Alienware Desktop Owner's Benchmark Thread

Now that we finally have a sub-forum for Alienware desktop owners, having a benchmark thread only seems appropriate. Some of our friends may want to compare their results with home-built desktops. This is fine, but the thread is primarily intended for Alienware desktop owners.

You guys know the drill... BENCH!

 

Cinebench R15

 

CINEBENCH 11.5

 

Geekbench Benchmark


http://browser.primatelabs.com/geekbench3/1673774

Single-Core Score : 3742

Multi-Core Score : 21806

 

Very nice! Thanks for posting those excellent runs, bro.

 

Tnx buddy!

 

FYI - this should work nice for the new Area 51. It works nice with my 4930K, but probably supports more overclocking features with the X99 platform. Being able to change between four CPU overclock profiles on the fly is might nice. I am sure unclewebb would appreciate some of you guys testing and providing feedback in the ThrottleStop thread here or at Tech|Inferno, or both. See first video below.

Thanks @unclewebb for being so awesome.

 

Area 51 X99 has trouble not being able to save BIOS settings (verified it myself on microcenter) such as c-states and whatnot.


About Tstop, wouldn't overclocking from the BIOS alone be better?

 

Yes and no. I'll explain the no part. If you haven't used ThrottleStop and all of its features before, I can see where you would ask that question. BIOS overclocking is fine. On systems it supports, ThrottleStop copies what your BIOS is set to on first launch and save those as default settings. From there, you can set three overclock profiles for lower values and adjust the multipliers and power settings accordingly. With my 3920XM I can even set values higher that what was manually set in the BIOS, but on some systems you can only adjust downward and need to start with the max overclock settings in the BIOS. If you ever need to change the defaults, simply delete the INI file and re-launch ThrottleStop.

The way I use it, I set my max overclock in the BIOS, then use ThrottleStop in Windows to create three additional overclock profiles (with voltage and watts settings, power limits, etc.) for different clock speeds other than my max overclock. I can flip between them using keyboard combos, like SHIFT+CTRL+1, 2, 3 and 4. That's very convenient and does not require stopping to change BIOS settings. If you look at the videos I posted you can see an example of what I am referring to.

@unclewebb just introduced support for desktop CPUs with 6 and 8 cores, so I am sure he would appreciate testers to let him know how it works and provide feedback if there are any bugs that need to be tweaked.

I have used ThrottleStop for years with my mobile CPUs and I am very excited I have partial support for the 4930K in my Clevo. It works great, but voltage is not adjustable. It is still very useful anyway. Starting with my max overclock set in the BIOS, lowering multipliers also lowers voltage automatically, so I'm not missing too much. Voltage control may be supported on the newer desktop chipsets.

 

Awesome! I'll check it out later. Looks like you can test it out as well Mr. Fox, with your six-core laptop.

4k tv and Titan X incoming, I'll be running more benches soon.

 

Yes, I already have and like it a LOT. I've always been a diehard ThrottleStop fan, and I am very happy it works well with my 4930K. The only thing it is missing is voltage control, but I've worked around that. I think it may have greater support with your Area-51 R2 chipset and CPU. I look forward to seeing your results.

 

I decided to bench my X51 with an R9 285. I was only able to do 3Dmark and Heaven. The results? Well...
Heaven: Avg FPS: 45.9. Score was upper 1100
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4882301
http://www.3dmark.com/sd/3057075
http://www.3dmark.com/cg/2770128 (Ignore the CPU score. Cloud gate and Ice storm really screw up in those areas).
Surprisingly, the computer never crashed. But the R9 285 thermal throttled. It hit 99 C and stayed like that, causing the GPU to drop ~100 MHz. Safe to say the fan design on my R9 285 is not fitting for the X51 but is for my GA. As a result, the Fire Strike Score was underwhelming and so was the Heaven score to the point where my i7-5500u + R9 285 (2.0 x4) either beat the score or tied with it. Sky Diver and Cloud Gate's Graphics Score show the improvement from 2.0x4 to 3.0x16 (well, mostly).
It's still a great improvement from the GTX 660, though.
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4829117
http://www.3dmark.com/cg/2755898
http://www.3dmark.com/sd/3041485
(Note: Turbo Boost never went off during these benchings, and I have no idea why. However, they did go off after a restart/reboot).

 

fox, i saw your videos: they are full of precise informations,and your eurocom is a beast !

 

Just a couple of benches to see where my Titan X stands

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/9908958

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/7254183?

 

Push it further
Here's mine (marginally better)
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/7149519

 

Looks like he already did push it harder... look at this side-by-side. Your score is marginally higher with substantially lower CPU and GPU clocks.

http://www.3dmark.com/compare/fs/5031625/fs/4954783

I am going to take a wild guess here and attribute the better performance to the ASUSTeK X99-Deluxe motherboard being superior to the Alienware motherboard.

 

I just posted this in another thread but thought it might help here.

