How to COOL the Alienware m18 and m16 - EASILY

Dell's 2023 Alienware m18 and Alienware m16 both run hot but it can be tamed EASILY following two simple steps. In this video I show you how.
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[@OWNORDISOWN]

You can also apply the TCC Offset in the BIOS , I believe offset of 0 = 100 Deg C max and offset of 15 = 85 Deg CPU Max. That would allow you to use the performance mode and GPU overclocking option.

[@GurSingh117]

Could you please explain this more or make a small video on it, my M18 arrives in 10 days and I have never touched the bios settings or done any overclocking in the past. Cheers!!

[@kingkrushkiller]

System doesn’t save the tcc offset if overclock is enabled in bios tested this 3x

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@kingkrushkiller That's good to know, I just did it via the software. What's the point of having it in the BIOS if it doesn't save?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@GurSingh117 To get into the BIOS press the F2 key as it boots up. Click on load defaults and select bios defaults, click apply and exit. Reboot and go back into the BIOS. Now, if you go to the performance section the overclocking options will be unlocked and you can make the changes like I have shown. You can try the TCC offset here too, but a viewer below says it doesn't save, but its worth a try if you like or just do it via the AWCC like i did.

[@GurSingh117]

@@OWNORDISOWN cheers mate!!! Thanx for the reply.

[@JarrodsTech]

The april fools version of this video: place it in a bucket of water

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Lol, great idea!

[@ACE112ACE112]

@@OWNORDISOWN Time to pull out the freezer

[@Rockyouop]

Genuis

[@jleep2017]

You have any tips on what to do the settings at or anything fir this laptop? I want to make it run in the cool side. So far only got a cooling pad. I want to change the settings like in this video. When you tested this laptop what did you undercooked it to?

[@lonestarr721]

read this on april fools

[@neamashenavar1828]

Because Alienware inverts motherboards does it mean cooling pads are ineffective? Would these Bios settings be the same for the X17 r2? Does the x17 r2 have similar thermal issues like the m16/m18? Thanks.

[@supfitapache7196]

This is a very important setting, I was afraid to buy an 18-inch model precisely because of the temperature, thank you very much

[@siyzerix]

Thank you stephen for taking my suggestion! Very appreciated that you tested raising the laptop. The raised laptop did cool the GPU by about 4 to 5 degrees, which is pretty good. Sad to see it had zero effect on the CPU. Very strange, thought better airflow would help the cpu too

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks Eric! Yeah, I think its because of that inverted motherboard to be honest.

[@siyzerix]

@@OWNORDISOWN Yeah, you're probably right. Hope you do test with raising different laptops. I think the bottom air pulling laptops will see the largest reduction in temps. Even cpu temps should lower.

[@user-uv8yy2hq7i]

@OWNORDISOWN please answer, for the m16 there is an option to put AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX , is cpu gonna be still same hot?

[@Chris-sl2pv]

I just want to say I picked up the m16 Rtx 4080 with the i9 a few days ago!! Amazing. I use it with the iets gt500 and my cpu temps hit the mid 80s only. Everyone raved about the cooler and they are right. The only changes in the bios I did make were… overclock level 1 and turned on the resizable bars. My cpu will hit 90 some watts and holds around mid to high 80s, think max was 89 degrees. Gpu sits in the mid 60s. Please review the iets gt500 it’s worth the purchase, very happy with my m16. Also!! I added the 990 pro ssd 1tb and Kingston impact 5200 64gb

[@StrikeX75]

Hey, I have the very same alienware and the gt500. The gt500 is warming my PC up more than when it's just rested on the table. I have removed some foam tabs to accomodate the air vents. Any idea what I might be doing wrong?

[@hooda24ma]

Can i play games in high performance mode after applying the undervolting from bios and still be effective?? As i saw some comments on Reddit saying that you have to be on balanced mode for the undervolting to be effective

[@tecknows]

In AWCC, you have the ability to create a profile. The Profile can consist of all elements, Tuning, and Color Effects. So if you set the CPU OC, Save, GPU OC, Save, Thermal Controls, Save, and it all saved to the same profile; Then the CPU/GPU Tuning and Cooling Settings will all apply.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks for sharing

[@Garueri]

Still doesnt work with throttlestop

[@200sway]

Thank you for you’re support

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks for watching 👍

[@adrienminot6619]

Dear Sir, Thank you for your video. However, how do you access to tendenmere to contrôle the exact temperature of the cpu please ? I have found the under volt solution your proposed, but not the other one.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

The TWCC is in the Alienware control center. Setting it to say 85 degrees will limit the CPU to that temperature

[@barnuner]

I just disabled the core isolation memory integrity in windows, set the voltage offset to 100mv in bios and that did the trick great. Much cooler and performs better. Went from 27k in cinebench to 32k.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

That's a great score. Good job !

[@GurSingh117]

@barnuner Is there a guide to for it step by step? Thanx in advance.

[@samuraisaint2360]

How again. ?

[@adrienminot6619]

I am in too if you have a step by step process please.

[@jacobchristiansen3697]

How does one do this? I am only getting 23k on my cinebench score with my m18

[@jamesh446]

I may be wrong but can’t you set the TCC directly in the Performance section of the BIOS? If so it would leave you free to overclock in ACC.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yes you can, I pinned a comment to that effect.

[@banksio]

Thanks for the video, I was wondering if your Cinebench score changed after setting the undervolt?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

When I had it capped at the 98 degree mark , UV 100mv and PL1 115w I think it scored about 26,500 points.

