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    Aw17 Lazy fans, high temps and power limit throttling?

    Discussion in '2015+ Alienware 13 / 15 / 17' started by jimjitsu, Mar 21, 2015.

  1. jimjitsu

    jimjitsu Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hey everyone,
    I recently received my aw17r2.
    I have the 4710hq, 980m and 8gb ram and running with a 330w power brick.
    I've not had chance to really start gaming on it yet, but in the small amount of gaming I have done I've noticed the Cpu temps climbing into to high 80's before the fans kick in.
    Using the firestrike benchmark the Cpu doesn't go above 70 degrees Scoring 7750 (graphics 9048, physics 8543, combined 3499).
    I've also noticed than when benchmarking the Cpu with xtu I'm scoring 640, but temps reach 90 degrees and for the majority of the test it shows 100% current limit throttling, the Cpu averages 3.3ghz throughout.
    Ambient temps are 18 - 20 degree c.
    Should I be concerned with how late the fans kick in, and why do I seem to be power limit throttling with a 330w supply?
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2015
    jimjitsu, Mar 21, 2015
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  2. Big Noob

    Big Noob Notebook Guru

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    Big Noob, Mar 21, 2015
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  3. jimjitsu

    jimjitsu Notebook Enthusiast

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    Could this be a symptom of the current limit throttling that xtu is reporting?
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2015
    jimjitsu, Mar 21, 2015
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  4. Big Noob

    Big Noob Notebook Guru

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    I don't know. I'm using a 240W AC Adaptor.
     
    Big Noob, Mar 21, 2015
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  5. ufomammut

    ufomammut Notebook Consultant

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    Same for me with the 4780hq, it starts ventilating at more than 80°C and stabilizes at 75°C under prime95. The fan are definitly not running at full power...
    I would prefer a fan profile that preserve my laptop from high temp than my ears....
     
    ufomammut, Mar 21, 2015
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  6. jimjitsu

    jimjitsu Notebook Enthusiast

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    Exactly, it's terrifying to see the temps go up but not hear the fans running!
     
    jimjitsu, Mar 21, 2015
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  7. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Current limit is a different setting to system power draw of the machine. Alienware has a habit of setting this fairly low.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Mar 21, 2015
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  8. jimjitsu

    jimjitsu Notebook Enthusiast

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    I assume this is to do with the Processor Current Limit I can see in xtu?
    Can I raise this safely? The default seems to be 85A.
     
    jimjitsu, Mar 21, 2015
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  9. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    I can never guarantee safety when setting anything non standard but the risks are pretty low ;) I think Mr. Fox usually sets 150-200 amps.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Mar 21, 2015
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  10. jimjitsu

    jimjitsu Notebook Enthusiast

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    Wow, That's quite a difference!
    I'll give it a go and keep an eye on temps.
    Thanks.
     
    jimjitsu, Mar 21, 2015
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  11. Big Noob

    Big Noob Notebook Guru

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    I just did the XTU benchmark test with my notebook and got a score of 711.
    Max temperature was 74 Celsius and thermal throttling was 0% for the entire benchmark.
    I've got AW17 R2 with 4710HQ, GTX 980M, 16 GB RAM, 256 GB SSD, 1 TB HDD, Win 8.1, 240W PSU.
     
    Big Noob, Mar 21, 2015
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  12. jimjitsu

    jimjitsu Notebook Enthusiast

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    I've just run xtu again with Processor Current Limit set to 200A. I scored 623@ 3.38Ghz, max temp 83 and 100% current limit throttling at high Cpu utilisation.
     
    jimjitsu, Mar 21, 2015
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  13. Big Noob

    Big Noob Notebook Guru

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    It shows a value for thermal throttling only.
    Where do you read current limit throttling?
     
    Big Noob, Mar 21, 2015
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  14. jimjitsu

    jimjitsu Notebook Enthusiast

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    I've selected it to be monitored, using the little spanner icon in the top right corner of the monitoring area.
     
    jimjitsu, Mar 21, 2015
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  15. Big Noob

    Big Noob Notebook Guru

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    OK I've done another run and current limit throttling was 80% for half a second.
    Besides that the value went from 14-30% for the entire benchmark.
     