I have an Area 51-R2 with a 5820k running 4.5Ghz in 45/45/45/45/45/45. So I dunno whats wrong with overclocking? I get no thermal, current or power limit throttling of any kinda at all. Max temp I get is 69c. I can get more out of it but this does me on a day to day basis.

The Bios is actually almost indentical to MSI's bios (being an MSI motherboard I am not suprised)

I have 2x 980's in SLI both overclocked again. 1400 core / 7250mem
Ram I have some cruical ballistic running at 2400mhz 4x4Gb (not overclocked as the gains to con's ratio is to small)

The only isses I have noticed so far are:
1. In Bios you can't set core voltage at all it simply will not post. Work around for now is using voltage offset in + mode and adding 270mv. averages me out just under 1.3 volts.

2. In Bios you must set level 2 overclock then edit the offset value and multipliers or it wont increase the current, also you can't edit the current at all, but if you set Level 2 overclock in bios first it well set current to 1023a (as reported in XTU)

3. Whatever you set in XTU will be completly forgotten once you restart. It will revert to whatever the BIOS is currently set to.- I recommend you set level 2 overclock in bios. Then use XTU to find you best settings then translate them into bios and test again.

4. Alienwares overclocking tool in AWCC is completely useless in fact to be honest its worse than useless they should just remove it and let XTU do the work. Just set it to off and forget it exists

My bios does save what I can change. I have changed turbo boost power/turbo duration/current/Mulitpliers/offset

Any questions feel free to ask.

CinebenchR15
44/44/42/42/42/42: 1158 (Settings through BIOS)
45/45/45/45/45/45: 1285 (Settings through XTU)

 

@gschneider - from what you are describing, it almost sounds like Alienware did something to gimp the beast, which is true to form with how they are doing everything else. It's sad what they are doing, but you might be able to circumvent their crippling efforts.

Have you tried ThrottleStop to implement the settings? @unclewebb has done an amazing job of rebuilding it to work with desktop CPUs and I think it might solve your voltage adjustment issue. Apply the settings you want with XTU that the BIOS doesn't allow you to implement. When you launch ThrottleStop for the first time it should "adopt" those settings. Use them for Profile 1, then set three other profiles for lower overclocks. You may also be able to set the voltage using ThrottleStop directly, and then create a Windows Task to run ThrottleStop at Windows logon. Watch the video for more info.

[parsehtml]<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KRUfmPvaOzI?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>[/parsehtml]

 

As soon as I read your post on this I was already downloading it! Thats my day off for tomorrow sorted lol. I shall report back.

 

@Mr. Fox So I have had a brief play with throttle stop, I followed your video exactly.

1st time round crashed my system after doing a TSBench.

Upon a restart with throttle stop on it simply forgets all my settings and goes back to what the BIOS was originally set to. (Checked in XTU) When I open ThrottleStop it does remember my settings (I did what you said and set my highest possible speeds, well for what I know so far).

I have managed to find another potential annoyance the system no matter what I do will not let the cpu cache go above 35x, seriously if you set 36x with no matter what other settings you try it simply crashes

Looks like you are right I need to make throttleStop open with Windows and load my settings. At least then I won't have to use Dynamic offset in bios and I can just use voltage through windows and at least I am booting the system in factory defaults rather than posting with a dynamic voltage overclock :/

I got a score in TSbench of like 4.702. 12 threads at 4.5ghz

I noticed my multiplier jumps around all the time, unless the system is under load it won't stay fixed at 4.5Ghz. I noticed yours in the video doesn't move at all? How can I make mine do this?
Thanks for your help

 

His TitanX SC boosts at max 1250mhz, mine is clocked at 1480 constant and can go beyond 250w tdp limit (up to 450w).

I'm not sure on the CPU one, I have intel speedstep/eist disabled and thus don't have boost (constant 4.2/1.168vcore), while ssj's turbo freq is enabled (3.3-4.5)

What volts are you running on that 5820K? Can you pass IBT on "very high" @10 pass?

 

My Titan X's max clock was 1478Mhz in the tests. I'm running dual channel instead of quad channel memory which is causing a lower physics score as well. This was a 10 minute bench session, i'll push it even further later.

 

Out of curiosity, what vcore you need to use with 4.5?

 

Hiya, to hit a stable 4.5ghz I am running 1.3v. if I set in the bios I have to use offset of 270mv.

Your gonna have to help me whats IBT? If you explain I shall test and get it done today for you. I'm day off so all good

 

IntelBurnTest - detects OC instability faster than prime95
Set it on "very high" with 10 times test, monitor temps.

 

Mobius 1, I shall eat my wheatabix drink my tea and then I shall be on it for you.

 

1.308v , although I've seen it peak to 1.323v in CPU-Z.

 

that's a lot for a single 120mm to handle
temps?

 

On full load (wPrime):

Average temperature: 75C
Peak Measured Temperature: 82C

When I benchmark I normally do 4.6-4.7Ghz so when I actually dedicate some time to getting a better score I'll probably do 4.7ghz, although going quad channel would help a decide bit in my physics score.

