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

moved to another thread

 

I was planning on buying a M17x with CF5870's, but then a little birdy told me that you can only use Dell's graphics driver and not official ATI mobile drivers, is there already a solution for this, because its a good enough reason for me to not buy one right now

thanks

 

its not a birdy its the whole forum. my guess is that its restricted due to the temps produced. they dont know if newer drivers would cause them to produce heat even more than manufacturers highest limit.

 

Its being fixed though, almost there to be done. I know its weird how dell wants control of this release and also control of the flow of the product. Yes we don't want to have another R1 problem, that was a disaster.

 

I can wait, i have a pretty decent notebook atm

 

I can't wait for mine either

 

Extra post: Has ANYONE noticed that the price of the M17x WITH CF5870 (Suddenly +$375 from a single 5870) is much more expensive than it was when they were first released. My obvious guess is that they are gonna release the 480m which they know will be much higher in price, so this makes it seem like it isn't *THAT* much more expensive.

Or has it always been like that I'm am just seeing things?

 

I thought that it was $325 for the upgrade to xfire.

 

It has always been +375......I think. They dropped dual 4870s from +300 to +275 then made dual 5870s +375

 

Ok I don't remember, at all lol then.

 

Nono, you are quite right, at first it was +285 for CF5870 and +285 for CF 4870, now they raised CF5870, my guess is they want to get rid of their 4870's, because who would take an older model setup for the same price as the newer one

 

would really like to see the temps regarding that with dell stock drivers (slow drivers) they reach 90 degrees. one is for sure. the first to try will be really a tester

 

Aristo,
You've got yourself a nice replacement eventually
Nice one! How do you find the RGB LED?

 

RGB makes me feel little dizzy after couple of hours' use.any idea?

 

ceshimm. Calibrate your screen, see crylo's settings. If the red is too saturated i find it creates a redish halo around stuff almost making it seem like you're watching a 3d screen without the glasses.

 

i was lucky to have a good screen on R1 too (many people complained about it) but LED is one class above.

yes nice replacement even though they made fun of me telling m CF 5870 is not compatible. thus esata drives are not recognized (i am almost sure this is for everybody due to intel drivers on win7), and i have issues loading windows with the express card tv tuner in it. i have to remove it first. i am waiting for a new tv tuner now. if the problem persists its once again the machine and this time must be the power handling i guess.

you can always reduce brightness a little bit. i like it like that though as i always work with room lights off.

 

Could someone point me to the thread, or part of this thread, where the fan's going up and down while web browsing is? I just started experiencing this.

 

Dear NBR friend, Maybe you suffer from the same condition as me: Photophobia ("Photophobia is a fairly common symptom. For many people, photophobia is not due to any underlying disease. Severe photophobia may be associated with eye problems and cause severe eye pain even in relatively low light (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003041.htm)."
I have to restringe myself to the use of matte screen (without glare or reflections since those exite the eyes nerves, causes over stimulation of the photoreceptors in the retina and subsequent excessive electric impulses to the optic nerve). Even then I reduce the brightness and can work for 10-12 hours a day (my pleasure) without problems.
The bio-optical problems caused by the glossy screens to the eyes are widely known and nothing new.
The image of light sources reflected on the screen cause the human visual system and the mind to focus on different images situated at different levels (or space dimensions) at once (even if you feel that you're "ignoring" some of them, your visual system and your mind it's capturing and working in interpret each one of them to decide almost at the speed of light, which ones are to be discarted). Just one of the images is at the distance of the screen. The others are at different distances in the surrounding space and at a much farther distance than the information or image shown on the screen. This competition between the images to receive your attention and the continuos (ignored) "fight" of the visual system to focus on some of them and difference between them cause headache and other severe disturbances. If you are after your 45's-50's you may develop photophobia.
In any case, it's a good advise to seek specialized medical advice to determine if there isn't any pathological condition, and if there is some need of it, to take the proper care. drive your life (and eyes) on the safe side!
The computer and it's screen are for now, the eyes are for all of your life.

 

Check what is taking CPU cycles via task manager. Might be a problem with your browser, might be something else. Are you on a high performance power plan? That can cause a slight CPU load and cause the fans to turn on.

