DavyGT and Unclewebb (Question on TS)

I have lurked this forum for close to a month now after having purchased my M11x r2 thanks to the reviews and such of what could be done to it. Though I have been a tinkerer for years I have never gotten into overclocking till I started coming to this forum, now I am a junkie for it. It seems that I can't get enough of squeezing every little ounce out of this amazing little machine.

I would like to thank both DavyGT and unclewebb for their work on different things. DavyGT for all of his work on programs and tutorials as well as the custom bios that bumped me to .95v. unclewebb for his Throttlestop which is quite an amazing piece of software. So a large thanks to both of you and If you reply to this thread with anything at all I will +rep you for all the posts you have done in the past, though I wish I could do more.

Anyway on to my first question, I turn on TS and got both of the numbers set to 70 as well as the turbo mode turned on. I make sure its not on monitoring. Should I keep it minimized or is it a software change that I can close the program and it still work?

Second, what are good ranges of times for the TS 32 test for the r2 i5 at 166?

Third: The software setPLL program opens from 166 to 197, where should I start and is prime95 a good test program to stress stability while bumping it up? How long should I run 95 when I am bumping a few points at a time, should I cover 6 hour tests?

And Last, with DavyGt's bios I have maxed my linked sliders for core and shader in Afterburner and was wondering what the best program with a higher limit in order to keep pushing.

I know this is a lot of stuff, but it does not have to be answered anytime soon, I just want to make this little machine all it can be.

Current personal Best: 8582 3Dmark06.

 

Firstly, thank you for your appreciation. I won't answer the first question as it's UncleWebb's.

Less then 30s is good for an i5 166 in WPrime 32M. I can't give you specifics as each system is different with the amount of background processes and idle usage.

You should start at 166 and test it up. Don't bother with testing each step as that will take too long. Skip one or two steps and use 5 runs of IntelBurnTest maximum stress for each step. Once you crash, move back a step and test it for 20 runs. IntelBurnTest is better then Prime95 as a stability tester as it's more stressful so it takes less time for instability to appear.

You can use EVGA Precision to keep overclocking as it has higher limits. It's based off the same program Afterburner is so it'll work just as well.

 

Whats a good tester for video? When I've tinkered with things before I've always fallen back on Furmark, but as I said before I have never gotten into real over clocking.

In the TS bench should I be doing 2 or 4 threads?

Thanks a ton for the quick reply and keep doing what you do. If there is anything I can help ya with (I'm more of a hardware guy lol, not really a software guru in any form) let me know!

 

You could try OCCT as it has an artifact scanner for video, meaning you don't have to watch a furry donut for artifacts- the program will tell you if there are any errors of instability. It also has a GPU VRAM tester but I'm not sure that it works well- It doesn't detect memory instability very well for me. Just make sure you right click and select "Run with: nVidia Graphics" as whitelisting doesn't work.

You should use 4 threads in TSBench.

Thank you.

 

On the M11x-R2, you need to keep ThrottleStop running and preferably minimized to your system tray where it consumes the least number of CPU cycles while significantly improving performance.

For benchmark testing, try using wPrime.

Downloads | wPrime Multithreaded Benchmark

You might have to hold the keyboard Shift key down when it starts up since it hangs sometimes when trying to detect hardware. Head to the Supercharge thread and start searching for results.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/524257-how-supercharge-m11x-core-i5-i7-um-cpus.html

The TS Bench is OK but it's very dependent on the amount of background junk running on your computer. If you use wPrime, it will be easier finding results to compare to.

 

Alrighty, thanks to both of you again, +reped.

wPrime, OCCT, EVGA, IntelBurnTest and Setpll.

Its gonna be a fun night! I'll post back in this thread if I Run into any problems or have any more questions, thanks a bunch for all of your hard work again guys.

 

Looks as if 172 is the highest I can get with out memory changes. Its okay though, I didn't expect to get that high when I started. Davy, what were you at before you did the ram mod?

I would not mind getting to 180

My video card is currently stable at 600/1440/900, however that is only very light testing, I am going to run tests stresses tonight as well as benches and the like to see what I get/how stable it really is.

My girlfriend wanted to buy me something for my graduation, I might tell her to grab me 8 gigs of HyperX, is that still the best laptop ram on the market?

 

Before the mod, 178 was stable. After the mod, one stick will do 183mhz and the other won't go over 178mhz so I'm staying with 175mhz.

HyperX has been updated to the faster HyperX PnP series. You shouldn't need HyperX RAM to push the R2 to the limit though- CL8 is plenty for stock RAM to clock and if it doesn't clock with CL8, then something else is limiting the BCLK, like voltage. That RAM is really needed more for R1 users, it may be the best chance they have at 2.4Ghz.

 

Alrighty, well I assume since every machine is a bit different that mine is just not able to go over the 172 mark, which I have to admit does break my heart. Its okay though, good to know that the HyperX is not what I need to worry about, that saves me some (Of course the 8 gigs is always calling to me.)

However, with my current clock I decided to play some Rift to see how much improvement I could get out of it. The different with the new clocking is quite amazing, went from 22ish FPS to almost 40 on average. Pretty good jump considering I even bumped AA and such up (No Supersampling though lol)

One last question for you guys, what is an acceptable temp range for the CPU as well as the GPU? They both hit the low 80's (84 and 82) at max load. I have the laptop on a desk, but it is sitting directly on it not bottle capped or anything of the sort.

