How to Supercharge the M11x with Core i5/i7 UM CPUs

Time to wipe the egg off my face.

I kept pushing the Post Quick Reply button last night, obviously, and it would time out so I assumed that nothing got posted. I'd reload the page, my post wasn't there, so I'd try again, and again, and again. I'd watch some more baseball, it would be between innings so I'd give it another shot, again and again and again. Hopefully batboy can get that mess cleaned up.

stevenxowens792: A Core i7-720QM is designed to run at 2.40GHz when two cores are active but it's easy enough for some background activity to wake up a third or fourth core and drop that down to 1.73 GHz. In the majority of benchmarks, it should be faster than an overclocked Core i7-640UM but I'm sure there is some benchmark where the 640UM would win. Some people are overclocking these to a BCLK of 160 MHz so when fully loaded with ThrottleStop's help, they are running at 14.0 x 160 = 2240 MHz

I've seen a lot of gaming logs where the multiplier for a Core i7-720QM struggles to average 17.0 so 17.0 x 133 = 2261 MHz

I think in many real world apps, the difference between these two setups is going to be minimal.

How about a single threaded Super Pi mod benchmark? That might be interesting.

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/366/Super_PI_Mod_v1.5.html

There are still a lot of apps that are mostly single threaded. I think for apps like these, an overclocked Core i7-640UM is going to be very competitive with its big quad core brother.

 

can't we just run wPrime with the threading count set to one?

Thank you for your valued insight, unclewebb!

 

Good thinking. A wPrime run set at 1 thread might do the trick. I'm betting on the overclocked dual core by a nose vs an i7-720 running at the default 133 MHz BCLK.

 

My 720 better be averaging 18x133 on dual core when I test it. Otherwise I might be throwing a right little tantrum. I know I have a 150w power adapter that's plugged in according to the bios so we should have ZERO issues with power. I will disable my usual stuff in bios to make sure nothing else is getting any juice. Also going to use shenitsu (however you spell it) on the cpu. No curing and should be decent heat exchange. So it may help keeping the cpu cool. We shall see how it goes. I dont really care about all these benchmarks (as I have stated before). For me it all comes down to three letters... FPS. Once I get the 720 installed I will be happy to run some of the simple cpu benchmarks for you guys to compare though. Best Wishes, StevenX

 

Thank you unclewebb

The wPrime scores a 4 threads. The first one is me finally learning how to TS correctly ("right click")
Second one was what I was getting before... (actually, I got about 52 sec, before. This one is abnormally fast, too! )

Super Pi upto 4M (iirc)

Bone stock, since I hate overclocking things.... (well, other than UncleWebb's ThrottleStop ).



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@stevex, I've been getting 47C when load stressing, and 55C when in "idle" (stress = fan on, idle = fan "slow" or off). Arctic Silver 5 still curing (applied last night, when I finally remembered to do so).


I'm kinda stupid, as my laptop is on the carpet...

 

Is there a way to manually set the fan speed? I'm pretty sure in MSI Afterburner and EVGA Precision you can't manually set the fan speed. I was under the impression that the motherboard is missing a needed controller for the fan to manually change the fan speed, is this correct?

EDIT:Also, thanks for the correction on the settings, my speed jumped from 33 seconds to 25 seconds with ThrottleStop!

 

I think you're correct in that there isn't a fan controller available for utilities to access. It's strictly a BIOS controlled function. Monitoring the fan speed however is possible by a number of apps.

 

Thanks for this program! Its great
I was getting around 34 secs before, and now just under 25 seconds!
On my setup theres no improvement beyond 20/60.

 

Nice score Kjhawk2k i barley get under 26 you got a whole second on me. whats your settings?

 

kjhawk2k: If you get bored can you try running some wPrime benches and reduce the TDC number from 60 back down to 30 to see if it makes any difference to your times? I think it is mostly the 10 watt TDP value that is the limiting factor here that is killing full load turbo boost performance. If only TDP needs to be adjusted to 20 or 30 then I'd like to add that to the first post. It's always good to keep it as simple as possible for new users and bumping TDP up from 10 to 20 will be a lot less scary than if I recommend people set this at 100.

Once the value you select is no longer a limiting factor, it doesn't matter how high you go with these settings. It won't hurt anything to go too high since you can only get so much turbo boost out of a CPU with a locked multiplier like the UM series have.

 

I use the o/c feature in the bios @ 166, ThrottleStop with TDP:20 TDC:60, and a program called GameBooster to disable background services. When I first got my m11x I took it apart and put arctic silver on the cpu and gpu. It seems to help a lot with heat.

 

what's the performance on games with this increased boost? wouldn't it heat up the core to0 much?

 

Here ya go unclewebb
Looks like TDC does nothing (but maybe heat up the cpu)
Also, it seems that 20 on TDP is the best spot.

There was about a 0.6% variance when running the same test repeatedly.

 

Thanks kjhawk2k. That's just the kind of data and testing I was hoping to see.

On the Core i-920XM/940XM, most users end up with the turbo TDP set a little higher than their turbo current (TDC).

