AW M15x Throttling Issue Investigation - Stock clocks and overclocked.

thats exactly what i'm doing actually, good looking out joker, plus i'll have more money then to really customize it.

 

If the M17x proves to hopefully be as quiet as the M15x, I'll contemplate one when the 5870 refresh is upon us.

 

idk my m15x is loud as hell.

 

Hi guys,
I cant get RIvatuner to work?

Every time i set the values when i click ok it reverts back to the really low settings??
Ive tried turnng stealth on and off etc....

Does anyone know how to fix this?

Thanks

 

Is your battery plan on high performance?

 

yeah i checked that too.

really cant figure it out?

I got my m15x 2 days ago, migt send it back

 

check your fusion setting under alienware fx, and make sure you are not under powersaver mode, and change it to high performance mode, and look under GPU tab, and change both battery and plug in setting to max performance.

Like Wattos says. This should work, i was in the same place you are, clicking apply seems to work, then click ok, it reverts back to 383 etc, so just go to Fusion, and make sure what i mentioned is in the place. then open rivatuner again, try again. let us know if this works

 

deff on high performance. Tried swapping to and from the power save modes and none work.
now my media bar seems to have stopped working and i cant enable/turn off stealth mode?

ive already tried a full windows reinstall too

 

wish dell would just sort this out!!

 

Don't give up! there must be something that you missed, and it will work out! I was in the same shoe as you are right now, it was so frustrating! Just take it one step, try everything again, check everything out.

Edit: PLUS, READ the whole Thread! there's so MUCH info, especially after page 55, relating with throttle fixes and rivatuner, just read through, you might see something that helps you.

 

Did you do all the steps in changing the settings? (e.g. forcedriver version and so on...)

 

did you even see throttling yet? i have not yet needed to run the fix yet. but if you want to run riva tuner, you must set your clock manually with the slider.

 

Followed the steps on the 1st page exactly. Repeated the steps over and over.

It seems to be throttling even when playing WOW!!!!!!

Anyone know how to get their media bar working again? lol

 

wow is more cpu intensive, just run the throttle stop.

 

think im just gunna send it back, sigh.

Why haven't dell integrated this fix into the machine as standard???

 

did you check your stealth button???? the speedometer looking thing.

also check gpu-z to check if riva tuner is doing its thing, if you did it wrong it could be lock at lower clocks.

man i wish people would just test out their system first before applying the fix.

 

Coco's right, it's all alienware fx software's doing, it downclocks GPU. You gotta to check in the advanced settings in the alienware fusion under High Performance, and look in GPU tab in there. Fix it to Max Performance. and Make sure you are PLUGGED in.(picture) and make sure you are not in either balanced or powersaver mode. Then Restart the computer. then run rivatuner, move the scale to 550/1350/950 for default clock. then check the little button that says "Apply overclocking at window start up" (picture).
Now keep it in mind, if you turn on the laptop with only battery to power it up, GPU will stays/starts downclocked. So you gotta make sure you plug it in before you turn it on.

 

check your stealth button make sure it off. you may have it on by accident. if your seeing really low frame rates, i'm sure this is your problem. and do all of the above, what mutoloco said.
once again stealth button!!!!!!!!

 

The m15x or the M15x? I know the newer model is very quiet even when gaming.

After suffering with the OCZ Whitebook/M17 and its built in airplane engines, I'll never deal with anything close to that noise level ever again, heh.

 

same here. i can barely hear the fans on my M15x after hours of gaming. I think the M17x fans are going to louder.

 

Aren't there 3 fans in M17x?? 2 for gpu's and one for proc?? Hope it isn't as loud as my old area 51 m15x.

 

mine's loud but i have it overclocked, maybe it's just my system, it makes a decent amount of noise at night, though i've had louder laptops, i just have to shut it off at night if i'm not using it, sometimes it'll startle my wife.

 

Even OC'd with a 920xm, my system is insanely quiet while gaming. Only way I can get it to really crank out noise of an appreciable level is to run Prime95 or similar ilk.

It is easily the 2nd quietest gaming laptop I've ever owned. First goes to the Asus W90 which even under load I had to press my ear up against it to hear the fans.