[@drmac06]

Great video. Just got my m16 today. Have changed the settings in the bios. Is it true that if you change profiles within alienware command center it resets the overclock settings I have set in the bios?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Someone did say that when they changed TCC in the BIOS it wouldn't stick. I just used it in the AWCC. The undervolt and voltage settings I did in the BIOS always stuck for me

[@nikkkis90]

Great video! Exactly what I need. I can't believe how hot my 18" gets; alarming at times. I use a cooling pad "Afmat" which seals the edges of the computer to keep the cool air from escaping. I run that at max speed and it is loud. Next I have a portable fan [office desk size] blowing over the top of the computer [but avoiding the vent and a clip-on fan next to the plug in to keep that cool as it gets pretty warm. I am concerned about losing component life because of the heat. I am going to go and follow your instructions on how to set voltage, temp, ect. Thanks again for the video.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks! I think Alienware issued a new Bios which takes some of the Bios functions away. Its crazy they do that. With the 8nvertee motherboard a cooling pad is pretty ineffective which is daft too. I'm working on a video comparing it to the Helios 18.

[@nikkkis90]

@@OWNORDISOWN Can you recommend a cooling pad? I posted a question below somewhere about which vents pull cool air and which ones push hot air out. I may be pushing hot air back into the machine with an external fan; that's not good lol!

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@nikkkis90 with the Alienware m18 and m16 a cooling pad that blows air in from underneath will have no effect. If you can get one that sucks air out that would be the way to go. You can get ones that attach to the rear vents and it sucks air out. They are noisier though.

[@furnitureandbedding776]

Helpful video. Do you know if the 2023 Alienware x16 has the same kind of overheating issues?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks. I had one viewer said it was the same.

[@boneybone8123]

Is this also necessary for the Ryzen 9 7845HX, GTX4080 version?

[@xxx-gj1fn]

Thank you for this video, is there some way that i can set a power limit of CPU and GPU in M18 at the same time with adjusted fans curve? like the ROG software

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks. I can't recall what is under the GPU advanced tab when in the thermal mode. I think its probably the fan curve. I think you will need to use msi afterburner curve editor to adjust the GPU voltage.

[@Locutus2k]

What you explain is possible only with 1.6.0. bios. With the 1.7 and the recent 1.8.1 update the customization feature has been removed and you can only apply the TCC offset to "cool down" the cpu. The OCLV1 and OCLV2 are still present.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yeah, that's what I heard.

[@graelstream2353]

Hi Stephen! Thank you for doing this, uhm is the undervolt only unlocked at the bios? I was wondering if after resetting into default and then allowing tweaks. Will it allow us to undervolt using the throttlestop? Btw I hope my iets gt500 can curb the temperature of this laptop. The 4080 hasn't really arrived yet in the Philippines and I think I'm one if not the only one who currently owns one.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks! Yes, once overclocking is unlocked in the BIOS you should be able to use Throttlestop or XTU to undervolt. Did you import your machine from the USA then?

[@graelstream2353]

@@OWNORDISOWN Yes sir, I was actually looking for a 2nd hand 3080ti and bought one for a steal. Then suddenly saw the m16 at best buy and was able to get one before my brother in law went home. I recently posted a video of my tweaking with the asus rog scar 17 SE. Thanks to you and Bob's posted guide I was able to curb the temperature sir. I'm hoping to do the same with the m16. I actually want the m18 but it wasnt out yet by that time though. If you have some extra time, can you view my video and give some feedback to what I can further do to improve it sir? Because some areas still show powerlimit throttle on the game haha!

[@kevinboles3885]

@@graelstream2353 I recall reading somewhere that we could NOT use Throttlestop on the Alienware m18! I guess whomever said that hadn't enabled Overclocking in the BIOS. I was strongly considering completely discounting an m18 just for that single reason.

[@RAZORBLACKRX]

I use a fan blower pad for my laptop. At 5400 rpm, it's loud but it drops temps by 10 to 15 degrees when it's at maximum performance but as long as your laptop are vented on the bottom.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yes, that works well when your motherboard is the normal way up. Cool air is then blowing onto the heatpipes. In the m18 the motherboard os the other way around so the vapor chamber is shielded from the incoming air by the back of the motherboard

[@rayqcater2737]

Share fan blower pad link

[@nikkkis90]

@@rayqcater2737 Why would they block the motherboard from receiving cool air? That doesn't seem like a good idea. I can't find the descriptions of the vents. The one on the bottom pulls cool air? The one on the back, sides push out hot air, the one on top above keypad also pulls cool air? I have been trying to find out to make sure i am not blowing hot air back into the system. Next computer is going to be a desktop!

[@shamsielshahar120]

​@@rayqcater2737i have a good feeling it's iets gt500 or gt600 variants

[@buqishenghaijiaonianqingrenme]

really curious that why Dell precision 7780 only has 2 fans with almost exactly same specs of 13950cpu and 4090gpu can do the thermal job well.

[@chrisjones903]

OMG!!!!! thank you Dell has sent me about 3 laptops all with heating issues

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yeah, they are infamous for hot laptops, lol.

[@Alexander_Sannikov]

here's an update for m18 r2: - they removed the max power options from both bios and the AWCC - undervolting options are severely nuked (can't put more than 15mV which makes it pretty much useless) - however, the TCC(thermal offset) works really well. I just put it to 15C in AWCC and it keeps the CPU temp at 100-15=85C very reliably - even better, setting the TCC and the fan profile under windows seems to carry over to linux! - AWCC seems to override bios settings overall my experience gaming on m18 r2 is so far very positive: all peripherals worked right off the bat (i'm on NixOS(don't use it if you're a beginner, use linux mint or something like that)), no drivers needed, all steam games work decently well.

[@gregsimpson621]

It seems to me Alienware has always had an issue in regards to heat. Unless one has the knowledge you have to show us how to lower the temperatures so the unit runs quieter and at lower temperatures. But we shouldn't have to do all that for the prices they charge. I will admit that I have fallen behind in regards to current technology due to disruptions in my life the last 3 years. But I would love to purchase a laptop from you that has the settings already set, etc. Both my laptops were stolen so I don't even have a computer! In like 28 years? So if you have something laying around and would like to sell (just gathering dust), I would be very interested!!! We go wayback and I feel lucky to have met you when you were just starting out. Your videos are so good and informative!

