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M15x -- performance is about a factor two too low
We have a rather new M15x with a i7940xm, 460M, and BIOS A08.
Running with no load at all we noticed that the system is approximately two times too slow.
We tried playing around with multipliers, but no tools seems to give ANY result.
Also we noted that the 'Enable speedstep' option in the BIOS did lead to another great decrease (from 6 to 16 seconds runtime on a benchmark) in performance.
The only thing which seems to work is to run ThrottleStop 2.89 (didn't try any other versions), and select BD PROCHOT (also in Options.)
After that performance increase to 2.3 seconds -- where I diod expect it.
Also, AFTER running ThrottleStop BD PROCHOT a program like EVGA E-LEET does report a proper multiplier -- before it didn't make sense.
Now for some questions:
- Did anyone see this behaviour before?
- What is really going on here?
- Is there another way to fix this?
- the BD PROCHOT options seems to bypass a security temperature check. This is now not used (as system is not loaded), but when we really are going to use the system...
- ThrottleStop must be run after every reboot. We would like to have something automatic.
We do have a tight timeline -- this system shall be shipped to a customer in two weeks. And yes, we do have real-time requirements...
Cheers,
Klamer
Klamer
3 Posts
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January 8th, 2011 10:00
Turned out the machine was in stealth mode, which ThrottleSTop / BD PROCHOT seems to negate.
So we hit two misfeatures on the system:
(1) the system can enter Stealth Mode without real consent -- touch a weird button automatically activates it
(2) and this results remains over system reboots without any significant feedback to the user.
Alienware, fix this!
DELL-Chris M
Community Manager
Community Manager
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54.2K Posts
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January 8th, 2011 16:00
Using the soft button on the top right above the keyboard to enable/disable Stealth Mode is a feature. How would a user not know they had used this button? Most users like having the button so they can switch from the discrete video card to the onboard video card on the fly.
7Leagueboot
501 Posts
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January 9th, 2011 03:00
<< How would a user not know they had used this button? >>
Reply from the devil's advocate:
The cat walked across the dashboard while he was out getting himself a coffee?
I know that seems like a joke but that's almost exactly what happened to my wife last night. In her case she was using her Inspiron in bed. I was playing with one of our cats next to her when all of a sudden, the cat decided to walk across her laptop. He depressed the power button and her computer shut down. Luckily for her he had only put it into sleep mode!
Klamer
3 Posts
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January 10th, 2011 01:00
Yes, a good question. I am for sure it happened -- the problem is that the system didn't ask for an acknowledgement of this action, and didn't properly notice it to the user. Also looking at power options / power plan didn't reveal a ''Stealth mode''...
Likely scenario: when deleting files, selecting these with an external mouse, and pressing the DELETE key with the index finger of your left arm. Here you might touch the stealth button with another finger of your left hand.
People not always look at their screen, so a mini-popup for a short time can go unnnoticed.