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

I just realized that all I have to test on this thing when it gets here are Dragon Age & Mass Effect 2. That may be because I really don't dig FPS. Any quick suggestions for something to push the unit that isn't a shooting game?

 

Dirt seems to be used a lot

 

Ordered my 4870 from Dell. Rather cheaply too. Should be here by 5/5

 

Bought a Intel 160GB SSD Sata II - benchmarks for all 3 that have been in my AW below

 

It seems like the Intel drive suffers at 4k size files compared to the indilinx drives such as mine. Guess I need not be in such a hurry to try to upgrade afterall. Although the QD32 part is favoring the Intel

 

Numbers on neutrons intel aren't close to what they should be. Got write
caching on? Your 4k's are WAY off

 

I was actually just referring to the read speeds really. As that affects the perceived performance of the drive much more in day to day use

 

thnx for the info
i have 10.5b and 10.6a on hdd but it works pretty good now.
i'm the the kinda guy that always says, if it ain't broke. don't fix it
loading times are acceptable, faster then xbox version.
get a stable 50/70 fps all in the game online. no flickering or other strange issues.

 

You should tweak your os a little, the write speeds are really low. Have a look at the thread at my signature.

 

hey man, although your's is still faster, i was able to get 20mb/s 4k reads with intel rapid storage chipset driver.

 

Good call.

On a completely separate note I may pick up one of those 80gig Intel SSDs and just stick this Kingston in my desktop. Hmm...

 

On the 2.4GHz band it's usable, although Intel's cards are better. On the 5GHz band, the Dell Wireless 1520 and 1510 performance is abysmal.
You're better off with the Intel 6300 card, although you can also just retrofit one later.
By the way, if you order by phone you might still be able to get an Intel 6300 card and other options that aren't available on the website.

 

all driver related issues, dell 1520 driver is crap.
when i use dell driver on my 1520 card wireless n troughput is capped at 20 mbit.
now i use broadcom driver march 2010 and runs perfecly. can download wirelessly on 120 mbit fiber. get 14mb/s

 

i did ask for 6300, but they told me it's out of stock. i think if it does not work well, i have to buy one myself. i think AU broadband is not that fast anyway.

 

where can i find that driver? can i have a link for backup?

 

if you have a DW1520 card use this driver instead of dells crap driver.

http://files.laptopvideo2go.com/wlan/broadcom_v5.60.48.35.exe
http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/14644-latest-broadcom-943xx-driver/

 

Thank u very much, i will have 1520 in my M17x. just want to double check u r talking about the latest one:
Broadcom 943xx v5.60.48.35 driver DriverVer=01/21/2010, 5.60.48.35
aren't u? Cos u mentioned March 2010 and i could only find the above one Jan 2010

 

Thanks man - i made the SSD related tweaks and the performance improved on the SSDs - of course my system is lagging now...

 

Has anyone played Metro 2033 up to the Libary part and not able to see there guns? It seems my game refuses to show my guns... and my crosshair icon meaning i cant open doors/pick up items etc. and I've seen some youtube walk thoughs and it clearly shows you should have your weapons...So idk whats wrong i really rather not start a whole new game just to fix it but eh its irritating me.

 

I was interested in this as well, downloaded the driver but it wouldn't install on my Win7x64 Ultimate

Anyone have a link to a driver that will work?

 

mfractal

Any thoughts on why the 4kQD32 number didn't rebound on the 128GB Samsung drive?

It really came up on the Intel.... i just disabled my pagefile rebooted but there wasn't any real improvement, still 1.4923

 

it's the latest, i though i saw march in driver properties but i used the latest from that list.

manually install.. do not use the installer but install driver via device manager and use driver from folder DRIVER_US
remove dell driver, and then manually install.
i always do it this way so yo won't end up with the dell utilities for wireless.. windows 7 handles wifi just fine. no need for extra wifi managers.

so unpack the archive by running broadcom_v5.60.48.35.exe
then install driver via device manager and use broadcom_v5.60.48.35\DRIVER_US folder.
works just fine then here in windows 7 x64 home premium. much better then dell driver. wich is old halfway 2009.

