Question about over clocking an m15x

I'm excited to say my m15x will arrive on Friday. I have a question about overclocking and the warranty. How is it handled exactly?

Do you overclock then lose your warranty or is it only if something goes wrong? Also I understand I can't overclock from the BIOS and have to use rivaTuner?

I am totally new to overclocking so... How dangerous is it? A problem going wrong and frying your card? Any advice on warranty and also advice on just how to do it would be really helpful. Thanks in advance.

 

Overclocking voids the warranty. Danger of overclocking is inversely proportional to the skill of the user.

 

I consider my self an Intermediate computer user. I'm just unfamiliar with Over clocking. I might use nTune, but just wanted some input on the matter.

 

In addition to Lithus's point, know that your card also won't last as long. By upping the GPU clocks you generate a higher average heat level, and any increase in heat means a decrease in card life.

 

Since you've got the 8700m gt you shouldn't have any problems, I think.

It isnt dangerous at all, if you know what you are doing and control your lappie's temp. Overclocking per se wont void the warranty but if you fry your card it will (that is if they can proove it was from oc-ing). It shouldn't be a problem (although I cannot say for sure as I do not own a m15x)

 

I plan to replace my card in a year or so with the 8800GTX or 9800GTX (If AW offers it and its out), so not too big of a concern. I might try nTune out, and see how it goes once I receive mine.

 

I think all we're trying to say is that you should know what you're getting in to. There are good performance gains to be had if you overclock the 8700 GT (as with any other card) but remember that things can go spectacularly wrong -- fry your card, fry other components, lose your warranty (well that's guaranteed). If you're willing to accept those consequences should it come to that, then it's your choice.

 

Okay thank you for your input.

 

the OC options on this laptop might not be the best advised.

I have killed many a motherboard and cpu in my OC'ing days.

Go to Overclock.net for further advice.

Trust me. You do NOT want to OC the m15x. It does not cool well as it stands. You will most likely kill your HDD or GPU.

Forget about overvolting a Laptop to make it stable... the PSU brick can't supply more voltage than it already does. And what you get when you overvolt is a much shorter lifespan.

If you want to learn to overclock, do it like I did... start with your desktop and be super careful. Don't do what I did after I got some Oc expierence though... I went wild and did it way to fast... blew a DFI mobo and e6420 cpu... meh...

Please drop by Overclock.net... you will learn all you want from a helpful community that is almost as good as NBR... and... well... don't make any fanboyish comments... they are polarized there...

 

Thanks for the advice. It is very helpful. I guess I will not Overclock and just keep the m15x at its standard speed. +1 Rep.

 

check your stock temps first, then see if you have any headroom. I think you will be able to overclock the 8700 a little with no issues. As long as you first test your temperatures and make sure it will always be in a safe range. You wont be able to adjust the voltages on the 8700 so overclocking wont fry anything. Dont mention to alienware you overclock though, dont even hint it lol. But yea you can use rivatuner or even Ntune and bump up the core and memory a little on it. Then test your games, not just 3dmark06...if you see a benefit from the OC in a game then keep it. if not, then revert to stock untill you play a game that needs more power. Ive been overclocking laptops and desktops for years and the 8700 will OC a little in a 15x no problem.

OCing a desktop is different since you have easy options to shoot voltages up and get higher more stable clocks, he should just clock the 8700 to its highest stable OC without touching voltages and that would be safe given he monitors his temps during stress first. If your worried, a cooling pad for you laptop would help alot with or without an OC. Just take it slow and bump the core up little by little, say 5mhz at a time, then test. You will know when to stop when you get unstable or temps too high for the core. When you get your 8800m gtx, do not attempt overclocking at all unless you want to burn a hole through it

 

Hi
I just got my m15x a week ago and I'm very happy with it.
But the GPU is clocked very far below its capabilities.
I've tested for downclocking and it never happened.
Since there seems to be no way to overclock the 8800m GTX using software, I need to change the clocks in the bios.
Just wanted to ask if someone already tried this ?
By the way here are some links for this topic:

http://www.notebookforums.com/thread215525.html

http://www.mvktech.net/component/option,com_joomlaboard/Itemid,34/func,view/id,49626/catid,13/

http://www.mvktech.net/component/option,com_joomlaboard/Itemid,34/func,view/id,49655/catid,13/

This Forum has been a great source of information, thanks to all of you.

Mark

 

You can't fry your card by overclocking, as long as you keep the temps under control you can merely make it unbootable. What will kill your immediately card is overvolting, which isn't a danger in a laptop. If you've got an 8700m it should be overclockable by a bit, but don't even think about trying in on an 8800.

 

I wouldn't say it's clocked "very far below" its capabilities, I mean it is running at the stock NVIDIA clocks for this card. It's not like AW permanently downclocked it from that.

At the same time, I doubt anyone has tried this, mainly because the 8800 in the m15x is already working within a very tight thermal envelope and so there probably isn't much room to overclock.