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Hey Greg! Thanks very much for your kind words! Yes, we go all the way back to at least the GT73VR days. So sorry to hear about your two laptops being stolen, that is awful. I will be selling my MSI GE77HX with a 12800HX and 3070ti (as long as the Tracer Vii I bought comes back with its speakers fixed). I also have an HP Omen laptop that is new. Still have to review it but will sell that too when I'm done. Take care.

[@TaylorSwifty69]

Does this apply to the new x16 as well? can I mirror these settings on my x16 and get the same results? (I haven't purchased the laptop yet)

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Haven't tried the x16 yet . I imagine the AWCC is the same so cappung the max CPU temp should be possible. Don't know about the BIOS. But if it then there should be no reason why it won't work.

[@luigideangelis5688]

Sorry, maybe a dumb question, but i can't see in the bios of my m18 the Customization choice. I can enable overclocking feature but i only have Disabled, OCLV1 and OCLV2, even after i loaded the custom settings in bios. How can i make it appear to make the changes you are suggesting? Thanks for your work

[@martinmenso6671]

Did you find out. How the same issue

[@luigideangelis5688]

@@martinmenso6671 It depends of the bios version you have installed. In the video he has a version that allows that, but that feature was then removed. I think that latest bios version have this feature enabled again but you have to set balanced or custom in the alienware desktop application to make it happen.

[@quartermoongaming]

Would those bios settings be the same for the 13700HX? I’m currently battling this. Thanks in advance

[@carlosmacias4590]

Same here, but I couldn't access the custom settings

[@jiawenxian3785]

Thank you for the video! I'm currently debating on either getting the m18 AMD version or the asus duo 16. If I do decide on the m18 this will be extremely useful. Can I ask your opinion on the 2 as well? I like the m18 because I like the bigger screen, but as an alienware user the AWCC suck, it has the sound of a jet engine, and it runs hot. On the other hand I really like the idea of duo screen as well as the cooling system on duo 16 and I heard it runs more quietly. But asus service is less reliable. What would be your input?

[@greebj]

They are both pretty bad for thermals, you should look elsewhere if you care about performance and longievity (if not, why are you considering an expensive powerhouse laptop)

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks! From what I have read the Zephyrus duo 16 is a great laptop. Tomshardware said it ran fairly cool with the 7945hx at 83 degrees, but that was running a game that was mostly GPU dependent. One of my viewers, Lalit, has one. He commented in one of my 7945hx videos. He did mention that he would like to be able to undervolt it so he must find it rubs warm. Drop him a note and ask him how he likes it. He is a friend of mine and will answer. The m18 good points in my opinion are the screen is nice and large, the mechanical keyboard is clicky but not loud and feels good. Build quality is solid as a rock, has plenty of storage options with the 4x m2 drives and has good bios options. The speakers are quite good, probably the same as the Asus. The bad points are battery life was 2hrs 20 mins. Inverted motherboard makes repasting a challenge and inhibits cooling. It is big and heavy, 8 lb 12oz and with the big power brick 11 lb 13oz. It didn't bother me as I have an even heavier laptop but it might be an issue for some. I would have kept it if the motherboard wasn't inverted.

[@jiawenxian3785]

@@greebj What would you recommend? Razer and MSI are crazy expensive, heard Aorus is on the same boat as AW and Asus. Personal bad experience with HP and Acer. I do want to get a Legion but I have friends who complaint about the longevity of the laptop as well as the customer service (bare to none). Let me know your input.

[@ramouz]

​​@@jiawenxian3785 Legion is reliable and Lenovo's customer service, at least in Canada, is excellent. By the way, I also have the m18 and its battery life when idling can reach 9:40 hours. In normal usage perhaps 6 hours. I'm returning it for now and waiting for them to fix AWCC issues.

[@jiawenxian3785]

@@ramouz Thank you for your input. What do you think of the m18? I know it's a good laptop but AWCC and the overheating issue is kind of a deal breaker. I also prefer a quieter laptop, but my experiences with AW fan noise hasn't been the best. Will you be buying it again later or you have another option in mind?

[@jamesh446]

How are the fans on the M18 is there any annoying whistling sounds or any other annoying sound’s coming from them or is it the normal whooshing sound I’ve heard on other Alienware laptops?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Just the whooshing sound 👍

[@youtubedjdj]

great video. which 4090 machine do you suggest for near the same price point as Dell's M18?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks! Well, Microcenter has the deal of the week on the Legion 7i Pro 32GB RAM, 13900HX RTX 4090 for $2799, they have the Scar 17 with 7945HX RTX 4090 for $3299. The Eluktronics Mech 16GP / Mech 17GP2 are other options - although I bought the same laptop from CyberpowerPC (TracerVII) for about $400 cheaper. First one the speakers didn't work so they sent me a new one and I was getting Kernal Power error 41 and it was freezing. Swapped out RAM, fresh install of Windows on a new drive. Its happened once so I did some checks via CMD and so far its been OK.

[@youtubedjdj]

@@OWNORDISOWN Do you have a video on the Legion 7i Pro? I checked twice but may have missed it. I have been comparing that and the AW M18 for weeks.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@DJ DJ my colleague Chris had it currently doing some benchmarks. I'll finish it off probably next week

[@emilabdullayev4972]

is it same for m15r7 ?

[@brandontroyer387]

I have the m16 r1.. I am confused! When I hit f2. My bios screen looks nothing like yours. How do I get to that alienware bios screen. Also this is a 5.2 ghz. Why does mune show 3.0? Sorry ..new back to the pc world

[@ricardotrut]

Maybe because you own the AMD version. Yours show 3.0ghz because the ryzen processor is garbage that will limit its power to 35watts after some minutes of playing, making the cpu to run like a 2014 toaster. I’m having the exact same issue.

