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Alienware Area-51M CPU Overclock Warning Stops BIOS Flash

Summary: The article is about flashing BIOS on Alienware Area-51M that shows a warning during BIOS update 1.6.0 if the CPU Overclock is ON.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.

Symptoms

Overclock warning interrupts BIOS flash

When flashing the BIOS to 1.6.0, you get Warning!! CPU is Over Clocking. You are about to flash your bios, make sure overclocking is turned off.
The OK button stays disabled, leaving you the only option to cancel. (See figure 1)

Warning!! CPU is over clocking. You are about to flash your bios, make sure overclocking is turned off.

Figure 1: Warning message about CPU Over Clocking

Cause

The warning interrupting the BIOS flash is caused when the Overclock setting is enabled. The OK button on the warning message stays disabled until overclocking is disabled.

Resolution

Disable CPU Overclocking

Follow the instructions below to turn off the Overclock settings to be able to flash the BIOS to 1.6.0.

NOTE: Extreme Memory Profie (XMP) RAM overclocking can also affect BIOS Update. If XMP overclock is active, then disable XMP overclock in the current BIOS, before the new BIOS is flashed.
  1. Open Alienware Command Center.
  2. On the home page – select the overclocking tab on the bottom-right corner.
    Alienware Command Center Home
  3. Select Overclock OFF.
    Overclock in AWCC
  4. The OK button will be available when flashing the BIOS now.

Affected Products

Alienware Area-51m
Article Properties
Article Number: 000182747
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 16 Jan 2023
Version:  3
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