Just Received m17x R4 - Some Advice Please

Took delivery yesterday and its a fine piece of kit. However, I certainly notice the lack of SSD that I had in my older XPS laptop. I want to install a fresh copy of windows with SP1 on a new SSD and use the 500gb HDD for storage, but I have a few questions:

1. I notice a windows disk came with the laptop, is this a full version of windows or a 'dell version'? Should I use this or an ISO download? Also, should I find the windows key in the registry or use the one under the battery? I've read that the one under the battery might not work or something?
2. Can anyone recommend a good SSD drive, either 128 or 256gb that gets good reviews and is compatible with the m17x.
3. With a fresh install, am I losing anything permanently, or are all the alienware utilities on the CD provided? I notice there's a nice alienware startup and shutdown image, will I lose this?
4. Is it a simple enough job to set the two hard drives up in the bios, is there a good guide for this somewhere?

Also, although the performance is great, I'm noticing some reduced frame rates at highest graphics settings on my favourite MMO. Is it possible to do some minor overclocking? If so, what is considered a safe overclock with the 7970m.

 

Hi, welcome

I can answer some...

1. Use the dell windows disk. This will keep the alienware screens and make sure the correct disk drivers are used. You can use a vanilla windows but you could run into problems (fixable!).

2. Sorry, there are loads of threads on which SSD but I got mine with the machine.

3. No, you just need to get the latest drivers from dell downloads and register with 'my dell downloads' to get access to any licenced software such as the webcam and DVD software (and see 1 )

4. Plug in the new drive in the spare bay, go into the bios and change the boot order, install windows from a dvd boot.

Haven't used an AMD GPU for years so no help there

 

Howdy newbie. Congrats on the new system.

To add to Micky's answer to questions 3, if you do a clean install on the SSD and reformat the HDD for storage, you will lose your recovery partition, and with it, Alien Respawn will not be able to restore your system back to factory. That means if something were to happen to Windows on your R4, you will need to use the repair Windows feature on the Alienware Windows OS DVD or just do another clean install to set things right. As far as setting the new SSD up in the BIOS, it should just be plug and play. As Micky said, the only thing you may need to do is change the drive boot order in the BIOS but that's very easily done.

As for overclocking your 7970m, the preferred method is using MSI afterburner. There are several threads here in the M17x forum which detail on how this is done. Search and you will find!

 

Grab a 16GB USB stick to make a complete backup of your system using AlienRespawn before proceeding with the installation and format of the HDD. You can also use two DVD-R discs.

 

And further to radji's answer , I found that when I installed respawn it detected I had no factory partition and went on to create one (of my size choice) using the current windows as a factory restore. For this feature alone I paid them for the full version since I liked it (although it's not that good as far as backup programs go ).

 

thanks for the replies, very helpful. So what if I left the current HDD as is with windows installed, and simple installed windows using the dell disk on a new SSD, and set to boot from the SSD. Would that work? So the HDD is just the original bare bones installation of windows with a few new folders for storage, and the SSD is a new install. That way I have a backup, and don't loss anything unintentionally.

 

Exactly what I recommend. Just swapping the boot order and you are back to the original. Once you are happy just format the old drive (and you get to copy anything over first!).

Forgot to add, I've done this twice and it never once asked me for a windows key - just went on-line and activated, dunno how dell have managed that but it's cool.

 

thanks, so reading a few threads, it seems you can put all the alienware screens, etc back on with a fresh windows install using ISO. But is it worth doing this? Has anyone noticed a new install using and ISO performs better than the Dell install from disk? I'm used to Dell slapping loads of unnecessary stuff on their versions of windows. I don't want any background junk slowing it down. If I have the original install on the HDD, I suppose I can afford to experiment?

 

Normally I would say use the MS vanilla copy but dell do not pack their installation with any junk, You get the AW screens and it will use the correct disk drivers (for the RAID bios) that some people have to load in at the windows disk config screen - too much pain for no gain IMO.

