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

Joce21 - select immediately, then select permanent, then after that select F10 or save and exit.

 

Not working, it still get disabled after reboot...

1. I enable Non-Turbo Flex support
2. I enable Extreme Edition
3. I set it to Level 3
4. Under Bus Clock I select "Apply Settings Immediately"
5. "Apply above settings :Applu settings immediately?" I press "OK"
6. Then I select "Apply settings permanently after reboot"
7. "Apply above settings :Apply settings permanently after reboot?" I press "ok"
8. Then I press F10 "Save and exit", went back in BIOS and it still disabled...

Did I miss something?

 

Word is if the HM67 system has the ME 8.x firmware in the system bios rather than the ME 7.x for SB, then a IVB CPU will work. See my previous post. Need some pioneers to try it.

 

It sounds like you are doing it correctly. I don't know why it is not working.

Sounds exciting, but I'm too chicken to risk bricking my M18x. I'm not much of a pioneer these days. Parts are too expensive and warranty would not cover that.

Hello, and welcome to NBR. Congratulations on your Alienware purchase. We are happy to have you in our Community.

This is because you need to increase volts and amps to accommodate the higher core speeds. It's probably a 0x124 STOP code. Try increasing FlexVID (volts) to 25 or more. If you still get the BSOD, you may have to wait for an unlocked BIOS to gain access to increase Pri-Plane (amps).

If you are a newcomer to overclocking, you may want to begin reading at the beginning of this thread so more of this makes sense. You need to change most settings in the BIOS. XTU is only useful for changing the multipliers and BCLK withing Windows. Amps and voltage changes cannot be effectively manipulated with XTU on the M18x R1, and probably not on the M18x R2.

 

This is the latest version of XTU,3.1. In the upper left it shows "core current limit" at 112.000A which is default.Isn't that the same as 896 PriPl? 125.000 core current limit=1000PriPl. Right next to CCL is "Additional Turbo Voltage" However when I attemt to enable Non-Turbo Flex support in the bios,as soon as I reboot and go back into the bios it's disabled.

 

XTU doesn't support FlexVID (voltage) or Pri-Plane (amps) adjustments within Windows on our laptops. It is only by a stroke of good fortune that it works at all, because it is not designed for our systems. Only BCLK and core multiplier settings will work with XTU. The main benefit of using XTU is to set multipliers higher than the limits allowed in the BIOS. Other than this, you should make all of the adjustments in the BIOS.

 

Is there a mobile version of XTU because the desktop version doesn't show much info or allow for any changes on my 2920XM.

I tried the forum "search" but as always, I just get a query error "Could not find phrase 'invalid_search_query".. Does SEARCH even work anymore? Seems i've not gotten any search results for known keywords for months!

 

Amen to that brother. The search is borked.

 

The latest version doesn't work with SB. Try 2.1 it worked with my 2920


http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...tions&OSFullname=Windows+7+(64-bit)*&lang=eng

 

No, there is no XTU for mobiles. You can use XTU to set multipliers higher than the BIOS allows and adjust BCLK within Windows. All other adjustments need to be made in the BIOS (FlexVID, Pri-Plane, etc.). We are very fortunate XTU works with our mobile systems. It is not intended to work. And, only XTU 2.1 works with the R1. Everything except BCLK is grayed out with the newer version.

As far as the search function goes, here is your ticket to paradise...

 

man, that's allot of extra typing.

edit:
found an easier way to look at the files brother fox...by using dreamweaver..

 

Yes, it sure is... it takes at least an extra 3 seconds once you have it memorized. Just think of the loss of productivity that will cause over the course of several years.

 

Thats why I dont need the search function, I just look at ALL the threads I seem to always come up with a little "nugget" of info I can use later bc you guys are awesome!

 

less than that when you "save it as a favorite"

 

Do NOT enable Non-Turbo Flex support and it will work
more info here : http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...qm-oc-7970m-drivers-plague-7.html#post8582778
Also there is no need to apply the setting, just do f10 to save and exit

So you just do step 2, 3 and 8
for step 3 I recommend level 1 and put 0 (zero) under flex VID override
for a 3820qm you want 41,40,39,39 for turbo multi

 

Wha.... Overclocking is different now for non XM cpus?

