*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 and M17x Benchmark Thread - Part 4

Tonight I will have time to update the boards as my wife is out of town and I have ZERO plans for the evening. Please PM me your most up to date scores and I wll get the leaderboards updated.

EDIT: Post 6666...

 

@DR650SE Check sig for new Vantage score.

Rev has a new Vantage and has overtaken me on '11

Some new '06 scores that are floating around.

 

Bro, your wife is out of town and all you want to do is update this list? Screw that...go out for a few beers, then come home and game till your eyes hurt !!!!!

 

You got a lot of updating to catch up on..

Looks like you're gonna need to get back at it and regain those titles my friend.

He can drink beers at home and not worry about driving.

 

@DR650SE: You have zero plans for the evening? I have an idea, why not grab some dice and slap in a certain GPU...? Hahaha... do whatever you want, enjoy the evening!

 

That I do.

Splitting the difference and walking to the bar that's a 2 min walk from my Apt.

Definately going down this week. Thats already in the plans.

 

Great news, DR650SE. Be fun to see the new results.

 

Thanks. Lots' of diggin, but the final update should be tomorrow night

 

Got another 580m today, this one performs similarly to the last. What are the chances of getting 2 bad samples? Something wrong with the actual computer maybe?

 

Could be anything to do with your windows installation/vantage/drivers and even adobe flash player..

 

Does seem unlikely, unless they've switched suppliers. How is it performing exactly on a comparative basis? I mean, how are you measuring the relative performance?

 

No the performance is the same. Just that the crashes and freezes and shutdowns when OC'd happen at the same places with both cards. And both cards are far less stable than my first one which could actually complete a Vantage run @840/1000 with the CPU @44x, no extra voltage. Now I try to simulate the same runs with both cards and they don't even make it through the first graphic test

Am I going mad?

 

I'm sorry widezu.. but that's just excellent news for other benchers with 580Ms.

A fresh Windows re-install wouldn't hurt?

 

No I don't want to! *Stomps feet and crosses arms and makes angry face*

Guess I'll have to try that won't I?

 

1000 memory is a lot of load for a 580M. I've seen you do it, but you (and King John) are the only ones. Mine sure won't carry 1000; it sometimes will do 980, but often protests/crashes at that level. More and more, my best results happen with memory at or below 960-965 down all the way to 900-925. I've also had a lot of trouble with Vantage as time goes on and items are changed. Sometimes uninstalling and re-installing both Vantage and the newest version of Futuremark Systeminfo helps, but Vantage has caused me more frustration than all other benchmarking programs combined.

And, as you know, the first test in Vantage is the one most sensitive to VRAM overclocking. Overdone, it will freeze up every time.

 

Thanks for the headsup! I'll reinstall Vantage and tone down the memory.

 

Uninstall and then re-install Adobe Flash Player as well, somehow helped me out with crashes to black screens.

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You got one?

 

Yep.

With an M18x backplate. 7 beeps, then figured it out and fixed it. Phobya Liquid Metal - words can't describe how much I HATE IT

Pics soon

 

I have the M18x backplate too I occasioanlly get some issues with it.

 

The backplate that was covering the top vram chips was touching the motherboard, so I just added some pads there. I only realised this after I cut the corner bit off.

Trying to install drivers now.

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Installed drivers sucessfully and flashed new vbios, now to run some benchmarks?

 

So brother Geo, any news?

 

I decided to do a Windows re-install, all working me thinks. Absolutely no idea how to overclock this card, or even tell games to use it

 

Ah the old Optimus troubles, give The Rev a shout, he did the same thing and he's be ok.

As for overclocking, Nvidia Inspector is probably best.

 

man its been awhile . geez guys everyone is pulling 20k vantage now, thats nuts. really want to join the xm fun but money isn't the same as before

 

Hey there, Inap. Been too long. You too high powered for us since you joined the M18x SLI world?

When is the new arrival due?

 

Im in the same boat. Not working overseas anymore. Then I got married and now expecting my first child. May not have the same money but still consider myself a rich man.

 

coming around end of may
yea i love the power sli 580's are super sweet. i see your setup has changed too, did you get a 580m replacement? i haven't benched in months, can you believe that! hahah

wow you really like doing everything fast, don't cha, hahaha
congrats on everything!

 

Killed my 580M within 24 hours of getting it. I think that's a record.

Can a card die at 66C whilst running Furmark at 840/900 (fine for a few minutes)?

The laptop just powered down and wouldn't even respond to the power button. Then I unplugged/plugged charger and got 5 beeps. BIOS then reset and discrete card not detected, tried everything. Back to the ATI card for now...

 

That's horrible, GeoCake. However, all may not be lost. I have had similar experiences, but then had the card recover after a short rest. It routinely happens during benching at the extremes with voltage at .92v. Attempts to restart immediately are sometimes greeted by a series of beeps if using the 580M only, but after a short rest and complete cool down, it returns to life and operates normally thereafter. But then, last night while surfing the Web, my R3 did a black screen shutdown while using the 580M exclusively. No stress, no high temps, .87v., very mild overclock I have no idea what caused it, but suspect the 295.51 drivers, or the most recent beta version of HWiNFO64, or the new Adobe Flash, or something not yet identified, or some combination of the foregoing. It restarted easily and has since operated without incident, but something is clearly amiss. Given the nature of the crash/shutdown, no dumps are left behind, so it's anyone's guess. Sorry about your troubles.

