[m15x] Overclock Guide by markus

ATTENTION, EVERYTHING TO YOUR OWN RISK​

You need the following 3 programms and my GPU Bios:


nTune 5.05

Nibitor 4.1

NVFlash 5.13

m15xopen.rom


Step 1:

Start Nibitor, read your GPU Bios and save it as " m15xorig.rom"








[ Step 2: (if you want to change the voltage to 1.00 volt)]

Start Nibitor, and open the Bios file " m15xopen.rom"

My Bios is already with 1.05 volt, if you´re not so sure about this, change the voltage back to
1.00 volt, save it as “ m15xopen.rom”



Step 3:

Make a “Boot CD” (I did it with Nero, but you can do it with different programs)



Burn the 4 files on the “Boot CD”.

 

Step 4:

Please find out witch letter your DVD-Drive has! (i have g)

Boot your m15x with the "Boot CD".

Type in the next few steps as below:

1. "g:"
2. "nvflash -i0 -4 -5 -6 m15xopen.rom"
3. he´ll ask you 3 times if you really want to do this, just hit the "y"

PLEASE MAKE SURE; THE LAPTOP IS PLUGED IN OR THE BATTERY IS FULL

4. Wait 30 seconds, and when the "g:" is back on the screen, take the CD out and reboot!

ATTENTION:

If anything is going wrong, you have to do this steps without display, so please brain the steps into your head, or write it exactly down!

But if you follow exactly the guide, everything should be OK!

 

Step 5:

1. install nTune 5.05

2. open the nvidia systemcontrol



3.

NOW, HAPPY OC

Please try it step by step ... because every videocard has different limits!



To watch/check you speed open NVMonitor



You also can save the profils on the desktop, so you don´t have to start the systemcontrol to switch the speed!



If the speed won´t change, please reinstall the graphic driver new!

 

Oh .. IMPORTANT

Please watch at the beginning the temps from your videocard!

Very easy to watch the temps:



Start "eventlog"

NOW, HAPPY OC ​

I hope I could help you

 

Excellent guide Markus! Thanks for the contribution.

 

I agree this makes overclocking the m15x seem easy. To be honest following this guide is easy so...

Mind if i add it to my Notebook Care & Maintenance Guide?

I think it would a useful addition?

OB

 

nice guide! Thanks for sharing!

 

Sure, if you think it´s good enough! I mean, the english is not perfect

 

Even with your "non perfect" English, which i add, is very good actually...

My typing makes my English a bit.... off sometimes lol

The guide is great, are you going to try the same for the m17x... Would be interesting to see what happens with Sli 880GTX's...

By the way, i hope you don't think i'm poaching or anything, i'm just trying to make a list of the most useful thread/guides for people to access them easily and from one place.

OB

 

i think for the m17x , you can use a dell m1730 8800sli guide or not?

 

Might be able too, assuming it has the same thermal profile... None's actually tested a fully loaded m17x yet and we can't tell if it has good heat control. The m15x as i'm sure you already know, has heat issues...

Assuming it can handle heat well, then yes the 1730 tweaks for the cards should work, although Alienware do not allow overclocking like the 1730 can do...

OB

 

hmm about that i must find a thread to discuss it, because in my opinion the m15x has no probs with heat

 

Well the last driver updates seem to fix any downclocking but, the earlier machines are still having issues, some members have suggested GPU and CPU downclocking expecially the extreme processor in the m15x...

OB

 

Opinions aside...
- CPU overheats and downclocks (this is what happens in over 90% of extreme processors and it's in these processors that the overheating becomes evident due to the downclcoking).
- GPUs in new machines still come up to 100C (and above) during gameplay (not only in old M15x). Obviously you might say that 100C is not too hot and it's not overheating... Opinions.

 

its off topic here
so lets discuss here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=3580452#post3580452

 

Hmmm ... I´m not so sure about the guide for the XPS 1730 ... cause the Sli option in the 1730 is more a 8800M GTX² ... and in the m17x you have got 2 x MXM 8800 GTX videocards .... but still ... the most steps will be the same!

But as you said already, we don´t know, how the m17x is working with the heat!

 

Can we get this a Sticky ?? Its quite handy I think Ill do a bit of OC'ing after I get my keyboard fixed

 

I flashed my bios, too. But i can only downclock !!!
I'm using forceware 175.80 WHQL !!
Which driver do i need for overclocking?

 

do you use the original alienware driver?

markus used the xfastest and couldnt overclick with the aw-driver , if i remember it proberbly

 

Nice guide but would the laptop overheat ??

 

depends

markus got oc'ed not over 98 at crysis

 

I used drivers from laptopvideo2go, where can I download drivers for overclocking?

 

what is your opinion the best drivers to use on the m15x to overclock... i currently got the 177.89 driver... doesn't seem to impress me much.

 

Urgent Help!!! I Tried Markus' Guide! Followed Everything Step To The Key! My Screen Went Black After The Flash! I Tried Repeating The Steps Letter For Letter To Try To Recover, But My Laptop Will Not Recover!!!! I Tried Everything!! Nothing Seems To Work!! Please Can Someone Help Meee!!

 

update: I opened my m15x apart, removed the video card. Booted windows, I was able to see the display this time because it was running off internal graphics.

I then memorized how to switch from dedicated to internal graphics using the FN+F7 key, how to load bootmenu and execute the "nvflash..." command blind.

