Compiled list of my near 1Ghz Overclock on my i5 + GPU overclock

Thought i'd post this here since its a complete list of what I did and in what order. Rather than doing a search for each guide they are all grouped together.

Before Starting this thread I would like to give Credit to UncleWeb and DavyGT for their hard work in developing the software that has enabled me to do this. Also thanks to the creators of SetPLL and the modded Creative Drivers.

I’ve been playing with my Alienware M11X R2 over the weekend to try and get the most out of it. I’ve had great success. So I thought I’d post my results and links to what I did so owners of the same or similar laptop’s can try their luck.

Here are the factory Specs.
CPU ULV i5 @ 133BLK. 4 Threads 12x Multi, 2 Threads Multi 14x Max 1862MHz (Temp Idle 42C, Load 64C)
GPU Core 450Mhz | Shader 1080 | Memory 790.

My Specs
CPU ULV i5 @ 197BLK. 4 Threads 12x Multi, 2 Threads Multi 14x Max 2758MHz (Temp Idle 45C, Load 68C)
GPU Core 590Mhz | Shader 1500 | Memory 900Mhz.

Quite a jump. In games its gone from 17FPS on the Witcher 2 in the starting camp to 27FPS. This is the difference between Playable and not. Temps are fine never getting anywhere near the danger levels of 85C on CPU or GPU.

What I did.

Step 1.Flash the Bios so the GPU voltage goes from 0.90 to 0.95V. This makes a nice little difference and can get you around 40Mhz on the core and around the same on the shaders. I use EVGA Precision for OCing and DavyGT’s modded Bios. Guide found here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...5m-nvidia-bios-flashing-increase-voltage.html

Step 2.Right click on the desktop and go to the Onboard Intel Graphics card and go to power management section and set the Power Plan to Maximum Battery Life. This is a very important step since the Intel GPU is connected to the CPU. With this set to Balanced I could only get 170BLK, with it set to Max Battery I could get 197BLK.

Step 3.Stock the RAM runs at 6-6-6-15 (I think) which is pretty fast and this is usually what hampers overclocking rather than the voltage or quality of the i5 Processor. What I did next was set higher timings of 7-7-7-20. This will give you more overclocking head room as the RAM clocks with the CPU. To do this purchase (Or install a 32Bit OS and use an earlier version) Thaiphoon Burner http://www.softnology.biz/download.html.
If you purchase the proper version (Like I did) make sure to boot using F8 to allow unsigned drivers.
You can now follow this guide: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/576475-how-update-spd.html

I use the settings in the First post as they are slightly slower then the DDR3/7 settings which you can select from the drop down box in the edit section. I did try them but my OC was limited to 172BLK.


Step 4.I then used a program called SetPLL which can alter the systems BLK from within the Windows Environment. Use this guide
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-use-setpll-overclock-your-r2-over-166-a.html

A few observations about SETPLL.
I’ve been playing with this over the weekend and I’ve noticed a few things. With 2GB and 1 stick I can get 197BLK fully stable. With 2x 2GB I can only get 191BLK. So if you are purchasing new RAM it may be worth leaving one module blank and using just one 4GB stick.

When you have set your timings with Thiaphoon, if I then reboot and try and set a high BLK the PC will crash. I know 191BLK is stable but if I tweek or change my timings and try and jump from 166 to 191 the PC will freeze. So first boot after you change your timings work your way up. What i’ve done is created a folder on the desktop with lots of different BLK speeds short cutted (You get these off the screen shot on the first page). I.e. 133, 172, 180, 188, 191, 194

So i’ll go from 166 (Bios OC) to 172, then to 180, 188 and finally 191. This works and the PC is stable. I can then reboot and the 191BLK will work first time. I can’t explain why this happens? You may find you can actually OC further than you think.

Another strange thing i’ve noticed is you can’t jump from 191 to 133 without it crashing. If i’m leaving the laptop downloading i’ll usually downclock to save power and heat. There are two options to do this. Shut the lid thus putting the laptop to sleep. When the laptop wakes it’ll be set back to the bios setting (166 in my case). You can now jump down to 133 from there. The other long winded process is jumping from 191 to 180 to 170 to 133 using set PLL.


