Hath Dell Forsaken m17x R1 users?

I was just wondering because I haven't heard anything new about them for a while except Batboy's Modded INF driver. Opinions? Statements?

 

Yes, but on the other hand. . . BatBoy hasn't forsaken us.

It is sad that I do feel forsaken by Dell. I am running the system somewhat smoothly, but with these dodgy work-arounds and additional applications that help with 'power issues' when certain applications draw too much power from the system.

 

I am dissapointed that Dell has not released a BIOS update to fix outstanding issues.....such as Battery charging, and adaptor warnings etc.

Then again this will be going up for sale once the R3 is released if the R3 has all the features I am looking for.

 

LOL kade. The battery charging issue along with the touchpad polling issue both need to be resolved IMO. This and a non-modded ( ) NV driver would be nice.

 

Agreed, but what about CPU throttling (due to system exceeding power budget)? Y'know, the stuff that can kick in even when the system is running at complete stock clocks. I've had this happen with a mere T9550 and GPUs running at stock clocks with games like Crysis, Lost Planet and FarCry 2 just to name a few. From what I understand, since BIOS A03, the budget has been limited to 220W.

 

Oops - forgot about that one. Yep, all 3.

 

Indeed. Fix those three and I'll be a happy customer for hell--err, Dell.

On the whole I've been happy with this machine in comparison to the M1730; parts don't burn out, for example. Nevertheless, it's just these very annoying flaws in the setup -- or things that can be fixed with a BIOS and regular GPU driver updates -- that seem to be a real put-off. It's almost like a tragedy seeing as the hardware is good but the software side needs a bit of aggressive attention.

Unfortunately, the R3 is around the corner now, which could most likely be the final nail in the coffin for the R1 support initiative. I fear that Dell's support for the outstanding issues on the R1 platform will soon become nothing short of the same self-parody that consumed the XPS M1730 support process (Cite: One-year-late bios update to address an issue that already left a large number of M1730s in the scrap-yard).

 

My only saving grace is the 3 year warranty I bought with the R1. At least with all the issues, soon I will just demand a new one, and get an R2, or really hold out and keep the work arounds to keep the laptop running, and get the R3...

 

I've got a warranty package, and Dell's on their 3rd call to replace my cards for a problem that has nothing to do with the bad GPUs. Soon, their requests for more futile solutions will become categorically unreasonable as this solution will not fix the problem at hand, and that will justify my lack of patience for anymore pointless part-replacements. I'm just letting 'em play out their side of the act but soon it'll be my turn to strike.

 

Going to post this as a general forum rules reminder only - just in case it comes up...

NBR will not tolerate fraud discussion. Posts along these lines will be removed and infractions/bans will result for any discussing illegal activity/fraud.

Now, given the 17xR1 has outstanding issues, dealing with support is your call and escalation via support is always an option if you are not reaching a solution.

My point to posting this is - no posts on 'lying' to support in order to secure a replacement/exchange/etc. - that is fraud and we dont discuss it here.

Thanks everyone - questions, pm a mod.

 

I apologize. I really do wish support would continue for our models. I really dislike having to be without my computer should the need to contact Alienware about an issue. I hate that I can't use Verde drivers (Yet Hopefully?) also. =(

 

What about looking into getting Engadget, or similar to post about our issues? Putting pressure back onto Dell to fix the issue - Similar to the DPC Latency incident?

I'm sure if we contact one of the editors and explain the situation we may be able to get attention brought to it?

EDIT: I contacted a representative at Engadget to see if they can help us out. We can sit day in and day out hoping Dell will fix our issues, but I for one am tired of waiting for a product I've owned for over a year to be fixed and am fed up. At least if they acknowledge there is a problem, I'll be happy.

 

Interesting that you got in touch with Engadget. Thing is that Dell are dealing with unhappy R1 users by trying to use useless fix-tactics, and if those fail, they even offer R2 units. Obviously, because there are problems with the R1 that they cannot, or will not fix. I just don't know if that'd be a big scoop for media-outlets seeing as Dell support are doing their job.

 

Oh, I completely agree that they wont fix or cannot fix it. However not acknowledging so that readers like myself and others who may not visit this forum can do something about it is what I'm looking for.