Third is the MSI 1722.

 

I just got off the phone with Alienware tech support about my throttling issue. He remotely took control of my computer. I did notice that when this happened the Windows theme changed to basic. We ran the tests and my score came out to P6151. I didn't have GPU-z running in the background so I couldn't tell if the system throttled or not. He said my score was good and that my fps drop in games were probably normal. I told him that I know its not normal, because I monitor the clocks while I'm playing and can clearly see that the framerate drop is consistent with the clock drops (throttling). I then started L4D2 while he was still logged in and I couldn't get the system to throttle at all. So I told him, well thanks for the help, and if I see the problem pop up again I'll call back. As soon as he logged out of my comp and my comp went back to normal I ran L4D2 and it started throttling. So then I decided to run 3DMark Vantage again, while monitoring with GPU-z. Now here comes the shocker (at least for me), for every graphics test (in vantage), my clocks remained stable, but as soon as the CPU test began, GPU-z showed the GPU throttling. So the load on the CPU is what's causing my system to throttle. The reason I'm surprised by this is that I don't see any throttling with WoW/STO (MMO's) and I was under the assumption that these games were more CPU dependent. The games that I'm having problems with are Crysis/L4D2 and I thought these were more GPU dependent games. So the fact that 3DMark Vantage only caused throttling under the CPU tests baffles me a bit. What do you guys think?


Also, only 1 of the 2 CPU tests cause it the throttle. CPU test 2 which deals with physics.

 

<crickets chirping> anyone home? I knew we were in trouble when Joker went uptown

 

Most games really don't push the CPU. Here's a basic game code loop:

1) cpu does ai, physics, and then feeds gpu rendering data
2) gpu starts drawing
3) cpu waits for gpu to finish
4) repeat

At step 3, is where the cpu tends to go idle. Ppl say this/that game is cpu intensive, but that may just mean that it does a lot of work on the cpu before feeding the gpu stuff to render. If that happens, basically, u have an idle GPU, that is waiting for the CPU. If the GPU has too much to render, then the CPU is idle at step 3.

Even the latest games, that use threads to try to keep the GPU busy, it's not always perfect, because everyone's PC is different; a 1.6Ghz single core pc is gonna be CPU locked, while a 4.0Ghz oc-d i7 pc is not. At some point, CPU/GPU will be waiting for the other to finish.

The best way to induce throttling, is synthetic benchmarks; just follow the methods posted by 5150Joker.

 

You sure it isn't Powermizer just downclocking during cpu tests? I always assumed it was power related, and I don't think the gpu is stressed at all during cpu tests?

 

It depends =) write a program that detects the number of cores/hw threads available. Keep all those cores busy except for 1. That 1 is used to feed the GPU rendering data (and to keep itself as busy as possible when not feeding the GPU).

Some synthetics only push the CPU, some only push the GPU, so again, it depends =)

 

I dont know whats going on with this thread anymore everyone seems to think they see their M15x throttling on 5 year old MMO's ect... Before you jump on the throttle train make sure your in High Performance mode. Next make sure your not in stealth mode, this is the most common reason for an M15x getting poor frames. Finally make sure your M15x is plugged into the laptop, and the wall!!! There is no game other then crysis my M15x doesnt smoke in 1080p and I havent noticed ANY throttling in any actual games, just synthetic tests. I am not flaming anyone here I'm just saying it seems odd that your laptop has problems with games that mine runs perfectly (LFD2 ect). LFD2 will not drop below 60fps in 900p with everything cranked although you may have to turn AA down a bit to get it to run perfect in 1080.

 

totally agree with you. also there is a new driver for 260m, its 195.62. it may solve some issues with certain games.

 

I just have a quick question....is the bios flash necessary if i have the throttle stop and rivatuner active? and if so what does the bios flash even do?

 

its for overclocking, it flashes your gpu to 1v so you have more power.

