AW M15x Throttling Issue Investigation - Stock clocks and overclocked.

i am in dilemma now whether to send in or not..do you prefer sending in?? This my first time deal with dell, don't have any experience before..

 

im from australia so sending it in wouldn't really be an option even if i wanted to (which i'd hate)

try calling up again, hopefully get a different person on the line this time, a helpful one.

 

i am in malaysia now...i also hate being a way from my computer..i will call again tomorrow..one more thing..what is mean by 24/7 phone support?? when i call dell, suddenly my call drops down because i am out of credit, then they call me back..is it 24/7 phone support??

 

24/7 phone support means that you can call at any time and get support. Have you tried using skype to call them for free?

 

Which number i can call them for free by using skype..?? there to many 1800++ number..

 

Forget skype... Use the new and COMPLETELY free voip service google is offering.... I think it's called google voice? Or talk? Anyways you download a quick plugin, and can make calls right from your laptop ... Call china if you have to

 

After a day of enjoying my SC2 under high details settings.. I started getting kick out of game with the error attached ..

I am so frustrated.... Problems keep appearing and appearing....

 

have you tried a different gfx driver?

 

Did all of you read the announcement from DellChrisM regarding Furmark and Alienware systems? If not, check out the main Alienware forum for a good laugh. I told you guys they would try to find a way to avoid having to fix the M15x throttling and now together with nVidia, they issue a warning that Furmark is dangerous for your system and will cause "performance degradation". Well "performance degradation" means throttling and that's something we already knew. Also absent is a statement from ATi on the matter, wonder why? They have no intention of sending every M15x owner an ATi 5850m because it would cost them too much money. They also have no intention of finding a true fix for the 260M throttling, thus this lame statement. Same old dance from Dell, what a shame.

 

wow.... so sad... good thing they finally decided to swap my 260m pos

 

Yup, I think the problem is they botched the M15x design from the get go and it's gotten worse a year down the line. The system needs to be retired and a redesign put on the market. The problem is, what do they do with all the existing throttle ridden systems on the market? Well one solution so far seems to be to issue a half arsed A08 bios + PR statement advising customers not to run furmark.

 

yhea there is just no other way to fix it then to give away either a psu + bios or a 5850.... gonna have to think twice next time I give $2000 dollars to alienware

 

I just hope the next bios support 210w spu. I gonna buy the psu by myself. Never gonna buy anything from alienware again.

 

Ha! Yeah, Alienware need to grow some balls and admit that they have a design fault with their systems.

Alienware and Dell are a joke, 1 year on and still no solution. It would have cost them a hell of a lot less if they admitted to the issue last year. What annoys me, is that they are still selling faulty laptops at premium prices. I'd rather sell my M15x and buy an Asus instead

 

As ugly as Clevo's are, if you want a stable single GPU system, that's the place to go. Alienware M15x is pure failure because of Dell's unwillingness to correct flaws they built into it. As soon as that JohnBat guy made excuses last year, I knew there would be no solution for this problem and I dumped the M15x as quick as I could and I don't regret it. I would go as far as advising anyone against purchasing this faulty system.

 

I live in the UK so clevo arent that well known to us Brits

I guess that the next best alternative for me would be something like an Asus G51 or G73.

 

I wouldn't touch Asus with a 100 ft pole.

 

Hey, anything would be better than my M15x

 

Did someone contact engadget about this issue in the end? I know that a few people were discussing it and started to collect the data, but it would be great to have an update on it. I would imagine that most of the members here would help if someone had started it but couldnt commit the time?

 

If you want engadget or any other media outlet to take the story seriously, then the data to give them should include games and applications that clearly show throttling. The evidence for that is available in this thread but it would take a group effort to gather and organize all of it. Create a PDF and/or powerpoint presentation and mail it out to the major media arms. Someone will inevitably pick up on the story.

 

I had mention be4, to all expertise in this thread please collect and publish your experiment, test on throttling issues..But know one responds..By publish our problem, it open dell/alienware eyes how serious we are..Right know, only NBR forum was so active, not many people are aware bout this problem..

