AW M15x Throttling Issue Investigation - Stock clocks and overclocked.

hahaha just had a brain fart, hehehehe

can't you guys read my shirt!

 

just reboot and you will be fine. Works every time

 

yeah i need to do the power drain trick for my brain.
i'm special, heheh

 

LOL you guys are the best ..

Don't panic UKers... Remember the Blu-ray drive drought? US+Can couldn't configure their M15x's with a blu-ray drive around the time i was building my laptop back in january (hence me not havign a blu-ray drive dammit!). It was merely because Dell ran out of parts (dumb i know). Pretty sure they're just waiting for their new batch of 940's to come in...

So soon enough, they'll be back

On a side note, I got offered a 920 for 400$ clean. This guy at work is selling his laptop for parts to help buy an alienware ALX desktop. Should i jump? Or should i wait till dell unlocks the 150watt powerbrick contraint in the bios first... hmmm

He's also selling a FX Quadro 3800 for 500$.... can anyone explain why the qudro series is so expensive? Although when looking at the specs, aren't anything impressive? I know they're supposedly for 3d rendering and such, btu what is it that makes em better than mainstream gpus like the gtx 285m n 5870m?

 

$400 I would jump on that in a heartbeat. Even if you don't use it you can sell it back for $600. But the extreme issue with the new bios is fixable with ts.

About the quadro, I don't really know. I'll let the pants take care of that,Hahaha

 

yea i think ima go for it too... he only told me about it so its no rush anyways... as hes only going to buy an ALX around xmas anyways...

ANd yea im lovin the Pants(shorts?) wattos ahahahaa... it all started from your youtube video

 

this is getting weird, watto's posting just after inap... tshirt and pants

heck, someone make a hat!

sounds like dell's pulling a sony stunt.

 

They're so expensive because of the drivers. The amount of quadro's being sold is not as high as the amout of, i.e. amount of gtx480's being sold, which makes a development team of quadro programmers very expensive. That's also why you can flash a gtx480 with a bios to a fermi-based quadro one if you want. In hardware, they are the same, but they come equipped with a different bios, to which different drivers apply, which are expensive to produce. That's about it.

Also, I'm an Alienware M15x user with the throttling problem. I was about to post in here to contribute a few months back, but I didn't do so much on my laptop that I didn't think it was worth typing half a page with screens and shizzle... But I regularly followed this topic to see if a solution came up. I'm gonna try A08 in a few moments and see what happens. Assassin's Creed 2 was unplayable on this machine, so I hope it plays normal after the update.

 

Final thoughts:

So a decent BIOS (A08) is issued 9/3/2010, but the throttling issue has been known since 11/4/2009 when Notebookcheck reviewed it here: Review Alienware M15x Gaming-Notebook - Notebookcheck Reviews (Ironic that Notebookcheck uses Furmark which Dell is saying shouldn't be used ).

Joker created this thread a month later (12/2/2009)

So it only took Dell, what, ~10 months to fix the problem after it was first publicly noted in a professional review?

I've been gaming extensively the last few days and the BIOS really does the trick. I keep Throttlestop running because, well, it never hurts to keep it running as a safety net (albeit TS and Cmod have called a temporary truce). I keep Riva running because my 260 is OC'd. I'm glad they finally issued a workable BIOS that takes care of probably 99% of the throttling issues and fixes the trackpad, but wow, 10 months at the very least?

Scary.

PS. I found it funny in Notebook check's review they noted the poor touchpad many moons ago, and that their network port didn't work either (mine was DoA out of the box along with my Dell 370 card).

I guess M15x users now get to munch on popcorn and watch the M17xr2 Extreme users go ballistic.

 

Time for the celebration! But I actually made the refund before A08 came out..

Good luck to all M15x users and hopefully 1 day Dell will fix whatever bugs are left.

To my ex-M15x.. RIP...

 

YES !!!! Finally. The M15X is finally working like it should be. I actually bought an Asus G73jh instead, I just had enough at that time of the crappy performance. I actually didn't sell the M15X because I had a small hope the throttling issue was going to be fixed. Almost one year later, its fixed. Video and photo editing feel different, programs never lag, and games run better, no doubt. Bluray feature also improved, again, no lag at all. If only this thing had an HDMI port, It would be the perfect computer, better than the Asus G73.

 

it does have HDMI port ? i have mine hooked up to my 52 inch sony bravia TV with the HDMI converter or whatever its called you just plug that thing in you laptop i am sure you have it it comes with it and at the end of the plug you have the port for HDMI cable...

 

Yeah, the M15x uses a DP->HDMI adapter. Works fine. Your system should come with one. If you ordered a refurb and it wasn't, call technical support and request one.

 

yeah i have to agree this bios has proven to be pretty good. i'm actually happy with it, they gimped the extreme cpu's but ts is able to fix it. benching is becoming fun again. just to think it only took 10 months, really appreciate how fast dell took to solve the problem, hehehehehe

for me A08 + TS = WINNER!!!!!

