*OFFICIAL* "All Powerful" M17xR2 Edition Owner's Lounge - Part 3

Man, the RGB really makes this thing. Playing Rift on this machine is an utter dream.

After using the m14x for a bit and coming back to this, it's like night and day. I've never seen colors this vibrant and brilliant. I love this machine.

 

I agree, Saosin... the RGB LED is über awesome.

I also love my R2. Aside from a couple of quirks, it's outstanding. Best computer I have ever owned.

 

I'm glad that we can pair two Radeon 6970Ms with this RGB LED goodness, and hopefully more cards as well

 

Yeah, it totally rocks that you did that, ichime.

 

how did you make it? have you made a thread or something? no power or heat issus?

by the way do the 6970s have primary and secondary vbios as for 5870s?

 

Hopefully, ichime is going to create a thread with tutorial.

ichime's R2 with 6970 xfire benches nicely LINK

 

Here you go Fox:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...6970m-your-m17x-r2-single-gpu-crossfirex.html

 

Hey ichime,

U gonna be trying out any other GPUs?

Cheers.

 

Thanks for the link, katalin. I had not discovered that thread yet.

 

The thread and that vBios are golden

 

I agree with you guys, having 6970 x-fire power + RGBLED + The build of the M17x R2 is, in my opinion the best laptop period. The 18x has great CPU scores, but the 17x has RGB, not to mention much easier to disassemble. I think I may keep the R2 as long as I can, at least until we see what the 18x R2 has in store. If it has RGB, I may just jump, but the RGB is something I can't pull myself to give up for sandy bridge. Not worth it IMO. i7 940XM is plenty. The R2/6970 xfire is just the best all around package to me. A gorgeous system.

 

i have been getting a couple of bsods code "9f" driver power state failure, and have tried running both 11.4 and 11.5 drivers with no help, can you guys help me with this?

 

But we also get a bigger battery, decent IGP (giving about 4.5 hours battery life), and the 330W PSU DR650SE

I think those are worth the RGBLED

 

Very true, though personally when I need battery, I use the M11x, just because I perfer something more portable, anytime I do gaming, I'm plugged in. 17x is maily parked on my desk. Also TheWiz is looking into a bios patch for the PSU check, and hopefully we can use the 33W as well, which would be awesome.

 

Bummer, the round power plug on my NZXT Cryo LX Broke off...right after I got back from Micro Center for getting a USB A-A cord so I could use the USB hub Well now it's just a nice looking stand, at least it holds the system at a nice angle

 

just email them to send you a replacement power plug. Mine broke twice before.

 

Well its not the plug but the port on the usb hub board. I emailed them though.

 

You can power the hub and fans through USB from the laptop.....

 

It keeps dropping some of the peripherals. I think Im not getting enough power on it. Won't recognize my printer too. May just try out another hub if i can't get it working.

 

Ya without the AC power that can happen if only powering off the usb port

 

well all this board you refer to is just a part to be replaced.

 

If you are under warranty they will send you a replacement board. I blew an IC on mine a while ago and they sent me a replacement

 

If your not under warranty or cant get parts....send me a PM as I have several Cryo LX spares including the usb board and power board and adaptor just lying around gathering dust. NZXT sent me them for issues I was having with mine but I returned the cooler before I had chance to retro-fit the parts to see if they fixed things.

 

I also have a spare cooler (ended up being a 2nd black one for my M18x had to match!) if needed, will probably sell it soon

 

......they also gave me a NZXT tee-shirt lol - medium sized.....up for grabs lol as dont fancy wearing it....same as with the AW cap......hehehe

 

Hmm, might consider getting some parts from you guys depending on what NXZT says.

ALSO: Looking for suggestions to improve my notebook. I know it may not be worth it, but I can't bare to lose the RGB. One of the things I've been considering is upgrading my SSDs. The one thing I like about the X25-M is that they are so reliable and built like a rock with the 34nm tech. How are the 320s? I may consider selling the X25-M SSDs for newer SSDs. I wouldn't mind a Sata III since I'd probably use it later on in a newer system, but since the R2 is a SATA II based system, maybe it's best that I look in that realm?

