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

From what I understand, you may not. Only the power button alien head.

 

Why is that CPU no good for gaming?

 

Bad grammar on my part . I meant that OC'ing the CPU is pointless for gaming, never going to see any difference except in benchmarks

 

I could use a little advice. I have a cooling pad (2 USBs), Naga Epic (1 USB), headset (1 USB), wired Xbox game pad (1 USB), and Razer's Anansi (2 USBs). I want them connected all at the same time. Can anyone recommend a decent USB 3.0 port replicator? Do they make any for gaming? Are there any that support lighting similar to the AlienFX? Am I correct in assuming I should put the HIDs directly into the laptop to prevent lag when I get one? (Does that even matter without super human reflexes, lol?) Thanks for your time.

 

You can do that within Windows with symbolic links. And honestly, you already look like a spammer. You just joined and you're already posting links to third-party programs (that you may benefit from)? Really?

 

Removed, thank you for bringing that to my attention. Intent was purely to help someone, but it was poorly executed.

 

Hi,

I'll receive tomorrow the first ever purchased laptop in my life : M17x-r4 (3610,7970,Killer).
I hope to be proud of this new piece of hardware and therefore will clean install a version of win7 ultimate on a Samsung 830 SSD.

I have several questions about it :

- Drivers location , where to find the best drivers (specifically for 7970M [ATI website or Dells], Killer networks?)
- SSD hardware install and software tweaking/setup (cache setup as I have another HDD [500Go@7200], drivers, best practices,...)
- Win 7 optimization (services disabling, graph options,...)
- Battery life advices (been assembling desktops since 1994 but never needed to take care of a laptop and lost track of latest things)

Any other important advice would be welcome too.

Thx for your help !

 

Yeah i have wondered why people want to overclock there CPU as there isnt a huge difference in gaming experiance and with the CPU not overclocked from what ive heard the m17x r4 will ace all games anyway. So what are the reasons for wanting to overclock if not for gaming benifits people?? Am i missing something? (except a decent knowledge of the most expensive thing ive ever bought)

 

People like chasing numbers. Simple as that. They want to push their systems to the max and try to hit those high, seemingly impossible numbers. I have admit, when I first started benching, I could feel the addiction of wanting to get a higher score. After a while, I decided it was time to pull back. Even with the warranty, I didn't want to risk it. But now that my 7970M is on its way, I'm sure the urge will return.

 

You upgrading to an r4 or just upgrading the GPU?

 

Any disadvantages to activating and using Computrace? I'm a lil' freaked to "try it out first" since if I enable it, I can't disable it later on.

 

Alot of people are talking about patches for the 7970M where do you find patches to download and how do you know which ones to download? I have no idea where to find them

 

What exactly is a caching SSD? Would it be like an mSATA SSD?

 

If you pick the caching SSD option on the dell website, it is indeed an mSATA SSD. Bear in mind that it is, just like any other dell upgrade, overpriced, and the mSATA slot runs at SATA II speeds contrary to what dell says.

 

Would getting a 128gb SSD and putting it in myself be better? So the caching SSD would just make my HDD perform better and be placed in the mSATA slot? With an SSD I know I would want to install windows on it and frequently used programs? The SSD would cost a little more but if it is worth it I'll get it instead.

 

Why can't you disable it later on?

 

It flashes new code onto the BIOS firmware, and it is permanent.

 

Agree - I got totally addicted with my last desktop (2x 295 quad sli +9600 physics, water cooling on processor, northbridge/southbridge, voltage regulator and both 295's!).

I started with a reason - I purchased a cheap 2.2 i7 for around 100 bucks and wanted to see how far it could be pushed, but once the number chasing bug hit I never looked back. I have a pages and pages of settings and results, the BIOS on that MB (EVGA X58 Classified) was just awesome.

Once I watercooled the processor I was set since the video was far more powerful than any game could use at that time but couldn't stop .

I did do some on the AW but thankfully the BIOS severely limits what can be done and now I won't even put any real benchmarking SW on this machine - if you have any OCD tendencies like I have it's not a good thing

 

If you could disable it then so could a thief. Once you lock down only Dell can unlock it and it's a real pain requiring you to fax them a code (that is what they had me do some time ago) for traceability.

If you are worried about theft then insurance is probably a better way unless you have data you MUST get back, and nobody is tracking your laptop location without your knowledge (paranoia I know!)

