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

xpo and Ithian, thank you both very much. I had missed the promo code entirely. It's been a long day.

I really appreciate the assistance. I just placed the order for the 256GB version. At that price I felt like it was the right thing to do. Kudos to you both!

 

You're welcome, i'm looking to get the same one soon.

 

Hi all!

After much deliberation and going back and forth between 15" and 17" Sagers and then settling in with Alienware, I have ordered the rig in my sig! Looking forward to enjoying my first true gaming laptop!

Cheers

Is there any advantage/disadvantage to keeping the 2GB stick of original RAM installed in single channel mode in the third DIMM when I add a 4GB stick to go with the stock 4GB RAM stick?

 

Well, based on your recommendation I have ordered Targus Lap Chill Mat. Let's see how it turns out.

One thing I noticed while looking for laptop coolers was that every single one of them had a fairly significant amount of 1 star ratings. There are so many instances of customers' laptop coolers failing on them, no matter what the brand and no matter what the price. It seems to me that laptop cooler technology has not really advanced that much yet.

 

You bet! From everything I've read about that drive you'll be really happy with the performance. If I hadn't already invested in my M4 and wasn't saving for the steam summer sale I'd have picked that one up in a heartbeat.

 

Hey,
I was coming to mention the Samsung 830 256gb deal at newegg
but now that you know something else I want to ask about :

this
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model CMSX8GX3M2A1600C9

and this
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 4GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model CMSX4GX3M1A1600C9


shouldn't packages save more !! .. or is there any advantage for the dual kit ??
wouldn't any two singles run in dual channel mode ??

if any of you could find 200 000 customers he can make his first million off newegg

 

Steam summer sale!

I put two 256gb Samsung 830s in- no hardware required just a small screw driver- the m17x comes with a mounting bracket and a 90 degree adapter which you can connect - pretty easy takes less than ten minutes. Performance is wonderful. You'll be happy coach knight.

 

Nice . No way the best looking out there but it is perfect for me - I don't think you'll be disappointed but I'm sure (hope) you will voice any negatives you discover

I can't comment on any others except the el cheapo 3 fan unit I tried first. The fans were the $1.50 type you get on rig-builder sites and only 2 of the 4 mounting screws used. Wish I could remember what one it was but it has no markings on it so I'll have a look back at my purchases to see if I can find it.

It also actually made the temps rise since the locations of the fans didn't balance out the way it covered the intakes - still better propped

 

Anyone else order a GTX680M in their M17x yet? Want to see if I am not the only one with their order being in pre-production.

 

of the regulars here, you may be the first. I know widezu is trying to get one...and i have a card on order, but it may be a while before I get it

Now being the first has a lot of responsibilities lol...like pics, and benches

 

HAHA no problem. I talked to Dell this morning and it seems they are still waiting for the cards to get in.

 

ya, supply is tight right now. The yields have not been stellar

 

Which is probably understandable for all that power into the card. Hopefully it performs well. I am in the processing of buying a home so I have to start packing and luckily I still have my old R3 with GTX580M to hold me off.

 

Thanks for the confirmation about the SSD! I am quite anxious to get my beast of a machine now that the official order has been placed. I was playing it cool and nonchalant up to now, but this will be a long couple of weeks.

 

After about 2 weeks of decided whether to go with Sager or Alienware I finally ordered the m17x. My aunt made it easy for me. Where she works she gets a lot of nice discounts and dell happened to be one of them. That made it cheaper than the Sager which was the only reason I was thinking about it.

I got the setup that dell was offering for $1849 and didn't change anything else. With the discount it was about $1750 after tax and I get an $80 dell gift card. It will be far better than anything I have ever owned and I am so excited.

I plan to add a 128gb crucial m4 ssd myself since it doesn't look too hard. Should I get the one that comes with the data transfer kit? I'm not exactly sure what it is capable of doing.

 

Congratz on the new computer destructo!

I believe in clean installs so i never even considered the data transfer software bundles. Your alienware will come with a windows disk and driver cd, i think this is really all you need

 

Congrats on the new system and Nice choice of SSD.

I got mine without the transfer kit and just did a clean install like slickdude did. Works flawlessly once you get all the drivers and such installed.

 

Thanks for the responses.

I'll definitely go for the clean install since it is cheaper and better. But I was looking on newegg and they have 2 different ones for the same price and I'm not sure what is actually different.

