M17/Ocz Whitebook Quad Problems

Yeah mine is copper modded with OCZ freeze and im running 3.06ghz all day long on it now . Max temps on the NB whilte gaming for hours with no cooler and just the back propped up are 78 and this is games that are heavily Quad dependent IE GTA4 etc. Do i have stutter ? 99.999% of the time no but if running 06 from time to time i can see it for a second or 2 then it dissapears after the first run and fine from then on, so im not going to be complaining about that at all . If it creeps up in a game its for the same second or 2 and worst case is i alt tab to desktop and back to game . i dont have to pull the plug to correct the issue but even then its very rare now.

Im running Windows 7 ultimate RTM now with minimum CPU usage @30% Realtek 2.20 drivers and the OCZ .28 bios .

Overall im very happy to the point where i would not consider a dualcore but i did reapply the copper mod a few times to get it just right and also used OCZ freeze in place of AS5 in the end as it seems to have worked out better for me.

i wouldnt mind trying out a X9100 in it just for testing to see what kind of results i get in the games i enjoy but i wont be spending that kind of cash on one .

 

Now that is odd, as my M17 has only stuttered with the NB between 62-63C. I still don't see how the copper mod helps then...oh well, who knows.

 

Everyone seems to have had different results doing different things . I had this talk with Don in PMs many times believe me . I know for fact though i had different results from trying different things on the NB so in the end the Copper and OCZ seemed to be the best bet for me .

 

Lol yeah we did.
did you lower your ram timings as well?

 

Yeah i tightened them up but you cant loosen them otherwise instant BSOD. was going to try laxing them abit to see if it had any effect on stutter but its not really an issue now so im not to bothered .

 

Yeah if your fine then i wouldn't touch it either.

 

I know my cpu is a ES this can be is fault ? Because I have already OCZ Freeze on it and the NB have a thermalpad.

I remember that I have a NB underclocked to at 240MHz and I am stock with that temp.

 

My Qx9300 is ES as well so that has nothing to do with it . Its more then likely the thermal pad but others will say some thing different since its not the same for everyone.

 

I have remove the Heatsink for the second time, the NB pad was broken in 2 piece ... I have change it for anothers, but temps have not change if it not that they are more bad.Will do couple of test soon

 

I have try 3 others pad , XGel , one from Koolance and stock ,each time same temp for NB 98 degree after 10 minute load of prime 95.My question now, this can be dangerous for the life of the notebook (I know laptop component can take more high temp then desktop but how many I don't know) ? If yes I will do a RMA for sure.

 

98Deg is way to hot to run the NB at consistently, so yes it will die earlier then expected. I would send it in if you can't fix it with new thermal pads yourself.

 

I'd agree, my NB runs hot with my X9100 (which runs pretty hot itself), but even under stress with linpack now I've got my cooler running better, its not even in the 90s (it was hitting 103 before). I know its an arse but I'd say keep reseating til your results improve, try positioning it slightly differently. Are you using a thermal pad or paste?

Average use (non stress test) mines running in the high 60s and 70s now, which is much lower than yours.

 

I have try thermal past, but hit 99 degree and when I have chekc if the contact is good, I have see that the paste dosen't make contact with the heatsink ... I have try 3 thermal pad but same temps 98 degre.I have contacted OCZ for RMA they ask to me to send the laptop ...

 

RMA means you are returning the merchandise...(the R and M) of course they want you to send in the laptop

 

Yes but in firts I have ask Cross shipping not normale RMA.

 

that means you still send in the machine....they are cross shipped, means both in shipping at same time

 

Scook9, I know, I have do for 60 RMA at this time, the problem is that I need a laptop for work and cannot send the only one I have for the moment if they don't would cross ship.

 

What's the best thermal pad available out there? It'd be interesting to change the thermal pad on there for a better one and see if that fixes stuttering. The advantage of that is that if you need to send it back, Alienware probably would complain if you had a copper mod on it but not likely with a new thermal pad. (I doubt they'd even notice)

 

I have open the back cover from the M17 and temp with prime95 are now after 15 minute

NB:79
Core 73/72/73/75

Someone can test prime 95 without the back cover for know if my time are always bad ? (with a Quad at 2.4GHz) thx in advance.

 

The back cover is the problem for the whitebook. If you are not willing to send it back in then do this.

Take off the cloth that is on the back cover the cpu and the gpu..... I tested this out already and dust gets in your system regardless so don;t worry about it.

also prop up your back using bottle caps.

 

I have read about the copper (all the page of that thread) where I can buy the good dimension ? I ready to paid 25$ for it if someone can do one for me.

Dondadah88, but my temp are very not normale with the back cover right ?

I see 2 option

1) My cpu is defect (produce more heat then normale)
2) My Heatsink is defective.

Do you have others idea ?

 

most people say that .5mm is a good size. i just got a piece of copper pipe and ripped it apart and sawed it down to size. and then i used a hammer on flatened it.

you cpu is fine. your Northbridge is alittle hotter then most. . which is why i said you need a new thermal pad. but seeing that that didn't make a difference, i would think that the heatsink isn't attached right or maybe something is wrong. you northbridge should be a max of 6 degrees hotter then your cpu.

