M17x "All Powerful" General Information Thread

i think you need exact same drives... size and rpm to get raid 0 to work...

ans about the cpu.. than the dual core, the quad core and extreme cpu, uses the same colling system? how it handle the extra power it need? i have to change the AC Adpter? (asuming a core 2 quad need more watts than a dual core)

 

Q9000 is a piece of JUNK. Buy a Dual Core, a QX9300 or a Core i7.

 

As I understand it, you can actually use different size drivers (x1 320, x1 500) however the larger HDD will be re-allocated where it will match the smaller drive size.

The CPU will use the same cooling and power supply. No change is needed or required.

 

R2 version supports Core i7 processors, but a SLI GTX 260M >>> HD 4870, so if a get a "fast" dual core, and SLI GTX 206M i will get a better perfomance. Remember i am in the under 2000 dollars world.

do you think a T9800 (for example) is better for gamen than a Q9000? the QX9300 is out of my price range.

Oh thanks for the information, i am looking for the raid 0.. so thats why i was a bit disapointed about Asus G73JH-A1.

I really want the M17x becauses i like it's building quality and look, over any other gamer laptops... thats why i am a bit against Sager, their laptops looks outdated, but they are so damn good in hardware.

By the way... does all M17x comes with the onboard 9400M??? or not every M17x comes with the 9400M?

 

Will the NVidia 3d Vision work on my M17x? I have had a look but I'm not computer literate enough to understand what I am reading!!!

 

You can't use it on your laptop's monitor since you need a 120Hz LCD monitor

 

Cheers Stam, but the Hardware supports it right? Just need to get a supported monitor?

 

I believe so wolverine, even though they don't list the 200M series here
http://www.nvidia.com/object/3D_Vision_Requirements.html

*EDIT 1*
the ASUS G51J 3D does support it and has the 260M.

*EDIT 2*
I don't know if the output to the external monitor supports it though
Thanx Claxdog for mentioning it, I completely overlooked that

 

The hardware might support it but I thought you had to use to dvi ports to hook the pc to the monitor to get the 3d effect.because it is basically running two 60hz signals. One for each eye so Unless you can use hdmi I dont know maybe the display port can handle it? You can run the test at the nvidia site and it says our gpu's support it but the monitor does not?So the question now becomes what kind of cable(s) are required.here is the link for the compatibility test.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/GeForce_3D_compatibility.html

 

Im sorry i would like to ask what temp should i expect from the main gpu while gaming at max power (260m + 9400m)?
Went over 100 playing dragon age today would like to know if thats normal, thank you

 

I would start worrying if the temperatures exceeded 90 and that's when playing in a very hot room.
Check to see if something is blocking the ventilation on the bottom and the back of the laptop.
Also check to see if you have dust that is preventing the heat sinks from functioning properly.
The last scenario is to check if the GPU fan is working properly.

 

f okay
c not okay

 

ok ill check if there is dust or something else, i meant C btw went to around 105 playing dragon age

Edit: actually i didnt see any dust that could possibly explain a low dissipation, the fan works properly and the noise confirms it
got 57-58 C for idle temps is this ok?

 

No its too high for idle

 

I was wrong its around 48-50 at idle, but the clock on the the 260m goes at max as soon as i open or resize a window and the temp gets to 57-58 after few min. Goes down to around 50 as soon as the clock goes back down to min.

 

One of my cards is at around 50 at idle the other is at 43 I am not concerned at all.

 

Cant resist clax...

BTW, the 255c reading is a bug with HWMonitor... lol

 

Nice. After my 1730 I have a lot different reaction to gpu temps.lol. the highs on this screenie is after about an hour of playing bbc2.

 

Yep - those are inline with what I am seeing as well. My max temps were after a long L4D2 session. Instead of shutting down I chose to sleep the system. Temps carried over from last night.

I have not had the GPUs exceed 65 yet. (knock on wood)

 

do u use the beta driver and win7?
cause i dual boot win7 and vista and with vista + 186.82 my temp are lower than with win7 and beta driver

 

The temps shown in my screencap are from Vista + 186.82.

 

I was wondering the other day if its normal that when i disable the integrated gpu, at startup, before the alienhead, i get the gpu bios detail and i get ''Engineering use only not for production use'', well seems kinda strange do you get that with the 260m?

 

Yes that's strange, I haven't noticed anything like that

 

Try re-flashing the BIOS.
Then re-install the drivers.

 

reflashing the bios of the gpu?
im talkin about the first screen the gpu bios info not the notebook bios

 

There is the BIOS of the motherboard and the BIOS of the GPU
I don't think though you should see this the first place (engineering sample? I don't know)

 

What version of the system BIOS are you running (A00, A01, A02 or A03)?

I suggest flashing to BIOS A03 - you can download it here:
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...typeid=-1&dateid=-1&formatid=-1&fileid=372828

 

Im running A03 already, i have an exam at university today so i couldnt make a shoot at that text, ill do it tomorrow so you can say if you get it too or else ill have to call Dell support.

