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

I am guessing it is one of the following reasons:

1. Maybe engineering found a problem with the i7-x40 CPUs in the M17x-R2. The A06 BIOS update probably included the change to recognize the newer CPUs and therefore no reason to remove it while testing was still being performed. It is a theory.
2. Dell is trying to deplete their stock of x20 CPUs in this model. I do not think that is the case since the M15x model listed both i7-x20 and i7-x40 CPUs and now only list i7-x40 CPUs.

 

I would like to add a few things to the wiki but I want to make sure that I am on the right track - so if anyone can confirm the following I would appreciate it.

My Machine is the M17x R2 crossfire hd5870.

The below issues are prevalent after following the "install 10.6 catalyst" instructions in the wiki and running the 10.6 mobility catalyst drivers.

1: The "full screen 10.6 crossfire fix" with rivatuner works as stated - however, the machine also locks up as stated unless running furmark.
The overclock stays after closing furmark and everything runs as normal.
The issue is persisting that overclock after a reboot. What in fact will occur is a BSOD reboot loop caused by rivatuner unless you can quickly open up a furmark multigpu instance.
Thus, I know of no way to persist the overclock required using rivatuner, and it has to be done manually each reboot with Furmarkmultigpu and rivatuner.

2: Displayport/external display
When using a displayport external display, and I assume other displays as well, attempting to change the resolution or screen layout will result in a hard lock of the system and no display on either screen.


None of the mentioned issues occur using the dell 10.5 drivers.

I suppose it could be possible that the Dell HD5870M cards have some kind of modified bios to work around heat/power envelopes or throttling, which causes these issues? and thus, can only use the dell drivers.

In any case I would like to add this information to the wiki so long as it can be confirmed.

Thanks.

-Ash

 

You can unplug the small keyboard connector and see if it helps

 

I never even thought of that! lol

 

Hmm, an interesting thought... Might have to do it once I have it torn apart for the 920XM

 

Hmm, I have a question about the m17x, does it come with a remote control, if no, does it have an infrared receiver on the front of the machine

thanks

NM: found the answer on google, Remote:no, IR in front:yes,
must remember to keep my remote when I ever have to return my M1730 (let's hope not too fast, because I think from what I read that m17xwith HD5870 still have some flaws)

 

It will be awhile till there's a flawless system on the market

 

I see a TV Tuner remote control when I look at the m17x model configuration page in the Electronics & Accessories tab.

 

I can use a Windows Mulimedia Center remote that came with a usb tv tuner I bought a few years ago, works great.

 

Hi everyone
Well, i was kinda happy with my laptop till i let windows updater mess it up !, so, i am thinking about format, i was reading about and i saw two differents ways to do, meaning, two different ways to install the drivers in order:

This one or the mentioned in this thread

OSD: OSD
Audio: IDT driver
Card Reader: Ricoh driver
Chipset: Intel Driver
Input Device Drivers: 1. ITE driver 2. Synaptics touchpad driver
Network: 1. Wireless 370 BT driver 2. WLAN 1520 Half Mini Card driver 3. 825xx Gigabit platform driver 4. Intel Wifi 6300 driver
SATA Drivers: 1. Intel Matrix Storage Manager 2. ST Microelectronics free fall sensor driver
Video Driver: 1. ATi Mobility 4870 Driver version 8.68.2-091125a1-092358C-Dell.2, A00 or you can grab AMD's latest 10.3 Catalyst driver from here: 2. Catalyst 10.3 WHQL Windows 7 64-bit
AMD Catalyst Crossfire Application Profiles: Crossfire Application Profiles
Alienware Command Center: Alienware Command Center A04 for Quicksilver and Defiant

I have some doubts, i wanna make a fresh install of windows, those drivers will be enough for made it ?

The other question is about ATI catalyst, which version should i use ? (specs on signature), cause, i read some folks are having issues with the latest one, i dont know if this is the sae with single Ati cards

Ohh, another one, about the Bios version, my laptop came with A05 installed, its kinda rare cause this is a brand new machine, just got this yesterday, and the A06 version have some days on the air, should i flash the Bios and install the new one ? . . Thanks so much for your advice

 

Ok, well, i just decide to format and i did it, but, i got some problems (please excuse me if this is not the right place to explain it):

While i was installig the TSST software (CD/DVD section), i got a window, this asl for a software and also there is a buttom to download, but, download what ? When i press the download botton this just say to me "File not open!!"; well, this is asking for a software but which software and from where i should get it ? So far i put inside a CD disk (windows cd) and this can read it, but i dont know if i am missing something

