BIOS modding for GPU OC fun and profit!!

Looks like my display GPU is history.. Formatted c drive and tried installing windows same bands all during the installation.. And crashes with blue screen.. I am so so sad.. What do I do???? Buy another laptop when did not want to invest so money again

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I don't have a copy of that one anymore. It would be no problem to re-make it, but if I'm remaking it anyway, I could OC it to whatever you want. Is 810/970 what you want, or would you like something slightly different?

 

Thanks for asking, seeker_moc, but I think that`s perfect for me. I don`t remember how high it will go before overheating becomes a problem, but for my 2 year old lappy I think 810/970 is just fine..

 

Seeker, this is some great stuff here. To say "thanks a million" just doesn't seem enough.

I am hoping to find 1645 A13.5L that is referenced back on the first page of this thread. I've looked through the other 99 pages hoping to find another link, if there was one I've missed it.

In any case, my desire is to be able to enable VT-d on this laptop.

The laptop is:
DMI: Dell Inc. Studio XPS 1645/0Y517R, BIOS A13 04/01/2011
The processor is:
CPU0: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 820 @ 1.73GHz stepping 05

Is there some way I might be able to acquire a BIOS to unlock that feature? I'm not looking to overclock anything, not sure if that makes things easier or not...

Again, thanks..
-Rick

 

1645_A13W2_4670_810_970.zip

 

1645_A13L2_noOC.zip

Here you go. There is an option to enable VT-D in the modded BIOS, but I don't know of a way to confirm whether or not it does anything. Please let us know if this works for you.

 

Any chance of re-uploading the 1645 A13.5L 5730 840 1055 bios from the first post? Thanks in advance.

PS. Thanks for your service. Welcome back.

 

No problem, this is the one I use personally, so I always have a copy available.

1645_A13L2_5730_840_1055.zip

 

Dell Studio XPS 1645/1647 schematic:-
Dell Studio XPS 1645/1647 schematic, Quanta RM5 circuit diagram

The schematic show SXPS 1645/1647 have PLL/clock generator SLG8SP585. For overclocking, NBR user MotoVlad already figured out how to overclock with this PLL:-
http://forum.notebookreview.com/8340012-post1198.html

To overclock, it will require pinmod. However, PLL/clock generator on Dell computer usually not readable. You can test this using RW-Everything >> click PLL/Clock Generator icon. If RW-Everything produced error or only show 00s, it means PLL/Clock Generator is not readable which also means the pinmod solution also not going to help.

For VT-d, you can see my experiment on it over here.

 

Thanks.
Tried RW-everything 1.4, clicked Clock Generator:

Code:

SMBus return error, clock generator may stop response

So there's absolutely no way to OC my XPS1645?

edit: same with v1.5.2

 

Unfortunately, yeah. The only way to overclock if upgrade to extreme edition processor, e.g. i7-920XM. The modded BIOS have "Extreme Edition" menu, IIRC, which allow you to set custom multiplier when four or three or two or one core(s) active.

 

is the first BIOS..the non-OC 13.5 BIOS for the Dell XPS 1645 with ATI 4670 or the 5730?

 

yes

10char

 

My gpu and cpu temperature is about 100° in games without any modding at the BIOS. I have the A9 BIOS and the Dell XPS 1645 with ATI 4670, so what should i do? Sorry for my bad English!
Is the Laptop cooler with the non-OC A13.5 BIOS?

 

Possibly. However, with temps that high you might want to try other things.

Make sure you're playing with the laptop on a hard, flat surface. Putting it on a soft surface, like a bed, couch, or your lap will block the fan intakes and increase temps.

Take off the bottom plate of your laptop and check to see if the fan intakes are clogged with dust restricting airflow. If so, spray them and the heatsink/fan clean with compressed air. Also consider removing the fan intake filters. They don't do much good, but really restrict airflow.

If you're still having temp problems, try upgrading the thermal paste to something like AS5 or G-571. That should drop the temp by a few degrees.

As a last resort, you can try buying a laptop cooler with a fan, or even calling Dell and complaining about it (assuming you're still under warranty).

 

thanks for the fast answer! I have my Dell XPS 1645 for 2,5 years now..so no warranty. Since the first day, the temperatures are so high! When i play with the Laptop, its on a wooden table, that should be good enough, or not? Every 6 months, i clean the fan, but this was always without any positiv effects.

So..yeah i could try to upgrade the thermal paste.

Sometimes, when i play a game..the temperature of the gpu reaches 105° and then the gpu throttles down..i hate that..

