M17x BIOS A03 Discussion Thread

well Ran a MP3 file and this is what i get

 

going to try various GPU drivers and see what happens

 

i believe it will be the same. as i said in the dcp latency thread i have exactly the same peaks range and periodical like yours. with dell driver and 195.81 its the same for me. if you find something please tell me.

 

Can someone upload the A02 bios for me, I keep getting a script error when I try to download it from Dell and it's not working with firefox. +rep for who ever ups it for me, thanks.

 

http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/R235673.exe is the direct download link

lemme know if it doesnt work, im uploading it atm

*EDIT* there you go in case m8

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=L7A80O1R

 

Thanks a lot man, I appreciate it, I already repped you for posting the link a couple pages ago, I'll rep you again though when I'm allowed.

 

haha no need mate, im happy to help

 

I got blinking screen (colors depend on Windows color) with 186.82. Does anyone have the same problem? I'm going back to A02...

Thank cpaqf1 for the A02 link

Update: still got blinking screen after log on with A02.

 

For some reasons i noticed that when i flahsed to A03 on the 186.64 driver that now one of my GPUs is a lot hotter than the other in idle i looked at GPUZ and on of the GPUS is down clocking while the other is not i didnt seem to have this in A02 BIOS but even now when im on back on A02 im noticing it is any one else having this ?

 

Here is what I got after finally reinstalling the OS, and getting it all back updated. That was fun...had to do absolutely everything because the A03 BIOS update completely hosed the data, nothing was recoverable. I took a screenshot of an MP3 playing as well as an HD YouTube video...find it attached below. Sound didn't stutter but the one time, but man, talk about a stutter... Damn near made the computer stop. My idle peaks are just over 1000, around 1025 on average, but as you can see, the nasty spikes are in the stratosphere! Also notice the now seemingly common 15 second spike. Dang lame computer. Wish I could just shrink my desktop into a laptop...it has zero issues and it has been on its initial install from a little over 2 years ago.

 

After formating and having a clean install of Dell's drivers the results are disappointing. Spikes still exist but not that frequently, stuttering is still existent and GPU temps are a bit higher. I will have to try with the latest Nvidia drivers to see if that's a driver issue, but still, the A03 is a failure. I am considering to call them and replace my GPUs with ATIs of course for free because giving me a replacement wont fix the problem.

 

Trikster, did reinstalling take care of your cycling from a startup? Do you still hang with a quick bsod?

 

Yes it did. I had to pretty much rebuild the computer from scratch. It was a time consuming process... I did just a regular install of everything using current drivers off the Dell/AW support site and used the current driver off the nVidia site for graphics (not the beta, current certified, 195.62). I had read about the Microsoft ACPI battery control causing issues every 15 seconds or so, and disabled it in the Device Manager under battery. I also have my battery usage set to Performance mode.

I now get an occasional spike and I cannot figure out what is causing it. Some are known, eg the eject button spewing out a DVD, but the others aren't quite so clear cut. I watched a YouTube HD video while listening to an MP3 and would get spikes every 15 seconds. About 5 minutes later, I watched the same video (in a fresh Firefox browser session) and the same audio track and didn't peak over 700. Both times I was watching the video full screen with the audio playing in the background.

I don't know what to try next. It is really frustrating to be sure. If it is an nVidia issue, does this issue exist with the ATI cards? It would be nice if it was stuck to the 260/280 cards, I will be on the phone with Dell tomorrow and demand them to send me the ATI cards. The last 7 months have been terrible in regards to laptops they have sent me. This m17x is #5 in 7 months. Unfortunately, the first 2 months were problem free (on the m1730 I started with) so I cannot return it anymore. If I don't get any satisfaction soon, this expensive paperweight will find its way onto eBay.

 

Im pretty sure this is an nvidia drivers issue. And it probably will not get fixed...
since dell are clueless on nvidia drivers.

 

Just another data point as grist for the mill. I updated to A03 just now with no problems. I didn't even close all my background processes.

While I still see the sky high spikes every 15 seconds or so, I don't have the regular "mid-peaks". I should also point out that I've never noticed any stuttering with A02.

A couple of pics to tell the story attached. If anyone wants me to run a specific test (that doesn't require major reconfiguration), I'd be happy to do so.

 

Trikster, did you try the Alien Respawn? I've tried it and it never solved my problem. I might just try re-installing everything, although I don't plan to keep this much longer, returning for the refresh. Also with ATI cards the problem doesn't apear as severe

 

Respawn did not fix me. I tried it more than once just to make sure I didn't mess something up. Had to break out the disks and do it the long way.