Step 5.For some reason in Windows 7 when overclocking your system using this method can make your games run out of sync like they are in turbo mode. So go to the start menu. Type CMD. When the Command Window opens type in “ bcdedit /set useplatformclock true” (Without the Quotation Marks). This will solve the Turbo problem.

Step 6.Install ThrottleStop. This will stop the chip from throttling and help keep it at the maximum turbo levels. This program makes a HUGE HUGE difference. Use this guide: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/524257-how-supercharge-m11x-core-i5-i7-um-cpus.html

Step 7.Now you have all the software you need to stability test your system using your favourite Stability Tester. I used IntelBurn Test and the maximum RAM I could for 30+ runs. Monitor your temps as you don’t want your CPU to get into the high 70’s early 80’s as this is dangerous. If your testing for a long period of time I suggest putting the laptop on 4 bottle tops to raise it off the surface to allow for more air flow while testing.

Optional Step 8.You can also install modded Creative X-FI drivers on the M11X. This will give you bonus features like 3D surround Via headphones and the other Creative Suite bonuses. Info Here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/578226-getting-best-out-our-sound.html

Here is a pic of my results. I have yet to run a Final 3DMark06 run but the gains are around 1700points (Low 7k’s to Nearly 9k) You may say this is a poor result but for an 11” gaming net book which plays games at 1360x768 its perfectly fine. The new £900+ R3 gets low 9k’s so for my £500 machine to get only a few points less and next to no difference in game this is a phenomenal result. The main difference is CPU dependant games are now fluid and we get a nice FPS boost due to the GPU overclock. This is all achieved with only a 0.05V increase to the GPU and zero voltage increase to the CPU.



Good luck if your trying this yourself.

 

Its great to have a complete list of everything we need to get the most out of our m11xs.
Thankyou and + rep.

 

Thanks
Yeah there are quite a few different steps but its not to tricky to do. Was thinking of zipping all the latest drivers and modding tools together an uploading them to a file hosting website. That way people can get them all down in one go.

 

Great guide Mardon. This should help a lot of folks get the most out of these little magic boxes. One question though, what makes you think temperatures around 80 is dangerous? my m11x i7 R2 regularly hits these temperatures and higher without issues and this is with just a mild overclock. I plan on doing a tear down to apply some after market thermal paste before shooting for your speeds though

 

nice guide, i was the tester for the GPU Vmod, if there wasnt a tester (me) there wouldnt be a finished mod.
the m11x isnt a netbook either, a netbook is a small computer that has the power to surf the web and not much more. the m11x is more like an ultraportable gaming laptop =D
there is also settings in the nvidia control panel that you can tweak to get more fps and an even better 3dm06 score, also turning off a ton of windows services can help too.
an i7 R2 can get over 9k easily

 

Great guide +rep.

Too bad my GPU isnt stable at any clocks above stock settings and my CPU doesn't go above 175mhz. All in the machinery I suppose!

 

I was speaking to a tech at Alienware a couple of days ago about a bad stick of RAM and was asking about temps. He said 85C was the danger zone so I class 80C as the hottest i'd be comfortable with before the chip could possibly start to degrade after time. I'm just playing it safe. Stripping mine down this week to put some new TIM on so it'd be great if I can get stock temps when overclocked with the new TIM

Well thanks to you as well ajslay for testing and also working on the Bios recovery.
Yeah I guess its not a netbook but the form factor isn't far off, love it
I didn't want to go into tweeking, this guide was just getting the hardware up to speed. I'm chasing 9k when I get my other RAM stick back from Dell. 8800 is not far off and that was at 191BLK. I can now run at 197BLK. As long as the new RAM stick is half decent and I can run with both in i'm sure i'll be able to hit 9k.

Have you tried the Bios mod or slowing your RAM timings?

Thanks for the rep+

 

no problem =) i think i could make a guide on how to tweak windows and apps to get the best performance, il need more then one person to want it tho. as well as the best GPU drivers.

also if i upgrade to an r2, im keeping the ram thats in my r1 because it can clock past 1100mhz cas6 with no problems. i have a very lucky pair of ram lol.

 

Well fingers crossed for you with RAM that good! You gonna go i5 or i7? Just been playing BFBC2 for 2 hours and the max temp reported in throttlestop was 72C very impressed! May even get into the high 60's with some better TIM during gaming.