 

Well the cooling in the m15x is weak compared to the 17 inchers. The highest temp I can generate is 87C, thats about 15-20C than what people with good 17ers report.
The potenzial of chip and memory is alot higher than the stock clocks.
There was a spanish programmer how wrote and unlocked bios for the XPS M1710 with 7950m GTX (my old one) and it turned out that the RAM that clocked at 1200 stock was capable of 1700 even on very hot days.
I'll try a few higher clocks on the 8800m GTX and post them with temps.

 

King.mark I know this is going to sound stupid but are you sure your not in stealth mode? Just had to ask.

 

Well from the little time I had with my system, the only way to OC the GPU was with NVflash and an increase in the clocks VIA a BIOS flash. If anyone has been abel to OC the 8800 please let us know.

Also the Extreme processor is locked up like a convict. Even with software I believe it still own't OC.

 

I'm sure it's not in stealth mode.
So far core 550 1400 mem 1700 works very well, 10600 in 3dmark06.
Found out that the moment it hits 88C the fan kick in full blast and get it to 76C or so. Then the fans slow down and kick back in when 88C is reached again and so on.
I'm pretty sure there is no downclocking.

 

OK I did some more testing.
The default voltage for the GPU is 1.00V and the highest setting nibitor offers is 1.05V.
So with 1.05V clocks are, core 600 1500 anf mem 1800.
This clocks are 100% stable, stresstested them for 2 hours, 3DMark06 10800.
The Fans now keep blowing full blast and stayed at 79C, roomtemp was 25C.
This is a 20% overclock, so depending on the game, the gains will be better than in 3DMark.

 

What kind of real-world performance increases do you get with that kind of overclock?

 

King.mark

You should write a tutorial on that overclocking. Great job by the way. Those are some decent scores, and a great OC. The 8800gtx should be good for a 20% OC.

I scored 10172 in 3Dmark06. It would be interesting to test that with Vantage and see the scores.

 

whoa. King.mark... are you overclocking via the BIOS???????????? how????
laptops don't have bios OC options (Never seen any myself)!

or are you OC'ing via the driver?

You can kill your hardware via overclocking. It will boot, and then get way too hot. Overvolting is deadly too.

it is your hardware... but I am a fan of overclocking in the same libertarian way I am a "fan" (I would prefer draconian punishment, but that will never happen anywhere but Singapore - they rock) of universal legalization of narcotics.

It is your body/hardware you live/paid for it, ao if you screw it up, if is your fault, and your responsibility.

The m15x runs too hot for its hardware's life expectancy already. ramble ramble ramble.

King.mark: at what level do you get artifacts?

 

yea a tutorial would be great

 

Well if he is using Nibitor I would say he is reflashing his GPU bios. I have falshed my 7900gtx a few times now and have had no issues. Even flashed my 2 Desktop GPU's. Pretty simple process with the right tools.

There a really good tutorial around here soem where on NBR, although it is for a dell the process is the same.

 

I will write a tutorial when I'm back home tonight.

 

Ah.. Nope
If you need a tutorial on how to overclock you obviously don't know what you're doing. I'm not trying to put a downer on people, but if you don't know what you're doing then you won't know when you're pushing it too far.

I would say if anybody is considering overclocking, read up on it, how its done, make sure you know what you're doing, that you know what the max temps, max voltage, etc. are, that you monitor these continually, ideally have an external cooling method to hand, Just in case things start getting out of hand - don't rely on system temp monitoring (often inaccurate) use own - can buy monitoring hardware cheaply in most computer shops.

- I started like this a few years ago, jumped in headfirst and end up feffin the system, granted it was a good learning experiece as it made me aware of the potential problems.

- I just think if you've paid a lot for your lappie you don't wan't it to die on you. I personally don't think there is much room for increasing the specs of the m15x - The components are alredy cramped as is, and if people are reporting temps from 80 - 100 degrees centigrade already then there is a very small margin for improvement as you can't upgrade the cooling.

 

Well I would agree in some regards but flashing your BIOS on the GPU isn't that hard. And yes things can go wrong. I would wait a bit let the guys that KNOW make the ROMS for you. Also by waiting for the guys that KNOW, you can get a true understanding of what Speeds suit the Card for Heat to Performance ratio.

Flashing and the rest can be walked through quite easily, if the roms are premade for you. Making the ROMS is simple as well but things can go wrong during this process.

One thing to remember IS ALWAYS MAKE A BACK UP OF THE ORIGINAL BIOS/ROM OF YOUR GPU.

If you scoot over to notebookforums.com and search around there, there are many many tutorials on how to Flash your BIOS, and recover your system if you do make a bad Flash. This process does take some experience, if you're a guy that just knows how to insert a DVD and play a few games, then I would stay away. With that said if your an enthusiast like most people here it isn't that difficult at all. Just remember there are risk, so do so at your own choice.

 

I don't currently have an m15x but I was just wondering are people experiencing lag etc..
Is there a need to overclock it? granted on max hd settigs in crysis or something it might go a bit slower than ususal, but do you think you'll get a noticable performance gain by oc'ing?