 

This is similar to what happened to me with my first M17x, had some problems then it just died, and I wasn't even running .92v or a super high OC.

If it was me I would never use Furmark on the 580m (I blame it for killing my first card), and I wouldn't OC the memory very much, because it doesn't have very good cooling and has no temperature monitors or anything. If your card did die it was almost certainly the memory, since the core has many levels of safeguards.

Here is my 3Dmark score, at probably the settings I will just use full time, 740 core, stock memory, stock voltage. Generic VGA video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2760QM Processor,Alienware M17xR3 score: P4093 3DMarks

 

Brother DR... you're starting a phase of life that is truly rewarding, bro. There are many challenges along the way (father of 5, 4 of which are over 18, and a grandpa of 2 talking here) but you are going to realize riches that no amount of money can buy.

As a young single guy, I blew all my cash on hot rod cars and motorcycles, but quickly discovered the working man's budget would not support that with a wife and kids, LOL. I turned my need for speed to a passion for high performance computers. (Gaming, benching and metal music definitely helps keep this old man young at heart.) It is easier on the budget, but found I was sometimes still financially restricted by the need to support things that are more important for mom and the kids. Congratulations on the incoming baby. ​

Back on topic: Guys, you may want to try some of the CPU settings I posted here to see if they work equally well with the M17xR3. Credit goes to Brother RV for sharing some of his CPU experience.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...u-overclocking-discussion-88.html#post8306849

 

I use similar CPU settings. However I'm a bit more conservative. 1000 Priplane and 125 watts. Same 10 VID though.

 

Thanks to everyone for the kind condolences. May the 580M rest in peace.

I tried again today (at least 12 hours after), same issue. The card is not detected in the bios. It gets warm, the core/memory chips and components warm up so I know it's being powered, but the bios is saying no, it's not there.
I just don't understand why the laptop powered down at a low temperature during the Furmark run - no artefacts, running at full clocks, bam, everything off. I was getting similar power downs with a restart whilst using Optimus on battery :/

Is there anything else I can do?

I was following what people were saying about the memory, and keeping it at 900 max. Besides, Furmark doesn't stress the memory really, usage was low in that. I have read about other peeps with the same not detected issue - a guy installing his Clevo 580M, and others, etc, apart from luck, no-one got it sorted. :/

This is a run a did a while ago: AMD Radeon HD 6970M / 6990M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2920XM Processor,Alienware M17xR3 score: P4706 3DMarks
44x, 880 PriPlane, 0 Flex. 10K Physics. From what I have seen, the OEM chip just outperforms the QS and ES...
I don't know if this is similar for anyone else, but 3DMark11 doesn't even stress my CPU whilst I see Vantage pushing it very close to 100C.

 

I can get 10K+ on Physics score, but not at 44x. Have to go a bit higher to break 10K on that with my QS proc.

Very sorry to hear about the 580M. :cry:

What happened to the 580M that the second one replaced?

 

I had a similar issue with the first 6990m I received. It was getting power and was getting warm, but the bios wasn't detecting it. Sent it back to the seller and it worked fine in another m17x r3 and an m15x. I'm thinking part of the card was touching the mobo and causing the issues, but I never narrowed it down. I'm expecting another card any time now so we shall see if I have the same issue.

 

Geo, that really sucks! mannnnnnn..!

Stupid question: Is there a warranty with that card?

 

Wow, that's unfortunate. I'm starting to believe Nvidia screwed up again. I have seen about 10 cases of dead 580Ms so far on this forum alone. I guess, there's no way to get a perfect product even if you pay the hefty premium

 

You probably missed all the 6970 failures

 

AMD Radeon HD 6970M / 6990M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2920XM Processor,Alienware M17xR3 score: P17018 3DMarks

AMD Radeon HD 6970M / 6990M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2920XM Processor,Alienware M17xR3 score: P4172 3DMarks

now i'm scared of pushing my lappy :-<

 

dragon, is it your new 2920xm oem?? geo i hope you will find a way to fix it...

 

Teaser:

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1866hz @CL9 only 4GB at the moment, will test 8GB tomorrow. These chips have XMP certification which should add stability. I've also got 1600Mhz @CL7. So from all my brothers here: 1600 CL7 vs 1866 CL9?

 

Latency matters less for Sandy Bridge, high frequency is what you need so go for 1866MHz.

 

Really? I did not know that thanks! Does that apply even if I don't use the iGPU?

 

Yes, lower latency at the same frequency will bring you those small extra points in benchmarks but when it comes to choosing between high frequency and low latency, it's the former that you want.

 

Its an OEM version . but i hardly find time to bench or test at all now due to school work . Still got to read loads of pages here to get the hang of it.

 

6970 and 6990... I had a record of 3/3 AMD failures with the M18x. Two defective pairs of 6970M modules and a pair of 6990M modules that lasted less than 3 weeks.

 

For the record. you fried the card. This happen to me with my 580M's while running furmark. As far as i can tell....Furmark can have the card drawing far more volts than it can handle. or you can fry the memory on the card with no backing covering the ram. More the first part though. because my temps were like 65C when the machine froze and that was all she wrote.

 

I fried a 5870 in Iraq doing the same thing.

 

Yeah, I dont even mess with furmark like that anymore.