The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Beefiest Compatible PSU

    Discussion in 'Alienware M15x' started by MatsueMaiku, Jan 16, 2019.

  1. MatsueMaiku

    MatsueMaiku Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    98
    Likes Received:
    21
    Trophy Points:
    16
    I have the Dell 240W PSU already, but it's still not enough power. I know about the double PSU mod, but I was wondering if anyone knows of any other really powerful PSUs what will work with the m15x. I don't mind if they are too big to really be portable. I have been looking around a bit myself, I haven't really found anything yet.
     
    Last edited: Jan 19, 2019
  2. MatsueMaiku

    MatsueMaiku Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    98
    Likes Received:
    21
    Trophy Points:
    16
  3. 2CPU

    2CPU Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    22
    Messages:
    363
    Likes Received:
    120
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2019
  4. MatsueMaiku

    MatsueMaiku Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    98
    Likes Received:
    21
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Thanks for the info. I am already using a 240w PSU with the center pin removed from a 90 degree elbow adapter and it's not enough power. I might just buy the bigger PSU and report back how it goes. I'm a bit worried because some of the reviews are not so good. For example, some of the 330W PSUs aren't actually putting out that much wattage and one guy's PSU caught on fire! :eek:
     
  5. Raidriar

    Raidriar ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

    Reputations:
    1,708
    Messages:
    5,820
    Likes Received:
    4,311
    Trophy Points:
    431
    There is a hard power limit (150W?) that cannot be bypassed on M15x. CPU gets priority power delivery, GPU gets secondary. You must limit CPU power to feed sufficient power to the GPU. I’m not 100% as to what the board limit is, but the lower the TDP GPU, the better, unless you severely downclock the 920XM to eat only 50W of power to give the 100W to the GPU. An overclocked 920XM can easily eat 80+ watts by itself. CPU can draw pretty much as much power as it wants, but it will starve the GPU in the process.
     
    M18x-oldie likes this.
  6. MatsueMaiku

    MatsueMaiku Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    98
    Likes Received:
    21
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Well, my fairly new 240W PSU has shut off during testing using the SLV7 VBIOS, so that means it's running out of power (blue light ring shut off as well as the laptop). I know others have had success using double PSUs. I should be getting the 330W any day now. I'll let you guys know how it goes.
     
  7. STiHiaL

    STiHiaL Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    22
    Messages:
    166
    Likes Received:
    44
    Trophy Points:
    41
    330W psu wont work on M15x with full output. 240W for single unit or up to 480W for double units mod.
     
  8. MZWiZard

    MZWiZard Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    94
    Messages:
    180
    Likes Received:
    32
    Trophy Points:
    41
    Not entirely correct. You can modify the 330w psu to give all its got by some mod. I dont remember how, but google around. :)
     
  9. 2CPU

    2CPU Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    22
    Messages:
    363
    Likes Received:
    120
    Trophy Points:
    56
  10. MatsueMaiku

    MatsueMaiku Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    98
    Likes Received:
    21
    Trophy Points:
    16
    My PSU arrived today. It worked perfectly. It didn't trip like my 240w did. HWINFO reports 116 watts of power draw (from the GPU). I'll mess with it a bit more and report back if I run into any problems.
     
  11. MatsueMaiku

    MatsueMaiku Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    98
    Likes Received:
    21
    Trophy Points:
    16
    upload_2019-1-31_14-32-9.png
    I'm pretty happy with this result. Maximum temperature was 84C. 121 GPU watt power draw. Stock memory clock and 1126 core clock.