Fix Alienware M14xr2 Throttling Issue IdeaStorm PLEASE Vote

[Eats7]

Link -> Idea Storm

Us R2 owners have been waitng over a year for a fix, please help us and vote, it takes less than 10 seconds to register and no email activation required

[rtho782]

I do think you are kind of banging your head against a wall here, Dell are unlikely to care.

My personal opinion is that they put the 67 degree limit in after the nvidia "bumpgate" issues on the 9xxx GPUs. Got sick of returns. I've found it isn't a problem if you set an aggressive fan profile.

[Eats7]

As that may be, we shouldn't have to resort to some 3rd party program to un-cripple this machine. It is an issue, and I along with some others I'm sure, will not stop banging my head until that wall is down. We paid too much money to be unfairly treated like this when the AW14 recieved a prompt update addressing this exact issue.

[iPhantomhive]

been a week no respond - Idea Storm

[svl7]

I'm under the impression that this is hardware-related. @deadbydawn had a board that never throttled, and then got one that had a sever throttling issue. He tried several bios versions on both boards if I remember correctly, and there was no change in the throttling behavior what so ever, pretty weird. Maybe this only occurs with a newer revision of the 650m chip... but that's pure speculation on my part.

[deadbydawn]

yeah i had an old board which had no throttling issues whatsoever. then i recieved a new 14x-r2 which would throttle, no matter what @svl7 and i tried...in the end i tried everything possible but no luck, so i took the 14x's appart and switched the mainboard on them, then i was able to really oc the hell out of the machine again, no throttling.

so it was the board / chip / hardware!

[svl7]

One thing that just now crossed my mind is that apparently the EC firmware of Alienware machines doesn't get downgraded by flashing an older firmware package, I recently noticed that when discussing some things with an M18x R2 user, so I can't completely exclude the firmware from the possible cause, but never having owned a more recent AW system I don't know whether there's an easy way to flash the EC only.

[Urban_225]

I just hope that the vote will make a difference.

Sorry for my english i'm french

[ratinox]

I doubt it. The 67C throttle point is nVidia's spec. Dell can't change that without violating whatever agreements they have with nVidia. At the very least it would void the GPU warranty.

The problem disappears if you prop up the back of the unit to open up airflow under the fan. But I repeat myself yet again:

http://forum.techinferno.com/alienware-m14x-aw-14/1755-m14x-cooling-3.html#post28820

[deadbydawn]

i have to say no on this one, the problem did not disappear when lifting up the back. it's not a problem of too little airflow or too much heat.

it's like svl7 and i stated, we tried everything, but no luck, except switching motherboards.

[ratinox]

Then you have (had) a faulty main board. Dell will (should) do something about that if it's under warranty or you pay for the repairs.

[Eats7]

I have some findings that I think you would all like to know, including the alienware team..

I found this in the notes for 331.65 driver version:

"Here are some bugs still open with this driver (updated 10/31/13):

1358403 - Desktop browser freezes/crashes with Geforce 460/560 cards

1392369 - GPU Boost not working with some notebook GPUs

1394264 - Optimus: Can't use dGPU after update to Windows 8.1.

1394783 - GK104: Folding@Home perf..."

I am now using driver version 331.65, and have noticed no boost, but ALSO NO THROTTLE.

I have talked to a couple users on notebookreview here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-14-m14x/731803-alienware-m14xr2-users-doomed-6.html

and we have found that indeed does not throttle on 331.65. BUT this is actually a bug. So Bittersweet.

Now, dont be too excited.. as throttling only happens in the "boost" powerstate, and there is a bug that prevents boost from working. So, no boost=no throttle. When this bug is fixed It will be possible that the throttleing will return along with the boost.

you can keep updated on the ideastorm page: Idea Storm

[JPriami]

Ill follow the link and vote if it helps

[smirkndemon]

I've been monitoring the CPU temp as the GPU approaches 67 degrees Celcius. The CPU temp increased to almost 85 degrees Celcius before the GPU was throttled down. Overclocking the GPU would almost certainly cause damage in the long run to the CPU as it approaches TJmax. After experimenting with almost every driver and overclocking I have come to the conclusion that the real problem with the M14X R2 is its cooling system period. Modding the bios etc...is all great but that would cause serioius damage, in my opinion, in the long run. This laptop is simply not designed to handle high temps continuously. Yes you can increase the fan speed...if you don't mind the noise. In a nutshell enjoy it for what its worth and next time, as will I, do your due diligence in researching a laptops ability to dissipate heat.

[Eats7]

My cpu temps dont go past 75.. try a repaste.

Also can anyone confirm the 332 driver still disables the throttle?

[smirkndemon]

This week I will repaste and get back to you with my results. I'm very curious to find out what happens...

[Eats7]

i recommend IC diamond. its what i use and have been pretty happy with it.

[smirkndemon]

So I finally got around to doing a repaste on my m14x r2. After slowly cleaning up the crap that Alienware calls paste I repasted the cpu and gpu. I ran all my regular benchmarks at on average 7 degrees celcius cooler for my gpu which obviously allowed the cpu to run cooler as well.

So all-in-all I absolutely recommend repasting. Thx for the suggestion.

[norcrossbt11]

is the throttling issue a problem for all models of this comupter? both the r3 and r4 ( m17x?)

[Saywutt]

Okay guys here is what i did to fix the problem, i updated my bois to A14, went back to using nvidia driver version 331.65

and today i repasted my gpu and cpu and cleaned the fan...

so far the laptop runs with no problem and no throtling.

so try it out

[segaofice]

Well, something odd happened with my computer, i used to have the 67 throttle but lately it seems to throttle around 73, idk if its just wrong on the temperature, but it is strange because i haven't done anything to it.