Guide: How to unlock the GPU Thermal Limit Slider in Alienware Command Center

There is a bug in the Alienware Command Center/Alienware OC Controls where you will not be able to move the GPU Thermal Limit and it's stuck on the default 75C. That is too low of a thermal limit and will cause your GPU to thermal throttle in most games/GPU intensive apps almost immediately. Here is how to unlock the GPU Thermal Limit Slider. I personally set mine all the way to 87C but you can leave it at 84-85C if you prefer the GPU to stay on the safer side.

Before you do anything, remember, Windows puts a BLOCKED status marker on any file you download from the internet. You NEED to right click on any file you download, choose Properties then hit the UNBLOCK button on the bottom right followed by APPLY then OK before you run or extract a ZIP file otherwise it may not work properly. To stop this stupid blocking of every file, see this guide:
"Are you sure you want to run this file?" [Yes or No]


First, uninstall the Alienware Command Center completely using this guide: https://www.dell.com/support/articl...einstall-the-alienware-command-center?lang=en

1) Download this Profiles.zip file and keep it handy

2) Install Alienware Command Center (Do not reboot)

3) Install Alienware OC Controls but when asked to reboot, don't reboot just yet

4) Navigate to the following folder:
C:\Program Files\Alienware\Alienware Command Center\OCControlService


5) Copy/paste the Profiles.zip file which you downloaded earlier into the above folder replacing the existing one.


6) Right click on the file named Profiles.zip then click on Properties

7) At the bottom of the Properties page, check the box which says " Read-only", hit Apply, then Ok

8) Now you can reboot

After you reboot, wait for 3 minutes till the Alienware Command Center Service has started, then launch the Alienware Command Center

After you raise the bar to the max and hit Test & Save. You need to name it, ie. 4.9 GHz or whatever. That will be the profile. But that's not enough, you need to select it for it to be active from the Home tab of Alienware Command Center

Undervolt your CPU if you wish like this:



Then increase the GPU Thermal Limit like this



Finally, select the profile you saved from the Home Tab.

 

Interesting, is this something you just learned today? I didn't even know about this GPU thermal throttling. Have you done any tests to determine by how much it throttles? Funnily since I opened Afterburner, it shows the max temp of 75C. Is it just a newer AWCC thing or has it always been a thing?

 

We've been talking about this for weeks in the Area-51m Owner's lounge but every now and then someone keeps asking the same question on how to unlock it as it wasn't locked before so I thought of creating this thread so I don't have to keep copy/pasting the guide all day long. This is a new cancer bug from Dell that they have implemented in the later OC Controls. I don't mind keeping my laptop safe but throttling at 75C? That's absurd, might as well buy some Acer jokebook and get the same crappy performance.

 

Yeah I agree. I didn't even notice a performance drop lately, but then again when using the laptop GPU I don't have super high expectations, I save that for when using the AGA. You'd think they would just let people know about it in some way, so those without a AGA can know to either not upgrade or just know why they are getting less performance. I don't think my GPU ever hit 85, but it def has hit 75C. Thanks for the info

 

Very nice. Forced to use Dell's bloatware and on top have to tweak it or must go with older firmware to make it work properly. Can't beat that?

 

I suspect this was an intentional act by Dell. It is too convenient and deliberate to be a glitch, and it is already evident they do not care who is affected by their bad judgment, or how.

 

Of course.

Both XPS and Alienware line laptops is under the same umbrella (Started up by Frank Azor). And both have got the dreaded 75C GPU thermal cap. (Dell's new proprietary software works for the whole notebook line).
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-owners-lounge.826831/page-2187#post-11019422

 

As crappy as that logic is, I also gotta say that if not many people notice it and its still better/comparable to other notebooks in benchmarks, that its's not so bad. Kinda lame there is more potential and they intentionally block it. But the biggest mistake is selling a notebook and than 1-2 years later lowering its performance. I am gonna have to do a benchmark and see if any of them show signs of lesser performance than the same numbers from 8 months ago

 

I think that what is completely screwed up is that they run benchmarks that last ~10 min and obviously don’t stress the system... hence they say “it’s fine” “it passes all the tests” and don’t even realize that when people game on their gaming computers, they do so for extended periods of time and often on much heavier software/games that actually stress and heat up the system more than synthetic benchmarks.