Power = Current x Voltage

If the core voltage is around 1.10 volts then it makes sense that the power (TDP) should be set higher than TDC.

The default turbo TDC of 30 amps for the UM CPUs means that this setting should not interfere at all with how much turbo boost you are getting. Based on your TDP testing, I'd say you could probably lower TDC to 20 or 18 and still get full turbo boost.

You shouldn't have to worry about this. Since the default TDC setting is not limiting turbo boost, setting TDC sky high won't get you any more turbo boost and won't make your CPU run any hotter. The turbo TDP/TDC settings are just preset limits in the CPU. If the CPU is operating under both of these limits, you get full turbo boost, if you are over either of these limits; turbo boost is immediately canceled. The CPU continuously cycles like this hundreds of times a second to keep the CPU at or below the maximum turbo TDP/TDC limits you have set.

Arklight: There have been a few gaming tests posted so far. You have an i7-640UM which can most benefit from this setting so don't be afraid to do your own testing. If ThrottleStop causes your CPU to run faster when loaded then yes, it will consume more power and it will get hotter but so far no one has posted any huge increases in core temperature. These CPUs are still operating well within the maximum Intel specified safe temperature even when running ThrottleStop with increased TDP/TDC.

 

yeah, I already mentioned my temps flat out at 47C - since the fan turns way up (wPrime and SuperPi).


However, I should note that wPrime and SuperPi results are not wholly accurate for testing CPU load temps in games, since the CPU, NB, and GPU share a single cooler.

Conversely, it's unlikely a game will load a CPU as consistently and as high as wPrime would...


Food for thought.

 

I7-720qm score. Just getting everything setup the way I like it. Here is a screenshot with two runs as I am optimizing a bit. (fine print.. the purpose of this post is not to flame, cast down, or start any conflicts with any of the m11x crowd. I value everyone's input. This post is only for reference)

wprime shows only 4 threads which is strange. Should show 8 right?



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wprime 8 threads (I didn't know you could adjust thread count.. thanks unclewebb!)



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You can manually set wPrime to 8 threads. If you had a dual core before, it might be defaulting to 4 threads based on that. wPrime is as multi-threaded as benchmarks come. Try running a single thread of wPrime or Super PI mod for an interesting comparison to these supercharged UM CPUs. 8 threads of wPrime will slaughter any dual core running 4 threads.

 

your score is bang close to the desktop variant

 

did you put that thing into your R1?

 

If I'm not mistaken, steven has moved on to the M15x. :/

 

omg STEVENX that's one nice beast hehehe


EDIT: lol i thought it was m11x. i hurriedly stared at the result not reading the script hehehe
but anyway, still nice one stevenx

 

Again.. not to flame or anything. Just a comparison as to how close you are to the intro I7-720qm (full quad) version. Comparing wprime scores 4 threads to 4 threads your about 24.xx (m11x) to 21.xx (m15x). Not bad at all when you think about size.

<edit> no trust me.. if could have fit this 720qm in the m11x R1 I would have kept it in a heartbeat. No bout a doubt it .. (as they say in Michigan). <end edit>

Best wishes, StevenX

 

2k11:
player high;
before 39-41fps
after:58-65fps
amazing!

 

Do you like the screen? That's the only consideration I have left before making the jump, too....

 

Jeremy - The screen I got was for gaming, the 900p screen, led, deep color. It's really nice. The screen real-estate guys buy the 1080p for blu-ray playback and more desktop space. I wasn't one of the folks that disliked the m11x screen. I didn't care for the glare but the actual color quality and so forth was fine... My eyes are just getting old. More screen = less strain for me. Whichever machine you get, Alienware is quality. The m11x is a great machine, very portable when put next to the m15x or m17x.

Good Luck,

StevenX

 

Thank you very much, stevenxowens I guess I'll keep my u2311h and moor the bigger laptop to it...


Now stuff to sell.... when I have a target to reach, I get rather motivated

 

I want to do this to my m11x r2 but i have no idea where to start what to do and so on. can anyone help me with a step by step guide?

 

Have you read the first post yet? There should be enough information in there to get you started.

When you right click on ThrottleStop you can open up a TDP/TDC power window. Default settings are 10/30. Increasing TDP to 20 is probably adequate but you can also bump it up to 30 just to be on the safe side. Once you've done that and have clicked on Turn On so ThrottleStop shows that it is enabled, you are pretty much done. Run some benchmarks like wPrime with and without ThrottleStop enabled and see if there is any improvement. It works best when you are also overclocking the base clock (BCLK) in the bios. Bumping that up to about 160 MHz, combined with ThrottleStop should give you a noticeable increase in most apps and games.

 

Unclewebb - as promised here is a I7-720qm score single thread (top) dual thread (bottom). Thanks again for all your responses and help.

BW, StevenX



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ah thanks uncle thats awesome and indeed it did make improvement!

 

Thanks for posting that StevenX. I wanted to give the overclocked M11x R2 users something to shoot for but I think you've got them easily beat in 1 or 2 threads of wPrime. Hopefully someone with an overclocked i7-640UM takes up the challenge and posts some numbers for comparison.

