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

Yes, that is correct. XTU v3 does not work for any of us. Everything that makes it useful is grayed out.

 

Hey guys I have a question, does anyone have bios A03 on their M18x R2? I'm having problems with OC that I'm not having on my other M18x R2 with bios A01. I have had all kinds of problems with my order and I will go into that later but just wondering about the bios right now. The A03 will not even get close to the same clocks that the A01 will. the A03 blue screens when I try to oc past level 3 factory setting.

 

Grimy1, if you have anything other than the M18x R2 A01 BIOS that could be your problem. The A03, A04 and A05 BIOS are for M18x R1 with Sandy Bridge, not for your Ivy Bridge system. Also, the M18x R2 does not have an unlocked BIOS. Between the lack of an unlocked BIOS and the spotty results with 7970M CF, it's going to be a while before overclocking the M18x R2 is as robust as the M18x R1.

 

So they put the wrong bios on it when it was built. I will put A01 on it and see if it still blue screens when I try to OC, was pretty sure that wasn't right. I have had hell with dell on my new m18x. I'm on my 3rd one at the moment. The last one was really damaged and the one before that was just completely wrong.

 

That, or maybe they have an Ivy Bridge CPU stuffed into a Sandy Bridge mobo by mistake. The socket is the same, but the chipset is not. You should call 1-800-ALIENWARE and see if tech support can sort it out for you.

 

Fellow m18x r1 2920XM users (or anyone really ), I would really like your thoughts on my settings for my CPU please.
I followed your settings Mr Fox on page 101, had to rep you up man, that cut me a lot of homework so thanks.
I have gone up further in numbers on some things though like going 45 through all the core ratios.

I've excluded using XTU. Although I had a quick look at 3.1 even though it's 2.1 I should be using. But I'll save this for later.
But FIRST I want to sort my BIOS out and make sure it's looks good to go before really medalling with none BIOS settings like XTU.
I'm certainly not afraid to push this system so long as it's running comfortably below the danger zone.
I have the A05 UNLOCKED BIOS running.

You'll have to excuse me if I've gone overboard with the amount of pics
Please have a look at my BIOS settings below thanks:

Spoiler

Extra system info:

Spoiler

Testing CPU with Super Pi and running 3DMark11 (sorry poor quality shots):

Spoiler

On Super PI speeds stayed constantly above 4485MHz
3DMark 11 detailed results here. I'm not sure what settings you guys use on 3DMark11, but I went a bit too all out for my rig to handle

I was going to talk about my GPU settings, but I guess I'll be going off topic with that here.

Finally want to add that I always have my m18x r1 on a notepal u3. Cooler Master was kind enough to give me an extra 3 fans for nothing including paying for postage. That was very nice of them
So 6 fans running on full speed. I could probably squeeze another 3 to make it 9 lol. I doubt soo many fans will have much of an impact anyways...

Spoiler

The only time I'll have it on my lap is if I'm going to lazy in bed and watch a movie or something, but I don't want this m18x melting like butter over me if I push this system waaaaay beyond what I'm meant to

Also I've had no BSOD at all while fiddling about with settings of sorts so far.
I'll leave it at that for now.
Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks

 

FWIW, I just received my brand new M18xR2 today, and it has A03 BIOS.

Having an R1 already, I can tell this A03 is NOT the same BIOS as A03 for the R1. It's got many different options. So, apparently, there is an A03 for the R2.

Time to play.



Not knowing what's in the current A01 BIOS, I see in the Performance section of A03 there is an "Extreme Edition" option, with settings of BIOS/cTDP/Disabled. I have not heard of "cTDP".
Do you guys with A01 have that option? When chosen, it says "Use Intel DPTF (Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework) to set overclock items", and all the normal OC items that
are normally shown go away.

What's Intel DPTF? Time to Google...

Also, just confirmed that A03 now supports the Intel XTU v3.1.201.5 with all options now configurable instead of greyed out.

I assume that may be what the cTDP setting is in the BIOS (to enable overclocking settings in software instead of BIOS)?

More fun.

 

Hi lancorp. Good to know about A03. Those extra features sound intriguing and potentially very awesome. Thanks for the info. Appreciate it. +1 rep for sharing.

Looking forward to seeing your OC results.

 

When it comes to OC'ing, I'm a follower, not a leader.

So, we need to get A03 in YOUR hands and others here on the board!!

One issue I am having (maybe due to A03) is that my Corsair 1866 RAM won't work. The system will barely POST with it in, and mostly just stays black then turns off when it is installed.
This is with stock settings. Once or twice I got as far as getting into the BIOS, but never able to boot Windows with it in. Not good.

