M17x DPC Latency

I highly doubt that Dell will come up with a fix. I sure hope they do, but right now I cant see it coming. They have been stalling and saying (according to the posts I can see) that the fix will come out next week. However, truth is, that the M17X-R1 is already a legacy product and investing too much resources just wouldnt make sense. It might be even cheaper to keep replacing the laptops than investing in a fix

 

i did, and i swapped back to a02 simply becos my cards went to max clock too often for no reason and i found the downclock which causes stuttering more irritating then when i had the a02 bios.

i dont see the point of having a nicer looking dpc latency chart when the stuttering is worse.

im now on the phone trying to reach the tech in charge of my case. 2 week and i havent heard from him. next business day warranty indeed.

i got an email saying my ati cards are estimated to arrive next week and they claim the engineers are working on the issue as usual


i dont think a refund is possible all im hoping is to have the fix out soon or get an r2 for replacement

 

AS i said to them before the came, changing mobo and memory won't solve a thing- it just made things worse! He just left..just a waste of time.

So, what to conclude here- a later revision of the R1 mobo won't solve the stuttering issues. Replacing memory won't solve a thing either. DPC latency spikes where actually higher (with both A02/A03) than before!

Dell proposed that he during his next visit - would replace the sidepanel (where to sound output connectors are at) , replace the harddrive, and replace the fans. This won't solve a thing either, like i said to them.

Anyway, i have sent a well written mail to Dell in wich i demand an acceptable solution- either my money back or a m17x-r2 replacement otherwise i shall use the Costumer Rights' laws and solve it that way.

No other options is acceptable to me at this time- i'm so tired of this! I have seen many computers with problems but this, this is the absolute worst issue i ever had!..totally absurd.

A question i would like to have answered is what "Agreed BAD" means in the support history log for my m17x ???? wich was moments ago updated with that line.

 

Seems there is no fix yet.If there was he would have mentioned it.

http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/direct2dell/archive/2009/11/18/dell-dpc-latency-and-you.aspx

 

+1 to Bigelvis

This worked like a charm for me. Finally...FINALLY I can play Dragon Age without wanting to pull my hair out.

 

Go with an elven mage ->> Arcane Warrior to compensate for the lost hair

 

Dell say that I should have my 4870s installed by Thursday. If true, I'll post comparison benchmarks.

I like how they thing its OK to spend hours fixing my computer either at my workplace or at home, eh?

Actually, I'll try and book for Sat when Unisys calls.

 

How long did the tech tie you up for when they did the swap?

 

They (Dell) usually leave a voice message around 2-5 PM the day before the replacement and remind you that the job will be done in the 10AM-5PM range. Then, next morning around 9-10AM a tech will phone you and schedule the time. The whole process takes up to 15 min if you do the replacement yourself and much longer if the tech does it (depending on his/her skill level of course). If it's anyone but John (he's the only one familiar with M17x), don't let them touch the system (especially if it's Nick )

 

I have a few days left to return my laptop. I'm going to push for the ATI 4870 but first I'd like to make sure there won't be an issue. Ive heard a few dissenters but most people with the ATI seem to agree it works?

 

The tech was only at my house for about 20 minutes...I had the GTX 280m's alreayd out waiting for him though

 

Surprisingly the tech I got knew what he was doing. It was great. Took about 25 mins. Anyway, it was good because I didn't have to waste a whole day of work.

 

dude, just get ati, it'll make a world of difference

i dont why some ppl are changing MB's/Ram when we've figured out all this time, using tools and applications, nvidia is the culprit

 

Because tech support will make you try anything. Even if you don't agree. And you can't say no sometimes. At least not if you want to keep escalating the issue and get a better outcome from it.

 

My trump card is that I can still return it. They can either fix it or I'll return it but my window is closing fast. Either I get the 4870 and take a gamble that it fixes the issue (one be installed until my return period is over) or I return it.

 

Return it anyway and get a (100%) better screen with the RGB LED and i7. People would die to be in your shoes with your open window to return the computer.

 

I called twice and they denied changing the GPUs to ATI ones. I don't know what else to do now. They say to keep waiting for a BIOS update. Any advice?

 

call back and ask for a escalations manager

 

That's what they originally done to me... Demand to speak to someone in 'escalations'.

Within Dell it is an immediately fireable offsense to deny a customer's request for issue escalation. You may get put on hold, but you will get transferred to someone who can definitely arrange the swap or any additional assistance.

-Denver

 

KEEP COMPLAINING! I can't stress this enough. I'm getting my cards replaced tomorrow. I had to speak with 5 different tech support people. Do not give up!

 

I am already 3 hours and a couple of minutes on the phone. They redirected me from technical support to helpdesk, then to customer service, then to warranty (is that a department?) again to customer service and now to technical support. I wait for a supervisor for more than 30 minutes. If walked from NY to TX I could find a solution sooner.

 

Yeah it's called Dell Hell, but sometimes the only way to get it done

 

Just call, ask what country.

