M17X R3 First Impression Dr. J

That is what the HDMI OUT is for

I have used my R1 as a portable BluRay player on multiple occasions

 

3D Vantage Benchmark: 8778

Result

Everything at default settings with virus update etc running.

 

Please re-run the test without physics from Nvidia, or the card will help the cpu inflating the score. Let the cpu do it's work.

 

Already deleted it since it only let's you run it once with the key.

Can do again tomorrow.

 

Just ran DVD star wars iv on battery.

High performance, 50 percent Brightness, 50 volume, DVD not hd file:

Shut down at 1h 46m into the movie. Will try powersaver mode.

 

That's it? I expected more.

 

Did you start at 100% power? Remember when you watch a movie, you need to put on power saver, turn of GPU and turn off wifi.

 

Did none of that except 100 percent start.

How do you turn off gpu?

 

I think he's getting you mixed up with usshellfire who has the 6870 and can shut it off.

 

Keeping everything constant except using powersaver mode brought me to a battery reading of 1h 36m and 63% left. Easily enough time to watch the whole flick.

 

power saver doesnt work for me... when using IGP and power saver, the show keeps stuttering. had to use balanced mode

 

That is interesting sailor. Apparently IGP is power saver mode but I am suprised Intel's new integrated GPU cannot handle video without stuttering. I also wonder the battery use difference between running a video file from the harddrive with VLC v. dvd from disc player with window's media player.

Really wish there was an easy, objective way to reproducably compare battery power.

 

lol, i'll try renting a blu ray and dvd tml. and see what i get.

 

Wouldn't this more likely be attributed to the difference between the way AMD and Nvidia integrate with the IGP?

 

This is not surprising, the powersave mode does not allow you to use the full potential of your CPU/GPU in order to save battery

Seems like you are playing very demanding video (HD?) so the gpu on powersave can not keep up, powersave is useful when you want to browse/play music/light videos or SD Youtube streaming/class room/etc

 

Nvidia does not allow use of the integrated gpu on the cpu with a 3D screen but instead relies on the powersave mode and plays DVD fine. AMD allows use of the integrated gpu but it studders video playback apparently.

 

HSN21 couldnt have explained it better. on powersaver mode, the CPU and in turn, the IGP isnt able to exceed certain power limits and therefore, when i tried to play a Full HD, 1080P movie, wasnt able to render the frames fast enough to have a smooth transition. on power saver mode, my clock speeds seem to remain constant at 797mhz

however, when it was put into balance mode. this allows the CPU/IGP to draw power to whatever levels it need to be at to render the movie smoothly, yet at the same time, not forcing the CPU/IGP to draw its maximum power limit when set to high performance mode. on balance mode, clock speeds were in the range of 1195mhz to 1487mhz

 

Definetly do not like the dvd, volume buttons on the top right of the keyboard.

They have poor tactile feedback and are indistinct. (Also do not like that you leave game mode back to desktop sometimes when you adjust the volume.)

Star Wars Battlefront 2 works well with 3D
Alien Swarm on Steam works but poor image.
Battlefield 2 BC does not allow me to use 3D for some reason.

All of these games on highest settings work well with the system. Possibly a spec of slow down in BF2BC in the heaviest fighting/explosion areas if you look for it.

I am going to download FRAPS today to see how low it dips.

COD4MW loading now.

 

Hey Doc,

Are you experiencing the flex that Mandrake is? If he pushes down near the bottom of the keyboard it dips a good 1/2"-1"...Trying to see if it's just him or not.

 

Nah, it's more like .5CM, but still that's really bad. My M15x doesn't flex more than a 1mm if I push with my fist..

 

Funny/horrible thing about this flex situation is I have an XPS 14 that doesn't flex AT ALL, you would think Dell would be smart enough to make the AW line higher quality and build than the XPS. This along many other things recently are making me think Dell may be either trying to kill or bleed the lines on AW/XPS/Dell

 

Bump for response on the kb flex issue. Cuz mine's processing order, and kb flex was one of the things I was initially worried about in buying any laptop. Even though I got it for a "steal", AW's supposed to be top-o-the-line.

 

Dr J, I understand you can't change the color of the icon on the outside of the lid. Just curious, can you disable or turn it off? Also, just to be sure, what lights can you turn off?

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Sorry, this probably belongs in the M17xR3 - Owner Answered Frequently Asked Questions *READ BEFORE POSTING* forum. I guess we so soon forget that this is your "First Impression" forum.

