My New M17x R3

Hi Guys.


Took delivery of my bright shiny Laptop this week, so thought I would share a little about my experience with you guys.

Delivery date initially was 12 working days after my order, but was pleasantly surprised when it was brought forward by 3 days. After waiting in all day the Courier didn't bring it till 17-45, but cant blame Alienware for that can we!

Anyways...The spec I ordered was

Intel Core i7 Processor 2630QM
WideFHD (1920 x 1080)
Memory : 4096MB (2x2048)
Hard Drive : 750GB Serial ATA
Graphics : 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6970M

My reasoning was that on the website, the cost to upgrade the RAM and HDD seemed very high, and they were jobs I was reasonably confident I could do myself.

As it happens it was very easy. first thing I did was to create a recovery disk...2 DVD's as it happens. I then got 4x4gb 1333mhz Memory, installed myself. (1st pair were very easy; 2nd pair needed a bit more effort. About 20/30 mins or so) There is a Vid on Youtube if you need it.
Hard disk was a thorny one for me. I originally wanted to go for a SSD for OS/Apps, and then use the Dell HDD for Data. I bottled out at the last minute when it became clear that I would have needed to a total Reinstall of Windows/drivers etc so I opted for a 750 gb WD Scorpio Black.

Physical Installation took about 20 minutes or so. On Reboot the Intel rapid Storage Technology app started and took over the process for me. Quite a long time for the disks to "RAID 0" themselves (was probably 6 hours or so?) but at the end I had a 1.5 TB array waiting for me.

I re-allocated the new space in Disk Management as "Data E" drive. I know that there is still the RAID magic happening, but I liked the idea of having a "seperate" Data disk..if only for Backing up purposes. I have had PC's fail before, and it can be a real pain to get the data back of a RAID 0 !


So cost to me of the upgrades (I am in UK so maybe more expensive than you guys "over the pond"!) was 80 GBP for the HDD and 132 GBP for the RAM. Cost of the upgrades on the website £310 for the RAM and £235 for the HDD.

The was only one thing of interest in the whole disk set up, that was to me a little odd. The Windows Experience scores for my PC when it was straight out of the box were
Processor 7.4
Memory 7.6
Graphics 7.6
Gaming GFX 7.6
Hard disk 5.9


After the upgrades I anticipated the scores would be the same, but was expecting the score for the HDD to go up slightly..Well A RAID 0 has theoretically double the transfer speed doesn't it? I know I wouldn't be getting that, but was hoping for a score at the top end of 6, maybe 7..??
But no....HDD score stayed at a dissappointing 5.9....the same as my old M9750 with a SATA 2..??


Anyways..

Have had my machine for nearly a week now, and what can I tell you.

Well I am loving it...it plays all my old games at Max settings, I have just brought a copy of Shogun 2 (Hey Ok..I like the Total war series..!) and it eats it...looks gorgeous, plays smooth, it is everything I hoped for.

Only gripe is that the Alienware Head on the lid doesnt seem to light up..!? Is it supposed to...?

And if anyone knows why my RAID array seems to be the same speed as my Non-RAID score, I would be interested to find out!

Any questions/comments feel free!

Cheers Fellas!

BHGM

 

Gratz on your new machine, Hope you enjoy it!

As for the WEI score, thats what everyone gets and will get. The bottleneck nowdays is the Hard Drive. You can buy a Vertex 3 or an Intel 510, both which use Sata III and will raise your WEI score on that section to 7.6~7.9.

 

What kind of RAM did you buy? There is for example Kingston ValueRAM SO-DIMM 4GB PC3-10667S CL9 for 31EUR or Corsair ValueSelect SO-DIMM 4GB PC3-10667S CL9 also for 31 EUR, both DDR3-1333. 4 x 31= 124 EUR.

I am going to buy a new gaming laptop in late June and am considering options (m17x if AW goes for 485m, or Asus G74). Your move to buy more RAM on your own much cheaper is a very good idea.

