Alienware M18x-R1 + 680M SLI

[Brian]

I know we have a thread on M18x-R1 + 680M but figured I'd add create a separate thread for SLI since it has its own unique issues vs a single 680M.

First off, thanks to @svl7 for letting me abuse his 680M in SLI config. It provided us with a lot of useful data and some of it is good news but the majority is not so good.

Before I get into the 680M SLI discussion, I'll begin with some upgrade photos of the GPU in the M18x-R1:

The Good:

The Vantage score above is with the default settings, no overclocking except for the CPU. There are also some 3DMark 11 runs I did, you can find them as follows:

1. Default settings, no GPU OC: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2920XM Processor,Alienware M18xR1 score: P10235 3DMarks

2. Mild OC (no overvolt) on GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2920XM Processor,Alienware M18xR1 score: P11560 3DMarks

So as you can see based on the GPU performance scores, the 680M in SLI has a HUGE amount of potential. I want to emphasize potential because like I said earlier, there's some bad news.

The Bad:

The single 680M can use an ES MSI vbios (aka FD vbios) that does not seem to have temperature throttling built into it like the retail OEM vbios's in mobile and desktop cards. This allows the single 680M to reach phenomenal overclocking heights and break world records. The fun stops there though because in SLI, the FD vbios doesn't work--SLI isn't detected at all. Unfortunately, @svl7 tried modding a retail MSI + Clevo vbios without much luck, all the attempts resulted in severe throttling with the core alternating between 902 mhz and 225 mhz. This caused stuttering and an overall low score vs default SLI.

So you might be asking, "what about the mild OC score above with 3dmark 11?" well that was done with the stock vbios with +135 on the core and 1100 mhz memory (or close to that). Any further would result in the same type of throttling I already talked about.

The Ugly:

I don't think the vbios problem will be solved anytime soon. So with that said, it seems 680M SLI, whether its Dell or Clevo, will suffer from throttling when overclocked passed +135 mhz on the core. That means for price:performance, it isn't exactly the best deal in town. If AMD can get their shit together, 7970M Xfire would be an all around better deal. That's a BIG IF though because so far, AMD has done nothing but disappoint.

The bottom line:

So the bottom line is that if you want the best single card performance in town for a reasonable price, grab a Clevo 680M, flash it with the MSI FD vbios and stick it in a refurb M17x-R3 from the Dell outlet. With proper overclocking, you will reach very close to 680M SLI stock performance for half the price (although you lose the M18x build quality and bigger display). If you want to go dual cards, then its a toss up between AMD and nVidia with the M18x-R1/R2. Pricing comes into play with AMD winning that category handily but when you consider driver support, nVidia thrashes AMD so there's no clear winner.

[Guest]

Thanks for the info, Brian.

If AMD can get their shit together, 7970M Xfire would be an all around better deal. That's a BIG IF though because so far, AMD has done nothing but disappoint.

I wonder how many more sets of 7970M GPUs I might have to go through to find a pair that are not defective, LOL.

[Brian]

Thanks for the info, Brian.

I wonder how many more sets of 7970M GPUs I might have to go through to find a pair that are not defective, LOL.

Haha what set are you on currently?

[littleone562]

Brian, nice thing is I have not had it throttle yet in game in sli? Have you?

[Brian]

Brian, nice thing is I have not had it throttle yet in game in sli? Have you?

Haven't checked many games yet but will get to that soon enough. Wanted to tackle this throttling business first before doing anything else.

[StamatisX]

Thanks for the info, Brian.

I wonder how many more sets of 7970M GPUs I might have to go through to find a pair that are not defective, LOL.

Probably I should send you my pair...

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk 2

[littleone562]

Brian/svl7 I have an idea as to why this might be happening. Do you think it is due to the SLi cables ability to link/sync the two cards since after all it is a laptop and desktop sli connections are more robust. Maybe the sli-link has reached its bandwidth limit during artificial testing like 3dm11(due to how powerful these cards are) but does not show itself during games, causing the throttling/fluctuations in those tests.

Sadly this theory does not hold true for single card laptops, but the fact that dell and clevo cards have sli coding in their VBIOS might explain this too, as NVIDIA took these steps to ensure that if ever these cards were put in SLI config they would be ready and operate within limits of sli sync limits. MSI does not have this issue because they have no sli coding in the cards?

[svl7]

I really don't think that's the reason. The OEM Msi vbios works when it comes to SLI. Also the SLI cable isn't going to bottleneck the cards, I think it has even the same amount of cables as the desktop equivalent, just less massive.

[Guest]

Haha what set are you on currently?