 

pcgeek it's probably highly unlikely that you can turn it off. My understanding based on what we've seen is the head on the lid is just like the M11x, it's lit by the screens backlight, which means either you have screen+head lit or no screen+no head lit. You should be able to turn off any of the other lights using control center though.

 

Yes, in the area beneath the spacebar and above the touch pad there is "flex". I'd say about 1/4" using my thumb. More than I want but not enough to fret for me. Never would have noticed unless you asked...

 

What Dane said.

 

Perhaps Dell was more interested in loosing two pounds of weight as well.

 

i dont think its lit by the backlight. with your R3 on, and you close the lid, it shuts off the screen, but the alienhead still remains lighted.

also, when you dim the screens brightness, the alienhead still remains at its original brightness.

 

Agreed. Re-read Dane, independently lit from screen.

 

AC II works good as well. I was going to try some Fallout 3 soon.

 

lol. Maybe 2mm's at best. 1/2-1" I would be pushing on the memory.

 

^^^This I'd like to see results on such as FPS, image quality, etc I'm a big fan of FO3/NV and saw it's listed as Excellent on the Nvidia site. Please post your results Drake.

 

COD4MW maxed works well and 3d too. 3d messes me up sniping though, need to get use to it. fraps pending.

 

Lowest FRS on fraps during COD4mw was 34 and generally high 40's low 50's during combat. Image quality on these highest possible settings was perfect. Did not use 3D for FRAPS. Will try same mission tomorrow with and without 3D and see if FRAPs notes a difference.

 

This thing does not get hot! Gaming on highest settings for over one hour and fans not on full.

I do miss my SSD drive...

 

so because of this, is it possible that a future update or driver might bring a colored alienhead, i know its minor but if dang it, if it got blinkys! i want all my blinkys perfect and matching! lol

 

Is this on the desk or on your lap or on a cooling pad/cooler? I'd love to be able to have it on my lap in bed (I know I know, pretty daring to put a 10lb slab of hardware on my small 5'4" frame)

 

Glass table. My xps16 would be burning my lap and fingers on the touchpad and palm rests. You might want a thin lap pad so not to block the fan intakes in bed.

Nothing like an iPad for bed...

 

How bout a Scrabble box or a binder?

 

It's probably the angle then, seems like a LOT more.

 

Should work fine.

 

If I put it on my desk, do I have to elevate it (is it a requirement)?

 

I don't elevate it as there is a sliver of space underneath to get air into the fans. If I were overclocking or if put a higher grade/hotter GPU in the future then would use a lap pad with fans. Mandrake has photo's of his. My GPU temps don't go above low 60's for now regardless.

 

agreed. ocing GPU by 75/75 and running furmark at 1080p for 10 mins temps still remain stable at 64 degrees. that was the highest i ever got. but at that temps, you can hear the fans running. i would stay that the fan sound is comparable to those a USB powered fan. if you are gaming, you wont be able to hear the fans.

 

Did your 3D mark 06 scores change much with that OC sailor? Someone ?rhotexas oc'ed his 460 and went from low 14K to low 16K. You both have the midgrade cpu I believe but he has the nvidia gpu.

 

What's the temperatures on idle for you? Temp during load? Room temperature in degrees F ?

I've never monitored my temperature on my laptop, but on my desktop, if the temp on the tower displays anything higher than 99 (this usually happens in summer), then I'll turn on a fan in front of the computer to assist with cooling. What temps (cpu, gpu, hdd, ram) should I be worried about in a laptop?

TYIA !

 

You can run COD4mw at 1080p with 3D turned on and stay in the forties with a Nvidia 460m? That card must be a lot better than what I am thinking. Reviews I read of the Asus 3D laptop indicated that frame rates are cut in half when you enable the 3D glasses which makes sense to me because it has to draw two frames for every one frame it normally draws. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding how all this works. I want to buy this laptop but I was thinking the gaming performance with 3D would be the pits. Can you clarify for us slow people?

 

Hi Jody,

Please reread my original post. "Did not use 3D for FRAPS".

One of the R3 guys here (in the benchmark thread) prelimonarily Oc'ed his 460m and went from low 14K to low 16K in 3D Mark 06 so can fall back on that if more juice needed until a 485 is available or necessary.

Did the Asus 3D you mentioned have the new sandybridge processors?

 

I have a 58 inch 3d samsung c8000 plasma and it is awesome I have played a couple of ps3 games in 3d and have several 3d blurays and the effects are awesome.I recommend that if you have the means then pick one up it was the best money I have spent since the purchase of my r2.

 

Quit being cheap and splurge on a NotePal cooler