 

really？do not have my machine yet, can not test.

 

That worked - thanks!

That's what i get for messing with my system pre-coffee

 

lol no coffee is asking for fubar system

 

+1

that is just asking for probs...
Its just about as bad and redoing hard drives after drinking some and hitting the wrong key.. where did that 100 gigs of files just go... holy ****...... where is that backup...

 

the second paragraph answers all, it's easy for people like me to understand, tks

 

no problem. saves some time for you now on installing.
took me a hour to get the DW1520 working perfect, dell drivers are just so bad.. tried getting a good working wifi with dell drivers is just not possible.
and since dell uses broadcom chip there's always a better driver then.

 

For those that are using the Intel 6300 and win7 are you just using the driver and windows 7 manages it or are you using the Intel software package.. If you are using the latter, is that due to benefits not present in windows 7 natively?

 

Windows built in manager works beautifully so i never saw a reason to switch to the Intel one.

 

Yea same here. I was just curious what other's were doing

 

Just poking around some more.. Wondering if CodeBreaker or anyone else has taken on the Guide for Dummies approach, and if so, how far into it are you?

 

Whoa, Joker, how come you had to get a replacement M17x-R2?

Are the problems fixed yet with updated BIOS?

I'd kind of quit my search, only my current laptop had a complete USB failure last night (and now randomly it's working again like nothing happened), so I'm thinking maybe I do need to get another one soonish...

Wish Dell had fixed the M15x, or had some other GPU options for the M17x-R2 :-/

 

How does one get a system replacement? I see so many people getting one I have to wonder.

 

what is the latest driver version for the 4870s? i see talk about 10.5 and 10.5 but all i can find online are the 10.3 still

 

I'd definitely get the 10.5 as you mentioned, the other 10.5 drivers are boring, but the 10.5 ones are good. I'd get the 10.5.....

 

strags.com has both the 10.5 beta and the 10.6 alpha

 

10.4a is now out with the BC2 slow loading fix but only for desktop atm:

http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/ATI-Catalyst-10-4-Hotfix.aspx

 

Hey guys, having some problems with my brandnew M17x-R2.

1. Media buttons not responding, well not all of them. Its just the volume down button.


2. Keyboard issue. When i hold down backspace to clear a sentence, it takes 0.5 seconds before it starts clearing the words.


3. MW2 flickers when XF is on. Probably due to loose XF connectors. (gonna call dell up)

Oh and i did do the ''take out battery, hold down for 20seconds'' thing


Any help?

 

I uninstalled the 10.6 drivers, they kept freezing up Crysis Wars, this happened repeatedly, never happened with 10.3.

 

have you tried a fresh os install?

 

No, i've not.

How will that help?

 

The keyboard issue could be from your typing settings in windows. That "delay" is adjustable I believe. And you could try reinstalling Alienware OSD for the touch buttons. Not sure bout the crossfire problem though, but it does sound like a loose cable.

 

it's time for ati to release 10.4 for mobility cards!

 

it might.. does the keyboard behave the same way in bios/safe mode ?

 

dell netherlands updated website, can order 5870 card in cross..

Single 1GB ATI® Mobility Radeon™ HD 5870 [Inbegrepen in prijs]
CrossFire™ Dual 1GB ATI® Mobility Radeon™ HD 5870 [meerprijs € 340,00

 

here we go ..

EDIT: i can't see it here : http://configure.la.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=an&cs=andhs1&l=en&oc=LAQMBen&s=dhs , can you send a link ?

 

well i got my R2 as a replacement so i'm already happy with the 4870x2 but now i have some upgrading options for the future.

 

I'll probably pick up a few in the future.

 

yeah, a year or so from now, i'll consider the upgrade along with the 920xm.
BTW, does this mean those machines are coming with A03 ? In which the virtualization issue is resolved ?
I know i am dreaming but it's possible...