For 7970M, I received replacement video cards that had serious issues... lot's worse than the defective GPUs I already had... so I returned them and put my original parts back in. Haven't received replacement parts yet, but have an open ticket for it.

Probably I should send you my pair...

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk 2

If you have a good pair, then I envy you. These cards are beasts if/when they aren't malfunctioning. Today was the first time in over a month that I was able to complete a 3DMark11 run without a black-screen freeze, but only at 925/1350.

[unityole]

For 7970M, I received replacement video cards that had serious issues... lot's worse than the defective GPUs I already had... so I returned them and put my original parts back in. Haven't received replacement parts yet, but have an open ticket for it.

If you have a good pair, then I envy you. These cards are beasts if/when they aren't malfunctioning. Today was the first time in over a month that I was able to complete a 3DMark11 run without a black-screen freeze, but only at 925/1350.

imo 925 and 1350 is pretty high isnt it? normally 5-10% OC on graphics card would be good not to stress the card. i always OC only 5% cause im scared to trash my card lol

[svl7]

Yeah, I don't think your cards are faulty, you just didn't a superior sample... base clocks is 850MHz after all. I've seen several people which haven't been able to get past 910-930MHz... All that you can take for granted is that it works dead stable at stock clocks... but of course, if you have the chance to get a different pair, go for it Shouldn't get worse.

[littleone562]

Brian what driver are you using with your system in SLi?

[Brian]

Brian what driver are you using with your system in SLi?

305.67

Sent from my GT-N7000

[unityole]

sorry if im asking the obvious but.. this 680m SLI OC is bad for m18xR1, what about R2?

[mobiousblack]

So any luck pushing these cards past 850mhz in SLI anyone? I just dont understand why with one card it works but with two people have issues. Could it be a power issue?

sorry if im asking the obvious but.. this 680m SLI OC is bad for m18xR1, what about R2?

Why would it be bad for the R1? I mean I didn't push my cards too far, but at 853mhz they seem stable and thats a 135mhz overclock.

[unityole]

So any luck pushing these cards past 850mhz in SLI anyone? I just dont understand why with one card it works but with two people have issues. Could it be a power issue?

Why would it be bad for the R1? I mean I didn't push my cards too far, but at 853mhz they seem stable and thats a 135mhz overclock.

what i meant was, is it bad simply because its for R1 if you push it further than 900mhz will it be the same for R2 if you push over 900mhz still gets throttle?

[mobiousblack]

what i meant was, is it bad simply because its for R1 if you push it further than 900mhz will it be the same for R2 if you push over 900mhz still gets throttle?

Thats a good question, anyone can comment on this?

[Brian]

ALL 680M cards will throttle when in SLI whether they are Dell or Clevo or if they're in R1 or R2. They all have this power throttle mechanism built into the vbios and currently there is no way to circumvent it. Unless @svl7 or someone else figures out the power tables for these cards and how to get around the limit, they will continue to cycle after +135 core (or a bit higher) and 2200+ memory. They still OC decently out of the box but there is still a LOT of untapped potential there that is artificially limited by nVidia.

[svl7]

There are no power tables, at least not such as the ones you find in the desktop GK104 Kepler cards... else it'd be easy

[mobiousblack]

Well as of this moment my cards are running at 854/2000. Hopefully this will get resolved in the future but right now I'm pretty happy with the performance I am seeing.

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[Guest]

There was a post at NBR that someone stopped throttling with Dell 680M SLI by switching the NVDIA Control Panel power management mode. Not sure if this is truly a fix or not, but simple enough to test and find out.

[Brian]

There was a post at NBR that someone stopped throttling with Dell 680M SLI by switching the NVDIA Control Panel power management mode. Not sure if this is truly a fix or not, but simple enough to test and find out.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4922[/ATTACH]

Dunno about Dell cards but definitely not true for Clevo cards.

Sent from my GT-N7000

[Guest]

Have you tried changing this in the driver global profile using NVIDIA Inspector instead of the NV Control Panel? Might not change anything, but couldn't hurt to see what happens.

[littleone562]

I think that just stops fluctuations due to gpu load which are intended.

[mobiousblack]

Dunno about Dell cards but definitely not true for Clevo cards.

Sent from my GT-N7000

It did help with my issue if you recall Brian I mentioned on NBR that some games didn't fully utilize the gpu therefore the gpu clock didn't fully increase to what I overclocked to with Nvidia inspector, the power management trick helped with that. As to whether it prevents throttling at clocks higher than 854mhz I am not sure, but it sure helps keep my gpus fully stable at 854/2000 with no downclocking during gaming and 3dmark11.

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