Please to all expertise, do find some time to publish your effort, works, test you all be doing since last year..You have sacrifice time, money by doing all the test, by publishing it, you felt all your sacrifice is worth it..

 

How about we choose you JOKER as a collector..Then request other expertise, user in this thread that had run so many test, games to become an evidence for throttling make a power point/pdf and sent to you...After collecting all the evidence, then you start sending it to various media arms..

 

So what do we do?

Just post a screenshot including furmark, realtemp and prime95 all running on screen during my starcraft2 game play time?

Also I assume I must turn off throttling stop and deactivate rivatuner first?

 

First of all, we need someone as a collector..He/she will gather all necessary test/experiment from expertise, user..I hope JOKER will agree to become a collector..He founder of this thread and he deserve it..By collecting more evidence, there is more high probability of media arms will publish our story..For sure, media wants issues that can raise their publicity..

Yup, make sure TS and Rivatuner disable..It will cause throttling problem appear back..

 

First of all, I don't mind contributing.

Unfortunately, even I have TS and rivatuner enabled, I am still experiencing throttling problem... Going back a few pages from this thread, I kept getting kick out from sc2 along with the throttling during game play in medium settings even under STOCK GPU clock..

Yes.. I am using the latest graphic driver from dell.. and A06 btw.. no stealth mode, and it's in high performance profile..

I wonder if I could get a refund even I purchased my system through a retail store..

 

In the early days of ThrottleStop development when the XPS 1645 with its pathetic 90 watt adapter was throttling like crazy, I tried to take this story to Tom's Hardware thinking they would be interested in sharing this information with their readers but I was ignored. Dell has been building one throttling laptop after another for the last 2 years. Good luck trying to find a single test in any reputable media source clearly testing and showing the throttling problems.

 

Opppss..we faced same problem in SC 2.. I have same bios,driver and i bought at retail shop also...I enable TS and rivatuner also..when play, lock ups, freeze and sometime with long continuous beep..Is it hard to get refund..you need strong evidence and must push CS until they agree give you refund.

 

I thought I am the only one in the universal having that nasty sc2 game play experience... I am so regret that I didn't visit NBR before buying this M15x...

To Dell + alienware:
Are you happy now? Seeing all these complaints from angry and frustrated consumers who used to have so much expectation on your product(s)..

 

I've got a m15x with a GTX 260m and 740QM Processor, and I've run the logging feature in GPU-Z for 3 hours while playing SC2 (both Campaign Mode and Multiplayer), and as far as I can tell the GPU Clock stays at 550 constantly. The only drops coincide with i.e. load screens or time spend in Battle.net menus.

The log also shows that the GPU Load is 95%+ all the time (except when in menus, load screens and what-not).

I don't run the game with EVERYTHING on ultra - I've turned a few things down to High for higher FPS, and I'm running it in native 1080p resolution.

I've done the same with World of Warcraft, Borderlands, Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age and a few other games, and the results are the same. It only seems to drop during load screens.

The World of Warcraft readings were a bit questionable. I.e. it seemed to drop to 335 MHz (or something) for 5-6 minutes straight when doing instances like Trial of the Champion - but it also seemed that the GPU was only on ~45% load during that, so I'm guessing that it just turned down the juice because it wasn't needed. (I run World of Warcraft with V-Sync on, which probably accounts for the low GPU Load).

What gives? am I measuring throttling wrong, or am I just not experiencing it?

 

dropping during loading screens is normal from what i've experienced since many times, the menus are not in actual 3d since you are actually loading the game engine.

but dropping during the middle of ToC, was the framerate bad?

how about during raids? when the spell effects would probably cripple the card.

the throttling issue is a real pain if it drops during actual gameplay.
hope you don't mind me posting your vid wattos, it's a perfect example

YouTube - M15X Throttling - Splinter Cell Conviction
see at around the 15sec mark after shooting the guy and jumping over the barrier. The card starts throttling back the clocks even though the higher clocks are obviously needed resulting in very bad fps.

lower gpu load does not mean throttling, it just means your graphics card is not being used to its full potential... if it stays at 100% all the time, then chances are your gpu is a bottleneck for your performance.

my guess is you're not experiencing it. i had the 720qm and 260m and i didn't notice it much either (a03 was good but had static sound, a05 was bad, a06 was better if i remember correctly), it wasn't until i got the 920xm which actually resulted in lower fps all round! yes a better processor made my computer SLOW in games.