 

If you've read the entire thread then you'll see what I have documented. I've uploaded logs. I've run tests with powermizer disabled, so thats certainly not it. I also am "aware" of the stealth button. Considering I'm monitoring with GPU-z, I immediatel can see if I have stealth enabled. I can get my system to throttle in almost any game now, unless I use the RivaTuner fix. The throttling is cyclical, not fixed (i.e. stealth mode). Now you're right, powermizer can be at play, but I've already used software to disable it. Since not every system is the same, some people are going to see it in different scenarios. It's been assumed that I see throttling more often due to the higher TDP of the 920XM. This has all bee discussed already. I was just putting new info in the thread, which was, I'm really surprised to see that my GPU gets throttled on the CPU (Physics) test in 3dMark Vantage. My original testing was done on the new Nvidia drivers (195.xx), and then I rolled back to the original 186.xx because STO has serious problems with Nvidia and 195 drivers. So I do see it with both

 

Hey,

there are most likely a lot of different factors at play whether or not you get throttling and how quickly you get it. I remember that when I first ran L4D it throttled, then I reinstalled W7 (because I needed to repartition the disk) and the throttling was gone for some time (yet it still remained in Borderlands). After some time of installing apps and drivers the throttling came back to L4D.

So I guess it also depends on drivers, what apps are running in the background etc...

The facts are:

• Throttling does happen in games.
• Throttling is not a hardware limitation
• Throttling can potentially be fixed by bios or another software update
• JohnBatDell is nowhere to be seen after being active in this thread. He disappeared just after non synthetic tests were provided.

My assumption is that Dell acknowledges the problem, but wants to ignore it.

 

Hi there NBR folk! I'll tell you now, I actually signed up to the forum because of this whole throttling lark. I have a few questions that desperately need answering and figured you guys would probably be the best equipped to meet my needs, if you would be so kind.

Basically I desperately need a new laptop. I'm currently running a 1.6GHz Toshiba with integrated graphics (that will not play any game) and (unusually) 504.2MB RAM. As you can see, my situation is a grave one... I've always been a devoted gamer and now, more than ever, I need games to help me keep my head together (just moved to London and I have absolutely no social contact here whatsoever ). It is also worth noting that a desktop is simply out of the question (thankfully, this being notebook review, I'm guessing you're not all gonna flame me to ashes for simply saying I prefer laptops...), so I'm in the market for a gaming laptop.

Now I've been looking for about 2+ months and after a lot of procrastination I pretty much set my heart on the M15x... I was planning on placing an order next week. Until I heard about this throttling thang... I really don't know much about the technicalities of computers and such so I don't really understand most of what you chaps have been discussing but I think I've got the gist of the problem and from the way you're all behaving I'm guessing its a rather serious issue.

Ok, I hate to repeat myself but I have to stress I have my heart set on an M15x! Could you please give me some advice? Is it really, really not worth buying this thing? Is this problem occurring with all M15x's? Where are you guys (haha that probably sounded a bit creepy..)? By that I mean are you all buying from US? Do you think there will be any difference with systems built in the US and system built in the UK (well its ROI, so technically its not UK but...)?

Please impart your wisdom to a humble notebook-noob because I'm getting this horrible feeling that the M15x is a crippled system and that I'm going to purchase one regardless even though I'm fully aware that it is flawed...

Is there a phone number I can call to grill them about this? Preferrably NOT the sales department, because all I get is some indian chap who clearly knows even less than I do about such matters.

*Sales conversations usually go something like this...

"Hello sir, my name's Somedude at Dell sales, how can I help you today?"

"Uh, yeah I wanted to talk about the M15x, its picked up some bad press and I was wondering if you could fill me in?"

"So you want the Nebula Red finish, with the i7 920XM and 8GB RAM! We operate a payment plan sir, can I interest you? No payments until 2011 sir. Absolutely no payments until 2011 sir. Great so you're going to opt for our payment plan.............."

"...."

 

Hiya, Long post!

Anyways, the M15x is a wonderfull piece of computing. It is really some piece of heavy gear. Now, there IS throttling going on in the system, BUT its 100% fixable with thirdparty tools (Rivatuner and throttlestop (thanx uncleweb)).