Is that a safe range for them to be in, or should I be getting some more air flow in there? I've never quite pushed them that high before.

 

Nice results.

Those temps seem fine. So long as it stays under 90C all is well. You could redo the thermal paste if you want something to do inside the R2 and reduce temps by 2-10C.

 

Well, they peaked out pretty steadily, but after they hit that peak I got a good 30-40 minutes without any increases any higher, so I assume I am safe. I can always repaste the CPU like you said and get something to raise it off the table, but the increases were out right amazing, I really didn't expect to get that much more out of it.

This thing is quickly becoming my favorite gadget.

So it would be my ram holding me back at 172? Think getting a pair instead of what was sent from Dell would get me higher, or is that just a shot in the dark?

I know how ram is like picking a piece out of a box of chocolates, you never know what you will get, Just wondering if the community had more experience than I with it and had a collective of information that I yet to tap into.

 

You could test if RAM is holding you back by removing one stick and seeing if you have any better results. If one sticks gets a better overclock then you are held back by RAM. If both have the same limit, then only with an SPD mod in a 32bit Windows OS you can be sure if it's the RAM or not.

 

Fun. Luckily I happen to have another laptop laying around that is running 32bit 7. I might try that tomorrow, Calling it a night for now. Thanks again for all of your help.

Just as a refresher though, I need to test one stick of ram at a time and see if I can get a stable clock higher than 172 with a single one in there. If I can, then Ram is holding me back, if I can't, then I need to take them both, SPD them in a 32bit laptop, then toss them back in mine and see if I can go higher. If I can then it worked, if I can't then The ram is not holding me back, the laptop is just not capable of going that high?

What exactly does it mean if the SPD mod does not work? I assume that it is something else in the system holding me up.

 

Yes, that is correct.

If the SPD mod does not work, then it's not the RAM limiting you. Something else like the chipset or CPU voltage.

 

I might fiddle with it tomorrow then. I have a bunch of 2gig sticks laying around from old laptop projects, I might see what I can do with them depending on their speeds and such. If I find a matching pair I will test them as well. I'll post back and see what my luck was with them, maybe I can top Tass on this 9000 score.

He is still the highest right?

 

Yes, his 9150 score is still the highest R2 score.

 

Is he running an i7?

 

He's running an i5. Good luck in your search.

 

So I have a chance! Haha Well, good night, thanks again for all the help. Gonna see what magic I can work tomorrow.

 

I'm around the same stage as you Xtrophy. Having lots of fun with this.
If you lower your timings on your RAM (I'm still looking into this) you may be able to push further. I'm stuck at 170 and would like to go further.

DavyGT.. Is it possible to add more Vcore? Are there any guides on RAM timings?

Cheers

 

It is possible to add vcore but not with a pinmod. Probably needs soldering. Me and Tassadar898 are trying to add more voltage to GPU but the VID mod is not working. If we work out the voltmod for GPU, CPU can have it too as they share the same voltage regulatior.

There was a guide by Megamilchman but the guide part is missing. I won't be writing the guide as he already started it.

 

You are a legend TBH Davy

I look forward to further developments!

 

Sadly I have not had time to collect my Ram and try with different ram today, so I have not figured out if I am capable of going over 172. I did stability test all night last night and didn't have an issue though it did get up to 85 at some points. This morning I gave it a run on 3Dmark06 and it came out at 8607, which is my highest score yet.

I have not had a single crash from video stress so I might push it a bit more and see what I get. I have yet to unlock the core and the shaders to see where they can go separately, has anyone had good luck with that? Or should I keep them locked?

All and all it was a good bit of fun

 

I have run into a strange problem, not quite sure how to explain it, so I will use an example here.

I run Furmark to test heat and stability it runs fine with no lag or anything, however I had a few artifacts so I closed it out to bump down my memory (Which I have learned is pretty much capped at 900) However from that point on I run furmark with 13 frames a second until I restart, then It will run fine again.

The same event is apparent in games and such, I lose half my FPS after closing them out or adjusting anything even if I adjust it down. I tried having it happen and resetting my GPU clocks to stock and It does not go away, it is very strange.

Any ideas out there?


EDIT: Fixed it, it was something simple.

 

Agreed


Also, I have overclocked my gpu to 560/1334/1000 (core, shader, memory) and was wondering how much extra performance I could possibly get if I do the bios flash? My top temp in OCCT was 73, and the card seems to stay on 72, so I am not sure if I want my temps to go any higher. This is an i7 m11x r2 btw.
Thanks

 

Thanks.

You can expect an extra 50mhz or so after flashing. It will add 3-5C to temps but those temps are fine- throttling temp is 90C.

 

50mhz on each core? Also, with a temp of 72 on OCCT, when I am playing games, wont the temp of the CPU increase this temperature as the cooling system is shared?
And sorry I can't rep you more until I spread more rep around :| (says the error button)

 

50mhz on the core. I don't look at shader speeds since they can be all over the place. The CPU temp will increase too, yes.
NP.

 

To help you out M11x, I actually went from 540 to 600 on my core clock after the bios flash, which went flawlessly.

However, remember that each laptop is different, I can't clock my memory about 900 it just refuses to go any higher, so expect between 20-50 on the core.

As far as the temps go I am having no issues with mine running high 70's. I actually "Bottle cap" modded (Credit to Davy for that as well, I would have made something much more complicated) and my temps are idling at 73-75ish. Like he said though, 90 is where danger lurks, so just be mindful of that number.