[@NoSmileification]

I was thinking about this again recently, and I think it was a good move on Alienware's part to include the TCC. They're packing some incredibly powerful CPU's and the majority of consumers won't want to mess around with voltages in the bios or software. The TCC solves the heat problem while only sacrificing a few FPS and (I assume) keeps the TDP down. This may actually benefit the GPU since it would give it room to use the full 175W power draw. While some of us prefer to undervolt and tinker with squeezing out every performance metric, at least there is a solution that actually works to keep things below 85C. Given the hardware in this thing, that's pretty incredible. I think it will be very useful for the 1.8.1 Bios since they disabled undervolting again, but enabled ram XMP profiles up to 6400 on the 32GB sticks. Any FPS loss from the 85 thermal limit will be gained back by the increase of ram from 4800 to 6400 speeds very easily.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I agree, its a nice way to keep temps in check. I wish more manufacturers included it. I use it on my 13900KF desktop too.

[@Ragy-]

@@OWNORDISOWN I have the X15R2 and did set the TCC for the laptop to be at 85C max...the whole device now runs so cool yet still powerfull...I rly cannot see any difference in gaming by doing so as it doesnt clock much lower rly...

[@anthonbakkalian2352]

What do you mean by ram clock increase ? How to apply 6400 mhz ram on M18? Can you please be more specific explaining as how to apply that clock thank you

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@anthonbakkalian2352 he is saying that in thr new BIOS you can chose an XMP profile for 6400MHz. That is a very good feature.

[@anthonbakkalian2352]

@@OWNORDISOWNWow.. I’ve just checked everything out now and to be honest that’s very nice to have!

[@Alexander_Sannikov]

A huge advantage I see in this model is that even if its windows software is garbage, is bios is surprisingly good. Seems to be much better than the competition. And that's important because I'm planning to run linux on it. Laptop performance settings are notoriously hard to tweak under linux, but if it's all in bios then it's not a problem (hopefully).

[@burakbuyukkaya9927]

This is an informative and helpful video but it shows the traditional cooling method we use needs a big revamp especially for laptops. Putting more and/or better designed fans don't do any good for high watts.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yes indeed. The MSI GT77HX Titan has the best cooling I've seen thus far. That also have 4 fans but I counted 8 heat pipes, lots of heatsinks and a motherboard that is the proper way up. The GPU on that is in the 60s and the CPU is much much cooler than the m18.

[@TheGiuseppe224]

This might be a dumb question but when I go into my M16 R1 alienware laptops bios setup and click load defaults I don't see a custom user settings option.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I heard that they changed the BIOS to stop people doing it. Shame in Dell! You should still be able to limit the CPU temperature in the AWCC via the TWCC option.

[@johnowusu53]

I have the amd version with 7845hx cpu. How to cool this version.

[@Sabre_Wulf1]

Great video. Just purchased a 4090 alienware m18, coming tommorow. Was concerned about thermal issues. Was thinking about a fan system that sucks air out rather than standard blowers. Any thoughts? I used to overclock...then I grew up (50 yrs old). It will stay stock, but the 'old school' in me says I need to use some kind of after market solution. Thanks for your upload btw.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks, appreciate it! I think those coolers will work better than the standard ones because of that inverted motherboard. I tested them once and performance was similar although louder if I recall.

[@MurdahBassRecords]

Grew up but still buying gaming laptops? 🤦‍♂️😂🤷‍♂️

[@fancyman0170]

⁠@@MurdahBassRecords yeah😂😂 keep crying bro😢

[@Sabre_Wulf1]

@@MurdahBassRecords my first game was 1978 lad. I been gaming since then. You watch TV? Listen to music? Same thing. You think gaming is a just kids thing ? Most people I know my age still game and always will. It's no different to TV. Maybe it's different in the US, but here in UK gaming is just seen as another media to consume and enjoy.

[@MurdahBassRecords]

@Sabre_Wulf1 My bad that went way over your head. You claimed you stopped overclocking because "you grew up" Too old to overclock but not old enough to stop gaming. Those both contradict eachother. I just pointed that out.

[@johnnyappleseed7204]

Have any info in the same regard to the x16 version of the laptop.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I'm afraid I don't. I have to buy all the Alienware machines and I am skint...sorry!

[@jacksunstone8771]

Just bought a M18. Thanks for the tips.

[@Michael-vf5id]

How are you liking the m18 ?

[@jacksunstone8771]

@@Michael-vf5id Love it.

[@bluebass7178]

​@@jacksunstone8771what are your temps though because mine thermal throttles like no other since it instantly hits 100C doing most anything.

[@Hexadecimal110]

Mine also hits up to 100°C in some games. How is yours running?

[@bluebass7178]

@Hexadecimal110 I mean I've basically just throttled it and it runs ok.. but it was clearly a mistake to buy it at this time.. I wish I waited further down the road for the manufacturers to solve issues ...

[@baz69er13]

Great video, im no computer geek, but I did successfully re-paste my Msi Titan many years ago & it was very easy to do, I was thinking of upgrading my Alienware Area 51m for the m18, but I'm not paying all that money if it's running hot, they should sort this out before releasing them, I certainly won't be re-pasting if I haver to strip the whole thing down, would get another Msi but there ridiculously expensive.... ..

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks, glad you liked it! I agree totally. I once repasted my Triton 500 and took out the motherboard. It took me 5 attempts to get it working again...I'm reviewing the new Titan 77HX next, very good cooling but as you say very expensive

[@baz69er13]

Looking forward to it......

