*OFFICIAL* Alienware M17x R1/R2 Owner's Lounge Thread - Part 1

Actually, figured out the issue! Found that the cpu wasn't tightly seated back in. Very facepalm moment.

Though now I'm having issues with the keyboard asdf and jkl; not working. Hoping it's just a keyboard issue and not the mobo.

 

Try reseating your keyboard before ordering a new one.

 

I bought a new red top lid, and I literally broke it within seconds of having it on my hands. I guess I wasn't holding it gentle enough. The black plastic portion isn't as strong as the one that was initially on my laptop. It's not too bad though. You can't really tell that it's broken unless you stick your face in it. I'll probably buy another one later, and keep in mind that they're sensitive, if it ever becomes an issue.

 

Thanks. It actually ended up just working after a couple hours. Not sure why.

 

I'm just realizing something.

For the motherboard's 9400m, I replaced the original thermal pad they used with AS5 paste... should I use a pad instead?

And if so, how thick was this pad?

 

So I finally did a clean install of windows 10 on my r2 and got everything working. Thanks for the Regedit fix for brightness control, that was really frustrating me. I'm curious if everyone's USB ports are working? My onboard sd card reader stopped working with the switch to Windows's 10 and the USB plug in for sd card adapter only works on 2 USB ports. I'm assuming I'm missing the driver or correct chipset but for the life of me I can't find one that works.

 

You shouldn't have to install any drivers for the motherboard or IO board chipsets. Check in your BIOS if all devices are enabled. Some of them have dependencies. For example, if I'm remembering correctly, if you disable the firewire port, the SD card reader is disabled as well.

 

Hey everyone. I was looking into buying the new AW 15 r3 or 17 r4, but losing more interest in them the more I read about the current issues they're having with heat and what not.
Browsing the web for alternatives, but not digging the other options available, I thought about my old M17X R2 that I gave to my dad a couple years back.

While I already know that these old laptops can't be upgraded near the same performance of the current models, I was thinking whether these are still worth spending money on? It's the one in my sig - got the RGB display as well.

I was thinking about a 940XM and GTX 680m 4gb combo - it has gotten a ram upgrade to 16gb as far as I know, and a SSD too. It's not cheap buying these parts on EBAY - around 400£ + shipping and importfees, it sure isn't cheap for such old parts.

Just really wanted to know if these are worth "reviving". I wonder how long the upgrades would last?


Many thanks in advance

 

Hey guys, I have an M17x1, bought it 3 years ago with i7 4700MQ 2.4-3.4ghz, 8gb ram and GTX765m. My question is, is it worth it to get in a 970/980m for this system, or should i just buy a new one? I'm not particularly interested in playing everything to the ultimate highest graphics, I'm not even playing as much as I used to but there are/will be some titles that interest me. If it is actually worth it to get a new GPU, where could I get one, preferably not second handed, or at least from trusted source? Also I'm using W7 with 60hz screen, would it still be possible to use them, or do I need to swap to w10?

 

Talk top Woodzstack he sells them. on here he is reputable and awesome. in my opinion this is an awesome machine I have 2 myself. Go for a 970m or 980m and this thing will fly. add more ram and an ssd and you will be amazed how much more kick the machine has. In my opinion the money you will spend on a new video card will be less than half what you would spend on a new machine.

On a side note if you do upgrade the graphics card and want to sell the old one for a decent price i would be interested in it for my wife's M15x that is listed in my sig. But yes what you have is a potent machine still.

 

Will an m6100 or m6000 fire Pro work in an m17xR2? I want to replace the original 5870m crossfire cards with a single gpu for a decent price. Is either of the cards an upgrade to the xfire setup?

 

Don't know it you got it? I have been testing several cards gtx 770m, supposed r9 290x but was a (hd8970)or same chip, gtx 970m just have to get main rgb screen Displaying correctly! I hope this helps?

 

Any 1 try a gtx 1060m in the old r2?

