Let's share upcoming upgrade plans for the M15x beast :)

Nope it works with 680M too hence fatboyslimerr can do it. Cheers mate this is great. Even running SC2 with it on

 

KOI, I installed my 920XM today.

Got any tutorials on what I should mess with in throttlestop? Or is it better to use a modified bios?

 

Modified bios? The only way to OC is to use theottlestop. Set your tdp and tdc to 150/150 and then up your multis. Start with 24x on all cores and work your way up from there.

24x is already 3.2ghz mind you so make sure you are using decent thermal compound, exhaust vents are dust free etc before doing so as the temps will jump up a fair amount.

All 920xm's are capable of minimum 3.2ghz stable on 4 cores. With some tweaking thereafter you can then find your stable limit. It might be 25x, 26x or if you are lucky 27x. Once you find the maximum stable multi to run all cores. Set the same value to x3 cores too.

Then set x1 and x2 to +1 multi for extra performance in single and dual threaded applications. Of course you can tweak it further but I find it most stable when I run 1 and 2 cores at same frequency and 3 and 4 at the same frequency.

I run mine at 27x for loads using 3-4 cores and 28x for loads using only 1-2 cores for example.

 

I try 25 and I can fold for around 4 hours no problem
The TDP is only set to 90 though (TPL)

temp not above 80c, fans on auto


Btw, what thermal pad do you use to secure the additional small heatsink to the m15x's heatsink? The one I have is non adhesive.


25 (3-4 core), 26 (1 core)

 

Weird, I didn't see that option on my machine that has the 880M.

Sent from my overpriced Galaxy S6 Edge +

 

Another question on using throttlestop on the M15x

What is Clock modulation / Chipset clock modulation? Is it needed to set these two to 100%? I heard that Tstop actually wastes cpu cycles if these two option is enabled but doesn't have any effect on the computer.


I also find that C0% and Chip is not at 100% when running folding@home, wonder what I should do to prevent this?

 

You mean the thermal pad on the CPU heatsink (for the inductors)? A 1mm pad should be fine. Some pads are not as adhesive as others but all of them should stick to some degree.

 

Disable C states, will run at C0 all of the time.

 

I mean when you put smaller heatsink to help dissipate heat

I don't have a sticky thermal pad, so the smaller heatsink will just fall off.

But then my CPU would run at 3.4ghz all the time, even if there's no load

 

Not sure what you mean. Are you talking about the RAM heat shield?

 

I mean something like this http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...5x-cpu-cooling-mod-guide-and-pictures.752797/

The smaller heatsinks KOI put on the CPU/GPU heatsink.

 

Oh, I see. you can use thermal adhesive epoxy to attach them. There's also thermal adhesive double sided tape which may be easier.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...cm_re=thermal_adhesive-_-35-100-013-_-Product

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...onductive_Adhesive_Transfer_Tape_-_2_x_2.html

 

I'll consider the themal adhesive, I'll be buying another set of heatsink to mod.




This is my current heatsink, I cleaned some of the black paint off to improve themal transfer. Currently the TIM for small heatsink is only a thermal paste, not strong enough to be flipped upside down, but is enough for testing purposes.

920XM maxes at 27x133 before 28x133 leads to bluescreen in less than 2 minutes.
Without mod, cover installed or removed (no diff) = 92c max core
With mod, cover removed, vent grill removed = 88c max core
With mod, cover removed, vent grill removed, fan blowing = 80c max core

 

My driver must be too old. I don't see this option. Running 345.20, yeah... that's old!

 

Carpet cooling mod? He he. Interesting idea to run your laptop upside down. 27 multiplier on four cores is impressive. Is that stable on prime95? What TDP/TDC settings do you use in throttlestop? My i7 940XM can handle 100% load at 26 multiplier on four cores but likes to get up to 90+ degrees after 5 minutes or so while video rendering or transcoding. Interestingly enough in Cinebench multi my i7 940XM is only 18% slower than an i5 4690K at stock (28% slower at 4.5Ghz OC).

 

This is how I have my throttlestop set up. You need clock mod, chipset mod and multi all ticked and you need to turn it on (bottom right)!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xq6nwyd3ss3a56q/throttlestopA.jpg?dl=0

 

Pic is broken.

I think you're on an older version of throttlestop, I don't see some of your settings.

I've been running folding@home for the past 10 hours and it seems stable at 27 multiplier.

