***NEW*** Prema Mod Alienware 15. 15 R2 / 17 R2 and R3 Performance vBIOS

Please don't post any of my mod versions. Those links never die and old versions will float around forever without me being able to fix bugs.

THX!

 

Good point.. I repacked it to only have the stock restore. My bad.

 

very true.

 

hey prema. is there any guide of how extract the original bios after you save it with GPU-Z? sorry for asking I'M new to this thing!

 

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@mrfox could you tell what was the overclock on that 970m in the 3dmark sample performance?

 

I'm not sure. It's not my benchmark. It was someone that was helping @Prema with vBIOS testing.

If you look at the section for graphics card it shows Core clock 1,084 MHz, Memory bus clock 1,453 MHz. If the GPU was not loaded enough to get pushed into full boost mode, the core clock reading may not accurately reflect the core overclock, but the memory should be right.

 

Can i expect a boost in performance(a very slight one) if i use the modified vbios without oc on stock clocks?(kinda noob question but yeah i am curious )
or is it just to unlock the overclock potential of the gpu?
and help me with this if possible : http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-15-color-banding.782739/

 

Yes it'll also improve performance even when only used at stock clocks...as the system will not be able to throttle the card.

 

Thanks for your response. BTW you said on your site that evga precision x is the reason why the screens were getting bricked , is MSI afterburner safe ?

 

EVGA PRECISION X is one of the things that can trigger the LCD brick (but it should only be possible on systems without Optimus). The underlying problem is with the NVIDIA driver.

MSI Afterburner has no voltage control, I would suggest to use the good old NVIDIA Inspector.

 

Do driver crashes signify that i need to overvolt ? or is it an overclock protection mechanism in the driver ... i crashed on an oc of 170 on core and 270 on mem(instantly on launching firestrike)... Temps are well below 70 even .. peak with 150 on core and 250 on mem is 67. And how do you decide on an overvolt factor?
And what is the temperature i should aim for if i plan to use this laptop for 2-3 years

 

I was just about to ask the same question, ha ha!

Although I am getting display driver stopped responding when core is +100 and memory at +0.
This is with Ultra Street Fighter IV which I think is pretty sensitive, because I can go to +135 core and +250 memory in other games without any issues, except for an occasional driver error.

What is considered a safe overvolt for long term daily use? I'm pretty sure +25mV is safe, cause Nvidia will let you do that without an unlocked vBIOS.

 

The chip won't have a problem with highest overvolt (1.2v).
The limit will be the PSU and cooling capacity. Whatever you can keep below 92c will be ok for benching.
For daily OV maybe use something like 1.125v if you can keep it fueled and cooled.

 

can i use ur mod vbios with aw17 r3?

 

That's great, cheers thanks!

 

It's another version...but I made one for it, too...click my signature

 

This is fantastic! I'm getting more hope for this laptop lol. What would you recommend as far as overclocking the GPU? I have a 980m and 4710HQ. I was playing around on inspector with a +160mhz base clock and +160mhz on memory, but to be honest I don't really know what this gpu can handle safely /:

 

i have +130Mhz and +300Mhz respectively without increasing the voltage. maybe you have the 180W addapter and this is your problem. I have both (180W and 240W) if i try to overlock the gpu with 180W adapter, the performance is the same as the gpu didnt have no overlocking.

 

dell just changed my mobo(because of w10 audio issues/spikes) was wondering if i had to do the process again? or is there a way to check if i am still using this?

EDIT: so i did it again and it went successfully, hopefully nothing will go wrong lol

 

BTW I did notice there is no shader clock adjustment... when did it die(last system i overclocked was my 8800gtx) and how much gains can you expect from GPU memory OC?(because to me they are barely noticeable in games)

 

Thanks to Prema for his 980m mod! I've just recently flashed to your vbios, and despite just using my 980m on stock clocks, my firestrike scored have consistently gone up by a bit.
As a reference, I'm using an AW15 R1
i7 4720HQ +Gtx 980m +240w ac +A06Bios
Stock Vbios firestrike scores : 8200~ish
on Prema Vbios, I consistently get 8400-8500 on stock clocks: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/9221815

On a side note, it seems that I always get an "nvidia adapter has stopped working" every time I run firetrike with
an OC of jsut +160 on both core and memory (with +12.5mV) using Nvidia Inspector.. I wonder if I should be raising the Voltage even more? I've seen other folks on this thread OC to higher core and memory speeds and not have firestrike crash.

 

I have uploaded GTX970M Prema Mod for AW 15 R2/ AW 17 R3.

ENJOY!

 

Thank you Prema! Hope my stock vbios helped

 

Hey guys! @Prema has some fresh vBIOS mods ready to go... in addition to 970M and 980M he also has 965M now.

I will update the opening post and the thread title to include the new models.

AW 15 & AW 17 R2 vBIOS: https://biosmods.wordpress.com/aw1x-r2/

AW 15 R 2 & 17 AW R 3 vBIOS: https://biosmods.wordpress.com/aw1x-r3/

 

Thanks Prema. Everything worked perfectly and was able to improve my benchmark score and graphics score by about 1000.

