dual psu/ bigger psu ideastorm for 18x-18's please go vote..

please go vote for bigger psu's/dual psus for are high end 18s please!

Idea Storm

 

Voted! I would like to see this as well.

 

Promoted, and replied to Cy_J.

 

Promoted and replied as well.

Having one big 600W AC adapter would be better than a dual mod.

 

I thought my super m17x was epic...but yours is just epic beyond all reason.

 

Fixed that right up for you. It's never beyond reason.

 

Indeed.

 

Promoted

 

It's not overkill for a 4930MX + 780Ms all overclocked, not my any stretch of the imagination.

 

I posted that picture because I agree with Hybrys.

 

Does anyone know the power limits on the circuit board tracings and internal busses? I would be a little concerned that these might blow if PSU's doubled in size.

Eurocom already builds and sells a dual 300 or 330 watt set-up. 600 or 660 watts respectively.

 

For Alienware or Clevo? If for Clevo, that is already known. If for Alienware, that must be something new.

 

Eurocom cannot sell Alienwares, so it's purely for Clevos.

Remember, Eurocoms are just overpriced Sagers with decent P.R. work. (Them and XMG seem to dominate the reviews)

 

We will see how long that lasts.... But yes no one does a dual alienware mod officially.

 

I knew they were not Alienware specific. I figured they would work if you just selected the ignore this message in future, from the BIOS. I suspect that there are very few manufacturers of the actual brick so the internals would be the same.

I would still be more concerned about the internal tracings on the circuit boards, but it seems there is no data on this. It is curiosity for me since I don't overclock.

 

I definitely promoted as well, haven't even got my AW 18 system yet but knowing I'll be crippled out of the gate trying to OC is a real downer.

 

The issue is that Dell has it's supplier put in an ID chip, and without it, the battery won't charge.

Also, the Clevo dual PSU is a completely different plug, a 4 pin plug. Making an adapter from that PSU/combo box is possible, but would be hard to do, and you'll still lack the ID chip.

It's not an issue for the average OCer. It's an issue for the extreme benchmarkers that want to push heavy overvolts and large overclocks for benchmarking.

 

It is not difficult at all. Works great! For less than $100. (Brand new 330W AC adapters purchased on Amazon.com.) But, it's not "official" LOL.

It is recognized by the ID chip and works the same as a single, except that it delivers the power needed for extreme overclocking.

I saw 490W on my Kill-a-Watt meter last night running 3DMark11. At 4.7GHz, the 3920XM all by itself draws 250W running wPrime.

 

I meant making an adapter from the Clevo 2x330w. Clarified!

And the post on IdeaStorm got shot down. Saying that 330w is adequate. Bah, humbug.

 

Based on the intended use (which is not extreme overclocking) it actually is adequate for the majority. For gaming, there is no need for more than 330W because the load doesn't typically go that high, and 4.0GHz on the CPU is more than enough for gaming. I fully expected it to get shot down, but if you never ask it will never happen simply because they would not know of the need or desire. As long as it supports the factory overclock it will be deemed "good enough" by the OEM, whether that is Alienware or a competitor. One of the important considerations for Dell is their skin temp specs. Anything that causes temperatures to exceed their guidelines won't fly. Not because it is unsafe or won't work... simply because it does not conform to specs. A portion of the clientele, even for Alienware, cares about fan noise and having a warm palmrest. Some think Secure Boot is a good idea. I wouldn't consider them to fall into the enthusiast category, but they're out there. This probably rarely applies to most M18x owners, as we often value performance at the expense of almost everything else. Otherwise, a less expensive but adequate gaming option would have been purchased. In the case of the die-hard performance enthusiasts, some of the things that are valued by average users represent an impediment to awesomeness.

 

A 390W PSU for the 18 should suffice. Another 60W will even allow John to go crazy. He posted that his overclocking requires at least 340W for dual 780M's, and a 390W PSU is definitely doable for Alienware.

Either way, I'd like to see a larger PSU and the resurrection of the previous 12-cell battery. Good idea!

 

Not quite... even the stock 330W is adequate for gaming and casual overclockers, but 390W would not be enough for serious overclocking. With creative workarounds like we have been using since 680M was introduced, you would end up tripping the AC adapter almost immediately, exactly the same as what happens with a 330W. It would offer minimal benefit to have a 390W AC adapter. I am easily pulling 480-490W with my dual AC adapter mod with 680M SLI, and that is without having everything maxed out completely. If I set ThrottleStop power limits higher on the M18x R2 with 680M SLI it quickly draws more than 500W. I would say that John needs a bit more than 500W... probably closer to 600W, for 780M SLI for extreme overclocking without having to actively manipulate CPU clock speeds during benching.