Any other suggestions on what I can do to "upgrade" my system?? I already am getting 6970's so that is where I'm at.

 

The 320 trade a little of 4k speed for writes across the board

Otherwise about comparable to the X25-M G2 (but with some extra security features and such)

 

What kinda security features? I don't normally use security feature, but always nice to consider.

 

AES 128-bit I believe for full disk encryption

 

I'm also trying to improve my notebook per my Project: Legacy. Got a lid and base ready to get reanodized and I'm gonna replace the Intel 6300 wireless with either an Atheros AR9462 for both Wireless and Bluetooth or just a Bigfoot 1103 Wifi card. I'm thinking about what to replace the original broadcom bluetooth module that takes up the full mini-PCI-e slot...

As far as HD/SSD goes, I'm looking for 512gb SSD...or maybe two of them...

 

Is the slot that the broadcom bluetooth in a normal miniPCIe? Also for wifi/bluetooth try the Intel 6230? I have one in my M11x and is chugging along

 

ichime are you still trying other nVidia Gpu options as i wanted 6970m xfire but i can't get the xfire cable anywhere. I am assuming the SLI cable i have for my 285m GTX sli will work for 470/480m or even 485m (if only it was possible)

BTW the broadcom is a normal sized PCIe slot and wifi is in mini

 

I meant electronic signalling normal, I know it is full height

 

What's the difference between TDP and TDC in Throttlestop? Also, the default values for both are 62, what do you guys recommend me changing that to for better performance? I have an excellent laptop cooler and my R2 runs very cool.

Also, is it advisable to change the multipliers? Or just manipulate TDP.

 

Uninstall it and reinstall it. Probably saved some crazy settings.

 

I did and it's working better, thanks. But I still don't understand the difference between TDP and TDC, if anyone can briefly explain. Thanks!

Also, I don't quite understand what CAP profiles are. Do I need all of them? One of them? Just download and install and that's it?

I downloaded what I think is the CAP 5 profile to try and help the Witcher, but I'm still getting almost unplayable framerates on ultra.

Also the configurator is very limited for graphics settings. How does one disable uber sampling, which I've heard drastically boosts framerates?

 

I'm considering trying a GTX 470M depending on how things work out next week.

 

Awesome man, that will be interesting to see how it pans out.

Cheers.

 

Hey ichime.

How well do the crossfire 6970's work?

 

Pretty well. Almost all of the games I play regularly can be maxxed out and offer smooth gameplay with Vsync on or off.

Also, ran a quick benchmark of Crysis (the original) @ 1920x1200 all very high and got around 45fps average (A single 6970M paired with Sandy Bridge gets around 25fps with those settings).

 

That is great to hear ichime.

If you don't mind me asking what games and exactly how is the performance....say in comparison to your old 5870s?
Is there a noticeable improvement. How so? FPS numbers, or just feels smoother and faster?

I'm just installing FEAR 3 atm. Co Op anyone!

Cheers.

 

Hey, can somebody give me some tips on improving overall system performance? I just feel that my system is bottlenecking at times. Some tips on lowering temps?

 

If you are using sleep mode, try disabling all sleep functions in your power profiles and set your system to "do nothing" when closing the lid. Some R2 owners have experienced a BSOD after resuming from S3. This problem usually does not occur for a little while (10 minutes or more) which makes the connection to sleep mode not so obvious.

Are there any specific driver files identified in the BSOD or DMP file? If so, please post the information so we can have a look. You may also find the WhoCrashed utility useful to identify the source of the issue. You can download that here: LINK.

The fact that you are running AMD reference drivers indicates you have the latest vBIOS. If you're not on A10 system BIOS, grab it from Dell Support and flash the update.

