The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
← Previous pageNext page →

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

    Discussion in 'Alienware 18 and M18x' started by BatBoy, May 14, 2011.

  1. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

    Reputations:
    37,213
    Messages:
    39,333
    Likes Received:
    70,624
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Here's a little something that might be helpful... if you want to read the fine print, select 1080p and go full screen.

    <embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xb2HPbk_O1I?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width='853' height="480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true">
     
    Last edited by a moderator: May 6, 2015
  2. trooper1414

    trooper1414 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    241
    Messages:
    794
    Likes Received:
    50
    Trophy Points:
    41
    Just curious can the 3840QM be partially overclocked ...if yes ....can anyone please give any settings or numbers that i can use ...and how to do the same. Thanks!!
     
  3. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

    Reputations:
    37,213
    Messages:
    39,333
    Likes Received:
    70,624
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Below is the information you are looking for.

     
  4. jiggymf

    jiggymf Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    215
    Messages:
    501
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Just a quicky noob questions.

    I am used to my m17x-r2 concerning overclocking, I have a 920XM in there, and I only use Throttlestop to OC.

    Is there anything different (except values and multipliers etc) for my 3940XM in my m18x, or is it basically the same and I can just fiddle with TS till I find a setup I like?
    Or should I start with the bios OC level x and move onwards with bios settings, or should I use both the bios and TS in conjunction?
     
  5. failwheeldrive

    failwheeldrive Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    1,041
    Messages:
    1,868
    Likes Received:
    10
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Hey guys, I finally got my triple pipe heatsink installed (thanks to Mr. Fox!) and I'm beginning to experiment with overclocking my 3740qm. Right now I'm overclocked via the BIOS using the settings that Brother Fox reposted earlier in the thread here

    I've some Throttlestop benchmarks, and temps seem to be ok (they haven't gotten past 80C so far.) I just wanted to share my settings and temps here, and possibly get some advice as to whether you guys think this would be ok to run 24/7. Everything appear to be set up correctly, assuming I'm using the same BIOS settings as above? I'm still a noob when it comes to cpu overclocking, so I'm not even sure what the Fles VID option does. I just set it to "0" after reading that post lol.

    Here's my TS info (max temps are from running 1024M):

    TS Bench.png

    Do these settings/numbers look ok?


    I'll update this post with more temps once I run Prime95 and 3Dmark 11. Thanks!

    edit: Max temp in 3DMark11 is 73C. My overall (gpu on stock clocks) score is up nearly 500 points overall, and my Physics Score rose from 8903 on 3.5ghz to 9318 on 3.9. I'm hoping I'll be able to improve somehow.
     
  6. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

    Reputations:
    37,213
    Messages:
    39,333
    Likes Received:
    70,624
    Trophy Points:
    931
    @jiggymf - you can to an extent, but you'll run into limitations using only ThrottleStop because additional settings need to be changed to achieve the best results. To do any elaborate overclocking, you'll need an unlocked BIOS, XTU and ThrottleStop.

    @failwheeldrive - good results... nice job
     
  7. Laeadern

    Laeadern Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    144
    Likes Received:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Can anyone tell me what the optimal Bios settings for the 3920XM are so that i can check to see if im running with the best settings.
     
  8. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

    Reputations:
    37,213
    Messages:
    39,333
    Likes Received:
    70,624
    Trophy Points:
    931
    I'm not sure what you mean by optimal. That will vary with conditions and use.

    If you have a stock BIOS and want a stable mild overclock, you can set a Dell Level 3 Overclock. After setting that, change all 4 multipliers to 40 and set Flex VID to zero. Press F10 to save and exit.

    If you look through this thread you will find lots of screen shots and video for various settings. If you have an unlocked BIOS, you will be able to replicate some of the settings, but watch your temps.
     
  9. macdaddy8000

    macdaddy8000 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    20
    Messages:
    159
    Likes Received:
    17
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Hi guys, i have just installed the unlocked A05 bios and set this setup for my 2960XM..............45,45,44,44 Flex: 0 Short term: 99 Long term: 80

    CPU-Z reports 4485,58 mhz, but i think it drops to about 3800-3900 when i stress test, have i forgot something in the bios setup? 3DMark11 reports 4485 mhz after benchmark btw.
     
