undervolting a xi1546

is it advisable to undervolt an xi 1546. i mean..i know it undervolts itself to 0.95v when the power saving button is pressed. but is it advisable to undervolt when its at peak power? thanks

 

undervolting is fine. as long as you are sure that your system is stable at those voltages....

 

You may want to read this thread before undervolting Xi 1546: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=99171

 

hmmm...do you think i should go ahead and lower the voltage? i mean..ive jsut installed arctic silver and the thing has done WONDERS!!! and it hasnt even set in! but iw as also thinking of lowering voltage a little bit...not too much...jstu a little...what do you think?

 

I don't think I have ever heard of a Core Duo or Core 2 Duo which would not safely run at full speed at not more than 1.1V.

So drop the full speed voltage down to that but don't save the settings.

You should run a couple of instances of Prime 95 or something similar to fully load both cores of the CPU. If it doesn't crash within a couple of minutes (Prime 95 sometimes, but not always, detects errors before Windows crashes) then put the voltage down another step or two and watch what happens. The rule of thumb is to find the voltage at which the CPU thows an error and then go back up two steps. However, you should also do an overnight soak test under full load just to be sure.

I've got a T7200 @ 1.05V and a T5600 @ 1.0V. Some people have gone even lower.

John

 

You can certainly try it. If you read that thread I linked, the guy ran into problems only during heavy gaming. That's where the GPU started to overheat because of the CPU undervolt. You may want to PM M3z3iAs to ask if he has sorted it out.
Did you install AS also to GPU? Weren't you also the guy with Zalman notebook cooler? Your GPU may be just fine. So first try lowering the voltage only a bit as John described. Then maby you shoud try some 3DMarking or heavy gaming like Oblivion for a hour or so to see if you get any graphical anomalies/glitches. It's hard to know how the GPU is doing since there's no temp sensor for it, so this is propably the only way.

BTW, how is the Zalman cooler? How is your temperatures (HDDs and CPU)?

 

That is a good point about the GPU getting less cooling if the CPU is undervolted so the answer in the case may be undervolting in moderation.

John

 

No problems! No overheating of the GPU in games. Some day when i have time and motivation i will aplly artic silver on it.

IDLE: 54C LOAD:~70 (Wery variating)
(T7200 2.0GHz)

Done in notebook hardware control
Havent bothered coming lower.
Multiplier Voltage

6.........................0.9625

7.........................0.9750

8.........................0.9875

9.........................1.0000

10.......................1.0375

11.......................1.0500

12.......................1.0625

12(?)...................1.0625

BTW, i have some temperaturelogs if someones interested .

 

hi, thanks for replys! i decided to wait and see how the AC5 will do. temperatures are brilliant i think. running at 6x multiplier on idle = 45c running at 11x = 52 - 54c!! which i think is great!! since the thing is a monster!! under heavy gaming though...i hit around 70c max at full load. on 6x however. i barely pass 57c!!! and this is under gaming!!! and i havent undervolted yet. since reading the article you posted ronkotus, ive though about being a bit weary. since the x1800 really kicks out heat. so im taking it easy with the undervolting like John Ratsey said (thanks for the articles by the way. the ones you accumulated? thyre on another thread. really good read. learned alot!!) im going to lower bit by bit and see what happens witht he fan. although in the APCI control...i think ive seen somewhere that teh fan speed could be controlled according to temperature! ill fiddle aobut and ill post my findings...i dont want to see the MAX i can undervolt...i want a nice balance between temperature...and heat n noise! (bit of a hassle in library!!! the thing is a vaccum cleaner!..its pretty warm in there anyway!)

hey, ronkotus im at home right now, so i ahvent got my cooler with me (its up at uni) but its BRILLIANT...the quality is really something. the top is made of aluminium...and as you know...teh underbase of the xi 1546 gets REALLY hot...so this works great...and the holes really dissipate cool air nicely...so i think a combination of AC5, cooler and undervlting will give me really nice temps!

will post results here!

thanks so much for the help guys. i appreciate it.

 

Just a quick queston, do you woid the guarantee when you remove the cooler and aplly artic silver? And what is that cooler named you have kamikazefly? Right now mine is made of some cd-cases :S.

 

Yes, i believe you void the warranty by applying AS5 since doing it wrong you can actually damage your laptop. I'm not sure how well the repair service guys check the laptop if you ever have to use your warranty. Just follow the instructions carefully and you should be fine. There's actually a good guide for installing AS5 to Xi 1546 laptop written by one of the NBR members, ledderlappan.
The cooler kamikazefly is using is Zalman ZM-NC1000 (Sorry for answering on behalf of you, kamikazefly). I also used cd-cases before buying a cooler.

 

Thank's for the answers! I'll think i go with the cooler only. I will see what my economy's opinion is.

 

haha, no problems at all...i tend to remble too much in my replys, and you do me honours ronkotus. yeah, as far as im aware. it voids your warranty...but i took the risk...i really want to get to learn a bit of technicalities!!! its actually rather easy....(i followed ledderlappan's instructions) the cooling system on the XI 1546 is quite easy to remove...and once that comes off...you can see botht he cpu and gpu!! quite well made i gotta say! i did it all in one go..made a couple of mistakes (put too much on) adn then fixed it...now im seeing some WONDERFUL temps...46c idle temps...adn its only been two days!!! as for the cooler...its near perfect..and thyre quite cheap: hahaha, maan...i reamemebr the days of dvd cases and counter strike!! anyway..here are some coolers:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=420908

theres two versions of this one...the one with 4 usb ports adn one without..the former is a little more expensive...

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=483470

this is the one i currently have...its made BEAUTIFULLY and keeps my monster quite cool. £30 really is quite cheap for something like this.

i do not know what currency youre buying in...but these two really are the best at the moment.

good luck in your purchase.

new developments on my undervolting. I HATE intel for not letting the core duo go below 0.950v!!! why why why!!! we would see some reallly nice temps if that was possible....under heavy load (rendering) though 11x at 1.05v give me some really nice temps!! 57 to 58c although im worried for the gpu during gaming...as the fan dosnt come on till later...and it only seems to be running according to the temp gauges from cpu temps...sooo...i need to do more testing and undervolt in moderation. thanks for help guys..will post more finding...gaming and whatnot!