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Ok I'm sure you're all aware of me whining about my CPU temps because even with the TDP set at 70W, if I ran Wprime 1.55 1024MB for over 3 mins, my CPU temps would skyrocket to the 95-97C range. Well I got fed up with it so I gave the CPU retention mod another try AND I bent the heatsink a bit using the sheer force of my superman hands. BUT here's where the difference starts: For the CPU retention mod, you can't simply guess and apply 2-3 turns like the GPU mod and think you're set. It's a tricky game of varying the tension between the 4 screws so to gauge which ones needed tightening and which loosening, I put the metal cover back on, connected the xfire cable, kb and control cover and fired up the system with the TDP at 82W and let WPrime 1.55 1024MB fly. With throttlestop giving me real time temperature measurements, I alternated between tightening and loosening the 4 screws until I found the sweet spot. It's very delicate because if one of the screws is overtightened, the CPU temperature goes from say 84C to 97C in 2 seconds! Once I determined the optimal settings, I closed up the system and ran WPrime just now and here's my absolute max temps: Note that this CPU retention mod requires removing the c-clips and positioning up top in the same manner the GPU mod works (diagram below). I used the tool on the right to remove the c-clips on the CPU heatsink: Pictorial of how the retention mod should look: Temperature measurements with retention mod @ 62W: Temperature measurements with retention mod @ 82W:

M14X R2 REVIEW! 1. Overview System - I7-3610qm, Nvidia 650mGT 2gb, 6gb ram, 1366x768, 128GB SSD Intel Sata 320, Wifi (standard) The system arrived as ordered, no issues, no dead pixels, and is a mirror image of the older M14xR1. My first order of business was to remove the default 500gb hitachi HDD, and replace it with my brand new intel 320 SSD. Squirt a fresh load of Win7, Drivers, updates and we are off to the races. In essence, the exterior offers no updates from the R1. It has the same "batman" finish as the older model and feels so comfortable and familiar that its hard to think of this as a different machine. The system seems to run much cooler than the R1 and I am going to assume this is due to Ivy Bridge plus the implimentation of the 650mGT. CPU temps rarely hit over 80c and GPU temps usually stay in the low 60s. Note. Max GPU voltage is now 1.0370 2. Improvements 1. CPU - The Ivy bridge I7-3610 is very powerful for a notebook cpu. It easily hits 3.1ghz on all 8 threads during gameplay. Boot times with the SSD are 20 seconds. 2. GPU - Im still running this through its paces, but I am very impressed right now. The performance increases are not necessarily astounding but 5-10 fps increase on most games is a plus and the fact that it runs much more efficiently (even on battery) just provides a much improved portable gaming solution. The coolest feature is the "Turbo" ala Judas Priest. It kicks on automagically and does it while gaming. I have monitored and logged BF3, Diablo 3 and benchmarks and it raises the clocks from (745/1400) to (835/1671). 15 percent increase. Contrary to what we were told, overclocking DOES WORK and the Turbo feature is then added on top of the overclock. 3. Performance on Battery. The GPU clocks regardless of battery profile (max performance or balanced) are set at 405/810. 4. Improved Sata 3 and Raid support. 5. Sound Software Soundblaster Recond 3dI is in my opinion better than the Realtek default software on the R1 as it has better surround support which is a REQUIREMENT on FPS games. 3. Performance (m14xr1 vs m14xr2) Fine print details... R1 I7-2630qm, 555mGT 1.5, 64GB SSD, 1366x768, 4gb Ram, Win7 sp1, Display Driver 295.73, Bios A01. R2 I7-3610qm, 650mGT 2.0, 120gb SSD, 1366x768, 6gb Ram, Win7 sp1, Display Driver 301.34, Bios A02. Scores: 3dmark11 R1 (@800/1080) = 1901 NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2630QM Processor,Alienware M14xR1 score: P1901 3DMarks R2 (@stock plus turbo) =2390 NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3610QM Processor,Alienware M14xR2 score: P2390 3DMarks R2 (@oc100/100 plus turbo) = 2586 NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3610QM Processor,Alienware M14xR2 score: P2586 3DMarks R1 (Battery custom profile) = 810 (this was the best score I could achieve while being able to still play for about an hour on battery. Clocks at 350/500. R2 (Battery) = 1214 NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3610QM Processor,Alienware M14xR2 score: P1214 3DMarks (only 200 points from the stock R1 score of the 555mGT)!!! Game Benchmark: Metro 2033 (Settings 1366x768, Dx11, High, AAA, Tess off, 4xAF, Physx Off, Tessellation Enabled, DOF disabled) Each system was run on Frontlines 3 times to get average. R1 (Stock) Min 10.52 Max 58.90 Average Framerate 29.00 R1 (OC 800/1080) Min 11.18 Max 90.17 Average Framerate 35.67 R2 (Stock plus turbo) Min 12.63 Max 150.88 Average Framerate 42.67 R2 (OC 100/100 plus turbo) Min 11.59 Max 187.86 Average Framerate 46.33 Game Benchmark: Battlefield 3 Recorded with Fraps logging, both systems were tested on the same 52 man server, Team Death Match, Full.. So MAX Chaos-Explosions-Smoke-Particles-Cheez Battlefield 3 settings VANILLA HIGH (no adjustments) 1366x768 default resolution. Config file was used to remove triple buffering and render ahead. This removes most of the (pre processing) and gives you a better idea of performance. Logging was disabled quickly during any (and many) deaths as to add NO FLUFF! R1 (OC 800/1080) Many sessions were recorded. This is just a small sample. Frames: 1048 - Time: 26692ms - Avg: 39.263 - Min: 27 - Max: 49 2012-05-22 14:42:22 - bf3 Frames: 973 - Time: 24742ms - Avg: 39.326 - Min: 30 - Max: 46 2012-05-22 14:43:13 - bf3 Frames: 17 - Time: 437ms - Avg: 38.902 - Min: 38 - Max: 38 2012-05-22 14:43:18 - bf3 Frames: 879 - Time: 21185ms - Avg: 41.492 - Min: 37 - Max: 47 2012-05-22 14:43:56 - bf3 R2 (Stock plus Turbo) 2012-05-22 16:06:18 - bf3 Frames: 732 - Time: 16162ms - Avg: 45.291 - Min: 40 - Max: 55 2012-05-22 16:06:39 - bf3 Frames: 938 - Time: 20359ms - Avg: 46.073 - Min: 41 - Max: 55 2012-05-22 16:07:14 - bf3 Frames: 1061 - Time: 24243ms - Avg: 43.765 - Min: 36 - Max: 48 2012-05-22 16:07:47 - bf3 Frames: 727 - Time: 15927ms - Avg: 45.646 - Min: 37 - Max: 53 R2 (OC 100/100 plus Turbo) 2012-05-22 16:19:49 - bf3 Frames: 57 - Time: 1029ms - Avg: 55.394 - Min: 55 - Max: 56 2012-05-22 16:20:05 - bf3 Frames: 927 - Time: 18939ms - Avg: 48.947 - Min: 41 - Max: 69 2012-05-22 16:21:00 - bf3 Frames: 388 - Time: 7894ms - Avg: 49.151 - Min: 47 - Max: 52 2012-05-22 16:21:30 - bf3 Frames: 463 - Time: 9501ms - Avg: 48.732 - Min: 44 - Max: 55 Battlefield 3: Gaming on Battery Played for 40 minutes, BF3 Medium Settings. CPU settings 70 percent. FPS was from 30-45 and smooth. After 40 minutes of continous TDM play, battery showed 56 percent with 59 minutes left of power. Its really impressive how much power this notebook has on battery. Game Benchmark: Diablo 3 Its really not worth posting figures as either system pegs this game at 100 FPS. I did notice something strange that the R1 seems to handle the High shadows better than the R2. I believe this is probably driver related and should not be an issue in the future. 4. Closing: I believe the R in the R2 is for Refinements not Revision. Its the refinements that really make this M14xR2 the superior of the two models. Better Sound, GPU and true Sata 3 support are worth the 500 bucks this is probably going to cost after selling the R1. I think you will be able to game on battery but when using the nvidia card Im going to bet you can only play for an hour or so before the warnings start to pop. i haven't had time to test the HD4000 so thats the next item of business this week. Please let me know if I can answer any of your questions. I will only have the R1 for another week or so before its sold on Ebay so I am happy to answer the questions that I can. I HAVEN'T TORN THE NEW MACHINE APART YET AND PROBABLY WONT FOR THE FIRST MONTH... I want to let it settle in first before I repaste with IC Diamond. GPU temps at the moment after 40 minutes of BF3 are 60c with turbo and 61-62c with 100 mhz overclock plus turbo. Thanks! update 3dmark11 2679 score overclocked 135/200 NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3610QM Processor,Alienware M14xR2 score: P2679 3DMarks

