m15x possible cpu and ati overclock issue? upgrade?

[amateurhour89]

oldie but a goodie, got an alienware m15x r2 for cheap. been upgrading it, but i have run into some snags.

i7 740qm 45nm 45w> upgraded from i3
ati 5730 > new card to come hopefully
6gb ram ddr3

fast enough for most my games (CPU wise, still have a horrible gpu bottleneck) and i have been trying to optimize its settings. video overclocked 845 up from 650, memory staying the same. but i am wondering why my gpu downclocks when not in use. i never noticed my main rigs video clock doing that (tho i never paid attention) but my card will go from its settings to a 100/100 setting... instead of 845/800... temps idle at 35*c, heat is not an issue. or, rather, shouldn't be. so if someone knows whats going on, let me know please! other thing i noticed is its now labeled in drivers as "mobility radeon hd 5000" vs 5730m, also confirms in cpuz.

another thing. disableing "speedstep" in bios i have heard gives awesome performance boost!!! not for me.... my processor downclocks to .98 instead of 1.73... cpuz confirms. and even during benches where you'd imagine it would say "hey, i need to boost" it locks itself in a .98.... no turbo, no jump. just stuck. however with speedstep enabled... it turbos all day long during benches and games. i'm stumped. now, i did change something in msconfig, which many videos say will decrease boot... i bumped the "use processors" in advanced boot to 8 from default. i only use windows to game... thats it. in ubuntu this helps boot alot. i may have broke something. idk.

Also i have been looking into gpu upgrades. prossibly a 6xxxm series ati or nvidia 5xxm or 6xxm card. my price to work with however.... $120-150. i been looking at an ati 6770m for $44 which is a bump up decently from my card. i only really play planetside 2, crysis+, morrowind (with overhaul) skyrim, and gta4 but i do want to be able to play gta 5 at above ps3 settings. any suggestions?

just trying to get this thing rolling right! my first laptop build, but i have been building desktops for some years now, if you tell me something usually it will click.

please no "buy a new one!!" or "that thing sucks, not worth it!!" keep it constructive :-D

thanks!!

 

[Samat]

All modern gpus throttle down when not taxed to save power, including desktop gpus. Disabling speedstep can help getting higher overclocks from a cpu, but you need to manually set the multiplier and bus speed to desired value. By disabling speedstep you make the cpu stay at static mhz setting.

That 6770m is propably a decent upgrade. As GTA Vs requirements for PC aren't known yet it's hard to say how well it would handle it though.

 

[amateurhour89]

aaah, okay. perfectly understandable. i imagine doing this also disabled turbo mode? unfortunately i can't set fsb or multi with this chip :-(

and i imagined the gddr5 advantage of the 6770m is well worth the $45. but its hard to find an $80-$120 mobile card.. seems to be a gap range in there..

thanks for the easy explanation!

 

[Samat]

No problem =)