How to unlock Alienware m16 r1 undervolt for ThrottleStop?

[PHVM_BR]

You checked this but did you enter a value into the box beside this setting? What value are you using? This feature only works if you enter a value to tell the CPU how big of a mV boost you want. Somewhere between 100 and 150 would probably help if you are undervolting by -150 mV.

Perfect!

There is no reason to lower the voltage at 800MHz since the power/temperature consumption in this usage range is very low.
The most you will achieve with undervolt at this point is instability.

The possibility of adjusting the voltage offset per point on the curve is where XTU stands out compared to ThrottleStop.
This feature reduces this disadvantage.

So my 4070 came with stock thermal paste? How fucking great, I'm scared of opening the inverted MB, not sure it is a good idea doing it.

 

[unclewebb]

There is no reason to lower the voltage at 800MHz

I agree. That is why the ThrottleStop mV Boost feature is designed to increase the minimum voltage. This can help improve stability while allowing a person to reliably undervolt more at max speed. It is a win, win feature.

Intel CPU cores should be spending 99% of their time either at full speed when they have a task to perform or they should be idle in one of the low power C states like C7. In this state the core is disconnected from the internal clock and it is disconnected from the voltage rail. It is basically sitting dormant at 0 MHz and 0 Volts. Cores should be spending virtually no time at 800 MHz. Adding a little extra voltage down low can improve stability during the transition phase between C7 and C0 without any significant cost in terms of power consumption.

The possibility of adjusting the voltage offset per point on the curve is where XTU stands out compared to ThrottleStop.

I thought about adding this feature to ThrottleStop but decided that the extra complication was really not necessary. I prefer to keep things simple. Being able to undervolt takes care of the full load voltage and the mV Boost feature takes care of the low end voltage. All of the intermediate CPU speeds are used for an insignificant percentage of time. My opinion is that there is little to be gained by trying to come up with some sort of perfect voltage curve. It is not necessary.

 

[PHVM_BR]

It is not necessary.

In my personal experience, point-of-curve tuning is best for overclocking unlocked CPUs.

For example, a 13900HX that has a maximum all-core clock of 4.9GHz.
At this clock rate it may be stable at -150mV, but if it increases to 5.2GHz, for example, -150mV may be too low.

 

[Alienware_Melting]

You checked this but did you enter a value into the box beside this setting? What value are you using? This feature only works if you enter a value to tell the CPU how big of a mV boost you want. Somewhere between 100 and 150 would probably help if you are undervolting by -150 mV.

View attachment 336041

yes I did, same value as the undervolting Core and Cache, which are also identical

You checked this but did you enter a value into the box beside this setting? What value are you using? This feature only works if you enter a value to tell the CPU how big of a mV boost you want. Somewhere between 100 and 150 would probably help if you are undervolting by -150 mV.

View attachment 336041

 

[Alienware_Melting]

There are a couple of things you can try which is how I've managed to keep my temps down on both CPU+GPU just under 75c(mainly playing Warzone i've seen these temps, but average around 60-72c) on both chips.
Just for reference, I have a X16 with 13900HK and 4080, some may disagree with this approach as you are "missing" out in performance but we are talking about the balance of longevity and performance for a laptop, we want it to last and minimising the need to replace the thermal paste so often.
The CPU is only configured to undervolt at -40mv(max limit in the bios)
Steps i've taken to keep temps down:
1. Set your RGB light configuration in Alienware command center, then uninstall anything related to Command center
2. Install https://github.com/T-Troll/alienfx-tools (your laptop should be supported), allows you to manually control your fan curve for both CPU+GPU
3. Install MSI afterburner to set a undervolt curve + figure out your GPU default boost clock(for the 4080 its 2280mhz: https://www.nvidia.com/en-gb/geforce/laptops/compare/
4. Allow MSI afterburner, AlienFX-tools to run at start up
5. In Throttlestop(the disagreement will be here), set the P-core&E-core multiplier to something you are comfortable with for daily/gaming use, I have mine set to run at 40x(4ghz), we don't want it to boost upto 5.4 or 5.8ghz whenever it wants to. Which is overkill for gaming.
6.Buy a IET cooling pad

Ok so the part about locking a core frequency cap, now I realize I cannot select the Set Multiplier box and set it.

