Just bought a a M17X R2 but has some software issues ? And Driver Questions

Hey all,

Just bought my first Alienware Laptop, a M17x R2. With the following specs:

17.0" UltraSharp WUXGA (1920x1200) RGBLED Display
Intel Core i7-740QM Processor (1.73GHz, 4Core/8Threads, 6M cache, turbo boost up to 2.93GHz)
1GB GDDR5 ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870
8GB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM
1TB (2 x 500GB) SATA hard drive (7200 RPM) - RAID 0
Slot Load Fixed DVD±RW Drive
Wireless 802.11n Network Adapter
Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Internal mini-card
Integrated 10/100 Ethernet
LCD display with Integrated 2.0 mega pixel web cam
Alienware M17x Cosmic Black Base (Direct)
AlienFX Illuminated Keyboard (English)


Now being a newbie I have a few questions

What is the best driver to run for the graphics card ? the ATI driver or Dell ?


It has Windows 7 64bit installed, and now my Alien Command Center doesn't work ? does anyone know why ??


Also have the BSOD error but Its on the dell support page some I'm sorting that out now..


And lastly any recommendations as to what would be the best OS to run ? Should I do any hardware upgrades ? software upgrades??



Thanks heaps in advance

 

Hi Skylarr and welcome to notebookreview forums :hi2:

Ok your best off with the latest AMD drivers. Just d/l them from amd and uninstall the old ones and use driver sweeper as the last point before installing new drivers.
Alien command centre should work. You might want to install the latest version(from dell site) which does a fw upgrade to the keyboard after installing.
BSOD sounds like a hardware fault? Can you recall what setup you had prior to the BSOD? This may be very helpful.
If you strictly game then stick with Win 7. Also, definite recommend upgrading your GPU(7970m is awesome and best Bang-for-your-buck, possibly cpu upgrade in the future to 920/940XM. Also, can strongly recommend an SSD upgrade as well.

Hope this helps

 

What tron2^ said