TRL: All is 27
TPL: 150 / 150 (this is what KOI recommends)
Speedstep / C1E: enabled
Chipset clock modulation: 100%, enabled (Clock modulation not enabled, I see no difference with this enabled or disabled)
PA-7E with right angle adapter, center pin removed

Chipset clock modulation is what's throttling the CPU, anything else doesn't seem to matter

 

Clock modulation should definitely be ticked. Also Set Multiplier should be ticked and put up as high as possible. Is 16T as high as it will go?

Try running Cinebench R15 multi and see what benchmark score you get.

 

Five runs of each setting.

Cinebench R15 CPU: 513, 506, 516, 521, 469 (??)

Cinebench R15 CPU w/ Cmod-set mult: 535, 529, 533, 523, 531

I'll keep cmod and multi set, thanks.

 

Lmao



I'll try this tonight

 

Your highest score was 535 at x27 multi? My highest at x26 multi is 536. You sure you had everything ticked? Could be margin of error though,

 

How hard is it to replace the CPU in an M15X? Also, can the i3 330M be OC'd via throttlestop, or do I need a 920/940XM?

 

Yes, 535 multi.

I had everything ticked.

 

Easy to replace cpu and yes only 920xm and 940xm can be OCed.

Sent from my SM-A500FU using Tapatalk

 

Good idea, had a go at this too and it massively improved temperatures! Now my laptop fans don't spin at all during idle! I had no idea they didn't need to spin.

 

Holy crap this cooling mod is efficacious! 543 in multi @ x27 four cores. Max temp 71 degrees....

 

I did that, but with some extra.

I rubbed off and polished the heatpipes till it was free of black paint coating, now is slightly mirrored. Stuck on some small heatsink on top with thermal paste. Then put a big fan near the whole setup (note that I don't have a smaller on top of the Intel heatsink), temps where around 66-69c, only breaking to 70 or 71 for a split second.

TDC 150/150
TPL 27 all cores
Folding@Home
Fan set to max through hwinfo.

 

I'll try putting it on GPU side and I should easily be able to get up 1Ghz on core and nice temps

 

What did you use to attach those small heatsink on the CPU side? Is it permanent?

I'm considering the arctic adhesive, but that's to be done on a spare heatsink.

 

The big CPU cooler is held on by gravity and thermal paste. The small copper heatsinks on GPU side are held on by adhesive tape.

 

I would use thermal adhesive tape on anything you plan on changing in the future because thermal adhesive epoxy like the Arctic Silver stuff is more or less permanent.

 

+1. Only get 3M strips, any other brand just won't stick as well.
http://www.moddiy.com/products/3M%2d467-Thermally-Conductive-Adhesive-Transfer-Tapes.html
These guys deliver globally and I've used them before and they're very prompt. When I said my package hadn't arrived they sent me the same order out again for free and I ended up getting two arrive the same day!

 

Thanks for the link. Bookmarked it

 

I'm thinking of using Arctic adhesive instead. Heatsinks are taller than the bottom plate, but that shouldn't be a problem (see below).

IIRC the adhesive is 4+ w/mk ( http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb...hesive-tapes&p=3277895&viewfull=1#post3277895) compared to 3M's 0.17-0.18 w/mk ( http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/...ive-transfer-tapes-with-3m-adhesive-200mp.pdf)



Right now, what I plan on doing with cpu heatsink is remove the black paint on top (improve thermal transfer to small heatsink) and lap the contact point between copper and CPU die (1000-2000-3000 sandpaper). After that, the small heatsinks go on top.

This NF-A14 is mounted using the supplied self-tapping screw. And is tall enough to not cause interference if there's heatsinks below it.





Drill small hole, let the self tapping screw handle the rest.







The GPU pipe only allows 2 small heatsink, probably won't be a problem since I'm planning to get a 1070M (lower TDP than a 970M I hope)





Should be able to get many small heatsink on top of the CPU pipe.






Something like a Gentle Typhoon (GT AP15/53 1850) or Vardar series (EKWB) does have better static pressure, but the hub deadzone is too large for this application.


I'm still waiting for a USB -> 3 pin cable from china.

To do list for this bottom plate
1. Cut more holes for CPU side
2. Shape airflow for either heatsinks
3. Cut holes for GPU side (pending, until I get new GPU)


I have 3 bottom plates.