 

Yeah, seems like the non-xm's have alot more options to play with now compared to Sandy non-xm's - not sure if folk with 3610qm or 3720qm have the same freedom but it certainly looks like those with 3820qm have access to multiplier control and the same kind of OC levels as the xm.

 

still waiting to see how high one of these 3920xms will over clock too....

 

3720QM and 3820QM both have a +400mhz available (4 unlock multi)
so 4.0ghz max for the 3720 and 4.1 for the 3820.
Exactly like the desktop i7-3820 (LGA2011).

the 3610QM doesnt have that option and is "stuck at stock" clock making the upgrade to at least a 3720qm very appealing (for $150)

 

Great info xmadror, +rep and thanks for sharing!

 

that is correct but 4.0 ghz on the 3720qm is only when the application uses one core the max on all cores is 3.8ghz and two cores @3.9ghz

now I don't know why the BCLK can't be changed I tried multiple times but it won't work

 

Wowwww.......... The 3610QM seems like a rip off now. That's a 700Mhz gap, potentially. What a joke. >_<.

 

John I am waiting to see a 3920xm to be thrashed also. Very interested.

Btw notice above the ivy user used XTU and found M18x R2 default amp limit is 112. That's great news to find out. Won't make for extreme but definitly should go higher than a Sandy xm in M18xR1 with stock bios amp limit of 97. Nice Alienware thanks for that

 

yes, but even without going super extreme...they should be able to hit 4.5 across the board though....

 

Yeah I would think so too John exactly based off of how ours handle. I think some IVY is having probs on the die shrink idea... Heat seems to be a real hinderence though they seem to run cooler up till 4.5ghz

 

just like the desktop...but it's up to like 5.2 ghz or so.

 

That's probably the differences in our lappy cooling vs desktop. Someone needs to try Ivy 4.5ghz at under 70c on their laptops

 

Tried last night - temps get up to over 100C and then I get throttling. Currently working on paring it back to get stability.

 

I hit 105C the other day with 43x on all cores, was just running prime95, I probably should have set the fan to max with hwinfo though, but overclocking on laptop definately a different beast

 

Try lowering your FlexVID (voltage) in the BIOS (not XTU) and see if it helps lower the temps. Keep it as low as you can without getting a 0x124 BSOD. It may take multiple reboots to dial it in, but I would start at zero and go up by only one or two points until the BSOD stops occurring. Once Windows loads without a stop error, run a CPU benchmark to be sure the 0x124 does not still occur under load. If it does, raise it one or two more points in the BIOS.

A level 3 OC on the M18x R1 puts flex at 25, but most of us can run between zero and 10 on flex at a level 3 (very modest OC), so don't accept the default on face value as being "good" for your system.

 

I think when I tried that flex was already at 0

 

Quontom
well don't use prime95 lol of course 4.3ghz got to 100c. use 3dmark11 or vantage as a better temp indicator. there aren't programs that any of us use that is as hard on a cpu as prime95. just retest at 4.3ghz at 0flex... then 4.4 and 4.5 and add a single flex if it starts giving bsod 124... test with 3dmark vantage or 3dmark11. id say 3dmark11 first as it has a lighter cpu load give us a screen shot of temps after and the score you get at 43, 4.4 and 4.5 so we can compare Physics scores in the benches

 

ah okay, would just the basic free edition of those work?

 

yes exactly thats what most of us use. looking forward to seeing some of those benched

 

Anybody have a stable set up figured out for the 3920xm? I've been messing around with a few settings, and I can't go above 4.0Ghz without hitting or passing 90 degrees. I'm pretty new to overclocking, and I can't find anything for the 3920xm still, and the stuff for the 2920/60xm aren't exactly the same, and similar settings push it over 90 degrees on me.

90 degrees doing a stress test with the Intel Extreme Tuning Utility that is. I'm pretty retarded so I'd need a step by step, no unnecessary abbreviations description of what to do.

 

Again don't even bother with stress test. The volts and handling seems to be non issues. Seems they handle the frequency it's the temps that are issue. Try both 3dmark11 and vantage at 4.3ghz then try if it allows 4.4 or higher. Ours heat up to the eact same temps under these stress test so nothing will be found out with them. Plus your not getting a number based on performance atleast the 3dmark test are more like a real world load and also you can compare to previous gen. Set as above 0flex and 4.3ghz.

