***Prema Mod Alienware 18 970M / 980M SLI Performance vBIOS***

only if you have a Dell 980M, otherwise if you have a clevo card, use the clevo vbios

 

I'm not sure if dell 980M or clevo 980M. I will check once I get it.

Thanks for the info.

 

Yes - should not make any difference whether the GPU is Dell or Clevo. They are essentially the same and can use the same vBIOS. (780M and 880M were the same way and both Dell and Clevo GPUs can use the same vBIOS.) The @Prema mod for the Alienware 18 980M is tweaked in a special way for the Alienware 18.

 

Hey Prema Is there a version that is compatible with AW 18 R2? Or is this it for all AW 18 models? (M18XR1, M18XR2, AW18)

I have the M18XR2 GTX 980m MXM SLI. Should I use the Clevo MXM vbios? GTX9xxM MXM

 

I use both the Clevo and the MSI Bios. Compared with @Raidriar , the performance is the same/similiar.

I use maxwell bios tweaker to modify the numbers for overclocking.

 

I need to know if this will work with a M18X R2 or only a AW18 (r3)

Do you have your 980m's in a M18X R2 Rengsey?

 

Or Is the Prema VBIOS compatible with any laptop that supports the correct MXM revision?

 

Yes, we can use the Clevo Prema Mods for all MXM versions of same vRAM capacity. Only the AW18 needs its own Mod version.
For systems with BIOS induced GPU throttle use it alongside @j95 driver Mods...

 

Thank you for your reply Prema!

I am under the impression the the M18X R2 also has throttling issues. So to be clear... (so I do this correctly)

*So. I Should use the AW18 (R3) vBios on my M18X R2 w/ 980m 8GB SLI cards? (it also has throttling issues) or no?

Sorry I'm dense as a brick half the time... Perhaps you could link me to your correct page / file so I don't mess this up? As i will also be using Swick's modded BIOS w/ Windows 7 in Legacy mode. Need to get it right the first time, So I don't waste everyone's time on here trying to fix something I did wrong.

Thanks again!
apologies for the CAPS

 

From Mr. Fox
---
You can use the ordinary Prema 980M vBIOS mod for any 980M MXM with 8GB of vRAM. Using that standard vBIOS mod on the Alienware 18 (AW18) isn't a good idea because the AW18 needs a special mod to help the EC control the fans correctly. Likewise, using the special AW18 version for a different laptop might not work as well as the ordinary Prema 980M vBIOS mod.

...Since you do not have an Alienware 18, there is no need to pay any attention to it. Just use the generic Prema 980M vBIOS.
---

Makes sense now. Thank you guys for you help

 

Edit - delete me bad internet connection double post

 

Edit - deleted post. wrong forum. Sleepy sorry guys

 

Prema,

I have an Alienware 18, bought February 2016.

It's got a pair of GTX970Ms in it.

This should be compatible for your AW 18 GTX970M vBios, correct? You made mention of the vbios not being compatible with soldered GPUs, how do I verify this?

And last, will the current drivers be compatible with this vBios?

Thanks for your time

 

is compatible, flash w/o worry

 

Hi guys!

Anyone may can help me? I try flash my 970M latest nvflash version,but ID error always
DEVICE ID: 10DE-1618

 

Sry,double post...

 

You attempted to flash a g-sync vbios to a regular GPU > wrong vBIOS

 

Thanks for help master!
I try non G-sync version,i think...and same results.Download your vbios from TI: GTX970M_6GB_MXM_OC_PM_v2 version.

 

Sorry, the other way round, that's a g-sync card and you attempted to flash the regular version. Use g-sync Mod. Most cards on the market now are g-sync, but of course won't give you g-sync:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-displayport-1-2.770187/page-20#post-10275578

 

OMG...My card G-sync? (my friend buy for me from UK), i use this AW M18xR2,and working?Surely g-sync version? I check NV control panel,there missing g-sync function.
GPUz:

 

G-sync card can work non g-sync machine? You know 100%,my card g-sync? If i flash and may will brick

Edit: Well it's true,my card really g-sync,thanks for help Prema! I can flash your 970M-G DM version.(ZM: Error) vbios there,but OC potential,UV/OV don't active

