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

Most im seeing is 4.1 on turbo

 

did u set level 3 OC? try to change all the multi in the bios to x45, the reason you get 4.1Ghz can be downclicking from the side of the CPU if your temps are over 90-95C, did u check the temps?

 

Without checking, arent the multipliers for level 3 OC set at 42 for one core? - doesnt that mean that without altering the bclk (99.80), max speed on one core wont reach 4.5ghz anyway....more like 4.1-4.2ghz......???

Mine will boost to 4.5+ when I change the first multi up to 45 (I had 'em set at 45/42/38/38 with bclk stock) and I was hitting 4.5 no problem.

 

that is correct stevie.

 

The new ThrottleStop 3.20 is out with a couple of new features) anybody with xtreme CPU's wants to give it a shot?

 

still cant get past 85 watts...

but the multipliers seem to work in windows without rebooting...

 

Well, I haven't located the Lock Current Limit Register yet, but I have successfully disabled the Lock Power Limit Register and we can exceed those BIOS wattage limitations without issue now (check my BIOS modding thread in this forum)

I'll try to track down the Current Limit and Lock Registers so we can change those too!

 

oh yeah?
so how many watts are you allowed to run now?

 

The highest I have seen it pull is about 97W. It throttles quickly when pulling this much though, as my cooling is not nearly adequate to sustain that kind of power/heat output I don't really dare go higher for fear of causing a meltdown. But that is certainly well over the stock BIOS limits!

 

edit:
97 watts?

can you show me where it shows it pulling this?

 

Here's a screenshot for ya, I actually saw it hit 98.5 watts but missed pressing the screenshot button at that point, doh! (This screenshot is with a Prime95 Large FFT test running on 8 threads)

My cooling is absolutely inadequate to run these speeds (look at those temps, that's just from 30 seconds or so under that load) - so don't look to me to stress test this at all unless someone is going to donate some nice thermal paste and a better chunk of copper/fan

I'm sure there's still some overhead left within the still locked current limit of 97A, but my system shuts itself off when the cores hit 100C which they definitely do at this speed/temp and the ambient temp. Maybe in a freezer!

BTW - the relevant stuffs I have set to hit that speed (set via BIOS mod to override BIOS limits)
CPU Turbo 1 ratio: 43
CPU Turbo 2 ratio: 42
CPU Turbo 3 ratio: 40
CPU Turbo 4 ratio: 38
Short Duration Power Limit: 105W
Long Duration Power Limit: 99W
Turbo Power Limit Register Unlocked
C7 State enabled
CPU Throttle temperature 100C
Low Speed Fan Temp 65C
High Speed Fan temp 80C
Shut Down Temp 105C

With the throttle trigger set to 100C and the shut down temp to 105C, the CPU thermal protection trigger kicks in at 100C and shuts the computer down immediately, no throttling occurs prior to this (because it wouldn't be triggered until 100C which is the CPU's hardcoded shutdown value anyway)

Again there is no way in heck I can support this kind of speed under a Prime95 load, but it works just fine in my normal usage where it's only bursting to these multipliers under demand.. but I haven't tried some of the more demanding things I do regularly like compiling a large project etc. - i'm sure i'll have to nudge things down a bit for that

 

no need for stress testing on your part...

so you flashed your bios with this? if so..do you have a copy?

and run wprime 1.55 and see if you can break in to the super low 6 second range. do the 32 meg test. that way you don't have to worry about heat. this will better judge how your mod is working

 

Yes, i've flashed my BIOS about 90 times in the last 2 days, including a few bad flashes, recovery flashes, etc. Poking random registers in the setup store during reverse engineering is a good way to rapidly decrease system stability

I would gladly post my modified BIOS for you to try, however with the method of modification we are forcing the updater to flash "protected" areas of the BIOS it wouldn't normally. This may or may not include areas such as the serial number, service code, and other device-specific information. In other words, I don't want to overwrite your stuffs with my stuffs.

If you are nervous about attempting the modification, I am quite comfortable with it now, and if you post a dump of your BIOS from the InsydeFlash utility (use my modified platform.ini to get the dump), I can modify it and post for you. Again probably wise to PM me the link to it because it may contain sensitive informations such as serial number etc.