Newegg.com - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Newegg.com - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC 7mm Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

 

the 7mm is thinner. But both will fit in the alienware because they screw into. There is no better one here unless you consider the thinner one to be better. The first one is 9.5mm thick which is the standard size (the size that i have in my r3)

 

Ordered mine yesterday In pre-production with EDD of July 16th. Hopefully sooner as they are supposed to bump me up to express shipping. Can't wait!

 

They are the same. The 7mm was made to fit the ultrabooks and other laptops that can't fit a 9,5mm drive. You can call it more futureproof if you want.

 

I bought the 7mm 256gb Samsung 830 for my R4. It comes with a 2mm plastic adapter, but it isn't needed for these machines. Simply screw in and go. Blinding fast.

 

I've been contemplating the purchase of either the samsung 256GB 830 SSD or the OCZ Vertex 4 256GB.... help me decide... this is going in my m17x thats coming in July 17.

 

vertex 4 is proving to be quite impressive and reasonably priced. We tested them and i prefer them over my crucial m4's

here is vertex 4 raid 0:

 

just ordered the vertex 4 256GB... i was leaning towards it.. thanks!

 

Just curious but what controller does it use?

 

the vertex 4 uses Marvell hardware, but it runs that hardware on custom indilinx firmware

 

Quick question for anyone that has a M17xR4.

Are the two SATA connectors for hard drives SATA 2 (3GB/s) or SATA 3 (6GB/s)?

I've been looking at a number of possible laptops and seem to have found out that one other one, the HP Envy 17, seems to have throttling issues with 6GB/s in both its SATA hard drive bays.

 

in the R4, both are SATA3 (6gigs)

 

Good to know. Documentation seems to indicate that, though I'd rather hear it from someone else.

 

ah good to know thanks slick

 

After I got informed that one of Norwegian Clevo resellers will NOT release P170EM with a 3D panel, there is only one way out - go with Alienware. I always stayed away from Alienware's because I don't like how they look like, but to be honest I am going to buy the laptop like a desktop replacement, so I really don't mind how it will look like when it stays at my house. Moreover I can leave my Dell XPS l702x and take it outside if I need, because it looks solid.

Have few questions for you:

1. Can anyone compare the 3D panel between l702x and M17x-r4? Which one is better? The one is installed with l702x has a glossy surface, so it has reflections, but I wouldn't say it ever annoyed me, maybe because I am using it indoors. It is very bright and overall it's one of the best screens I ever had, so I would like to know all the pros/cons about the Alienware's 3D panel.

2. What about sound comparing to l702x? As I know the l702x sound is still one of the best you can get in a laptop and I totally agree, it is amazing. What about M17x-r4? Is it good enough to battle with l702x speakers?

3. What about upcoming Nvidia and AMD GPU's (7xx, 8xxx series), will they be compatible with M17x-r4, or?

One more reason why it's better for me to go with Alienware is that now I trust to Dell's as a company which makes quality products. My current l702x never ever had a problems, and it's still a powerful and well build system.

Specs I'm going to order:

17.3" 120Hz w/ 3D Bundle WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD
Intel® Core™ i7-3610QM
2 GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GTX 680M
8192 MB (2 x 4 GB) 1600 MHz DDR3
SSD 256GB (Samsung 830) + 1TB 5,400rpm SATA 6Gb/s HDD
Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO with Bluetooth 4.0
DVD+/- RW

 

Dude!!! Style police, you are too embarrassed about how an AW looks to take it out

can't offer any comparisons but the R4 1080 display is very glossy and does cause reflections in bright light - sounds similar.

Again on the sound, the R3 was noticeably poor but I love the R4's sound. Best laptop I've heard but then again I've always had business laptops where the sound was just 'there'.

You can never predict what new hardware comes out and it's compatibility but you have the best shot an staying on top of it with the AW R4 right now.

I also trust Dell having had a long-standing business relationship purchasing hundreds of laptops from them - this is my first consumer product. Service is not as good as business customers but very close and better than all the rest from what I read.

 

2) As to future gfx cards. Alienware seems to be much better about it than most, as witnessed by the r3 and r2 users upgrading gfx. That said, who knows what the future will bring?

Basically, the new gfx option would need to have the same version of MXM, be within your current machine's power/thermal limits, and may or may not need some fiddling with the heatsink (say if you wanted to switch from AMD to NVDA I think)

Also, if you laying out that kind of dough, be sure to negotiate a good deal.

 

7970M: Anyone suddenly suffering from reduced fps during games?