 

I'm using V-Sync in WoW. I hate screen tearing, and without V-Sync i get something like 100-150 FPS during instances (small ones without large open areas). It causes tearing and it's not like my 60Hz screen can show those frames anyway.

And ofcourse with V-Sync the Graphics card doesn't have anything to do, and clocks down because it's only operating at 50% anyway. Plus I'd not get steady 60 FPS if I was throttling with WoW on Ultra in 1080p.

I did a full ICC25 run on Ultra, and I honestly didn't notice any frame rate drops that I think was throttling. The drops were where I experienced them on any other computer played on (mass AoE of trash packs and that kind of thing). Like when you AoE all the trash in front of Sindragosa (if you know that game enough to know that place). That pack is notorious for disconnecting people with weak computers.

I've just requested a 5850 from Dell Spare Parts for good measure. It's a better graphics adapter in any regard.
I'm not going to pester Dell Support for a free upgrade. They gave me this computer as a replacement for my old XPS m1530 free of charge. No reason to push my luck any further.

Edit:
Just watched the Youtube Video, and I don't even remotely experience anything like that.
I was experiencing that EXACT thing on my XPS m1530, and that was probably due to over heating (happened everytime the CPU reached 96c).

 

ah fair enough.
yeah i experienced throttling in wow with my 920xm + 260m. it was really apparent fighting marrowgar. being the main tank i was running at a switch between 40fps and 2... it would toggle every few seconds. very hard to avoid cold flame when that happens. this did not happen with my prior 720qm cpu.

you'll be happy with the 5850 i'm sure. the 260m is a good card, but the 5850/5870 are great.

consider yourself lucky having not experienced the issue with your setup

haha here's a fun thing to try in wow, try typing "/console SpellEffectLevel 500" (afaik it's case sensitive)

now do some aoe... btw the default level is 9
i keep mine on 20 just for the extra bling

oh be warned, in a raid, 500 effect level can kill any pc! and if it doesn't you'll probably be suffering from an epileptic fit.

 

A08 BIOS is up on Dell's website. Going to give it a whirl in a few minutes....

Update: Installed.

CPU no longer throttles on its own even under heavy load with or without throttlestop. Ran 3 minute 8-thread Prime max heat/power. Kill-A-Watt peaked at 141

Attached is a 3 min log from Throttlestop. First minute was with Throttlestop enabled. Remainder is with Throttlestop disabled.

Furmark on its own peaked at 134

Together, yet again, they peaked at 195w.

Second log is the classic Furmark + Prime95 8-Thread run. Yep, still some throttling, but only two instances and not nearly as much. I'm VERY curious to see if my incoming 210w PSU will affect it, as peaking at 195w at one point is, well, insane. I was afraid to let it run more than a few minutes with the 150w PSU attached. Note how it seems to stay strong for awhile THEN it tanks. I'm wondering if that is the PSU simply giving up the ghost or something else.

Here is short video I captured with my camera showing my M15x with BIOS A08 hitting 194w on the Kill-A-Watt with Furmark + Prime 8-thread running (for those who can't fathom the M15x hitting that high on a 150w PSU ):

YouTube - Alienware M15x i7 drawing 190+ watts under heavy load

 

Cheers dude, I've installed A08 with no issues. Testing it in game now.

 

Still wanting a new PSU

Okay people, its testing time. Especially you people with Kill a Watt meters.

 

Burning the new bios to a disk as we speak. I will post my results after the install, although im still running nvidia drivers as i cant get Mafia 2 working on the dell ones.

Update: Just ran the mafia 2 benchmark with nvidia drivers, my framerate went from 8/9fps due to the throttling, to around 25/26fps. When i use the old Rivatuner trick to force the stock clocks on the GTX 260m, i get around 42fps on high.

Initial thoughts, Dell MAY have fixed the CPU throttling but it looks like im still having GPU throttling issues. Can anyone confirm that they are seeing the same? I havent tried the Dell drivers yet as Mafia 2 wouldnt load up last time i tried.

