*OFFICIAL* "All Powerful" M17x-R2 Edition Owner's Lounge - Part 2

Just bought a M17X Referb from dell, supposed to get here round the 22nd.
Trying to figure out what video card it has on it but I'm not good a deciphering dells crap.
Anyone know what a XWXTD MODULE,CARD,GRAPHICS,GT1,SLI is?
Not entirely sure how this system rates but it looked cool and my wife took over my desk top for school. This is my revenge

Here is the full specs

Quantity Item Number Description
1 P303J Base,Notebook,Alienware,Black WXGA-AG,M17X
1 2J4FR Module,Software,Certificate Of Authenticity,W7HP64,Alienware
1 9R578 Module,Information,DHS,High, Value
1 3TF5Y Module,Information,Wireless AW1510
1 C465T Module,Bracket,Hard Drive, Second,With Connector,M17X
1 C771R MOD,CRD,NTWK,AW1510,US
1 CP1VF Module,Software,W7HP64 Consumer Desktop,English Dao/bcc
1 CTX0X MODULE,INFORMATION,WIRELESS, BLUETOOTH,370
1 D003R Module,Software,Alienware OS-CUSTOMIZATION
1 D113N Module,Hard Drive,500GB,Free Fall Sensor,7.2K,SGT-HOLL
1 D114N Module,Hard Drive,500,Free Fall Sensor,7.2,#2,SGT-HOLL
1 D690P Module,Software,Alienware AVATAR1
1 D712P Module,Software,Alienware AUTO-UPD,ON
1 D720P Module,Processor,Core Penryn QX9300,ANW NBK
1 D9KVP Module,Software,Quick Fix Engineering,W7HB32,Consumer Notebook
1 DNF92 MOD,INFO,CHASSIS,BLK,M17X
1 F219N Module,Software,Creative Camera,Consumer,W#3,Factory Install
1 F574P Module,Software,Alienware WINDOWSTYLE,Default
1 F584P Module,Software,Alienware POWER,High Performance
1 G040H Module,Dual In-line Memory Module,4GB,1333MHZ,DDR3,2X2G
1 G427R MODULE,ACCESSORY,ALIENWARE, M17X,ENGLISH
1 H919R MOD,MEDIA,RDVD,ANW,M17X
1 K001R Module,Liquid Crystal Display,17.0 Wide Ultra Extended Graphics Array,Alienware, M17X
1 K972H Module,Adapter,Alternating Current,240W,Delta - Ac Adapt World Wide
1 MGNNT MOD,CRD,NTWK,370,FXCN,CNB,DAO
1 N329P Module,Information,Artwork NAME-PLT,Generic,M17X
1 N971H Module,Cord,Power,125V,2M,C13 United States
1 P395P Module,Software,CYBERLINK Powerdvd,8.0,Alienware
1 P398P Module,Software,NERO,9 Alienware
1 P811N MODULE,INFORMATION,DIRECTSHIP,FLEXTRONICS
1 T780J Module,Battery,Primary,85WHR 9C,Dynapack International Technology Corp
1 U004P Module,Dvd+/-rw And Bd-rom Hitachi Lg Data Storage,BARE Alienware
1 U675N Module,Software,Alienware RSS-FEED,ANW-NEWS
1 U777M Module,Shipping Material,PACK M1740
1 V8977 MOD,LBL,INTEL,NBK,C2E,RBDG
1 W124P Module,Software,Alienware COMMANDCENTER
1 W219R MODULE,SOFTWARE,ALIENWARE,ALIENFX,LIME
1 W482P Module,Software,Alienware TIME-ZONE,CENTRAL
1 X771M Service Install Module Software,Alienware,M17X
1 XWXTD MODULE,CARD,GRAPHICS,GT1,SLI
1 Y2FYM Module,Software,W7HP64,Digital Video Disk Drive,Multi-Language,Alienware
1 Y540P Module,Software,Alienware CYBERLINK,YOUCAM
1 Y573P Module,Keyboard,Alienware United States,England,M17X Dao/bcc
1 Y922N Module,Information,RAID 1 Alienware,M17X
1 YC8XT Module,Tuner,Software,TVT11 NTSC,Advanced Television System Committee
1 988-7347 No Warranty beyond 1 year
1 994-3730 Warranty Support,Initial Year
1 994-7017 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus At-Home Service, Initial Year
1 990-8029 1 Year Limited Warranty and Next Business Day,Desktop
1 994-3660 In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis , Initial Year
1 960-3249 Banctec Service Agreement
1 3E476 Information,Equipment


Order Subtotal: $2,399.00
Shipping and Handling Total: $19.99
Shipping Discount: -$19.99
Tax Total: $179.90
Total Amount: $2,578.90

 

Dual GTX 280M's is what your GPU's are.

