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

mmmm without having a clue what I am doing ... lol



Almost 28K over all and almost 29K GPU score ... I think I can break 30K with JohnKsss this week ...

AMD Radeon HD 6970M video card benchmark result - Genuine Intel(R) CPU 0 @ 2.40GHz,Alienware M18xR1 score: P27798 3DMarks

 

i think we have us another contender in the making...
nice first serious attempt since the upgrade.

 

damn.... im exited! ill be getting my n18x with a 2960xm on it.... dual 6990ms.. cant wait to start Overclocking that beast

 

Very nice Shaden congratulations another contender indeed.

 

Great thread, I ordered a factory-OC'd 2920 but just checked the BIOS and found that it hadn't been done. Changed the OC level to 3 and now frame rates up on everything, thanks all

 

i would complain for my 75 bucks back if i were you...it's "suppose" to be over clocked already....if that is what you ordered.

 

I had that happen too on my 1st M18x they sent....good job for the UK market there is no additional fee to pay for the "factory OC'd" cpu (actually, there isnt an option to have anything other than a factory OC'd chip)....big con if you ask me!

 

That happened to me as well, I called and they credited the 75 bucks.

 

Finally,I got my 2960XM QS to 4.7G MHZ at VID+20

 

way to make a spectacular entrance!!

 

What's the highest CPU temps you guys would be comfortable with if you were to run your m18x 24/7 OC'd?
The highest I've reached is 92°C @ 4.5Ghz on the CPU. I don't really plan on going any higher on Turbo Boost. Though saying that average temps are at around 72°C when it's hitting 4.5ghz.

Using a Cooler Master Notepal U3 with the m18x. I plan on getting another 3 fans when Cooler Master has them for sale seperate. Might not make much difference at all but every little helps

 

I wish there was a magic number, or formula to figure this out too. I have been going back and forth between overclocked and stock on both the GPU and CPU.

The problem is my peak load temps do get kinda high when overclocked (90+ on CPU and 90+ on 2nd GPU). Idle are ok, not much higher than stock. Those 90 temps are well within spec and won’t make them fail right away, but sounds like they could die much faster due to the extra heat. However, I have to say I have never crashed, blue screened, or had any artifacts at all. It just runs great.

I don’t really need the extra power so I went back to stock, but it’s that urge to want to run as fast as I can and still be 100% stable.

I think my latest numbers I was running completely stable (off the top of my head) were:
CPU, level 3 in BIOS, multipliers changed to 43,41,39,37
memory OC to 105 (so about 4.5Ghz single threaded, ran around 3.9Ghz 4 threaded and 3.7 8 threaded)
GPU OC was 815/1095 again zero issues other than one memio temp was high

I really don’t want to repaste, I usually ended up with higher temps lol

 

hummm, im running 4.7 to 4.8 off the desktop with nothing but normal fans and that's it. temps seem fine.

 

Interesting...

Which is what I really want to avoid, but sometimes I can't help but use that extra power when running certain games/apps. I definitely don't want to push this machine to see how far it can go, I'm just here to Turbo Boost when needed to run things efficiently and stable.
So far 4.5ghz does nicely (45,45,45,45 - 25vid), but probably still pushing it too much for average use.

I'm into a lot of emulators and one called PCSX2 really gives this m18x a good run for its money. Even with my specs, it can just about struggle depending on the game you play; very power hungry.
Now imagine me using PCSX2 for around 4 hours a day running between 4.1-4.5 constant. It will hit around 70-78°C. GPU clocks I leave at stock. m18x is getting abuse and I only really just got it haa.

 

hummm..i can see why...since that's way to much vid for 45x and more than likley...no enough amps....

4.0 is a great place to run....hell so is 3.8...but everything above that is just bragging rights.. if you finish 30 seconds sooner on a 3 hour job..whoopy wow...lol

i run at what i am because well...im not video editing 24 hours a day.. but when in the field..i run normal cpu mode and intel gpu.

 

I'll do an open barbeque day using the m18x to cook burgers on; help fund towards yet another m18x in the near future no doubt

Seriously though I do need to cut down on the extra juice I'm getting out of this, it's just when I come across games (mainly using PCSX2) that need that extra power I can't help but crank it up a bit

I never bothered unlocking the bios otherwise I'll be tempted to further melt this damn machine!
I updated to A04 - nothing special just minor fixes

 

So how is the 2960 stacking up against your ES Johnksss?

 

well...it gave it a firm smacking in the face, but the es replied "im still here" just not as close...

i can now see the watts i was missing and where i needed to improve at...also...this one can run on air for about 95 percent of the runs and on cold air for better results at the same clocks.

 

Hey guys.

In my very first OC performances. The result was pretty much promising.
my M18x went thru all wPrime tests at 1024MB 8 threads. However, I noticed that the multipliers were only at x38 no matter how I set the cores.

Here are my setting: 40/40/40/40 (and the were replaced by 45/45/45/45), Long PWR, Long time, Short PWR were at max (80,56,99), and VID was at 12 on both setting.

