M17xR3 First Impression

Not a full week yet but close.

1. After the first rough couple of days it's been a seamless transition from my M15x to the M17x. So now I get SB, 3D gaming, USB 3, more hard disk capacity and cool OC'ing features.
2. The Dell video drivers for the 460 do not work at all. There has to be some secret they have to get them to work properly.
3. See #2. Video drivers just lead to BSOD and by default Dell is using the Intel Rapid Storage drivers. This is not compatible with all drives like my OCZ SSD.
4. Understand that the default sata controller config is RAID in the bios and not AHCI. I switched it to AHCI when I did my install of the OS. Also if you want to use all the features in the bios you will need XMP memory.

 

How about boot up times now that you have got a SSD in your system. Thats something I'm curious about. Now I'm reading the system is cappable of SATA III. I don't really need to rush into speedy SSD's (I'm still runnning off a single 7200RPM HDD) but is it?

 

This is with no special tweaks to make it boot faster...

 

You know how much I enjoy NV drivers and troubleshooting them Drake.

When you have time, can you create a thread on this describing the issues you encountered and what you did to workaround (moving to another driver, etc.)?

Thanks!

 

Holy crap that's amazing. Now I presume that you have windows on SSD. Does that mean your R3 will always have a boot time of about 12 seconds?

 

Sure but give me until tomorrow. I'm started to playing with some bios OC'ing.

 

As long as trim is working correctly.

 

Any tips for me Drake? You've had yours for about a week, mine comes in tomorrow, I'll be doing a clean install on a Samsung SSD and throwing my 8gb of RAM in there too. Any recommendations on what driver version to run so I can get it modded and ready tonight if necessary?

 

Mandrake, which Boot time Utility are you using? I Binged it, but couldn't find anything that looked like yours.
Edit: Never mind, I just found it (BootTimer)

I have an R3 coming, ordered on the 25th, hopefully this 6-series chipset problem won't affect the EDD too much.

 

How much crapware was on the system when you got it? I know you did a clean install on your OCZ, and had some problems. Was the clean install really worth it?

 

Hey Mandrake are you using more than 2 SATA ports? if you are have you noticed bad performance?

I'm still probably going to buy an R3 - that's if Dell doesn't recall them. I only plan on having 1 HDD anyway so the laptop will only be using SATA port 0 and 1.

 

Find out before hand if the Intel Rapid Storage drivers work with your SSD before you try to install them. Make sure your bios is set to AHCI and then find out what the proper controller driver is to keep trim working. I asked OCZ and they never got back to me.

If you're getting the 460M might as well go ahead and get the latest from laptopvideo2go. You will also need Command Center and the USB 3.0 drivers from Dell. Have fun!

 

Can you check in the bios to see which SATA ports are in use. Hopefully the two hard drives are on ports 0 & 1.

 

Not much but McAfee was on mine.....yuck.

 

No, just two. A third one would be external.

 

The bios only says Sata Hard disk 1 and Sata Hard disk 2. Device manager says they are in 0 and 1.

 

the suspense is killing me. haha

 

Perfect. Important since only ports 0 & 1 are SATA III 6Gb/sec on the chipset and the others are SATA II 3GB/sec. Not a big deal today but when SATA III devices become more common people will deffinitely want the hard drives on SATA III ports.

 

Thanks a lot for your info, Mandrake. I feel like you've done a lot of trouble shooting for me.

For my SSD, I'm assuming this puts me in the same situation as you?

Did you just not install RST, or was it supplemented with something else?

 

Laptopvideo2go is the best site for drivers. Although, the instructions are sometimes vague for noobs, like myself, who do not know how to/what to do with "INI" or something.

Bump for advice for single hdd users like myself.

 

So you referred me to this post about XMP. I've never seen anything liek this before... Do you go into bios and select [DISABLE] and THEN mess aroudn with those settings below it? Or do I just change the thing to 1600?

 

gotta have XMP compatible ram.

Kingston Hyper X ram he is using

 

Mandrake, can you talk about the gaming performance with the 3D turned on some more? I really want to dump this flippin G73JH and get this R3 but if it games badly in 3D I'm not sure it's right for me. Earlier you said the effect should be fine if the FPS stays above 24.

With the G73 I play Fallout 3 New Vegas maxed out at 1080p. The same goes for Dragon Age: Origins and I play World of Warcraft too. Will it play all of those with reasonably high settings at 1080p with 3D turned on? Does the 3D cut the frame rates in half?

I know the keyboard and touchpad have to be tons better. You've said they are. How could they possibly be worse?

 

Depends on which SSD you have. I did not install RST. I know it's needed if I want to run raid and have trim working.

With 2K posts you cannot call yourself a noob anymore.
If you plan on reinstalling the OS make sure your sata controller is set to AHCI. Don't know what other info you are looking for.

Memory Overclock support is disabled in that screen shot. If you enable it you will see setting to change your voltage. Where it says DIMM Profile that is all the XMP settings. You can choose profile 1, profile 2 or custom setting like the screen shot shows.

If the game doesn't support 3D it will kill performance. I cannot even run Star Wars Force Unleashed 2 if I have it on. So make sure the game supports it before turning it on.