Their benchmarks shouldn’t be 3DMark and the like, it should be Prime95 and Furmark if they really wanted to be thorough. If they’re already relying on fake, simulated, synthetic benchmark numbers/temps to “call it good”, then they should actually use heavy benching software.

 

No need for P95 or Furmark. Just run CBR20 and Heaven/ 3DM stress test simultaneous in loop. Or run it a couple of times in a row. CBR20 who contain AVX load already push the Cpu above 90C without the GPU puke heat into the unified heatsink.

 

The issue is people do notice it but not sure what going on. Like Call of Duty Modern warefare I am playing and everything is fine, getting 100 fps all graphics on low or disabled setting, My resolution is 3440x1440 and then booom 54fps and it doesnt recover, so you have to restart the laptop to get the FPS to 100 all because of a 75 Degree limit. As soon as it touches that limit it throttles permanently for me. I have a Laptop cooler with 3x120mm fans with a CFM of 180 pushing air into the laptop. I have th CPU throttled at 4.3Ghz and running at 60 Degress and the GPU still hits the threshhold and throttles at 75 Degrees.

So I am very keen to see if this fix works and stops the throttling as its super annoying having paid so much money for a laptop that cant do the Job the hardware is designed to do but do yo bad design it cant do. Not fair to sell such a product as it does not perform as intended. otherwise they should say you can only game for 10mins. Then see how many they sell.

 

ARRRGGGHHHHH!!!! This is so frustrating. My GPU is downclocking. Within a 1 minute or two It clocks from 1900Mhz down to 600 Mhz, I have tried in Nvidia settings but struggling. Please help!! any suggestions? This is new, i havnt had this problem before.

I have asus and msi afterburner installed. I installed that profile.zip. Increased threshhold to 87Degrees but its not getting anywhere near that

Alienware Area51m i9-9900k 32gb 2080 1TB NVME SSD

 

I did a test comparing benchmarks from nearly a year ago to the changes made with AWCC, the difference was so small I don't even think it could be considered a difference FPS-wise. I ran Heaven back to back and FF15 back to back. Both seemingly throttle once it hit 75C, because it would always reach 75C but go down to 74C and top out. I also game mostly on laptop GPU, so I would definitely notice a big FPS hit since I prefer PvP games. Your problem may be due to something else. You shouldn't have to restart a laptop to get your performance back. If it is throttling due to temp, shouldn't it revert when the temp goes back below the 'throttle temp'?

You are on the Area51m though, the throttling doesn't happen on my m15 when reaching 75C.

 

I removed the Nvidia Drivers and reinstalled them. Seems temp is around 74Degrees now. Super weird. Not sure why the Driver would be making it hotter than it should be... I will monitor the situation and keep you guys updated. This situation also seems to have randomly happened when I didnt have this problem before with the same games.

 

That means you probably have a BIOS newer than 1.5.0 am I right?

Any BIOS after 1.5.0 will also trigger this throttling past 75-79C

 

Yes I have the new Bios 1.10.0, how can I downgrade it?
Played COD now and it also did not throttle after the Graphics driver reinstall. No Idea what messed it up.
I still think going back in the Bios would prevent future issues.

How is your 2080 super going? Super bummed that Area51m R1 is not upgradeable at all. I would have thought they atleast make the graphics card upgradeable.

 

Dude I just ordered the laptop, it won't reach me before 2 months at least. 1 Month minimum till the order starts even Dell has a huge backlog, let alone shipping to Dubai.

Your issue is the BIOS and VBIOS

1. Any BIOS after 1.5.0 introduces throttling the moment the GPU reaches 75C which is absurd since that is a very low threshold, run any game for a couple of minutes and you'll be way past 75C.

2. Dell also released a new VBIOS that reduces the GPU max wattage from 200W to 180W which also contributes to the low benchmarks you are experiencing.


I downgraded my BIOS to 1.5.0 (by force using the BIOS Recovery Method) and also downgraded my VBIOS back to t the 200W version.

