L502X modded bioses download (GPU voltages and more!)

ah, well, that would fix the issue by extending the cables.

however it would be a little ugly with that ammount of adapters/extenders.

I think one of the best ways would be doing something like this guy, wich designed a cute way to connect the Egpu with an external connector without the need of having the laptop hatch opened.



however I dont see a way of doing this in our l502x ^^

 

Ehm... And external GPU and power supply aren't ugly?
I think that eGPU just CAN'T look good so I won't try to do it elegantly - it should WORK and it's all I need
But maybe there is way to make new hole in laptop and get all needed cables from motherboard by this slot - but you're better in thinking about this

 

well, the external gpu + power suply can be put inside a box like many people does ^^

it would be like just connect your laptop with the hdmi connection to a big box

here you can see some examples:

http://img860.imageshack.us/img860/262/egpu3.jpg
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5022/5674281409_b550d207d7.jpg
http://image.noelshack.com/fichiers/2012/06/1328789586-egpu3.jpg
http://www.techarena.it/forum/attac...83885829429_805309428_8367931_765078894_n.jpg

 

Tested booting from caddy today. Doesn't work. I tried to change SATA settings (default settings: disc detected as external and no fixed drive, changed some options and detected as fixed) but no effect. Seems like it's problem with caddy or controller for me. There is error with autotest when trying to boot anything.

 

well, like I said, boot from the caddy doesnt work, you would need to add a loader at the other disk or something like that to be able to boot from the caddy, you can also maybe add a usb or cdrom loader to boot from the caddy, but no direct way from bios for the moment.

 

capitankasar Is there a way to make a 0,87 or 0,89v bios mod?

 

@mate175

well, I think I saw a 0.87v version somewhere at the first post ^^

 

Oh. haha, thanks. But I see that a user reported issues with this mod. D: Have you tested it? Is it working well?

 

Oh yes, I forgot. Capitankasar, is there a way to make the 0.87v and 0.90v without the advanced version? That advanced version makes me a little bit scared.

 

It's possible, but Advanced Version gives just additional options in BIOS menu and these options are after header saying that they're unlocked so you don't need to use them.

 

@Mate175

yeah, the advanced version is just like a improved version, is add many fixes and updates not present at the original bios, also unlock the menus

for that reason I was about to remove the normal versions with just voltage mods, they make the whole post bigger and no one uses them now, but well, since I didnt added anything new from a while, I decided to keep the post as it is `^

well, as for the voltages, I didnt tested it, I am very happy with 0.85v/0.85v for the 525m, I found it the most stable one for me.

 

@Capitankassar, I tried to overclock the memories (1600) but the system wasn't stable. Have you overclocked the memory or the processor? And what clock are you using for your 525m? (Mine: 760/1520/1100 [0.85v/0.85v] Stable. )

 

@Mate175

yeah, I overclocked the whole system.

cpu + ram + intel gpu + nvidia gpu

i oced the cpu over 100 mhz over it stock frecuencies, ram is running now on 1400 mhz , before it was running on 1333 mhz

instructions about how to OC the whole system are at the first topic, however they need some electronic mods.

about the nvidia gpu, 701/1402/900

nice OC you have there

 

@capitankasar Something really strange is happening here. The bios 0.85v/0.85v (Non-advanced version) was fine here (760/1520/1100) very stable. I flashed to 0.85v/0.85v, (advanced version) and it was unstable. I flashed it again, for the non-advanced, 0.85/0.85v, and I is unstable now. D: Do you know why?

 

mmm, well, your clocks are really high, how did you ensured they are "stable"?

they may get stable on benchmarks and some apps like ati tool or OCCT but they crash more often in certain games, I have mine that low because it work fine for most games, I can play some games on higher clocks, but it is unstable for some others.

ensure you flashed the correct version and try lowering your clocks a little to see if that helps

 

Well, I tried to lower my settings. With Modern Warfare 2, the game crashes with 30 min. of gameplay. Nothing more, nothing less. 30 minutes. For me this is not normal, I was playing the game for two hours with 1520/760/1100, without problems. I tried almost all the bios mods for the gt525m, all crashed.

