m16 R1, ongoing performance issues, fix STAPM limit

@Steven An​ Its caused by bad stapm implementation. Most likely from overconfiguration of variables by dell bios engineers which are known for ruining gaming laptops for decades. When stapm is disabled this laptop is a awesomne device.

@Steven An​ This laptop's only problem is its broken stapm implementation. Dell can go nowhere without disabling that hardware ruining technology. Many companies realized that and developed their own fixes for it. Some disabled STT v2 some set much saner configuration. But dell's setup as always, overtweaked to death. Dont worry dell not even a single one of us use this laptop on our laps. Because this is a desktop replacement which doesnt need a technology developed for ultrabooks. Just set some logical power limits to power modes and let us have fun using our laptop. Im being honest and serious here, you should do it.

@Steven An​ We shouldn’t have to perform all these fixes and workarounds just to make the laptop functional, the out of box experience is terrible. 

there is no reason for STAPM to be enabled on this system, before the update I was able to disable STAPM and the laptop performed as expected without any thermal issues, I’m unbelievable disappointed at Dell for intentionally gimping performance, this does not happen on the intel version (maybe Dell wants us to buy the more expensive intel version?).

this needs to be fixed immediately.

Today, I had a call with a Dell supervisor regarding the issue of not being able to downgrade the BIOS. She mentioned that there is a bug in version 1.13 and later that prevents downgrading the BIOS. Supposedly—and I don’t take her word for granted—they will release a new BIOS update in two weeks, which will be pushed through Windows Update, and it will allow us to downgrade to other BIOS versions. Let’s see how true this turns out to be. Honestly, I don’t believe they’ll have a new BIOS ready in just two weeks.

@ricardotrut​ I messaged them a few days ago and was told they won’t allow downgrading as it’s not recommended..

1.12 doesn’t allow downgrading so it’s not a issue with 1.13.1 and newer. I’ve seen people mention as far back as 1.2.2 doesn’t allow downgrading bios 

@Cihan Can​ agree lol this is a desktop replacement. They also deleted the faulty bios from the Dell website but if you do not turn off channel updates in bios, it will update it through Windows. Likelihood of people doing that is very low and I didn't even have laptop for a day and it was already auto updating to 1.15.0. I had it on 1.10.0 before but it wouldn't downgrade and I couldn't run undervolting or see any advanced AMD features in this release. 

I seriously think Dell techs just say a new BIOS will be released just to get you off the phone but it's been 2 months since they removed 1.15.0 and we still haven't seen an update.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Dell/comments/jw06pe/guide_inspiron_7567_bios_downgrade_from_v1121_to/

Has anyone tried this method of downgrade the bios?

@Sjun that BIOS downgrade method doesn't work as it changes the EFI partition from what it used to be. Version 1.15.0 is so heavily locked that changing the folder will cause it to overwrite with 1.15.0 regardless. I was going to try this before it auto-updated from 1.10.0 but literally wasn't faster than Windows update. 

Im having to use Linux because im afraid that Windows is going to update my bios without getting permission from me. I dont think i will ever use Windows on this laptop again. Thanks Dell!

@Sjun​ I was in talks with a user who was able to downgrade from 1.15 to 1.14 then to 1.13.1 using the bios recovery method however I am unable to confirm if it works. Might be worth a try. 

The issue is still ongoing. Laptops with 7845HX or 7945HX processors are much stronger and cheaper compared to the 14900HX or Intel's top models, which they cannot accept. What they have done is intentionally cripple the laptops. For Intel, almost every month there’s a BIOS update, whether necessary or unnecessary. But for AMD-powered laptops, there haven’t been any BIOS updates for 7-8 months. Do you think this is normal?

This is clearly a situation where the computer is being intentionally slowed down, and I’m really sorry about it. Actually, laptops with 7845HX, 7945HX, and 4070, 4080, or 4090 GPUs are really great. I’m saying this in terms of specs, of course. Dell is killing its own brand. The company is gradually declining due to its dinosaur-like management. If you’ve come across this topic and are experiencing BIOS-related issues with the M16/M18 R1 AMD laptops, I strongly recommend returning them as soon as possible if you can. They might fix the STAPM issue a bit more as more people bring it up, but I don’t believe they’ll actually introduce STAPM on/off or fix the other problems with the computer. The last stable BIOS version was 1.11, which worked just fine. Also, it’s a lie that the BIOS file can’t be downgraded because it checks for previous versions internally. The company can enable or disable this feature if they want. So, there’s absolutely no reason why you can’t downgrade from 1.15 if there’s an issue. If Dell wanted, they could release version 1.11 or 1.12 and disable the version control. They could even share the same BIOS file with the control turned off. There’s no need to rewrite the BIOS. Some companies share BIOS files without encryption, but even those files have version control. Users can open the configuration files with a text editor, change the version control setting from 1 to 0, and downgrade if they want. But of course, Dell, believing it has the right to interfere with devices we bought with our own money, is blocking users by intentionally slowing down or breaking things through BIOS updates. I completely agree with those commenting on this issue. There’s clear discrimination between Intel and AMD models. The simplest example is that Intel models have a graphical BIOS interface. Intel gets BIOS and driver updates almost every month, whether necessary or not. Another culprit is Microsoft. What’s the deal with pushing BIOS updates through Windows Update? Driver updates are fine—they can be uninstalled. But BIOS updates can brick your computer.

@MuLinK​ since my warranty is about to run out and Dell charging exorbitant prices for a extension I won’t be renewing it so I’ve decided I’m going to replace the bios chip with 1.0.1 bios flashed on it, this way I’ll be able to test the older bios versions for performance regression, somthing is definitely wrong with the AMD versions as in games the 7845hx is performing worse than a 12700h.

This is infuriating, I'm never buying anything from dell ever again, I'll be returning my laptop