  10. Johnksss

    Johnksss .

    Reputations:
    11,531
    Messages:
    19,452
    Likes Received:
    12,819
    Trophy Points:
    931
    What do you mean "you think"?
    Run wprime 1.55 (set it to 8 threads) and cpuz side by side and you should have an answer.
    And the only reason why you wouldn't be able to hold a higher over clock is if your pri-plane/amps voltage is set at factory of 97 Amps in windows or 776 (0) default in the bios. And the only way to change that is to flash unlocked bios which can be found over at techinferno forums.
     
  11. macdaddy8000

    macdaddy8000 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    20
    Messages:
    159
    Likes Received:
    17
    Trophy Points:
    31
    I have the unlocked BIOS, and i havent touched priplane, so that might be why. I just tried with XTU Stress test and it ran at 3800, but ill try wprime.
     
  12. Johnksss

    Johnksss .

    Reputations:
    11,531
    Messages:
    19,452
    Likes Received:
    12,819
    Trophy Points:
    931
    That is a valid answer right there.
    You need to up the pri-plane now. And that can only be done in bios for sandy bridge cpus.
     
  13. macdaddy8000

    macdaddy8000 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    20
    Messages:
    159
    Likes Received:
    17
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Thanks mate i will try that, do you care to guess how much i shall turn it up for 45,45,44,44?
     
  14. Johnksss

    Johnksss .

    Reputations:
    11,531
    Messages:
    19,452
    Likes Received:
    12,819
    Trophy Points:
    931
  15. Garry_L

    Garry_L Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    53
    Messages:
    147
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Is that running at 3.9 across all cores simply from a level 3 overclock ? trying to see how much i can push out of my 3840QM 4GHz or 4.1 what settings would i need to change above the level 3 OC and would i need the unlocked bios to do this ,
    Also what version of XTU works correctly on the R2 again ?
     
  16. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

    Reputations:
    37,213
    Messages:
    39,333
    Likes Received:
    70,624
    Trophy Points:
    931
    You will need an unlocked BIOS for disabling the MSR lock and accessing pri plane. XTU will let you change all the necessary settings except for those.

    XTU-4.0.6.102.JPG
     
  17. Garry_L

    Garry_L Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    53
    Messages:
    147
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Thanks Mr. Fox what settings should i be looking to achieve realistically to get to 4/4.1 across all cores ?
     
  18. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

    Reputations:
    37,213
    Messages:
    39,333
    Likes Received:
    70,624
    Trophy Points:
    931
    No sure with the 3820QM what works best. Try 40x4, 0 flex, 895 pri plane, with MSR lock set to disabled. If you get lockups or BSOD with 0 flex, raise it in increments of 5 only enough to make it stable. Once that is sorted, see if you can set 41x4. You can use ThrottleStop benchmark to test for stability. If the flex is too low it will crash ThrottleStop, or the system will either freeze or BSOD. When it has enough flex it will work fine. If you cannot increase multipliers to 41x4, try using XTU to increase your BCLK to overclock past the limitations of your multipliers. Going too far with BCLK will cause stability issues, but things are usually stable up to about 102.0 to 102.5 BCLK on most systems. Raising BCLK also overclocks your memory bus and other things besides just the CPU.
     
  19. TheBlackIdentity

    TheBlackIdentity Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    532
    Messages:
    421
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    31
    The 3840qm maxes out at 40x for 4 cores. If you raise the bclk to 102.5 you'll be getting exactly 4100mhz. Worth a shoot. Don't know if you have the tripple pipe heatsink or not but you'll need it to sustain these clocks 24/7.
     
  20. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

    Reputations:
    37,213
    Messages:
    39,333
    Likes Received:
    70,624
    Trophy Points:
    931
    If your CPU overclock starts dropping under load, bump the pri plane up to 976. You should not need much flex or pri plane running only 4.0-4.1GHz, and with a 3-pipe heat sink temps should be no problem at such a mild overclock. You can also disable c-states so the system runs 24/7 at 4.0GHz.