I put my card back in, and switched it to dedicated, sure enough, still black screen. I know EXACTLY when to hit the F12 key to bring up bootmenu, but it seems like it just passes it when it boots with dedicated graphs. As much as I hit the F12 key when it begins to load, no matter what, windows will load and skip the boot menu. Therefore, It will not let me go into boot menu with dedicated graphics?

When i tried executing the command while using internal graphs, I got an error msg stating that no NVIDIA graphic display detected! or Was Found, cant remember. But It's almost like it doesn't exist anymore! Is there anyways I can flash the bios back to normal!?!?

PLEASE HELP MEEEE!!!

 

You have a 8700M GT but this guide is only for 8800M GTX !?

 

Great thread reps to ya but aren't you afriad of Alienware trying to wriggle their way out of your warranty claim when the shyte hits the fan?

Alienware do read these threads they take pride in their machines and want to know how they could improve their goods and services as well as marketing strategy.

They read my posts and threads regarding my dismay with Austin Computers and the m15x problems i have had since i picked up my m15x.

They knew everything about me before i could even say a word to them when I rang customer support up.

Anyway I thought you might want to know this for your own piece of mind.

Thanks for this education by the way so here's reps to ya.

 

Yes it will over heat definately and you wouldn't want Alienware to know what you did to your machine when it comes to warranty.

I personally wouldn't over clock but then again i am not really into gaming.

 

nKiwan, i think you did a big mistake... this is a 8800GTX overclock guide, not a 8700.

That's seem to be the reason it doesn't finds your graphic card...

Also, people should carefully read Markus warning: do it only at your own risk. This makes warranty void.

And i don't see a reason to overclock a 8800GTX at this moment, only if you really some crazy tech fan and don't care loosing a 3k USD notebook.

 

Alright, well. I didnt read anywhere on this thread that it was only for the 8800GTX, should be stated somewhere. Last I checked it said "m15x overclock guide" nothing specifically mentioning the 8800GTX.

Either way, I called AW, told them my video card fried, they sending me a new one in the mail! AW customer support ROCKS!

They may not have the most intelligent reps around, but they definitely know how to keep you happy.

 

and i bet that's never been said before

 

What version of nero are you using?
Because the nero that comes with the m15x doesn't have an option for boot cd. Can I just write it using a "data" cd?
Thanks

 

Well since this thread was resurrected, can it also be used for 8700m gt or is there some other way to overclock this card. I hav only been able to OC this card once with a specific driver.

 

Tried some OCing myself with just using nibitor and modding the values from there, then flashing an OCed BIOS back on t he card. Personally, I couldn't gain much before the card got too hot and downclocked. Any of you guys have much luck with this?

 

Whenever I choose custom clock frequencies and hit 'apply', it just jumps back to the 'factory shipped clock frequencies (no overclocking)' setting.
suggestions?

 

you did follow markus' guide, right?

 

ok I have two things to say:

1. If you're going to risk flashing, you may as well flash an overclocked BIOS.

2. As far as I know, when you're overclocking the 8800GTX/9800GT, raising the voltage to 1.05V is almost mandatory.

When you open the bios in Nibitor to edit it, raise your critical temperature to something like 105°C. That should solve your issue, unless you're actually hitting that high of a temp.

 

My card would never get anywhere near that hot. It would DC at temps that the original BIOS handled nicely.

But anyway, this is all a long time ago and I'm back to the stock BIOS cause at the moment I find my card fast enough. Maybe, when it gets time to replace the whole thing I'll give this another shot.

 

I can not get this to work....anybody else had problems...says command error when I type in nvflash-i0-4-5-6 m15xopen.rom

 

update to driver v179.28, it allows direct overclocking via nTune

 

Thanks whizzo..........that did what you said . I had wondered how come I could not overclock it anymore...lol

 

Nice guide, but I suggest you mention how important stability testing is during the overclock process. Without it, the novice overclocker might overlook random bluescreens or video artiacts as simply Windows issues, not knowing that an overzealous overclock might be at fault -- and that might be prelude to longterm damage if it isn't addressed.

- F

 

but I still could never get the bios to flash right....not sure what I was doing wrong

 

OK I got it...I was not putting a space between the dashes...lol used a usb flash drive and it worked great Thanks

 

I have the 9800m gt and nibitor doesn't read or find the bios for that card.
I know the 8800 gtx is the same as the 9800m gt.
anybody has any inputs on how to overclock a 9800m gt?

 

have you flashed the BIOS with the modified one?

 

no. I haven't flashed anything.
I am trying to do everything from scratch, but when I open nibitor, go to read bios, select device, read into nibitor, the only option I have is the unknown 060B.
I don't have an option telling me to select the nvidia 9800m GT.
or do you know any other ways to do it?
I am just concerned that the readings that I am getting from the 060B are not correct, aside from the fact that I don't think I can actually change anything.
I get numbers on the 3 lines for 3d, thrtl, and 2d.
I don't get anything on extra.
as well as my voltage is .7 which I think is incorrect for this card.

 

what do yo mean by this and how do u do it

 

just found this and am trying to bump it because i am having a ton of trouble getting this to work. I followed the guide step by step, successfully flashed the .rom, and uninstalled the video drivers/reinstalled but every time I try to change anything in ntune, once i hit apply, the program just selects the factory settings regardless of the custom speeds i enter in. With my old .rom i could change the speeds but for whatever reason when i entered anything near others' oc's the display driver would fail and reset to factory settings. Can anyone help me with this?

 

Hey, I just did that, but no luck. I get a BSOD as soon as I agree to the license agreement. Any idea why?

Also, just how much of a difference in performance is possible anyway?