And you have to keep in mind, some of us don't have warranty anymore and as far as Dell is concerned it's an "isolated" incident and isn't a byproduct of their poor hardware testing before setting up the models.
If they acknowledge it's a problem that has existed since first purchase, many of us outside of warranty will be able to claim for a replacement.

NOTE: That final paragraph is not suggesting lying to representatives. I would never do that.

Also, Engadget is looking into the issue (I recieved a reply late this evening) so we may have something come out of it.

 

I see what you mean, PurelySatanic. You are right infering that if they acknowledge this as a problem, then those outside of warranty might have recourse to a replacement or solution.

Thanks for keeping us posted on Engadget's interest. I was initially sceptical about their interest, but seeing as you might be onto to something, I think there might be good reason for interest after all.

 

I think one of the worst things is that we can't update our drivers with Verde Drivers. I don't get whats up with the BSODs and whatnot. I was worried that it meant the video cards were defective. After seeing that almost everyone I've seen here with R1 + 260/280s were having the problems I don't think that's the case. Could it be the motherboard? An incompatibility perhaps?

 

I think Dell should be obligated to offer every single R1 owner an upgrade to R2 or R3. The R1 was broken from the start and those that are outside of warranty are screwed right now.

 

And here it is.

M17x laptop said to be suffering from power-related GPU issues

 

++1 for that but still i would like to see these R1s working one day without the issues(being able to upgrade to verde no matter when,etc etc) but soncerely i don`t think they will look at us

 

My Thanks go out to PurelySatanic for getting that onto Endgadget.

 

PurelySatanic, you're the man, amigo.

Excellent contention!

 

I may well try that argument once the R3 is released, I been able to manage well enough with the R1, but between the battery charge issue, adaptor issue, Blank screen issue, and accasional lock up freeze issue, I think a R3 is in order.

 

I actually have an R2 on the way (sometime late this week/early next) after 2months of issues with my R1 (well, more like 2 years... but these last 2 months have been especially bad)

They changed the motherboard, both video cards, the video card fans (2x), the power adapter (2x and still not working correct) and constant blue screens, random freezing (need a hard reset to recover) etc...

I hope the R2 they send is as good as the rep claims, if not.... I will deal with it for as long as I can then demand an R3

D.

 

I also want to state that I never intended my post to mean that I would lie to Dell. Heck I don't have to with the R1, and mine isn't even a year old yet(soon though), has a ton of issues. I seem to have it running pretty good now, but it has lots of little issues.

 

I was following some of the feedback to that article on Engadget and found that it had been turned into a joke in the commentary section with the first-tier of keyboard ninjas making fun of the initial grammatic-mistakes and lack of proof-reading in the article. Then there was tier-two of folks who just make fun of gaming laptops because they find them overpriced and redundant. The inbetweeners comprised of 'Dell Haters', which I can fully understand at times. Finally, we had a couple of decent comments regarding the actual issues with the M17X-R1. Now I know that the internet is usually comprised of a very thriving race of trolls and keyboard ninjas, but uh. . .

I am concerned about whether this news is reaching the right channels. Perhaps we should spread the word to a few other outlets so that the matter gets treated with a bit more seriousness.

 

^^Agree on that,glad to see that there are folks around here that do care for their rigs!

 

Hey guy's, sorry I've been away on business the last few days and didn't even see the Engadget post go up.

I agree that it was turned into a joke by the commenters, and we may have to go to other outlets to seek further help.

However, I am still in contact with the Engadget representative and he's asking if we've seen any improvement in communication with Dell. This means there may be a possibility of further investigation from them (looking for an official statement from Dell, etc) which would be greatly significant for us.

 

That's something to go by, PurelySatanic.

I am in the process of taking my issue further since they recently changed one of my GPUs for the same reported problem. Now they're looking to find out if the issue's resolved, and obviously, it has not resolved at all. I'll bring this up with them and tell them that part-exchanges have gone on too long with no success; they must produce a proper alternative solution. I wonder if citing the Engadget article might actually help further my case.

 

If anything, citing it may bring attention to it and Dell may respond with an official statement to Engadget.

Either way, there's really nothing you can lose from bringing it up.