As you say, you can afford to play and see for yourself without compromising the original installation

 

I used Acronis 2012 on mine. It had a 500gb HD. I installed my Crucial M4 256gb I had from my other laptop in the extra bay. I switched the laptop to boot from the M4, and booted from my Acronis DVD. I had it CLONE the 500gb HD to the 256GB HD and it worked great. All partitions are still there, and now I can axe the 500gb one if I want, but for now I have left it alone. It was the easiest way to do it. And Acronis is not that expensive.

 

That's definitely another option. Any cloning SW should be OK to try this out. Partition magic(?) is one I recall using...

 

When I got mine the first thing I did was make recovery DVD's, and quite literally it was the first thing I did. Might want to double check the Windows disk that came with your system because in my case all I had was a drivers DVD, no OS. When I got mine I already had the SSD so I made the recovery DVD's, popped out the HDD's and put in the SSD, loaded up the computer and went through the recovery process and installed to the SSD and viola I was up and running in under 30 minutes. Now i also have a working copy of Windows on my spare 500GB HDD in case I ever need it.

 

You shouldn't need the windows key with that disc, and the disc seems like a clean, or pretty darned clean install. I'd just use it and not worry about it. I wish Dell advertised that they still gave you restore discs! I was explicitly told they didn't, and super pleased that they did...makes it soooooo much less stressful worrying about how you're going to reinstall.

I'd get Crucial's M4 in the size you want. One of the best drives on the market, reliable, no compression nonsense, and it's an American company. Intel would be my second choice, though they no longer use their own controllers. They spent a year trying to fix bugs in Sandforce's controller, but I still trust the Micron/Crucial drive more. (Intel's 320 is fine too, but slower (slower being relative here!) and more expensive).

Not sure about the image, but mostly everything should be available from Dell's support site, which is pretty easy to navigate. You basically need Dell's software for the Creative Labs chip (and after it's installed, you can update it with Windows Update, but the Windows Update install by itself doesn't include everything you'll want). + Alienware On Screen Display + Alienware Command center. Video drivers you can just grab from Nvidia or AMD, or the Intel ones I grabbed from Windows Update (only I've since disabled it anyway).

Oh...you have to install the OS in the emulated BIOS mode to be able to disable switchable graphics, apparently.

Assuming the system includes the second drive tray thingee, it's super easy. The drive in the center is drive 2, the one at the edge is 1, but actually you can flip which one the system boots from easily in the BIOS anyway.

I would never overclock any hardware, let alone a notebook. Just make sure you're using up to date drivers.

 

Each to their own.

I've been overclocking desktops for many years including multiple waterblock rigs. The risk comes with increasing voltages - when extra heat dissipation is required. Unless you use a modded vBios you cant change any voltages in this machine - just because it will potentially overheat.

Only GPU failures I have seen in the last couple of years have been on an increased voltage OC (0.92v instead of 0.87 on my card). This is really only for the hardcore benchmarker, but a 10% -15% OC on just the base clock is very safe IMO

 

My Samsung 840 pro should be right around the corner in a couple of hours and one question that has been bugging me is whether to leave the BIOS in RAID or set it to AHCI?

 

Used to be that turning it off was simpler and easier but my experience on the R4 has been that even if you do not use raid it works fine and gives you the option in the future to add a cache drive to an existing HD. Overhead (very small) is only visible in disk benchmarks.

What do you have in it ATM? If you purchased a machine with an SSD cache drive you need to keep RAID

 

I ordered my AW machine with just a 500GB 7200RPM HDD. I'm pretty sure it doesn't have an SSD cache drive.

 

Before you overclock make sure you turn Enduro off. You may be noticing a lower frame rate then you would normally if you are relying on Enduro to auto switch between the HD 4000 and the 7970m. Enduro is a wonderful idea but it just isn't quite there IMO. Use FN + F7 to switch to just the dedicated GPU and try again , see if that increases your FPS because i know in my case if adds at least 20FPS to most of my games.

They could have fixed this by now with recent drivers I really can't say but I for the most part never use the integrated anymore unless i know I will be on battery power for an extended period and I am just surfing the web or something. I have not used Enduro for awhile but this used to be a very real problem.

