*The Story of Dell & I -please read*

My story starts off when i was young. I liked technology. Games were awesome, and they still are. Then i found out about Alienware. The design looked so cool. The hardware was so cool. The website was kinda cool. Everything was cool. I wanted one, but ofcourse, i couldn't afford it. Then one day, my desktop computer that i used for work broke down. I was 14, and i asked my father if he could buy me an Alienware M14x that just came out on sale. I showed him the website, and the first thing he saw was GAMING COMPUTERS. He said no. I was pretty sad. I knew other high performance computer companies, but they all weren't as cool as Alienware. My mind, heart, and soul was on Alienware.

After a while of working on my father's computer, he got annoyed. Suddenly, he said we were going to America to meet our cousins soon, and perhaps we could order an Alienware and ship it to there. (If we shipped it to where i live, we would have to pay about $1,000 for tax) I was so happy. Finally, we did order one. M14x, 3GB GT555m (although i wanted a GTX card more) Full HD screen, quad-core i7 processor, 500GB 7,200rpm harddrive (although i wanted a SSD but it was too expensive). This machine costed our family $1,800 dollars. I couldn't WAIT to go receive it at my cousins house in America.

The machine was beautiful. It wasn't heavy at all to me. Its design was gorgeous. The performance was stunning. Although the fan was loud when gaming, the Klipsch speakers were just amazing. (with Xi-Fi blaster thing) I spent a good 30 minutes figuring out the AlienFx thing and creating a rainbow spectrum for my keyboard. It was awesome.

UNTIL... First, i noticed that the spacebar was uneven and some keys squeaked, but i didn't mind. Then, the alienware on-screen-display stopped coming up. So i had to find the driver and install it again. Then suddenly the whole screen of my m14x was distorted, colors and shapes flying everywhere. i didn't know what to do, so i called alienware tech support. what is with the INDIANS on tech support? i'm trying not to be racist, but i can barely understand what the hell they were saying. And ALL of them were Indian, not just one. i didn't know what to do, and i recovered my previous system or something. After that incident, everything was fine, until the Crash episode started. playing a game on battery, CRASH. what the hell? i payed a lot of money for this machine, and the hell is this? i didnt want to call tech support again because of the representatives. i searched online about this problem, and i saw this discussion specifically about the M14x. So, i updated the BIOS to A03, and the crashing stopped. BUT WHAT THE HELL IS WITH THE PERFORMANCE? i used to play every game without lag unplugged, but now i lag. then i read on this website and found out that Dell had disabled high-performance unplugged with the BIOS A03. what the hell is this, a Sony Vaio? (i hate sony by the way, for reasons you should not know) I bought a GAMING LAPTOP to game while on the go. Laptops aren't suppose to be plugged in 24/7. Alienware built? Gamer approved? who the hell was that damn gamer? annihilate from anywhere? how the hell am i suppose to do any of that when my awesome alienware lags?

And by the way, my order came with an Alienware M14x Orion "TSA FRIENDLY" bag. I just came back from America, and i had about 5 flights, and ALL of them made me take out my computer when passing through security. The hell? i thought it was TSA FRIENDLY. "The M14x Backpack is TSA compliant so you can leave your laptop in the bag while passing through airport security."

How do i feel about Dell? alienware > piece of dump > dell services and tech support and the fake advertisements.

Alienware M14x:
Pros: neat look, stunning performance, good build quality, nice alienfx function, love the tri-ting sound before the fan starts up everytime.
Cons: dell service, stupid bios, fans a bit loud when gaming, small but annoying problems

What do i want/looking forward to? I just want to have Sam's Happy Time with my computer, no problems. I hate the bios to hell, and wish i could play my games unplugged again. i am about to take a huge dump on dell right now. and what do i do with my "TSA FRIENDLY" bag? just live with it? and if ANYONE knows how to fix this BIOS, please tell me.

Oh, and what the hell is wrong with Grand Theft Auto 4? i downloaded it off Steam, and it wont work because it cant detect my nvidia card. i mod updated to the 275.27 one, and played GTA 4, but the graphics look terrible. i mean, i played it on my friends OLD computer, and it looked way better on his than my new alienware. whats with nvidia, or dell?

if anyone knows the solution to things in my rant, please tell me. thank you.

 

sigh....

Simple solutions....

1. Get a replacement from dell. (I know it sucks but it happens)
2. Re-install the OS from scratch with fresh drivers from Dell.
3. Manage the clocks for the video card your self with a 3rd party software.
4. Whitelist ALL YOUR GAMES (even steam games)
5. Revert to BIOS A01

If you were able to game on battery on full high performance, everything maxed out, the laptop would prob not last more than 45 minutes.... It's to powerful. Same goes for any other gaming laptop if you were to play on battery with everything MAXED out.