Just the 3920XM CPU alone pulls 250W at 4.7GHz. I am now kind of amazed that the 240W AC adapter has ever worked for the M17xR3/R4 with an XM CPU installed. I am guessing that is why Alienware stopped offering the XM on that model. I did not understand why until now.

 

I didn't realize they draw so much power. That's news for me. I've always assumed Alienware's PSU's accounted for extra wattage. But considering those numbers, the PSU that comes with the 18 is nothing.

However, as much as I would like to see a larger PSU, the 18 is still a laptop and portability must be a deciding factor in all of this. I highly doubt customers would be wanting to lug around two PSU's bundled together - I know I wouldn't.

 

Neither would I. It's too much clutter in the backpack for one thing. I just hate tangled cords, LOL. I would never be lugging this setup out on the road because that would be way too cumbersome. But, plugged in next to my 10K BTU cooler it's awesome for overclocked benching. It serves no other purpose and it doesn't need to be portable for that. It appears they are not going to give us a big monster AC adapter, so this will do fine for what I want it to do. It's certainly a cool extreme novelty as well.

 

At beyond 330W maybe the cooling on the ac adapter itself becomes a problem. Maybe it will need active cooling like the PSU for desktop.

Oh wait there are quite a few fanless PSU that's about 500W, but those have huge heatsinks inside them, and the metal box is full of holes for ventilation.

 

Did you ever do a DIY writeup for your setup?

 

Not yet. I am making a few minor changes (not electrical) to the setup involving the box the extra stuff is housed in. I may post something this weekend, time permitting. It is very simple and does not require elaborate tools or special mechanical skills.

@kh90123 - it actually runs cooler than one 330W AC adapter because the load is divided between two and neither of them are maxed out on their output.

 

What I meant was a single high wattage ac adapter, for example one that's 500W. But then it should be cooler too, since it won't be under 500W load all the time. If it's maxed out at 500W all the time then only the cooling will become a concern.

 

Running the graphics cards up near desktop loads remember those cards draw 225W each.....

 

Yeah, 500W definitely would not be enough for 780M SLI. I'm drawing just shy of 500W with 680M SLI and XM CPU overclocked already (498W is the most I have seen so far). At 4.7GHz with a 3920XM the M18x is drawing 250W under load with a ThrottleStop 32M test and wPrime 32M. So, 600W or greater is definitely appropriate.

 

That is one write up that I can't wait for.

 

Yeah, dual 780Ms combined with the notorious haswell = power draw city.

 

Great conversation in here. I wanted to let you know that like others have said, if you don't ask Dell might not know there is a need. Even "shot down" ideas have potential to get implemented later down the line.

 

Great to see you taking such a proactive interest. Can you also check out of 'customisable fan control' idea storm. AW really needs this too?

 

Are you kidding, the Alienware fans from NBR are awesome at sharing their ideas. I am aware of the fan control idea and have commented on it. Francisco_s from the Alienware team also commented on it but did not advise me to change the status to "Under Review". After reading the comment again, I'll have to check with him because it sounds like I should have changed it. I'm going to try and pop in here more often, perhaps I can convince more of you to post ideas.

 

With the fan control you could have a hierarchy, a base fan control speed for a certain temperature that gets applied no matter what to save over temp and then a user programmable one if they want it more aggressive or maybe a touch quieter at idle.

 

the mind of the overclocker...



exclusive at alienware

 

As not a m18x owner, I have interest in this project.... because I am a x51 owner and use the same psu as you guys.

I think if dell (or anyone else) made a box that you could just plug 2 psus into, then it outputs to a single plug that would be great. That would allow people who dont want to lug around 2 psus to option to unplug one and bring it with.

I would love to be able to run dual 330s for my x51 so I can bump that gpu a few steps up.

 

Would love the option to either get bigger PSU or Adapter to allow you to plug two PSU into the unit which ever would be cheaper. so when on the go can use one PSU and when running at home can have it running dual PSU so come on Dell listen to the users and get us official adapter

 

Did you promote the idea @ Ideastorm?

 

yes and setup 2nd vote to make sure there is a new vote in place since the old one might be expired already

Idea Storm

and will try and bring it up with the engineering team at dell again