 

Hey I just my service tag for my new system which should arrive monday. Can anyone confirm that this:

P1RPJ Module, Card, Graphics, 5870, Parker, DUAL, Mid-Life Kicker
C8245 Card, Graphics, Hard Drive, 5870, Parker, Mid-Life Kicker
RV546 Card, Graphics, Hard Drive, 5870, Parker, Mobile Pci Express Module, Cable

Means Dual 5870's CrossfireX

 

Nah man they gave you some speakers instead of video cards! Parker mid-life kickers!

 

i found it thanks. should make better effort now.

one more question is that on 1200P the text is to small to me. i figure out there are two ways to solve it. One is using browser to enlarge the text on web site but some other software is still to small. the other is using adjust text and picture function in WIN7 like 100% 125% 150%. i feel 150% is better for me and i can use default size in my browser (but text look not sharp as 125%). Which method do u guys use? and if i use 150% from WIN7, will it affect my gaming? i still want sharp and smooth graphic in gaming.

 

but did they at least give me 2?

 

lol kickers

 

would this SSD be compatible with the R2?

Intel® - OEM X25-M Mainstream 160GB Internal Serial ATA II Solid State Hard Drive - SSDSA2MH160G2C1

 

Yes. ANY sata hard drive will work in the R2. Sata 2 drives will give you the best performance

 

I use 125% (note that not all software uses DPI scaling, so some stuiff will still be small) and no, it won't affect gaming

 

Yes, and it's a good one, works grrrreat. My second Intel SSD.

 

disadvantage the write speed but most care only about read speed. i personally preferred something more balanced.

 

I have 0 complaints about the write speed on mine so far

 

+1 on that.. and the 160 gb size is right on the spot for me too

 

I really enjoy the added size over my 128 that this replaced. I was just cutting it too close before

 

by the same point i dont have complaints about the performance of ocz vertex including read and write. on the contrary. i can do format and install all apps-drivers in less than 30 minutes including restarts.

 

How about the new 400 GB Vertex 2 Pro?

 

@ Scook,
Do you by chance have a dumped Vbios for the secondary 4870? I'd like to try and re-flash it and maybe it could fix the CF problems in games.

 

not sure if you need scook's specifically but here's mine : 4shared.com - online file sharing and storage - download bios - slave.rom

 

when i win the lottery i may buy it. loool

 

I only have one of the two, not even sure which it was lol

 

This is most defintely a stupid question, but, is there anyway to improve older games graphics? I'm playing Mass Effect 1 again and if i thought it looked bad on the xbox, I had no idea how bad it looked on the pc. Thank god the storyline is amazing.

 

Thanks Bro. Already got it from GadgetBoy.

 

G'day, just ordered myself a new M17X. Just from reference I'm in Australia (check out the base specs, heaps better than the US version, I mean the i5 isn't even an option here, RGB screen is standard, crossfire is cheaper, raid is standard). I keep seeing mentions of R1's and R2's, although I've never actually seen an R2 in the model number.

Does R2 just mean new ones, where R1's are pre i5/i7?

 

I think the R1's had the Nvidia based GPU's, Core 2 Duo Intel CPU's, and no RGB LED for them. But ya all new models bought from Alienware/DELL right now are all R2's I believe.

 

Ok, cheers.

 

If Alienware redesigns the M17x at E3 and it looks good how do I return my current system to Dell? I received it June 6 and I think there is a 21 or 30 day return policy. Do I just call them and say I no longer want the system?

 

You just say you don't longer want it, you been having too many problems and you don't game as much as you thought are good ways to begin. You like nvidia don't you? Good to have a 2 gig sli though. You know the build material is going to different right?

 

If they make it out of plastic then I'm keeping the one I have. I also hate nVidia so if the 480m is the only new thing I'll keep the one I have. Thanks for the things to say. I appreciate it.

 

hi all it dosent warrant a new post so i got quick question....wheres my 5% overclock in the m17x r2 bios please thanks all

 

It under CPU Frequency Over-Clocking But greyed out,so unavailable unless you got the Extreme proc.

 

lol now im sad means have to spend more money

 

Oooooh! That's why I coulldn't get it to...sadface