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

so msata only sata 2? manual states sata 3..
ordered the card anyway, want to test how it runs with 3 drive ssd in R4

 

This happens in Skyrim for me too. I really think it's just bad drivers. In that case, all we can do is wait for better drivers. Do you have graphics mods installed? I do, tons. I wondered if those were the cause. So, I'd say one or the other is your cause. I doubt it's the hardware.

 

Odd, you think it could be because i am usually 2 other sata 3 drives?? The Momentus XT drives are them right??

 

I posted on the front page; for some strange reason when you click on it to read it there's nothing in there. The post is "core current limit" I wanted to know if core current limit is the same thing as primary plane and if 125 core current=900 primary plane. Thanks

 

Divide by 8. So, you need 1000 PriPlane for 125A Current Limit; 900 PriP=112.5A.

 

Yeah that DMC bit has been a mystery....digital media control..perhaps..(front panel)

 

All I could find is that it is Digital Media Control and it's a wireless HW standard...Wonder how that is used?

 

It appears that DMC may stand for Dell Management Console which is essentially an enterprise IT tool that permits, among other things, pushing of driver, bios and firmware updates and extensive monitoring of connected servers and machines. Appears to require client software to implement, but the bios setting may be required to enable the remote bios related changes/updates. Sounds like a terrible idea; I intend to disable that capability during my next visit to the bios. Check here for example: Dell Management Console, powered by Symantec | dell.symantec.com. I could be wrong.

 

I just got my R4 and I've noticed the same thing when playing Diablo III. There is a sort of stutter shift in the screen sometimes. Not to mention that, while I love the laptop, the screen is soooo reflective and doesn't get bright enough. My HP Dv6-7000 has a way nicer screen at 1080p.

Is there some option to make the screen not so reflective? I mean it's almost like a mirror. (And it's not like that I have a ton of light in my room, it's windowless and playing at night I have one overhead light on.)

 

Yes there is.. You can purchase an anti-glare screen protector. Is a matt like surface which provents the glare

 

It may not be the same issue, but I just got mine and I found that turning on v-sync really helps with DIII.

 

Looks like you're right. see : Digital Living Network Alliance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, kinda a bluetooth thing, it's hardware based

 

Where do you get that? How much? Does it decrease the brightness a ton?

 

Just played Battlefield 3 at 45-50 fps in Ultra. hd 7970m is awesome.

 

Darn right!

 

Ooo that's some awesome framerate, but how does it compare to other gpu?? Where does it stand with such fps?? Sorry have not been updated for a very long time...

 

Does anyone know if I can upgrade my 2.2GHz Intel Core i7-2670QM processor, up to 3.1GHz with Turbo Boost to say the Intel Core i7-3820QM???

 

Just ordered my R4, first Dell/Alienware hardware...hope it goes well
Total price: 1793,08 Euro // 2,269.34 USD - 7% Discount >>>> 2,110.53 USD

EPP + free shipping applied to get the 1793 Euro.



Any pointers for once I have it, settings I should look into, stuff to boost the performance...yada yada.

 

I guess I'm officially an owner of an R4 now. Specs in sig. Pretty much stole this laptop and Dell probably lost money on it. I'll take it out of the box tomorrow maybe. I need to get my R2 put together first. Just finished putting the finishing touches to the chassis which is now a Candy White.

Sent from my Samsung Captivate/ICS using Tapatalk 2

 

Hi all,

Hoping for some feedback, I purchased my first Alienware - arriving tomorrow and I'm pumped. I wanted to get your opinion if I made a mistake with the wireless choice? I will only be using it at home so wasn't sure upgrading to the Killer would make that big a difference. Kind of regretting not getting the 1080 screen too but had to cut costs somewhere. Maybe I overdid it on the 16GB DDR3? Any feedback would be great. My config is below. Other than the screen, I guess I could customize things down the road. Thanks in advance for thoughts/feedback!

Intel Core i7-3610QM (6MB Cache, up to 3.3GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
17.3-inch WideHD+ 1600 x 900 60Hz WLED
750GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s
32GB mSATA caching SSD
16GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz
2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 7970M
Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Intel 2230 Wireless-N

 

With that GPU you should have gotten the 1080p screen, you can pretty much run all games at 1920x1080 on max settings (except Metro 2033).

I've read somewhere that people had issues with the Intel WiFi card, but it could be case dependent.
All in all nothing to worry about, the Killer card can be a bit overkill.
You might not even achieve the max throughput of that card anyway.

Yeah I would have stuck with the default 8GB RAM, because Dell overprice most of their parts.
You could upgrade that later yourself for a lot cheaper (Corsair Vengeance sticks).

 

Congrats on the R4 DR, sounds like an absolute bargain. I must say though, the specs look a little plain in your sig compared to that frankenstein R2...

 

Thanks for the feedback, you confirmed my fears regarding the screen. I do have a 25 inch 1080HD monitor on my desk - would there be any downside to connecting it with a Monster HDMI cable? It will be on the desk most of the time while I'm gaming. I'll cross my fingers I have no issues with the intel wireless card too.

