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

Ya those look ok to me.

 

So, on a side note, any one useing IE 9beta ?

 

Yeh I've been using it. Pretty good. Like how it uses the GPU.
Fast.

Cheers.

 

I might give a try.....can ya remove and revert to 8 if you need ? And how does it use the gpu ?

 

Not sure if you can remove i guess so. It does install over the top of 8 though.

Oh all the new Web browsers are utilising the GPU to render text and graphics.
Flash is supposedly out the window.

Hardware-accelerated text, video, and graphics
The new graphic capabilities and improved performance in Internet Explorer 9 set the stage for immersive and rich experiences. Hardware-accelerated text, video, and graphics mean your websites perform like the programs that are installed on your computer. High-definition videos are smooth, graphics are clear and responsive, colors are true, and websites are interactive like never before.

All-around fast - Microsoft Windows

Should be interesting.

Cheers.

 

i wont install till it appears on windows update. i am a firefox fan anyway

 

You can uninstall it. It appears under "installed updates", just right click and click uninstall.

 

i remember i had issues with installing uninstalling beta windows releases before. i am sure as soon as IE 9 comes out firefox will fire with version 4

 

Since I use Chrome, I am installing IE9 now, I have nothing to lose, and everything to Gain, lol.

 

Ok, I installed, rebooted, it will not load, keeps crashing, hmmm. nice Microsoft

Just in case you need it, I found this on the Win 7 forum:

You can remove IE9 Beta using the following steps.

1. Close all programs.

2. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

3. Click Uninstall a Program under the Programs category

4. In the Tasks pane, click View installed updates.

5. In the list of installed updates, double-click Windows Internet Explorer 9.

6. In the Uninstall an update dialog box, click Yes.
Note If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.

7. Follow the instructions to uninstall Internet Explorer 9.

8. When the uninstall program is finished, restart your computer.

9. After you restart your computer, open Internet Explorer.

10. Click About Internet Explorer on the Help menu. If Internet Explorer 7 or 8 appears in the About Internet Explorerdialog box, then you have successfully completed the uninstall.

 

Oh thats odd keeps crashing ey.

I'm running all the new ones atm. Firefox and IE9. Both utilising the GPU code now. Their really all just starting to look the same lol.
I use one of each for different things. Some sites were geared towards IE specifically in my work and studies so they run better in that other things I like to use firefox with. I know a lot of people like using chrome now as well. Their GPU web browser version should be out soon too. Their all still in beta stage though. Just released for us to take for a test drive.

Still can't believe AMD this month lol no drivers for the mobility range. TSK TSk! I've only started using them for 2 weeks as well lol.

Cheers.

 

IE 9 keeps crashing on my M17X R2, but works great on my Gateway P-7805U FX, I wondor what the problem is? I have tried installing and uninstalling it twice now. I am impressed with the speed, and I am a Chrome user.

 

Yeh I mostly use firefox however thats been bugging me a lot lately. Getting so slow and stuff. I too was quite impressed by IE 9s speed.
Hmmmmsss wonder whats going on with ur R2 not being able to run it. Must be a bug or OS reg thing. Something not quite right. I hate it when things just dont install and run like they should lol.

Cheers.

 

I went into Internet options in Control Panel and reset under Advanced, that did not help.

 

This has probably been mentioned, but I was checking the configuration screen to see if a Geforce GTX 4x0 had shown up yet...and it hasn't, BUT what's weird is they now have a Geforce 285 option in single or SLI form!

Now actually I'd go for that over a Radeon 5870 probably, but still, that's really weird. I can see offering that in SLI over a single 480 or something, but still, it's really weird that they don't offer at least a single 4x0 card yet...

EDIT: I mean I can order an Asus and have one with a GTX 460 in my hands tomorrow, literally.

 

Dell is not known for leading the pack with new gpus

Case in point...they are now exactly one generation behind on nvidias (down to the week haha)

 

I still want to bet that it is because the system can't handle the GTX4xx series. I mean it can hardly manage to power the systems that have the 5870s. This has been discussed and shown by Joker and a few others, very recently it was brought up in the BIOS A08 thread again. We continue to push for a 300w PSU.

The 285s are just 280s bumped up a bit correct? So the 5870s are still the best option unless you just have got to have nVIDIAs.

 

That is correct, the 5870s remain the top performing option for the M17x

 

I still wouldn't mind trading for a pair of 285s temporarily, just to bench.

 

I have a pair of GTX 280m's I will be benching haha. Then they will be traded to some lucky person for their pair of GTX 260m's if I still have enthusiasm for benching.

 

and GTX285 doesnt support dx11 if i am not wrong. i think they are too expensive for what they offer except from old solution.

looks like to me that they finally found they cant handle GTX480 and just chose those latest working nvidia gpus for nvidia fans

 

This occurred to me too but I really hope they are not giving up that easily

 

Looks like a new BIOS, A09 is out, any info on it ?