I haven't tried FO3-NV yet (and don't play Dragon Age) but I did with regular FO3 and had no issues. 3D worked really well. I even showed my wife and she thought it was really cool and she doesn't normally like these kinds of things. Regarding the setting I max everything out (FO3 set to ultra at max res). Does it cut FPS in half?....honest answer is I don't know. I don't see it drop below 24FPS and there is no stuttering. Game play is really smooth (not including my Star Wars game). Take a look at the Star Wars video I posted. When that game isn't stuttering the game play is nice and smooth. That's how Assassin's Creed II and FO3 played in 3D.

This may be personal preference but that G73 keyboard was a nightmare.

 

Take a look at this post for people who do not intend on reinstalling the OS.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...-ahci-mode-e6400-e6500-vista.html#post4475916

 

What is your thoughts on the touchpad and buttons? I just got a different brand, very fast, but the buttons are near impossible to press.

 

Mandrake, What is the laptop cooler in the first page? It looks awesome! Is it a perfect fit for the r3?

 

I use an external mouse 99% of the time but I have no issues with the touchpad and buttons when using them. Buttons are easy to press unlike the single solid button on my Dell mini.

It the COOLER MASTER SF-19. It does fit perfectly. When I put it on my Cryo before buying it, it would start to slide off. Plus it matches nicely.

 

Thank you very much for your reply. I did not understand how NVidia's 3D worked. If the game doesn't support NVidia 3D and the card has to "make" it's own 3D then the performance is half. That makes perfect sense now.

I am now officially sorely tempted to be an R3 owner. I do love the laptop's design. I bought my son an m11x for Christmas on sale and the touchpad, keyboard, backlighting, and design are just awesome.

 

ocz vertex 2

 

Drake does this mean EVERYONE who reinstalls will experience Bsods because of drivers ?

 

How is he supposed to know that?

 

Cool. Drake, If you have time. Can you please take a picture of it with the r3 on, I like to see the two sides and the back portion. If only your not busy. Thanks drake for your answers, You've helped us all in this thread.

 

wow just checked out the keyboard flex video. that looks way bad compared to the M15x flex. does it affect your daily usage.

 

Honestly, how many people are going to lean their body weight on their R3s? I certainly am not...I haven't remotely been turned off by flex (much less noticed any) and I've already carted mine around to friend's houses

 

i got horrible BSODs with my Kingston SSD with Rapid Storage drivers and Dell's Video Driver. Working fine now.

 

I just received a response from OCZ. The told me the RST v10 drivers isn't working with their toolbox but I should be able to use the drivers. That means I either have to test an older version or use the native Win 7 drivers. Same with you, make sure you have the latest firmware installed also.

At least one other person had issues (look a couple posts up). We'll see how many others have issues when and if they report back.

No.

There will still be complaining about it. Would nice nice if they had it before they started complaining.

 

So if I understand this correctly, do not use the Intel drive for OCZ drives only the native windows one.

 

Correct. The Windows 7 native drivers, unless someone has time to test different Intel drivers.

 

Originally Posted by Texasrho83
Honestly, how many people are going to lean their body weight on their R3s? I certainly am not...I haven't remotely been turned off by flex (much less noticed any) and I've already carted mine around to friend's houses

There will still be complaining about it. Would nice nice if they had it before they started complaining.


totally agree. under normal usage, be it gaming or net surfing, it will not affect your typing or gameplay.

 

ok thanks for the responses guys, it just looks very bad in the video, so it got me worried.

 

I don't think anyone has been disputing the function of the keyboard. The one on the cheapest Inspiron will work fine too, as well as any $5-$10 keyboard. The (what appears to be) a step-down in the keyboard build quality - as in robustness - is what is a turn off, for a laptop that is supposed to be top of the line. For most people it's fine, as well as any Sager, Asus, Acer or Toshiba gaming laptops. The people who are complaining probably don't want the build quality of those laptops, though.

 

Well it uses the same keyboard but It looks like they didn't put the appropriate support under it .

Thank you mandrake for providing all the information, I am still deciding whether to go to the R-3 or stick with what I got.

 

It's the exact same keyboard that is in the R2. I have an extra one of those. The issue comes from the memory being underneath the Alt key. There is nothing underneath it to prevent it from bending down.

 

Correct and your welcome.

 

two notches and a aluminum shield. They did that on the R-2 and the M15x, that little piece would fix it.

Any user could actually fix the flex if they wanted to by doing just that .

 

I always removed those aluminum shields and I'm sure I still have more laying around. I'd rather let the air flow better around the memory.

 

+1 for airflow around the memory

That shield has been removed in my R1 since day 1. Also, on its own these keyboards have NO rigidity. You can twist yours and it will hold the twisted shape lol

 

O yea I forgot you were the "memory man"

There are many ways to fix the flex you just need to add support ..duck tape...

 

You got your laptop with the 320gb hdd originally, right? So it was originally only using 1 SATA III 6gb/s port?

I just want to make sure because on half the posts im reading in the forum, it says the sandy bridge issue doesn't affect people who are only using one hard drives (therefore, it is a problem for people who want two hdds). The other half of the posts are saying they have their two hard drives in the first two SATA III 6gb/s ports, so they arn't affected by the problem. I am getting confused as to which is true.

I ordered mine with the 320 gb hdd as well, and I want to add either a SSD or another hdd in the future, and I just want to make sure that I will be able to do so with both hdds connected to the first two SATA III ports (0 and 1).

Oh, any recommendations for choosing a SSD? I know you had some trouble with compatibility, so I want to make sure I can avoid that problem.