Alienware 18 R1 - RTX A3000 12GB MXM

[Jerryzago]

15 minutes ago, zerokool said:

I7 4930 mx . 4.2 ghz same CPU that's in my viking ( 18 r1?) no throttling from it . 

That is reassuring. I hesitated to upgrade my 4710mq. Stock fan curve was good or Did you have to make a modification?

 

I mean using HWinfo to set fan speeds, GPU fan is constantly 0 rpms. So I am relying to stock controller for cooling. I have read here, people result to hardware modding the fans (like an external switch) for maximum performance.

[ssj92]

19 hours ago, Jerryzago said:

I have an Alienware 17 r1 with a 4710qm and a PNY RTX 3000. It doesn't throttle.  I initially didn't have throttle and I manage to recreate and get rid of it by messing with the advanced settings (unlocked bios) regarding the PEG GPU. Optimus is enabled. Have a look at my post here in the Alienware 17 section with the title "Alienware 17 R1 Fan issue".

 

https://notebooktalk.net/topic/2350-alienware-17-r1-fan-issue/?do=findComment&comment=51211

I’ll try this later but it doesn’t make sense. 
 

you’re saying in iGPU only mode the dGPU shows up with that dynamic scheme option? 

[Jerryzago]

5 hours ago, ssj92 said:

I’ll try this later but it doesn’t make sense. 
 

you’re saying in iGPU only mode the dGPU shows up with that dynamic scheme option? 

I know that it doesn't makes sense. 

 

I can only assume that throttling is kind like a "bug" in the BIOS, and this trick is something to overcome.

 

Like back in the days of the M18x R2 with dual 980m SLI and the whole igpu to peg switch during boot.

[zerokool]

13 hours ago, Jerryzago said:

That is reassuring. I hesitated to upgrade my 4710mq. Stock fan curve was good or Did you have to make a modification?

 

I mean using HWinfo to set fan speeds, GPU fan is constantly 0 rpms. So I am relying to stock controller for cooling. I have read here, people result to hardware modding the fans (like an external switch) for maximum performance.

When I'm trying to go nuts lol I just use speed fan to manually set fan speeds . As long as you tick dell ec options in soeedfan you can control the fan rpm

[SuperMG]

Hello.

 

I installed a 3080 in the AW18 R1 and the frames were so unstable. Not because of temps, it's because of the weird power throttling to 55W.

 

Like it does 110W then 55W then 110W... On every benchmarks. On the 3060, I didn't see any issues until sliderfra did some proper testing with the RTX 3060. He had the same bug as on the 3080. 

 

He didn't found a way to get around the 55W instability bug.

[zerokool]

5 hours ago, SuperMG said:

Hello.

 

I installed a 3080 in the AW18 R1 and the frames were so unstable. Not because of temps, it's because of the weird power throttling to 55W.

 

Like it does 110W then 55W then 110W... On every benchmarks. On the 3060, I didn't see any issues until sliderfra did some proper testing with the RTX 3060. He had the same bug as on the 3080. 

 

He didn't found a way to get around the 55W instability bug.

Have you tried the steps mentioned here ? 

[zerokool]

I might just grab an Rx 6600xt or 6800  maybe would have better luck with amd GPUs 

[Jerryzago]

On 8/23/2025 at 8:27 AM, zerokool said:

When I'm trying to go nuts lol I just use speed fan to manually set fan speeds . As long as you tick dell ec options in soeedfan you can control the fan rpm

Just tested it today and it works. I will test it in my 17 R1. If I get a total control of the fans, I will take a shot for a 4930xm and post a benchmark here that Hansell and RTX don't throttle with these settings.

[zerokool]

13 hours ago, Jerryzago said:

Just tested it today and it works. I will test it in my 17 R1. If I get a total control of the fans, I will take a shot for a 4930xm and post a benchmark here that Hansell and RTX don't throttle with these settings.

I find it better then the fan curve method I think there is even a batch file that can be made to set the fans to desired speeds . So if you are just surfing the web you can set them to 50 percent or so . Ahd when do anything heavy set to 100 . The 18 isn't that loud 

[Jerryzago]

On 8/25/2025 at 3:06 AM, zerokool said:

I find it better then the fan curve method I think there is even a batch file that can be made to set the fans to desired speeds . So if you are just surfing the web you can set them to 50 percent or so . Ahd when do anything heavy set to 100 . The 18 isn't that loud 

Well did test Speedfan in in both of my laptops.

 

M18x R2 controls all the fans together. So it is either 0rpm, 1900rpm or 4000rpm. HWinfo seems to work better in this scenario, since I can make my own fan curve scenario based on what gets hotter first. I have a 3940xm @ 4,4GHz on all cores and an HP Quadro RTX 3000.

 

For the 17 R1 I can set individual settings to the fans. CPU can work seperatly to the GPU. With HWinfo, any modification to the fans, it would "brake" the GPU fan and set it's speed to 0rpm until I powered it down. With speedfan, I can have the GPU at 0rpm and CPU fan at 2000rpm and full blast when gaming. My 17 R1 has the stock 4710qm and the PNY Quadro RTX 3000. I will order a 4940mx/4930mx and see where it will oveclock.

[zerokool]

2 hours ago, Jerryzago said:

Well did test Speedfan in in both of my laptops.

 

M18x R2 controls all the fans together. So it is either 0rpm, 1900rpm or 4000rpm. HWinfo seems to work better in this scenario, since I can make my own fan curve scenario based on what gets hotter first. I have a 3940xm @ 4,4GHz on all cores and an HP Quadro RTX 3000.

