M17x-R2 Noise Question

I'm considering one of these to replace my Sager 5793 which blew its GPU and need some input.

One of the things that I didn't care for no the Sager was that its fans were very active even under light loads like web browsing. It was impossible to use as a day to day laptop without driving my wife insane, and me for that matter. For that reason the main attractions of the 17X are the video switching and seemingly very well designed ventilation. I've read the review of the R1 here and wish there was a similar one done for the R2 since there are obvious component differences which could change things greatly.

So what I'd love is if a few owners could chime in with their experiences using this notebook in day to day usage, not gaming. I understand that this is a semi-odd request given that the M17X is hard core gaming machine but I want to know that it can be used for things other than gaming without disturbing people around me. The noise under heavy loads is not a concern at all.

Thanks in advance,
Nate

 

I've got an r1 and it's actually really quiet when you're not under full load , the difference between discrete and integrated graphics is barely noticeable in terms of noise (slightly more quiet in integrated ) but you won't notice any sound unless you're using the computer in a noiseless environment and in such cases you will just hear a subtle humming

 

While I can't say anything about noise on the R2 under a light load, what I can tell you is that the R2 has no integrated graphics. Only the R1 does.

 

R2 is as silent as R1 in idle and as noisy @load.

 

Taken from Dell.com's M17X page:

and

 

That information refers to the M17x-R1 (the one with Core 2 processors and Nvidia mainboard with on-board itegrated graphics). It can be quite misleading, but I guess Dell US still sells the M17x-R1 side by side with the M17x-R2 no matter of the problems the R1 has.

The M17x-R2 (the one with Core iX CPUs and Intel mainboard chipset) has no integrated graphics.
Stealth mode should still throttle down/downclock your system components on the R2, however.

 

Thanks for the clarification Gizmo, this makes it all the more important to get some actual user reports that the downclocking is as effective at limiting noise under nonstressful use as the discrete graphics are reported to be.

I know, I know, I'm really hammering on the noise issue but I don't relish the thought of buying something this expensive and having issues with it that make it all but useless in the real world.

 

Well, in my opinion it's rather quiet. Then again, I'm used to the loudness of my 4GHz Core i7 & SLI Desktop with 15 fans blowing in it, so I don't know. I think it's highly subjective. I had the M17x-R1 before and the R2 doesn't appear to be any louder. My old XPS M1710 was much louder when idle. I can't compare it to anything else, though, nor do I have any devices to measure the amount of decibel it produces.

 

I have a tangential question related to stealth mode for R2 owners, what are people getting for battery life while running in stealth mode? I found an old thread about the R1 battery life but I'm wondering if the R2, with it's different version of stealth performs better or worse?

Oh and I guess it's worth mentioning that I bought an R2 yesterday which should arrive before the end of the week (used). So I'll add my 2¢ to this thread after I get a chance to play around with it some.

 

The stealth mode doesn't have much function when running on batteries. It was designed to reduce power/heat while plugged into the mains.

Page 27 of your owners manual...

 

If you are looking for a quite PC, the M17X is not for you. When playing games it becomes quite loud though I have a solution to this issue which I will post withing weeks once it is complete.

 

Thanks, I don't have an owner's manual just yet but I've downloaded it now and will do some reading.

Of course the question still sort of stands, i.e. what are people getting for battery life under non-intensive use? It'd be nice if it was capable of running for a couple hours before needing a recharge...

[edit]Joebarchuck, noise while gaming is no concern. Noise while browsing the web, well, I'd like to think it won't take max fans to render this website for example.