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

Anyone knows where i can Get a crossfire bridge fo r2?

 

CROSSFIRE CABLE for AMD HD6970M; HD6970M; HD5870 MXM Modules; 310mm (12.4") long | eBay

 

Anotare place? Theta charge 120 dollars with shipping to spain

 

I just broke my R2 maybe I'll sell you my cord... On that note: My R2 system was working fine this morning up until I installed Max Payne 3. I noticed as I was playing Max Payne 3 Crossfire was no longer on nor was my second card detected. Odd... I thought so I decided to run driversweep and install the 12.4 instead of my current 12.3 hopping that a reinstall would make my 2nd GPU come back. Well I BSOD on bootup and now my PC won't start properly.... I turn it on see the Alienware Head but it's half dim (Purplish looking instead of Grey Looking head) again it's half dim, then it fades to Black, Beeps Twice (I think AC adaptor disconnected problem) I tried to reset the motherboard by removing the CMOS battery. Anyways does all of this mean my GPU's have gone bad?

And advice would be great, thanks.

 

Remove the second card out of the system and try again. If you get similar results, swap the cards and put only the secondary in the primary slot.

 

This is looking bad I did the best test I could, and that ment I take out my 6970 out of my R3 system and place it into my R2 system and.... Same Results... Dim Alienware Head/Logo, Fade to Black then nothing... So either my Motherboard or my LCD invertor or something like that.... Any Ideas?

 

Alrighty... well... found a BNIB 6970M for $225 shipped. I'm goin' for it. I'll probably check out a few of the threads regarding the installation/undervolting processes too.

 

Bought my m17x end of 2009 and it's been a great machine - has always worked and has taken every MXM I've thrown at it:
4870 (RV770)
5870 (Juniper)
5870 (Cypress)
6970 (Barts)
a smattering of NVIDIA parts, and for the past month
7970 (Pitcairn)

Cypress and Barts behaved a bit odd though. Unplugging the power cord which switched to battery would hard hang the machine. I'd have to plug the AC adapter back in and hard power cycle. My best guess is that those 2 draw too much power (TDP on the 2GB Cypress MXM is 123 watts).

The m17x is back to full normal operation with the Pitcairn. I believe it's because it is so low power. When I first installed it, I did so with the stock MXM heatsink (not the m18x cooling solution). I ran it for 2 hours without a fan (natural ambient convection cooling only) and the heat sink was barely warm. Normal office apps (web surfing, e-mail etc), no gaming or GPGPU apps. Still very impressive.

I haven't been able to get 2 GPUs running in this thing since I bought it though. I think it's because the ones I've installed have been a lot of power. Story may be different with 2 Pitcairns. I'll drop a second one in today to see if I can get that to work. Not interested in CF/SLI but 2 independent GPUs for GPGPU apps. I tossed the SLI cable the first day I got the laptop, ripped out the NVIDIA GPUs and replaced them with 4870s. 2x 7970s for a 4.2 TFLOPS laptop with 306 GB/sec of DRAM bandwidth. BooYah! Massively I/O bound though.

The 2x 128GB SSDs in this thing sustain 480 MB/sec too (my code, streaming large uncompressed imagery). Other than it weighing a ton, it's been a fantastic machine. Screen is still perfect (no bad pixels and bright as the first day).

Looking to upgrade from the m17x since the 7970s are PCIE Gen3 and I need a faster x86 memory subsystem. If anyone has a suggestion on what to get, please post to this thread.

 

i just want to send this peice of garbage off and send them the long list of problems, ive reinstalled windows and i still did not get my webcam working nor did i get my media bar or track pad to light up, new display/webcam and new trackpad



how can new things just go to hell

 

I had a somewhat of the same issue minus the inverter. The techs came in with a new palm rest/touch pad, a new lcd assembly and a new mobo. I hope yours gets fixed soon.


Sent from my rooted HTC EVO 3D running ICS.

 

So you confirm here that the 7970m works perfect on the m17x R2?

any luck on some benchmarks?

 

still rocking my R1!!!

 

a simple question. I recently installed windows 8 rp but I couldn't get video drivers above 280 installed which sucks because I couldn't play need for speed the run. I modded a 302 driver so now it works but now I'm getting random freezes. should I update my video bios if so why? and is my modded driver the reason for my random freezes? also I cant get any other driver installed besides the 280 but it has very limited functionality.

 

Second!!!!

 

Third!!!! I wonder how the benches compare to the M17Xr4 with the 7970m. They are pretty awesome. I just want one of these things in my R2.

 

Glad to hear the 7970Ms post at least in the M17x with no issues within the operating system. However, how do the stock fans work? Do they spin at one speed constantly, or do they automatically adjust according to the work load?

 

Has brother Flingin still not received his 7970M yet?

 

For all the m17x R2 owners who want to check on the tests of the 7970m on our war machine, here is the topic:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/669003-alienware-m17x-r2-amd-7970m-can-work.html

 

Hey, awesome! Nice work brother, /subbed, /repped!