 

I updated my initial post with my preliminary findings, throttlestop logs and a nifty youtube video showing the M15x hitting 190w+ in Kill-A-Watt meter under A08.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...stock-clocks-overclocked-214.html#post6666128

 

thanks for the heads up, downloading now

 

ooh at least the CPU now doesnt throttle. What about GPU? Also, if you start plugging in stuf like external dvd writers + chargers, the wattage will go beyond 200W :x

 

I wonder if that means i can buy a 210w PSU to stop the throttling on the GPU now then?

 

I've updated to the A08 BIOS, and it definitely is an improvement. I'm not sure whether it completely stops throttling, but playing Splinter Cell Conviction was much smoother (and didn't throttle). It did make my card reach 85 degrees celcius though (overclocked), but I haven't applied any thermal paste to it. Looks good to me.

 

M15x A08 bios thread can be found here, which has a link to the updated bios file and the release notes.

Much love x

 

Yeah, A08 is definitely an improvement. From the trackpad to the CPU not throttling. Another test I ran was the FF 14 benchmark.

I noticed with A07/A06, like a dark dance, the performance meter would dip almost in time with chipmod dips in Throttlestop even with Throttlestop ON (as the BIOS and Throttlestop did the dance of death).

I just ran it with A08 and the sheer number of spikes/dips was grossly reduced even with Throttlestop OFF.

It seems Dell zeroed in on the CPU throttling this go around.

Here is throttle stop log with FF 14 Benchmark. This was with Throttlestop OFF.

 

How did you hit that high? Prime + Fur? Try to get it spike 160 - 170 in real world. Using something crazy intense will not help prove our case.

I still think we need a bigger PSU. : /

 

UPDATE TO MY ORIGINAL POST:

I have just reinstalled the dell drivers, and holy sh*t! 42fps on the Mafia 2 benchmark.... exactly the same as what i was getting with the A07 bios whilst using rivatuner and throttlestop....

i have only tested Mafia 2 so far, but it looks as though Dell may have finally fixed it. Can someone else confirm this?

 

That is the real world. If it is an application and it runs, then it is valid.

Worst thing a company, or users, can do is cop out trying to selectively isolate applications because they, "tax the system too hard" (insert tears HERE), when those same apps have NO problems running on other laptops even non gaming laptops.

And yes, we do need bigger PSUs.

 

It only took Dell a year but it looks like they have finally created a much improved bios for the M15x. Pulling 190 watts AC from the wall is probably close to or a little over the 150 watt DC output rating for the power adapter. I don't have one to test the efficiency of at maximum load but typically, efficiency decreases and heat output increases when you get near the limit. Maybe Dell did some testing and found that these adapters could safely deliver 160 watts DC when needed. Bios support of a 210 watt adapter for people overclocking the 920XM or 940XM Extreme CPUs wouldn't be a bad idea but during most games, you won't need that.

Three cheers for no more clock modulation throttling. Now that I don't have anything to complain about, what will I do all day?

 

Also positive results here. I could induce throttling at the same point in a Borderlands mission if I had it running on dual screens with the GPU overclocked, this time there was no throttling at all. While playing the Kill a Watt meter topped out at 145 watts when on A07 it hit 151.

Furmark showed marked improvements on its own:


And with Throttlestop alone there was no throttling (I don't have Riva Tuner installed but do have NST):


During the tests the Kill a Watt meter sat around 164 watts and topped out at 171.

 

bawwwww, the cpu is still throttling when oc'ed. still no fun for extreme cpu owner, not enough power to oc.

 

inap: The first part of your ThrottleStop log file is from your previous testing a few days ago. It shows chipset clock modulation but there is none of that with the latest bios. The throttling you are seeing now is because you are hitting the Intel designed turbo TDP/TDC limit of the CPU. If you use ThrottleStop to increase those limits then there should be enough power available so your Extreme CPU can maintain the full 26 multiplier as long as the core temperature doesn't get out of hand. Give it a try and post a fresh log file of your results. While running wPrime it is easy to gradually increase TDP/TDC while watching what happens to the average multiplier and your core temperature.