Guide: How to unlock the GPU Thermal Limit Slider in Alienware Command Center

There is a bug in the Alienware Command Center/Alienware OC Controls where you will not be able to move the GPU Thermal Limit and it's stuck on the default 75C. That is too low of a thermal limit and will cause your GPU to thermal throttle in most games/GPU intensive apps almost immediately. Here is how to unlock the GPU Thermal Limit Slider. I personally set mine all the way to 87C but you can leave it at 84-85C if you prefer the GPU to stay on the safer side.

Before you do anything, remember, Windows puts a BLOCKED status marker on any file you download from the internet. You NEED to right click on any file you download, choose Properties then hit the UNBLOCK button on the bottom right followed by APPLY then OK before you run or extract a ZIP file otherwise it may not work properly. To stop this stupid blocking of every file, see this guide:
"Are you sure you want to run this file?" [Yes or No]


First, uninstall the Alienware Command Center completely using this guide: https://www.dell.com/support/articl...einstall-the-alienware-command-center?lang=en

1) Download this Profiles.zip file and keep it handy

2) Install Alienware Command Center (Do not reboot)

3) Install Alienware OC Controls but when asked to reboot, don't reboot just yet

4) Navigate to the following folder:
C:\Program Files\Alienware\Alienware Command Center\OCControlService


5) Copy/paste the Profiles.zip file which you downloaded earlier into the above folder replacing the existing one.


6) Right click on the file named Profiles.zip then click on Properties

7) At the bottom of the Properties page, check the box which says "Read-only", hit Apply, then Ok

8) Now you can reboot

After you reboot, wait for 3 minutes till the Alienware Command Center Service has started, then launch the Alienware Command Center

After you raise the bar to the max and hit Test & Save. You need to name it, ie. 4.9 GHz or whatever. That will be the profile. But that's not enough, you need to select it for it to be active from the Home tab of Alienware Command Center

Undervolt your CPU if you wish like this:



Then increase the GPU Thermal Limit like this



Finally, select the profile you saved from the Home Tab.

 

Interesting, is this something you just learned today? I didn't even know about this GPU thermal throttling. Have you done any tests to determine by how much it throttles? Funnily since I opened Afterburner, it shows the max temp of 75C. Is it just a newer AWCC thing or has it always been a thing?

 

We've been talking about this for weeks in the Area-51m Owner's lounge but every now and then someone keeps asking the same question on how to unlock it as it wasn't locked before so I thought of creating this thread so I don't have to keep copy/pasting the guide all day long. This is a new cancer bug from Dell that they have implemented in the later OC Controls. I don't mind keeping my laptop safe but throttling at 75C? That's absurd, might as well buy some Acer jokebook and get the same crappy performance.

 

Yeah I agree. I didn't even notice a performance drop lately, but then again when using the laptop GPU I don't have super high expectations, I save that for when using the AGA. You'd think they would just let people know about it in some way, so those without a AGA can know to either not upgrade or just know why they are getting less performance. I don't think my GPU ever hit 85, but it def has hit 75C. Thanks for the info

 

Very nice. Forced to use Dell's bloatware and on top have to tweak it or must go with older firmware to make it work properly. Can't beat that?

 

I suspect this was an intentional act by Dell. It is too convenient and deliberate to be a glitch, and it is already evident they do not care who is affected by their bad judgment, or how.

 

Of course.

Both XPS and Alienware line laptops is under the same umbrella (Started up by Frank Azor). And both have got the dreaded 75C GPU thermal cap. (Dell's new proprietary software works for the whole notebook line).
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-owners-lounge.826831/page-2187#post-11019422

 

As crappy as that logic is, I also gotta say that if not many people notice it and its still better/comparable to other notebooks in benchmarks, that its's not so bad. Kinda lame there is more potential and they intentionally block it. But the biggest mistake is selling a notebook and than 1-2 years later lowering its performance. I am gonna have to do a benchmark and see if any of them show signs of lesser performance than the same numbers from 8 months ago

 

I think that what is completely screwed up is that they run benchmarks that last ~10 min and obviously don’t stress the system... hence they say “it’s fine” “it passes all the tests” and don’t even realize that when people game on their gaming computers, they do so for extended periods of time and often on much heavier software/games that actually stress and heat up the system more than synthetic benchmarks.

Their benchmarks shouldn’t be 3DMark and the like, it should be Prime95 and Furmark if they really wanted to be thorough. If they’re already relying on fake, simulated, synthetic benchmark numbers/temps to “call it good”, then they should actually use heavy benching software.

 

No need for P95 or Furmark. Just run CBR20 and Heaven/3DM stress test simultaneous in loop. Or run it a couple of times in a row. CBR20 who contain AVX load already push the Cpu above 90C without the GPU puke heat into the unified heatsink.