    Here is 40x4 with 0 flex with ThrottleStop 32M, wPrime 32M and wPrime 1024M benchmarks run in succession on my system. Temps and power use are not a concern. While it won't win any speed records, this should deliver excellent performance for 24/7 use and gaming unless you are in a really hot environment.

    40x-0-Flex.jpg
     
  21. Garry_L

    Garry_L Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    53
    Messages:
    147
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Thankyou Mr.Fox and Blackidentity ! upped the bclk to 102.5 no issues Throttlestop tests went fine as did 3dMark Afterburner is showing it as 4089GHz across all 4 cores , Going to do the unlocked bios at the weekend when i have more time and see what else i could possibly do .
     
  22. TheBlackIdentity

    TheBlackIdentity Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    532
    Messages:
    421
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Glad we could help and good luck with your further tweaking. :thumbsup:
     
  23. jookergaming

    jookergaming Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Welcome

    i have alienare 18x re2

    I have a simple question

    Your processor i7 3630qm
    Can you break the processor speed of Pius
    The maximum speed of the processor Max Turbo Frequency 3.4 GHz


    Do I get to 4GHz ?


    I have a board cooling Cooler Master u3
    And also I have a device speed fan
    And good room temperature between 18-24 °


    Can I get to the full assessment in Windows 7 to 7.9

    Because the assessment does not come fully Is this even possible with the change better processor to processor gets a full assessment

    qacY1.jpg

    I'M using Google Translate

    and thnxxx
     
  24. goussama

    goussama Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    261
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Im not an expert on this the other guys at the forum know way more than me but from what I understand if you really want to overclock you should go for the XM CPUs
     
  25. TBoneSan

    TBoneSan Laptop Fiend

    Reputations:
    4,460
    Messages:
    5,558
    Likes Received:
    5,798
    Trophy Points:
    681
    There isn't really any overclocking to be done with the 3630qm. I had the 3610qm which is almost the same. I also had that chip with an unlocked bios..
    There isn't anything you can really do to OC the chip.
    Maybe..a big maybe.. You can increase the BLCK using Intel XTU but it would hardly be worth the hassle.
    To get speeds around 4ghz on all cores you need a 3820qm at least.
    If you want to really OC, as Goussama said, go for a XM
     
  26. jookergaming

    jookergaming Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    ok

    i buy i7 3940xm

    or new intel i7 4xxx
     
  27. zergslayer69

    zergslayer69 Liquid Hz

    Reputations:
    62
    Messages:
    1,551
    Likes Received:
    91
    Trophy Points:
    66
    So, I read somewhere (could be this very thread that I skimmed earlier at one point in time) that the 3920xm and the 3940xm are identical chips except the 3940xm is just pre over clocked, is that about right? Or are there any fixes over the 3920xm?


    Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
     
  28. littleone562

    littleone562 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    1,417
    Messages:
    993
    Likes Received:
    59
    Trophy Points:
    66
    The, 3940xm is possibly a SLIGHTLY better binned chip, therefore assigned higher default multipliers, but surely they can achieve the same results with an unlocked bios.
     
  29. zergslayer69

    zergslayer69 Liquid Hz

    Reputations:
    62
    Messages:
    1,551
    Likes Received:
    91
    Trophy Points:
    66
    Thanks for the response. In the case I may just get the lowest end CPU and get the 3920xm off eBay or somewhere. I've heard of people talking about some sort of triple pipe heat sink or something, is that only included by default if you ordered the xm chip from dell? First post in the thread didn't mention anything about needing to buy additional hardware.
     
  30. TBoneSan

    TBoneSan Laptop Fiend

    Reputations:
    4,460
    Messages:
    5,558
    Likes Received:
    5,798
    Trophy Points:
    681
    Yes you should also upgrade to a triple pipe heatsink. You can order them from Dell (unless your in Japan) or get one from ebay or something. The part number you're after is 0MXJ5.
     