    Big Noob, Mar 21, 2015
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  16. jimjitsu

    jimjitsu Notebook Enthusiast

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    Is that at the default 85A?
    I'm getting a constant 97-100% throttling throughout the benchmark. I'm getting zero thermal throttling and averaging 3.3ghz.
     
    jimjitsu, Mar 21, 2015
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  17. Big Noob

    Big Noob Notebook Guru

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    That's with everything on default settings.
    I just installed XTU and the only thing I did was to run the benchmark.
     
    Big Noob, Mar 21, 2015
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  18. Big Noob

    Big Noob Notebook Guru

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    I'm getting POWER limit throttling of 90-100% too.
    Are we talking about CURRENT limit or POWER limit?
     
    Big Noob, Mar 21, 2015
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  19. jimjitsu

    jimjitsu Notebook Enthusiast

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    Current limit.
    I get zero power limit throttling with a 330w brick and bios A00.
     
    jimjitsu, Mar 21, 2015
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  20. Big Noob

    Big Noob Notebook Guru

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    Well, then your CPU behaves differently.
    Might be normal, might not...

    I can't tell you.
     
    Big Noob, Mar 21, 2015
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  21. jimjitsu

    jimjitsu Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks for all your help Big Noob.
    What little gaming I have done so far has been flawless, apart from the fans coming on late but I've sorted that with hwinfo.
    Maybe xtu is reporting incorrectly.
     
    jimjitsu, Mar 21, 2015
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  22. Big Noob

    Big Noob Notebook Guru

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    Somebody wrote this in another Forum:
    "I have found it best to leave Windows 8.1 on Balanced power profile otherwise you can see throttling on the current in XTU if in Full power mode."
     
    Big Noob, Mar 21, 2015
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  23. jimjitsu

    jimjitsu Notebook Enthusiast

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    OK thanks, I'll try that.
    I've downloaded a profile with xtu. I now have no throttling issues.
    I now score 657 @ max 3.6Ghz, 91degrees max!
    I'll have to compare it against the default and find what was causing the throttling.
     
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2015
    jimjitsu, Mar 21, 2015
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  24. HaloGod2012

    HaloGod2012 Notebook Virtuoso

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    can anyone confirm this?
     
    HaloGod2012, Mar 21, 2015
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  25. jimjitsu

    jimjitsu Notebook Enthusiast

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    I've tried balanced power in win 8.1, with the default profile in xtu and it's still throttling.
     
    jimjitsu, Mar 22, 2015
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  26. ufomammut

    ufomammut Notebook Consultant

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    For me fans starts only during the second test in 3Dmark 11 making the CPU reaching 96°C on core 1 (4980). Once fans kick in the temperature drop down. Crazy fans profile....
     
    ufomammut, Mar 22, 2015
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  27. jimjitsu

    jimjitsu Notebook Enthusiast

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    The fans seem to take forever from starting up to getting to full speed.
    I'm using hwinfo now to bring the fans on full at 70 degrees.
     
    jimjitsu, Mar 22, 2015
    #27
  28. Eldaren513

    Eldaren513 Notebook Enthusiast

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    How did you get HWinfo fan control to work on the 17r2? I click on the fan button and nothing happens. I even updated to the beta and still no luck.
     
    Eldaren513, Mar 22, 2015
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  29. jimjitsu

    jimjitsu Notebook Enthusiast

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    UnCheck EC support and check SW SMI. I found it works best if you disable the EC sensor monitoring too.
     
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2015
    jimjitsu, Mar 22, 2015
    #29
  30. Eldaren513

    Eldaren513 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Awesome, thanks!
     
    Eldaren513, Mar 22, 2015
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  31. giangy.della

    giangy.della Notebook Geek

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    Is it possible to manually modify when and how fan starts?
     
    giangy.della, Mar 23, 2015
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  32. jimjitsu

    jimjitsu Notebook Enthusiast

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    jimjitsu, Mar 23, 2015
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