[@zamor34]

When i open “load defaults” there’s only “BIOS Defaults, Last known good, factory defaults” can you help me with that

[@ShawnTRD]

The "Custom User Settings" looks to be removed my the newest BIOS.

[@pavelborysiuk7631]

if you replace the liquid with thermal paste, will the temperatures be better?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

It may well do because it is clear that the thermal differential between cores suggests an uneven contact. A thicker paste may help solve that. Still, Alienware push a lot of watts so i suspect we may still need to use that TCC option to limit the power.

[@anupampb]

After falling to Dave2D's review of original m15, I purchased it & I found its thermals were bad. Later found your channel, Bob's & Jarrod's. CPU UV, power limits & GPU UV did help managing its thermals but these are not stuff that most normal users will do. Its baffling to see that AW is still bad in thermals after 4 years. Friend has a 2021 Legion 5 with 3060 & that has decent temps with back raised even in a hot country like India. IMO buying AW seems stupid as its usually more expensive & the inverted mobo doesn't help as well.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Glad our videos have helped :) That is my main objective, help people make decisions on buying these laptops. They are expensive. It is a shame they inverted that motherboard as I am sure that is one of the causes. I wish they would stop hyping things up by using terms like "Cryo-tech cooling" trying to make it sound fancy when in fact it is poor, lol

[@ass5kickin]

Wouldn’t blame Dave tho. I think the M15 he got was sent to him by dell and I’m sure they would’ve cherry-picked a good one with probably a better thermal paste application or thermal paste itself. Can never trust companies when it comes to these things. I had a similar experience with the 2019 Helios 300. Literally all the reviews I watched said it had amazing thermals. I get the laptop and it’s good but nowhere close to what the reviews said. Also, the factory undervolt was unstable on my unit and the GPU overclock presets in the predator app was too high and unstable too. Had to install throttlestop and bring the undervolt down by nearly half and my 1660ti is barely overclockable as I lost the silicon lottery lol. Also, Acer never updated their drivers their official drivers past 2020 and I had so many problems after clean reinstalling windows on my machine 🤦🏻‍♂️ after this I realized that reviews can only help you so much. Whatever laptop you get, you gotta learn to tweak it yourself if you want it to perform well or just be oblivious to its limitations.

[@a2roland]

Thanks.

[@raerdev]

Damn! Laptops run hot! My PC under load runs at 39 Celsius only!

[@eyuparslan7104]

hi sir. thank you for the information. Can we do this with throttlestop? I heard that intel put undervolt protection for 13th generation processors.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I would think as long as you unlock the overclocking option in the BIOS you should be able to. But why not just do the undervolt in the BIOS?

[@eyuparslan7104]

@@OWNORDISOWN thank you sir. I don't know much. I'm afraid to do something wrong in the bios.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@Eyüp Arslan you'll be ok. I did a -100mv undervolt and that was fine. Perhaps start with that? You might find that is good enough for you.

[@eyuparslan7104]

@@OWNORDISOWN Ok. I'll try when the machine arrives. thank you sir.

[@eyuparslan7104]

​@@OWNORDISOWNhi sir. There is no "custom User settings" in the bios

[@lucamagni99]

Great video! I'm really pleased that fortunately, there is a way to lower the alarming temperatures of these excellent Notebooks... By changing the thermal compound, I imagine that the situation would improve further!

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks Luca! Yes, I would have tried repasting it but I would have to take out the motherboard and no doubt risk the warranty...

[@lucamagni99]

@@OWNORDISOWN It is very likely that they have applied stickers on the heatsink screws, in this way they can understand if the Notebook has been "tampered with". Despite being under warranty, I always prefer to change the thermal paste (if I have hardware problems later, stickers can be found on the market so as not to invalidate the check...). However I think the most complicated thing here is having to flip the whole motherboard.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@Luca Magni yeah, I agree Luca. I did a repaste once on a Triton 500 that had an inverted motherboard and it took me about 5 attempts to get it to work. One cable mustn't have been inserted correctly. I got fast in doing it though by the 5th attempt, lol.

[@lucamagni99]

@@OWNORDISOWN Hahaha, I understand you perfectly! Unfortunately they are not easy operations, and moving, with the constant risk of ruining some SMD component and having to spend hundreds of euros, because of a distraction, does not make things easier! However, even manufacturers certainly do not implement better solutions for the maintenance of internal components!

[@James-ed5pk]

Does the same thing apply with m17 r5? My CPU gets extremely hot while gaming even though I don’t do that often.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Depends what they allow in the Bios. Hopefully they allow you to undervolt. Are there any features within your AWCC to limit power or cap the temperature?

[@James-ed5pk]

My laptop is the all amd version and keeps crashing during games. It’s very frustrating. I’m currently up to date with drivers so I suspect it’s a thermal problem. I’ve tried changing the setting to balanced in Alienware command center and it didn’t lower the temperatures so I’ll attempt to under volt in the bios.

[@link324az]

Ty so much!

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks for watching!

[@scottburgess2263]

If there is a significant temperature difference between the cores, is that not a fault that dell should repair under warranty?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yes, you can return it for replacement or repair.

[@harshvardhansingh8883]

I just bought it and will receive it in a week, but kinda scared and a but upset hearing of all the negative reviews of the M16. Hope it won't disappoint, fingers crossed

[@Alexander_Sannikov]

this video really needs an update for m18 v2 version, as its bios exposes fewer parameters to play with. i'm also interested to see which OS options are available under linux and also which options i can set under windows and carry over into linux.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I can see about getting a new machine later this year.

[@SaulsUpholsteryNJ]

What are your recommendations for video editing?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I certainly noticed a big difference with the HX processors. I was using a 5800H legion 7 for the longest time then switch to a 12800HX MSI and thought that was fast. My 13900HX laptop seems to handle multiple time lines easier, not as much stuttering and the render is much faster too. I use Magix software. I imagine the 7945HX will equally be as good, probably faster in rendering even.

