another i7 extreme joins the ranks.

booyah, took about 20mins to install and already feeling the power. Thanks to LaptopMonkey on ebay
i ran occt cpu bench for 30mins with throttlestop enabled and got it to 80 degrees, is this normal for this type of cpu?

i couldn't find any mx3 or ocz freeze so i just used the as5 i had lying around. i wasn't worried about short circuiting the chip since i've been using as5 for years and know it's consistency. it idled back to around 45 - 48. will only get better as the as5 gets through the initial cooldown period.



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IS there a noticeable difference in everyday usage between the 720 or 820QM?

 

I might be able to join as well soon!

 

i wouldn't think so, however i might be wrong since the 820qm has 2mb more cache at 8mb total same as the extreme.

the big difference however is in the 920xm with it running all 4 cores at 3.2ghz whereas the non extremes throttle back if multiple cores are used.

 

I was originally gonna get the 920XM instead of the 820QM, but I felt like I could use the 200 bucks in a future computer purchase. So there's really nothing to miss out on except when video encoding and stuff, right?

 

wow nice, now you really have an all powerful M15x congrats.

 

Im getting a 940 i7 soon. Congrats on the purchase. Give me a update, if those in game effects are any better.

 

You will see a big differentin RTS game.

 

i noticed a difference in just cause 2. i havn't gotten SC2 just yet.... broke the bank with cpu.

also a huge difference in the poorly optimized (i hate thq) splintercell conviction. however i was using my watt meter and sure enough i was pushing 158watts. it actually shut down the system with an overload (power cable ring turn off) approx 30sec later.

i had to down-volt my 260m to 1v (from 1.03) and now appears stable. if pushed with occt and furmark i still peak at 151 watts.... this is more than i am comfortable with, is there any way to get a larger power adapter which fits? i think i heard somewhere the M17x adapter works right? is that the R2 or?

 

Those temperatures are normal, mine will hit 80-82 sometimes in Nero when I'm burning a movie.

When it comes to power there is no comparison, this mobile cpu can convert faster then my Desktop!

To bad the burner is only 8x.

 

i've been using the M17x r2 psu with no problems. it gave you a warning when booting up but you can disable that in the bios.

 

Congrats! I'm hoping to get my hands on a 920XM here soon.

 

Ahhhhhh. So many people getting the 920XM too. Just need to sell my 820QM then. :S I hate selling things.

 

Xeroxide, you got a 260m with with an extreme processor?!? Not good...

Anyway I'm stuck between a 920 or a 940....

 

You have a 260M too. Or your siggy is lying.

 

haha i know right?
anyways i've been monitoring the power usage using a wattage meter. with the 1v mod on the 260m and everything at stock it's running fine with a max of 140watts. (that was encoding video while gaming)

at 1.03v for the 260m it peaks over 150watts and the adapter triggers the overload. i'm going to try it raiding tonight in WoW, that seems to stress out my hardware the most for rl situations... heck i can't even do stuff in the background while playin WoW without the performance taking a dump (raiding situation of course, not just sitting idle in town /flexing)

i'll tell you this however, i have absolutely 0 room for overclock. the power adapter cannot handle it at all. yes i know i'll probably get a 5850 or 5870 in the near future, however for the moment i am stuck. (not to mention dell Australia is kind of lame in comparison to the US site... they only have parts for the previous gen M17x on their site)

about the 920 or 940... ewwww if you can stretch the budget, it's nice being able to say that you have the fastest laptop processor in the world... but for me it was too much $, almost double the price.

 

So, is the 920XM really worth the 200 bucks and trouble of selling my 820QM?
Have you experienced any lag or freezing?
I've crashed my computer once trying to play 720P fraps footage while running MW2 and Chrome. :S

 

the real test will be starting in about 1hr
full icc clear in WoW. muhahaha

but no, i havn't had a single crash apart from the ones with the voltmodded 256m. heck i'm normally a freak about it but i havn't even re-installed my os's yet.

and just feeling the difference in rl performance going from the 720qm, yes it was worth every cent.

*edit*

just a quick update, raid went great. cpu didn't get stressed at all (max 130 watts, 65*C cpu core). fps stayed high even where their were normally dips (tanking marrowgar for instance)

 

Huh? I don't get it..
If you mean im getting an extreme with a 260m, Nop 5870 1st

 

Oh, cool. ;D

 

Urgh so many components to upgrade lol.

How much did the 920 cost ya? I might save up for that after I grab a 5850. To use the CPU I'd need to grab a 9cell battery and maybe a M17x R2 PSU? My PSU is falling apart anyway.

 

5870 throttles too.. but just the CPU.

