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

The flex is right here where you found the extreme over clocking settings. it would have defaulted to 25 when you set level 3 over clock. Its called turbo flex.

 

If you haven't done it but once or twice, taking apart the M18x can be a little bit challenging. I can have mine down to the motherboard in less than 10 minutes, re-paste the CPU and have it reassembled in less than 30 minutes.

I think pasting is barking up the wrong tree. You have an issue with settings and re-pasting is probably not going to make your cards run cool enough. Drop the Flex VID as far as you can. Start at zero. If you have no issues with BSOD or freezing, leave it there. If you do have BSOD and lockup issues, increase it by one or two points at a time until those problems go away, then leave it at the lowest possible setting that it runs stable. This may cure your issue with temps.

 

I checked the lowest Flex Vid which default was 27 and lowest was 8. I got the following set to 8

Spoiler

 

The screen shot doesn't really tell the story. I looked at the actual breakdown on the scores posted on the web page. Your CPU settings are holding you back, bro. With that 2960XM proc you should be getting 30k+ although lowering your flex VID to 8 from 27 probably helped the issue with your temps.

AMD Radeon HD 6970M / 6990M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2960XM Processor,Alienware M18xR1 score: P23904 3DMarks

Looking at your benchmark, your CPU score is only 22402 and it could be in the 30-31k range with the right settings. What are you running for multipliers and BCLK? Your GPU score also appears to be low, but I see you are running it at stock speeds. There is no reason you cannot pull 30k+ scores in Vantage and 8k+ scores in 3DMark11 with the right CPU and GPU settings.

BTW, if you are going to post such large images please put them in a spoiler. Or, as an alternative, post thumbnails instead. (See forum rules for more info.)

 

You are not looking at the right flex...

 

Not sure if he has the unlocked BIOS.

 

No, it's not the unlocked bios, i'll surf around to find the unlock A05 if that is the suggested bios. I'll surf around and find it.

(still getting the best practices for posting on the forum, as ou see I've only really posted most recently)

 

Hey, no problem, bro... click on the link in my signature right above the graphic. Look not only at forum rules, but also the link for searching to forum. You'll find quite a few useful technical threads, but the forum rules and how to search the forum using Google are very important and I think you'll find them useful.

The unlocked M18x A05 BIOS is posted more than one place. If you don't find it please ask for help and one of us will provide the link for you.

Edit: you'll find a link at post #827 on this thread.

 

It still shows even on the regular bios though...

 

I changed the setting on the locked A05 bios under advanced, performance options menu, I had to enable non-turbo flex support to set flex ratio override and the settings it would allow was from 8 to 27.

 

Disable short duration power limit. I also disable non-turbo flex support. That works best on my M18x, so it might for you also.

The settings in the screen shots below will not win benchmarks, but they should improve your overall scores and they work well in normal everyday use and gaming for me. Use the first screen only for setting multipliers and memory voltage, etc. Set your flex and Long Duration settings on the other screens to get around the limitations. If these settings work well for you, then you can start tweaking for competitive benchmarks scores from these settings as a starting point.

Spoiler

 

The Adata memory I'm using is low voltage 1.35, not sure how far to push them but i'll try the settings on the first two screen shots.

 

Hmm, that's unfortunate. Try for 1.5v instead of 1.55v. My memory is 1.5v, but it works OK at 1.6v.

It does not show on the first two screen shots, but your Long Duration PWR Limit should be 99, like what is shown on the last screen shot. (On the first screen the limit stops at 80, which is not enough.) Long Duration TimeLimit should be 56, also like what is shown on the last screen shot. (The first two screen shots are the BIOS defaults after a reset.)

If everything runs stable with these setting, you should be good to go for ordinary use and gaming. If you want to get higher benchmark scores, try raising your BCLK to 102. If that is stable, try 103, then 104. If you get a 0x124 BSOD, increase the flex vid a point or two at a time until the BSOD goes away. You may have to raise pri plane a bit as well. Leave it at 880 unless you have stability problems. Again, these settings are not very aggressive.

 

So I set it up according to the first two screen shots but looks like I'm limited to other options without the unlocked bios, such as I was looking for platform thermal configuration.