 

msata is overpriced, a crucial m4 128GB msata card is around 120/130 bucks.
but requires some dissasembly including the screen and palmrest.
i've done it a few times now and can do it under an hour.
will be doing it again when my replacement R4 comes in and i need to do it twice.. strip and rebuild my current r4 to stock and rebuild my new r4 with all upgrades.

 

I wouldn't pay for msata. Buying a standalone SSD and using it as your primary drive is a cheaper and better solution IMO.

 

in generally yes, but some freaks like me like running triple ssd raid0 with optical drive

 

No, I'm not the overly-paranoid-about-security type. Just wanted to know about and get some things cleared up about Computrace..

 

any helpers please? wanna make sure im up to date :/

 

if you don't know where to find vid card drivers for your 7970m, i'd suggest you just leave the machine alone for now, until there is a need to update it.

If you want to learn more you can read this thread of things that you can do with the 7970m:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/671212-updating-7970m-drivers.html

 

ok thankyou ive seen that there are drivers on the dell website but not on The gpu makers website are the dell drivers any good or should i wait like you say until the manufacturers bring out a driver?

 

Anyone have any problems with the R4 sound? When my system starts up the windows "jingle" is distorted at first, then smooths out. (Speakers)

When I play BF3 some of the sounds are distorted and "weird" for a lack of better term. (Headphones)

I'm running stock Dell drivers.

 

what i have found is that dell is very slow to come out with driver updates. THe ones on the website are the same on your laptop so there is no need to update that.

Where you will go from here is to update drivers from AMD. The best driver right now is probably the 12.6.9's modded for 7900. THese are the first real revision to specifically support the 7970m:

AMD Catalyst 12.6 9.00 BETA June 12 – 7900 MOD – BenchmarK3D

you have to make sure you are running on the 7970m by clicking on FN+F7 before these will install

I'm currently on the 12.5 modded betas because i've found them to be the best for the things that i do with my laptop

jack, I'd reinstall the creative drivers and see if that solves it for you

 

Anyone else having buyer remorse for not waiting for the 680M? I am... Seriously don't know what to do, apparently the 680M is not going to cost that much more than the 7970M (here in the UK at least) either.

 

Bro return it then. Do what will give you peace of mind. ANd some lucky SOB is gonna get your laptop at the outlet

 

Since I've been using, and loving the 7970m, here is what I think of the 680m...

 

When I made multiple accounts on my PC, when I start the PC up I get the same, only then though, I have no problems in games,movie,music etc.

 

Question: does anybody else's R4 take an AGE to burn images/data to CDs & DVDs? Including idly spinning and "verifying the data" for about 10-15 minutes?

I have the blu-ray capable drive.

Do Alienware's with this disk drive just take long to burn to disc?

 

I have been trying to decide between and SSD or should I invest into another HDD for raid 0?

I want performance for games etc....
What would be my best option?
Thanks

 

?? So what do you think of the 680m or have i just been an idiot in that u ment nothing? Lol been waiting to see if you repost!

Does SSD really make that much of a difference to gameplay or is it just loading times to boot the games? Im gunna stick with HDD cheaper and doesnt seem like a massive difference?

 

Google is your friend

HAHA, yes you are correct. I haven't thought about the 680m.

 

Thats brilliant thankyou ive been reading in forums that apperently max payne3, arma 2 and witcher 2 are the games that bring computers to there knees and are more powerful than bf3, will my setup (u can see what it is just below this) in my m17x r4 play these games / max them out with good fps? Or like everyone else in other forums will those 3 games bring my laptop to its knees??

 

If I don't decide to get a SSD right away and get it somewhere down the line would I be able to keep everything on my HDD or would I need to reformat it? I plan on getting one eventually but it might be easier for me to buy it later but if it is easier to put it in right away I'll just buy it now.

 

I'm waiting for the 680m as I need 3D. Where have you heard that the price is not much more than the 7970m? Seems to be a price premium for the Sager models and I keep hearing that Alienware will probably charge even more for it. I hope I'm wrong

 

look at my rig, i play it maxed with vsync on and it never went below 60fps

 

If you plan to put the OS on the SSD, you will have to re-install. Not necessarily reformat the HDD, but then if you do not want 2 system disks, you will likely want to format it eventually anyway.

 

Dude, sorry haven't been on the forums all day, was setting up a fresh Windows installation on my SSD and gettign things to run smooth, and then spent a couple hours playing Battlefield 3 maxed out for the first time in my life . I have to admit, its quite something...