Also, i am getting a bad response with the video drivers, i didnt install any CCC from external link, i just download the ATI drivers which were offer to me in the dell page, but, this install a version of CCC which i dont know exactly which is it cause have not a propper and clear description, like 10.4, etc, i am downloading now the 10.6, and i will to install it, but, i got a seriouly problem watching this forum, i can scroll down with the mouse wheel and this run kinda smooth, not so much, but, i i use the right bar to go up and down this is like pushing a rock, iis not smooth, the forum ask me for install some plugings on firefox, i did, but stills, and is just here, so, i dont know if this is driver issue or another thing, thanks guys

 

You can also try disabling it through the advanced power saving options.

 

That is the route I went when I had my laptop in the freezer. And if you really want to save some power, use an external monitor and close the lid to turn off the laptop screen

 

Sneaky Scook, lol! Cunning as a fox.
Did you also leave a single disk and powered off the DVD and speakers, all the rest of the ports, removed the wireless and bluetooth cards?

 

Nope, needed wireless. Too lazy to take out the 2nd hdd and bluetooth. As long as system is muted speakers draw no power. DVD is a huge PITA to get too in the M17x lol

Regardless, I was getting all the juice I could ever want as is - just wish I could figure out my ram bandwidth problem

 

I was trying this lastnight with the R2, but the whole "wake" issue was messing it up. When it switched from scene 1 to scene 2 in 3DMark06, it would freeze. It's like it doesn't like to operate properly with the lid closed. Then I have to pull the battery and power cord to get it to post properly, otherwise the screen won't display.

 

Yes, having several different power profiles can mix things up. I prefer to always stay at max performance and disable every possible powersaving scheme. So, closing the lid does nothing on my machine.
But benching is another story...

 

Same here. I have everything set to stay on always when benching. Don't worry about closing the lid, there is a hardware switch that will turn off the screen and change the video output when it is closed - independent of the operating system

 

Got my m17x-r2 today. Formatted and started with a fresh install on an Intel G2 SSD. Installed all the drivers I needed. Everything went smoothly. Decided to stick with stock Dell ATI drivers. Ran Furmark for 10 minutes straight and GPU's got to 83C.

Installed Crysis for the heck of it and it ran very nicely. So far I have to say that I'm VERY impressed with the machine right now.

I'm installing some games during the night on Steam and I'll see how they perform. Thanks for all the insight guys.

 

Hey guys, i have been reading these forums for a long time but i decided why not join the discussions lol, anyways i got my r2 with a 920xm, 4GB DDR3 Ram, 1tb Raid 0, Dual 5870's, Intel 6300 and its Lunar Silver (looks a lot better than my black r1, i compared them both side by side for a long time and silver looks a lot sleeker) looks like once you go black, you can go back! lol, anyways i am thinking about a ssd but the prices are too much right now, anyone have a rough idea of when we should see prices dropping on ssds. Also how do i put my system specs in a sig like all you guys?

 

You can wait for a while till the new generation of SSDs come out with bigger capacities so the existing ones will drop in price. About the signature check here

 

to be honest i see the price of new ssds rising than the current ones dropping

 

I can find my SSD new for $200 less than what I paid. It's a significant drop IMO.

 

Hi guys, I hate to repeat past topics but 345 pages will kill me so I want to know if anyone on this thread has carried out a switch from the standard LCD to the RGBLED and if the quality is worth the £230 price difference.
Regards.

 

I have owned a R1 with a CCFL display & i now have a R2 with RGB & if i could get a RGB for 230 sheets i would do it as it's a big difference & a nice one, worth the cash 4 sure

 

Thanks for the lightning fast answer, I will definitely consider the LED then

 

You have an M15x....that does not have an RGB option......if you are going to try your own aftermarket upgrade that is pretty risky and a considerable PITA due to the edge to edge glass design

 

What driver are you guys using for the Ethernet? My Device Manager shows me the Ethernet Controller as not installed...

 

Is it enabled in the BIOS?

 

Yeah, it is.

Edit: Nevermind, I think I got it installed.

 

This is the driver i am using War.

 

Hi to all,
I'm new to the forums but i've been reading some of the infos & issues about the alienware.
So i have some questions to ask,
First and foremost, if i would want to buy AW laptop, which would it be m15x or m17x as a replacement for custom or non-custom desktop?
Secondly, if i want to have a lappy to last for 4-5 years, would these AW lappy be a good choice?
Thirdly, by reading the forums, is it possible to say that i will face some problematic issues?
Lastly, is it worth every penny? I'm living in singapore and the price for m15x is 3k and the price for m17x is 4.5k..