I set up a bootable usb with dos files but not familar with the bios files and flashing utility used.

 

The unlocked A05 flashes from within Windows. Unzip the folder to your desktop and run the exe file. Be sure nothing extra is running and you are connected to AC power. If you have UAC enabled, you need to right click the exe and run as admin if you get an error message that elevated privileges are required. You will hear the fans running at max speeds and the system will reboot when the flashing is finished.

 

Cpu score 22509, overall 24158 with the first two screen shot settings, cpu core 2 hit 90.

 

That is a little better. Good job. You're getting a much better score than the average Joe now. Try lowering the flex and if you don't get a BSOD and the CPU score holds out, your temps might be lower. Try 8 or 10 on the flex with 880 pri plane and see if that works to lower your temps without losing performance or causing a BSOD. If you're happy with what gets dialed in and the temps are good, you can use this setup for normal everyday computing. If you go much faster than this you are going to need to take extra steps to keep the temps under control. Forcing the fans to 100%, elevating the back of the laptop, using a notebook cooler, etc.

Or, if you want a higher benchmark score and you are willing to take the time to control temps, leave it where it is and raise the BCLK. Try 102 or 103. (You will need more flex if you raise BCLK, so leave it at 15 for now. Remember, if you get a BSOD 0x124 error you need to bump the flex up a bit.) From this point it is going to be a fair amount of trial and error to see what works the best for your system. Make small changes between tests, and write them down, or you'll lose track of things and have to start over.

It's OK to hit 90°C on a core or two for the short time it take to run a benchmark. The moment the load goes away, the temps will drop like a rock. You don't want it to go much higher than that or run that hot for a very long time. If you hit 99°C on one or more cores, your system will turn off the second it goes above 99°C. This is to prevent damage.

 

Up to 22569 cpu score with bclk set to 101. How high do you guys set this to achieve 32k cpu score? core 2 was at 89 also.

 

Click on the link in the lower right of my signature. Then follow the 3DMark11 or Vantage link to the Futuremark web site and you will see my settings added to the comments section.

Bear in mind this is not with the M18x sitting on the desk. Those scores were with the M18x setting on top of the vents of the air conditioner in my hotel room and the fans forced to 100%, LOL. John has a portable ac unit he uses at home.

The settings you are on right now should be more than adequate to run just about any game you want with relative ease. Skyrim is probably the only game that would need as much CPU power as your 2960XM can dish out.

 

I did right after I said that and found what you set yours too...little quick to post and slow to read. Up to 102 4487 cpu so far. And i'll probably back down to 100 bclk and leave it alone. I just wanted to learn how it works and what it's capable of.

 

I've done the same thing before. I sent you a PM. Let me know if you want more help. You made some really good progress tonight. I've learned lots of things from John and I'm more than happy to share what he has shared with me. But, all the credit goes to Brother John.

Are your temps holding out OK now? 89°C under a benchmark load is good. You may never or very seldom seen that temp in normal use.

 

Since all three get mentioned here a lot i agree. What i was speaking of would be more in place there than bench thread. If i had a misconception PM me id be glad to here what it was and that way i dont provide misinformation. Just let me know bro John. Plus a stability thread should deal with both thermal and voltage related stability (including max frequencies... some cpus/gpus wont go over certain ranges)
im open to calm discussion please dont pm me that i am retard lol
So technically benching for quality may include stability too as i see that as benching for gaming levels.... I want to use stable clocks cpu and gpu and high quality settings not just high performance image quality.

 

Brother John, I agree that the variety of discussion regarding different types of benching make the benchmarking thread a little harder to follow and it probably makes keeping track of the leader board more of a challenge... easy to miss a post for those chasing numbers. It's all good info, just difficult to follow sometimes.

Brother RV, if you are benching for stability and/or quality and have information you would like to share to kick off a new thread, that would be fine with me. Feel free to start a new thread using a clear title so members don't confuse the two benching threads threads. That same benching stability thread could be used for sharing both CPU and GPU settings and temps. Have you flashed and starting tinkering with your 580M setup yet?