 

One suggestion is try some Older gpu drivers. Just to try to rule out gpu.

 

Ive tried that didnt seem to work it was better but not perfect

 

I didn't read the hole thread but after updating to A03 I tried the latest drivers from Nvidia and I started to get the huge red spike every few seconds. I went back to the latest video driver on Dell and the spikes were gone. Another thing I noticed is when I connected the M17x to my 27inch computer monitor I started getting the large red spikes again. If this was discussed already I apologize.

 

which drivers are you talking about?
the 186.40 ?

 

i aslo have noticed less spikes on the 186.64 driver when i was on A03 BIOS but when im on the 195.81 driver i get alot more spikes but for some reason the 186.64 driver is not down clocking properly what driver are you on ?

 

Yeah the new Bios A03 is certainly better than A02 for me in audio
EDIT: it does have shutter when i on windows live messenger + internet explorer + musics....

I'll try playing games tomorrow to see any problem or not..

 

Any ati users on here with stuttering ?

 

I already mentioned this a few pages back.

Those of you noticing one of the GPUs running hotter, are having powermizer issues. One of your two video cards is -not- downclocking the way it should be under normal conditions. This is why you'd most likely be getting temperature readings around 30s for one card, and 50s for the other. The other card is running with performance 3d clocks.

This fluctuation in clocks could also be the reason why we're getting spikes, although I cannot be sure.

Also, fans kick in a bit later. (Not good.)

 

well in the A03 notes they mentioned a change in the Thermal Table, and a modification on the CPU Thermal read method - this maybe why there are slightly higher temps being noticed

BIOS change:
1. Fixed the RAID Setup Utility is failed in AMD VGA card platform.
EC change:
1. Update the Thermal Table 2009-08-17.
2. Match with OSD 2.20 fixed AMD card Fn+F6 issue.
3. Modify CPU thermal read method to reduce the system loading.

 

Zero stuttering here (But then again I didn't really have a big issue with this before) and machine is rock stable now (stock I was getting crashes and bluescreens.)

I need more time to be sure, I installed this drunkely Monday night and have only had time to play a few games and watch a couple of movies. The key is testing stuff that stresses multiple components (a game or proper Blueray/HD Movie)

If there is any specific test you'd like me to run I'm happy to do it when I'm back home and have the time

 

I still have A02, planning to bite the bullet and go with A03 this weekend. Before that I'm keeping a watchful eye on what people are reporting.

As for my experience:

I never had noticable issues with videos or gaming, it's only ever audio snares/grinding sounds that happen occassionally.

The issue used to be worse until I disabled powermizer and locked my cards to work at full clock speed.

But I had hoped A03 would eliminate the need for me to keep doing that.

I tried people's suggestion of keeping it in Stealth Mode and I haven't had a single spike hit 16000.

For now, putting it in stealth mode while I'm not gaming seems to be the only way until Nvidia stop turning a blind eye to their products' issues...

 

Indeed. One would think that the thermal table would be better. In my opinion, it is worse.

This is just annoying. I am probably going to revert back to A02. Never had any real issues with that bios.

 

utlimately if were only talking a few degrees difference in temps which are also below 60 C, then it is really is not an issue.

 

I am talking about the GPU fans. They have stages, or levels of speed. Back in the old days of the A02, the fans would be at the highest stage, which was very loud, everytime GPUs hit the 65+ mark. I am not feeling that any more.

Besides, this isn't an issue of peaking. GPUs can tolerate much higher degrees of heat. The issue is thermal cycling, where the temperatures go a bit too high because fans kick in late, and then cool all the way back down. People who know me here know full-well of my dronings about the G92 core and its inherent issues, including very little tolerance for thermal cycling.

Thermal cycling is not our friend, and when it comes to us Nvidia folk, it is actually an enemy.

Besides, none of this even touches on the issue of powermizer. Why aren't both of my discrete-cards downclocking the way they should be under normal conditions?

 

How high are your temps getting before the highest setting fan rate kicks in?

 

I can't verify when the fan go into maximum, but the GPUs are touching 69-70 with certain games. Before the bios, this was not the case since the fans would already be rushing at maximum and bringing the readings down.

Now is this for real. Is it related to the revised thermal tables? I don't know.

What I do know is that powermizer is acting funny.

