*Official* Alienware M18xR1/R2 CPU Overclocking Thread - Learn How and Share Tips Here

Lets discuss all things related to overclocking the Intel i7 Sandy/Ivy Bridge Extreme CPUs here...

Tips, BIOS settings, questions & answers - all are welcome.

We're going to try something different - feel free to post your CPU benchmarks here. Having CPU benchmark results within a thread dedicated to discussing CPU overclocking makes sense. Please do include a recap of your CPU OC settings in the BIOS and/or any third party apps you are using to obtain your OC speed when you post your results. This will help those new to OC'ing their CPU learn from the experts and of course provide a bit of competition among the number chasers.

When embedding images into your post, please remember nothing over 500x500 pixels. See our guide for where to host images here and how to resize images here.

For general benchmarking discussion (CPU/GPU/Drive/System), please see this thread as it is our main 'bragging' thread

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/574780-official-alienware-m18x-benchmark-thread.html (for reference) and http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...alienware-m18x-benchmark-thread-part-2-a.html

NBR's word of caution concerning overclocking and benchmarking... While overclocking and benchmarking can be quite a bit of fun, please be aware that delving into this realm will push your system to its limits. It can and will stress your components. Do so at your own risk - nobody is responsible for this but you.

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2920XM Factory Overclock Option

I had created a thread earlier on the 2920XM 'Factory Overclocked' option. That thread is now closed. I know some of you have ordered the Factory OC'd 2920XM option. When you receive your system, take a moment and review your Performance settings in the BIOS. Please report what settings are default so others can compare with their 'non-factory overclocked' 2920XM systems. Lets see if we can reproduce this 'factory overclocked turboboost to 4.0GHz' on a non-factory overclocked system. I see no reason why this is not possible given the Core Limits/Ratios should be visible in the BIOS. We shall soon find out...

Have fun!

-
SargeOsis reports the following for his 'factory overclocked' system:

Mr. Fox Edit: The settings in the screen shots below are for a stable 4.4GHz overclock with the 2920XM. They may work equally well for a 2960XM. (You may be able to lower the flex from 10 to 5 or 0 with the 2960XM.)










For an overclocking instructional video showing settings and BIOS navigation, please have a look at this post .

 

Im hoping that the only difference between the factory OC'd xm and the non-factory OC'd xm is purely that Dell have done it for you. I would be pretty miffed if it wasnt "do-able" on the non factory OC'd option and IF the non-OC'd chip is "locked" in anyway, shape or form by Dell.

I *might* have gone for the Factory OC'd option but it aint available in the UK atm and my business rep said its unlikley for a few months for some odd reason!

Reckon this has been offered simply as an option for "lazy overclockers" ??? who dont want to mess???

 

I was hoping to see this thread Thanks for creating it. Oh and how about some Overclocking stuff for us poor s who couldnt affor the upgrades ?

 

It is sandy bridge...except for extremely limited options on the blck (5 MHz OC being all you will likely get) the 2920xm is the only overclockable model. I know that is why I am getting one.

I will keep you all posted on my performance impressions - I got a non factory overclocked 2920xm

 

Yep, initially I created two of these threads - this one and one for non-extreme CPUs. Immediately after doing so, I remembered the fact that non-extreme SB CPUs really don't have OC options (as we saw with the 17xR3). I removered the thread realizing I had a 'noob' moment. lol

If the non-extreme owners still want a thread, I can restore it. Up to you.

We need a general 'overclocking' thread as well. Once created, it can also be used for the non-extreme owners.

Guys - I'm open to suggestions... tell me what you want this sub-forum to look like and lets get it started. Shoot me a PM.

 

Good work fella.

I havent any suggestions atm except to say as a "soon to be" owner of a M18x with a 2920xm non-factory OC'd cpu, I am "all ears" to see how you guys do things.....will be extremely interesting to see what the experienced guys get in terms of results so I will be watching this thread very closely over the forthcoming weeks!

 

I would recommend simply rolling the overclocking and benchmarking threads into one....the one will always lead to the other and vice versa and it will make for A LOT of duplicate information

 

Thanks for the suggestion scook. I figured you folks would want a dedicated 2920 CPU thrashing thread to discuss (and show off) your achievments with the XM.

Whatever works best is fine with me... You guys are more than welcome to chatter about overclocking in the bench thread since, as you pointed out, they do go hand in hand.

This one I do want to keep in place though to discuss 2920XM BIOS tweaking

 

I would be thrilled to just have the flexibility on the CPU side that I got used to in my R1 although I know that was sort of a unique laptop in that respect haha

Memory control should be phenomenal though

 

I am not up to speed with why the 2920XM overclocks and the other lesser CPU don't?
I can't see any overclocking happening with the BCLK on the HM67 chipset
Does the 2920QM have a unlocked mutliplier, how does it work?

 

Correct, the 2920XM is the 'extreme' CPU. Unlocked.