 

Yes but Quad at 2.4GHz for 88 degree temp on core for you it normal ? I have see many people with better temp at 2.93GHz if it not 3.06GHz.

 

If your CPU is hitting those temps you need to re seat it . Bad contact with the heatsink will give you those temps because at 2.4ghz you should not be seeing 88 degrees.

 

I cant find the guide to the copper mod here ? all I see is some pictures, but no guides ? where to buy those stuffs ? please help me.

 

well first what's your system specs.

your good for finding this thread.

 

click my signature below Thanks

 

what is the dimension of the copper shim? 0.5'' square? is it too big? how about the purity?

 

no. it's alittle bigger then the northbridge itself. very thin. .4 - .8 i believe and it doesn't matter if it is 100percent pure. it just have to go between the northbrigde and the heatsink with thermal paste around it like asandwich. i'm sorry i don't have my manchine anymore so i can't make a guide for it.

 

Hey don thx for the quick reply and how about the length of the copper shim?

 

alittle bigger then the north brigde overall. I don't know measurements though sorry. I just cut mines and put it on.

 

i suppose the original normal was in contact 2 the heatsink through thermal pad.so should we remove or keep the pad when copper modding?

 

yes remove it.

 

dondadah88 I appreciate all the work you've done with this issue. You've probably seen a post by JohnBatDell stating the stuttering issue is being resolved by Dell for the M17x. As recently as 12/02/2009 he says Dell has replicated the issue and very soon will have the solution in a BIOS revision. I'm wondering if this will work for the M17 and what your take on this is. I found two posts on the issue here: http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/direct2dell/archive/2009/11/18/dell-dpc-latency-and-you.aspx
and here;
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=435569
Thanks

 

It is highly unlikely that we will see a fix on this from Alienware for the M17. They already tried several BIOS versions attempting to fix it and none succeeded. The fix for the M17x is to address the DPC latency, NOT the 3d stuttering. Unfortunately. Hopefully though the 2 are related and the stutter will be reduced/eliminated with the new BIOS. Only time will tell.

Also, sadly, the M17 is an Alienware machine, not supported directly through Dell, so it is definitely EOL and will not be getting any updates as Dell has finally taken over control of Alienware and is focusing on their joint products (the "All Powerful" lineup) and killed off all the "old" Alienware models (Area-51 m15x, M17, the desktops)

 

Thanks for the response scook. I don't know how they can legally do this. I just purchased the M17 in March of this year with a three year warranty. I don't have extra time during the daytime to do anything about it and when I do, I'm not feeling well enough to deal with it. It's not right and it's not fair. But life's not fair is it? I'd like to return it and get all of my money back. I don't want to reinstall Vista only to have the issue reappear. I've written AW only to have them give me a robot response that they no longer are taking emails but to call
1-800-ALIENWARE to get anywhere. I'll give it a shot and see what happens. If they start in on reinstalling the OS, I'm not going to be happy.

 

They will hopefully be able to do something for you. I would try to get it exchanged for a comparably spec'd or priced M17x

 

seriously think about it as long as there are users who haves a warranty with them they haves no other choices than suporting the model so the last aw suport center will turn into a dell suppot center the exact day the last m17 warranty expire so you can rest at peace for the next 2 years we will still have support and fixes (less often but there will still be)

 

get some 4870's on a simalary spec'ed M17x

 

That requires purchasing another machine to the tune of $3000 Moo, I am but a poor college kid, I aint got that in the bank. Buying the M17x I have now completely emptied my account until I got paid, and this was right before school started. I have been pretty much unemployed since haha

I aint got DPA/credit like the rest of you, I paid cash

 

my stuttering issues were solved by upgrading my CPU to QX9300 from Q9000.... I wonder why. Just want to let you guys know.

I've also flashed my BIOS with zfactor 0.28. The thermal pad on the Northbridge were also removed and replaced with thermal paste Arctic Silver 5.

 

You removed the thermal pad for the northbridge and replace it with thermal paste? but AFAIK the thermal pad is thicker thus provide a tighter connection between the NB and the sink. Just my opinion

 

Thermal paste alone would not really be enough to fill that large of a gap BUT if your not having any issues then thats all that matters .. Just monitor the temps from time to time on the NB and make sure everything is AOK ..

 

Hey Quad how exactly can we measure the temperature of the NB?

 

Hw monitor .. That temp at the top...


Should say TZS0 or something along those lines.. I dont have my M17 in possession atm so cant tell you exactly what it says..

 

it's labeled as tZ00

 

Thanks its TZ00

 

Wow, I got my M17 and I immediately started pulling it apart. NO WONDER you guys keep talking about copper shims for the NB. I kept wondering why the heck everyone bothers. What a half-(butt) design.

 

Yes, the cooling was really the only gripe about the M17...leaves something to be desired. Otherwise it is an excellent machine

 

wish i could still find a m17 with the 4850's i miss my whitebook