Not sure there is any other place to do this or why it isn't possible. Do I need to boot in the advanced bios menu again to allow this?

 

[unclewebb]

Set Multiplier

Set Multiplier is not used when Speed Shift is enabled. Try lowering the Speed Shift Max value in the TPL window.

You can also lower the turbo ratios in the FIVR window to cap the maximum CPU speed.

 

[kurosagi01]

Ok so the part about locking a core frequency cap, now I realize I cannot select the Set Multiplier box and set it.

Not sure there is any other place to do this or why it isn't possible. Do I need to boot in the advanced bios menu again to allow this?

Set Multiplier is not used when Speed Shift is enabled. Try lowering the Speed Shift Max value in the TPL window.

You can also lower the turbo ratios in the FIVR window to cap the maximum CPU speed.

Apology for the confusion, in intel XTU they use "multiplier", but you set the "multiplier" in FIVR window in throttle stop as unclewebb said.

 

[Alienware_Melting]

Set Multiplier is not used when Speed Shift is enabled. Try lowering the Speed Shift Max value in the TPL window.

You can also lower the turbo ratios in the FIVR window to cap the maximum CPU speed.

This does the trick, thank you.

 

[jdq1412]

Follow this video to unlock undervolting on Alienware x16. Worked for me.

 

[Lasdyhn]

My laptop is Dell G16 7630, i9-19300HX, biso 1.22.
Followed this video but failed. ThrottleStop still shows 'Undervolt Protection'.

 

[Adem940]

When ThrottleStop reports that Undervolt Protection is enabled, you cannot use ThrottleStop to undervolt your CPU. Undervolt Protection has to be disabled before you boot up.

View attachment 335327

The advanced menu shown in that video is exactly what you need to access. Disable Undervolt Protection, boot up, and you should not see Undervolt Protection in the FIVR window anymore. Once that is got, you can undervolt.

Everything else looks OK. If you want to test that ThrottleStop is working OK, instead of an undervolt, try applying a small overvolt. Set the offset voltage to +5 mV, press Apply and this should show up in the FIVR monitoring table immediately whether Undervolt Protection is enabled or not.

Post your results if you get this working with the hidden BIOS menu.

I did something wrong on that undervolt unlocking video and now my laptop doesn't have display, it boots up but nothing on the screen, I tried everything including CMOS reset by removing battery but still no screen, is there any solution for this? my laptop is Dell G15 5530 with 13650HX.

 

[unclewebb]

my laptop doesn't have display

Did you try plugging your laptop into an external monitor?

On my MSI laptop you have to hold down the power key for something like 20 or 30 seconds to get it to the reset everything in the BIOS to default settings. Do some Google searching. There might be a similar procedure for your Dell laptop.

 

[Adem940]

Did you try plugging your laptop into an external monitor?

On my MSI laptop you have to hold down the power key for something like 20 or 30 seconds to get it to the reset everything in the BIOS to default settings. Do some Google searching. There might be a similar procedure for your Dell laptop.

I have tried everything really, I slept for only 2 hours.. laptop works normally, when I connect it to tv it works, but there is no display on laptop's own display, I did something wrong and disabled Intel gpu from that secret bios menu... I can't get to bios screen because tv only comes on when windows is at login screen, I don't know what to do

 

[Adem940]

I managed to reset CMOS on my laptop and recovered it, I went back to secret bios menu, disabled cfg lock, undervolt protection, prochot lock, but throttle stop still shows undervolt is protected while prochot lock is lifted hmm

 

[unclewebb]

I am happy to hear that you were able to reset the CMOS and recover your laptop. I have never done any UEFI bios mods. I am lucky that my MSI Vector already has a very advanced bios. I do not need to go digging for the good stuff.