 

I would love to overclock the dual 7950 GTX cards in my m9750. I've heard Rivatuner is best for this. I would prefer not to flash the GPU BIOS to accomplish the overclock. Is Rivatuner the best way to go?

 

Hi everybody
First a word of warning. DON'T DO SOMETHING YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND.
This is a very easy way to kill your very expensive 8800m GTX.

Now start with making a bootable USB stick using the "HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool", you can get it here:
http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=197
Then you need nvFlash 5.63 and NiBiTor 4.0:
http://www.mvktech.net/component/option,com_remository/Itemid,26/func,selectfolder/cat,42/orderby,4/
http://www.mvktech.net/component/option,com_remository/Itemid,26/func,selectfolder/cat,92/orderby,4/
Put both programs on the USB stick, boot with it and input:
"nvflash -b m15xorig.rom" tp save you video bios.
Keep a copy of this clean bios somewhere safe.
Now boot back into windows and open the m15xorig.rom file with NiBiTor.
In NiBiTor you can change the clocks and up the voltage form 1.00V to 1.05V.
DON'T change anything else.
Save the changes to a new file e.g. "ocbios.rom"
Now boot from the USB stick and use the command:
"nvflash -5 -6 ocbios.rom"Now you have to press "y" two times and you bios will get flashed, it takes about 10 sec.
When its finished power down the pc wait a very secs and start it again.
Boot into Windows and check for stability.
I used ATItool 0.27 beta 3 and Rivatuner 2.09.
Just open ATItools 3D cube for a few minutes and use Rivatuner to monitor clocks and temps.
When you clocked too high your pc will freeze or the driver will keep restarting or you get visual errors.
To be sure that your clocks are stable run 3DMark for 2 hours and monitor with rivatuner (record the monitoring).
Remember to only tweak one clock at the time to know where possible errors come from and don't make to big clock just into unknown speeds !!!

Have Fun

P.S. By now my clocks are 600 1500 2000 and i haven't reached the limit yet.

 

A common misconception here: You won't kill your card unless you overvolt. A safer order to do those steps in would be to overclock first and then increase the voltage a tiny bit only if needed.

 

Just overclocked everything by 20%, and I immediately noticed a difference when running 3D mark. The openning scene went from 61 to 75 FPS, but then the driver kept crashing (but I've also had the driver crash when just playing Crysis). Going to try running FurMark.

 

Once you start seeing artifacts, beware...

your 8800 is beginning to cook itself already.

 

Yea the driver crashed after like 25 minutes. I'm going to try a 10% overclock instead. I feel abd for my 8800, I really push this thing.

EDIT: I don't remember if I changed my voltage. That may be why.
EDIT2: Yea. I didn't. Gonna try agian now with the upped voltage.

 

Ok 3dmark completed this time D) and at 1440x900 I got 10067 3dmarks over my previous 9400ish at the same resolution. GOing to try at a lower reso to see what I get.

 

Ok guys are you saying you can up the clocks with the new Riva tuner. I didn't think you could Software overclock the 8800m in teh M15x.

And the general is right, push your card first without the increase in voltage. If it becomes unstable but temperatures stay within reason up the voltage. From my experience with over clocking push your limits without upping the volatge first. This is the safest way to determine the Highest possible clocks your system can reach. And every GPU will be different. If some one else reaches a stable 20% OC it doesn't guarrantee you will. So don't try and pushy your card if it's telling you NO.

 

Not that big of a difference. 10732 at 1280x720.

 

So far from what I see, it's possible to OC the card, and doing so makes a noticeable difference I've found, but of course makes it run way too hot for my tastes. Running FurMark for 5 minutes brought it to 99.

 

but doesnt furmark stress the card more than anything normally real world wise would? and even so, is there any slight overclock that you would would think to be plausable going by the temp recorded when running furmark as apparently with 3dmark there is a oc possible without temps getting to high

 

Probably. I just don't have the time to do changes one by one.

 

the http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=197 link isnt working for me, though im not saying that im thinking about ocing for sure or not, just like to have all the options available

 

hey here is the scoop on what kills computers, just because there seems to be some confusion:

1) heat can kill a part, but only all at once... if the temp gets too high, a circuit breaks... and boom, the part is dead. Yes, heat does hurt over time, but not too much.

2) overvolting anything will cause it to slowly (or quickly if you use too much) die without any variation. Overvolting will make an OC stable, but like heroin, it will need more nad more voltage over time just to boot, adn one day it wil OD and die.

 

Man, you guys are brave doing this to your 8800's... I would never do this to my baby

 

same here. but each to his own...

 

Heat won't kill it instantly, the card will general downclock to prevent itself frying and you will have enough warning before it dies. Overvolting can be done stably, but will kill your card instantly if you go just a bit too high

 

That's strage, the link works here.
You can just google "HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool" and you'll find it, latest version is 2.18.

 

alrighty, cheers