M17x "All Powerful" General Information Thread

What I had to do to get crossfire working was load the dell drivers (9.7 I think) and then go to the device manager and use the "have disk" to load the 10.2 drivers over the 9.12s

If I did not install over the 9.12s I would have no option for crossfire. Have not been able to test them yet, but at stock speed the vantage GPU scores are about the same as 9.12

 

Greetings fellow M17X users!
A new command center was released today for an improved look as well as several fixes.

Command Center A05
Click Here

Thanks,
ZenX

 

No bugs? How about the memory leak?

 

The following fixes and enhancements have been included:

Command Center
- New Look and Feel.
- New feature added Brightness Control in AlienFX.
- New Auto-Update notification location
- Added animation to the Auto-Update notification
- Auto-Update checking now happens in a background process

AlienFX
FIX: GUI changes to align some elements in the screen
FIX: Alienhead is not blinking in fully charge state

AlienTouch
FIX: The restore default values made persistent.

Firmware version 2.0.0
- Prevent lock-up when communicating with failed SMBus devices.
- The ELC system clock is set to 1.5Mhz to reduce RF emissions that affect the WWAN card.
- Catch and ignore invalid power state combinations. i.e DC Charging.


Aliensense Version 2.004.073 12/19/09
Auto Disable – Certain programs (Notepad, Paint and Calculator)
when opened, did not disable AlienSense operation in Auto User Switching and Continuous Security modes.
It was determined that only 32 bit applications were disabling AlienSense. Now with this fix, both 32
and 64 bit applications can disable AlienSense.

Thanks,
Gabe

 

I Use Everest

 

I have installed the latest Command Center but now I get random flashes from the leds (speakers/keyboard - numpad in particular and most often). I can't pinpoint a pattern and it feels quite random. Anybody ran into this after updating to latest command center?

Correction, only the left speaker led flashes from time to time and the numpad. The speakers tends to flash green/yellow , the numpad purple/red and the touchpad seems to flash , but i've seen it only do purple.

I have created a new theme aswell and does the same.

Later Edit : The Alienhead logo on the back of the lid and above the keyboard don't light anymore.
When in dark mode, the right speaker flashes red (the color that i have set up).

 

Please use Command Center A03 until those issues are resolved.

Thanks,
Gabe

 

@myxcon:

See the process I used to resolve the CC issue here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5913312&postcount=31
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5913125&postcount=23

At this time the only way to deal with this problem is to go back to the previous version.

 

So A05 is ot but we should stick to A03?

 

Yes, Command Center v2.0.10, A03 - Command Center v2.5.44.0, A05 is buggy.

 

surprise surprise eh? lol

 

Well I made the mistake of installing the new command center. Went ahead and removed it by the steps you listed BB, and re-installed the older version.

the problem now? the old one isn't working correctly either. Yesterday it seemed alright, but now none of the LED lights on my laptop will light up. I'm going to try doing a re-install again, but does anybody have an other advice for me?

**Edit**

Upon reinstalling command center, it's acting as if my laptop doesn't exist. If i go under the theme editor, there is nothing there to edit. I'm kind of at a lost as to what to do at this point. ideas?

 

Anyone have an idea of what motherboard revisions are out there for M17x R1?

 

Has any one seen this.will it work on our M17x.

http://www.sevens-vstore.com/Intel-Core-Duo-QX9300-2-5GZ-6M-1333MHZ-p310.html

 

Hey how much for a gtx 260 single one. from dell? Also damn that's a damn cheap price for a qx9300, but is it a OEM?

 

This will NOT work

It is misleading and dishonest marketing. That is the desktop Q9300 which they are trying to pass as a notebook QX9300. It is slower, has less cache, is the wrong socket, and does NOT have an unlocked multiplier

Long story short, do NOT buy this

 

Thats what I thought just wanted to make sure.

 

I have an R1... is it normal for the fan to kick into high gear every time you play a game? I got the computer yesterday and shortly after I start Star Trek Online it sounds like it runs at max. It takes about 30 seconds to a minute once I've exited for the fan speed to start stepping down back to where it's silent.

Just curious...

 

Hey guys what's up how are you? I would like to know, can you put a gtx 285 SLI in this machine? Where can also find the cheapest single 260gtx?

 

No one knows about the GTX 285m SLI yet, dell or ebay are your best bets for the GTX 260m

 

Not even sure if the BIOS would support it

 

Hankaaron57 is thinking of selling a 260m GTX, give him a pm

 

Thank you for helping me.

 

i'm actually looking to buy a single 4870. anywhere in particular to look for it?

 

dell will be your best bet, call them up and say you want to upgrade your system to crossfire 4870s

they have pretty goo prices on video cards usually and this would preserve your warranty

 

when you say they usually have good prices when you tell them you want to upgrade your system, do they take back your old gfx cards and give you a 'upgrade' price or do they sell you the full price and still take away your old cards/let you keep them

 

you will have to keep the old cards and pay full price

and it is still expensive, but will be alot cheaper than ebay haha

 

Hey what's up, i have been having nothing but problems with my 1510 card! Funny is that i have the same card in my 1340 which i am using right now lol, i get disconnected the usual stuff i have what you guys have gone through, i have installed windows 7 drivers, unistall the drivers put vista on no result, disable etc.. All the same.