 

Don't worry, it won't flash the card if it is not the right version, just as you have seen with the incorrect version of Prema's Modded vBIOS, G-$ync and regular cards have different Hardware IDs. From what I understand. You guys feel free to jump in too

 

OC/OV only work with a custom vbios, and in the picture above it shows that you do not have a modified vbios, so that maybe the problem, and even if you do have a modified vbios, and they are still not working, it could be due to using wrong nvidia drivers, as certain drivers do not let you oc/ov the gpu

 

I'm using m18x r2 with clevo gtx980m(s) MXM and your clevo v2 vbios, will I able to flash the AW18's 980m vbios, or I should stay with clevo one?
just wondering

 

My card g-sync version,i flash 2 piece Prema vbios ( DM,ZM) flash succes but not working total good my M18xR2,because OC/OV/UV not active so...

 

to the best of my knowledge you can flash the clevo or the alienware bios, since on my 970m, i initially had the clevo vbios, and then i changed to alienware vbios, though i didnt not feel any change whatssoever.
so yeah, if you can overclock just fine, and its working, just stick with it

 

Hi, just changed my aw17 r1 with an AW18, installed 4930mx (with stock settings) and both 980m, from woodstack, A12 BIOS upgrade, all system drivers installed, stock ddrr3 1600 kingstone, only 16gb, last nvidia drivers, all recognize at once.... these are the results in 3dmark (first image)

After that, i´d tried flash both vga cards with prema v2, and these are the results AMAZING....

From here, thanks prema.

I think i should tweak the 4930mx, but i am waiting for receive a cooler base for this laptop, and waiting for receive 32 gb ddr3l 2133 from g.skill.

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR WORK, PREMA.

 

Yeah, Brother @Prema is one awesome dude. Congrats on your upgrade.

 

Wow that is a huge difference, what the hell was wrong with the first run?

 

Throttling of 980M

 

You need to put Liquid Ultra on the 4930MX or it will severely overheat and throttle like crazy when overclocked. At 4.8GHz it will pull over 200W.

 

And he can't use a to high OC on 4930MX simultaneous with a high Oc on GPU's, because Dell engineers Crippled the machine with a power cap of around 330W... A BIG shame from Dellienware!! Maybe 4.3GHz on processor and maximize the OC on the graphics cards. + He must also use an external monitor, shut off all lights and screen for access to more power for overclocking!!

 

I am still throttling very bad on Prema vBIOS v2 at stock speeds on the M18X R2, Have a mild OC of 4.3ghz (down-clocking the cpu didn't change anything for me) on the 3920XM, Ram is finally running at 2133mhz. 980m SLI throttling bad. I used to be able to reboot and the throttling would go away, but not anymore. dropping my 3dmark scores over 2k. Bummer.

Any of you brothers have any tips or ideas, I am all ears

 

Actually something very similar happened to me a few days ago and while it's probably not this it might be a sign that what you might be experiencing is a failing PSU.

I fired up a game and was experiencing severe throttling, like my 980M was sitting between 500 and 800MHz and so I thought that the IGFX to PEG and back trick had failed so I rebooted and did that again and it then as it continued to do it I noticed my power indicator (alien head) was yellow, I WAS ON BATTERY EVEN WHILST BEING PLUGGED IN!

So in this particular instance, the power socket was intermittent (there was power when I first plugged in). But what might be happening with you might also be power delivery related and the only thing that comes to mind aside from an intermittent power socket would be your PSU.

Edit:

Re-reading your last post, you say you finally got 2133Mhz stable, I wonder if additional voltage was a part of this success and if all that memory (4x8GB is a bit of memory) is now pulling down more wattage, even if say only another 25W (you have zero power headroom with 980M SLI, an Extreme Processor and a single 330W PSU) is having a noticeable effect.

I say, unless you actually need 980M SLI, sell of the secondary and just run it single GPU.

I have yet to find a modern game that my single 980M cannot handle at 1080p - 60Hz.

Hell even Doom 2016 completely maxed out (Nighmare) it runs at 75 FPS!

GTA 5 completely nearly completely maxed out (Pop density at 70%, Reflection MSAA off and Grass Quality on Very High not Ultra, although I am running PCSS Shadows and Tesselation) and it's 60 FPS everywhere with an avg. 65% load!