  31. zergslayer69

    zergslayer69 Liquid Hz

    Reputations:
    62
    Messages:
    1,551
    Likes Received:
    91
    Trophy Points:
    66
    Any estimate on how much the heat sink would cost? And would I need to buy new thermal pads? I think I currently have some 0.5mm pads from before.
     
  32. trooper1414

    trooper1414 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    241
    Messages:
    794
    Likes Received:
    50
    Trophy Points:
    41
    I did post this earlier too and back then i had a single pipe heatsink and I had dell replace my heatsink (triple pipe) as well as my fans .....................and ever since then I have been wanting to OC .....but when i did following an earlier post from brother fox ...my temp on the cores shot up pretty high almost instantly when i ran stress test under XTU (100+ on 1 core ) and others in 90s .....so i turned settings back to normal and even then when i ran the XTU for 2 mins ...i personally think these temps were high .....what do you guys think

    standardtemps.jpg

    I am just wondering how everyone has achieved a stable OC with temps in 70s ...i dont get that under normal condition ....or is that the XTU is too hard on the system

    Also my current room temp - Cooling between 60-70F and laptop placed on a wooden table ...with plenty of room at the back and not against a wall
     
  33. TBoneSan

    TBoneSan Laptop Fiend

    Reputations:
    4,460
    Messages:
    5,558
    Likes Received:
    5,798
    Trophy Points:
    681
    Brother Trooper, to be of any help, you need to be more specific when you say you did an OC. What were your Multipliers, flex, or any other settings that you dialed in? Did you only use XTU or bios too? What MHz were you running when you reached higher temps?
     
  34. trooper1414

    trooper1414 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    241
    Messages:
    794
    Likes Received:
    50
    Trophy Points:
    41
    Sorry ...I used the settings given by brother fox ...a few c pages ago ....BIOS OC

    Settings I used are attached


    Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
     

    Attached Files:

  35. TBoneSan

    TBoneSan Laptop Fiend

    Reputations:
    4,460
    Messages:
    5,558
    Likes Received:
    5,798
    Trophy Points:
    681
    Ok, what temps are you seeing ?
    I think temps in the 70's might be a little ambitious with 39 on all four cores with a dual pipe HS. If your seeing mid to high 80's, maybe early 90's with the standard fan profile, that might be about right.
     
  36. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

    Reputations:
    37,213
    Messages:
    39,333
    Likes Received:
    70,624
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Yes, XTU is too brutal and will not reflect what your actual temps will be in gaming and benching. It might not get that hot in real-life scenarios. (It never has for me, anyway.)

    The 3720/3820QM can probably run zero flex with stability since it cannot be overclocked more than 400MHz. If you can run zero flex, your temps should be staying low unless you are in a hot work environment. Set pri plane at 895 (if you have an unlocked BIOS) and the turbo power limits at a minimum of 99 or maximum of 119 (long and short) and set at least 56 (you can use 64 or 128) for the time window. With these settings run the 32M ThrottleStop benchmark. You should be able to hold your overclock without throttling and the temps should be fine. If the overclock drops under load without high temps, increase the flex to 10 and test again.
     
  37. trooper1414

    trooper1414 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    241
    Messages:
    794
    Likes Received:
    50
    Trophy Points:
    41


    Its a triple pipe

    I'll have to get back home and read this again ...and try it ...a little confused ....but would love to learn ...when I try doing this

    EDIT::: I`m still confused on how to perform these steps ...and where exactly ? Haha i feel so stupid right now
    Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
     
  38. TBoneSan

    TBoneSan Laptop Fiend

    Reputations:
    4,460
    Messages:
    5,558
    Likes Received:
    5,798
    Trophy Points:
    681
    Hopefully not overload for you but if you get Throttlestop, try the 32M benchmark that Mr Fox recommended. I usually do the 1024 after that too just to be sure things are all stable

    I just ran a bench with multipliers at 40. 32M can finish with temps in the 70's. 1024M starts off the in the same fashion but really heats up towards the further in the test. I get 76-87 by the end of the test.
     