[@SaulsUpholsteryNJ]

@@OWNORDISOWNThanks for the tip. What I meant to ask was the following. Are any of these settings to the m18 recommended for users of Davinci Resolve? Would we notice a difference in performance? Thanks again.

[@MaximePoitras-vx2dg]

Is it normal I can’t change anything I’ll go to the bios and click load default and click user setting and it’s restarting the laptop and keep doing that I can’t modify the undervolt ! I have the m18 r1 rtx 4090 and i9 13980hx

[@OWNORDISOWN]

They have changed the Bios since I did this video. People have told me that they took away a lot of features. Shame on Alienware!

[@jacedragon]

why dont i get this same BIOS? mine looks like a normal bios

[@chrischassey4849]

What are the OVLV1 and OCLV2? No explanation of what they are anywhere?

[@Us3rN4m32]

They are just a preset overclock profile, they allow the cpu to boost higher which increases temperatures

[@yukiyuklee4894]

If you set OCLV2 you can use Throttlestop to undervolt

[@Garueri]

Oh my god

[@Garueri]

Fake, tried it, throttle stop still doesnt apply voltage, and before anyone complains, yes I have all the virtualization bullshit off, VTX VTD Core whatever, even windows feature virtualization somethting, so no.

[@yukiyuklee4894]

@@Garuerinot sure. It works for me.

[@Garueri]

whats your bios version? You can check it on ´´system information´´@@yukiyuklee4894

[@teddym2808]

So is the issue the paste or the paste JOB?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Someone said they RMA'd theirs and the replacement is fine so sounds like the paste job..

[@Sunflash1001]

My m16 4090 comes soon and now this video got me wondering what other issues are coming my way lol

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Lol, you'll be fine. I reviews the m16 and it was fine. Initially they had limited the cpu to 55w unless you unlocked it in the BIOS. I believe they did that knowing it would be hot otherwise. I did a video on it and there was a general uproar so I heard they have changed it now. I did the same on that laptop as I did here and it helped. Enjoy your new laptop!

[@davidfoster8325]

Im not sure i understand how to reach the Bios he did, what i get is some DOS looking menu

[@davidfoster8325]

Ah it's because mines AMD is there a way to do this on AMD?

[@JoeMaranophotography]

I've moved over to desktop i5 13500 and I'm pulling 40-50w on average in most games so not sure why these chips are pulling so much power in a laptop when gaming? My extended warranty I purchased for my Dell G5 in 2021 was very very reasonable BTW. Around £100 for an extra 3 years!

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yeah, it is daft that it's pulling 70 to 90w.. just so you know Lenovo is $66 for 2 years ..

[@JoeMaranophotography]

@OWNorDisown Ah okay. I thought I got a good deal! That Lenovo support is shocking in the UK at least from my experience. That's why I now have a Dell!

[@siyzerix]

@@OWNORDISOWN I'd honestly have the cpu limited to 55w and have the gpu's be 200w+, like we had in turing. I guess nvidia is telling us they can't do a 200w xx80 class gpu anymore. And their ''xx70'' class gpu is now all the way down to 35w. What patheticness.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

​@Siyzerix the problem with having tbe 13900HX at 55w is that it's performance is probably only marginally better than. The 12900HX at 120W. This CPU is meant to be pushed hard , but I think 115W is fine.

[@siyzerix]

@@OWNORDISOWN Right, but even so, getting 12900hx 120w perf at 55w is great IF the gpu was 200w+. That would be much higher gains in gaming. Do games really need 120w CPU's? My own gaming laptop's power brick alone is 135w. A laptop CPU pulling the power equivalent of a budget gaming laptop is ridiculous. Where's the efficiency intel?

[@chrischassey4849]

I tried to find the settings on the bios but they are not there, reset to default and then to custom. It just isn't available. In the performance section you can turn on Overclocking, the only option is Disabled, OC1, OC2 with no description of what those do. In the notes in that section is describes the settings you did change as possibly being available to be adjusted but none actually show up. Any ideas? Thanks!

[@TrueRaps]

install the latest BIOS update, they brought back the undervolt settings in the latest bios update

[@chrischassey4849]

Appreciate the reply but the only option is this Tcc thing as I have the latest BIOS, M18r1. I also saw that rBAR disappeared as well, not available in BIOS and not showing up in nVidia as a feature. Weird that at launch you have all these tuning options but just months later they disappear, must be stability and performance design issues they are covering. @@TrueRaps

[@TrueRaps]

@@chrischassey4849 update alienware command center too to the latest version, whats your BIOS version number?

[@chrischassey4849]

So I wasn't on the latest, 1.14, I was on 1.13. updating now. The AW update didn't catch it or the website.

[@TrueRaps]

@@chrischassey4849 yeah i had to download manually from the website as well

[@HaloblackopsTenken]

"Extortionate," is the right word to use to repaste the laptop lol

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Lol, totally. That was the main reason for me not keeping it. I would repaste it myself otherwise.

[@vmafarah9473]

Great solution.

[@greebj]

It just makes the problem of bad cooling not look as bad. Benchmarks will show that performance will suffer.

[@vmafarah9473]

@@greebj Actual performance of a regular cooled laptop laptop will be worse due to intel pushed their chips clocks too high which make it looks poorly cooled.These chips require a good vapour chamber and as well as thicc chassis . Dell laptops are always worst cooled .

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks!

[@RISINTECH]

Does this work on alienware x17r2?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Not sure, but if they have the same control center it may well do.