 

Currently set to "level 3 overclocking" for the CPU. My settings are the following:

OverClocking Feature: Enable
Processor Overclocking (greyed out)
Non-Turbo Flex Support: Disabled
Extreme Edition: Enable
Level 1-3 Overclocking: Level 3
Core 1 Ratio Limit: 42
Core 2 Ratio Limit: 38
Core 3 Ratio Limit: 36
Core 4 Ratio Limit: 35
Flex VID Override: 25
Override Turbo Settings: Enable
Long Duration PWR Limit: 75
Long Duration TimeWindow: 28
Short Duration PWR Limit: Enable
Short Duration PWR Limit: 94

Bus Clock Current Frequency 99.80MHz
New Frequency in 10KHz increments = 9980

Memory Overclocking:
Memory Override Support = Enable
Memory Voltage = 1.50 volts
(Available options are 1.50, 1.55, 1.60, 1.65)
Memory Frequency = [Auto]
(Available options are 1067,1333,1600,1867,2133)

DIMM Profile (XMP) = Default
(Available options Are map 1, map 2. custom setting)


The core ratios are not adjustable individually. They are modified for you as you go from disabled to level 3 overlclocking.

 

Those PWR limit windows are pretty decent. Should get some nice scores from that CPU in benchmarks.

 

Excellent! Thanks for posting this Sarge. Concerning Core Ratios, you should be able to increase or decrease using the + / - keys on the keypad. For now, I would stick with what was set at the factory though. Since you have preserved the settings here, all is good. Restoring 'Optimal Settings' may not include these enhanced settings for Level 3. Great to have them here now.

Can you also post (Should appear directly below your Processor Overclocking info):

Bus Clock Current Frequency
New Frequency in 10KHz increments =

Memory Overclocking:
Memory Override Support =
Memory Voltage =
Memory Frequency =
DIMM Profile (XMP) =

 

SargeOsis: When you get the chance can you run ThrottleStop and click on the TPL button and post a screen shot of what that window displays. Everyone is interested in seeing if these power limits are going to be locked by the bios and won't be adjustable by any software after you boot up. You can upload screen shots to ImageShack® and then just post a link here. Thanks.

 

No problem guys, I can do all that tonight. I had it in my office all day yesterday and found I was greatly distracted so I've left it at home today.

 

Business before pleasure...

 

So level 3 means the same OC option's are available to all 2920XM users with an m18x regardless of weather it is factory OC'ed or not?

 

Sure seems that way. The ratios posted by sarge differ from the default Level 3 settings for non-factory OC'd systems.

Looking forward to Sarge's update concerning the last of the settings.

Bus Clock Current Frequency
New Frequency in 10KHz increments =

Memory Overclocking:
Memory Override Support =
Memory Voltage =
Memory Frequency =
DIMM Profile (XMP) =

Once we have those, non-factory OC'd 2920XM owners can plug them in.

 

Bus Clock Current Frequency 99.80MHz
New Frequency in 10KHz increments = 9980

Memory Overclocking:
Memory Override Support = Enable
Memory Voltage = 1.50 volts
(Available options are 1.50, 1.55, 1.60, 1.65)
Memory Frequency = [Auto]
(Available options are 1067,1333,1600,1867,2133)

DIMM Profile (XMP) = Default
(Available options Are map 1, map 2. custom setting)


You are able to change the core ratios by single increments it looks like but I don't know enough about them to mess with them.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

From what I can see you cannot alter the power while in the default settings within ThrottleStop.

 

I cannot see that picture any larger than it is....which is tiny and generally useless....can you upload it at full resolution please.....

I hate imageshack for this reason....use tinypic people!

 

Second attempt with the ThrottleStop screenshot.
http://i55.tinypic.com/2lka3hd.png

 

I am going to assume those all being greyed out is a bad thing

 

When ThrottleStop shows Lock Power Limit Register with a check mark, that means the bios has set the lock bit so software like ThrottleStop won't be able to make any adjustments to these limits like it could do with the 920XM/940XM. The Lock Current Limit Register is also checked but 97 amps should be high enough so that won't be a limiting factor to how much turbo boost you get.

The long term limit of 75W is still pretty decent but the days of unlimited fun are over until someone rewrites the bios and turns the lock bits off.

At the moment, ThrottleStop lets you increase the turbo multiplier values but I'm pretty sure that this doesn't actually work. There is probably another lock bit that controls this but I don't have the documentation or the hardware to test with so this isn't looking too good.

Thanks SargeOsis for posting that.

 

Thanks Sarge for updating again. Much appreciated.

While TS may not be an option at the moment, your settings are certainly usable by non-factory OC option owners (including aftermarket 2920XM).

Thanks for capturing these values. With these, non-factory OC owners can mirror what is being used for that option. Nice to be able to plug this in without having to mess with it on your own. Stable and a good jump off point for further tweaking.

+1 for the update. Have fun with your system sarge!