Congratulations on your new notebook! \o/

 

Don't worry about the WEI score man. Microsoft put no effort into it how it deciphers scores, and it shouldn't be used a basis for anything. From much of my own research on the subject, I know that no matter how fast your hard drive is, it doesn't impact gaming performance at all. Load times, yes. Gaming performance, no.

 

Welcome to the NBR neighborhood. Enjoy and please post your thoughts We're looking forward to your updates and contributions.

Have a good weekend.

EDIT: Btw, I gave everyone on this thread +1 rep cuz I've never seen any of y'all before.

 

Did you have problems with the screws on the top to reach the second RAM slots? On mine they were so stuck I had to break the fasteners with a plier.

 

Thanks for all the replies fellas.

@ Apoxxx..On mine the toughest screws were the underside ones holding the front panel on. All teh rest were easy-ish to do. Hardest bit was the gettiing the keyboard connectors off...in the end I left the keyboard connected.

I got my RAM from Offtek.co.uk Was £31.98 for 4gb

And I agree that HD scores dont inpact on gaming...but did think it was very strange that WEI score didn't change at all! Did think that my "home improvements" may not have worked as well as I thought...!

 

Got mine last week too, everything seems ok to me, including the alienware head on the top of the case. Odd yours doesn't light.

 

Dang Dookie, can I get in some of that lovin'?


Gratz BHGM! It's an awesome machine!

 

And @ Dookie....have returned the favour on the Rep....plus everyone who commented...
Thanks guys!

 

Glad you''re enjoying your R3, i got mine a few weeks ago and I'm from the UK as well I got mine from a friend in the US so saved me quite a few hundred quid which I then used to further upgrade my machine.

The WEI thing seems about right. I have 2820QM+3D bundle and everything else stock. I then upgraded the RAM and the HDD (and the stock HDD died in the process so I had to get a new secondary drive too) so now I have one Intel 510 SSD 120gb and also one Crucial M4 256GB SSD as well. My scores are:
Processor 7.5
RAM 7.6
Graphic 7.1
Gaming graphics 7.1
Hard disk 7.8

Your 5.9 hard disk score is basically the standard of those 7200rpm HDDs. Raid 0 doesn't really improve performance by that much and depend on occasion and usage it sometimes may have no speed advantage at all. So if you want fast hard drives I would recommend getting one of the lastest SATAIII SSD because it really makes a huge difference.

 

can't beat Aussies in terms of being "ripped off".i guess the Americans have always had the best deal in pricing (electronics)

and yes the Alienware Head logo on the LCD panel needs to light up...get that escalated now..or for ever hold your peace.. ... i did the same when i received my M17X any and all issues .....complained straight to Dell...sent 'em a picture or 2,.....48H of receiving the 1st unit....they had the newer unit in assembly. (i wasn't gonna let some tech come over to my house....and trying to adjust my hours with his...and opening a brand new boutique PC....)

 

It could have been me, but the Alien head is lighting up now.

I cant change it with the AlienFX lighting thingy though..

 

When I got my unit the LCD panel was faulty and Alien Head was lighting up only when I move the lid. Complained about it to dell immediately and ordered replacement. Like paradigm said you do not want a tech coming n opening up your brand new baby!

 

Are you talking about the head on the lid or the head next to the media keys? The lid is not changeable.

 

I think he is talking about Alien head on the lid

 

I thought the alien head on the lid was driven by the monitor's backlight? Like how the m11x does it? I know dell was trying to slim down the m17x, and this seems like on of the things they could of removed to get the unit down in size...

 

With or without the head would have been the same thickness...It's built like that to withstand pressure.

Try and push on the screen anywhere to make it do stuff

 

Hi again guys!

And yes, I was talking about the head on the lid....the one you cant see when you're typing!

But it seems to have cured itself....just plain white light; No Alien FX options :-(

But it is now working

 

Hmmm! I would definitely have it checked out. Seems like you have some kind of a short.

Check out the picture. Notice the small ribbon cable circled with red.



Happened on my very first R1 about a year and a half ago. Fried the GPUs and ruined the screen. Get it checked!!!