 

I'm going to try 4.3ghz again I guess, and keep an eye on temps as I test it on DayZ, SC2 and BF3. When I played Battlefield maxed out, and I had a video in the background, I actually hit 94 on one core as a max temp. SC2 while encoding it at 1080p for streaming forces just as high temps. I'll tell you if it works with 4.3ghz and 0 flex in-game I guess.

 

Anyone know of a good overclock setting for video file encoding. I was using the settings on this site ALIENWARE M18X OVERCLOCKING SETTINGS FOR INTEL CORE I7 2920XM CPU | Dell it seems to work good for gaming and other stuff but when using a program like handbrake I'll get droped frames every 10 sec. Im using a m18x r1 xm2960.

 

You're probably throttling. Bump the flex to around 29 and Pri-Plane to 950 or 1050. Set all multipliers at 44x or 45x. Set your turboboost limits to 99/56/99. If your temps are good, those settings should work fine. If you don't have an unlocked BIOS, you will need that to access some of the settings I am referring to.

 

thanks for the reply. I'll try it out

 

I'll put this right here...

With the high temperatures in your climate, overclocking the CPU is generally not an option without taking extra steps to make it work. You'll need to set your machine on an AC vent for serious overclocking or drop your ambient temps down below 70°C for moderate overclocking. I have to tone it down in hot weather where I live, too. Unless something is wrong with the existing paste, re-pasting is not going to compensate for ridiculous summer ambient temperatures.

IC Diamond works better for me than any other paste except for stock Dell material. Other aftermarket pastes don't last very long and end up needed to be re-applied because they break down too fast. Others may have a different opinion, but I've tried about a half dozen of the most popular pastes and always end up going back to IC Diamond.

Try these settings: LINK and lower the multipliers if your system is still running too hot.

BTW, what are your CPU temps?

 

I flashed my computer with the unlocked bios and adjusted those setting and its alot more stable now using handbrake.Thanks again

 

I just wanted to throw out there that I re-pasted using Cool Laboratory's Liquid pro which is a liquid metal and it works awesome. I am loving it so far. Probably going to run some benches today

 

SWEET! Glad you were able to get good results with the settings. I'm using them. As the weather gets warmer, if you start having problems with more throttling again, change the flex to 10 and Pri-Plane to 2400 and that might work better with the increased ambient temps.

Well, that happens to be one of the few brands that I have not tried, so I will have to grab a tube of it. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

Making some changes, ordering IC24 and I'll be back with more test hehe
Mr.Fox you deserve an award

 

Hi Nikos. I hope that helps with the cooling. Keep us posted, my friend.

 

So, you're saying that unless we need to remove the heatsinks, that the Dell stock paste offers the best cooling and we shouldn't expect better performance from anything else?

The only reason I ask is because I have a tube of IC Diamond 24k I bought for the sole purpose of lowering my temps a few degrees on CPU and GPU, but you're saying the stock Dell paste is the best?

Thanks.

 

Yes, that's what I am using with the 3-pipe Ivy Bridge heat sink that I installed and it's superb. I'm dreading the day that I will have to break the connection and use aftermarket paste. I've always had excellent results with the stock Dell TIM. The material they use was specifically selected by Louis Bruno for its excellent cooling properties and durability.

I was using the Dell thermal material with my GPU heat sinks and it was working excellent there, too. I had to do some GPU doctoring and went back together with IC Diamond and the temps were nearly identical to the stock Dell TIM. Nothing worth being excited about was gained, and some degree of durability was lost.

(There are a couple of pastes that makes a minor difference in temps, but having to re-apply the material more frequently makes it not worth the effort for a 1°C to 3°C improvement. If it were more than a 5°C better, I would be OK with re-pasting 2 or 3 times a year.)

 

Here are some pics, still have throttling down:

1024 wprime test

HWINFO 64 stats:



I will post my BIOS config

EDIT: BIOS CONFIG:












Which is the correct version of the XTU? I installed v3 but don't seem to work.
Thank you.>


Which is the correct version of the XTU? I installed v3 but don't seem to work.
Thank you. />

 

It's only Intel XTU 2.1 that works, afaik.