*OFFICIAL* Alienware M11x Benchmark Thread - Part 2

Hi, I'm completely new to this forum and a total noob if it comes down to benchmarking, overclocking, pinmodding and what not. But since I want to improve my system, I guess this is the place to be.

I have an M11x R1, Core 2 Duo SU7300 overclocked in the bios to 1,6Ghz. All of the other settings are stock settings as far as I know. I'm running the latest nvidia drivers for my 335m.

Now I tried this 3dMark06 benchmark test and received a 5975 3DMark-score. From reading this topic I'm under the impression this is well...very low. Even for an R1. I thought I should actually hit 6k+, hell even close to 6.5k on stock settings.

Since I'm a complete newb on this stuff I could really use some help in improving my system.

 

It sounds like nothing is wrong with your system. The higher scores come from GPU overclocks as well as lowered ram timings and software tweaks. If you system is performing the way you need it to I would not get worried.

 

DPI here too, but we can't bring any personal electronics in Otherwise I'd be doing the same.

Nagarashi Been forever since I ran a benchmark on the R1, but that sounds about right for stock.

 

For an un tweaked M11xR1 that is a good score. I dont know why you would think it isnt. I was able to hit 6900 on my wifes with external cooling and extream gpu over clocking. And this was all without a pinmod or upping the voltage on the video card. But again I used external cooling which had my CPU and GPU cooled to about 4f. But 5900 isnt anything to turn your nose at some minor tweaking and you will be making 6400 stable.

 

Oh ok, I guess that proves my sheer lack of knowledge.

The main reason I did this (and thought it was low) was because of the somewhat medium to low fps when playing Swtor while someone I know (viaviavia) is getting 5-10 fps more and hitting 6800+ benchmarks with - as far as I know - the same system.

I wonder that with some minor GPU tweaking (I read some stuff about MSI afterburner) I would hit a slightly better score (6k-6.5k) and also some better in-game performance?

Thanks for the answers

 

Drivers also play a big part of performance on newer games

 

I'm considering ordering a r3.. probably the i7. I'm coming from the asus ul30vt with horrible driver support.. last vid card driver was original Asus one from August of 09.. Anyway it looks like I can score an i7 for about $900 at the outlet site but before I do just wanted to make sure there wasn't something right around the corner I should wait for.. also is the screen as bad as all the review sites say?

 

Just received my M11x R3 and straight out of the box running 3DMARK06 I got a score of 8661. How does that sound, good, bad...

 

After doing some tweaking I've been able to get up to 10275 on my little machine.

 

Latest Certified Nvidia Drivers 301.42-notebook-win7-winvista-64bit-international-whql

CPU-Z (cpu under load so it shows correct 12 multiplier)


wPrime64 Bench


Throttle Stop Bench


3DMARK06 http://3dmark.com/3dm06/16705695


PASSMARK



Windows Experience Index

 

Can anyone tell me what i need to change to get the 3dmark06 to run a default test?
I have made sure im using FM approved vid drivers, win7 theme is set to aero windows 7 basic, desktop visual properties set to best appearance. clicked the defaults for nvidia manage 3d settings etc but no matter what i do it always shows my 3dmark06 as not running default settings.. ?
specifically i get this message:
YOUR RESULT HAS THE FOLLOWING PROBLEM(S): Non default settings were used in benchmark. Result is not comparable to other results

Can anyone fill me in on what I need to do?

 

It will be your resolution fella. The M11x cannot do 1280x1024 which is the default resolution for 3DMark06 + Vantage so it will run it at 1280x720 resolution instead which is the closest.

You need to use an external screen to get a default result

 

wait, so no matter what i do i can not run the default settings for 3dmark06?

 

To run the default settings as mentioned you need to be able to run it at a resolution that the M11x does not support. It is set to 1280x1024 default so that everyone's scores match up and way back when 3Dmark06 was created widescreen was not a big thing so most screens could handle 1280x1024. Nowadays we opt for 720p and 1080p as our width's so 1024 is not so common.

Use any external screen to run the test and you should be fine.

 

yeah, it just caught me off guard. i've been overclocking for 10+ years but never on an 11" laptop so the resolution never occurred to me. thanks.

 

Not really a normal benchmark, but how you like these apples?




Computer has been running since 7am (its now 1:35pm), screen on low, lights out, light web surfing, steam running in the background.

