My wife is going to kill me!

I couldn’t help myself. I hovered over the Pay Now button for about a minute before driving in. It’s got the 780M and i7 4900. Pretty good deal at $499AUD or $300USD. 90 day warranty! Haha.



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She's a beauty! What are your paint job plans?

 

I haven’t decided yet......


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I will need a new battery for it though so I'm hoping someone on here has a decent (doesn't have to be 100% health) one for cheap.......

 

There is a manufacturer called Green Cell, they do pretty decent batteries in Poland, it's about 74AUD brand new, but shipping and lithium restrictions would be an issue.

 

I can get one off ebay for $77 shipped but I was hoping for a super cheap one to keep costs down. Hoping for a quick flip.
I should have a few machines ready to sell soon.

 

Wow! Man that's a steal!! Congrats!

 

Let us know what you're selling. I'm interested in getting one

 

I’ve put it in my signature

I should get the 17 mid next week and I’ll order a new battery and give the machine a test. I’ve got a spare 120hz display so I may throw that on. I prefer the glossy screen.
The M17x R4 is just about done. I just need to test all the ports to make sure everything is functional but it looks great with the new lid.
The M18x R2 is still a few weeks away. Base coats are done so just clear coat to do but it screwed me last time so fingers crossed.


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I’m in love with this R4 with the new lid. It’s so clean it’s like I just pulled it out of the box for the first time. Well, almost.



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There’s an 18 on eBay I’ve got my eye on tonight. It’s got a few issues but it’s only $550AUD. I have to decide whether I want to stay married or I want to take a chance on the 18. I haven’t told her about the 17 from last night yet.


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Oops.........




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Where do you guys keep finding stuff like that I such prices... Dual 8970Ms, noice

Is it time for you to start packing?

 

Not yet. I’ve promised her I’ll make money from it one day.


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Well my two recent purchases are apparently arriving today. I'm also going out to pick up another 17 I found on Gumtree a week or so ago. If we get locked down at least I'll have some machines to tinker with for a few weeks. This one has a power issue (probably motherboard) and has a 4910MQ and 880M with the 120Hz display.

 

Christmas morning



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From Left to Right;
17 - Starts up, keyboard lights up, screen flickers a few times then goes black, repeats this in a cycle, no beep code. Was told that it occasionally boots up properly (GPU, Display?)
i7 4910MQ, GTX 880M, 120Hz Display, 32gb RAM, 256GB mSata
18 - Was listed as working but Crossfire won't enable and has random screen freezes (probably faulty GPU)
i7 4800MQ, 2 x M290X (8970M), 16gb RAM
17 - Listed as working fine but battery dead
i7 4900MQ, GTX 780M, 16gb RAM

 

Well After bringing them home and trying out the first 17 that was having issues it gave me an 8 beep code. I had a spare 120Hz display laying around so I thought I’d give it a shot. Low and behold! No drive installed yet though. Not a bad result from a $220AUD ($130USD) purchase.



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Threw the guys drives back in. Don’t have his password so I’ll have to format the drives. Pretty happy though. She’s in rough condition though so it may be better used for parts.



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It seems that I have joined the 'soon-to-be-killed-by-wife' gang, went for a steal deal of am M18XR2, working and in good shape, awaiting posting now got some plans for dual 7970 or maybe 8970 if the price is right.

 

Great work! It’s the best laptop ever created. I was pretty happy when I had dual 780M’s in mine. They were great cards. I’m even happier now with the 1070. I’m on the constant hunt for cheap R2’s. I really want to find a faulty one that someone is happy to sell for next to nothing. Mainly to scavenge the HDD connector.
I’m glad I got this 17 running but it’s definitely going to be scrapped for parts. The second 17 I got today is in mint condition but had a dead battery. The 17 I got working has a 100% health battery so that’s now in the mint one and it’s time to sell her. Now I have a working motherboard, 880M, 4910MQ, 32gb memory, 256gb mSata and 500gb HDD to use on something else. The bottom cover, palmrest and keyboard were trashed. A new battery was going to cost me $77 so I basically got all the other parts for $150AUD ($100USD).
Didn’t get a chance to test out the 18 yet. Hopefully more good luck.