  39. trooper1414

    trooper1414 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    241
    Messages:
    794
    Likes Received:
    50
    Trophy Points:
    41
    I'll run the tests again tomorrow and get back .... Hopefully my temps are better

    Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
     
  40. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist

    Reputations:
    37,213
    Messages:
    39,333
    Likes Received:
    70,624
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Links to screen shots sent by PM. Let me know if you need more help...
     
  41. chocopoo12

    chocopoo12 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    12
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    6
    if i have 3840qm i can overclock at 42/41/40/40 24/7?

    because im planning to buy m18x
     
  42. TBoneSan

    TBoneSan Laptop Fiend

    Reputations:
    4,460
    Messages:
    5,558
    Likes Received:
    5,798
    Trophy Points:
    681
    Sure can. Many folks here overclock their 3840qm to those kind of clocks. Some people are getting 4.2Ghz with triple pipe heat sinks (not standard) and a little fiddling
     
  43. lif3t4k3r

    lif3t4k3r Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    119
    Messages:
    288
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Hey guys I am new here and not sure where to ask this but I've been skimming through this thread and have not quite found the answer.

    I have a 3920xm that I fitted myself with Arctic Silver and a triple pipe heatsink and I've had a crack at overclocking it blind with no experience with overclocking and I honestly have no idea what settings I need to set in the bios and what the difference between any of it is? It sits at 43/41/41/40 but it sounds like some of you guys on here get the clocks higher day in day out whereas whenever I try to go higher it'll crash when I start gaming, whether its 5 minutes into a game or 4 hours in. Temps dont go over 80 degrees most of the time which I thought was safe but I still get crashing.

    Probably a noob question but I'm new to all this.
     
  44. TBoneSan

    TBoneSan Laptop Fiend

    Reputations:
    4,460
    Messages:
    5,558
    Likes Received:
    5,798
    Trophy Points:
    681
    Hey buddy, welcome to the forums. If its BSOD your getting,
    have a try at increasing your flex in the bios.
    Definitely have a read through the benchmarks thread here in the m18x section. It's loaded with bios settings and tutorial guides. Sorry I can't give you a direct link as I'm typing from a cruddy iPhone.
     
  45. lif3t4k3r

    lif3t4k3r Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    119
    Messages:
    288
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    31
    It hasnt BSOD yet it just crashes, like the game will stop running but music/sound will continue and I can alt+tab out of the game but the screen will be white and I cant click on anything in the task bar. After a restart everything will work fine though.

    It could also be the GPU as well but I was certain the GPU was overclocked stable, plus when I push the GPU too hard I tend to get red screens not crashing.
     
  46. TBoneSan

    TBoneSan Laptop Fiend

    Reputations:
    4,460
    Messages:
    5,558
    Likes Received:
    5,798
    Trophy Points:
    681
    I have a couple of ideas but maybe start at the beginning and reset the bios setting to default.
    Set your multipliers to something like 41/41/41/41 and see how you go with that. If its stable try increasing to 42/42/42/42 and so on. It's hard for me to go into much more detail right now but start their and see if you can avoid crashing at those clocks.
     
  47. lif3t4k3r

    lif3t4k3r Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    119
    Messages:
    288
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    31
    I've got it at 41/41/41/41 now ill game on it tonight and if its stable ill wind it up tomorrow and see how I go.
     
  48. lif3t4k3r

    lif3t4k3r Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    119
    Messages:
    288
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    31
    41/41/41/41 was fine so upped it to 42/42/42/42 will give it a good 5-6 hours tonight...

    What should I be looking at for my temps for the CPU? Playing Sleeping Dogs with everything maxed out it tends to hover between 70-75 degrees but can hit 80 during the benchmark, is this fine or a little bit warm?
     
  49. TBoneSan

    TBoneSan Laptop Fiend

    Reputations:
    4,460
    Messages:
    5,558
    Likes Received:
    5,798
    Trophy Points:
    681
    Great stuff. Those temps are perfectly fine.
     
  50. lif3t4k3r

    lif3t4k3r Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    119
    Messages:
    288
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Is it around 90 that I need to worry? Fairly sure its going to crash before then anyway.
     
← Previous pageNext page →