 

Odd that a lot of people are favouring the larger HDDs without the mSATA Boot Drive, which I think is the more logical choice.

Can't wait for the R4 to arrive, though. It's one hell of a system.

I just hope that it's possible down the road to Crossfire the 7970m on it.

 

Crossfire is impossible on the M17x R3/R4.

 

From Dell, or in after market? Plenty of people seem to have Crossfired 6970m's on R3's.... unless I'm thinking of R2's, which I guess is possible.

The power draw is comparable between 6970m and 7970m. The physical chassis remains unchanged. The HM77 is the same in the M18X and M17X.

Doesn't matter to me much one way or the other, since the 7970m meets my needs, but curious if you're in fact correct.

 

Can any new proud R4 owner dissasemble your machine and take picture of the insides? I'm curious if there is any change to the heatsinks similar to M18x R2.

 

According to Dell Support, the R3 and R4 have the same physical layout.

Mine has not yet arrived, so I cannot do as you ask. I'm also not planning to take it apart completely, only pop the hood so to speak to add an SSD.

I can take a picture of that when I get it, though not sure it'll be too informative.

 

That would be more than enough. Thanks in advance! And yes, the form factor and chassis is the same between the 2 revisions, i'm more interested in the CPU/GPU heatsinks.

 

I don't have the notebook yet (going through the process and bla bla bla).
Though I have a question, mine will be delivered in the Dutch Windows installed.
Once I receive my SSD I'll do a clean install, with the English W7.
Does the laptop come with a AlienFX disc and whats not or can it be downloaded from Dell's website?

 

it should provided you buy the laptop new and yes you can always download the latest version on dell support website.

 

M17x R3 & R4 doesnt have Crossfire, only in R2 and since then replaced by M18x

 

Its as almost as fast as a desktop gtx 580 (slower by 8-9%). And almost double the performance of a 580m (previous fastest mobile graphics card).

A little overclocking would mean equal to a desktop 580.

AMD Radeon HD 7970M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

scroll down for fps in different games at the above link

The fps mentioned for ultra settings for bf3 might be technically correct but that average dips mainly because for in the game for a microseconds the fps dips below 30 (when there is an explosion, with lots of particles in an open environment). barely noticeable in real world play.

Great time to have a hd 7970m. Good times for mobile gpus in general.

 

Don't know if it's been updated with the R4 (I'm going through ordering now) but the resource CD that came with my R3 was quite a bit out-of-date. It got everything running but I'd recommend getting all the drivers first (dell nicely list all the model specific stuff, just check out support.dell and follow the prompts for your model) for a nice clean Win install and skip the resource CD.

 

Hi all. Just a quick question regarding the anti glare screen protector. Has anyone opted for that part? When I was putting an order in UK, this screen protector was not listed at all. Chatting to a Dell rep got me nowhere - this is not supplied for R4 in UK.
I will purchase it from a 3rd party in USA and get it shipped, but just curious if anyone already has it.

 

Great... Just took delivery of my R4 and the left click button for the trackpad is not set in properly... Therefore rendering the laptop useless for anything requiring precision or quick reflexes.

What do I do other than complain to Dell? What is their usual remedy to problems such as these? I don't really like the idea of a BRAND NEW laptop being hacked open by a technician for the sake of a manufacturing mistake after I paid over £1,700 for this piece of kit.

Also, I didn't get my FREE HAT!

Any advice/opinions please? Thanks.

 

I ordered it, not sure if it'll be useful or not. I may elect not to use it, depending on how bad the glare is.

 

He is infact correct. The R3/R4 systems have only one MXM slot for a GPU. The R2 has dual GPUs and can support 6990 Crossfire, as 7970 crossfire is untested. Crossfire GPU's in the R3/R4 is not going to be possible. Maybe on the R5

 

"I do have a 25 inch 1080HD monitor on my desk - would there be any downside to connecting it with a Monster HDMI cable? It will be on the desk most of the time while I'm gaming."

I apologize to all if this seemed like a silly question, and seeing no one has responded I guess it was, I just wasn't sure if anything will be affected because the monitor is external. Thanks again.

 

nice. please share your opinions with us on the reflections and if you decide to use this thing. thx

 

You might experience GHOSTING. What is the response time of the screen?

 

5.00 ms, not sure if that's good or bad though.

 

You probably will see ghosting, Whats the make? I will have a look for you

 

Whats the best/recommended AMD driver for the 7970M atm?

 

I recommend the Dell driver on their website, Its tweaked.

 

HP 2511x

Thanks again for the feedback!

 

Enduro is your biggest enemy right now. i'd recommend you shut off the integrated graphics regardless of what you do. The stock dell drivers are older, but will work.

I'm using the 7900 mod drivers catalyst 12.5 betas. The link is found in my 7970m install guide. if you do use these drivers, shutoff the integrated graphics

 

Its seems its a great screen! there will be some ghosting, you probably wont notice because it has acceleration So you should be fine.

 

Think an Asus vh238h would be good?

 

Great! My machine should be delivered anytime now so that is great news. I'll let you know how it turns out. I appreciate the help and will probably have a few more questions shortly - its my first gaming laptop and I'm new to this.