[@yogeshsoni421]

i just bought a x17 R2 refurbished laptop after using it i found overheating issue (100C Alwas ) after brief recerch i found 2 solution that help me a lot 40c on idle and 70c Max 1 options - Disable turbo max in bios 2 options - dont install AWCC thats it

[@Airestotle09]

On my BIOS i dont see custom user settings, only the other 3. And my AWCC hasnt been working properly either since the last BIOS update

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Did you try and set the BIOS to default? The option is there to select custom.

[@Airestotle09]

Should I reset to Factory or BIOS defaults? Still got the OC option greyed out ..

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@Air Espenilla BIOS if I recall.

[@mixedemotetionstv6479]

Did you figure this out?

[@Airestotle09]

@@mixedemotetionstv6479 havent checked in a while i just think its too much work for what seems to be just marginal difference in performance. Besides mine hasnt overheated even during strenuous gaming But I read that these dont come unlocked you have to call Dell and they unlock the OC options for you

[@whitepenali]

This applies on The all AMD m17 r5 ? 😢

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I haven't tried that one unfortunately but I don't see why they can't do the same thing if they wanted to. Best check out a review of the AMD model..

[@bringhurstvr]

I'm late to the party. But when I try to enable custom settings in the bios it says that the system needs to restart to take effect. It restarts and nothing has changed. I can keep doing it and it keeps wanting to restart. Any ideas?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

And this is with pressing F10 prior to the restart?

[@bringhurstvr]

@@OWNORDISOWN I actually got access to it by selecting default BIOS settings, but despite not changing anything in overclocking now the computer crashes any time the GPU is used. I've tried everything. Last hail Mary is resetting CMOS.

[@bringhurstvr]

@@OWNORDISOWN I'm not sure what you mean. I use F2 to access BIOS. What is f10 for?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

​@@bringhurstvrpressing F10 in the bios saves all the changes you have made.

[@bringhurstvr]

@@OWNORDISOWN oh, I was just hitting apply. But turns out my issues came from the fact that I had the MUX switch enabled. That and my tinkering in the BIOS caused issues, looks like.

[@hoopstrust3511]

on my alienware M16 when i press f2 it doesnt bring up the bios screen you have?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

They may have changed it. I did hear that they got rid of some of the options which is a shame

[@hoopstrust3511]

@@OWNORDISOWN oh okay, I ended up setting the TCC to 85 but any adjustments cause my laptop to blue screen. I ended up just having to get a good quality cooling pad to lower my CPU temps. I have a Ryzen 9 7945HX and temps would reach over 100c gaming! sometimes 104.... cooling pad brought down to like 90-95c but aren't these temps still very high?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

​@@hoopstrust3511wow, that was high! Yes that is still pretty high. I have justed finished editing a review on a Llano laptop cooler and it's the best cooler I have used. Brought my 4080 down from 85 degrees to 68. My 13900HX went from 96 to 88, so not as much but I guess it depends on the laptop. Review will be up soon.

[@papagen00]

I put mine rig next to a portable air conditioner and the fps went through the roof.

[@hmnooge2point0]

It doesn’t give me the option to do custom loadout only 3 options are shown not 4

[@OWNORDISOWN]

From what I understand they changed the BIOS to limit these options. Bit you should still be able to limit the CPU temperature via the TWCC in the AWCC

[@user-my8kj7tv8p]

Why don’t I have the custom user setting in bios mode😢😢😢

[@TrueRaps]

install the latest BIOS update, they brought back the undervolt settings in the latest bios update

[@bluebass7178]

​Put the bios version number you have, please​@TrueRaps

[@qq16335255]

does the display look dark?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Not at all. Here is my review kzbin.info/www/bejne/kIOafY1nmtJqgs0

[@tomgjonaj9965]

The screen doesn't matter when it can only hit 300 or so nits. Which is terrible. I'm spoiled by the mini led on the GT77 that can hit over 1000 nits peak and around 600 to 700 nits sustained in SDR

[@OWNORDISOWN]

The problem with that screen though is it's ghosting is bad and since there is no gsync you get tearing. Also it uses PWM even at max brightness. It is nice and bright though and I found battery life to be pretty decent. I personally don't find 300 nits to be bad, unless perhaps you have lots of ambient light shining on it.

[@siyzerix]

@@OWNORDISOWN I just wish we had glossy ips options.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@siyzerix yes, that would be nice.

[@trilingualkid]

please review the Lenovo 7i pro!

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I have it in house to review 👍

[@trilingualkid]

@@OWNORDISOWN please let me know if the SSD slot take dual sided SSD thanks!

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@trilingualkid will do!

[@timetraveler2518]

Put a lot of ice cubes on the keyboard to cool it down! 😂

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Lol

[@umunnacharles5372]

Does limiting it to 85 Deg affect the CPU's performance?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yes, that's why I said I limited it to 98 in AWCC and in the BIOS made those other tweaks. In CBR23 it stayed at 94 degrees, below the thermal throttle and the score was very close to stock.

[@enriquemendez1815]

​​@@OWNORDISOWNbout how much of a performance difference should I be expecting? I am expecting my alienware m18 4080 i9 13900HX by monday. Is the performance dip significant or very noticeable?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@Enrique Mendez in gaming you won't notice much at all. In CBR23, set at 85 degrees I think it scored around 26000 points.

[@enriquemendez1815]

@@OWNORDISOWN Update: My laptop came in today, I went into bios to try and access the overclock settings you described, and there is no longer an option to load custom user settings after selecting load defaults. Bios version 1.7.0. ....is there any way to still lower the temps? Or should AWCC potentially do the job itself?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@enriquemendez1815 sounds like they locked that out of the BIOS. What a shame . Can you still limit the CPU temperature via AWCC?

[@g1984AF]

Would you consider m16 a great laptop?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

No, I wouldn't say it is great. I don't like the inverted motherboard for starters. Makes it much harder to repaste . Plenty of storage is a big plus. Cooling is not great though. Build quality is good. For those that don't mind a laptop running hot and don't want to repaste themselves down the road then it is a good laptop for sure.