 

You could've gotten an R2 new for about the same price (at least with EPP pricing). Of course, god only knows when Dell would actually ship it

 

^^ yeah that.
does not sound like a very good deal to me.
if you don't care waiting 4-6 weeks go for the R2

 

Well I actually prefer the LCD, I think the colors are richer.
To get the same system new I think would run me about 3955.00
So I'm happy with the price I got.
I did notice while looking at the refurbs you had to be quick on the buy button.
I tried to buy 4 others and every time I hit buy I was to late.
Could probably post it on ebay and make a nice profit if I wanted.
Just hope this thing is everything it's cracked up to be. That was a lot of cash to spend on a system but I just love the aesthetics.
Right now my wife is using my Dell XPS435t gaming rig for her college and I'm stuck on her HP Pav dv2620us because the stupid thing won't play something called TEGRITY.
I tried playing Star trek Online her HP and it's so frustrating and slow I gave up.
So I broke down and bought the M17X was tired of twiddling my thumbs.
Just wish I had a sheet telling me what all those Dell codes meant.
Thanks for letting me know what Cards I got, appreciate it.

 

colors are def. not reacher on the LCD
your choice mate

 

Is there anything you would recommend I do to the system when I get it as far as little fixes and software?

 

i think you'd be better off asking it here

 

Well, the tearing wasn't fixed with the D3Doverrider. I'm suspecting some hardware issue. Will swap the GPUs from the R1 later on to check what's wrong.

 

I had an R1 and an R2 with the RGB LED.

The R1 display was too dim and yellows were the color of mustard resulting in terrible fleshtones.

The R2 RGB LED is fantastic. It has plenty of brightness and the colors are perfect.

 

Could you make a video maybe ? i want to compare it to what i have experienced

 

For 2300 dollars and using the epp discount you could have got the 4870s crossfire with the RGB screen snd the i720 cpu. I just priced one out form my buddy at work. It would be about 2 weeks to get the R2. You prob cold get the next buisness day shipping for free also. If I was you I would cancel and reorder the R2. Be a small hassle but you wont regret it.

 

Sure this is how it looks in games with CF enabled.

 

We had a familly bbq tonight and I showed my brother the R2. He made millions working with computers. He owns a software company that deals with casinos check cashing stores and banks. He works with computers all day and really hates them and doesnt like messing with them on his off time. He loved the RGB screen. The over saturated reds make reds just pop off the screen. This is not a tv its a laptop for gaming. The screen really makes this laptop cool. It was awsome seeing him mess around with my laptop. The only thing he really kept talking about was the screen. We both are really into cars and spend most familly get togethers in the garage or outside drinking beer lol. So I must say that this screen is the kicker on this laptop. Does Asus have a laptop with a RGB panel? I would like to see it. I had a Asus G51 and G71 prior to this and loved both.

 

There's been a few others that had this same problem. I think it's probably a defective GPU.

Asus has no such equivalent. Probably never will either.

 

I concur with joker I remember a few other people on this forum having this exact problem if I remember correctly one of them fixed it by resetting his xfire cable

 

Yeah, that's what mine looked like. I also had some distortion at the top and bottom mostly.

Tried just reseating the card/cable, didn't fix it for me.

Just had to get them to replace the secondary GUP/Cable and it's running great.

Gabe

 

Ok then, tried re-seating many times...Will be calling Dell on Monday.

 

I'm lucky I have no such issue, although the only game I have played so far on my R2 is Crysis Wars.

 

Did you try the R1 GPU's?

 

The problem is my R1 CF cable is dead so swapping the secondary GPUs would involve removing their heat sinks to connect the R1 GPU to the R2 CF cable. I have to pass this to Dell since I don't have new thermal pads to replace the old ones and ideally you need to change them every time you remove the HS.

 

You shouldn't have to remove the thermal pads at all as long as you don't mess with them after removing the heatsink. All that's needed is new thermal paste.

 

@ akinox

the thermal pads dont need to be replae every time you take them off...

I got my sager and it was running a bit warm so i repasted it 3 times before it finally set right .... so total 4 times it was removed and it got cooler and cooler every time.

 

As long as the pad is not splitting, it is good to go

I found the ones on the heatsinks for the GPUs to be quite durable, for both the 4870s and the GTX 280m (same heatsink but different pad configurations)

 

Ok, if I wouldn't be so lazy today, could do it.
But now, it's Dell' fault and they will be sending a new card here.

@Moo, how are your temps now?