 

try leave the memory clock on default and see if it keep crashing

 

@capitankasar I left the memory on default clock yesterday. I played CoD for ~ 2 hours, without problems. I tried to play today, 3 minutes and I got a crash. ):

 

Dota 2 was stabe at 1520/760/1100. 3 hours playing, without problem.

 

try lower the clock a little too, however since we are on summer, the temps may get increasing the unstability of the system, when temps increased I had to lower the BCLK OC of my system since it crashed two times at this week.

 

Just installed the gt540m 0.83/0.85 V bios and they seem to be doing well! PC temps are down and Batman AA no longer crashes. Previously I was able to run the game without crashing at 572/800 (graphics/memory) with the standard A12 bios, and now I'm able to run at the default 672/900 with the custom bios. My warranty is expiring on Thursday, so trying to work out any final kinks before I no longer get support from Dell. :\

 

I lowered the clocks to 1480/740/900, which is the stable for most of us. Anyway, the game still crashes, like Dead space 2. They have the same problem, I think. Mortal Kombat was fine for ~3 hours with 1560/780/1100.

 

Capitan (or others), have you possibly kept track of what people have reported as stable OC settings for the different BIOS mods? I'd just like to know what a safe OC point is for the card in the event I want to do so. I suppose I could test a bunch of settings myself, but easier if they already were given somewhere in the thread.

Worst case I can look back through the thread and try to find some others with my BIOS.

 

@Mate175

dead space games is the perfect example of games wich doesnt handle OC very well, while playing dead space 1 , 2 and 3 I had to completly disable the OC from GPU and CPU, else the game crashes so badly.

OC works fine for most of other games, but dead space doenst like it for some reason :/


like I said, not all games can handle OC properly.


@Vegetothe1st
glad to know your system is running better with the custom bios

about the stable settings, well, they are different for people, not all cards handle OC the same way, thats why it would be pointless to make a list of stable settings.

there are no other way to check what is stable for you by just test and more test.

you can see many 540m users doesnt have issues with the stock voltages, while others have to underclock or undervolt them to keep away from crashes.

seems heat issue is also very important while keeping the card away from crashing.

thats why many people here tweaked the cooling system of their machines, repaste and dust filter removal are the most common ones and the ones with better results, I heard there are also some unnoficial fan replacement wich perform better than stock fan.

 

Thanks for your help Capitan! I'll just leave it at factory settings for now and OC later if its stable.

One configuration I saw was an OC of about 100 Mhz on NeoMesal's machine:

Dell L502x XPS 15
i7-2630QM @ 2.0GHz Base | GT-540M 2GB @ 770 (1560) 926 / 0.85V
8GB 1300MHz DDR3 RAM | B+RGLED FHD | 120GB Intel 320 SSD + 640GB 7200rpm HDD (ODD Caddy)
Repasted, GPU Overclocked and Undervolted | Fan Mesh Removed

I'm assuming that is a 770 Mhz graphics clock and a 926 MHz memory clock. What's up with the 1560 in parantheses? I believe I read somewhere in the thread that you overclocked your machine by about 100 MHz as well, but both of you have also removed the dust filters and repasted. Does doing this significantly affect the heat output?

 

I'd modify my last post, but apparently a moderator needs to approve it... does NotebookReview use bots to check on posts or does a person actually go through and approve every message?

EDIT: Yet this post got put up immediatly, hmm.

Anyway, I also disabled Turbo Boost by setting my max processor usage to 99% on battery and plugged in, and I noticed an immediate drop in temperature of the processors by ~10 C. I want to say the cores run at ~70-80 under load now, though I might be wrong. Not on the computer at the moment. Can standard usage of the computer actually take advantage of Turbo Boost or is it more for high end things like rendering? Just wondering if I should leave it disabled.

The graphics card runs at about 85-90 C under full load from what I can tell. Using the standard A12 BIOS, this was up to ~95 C under full load.

 

Hey guys. Its been a while since I've been here. My faithful L502x working great. However I want to upgrade the memory to 8gb kit. Recommendations? I bought corsair brand sometime ago and it wasnt compatible. Had to return it. Any recommendations appreciated. Preferably from amazon.

