What is the latest unlocked BIOS for M17x R4?

Hi, I've been reading up to find the answer and the latest information I've found is that A11 BIOS is the latest unlocked BIOS, is there a newer version available as I've noticed on the Dell support page that the latest official BIOS for the M17x R4 is A15. Is there an unlocked BIOS for this system newer than A11? Thanks

 

I know this is a few months old, but check this out. http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-m17x-r4-unlocked-bios-thread-a14.830285/

 

Thanks for your reply, a user on the bios-mods.com forum was able to unlock my BIOS for me from my BIOS dump.

 

Hiya Johndill

Did you manage to get an unlocked A15 BIOS for the Alienware M17x R4?

If so any chance that I could get a link to it please?

Thanks in advance mate.

Mark

 

Hi, as the unlocked bios is unique to the system it's made for, you can go to bios-mods.com (link in my previous post) and have a search on there for information on the M17x R4 bios, if you can't find any then you can make a thread and request one. A user from there was kind enough to give me some of his time to unlock my bios dump.

 

Spectre microcode fixes hurt performance. Rushed solution and not worth it.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/01/new-windows-patch-disables-intels-bad-spectre-microcode-fix/

 

Yes, I believe the best latest BIOS for the M17x R4 is A12, the rest are 2018 Spectre patched BIOS.

@2CPU If you're on the Spectre updated BIOS, do you know if downgrading the BIOS removes the Spectre patches?

 

Going back to an earlier BIOS will put you on the older microcode CPU patch. (removes Spectre fix)

 

"I believe the best latest BIOS for the M17x R4 is A12, the rest are 2018 Spectre patched BIOS""

Have you checked out the latest A15 from Dell/Alienware??

Thanks.

 

Thanks.

Yes, to the everyday user the latest bios will be fine.

For the performance enthusiasts, both A14 and A15 add CPU microcode patches that slow performance.