*OFFICIAL* Alienware M17x Owners Lounge - Part 2

what does everyone elses 4gb of ram post score in the windows test show?

 

did you enable the graphics cards in the bios?

 

they are showing up in device manager. but i will go back and look in the bios again

 

Steve, I think mine's at 5.9 in Vista 64.

Well, you see both cards in the device manager, so. . . have a look in the BIOS.

Typically, if Hybrid SLi is enabled in BIOS, and the integrated GPU is also enabled, then the discrete GPUs (280s/260s) do not show up in the device manager.

 

dell was trying to cheat me. they said the 920xm is 2g while i can get the same proc for 600

 

It could also be one of the cards dying. I had it happen before where one gpu died. Vista didn't load up the drivers to either card (probably a security/safety thing?). This was on the M1730 but may apply to any other SLi rig, too....

 

Lord Zath,

There is one little issue. Indulge me on the topic if you can, because I am not certain. M1730's cards were actually one card with two chips. It was SLi, but not your traditional two distinct cards with a cable-link.

Normally, from what I have seen, when one card fails, the other should still work under such a traditional SLi setup. Then again, I could be very wrong because I only had one desktop system to go by for my comparison. When it came with M1730, I found that looking at the GPUs in that way did not help.

Also to consider: His cards are showing up in the device manager, and I assume as functional and active. I think there's something off about how they've been setup.

 

once this new driver is done downloading im going to disable that hybird thing. I could really care less about the 9400 card.

 

when you are on battery it will turn back on.

dont you just love the m17x.
use 186.24 or batboy's drivers.

 

Im not impressed tho, the palmrests are pretty cheap IMO, I liked the m1730 better :-/

 

When I ran XP, one video card was present on HW Monitor. When I ran Vista, no video cards were present. Both cards were showing up on Device Manager. And yeah the cards are all on one, so not the traditional cable link.

 

lol well it was silent mode...stupid me...and stupid thing haha

 

LAWL! That's hilarious.

But yeah, hope you're enjoying the new beast, Steve.

I've actually reverted back to using the original beast. I still like the M1730, and I have warranty, so yeah.

 

One other thing that pissed me off, was the one guy who was suppose to order another SSD forgot to do the order, I have the chat log and all.

SO now im not sure if i want to take dell refund, Im going to have them do the SSD one more time.

Im releaved at least its not broken lol

 

Does the m17x have a cradle for two harddrives already? I told the rep to check into it and if it needs it send it.

So i will have the second harddrive here in about 2 days. Im going to list it on ebay now.

Hopefully it all sells well (fingers crossed)

 

You'll have to use the service manual and open the bottom cage. It's actually very simple.

- Remove battery.
- Remove the screw that secure the cage at the bottom-centre.
- Remove cage and you will find your two HDD slots with respective cages. If you don't have one, you'll have to get one from Dell.

 

So why is it every time i look for the m17x in the delloutlet it doesn't show up anymore on and off and now they are making it a featured item what gives?

 

well looks like they shipped it with a cage regardless. So I will be all set.

 

Damn, I spend all my time on the internet, looking at comments and such on the M17x. I had an XPS M1730, Core 2 Duo T9300, 4g, don't remember the Video cards, but with 2 SLI Nvidia 256 md cards ( first thought it was 2 cards of 512, not 2 wich totalled 512 MB)... Anyway, it got stolen before Christmas, and now I am waiting for my replacement.

Got the M17x i7 920XM 2.0GHz-3.2GHz, with the dual 1G ATI Radeon CrossfireX and 4g as a replacement from my insurance ( paid for a few extra tweaks like the processor). Was supposed to be delivered Feb 5, this Friday, but last friday, when checking the process of my CPU, I saw it was CANCELLED !! I was sooo pissed !!

Called them right when I saw that, after about 2 hours and being transfered from 1 place to another, and from Supervisor and all, I was able to learn it was because the DVD writer wasnt a compatible one ( wich is the only choice you get when ordering online ). Now they offered me to upgrade my Rams from 4g to 6g for free and the hard drive from 250g to 320g for free as an excuses. They also said they would put my order on ''Rush''. But then, once I get my order number, the estimated delivery is now Feb 24 ! 3 weeks from now, wich isnt exactly faster than a regular order !!!

If anyone got a problem like this and found a way to get their order faster from DELL, plz tell me how you did it. And 1 more thins I wanted to know... any ''Freebies'' come with it ?? Like with the M1730, you had an Expresscard wich served as a wireless controller for videos. And does it has Bluutooth inside ???

 

Look at this guy! Scored himself a dandy maxed-out R2! Hell yeah!

Yes, don't worry. . .

You'll get bluetooth with the Alienware.

The wireless controller I can't be certain about.

 

Lol yeah, I got extremely lucky on that! but right now, I don't have a computer of my own until I get it !! Can you understand why it's sooo frustrating to have to wait another 3 weeks before getting it !?!? I can tell you, I'll call DELL every other day to make sure everything runs smoothly this time !

 

So my replacement is getting delivered tomorrow. What should i do first?

