*OFFICIAL* Alienware M17x R3/R4 Owner's Lounge Thread

I'd get the 1080p screen if you can. The 1080p panel looks better than the 900p one and you can tell the difference if you look at the two side by side.

 

Agreed 1080p is the way to go, I don't find anything to small on the screen at 1080p it just looks great!

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

Definitely not too small at all. The 1080p screen is beautiful.

 

Thnx for that long review Cynanide! I can see the smile on your face from here...and those bloodshot eyes from lack of sleep lol

i'll rep ya when i can for the effort

 

Not a problem, been definitely lacking sleep because of Diablo 3...

 

So if you will buy another m17 you choice 1080p..

 

Yea I would definitely get the 1080p screen. I still regret not getting it on this system. I might end up buying an external 1080p monitor to make up for it at some point, we shall see.

 

Guys receiving my lappy later, will up pics. But would wanna know, after installing a ssd, I require to go into bios and change to ahci mode right, what about trim how do I activate that? And what other preps are needed? Thanks.

 

Hey guys I just received my Alienware m17x R4 and just did a clean OS install on my ssd. I currently have SSD on my primary slot and an old HDD on my slot. Since I did a clean install, I need to install all the drivers (wireless, gpu, chipsetm etc). Should I be installing all these drivers on my SSD (its where my OS is installed) or can I install it in my regular HDD to save some spaces for my SSD?

 

Responce to noobzpro: you have to turn on ahci FIRST before installing windows on the SSD. First phisically put in the SSD turn on the laptop, F2 , turn on AHCI, save and exit, boot from windows cd and install windows.

Responce to Anchientbarb:you must install all of the drivers on the drive where your windows is installed (your boot drive SSD) start with networking, chipset, input, sound and so on, save video for second to last, and command center last

 

@StZu

Ah it hurts everytime I see my SSD decrease in space. Thanks for clearing that up!

 

Only when you have 3D enabled

Sorry but I couldn't resist that

 

Put your Windows paging file on your 2nd HDD instead.

 

I rethought my position for the m17x, and I am getting a replacement system. Instead of repairing, dell said they would rather replace for some reason I couldn't understand. But anyways, I have my SSD from the first m17x with everything installed on(My SSD I purchased myself, separately), can I just install this into the second m17x without problems? Both machines will be identical. 3d vision screen and GTX 675.

And how long do replacement orders stay in production?

 

Just curious if this is a me problem or just a limitation of the hardware.

I'm something of a multi-display enthusiast. Right now I'm running two external displays (a 2560x1440 and a 1920x1080) and the internal display off my 7970m in dedicated mode. When I switch to hybrid though, I can only run my 2560x1440.

 

guys i have press fn+f7 and restarted, now when i right click desktop no switchable gpu option but diablo 3 max settings only 20 fps??

EDIT: solved by a restart....currently using dell drivers and get 60fps.....will try more hardcore games later on after installing a ssd..

 

Not quite accurate about having to 'install' them on your boot drive.

I assume by 'install' you are talking about when it extracts them to 'c:\dell\drivers\...'. I always change this to my d: drive. Puts them somewhere I can get at them if I want to do a 'nuke' reinstall.

The only problem this might cause (and it has never happened to me) is that if there is some problem or windows needs to search for a driver it will not by default look on your other drive. You simply point it to the drive when it fails to find a driver.

I have alway gone back after a driver install and rename the folder from the default xxxxxx number to the title of the driver to make it easier to know what driver is in each folder. Dell kindly put a text file in each folder ('version.txt') with the details so I use the 'title' in there.

It does not matter where the driver files are stored, they will always install into the OS and windows keeps a copy there, you don't get to choose .

Oops, another 'questionable' option

You probably want to leave it on your SSD as this will affect the speed windows operates. You want the paging file on the fastest drive.

If you are looking to save your SSD for where it is most needed you can save some by disabling 'hibernate'. This removes a large hidden file 'hiberfil.sys' from the boot drive.

As I have a LOT of games I install most them to my D drive. Load times are increased for the game but I never see any affect in-game - but being used to XBox and PS3 load times between sections a standard HDD is already way faster...

 

lol loving dell right now.
my 2 week old r4 of beeing one week defective now is taking ages, replacement systemboard is available after 30th of june..
told them to stick it where the sun never shines and send me an new r4 with priority build and shipping. that will be faster here than the repair..
also gonna ask for compensation in some upgrade.