I can play games like portal 2, LFD2, TF2, all on battery without a problem and I manage the clocks myself. I get about an hour or more on battery.

 

on the bios a01, i could play bfbc2 online for 2 hours straight before the battery went out on max performance, no lag at all. now i cant. thats the problem, i cant play any game on max performance on battery cuz they disabled that feature

 

Not that u are a liar, but I don't believe you.

If both the GPU and CPU were set to max settings on the high-performance battery setting via the AlienFX command center, and you attempted to run any GPU intensive game, the laptop would most likely shut down.

You would have had to set both CPU and GPU to max setting via the AlienFX command center. If not then you were most likely not using the laptop at High-Performance.

Even on Bios A01, while setting the computer to high-performance, the GPU is set to run only moderately on battery. That's what most likely prevented the laptop from shutting down.

 

I agree with TitanGod, If you going to lie at least do some research, this guy here playing Angry Bird, his BIOS I believe is A01, because he uploaded it a day before the A03 even out.

He said his battery on average last only about 90mins, (1hr 30min) that he play is on the Nvidia GPU. And as I know angry bird is just a casual game like Bejeweled 3, and BFBC2 is a high graphic demand game, I'm not sure how long it going to last, but at my best guess it going to last 1hr-30mins or Less.

Ref: Alienware M14X Playing Angry Birds Battery Life!

 

i wish i could show you guys that i really did it. and i also played dead space 2 for about 1 hour 45 minutes too on high performance on battery. then the crashing started to occur when i was used my laptop for about 4 days. -sigh- i guess i'll have to live with the new update

 

Just learn to tweak the laptop a bit like TitanGod has. Pop MSI afterburner on and you can adjust the clocks for either an overclock whilst plugged in or some sensible clocks on battery (I would recommend about 400gfx/700mem)

Also you can use power management to cap the speed of the cpu whilst on battery (I use 75% max cpu, it give me a lot more battery life whilst gaming and keeps heat down).

Finally if the fans are bothersome download HWinfo32/64 and set them manually but make sure you monitor temps ( I use this in conjunction with capping my cpu speed to keep a quiet yet still powerful MBP 2011)

 

Just curious, doe's a full clean and repaste with high quality thermal compound help with heat & fan issues? It did on my laptops I always clean and repaste and reformat windows clean install, It always drops temps and under load fans spins, that's for heat detection which will help with a bios update to help the fan detect heat at a reasonable level.Then you should oc to your desire.

 

I am sure it would knock 5-10c off load temps. Every dell I have owned has had poorly applied and rubbish paste. I also always repaste and reformat.

It made a big difference to my xps 1640 and also my xps 15 with 740qm cpu (which ran hot)

 

is it really safe to oc gpu and cpu on a laptop?

 

Dont bother with the cpu, they dont clock well and they already have a decent turbo boost.

The gpu is well worth it. As long as you monitor temps after your overclock and you overclock sensibly then there is no harm. I have been doing it for years.
I get a good 30% overclock on the 6750 in my mbp taking it from 600 to 780mhz. It can go further but i have no need beyond 780 as it makes shogun 2 playable at 1080p for me

 

I'd get it repasted with good paste by a competent tech, and use a cooling pad, before considering any oc.

As for your other points, if they built the bag to comply with TSA regulations, it's a TSA compliant bag. If your TSA guy decides to be an anyway, it's his problem, not dell's.

Everyone routs customer service through India. Just like they manufacture things in China.

I dunno about you but I'd prefer loud fans to overheating procs. It's an i7 in a cramped space, those things get toasty :/ maybe use a cooling pad and it will keep your proc cool without the onboard fan going into overdrive mode. If the sound bothers you, game on headphones.

Remember to whitelist all your games, whitelist Steam (I think there's some procedure for making sure steam games run properly on optimus, not sure how).

Oh, and...the 3GB GT555 was a waste of cash :/

 

Nope. Not even worth the 5-10 percent increase. I dont even know why people overclock gpu's on laptop. They rather risk their system overheating and other issues than just backing off some of their graphic options. When i want a performance gain, i just back down filtering and anti aliasing. Bet none of you thought of that (being sarcastic of course)

 

I've done a little with my desktop but always get a little nervous and paranoid about the temperature... Akways catch myself staring at temp gauge. I plan to do it a little with my m14x once I receive it though..