There's a decent chance that using my BIOS may not overwrite the device-specific infos, so I can post that one also if you don't want to do the BIOS dumping procedure to obtain your own. But again I would highly recommend not doing that, and working only with a dump of your own BIOS from your own PC rather than flashing mine

[Edit: Just ran wprime 1.55, with 8 threads, got 6.404 sec running all my normal system background apps, browser open, etc.]

[Edit2: Killed some of my BG stuffs and got 6.363 sec. I don't think I want to try with a higher multiplier for fear of the system exploding ]

 

i'll check in your thread..then we can go from there.
one of my old ones...

6.160 sec's


ran this as is..

 

My system isn't stable at 105 BCLK i'm afraid, so not too much of a chance of me hitting that speed
I'll give it a quick shot though, nothing to lose from yet another CMOS clear, right?

 

hold the power button and reboot...that's about it...lol

 

She's gonna blow!

 

ok, looking real nice. with that run..it puts you in second. and she "ain't" gonna blow yet...lol

 

Interestingly, the InsydeFlash BIOS updater kicks all the fans into high gear when dumping the BIOS (much higher than the high speed the BIOS will kick them to at a high temp) and leaves it that way until the power is cycled.

The added cooling drops my temps quite a bit.

I would gun for first place but i'm sure one of you guys will quickly trounce me after modding your BIOSen

 

better to be first for a day then not having tried...
5.9+ seconds by nick

working on this bios thing as we speak.

edit: where does it save the backed up copy of the bios at?

 

The backed up copy of the BIOS should be in the same folder as the InsydeFlash updater. Named M18xR1.bin and should be 4096KB.

You'll rename this to an .fd extension and modify it by using Hex Workshop + .hsl file, then flash it back using the same tool

 

mine comes back as 4224 in size

and when i do a search for the bits to change...i get nothing.

 

Did you do the dump with the modified platform.ini in my post?

The 4224KB file should be the stock A03 BIOS image rather than the one dumped from your machine. It contains EC code that isn't dumped by InsydeFlash normally. (btw probably better to move this discussion over to the bios mod thread as it is more relevant there) - the reason the hex search doesn't work on this file is that it does not contain any pre-loaded VSS data set to active, or else when you flash stock BIOS it would come with some pre-set setup data, overwriting yours

 

I can go lower on stock bios see here

 

and i can go higher with stock bios...
just not completely on all 4 cores...yet
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...are-m18x-benchmark-thread-60.html#post7851328

 

those are wonderful scores on everything i wish i had a 6990m intead of the 6970m... they are insane

as for quasd core like my post in the bios mod thread... you have to use 0 voltage added not 25 turbo flex... at 0flex with multipliers locked accross all cores you will see your fastest results dont expect miracle quad speeds... in my testing lower ghz can sometimes run faster than shooting to high... i beat my wprime 1024m 8thread last night by more than just a second with the bios mod and my undervolting method. 4.4ghz quad peaked at the beggining of test for about 5secs with the test ending above 4.05ghz as read from throttle stop.

the heat is your issue and the undervolt will give you 100mhz to 200mhz quad with fans at max but 25 flex will see your mhz the 100-200mhz lower if you have to use 25 for stability in higher speeds.

 

OFFICIAL: M18x Benchmarking Thread

p8028 9820 CPU 8044 GPU 3dmark11 840 1210 41 41 42 42 0flex 104.8


Super Pi 7.985 Seconds 1M 45 45 45 45 104.8 25 flex voltage 4.716 GHz

wprime 1024m 4.296 GHz 8 thread 186.295 sec 104.8 41 41 41 41 0 flex 55 sec short limit

wprime 32m 4.401 GHz 5.663 sec 104.8 42 42 42 42 0 flex 55 sec short limit


Vantage P26,488 28,850 CPU 25,784 GPU 845 1210 41 41 42 42 0flex 104.8


Vantage p26,644 26,154 GPU 28,230 CPU 845 1210 40 41 42 42 104.8 0flex


********************************************************
Using unlocked BIOS
wprime 8T 1024m 41 41 41 41 185.445 sec


4400mhz peak wprime 8T 1024m 41 41 41 41 185.445 sec


super pi 1m 7.825 secs all scores done


wprime 8T 1024m 41 41 41 41 184.92 sec

 

those are great scores! looks good.

