Alienware M17 (NOT the x) R1 - Best settings on .29 BIOS

I'm putting this out there as I'm curious on what others are running (setting-wise) for their M17 hardware.

If you can provide your Hardware (specifically the CPU, RAM and GPU specs) along with a breakdown of your BIOS settings on the .29 BIOS ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ystems/443656-29-bios-alienware-machines.html) that could help others determine what settings tend to make the most of their hardware.

For me specifically, I'm running:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9300
RAM: 4GB Corsair DDR3 1066MHz (thinking of trying 8GB 1333MHz if the board will even take it)
GPU: Dual Mobility Radeon HD3870's on CrossfireX
SDD: 1x 60GB OCZ Vertex 2 (obviously configured on AHCI) for Windows 7 x64 Ultimate & critical applications
HDD: 750GB Seagate Momentus (7200rpm, 16MB Cache)

I've literally only just flashed the .29 BIOS, so I haven't gone through all the lovely new options yet (hence why I'm putting this post up)

So, what are you running and what have you set?

 

i'm using kizwan's version of the .29

the only thing to know is i'm runing at 1.05v on my cpu the rest of the options i modified are not availible in simple .29

 

Mine is W840_029 zFactor VT Mod R2 (complete with Alienware branding)

Is Kizwan's version any better?

 

that is kizwan's one with like 5 sub menu unlocked in the advanced section

long story short zfactor began a project and RL got in the way so a year and some later i requested a mod from kizwan wich completed the project

well almost the last part of the project for Zfactor was to rewrite the fan module completly to give us control over the fan speed but he never got around

 

I use a WMI solution (written myself in Delphi) to custom RAMP the fans. The amount of noise by default is just appalling on the M17... my utility regulates it perfectly to not exceed 65 C under any circumstance, but keep the fan speeds as low as possible to achieve that.

Unless I'm gaming on it, it's rare for the fans to spool up loud enough to be annoying (though I suppose that comparison is somewhat subjective)

 

could you updload it? i would like to give it a try

no the m17 is quiet for a laptop of this power

but i changed to many thing to list them all i think i posted my update when i was experimenting i'll digg them

 

I sure will do... I'd like to modify it a bit before I do, though, to provide a few extra options. My intent is to replace the Alienware Control software (which I find annoying) and provide software control over low-level stuff on the M17 system itself.

I'm wondering since we're basically on the same BIOS and using the same CPU if you could give me your BIOS settings... as I'm having performance issues (such as the CPU's Windows Experience Index registering a puny 5.1 now, where it SHOULD be 7.2 to 7.6)

Oh, and I'm adding some special optimization tweaks to my utility for Windows 7 on SSDs

 

wich control software the command center?

 

Yeah, that's what it was called (I haven't got it installed any more due to it being a royal pain in the )

 

my qx score 7.1 i haven't gotten it higher unless oced

chequing my setting

 

Still, 7.1 is a lot better than I'm getting! Even with the Multiplier at 10x I'm still only getting WEI for the CPU and RAM of 6.8 (the two seem to constantly scale together whenever I change settings)

It WAS 7.1 or 7.2 before I flashed the .29 BIOS (so when I was on stock), so this seems insane to me!

Also, if your BIOS is newer than mine, would you be able to provide me a link? I'd rather be on the bleeding-edge with more/better options open to me! I can't even find a menu on this one in which to change the VCore!

 

you need to use the intel XTU to change the voltage

ok basicaly what i changed is i enabeles ASPM every where and i enabeled all the sleep state of the cpu

i also enabeled dynamic FSB but i don't think it bring anything whit the QX

 

Intel XTU won't install at all, just so you know!

However... based on your advice Re BIOS settings, I have got mine to register a 7.2 WEI score again (without OC) thanks for that!

 

IXTU_V131820.zip

there you go this is the version for the m17


from what you are saying i think that you were sufering from the quadcore issue and enabeling all these powersaver feature got you a loose 2-3 wats somewhere flush to keep your cpu from stuttering

did you have any issue when playing music

 

Just done 3 hours of gaming.... no stutter what-so-ever!

 

have you had this problem in the past? stuttering?