[@Alexander_Sannikov]

Is it perfect? Hell no. Is it great? Probably not. But I have not found any other laptop with comparable cooling capacity. Do correct me if I'm wrong.

[@Jobenblue]

blue tack plastic bottle caps under it so it doesn't sit directly on a surface

[@drebodollaz3504]

I don’t have access to this 2:38

[@stefanchopper9822]

Today my m16 arrived i turned it on and didn't do anything i noticed after 10 minutes he was boiling hot. How is this possible ????

[@OWNORDISOWN]

It's because Alienware have the power limits high. Also, if you have a large spread of 10 degrees or more across CPU cores the thermal interface material isn't making good contact. Unfortunately the motherboard is inverted and is more challenging to remove for a repaste.

[@bluebass7178]

​@OWNORDISOWN I think I have this exact problem and I have the M18 r1 model only 1 month old! I guess I need to ask for a repaste from Dell under warranty

[@majorsick]

My M18 is locked I cant access any overclocking or under voting

[@OWNORDISOWN]

The changed the BIOS. I guess the only way would be if you can get an early BIOS. That is a shame.

[@majorsick]

@@OWNORDISOWN There is an interesting video about how to unlock the bios that might interst you. Video name is Alienware m18 R1 Unlocked BIOS!

[@user-qc7ej1pn6g]

1:56

[@jacobwegleitner]

You don't actually have to do any of this. All you need to do is disable dlss frame generation and the machine runs fine for any game at basically full settings. SInce doing this I haven't had an issue with FPS or heat whatsoever. That's where the latency and extra heat is coming from.

[@fractalelf7760]

As a long time owner of AW, it is disappointing after all this time we still have these issues. Dell just doesn't care, because destroying the lifetime of the system means more sales.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I agree with you. I think it is a means to increase their sales of extended warranties...

[@MurdahBassRecords]

The 13980hx and 7945hx chips have a 100c max operating temp. If you get a bad paste job. Send it back within 30 days and get them to repaste it. Or buy the 1 year 80 dollar accidental damage warranty and smash it to bits and get a new one until you get one with a good paste job. Also get a laptop cooler like like the EIT500 which drops the temps by 10 to 15c along with an undervolt and youll be fine. Everyone likes to complain about the temp of alienware but yuh cant find a 4090 laptop and 13980hx that isnt thermal throttled somewhere without undervolting that doesnt put off hella heat🤷‍♂️

[@buqishenghaijiaonianqingrenme]

​@@MurdahBassRecordsthe dell precision 7780 seems doing the thermal job well with same spec that aw m18 has

[@JayfkProductions876]

Wait Tracer 7?Really? Shiiiit looking at my Tracer 3 like you Ooooold bro 😂 😂

[@OWNORDISOWN]

It cools well, don't even need the water cooler , although I have that too. Only problem was my speakers didn't work so I just sent it back for repair. Will review it when I get it back. Will compare against the Mech 17 GP2 which we have as well.

[@JayfkProductions876]

@@OWNORDISOWN man I feel so outta touch or maybe CyberpowerPc been slacking on their promo coz the last Tracer I saw was The Tracer 4.

[@HDsKillzProductionS]

They’ve been having these issues for like years

[@Tguin]

So is this laptop even worth buying?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I think it is as long as you are OK with the inverted motherboard.

[@Tguin]

@@OWNORDISOWN Will I be able to play my Xbox One on it?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@Tguin I'm afraid it has been a long time since Alienware had an HDMI port that accepts incoming signals..sorry, you can't.

[@whitepenali]

My bios doesnt look like this .. its called h2o

[@OWNORDISOWN]

They change the bios all the time...

[@zayplayog]

I’m starting to post clips of tv shows hopefully I get more views lol

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Fingers crossed 🤞 I'll check it out

[@Jenshello]

85 is Perfect With tcc

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I agree 👍

[@Jenshello]

@@OWNORDISOWN ordered it yesterday think the volume on this laptop is ok in balance mode and tcc or

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@Jenshello looking forward to seeing what you think of it!

[@Jenshello]

@@OWNORDISOWN is the m18 a desktop replacement?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@Jenshello definitely. With its power brick it is just under 12 lbs so is a bit heavy to move around when travelling a lot. It has 4x m.2 slots so can have a lot of storage.

[@liviup6660]

Stopped looking at alienware....I'll keep my area 51m r2. Rest of them are overheating 💩 😂

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I also had an issue whereby if I unplugged it from the wall while gaming it would shutdown.

[@liviup6660]

@@OWNORDISOWN great videos as always stephen. Alienware is 💩 .hopefully they get back on top.up to them.not buying alienware until they actually improve.cheers

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@liviup6660 thanks! I remember interviewing Mr Fox once. He is a laptop enthusiast and he used to test Alienware laptops before they were released. I can't help but feel that they don't do that anymore. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what their issues are...

[@ricardotrut]

What a nightmare I'm having with this laptop. I recently purchased the AMD M16, and the performance drop I'm experiencing turns this supposedly powerful machine into nothing more than a piece of trash. Within just 10 minutes of playing, the CPU plummets from 5GHz to a mere 1.5GHz and remains stuck there. It's incredibly frustrating to have spent a significant amount of money on a device that delivers such poor performance.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I assume it is thermally throttling? Does it have that option to cap the CPU to 85 degrees?

[@ricardotrut]

@@OWNORDISOWN yes, but not even that will stop the power throttle. Avoid AMD M16 R1!!!

[@dondon8950]

4 fans for more noise instead of good cooling hahah

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yeah. The Titan has 4 fans too but is runs so much cooler. It's like night and day. Heck, even that Tracer Vii I showed, has a 13900HX and 4080 and the CPU doesn't go above 90 when gaming. It has 2 fans like usual.