 

see if your ram falls under this...
Thaiphoon Burner - Official Support Website

 

Interesting. I'll give it a try because I'd like to add 2133 capability, plus if it's missing some stuff...who knows!

BUT, it was working in my R1, but not the R2.

 

two different boards and bios files though...

 

Hello, good afternoon!

I come to update my little research . I've noticed that if I press the top center just below the power button, the CPU temperature can fall more than 6 °C for @ fulload (wprime 1024 or throttleStop 1024 bench). When you stop pressing the temperature rises to 100 degrees and turns off the laptop.

That is why I ordered the thermal paste "Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra" and also a coolerpad "CM Storm Strike Force SF-19 3.0".

Yesterday I disassemble the machine to see that the thermal paste was well set and it seemed all right. I'll wait to get the order and I will continue reporting.

Thank you all.

P.S.: If all this stuff fails I'll call Dell and ask for some CPU replacement & heatsink repleacement. Do you think they will accept?

 

it's not so much the paste as it is the way the heat sink sits or is screwed down...you basically have to run the laptop with the heat sinks exposed. run a 4 thread app like wprim 1.55. (set it to 4 threads) then check the temps as you slowly un tighten screw number 4...and maybe a turn on screw number 3. then slowly start increasing the speed to see if you get better results...once set...close the laptop up and leave it. check to make sure your heat sink is not warped also ...

 

How do I do that? I mean how i run turn on the laptop while the laptop is opened :? I followed the instructions to tearing down the laptop and I had to disconect a lot of things haha.

Tomorrow I'll teardown the laptop and will apply the thermal compound and try the your tips thank you!

 

if im not around then check out mr fox or dumb dumb or speedy...that way we can make sure youre on the right path.

 

Sorry I don't understand your last reply. I'm waiting for the order. I want to play with the new stuff even if it's just a thermal compound haha.
I always love to dismount and mount everything (and make it run again properly haha)

Hello I'm back after having applied the new thermal paste. The CPU temperature has dropped an astonishing. I used "Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra". And one of the graphics cards has also dropped temperature down.

I think there was a problem while repasting with the top left graphics card, @idle is 10 º C above the other.

Tomorrow morning I will open again the laptop, but first I would like to ask you, what do you believe is causing this big difference?.
The thermal paste was applied only to the core and I am 100% sure it is well placed.
I'm sure that the problem has to do with the outside part of the core.

Anyway, someone can help me with any clues or tips?

Thank you very much folks

P.S.: Wprime 1024 8 cores passed with no reboots or hitting very high temperatures (4Ghz 4cores, FLEX 10, pri plane 2400)(after passing the test I relaxed flex to 5 and priplane to 2000, Do you think that I should decrease more the priplane setting?)
Also passed throttlestop test 1024 without rebooting.

I'm very happy with the thermal compound and the coolerpad.

 

the part about adjusting the screws on the cpu heat sink.

 

Hi,

What kind of improvement in gaming would I see from upgrading to a 2960xm from the 2720qm?

Im running 6990m crossfire.

Thank you.

 

heavily depends on the games.
Mobile Processors - Benchmarklist - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

Very little, to be honest. If you are only playing games, a 2720QM already does a nice job of that. There are a handful of modern games that are CPU hungry. The benefits from having a 2920XM or 2960XM CPU over the 2720QM and 2820QM are greater flexibility and overclockability that are only achievable with the Extreme CPU. If you're the type of user that always enable vsynch to even out frame rates and doesn't care about benchmarking fun, it may not be something you would benefit from. If you love running benchmarks, like to see the highest frame rates and CPU clock speeds that are off the hook, enjoy playing with overclocking and you derive a lot of pleasure from tweaking things to achieve better performance, once you own an Extreme CPU then you will never want to have anything else in your computer.

It also depends on the system BIOS. If you have a system with a locked-down BIOS that really cripples things and you will never be able to maximize the ownership experience until you gain access to all of the settings.

 

Thanks for the quick replies ;-)

I like my games smooth with vsync so looks like I'm already set with the 2720qm.

I think I might upgrade the gpu's next year and I should be good for future gaming. To be honest I'm very happy with the twin 6990m's.

Thanks again!

 

Hey, you're very welcome. I had good service out of the 2720QM and 2760QM. Those are excellent processors.

 

that's is true

 

I am running dual pipes with 3.9ghz across cores and facing major temp problems... flex 0 and primary plane 880... is this normal? I'm talking about 90-100 for temps... could my heat sink be bad?
High volts 0/28
Low volts disabled
Flex 0
Plane 880
2920xm ES on a m18x r1

 

It could be your heat sink or paste. I would suggest getting the 3-pipe Ivy Bridge heat sink. It does wonders and the thermal pad applied from the factory works great without the need for aftermarket paste that tends to not last that long.

