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

Sure, if you don't have the router. Which is what I implied.

 

Wait a sec, When both cards are connected to a wireless N router (which i have) the Intel 6300 will benefit from almost double the transfer rate of the Half Mini Card?

Both are Wireless N cards. shouldn't they perform almost identically. I thought the only benefit of the Intel card was the reliability and range (mimo tech)

 

I almost exclusively use wireless, so the faster/better the card the more i can do. Seeing as how everything needs the internet these days, an extra $50 was a no brainer for me

 

I was wondering if anyone keeps the box your system was shipped in? Maybe for a collection or for a possible return?

 

i keep it in case of a move so i can put it away and not worry about it so i dont crush/lose it in the mess that is me moving lol.

 

I keep in in case of resale. Buyers like it when it comes in the original boxes.

 

My R2 came with the default half minicard, I figured it would be ok and I don't have an N router yet. It did work fine for most regular browsing but once I used it to download a large video file via bit torrent (using Utorrent) at fairly fast speed it would just loose the connection, and I mean loose the connection completely, only thing I could do was reboot and to get it to work again. I also started to have some problems with DNS identification on some websites, I ran an included wifi diagnostic with the half minicard and it gave a DNS resolution error. Idid call Alienware and they would not replace it stating that my router was at fault, but I have 5 laptops and 3 desktops at home and they all connecting fine and navigating fine wired and wirelessly, so I knew my router was fine.
I ended up getting an excellent deal on the Intel 6300 from babyhemi here at this forum in the below thread link
http://forum.notebookreview.com/computer-components/463916-fs-intel-centrino-ultimate-n-6300-advanced-wireless-cards.html
he sells them for $39.99 shipped in the US, got it quick (thanks babyhemi) and after installing it its been awesome, no problems of any kind, download large torrent files at full speed without a hickup, trouble free browsing , range etc, I highly recomend the Intel 6300

 

I think it's important to keep the box for as long as you have warranty. It's always easier to ship back the PC in the original box...

 

For that reason exactly, I keep the boxes.

 

Yeah, but it should draw the same amount of power as the current high end config, so... well I'll hope :-D

Oooooh, something's happening June 15th?

Oh, I'm being silly...unless my notebook dies by then...

 

480m isn't anything to get excited over, go look at the benchmarks paladin put out. It's a gigantic fail...100 TDP, high cost and it can't really outpace a 5870M by much. Get an M17x-R2 now with dual 5870 + 920xm and enjoy the bleeding edge. Or better yet, get one with an i520 and buy a 940 ES off eBay.

 

A laptop with GTX 480m SLI (the x7200 is the only one so far that is announced) would need 300+ Watts of power. That is a monster of a power supply to have to lug around

 

It'll have better drivers though, and at least solid performance, since the 5870 isn't really much better than the 285.

From Anandtech.com:
"Likewise, one can't help but be underwhelmed by the performance of the Mobility Radeon HD 5870. The performance of NVIDIA's mobile graphics parts has been a sitting target for a long time now, and while the victory is still technically decisive, it's really not the supreme triumph it ought to have been. G92 has been around for a long time now, with NVIDIA resting on its laurels. Anyone hoping AMD's new chip would shock NVIDIA out of its complacency has to be disappointed by these results. Needless to say, GTX 480M shouldn't have too much trouble reclaiming the mobile crown "

Regarding the powerdraw, I mean with one 480 versus two 5870. I'd rather have the better drivers, and rather have a single more powerful GPU than two relying on SLi/Crossfire, even if sometimes they can win out.

 

480M is behind MR5870 in Vantage, scoring under 8k (GPU score) with 980X. It's much more powerful in tessellation but their tests weren't too adequate as you can see from here. 720QM+5870 vs 980X+480M lol.

In addition, remember all the stuttering/latency plague associated with 260M/280M/285M cards (and still unresolved for the most part). That alone is the reason to question the 480M's supremacy, even if it's stronger.

 

Those numbers look impressive to me. The only game they list, the 480 starts out a minimum of 8% faster on high settings, and a minimum of 37% faster on very high settings.

EDIT: Some of the synthetic stuff goes over 4x faster. I don't much care about synthetic...but still, I don't see how something that's a minimum of 8% up to possibly 430+% faster is a bad thing. I'd take it even if it's slower for the drivers.

 

Awesome, great info. I might definately consider picking up one of these if mine gives me any issues.

 

Not a single bench from there is real. You do realize the influence of the i7-980X on the outcome, right?
You can only take the Vantage (GPU only) score for reference. And there, they used the lowest possible result for the 5870. Its average GPU score when paired with 720QM is around 8k+. So, zero gain here.

Regarding the drivers. If the card is gonna create the same latency problem as was/is with 280M's - you don't want it, trust me. Plus, it's price is 550$ above the 285M -> close to 800-900$. (MR5870 is under 400$).
In any case we shall know more in a month from now, when more real tests are done.

 

my machine arrived yesterday with dual 4870s. my question is can you install ati 10.5 drivers normally?

i cant install drivers newer than dell ones on the 4870s. the only way i could install 10.5 was after i uninstalled dell driver for the 4870s through device manager and then install 10.5 one using have disk method.

but this was only for drivers. catalyst control center and other stuff from 10.5 couldnt be istalled. only those inside dell driver.