I'm not sure I understand the need for that type of benching with the M18x. I could be missing something conceptually. When I am not benching for numbers, I just set L3 OC defaults and run video cards and defaults. The M18x with only a 2760QM coupled with GTX 580M SLI (with throttling fixed) or a 69x0M CF setup does not need any help for stability and quality in ordinary daily use and gaming.

 

i would be more comfortable with you as a mod to make such a thread. All i did was what i linked to... Didn't realize against forum rules slips my mind those things.
I cant give good example other than this Mr.Fox if you run intel burn test 8thread it can compare to loads of those who render with cpu perhaps just guessing... So take your everyday level 3 overclock and run it it will drop to who knows 3.4ghz-3.8ghz and apply instead maybe 150-300amp and set watts around same with 44/44/43/43 0flex and it will actually run at that speed long term it is definitely going to over heat by my testing after 5-10minutes 8thread so (max fan no ac just on a desk with a lift or notebook cooler) perhaps the best range is going to be from 4.1-4.3ghz depending for the 8thread... Thats where i was straying off topic. Mr fox give a try and see how much your mhz drop under such a load.. If you force it via higher amp and watts but limit to low multiplier 41/42/43 those using their system for major work would benefit. Now one more than no more examples opposite some one who cares little of highest 8thread capability can determine max frequency go a hundred or two mhz under and run that single core and like John said at one point a trickle effect but you have to go lower than he mentioned in this example on the 4 core. Example my 2920xm second sample required a lot of volts compared to my other chips in an intel burn test load. 44flex 49/48/41/38 multis 300amp 300watt was a test and all past 5test ibt 2000mb without shutting down or needing more volts. You wouldn't need that many watts or amps but high to force those speeds under load. To the point you could game at that if all your games use 1-2core mostly or if your fine with 4.1ghz 3 core and 3.8ghz 4 core... A great example of how you can use high flex for higher frequencies and not see the temps out of control... The lower the max speed the lower flex needed under any load and 0 flex will give best temps and most likely your highest 8thread speed possible without special cooling like AC. My example used a stock dell pasting and 2 cores were always over 10c apart on even 100% load so no one should see the temps i saw under normal apps and most could assume start at the flex i mention and go lower since most wont have such an inefficient chip as that sample. Ill spoiler the posts above. mr.fox im PMing you.

 

Brother RV - I tried one of your suggested settings and the results in 3DMark11 were phenomenal on the first attempt without any tweaking. This is with all standard Windows 7 services running in the background, Aero enabled, and no additional performance tweaks. +1 Rep. Thanks for sharing, bro.

This is without the assistance of AC for cooling and it is almost as high as my top scores using AC. This was achieved using only fans forced to 100% with HWiNFO64. I may be able to tweak a little more and set a new personal record without AC, as my CPU score was a bit lower in the benchmark. May try increasing BCLK a tad to see if the temps will stay good without BSOD 0x124.

• GPU: "Fox Fix" P1=P0 855 (1710)/1825 .92v
• CPU: 45x4 @ 99.8MHz
  • Flex VID: 10
  • C States: Disabled
  • Long Duration: 56/99W
  • Short Duration: Disabled
  • Pri Plane: 2400
  • TS Watts: 300

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M SLI benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2920XM Processor,Alienware M18xR1 score: P8352 3DMarks



Edit: similar results in Vantage will all the above settings and no AC cooling assistance... slightly less than my current high score, but still outstanding without AC

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M SLI benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2920XM Processor,Alienware M18xR1 score: P31876 3DMarks

 

Ive been trying to overclock my own M18X, Ive re-read this post at least 30 times, trying all the different combinations you guys mention on here and no matter what theres no performance change no matter how high my Multi is set to, example Vantage, Ive been sitting in the 22k mark between 3.7 and 4.4.

I did reseat and use AS3 on the CPU, temps did go down afterwards but now loading default bios settings, sett 99/56/99 and changing multis to all 40s I still close in on the 100 range (Phase set to 900).

Its a 2960xm, A05 Unlock Bios, would love to hear ideas where to start or better address the performance and heat issue.