Hang-up and keep trying until you get Costa Rica. Everyone I talked to down there seems to know about the problem, and that the 4870 fixes the problem.

I am convinced this is not an upgrade BTW. My preference would be to have working 280m Hybrid SLI with no audio issues.

Performance mode in Hybrid gets me scores as good as anyone else's 4870xf setup (at stock clocks).

Power Saver Hybrid mode is not available with 4870 cards and that is a minus.

 

yea, i feel the same way + physx support, official driver support and badaboom video encoding

not sure if i wanna deal with notebook ati drivers

 

Has anyone successfully exchanged an R1 for an R2?

 

From news, there's people exchanging M1730s for R2s. Look in the official M17x lounge--the older one--and there's a guy who got an extreme i7 + 4870s for an M1730 with 8700m SLi which got stolen.

 

Just finished installing the ATI cards. So far so good Ill post back after some testing.

 

I believe a few have yes.

Some of those were still in the 21 day return policy but a few had actually got a refund than purchased a R2

 

The lack of information on John B's direct to Dell makes me think they are far from solving this .Getting info there is like getting blood from a stone .I tipped Engadget today to see if they can get a update for us .

 

Is there an alt link for Dox 195.62?


Its not workin for me.

 

I did, and yes it was not a fun process, at least 6 people told me no before i finally got someone who told me yes. I was however within the 30 day return period.

However i also did this on release day and my laptop is set for Feb 22 delivery so they decided to have a snail bring them the parts.

 

He wants to reflash the bios. No reason.

 

omg.. maybe those of us with theft coverage should 'get our r1s stolen' to solve our problem. might be easier than contacting tech support.

 

Yea but you were in a 30 day return period ><.. I'm on my 5th month, haha!

 

str4ktt i will upload Dox 195.62 will post link 15 mins or so

 

I just got it... didn't really do anything...

 

Nevermind. Audio stuttering FIXED!

 

Nonstop fans = headache. You've been warned.

My fans are dying - super noisey.

 

Fans not running right now .. unless you mean when I play games?

 

The Dox drivers only correct DPC spikes with PowerMizer turned off. That means your cards will run 50-55 Celcius and the fans will run at higher rpms. In a quiet room they are noticeable. Especially when the fan bearing/bushing wears out and start to rattle like an idling John Deere.

$4200 buys quality man!

 

To DenverESullivan,

Yep, I tried everything you said. Maybe it's just another bad motherboard.

The frustration is there believe me.

 

yea with the fans on so often, everyone always stare at me when in quiet lecture halls and my fans come on even though im not doing anything

 

I'm sending mine back tomorrow. The guys in Costa Rica do a good job. They handled the first call and asked me to do a few things and then mentioned that if that didn't work they'd upgrade to 4870's. Usual stuff, run only in pure SLI mode etc. so I did it to humor him and thought my case would be picked up where that left off....

I called back later and got the "Alienware" support. Supposedly the Costa Rica was the XPS support. Well the Alienware guy had a chip on his shoulder about the previous guy, tried to install some Alienware Media patch (which he couldn't find), messed around with the Alienware fusion (??!) and then decided that reflashing the Bios was the answer.

He then wanted me to check and to keep going forward with his list. I mentioned the ATI 4870 and he said he'd have to elevate that further (do they really not understand the problem yet?) and he had other things for me to try. I decided enough was enough, stopped him and had him transfer me to returns.

I recommend Dell use the Costa Rica XPS support, they did a much better job and handled the situation much better than the "Alienware" support. Very sad. I'm not going to touch the M11x now, I have a HP Tm2 coming soon anyway. Looks like ol' trusty P-6860FX is saved again from Craigslist .. Luckily no one bought it yet.

 

I called tech support again tonight they have agreed to replace my dual gtx 260M video cards for the ATI 4870 Crossfire video cards.

The tech support that I spoke with was in Costa Rica and knew about the video card problem although she still went through the usual testing as she needed to see the cards overheat or the screen go black.

 

I contacted Tech Support this evening and after an hour and a half of troubleshooting, jumping through hoops and nearly escalating they agreed to send me dual ATI 4870s. They never really agreed that this is a known issue, so we'll see if everything goes well.

I'm a bit concerned that the onboard 9400 card and the ATI cards will disagree with each other, but if I have to, I'll disable the onboard video and Hybrid options.

 

its a pain when the computer crashes as the bios resets and enbles hybrid sli/integrated graphics. will freeze the system on load

 

I spent a week trying to get a fix with Dell Canada, and they finally said they can only replace my R1 for another R1 and they said they found out how to get rid of the problem and it will be problem free when I get it. lol, what a crock, and apparently Dell Canada doesn't have an escalations department.

 

Sounds pretty familiar. I would keep on pushing them anyways and referring them to John_B and pressing on time as a crucial point for you. Now is the perfect time to act.

 

Well I accepted the replacement R1, but of course we know it's most likely going to have the same issues, so if it does my next course of action will be a full refund because I don't have the time to waste with these issues anymore.

 

I want my XPS M1730 back...