But I'll keep pushing towards getting something official from them

 

Engineering would like more details on PC configurations and stress conditions leading to the throttling. Be as detailed as possible.

 

Windows 7 x64 - Ultimate Edition
Processor: QX9300 Stock & OC @ 2.9GHZ (Issue occurs at both clock speeds)
GPU: SLI Nvidia Geforce GTX 280M stock [ Using drivers both from Dell certified and the drivers available from Nvidia show this issue ]
RAM: 8GB DDR3 1333mhz

This issue occurs in any game that makes use of the SLI configuration, it ONLY [ In my case ] occurs when both cards are actually in use. (If you use the control panel to set the specific game to only use one card, it stops the issue, or turn SLI off completely)

Any game that stresses the GPU and CPU will have this issue. Games I've noticed it in are: Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Settings maxed out except AA is at 8x instead of 16x), Crysis, Starcraft 2, Far Cry 2 and several other games.

Thank you Chris for responding to this thread. I'm sure it means a lot to everyone that we're finally getting some interfacing time with the Dell team.

EDIT: The conditions under which it occurs is if A) The game stresses the GPU and CPU enough B) SLI is turned on C) Under normal gameplay this occurs, doesn't have to be specific.

For example, I will have exceptional framerates during normal play in Battlefield, however on random intervals the framerate drops to < 10 FPS for a few moments causing a hitch in the game.
It happens exactly like that for me in any game that meets the above criteria.

 

That is one big Ditto for me. QX9300, but I have the ATIs.

 

There's a reason for that -- your system is drawing less power when it's running on just one GPU. This is exactly the core of the throttling issue experienced by a majority of R1 users.

 

Windows 7 x64 - Home Premium
Processor: Q9000 Intel Quad Core 2 - Default Clocks
GPU: SLI Nvidia Geforce GTX 280M [Dell 197.84 Drivers ]
RAM: 4GB DDR3 1066mhz

Experience ~10 second framerate drops in most high demanding games (GRID , Crysis , Just Cause 2 , Dirt 2) On some games , it takes longer or shorter times for these FPS Spikes to develop, but in most it comes to drops every 2-3 minutes. I don't know how relevant this will be , but i have noticed no such behavior on Mass Effect 2 , have no idea why.

Also any other newer driver than 197.84 (nVidia or Dell) cause freezes and BSOD's , and older drivers cause DPC Latency.

Hope you guys find a solution.

 

Yeah, and on that note I guess I should add for Chris:

It doesn't matter what GPU's you have, as long as you have enough "power demanding" components in your system, it'll cause this issue.

Hence why both my setup and the one with ATI's has this issue.

There is a whole thread on this subject, as I am sure you're aware Chris.

 

Acutally, here's mine, pretty much the same as PurelySatanic and Alek123.

Windows 7 x64 - Home Premium
Processor: QX9300 Intel Quad Core 2 - Default Clocks
GPU: SLI Nvidia Geforce GTX 280M [Nvidia 260.99 Drivers & Dell 197.84 ]
RAM: 8GB DDR3 1333mhz

Experiencing approximate 20 second frame rate drops from a steady 30+ to 5-10 FPS every 1-2 minutes. This happens during demanding games like Crysis, Metro 2033, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Dirt 2, Just Cause 2 and FarCry 2. Even benchrmarks like 3dMark06, and Vantage show this issue. The SLi indicator reduces from 100% performance to an almost flat 10% when this drop occurs.

I was informed by technical support that 'Crysis is too demanding', but that I find that to be a very poor excuse for a game that was released in 2007, and a game that does run just fine--even during demanding scenes--but regularly drops in performance every 1-2 minutes. This isn't a case of 'too demanding a game'; it's a case of throttling.

This is very problematic and defeats the whole consistency-aspect of the experience.

 

First of all thanks DELLChrisM hopefully you guys will find a solution as this is NOT an isolated case.

my cfg:
Windows 7 x64 Ultimate
CPU: QX9300 stock clocks
GPU: SLi nVidia GTX 280M
RAM: 8Gb DDR3 1333Mhz

I have the same issues as stated above with the Verde drivers,things were smoother with the 266.35 beta released by nVidia this month but still encountering huge drops in FPS,and the LCD turning black with the sound going in the backround. Are we doomed to use the Dell beta 197.84 forever??
Is there a solution going to be found for this machine to suck his desired amount of power?