 

yo bro Fox you have no idea i thought i was some eccentric guy being all nonsensical. Wow thats awesome youve made such gains by my chart. You see it worked just like i intended. Thanks Mr. Fox I am honored. I see nearly 10k physic in 3dmark11 and nearly 30k vantage cpu. Very awesome Mr.Fox. weird thing is ive seen the one at 44/44/43/43 with 0flex/voltage just about get those cpu scores too since it runs so optimal and cool. to get even more of a feel not to try to beat this one but give one run on Vantage or 3dmark11 like that and compare cpu scores they may not be exactly same but its scary how much the 4.3ghz 0 flex can almost score what the 4.5ghz did. Nice work Mr. Fox i think you understood much more than you thought you did if everyone can eventually walk away with as much as you have from reading such a post i would be very happy.

 

OK, Brother RV, I just ran Vantage at 44/44/43/43 with 0 flex/voltage and 2400 Pri Plane, with C states disabled, and it did lower the temps quite a bit. The score was slightly lower (31403), but not a whole lot less. This would be a good setting for normal everyday use and probably gaming, too. I'll leave it set this way for normal use to see if it goes as well as I expect it should. Right now I am idling at 4.29GHz on 4 cores with 63°C. Except for when I am traveling, I really don't care about battery life whatsoever and have no need for C states to work, so this might be a real nice "normal" high performance setting.

I really like leaving C states disabled in BIOS all the time. I can always put a check mark in C1E in TS to turn on C states if I need to. With C1E checked I am idling at 3.4-3.9GHz and 48°C.

Brother John - thanks for the tips on the TactX keys. I now use them to launch TS, HWiNFO64 and XTU... very convenient, indeed. I have not figured out what the command line switches are to change TS profiles yet. If you figure out what they are, that would be really nice for the TactX keys... to switch between Performance, Game, Internet and Battery with the simple press of a key.

Edit: Just ran 3DMark11 with the same settings except for C1E checked in TS and got similar results. Temps were considerably lower in 3DMark11 with these settings and the score just a little bit lower (8340).

 

Mine runs pretty hot as well, @4.2 under full load I get around 92-94c. I too repasted, using mx4.

 

techieanalyst and mhb112 - I just moved some posts into this thread from the benchmarking thread that might be helpful for your overclocking endeavors. My last 2 posts above include settings residualvoltage suggested that I am using with good results. You may want to try some of those settings.

Changing multipliers alone is going to cause more problems than it helps. You need the right combinations of multiplier, flex VID (voltage) and pri plane (amps). You also need to increase watts and you can do that using ThrottleStop easy enough. Bring down the BCLK to 99.8 or 100.0 and find your highest stable OC. If you get a BSOD with a 0x124 stop code you need to increase flex and/or pri plane. Keep flex as low as you can without BSOD and that will help control temps. With the right combo, you can run zero flex.

Having C states enabled is keeping your clock speeds low. Try turning that off in the BIOS. Also, I get a lot better benchmark scores with Short Duration disabled, not set to 99. (That works real good on a non-XM CPU, but the temps get too high for me with that enabled with an XM CPU.)

In addition to the setting noted above, for more settings take a look at the description field these benchmarks: 3DMark11: P8439 | Vantage: P32676 | 3DMark06: 32569

 

I noticed two Flex Vids, which one should i be adjusting

 

"non turbo flex ratio" is the max multiplier your cpu can use on non turbo moments of use.... 2960xm has range from 8-27 which coincides with it max of 2.7ghz non turbo. Just the same a 2920xm will show 8-25 there for the standard max of 2.5ghz non turbo speed. Leave this completely disabled altogether only reason it would be needed is if you set lik105baseclock that 27 or 25 makes it more like 2.7ghz or 2.9ghz non turbo for these xm so to keep stability using stock non turbo limits of these cpus if you crashed on your max 4core speed non turbo you can use that "non turbo flex ratio" to keep the chip stable if you had raised baseclock through the roof....

Non turbo flex ratio is a cpu multiplier not to be confused with flex vid so its not voltage at all. They make it confusing using the flex term.


