M14X Shuts Down on Battery

you'll find yourself needing of a power outlet most of the time. And I think that notebook has a "brick" sized power adapter.

 

lol! it works ............ and that's the only setting which is not shutting the system down ! and yeah its jus a workaround ....... as done by the dell support on my laptop ........ go figure why ! lmaol .

 

Stop freaking out over it. The issue is clear; it's crashing when people try to push the same performance out of it as it gets on mains power. The fact is, no notebook of this performance will stay at 100% performance on battery. Batteries just can't supply that sort of power.

In other laptops it's not possible to try and set performance so high on battery, and that's what I strongly believe is causing the crashes.

Try using it without graphics performance set to Maximum on battery and it shouldn't crash. And call it garbage all you like, you won't find a laptop of similar size and performance that will manage mains performance on battery.

Nothing has been 'confirmed' yet but the problem is caused by setting graphics performance to Maximum. That would suggest there's a problem with the battery, either the battery can't supply the power or it shouldn't be possible to put the settings so high on battery in the first place. So the future fix will most likely be either the system underclocking on battery and/or disabling the ability to set performance so high on battery.

Funny, because from what I've read from other people, the issue is caused when they set Graphics Performance to Maximum but doesn't happen without that.

And the fact you're dropping so many frames in BC2 is indicative of the fact that you're not putting the GPU into maximum performance. Changing the system profile alone to "high performance" won't do that, you have to manually do it in the nVidia settings.

 

I just tested with Crysis 1, and I couldn't get through the opening sequence of logos It shut down, full battery, and I had to reconnect the adapter to turn it back on.

will eagerly/anxiously await a fix with the rest of you.

 

thank you

there are 31 of us eagerly waiting lol

 

So most of you're encountering problems with the gaming performance dips while on battery. You may try downloading the NVIDIA PowerMizer manager, and switching to 'max performance' while on battery.

So then you'll be getting the most out of your GPU (even on battery, it would run at its full clock speed) if battery isn't a bottleneck. Not saying that it would totally resolve the issue, but would help the GPU to max out its clock speed irrespective of the current flow. (Though throttling maybe possible, but the throttling behaviour can be switched off by the PowerMizer)

 

I don't think this issue would qualify as a 'gaming dip'. The GPU is already set to max performance when on battery (Alienware's Command Center handles that).

 

Hi GUys,

I bought my m14x a few weeks ago and raised this issue with my sales rep, he has been in touch with tech support who have said the following :

· If the former applies, were the video settings set to maximum? – High End Gaming requires a high level of steady power source that no ordinary laptop battery can provide. Games like Crysis, Bioshock, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, etc.. eats much of the video and CPU settings, even if battery is set to full, is not enough to drive the performance that Gamers require for Mobile High End Gaming at high settings and direct to power source. Advise customer to lower video settings to minimal will help do the trick.

I appreciate what he is saying, but it is a gaming laptop, i dont see why you should have to configure the settings to low to work around the issue.

Any thoughts?

 

Clearly. It is a gaming laptop and should be able to game on battery power without a bunch of custom settings. There WILL be a software (or BIOS) fix for this at some point soon (rumor has it the 19th of May) which will likely downclock the GPU to an appropriate level when on battery power, like it should've done in the first place. It was simply an oversight on their part not to include automated GPU throttling from the get-go.

 

I will sadly confirm the problem.

High performance power mode
-

 

I will sadly confirm the problem
High performance power mode
- Graphic Card :Maximum Performance

Run Furmark and in 3-5 sec ..... black

Let's hope nad wait for a BIOS or Firmware update!!!

 

Did anybody get a chance to contact AW/Dell about the issue?
It'd be nice to have a sense of when a fix is going to be released.

I'm just chilling with my money right now and am going to order the M14x once it's main bugs have been addressed.

(Kind've off topic but can someone tell me how long approximately the laptop lives just doing various "non-gaming" activities? ex: Internet/Music)

 

Apparently they are currently addressing the issue. I would say no need to hesitate to buy, it is still a great machine. Buy with a credit card, technically it is illegal in many countries to sell non-repairable defective products to consumers so there will definitely be a solution. You have nothing to lose really.
Battery should lasts 3.5-5 hrs for normal internet surfing

 

Earlier post suggests a fix's ETA will be on the 19th or so.

Batt life, 3-3.5 hrs.. dang it. I miss my m11x. 4.5 hrs. ehehe

 

Not sure if this will help, but our old friend StevenXOwens sent me this

I have fixed gaming on battery... Please do not repost in other forums

(Yeah it says don't repost to other forums but if you read you'll see underneath he says its okay if you give him credit, and I did)

 

I don't think the issue is pulling back performance to game...we can all game on battery with the default options Alienware has in place (to use balanced when on battery) with no problems, the issue is to use the GPU's full power on battery...

Correct me if I'm wrong

 

Yeah and I think that was what the tutorial was for. But orig topic was it shuts down on battery, so I wasn't sure if that would help with the original problem

 

This morning I played Shift 2 on the train. My battery settings were on high performance and the GPU was set to balanced.
M14x shutdown after roughly 20 mins gaming.

 

Just ordered mine today. Hope the May 19th fix will actually fix the problem, and not just an announcement of the likes of "ohhh we now know what the actual problem is, but we're still working on it, ta".

 

Can anyone say it's worth overclocking the GPU and/or RAM for sure?