 

With 16Gb of RAM it means that programs will almost never run out of memory. But if it does need more then it'll access it from the 2nd HDD.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/591845-ssd-reccomendations-m17x-r3.html#post7666943

And

The SSD Optimization Guide Redesigned - The SSD Review

 

Yeah well my new system (one that was bought only because they wouldn't replace my other R4) which I ordered on the 29th May with an estimated day of 11th June delivery now has an expected date of 28th? ? Why are they doing this?

 

base m18x+dual 7970m's
orion backpack
5% card
200$ card.
2nd day shipping

$2300 with tax

is this any goood?

 

I'm in the EXACT same situation. Got an email today and estimated date of delivery (11th) was pushed back to after the 28th of June.

This is unacceptable! I've sent a complaint to the representative and manager!

 

Yup, that makes sense, i wasn't taking into account large ram installed

 

Do you have the contract details? I think it's unacceptable too... to think I was thinking of giving this company MORE money in the shape of the M18x R2 with CFX/SLI...

PM me the details and what you said to them, please? This is unacceptable.

 

Well essentially I wrote to the representative who helped me place the order at the time and explained how pleasantly surprised I was to find a good customer service at first, but how disappointed I was to find a simple automated email to inform me of the 17 days delay! 17 ! Not a week ! MORE THAN 2 ? and this without compensation ? I'm burning with anger !

 

I've PMed you.

Anybody else from the UK with this issue?

 

So many PCs come w/6Gb or more these days, Windows pagefile is a relic from the past.

 

Yep. Though I gotta figure out how to turn the damn thing off.

Also, can't believe one of my Corsair Vengeance Sticks was defective.

 

Right-click on My Computer on your desktop, go to Properties and then Advanced System Settings on the left

Click on the Advanced tab on the top, under the Performance section, click on Settings

In the new window, click on Advanced again and click on Change

Uncheck "Automatically Manage" on the top

Highlight your C: drive select "No Paging File" and click on SET (make sure you click on set or your settings won't save)

Highlight you D: drive select "System Managed Size" and click on SET

Ok out of all the windows and restart.

 

Like me, 20 years plus in PC/networking

 

I feel you, tech support for around 10 years here

 

just a tip, do not disable page file ever, just reduce it to 400 mb (minimum setting).
even though you have 2tb ram some apps try to access pagefile and go loco.

 

That's why you stick it on a 2nd HDD so it's there when Windows needs it.

 

My R4 is due to ship in today, as I read through this thread it seems a lot have been defective? What should I look out for when first opening and first running this laptop? How can I check to make sure all the parts are in working order? (ram, gfx, processor)

my specs:
3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3720QM
16GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz
2GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 675M
32GB mSATA caching SSD
750GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 bit Service Pack 1, English, w/Media
Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming and Video and Bluetooth 4.0

Also picked up the camo backpack, chill mat, and the 24 inch Dell monitor that was on sale. I was going to get the Tactx mouse and keyboard until I found out its just a logitech g9x without the weighting system and then decided to get the Logitech g510 keyboard and a g9x from new egg instead.

 

I ran Alien Autopsy and ran every test over a period of two days. This is how I found my video card was defective. Failed primary surface test, chat support confirmed and wanted to send replacement system. It is now currently in production.

 

Hi Sprite, congrats on your choices.

If you want to use it on your lap then the chill pad is perfect - I just got one off amazon.

It does look like the MX17 has more than it's fair share of hardware issues but since this is the place anyone with a problem comes you're bound to see a lot of them.

Dell is very aware of this and their guys monitor these forums and often jump in and personally take up an issue.

I've just yesterday took delivery of my R4 which is replacing a defective R3. It hasn't been exactly an easy path but Dell did take responsibility for their product and do the right thing - something I expect when paying for a premium product.

To your question, there are a bunch of ways to test out the various components but the suggestion to use alienautoposy is probably the best to start with. Then get your most demanding game, load it up and see how that sucker plays!

The most common problems I've seen here in the last few months specific to my model and the hardware (he old one had the 580m) have been throttling in games and overheating - both linked. Video card failure can also be a result of the overheating.

Hammer it for the first two weeks since you wont have to argue with them if you decide that it's not working as you want. I returned my first MX18 that way after a couple of minor (in retrospect) issues. If you see a game stuttering or random slow downs then it will need investigating further. A lot of good stuff in the stickies and the sig files of many of the contributors

 

hey you guys with the new shiny M17x R4, can you check when you boot up the system which version your Intel Rapid Storage option ROM has?