 

this is crazy =)) i dont know whether i should regret or not but when i got my m15x with the 260m it was throttling like crazy the first day i started it then i found this forum and i got dissapointed because its a brand new laptop with limitations ... and i saw alot of users with 260m wanting to exchange them with 5850 so they could end this issue that they've been having for months. So since i just recently got the laptop called dell they changed my 260m with 5850 because i was dissapointed after seeing you guys waiting for so long for a fix and i was like you know what maybe its not gonna happen so i changed it and now they release the new Bios ... i dont know should i regret about swaping my 260 with 5850 or not i dont know which GPU is better but if i was just gonna wait for 1 more week i was gonna have my problem fixed with the bios.

 

if u don't use cuda, the 5850 is better.
physx can't really be enabled in many games without crippling the fps to unplayable levels. at least that was my experience.

 

for gaming the 5850 is much much better, so don't worry.

 

I agree. Unless you have a specific need for Nvidia (IE: cuda or MacOS), 5850 is the better solution.

 

Great news to hear that A08 has solved the problem W00T

 

just received my M15x 940xm updated to A08 but i cant figure out how to change the multiplier in throttlestop to the normal clocks. which as stated in this thread is 24. I have ticked clock modulation and chipset clock module. Now what do i do change the multiplier back to 24? its currently at 17.

the clocks seem strange here:

 

About time.....no more throttling. I was starting to get very peeved. Starcraft Wings of Liberty now plays like it should be enjoyed.

 

nielo: Right click on ThrottleStop and you should be able to find a couple of menus for the 920XM/940XM CPUs. One menu lets you adjust the turbo multipliers and the other one lets you control the turbo TDP/TDC power settings. The first one is the one you're looking for.

When you open this window you should see these values for a Core i7-940XM.

1 Core Active - 25
2 Cores Active - 24
3 Cores Active - 18
4 Cores Active -18

If you were using bios A07 you would find that those are all set equally across the board to 25. Subtract 1 from those numbers if you have a Core i7-920XM.

A lot of extra power is hiding in the TDP/TDC adjustments so don't overlook that menu item. Keep an eye on your core temperatures. When power goes up, so does heat.

The average multiplier in a Core i7 mobile CPU drops down at idle regardless of how your CPU is setup. That's why the multipliers in ThrottleStop are jumping up and down at idle. If you set your minimum processor state to 5% then you could drop them all down to 12.0 but there is no way for them to stay steady at the maximum multiplier.

The default multiplier for a Core i7-940XM is 16. To get maximum turbo boost in a Core i7, you need to set the multiplier request register to the default multiplier plus 1. That's why ThrottleStop maxes out at 17 on the main screen for your CPU.

 

Ok so Iv changed my settings to 25-25-25-25 on my 940xm since I would only substract 1 if i was on 920xm. I understood everything except the TDP & TDC. How and when should change these settings and is there stable yet? higher number I shud be using? appreciate your help webb

 

i'm using 85/80 for my tdp/tdc. been good.

 

what kind of temps do you get while gaming inap? and does psu overheat? Im stuck with the 260m.. once im set with my cpu performance. I gotta figure out how to flash it and OC.

 

temps been around 75 max for gpu. i have it flashed @ 1.15v os it running hot.
around 78 max @ 25 across the board for cpu. using ocz freeze as paste.

 

yup, i'm using 85/75 for my 920xm.

i'm guessing you want the minimum required to keep the max clocks at all times. this way no energy is "wasted"

 

My 940xm is at 25 all the way, and my tdp/tdc 65/65. what is the benefit of increasing this to 85/75 and how do these help the system to perform better in terms of power? My system is fairly cool while playing Batman i get around 64ish with the multipliers at 25.

 

I've just spoken to Dell regarding the 940xm not being present as an option on the website. If you attempt to place a new order and I've been told that the 940xm aren't available anymore. Apparently only the 920xm will be sold for the M15x laptop but if you want this you have to phone up and request one which I find strange. The salesman did say he was unsure if the 940xm would return as if it was only out of stock it would show as such on the system which it isn't, so he believes it won't be made available again.

 

try this test,
have throttlestop open to show you your current multi in real time. enable it and do your normal settings. also have windows task manager showing your cpu usage.

run prime95 stress test making sure that all cores are at 100% usage

is your multi at 25 still?
my guess is no.

increasing your tdp/tdc to 85/75 will ensure enough juice to keep the multi at max while running at full power. you only need so much to get it there then the rest is unnecessary.

 

Alright that makes sense and those settings work stable guess Im all set to oc my gpu. By the way what is the default tdp/tdc for 940xm? cuz it showed it as 62/62 on throttlestop but i cud have sworn it was 65/65.

 

The TDP/TDC values in ThrottleStop are used to control the amount of turbo boost you get and may not equal the TDP rating of your CPU.

The official TDP for a Core i7-940XM is 55W.