 

GPU - Definitely yes, though I would replace the thermal compound and watch temps

RAM - Not really, no. All other things being equal, you probably won't notice any performance increase from going from say 1333 MHz RAM to 1866 MHz RAM. The main reason for fast RAM is for upping the base clock to significantly overclock your CPU, but these CPU's are all locked so there's nto really any point here. Just run your RAM at whatever the specified stable timings are.

 

So i tried to recreate this bug with the laptop I received today, with the following results.

Set graphics card to max performance on battery in the windows battery options. Team Fortress 2 played just fine, but after about 45 seconds of in-game the laptop died. It would not start until plugged into wall again.

However, now, the laptop will die whenever I unplug it, regardless of power setting or applications running. This is worrying - my laptop is now essentially a SFF desktop. Has anyone else had this problem and found a solution? I had used the laptop for an hour or so on battery before, so it definitely did work. Now it doesn't.

EDIT: I tried holding down the power button for about 5 seconds, and the laptop then started up. Weird.

 

You are in the same boat as the rest of us unfortunately...

I hope there is a fix by the 19th of may but I don't believe it

 

At this time, we'll have to keep patience till the specified date. The only thing we can do right now is to just find out the issues present and at the same time address these to dell.

Off-topic: Had a word with the AW engineer recently. He said that the engineering was aware of the fan noise issue, and will soon come up with a firmware update (probably BIOS) to solve the fan noise issue.

 

Played again this morning on 'balanced' mode which I believe is a default setting...... I got about 25 mins of game play..... shutdown

 

Can anyone post a good tutorial vid on how to overclock the GPU and the best settings so it doesn't explode?
I'm new to the PC world

 

Anyone knows if they are fixing this issue?Or any new info on it?
Wanted to have this sorted before ordering my m14x.

 

CONFIRMED , firmware upgrade for 555M " its gonna be in the middle of next week , by Wednesday

 

Until I see Chris (or another known AW/Dell Rep) on here with an update, nothing is confirmed.

 

I called Dell today. The rep told me to expect a fix via BIOS update on the 19th.

 

Absolutely correct.

 

Also having the same issue with the battery here. When my GPU is set to Max Performance on battery, I can't game for more than a couple of mins before my system shuts itself off.

Then I basically have to slide the bottom off, unplug the battery, and plug it back in to get it to start back up on battery. Thankfully there is only 2 screws to take the bottom off...

I mean... all being said... I probably don't want to play too much on battery mode with the Graphics card maxed out, considering I wouldn't get much play time before my battery is almost dead.... but I'd still like the ability to do so.

What I'm still not sure about is whether this is a problem with EVERY m14x or just some. And it's just some... makes me think it's a hardware problem. I'm hoping it will just be the battery, if it is. Alienware could just send out new Batteries to people with defective ones.

 

just ordered m14x.. i knew fan issue only.. thnx to bring up the battery issue ..(seems big one though ).. they have said i wud receive in 3 weeks!! hope they are working out wid same before selling new ones

 

Yeah. 3 weeks should be more than enough, you'll get the battery issue resolved in a week or less; expected date for the fix is 19th.

 

One more day to go.

 

yeah.... hurry up already

 

I sure hope they will put my graphics switching option in there.

 

About the 19 May meeting: where can we get some more info on that? Also, where will the decisions taken at the meeting be announced? thx

 

Still no info about the bios update?

 

This is BS really. I'm thinking of sending it back, especially if it means having to downgrade the specs via bios update. 'Annihilate Anywhere...... as long as there's a power outlet'

 

yeah, i share your pain, in my end i dont really care about battery, but i would love to have control on which card i could use. lIke dedicated or integrated, or both.

Alienware has lowered their standards of quality.

 

Just got the shut down problem... i was playing fallout new Vegas on battery with screen set to 60hz and it ran great until i came out of the house into the open world and it shut down. I couldnt even turn the laptop on again until i plugged in the power supply again, i took it straight out again once it started booting and was ok

Hope there is a fix for this soon

 

I agree. It sucks. But it's still pretty early in the day. I'd give it until later in the afternoon. I may try call tech support later if I have the time....

 

where are we supposed to be waiting for this miracle fix to be announced? i can confirm the drivers page, at least...still no BIOS updates

 

Well if it's not soon there will be an exodus of M14x sent back to Dell.
Ridiculous to say the least.

 

Well so much for that.

 

Yes, lame.
Can I change my mind and go for a Clevo or Asus 15"?

 

Yeah... it's pretty unacceptable... I'm going to call tech support tomorrow and see what they say.... if they don't have a clear cut answer, I'm returning mine immediately....

Sorry if this sounds like Trolling.... but I just got an iPad 2 this past weekend and the M14x has been collecting a lot of dust already....
Can't really get the most out of the M14x without having it plugging... Can't really play any modern game... I tried Crysis 2 at 800x600 res on the lowest possible settings and still wasn't even hitting 30FPS...
And for everything else... web browsing... Hulu... etc... I can do just fine in a 1 pound super slim tablet...

Pretty lame... =/ Someone really dropped the ball on this system

 

Although I accept it is unacceptable for the laptop to shut down whilst gaming on battery. People have also got to accept if you game on full cpu/gpu you will probably only get half an hour anyway.

On full load you are probably pulling just over 100w.
If you want to game on battery why not get an m11x which with its lower power internals can game for a couple of hours.

 

Yeah... that is true.... probably... but regardless of that.. I think it's fair to be a bit perturbed by the issue...

It just makes you feel cheated really... It's like... they advertise a great and powerful system, which it is, but fail to mention how much power it loses without a power cord.