57% battery left and still well over 5 and a half hours left to work with

 

BOOOOOO THIS MAN THATS NOT A BENCHMARK! And cause Im totally sickened by how much longer your M11x can run. Great job man! I miss my R1 only for this reason.

 

You sir have too much time on your hands!

 

Booo! lol
in "benchmarking mode" with everything turned to high performance.. etc max battery life on my R2 with just watching a movie in media player classic is 2:15
The upside is .. well,.. look at my sig..

Can the R1 game well? if not then who cares about battery life... get a mac if you want bat life.

I suspect that only with extreme modding can the R1 "hang in there" as a gaming laptop of todays games and then i guarantee the battery life will be much less so this truly is a meaningless benchmark imho..

 

Actually, the r1 can game just fine, runs everything I want it to.

Its a pretty powerfull little laptop despite what people seem to think.

 

more power to you then bro. that is some sweet battery life..

 

I've had the R3 for a little over a year now but I haven't really tried putting it through it's paces until recently and I don't post much on NBR but anyway...

M11X R3, i7, 8gb ram, GT 540M 2gb, 301.42 drivers. I haven't really done much to the system other than disabling most if not all of aero. Getting around 8550 in 3dmark06. Other than OCing the 540M and different drivers I guess there isn't much else I can do to better my scores for everyday use?

I think I broke optimus by installing the 301.42 drivers, at least the tray icon indicating usage went poof.

 

I have the same parts and I score over 10000. Are you using MSI afterburner to play with the 540m?

 

No, not yet. I'll be looking into that though when I have more time.

 

Did you ever give it a shot?

Just remember to keep an eye on your temperatures as OC the GPU will add up some extra degrees to your card. For heavy over-clocking though I'd recommend you te check your temps even before you start, and if necessary dust it off and re-paste

Alienware laptops: avoid overheating

MSI afterburner 2.2.4

 

3DMark v1.0

M11xR1 SU7300

Memory Clock: 870
GPU Clock: 580

Ice Storm: 30248 [Graphics: 55893, Physics:11608]

Cloud Gate: 2668 [Graphics: 5645, Physics:938]

 

Man i really need to put my r1 through it's paces too, i barely use this thing just for a lighter machine to carry around, and typing in class lol. How much of a difference is it with a ssd compares to a hdd, i mean i've used an ssd for a while but i've haven't updated in a while too lol.

 

hey guys. havent had the chance to read this thread nor do i know if this is the best place to post my question, but was wondering:

do you guys think/recommend i upgrade my m11xr2 4gb to 8gb ram? ive recently intsalled a new SSD and reformatted and its so quiet, no longer overheating and lovely that im thinking of trying to extend its useful life....however with a geforce 335m GPU and a U7300 @ 1.3ghz CPU (nothing OC'ed), im not sure whether RAM would be the biggest bottleneck for my system...

in terms of games im looking to play - nothing new tbh...i love strategy games...so was thinking of getting myself RUSE/Men of War - Assault Squad / Wargame - European Escalation...and obviously replaying my favourite game series of all time - Total War (although not too fussed about Empire/Napoleon tbh).

should i save the £50 for when i get a new laptop? I dont rly mind the expenditure itself as money isnt really an issue..but if im not going to see a vast improvement in those games...just RAM seems to have risen in price from ~ 35 to ~ 50 across the board! in like 1-2 weeks!

 

If you have an U7300 CPU, you wont have an M11x r2, but an m11x r1.
Upgrading Ram wont give you enough more performance to be worth the money you spend.
Stay with the 4gb, they should be sufficient.
I´d recommend you to oc your cpu, there is a bios function (OC to 1.6 or 1.73Ghz), this should improve your performance most. You can also try to oc your CPU further, there is a thread in the forum (just dont know where it is right now )

 

Way too different; the SSD won't improve your gaming experience much but your loading/installing times will be much faster. If you play games like WoW (data streaming game) you will notice a slight improvement when moving your camera around for instance.

 

guys plz help me here
i have an alienware m11x r2 and i want to oc it as much as possible even considering a pinmod
can you guys show me the best way to oc the cpu and gpu plz?

should i:
pinmod
turn of OC in bios and then oc with programs like throttle stop
upgrade to 1600mhz ram to increase OC

how do i?
increase my cpu and gpu oc the best way?

thx in advance