1. Static bottom plate for DTR purposes, it's this one with NF-A14. I haven't finished cutting yet.
2. Travel bottom plate, I haven't gotten into making this. Plan is to cut it just enough to let small heatsinks be mounted and bottom plate installed.
3. Original (new) bottom plate with Alienware M15x name plate. This is for decoration purposes.




Upgrade / Fix list

1. 16GB RAM kit (newegg)
2. 1080P screen replace (ebay)
3. Fujipoly thermal pads 17w/mk (waiting for 1070M) for CPU coil and GPU VRM/VRAM


Lower priority

1. New palmrest assembly
2. New keyboard
3. New battery

 

Nice work Those Noctua fans are nice.

 

Thanks.

About GPU, what did the 970M MXM card cost on launch day (ebay, lowest price)? Can we expect the 1070M (if there's any MXM model) to be the same?

 

Not sure but there's a guy in the marketplace here selling a 970m.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/fs-alienware-m17x-r3-mobo-dell-gtx-580m-m17x-r4-mobo.784052/

 

400, should be reasonable to buy if I keep stalking ebay/nbr marketplace.

We'll see.

 

BTW I also agree, for the tiny heatsinks, thermal epoxy is probably the way to go as its a much better heat transfer interface than any adhesive tape.

Just tried CPU cooler on top of GPU side and temperature improve is HUGE! At 950/1050 on GPU the temperature will slowly get towards 84-85 while playing Witcher 3 on high. After 20 minutes my max temperature at this high overclock was 58 degrees!!! Awesome!!!

 

Has anyone tried external fans over the exhaust ports? I wonder if something like this will help to expel hot air faster than the stock fans.

 

Not exactly sure but you can probably do something cheaper if you have small 5v fans and a cardboard box.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...guide-and-pictures.752797/page-7#post-9768353

Or a premade solution on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/LC05-Cooling-Auto-Temp-Detection-Compatible/dp/B00XKU47Y2




Also does anyone realize that the CPU fan only outputs 5.5CFM compared to the GPU's 7+CFM? Is it possible to buy a GPU fan unit and use it in place of the CPU fan?

 

Also to note that silicons bleed less voltage when it runs cooler, you might get better OC headroom there.



Did anyone mod the PCH heatsink? If you run an ext monitor iirc it routes the signal through the PCH which gets pretty hot.

https://www.techinferno.com/index.p...-my-m14x-r2-experimental-cooling-mod-success/



I have a friend that runs a 3920XM on an 14R2 lol

 

Who cares about the internal fan! When I was gaming with my CPU cooler on top of the GPU heatpipes, the air being blown out of the internal fan+radiator was cool! Not hot at all! In other words I'd taken almost all the thermal load off the heatpipes and radiator. Huge thermal capacity now!

 

Would be a pain to lug around though.


@King of Interns - I may get a 980M, what should I expect/do? Flash modified bios?

 

Indeed. I recommend contacting Prema and asking him for an undervolted version of the new vbios for the 980M. Donate 10 dollars to support him and the great work he does for the community. Flashing is done from inside windows now. You just disable the gpu in device manager. Flash the bios and then re-enable and restart. Beware of the heat though. The M15x struggles with the immense heat created. I use liquid metal thermal paste and can "just about" keep temperatures from running away. Still hits about 90C max after intensive lengthy gaming session.

I am working on a cooling solution but tbh I would recommend at this point waiting for the next gen. You will get 980M+ performance at far lower power consumption and heat.

CPU heatsink on the heatpipes is a great idea but not if you haven't got an external monitor/keyboard nor the space to put them. I would not be allowed to set up a desktop style setup by the boss at home. The M15x must be stored away after use Hopefully I can attach my gpu desktop heatsink properly and use the laptop as normal

 

I have a friend who can get me the 980M for mad cheap, that's why I would still be able to buy the 1070/1080M when it comes out.

So 980M will def overheat on the M15x without undervolt mod? Is it possible to run games on the laptop without additional airflow and just using small heasinks?

 

With GPU fan at max rpm, liquid metal TIM and on a cooling pad with 1V undervolt bios: yes

Old games run perfectly cool.

Mad cheap? Less than $500 that I got mine for? This is also my plan. Sell 980M and replace with 1070M with no loss in money. Copy cat

 

Yep.

Will a clevo 980m work? Or I should buy dell 980m?

Any heatsink mod needed? Dremel, sand?

 

Just ran firestrike at 1000/1075mhz with max GPU temperature 63!

 

How on earth did you do this???

This is excellent and exciting!

Sent from my overpriced Galaxy S6 Edge +