I will try the A13.5 BIOS now..i hope, all things goes right =)

 

1) The dust is not in the fan but in the part between the coolingfins and the fan-unit. Remove the bottom, remove the tape that they put over it and turn the fan unit upwards. I took out so much dust my laptop was lighter after I removed it.

2) XPS on a wooden table is better than on a cloth, but I put it on stand so the fan can suck in more air.

3) Due to design failure, the LCD will block the output-vent of the fan. This way the XPS will always get warmer than it should with the LCD up. Using an external screen will help considerably. (I don't game with LCD up).

4) If all of the above doesn't help, the only thing left to do is replace the stock paste with AS5 or similar.

 

Hi guys! I can't play games anymore since 1 year... Could just tell me plz which link i sould use? Here is my config: STUDIO XPS 16 (N00X1603), Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8600 (2,4 GHz, 3 Mo, 1 066 MHz), 512MB ATI RADEON HD 3670. It tells me: 'New BIOS part number doesn't match system BIOS part number. Error code: -120'... when i try to use the both link above.
Thank you in advance for your help!

 

Read carefully what bios is in the thread don't try to flash without reading the whole first Page, you don't want to render your laptop useless

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Bioses here are for the XPS 1645 with 4670 or 5730 ati cards. They also have i7's. Not P8600/ati 3670

 

You have a 1640, this thread is for 1645 and 1647. I tried modding the 1640 BIOS, but wasn't able to get it to work correctly. Sorry.

If by "can't play games anymore" you mean your laptop is too slow, then remember that the 3670 GPU is now over 4 years old, and laptop GPUs are relatively slow to begin with. If you want to play the newest games, you're going to need a new laptop/computer. A little overclocking isn't going to make a 3670 fast.

 

Ok thanks for the answer.

 

Can you make me a 1645, ATI 5730 800/1000, i'd appreciate it. Also is it normal for my computer to log out, and once it logs out, the screen stays black but my computer is still on? till I push the power button

 

When I flash a new BIOS and restart it will go black but stay on until I push the button, but I've never seen that during a normal shutdown. I'll make it for you, but I probably won't be able to get to it until tomorrow.

 

ok thats fine, Thank you seeker

 

Hey everyone,
Just stumbled upon this thread a little while ago while looking to do some h4x on my old laptop, everything here is awesome! Just a couple questions for you guys though:
1. I flashed a modified A13 BIOS on my 1645 w/ a 4670. Everything went swimmingly. However, after messing around with some hyperthreading settings (I only want 4 threads on 4 cores, not 8) now CPU-Z reads my processor as only have 1 core. I tried a reset in the BIOS and it's still 1 core. Anyone else get this?

EDIT: After messing around some more I got it back to 4 cores. Just wondering if anyone else has ever seen this though?

2. Seeker, I know you're a busy man and also I thank you for your service. However, scrolling through these couple hundred pages to try and find relevant information and working links is quite the hassle. If you could find the time to update the OP with everything you got I'm sure we would all appreciate it!

3. Also, some kind of undervolting of either the CPU or GPU would be AWESOME! I don't really care about this thing too much anymore so I'll do anything to get these temps down!

That is all for now, although I don't think I'll leave this thread any time soon, there's a lot of cool stuff here!

 

You can undervolt the GPU with these bioses

 

Great! Now how would one go about doing that?

 

The GPU undervolting would be hard-coded into the modded BIOS. You have to tell me what voltages you want and I'll make the BIOS. The only problem is that there's no way to test the voltages out before flashing the BIOS, so it is at your own risk. Every time you would want to adjust the voltages would require a new modded BIOS and a reflash. See the first post for the default voltages at each clock speed. I can change each of those voltages individually.

AFAIK, CPU undervolting is not possible on the mobile Core processors.

 

OK sounds good, how bout this:

4670

250 350 0.83
325 350 0.85
325 550 0.87
400 400 0.9
450 600 0.9
300 700 1.0
500 800 1.1
750 900 1.1

Does that make any sense at all? If I'm going for a mild undervolt? Also, if those voltages aren't stable, how would I be able to flash back to a stable BIOS? Any recommendations are appreciated!

EDIT: Actually, since I know almost nothing about voltages, could I trouble you to come up with some mild undervolt you think would be stable, while also bumping up those lower clocks a bit? (Use the above as reference, you'll see what I was going for). Thanks!