 

thanks =p im gonna go the i5 way. but with my im going to see how my R1 performs at 2ghz first, and if its fast enough for bfbc2 and media converting il keep it, but if i want slightly better il sellmy r1 for $650 and buy an r2 for that much.

 

At my settings online i'm getting around 40fps on bfbc2 high texture and detail medium on the rest at native resolution.

 

edit:

Yes I have tried the BIOS mod it doesn't help I can't even run 5mhz above shader stock clock.

As for RAM timings...
Seeing as I just did a complete reinstall and forgot to install taiphoon 32bit and next year ill be taking some digital arts classes for my elective credits I figured it would be good to upgrade the ram from 4-8GB to have better end quality productions. This also got me thinking...

I looked on newegg and noticed they mention the timings as well... if i purchased: G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Laptop Memory Model F3-8500CL7D-8GBSQ which states the timings are 7-7-7-20 (cas 7) would this be an added bonus to the overclocking abilities that you stated in step 3? I'm not secure in my abilities to purchase a licensed 64bit version and have the chance of flashing breaking my RAM. If this would work it'd be amazing.

edit: I also thought RAM timings only helped the CPU not GPU?

 

Updated with a few notes about setPLL.

 

DeeVu,

I have this exact set of ram. I am not able to over clock past 164. Even then I crash a lot.

Thats also after I have adjusted the timing with Thaiphoon. before adjustments I couldn't OC faster than 159 without crashing.

I originally bought this ram because of its latency and would perform better, however if I knew then that it would have affected my over clocking I would have went with a slower latency set.

I'm actually going to be replacing this set with a 1333mhz set. My stock ram I was able to run 164 on stock timings. I don't have that ram anymore so I can't test new timings.

Hope this helps with your decision.

 

@Mardon Just wondering, How's the climate at where ever in the world you live in? I ask because those are really good temperatures considering how much juice your pumping out.

 

I'm in England and were actually getting some pretty warm weather 22/23C. It covers around 42C Idle in this weather although I have re-applied some thermal paste.

I have a mactruck case (solid aluminium so ether play it in that or when plugged in an external monitor have the back end hanging over the edge so plenty of air can get in.

Only time I have hit 80's was when playing in bed with the laptop sitting on the covers.

 

+rep from me too I've had my M11x R2 since October last year, and wish I had come across this site earlier! So much information and intelligence here, thanks for the guide fella

 

Not that it matters, but a few lines down you have,

Here are the factory Specs.
CPU ULV i5 @ 133BLK. 4 Threads 12x Multi, 2 Threads Multi 14x Max 1862MHz (Temp Idle 42C, Load 64C)
GPU Core 450Mhz | Shader 1080 | Memory (Not sure).

The default memory is 790

 

Is 80 a dangerous temp? Or is the TJ max the dangerous temp?

 

That is insane. I'm surprised that your M11x stays so cool.

85 degrees Celsius is considered hot. Anything above is dangerous.

 

Updated, thanks

Yeah as said i've only ever seen temps in the very low 80's once and that was because of poor air flow.
As an example i've been at 191BLK all day using AutoCAD software and here is a screen print of my temps:

Its all down to the air flow and the re applied thermal paste. I'm not putting any extra voltage through the CPU and only the GPU got into the 80's not the GPU.

 

Great compilation there mardon +1 rep
how's your battery life anyway? does it take a good hit?

 

To be honest I wouldn't know. If i'm using battery its ether with throttle stop underclocked and 7X multi for maximum battery or it'll just be for an hour or two until I plug it back in.

Going away for 6 months next Monday so will have a better idea on battery when i'm using it in a beach shack with no sockets

 

These aren't dangerous temperatures. Intel sets the thermal shutdown temperature for these CPUs at 130C. If this was dangerous then Intel obviously wouldn't do it. They are not in the business of losing money.

TJMax is the "maximum safe operating temperature" and it is usually set to 100C for the majority of their CPUs. When it reaches that temperature the CPU will throttle by reducing its speed and reducing the core voltage to keep it from ever reaching the built in thermal shutdown temperature. Many laptop manufacturers have decided that 100C is too hot so they have set a lower thermal shutdown temperature than Intel sets. The CPU is already protected so they must be trying to protect some other substandard component in their design. The CPU isn't going to get damaged at the TJMax temperature or else Intel would lower this setting.