 

I just ran the 10.5 without uninstalling Dell's drivers and all went fine. I came to conclusion that the best way is to just let it install over the existing drivers choosing the express option. Hope this helps.

 

thats what i did. I suspect that as i got it yesterday it may have a vbios similar to 5870s one preventing installation of drivers other than Dell ones. thus it came with A05 bios.

when i install 10.5 4870s driver using have disk over the dell ones i get best driver is already installed.

i remember i had done it many many times on R1 with 4870s so i know how they should be installed normally over dell ones. at least it was with 10.2 drivers at that time

 

i've heard that u may need to flash back to BIOS A02 to be able to install ATI 10.5 and make it works reliable.

 

so they seem to add a kind of lock on A05 BIOS. i dont think i ll revert back to A02 BIOS though as i may buy 5870s later. i will test performance with dell drivers now.

 

I can not get 10.5 to install no matter what I do.I uninstall everything ati related restart in safe mode run driver sweeper and ccleaner restart in to normal windows try to install the new driver and it never works.I try to install right over the existing driver never works.I am just about to give up and sell this *cough* beast.

 

I reverted back to a02 because i saw flickering with high overclocks I think the a02 would provide better performance.

 

where can we get the a02 bios?

 

I dont think its available on dell's website anymore. But i had the copy i downloaded so i just flashed that one.

 

check your dvd you got with your computer if you got it in march-june i beleive a02 is on there.
if not i can check mine and copy and email it to you after work?

 

Where on the dvd exactly? my system came with the a01, do you think i might find that on the dvd? i tried searching for it but i couldn't find where it was. I can upload the a02, if anyone needs it.

 

downloading 10.5 now, to try it on my machine. will report back.

 

There is no bios on the dvd.thanks for the help

 

that would be awesome.

 

10.5 installed over 10.3 just fine here.

 

yup same here installed it over the dell driver, its showing up on GPUZ and Catalyst so everything seems to be running fine on my end.

 

http://www.box.net/download/account/f_445176208/0/M17xR2A02.zip
Here is the link, tell me if you notice any improvements.

 

do 12.5 mm harddrives fit in the caddies of our alienware laptop?
want to get a 1 tb drive but it's 12.5 mm high instead of normal 9.5mm height.

Western Digital WD10TPVT 1TB, need more space

 

i am 99% sure 12.5mm will not fit.. sorry...

 

dell offers the 640gb drives, thought those were 12.5 too and everyting below 500gb was 9.5mm

 

when i try to install 10.5 it installs but i get the ! when you check the logs! so i just uninstalled and stuck with dells atm =<
i just want the flickering on splinter cell to stop =<

running AVG virus scan atm, fans going up and down - but seems like in gear, not just high low hig low, like high - medium- low etc =/ shouldnt it stay more constant? cpu going from 10-70 then back down to 20 also is that normal for a virus scan lol?

 

no the 640 hard drives are 9.5mm the 750gb hard drive and 1tb hard drive are 12.5 mm and according to dell 12.5 mm is capable of being placed in secondary hard drive bay

 

might give them a call before i order the drive and find out the thing doesnt fit

 

hey guys

Sorry if this has been posted before

My R2 will not power on without the power plugged in - i have removed the battery and re-seated it without any luck...

is this a "power-drain" situation? Do i need to leave the batt out for hours?

Thanks,

 

If they're running the same CPU, it's a valid comparison. If not, then what's the point of linking to it at all? At any rate Anandtech thinks it's going to be great, those numbers sure back it up, and even if it is more expensive, well I'd be getting one of them versus two of the 5870s. And to date I haven't had a single problem with Nvidia drivers since 1998, while I haven't NOT had issues with ATi drivers with at least some things ever. Heck, I'd want them just for the excellent dynamic contrast that works great for some dark ATSC shows I watch.

 

It will fit in the secondary bay with some minor modification (at least on the R1 there is a little tab that has to be broken off).

I actually had that same problem on my R1. Only fix I had was to get a new motherboard unfortunately. I did however score a free extra battery in the troubleshooting process

 

to make myself clear i never said i get error during 10.5 installation over Dell. i shows installed successfully but guess what no new drivers on 4870s and no new version of catalyst. it says they are all installed already

so please take a screenshot of this after 10.5 installation. just to see if its different. the one i post is with dell drivers.

 

I used ils technique from the drivers thread and got 10.5 to install

 

That's the thing, they compare the strongest desktop 6-core processor vs weakest of the mobile quads. That's y the only benchmark that you can to some extend rely on - Vantage (GPU only).
Anandtech is known for being biased towards every new tech ($$$ ). In fact, the only realistic reviews/tests can be found on these boards

 

I went the "10.3->10.4->10.5" route with no issues just by installing over and choosing the express install every time.

 

I tried that to no avail several times.that was the only way it would work

 

Aikimox

What bios version u on?

 

here's a screenshot of my ccc:

running bios A05, like a said, installed over 10.3 w/o issues.