 

1645_A13W2_5730_800_1000.zip

 

I would say that there is very little reason to overclock anything but the highest clocks, because if the system thinks it needs more power, it will switch to the next highest clocks anyways. I would also recommend against undervolting the max clocks if you are also overclocking them. If you're overclocking to game, your top interest is probably more about max performance/stability than a slight power saving. Would you be willing to try something like this:

220 300 0.83
300 300 0.84
300 500 0.85
300 400 0.9
450 600 0.95
300 750 1
400 800 1.1
750 900 1.2

If it works well, we could always try lowering the voltages slightly more or combining a slight overclock/undervolt.

If the voltage is too low to be stable for Windows, they should still be high enough to boot to a DOS environment and re-flash from there. That is, as long as you take it slow in dropping the voltage. If you dropped too low in one shot it might be so low that even DOS wouldn't be stable, in which case you'd be bricked with no easy way to fix it (CMOS or motherboard replacement).

 

Everything you said makes sense, let's go for it!

 

I thought about undervolting but realized it'll probably make 1c and 1min difference.

 

Yeah that might be the case, I'm not afraid to try it out though. Any progress seeker?

 

I'm having trouble getting it to work. There is not enough room in the video BIOS to add voltages with more numbers than there was before (ie changing 1 to 0.9). We'll have to keep things simple. I ended up getting this to work:

220 300 0.8
300 300 0.8
300 400 1 (couldn't lower it more because it would add extra digits)
300 500 0.9
450 600 1
300 800 1.1
400 800 1.1
750 900 1.2

1645_A13W2_4670_papasmurf.zip

 

Well that kind of sucks. Oh well, thanks a lot for trying this for me, I'll flash it later tonight.

 

OK, flashed and booted up, everything stable so far and GPU-Z is confirming the undervolt. Not sure it'll do much as DuranXL said, but it's good to know it's there!

 

So going into the bios to change the fan trip points doesn't work. Like many in this thread have tried. So my question is can you change the the fan values in the bios file, then flash it, so they stick?

 

Now that I know this is stable, could I try and push it even more? Let me know if you think these would work:

220 300 0.7
300 300 0.8
300 400 1
300 500 0.9
450 600 1
300 750 1
400 750 1
700 850 1.1

 

No, I don't think so. I'm pretty sure the fan is controlled by the laptop's embedded controller, totally bypassing the BIOS. You'd have to hack the embedded controller.

 

They should. I wouldn't go lower than 0.7 though. As always, flashing this is at your own risk.

1645_A13W2_4670_papasmurf2.zip

 

Awesome, this one works great too. I think this will conclude my undervolting venture, thanks for everything seeker!

 

I've bought now de Arctic MX-2 on ebay..so how many degrees should the notebook be cooler than now, when i correctly upgrade the paste?
The sense of this question is, that i can compare the result with the new paste and i can be safe, that i've upgrade the paste correctly(and have not done too much paste on it or whatever)

 

It does not matter by a large degree, don't over or under do it.

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yeah its clear, that the paste can't cool it down at 70 degrees
but i've always about 100 degrees at the gpu and cpu so temperatures about 90 degrees would be enought..would that be possible with the Arctic Cooling MX-2? Or does it only cool it to 99 degrees or something like that

 

You might lose five degrees or so. It's rarely a night and day difference. When I repasted, I only dropped by about three degrees.

 

i've upgraded my paste with the mx-2..and now the temps are at 80 degrees!!!! In idle, the temps are nor at 50-55 degrees, so about 5-10 degrees lower than bevor the upgrade. The reason was, that dell was to stingy with the paste and the paste was very dry..is this normal? I love my Dell XPS 1645 now Why have i do this not earlier

After one hour with Prime 95, the cpu-temp is on 72/73 degrees!!!(the cores..the cpu itself has 60 degrees)
Bevor i upgraded the paste, the cpu-temp was on 102 degrees(and this after 5minutes!)(cores and cpu)

 

seeker,

Which BIOS should I use that contains the Linux DSDT fixes? I have a 1645 with the 5730 card. I don't need any overclocking, so standard clock speeds are fine.

I'm having issues with my purchased copy of Lion while trying to do a Hackintosh install, and want to have any fixes you've performed. The fan always stays on high in Lion 10.7.4, and was hoping these DSDT fixes would alleviate it.

Is there a more detailed list of things you fixed for Linux DSDT? Thanks!

 

1645_A13L2_noOC.zip

I'll get back to you later with a comprehensive list of fixes. It's been so long I'd have to re-do it again to remember all the things I changed, and I don't have time this morning.