 

WoW ha been a rly good test for throttling... Id be interested in talking to you.. do you hvae msn or aim messsenger? If so could you pm me the info? thx

 

how do you get the 920 to run on all 4 cores at 3.2ghz, is it automatic on the turbo boost or does the cpu need to be overclocked?

intel's spec sheet shows the 3.2 turbo boost on 1 core, the same setup as the 820 and 720 so i'm trying to figure this out heh.

 

@avengement - bought the cpu for 418usd, guy named laptopmonkey uk. good seller, no fuss and quick delivery. also was kind enough to give me a mini solar powered calculator... nice touch
@DeeX - sorry don't use msn. wow is my messenger i'm on this forum a lot though so feel free to pm me if you have q's.

@wasupdog - i'm not sure if it's because it's extreme edition or because its an engineering sample, but the alienware seems to run all 4 cores at max multi all the time. in throttlestop you can only set the multi to 16 max. however you can set the turbo multi in what i like to call "secret menu" (right click and select turbo ratio limit)

in the photo below i set my multi to 25 just as an example


it will run at 25 multi regardless of how many cores i stress. here is the "secret menu"


i will not be trying to run my system like this, not until i get rid of the 260... i'm already pushing the limits of the powersupply.

one thing to note about this feature tho, even though there is an ok and cancel button, the multi updates in REAL TIME, so if you decide to show off to a friend and put it to 30.... your system my tell you it's not a good idea... just saying.

 

WHAT!?!?

 

Xeroxide, have you benched your CPU yet? I wanna see how 920XM @ 3.2Ghz performs on Vantage.

 

5870 typically doesn't throttle.. and its a Gpu.

 

I just wanted to clarify this.

In an Intel CPU like the 920XM, the default multiplier is 15. Using a setting of 16 in ThrottleStop is a secret code that tells the CPU to use the default multiplier and the extra +1 tells the CPU to use as much turbo boost as is available based on power consumption and core temperature. The amount of turbo boost you get has to be adjusted separately in the other window you posted.

I've seen some screen shots that look like people are afraid to click on the Set Multiplier box because it only goes up to a maximum of 16 but in theory, that setting should give you full turbo boost. I agree this is a little confusing but it's how Intel designed the Core i CPUs. The highest multiplier request is always the default multiplier plus 1 for full turbo boost on all Core i based CPUs.

Would you like me to change how this works? I could add an Apply button to this requester so turbo multiplier changes wouldn't happen until after you pushed either the Apply or OK button. It's easy enough to change that but I haven't heard any feedback about this option so let me know what you think.

 

wow didn't know there was a new throttle stop, any changes in this one unclewebb?

 

oh i see now, ty for clearing that up. so in theory if i'm close to maxing out my adapter (150 watts) as long as i do not change the max turbo power limit, it will never exceed that wattage right? i've tested using various tools and the most power i could suck from the power point (checked using a watt meter) is ~145.

i highly recommend occt psu test for this sort of thing if anyone wants to try, but only with a watt meter and afaik there is no safety cut off so don't leave it by itself and watch the meter carefully.

about the turbo button and using apply/ok. it's alright either way, i just thought it strange to have an ok button when it's applied in real time and had a bit of a shock when my comp suddenly bsod.

btw about vantage, i did 2 quick tests.

physx enabled = 30.9k cpu score
physx disabled = 16k cpu score

i think the tdp/tdc limits were stopping all cores reaching full multi for the entire duration. i'm too scared to up the ante right now since it's running so close to max rated wattage for my adapter, i'll just trigger the overload and possibly damage the chip in the process.

 

Those are some nice scores. DO you experience any throttling? I would call up Dell and see if they could get you a 5850 if you are experiencing throttling.

 

A Dell adapter that is rated to deliver 150 watts DC to your laptop, is usually only putting out approximately 130 watts DC when a Kill-a-Watt meter is showing 150 watts AC being drawn from your wall. Adapters have protection built into them and will typically shut off at about this level so your adapter doesn't go ka-boom. This is just poor design. Dell really should be using a 240 watt adapter on the M15x so there is a lot more head room between max power draw and the adapter shutdown point. This also gives you much quicker battery charging when gaming. If they did this then there would be no need for 101 throttling schemes.

I guess the OK/Cancel in the turbo adjustment box is set up so OK uses and saves the adjustment you just made and Cancel resets your CPU to how things were before you started making adjustments. Adding an Apply button would be more logical but I just like getting in there and immediately cranking those multipliers up and up and watching the MHz immediately go up and up.

 

So If I get a alienware M17x adapter I would have more room to overclocked my cpu and gpu?

 

the cpu, no not really. as for the gpu.... well that has always driven me up the wall. if it weren't for rivatuner, it would be unbearable.

thanks unclewebb for clarifying this, i can see your logic and it makes perfect sense. its fine the way it is, just that i assumed the settings do not apply until you hit ok. having it done in realtime is sort of cool.