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    4940MX Undervolt. (Alienware 18)

    Discussion in 'Alienware 18 and M18x' started by Raja786, Dec 17, 2017.

  1. Raja786

    Raja786 Notebook Consultant

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    Hi guys ive recently purchased some upgrades for my AW18 (4940mx, 2x GTX 980m’s.)

    I’ve read that the 4940mx runs very hot at stock so was wondering if any one can help me with using XTU or Throttlestop to undervolt the cpu. Watched a few tutorials on utube and read a few posts on here regarding overclocking/undervolting but still am confused. Can someone who has undervolted the 4940mx give me a picture or something of their settings in either one of the above programs. Just worried with the dual 980m’s it’s going to get hot in there so want to undervolt to extent the life of my components.

    All replies appreciated in advance.
     
  2. TheDantee

    TheDantee Notebook Evangelist

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    My 980Ms with liquid metal paste never pass 60C under Load.... Are yours really hot?

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  3. Raja786

    Raja786 Notebook Consultant

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    I’ve not installed them yet. Waiting on the heatsinks yet (coming from Canada). But from what I read they supposed to be hot in the AW18, so planning ahead for when I install. Isn’t using a liquid based paste dangerous especially on a GPU? I have CLU but wasn’t going to use because of the risks so was going to use Diamond 7 as this has good reviews. I won’t be overclocking the cpu or gpu just using at stock. What vbios you using for the cards pal? I’ve got dells 980m bios on my desktop ready to install when the cards come.
     
  4. TheDantee

    TheDantee Notebook Evangelist

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    Premas vbios overclocked 100MHz on Core and 400 on mem.... It's thermal paste.... I don't think it's bad at all been running for a month fine. I used thermal grizzly solution

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  5. Raja786

    Raja786 Notebook Consultant

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    Is dells bios for AW18 980m’s good as I want to stay at stock?
     
  6. TheDantee

    TheDantee Notebook Evangelist

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    I see very little difference between prema and Dell vbios except with prema I can OC the core 100MHz

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  7. Raja786

    Raja786 Notebook Consultant

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    Cool. So do you undervolt your cpu or leave at stock?
     
  8. TheDantee

    TheDantee Notebook Evangelist

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    4.6GHz at 1.375V

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  9. TheDantee

    TheDantee Notebook Evangelist

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    Gaming 75 80C benchmarks well over 100C so I need to do a cooling mod with my cooler master U3 Plus.... But I think I'm reaching power limits from the 330W PSU... 4.8GHz and it should be a stock 7700k....

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  10. Raja786

    Raja786 Notebook Consultant

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    Wow those clock speeds are insane. Well I think I’ll leave mine at stock. If I need the extra horsepower I know it’s there. I also have the same cooling stand as you. Works wonders.
     
  11. TheDantee

    TheDantee Notebook Evangelist

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    Stock fans? On the cooler

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  12. Raja786

    Raja786 Notebook Consultant

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    Yes


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  13. TheDantee

    TheDantee Notebook Evangelist

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    No the stock fans literally suck on this cooler... drop a degree or 2, I'm looking at pushing lots more air like this you can see @Mr. Fox Images of his few U3 Plus Cooler mods here - https://imgur.com/a/iZ192 https://imgur.com/a/7RmEM or https://imgur.com/a/IGq3C or another guide here - http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/another-coolermaster-u3-bottom-tray-mod.789298/ this will raise airflow and become an actual laptop cooler. I'm hoping I can keep temps down and see if I can push my CPU further with this mod, however I do think the issue is the limitation of the PSU.
     
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  14. Raja786

    Raja786 Notebook Consultant

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    Wow Mr. Fox went Rambo on that cooler.
    I might just take a fan off a car radiator and cut a hole in middle of my computer desk and put it there. Can use it to cool laptop as well as indoor skydiving


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  15. TheDantee

    TheDantee Notebook Evangelist

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    Well the mod works by using the fan hub as u plug the fans in there and then the molex connector to the fan controller is powered by a seperate molex PSU... So idk if a car fan would work

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  16. Raja786

    Raja786 Notebook Consultant

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    Mr. Fox works wonders. I think I should be good as I’m keeping everything stock and with the cooling stand should be ok.


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  17. TheDantee

    TheDantee Notebook Evangelist

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    Yes if your not overclocking not really a need to mod the cooler

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  18. Raja786

    Raja786 Notebook Consultant

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    Did you install cards your self? If so is it hard to do. I know there’s a few videos on utube for disassembly.


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  19. TheDantee

    TheDantee Notebook Evangelist

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    No they came stock but yes very easy to open when I installed ram and cpu as well as did the repasted on gpus

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  20. Raja786

    Raja786 Notebook Consultant

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    Ok thanks for all your help


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  21. TheDantee

    TheDantee Notebook Evangelist

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    Not a problem

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