 

Yes, it was very common.
The only problem I still have (and have always had though it has certainly been getting more common the last few months) is that, whenever I load a game... there's 50/50 odds that the screen will go black and the machine itself lock up (no response from mouse/keyboard inputs, not even numlock/capslock lights).

I flashed the BIOS in the faint hope that it might address that issue, but sadly it hasn't. That said, on the majority of occasions where the game loads successfully, it certainly runs much better, and the temperatures never seem to climb nearly as high (thus the fans don't spin up nearly as much).

In terms of performance, well... I can't really say if this BIOS flash has made much of an impact, since at the same time as flashing the BIOS I've installed an OCZ Vertex 2 SSD with a fresh Windows 7 x64 Ultimate installation. Clearly this has made a MASSIVE performance difference, making it impossible to know for sure if the BIOS update has made so much as a dent by comparrison.

 

no the bios should not have a this important impact i'd say 2-5% is the most if you tweak it to hell

you have 3870 in cfx your crash issue is related 11.7 have been rumored to lessen the issue i think it's in an other topic arround you can find it

 

I'm running the latest ATi drivers and whatever it is they call Catalyst on there (fresh install, newest drivers) and the issue remains. 3 full crashes today (granted, that's not SO many as I've had before).

I have my suspicions that the Slave card is damaged (most likely from overheat caused by the moronic way Alienware assembled the machine, using those stupid adhesive "thermal pads" rather than REAL thermal compound).
I swear, when I cracked the machine open and took out the heatsyncs/pipes, I was flabbergasted at what I saw! Never in my life have I seen such blatant disregard to the longevity of a hardware device. Thermal pads everywhere, loose fitting heatsyncs... even misalignment of the slave card's heatpipe cover (the aluminium plate which attaches the copper pipe contact to the chip).

Of course, I tried getting Alienware to honour the 3 year warranty I bought for this gigantic expense, but - of course - I had about as much luck as I've had at convincing Bill Gates to give me all his money!

The Alienware is the very last prebuilt laptop I've bought... from now on it's Barebone rigs all the way!

And, of course, I can't find a compatible Crossfire pair of 4870's (or above) so I'm basically trapped between a rock and an alien planet!

 

4850m are the best you can get for it

280m could to if you get the bios for the m17 unlocked

the thermal pads are suposed to be on the gpu memory chip and on the north bridge they need to be highly conductive 1mm thick if you replace these part with paste the heat won,t be evacuated properly from there the machine is made to have pads there
the dies gpus and cpu need to be pasted

the pads alienware provided are fine for the job until you have one occurence of overheating and then they cook


the catalyst number of the driver is quite important cause from one to the other new issues pop other deseapear and some even mutate

 

can I get a Crossfire pair of 4850's for it, though... and if I do, would they even perform as well as the 3870's (given the 4850 is a budget card by comparison)?

They had thermal pads where they needed thermal grease (CPU & GPUs)! There was basically no thermal grease used on the entire system... just pads! This of course also meant that the heatsyncs weren't sitting flush on the chips as well, causing greater overheat issues.

As per the Radeon drivers, they are literally the latest built as downloaded YESTERDAY from the AMD website.

 

hahahaha don't worrie about it 1 4850 depending on the luck can be betwen 80% to 100% the power of dual 3870 so 2x 4850 are in an other world

4850 is no a budget card it's the most powerfull mxm2.1 card eve made

 

Well, what I find disturbing is that Alienware (by that time absorbed into Dell) offered to sell me an upgrade to dual 4870's (when I complained that my GPUs were radically overheating, and having argued for WEEKS that it's a HARDWARE issue, not a software one). From what you're telling me, the M17R1 won't take dual 4870's at all?

 

there are no 4870 that are built on the right format for the m17-r1 the actual 4850 were originaly ment to be 4870 an old member got his hands on an es at the time but finaly alienware turned them in 4850 to prevent competing against thier own m17x

but if you realy wan 4870 you can get the 4850 and flash thier clock that's what i did

 

I flashed the same bios but can't find AHCI mode anywhere - can you let me know how you managed to switch it on? I've tried a couple other bioses but nothing...

Thanks very much in advance.