 

Here it is what i get at start, Hybrid mode = disabled , Integrated gpu = disabled from bios, my config is single 260m plus integrated 9400m.

link to the shoot:
http://img21.yfrog.com/i/snc00108t.jpg/


Do you think is an engineering sample?Do you get the same?
Never seen something like this so i dont know what to think.

 

Can you take a shot of the entire screen please?

Also, since its over 500x500, just provide the link or choose the Go Advanced button when posting and then use the paperclip icon/button to attach the image to your post.

Thanks.

 

I just had the time this morning to reinstall my OS (win7 x64) and after succesfully installing the drivers , windows updates and so on I got to the point to install Command Center. I installed it and once I rebooted, the login screen is black. Like display turned on black, not display turned off black.

Apparently the system is booting couse I have messenger on autorun and I can see myself online, but no image.
I'm using only dell drivers, with the exception of infrared drivers updated via WU and the beta display drivers.

I already tried several hard resets, turning it on and off, but after the windows logo at boot I get nothing.

Any suggestions? Or has anybody else encountered this? At the moment I'm trying to uninstall/reinstall CC to see if it helps.

I can enter safe mode without any problems.

LE : I did a bios reset and it booted (without having to reinstall /uninstall CC). Now I need to find out why it won't boot with the same OC I had with my previous OS install.

 

http://img21.yfrog.com/i/snc00108t.jpg/

the rest of the screen is black nothing is written other than this
after this come the alienhead with F2 for options etcetc...

 

Have you checked GPUz (current version as well as previous versions) to see if any of it matches up?

Very odd to say the least. Will be interesting to see if another single GPU owner sees this as well. I doubt it. Odd.

 

Hmm, my sli 280m's are having around 8-10c difference in idle and as much as 30c difference while playing Crysis between eachother (the higher temp card hit 100c while the other only hit 70c). What could be the issue? Just clean out the fans? Is it possible that dusty fans could make this much of a gap?

 

Well I've just come from cleaning the QA managers desktop. It had so much compacted dust in the fins of the CPU's heat sink it was reaching 95C. After taking the compressed air gun to it hasn't gotten above 50C.

 

sounds like sli is not working properly enable the sli visual indicator in the nvidia control panel to see if it is working.also clean out the dust to see if that helps.

 

Dust build-up and/or other types of vents obstruction could definitely add to the temps. Clean your vents (you should do it quite often if your place is dusty) and check if it helps. Drivers shouldn't be able to heat up the cards that much.

 

Has the screen dimming issue been addressed/fixed?

 

AFAIK, it only affects Nvidia GPUs or Intel IGPs. My R1 was fine after switching to 4870s. The R2 is free from it too.
Dunno if the newest drivers address it or not but you can definitely try looking into your services and find the one responsible for auto-dimming and disable it. I don't remember the name of the service but there was a thread on IBM/Lenovo forums about it and it worked for those who had Nvidia GPUs and was affected by this annoying issue.

 

Afraid it is NOT fixed by the ATI cards. I still have the stupid annoying auto-dimming in my system.

 

That's weird, as I didn't have it in my R1 and the R2 is fine as well. Did you try finding that service and disabling or setting it on manual? I'll look for the name, but right now in Ubuntu.

 

I have not heard of or seen any service that does it. I was of the understanding it it built into the firmware of the panel itself?

 

Gimme some time and I'll find the link. It was on the IBM/Lenovo forum no long ago.

 

Did you turn off auto-dimming in the Power Profile? You can do so either via Command Center's Fusion Module or by using the OS - just right click on the battery icon and select Power Options ---> Change Plan Settings.

Works for me.

 

That's what I did and it worked for me as well, BatBoy.
But for some reason some people still get those settings overruled by some service running in background. I just can't remember the name at the moment but when disabled or set to manual it should fix the issue.

 

If you have the fusion service running, which is fine btw, then be sure to adjust the settings in Fusion. You can confirm the change by going in via the OS Power Profile route. Have not had any issues yet (Knockin on the desk).

 

It's not the fusion I meant, it's the service called "adaptive brightness".
So if you still have the auto-dimming issues after disabling the dimming in windows power settings, you can try disabling this service and see if it helps.

 

i think adaptive brightness uses light sensors to change your brightness. my adaptive brightness has been disabled for a while and i still get display changes.

i'm talking about the brightness change when you change from a mostly dark screen to a mostly light screen.

get a picture with a good balance of color and make it take up the top half of your screen

then get two pictures, one white and one black, and fill up the other half. quickly change between he white and black pictures (alt tab works) so sometimes the screen is half picture - half black and half picture - half white. cover up the solid color side with something opaque so you don't get tricked by the optical illusion. you'll be able to tell which color is up by the brightness of the picture.

you could do this with a very dark and very light website using ctrl-tab too.

 

I am experiencing what he is. When the screen is predominantly dark, it dimms. When mostly light, it brightens. Is very annoying since some games are mostly dark. This is NOT the auto-dimm in the power settings or any sort of adaptive scheme based on the rooms ambient lighting.

 

Yep I have this too really ticks me when doing any sort of material editing in photoshop. And it is not caused by the auto dim feature.