 

Reinstall Windows 7 Ultimate and everything on the Alienware Resource CD and start fresh. Only way to fly. Actually if you have never had an Alienware before then turn it on and have a quick look at the programs preinstalled so you can see how they work before you reinstall Windows just so you know what they are supposed to do afterwards.

 

Fellas, how in the world do you enable Crossfire on this thing? GPUZ shows 2 cards but says Crossfire Disabled. Device Manager shows 2 cards also. I moded the drivers and I am using 9.12.

Anyway to see if Crossfire is enabled like the SLI green bar? I know on the 3870's you could see a Red Crossfire Icon on the top corner. Anything now?

Thanks!

 

I have a question guys.

How is it that you are all upgrading to the M17X-R2? Are you actually just paying for it or is there some way you can ship your R1 back and ask them to replace it? Either you guys have some loophole which can get you the R2 or you are all loaded with Franklins lol. But seriously it seems like most people are getting one.... How?

 

Well, most of them sold their machines, added a few dollars and got the R2.

A select few got replacements, just like you. . . for a broken M17x, or an M1730.

 

gona get my 280s swapped to atis soon. they said the cards arrived today. i should have em by friday.

what should i do before they replace the cards?

uninstall nvida graphic drivers?

do i uninstall nforce chipset driver?

after they fix the cards then i install the ati drivers, how do i install the 9400 driver?

do i off discrete then boot on the 9400 and install the nvidia drivers?


EDIT: just read mandrake's guide on the 4870s. the way he mentioned for ocing the 4870s was via bios flash. is there no other easier way? no tool with sliders to easily oc like with nvidia system tools/ati tools?

 

man i just went to amd's site using the link from mandrake's guide for the 9.12 drivers but apparently theres a new 10.1 driver and i cant seem to find how to get the older drivers.. the web page is so damned messy. if they cant get their web page right, how can they get their products right?

so where should i get the 9.12 from?

 

Ruby, I'll PM you in 1 min.

 

THANKS =D (10 char)\

erm theres a problem with the link =(

nevermind. i found it at techpowerup


how bout the ocing of the atis? must i flash the bios using the editor thing? no other way?

 

OK, we are trying to get CrossfireX here. Playing Crysis for a while and 1 card is 62C and the other 38C. Device Manager shows 2 4870's. Using Cat 9.12.

So, what's up with this? How do we make sure it has crossfire enabled?

Thanks guys.

 

Use GPU-z War.

O.k. War, I just read your previous post. This is what you do if you install a fresh copy of an OS.

Un-install driver from device manager first....
then...

1) install Dell 4870 Driver
2) install Cat 9.12
3)restart

After you have done those steps, there will be an option in the ati cataylst to enable X-Fire

 

ATI CrossfireX: Disabled.

Drop down shows 2 cards...

 

I knew it would be similar to the 3870's. However, I don't have that Crossfire option on the menu under 3D Settings...

 

mmm seems that you have a master slave set-up instead of master/master

let us see a gpu-z of both gpu's.

also enable A.I. i know you remember most of this stuff from the m17 with the 3870.

 

AI is enabled.

 

i'm reinstaslling my os so i cant post pics right now but what is under here.


why do you have 4??? lol.

 

4 GPUs, NICE DON!

lol

What Rengsey posted is what worked for me, nothing else would.

 

Lol. I don't know dude. Maybe they put 4870x2 Desktop cards. TWICE!

It says this:

Extended desktop (grayed)
Disable display (grayed)
Rotate display >
Set desktop area to >
3D Settings >

The other 3 say:

Extended desktop
Disable display (grayed)
Rotate display (grayed)
Set desktop area to (grayed)

 

that's war's machine. i'm not lucky like him. lol.

 

Ah, you edited. If it weren't for scook I would not have read it again.

Let me try that.

 

reinstall dell drivers then install 9.12 and mobile mod it.

 

Hey all, I put my QX9300 up for sale, if anyone is interested follow the link in my sig. Hope somone can use it.

 

OK. Now we are good to go. Almost lost my sale. Lol.

+Rep for all (I hope there is enough)

OK Ren. I owe you some. Didn't have enough. Will do tonight though Thanks

 

im glad you got it sorted, i was thinking that this thing had more bugs than the previous model :|

 

War, try clicking the "diagnostics" button. Mine didn't go to Crossfire immediately either. The diagnostics pointed to the CF cable not properly connected. We had to open up the computer again and removed the heat sink from the 1st card (connects under the heatsink). We reconnected that and reseated the connector on the 2nd card. Now it works.

 

so the way to install the ati drivers are to
1) install dell drivers
2) install 9,12

then restart?

ati drivers can be installed over each other? no need to uninstall dell drivers then run driver sweeper then install 9.12?

 

You only need to do those steps if you do a fresh install of an OS.

If Dell driver is already installed when stock, all you need to do is install the mod cat 9.12.

 

what if im swapping from the nvidia cards? after i uninstall the nvidia drivers and run a driver sweep,

qn1:
do i install the dell drivers FIRST and then install the 9.12 cat OVER IT or do i install the 9.12 straight.

qn2:
what if i want to change to another driver in the future? do i install it OVER or do i uninstall and driver sweep and then install the new ones