 

I just realized that you're talking about the M17x-R1 with the Core 2 processors. If the 7970Ms work in that system, then that is great news for R1 owners. I also remember someone getting the Dell 7970Ms to work in the R2, but as expected, the fan was stuck at one speed.

 

That means Hwinfo 32/64 Fan management...

 

What is the different between 5870 (Juniper) and 5870 (Cypress)?

 

No, This is an R2. Just confirmed by typing in the express service tag into Dell Support.

The 5870 Cypress MXM has 2x the shaders (1600), 2x the memory (2GB), much higher memory bandwidth (115 GB/sec) and about 2x the SP GFLOPS and infinitely higher DP GFLOPS (384 vs. 0). Higher TDP too (123 watts) but still worked great in my M17x R2.

Yep, my fan is stuck at one speed. Don't really care. Still, who knows what sets fan speed? If it was really a concern (and I had the time) I guess I could poke around in the vBIOS with Atomworks...

 

You can use HwInfo to control the fans on your system. Just click the Sensors button and then the little fan icon circled in the image:


After that it's pretty straight forward and i guess you'll figure it out.

 

Been in a plastic baggie for a while - never seen HWiNFO before. Thanks - excellent util and the first one I've seen that correctly identified Wimbledon.

Whoops - Gen3x16 is 16, not the 8 GB/sec which HWiNFO is reporting. Actually, Gen3x16 is really 13.84 GB/sec assuming 128-byte PCIE payloads...

Any utils out yet that allow changing the 7970 clocks AND report die / junction temp?

 

Where did you buy this gpu?

 

My 5870m that I'm going to install in my M17x just arrived today!

Was wondering which drivers you guys are using with 5870s? Link would be appreciated! Making the move from SLI 260s! ;o And might be getting a 2nd one for crossfire in the future if all goes well! ty

 

CAN ANYONE ASSIST? I have an older Alienware m17x-r1 laptop with a new motherboard running windows 7 professional. Everything works great except for the command center lighting utilities, the only drivers i can find on dell site are for newer R1 laptops and cause my lighting controls to not function correctly, does anyone have access to drivers compatible with this computer, or a way to make the hotkeys and keyboard light correctly?? any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

Hello, Frank, welcome to NBR!

You should find drivers for your system in the ' My Hive' section from support.alienware.com.

Also, this is the M17x subforum, we have a section for the pre Dell Alienware models here:
Alienware Area-51/Aurora and Legacy Systems

 

Hey guys need some help from fellow M17x users. I just spent 3 hours on the line with Dell tech support over my R2 randomly getting BSOD involving "BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER". The tech changed several power setting and remote diagnosed the system for nearly two hours before he had me to a system restore, then said "well I don't see the problem, call back when it happens again".

For those who can help my system is stock with ATI ver 12.1 drivers and I use a USB mouse (BSOD happens with/without mouse). I have attempted to google such a problem but I am getting similar results involving a faulty USBport.sys file. I wish I can attach the memory dump file but its about 570MB. Many thanks in advance.

 

Hello, Captain, sorry to hear about your issues.

Download WhoCrashed and press the Analyze button, it should give you some info on what caused the recent BSODs and system crashes.
Let us know what you find, brother.

 

I have the home version so I am limited on what can be accessed. I have a bunch of reports that were found from numerous dump files. The information is the same excluding the date and time of occurrence. The most current information is:

On Wed 6/13/2012 7:34:07 PM GMT your computer crashed
crash dump file: C:\Windows\Minidump\061312-16754-01.dmp
This was probably caused by the following module: usbport.sys (USBPORT+0x2DF7E)
Bugcheck code: 0xFE (0x5, 0xFFFFFA800A44D1A0, 0x80863B3C, 0xFFFFFA80077ADC48)
Error: BUGCODE_USB_DRIVER
file path: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\usbport.sys
product: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
company: Microsoft Corporation
description: USB 1.1 & 2.0 Port Driver
Bug check description: This indicates that an error has occurred in a Universal Serial Bus (USB) driver.
The crash took place in a standard Microsoft module. Your system configuration may be incorrect. Possibly this problem is caused by another driver on your system which cannot be identified at this time.

I have found this driver mentioned numerous times while searching, most solutions are calling for the reinstallation of windows, which I already did. Many thanks to those who are helping me out.

 

What's your BIOS version, Captain?
Do you have any USB devices connected on the right side USB ports (your right as you face the screen)?

I've seen this on quite a few systems but there's more than one cause for this issue. We'll take it one by one.

 

Katalin again thanks for the quick replies. I am running the modded A10 bios from NBR, and I usually connect my USB mouse to the right side usb port. The sad thing is I get the BSOD with and without USB devices attached.

 

The USB ports on the right are on a separate board. This error can be triggered by a damaged port (connection etc.) too so if you can use the ones on the left it would be great for troubleshooting sake.