What are your ambient room temperatures? If you are operating the system in a warm environment you may struggle with temps while overclocking no matter what. Prop up the rear of the machine to improve circulation. (This is equally and sometimes more effective than a CPU cooler.) Be sure there is no dust or lint in the fans and heat sink fins. Depending on the environment, a significant amount can build up in only a month of use.

 

Ambient temp is around 60. I have the 3 pipe on order. Tried repasting the dual pipe with as with same results... notice figure prints all over the heat sink... it'd embed into the heat sink as if someone melted it and touched it while it was still wet lol.... will order ic24 today and try it on the duals...

Sorry if question has already been asked... But is there any way to change CPU fan speeds? Perhaps create a new temp profile?

 

these chips run hot...

you can run hwinfo to play with fan speeds.....

 

I tried hwinfo but it looks to only have the 2 side fans for the GPU... How do I get to the CPU fans?

BTW... Thats a COOL avatar... Where can I buy one of those?

 

They are $50 on Amazon i guess since its an imported item.

Very cool little toy though.

http://www.amazon.com/USB-Alien-with-Illuminated-Tongue/dp/B002XQKCD4

 

Thx for link too bad the little guy doesnt walk around.... So is it normal for my chip to reach those temps even with dual pipes??? How much of an improvement can I expect with the 3 pipe heatsink?

 

3 to 7c at best guess.

 

Can someone upload a Unlocked A05 Bios file to other links?
(not Techinferno)
I can't get it from Techinferno site, because I can't register for some reason.

To buy 3-pipe hs, I tried to contact part departure. But this item is out of stock for 5 weeks. Later, DELL told me that part don't exist anymore.(DELL will not produce this item). Is it correct?

 

I sent an email ([email protected]) asking for a quote over a week ago for that heatsink and still no reply. I might end up buying a 2 pipes from ebay ...
anyone knows how much $ dell is asking for the 3 pipes ?

 

I wish I had done a little research in the three pipe setup before I added the liquid metal to replace my thermal paste. Oh well, maybe in the long future I will replace it or whenever liquid cooling comes out

 

What do you mean liquid metal?

are you referring to the liquid cooling project that was cancelled a long time ago?

 

in Aus i got a quote for 3pipe for $68.95 just email a rep with part number

 

what is the part number?

 

Part number is 0MXJ5

 

thank you

 

I mean cool laboratory's liquid pro liquid metal thermal compound. It works awesome but a real pain to get off.

 

Same as this guy , i sent a email off and had no reply ? anyone got a idea where i can grab one of these coolers from ? or point me in the right direction

thanks

 

You could try Alienware Tech support....quote the part number and just say you want to buy one....

 

good shout , will give them a try thanks

£30.48 delivered for 3 pipe cooling system .. ordered

 

I bought a 2 pipes from ebay from a forum member (thx ahmadmud).
I ran at 40/39/38/38 for a while and its stable but sometimes gets too hot for my taste (I dont like seeing temps over 90C even though I had no crash/throttling) so while waiting for the 2 pipes I'm running at 40/39/36/34 to help keep temps down. I'm hoping the 2 pipe will be enough for my needs (since I dont have a XM cpu but a 3720QM the OC is limited anyway).

forum double post error, cant seem to find a delete option.

 

400mhz is still a nice OC mind , did yours come with a single pipe config then ?

this is the CPU i am about to buy INTEL i7 3920XM 3.8GHz quad QS ,fastest mobile CPU on earth, upgrademonkey only | eBay

dell wanted £1500 to come out and fit one lol

 

^^ thats the best price I've seen on those 3920XM but still hard to justify with a 3720QM/3820QM imo.

An unlocked bios would help to get more out of a 3920XM, from what I've read here the lack of unlocked bios is holding back those cpu, compared to the sandy bridge XM.

And yes my 3720QM came with a single pipe heatsink.

 

in all fairness just looking at the benchmarks compared 3720-3820-3920 i am think i may have just changed my mind in this upgrade , hardly seems worth it as i am not a hardcore overclocker !! maybe i will just install the 3pipe cooler and OC the 3820 by 400mhz and be done with it

 

this looks pretty good

Inside Asetek Labs - Liquid Cooling an Overclocked Alienware Laptop - YouTube

 

that +400mhz overclock is really neat and give a much better value to the 3720/3820Qm then the 2720/2820Qm had!

That asetek kit could be awesome if it ever gets into production!!