Thanks.

 

if space-portability is not an issue for you then buy a desktop customized. not needed to be alienware. you can buy a desktop machine much better than the M17X notebook and half the price.

 

I was bored so I decided to take a picture of my keyboard

 

Just recently got my R2 replacement for my R1 and finally have everything set back up to how I had things programs and all that. But I have a bit of a gripe with the R2 and my normal power management ways. I always have it turn the screen off after so long but for some reason the screen never fully goes off on this thing. You can still tell that the backlighting or whatever is on because it has that lit grey/black look to it rather then pure off black. I did some searching and couldn't find anything, maybe I just missed the right search terms. I have the RGB LED if that matters.

Also I notice from time to time that the alien head power button is indicating that the battery is charging, but that can't be right because I don't unplug it and it sits at 100%. Not really a huge problem just sort of annoying. Wondering if it is a problem with the battery, maybe the a/c adapter, something else, or nothing at all and is normal for the R2s?

 

Can't say I noticed what you describe with the LCD.
Regarding the battery charging - it's normal and happens to all the r2s.

 

Dummy question, i hope dont be on the wrong thread; i dont ever take off the battery of my system, but, this is fully charged and i am sure that is on mode "off" by pressing Fn+F2, should i take off the battery everytime that i am using the machine connected to the AC cord ?

 

I leave my battery in all the time. I just shutdown the laptop and unplug the AC adapter whenever I am not using it. Doing this I still get an excellent battery life (very close to when brand new) a year after getting the laptop.

 

@ Rockwell B1

I have the same issues with mine. The RGB screen even though I have it set to display the screen saver, it doesn't. However, I think that in my case since I use a custom wallpaper, the screen just goes down but not completely off. I think that the screen saver comes on only if you are using the desktop aero? The battery charging issue happens to me as well and all I do to counter this is to hit fn+f2 when it happens, (sometimes I have to hit it until I see it disabled on screen) I assume that it doesn't affect my system at all but if anyone else knows how to solve these issues please advise thanks. @ Rockwell B1 I hope that I was of some help?

 

I notice that when I try to run my system off of the battery, once I hit 50-45% the system locks up and shutsdown? I don't think that this is normal has anyone else experienced this and if so does anyone have any advice?

 

I have had the battery issue from time to time. I just do a power drain and it goes away.

 

Are you referring to the disable feature or running off of battery?

 

No, when the power button thinks its charging the battery when its @ 100%. Conversely, I have seen it say its at 100% when its not. Powerdrain fixes that too.

 

okay, I just hit fn+f2 until I see it display that it is disabled. However I will try the power drain and see if that works as well. My question is that why when my battery is fully charged and I try to run it on battery once it hits 45-50% my lappy shuts down? I don't have the battery settings set to do this, but it does anyway. Is there any way to resolve this?

 

Edit: Removed. Sorry link was for the desktop release.

 

Hey Joker, do you think that I should get another battery or is there a workaround for this issue?

 

still working on purchasing that mx17 went to Europe for two weeks so gotta balance the budget then i should be fine but i have one more question about the processor. which is better the
Intel® Core™2 Extreme Quad QX9300 2.53GHz (12MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
or the
Intel® Core™ i7 820QM 1.73GHz (3.06GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)
sadly I'm not a tech savoy but that's why I'm playing it safe than sorry I'm looking for the most stable processor and if you look at my last few posts you'll see the other components I'm getting as well. the games i mostly play now adays are wow, 2142, COH, and call of duty mainly wow so which one is the best for any of these games on high definitions? I'm looking at the I7 but would like some more feedback. -thanks GeneralSasuke.

 

i7 equipped system is a newer gen with RGB LED screen option and ATI 5870's, while the former has up to GTX 280Mx2 or MR4870x2 (both options are less powerful than 5870's) and a mediocre CCFL screen.
CPU-wise there shouldn't be a huge difference.
Go for the i7.

 

Not sure how the 820 compares to the 9300 but I can tell ya the 920 is blazing fast compared to my old 9300. You'll also not have to deal with the power stutter issue that plagues most if not all M17x-R1s, that is what finally made me get an R2 replacement out of Dell or demand my refund. The 5870s do not perform quite as well as my 280s did in the R1, but that's due to sub par drivers right now and will hopefully be fixed down the road.
Definitely go for the R2, aka i7.

 

Quick question..

Does the high wattage power adapter the 17x uses can be used by the Studio XPS 16?

Sorry for intruding lo