Another cause can be the USB power settings. Access Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options and choose Change Plan settings of the plan you're currently using (High performance or Balanced), click Change advanced power settings and a window will pop. Scroll down to USB settings and set both instances of USB selective suspend setting to Disabled.

See if after doing this you'll still get any BSOD.
Also, don't forget to report back, regardless of the result.

 

I connected the mouse to the left ports for giggles to see what happens. The USB power settings have been in effect for a while and is default in my power plan. Well I'll get back with you and see how it goes, thanks for all the advice.

 

I just helped a friend repaste the GPU's on his m17x r1, update his graphics drivers, and his bios as well.

After doing all of this, HWinfo64 no longer registers the temps from his 260m's and neither does TECH-POWER-UP GPU-Z.

Does anyone know if it was the graphics drivers update or the bios update that would have caused this? Is there a fix for this so I can monitor his temps to make sure the paste job was good?

Thanks!

EDIT:
Nevermind - reinstalling the drivers fixed the issue (should've known better)

Side note - on load temps before paste were 104c - after pasting with IC Diamond, load temperatures are 70c (yay!)

 

Okay, I'm looking at upgrading my AW m17x R1. I've already grabbed more RAM and am looking into processors. I like the specs on the SANDYbridge core i7 2820QM, but need to know if it is even compatible with an R1. Or, better yet, judging from the following specs, is this the most worthwhile upgrade for my system, or should I go a different route?

Specs: AW m17x R1, Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit SP1, Intel Core 2 Extreme CPU Q9300 @2.53GHz (quad core), Dual NVidia GeForce GTX 260M's SLI, 120GB SSD, A07 BIOS, 1200p screen res, DVD/CD writer, 8GBs DDR3 RAM @ 1333MHz.

 

Sandybridge is not compatible. best you can do is the QX9300

 

So i spilled Coke Zero all over my keyboard today while playing Counter-Strike. I quickly turned off my laptop and started to clean it up. I spilled a good amount (I just HAD to be drinking from a big cup lol). It got on my keyboard, left speaker, and trackpad.

I wiped it down and then turned it up side down so most of it could come out. I left my cryo fans on and turned on the AC in my room so maybe that will help. I am scared to turn it on lol.

Should I attempt to open it up tomorrow and try to clean it or should I just call it in (what would they even do in this situation, I have the accidental warranty)?

 

QUICKLY TAKE OUT THE BATTERY

Place LAptop in a dry rice bath (plain white rice) for about a day (24-48hours) and then you can turn it on again! DONT WASTE TIME AND DONT TURN IT ON!!!! the liquid will damage the circuits!

 

Yes, I did take out that battery when I happened last night. However, I did not do the rice bath as I am out of rice out the moment (and it was 4am so yea ).

At this point it is even still worth doing the rice bath since it has been about 6 - 7 hours in a cold room?

NOTE: My sister borrowed my car for work so I wont be able to go get some rice for about another 6 hours >.<

 

Why is nvidia not not supporting the 280m's in the M17x R1 any more?

 

Go to LaptopVideo2Go: NVIDIA & Laptop News it has the most up to date drivers and with the inf modifier you can add mxm based cards.

Sent from my HTC EVO 3D running ICS.

 

ok so I disassembled the palm rest, keyboard, media strip, etc in attempt to clean the parts with alcohol. However, I didnt find any soda residue or wet parts o.o. No sticky mess nor any stains. It was weird. Everything seems to be dry and normal. (Although I probably need a new palm rest as the plastic screw holes on the bottom are broken - not by me though)

I reassembled everything and fired it back up and everything seems normal. No sticky keys or any other weird problems.

I am going to leave the laptop on without my cryo cooler on to see if the heat brings any problems. Maybe play a few hours of counter-strike too.

On the bright side of all this, I learned how to disassemble the laptop lol

 

Do the rice bath just to be sure. It gets rid of everything damp.

2 months ago my iphone 4s went for a 6second dive in the toilet, i took it out gave it a rice bath for a day and i am currently typing this from that very same iphone - its as good as new. Dont underestimate the power of rice my friend ))

 

Well, I've sold my M17x r2, and and decided not to continue on with an Alienware m18xr2, or any other Alienware laptop now, sadly. I will say though that I'm moving to a desktop for the first time since Windows 95, so it's a big move. And no, it's not an Alienware desktop, so I guess I'm leaving the Alienware range for the first time since 2009

Though I am going in big.



I'll try and pop in from time to time, but this seemed like the ONLY want to beat DR in the benchmark scores

 

Nice man! How much did that set you back? I'm going to sell my R4 which is still sealed in the box and was thinking about goint the 3770K route as well. Time I build a desktop.

 

Haha around 3k for my model (specs in signature). It'll be less in the usa since Aussie prices are quite high compared to you guys, si I'd say you could get away with 2.5k or less.

And it does look QUITE pretty

 

Nice. Looks good. I'm going to try and keep my build to around $2k. Maybe add a second GPU later down the road. But about $2K is what I will be working with. Hopefully I can put something decent together. Gotta start shopping around.