See:

Force downgrade Alienware Area-51m Bios (or any Alienware) to locked lower versions

PS: The USB Flash Disk must be formatted as FAT not FAT32

Area-51m BIOS / VBIOS Collection (mirrors)


Here is what I recommend:


a) Uninstall Alienware Update AKA Dell Update and Dell SupportAssist otherwise they will keep nagging you to update your BIOS.


b) Flash the BIOS using the Recovery USB which you created using the guide I showed you earlier.


c) Immediately head into BIOS and make sure you disable Firmware Capsule Updates in the Security tab otherwise Windows will immediately upgrade your BIOS!


d) Once you're back in Windows, reflash the same 1.5.0 BIOS again but in Windows, I had to do that last time as I was getting weird behavior (I can't remember what exactly but once you have flashed 1.5.0 in recovery mode, you will be able to flash 1.5.0 again through Windows since you're not technically downgrading anymore you are just reinstalling the same BIOS) so do that to ensure the BIOS is 100% flashed correctly.


e) The moment the BIOS is flashed, go back into BIOS and load setup defaults then save and exit (from the last tab in the BIOS)


f) Now enter BIOS again, set your battery from Adaptive to Custom and tell it to start charge at 50% and stop charge at 90%. This will ensure the battery is never over charged and will thus prolong its life.


g) In the 2nd tab in the BIOS, I recommend turning OFF Power Share as that will drain your battery if your laptop had a USB device that needs power overnight (such as an external HDD or Game Pad)


h) While you're in the BIOS, ensure that Firmware Capsule updates are OFF


Be smart....be like Spartan...

Then give this to Dell for fux0r!ng up our laptops:

 

You are a legend!!!
I did some research and found just what you said. I truly appreciate the time you took to assist me in spelling it out. Will give it a shot.

Many thanx

 

Yoo like live your life on the edge? Area-51m R1, random black screens

"I know the repair is gonna take a WHILE, so I can't do my job, i'll have to borrow a friend's laptop"

 

OK, I vote Spartan Alienware Customer of the Corona Year. Title won by universal acclamation. Few people would blind preorder a $5k Dell laptop expecting a 2 month wait until delivery...

Dell would do well to significantly expand their Dubai operations. No sheikh would find the latest pricing objectionable either.

 

Thank you my brother. I ordered it fully expecting this. This is not an off-the shelf Best Buy model. It's a custom order that I've specced out to the max and I don't mind waiting. It's not like I am without a laptop. Still enjoying my Area-51m until that arrives.

Speaking of ordering, small change I've done last night. In addition to ordering the de-lidding service from HIDevolution. I thought heck, I'm already spending all that much so I told them to order a Silicon Lottery 10900K for me. Every drop in temps is going to help here and I'd rather have this from the get-go. Silicon Lottery is out of stock of binned 10900K but they are expecting to have some by next week so they will have the CPU by the time my Area-51m R2 arrives to swap them.

Speaking of Silicon Lottery CPUs, I've had great luck with them back when I had a 6700K CPU on my Clevo P870DM, it wouldn't even reach 4GHz on all cores without overheating but when I swapped it with a silicon lottery 6700K, it did 4,.6 GHz 24/7 without even needing to undervolt it.

 

You're welcome

9900K? You didn't want 10th gen?

 

sorry I meant the 10900K

@etern4l =

 

With the most recent update I lost the thermal slider action. I just copied in your Profiles.zip and that fixed it, no uninstalling and such. (since it seemed to uninstall it before)

 

Try restarting and see if it still works, its happened to me that it works for 1 boot cycle and upon restart locks again.

 

Rebooted and still there. Did you mark them read only? I had to get my AWCC from msft store btw. not sure if that changes things but the temp slider was the last missing part.

 

I don’t care for that slider, I don’t use AWCC. I OC with TS and AB!

 

ok?

 

will this work if i use TS and AB for undervolting?

 

I thought this wasn't working anymore since I lost the 87*C option on the update. Followed the instructions again but this time selected NO when admin popped up for the control center service after the reboot (I think it was trying to over-write the Profiles.zip) Now 87*C is there again.

 

Glad this file is still available. Seems I have to redo the steps each update.

 

Hi!
Maybe someone can help with 9900KS profile? Because I don't see it in the zip folder. Or it should work fine even like this?