The one you do need is called "Turbo Flex VID" if on unlocked bios its only in menu that says "overlock menu" with the baseclock and memory settings. But if your on the unlocked bios go to advanced options are two tabs over to right go down to "performance options" and you should see the second location to set flex vid "turbo overvoltage" using the first menu you can only set 25 flex and this other menu can max at 99flex. Based upon your max voltage under max turbo speeds and load the flex VID is .036 volts added for evey 1 flex. 99 flex is .386volts added but since max is 1.52v on these OEM XM if your setting over 1.52v it instead forces 1.52v at lower speeds not just the max speed thats set... Example setting 99 flex and running 4.5ghz and 4.4 and perhaps more would show maybe 1.52v (hypothetically) and setting flex to ten you should see 1.38 ish... Under max load of intel burn once at 0 flex the highest ive seen was 1.376volts via Throttle Stop reading... So my theory is that that must be max vid which these flex levels are added to.

So direct anser to your question use that second menu in the unlocked bios i mention and do not use in fact make sure "non turbo flex ratio" is disabled it tends to wreak havoc on turbo

 

I have the multis set to 44 each, flex is sitting at 8, just finished vantage run, wprime95 no bsods or anything

The score though was again 22k same score i get when I have it at 4.0 or even 3.7 (3.7 scores around 219XX)

Am I missing another tweak here?

Flex Vid Override is the one Ive been playing with

 

Mr. Fox isnt it interesting setting it like that nearly attains almost same scores at a whole 200mhz less per core... I believe the voltage being 0 has a lot to do with it and the fact it runs very optimally. I used cstates enabled and the 44/44/43/43 for 2months+ 0flex 300 amp 300watt and gamed in BF3 and Skyrim for hours on end of gaming in BF3 and i mean 6-12 hours i left game on after playing and max cpu temp between those games was 85c on one core the rest were in the 70s. This is why i say level 3 dell overclock is no good at all. Its a stable overclock that runs faster then dells level 3. Mr. Fox if you set cstates off the max speed is 4.3ghz set like that.... Enable cstates and the cpu is allowed to use the 44multi in single and dual core and 43 multi in 3 and 4 core. Disable cstates and it only will allow the lowest max turbo multi youve set so again 43x so its up to you if you want small bump in single and dual core. Cstates like you said off allows max performance all time but doesnt allow for powersavings and lower frequencies raising temps. Your best with cstates on for normal use and if you want full perfomance in something your doing launch the Throttle Stop profile which has cstates disabled.

John nice suggestion on the TactX keys i do same when i stop benching and use laptop normally.

 

I have C-States Disabled atm, and the temps say 81, and it still throttled towards the end of the vantage CPU test.

 

well if your asking me i suggest what Mr Fox said follow what i suggested... 300amp (2400 primary plane) and 300 watt via Throttle stop once in windows and have MSR lock disabled to allow Throttle Stop to adjust watts.

Make those adjustements rerun your benches and then if you had not had a bsod124 then drop a flex by 1-3 ish 4 if you can.

 

Set the Primary Plane in bios to 2400 from current 900?

Pri Plane Current Limit

Im not seeing where I can set wattage in Throttlestop

 

yes primary plane 2400 in bios and its called TDP hit the TDP button in Throttle Stop. You will see two boxes and one is short limit the other long... Make sure they are same atleast for benching....

 

Mine has a TPL that has what seems to be that information in it, but no button called TDP. Running Throttlestop 4, everything in it is greyed out

Ran wprime95 and within second of starting it she throttles down to 3.3

Update - I set 2400 however the temps seem to rise more now, I even tried the Vid Flex at 0 - 10 and she will always shut off (and 110 is the shutoff temp). But 3dmark vantage first test went from an average of 2700 to 4200 lol

 

start lower like Mr.Fox did in last post try 43x till you have it under control and 0 flex. Yes TPL button in Throttle Stop is what i meant. The two boxes at top shouldnt be grey bottom is amps should show 300 if you set 2400 in primary plane. So you need to go to bios "advanced cpu option" (has primary plane) and go to "MSR Lock" disable it it must be enable. Thats why even 2400primary plane or 300amps are throttleing at most youve been using 99watts. So now go back to throttle stop and set those 300watts now... You wont see 300 watts draw its just to make sure your using max speeds and not dropping. Hope that helps. By the way your unlocked bios throttle temp max is 90c so as sson as all cores for a split sec hit that point you throttle too. Try using fans at max in HWiNFO you can exit it if you want a lower cpu load. Use a lift on the rear of the laptop you cant let hot exhaust air to be pulled in by the air intake at same time it just makes it worse. So if you cant stay under 90c you may not get very far.

did you happen to set 90c throttle temp instead of 85c default in menu with shutdown temp?