Depending on what you ordered for a CPU you could be quite limited in your OC potential as they don't all OC nicely but the 7970m you should be able to get some more out of if you really wanted and felt that it was necessary.

I put OCZ Vertex 3 128gb drive in both my M17X and my desktop tower and have had no complaints, they are both working well and I have never had any problems.

You will lose the Alienware start up and shutdown images if you install a fresh copy but in all honesty I would just use the Images you made when you got the machine...if you did this. The Alienware's don't come with any bloatware per say just a few Alienware utilities that you could uninstall later on if you don't like. other then a few logos inside windows it is for all intensive purposes a clean copy of windows.

 

Well, the choice is yours. If you are looking to clone the existing installation then you will need to use RAID as this is the AW default - even on single disk machines. If your are going to re-install using the AW disk you should be fine.

Using a vanilla windows needs a little extra work to load the correct disk drivers...

 

I'll be using the AW disk and my SSD just arrived! Thanks for the help.

 

True, but it takes 15 minutes to clone, vs taking maybe 2 hours for installing Windows, the all the drivers and hoping it all works right. Been doing it for 20 years, cloning is simipler especially if the original image has no bloatware.

 

Hey hey, same vintage! Built my first PC in 1989.

Yeah cloning, if all you are doing is replacing the disk, is the quickest. I always used images on large scale rollouts. There was some talk that windows install will optimise to an SSD during the install which would make a reinstall better, but I have no idea how true that is

 

Yeah, I remember my first PC. IBM XT. Then, a 286. haha. Oh and a full height 5 1/2 10mb HD.

 

That was actually my second PC! :-D Had a Compaq Chameleon I think it was called. Actually had better graphics, but a slower CPU.

 

Ahh those were the days! My company went into the PS/2 after the 286 for quite a few years (Had a board member also on IBM ) MCA, that was an interesting distraction. Too much, too soon

 

Oh man, it's been so long I don't even quite remember what all the differences were, just remember the names LOL.

Ooooh VESA local bus...that was a thing

 

Ha ha, my first SLi build was a 386 with two voodoo2 cards. Killed everything I could get my hands on...

Oops, hijacking a thread.. Sry OP.

 

Wait, what, a 386 with Voodoo 2?!? You're joking, right? :-D

 

Had to be when I think back to it. It could have been an early 486 or even an AMD as I built a couple of them also (had to cut through the PCB to enable OC!), but it was the first card that had a ribbon connector to parallel them up. All in hardware, the games were run from DOS.

 

Yeah, I remember running Wildcat BBS software and having about 4-6 modems running on phone lines. No internet back then! We had BBS! hehe. The good old days....No windows, all Dos based.

 

Mind helping me real quick guys? I just finished installing Windows 7 on my new SSD and i'm downloading the drivers and i'm almost finished except when downloading the Intel(R) IvyBridge HD Graphics it's not letting me and giving me the error that my system does not meet the requirements. I was told to install the Intel drivers before installing the AMD graphics driver.

 

Just a quick guess until someone with that config comments...

Have you pressed Fn-F7 at all? Can you see it in device manager?

 

I didn't notice that and afterwards pressing Fn-F7 and restarting i was able to download the Intel drivers but not without having a black screen and then having to restart manually but after the restart it showed that it installed. now it's not letting me install the AMD drivers because of incompatible software/hardware, I'm guessing i should get the drivers from the Dell website?

 

I still have my Voodoo 1! I can't bring myself to get rid of it :-D In a system with a TNT 1 :-D

 

I'd say to try Fn-F7 again and put it back on the AMD. I don't really know how this stuff works since I don't get access to the intel on a 120hz model but worth a quick try

Forgot to add, with NV It's recommended to start with the dell release before any attempt to use a later one. May be the same for AMD??

 

I was able to install everything but i have one question. After installing windows 7 on the SSD i have 2 partions, one is my local disk (C) it has 238GB and the other is RECOVERY (D) which has 8.73GB which only has 2.80 of it free. is this normal or what?

 

Answered to your PM