 

Yeah if it got much hotter than 85 I think it'd be pretty unpleasant if you had it sat on your lap lol.

 

but you only overclock your gpu by evga precision. did you overclock also your cpu? i couldnt see. i didnt do step 3 and 4 because it is very hard to do and complex. what are they do ? can you also say me the settings of evga precision for gaming . thx

 

Step 3 and 4 are overclocking the CPU. Its really not that difficult just trial and error.

I can't give you settings for evga precision as every chip is different and will reach different overclocks. Just try working up a little at a time. Say 500/1350/850 i'd be surprised if that didn't work.

 

i restarted to do steps.i did first and second steps but i cant do third step because i cant pay for that program.can i do that step with free edition of thaiphoon?

edit: ohw my core speed is now about 2000-2100 mhz without these steps .but there is a problem my FID values arent 25 they are nearly 12 how can i set them.and i got another question which value i have to set for overclock at bios ? i set 150 now is it ok ? thx for helps

 

Mardon I love this post thank you for it! I am trying to get similar performance as you but can't overclock my memory so I know it won't be the same.

I am up to Flashed the A03 voltage bios, 183 OC with setpll, 562mhz/1348mhz/1030mhz MSI Afterburner, Throttlestop 200/200 TPL, I did the windows 7 command.

everything seems to be working but my 3dmark06 score barely moved 4400 - 4600.... it also gets less than 1 fps on the CPU tests... What am I doing wrong

Edit: http://3dmark.com/3dm06/16381402
Edit: I have a M11xr2 i5 8GB 335m as well
Edit: Nvidia Driver beta 290.53
Edit: add picture

 

With that overclock I think your 3DMark06 scores should be closer to 8000 so something is wrong. Try running a ThrottleStop Log File while running 3DMark06 and at the same time run a GPU-Z log file. You seem to have ThrottleStop set up correctly so I am guessing that your GPU is not going into 3D mode correctly or is getting throttled back. Less than 1 fps on the CPU tests is normal in this benchmark but 4600 3D Marks is not normal for your system. Upload your log files to MediaFire and post a link here so I can have a look. You can also email me at the address in the About... box of ThrottleStop.

 

WE WIN! I would say I but you guys are the brains here! I re-installed a fresh copy of the non-beta NVIDIA and Intel HD drivers just because I was bored and BAM 8803! I was even scaled back a bit on my FSB and GPU overclock. This was much more like I expected



Uncle thank you so much for offering to look at the email. I really have to say I will be haunting this forum for years to come! I have NEVER seen such nice people trying to help others with computer "problems" before. A really refreshing change.

Thank you all so much!

I am debating picking up new RAM so I can edit the eprom try to hit 197fsb... I have been able to hold 187 for a bit with only starcraft II being strange about it. Any suggestions on high perfomance ram or are they all the same for laptops? (other than the locked crap I bought) I would like to get 8gbs because I still feel like one stick 4gb's is too small to run with but I am open to the arguement.

Also... reinstalled beta drivers 6200 score... hmmm going to roll back again and wait till that skyrim boast is out of beta I guess.

 

Ok guys, I need your help!

I have taken some time this week to maximize the performance of my M11xR2. I have researched and researched and have followed numerous guides extensively. This one seems to be the most promising. I have done EVERYTHING you described to a T. However, for the life of me, I cannot get passed 156 on BIOS or SetPLL. Automatically crashes. I have tried it with my stock 4GB (2x2GB) RAM from Dell, and my new 8GB (2x4GB) RAM from Patriot (PSD38G1333SK) that I recently acquired. Same thing!

I have tried the gradual increase in SetPLL, in BIOS, and nothing. I have bought Thaiphoon and did the timing mods to 7-7-7-20 and nothing.

BTW, how do I change my timing to something higher? Perhaps that would help?

I am getting around 24.5-25.5 in wPrime after TSing, so I know I'm good there.

At 156, I get around 7400 on 3dMark06, which is about 1000 pts shorter than I'd like to be.

Thanks in advance!

 

Unfortunately not all chips are created equal So f you've done everything as described in my guide it looks like your i5 is not a very good one. I'm sorry

 

What RAM are you using and what video drivers?!

 

Stock Samsung RAM tweaked timings.

It was the 185 Official Driver. Not ran 3D mark on the latest 19x driver but it seems a better driver to me.