Only way to not throttle at that temp is modding your own bios directions are in the Da_G bios modding method m18x thread. You can set 90-100c instead of 90c that way. Its not safe and there is plenty that can go wrong read the green warnings you choose to do so.

 

guys, how can i control the CPU fan? i only care about the cpu fan? i only care about the CPU fan speed.
is there a way to create a custom profile for the CPU fan ?

 

dont think so no way at well specifically for just cpu. if you dont mind gpu fans to run same speed HWiNFO and Speedfan are the only ones i know of... i swear by HWiNFO wrote a review/guide at Tech | Inferno covers most of its uses for various infos to fancontrol implementation on multiple models and using task scheduler and more to allow full wake function of the sleep function so auto fan control can resume automatically including starting the fan control for you at windows start and fully minimized its got a creator who fixes and supports it every day always releasing updates and for free... you can download at the softwares name HWiNFO with a .com after
I not now but for normal use never had a prob using max fans via HWiNFO... but side effect is GPU fans spin at same rate. Otherwise lol youd have to remove the temp wire from fan lol and then it would never spin lower than absolute max not recommended lol

 

My m18x is constantly hitting 100c core2 in vantage/wprime32 on OEM paste. I think I will need to repaste with articsilver as5. With level 3 overclock it doesn't shut off but any other o/c it's shutting off during vantage/wprime32. I have been running 42x 4core 900pri 99w long 85w short a05modded and shutdown temp 100c ever since I got it but since starting benchmarks again it's shutting off.. Did you guys repaste your CPUs to get all these high numbers/Ghz? Any tips

 

I repasted mine and it doesnt seem to be helping that much more, it is some

Actually is the dual pipe the only one for the cpu or is there a triple?

 

Dan, disable short duration power limit and see if that helps. My system overheats with that enabled no matter what I set it to and it performs better with it disabled. I haven't found a reason for that needing to exist, LOL. Also select disable on the menu with Level 3 overclocking before setting multipliers. Disable non-turbo flex right above that.

Then try setting your pri plane at 2400 and flex at 10 to 15, or lower than 10 if you don't see a BSOD 0x124. See how that goes. Works good for me. Credit to Brother residualvoltage for the suggestion.

I doubt re-pasting will produce meaningful results unless there is something not right about the factory TIM installation on your heat sink.

Aikimox is working on a custom 3-pipe heat sink. That should be very useful for overclockers. Running with factory settings, 2-pipe seems to be plenty. There was a 3-pipe heatsink in the original M18x prototype and pre-release review models.

 

thanks Mr.Fox yes i agree with what you suggest. To elaborate ive tested 3 xm's 2 were 2920 and 1 2960 current all oem. I had test the all three on stock paste first. The first one is only one i tried repasting. I used ICD24 and first paste job was better than stock by quite a few degrees. 6 months later or less i repasted because temps were degrading (i blame my beginner paste job) next paste job on it was far worse so it gave me perspective its not easy to get just right and can become worse than factory condition too very easily. Now second sample i had which i shared some data with Mr.Fox on recently.... Had two cores under full load 8thread even load over all cores i saw two cores about 10c apart from each other... thats the sign you take as needing to paste. But have fair warning it easy to have it turn out worse. So if you have multiple cores several celcius like 5-10 apart perhaps repaste time factory could of put too much on or not enough. So fair warning if you attempt it be prepared to test and possibly try more than once to get it just right. Now im on new build on 2960xm and this factory paste job is good no big difference over the core temps. Use your best judgment if only 5c apart on cores even load... Dont bother you may not see any improvement at all. Key factor is heatsink mounting tightening down too much or smearing paste can cause heat probs.

Use the setting Mr.Fox suggested.

