Upgraded to intel 920xm .... but slower??

I have a alienware m15x laptop and it originally came with the intel core i5 430m processor and ive recently upgraded it to the intel core 920xm. however i havent noticed much difference and when i try to play crysis it lags quite abit more. for example when i had the i5 i could run crysis around 25-28 fps but now with the i7 crysis runs to about 20fps and every few seconds it would drop in fps to around 8-10 quite frequently. Have i done something wrong? i want to utilise the power of the processor but atm i havent been impressed . some details on my system below

alienware m15x
intel i7 920xm
geforce 260 gtx
4gb ram
6 cell battery
wins 7

 

Are you sure you applied the thermal paste right? And the heatsink? Sounds like the processor is throttling or something like that.

 

I think i did apply the thermal paste right i used mx-2 and spread it evenly. in Idel the temps are about 43C and in load it goes to about 78C...

 

BIOS up to date? Is the 920XM officially supported?

 

The power consumption of a 920XM when combined with the 260M GPU can exceed the amount of power that your laptop power adapter is designed to deliver. This can result in chipset clock modulation throttling which can instantly kill gaming performance.

The best way to check if this is the problem you are experiencing is to download ThrottleStop from my sig. Start it up and it will be in monitoring mode and then check off the log file option so it can accurately track what your CPU is doing while gaming.

Once you have collected 15 minutes or half an hour of data and you have experienced some of these slow downs, stop ThrottleStop and upload the ThrottleStopLog.txt file to MediaFire or similar and then post a link.

The new ThrottleStop Guide thread listed in my sig needs some log file data so maybe post your log file data over there.

 

one of the problems with the 920 and 940 with the alienware laptops is thatyou need to have a 9 cell battery, 6 cell causes throttling but yeah go ahead and check ThrottleStop

 

thanks uncle just what i was looking for

 

is your cpu oem or es?

 

I have a 6 cell battery but why would a 9 cell battery make a difference if im plugged in all the time?

 

In addition to uncle's great suggestion, DL and run Hwmonitor in the background while you run the game. It'll monitor temps for you so you know if the new CPU is overheating.

 

I'd say... given the complexity of diagnosing such a vague issue over the internet, it would be best if you got someone local who is skilled to help...

To eliminate many variables I'd recommended a clean install! Follow up with most recent driver installs for all your components. This may be as many as 10 individual drivers.

Gl!

 

I've troubleshooted plenty of complex problems over the internet. That's the beauty of it.

Yeah, advise him to spend six hours reinstalling something that isn't the problem. He upgraded the CPU, so his problem isn't likely related to a driver issue. The problem likely lies with an inadequate supply of power or an inadequate cooling system for the new CPU.

 

Your chance of finding a skilled person on the NBR forums that knows these laptop models inside out is a lot greater than finding a skilled person locally.

A clean install is for those that don't know how to trouble shoot. The Dell techs recommend that solution a lot because they are either too busy, don't have the knowledge to trouble shoot or don't want to admit when the problem is actually a design defect.

A ThrottleStopLog file will quickly show if this M15x has a chipset clock modulation throttling problem like many other M15x laptops have had when using the 260M. If that's not the problem then he can run a GPU-Z log file and it will show if the GPU is throttling while gaming.

Once you fully understand what the known problems are with these laptops, trouble shooting them is usually pretty easy.

There's a reason the throttling M15x thread has grown to over 230 pages since last year.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...e-investigation-stock-clocks-overclocked.html

 

Well then, props to you!

In my experience, things turn out more complicated then meets the eye. Not because of the poster's intentions, just there's more going on with the particular system then what was initially clear. Seriously, though, your commitment is awesome.

Indeed, yes. And everything you said makes sense.

As someone who's never been a "tech" and worked in a quite different profession for a living, I still reccomend a "clean install," as much as possible.

You guys are likely right, but if my point comes to pass let me emphasize the lack of info between performance with the stock CPU and the new one (particularly concrete info on original and new performance, not necessarily the "time in between.")

 

If he had a new graphics card from another vendor then maybe a clean install, but not for a new CPU.

 

Hi all i will try and upload a throttlestop logfile when i get the chance..

anyways heres a few tests i done so far i did use throttlestop for abit and ran 3dmark03 and wprime as well.

with throttlestop on i ran wprime and the times were reduced from 13.6sec to 11.6sec

in 3dmark03 i got a score of 32092 BUT with my old processor i achieved 35105 which is abit strange :/

in the windows index my old processor was 6.7 and the new one is 7.5

 

You have a three fold problem.

1.) the power draw issue, as denoted by a few people here. As UC has found too, Dell loves to throttle the CPU as well. This can cause the frame rate drop out you have noted.

2.) core speed. At base the i7-920xm is 2.0 GHz where as the i5-430m is 2.26 GHz. Were an application uses a single or few threads you are not getting the real advantage of the i7-920xm. To be truthfull gaming isn't the best reason to go true quad core.

3.) excess heat with the added power draw. Where the i5-430m was probably pretty efficient in cpu usage to heat output since you are not taking real advantage of the 8 available threads overall the CPU is not as heat efficient to your intended workflow while gaming. Essentially in a car analogy you are burning alot more rubber and possibly overheating the tires.................

 

Hi all
thanks for all the help!
but i think ive fixed the problem now
i installed the latest bios update from the dell website to m15x A08 and after that no throlling issues with crysis

so im quite happy that its worked my temps seemed to be a little cooler too, one question can i still use throttlestop even though its working now??

 

You can, but why if its working fine?