Intel® Core? i7-940XM Processor Extreme Edition (8M Cache, 2.13 GHz) with SPEC Code(s) SLBSC

It looks like Dell is doing you a favor and allowing a few more watts before turbo boost will start to throttle back. The easiest test to do is run 8 threads of wPrime and then you can increase TDP/TDC while wPrime is running and watch what happens to your average multipliers in ThrottleStop. More turbo TDP/TDC allows your CPU to run faster when fully loaded but also increases your CPU core temperature as you are allowing it to consume more power.

 

So, anybody tested if the 210W or 230W psu will work with A08? I mean, will this bios let the m15x draw more energy?

 

is there anyway to restore the default tdp in throttlestop for the 940xm?

 

set it back to 62/62 for 920xm or 65/65 for 940xm (i think)

 

There's no magic button in ThrottleStop to do this. I've heard that the 940XM in the M17x uses TDP/TDC settings of 62W/62A by default but don't quote me on that. You will have to manually enter those values into ThrottleStop to go back to the default settings.

If you want to be 100% sure about your CPUs default settings then exit ThrottleStop, delete the ThrottleStop.ini configuration file, reboot, start up ThrottleStop and immediately open up the TDP/TDC window and whatever values it shows you are the default values for your CPU. Maybe post a screen shot of that so others will know and I can send them to your post when they ask.

I wish I could tell you more but I don't have any Core i7 mobile hardware or documentation from Intel so I've been kind of winging it with this feature. With 5150Joker's testing and help, I got kind of lucky discovering this little secret way to significantly boost performance.

 

wait a minute you are doing all this work making software for fixing dells screw ups and you have no hardware to test it on lol. I think it is time you start accepting donations so we can get you on board and you can be testing on the fly and get a little token of appreciation. I thank you for all your hard work and look forward to testing your software with the 920xm chip i have coming this week.

 

agreed, i am more then willing to donate some money, tstop has help me out more then any other software. especially now tstop is a must. hehhehe

 

I agree. It's a sickness alright but it keeps me busy and out of trouble. My work seems appreciated by the community so that's good enough for me. Imagine how good ThrottleStop would be if I actually had access to some documentation and some hardware to play with.

ThrottleStop and the Core i7 Extreme mobile CPUs are a perfect match. You're going to love the extra performance it can get out of your new 920XM. You just need to find a way to keep it cool.

I removed the donate button from ThrottleStop a while ago. If you want to make a donation to help me with my projects then just download my last project, RealTemp and right click on the title bar and select the About... menu option and in there is a Donate button hooked up to my PayPal account. Buying me a beer is always appreciated.

RealTemp 3.59.5
http://www.fileden.com/files/2008/3/3/1794507/RealTempBeta.zip

 

The default for 940xm is 62W/62A.

 

done, now go enjoy your beers, hehehhehehe

 

forget beers i am getting you shots and champagne my friend lolz. I will send some MC chickens your way and then some some value meals your way once i am done playing with the software. If you do not mind putting a donate button on the throttlestop software for future release as well since it would be easier for people to do that. I am at work but later tonight i will hook you up.

thanks

PS: All extreme users buy the man a MCCHICKEN he deserves that if not more and you all know that.

 

Thanks dttran83 for confirming 62W/62A is the default TDP/TDC.

I originally thought that by now, Dell would have all their throttling issues taken care of and ThrottleStop would quietly disappear. The extreme unlocking features mean that TS will be around for a while yet. I guess I better add that Donate button back in.

 

Could always rename it to celebrate it's continued existence
FullThrottle instead of ThrottleStop.

Maybe even make it replace the thrice damned Stealth mode button, so the Stealth Button activates it.

 

Bravo for the return of the Donate button. ThrottleStop is far and away the best and most powerful overclocking utility for extreme mobile processors in the world. Your efforts need to be not only applauded, but rewarded. And no nickel-dime donations. Value for value.

FullThrottle is a great idea for the revised use T-stop. Thanks Unclewebb.

 

just want to thank unclewebb for T-stop you''v really helped the community so much and I sincerly appreciate your effort.

 

you know, i'm half asleep and it took me a few read throughs to figure out where the donate button was....

why would you possibly make it so difficult to find to donate! lol

anyways, thanks a lot unclewebb, TStop is practically the most important system app in my lappy. With the extreme it's a must!

 

I'll stick the Donate button in the Options window or somewhere so it is easier to find. I'm a nut when it comes to keeping my utility programs extra lean so you guys can do some benching without having to worry if TS is going to kill your performance. No worries there. Thanks for the support.

 

I've been telling Kevin all along that he needs to get paid for his contributions. Maybe we can get enough donations to him so he can pick up an Alienware himself? Though I'm not sure if that's a good thing or bad lol!

 

Hahaha... that's a good thing. You should see the improvement achieved with this new a08 bios. It made the system work decently, to say the least, for almost everyone. They even got the touchpad working right.

Just donated too, Kevin. Nice job with TS btw.