 

Do any M17x owners know what brand the 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz is? I am considering getting some more memory from newegg once I get my order fufilled. Is it a 4Gig Stick? or 2 x 2Gig? Are there any compatibillity issues? Has anybody added memory that didnt come specificly from dell?
Should I do this or will it void my warranty?

 

Don't post the same thing in multiple threads. Read the warranty..... It is fine to change it. It is elpida ram and will be 2x2

 

ok..sorry thank you.
havent got it in yet... still waiting till end of March.
Thanks again!
I will never double up on multiple threads again. Please Forgive.

-Vato

 

How can you tell if its the R2 version?

Is all M17x sold on the dell website that new version?

 

G-day all.. I'm just starting to look into FSB overclocking my CPU (T9600) and I've run into a problem.

When I run OCCT without overclocking It hits 80c and auto-stops the testing.

Suffice to say I have no intention of pushing the CPU further if it can't even stress at stock..

Is this normal? I will buy some Higher quality Thermal paste tommorow and see how I go.

 

Kais 4, sounds strange. I have the same processor and it is oc'ed to 1330 and have had no drama's at all.

I haven't done much stress testing but in my normal day to day usage and a bit of benchies it doesn't go anywhere near your level.

 

Check fans, check for dust, make sure air's flowing under the laptop. If all those are fine, call up Alienware ASAP. It's possible there's a problem w/the heat sink or a fan.

 

Sounds like the fan is dead or you got like NO TIM on that heatsink...

 

Just replaced my CPU Thermal Paste (Thanks Moo for the guide ) and my normal temps dropped from 50c Idle to 30c Idle.. unbelievable!

I'm now pushing the FSB upwards with ease!

Damn standard dell paste haha!

 

glad to hear you got that straightened out!

I still need to redo the TIM on my 4870s.....I been real lazy

 

Does anybody have a idea when the new gpu's become available? Because im on the verge of buying an 17x and im just wondering if i should wait... thx

 

could i get the link!

 

If you can wait a few weeks, I would

Supposed to see new gpus by then

 

great thanks for the advice

 

Sure! Here's a link to Moo's CPU changing guide (I had no idea how much like tetris a laptop could be haha)

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=401382

The pictures that I've attached show you the difference I've had.

One set at 3150mhz will peak at 81 degree C in less than 2 minutes when stressed with OCCT: This is with the standard Dell Paste that I had.



The second Picture is with Artic Silver Thermal paste. I've clocked it at 3200mhz and the temps only hit 68 degree C.



(NOTE: I only run the tests for a few minutes.. after about an hour the CPU can get to about 72 under extreme circumstances)

Suffice to say the difference is great

For the record I'm in a rather warm region of Australia.. ambient heat sucks

 

thanks again right now I'm in Africa so i have the same problem...

 

hi guys i am having trouble installing the nvidia drivers (2x280's) on my m17x, it starts but during the install i get the blue screen of death dumping memory and all.
do you guys know what i should be doing?

 

First off, set all your clocks back to stock

 

Ergh it seems the list of problems my laptop rages on!

My Dual 4870s heat up quite a bit during intesive games like crysis and AVP3. They hit about 80c. I know this is perfectly normal however it heats the keyboard up to the point where it is very uncomfortable.. Does anyone else have this problem?

Also when I open GPU-z the fans appear to be permanetly on 30%? I'm fairly certain that they go faster but can someone recommend another program to check the fan speed! Thanks in advance I'd be an angry man without this forum haha!

 

Hi there

I am thinking get a new laptop to play games and i have only 2000 dollars.. so watching on eBay i think that my best option will be something like:

Alienware M17x:

Specifications

* Intel Core 2 Duo Processor P8700 (2.53GHz, 3MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
* 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
* 250 GB Free Fall Sensor Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
* 1GB Dual NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
* 17 inch WideUXGA 1920x1200 (1200p)
* Slot Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW, CD-RW)
* Windows Vista Home Premium 64 Bit
* Internal 300Mbps Dual-Band a/g/n Wireless with MIMO Technology
* 9 Cell Primary Battery
* Bluetooth 2.1 module with EDR
* Integrated 2.0 Mega Pixel Web Camera
* High Definition Audio 5.1 Surround Sound
* Black Metallic
* Warranty Included

So, this one supose to be a 2x GTX 260M in SLI... but i am not really sure if is this my best option, so i have some questions.

*can i upgrade the CPU to a Quad Core CPU, lets said to a Q9000? or the cooling system in a quad core is different than a dual core? ( i dont really want to fry my motherboard again trying to change the CPU as i did with my XPS M1530) or maybe the T9900..

*If i get another 320GB hard drive, can i get both HDD to work in RAID 0?


I don't know, maybe you need to get RAID 0 from when buying the laptop if don't maybe you can't enable the RAID 0, i dont know

Acording to notebookcheck the SLI GTX 260M >> Mobility Radeon HD 5870 (thinking about the Asus G73JH as an option), besides i want to stay with NVIDIA becauses PhysX and CUDA and all the tricks they use to do to games run better on their cards.

I accept suggestions of some other laptops.

 

Yes, you can upgrade the processor to the QX9300 for about $500. There's a thread about how to pick it up from HP.

RAID 0 will work on these. I'm not sure if you need identical size (320 GB) or identical drives. You can enable RAID by hitting F10 during bootup.

SLi 260's should be good enough to run most games.

 

SLI 260m's will about match a 5870m

You may want to look at getting an R2 though with a single 4870. More up to date hardware