 

@Vegetothe1st


the (1560) is the shader clock, wich automatically raises while to turn up the core, both core clock and shaderclock sliders are linked in msi afterburner and probably in all other OC software.

about the turboboost, well, it is related the cpu cores clock, when it is on, the cpu can reach higher clock speeds, that is usefull if you have some CPU demanding games.

so, basically:

* if the games or apps u have run smoth but u have temp issues, turn it off.

* if the games or apps run slow or choppy, turn it on.

the temperature of GPU and CPU is relationated since they share the same heatsink.

heat is an issue at this laptop, it have high performance, but it is somewhere limited by the heat , for example when the CPU detect temps over 90º it underclocks automatically, I noticed that on my i3 and I had to take appart the unit to clean the dust and keep the temperature on aceptable levels and keep also the performance.

@kukka

mmm, I am using some kingston ones, two modules of 4 gb each rated at 1333, 8 gb total, no issues yet, and the memory is OCed to 1400 from 1333 ^^

 

Why it wasn't compatible? Maybe it was desktop version?

Hmm... Seems that I destroyed end of ribbon that connects power and touch buttons it got white at end (gold lines lost). Can I cut part of it?
Other interesting thing: my bios seems to be locked - when trying to enter setup it property displays text that I clicked f2 but goes to boot sequence. And boot from hdd disappeared (both ssd and hdd are visible on test screen at start). I made reset (dismounted bios battery) and when it said: RTC error selected enter to bios - and just black screen.

 

@capitankasar I don't know what more I can do. I played Dota 2 with 1520/760/1100, for 3 hours and is was stable. Tried to play Dota 2 today, with 10 minutes it crashed. D: Another question. If I enable 1600Mhz in the bios for the memories, will it affect the stability?

 

Yes it will. Probably won't start - most Sandy Bridge only works with 1333.

 

Oh, thanks! @agalin lol, another question! Msi Afterburner or EVGA Precision 2.1.2? Is there a difference between them?

 

Probably not. You can check which one uses less ram
I prefer nvidia performance driver.

 

Haha, thanks! I just want to know why I got so many random crashes here. ):

 

@agalin

yeah, you can cut a little the rubon, but make sure it the cut is perfectly done, all gold lines must be aligned at the end, I did on mine after some of the gold lines got broken, hopefully only half of the line got broken so I was able to recover the functionality by cutting at the point it got broken and and after the cut all the lines got perfectly aligned.

however, after that I dont open my laptop that much as before, because the ribon will broke faster if I keep pluggin and unplugging it.

about the bios issue, did you took appart the unit before u got those errors?

if not, try using my recovery cdrom and repair the BIOS

if it works fine then you can switch back to the modded one.

@Mate175

well, as for the memory option, I cant turn the memory rated at 1333 at the bios to 1600 or higher, it basically doenst support it and the bios know it.

I made a little of BCLK overclocking wich overclock a little the whole system, CPU , RAM, intel GPU ...

if your ram is 1600, then yes, you can change it, and also is recomended you change it to take advantage of the ram ^^

mmm, that is weird, crashing some days and some others not.

are you playing on diferent locations? (temperature or highly load electronic locations?)

not sure what is happening.

oh, and I personally preffer MSI afterburner, but some users.


mmmI just remember someone said changing an option in MSI afterburner stoped the crashes for him, I think it was something related with "Power Limit" or "constant voltage"
idk, I dont have that option on my MSI afterburner version

 

@capitankasar Nope, playing at the same place, always. I'll install the EVGA Precision and see what happens.

 

I know recovery cd but it's last option
I successfully changed hdd to ssd and installed windows in Uefi (hmm... iPhone dictionary changed this word into Jedi ) mode and it normally worked. Then tried to install win7 in Uefi, changed Sata from ahci to ata, booted into USB and now no hdd boot option visible nor enter setup working.

 

It kept crashing the laptop. Any recommendations on what to get? Max speed supported by this laptop? Does it support up to 8gb alone?