 

Thanks a lot Johnksss I really like to push the limits too like you. Those are with 97Amp max i'll do some soon with the amperage raised. I wonder if 180secs in wprime would be possible on these. I know it takes quite a bit to go under 190secs for any of us... my goal is also 30k vantage on cpu over my current 28.23k and 10k cpu in 3dmark2011 over my 9.82k currently

these things are beasts I tell ya! BTW i know for a fact if your ES is getting the same ranges my OEM chip is and if you'd like to compare anything I screen shots showing mine handles similar ranges when set the same... like on prime95 or intel burn if I set max voltage and run same tests as you with same exact settings I am sure yours is reaching all the same speeds. So I think OEM and ES differences are non existent and merely a myth.

 

Cant Wait to get my 2920xm... should be here in 2 more weeks. by the way my aleinwre rep threw in the 4grhz Factory OC free for me.
so for how long does the turbo boost stays at 4ghz when running prime 8 thread stress test?

also when gaming, will it be at 4ghrz ? or lower than that?
im a desktop person myself, i know my overclocks on my desktop stays at 4ghz 24-7. doubt laptop can do that due to heat and power draw

 

With the factory overclock it will be 4GHz in single threaded workloads

This laptop can hold 4.5 GHz on all cores under heavy load when configured properly (link in my sig for proof)

 

wow, really? what are the temps? i wouldnt mind having 4ghz on all cores on heavy load if temps are in the safe side.

 

I'm shipping mine off to to Scook for optimization and configuration

 

Yeah ... scook, help us out to configure the cpus please

 

Well, the temps can get as high as 100c and force the laptop to shut down. That is not recommended for regular use.

There is a guide from Da_g that has excellent advise on how to edit the bios to give more performance.

 

how can i find that guide? -_-
also Scook, from your experience with this cpu, whats the max SAFE overclock to have 24-7 on daily use ?

 

I dont know what the max "safe" is but I find it hard to justify needing anything beyond level 3 in the bios

 

is it as easy as changing level 1 to level 3 ? or do you have to tweak more settings?
also, what type of overclock will you get on level 3? will the 4 cores stay at high clocks on only 1?

 

Level 3 OC is easy to set. It will make the one core speed 4 GHz, think the 4 core speed was 3.2.

 

not sure if i understand so level 3 will make one core stay at 4ghrz but the other 3 cores to 3.2ghz?

 

@ Level 3, 4 core speed is about 3.4-3.5

 

so if i wanted to get all the cores to 4.0? i would need to tweak the settings inside level 3? is 4.0 on all cores doable? or heat would be too much

 

The highest you can do on all 4 cores is 3.9 GHz without editing the BIOS to go above the existing limit of 80 Watts. At that wattage your temps will go into the 90s.

When you are using less than all 4 cores the CPU will automatically boost the speed of the active cores as much as it can according to the settings you enter.

 

Thanks batboy, i have my m18x for a month now, not realizing that my 2920xm is not overclocked .. silly me.. thanks for your thread now i have activated the overclocking, and all the numbres are exactly the same as the first post! i notice quite a difference

 

BTW if you use the unlocked bios there is a second area that lists the short and long limits where you can set 99 on long if you don't want to do any bios editing. Its not the original menu where short and long are its a second menu.

http://i1237.photobucket.com/albums/ff474/marcwwaters86/unlocked bios pics/1.jpg

its the one that says performance options menu there

*dont enter ICC it will freeze the bios and you will have to soft rest... hold power button for 4seconds.

 

wow thanks scook, if the temps are up in the 90s on max load i would consider safe for 24-7 use. No app can stress the cpu as much as those stress test programs. (prime 95)
cant wait to get my m18x. when I get it, im gonna ask you for some help hope u can help me tweak my lappy to get the most out of it.

 

What difference does this make with changing the short and long limits?

 

My system stats are in my sig, what do you suggest I edit if I wanna run my cpu at like 4.0, and is it healthy? Please help. I do have the unlocked vbios.

 

Wow, Origin has the option for Overclocking the 2960XM to 4.8 GHz. Can't wait to see how they set it.

http://www.originpc.com/shop/pc/configurePrd.asp?idproduct=650

 

side-swipe
use hwinfo to see your screen.

seblock...now that is interesting.