 

just out of curiosity: i haven't been here for a while, because i do not own a m17x, but i would like to own one

Is the driver problem with the 5870 cards fixed (i mean is there a workaround to get the official ATI drivers to work instead of the alienware ones)
because that was putting me off ...

 

Yes, it's basically A07 + Touchpad fix - Extreme processors Multipliers limitations and looks like it's troublefree so feel free to flash.

The problem is resolved with a Beta VBIOS flash + 10.8 drivers or higher. The downside is once you flash the new vbios you can't go back to drivers that are before 10.8.

 

OK, so it does NOT have the CPU limitations of A08 ? Excellent.....is there a new thread about it somewhere ?

 

yeah, it's a sticky
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/519400-m17xr2-bios-a09-discussion-thread.html

 

does it void warranty or is it an official alienware vbios?

 

Damit....another bios for the R2 while the R1 is still stagnating with a crippled bios

 

Its an official vbios chiefs. All good and totally covered by warrenty.
Can't wait to test out the next batch of dell or AMD atil drivers.

Cheers.

 

The 4xx series will come, just give it time. When we were all "waiting" for the 5870's to get released people said the same things. "It's been so long since the 5870's were released, where are they on the M17x?". Don't worry, it'll get here in time. Remember that Dell does "try" to learn their lessons and may well be working out ALL the bugs, or as many as they can before sending them to customers. All of us appreciate that effort, even if it does go unsung a bit of the time.

460M's will work. 470M's will work. And I'd suspect that the 480M's will work if we know that 300W will power a 130W desktop CPU and two 480's in a Clevo machine. However we may not need that really. The rumor tree shows a 485M coming which may well address refined power and ability envelopes and so you may well see the full range of cards available for the M17x in good time.

Since Clevo is selling so many 480M SLI machines that they've run out of stock, I tend to think the M17x isn't going to wait till January to offer the 4xx series. Dell/AW wants to be a part of all these sales going on, you can be sure of that. So be patient. Probably won't be a ton more time before you'll see some 4xx series in the R2.

 

The M17x R1 got 4870s and the M15x were released last october I believe, maybe we will see a similar introduction time frame for the GTX 480s

 

grrrrrrr.......

 

Soooooooo...interesting thing with the new A09 BIOS...at a complete idle system...seems I am running at full throttle on the cpu...take a look

 

You can see the exact same thing with previous BIOS revisions as well (except A08)

 

Hmm..ok, never noticed it honestly untill this one...thanks

 

Use Throttlestop or Realtemp to monitor real time CPU. Or even argos monitor. CPU-Z isn't good for that sorta thing. With the power save box checked in Throttlestop, my system idles at ~1200 mhz (9x) on all cores.

 

I could be wrong, but the Power Save box pretty much just forces C1E right? (and/or EIST?)

 

I am installing a SSD and Momentus XT in my M17X R2, and when I pulled out my two 500gb 7200rpm drives that where set raid 0, they where two different brands, Seagate and Toshiba. I guess it does not matter, but I always get the same brand/type when building a raid,. What are your thoughts?

 

Same brand will insure that one drive is not limiting the other but technically as long as the capacities are the same it will work

 

GREAT !!! I guess it's time then to get one

 

Scook is right: as long as the drives have the same capacity, RAID0 should work like a charm. However, you want to raid 2 exact same drives to avoid crippling performance.

 

I wish I could have Dell swap the Tosiba Driver for another Seagate, I guess the just grab what is there at that time.

 

That is actually odd, they typically always used seagates in the alienwares

 

You know I just might call them and see what they can do, I am very picky, like everyone here.

 

The 480 draws more power (though I don't know about the 460), but they could just offer it as a single GPU solution. I'd much rather have a single more powerful GPU anyway.

Regarding performance, yeah, the 285 is a faster clocked 280. They're not as powerful as the Radeon 5870, but they're close, and I'd much prefer having Nvidia's drivers over a bit extra performance. (Though better still I'd rather just have 4x0 series cards :-D )

No Direct X 11, but they do have Phys X, and performance is close.

Yikes, they couldn't use AMD drivers? That sucks. Hadn't heard about that :-/

Hopefully that same issue doesn't exist for the 285

 

Mine came with a Seagate and a Western Digital. I would have preferred two WD drives (due to Seagate's poor quality since they bought Maxtor), but I'm hoping to get a SSD early next year, so I can live with it for now .

 

mine came with two WD Scorpio 250GB 7200rpm. I use them as external disks now (bought extrnal cases).


http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=483

 

hey guys - long time

quick question

I bought my 17-R2 back in March 2010 with 6GB or 1333 RAM

I want to go to 8GB - do i have an open slot for a 2GB upgrade?

I tried looking around their website but it's confusing

 

You'd need to replace the 2GB DIMM with a 4GB DIMM. I guess that should work? That they theoretically don't need to be identical?

Right now for you dual channel mode is disabled (or at least for 2GB it is...I think someone's said Intel's modern memory controllers can handle "partial" dual channel modes?)