Any tips would be totally appreciated

 

you still have to set a pri plane enty to 900 or 100 to run at 45x multi, try that

 

Thanks for the heads up Redline.

I got it run at 4.0ghz. But now the problem is the tempature hit up 90*C (throttle tempature) so fast then It was pulled back to run at 3.7ghz for the rest of the run ;(

 

Right the secret is to find the perfect balance between VID Voltage (Turbo) and Pri Plane (Amps). I can run 44x with 0 vid and 900 pri plane, but every chip is different, the lower those numbers the cooler the CPU will run.

 

yea I could run at 45x with 1000 priplane and 10 Flex

 

Shaden man, since you got married you been on less and less... it ain't fair bro!! we want you back!!

Side note: Try 5 vid and 1000 pri plane, I have better temps with lower vid than higher pri.

 

yes...he has been quite the vacant one hasn't he...

 

lol .... well I have been a little busy but I thought I was around enough....

 

I don't know why everyone can't get along anyway. There's nothing interesting about two people insulting each other. I've been trying various setups for 24/7 and using 45X4 0 flex works for me with so far trying 150-200 amps but lower watts around 99 or less and about 88-92 long with 56 time window I see over 100 watts and can keep the temps down and almost everything stays a solid 45 with core states off to keep it all time... still have to lower the short watts to keep a safe temp in worst case scenario like IBT can simulate. That setup seems to keep 45x on mostly all but IBT etc and that can be around 4.1-3.4 depending on the long watt limit. I plan to make 128sec time limit permanent and base long on that time so may drop it a watt or so....

 

after a bit of testing i have come to realize that you can not go above 38x no matter what... 97 9which should be enough) isn't.

edit:
have to re test...like a dummy...i had it capped in TS. *facepalm*

edit:
you can hold a max of 39x for all of 15 to 18 seconds
then hold a max of 38x up to the 52 second mark
37x for the remainder.

 

so...after watching the flex voltage for a while....that's not even the right name for it.

that is in fact the cpu voltage. wonder why they gave it that name for...this setting controls the cpu voltage.

 

Exactly how much voltage is it adding? Tell me it's something simple like 25 flex voltage = +.25v

 

now that i havent really tried to figure out just yet.
but 25 flex may be = to a total of 1.5v

 

I'll take a look into this when I get home from work. The setting can be placed at "0" so I'm assuming this is just additional voltage that you afford to your CPU.

 

0 may = default voltage of 1.2 give or take.

 

Also true. I have mine at 25 at the moment. If i'm understanding the turbo overclocking correctly, it shouldn't really matter because the cpu only pulls what it needs to maintain stable clock settings. You can watch your voltage bounce around contstantly if you're monitoring it. 25 is the maximum without a modded bios, and considering the strict limitations Dell places on the bios, 25 and below shouldn't place you at risk of causing any damage.

The real question is - what's the lowest setting you could put it at to maintain 4Ghz turbo and have the lowest temps? Now I have to go tinker with this thing...

 

Mine needs zero Flex to remain stable at 45-45-45-45. Temps is the limiting factor though...

 

yeah, so does mine, If i play BC2(heavy on the cpu game) the temps reach the high 90s

i dont think its even possible to maintain a 4.0 on all cores, Heat is an issue.

FYI, I repasted with the dimond paste, it lower the temps a bit, but not enough to overclock any further than level 1 or level 2 on the bios.

 

Yeah, we need a better HS for that level of OC. Still working on it

 

Aki,


From Your experience what are the best settings with the best possible safe temps? the VID and the wattage settings?

 

If you are not benching, you don't even need turbo boost, you can set maximum processor state to 99% in Advanced Power Options (Control Panel -> Power Options) and have it locked @2.7Ghz. That would be for the best temps as it won't go above 70C under any stress, lol.

If you still wish to push it, don't go above 3.8Ghz on all cores. You can set it to 38-40-42-45 and keep Flex 0, Long PWR below 70 and Short below 85. See if the temps get any better during gaming.

 

Gonna Give that a shot when i get home, For now I have to deal with an SSD problem I've been having.

Thanks AKI! Also, Do you know more or less how much longer for the Heatsink on the cpu that u guys are making?

 

We would be done by now if it wasn't for a credit card fraud we have to deal with now. Very unpleasant and time consuming

Hopefully by the end of October I'll have some news.

 

0 for that clock speed.

and voltage does not bounce around when you get up to 1.5V..it just sits there..no matter how much more flex you give it. that's why you lose speed trying to go to high to fast. more is not always best.

 

Can u give us a little info on it? 3 pipe 4 pipe? copper?

 

Copper - 3 pipes. No extra efficiency with 4

 

Anyword on what to expect as far as cooling performance?

 

about 10C less

 

so how many do you have or is it just one.

 

It's a pre-production sample and not even finalized yet. There's still some room for improvement.

 

translation:
it's not ready or doing as well as we expected.

 

Lol, nope. I'd tell you if it wasn't doing well. But I'm trying to get every extra c from it and you know why