The M15x throttle? The final solution!

Ok I thought I would start one final thread to end all threads about to how to fix the throttle issues that plagued this machine since it's release.

The solution is incredibly simple. Irritatingly so! The PSU is the culprit.

It seems modern PSU's communicate with the laptop and in turn find out which laptop they are plugged into. They then choose whether or not to properly power said laptop. The Slim 240W PSU and all other big modern dell PSU's do the same including the 330W PSU.

I came to this conclusion when I tried the 210W PA-7E adaptor made by delta for dell. It is an older generation PSU and therefore doesn't seem to communicate in the same way.

When plug in this PSU it is not recognized by the laptop; it is simply registered in the bios as "unknown" in addition to this the battery doesn't charge. Both 9 cell and 6 cell (I have both) however the laptop runs perfectly fine.

Now onto the fun stuff. You can game throttle free!!

So far I have gamed in FC3 at max settings and Crysis 2 with the cpu set to 24/24/25/27! at 85W TDP and 65W TDC and the gpu set to 950/1450 at 1.05V. Not a hiccup nada!!
I decided to use my cooling mod as it is summer and even with air con the ambient temp is 26C. My GPU maxed at 77C.

So if you own the M15x and want to get the most out of it buy yourself a Dell 210W PA-7E adaptor. Forget about the 240W slim for good. Another adaptor that might be interesting to try is the 230W Dell adaptor that the M1730 used. I believe this will also work and might be worth some investigation if the 210W adaptor get's tripped by our beast!

Now the biggest limitation for us is the GPU heatsink. At this OC without my mod temps can easily go into the 80sC. With the cpu able to now run full tilt we also finally have no bottleneck and can be ready for the next generation GPU

edit: final findings:

Awesome throttling finally fully solved

Step 1 : Buy a 210W adaptor
Step 2 : Boot up on the 150W original adaptor.
Step 3 : Once booted toggle stealth mode on and then off again.
Step 4 : Change over to 210W and once again toggle stealth on and off again.

Follow these steps (takes seconds) and you will always have 3D clocks fully attainable without a hint of throttle even with cpu overclocked to 25x across all cores and GPU set up to 1.05V.
Above 1.05V the M15x doesn't like it however stock voltage is good for 950-1000mhz on the core and 1450-1500mhz on the memory (plenty). This physical power limit of the laptop isn't really an issue as the laptop isn't capable of cooling the 7970M at 1.1V anyway. Temps run away uncontrollably. The heatsink is too small.

Everyone please enjoy your M15x's. Thanks for everyone's support on this!

 

Believe me when I say...my finger is on the trigger to purchase one of these. Contacted 3 eBay suppliers to confirm its the right PSU as a seller on Amazon actually sells 240W adapters in place of these as they are EOL.
Cambridge Accessories on eBay have the right one for any UK members looking to buy one.

Only problem is that I'm pretty sure at 950/1450 @ 1.05v I would run into thermal shutdowns left, right and centre. Pretty sure only some DELL cards experience this or it could be related to using too thin thermal pads on the VRAM?
I guess we'll all have to do King-style cooling mods!

Excellent work King. In your third throttling thread, you've finally solved it! No more rendering tool for us!

EDIT: I'm going to link this in my signature because its awesome....if thats ok

 

I ain't done yet. I intend to run some 3dmark11 tests tomorrow and shoot for 1000/1500mhz. If thats ok
I might even be daring and run the cpu at 25x at those clocks and or test out the cpu under prime 95 to see if the new psu unlocks new cpu OC possibilities. This once I have re-applied paste on it.

Perhaps you could get the 230W adaptor. I would love to see that thing work.

I am not entirely sure if the new pads are a little too thick. the 1.5mm are perfect and they soft too. The 1mm are very hard though and I worry they might prevent good contact. I hope though with some use they will soften and allow a very solid contact with the heatsink. Must be working though or I wouldn't be getting 77C at the clocks above!

edit: The 230W model is called PA 19. Seems to look exactly like my 210W. Someone please get one and test!