 

For the 17 R1 I can set individual settings to the fans. CPU can work seperatly to the GPU. With HWinfo, any modification to the fans, it would "brake" the GPU fan and set it's speed to 0rpm until I powered it down. With speedfan, I can have the GPU at 0rpm and CPU fan at 2000rpm and full blast when gaming. My 17 R1 has the stock 4710qm and the PNY Quadro RTX 3000. I will order a 4940mx/4930mx and see where it will oveclock.

Interesting . Glad the 17 r1 can make use of speedfan to control fans . Another mod I see don't to the r1 is  the faster fan . And heatsink from cicichan . It's a 5 pipe heatsink . If you are concerned with temps 

[ssj92]

On 8/21/2025 at 1:11 PM, Jerryzago said:

I have an Alienware 17 r1 with a 4710qm and a PNY RTX 3000. It doesn't throttle.  I initially didn't have throttle and I manage to recreate and get rid of it by messing with the advanced settings (unlocked bios) regarding the PEG GPU. Optimus is enabled. Have a look at my post here in the Alienware 17 section with the title "Alienware 17 R1 Fan issue".

 

https://notebooktalk.net/topic/2350-alienware-17-r1-fan-issue/?do=findComment&comment=51211

Tried this in AW 18 but doesn’t work. When you select iGFX it turns off dGPU. 

[zerokool]

On 8/27/2025 at 5:24 PM, ssj92 said:

Tried this in AW 18 but doesn’t work. When you select iGFX it turns off dGPU. 

Oh that's annoying . So from what I read the rx 6600 has issues  and the 3060 working ? I don't really care about the 55 watt bug as I'm sure there is a way around it . You know I wonder also if we could mod our bios to add the info for our gpus . Maybe we are going about this all wrong and need to modify the bios and flash it? Which might add above 4g decoding? 

[zerokool]

Also I have a GTX 1060 clevo card . It requires separate power ? Is there a way to run that power ? Someone mentioned doing so from the rapter nvme card ? 

[sliderfra]

5 hours ago, zerokool said:

Also I have a GTX 1060 clevo card . It requires separate power ? Is there a way to run that power ? Someone mentioned doing so from the rapter nvme card ? 

Hi,

Clevo card won't post, as it needs additional voltage that is not in the standard MXM. You will burn the card if you don't mod the mxm connector, and most probably your mxm slot as well.

@Khenglish did a mod a few years ago on  his Clevo P150 IIRC, but that was quite complicated to do...

It was well documented on NBR back in the days, and can possibly be recovered on the archives:

https://www.nbrchive.net/

[zerokool]

10 hours ago, sliderfra said:

Hi,

Clevo card won't post, as it needs additional voltage that is not in the standard MXM. You will burn the card if you don't mod the mxm connector, and most probably your mxm slot as well.

@Khenglish did a mod a few years ago on  his Clevo P150 IIRC, but that was quite complicated to do...

It was well documented on NBR back in the days, and can possibly be recovered on the archives:

https://www.nbrchive.net/

Ahh figured .

[Jerryzago]

On 8/28/2025 at 1:24 AM, ssj92 said:

Tried this in AW 18 but doesn’t work. When you select iGFX it turns off dGPU. 

That is what it is supposed to do for the 17 R1. Even with the unlocked BIOS the dGPU is there, regardless the option in the advanced menu.

 

If I select dGPU or SG, It results in 8 beeps.

[sliderfra]

9 hours ago, Jerryzago said:

That is what it is supposed to do for the 17 R1. Even with the unlocked BIOS the dGPU is there, regardless the option in the advanced menu.

 

If I select dGPU or SG, It results in 8 beeps.

 

I tested on my AW18 with unlocked bios, and same thing: if I set IGFX, dgpu is deactivated, and does not appear in BIOS or in windows anymore :/

I genuinely don't know how the TDP trick worked for you

[ssj92]

On 8/31/2025 at 1:15 AM, Jerryzago said:

That is what it is supposed to do for the 17 R1. Even with the unlocked BIOS the dGPU is there, regardless the option in the advanced menu.

 

If I select dGPU or SG, It results in 8 beeps.

I think we need to see more settings from your bios such as the pcie settings as well. Might be useful to post a bunch of pics from your bios (relevant ones of course).

 

AW17 R1/AW18 use the same platform so they should behave almost identically with LVDS display 

[zerokool]

32 minutes ago, ssj92 said:

I think we need to see more settings from your bios such as the pcie settings as well. Might be useful to post a bunch of pics from your bios (relevant ones of course).

 

AW17 R1/AW18 use the same platform so they should behave almost identically with LVDS display 

Agreed . I also wish I could rest a newer GPU on my aw 18 . It had two 970s in sli and shipped with the 4930mx . So that makes me wonder if it would throttle any newer card but good lord bills are tight . I'd be chill if someone sent me there card of test it . Report back and send it back to them 

[Jerryzago]

On 9/2/2025 at 6:40 PM, ssj92 said:

I think we need to see more settings from your bios such as the pcie settings as well. Might be useful to post a bunch of pics from your bios (relevant ones of course).

 

AW17 R1/AW18 use the same platform so they should behave almost identically with LVDS display 

I will prepare a photo gallery with the settings. I hope it helps. I have a 4930mx on the way and hope it still doesn't throttle the GPU.