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    AP M17x 9400m + 2x280m Hybrid Boost

    Discussion in 'Alienware' started by cs0amc, Sep 10, 2009.

  1. cs0amc

    cs0amc Newbie

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    Hi All,

    Has anyone managed to get the Hybrid Boost drivers to work with no problems? I initally switched the 9400m off at the bios, but then my battery ran low, the system rebooted and it switched to the 9400m and disabled the 280s.

    Anyway, I figure since it wants to use the 9400 it might be good to get it working as Nvdia intended - or is this a dead end? I heard the 9400 can throttle the SLI 280s, but I was playing Grid Racer last night and it worked well in Hybrid Boost mode for about 10min and then occasionally would freeze frame and generally screw up - almost as if it hit the max temp throttle point. I checked the temps and the 280s were at about 75, but the 9400 was at about 90C I think.

    Anyone else found this? Anyone managed to flash the 9400m bios - maybe to lower the max clocks?

    Cheers


    Alienware M17x Intel Quad 9300 Extreme Nvidia 2x280m SLI 4GB RAM
     
    cs0amc, Sep 10, 2009
    #1
  2. Darkhan

    Darkhan Notebook Deity

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    If I plan on gaming for over an hour, I disable the 9400m all its doing is creating unwanted heat. You can disable it in the Bios under graphic options.
     
    Darkhan, Sep 10, 2009
    #2
  3. The_Moo™

    The_Moo™ Here we go again.....

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    You. Cannot flash the 9400 m it is your chipset


    The 9400m hurts more then it helps. When you want to game disable it in bios to play and install new driver then you will have no issues
     
    The_Moo™, Sep 10, 2009
    #3
  4. lemonspeaker

    lemonspeaker Notebook Evangelist

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    I have a weird issue when disabling it in the BIOS.
    1) When I do so, the system always boots up with a resolution of 640x480. Is this normal?
    2) Sometime, if I disable it, my system boots up with no wireless connection. Why is that?
     
    lemonspeaker, Sep 10, 2009
    #4
  5. Ethrem

    Ethrem Notebook Prophet

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    I don't get all this talk about disabling the 9400... I have had zero issues having it enabled with Hybrid SLI on 186.81... And the chip has maxed at 72C under load.
     
    Ethrem, Sep 10, 2009
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  6. Glzmo

    Glzmo Notebook Deity

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    Also note that the 9400M will reserve 256MB of the system RAM for itself, thus the system will only be able to use what is left, which can hamper performance, depending on how much system memory you have installed.
    Other than that, it doesn't hinder gaming at all if you run Hybrid mode in boost performance setting. Just make sure your driver supports it (I recommend 186.82 drivers from Windows Update for that, but Dell's 179.85, 186.12 and 186.24 (with modded inf) will work fine as well).
     
    Glzmo, Sep 10, 2009
    #6