 

Mine is a direct copy of Alek123 except I have 7 Ultimate. Same issues.

 

M17x R1
C2D T9800 2.8ghz
Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
GTX 280M SLI
8GB DDR3 1333

Getting this same issue with my Dual Core. Going to be fun trying to convince Dell to replace this when this is a replacement for my old M1730 /joy.

Had it occur allot on The Witcher, less so but still occurring on BF:BC2, also occurred allot on indoor zones in Champions Online. Guess anything that stresses the GPUs will highlight this issue.

 

experiencing the same thing even with non demanding games such as Titan Quest (it's so easy to run that sometimes the fans do not even spin at mid speed, and it manages to throttle still!). System is in sig: Qx9300, 280m Sli, vista x64. Oh and every verde drivers = total system freeze or crashes while gaming.

 

Similar issues in Crysis - can be reproduced in level 'Awakenings' going near to the village area where the first secondary mission target is located. Although not sure whether it's throttling or DPC. DPClat running in background show continuously spikes when slow in game, then intermittently normal framerates for a few seconds. Reverting to 260.99 driver simply crashes at the same spot.

Since nvidia 266.35 installed, dpc latency seems to be up again too. Found that the standard windows installed Broadcom 1510 drivers cause 2K spikes -> installed dell site drivers, now is on/off where some starts give latency, others don't.

Specs in sig

 

im having these issues too ever since i got this laptop and its gona be almost a year having this and "enjoying" this crap. sometimes my friends ask me, wow.. u must be having alot of fun on that gaming laptop during the holidays?
i said yeah, hell alot of fun with dos games.
lots of performance issue and sudden lags

specs are
t9600 2.8ghz
4gig ram 1333mhz
500gig hdd
dual gtx280m sli
1440x900 screen

 

same here Chris -

QX9300/6GB RAM/x2 HDD's/280M GTX SLI

Vista and W7 tested.

FPS drop to 5-10 FPS which lasts for several seconds. This drop off will happen while in-game (not specific to a certain title). Gaming will be smooth and then the drop off will present itself. This can happen from 5 minutes in game to not happening for over 45 minutes of game play. It is intermittent.

 

When will it be clear for everybody?
The R1s are NOT broken they just lack support! Also there are many that don't have a warrenty and it wasn't always like this.
Dell just stopped working on updated drivers for them.

 

Hey Chris

Getting the same issues everyone else posted. Black screen with sound still going. Complete lockups needing hard reset. frozen screens with sound still going. Machine runs at stock speeds. Well tries to run at stock speeds i should say....

These issues can happen even playing a video although obviously games tend to do more so partic in SLI but i have had dramas running one or two cards.

My notebook is off being repaired atm.... If you call having your ram downgraded from 1333Mhz to 1066Mhz repaired. I call it more "butchered"

For the price that these units sell for people have every right to expect more than 12 months of driver support. Dell should get its act together and offer people decent support for these units. I was reasonably happy with my M1710 and this unit still runs great three years later. Thats why i bought another dell product.

However as my new puta which i spent a lot of money on to bring me joy, instead doesnt work, causes me stress and makes me feel like im being bent over and given the "dropped the soap in the prison shower" treatment, I dont expect to buy another dell in my lifetime. I also wouldnt expect dell to remain the worlds largest computer company, as there is a long list of people that feel exactly as i do.

I still wont buy apple from a bad experience with a macintosh 18 yrs ago....
I also bad mouth apple to anyone i can..

TAKE NOTE DELL, your ridiculous excuse merry go round is a joke, you need to take responsibilty and admit you messed up with these machines and come good to the poor sods that purchased them. Ive tried every DELL GPU driver available for my cards and in desperation ive even tried direct from nvidia.

DELL is fast becoming my new apple. If youd like me bagging out your machines for the next 20 years to the many people who ask me for puta advice, then continue on your current course of doing sweet FA.

Also as in Australia you are required to provide the product you advertise and you advertised these machines as "all powerful" and they cant even play a video without crashing, I wonder where you stand legally on this issue. Or rather sit as i dont think you have a leg to stand on legally lol.