I have heard from other users with the same problem. They are able to find Undervolt Protection within the bios settings but disabling it does not actually do anything. The FIVR window will still show Undervolt Protection and any negative undervolt requests will be ignored. You can make a small positive offset voltage request just to see if that works. If you enter +5 mV for the core, that should show up in the FIVR monitoring table as soon as you press the Apply button. That just helps confirm that everything else VBS related is set correctly.

There must be some other setting within the bios which unlocks the undervolt protection setting. I do not know what needs to be done to unlock this. If you ever figure this out, post your solution here to help others.

 

[Adem940]

I am happy to hear that you were able to reset the CMOS and recover your laptop. I have never done any UEFI bios mods. I am lucky that my MSI Vector already has a very advanced bios. I do not need to go digging for the good stuff.

I have heard from other users with the same problem. They are able to find Undervolt Protection within the bios settings but disabling it does not actually do anything. The FIVR window will still show Undervolt Protection and any negative undervolt requests will be ignored. You can make a small positive offset voltage request just to see if that works. If you enter +5 mV for the core, that should show up in the FIVR monitoring table as soon as you press the Apply button. That just helps confirm that everything else VBS related is set correctly.

There must be some other setting within the bios which unlocks the undervolt protection setting. I do not know what needs to be done to unlock this. If you ever figure this out, post your solution here to help others.

thanks bro, I have been sleepless for days, luckily someone in discord helped, I checked some posts on Reddit but they are suggesting to undervolt through that secret menu which is confusing

 

[Adem940]

I found a strange way to undervolt, even if throttlestop shows undervolt is protected but still applies the values I set there, I will post here when I make sure it actually works, I couldn't find any solution anywhere so I kept trying myself and I was very surprised to see it actually showed minus values in throttlestop even though it clearly says undervolt is protected

 

[unclewebb]

I found a strange way to undervolt

It looks like it is possible to set an undervolt when you are in the BIOS when Undervolt Protection is enabled.
I set a -100 mV undervolt for the core and the P cache in the BIOS. HWiNFO and the ThrottleStop FIVR monitoring table report that this undervolt is working correctly.
I think you are on to something. The method you are working on is going to be very useful for those that cannot find a way to disable Undervolt Protection.

Edit - I can adjust the offset undervolt amount when Undervolt Protection is enabled. I cannot use ThrottleStop to increase the undervolt beyond what I booted up at but I can use ThrottleStop to decrease the offset undervolt.

 

[Adem940]

It looks like it is possible to set an undervolt when you are in the BIOS when Undervolt Protection is enabled.
I set a -100 mV undervolt for the core and the P cache in the BIOS. HWiNFO and the ThrottleStop FIVR monitoring table report that this undervolt is working correctly.
I think you are on to something. The method you are working on is going to be very useful for those that cannot find a way to disable Undervolt Protection.

View attachment 401868


View attachment 401869

Edit - I can adjust the offset undervolt amount when Undervolt Protection is enabled. I cannot use ThrottleStop to increase the undervolt beyond what I booted up at but I can use ThrottleStop to decrease the offset undervolt.

yes, that one I am trying to find my optimal settings, I tried to set the value very low on bios so that I could adjust it from throttlestop but bricked so had to reset CMOS xD but it is really nice that it works and actually applies the values correctly, temps are down at least 10C without any errors showing in throttlestop.

 

[unclewebb]

temps are down

Hard to argue with that.

Setting V/F Point 1 to 150 improves stability but I do not know if it is possible to set that when in the BIOS. Without setting that, my BIOS undervolt needs to be set much more conservatively. I set the BIOS to -100 mV and then I use ThrottleStop to bump that to -150 mV.

Not sure why the desktop crowd thinks using software instead of the BIOS to set voltages is a bad idea.