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If you wish I can do a listing of the previous M18X, the one I couldn't save (apparently dead mobo, white screen on all screens and cables, and or flickering, with or without dedicated GPU), or at least the connector. Once it arrives I am going to scrap the old one for parts, scavenge what I can for the new one (the CPU was decent), and after that I can sell you at least the connector

 

Ok let me know.
The only issue is that the Aussie dollar has fallen off a cliff since the virus hit even though we’ve barely been affected at all (compared to many countries). Anything in USD ends up costing me a fortune. Happy to take a look though.
I may just have to go door to door one weekend asking people if they have an M18x laying around.


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It's Poland, so even different exchange

 

Ok, how many zloties are you going to charge me?

 

will have to take a look for how much it goes around for or, maybe, we could do an exchange. I'm looking for the HDD caddy for the Ranger for the secondary HDD (the one that is placed sideways). You seem to be stockpiling Ranger parts due to coronavirus outbreak (an odd choice, bit I can respect it ), and I'm looking for that one in particular. Just the caddy, I've got plenty of the angled SATA adapters. Sounds like a deal?

 

Yeah I do have a few caddies now. Funny thing is that when I got my first 17 last year I had to order a caddy from Europe and now I have extras because of a few machines I've used for parts. I sold one a month or so ago on ebay. It was for the primary drive.

 

As soon as the new m18x arrives and I have some time to investigate what can be added I'll let you know. Think there is a deal in here somewhere?

 

Sounds great to me man!

 

I've almost finished the White M18x so I'll try posting it for sale here as well as eBay (just in Australia). I'll probably put it out for $650-700USD.

 

I still haven't decided if I should paint the bottom grills or maybe even the front grill panel

There's a lot of work involved to remove the front grill panel on the M18x plus I've never tried it before. I would want to keep the actual grills black, just do the housing white. I've got a spare M17x palmrest that I was going to practice on but it's probably not worth the effort and risk. It would look awesome though

 

It certainly would. I skipped disassembling it fully precisely due to reasons stated above, but I'm considering it in a spare M18X case. This time I'll drill the grills away and see what comes out of it. Also need to restore the case first, because it's cracked like hell.

 

Well I’ve had a few beers now and I’m overcome by the fumes of clear coat so I’m going to attempt to remove the panel on the M17x. Wish me luck.


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Fingers crossed that's the best way to overcome the stage fright before performing such art as AW M17x dissection

 

I discovered it was all to hard plus the dremel was making too much noise with the kids asleep upstairs. I decided to pull apart the new 18 instead. You know, the sensible thing to do when you're 8 beers into a Friday night.

 

Just an average Friday night then here it's only 2pm, so I really shouldn't join in, still got work I was actually doing the dremelling with a regular metal drill of around 10mm, just to get rid of the plastic enough to take the elements apart and on screwdriver setting for low speed and better control.

Ahem. My m18x just arrived, I've intercepted my usual courier and took it out for preliminary inspection.
Screen hinges are wobbly, so the old one is the donor. Case is scratched and even bumped on one corner, so ditto. CPU is ancient, RAM is a true example of multicultural society - every stick from different manufacturer, all 1333. Touchpad is nice though. Bezel is ok I guess, and with screen working you can't see the wear-scratches. Both GPU fans (yay!), One bust 570m, but that was advertised, and since I have the right heatsink from the old one and now one left from the new one, you know what time is it - SLI/Crossfire upgrade keyboard is decent, keyboard frame has seen better days, but for around 300£ what else can you expect. Battery is at wear level of around 40%, according to Hwinfo, will need to check the other one.

 

Ahh so it’s an R1? I didn’t know they released it with a 570M.... I thought they went with the 560M or 580M. All good fun though. I really like the 18. It’s massive, I can’t believe it’s bigger than the M18x.


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Doesn't the m18xR1 come with something like 460m?
This is the one looking like the M17XR2, with dual card support and second generation i7 processor (gonna swap for 3rd gen i7)
Edit - it seems that they have different generation, R1 came with 2nd gen and R2 with 3rd gen (same gens as M17x R3 and R4). Going to investigate the compatibility of components.