Krob189: Good to hear. If you have any benches and notice anything running better then post some results.

 

no pics but come on gotta believe it lols

i got 25.611

b4 this i was getting 36's and 35's

now to benchmark games

i7 btw m11x r2

nvidia 260 drivers

...:::EDIT:::....

i got new score of 25.453

 

I started playing the Saboteur today with my i5, overclocked to 166MHz. See my sig for full details of my M11xR2.

Game Settings: 1366x768, Shadows On, High view distance, Post Process Filters off, High Textures, Medium Object Quality, Medium Slice Quality (whatever that is)

When running around outside in the open world right after the game starts:

No TS = solid 18 FPS, dips to 14 when there is action. This is tough to play.

With TS 20/60 = Solid 25 FPS, only dips to 22 when there is action. As Stevenxowens has said, it is only a few FPS more, but it makes all the difference and makes the game playable. Plus, percentage-wise it is a huge increase. Thanks again UncleWebb!

Update: with TS enabled, I was also able to put Post Process Filters on and raise the Object Quality to high and still maintain 23 FPS in the busy streets.

Stain

 

set your tdp/tdc to like 30/90

to do that right click the area where it has FID C0% etc

 

Just right click in the ThrottleStop monitoring area on the right had side and select the Turbo Power Limits menu. You can probably leave TDC at 30. The important number to adjust is TDP and that needs to be increased from 10 to either 20 or 30. Setting both values to 30 is easy to remember and should get you maximum turbo boost, even when fullly loaded.

Your wPrime times will instantly drop like a rock.

 

Ooh wow that amazing! Thanks! I didnt see anyone saying I needed to right click on it anywere that was crucial. My Score is now 28seconds.

*UPDATE* Bumped my FSB up to 160mhz and I get 25 seconds now. Awesome

 

Here's what the first post in this thread says:

I'll get that first post cleaned up this week and I'll add some pictures so it will be easier to see what needs to be done.

Great to hear you got this figured out. Hopefully your games are running smoother now.
Not many simple tweaks can instantly chop 10 or more seconds off of your wPrime 32M times. The 1024M times are even more amazing.

 

@Stain - Glad to hear you were able to get some good gains from T-stop. As I have stated in my signatures before. TAKE EVERY FRAME PRISONER!

Best Wishes, StevenX

 

yes every frames counts i totally agree on that. that few frames are also what that make ffxiv more enjoyable to me now.

 

I am worried about the temp jump that we get when we use TS. I'm hitting low 80s sometimes when im playing CPU intensive games.

 

^They're rated to shut off to prevent damage at 104 degrees C, so since you're no where near that, I don't think there's reason to worry.

 

Here's what Intel lists in their datasheet. The thermal shutdown temperature to avoid damage doesn't occur until 130C. At 105C they will start to automatically thermal throttle and slow down which prevents these CPUs from getting anywhere near the thermal shutdown temperature unless there has been a catastrophe and your heatsink has fallen off.



As long as your CPU is not thermal throttling then it is running within the Intel design spec. 80C sounds like a big number but it's perfectly normal for a CPU to run at that temperature.

If anyone is concerned that 80C is going to cause some long term damage then use the ThrottleStop alarm feature. You can set that and TS will automatically switch profiles when you hit that temperature. Your second profile can use some less aggressive TDP/TDC values. You can go back to the default 10/30 or maybe some other compromise like 15/30.

When the temperature drops below your alarm temperature, ThrottleStop will automatically return to using your high speed profile with your more aggressive TDP/TDC settings. You can also create a different profile for when running on battery power. This program is very flexible so you can be in charge of your CPU and what your comfort level is. Intel sets the thermal limits quite high because they obviously believe in the reliability of their CPUs.

 

@unclewebb

I had throttelstop running on task schedule no problem. I had to restore last night to a day or so back. It won't auto start now. Any ideas?. The only thing added are the new 260 drivers. Here is the code I get in the schedular and what it means.
Google has not come upo with anything.

SCHED_E_TASK_ATTEMPTED

0x80041324


The Task Scheduler Remoting Protocol service attempted to run the task, but the task did not run due to one of the constraints in the task definition.

thanks in advance

 

I'm not sure what happened. I'd try deleting the old task and creating a new one. Here is the method that works for me.

Task Scheduler Method

 

I found that Force TDP/TDC = 8 will eventually slows my game down below 25 FPS after a few minutes of gameplay lol, resetting it to 16 and it'll work faster and more stable

 

Does anyone have any information regarding how much this affects battery life?

 

Is anyone running ThrottleStop on battery? For me it's really only something I'm using for gaming or when I'm transcoding video - both things I'm always plugged in for. There is a battery profile where you can set things back to their defaults.

 

I do not think anyone should ever use TS on battery. It would kill battery time a good amount i believe. TS makes it where you use more power but you get more benefits. But if you are not on a plug then your battery would die a lot sooner.

 

I never run TS on battery. But that's because I never game or video edit on battery. Just like you, I always video edit and game with TS on. But those are the only times. I treat TS like an OC in a way.