 

Thanks for both answers, I'll be running all the tests I can from the alien autopsy. Also I'm not familiar with the SSD hard drives and I was wondering with only 32 gig's on their what should I intend to use it for? I hear it boots a lot faster and is more stable then a regular hard drive.

My Alienware just arrived! Boy is this thing fancy looking. Although there was a gash in the side of the box, called Dell and asked what I should do next and after talking with an agent and looking over the contents everything is all good. I'm trying to follow the warranty to the letter.

Now I am running Alienautopsy and beginning the tests, should I also run the stress test's? Ran the CPU test first everything checks out, I'll continue to run the regular test's until I can get a answer about the stress ones. Thanks!

 

Congrats on the new machine!!

 

Short video card test, see if it passes all.

 

New Intel i7 are hotter.... 84c in full load!


Alienware M17x R4 Notebook Review - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

 

Thanks!!!! I have to say this thing is just freaking awesome, its passed all the test's so far and now I am just wondering if I should run the stress test's as well? When I bought my Alienware ten years ago (alienware was still owned by Alienware) they performed all the overclocking and stress test's for you and even gave you a print out of how it performed. Does dell not do this for you?

They failed to load the correct driver for my Nvidia card, I was going to download the driver from my mac and install it before I ran the video card test, (I'm loading Avast! before I even connect to the internet.)

Also need to run a grab a flash drive to make a back up.

I can already tell this thing is going to be loads of fun I just spent 20 minutes playing with the color scheme on the keyboard. Hah.

 

Try this thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/487802-m17x-alienfx-themes-8.html

 

Hi there, 11.0.0.1339 HTH.

Great to hear you are having fun!

What driver did you have? I'm still using the one pre-installed (296.39) as i don't want to affect any testing I am doing and it gives me a baseline to work from.

As for stress tests, I prefer to run them just the once from the get-go, if it's gonna fail then I want it to happen now not months down the road

PS, you can also run the diagnostics from boot by tapping F12 on the BIOS screen and selecting it from the boot list. This is what they are supposed to use pre-delivery and keeps windows out of the way.

 

thanks man, i appreciate it!

 

I have an issue with my m17xR3 that comes to haunt me every once in a while and cannot figure it out..

I normally run my m17xR3 on my WiFi connection all the time in my home. Sometimes out of the blue my m17xr3's connection will start thrashing my router, which in turn slows down the internet to a screeching halt for everyone in my home. The LED lights will be blinking like rapid machinegun fire on my router and DSL modem..

To fix this issue, I usually need to reboot my laptop 2 to 3 times to get it to stop doing that.. sometimes I'll be good for weeks with no issue (note: The m17xR3 was doing this from stock settings, before I installed any of my apps/stuff). To fix the issue more permanently, I tend to disable WiFi on my m17xr3 and run an ethernet cord which doesn't thrash the router like I described.

Funny thing is, whenever these incidents happen, I am not even doing ANYTHING such as downloading/torrenting or anything of the sorts.. So I am clueless. This Alienware laptop is the only device in my household that will cause such a disruption..

Anyone else ever experience their m17xR3 lagging your internet connection to death until turning it off, rebooting or just hooking up straight to ethernet?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

You're very welcome - now I'm intrigued, why?

on another note, the R4 sound chip (creative) is way better that the IDT! I never expected this and always thought 'it's a laptop, what do you expect from the internal speakers' but i checked out my music library after transferring and straight away it sounded better -

I've only ever seen this with a faulty network card. It's called 'chattering' and back in the day a card doing this would bring down a whole subnet, sometimes the card is broadcasting to 'all' so every connected device starts to answer. I have also seen a network connected printer doing this. Sounds similar since you have taken any wierd software out of the brew but I have no experience of it happening over a wireless connection.

Edit: had a look and since the wireless and Ethernet are different hardware it could be faulty - but I hope not

 

I would rep you as soon as I'm able again. Knowing the R4 has a more up-to-date ROM would get me to either try to update the ROM in my M17x R3 or seriously consider getting the R4. Also your impression with the new sound chip is a plus.

 

I don't think the R4 ROM is compatible with the R3.

 

me neither. And it seems we need someone to add it into a BIOS update for the thing to work. And there is a newer version actually, 11.5 something on station driver.