 

I'm using the cooper pads with MX-4 to cool down the memory of 6970m. This pads also was on the memory chips of 5850m with CoolLaboratory Liquid pro on the graphics chip when i pushed it to 920/1200/1.15V for everyday use.

 

Uhmm all these investigations are very exciting, kudos for King
I have a question and is this: Is theren´t any "old technology" 240W psu? i mean i.e. one psu from a m18x R-1 or something like that?
And, on another topic, do you really guys think with theses 1st gen XM processors, even without thottling, we could help the card´s bottlenecking from the future (or a current gen 780m) ?
I know that cards will have a lower tdp, but when it comes about bottleneck, i thought the horsepower and the card´s technology were the most important, or not?

 

Some games definitely rely on a strong quad core CPU, such as Far Cry 3. Others barely use the CPU, such as Tomb Raider. I've read conflicting articles but generally I think the move is away from using CPU in future games and making them more GPU dependent. Lets wait and see but less CPU usage is good for us as it'll mean we can continue to use the MXM slot in our old laptop and play new games on great settings despite the fact we have a 4 year old CPU

 

The cpu is not done yet at 24x I have yet to see any game max it out in the M15x and perhaps I can push it further now. Now if it were matched with xfire or sli configs then it would bottleneck. Single cards we have plenty of power. I have now finished with the cpu. Replaced the old pad over the three chips with phobia 1mm 7wk pad and fresh icd 24 on the core. Let's go fishing

 

Is it 19v or 19.5v?

 

19.5V Most if not all Dell adaptors are.

 

Hi guys,

I found Out nearly the same thing in the last weeks after upgrading to GTX 680m!
But there is even more! I was able to get 211W out of my original 150W PSU!
The thing is you need to connect the PSU in that way that the center pin of the connector makes no contact with the center pin of the M15X power jack (so don't push it fully in). Then the 150W adapter is not recognized, and you are able to get out more than the 180W. This should work also with the 240W PSU!

 

Interesting finding mate. A little dangerous though. The power connector should be fully in to avoid the risk of shorting. Perhaps you could completely remove the central pin and plug it all the way in and report back if you dare. If not I think most would shy away from this idea.

Oh ya just did a 3Dmark11 run with cpu at 24/24/25/27 and gpu at 950/1450 my score!!

 

I can confirm that it does in-fact fix it. I had a couple 180w adapters sitting around for my HP HDX9000 (19v), tried it, and success! So that's another option for people looking for a adapter to pick up.

 

This 'not fully plug in method' was only for testing. I soldered a switch into the the center wire. Now I am able to switch it off (PSU not recognized) for high performance, or on to charge the battery.

 

I still strongly not recommend doing it unless the central pin is removed and found to be safe to do so. The 210W is a proven safe option. Keep the old adaptor for charging purposes.

25x on the cpu:

 

That is very clever upsi rep given!!! I wish I had your skills! Perhaps this method should be tried with the beast 330W adaptor!!

So this means if the central pin was physically removed the adaptor would still work just wouldn't charge the battery?

If so then for those of us (there are many) that cannot do "simple" electronics removing the pin on the gaming adaptor and then using the old 150W for charging would be easier.

 

That's absolutely correct. I used a 240W PSU.

 

Those benchmarks are insane! Can't believe it's taken nearly 4 years to realise the full potential of m15x.

 

GTX680m 900/2000

 

Good benchmarks for everybody!
Upsi, are you using any modded bios for your 680m? I underestand it even needed to reach the stock clocks and full stability with the m15x system. Or its just for ocing?
I´m confused about that

 

Hi,

I have a dell card and using the vibios from techinferno hp. I was not able to get 3d clocks with original vbios. Now everything works flawlessly.

 

What cpu are you on upsi? 7000K is low for the 680M at 900mhz unless you are still on the 720qm? I am going to go get 7K now You ought to push the memory to at least 2400mhz! 680M GTX is severely bandwidth starved.

That aside I really do wonder if the central pin trick would work on the 330W PSU. I reckon if pushed very hard the M15x could potentially consume 300W +. Certainly beyond the 210W PSU capacity and perhaps even beyond the 240W capacity also. The 330W can solidly deliver up to 400W+

 

I am using 940xm and pushed the memory to 2000. I will try higher.
I do not have a 300W PSU, maybe someone will try it!?