 

My first Alienware was an M17xR2 that was an in-warranty replacement for my Dell XPS M1730 nightmare that turned out to be a $4000 money-pit abortion that never functioned properly. I have owned two M17xR2. One with 5870M CrossFried and one with 4870M CrossFried. They were decent machines, but not my favorite. My first M18xR1 came stock with 6970M CrossFried. It was replaced (under warranty) by 580M SLI. I obtained 7970M cards from Dell and installed 7970M CrossFried, but went back to 580M SLI because the 7970M cards sucked. (I went through about 6 7970M GPUs and they were all junk. They also sucked at overclocking.) I then upgraded it to 680M SLI, then later 780M SLI. Somewhere in the middle, I built an M18xR2 from parts. It began with 680M SLI, then 780M SLI and later 980M SLI. I got rid of the M18xR1 and M18xR2 and AW18 because they were becoming more of a hassle than they were worth. They were not durable, parts were getting harder to find, and the rigmarole trying to get 980M to function correctly just wasn't worth the effort to me anymore.

The M18xR2 was the second-best laptop I have ever owned, overshadowed only by the Clevo P870. The Clevo P570 might have pushed the M18xR2 into third place except for its poorly engineered (poorly fitting) cooling system. I bought the P570 so I could have a laptop that properly utilized the 980M SLI that I had blown a huge wad of cash on trying to upgrade the M18xR2 to something better. The P570 would have been crazy awesome if the CPU heat sink would have actually fit correctly. I had to use copper shims and plug up the sloppy fit with IC Diamond to try to keep the CPU cool.

I absolutely loved how the 18 (Viking) was built. It was constructed very well and easy to work on, and I loved that it was larger. (Yes, I love bulky laptops.) However, the draconian crippling shenanigans Dell pulled with it made it my least favorite 18-inch Alienware. The M18xR1/R2 was also a lot nicer-looking than the Viking.

 

After just getting an 18 for the first time I can't believe how massive the 18 is! I love it.... but....I love my M18x R2 more.

I just wish I could work out why I can't get Crossfire enabled. I'm guessing it's the cable since both cards are recognised.

 

What cards? While I was struggling with M17xR2, one of the issues were with vBIOS, that is in some instances the cards were recognized, but without VRAM and/or clocks. After going in with a certain vBIOS and blocking the damned Windows update of the drivers driver's it works splendid.

 

My cards? They are technically M290x's but are listed in Device Manager and the Radeon software as 8970M's.

 

Most AMD GPU functionality problems are due to poor driver support. They haven't been good at drivers since they bought out ATI.

 

I have almost zero experience with AMD. I have pretty much avoided them for the past 10 years.

Apparently the Crossfire function should be under Advanced in the Global Settings but it's missing. I can only assume this is because the software doesn't think the cards can be linked.

 

I used to be an ATI die-hard. I have had nothing but issue after issue with AMD GPUs after 5870M. NVIDIA is nowhere near perfect, but their products have been largely problem-free for me and overclock nicely. I have not touched an AMD GPU since 7970M (like about 2012). But, part of the reason for that is they haven't made anything that interests me since 2012. So, I have zero recent experience to draw from and I have forgotten 99% of what I used to know. What little I might be able to remember is likely no longer relevant.

 

That's understandable. I'd like to sort out the issue before selling it off so I'll keep digging around. I'll probably find myself a new cable and go from there. Thanks.

 

I think this is more of a notebook problem. AMD drivers and notebooks has been a problem ad long I can remember.

Edit. Just lovely http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...laris-navi-gpus.799348/page-748#post-11000325

 

I've ran both catalyst and Adrenaline, and worked fine with CLEVO 1.1, on 7970M. Try different vBIOS, apparently not all of them support that.

EDIT: as far as I know they are interchangeably named 290X/8970M.
Seriously, try to put left card vBIOS into the right card, and if that doesn't do anything, put the right one into the left one. Maybe one of them works. Otherwise there is a whole repository on TechPowerUp of vBIOSes, but do a quick dry run on how to blind flash, because you are almost guaranteed to have at least one dark boot.

EDIT2: there appears to be more than one VRAM versions of this card, maybe they are not the same?

 

M290X and 8970M are both 4GB, 7970M is 2GB only afaik

 

There are a few vBIOS versions available but it looks like all the Dell ones are Unverified. Is it ok to have both cards in the machine when I flash or should I put each one in the primary slot one at a time?