I really just want to get rid of the area-51 r2 altogether and build one from the ground up. ASUS Rampage Extreme V or ASRock Professional X99.

Well, 4.7Ghz looks impossible during this summer weather.

Here's 4.6Ghz

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/9923643

 

ssj92 what settings did you use to hit 4.6? I am in the same boat as you as well I want to get my own system I can build from the ground up

Mobius I tested IBT with 44/44/42/42/42/42 and an offset of +131mv it will pass at very high 10 times.
At all cores on 45 at offset of +270mv or even voltage in xtu at 1.3v it simply hangs every time about 5 seconds into the test. I I guess I need to do some more playing to get it working

 

I have 46/46/46/46/46/46 @ +375mV offset
or I do my 24/7 45/45/45/45/45/45 @ +250mV offset.

I leave every other setting intact. Oh I also have spread spectrum off as well.

 

Okay I will give that a go now. Are you setting that in BIOS or XTU.

I know this is stupid but what is spectrum?

Have you tried the intel burn test?

 

I do all of my overclocking in the bios, the spread spectrum is EMI related.

I pass burn test no problem.

 

You can use the asus x99m-ws to replace the motherboard


I'm having trouble pushing beyond 1.168v (+168) on my 120mm aurora r4 cooler, I'll repaste to see if I can increase stability.

 

@ssj92 - thought you might be interested in this, since it used to be your beast.
I cannot take any credit for it, since all of the work was done by @residualvoltage. (He also has his Alienware 18 rocking 2400MHz RAM, LOL.) All I did was flash it... very grateful for his sweat equity.


My Panther is sandwiched all nice and cozy right between two overclocked desktops with Titan GPUs.
Comparison Result: 3DMark 11 Extreme - Titan vs 980M SLI vs Titan

 

Congrats Mr.Fox I knew we could do it Awesome and epic!! Cheers brother Fox

 

So only Micro ATX boards would work? No regular ATX support? It's not worth it to do that, looks like you'd loose the AlienFX lighting and everything.

I miss my beast.

Nice score.

 

cass-ole on dell forums ( http://en.community.dell.com/members/cass_2d00_ole) would probably have better info on alienfx retained on 3rd party mobo, but he says asus boards have excellent track record of keeping alienfx on your system.

afaik the motherboard is only matx, not sure if dell altered the mounting holes or dimension, but from a glance it seems like a normal one: http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=43654663232 (here is link to area 51 r2 motherboard for sale)


the easiest way to retain alienfx from what he says is to drop in your motherboard (3rd party) to an alienware system and install windows, then remove and replace with original alienware mobo. once you have booted to windows (normally, ignore any errors) wait for 5 minutes on desktop and install the alienfx program, don't launch it when the install finishes, but immediately shut down and swap your motherboard (again)

if you boot up alienfx should be working


(in theory)

 

That seems like a lot unknowns, I think I will just build a system I am happy with

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=251988281277

Better be quick if you want it. Accepts atx mobos.


X99 Deluxe in Area 51: http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/t/19611899

 

Thanks Mobius1 I think I am going to go hardcore though Go all out and beat my credit card to death lol.

 

That is a really clever build and looks really nice. I have a thing for the NZXT case's so I am going to go that way probably far easier as well

 

After a little dust cleaning and reinstalling the OS, I have new scores for my AMD X51. And they're better than before.
(Benchmarks deleted since I'm going to use new drivers.)
Will be benching with the GTX 960 once the new driver releases (because it's going to happen soon).

 

GTX 960 benchmarks.
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/10030091
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/5344293
http://www.3dmark.com/sd/3180863
Not too bad, but GPU-Z reported a voltage reliability cap. It might be due to the moderate overclock the GTX 960 has.
Will bench the R9 285 again with the newest drivers.

 

dump the 960 bios here and I'll tweak it

 

I saved it, but this forum won't let me upload it.

 

try mega.co.nz

 

... I ended up using Google Drive.

 

GTX 960 BIOS MOD

Core: 1278.5mhz
Mem: 3505mhz
Boost: disabled
Volt: 1.331v (or whatever the max is)
TDP: 500w
Power Target: 300-475w
PCI cable power draw: 250w each
PCI slot power draw: 82w
Temp target: 90-95c
Fanspeed: 725rpm-60c / 1650rpm-75c / 3800-80c

If you are stuck on P0 and max voltage at idle, use "multi display power saver" with nvidia inspector (right click "overclock" button)

https://mega.co.nz/#!voJUWZLS!a4RWQ3cDjzsVOe1SqbykwBYGlVEXzi7zW-QugwosIwI


TDP sets a hard stop for the card power consumption and Power Target softly throttles the card if it goes over the target.

 

Now R9 285 benches, which won't be deleted this time.
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/10042002
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/5377979 (Top score for my configuration)
http://www.3dmark.com/sd/3188555 Top score for my configuration)
It ran without problems too.

I'll get to testing this late next week. Doing some testing with the GTX 960, and since I've been using the EVGA BIOS for the whole time, I have to stick with it until I'm done testing.