 

only way that card will work is if you are willing to cut the chassis a bit to get it to fit and you rig external power. from what I understand the 1060 draws more power than the r2 can provide

 

Hi,

so what is the fastest card for M2 to build without further Case Mods? I thought the 7970m is the fastest 970/98m any Chance?
I would love it to use my r2 a little longer the i7 920xm is a heat monster but still good and the RGB-LED Display^^^^

 

the r2 only puts out 75 watts of power best is a 960m i believe

 

My R2 sometimes fail to wake up from sleep. I think it may be the video drivers (Windows 10 x64)

Could someone suggest best driver version for R2? ATI Mobility Radeon HD5870

Currently I've 15.201.1151.1008 installed (Checked through Device Manager)
Thanks

 

I use the last version of Catalyst, Crimson beta causes all sorts of issues. Give it a try

 

That is not true. The 7970M uses 100 watts and its well documented that crossfire works. That is 200W just for the GPUs alone at peak power draw.

Supposedly the 8970m works but not with crossfire, and i have seen 1 documented case of the M290X working (since its the same card).

 

Hi all,

So I recently partially disassembled my M17x R2 to clean out the gpu/gpu fan and now when I try to boot it says, "Please connect a supported AC adapter..." etc. Any ideas? This is the second time I've done this and after the first time my battery stopped charging but I was able to use the PC normally. Now after checking that everything was plugged in properly internally (ribbon cables, etc.) it still tells me to connect a supported AC adapter except now the battery is dead and won't boot at all anymore.

Help!

 

Try unplugging and reinserting the keyboard and display cables, I believe they are part of the charging circuit and an AC adaptor will not work without them.

 

Hey guys, posting here cos I'm at my wits end and about to give up on my beloved m17x r2.
Background info
Upgraded the laptop to 920xm and had it running with gtx765m with no problems for aboutique 6 months. After a major windows 10 update I had to reinstall the gtx765m and had the usual sound/hdmi problems...was running with a USB sound card but after a couple of months got my old hd4870m back so decided to clean install it and then go through the steps to get the gtx765m working properly again.
Problem
I downloaded ddu and started it up. Pressed the 'restart in safe mode' option and that was it. Blank screen.
So far
Took the card out and reset cmos. still blank but getting intermittent hdmi (cutting off and purple/green).
Reset windows 10.
Tried different ram.
Reflased the bios a10.
Tried the old hd4870.
Replaced the powerbar cable and keyboard because the cables looked a bit worse for ware.
Reseated all the cables.
Ran ddu again.
Pressed fn+f6 repeatedly
Currently
Now I'm at a loss as to what to do. Seems the screen is either broken or just not being detected? On teamviewer in hwinfo it shows no monitor but in device manager monitor is listed with generic pnp driver, tried updating it but says it is up to date.
Anyway to test the screen?
Am I missing something stupid?
Anything else to try?
Love the r2 and don't want to give up on her but I can't really afford to get a new screen ($149) especially if I can't be sure it is a screen issue...thanks for reading, greatly appreciate any help/advice
Paul

 

Can you see the BIOS when you boot it up? If the BIOS is still showing then its a Windows issue. If not then its probably the display.

 

Hey arrrrbol, thanks for replying...nothing on the screen at all during post/bios. Guess it must be the screen which is not good...threw me that it happened when using ddu. Oh well, time to upgrade to a new laptop, thrown enough money at this one thanks again for taking the time to reply

 

Hey, just pulled this laptop out to use as a secondary device (and remember the old days)
Surely someone out there must still use the R1? I can't seem to find properly working display drivers for windows 10? Nor can I get crossfire running on the 4870's someone out there must have either a thread with a solution or some guidance!!

Chime in all the old'school gang!! There's an alienware in need!!

 

if you get tired of it and want to sell, let me know.

 

You'd wanna buy a BEAST that's no longer supported (in any way shape or form?)
Just curious as to why lol

 

Hey rolex1, page 103 in this thread has info on windows 10 update.

 

I like to collect older alienwares.

 

Hi all !

I have tested an 8 Gb memory stick in my M17X R2 and it work ! It's not the corsair one that everyone know about, its :

Ramaxel Technology
RMT3160EB68FAW1600
PC3-12800

Very cheap, got it for around 35 € and it work with my stock 4 gb ram, i had to put it in the second slot( the one on top), in the second cpu z reconized it but windows don't.

I have 12 Gb now ! PUBG here i come !

 

Has anyone managed to get the M17x R1 to run the geforce 765m? I have one laying around from a newer alienware but I haven't been active in a while and haven't had much time to mess with this stuff . baby on the way and all.