 

So, are we saying here (cos I have never owned an xtreme cpu before so am green when it comes to these things!) that the non factory OC'd 2920 will be just the same and settings can be replicated to factory overclocked figures?

 

Of course, I don't understand why people were confused about this to start with. Dell would never create a custom bios for a mere $75 optional upgrade. All they do is preset OC settings for those that aren't familiar with bios overclocking options.

Shame about the lockbit but I guess we kind of expected that. Still the lower and upper TDP limits look pretty good so the 2920xm should put up some excellent numbers. I think for overall price erformance, the 2720qm is the way to go.

 

FWIW, I too did not believe there was a 'custom' BIOS or custom/hand picked CPU.

What I wanted to show here was that folks who did not order the factory OC option could still obtain the same easily by duplicating the same values used for the factory OC option. For folks who are new to OCing, especially SB, this is a good starting point.

It goes without saying that the factory OC option will of course be scaled back a bit to preserve stability. Dell has always done this. Having said that, we should see some higher OC numbers as owners begin tweaking past these values.

Now we can move on to the actual fun part... pushing the system a bit more and see where individual results end up (YMMV).

 

Thanks guys - just what I wanted to hear really for my first xm cpu - I would have probably NOT got an xm on this system but as circumstances dictated my position, it seemed a golden opportunity to get one for a few hundred quid more than what my original config (R2) cost....it was either buy OEM or probably end up spending the same amount of money on an ES or QS later on down the line.....seemed like a no brainer at the time and im glad I threw the extra cash at it....I will just wait a bit longer to carry out my initial "cunning" plan of upgrading to a full SSD......

Thanks...much appreciated!

 

Sorry for the delay with posting my OC settings, had some driver issues to work through last night. Anyway, here are the settings that came pre-set on my laptop.

OC Feature = Enabled
Non-Turbo Flex Support = Disabled
Extreme Edition = Enabled
Level 1-3 Overclocking = Level 1
Core 1 Ratio Limit = 40
Core 2 Ratio Limit = 36
Core 3 Ratio Limit = 34
Core 4 Ratio Limit = 34
Override Turbo Settings = Enabled
Long Duration PWR Limit = 64
Long Duration Time Window = 28
Short Duration PWR Limit = Enabled
Short Duration PWR Limit = 80

I did check my Level 3 settings as well and they match Sarge's. Wondering if I should change from Level 1 to Level 3...

 

Level 1 and Level 2 will be slightly lower than Level 3. Level 3 is the highest (performance) setting.

 

Anyone got any xm bench figures out yet?

 

I keep meaning to do this and getting distracted by playing games. I will make a concerted effort to do some benchmarking after work.

 

Hahaha - well thats one of the reasons for getting it in the first place huh Sarge? - have fun mate - dont worry about punching out a load of benchmarks as Im sure we can find some but if you do get some time, would be great to see!

Cheers!

 

I will get on overclocking mine soon as well. I want to get everything installed and configured first, then I start the hardcore overclocking and benching

 

Question for those of you who chose the 2920XM OC option. What does your processor speed show up as in My Computer properties? Originally, mine showed up as 4.0 GHz, but now it is showing 2.5 GHz. I have run CPU-Z and it looks like Turbo mode is still engaging, but it worries me that Windows is no longer showing 4.0 GHz anymore. I have not changed any BIOS settings either.

 

Mine is showing 2.5ghz both in windows system properties and bios screen. What is your calculations per sec subscore at?

 

I remember seeing that and thinking it was odd too. When you run CPU-Z it should, or atleast mine did, show running at 3.9ish ghz.

 

CPU-Z Says 3.5

 

What benching programs should I use? I've got some spare time at work to do this and then realized I don't know which programs to use beyond vantage to test the GPUs.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/574780-official-alienware-m18x-benchmark-thread.html


Batboy has posted some good apps to test out on page 1.....have fun and post your results on that thread!

 

Sooooooo ... I paid for the Factory OC and I'm pretty sure it didn't happen with mine. What's the best way to find out? I've wiped both drives but I have backups of the original image plus a re-spawn on a flash drive.

 

Just check in the bios...

 

7.6. I checked my BIOS says 2.5 GHz as well. I might give them a call later on and see what they can tell me. This only bothers me because it did say 4.0 GHz the first few times I turned it on. They also didn't fully setup RAID on my system either.

 

CPU benches are ok to post here

Thanks for passing him over to the apps info Stevie!

 

Argh. Just seeing 2.5 GHz.

And Dell's site is stupid slow right now so I can't get the latest drivers.

 

No probs BB

 

Dell's site has been atrocious for a few weeks now

 

Not sure if this will work, but you might want to try this -
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=19105

This might show your current speed. If it installs, it will appear as a desktop gadget. Run a cpu intensive app in window mode to stress - see where it pings out.

 

Nice find Batboy, I will get that on my M18x, still learning my way around the Turbo Boost stuff (desktop was an i7 965 which had pretty much no turbo and past laptop was core 2 quad)