See if uninstalling and reinstalling the ACPI-Compliant Battery Control in Device Manager helps (see attached image). At the very least, it will temporarily fix charging and display brightness control issues, so there's nothing to lose by trying it.

Spoiler

Short of physical damage, a problem with a recurring BSOD is one of the worst things you can experience. I have no idea why it was closed, but if these tips don't work for you, you may want to read this thread to see if there is something useful posted on your issue: M17x Problem/Technical Question thread.

 

Well, I don't have my old HD (which has some FRAPS numbers I did with my 5870 CFX), but the Crysis 2 demo, Bad Company 2, Black Ops and Borderlands were a lot smoother compared to my old setup.

EDIT: Dirt 3 too

 

Can someone help me out?

I'm having pretty obnoxious driver issues. I have 11.5 installed, but the Witcher 2 is unplayable on ultra with ubersampling off. Many R2 users are reporting the game is very playable on ultra.

I installed the 11.5b hotfix, supposedly to fix the Witcher issues, and it bluescreened my computer 5 seconds after start up every time. I had to roll back.

I installed Cap3, but have no idea what that is or if I installed it correctly. I also don't know if you're supposed to install one of those like a driver, or all of them like some kind of update.

How are some of you getting the Witcher to be playable? Right now I can't play it on ultra and I'm not looking to turn graphics settings down on a game that is maxable on the R2.

 

I driver sweeper'd the 11.5 drivers, then tried installing 11.5a and b again. Blue screens like crazy.

Now I'm left without a driver, can anyone recommend? These driver issues are why I typically go with Nvidia options. I've never dealt with these issues using Nvidia cards. My frustration is mounting. =/

 

So Sorry to hear about all your driver issues SaosinEngaged,

They can surely drive anyone up the wall.
At this point I would try and install a GPU driver version that you know has worked for you in the past. Usually this is a much older or a few versions older than the current latest one. Once you get one of the GPU drivers fully installed then you could give the latest 11.6 version a go; and then install the 11.6 CAP1 profile.

Another way would be to try and use system restore. Restore your system back to a time that you know had a fully functioning GPU video system driver installation running. From there you can then try and just install the newest GPU driver updates on top of it. See how you go that way.
I would give the 11.6 driver a go along with 11.6 CAP1.

With the CAP profiles. You only have to install the latest version. That is it, after installation you don't have to activate anything. All that is left is just to run your games and enjoy. http://www.rage3d.com/cap/

Worse case scenario would be to wipe everything format and start again fresh. Sometimes its the only thing left to do if all else fails. Short term major pain but long term usually a positive gain. Make sure you backup all your stuff 1st beforehand though.

Good Luck.

Cheers.

 

Would you recommend installing the dell driver, and then 11.6 on top?

Also, would you mind linking the 11.6 drivers please? I'm assuming they're a mobility modded driver?

Thanks!

 

Hey there SaosinEngaged,

Yeh sure things here it is: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/586554-ati-11-6-available.html

It is actually a certified AMD mobility driver which was released by AMD. It is the current latest up to date driver that they have released. It's actually a full proper mobility driver and not a modded version.

I would say yes give the dell driver a go and then update install over the top with the AMD 11.6 ones. I would also recommend that once you have successfully updated the GPU drivers that you load the CCC control panel and set everything to default settings. Then try gaming and slowly tweaking things again if you like.

Cheers.

 

Unbelievable!

I got 11.5 installed and stable, then tried an 11.6 driver I found. Upon installation, the system blue screened. I restarted, it crashed instantly again. I tried rebooting into safe mode, the system crashed while loading sys32 drivers.

Rebooted again, it started that "checking file system" bit, then crashed during that.

...

For whatever the reason, I always have miserable luck with drivers and system stability. Once (if) I get this sorted out, does anyone have any suggestions for the Witcher 2? It's the only game I'm looking to play right now and my R2 can only play it smoothly on medium...