGA trash, LOL. Looks like 780M SLI still has a pretty nasty disposition when it's back is against the wall.

---

Fire Strike - 780M SLI - 2nd place, right behind Brother @johnksss
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/10905577


3DMark 11 - another 780M SLI second place score, right behind Brother @johnksss
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/10972452
First place for 780M SLI in 3DMark Vantage.
http://www.3dmark.com/3dmv/5418187

 

I just tested 3DMark11 on m18x-R2 with a single R9 M290x with i7-3940XM OC Level 1 in bios.

I wish I have the cf cable to test out dual r9 m290x.

 

For fun, stock M11xR3:

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/7783420

I'll mess around with it and see if I can break 1000 points LOL

 

Got my new 980M SLI setup in the Panther. Here's a couple of 3DMark 11 runs for comparison... no GPU overclock. The higher score is stock clocks with @Prema vBIOS. ASIC is pretty good on this pair, so hopefully they will overclock better than the GPUs I sold.

http://www.3dmark.com/compare/3dm11/11018077/3dm11/11014657

 

wow. stock single gtx 980m score. The temp was no more that 60 degree

 

I'm not sure why my 980Ms run hot from the factory in the Alienware 18....kinda annoying really. They routinely get into the mid 70s range. So do my 780Ms in the M18x R1/R2

 

The 980m that I have barely hit 70 , always idle at 50.

 

Mine idle at 50-53 but under load temp goes WAY up. I have no idea why. Applied thermal twice with no difference.

 

Hey guys what is a good asic value for a soldered 980m ?

 

Soldered or not soldered it doesn't matter. I call anything 80%+ very good, 75%+ good, 68-70% average, and 65% below poor

 

Thanks, got myself a good one then

 

Here's another blast from the past... 6990M CF 800/1100 GPU OC in my old M18xR1. Took a pair of GPUs in partial trade for some works, so now the R1 has its own set of GPUs again.

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/11036526

 

It's nice that the pair of 6990 is almost as good as a single OC'ed R9 m290x Mr. Fox.

 

Thanks. What is even nicer is I did not have to buy them. Much better than Intel HD graphics, too. Since I seldom use my Alienwares for anything, and I don't really bench them any more, it's more a trip down memory lane. Surprisingly, 6990M CF actually does a fairly decent job of holding its own in games compared to some of the so-called gaming notebooks crapbooks.

Can't beat the build quality or aesthetics of the M18xR1/R2... nothing better anywhere in that respect. Even the partially crippled 18 is no slouch in terms of build quality. So many wonderful memories of a once amazing brand. *misty eyes*

 

@Mr. Fox Haha, My eyes are also wet but that's because I had two 6990m's fail in my M17x R2... that hurt a lot as I was studying at the time and had saved hard just to buy them, they were excellent when they were working though!

 

Fox and Kenny, I'm gonna have something for you to test on the M18x R2 soon.

Swick and I are backporting the GOPPolicy from the Alienware 18 A12 bios into the M18x R2 BIOS, we think it has something to do with how it may reroute the maxwell boot code to BiosVideo module.

 

Yes, I have been talking with him daily. Sounds like he has made excellent progress in the last 24 hours and he already has a heavily modded/updated BIOS for the M18xR2. The only question is whether or not Maxwell will POST in Legacy mode with Maxwell GPUs. Even if it does not work for Maxwell in Legacy mode, it still sounds like some amazing progress has been made as far as the IGFX vBIOS update, Intel v12 OROM and new CPU micro-code for the R2.

Time is a problem for me since it would involve more than a quick and easy flash... tearing down two machines and swapping GPUs around for testing certainly isn't hard but I don't have much free time. I could work 24/7 for a week and probably still not have enough time right now. It would be nice to have that Maxwell 8-beep mess fixed for M18xR2 owners. If 980M SLI still throttles when overclocked there will still be that hurdle to clear. There is always a chance that @Prema could fix that with a vBIOS mod when he has time to work on it. Having all of the other support in place for if/when that can happen would be sweet.

 

Worst case scenario, I will pull a 980M out of mine and put it into the M18x R2 for testing, but I really don't want to deconstruct my work computer. Regardless, we are still investigating a few things. I belive Kenny tested my original modification and found that the LCD would light up, then proceed to give 8 beeps vs dead/no backlit LCD and 8 beeps. We think GOPPolicy could be the key here won't know till we test.