Ditto Dragon Age: Inquisition!

You really only need 980M if youre mated to an external 4K or 144Hz 2.5K display or are rocking VR!

If youre not doing the above you don't need 980M SLI and it has been my experience that for games that don't work with SLI simply setting it to Single GPU in Nvidia Control Panel isn't enough, I have to disable SLI and reboot, which is extremely bothersome when you play different games at the same time (like right now I'm playing both Doom 2016 and Dragon Age: Inquisition, both of which have mediocre SLI support) AND to not have throttling you have to reboot twice (PEG to IGFX). Just pull that 2nd card out of there and sell it.

 

Or, better yet... sell it and buy a Clevo. Then you can have a better single GPU beast or a 980M SLI monster that actually functions correctly.

It very unlikely that the AC adapter is failing. It could be, but the behavior @KKthebeast is experiencing is something almost everyone with an Alienware M18xR2 has experienced with 980M. It's exactly the reason I gave up on trying to make it work. The M18xR2 is a truly amazing product. Easily the nicest laptop ever made in the history of laptops, but it is an inescapable fact that it has problems achieving full performance potential with Maxwell GPUs. Whether or not recovery is even going to be possible with the introduction of Pascal MXM cards is anyone's guess at this point.

 

Thanks for the tips Vulcan, unfortunately I have 2 330 watt PSU's one brand new and it throttles on both of them! I wish that was that case! but hey! Thank for sharing your experience with me. That would have been cool if that was the issue!

 

Found a temp fix, I use CCleaner frequently on my systems and I hadn't cleaned the registry in a while(1 mo.) and I did that along with a CMOS wipe and I have Zero throttling now. So it has to be something that is clashing in the registry and clearing it out fixed it for me. I can play any game without downclock. I have reboot the computer several times, shut down completely. Power cycled to simulate a cold start. No throttling.

Windows 10 and Nvidia are evil....

 

Amen on your last comment.

Good find, Brother @Codenamefa. So, can you overclock the snot out of the CPU and GPU(s) without throttling now, or just gaming with stock clocks?

 

I run my 3940xm right now at 4.4ghz and the GPU at +120/+400 and it holds pretty well. Not exactly snot but still pretty good.

 

Dude that is freaking amazingly high, I can't get over 4.3 with stock GPU clocks and not throttle.

Are you still using the Dual PSU mod or is this on a single 330w?

Also what is the best method to clear the cmos? just remove the power cord, take the battery out, hold down power button for 30 sec? or something else?

 

I'm using a Single 330w PSU. Correct BIOS/CMOS Reset is disconnect power, pull battery, take bios battery off, hold power button for 30 seconds, cross pins of bios battery board connector with anything metal. Reassemble, and probably have to re-enable PEG and then put your clock settings in, I found also that the non-turbo flex is pointless to have on anymore. Everything behaves well with this setup. It seems something in the registry won't go away after the driver updates are done and you clear it out with CCleaner and it removes whatever it was.

 

Just an update, I just played Killing Floor 2 Max settings, 3 hours on a grind map to get your stats up, with a full server it was dogging the fps down to 40fps and the clocks didn't budge and I had Twitch streaming.

Killing Floor 2 can put almost any GPU to the test on max settings in a SuperPerkTraining Map with a full load of people.

 

I found that the slowdowns like that only occur on community maps.

 

Oh absolutely, If it is a normal map I usually get 200fps.

-Note no idea why it say by the way GTA V max settings lol

 

@Codenamefa Did you get a chance to collect all your custom settings?

 

I knew I forgot something last night..... I'll make sure to snap some pics tonight.

 

Looking forward to your guide brother

 

Well lookie what I got when I got home from work

My settings.

Spoiler

As for my GPU's, I kid you not, I'm just using Prema v2.0 right now and I use nvidia inspector and set it to +120 to core and +400 for memory. Nothing else done.

Not much of a guide but it works.

 

Also... GTA V Literally every setting flipped to its highest aside from motion blur.

No downclock at all.

 

Thank you very much sir, there are definitely some differences, Ill have to try them out and see what happens