Alienware M17x (R1) - 2 YEARS OF ISSUES

UPDATE: Check out the poor score I got when running 3DMarks! --> http://3dmark.com/3dm06/15787966



------------------------SPECIFICATIONS--------------------------------------------
Product: Alienware M17x - R1 (Purchased: 14.06.2009)
Windows Edition: Windows Vista Home Premium (SP-2) (64-bit)
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo CPU - P8700 @ 2.53GHz (x2)
Memory (RAM): 4096MB (2X2048) 1333MHZ DDR3 DU
Hard Drive: 1TB (2X500GB)
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First of all: YES, I DO KNOW ABOUT THE STEALTH MODE.



Problems:
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- Bad Performance. (THIS IS MY MAIN ISSUE)
I can play any game with pretty good quality, but after about 5minutes it starts lagging (Low FPS) and eventually hard boots.
The Windows Experience Index Scoring says 5,4 when calculating with the processor, but the rest says 5,9.
The Calculating has been at 5,9 before, but has suddently dropped to 5,4 for some reason.
Click the spoiler for screenshot

Spoiler

- Randomly shuts down when in-game. (Full Screen)
After I've played any game for about 30 - 60 minutes it randomly hard boots.
(Shuts down like it's got no power left)

- The computer gets really hot sometimes.
GPU has been over 90*C which I have proof of.
Click the spoiler for proof:

Spoiler

- Microphone is recording nasty buzzing sounds which may be the fans.
(Even when using the microphone of the headphones, which is why I find this unusual)

- The fans sometimes hit something inside of the laptop as I've heard a couple of times.
(I believe some of the fans are hitting something in the laptop like it's not correctly adjusted )

- Unlimited loading at boot
This has only happenes a couple of times, but I believe it's Windows Vista's operation system's fault.
When I booted the computer it got stuck at the loading screen and when I booted in safe-mode it said that it missed a file
(I don't remember the name of the missing boot file) and when I looked up the file's name, I found out that it was a very common problem for Vista.



History
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- Reformating the Operation System.
I've done this alot of times. Mostly because of the unlimited loading issue.
The computer has always stayed the same.

- I'm always updated (I've also downloaded some of the recommended AW drivers on Dell's support site)
I always download updates from Windows Update.

- I have NEVER hitted the laptop, lost the laptop on the floor or anything else that may cause any damage to the laptop.
I would say that the laptop is very healthy, but the problems stays inside the computer.

- There has always been problems with my Alienware ever since I bought it.
First I had absolutely NO administrial rights what so ever and there was ofcourse a lot of lagg..
So I reformated the OS. Then I reformated the OS yet again to try to fix the lagg and the wierd buzzing sound that was happening when I was on Skype with my friends.

- I am not the ''mechanic''-guy. I'm more the ''software''-guy and I don't really play any games.
I am the kind of guy who would have alot of knowledge when it comes to Microsoft's operation systems. I like to play with codes in VB6 and java and getting to know more about the computers possibilites.

When I am completely bored, I like to play an old game called Gunz, which was made in 2004.
This game is pretty old so I don't really get any lagg from that game, but it always hard boots after about an hour. When I'm with my friends, Call of Duty is the thing. I don't really like the game, but they seem to like it so I normally join them. Call of duty laggs me out totally after about 5minutes and after about a hour the Alienware laptop hard boots.

Think about it. An Alienware M17x wich is considdered as the most powerfull gaming laptop in the world which looks really cool and fancy which costs alot, but when I am playing a little game like Call of Duty with my friends, I lagg out and have major problems playing it.
Well, to tell you straight, how embarressing.

 

Sorry to hear about your issues. I know the hell of having problem after problem.

My current computer (the r2 in my sig, and avatar pic), has recently been repaired after one month of waiting.

On my previous computer (a m15x) I have had issue after issue, once I even had 9 weeks of downtime because Dell could not fix the part needed.

My advice to you, is if you have warranty left you should demand a replacement.

 

@Simplified

Thanks for the quick reply!
Well, I have had this laptop for 2years now and I've tought of calling Dell and getting it replaced.
For once, I'll take another guy's advice. I'll call Dell tomorrow and see what they can do.
(I have over 300days of warranty left)

 

I wish you the best of luck!

You should ask them for a m18x, and not let yourself get downgraded from anodized aluminium chassi to a plastic one.

They will probably offer you a r3, but fight for the m18x even if it has one gpu. The reason is the built quality.

 

Use warranty

After 3 tries go for unresolved issues and replacement

 

If you can get a replacement, that's pretty sweet. I've have my r1 for about 2 yrs too and it's been really reliable. I had some game crashing problems as well, but an older driver and turning off hybrid graphics took care of that. Mine works best with the 197.16 drivers. I didn't see what video card(s) you have in there anywhere, but here's what I have:
2.4g core duo
4g 1066 mem
single 260m (which just went bad last week, running off onboard right now)
250g hd
windows 7 64bit
all latest drivers and bios from dell site, except video drivers (and they may have even come from there, just not the newest ones)

Since going with the 197.16 drivers and turning off hybrid, i don't have any crashes anymore. It also won't boot properly with my ipod or phone plugged in. Hope some of this helps, good luck.

 

I just got my R1 replaced and got an R3 and I couldn't ask for anything better! The R3 is awesome and no problems yet! I wanted an M18x but in the end I really didn't need it, I would just go for an R3.

 

Try turning on Vysnc in the Gunz game.

Try cleaning out all your heatsinks.

What are your temperatures?

What are your video cards? Do you have dual video cards? Is SLI/CFX enabled?

 

I sent them an email after I requested help.

 

Is that thing still under warranty? I had mine replaced with an R2 over a year ago. 866-287-6727 for tech support. Being an R1, it may also suffer from the notorious DPC latency problem. You seem to have several issues with that system and I sympathize with you. If you have a history with tech support, and these problems have been addressed and (not) fixed in the past, then I see a shiny new computer in your future. Just be polite

Judging from the system specs you have, you may end up with an R3. If you have dual gpu's, then you could argue that you prefer the dual-card setup and request an M18x. Best of luck to you!

 

The DPC latency issue was fixed long time ago.
The R1 is a great machine