 

as far as I know nobody has been able to get anything past a 5870M working in the M17x R1. I wanted a M17x R1 test bench but never got around to finding one.

 

I have my frankenware that i decided to try and bring from death it works again thank Gawd im gonna work on getting it to have a q9300 and the 765m are my goals

 

To those with M17x R2 + 7970M, I know there aren't many of you left around, but what temperatures are you guys getting? I'm getting 68-75 at 950/1300 @ 1.0V, is that normal/acceptable or should it be lower?

 

That's lower than i'm getting with 5870s.

 

damn i guess I'll leave it alone then

 

IMO anything under 90 degrees is acceptable. GPUs are generally robust and can take the heat, but obviously lower is better. I encountered a bug with a game where when i was tabbed out the 2nd GPU was maxed at 100% usage but the first was idle. I believe the fan speed is related to the temperature of the main card, so my fan speeds did not indicate the usage was so high. My core temp may have briefly glanced 107C - whoops. There is no damage to the card though and its still running fine, though I now use a custom fan profile.

I could probably get my GPU temps way down with a few modifications (copper shim etc) but since they stay in the 70s in most games, and rarely exceed the mid 80s at 100% load there is no real need to do so. I'll perform some cooling mods when I upgrade them.

 

Do you happen to have the vBIOS for the 8970M that is installed in your M17X? Amassing a few of them to find out which one works.

 

Hi Everyone.
I need some help in order to bring back to life my precious M17X R1. I have this laptop abandoned since I started having troubles with it years ago, the screen sometimes went off without reason, and other stufd I can barely remember. Today I left the laptop into a repair service shop, and probably we will have to change the video card, which in my model was the ATI Radeon 5870, the big question is, is there a site or store where I can buy it new? Can it be replaced with a Nvidia 260 or any other card that comes or it's compatible with it? I deeply aprecciate your help.

 

You will struggle to find a brand new 5870 now, but you can find lightly used ones from China pretty easily. I wouldn't worry about getting a used one too much - I still have the original 5870s in my M17X R2 and they are still working fine.

 

Thanks for your reply, but, can I use another video card with that setup?

 

Has anyone successfully gotten bluetooth working on a M17x-R2 with Windows 10? I'm still having no luck. : (

 

Hi! What other CPU may I use to replace a M17X R1 Intel Core 5? Or Any place where I can get it. Thank you.

 

M17x r1 doesn’t use core i5. It only uses core 2 duo or core 2 quad

 

If you actually have an R2, hence the i5, then you can upgrade it to the 920/940XM. The best CPU for the R1 though is the QX9300 I believe.

 

Hi again! In fact i have an R2 since this is the one that comes with a Intel Core i5 520M 2.4GHz. The tech support where I took my laptop told me that i was in troubles because they say it's nearly impossible to find that processor. Which one can abuse and where cancan I buy it? It's better if it's available on USA. Thank you for the help.

 

You can still get a 920 or a 940XM fairly easily on eBay. There will be some American sellers with some for sale, but if not just buy one from Europe or China as long as you make sure the seller has a good reputation.

 

I found the 920XM on Amazon and I think I can get it if it works (socket and stuff), it's expensive (300 usd) but I think it worth.
I also found the i5 520m on Amazon aswell, would it worth it and works? Intel Core i5-520M 2.40GHz 3M 2.5GT Socket G1 Slbnb OEM https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0035NXSD0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_zHYxAb9BMJVVE

My main concern is if I would need another power supply for the 920XM, because the charger I got was for the i5 520M.

I aprecciate your help and advices.

 

Have a look at your power adapter and see what the wattage is. 240W is fine for that CPU. If it doesn't say the wattage look at the voltage and current, should be around 19.5V and 12.3A .

I wouldn't recommend buying the 520M. While its a good dual core, its only a dual core (with 4 threads). You will see a large improvement in performance moving to a quad core with hyperthreading, such as the 920XM, especially when multitasking. Plus you can overclock the 920XM to the same frequency as the 520M pretty easily, or even further if you wish.

 

920XM for 50$, nowhere near 300
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Intel-Core...073651?hash=item48a7747973:g:FGMAAOSwETJaBK~N