 

Ya powermizer is acting really weird the 186.64 isnt down clocking right any more and i don't remember having this problem when i was on A02 BIOS even when i flash back to A02 its the same only the 195.81 drivers is down clocking properly. I actually just got of the phone with Alienware and told him about what has been going on an from what i can tell i only get stutters when my clocks start going down every time it changes is when i get a stutter and the latency checker registers a huge red spike i told him and he sent a email to the engineers a while i was on the phone so will see if they get a new GFX driver that will fix this :/

 

I've found with A03 the Fans jump to the 2nd Setting @ 65, the 3rd @ 67 and the highest @ 69, They slow down @ 48 and then again to the lowest setting @ 45

All temperatures in Celcius by the way.

 

Bloody hell.

So you're telling me that going back to A02 will not fix the problem?

Heh. Stupid language filter.

 

updating to A03 screwed something up, my temps are higher EVEN THOUGH I HAVE ALREADY REVERTED TO A02, this is so messed, the 260 cards use to run in idle like at about 40 to 45 max with 186.64 now they go all the way up to 52!!, and it didn't even serve its purpose for when i had the A03 installed which was not more then an hour the dpc latency was a little less annoying but it was still there and getting huge spikes which it made it even more noticable even though they were less frequent, i have now opted to use the 9400 when only browsing and listening to music and switching to stealth mode on gameplay but now that the temps are messed out I'm more concerned about this then the stupid stutter and spikes, it doesn't down clock the cards right after exiting a game, i use to exit a game and literally i would immediately here the cards throttle down now the fans just stay att the same speed and throttle down over 3-4 minutes after having exited the game!!

 

Thank you for sharing that information. Well done. Do you also happen to have information on the settings for the old BIOS?

 

Any chance someone could direct me to the A02 Bios installer?, Been flicking about the forum and can't seem to find it, I must have deleted mine
Cheers!

P.S - From memory, With A02 The fans definitely went higher @ 60 and then to Maximum @ 65, I believe they turned low again at 45 again and didn't start off until about the late 50 degrees but don't hold me to that

 

http://support.dell.com/support/down...&fileid=339603

 

ur link doesnt work


http://ftp.us.dell.com/bios/R235673.exe

or here's a copy I uploaded for Crylo yesterday cause he had issues accessing it from dell.ca

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=L7A80O1R

 

I can't believe i missed that thread

Just checked with the old bios and got

A02
Low @ < 57 Degrees
Medium @ > 57 Degrees
High @ > 62 Degrees
Max @ > 65 Degrees
Back to Medium @ 40 Degrees
Back to Low @ 39 Degrees

A03
Low @ < 65 Degrees
Medium @ > 65 Degrees
High @ > 67 Degrees
Max @ > 69 Degrees
Back to Medium @ 48 Degrees
Back to Low @ 45 Degrees

Hope that Helps

 

Ouch! That is terrible. To most of you, it might not be a big deal, but I can't tolerate this; it'll be a real shame if this is a direct result of certain people whinning about the M17x being loud. Seriously, this is stupid!

Thanks again for the information, Deathcore. Much appreciated.

So, I can revert back to A02 and the older settings will work right? Could you also confirm the functionality of powermizer? At the moment, with A03, one of the GPUs refuses to downclock after gaming. Very annoying.

 

I agree, I'd prefer a cooler laptop over a quieter one anyday.

It was designed for primarily playing games and I don't know of many people that play in silence, Any sort of sound from the speakers or headphones would drown out the fan noise so I can't see what the problem is.

 

On the bright side, our cards will die sooner. Ready to fight Dell again, Kade? I'm not!

 

I did a fresh re-instal re-loaded the drivers and have had better performance from playing WOW, still have to play some more games especially fallout 3 to determine performance.

 

It's unlikely that the card will die sooner if used mainly at 69 degrees celcius compared to 65 degrees...

 

Well the ole M1730 crew (me included) had our cards die at 75C (granted that was substandard solder / cooling), but how much better are the M260/280s?

 

Yeah, I flashed back and the thermal table went with it, I hadn't noticed the downclocking issue because i always run at maximum performance. (I mainly use this as a DTR and if i do need battery an hour is plentiful) I'll flash back tomorrow after work and play about,
Heading off to bed now s'getting late

Later!

 

After doing some more testing, it seems that the graphics card performance has been seriously reduced. In WoW I'm noticing a frame rate of about 20 where previously it would be 40-60.

I think I'll revert back to A02.


EDIT: This doesn't occur all the time, but it's struggling to cope with some areas that it should be able to handle just fine.