Recently Dell created an improved Heatsink for the M14X which may be another reason why the R2 is cooler than the R1 additonally to the cooler CPU. They changed my Heatsink to the new variante (which looks very similar) and my temperatures are now down to 89 degree celsius (98 degree celsius before) under heavy workload (CPU and GPU max usage). Its still throttling cause of the 85 degree throttling limit but when only playing games my temperatures go max to 83 degree celsius which is below the throttling limit. The GB support technics also told me that there is a new mainboard mod for the R1 which also reduces the temperature. It could be a voltage mod or integrated heatpipes who knows. When i get my mainboard replacement i will post you my new temps . hopefully there will be no more throttling when rendering and playing games for example. Sry Mumak couldnt find the proper thread. Could you post us a link?

Need to go to v301.42 Windows 7/Vista 64bit | NVIDIA Mobile OEM - 30x Series GeForce Driver release - LaptopVideo2Go Forums Download driver and updated INF file. Works fine! StevenX (As always huge thanks to laptopvideo2go... these guys have always been on top of the driver game and my hat goes off to them)

No worries... try the driver out and let us know if you have any problems.... or feedback on performance would be great!

if he has 32 bit windows installed then why the Samsung ram is recognized ?

2679 3dmark11 score... NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3610QM Processor,Alienware M14xR2 score: P2679 3DMarks oc 135/200 no throttling...

Well.. spread the word to the parrot heads and the other sites... The review is up.. and for the record.. overclocking works on top of the auto turbo on the GPU. How can you tell you ask? Simple... Run 3dmark11 on stock plus auto turbo. Record the initial FPS and in scene 1 it counts the seconds as well as the frame rate during the bench. So, with a partner you count out the FPS every 5 seconds during the bench. Do this again while overclocking. Notice the figures go up. If the GPU was restricting or even THROTTLING your GPU the numbers will decrease from the stock run. The auto turbo engages all the time during games or benchmarks. It never turns off unless the GPU is not being utilized like during loading times or switching maps. Also notice on true rendering benchmarks like metro2033 that the numbers go up as you increase the overclock (not down) as would indicate throttling. And That my friends... is how we do it.