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/6456528

 

I have the exact same issue. I finally just settled on 100 on the core and 200 memory.

 

Hey Sluggz, did you use any overvolt with your OC of 100core and 200mem? I was thinking maybe the 12.5mV I used was a tad low..

edit: just tried the same settings, with a 25mV overvolt and I got roughly the same score.
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/9244179
I suppose I'll settle with these numbers or something similar

 

No I haven't messed with overvolt. Nvidia inspector doesn't seem to like running on my computer. It gives me a bsod about 50 percent of the time

Also I bought my girlfriend the exact same set up as you. Did you have any issues running firestrike? Everytime i try on hers the program only runs on the dead center of her screen with large black borders. Do you have the 4k screen ?

 

mhm...flashed your bios today and Firestrike went from 8300 to 10090 My 980m is able to run at 1450mhz Nice work. But throttling is not disabled on my card. After 1 and a half roun valley Bench my Card throttle to 5xxmhz when it reaches 75 degrees... Is there any solution?

 

Your Firestrike went from 8300 to 10090 with stock clocks?

 

No with heavy OC to 1450mhz

 

Hey Sluggz, regarding your question, I don't have any of your mentioned problems when I run firestrike(just the basic version).
The screen I have on my AW15 R1 is a Samsung 1080p FHD panel, the one with 300nits.

The only issues I have when running firestrike come up occasionally when I increase the clock speeds of my GPU by 200mhz+ via Inspector,
firestrike will occasionally crash and give me an "Nvidia display adapter has stopped working and has recovered"error.
I think with Prema's mod, you should be able to adjust the voltage slider in Nvidia Inspector. If it's any help, I didn't install my inpector in my C: Drive, I just put it somewhere in my D: drive where i have my other games.

I also used Unigine Heaven set to ultra quality + normal tesselation+8xAA and it runs fine, at around 49-75 fps ave (although at one point int he middle of benchmarking it slowed down for a split second, dropped to 15fps, then came back up.)

edit: tried it this time with +155 on core and +180 on mem with a +.25mV, and its running stable and giving me firestrike scores just about the Occulus PC spec
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/9244382

 

Wow nice. I'll give that a try when I get home

 

Today i testet the 980m with your mod bios again. This time with GTA 5 and a oc of 1375mhz and +25mv. IT runs perfect until the gpu reach 76degrees. It stayed at 75degree for a while but once IT reach 76 it throttle like hell. Do you have an idea for a solution prema? Laptop is an aw17 r3 with 980m and 6820hk

 

Your system BIOS interfering and/or PSU too small...

 

Mhm...and There is noch Chance to increase the Temperature Limit? I thought the Limit with your mod bios is 91 degree...Mhm... the 980m in My aw17 r2 was able to reach more than 80 degrees.

 

The vBIOS temp is already 92c...as I said your system BIOS is the problem.

 

Well here is something new. Just got my new 27inch 2560x1440 144hz monitor today. Hooked it up and played battlefield at 120hz on the same resolution and my gpu throttled the **** out. Went from consistent 75-80 fps to 20s 30s with gpu throttling down to 30 percent usage. Max temp was 76. This happened about every 10 minutes and lasted about a minute at a time. Anyone have any experience with this? It is super disappointing. Also I have the alienware 17r2 4710hq gtx 980m
Edit 1: It doesn't seem to matter if im running on ultra, high, or even medium settings. Nor does overclocking matter. Still consistently throttles

 

Sounds like it's power throttling.

 

Ich have the Same problem. 76 or 77 degree and throttling like hell. Even without oc.

 

I downloaded a new nvidia driver update and ran the optimize tool in geforce experience on 2560x1440 and it optimize all settings to low almost. Guess the 980m just isn't powerful enough to run 2k screens on higher settings

 

OK, it looks like this new "76c utilization throttle" was introduced by newer driver...use a driver older than 356.02 and it should be gone...

 

Are you talking about the nvidia driver ? I am looking at past drivers for the 980m and there isnt a 356.02

 

Yeah its not an officially published version...just try an older driver...something like 353.00

 

I gave 355.98 a try and played a full game and it's definately better. I can run on high without any throttling. Ultra throttles a little but not nearly as a bad or as consistent. I also notice that my temp is consistently 72. Not sure if this is merely coincidence but the older driver seems to work better then the new one

 

Thank you Prema, just started playing around, 9700+ in Firestrike, 1500 points better than stock.

6820hk/980m

 

Alright I actually cant get rid of the gpu throttling. Can you possibly tell me how to go flash back to my original bios for troubleshooting sake?

 

Amazing vBios! My 970m went from a stock 7700 graphics score on Firestrike 1080p to 10,200! Putting me ahead of a stock 980m!

 

We need to see the firestrike URL I dont believe it! Did you overclock after the custom vbios? Also did you update your system bios to A03?

 

Sure when I get home i'll run it again, keep in mind i'm referencing GRAPHICS score.. not Overall score. Nobody should be referencing overall anyways, as this includes your CPU score in the average.