I have been experiencing much lower FPS on the same settings on various games. This card is supposed to eat most games for breakfast, so I don't understand why I'm having LOW FPS during games such as Just Cause 2 - at an OC of 950/1450. JC2 can apparently run maxxed on a much weaker card, so I don't know what's up.

Can't be CPU bottleneck either, as I have an OC'd 3820QM processor.

Crysis is the same... yet it should be playable at avg 50 fps maxxed with those OCs. I barely get 30fps (yet I lower shadows, postprocessing and motion blur in order to have better fps) at the same clocks. Much of the time MSIA only shows 45-55% GPU usage. Is my card shot?

Max temp I've seen is 69C and I've AlienRespawned my system and reinstalled all drivers and the problem still plagues me.

 

Have you tried Fn-F7 to make sure you are running on the 7970. It might not be auto-switching.

Also make sure your power adaptor is working properly as if for some strange reason it thinks it's on battery you will not get full speed...

 

Have you tried hitting the fn+f7? I have seen around the forums that this turns off enduro. Somebody with a 7970m can probably expand on it more though.

 

Yeah Enduro is definitely off... I never run it with Intel HD 4000 running. I'm worried that my card is shot.

 

How hot does this get when not under heavy load? Like if I am typing on word or on the internet. Would it be cool enough to have on my lap or am I gonna need something in between?

 

for light work I don't think it would be a problem. These machines are pretty quiet and cool when not under load.

 

I found mine (no enduro/optimus) to be too hot for extended lap use, then again my D420 is just too hot to put directly on my lap!

Dell now include the Targus 17" lap-pad as an accessory. I got one and it's perfect for my need - moving it onto my lap and back to a table easilly. Has a soft spongy cover as wall so is confortable.

Jeez, I feel like a Targus rep having recommended this to others, usually their stuff is overpriced, but I AM happy with it

 

pretty sweet it is, might consider it when i need more space to upgrade to 2x vertex4 raid 0 and keep my msata m4 .

for now my triple drive raid 0 m4 runs solid.

 

Wish I could speeds like that out of a single stable drive.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S2 using tapatalk 2

 

Anybody else's 7970M run like garbage and then have the driver/CCC utterly refuse to work?

 

I checked it out and I like how thin it is. I'm gonna wait until I get my laptop before I decide if I need one or not though. Hoping I don't but I won't know until I see for myself.

So would I be better off getting the vertex 4 instead of the crucial m4? I plan on ordering one tomorrow.

 

You'll still probably need something like a piece of hardboard or your clothes will hamper the intakes that are on the underside. Mine never overheated or anything when not gaming but the fans were cutting in quickly - YMMV so waiting is best

Can't help I'm afraid on the choice of SSD, anyone?

 

Well I guess I'm now officially a part of the the Alienware community!

I finally made the purchase on Friday, so I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm a total Alienware noob and probably not as tech savvy as you all... so any tips/tricks of the trade for when I get it?

Here's what I got:

Alienware M17x R4
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3610QM
16GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz (4DIMMS)
256GB SSD SATA 6Gb/s
2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 675M
Killer™ Wireless-N
Blu-Ray

Anybody ever use the DecalsRus skins? On the R4? How's this thing on greasy fingerprints on the keys? lol

:::Excited for EDD of 7/17/12::: (hopefully sooner!)

 

Welcome aboard!

All I'd say for less tech savy is to just get it, try it out for what you want to do, then check back for anything that you want to know more about. Read too many of the 'problem' threads and you'll find problems you never knew you had - I know, spent a lot of effort getting like 3 seconds off my windows loading time because my SSD was in a lower setting.

You've got a great setup on the way, enjoy and maybe check out what you can do with the lighting effects - soo cool having the keyboard go crazy to music

 

Thanks MickyD!

Yeah I'm doing as much reading as I can before I get the system. Trying to catch up!

And thanks! I'm trying to actually upgrade the processor before it ships, so we'll see how that goes. :/

I didn't know about the lighting effects with music!!!! I immediately went to YouTube, now I'm even more excited bc I play a ton of music on it! Thanks for the heads up or I wouldn't have known!

 

You're very welcome

Windows media player should just work 'out-of-the-box'. You have to copy a DLL from one of the command centre folders into an iTunes folder if you want it to work in iTunes.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/591132-alienfx-wmp-itunes-awesome.html

Oh yeah, if you are playing music off the HD, No Dancing With The Laptop! . The acceleromoter thinks the machine is being dropped and will cause 'glitches'