 

I like it for monitoring but i find that throttlestop seems abit like an overclocker although i could be wrong only started using it yday

 

Bios A08 reduces your 4 core active speed from 3192 MHz (133x24) down to 2261 MHz (133x17). Not an ideal solution but better than the throttling you were running into before. Bios A08 castrates the 920XM in the M15x compared to how this same CPU is allowed to run in the M17x R2.

 

so it i use throttlestop and set the turbo ratio limits all to 24 will that mean the throlling will start again?

 

It probably will start throttling again if you do that. You still haven't posted a log file so I can't say for sure.

When playing around with the turbo multipliers and turbo TDP/TDC values, keep a close eye on the chipset clock modulation data. If that drops below 100% then you are running into throttling problems. When you adjust the performance of this laptop, you have to avoid triggering this type of throttling or it will instantly kill performance. The power adapter that Dell shipped with the M15x laptop is marginal at best and is not capable of fully powering an overclocked 920XM.

The best way to learn about your limits is to play around with a multi threaded benchmark like wPrime and run some tests. Watch ThrottleStop for any signs of throttling and see how much your can increase the TDP/TDC before your core temperature or throttling becomes a problem. I like this test because it's easy to see how your CPU is performing. If you try to push too hard and you start throttling; it's going to be easy to see that in your results.

 

Ok so what time of log file do you want to see and what should i do?
Like should i play crysis with throttlestop and set the limits at 24 for about 15mins and see what happens?

 

15 minutes of log data with your CPU locked to the 24 multiplier whether 1, 2, 3 or 4 cores are active would be interesting while playing Crysis. That's how the previous bios versions used to have the 920XM set up in the M15x. This resulted in too much power consumption. With bios A08, Dell decided to start using Intel's default settings for the 920XM instead of Dell's previous overclocked settings. This significantly reduces power consumption and helps to avoid throttling.

Maybe Dell's decision to drop the 4 active core multiplier from 24 down to 17 was not needed. Maybe a 20 or 22 maximum multiplier might be a better compromise. Maybe you could run the 24 multi when 1, 2 or 3 cores are active and only drop down the 4 active core multiplier and still avoid throttling.

If you're only interested in playing Crysis then don't worry about all this and just go play and be happy. ThrottleStop allows almost infinite adjustment of these Extreme CPUs so if you ever want to extract the last ounce of performance out of your CPU, this is the tool for you. I'm just in the process of updating TS for this specific problem that some of the M15x laptops still have. That's why I'm looking for some more data. I want to help you guys get the most out of your M15x after you've upgraded to an XM CPU.

 

Heres the link to my throttlestop log
MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service

im playing crysis with throttlestop turned on for 15mins.

I set the multiplier to 16
turbo power limits to 85/70
turbo radio limits 24/24/24/24

in wprime with 8 threads running i can get 13 secs
for some reason when throttlestop is in monitoring mode it makes my cpu faster and i can achieve 9 secs in wprime with 8 threads running. find it kinda strange as throttlestop isnt turned on and it makes it faster. anyways with the TRL set to 24 i didnt get any throttling i dont think hope my log file helps

 

On the M15x and M17x, the turbo power and turbo ratio limits are a separate part of ThrottleStop so once you have set those higher, those values will be used regardless if ThrottleStop is enabled or in monitoring mode. Even if you exit ThrottleStop, the turbo ratios and turbo TDP/TDC values are still stored within your CPU. You will need to reboot to reset them to their default values are manually set these to their default values yourself. Some benchers like this so they can exit ThrottleStop and still have their CPU running at full speed.

Your log file shows that during your 15 minute test, your CPU was running great with no throttling going on. Were there any game play problems during your test?

Your wPrime time difference shows me that ThrottleStop is giving you a significant boost in CPU performance. Bios A08 tries to hold the 920XM to its default Intel settings but TS is letting you get the performance that you paid for out of your M15x.

This game is not overly CPU demanding game. If you are ever playing a more demanding game and you notice some throttling then you might have to back off your multiplier and TDP/TDC settings a little. Your log file didn't show any of the chipset clock modulation throttling. If Chip% in the log ever drops below 100.0 then you need to back off on your settings to avoid this.

 

Thanks for the reply
Ah i didnt know that about throttlestop i was kinda like how come my cpu is faster in wprime even though i closed throttlestop. but now i know ^^

When playing crysis i think the load times were a little quicker but i have to time this out just to be sure. I dont think there were any gameplay problems which is good it didnt throttle like it used to 2 days ago . with throttlestop stop on or off regardless there wasnt much of a performance boost in fps but like you said its not a very overly cpu demanding game i get more fps if i overclock my gpu. so its probably more gpu demanding i guess or something.

Yea the Wprime test was quite significant i timed it again to be sure and with 8 threads running i got 13.166sec down to 9.212 sec. . I did a few render tests using one of the most cpu intensive programs which is keyshot. with throttlestop turned on it did seem a little quicker but in saying that the temperatures were greater with throttlestop turned on. when i have throttlestop enabled all the time my cpu can go up to 90C! when running keyshot whereas without it on it doesnt go passed 78C. I could perhaps do a test with keyshot as its using my cpu at its full but it is kinda scary when throttlestop is on and my cpu can reach the 90C >_< but i could do something like only run it for 5mins or until it reaches 90C. i noticed though there is a definite decrease in rendering time compared to my i5 430m.

It seems that the new bios A08 update helped ALOT with throttling problems even though it kinda downclocks it . But when i have throttlestop on with TRL at 24 i could run it originally at its full speed and still get no throttling it seems ^^