 

I wish Dell though the same way as you!!!!
But I suspect they would be broke long time ago!!!!

 

i asked for the video and went to sleep, guess you've got your answer already.
Have you spoken to Dell yet ?

 

Not yet, tomorrow.

 

Aikimox since you have the laptop in one piece, could you run the DPC test?

 

Yes, of course. I'm just going through a system re-install. Will run it in an hour.

 

ok no prob

 

since i promised you i'll do it i will get my lappy i'll do it now too.

@Aikimox, how hard is it to disassemble the m17x ?
i worked on m1710 and m1730 before without problems. is this one difficult ?

 

Good to know that mfractal, I wait you results too then

 

this sdk download is painfully slow.
4 hours to go...

 

Oh, I used to download it with 1.2MB/sec, weird
*EDIT*
checked right now, 655 KB/sec average, in 15 minutes approximately

 

It's pretty simple, the only problem is with the touch panel strip, be careful as it can easily be broken. I use a plastic card to flip the panel from the hinges covers. Do it slowly.

 

My method for removing the panel strip is a lot easier and will not damaged it.

the Moo's way of removing the panel is good, but in the long run, the panel strip will have a gap.

 

What method?

 

You see those two circle on top left and right of that location? Anyway, there is an indentation if you look down on from top view. What you do is, Get a tiny small flat head screw driver put between the gap. Then what you only have to do is push the panel strip down with your finger, and at the same time, use the screw driver and push the panel strip upward towards the hinge. Thats it. No more struggling trying to get the clip undone by trying to pop up the panel strip.

 

Thanks for posting this Rengsey, I will have to give it a try when I open mine up, I have not done it since I bought it and I been gaming on it every chance I get. I like to keep the fans clean and I should be checking how much dust this laptop gathers. On a quick note I have had no problems with any of the temps, very happy with my purchase
Rengsey, if you get a chance, a little video of this process would be awesome to look at next time you open up your R2
Thanks!

 

i was d/l 60 kb/s and i have a good connection, weird.
Anyway, i got it,but now i have to go out.
Will report back as soon as i do the test.

 

Had my R2 for a couple of weeks now, and its been great! Zero complaints, screen is wonderful (turned down a notch or two of course). Had to use the beta 10.3 drivers to get some things to work but no troubles otherwise.

So... next hurdle is this VT-x support issue. Any rumors about whether it will be in the next BIOS update and when that might be?

I'm also reluctant to ask for fear of what might come of it, but has anyone had any luck installing Snow Leopard (native or in VMware)?

 

nice username you got yourself there, by any chance does it have anything to do with your m17x ?

It seems like vt-x support is in the works and will be available in A03 bios.
let's hope we won't have to wait for long.

 

On Nov-20, I had originally ordered a Dell Studio 17, hoping beyond hope to get it by the Dec-18 original EDD I had been given. What can I say, I'm a new Dell customer. Christmas came and went, a tradeshow I needed it for came and went at the end of January, all the while I received nothing from Dell about when I could expect my order despite numerous phone calls and e-mails.

On Feb-02, my Studio 17 order was simply cancelled. No warning, no explanation, no phone call, no e-mail. Two months of waiting and nothing to show for it. After much consideration, I looked at the M17x and thought, hey, that's kinda got the same stuff but BETTER! So I placed an order that day and received it around Feb-26.

That's about 98 days from first placing an order to receiving a notebook. In retrospect, I think I'm much happier with the M17x-R2 than I would have been with the Studio 17, but sure wasn't fun waiting that long. I ended up paying about the same amount, but without blu-ray (not available at the time I ordered it).

So sure, thought I'd pick a username that suited the situation. And this site has been FAR more helpful than the entire sum of Dell's support staff.

 

Off the phone with Dell again. They are sending me the secondary GPU with CF cable tomorrow. They just seem to be unable to make things right out of the box.

 

couple of pages back i asked about a decent temps monitoring solution and while HWiNFO32 seems to do the trick it's not comfortable to keep the monitoring window open..

I wanted to update you all that i am talking to the author of HWiNFO32 and we decided to collaborate. I will be helping him with creating a windows sidebar gadget to the software.
It will be released once i finish developing it with the next HWiNFO32 version.
Anyone here with experience creating sidebar gadgets willing to help ?

 

Hmm, I don't use sidebar.

Want to talk to him about making the sensors window standalone similar to HWMonitor?

 

but there is such a window already

 

but you have to open the main program and click to get it open, then you have to have the whole thing open to see the temps, when the temps are all I want

 

Gadgets are basically just xml/html/css/javascript. I guess it depends on what APIs your're trying to access. Seems like that's where the HWINFO guy can really help.