By the way short limit has its purpose but in extreme overclocking it can make you go from stable to not because i see all of you like to make long and short limit so far apart... 80 long to a jump of 99 watts short limit means until cpu load has ran as long as the time limit you use its forcing 99 watts.. Then if that time passes use 80watts. Now if for 2 secs load is back to normal and start up again.. Your on 99 watt limit till that time limit goes away... So thats what screws you guys up. So as suggested just use long limit. Keep in mind if set right and properly as designed it does work and has great purpose of allowing short burst calculation... My guess if you guys are using short limit for real world use when done benching set less seconds. Its you guys setting 56ecs thats too long... Dell default 28secs... Too long Intel standard is in fact 21 secs. Its meant to go faster than what you can handle for hours but drop before system overheats. For benching dont use at all. For those who want short limit still for everyday use set a smaller difference between long and short limit and less secs and you wont be crashing the same... Short limit is great for single and dual core burst when normally youd not see your max single and dual core turbo... Guys want a suggestion keep long and short less than 10 watts apart if you want more success using it and maybe 12 seconds or less or your asking for trouble.
Do you guys see its use now? Intel wasnt wrong that its useful but it causes instability if set through the roof... If benching disable it so its not complicating your bench runs. Cheers hope i put some perspective out there

 

Thx for your help but still can't even get past vantage CPU tests. Under load as a good temp my CPU temps are 78,85,95+,81 but during CPU test core2 is hitting 100c and shuts off laptop. Current setting 42/42/42/42 long-90w long duration-28s short-disabled pri-2400 flex-0 cstates-enabled ec turbo control mode- disabled turbo PWR msr lock-disabled turbo mode-enabled etc & also tried 10/15 flex. I was able to run all benchmarks with similar settings before so I am wondering if heatsink compound has degraded?? If I run a game at these settings it's fine but vantage shuts off pc?? I ordered my 2960xm from dell so I assume I would have received the better heatsink. What setting are you running again for everyday stuff?

 

Your settings are fine and so is 0 flex for 4.2ghz.... No need for 10-15 flex unless you want 4.5ghz 8thread
Your not doing anything wrong... Its clear mostly high 80's low 90s and the one core 99-100c... That your prob i recommend carefully repasting and testing if temps are worse though you'll have to do it over until all the cores come out close to each other under that load. Im sorry so many probs on vantage and not on anything else ask Mr.Fox same for him its strong like prime95 and stuff just a bit under. Make sure you have a lift on the rear if heat stays under its drawn back in. The fact is Mr.Fox is running 4.7+ on vantage but he needs AC to do so. If 4.2ghz is causing shutdown and the temps you quoted the repaste may be best for it.. Careful components are sensitive to electriv discharge some dive in and break something right away. Just clear a whole table for workspace and go very slow. Theres plenty of teardown guides if you need
Its not a setting Dan its one crap core temp.. I had on dell paste job like that and another with two cores over 10c apart under loads like vantage like you....
2400 amp and msr lock disabled all that is good... Just work on temps now... And you should be able to run what you want just fine.

Guarantee since you have owned system stock paste backed out on that one core ICD and MX4 are good and dont bake often but ICD doesnt bake out at all. The dell thermal material isnt bad but perhaps the application of yours was as mentioned i had bad and good stock pasting... From factory good luck i hope you can find improvement your one core is way to hot.

 

Dan - as a suggestion, test your settings for temps using the 3DMark11 CPU tests run in a window so you can watch HWiNFO64. Vantage runs full screen and it's not as convenient.

Set your flex VID and pri plane in BIOS, set BCLK to 99.8 in BIOS. Then use XTU to change only multipliers and BCLK. You can test BCLK settings without rebooting, but leave the "force reboot" box empty so the BCLK settings are temporary and do not require a reboot. XTU will only display (cannot effectively modify) flex VID and pri plane settings.

If you want to run Vantage CPU tests for tuning, a good way of monitoring CPU temps is to use MSI Afterburner's OSD feature. In HWiNFO64, enable RivaTuner features and add HWiNFO64 to the list of apps in MSI Afterburner OSD. You can add individual cores, or just the CPU package for max temp. See attached. (Note my temps without AC on 45x.)

 

Id agree Mr.Fox test like that. If temps are like that still its your heatsink or paste giving trouble sometimes just tension is the only issue. You can post the hwinfo pic