How to optimize Threadripper 1950x / Alienware

[Anonymous]

I posted a while back about the high temperature and the noise I get from the fan every time I open the IPR window or I do a render. Someone here told me below 95degree the temperature is normal.

Now, I wonder if anyone here has some familiarity with Alienware PCs, because that's the one I'm using (area 51 R-3). I tried one of the utilities that comes pre-installed from Dell, the support Assist, which has a scan hardware option and I guess what it does is a stress test. When I run the test, the fan went so crazy I thought that the PC was going to explode! 🙂

Temperatures were rising fast, way above 100 degrees. I think I stopped it around 108 degrees as it seemed it would keep rising.

Anyway, if anyone knows Alienware and how to optimize it in order to get the best performance from this machine, I'd really appreciate some tips.

There is also a Command Center where I can fine-tune some of the settings in order to improve the performance, but after some tweaking, I didn't notice any significant change and I went back to the original settings.

I really want to use this machine at its best with Arnold, but it's kinda annoying hearing all the noise everytime I use Arnold, and for now I'm sticking to GPU renderers.

[jmcdermid1]

Having just finished building my own Arnold focused 1950x based system, I feel your pain regarding the struggle to cool this chip. I don't have any experience with Alienware setups sorry, but I can say that my overheating and excessive fan noise issues were solved by moving to an all-in-one liquid cooled radiator (Enermax Liqtech TR4 360), updating the BIOS and applying my own fan speed profiles (in BIOS). This last point here especially helped - a time consuming process, but entirly worth it. I could not be happier with my beast now. It nails anything thrown at it in Arnold, reaching a max temp of 59.5C at full tilt left overnight. At this temp the fans (x3 120mm front, x2 140mm rear) are just noticable.

Do you have the ability to add additional fans to the case? or possibly rearrange the existing fans to get better airflow? Keep in mind that more fans spinning slower is more efficient (quieter) than less fans spinning faster.

Do the fans still go nuts if you remove the side panels of the case completely? If they still do it may indicate a faulty fan controller or motherboard issue.

Also, make sure you read temps via an app such as HWMonitor or Ryzen Master. These reference the on-die sensor directly rather than including the 27degree offset that AMD annoying adds. More info: https://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/amd-ryzen-threadripper-1950x-review,8.html

Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Thank you, James!

The Alienware R3 comes with the liquid cooling, but I have the feeling what you're saying about tweaking the fan speed it's a crucial step that I'm probably missing at the moment. I'm using factory settings, which in theory are supposed to be fine. I'll check with Dell about the settings, I think there's more tweaking to be done.

For reference: a simple interactive region in C4D with the standard C4D render engine, pushes the temperature up to 61-65c, and this from Core Temp. With the Thermal Control tool provided by Dell, the temperature reads even higher, around 82.

I don't think I can add additional fans, not much space left nonetheless I think they did a great job with the setup, most likely it's really a matter of tweaking the settings.

And thanks for the link! I'll definitely check it out.

[ben.fischler]

I believe @Chad Ashley recently built up a pretty sweet Threadripper setup. Perhaps he can chime in with any learnings...

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Ben

I hope @Chad Ashley will share something then! 🙂