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

The issue is people do notice it but not sure what going on. Like Call of Duty Modern warefare I am playing and everything is fine, getting 100 fps all graphics on low or disabled setting, My resolution is 3440x1440 and then booom 54fps and it doesnt recover, so you have to restart the laptop to get the FPS to 100 all because of a 75 Degree limit. As soon as it touches that limit it throttles permanently for me. I have a Laptop cooler with 3x120mm fans with a CFM of 180 pushing air into the laptop. I have th CPU throttled at 4.3Ghz and running at 60 Degress and the GPU still hits the threshhold and throttles at 75 Degrees.

So I am very keen to see if this fix works and stops the throttling as its super annoying having paid so much money for a laptop that cant do the Job the hardware is designed to do but do yo bad design it cant do. Not fair to sell such a product as it does not perform as intended. otherwise they should say you can only game for 10mins. Then see how many they sell.

 

ARRRGGGHHHHH!!!! This is so frustrating. My GPU is downclocking. Within a 1 minute or two It clocks from 1900Mhz down to 600 Mhz, I have tried in Nvidia settings but struggling. Please help!! any suggestions? This is new, i havnt had this problem before.

I have asus and msi afterburner installed. I installed that profile.zip. Increased threshhold to 87Degrees but its not getting anywhere near that

Alienware Area51m i9-9900k 32gb 2080 1TB NVME SSD

 

I did a test comparing benchmarks from nearly a year ago to the changes made with AWCC, the difference was so small I don't even think it could be considered a difference FPS-wise. I ran Heaven back to back and FF15 back to back. Both seemingly throttle once it hit 75C, because it would always reach 75C but go down to 74C and top out. I also game mostly on laptop GPU, so I would definitely notice a big FPS hit since I prefer PvP games. Your problem may be due to something else. You shouldn't have to restart a laptop to get your performance back. If it is throttling due to temp, shouldn't it revert when the temp goes back below the 'throttle temp'?

You are on the Area51m though, the throttling doesn't happen on my m15 when reaching 75C.

 

I removed the Nvidia Drivers and reinstalled them. Seems temp is around 74Degrees now. Super weird. Not sure why the Driver would be making it hotter than it should be... I will monitor the situation and keep you guys updated. This situation also seems to have randomly happened when I didnt have this problem before with the same games.

 

That means you probably have a BIOS newer than 1.5.0 am I right?

Any BIOS after 1.5.0 will also trigger this throttling past 75-79C

 

Yes I have the new Bios 1.10.0, how can I downgrade it?
Played COD now and it also did not throttle after the Graphics driver reinstall. No Idea what messed it up.
I still think going back in the Bios would prevent future issues.

How is your 2080 super going? Super bummed that Area51m R1 is not upgradeable at all. I would have thought they atleast make the graphics card upgradeable.

 

Dude I just ordered the laptop, it won't reach me before 2 months at least. 1 Month minimum till the order starts even Dell has a huge backlog, let alone shipping to Dubai.

Your issue is the BIOS and VBIOS

1. Any BIOS after 1.5.0 introduces throttling the moment the GPU reaches 75C which is absurd since that is a very low threshold, run any game for a couple of minutes and you'll be way past 75C.

2. Dell also released a new VBIOS that reduces the GPU max wattage from 200W to 180W which also contributes to the low benchmarks you are experiencing.


I downgraded my BIOS to 1.5.0 (by force using the BIOS Recovery Method) and also downgraded my VBIOS back to t the 200W version.

See:

Force downgrade Alienware Area-51m Bios (or any Alienware) to locked lower versions

PS: The USB Flash Disk must be formatted as FAT not FAT32

Area-51m BIOS / VBIOS Collection (mirrors)


Here is what I recommend:


a) Uninstall Alienware Update AKA Dell Update and Dell SupportAssist otherwise they will keep nagging you to update your BIOS.


b) Flash the BIOS using the Recovery USB which you created using the guide I showed you earlier.


c) Immediately head into BIOS and make sure you disable Firmware Capsule Updates in the Security tab otherwise Windows will immediately upgrade your BIOS!


d) Once you're back in Windows, reflash the same 1.5.0 BIOS again but in Windows, I had to do that last time as I was getting weird behavior (I can't remember what exactly but once you have flashed 1.5.0 in recovery mode, you will be able to flash 1.5.0 again through Windows since you're not technically downgrading anymore you are just reinstalling the same BIOS) so do that to ensure the BIOS is 100% flashed correctly.


e) The moment the BIOS is flashed, go back into BIOS and load setup defaults then save and exit (from the last tab in the BIOS)


f) Now enter BIOS again, set your battery from Adaptive to Custom and tell it to start charge at 50% and stop charge at 90%. This will ensure the battery is never over charged and will thus prolong its life.


g) In the 2nd tab in the BIOS, I recommend turning OFF Power Share as that will drain your battery if your laptop had a USB device that needs power overnight (such as an external HDD or Game Pad)


h) While you're in the BIOS, ensure that Firmware Capsule updates are OFF


Be smart....be like Spartan...

Then give this to Dell for fux0r!ng up our laptops:

 

You are a legend!!!
I did some research and found just what you said. I truly appreciate the time you took to assist me in spelling it out. Will give it a shot.

Many thanx

 

Yoo like live your life on the edge? Area-51m R1, random black screens

"I know the repair is gonna take a WHILE, so I can't do my job, i'll have to borrow a friend's laptop"

 

OK, I vote Spartan Alienware Customer of the Corona Year. Title won by universal acclamation. Few people would blind preorder a $5k Dell laptop expecting a 2 month wait until delivery...

Dell would do well to significantly expand their Dubai operations. No sheikh would find the latest pricing objectionable either.