Also, while I am at it, the M15x is not much smaller than the M17x which is also as good (make sure to order with the i7 core and RGB Led if you order that one at all). However, if you intend on getting only 1 gfx card anyway and dont need an extra HDD, stay with the M15x. The M15x I have handles anything I throw at it at 1920x1080 so Im loving it.

There are also other options out there, Asus G73 or Clevo, but the looks and maybe the build quality isnt quite like the alienware.

Finally, order only over phone. You might be able to get discounts if you do which you will never get over the site. I have bought mine in europe. Also, the US and UK are the same laptops, with the only difference being the keyboard layout.


If you want to order from the US, there is also a thread on how to do it (mind you, Im not a fan of that).

I hope I answered most of your questions. If you get the M15x, just execute the instructions on the first page and youll be loving it!

 

You answered all my questions and more, thankyou so much for your reassuring words!!

 

Link for throttlestop is dead. I've skipped a few pages of this thread. Am I missing something? Or a new version is on its way?

 

ThrottleStop 1.90
http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/3/3/1794507/ThrottleStop.zip

The above link is the main link and FileDen is up most of the time. Can you update the first post joker and I will keep the latest version at this link. When I'm just testing things out I might upload a version or two to SendSpace but most of the time I'll be using the above link for the latest stable version.

I added some documentation and support for the newer 32nm Core i5/i3 CPUs recently.

 

Throttlestop link has been updated on the first page.

 

What are the GPU and CPU temp with throttlestop and rivatuner..
and how will you guys compare it with a i7 desktop in performance...

 

As I've mentioned before, I really don't know much about this stuff (always eager to learn tho!) so pardon the lame question but doesn't running your CPU or any piece of hardware at 100% capacity do damage to said hardware? What I mean is, if the throttlestop and rivatuner programs pin the CPU and GPU at 100% to fix the problem (this is what I've come to understand, please correct me if I'm wrong) wouldn't that greatly reduce the lifespan of the system?

I'm guessing you guys have already checked out the M17x to see if it has any of these throttling issues? I mean, they're really similar systems right? You could pretty much configure the two to be nigh-on identical (except for screen size), yet the M17x won't throttle???

 

Nobody has the M17x-R2 yet. The first ones are supposed to ship in February. Thus nobody know if it throttles, but it does not matter as there is a fix available.

Also, 100% CPU and 100% GPU utilization will not damage your hardware as long as the temperatures are in the good values.

 

Ahh I see, so its the temperatures caused by running your system too hard that actually do the damage, not the workload?

What is the M17x-R2? They only released the M17x a couple of months ago!

 

R2 is the second revision with the i7 core and RGB LED screen. R2 was released mid-January and first units should be arriving beginning of February. Btw. The old revision has been marked as defective due to the stuttering issue.

 

Laxxi: Intel sets the thermal throttling point of most of their CPUs at 100C. That's the point where the CPU will automatically thermal throttle and slow down which prevents the chip from getting too hot. If Intel thought that their chips were going to be damaged by running them at that temperature, don't your think they'd lower that rating so the CPU would throttle and slow down at 90C or 80C?

The original Core 2 Desktop chips had a throttling temperature of 90C. After they got some feedback, instead of lowering that, they raised that to 100C. The mobile Core 2 chips even went higher up to 105C. That shows me that Intel has plenty of confidence in their chips ability to run reliably at some extremely hot temperatures. The RMA returns due to heat issues must be minimal. The thermal shutdown temperature isn't until 125C so there is still plenty of headroom here.

Some of the laptop throttling schemes have nothing to do with keeping the CPU safe. It's already very safe as is and doesn't need any additional protection.

 

Hum, so Turbo Mode doesn't work on the M15x?

Is this just a Windows problem? I plan on running Gentoo Linux with the 2.6.33 Kernel. Is Turbo Mode a problem in Linux too? Any one tried it?

 

What makes you say turbo mode doesn't work? I use the intel widget to monitor turbo boost, and it's constantly reporting higher than 2.00 Ghz

 

Huh, How did you come to this conclusion? Turbomode works fine

 

Owe, Ok I thought that would be strange. Sorry guys