 

Beat you Upsi : My score at 25/25/26/27 and 7970M at 1000/1500mhz !! Needed 1.1V for stability though


Amazing that the 680M GTX is just as powerful at 900/1000mhz (see graphics score) despite being so bandwidth starved!

 

You are getting a much higher physics and combined score! Maybe because I am on win8!?

 

upsi it may be that you aren't using high enough TDP and TDC. Try increase these settings with the same multiplier setting and see if your scores increase.

King obviously 1000/15000 Mhz is a pretty huge OC and I presume you wouldn't attempt to game at those clocks? Did you notice a big difference gaming at 900 core or 950 core?

I played max payne 3 last night with the bottom cover off (still at 0.975v though) but temperatures were at least 4-5 degrees lower with my cooling pad fans blowing directly at the exposed heatsinks.
Definitely some overclocking headroom there

EDIT: Also King are you adjusting voltage on the fly or doing a vbios flash to new voltage everytime? I hear some people use Trixx to adjust voltage on this card.

 

25x on 4 cores. Are you running same?

Also I find with the 210W PSU the clocks are stuck in 2D. I have to plug in the 150W in first then switch over to the 210W to allow 3D clocks. Now I boot on 150W then switch over when in windows. Problem solved.

I can run 25x under Prime 95 no problem with temps hitting 85C in ambient 26C. My cooling however is extensively modded and improved. Perhaps your 940xm is throttling?

 

Nope I am going to test gaming now My cooling can handle it don't worry

Big difference yes. Very very smooth! FC3 is easy to run!

 

Thanks King. Buying my 210w adapter this evening. I did notice the 230w adapter but its too pricey on eBay. Not really sure I should be dropping £50 for the 210w adapter but I'll go tea-total for awhile or something

 

Hmm laptop cutout after about 5 mins of lovely gameplay! I am guessing temps hit 85C! This time I will ramp fans up first instead of letting them do their own thing!
Same thing happened before when I tried same clocks in Crysis 3. Temps I think. Darn summer!

 

It is now being fickle. Can't get the card out of 2D on 210W PSU none of my tricks work... probably have to wait till something cools down.

 

Maby will do faq or guide how to do this?

 

Try toggling stealth mode? Also try booting on the battery? Hopefully this isn't a consistent problem....

 

It is a consistent problem. However my trick above take it into 3D mode...usually. I think I need a cold boot after what happened. Don't worry about it. Stealth mode is a good idea.

edit: wahoo! it works again. Thanks man. I hope this trick isn't a one shot thing lol this machine seems to read my moves lol

 

This. How did you locate the correct centre wire? Is the switch simply is series?

King, how did you get 3d clocks back again? Stealth toggle worked?

 

It did. Then it died again in game. I logged this time and temps were only 79C. I think CPU is clocked too high. 25x across all cores is stable. I had it higher lol

Now stealth toggle doesn't work lol this laptop has a brain I swear!

 

CPU is set to 25 on all cores and TDP to 90 I am getting lower scores than you. No CPU throttling according to HW Info. CPU temp max was 78C.
I can remember that I read something a while ago that win8 getting lower scores but I am not sure.

Centre wire was the green one in my 240W PSU, it should be the wire with the lowest diameter because its only a data line.

 

That is totally b****in'! Totally awesome mod. This is such a simple mod, I can't believe no one has mentioned this before. Just how solid is the power delivery? Do you get any throttling at x25 multiplier?
What is the power draw from the wall? I have the same energy meter

Rep given

 

That is amazing upsi! I think I pushed my vram too far. Gonna try some further tonight.

 

I really hope your VRAM is ok! I'm holding off buying the 210w psu until you report you can do your 3D clocks trick again.
I've also got someone potentially willing to sell me a cheap 240W adapter which I could do upsi's mod on....decisions decisions.

Upsi when you have the centre pin switch turned off do you have any trouble getting 3d clocks? Do you always boot with centre pin switched on?
Please give more info if you don't mind

 

Hi,

This is what I observed until now.
Best is if you switch it on or off before booting.
If you boot with switch off and switch it on after booting battery starts charging after a few seconds.
I need to check if its possible the other way, and we are able to get full power out of the psu, if its switched off after booting.