 

[Adem940]

Hard to argue with that.

Setting V/F Point 1 to 150 improves stability but I do not know if it is possible to set that when in the BIOS. Without setting that, my BIOS undervolt needs to be set much more conservatively. I set the BIOS to -100 mV and then I use ThrottleStop to bump that to -150 mV.

Not sure why the desktop crowd thinks using software instead of the BIOS to set voltages is a bad idea.

I couldn't find E core and cache voltage options on that bios menu, maybe they have different names, I am practicing with P core voltage, so far I am at -200 and no crashes in tests yet

 

[unclewebb]

I am at -200

Usually the core and the P cache should be adjusted together. These two voltages are usually synced internally. I think the voltage going to each is coming from the same voltage rail. If you set the core to a much bigger number compared to the P cache, that request will probably be ignored.

HWiNFO reports a VID value for the L2 E-core Voltage Offset. L2 refers to the Level 2 cache so ThrottleStop calls this one the E Cache. You can use ThrottleStop to control this voltage but I am not sure if it accomplishes anything. The cache should consume a lot less power compared to a core. IF you undervolt the E cache, you may not see a huge difference in power consumption. I get great results without toughing this one.

Intel XTU allows control of the E core voltage but I am not sure what this does. I do not have access to Intel's documentation to see what XTU is adjusting.

During testing, when both the P and E cores are fully loaded, if I slow the E cores down, the VID voltage reported by HWiNFO is exactly the same for the P and E cores and VID is the same regardless of E core speed. If the E cores are on a separate voltage rail, you would expect that if they were running slower than usual that the VID voltage would be significantly less. I did not see that. Perhaps desktop processors with P and E cores work differently than how my laptop 14900HX works.

Finding a V/F Point 1 adjustment would probably be the most productive thing you could do.

 

[Adem940]

Usually the core and the P cache should be adjusted together. These two voltages are usually synced internally. I think the voltage going to each is coming from the same voltage rail. If you set the core to a much bigger number compared to the P cache, that request will probably be ignored.

HWiNFO reports a VID value for the L2 E-core Voltage Offset. L2 refers to the Level 2 cache so ThrottleStop calls this one the E Cache. You can use ThrottleStop to control this voltage but I am not sure if it accomplishes anything. The cache should consume a lot less power compared to a core. IF you undervolt the E cache, you may not see a huge difference in power consumption. I get great results without toughing this one.

Intel XTU allows control of the E core voltage but I am not sure what this does. I do not have access to Intel's documentation to see what XTU is adjusting.

During testing, when both the P and E cores are fully loaded, if I slow the E cores down, the VID voltage reported by HWiNFO is exactly the same for the P and E cores and VID is the same regardless of E core speed. If the E cores are on a separate voltage rail, you would expect that if they were running slower than usual that the VID voltage would be significantly less. I did not see that. Perhaps desktop processors with P and E cores work differently than how my laptop 14900HX works.

Finding a V/F Point 1 adjustment would probably be the most productive thing you could do.

the weird thing is undervolt protection option and E core options disappeared from Bios menu and I got no idea how did that happen and how to bring them back lol I want to check VF point setting after I am done with all of these.


edit: I reinstalled latest bios without losing my settings and those options came back

 

[Adem940]

I keep testing everything, getting lots of crashes in games, so many trials and errors, how can I adjust the VF point? any guide about it? I checked that menu but didn't understand much xD

 

[unclewebb]

any guide about it?

Everything is trial and error. Not a lot of people are trying to undervolt with Undervolt Protection enabled.

In ThrottleStop, open the V/F Point window and try setting V/F Point 1 to 150. Do the same for both the core and the cache.
Fill in all four profiles if you use more than one profile. I am a single profile kind of guy.

lots of crashes in games

Are you still using vastly different values for the core and the P cache offsets? Try setting those two offset voltages equally. See if you are game stable at -50 mV for both. If yes, go for -75 mV and then try -100 mV.