 

It would be awesome if the 980M worked in the M18xR1 and M17xR3 as well.

 

M18X R1 GTX880M SLI

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/7879973

Max Temp
GPU1 77 Celsius
GPU2 75 Celsius

 

A mild overclock on the 980m comes close

 

Hey guys, help me decide between single 980M and 780M SLI!

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...80m-sli-upgrade.765169/page-299#post-10219466

Mr. Fox is this kind of score (~16k GPU) possible with single 980M in the M18x R2?

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/6554169

 

No, have a closer look at the hardware, bro. That is a single 200W GTX 980 (not 980M) and it is a lot more powerful than 980M.

 

HOLY CRAP.

I forgot that youre running desktop 980 in your Eurocom monster! My question still remains, if you had 680M SLI, would you upgrade to single 980M or 780M SLI? I searched the web for a single 980M benchmark in the R2 and the only one I could find was your of around 12k GPU, is that the best you could do with it? That's not bad, but I would really only see benefit going from 680M SLI to single 980 with games that don't have proper SLI support and / or benefit from more than 2GB of VRAM.

 

Short answer: No. I would not touch 980M with a 10-foot pole on the M18xR2 as long is it requires pure UEFI and has throttling issues.

There is hope that situation might change if @Swick1981 and @Raidriar are successful. Maybe you can help them with testing. See this thread:

Alienware M18xR2 New/Updated BIOS Mods - Testers Needed

If, and only if, they are successful in getting it to boot without 8 beeps using Legacy Option ROM/CSM in PEG mode and the throttling problem can be fixed, then yes... would be really nice with 980M or 980M SLI. Until then, you're better off with a less powerful GPU setup that works correctly 100% of the time, under all conditions.

 

Thanks for the help Mr. Fox! Hopefully Swick and Raidriar get the help they need, I don't know how much help I would be without 980M on hand.

 

They need testers to be sure the BIOS works with all M18xR2 configurations. Note the updates that are being added for the M18xR2 involved numerous thing. Adding Legacy/CSM support for Maxwell is only one goal for keeping the M18xR2 as current and relevant as possible.

Look at the list of updates in the opening post...

 

Nice score. You must have a wonderful indoor temperature . My wife would kill me if I do the same, LOL
Maybe my next purchase should be an AC instead more and better ram? Too expencive here at home but I want one when I see your hardware temp By the way... Do you need 1 or 2 330w for this bench score?

 

@Papusan - I wish I could understand how you are getting your physics scores so high under Windows 10. I've run out of ideas and Windows 8 and 10 physics scores really suck on all of my laptops. Maybe some of the Aero tweaks and modded themes I am running to stop it from being such an ugly OS are tanking the physics performance. AC unit definitely helps. I don't remember if I was using dual 330W or single for those benchmarks.

This is number 5 for desktop 980 MXM, with MSI Titan crapbooks with desktop 980 SLI beating single Sky X9 980 GPU by only a small margin.
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/10905808


This is actually a better single 980 Fire Strike score than the older one that @vulcan78 identified.

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/7059595

 

Have you updated Win 10 with some garbage? Of course not . Is there anything that run in the background... Tweaks or similar because you hate X? I run plain Win Crap without any tweaks. I haven't done major changes on this OS garbage from Redmond. Do not know if I want to have this trash anymore and I also haven't time now to change the Os and setup the way I want. I try to enjoy myself with the machine in short moments. I am sad that I don't have an extra 330W + converter box because it's to difficult to obtain one at home. If I crash my Clevo 330W PSU now as I did in benching with my 240w for AW17, I have a serious problem. Risking not being able to use the laptop for a long time because of no PSU. Damn everything takes time at home. A very small selection of spare parts/hardware and software for those who want something real.

Edit: Amazing that there is no major difference between MSI BGA machine with 980Sli vs Sky X9 and a singles 980 in 3Dm11.

Yet another new Firestrike bench. This time with 260/500 (1488/8003) and 14, 118P The 330W PSU maxed out at 359.9W I need an extra
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/7913915

 

Single
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/11070875

Crossfire
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/11067038