I do not have any troubles to get 3D clocks so far.

 

hey guys!

congrats on finnaly getting to the bottom of the throttling.
the id cable mod is amazingly simple.
im curious to see where the limit of this old beast is.

 

Yeah the trick works no problem. The trick is to simply plug in 150W then unplug and plug in 210W. I was messing about in between.

After more testing this time at 950/1500 at 1.05V, 24/24/26/27 I was able to play for 20 mins until the game crashed. No hard shut down. I think 1.1V is simply too much for the gpu circuitry in the M15x. Besides at 1.05V there is plenty of heat. I reckon my memory is also close to it's limit at least for gaming purposes. Some lucky ones can push 1560mhz so 1500mhz sounds about right.

I will lower it to 1450 for now and then push back to 1ghz on the core at 1.1V to rule everything out as before I had cpu set at 25/25/26/27 plus 1.5hgz memory; I need to find out what is causing that shutdown (cpu/vram or vcore). If I manually control fans I can keep temps under control using my mod.

24/24/26/27 + 950/1450 is dead stable so the testing continues...

 

So you just waited and then you could plug 150w adapter in to get 3d clocks again?
Was it easy getting 3d clocks back? Do you think it was because you pushed the memory too far?

Just want to know all the factors before I buy 210w or 240w adapter (and mod it).

 

An update for those of us without a 7970m. If you use Ati Tray Tools to control your clocks, there's no issue with 2D/3D. This is a pretty genius fix.

 

After more testing I think there are still limitations for the M15x beyond the PSU.

The M15x (at least mine) cannot supply enough power at 1.1V. I think the gpu power circuits were not designed for the kind of load the 7970M at that voltage demands.
I can run so far up to 950/1450 at 1.05V with cpu pushed to 25x across the board without a problem so the PSU is doing it;s job.

I am going to stick with the above speeds and voltage until a new card comes out. Perhaps someone else with adequate cooling can test out my theory. Makes sense though the M15x is an old platform and wasn:t designed with 100W GPU:s in mind. At 1.1V the 7970M is going well beyond 100W!

Also the 2D, 3D problem seems only to happen when I run 1.1V. Back down to 1.05V or lower no problems at all.

Well to prove my point above I flashed back to 950/1450 and then just played and it just works so perfectly. Lesson learned here for the community stick to 1.05V voltage as maximum in the M15x.

Not done testing completely. I will tweak cpu a little to see how far it can go in game and also see how far 1.05V can get me but I doubt there is a point. 960-970mhz not worth the hassle of testing over 950mhz.

 

Think I'll follow you down 210w psu route rather than modding 240w psu. Do you think you could run 900/1450 @ 1v or 1.025v? I think I would become restricted by temperatures at 1.05v.

 

Every card is different but I would say 1V should be enough. It is what I require for stability. My temps at 950/1450 are 75C in FC3 in ambient 25C rofl!

I won't improve the cooling further due to the limitation in gpu power delivery (no need for extra cooling capacity). Not that I am unhappy though. The next gen card will offer huge performance jumps over the highest OCed 7970M lol

 

210W adapter purchased. Definitely going to do a cooling mod like yours so I can push clocks higher and not worry about temperatures.
You just used a stanley knife to cut through the plastic bottom cover right? Also those ultra low heatsinks just stick on with adhesive stickers?

 

Also tested 24/25/26/27 works across the cores. I tested Prime 95 at 24x and temps max 89C. Very happy considering it is summer!

Good to hear you purchased fatboyslimerr. You should have year round cooler temps than me so a mod is a good idea. Yes the low profile heatsinks use adhesive stickers.

 

210w adapter has arrived! It's frickin' massive compared to the 150w one. No time to test it now but will flash to 900/1450 @ 1v later and try x24 and x25 multipler on FC3 and Metro LL.
Wooooooooo! Also if you compare the two connectors, the centre pin is much thinner on the 210w adapter. It might be as simple as that, having a thinner pin, its not making contact with the centre pin socket.