 

Some pages ago I asked about 2x8gb and got two answers with working configuration.

Capitankasar I dismounted that ribbon after first opening palm rest - stupid human that uses Dell manual
After first time I said never more but touch buttons started to turn light off time to time (but all time working) and tried to fix this... So now I can't power on PC ;D

 

@mate175

did it crashed on the same daytime? I mean for example it could be higher temperature during day ,cooler temps at night.

yeah, try EVGA preccision first, but unistall or disable MSI first, having both apps working at the same time will create issues.

@agalin

mmm, not sure what is happening, never hapened to me, it may be related with some hardware part, but that isnt normal, I would say the BIOS is screwed somewhere, I would do a reflash or a BIOS repair by using the cdrom image from the first post.

edit:

to turn on the machine you can bridge the pins from the motherboard ribon connector with a scredrivers, but that is the last resource. it is recomended to fix the ribbon or get a new one


@kukka

I saw people using up to 16 Gb at this laptop by using 2 x 8gb sticks, 1600 work without issues, the modded bios also let select 1866, however not sure if someone tested that option with 1866 mhz ram modules and a compatible CPU, so if you want to ensure it works, I would go for two 8 Gb 1600 mhz modules to get 16 gb at 1600 mhz

if you keep getting crashes, I would try:

* repaste and remove dust filters if you didnt yet
* GPU drivers reinstall or update to newer versions and check "correct installation option"
* update intel drivers to the latest
* try different voltage bioses.

dont know what else to try :/

 

@capitankasar The constant voltage option in Msi Afterburner was disabled here. I tried to use Evga Precision, but it crashed with 30 seconds. :/ Oh, random time to crash, both night and day.

 

@Mate175

try enable the constant voltage option at MSI after burner, and at the nvidia control panel, go to 3d settings, global settings, and set max performance prefered

 

Think it's worth having Dell replace the motherboard a last time before the warranty expires? Maybe I could get the tech to clean the fans and apply a decent thermal paste while he is in there?

Edit: Well they're shipping the MOBO anyway, so I'll go ahead and do it. Any idea how much thermal paste is used with a single application? I'll need to go to the store and buy some...

Edit2: I'm thinking I'll pick up some Arctic Silver 5, that seems to be a commonly referenced thermal paste. Hopefully the tech has some experience doing this.

 

@Vegetothe1st


you can try, however I personally wouldn't trust anyone to touch my machine ^^

 

I'll be right there watching him, so it should be fine. I've never applied thermal paste myself, so I hardly trust myself to touch it!

Any tips or answers to my amount question above?

 

apliing thermal paste is quite easy, it is as easy as remove the old one and apply a little one in the middle of the chip, so when you place back the heatsink, it automatically extends it properly, there are a lot of guides and videos on internet.

but yeah, you can watch him if u want ^^

edit: oh, I saw your post and saw your are going to do it by yourself

you just need a little

here you have a video of how to apply thermal paste to a desktop machine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?annot...&feature=iv&src_vid=o7rPqCvCt0g&v=I3gx6c62D7I

the procedure is the same, clean the old thermal paste from the heatsink and cpu/gpu and place the new one ^^

 

Thanks!

I'll let you know how it goes. I'll try to use ArtiClean and AS5 along with the dot/pea method mentioned. I find it odd that AS recommends spreading and the general community seems to recommend the dot/pea method though...

 

Is there any possibility to get the option to disable nVidia Optimus by modding the BIOS?

I am using Linux (currently Xubuntu, maybe Mint in the future) on an L502x with i7-2720QM and GT540M, it's important for me to disable one of the cards completely.

 

Is there any possibility to get the option to disable nVidia Optimus by modding the BIOS?

sorry didn't notice the mod-review rule, so posted twice...

 

If you disable optimus you will lose video all together. The intel gpu is required for the nvidia chip to display to the screen. It uses the Intel Frame Buffer so you don't want to disable optimus. If your sick of optimus go for a laptop with an MXM video card and intel integrated in the core i7 chips.

Oh and I finally managed to pull off 1.1V on the GT540M! It shows up correctly in the P15 and it's working! 900Mhz is unreal...