Id rather burn $5000 than give DELL another $ as things stand atm.......

Peace out BIOS is A03 rest of my specs in sig...

 

I believe your issue may be different. The issue we're looking at is throttling which occurs [ if our assumptions/tests are correct ] when your PC exceeds the power budget.

The locking up of the screen with sounds and having to hard reset I BELIEVE is caused by using the newer drivers from NVidia, if you revert to the ones available through Dell, this issue should go away.

Otherwise you probably have another whole issue on your hands.

EDIT: It looks like I overlooked the part where you said you tried all drivers. So it's probably something else going on that we just haven't come across yet. Because I haven't heard of the throttling causing the screen to lock up, but then again it could all be part of it as it is.

 

I appreciate the advice purelysatanic thank you very much.

I was having these issues with the dell drivers and i went thru all theres first. Including the much lauded beta driver listed. the nvidia 260.99 was my last resort. The only one i havent tried is batboys modded one tbh

Mate i scoured these forums for weeks before i even registered to post.
I have tried a heck of a lot of things and believe me i am very much hoping it comes back better. However after everything so far, I just feel the more i get my hopes up, the more im going to be dissapointed.

I think this may be a throttling issue tbh, although i am nowhere near as knowledgeable as some on here, I have been looking into this issue as much as I can and have tried many fixes posted on these forums. Including the one posted by the dell guy. It was great that the fix was posted and hats off too him for that. However puta still plays up as do many others as you can see in the post after his. However at least he was trying to help and i view this in that light.
Unfortunately my options seem to be use throttlestop and void my warranty or put up with a puta that doesnt work properly. Neither option is partic acceptable to me and i dont think it would be too others in my shoes.

I will look into what you say, when i get it back. They reckon i made a fair mess of the drivers which is probably correct. However as a i said to them if the computer id had for 4 days had worked properly i would have just left the drivers alone.

TBH I prob wont fiddle with drivers at all this time, ill just leave it and complain when it doesnt work, that way i cant get blamed.. lol

I really think dell could do something to reduce the amount of power throttled and save us all this pain. Or even make it so it throttles earlier but more gently, more of a curve approach rather than the sudden "chop" (and usually crash... lol)
I am mystified as to why they wont do it
[EDIT] One thing I would appreciate is a link to this "CCCleaner" or whatever it is that people refer to for clean driver installs please.

 

here you go : CCleaner - Optimization and Cleaning - Free Download

 

Sadly true, you have the same intellectuals commenting on Tom's Hardware whenever they do a gaming laptop review or article

What you have seen is just what Chris posted here

I have experienced throttling with the following:
QX9300
GTX 280m SLI AND CF 4870m (Various drivers)
4GB 1333 ram
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Bios A00 A01 A02 A03 all exhibit this. Did not waste time with A04 and A05 as they only cause problems and were clearly not tested.

I have experienced it when playing games such as Gears of War, Halo 2, Unreal Tournament 3. Also seen in benchmarks such as 3DMark06 and 3DMark Vantage.

All of the games are able to offer fluid fps with all maxed settings until throttling occurs and your fps plummets to about 5 and slowly ramps back up over the next 30 seconds or so until the next throttle occurs. The HARDWARE is able to handle these softwares, it is an issue of the system BIOS.

I have done ALOT of work with this machine testing it and pushing it to its limits so please feel free to contact me if you need any more explanations.

Additionally since we have your attention here.....a long standing thread that I created and gathered input from MANY owners on what we would like too see added/fixed:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/466123-m17x-r1-features-we-want-future-bioss.html

And here is a rather lengthy thread I started which ends in us concluding that power draw is what is causing the throttle to occur and well below the capabilities of the ac power adapter:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/410440-m17x-stutter.html

Again, please PM me with any questions as I would love to see this laptop live up to its potential....

 

Same here.
I really liked mine with the QX9300 but found that if I ever oc'd the sli 260m's I had it would throttle.
If i stayed on the A03 bios and left the 260's at stock and only had the QX9300 at 3.0 then it would not throttle, but then a host of other issues started to pop up so it was replaced with an R2.

Still was a really nice machine which I wish dell would have put more heart into.

D.