Back on topic. Max Payne 3 has some really idiotic optimization issues which doesn't allow it to detect more than 1GB of memory (sometimes even 512MB) on many current graphic cards. While I personally don't have the game, I'm waiting to see what Rock* do to deal with this problem. However, I do know that people on this forum have modified some of the game's .ini files to detect video hardware properly. Just look through some of the relevant threads.

Note: notebookcheck.com says that the 7970m runs MP3 ultra @ 61fps. Interesting. Can anyone confirm that the game does run this well? (If it does, what on earth is the fuss all about?! Overclocking should give 70fps at least, then!)

Arma 2, as well is a horribly optimized game, quite like Crysis was, which is why it brings computers down to their news IMO. The bad performance that it brings out doesn't even justify the graphics of the game lol. Battlefield on the other hand, works so much better and looks pretty darn good maxed out (which you will be able to achieve, with or without an overclock )

Witcher 2 & Metro 2033 are probably the most demanding games on earth right now and the 7970m sure can handle them, albeit with one or two settings dialed down a little and PhysX turned off. This is admirable considering these games bring desktop rigs to their knees. Thus, although not maxed out, you will be pretty close to maxed out settings at playable framerates. (As long as 30-35fps is playable for you, which it really should be!) This card is a fudging beast.

So, like I said, MP3 and A2 are badly optimized games, so don't really blame the system. W2 and M2033 you got my answer And remember, 1. Overclocking 2. Driver updates (as and when they release) will definitely boost your performance by a good number of frames, if you do it right!

 

Hey, you have the 1600x900 screen. Does that mean you can play the games @ 1080p?

Performance at 900p and 1080p is considerably different, so just wanted to clear that up

 

hey do you have bad company 2? I run it maxed with an overclock of 940 and 1400 and it can only do about 55-65 FPS. When I check my GPU utilization on afterburner it only shows 60-70 % utilized. This is weird and it needs to be 100% . When I run BF3 it shows 100% utilization and runs very well with all settings maxed out. this is all of course at 1080p. I remember my desktop could easily do 100FPS on bad company 2 with no OC and with a GTX 570.

 

I do have Bad Company 2! Installing it right now for you and seeing how it performs Maxed out, you say? I'm running on stock clocks because for some reason I am currently completely unable to overclock my card lol. followed SlickDude's guide right down to the last period. Oh well. Will try again on newer drivers... but hey hang in there, I'll get this running in a few

 

Thanks man, When I run BFBC2 I dont use HBAO or SBAO or w/e they are called because they seem useless but everything else is as high as it gets. AA is like 16x and etc... I even got the 12.5 drivers from slicks post and I still have the same problem. Its not like its unplayable or anything because its around 60 fps but its the fact that I know it is not running at its full potential. annoys the hell outa me haha

 

Hmm ,just ran through a quick multiplayer game for you. I'm running on stock speeds, remember!

I have Vsync on, HBAO enabled, everything else high, MSAA 8x (even though this is unnecessary really at this resolution) AF 16x and the game runs at a solid 60fps on average (due to vsync). It drops to 53 sometimes but usually sticks to 60fps. Goes down to 45-48 at the class selection screen upon respawning. NBD.

So from what I'm seeing, performance is pretty good even without an overclock and with some unnecessary settings on. And I also have fraps running so that is a bit of a resource hog. Seeing as I can basically run BF3 on ultra settings at nearly 45-50fps average, I'm assuming BFBC2 isn't optimised perfectly for 100 fps or something haha, but hey 60fps is excellent IMO and I shouldn't complain as long as more demanding games run fine!

 

Thats pretty much what im getting with in 10% more or less. Class selection screen is like 50 FPS for me. I also run FRAPS but seeing as how the game doesnt even require 30% of my CPU it should be ok. I was just worried my GPU was flawed or some mess because it was only be utilized 65-70 % in game. But seeing as how you got similar numbers and not some crazy 100 FPS I feel a little better. the game seems to favor Nvidia because my GTX 570 could do an easy 100 FPS. Thanks for testing that for me. Rep'ed

 

Epic!! Cheers for that cant wait to get cracking

 

Hey no problem! But could you actually help me figure out the overclocking part? Editing the .cfg file and the registry keys have yielded no change in the inability to increase core/memory clocks beyond 850/1200 in afterburner. followed Slick's instructions to the last period lol. Tried with base and now 12.5 modded drivers as well. Nothing happens. Advice?

You're welcome!