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

@Leo My money is on the GPU. Only thing that gives me pause is you hear the login sound and see a black screen. You could isolate this to GPU or screen by attempting to boot while connected to an external monitor. Also, I may have missed the post, but have you properly rolled back to WHQL drivers from safe mode? Can it get to safe mode if you tap F8 repeatedly instead of holding the key down?

Now on to the repasting- Did they repaste only the GPU? Did they remove the CPU and/or heatsink when they repasted? Are you adept enough at component replacement to try reseating the GPU and CPU heatsinks?

I'm not sure about the continuous beeps, but could you clarify something? If you do not hold down F8, does it still beep? If it does not, that could be stuck key beeps caused by holding down the key.

For me, the next key troubleshooting step is to change nothing and see what happens on an external monitor.

And one more thing for now- can you look at Event Viewer if you can boot to Windows and grab the stop code of the BSOD you got?

 

Hello

Does anybody know why Command Center 2.8.10.0 can't be downloaded from the Dell site? I'm trying to make Windows 8 work, but I can't do it without this.

 

If I want to boot to an external monitor, I can't do that using HDMI right. I have another monitor, and the display port to (vga?) adapter, but I didn't find the cable I needed to connect my monitor to that /: I'll have a look around for that.

And no I didn't get a chance to try WHQL drivers, I had them in my downloads folder... so as soon as I would boot up I'd go and try get it done, but the blue squares and freezing would come back before the drivers could even start installing and I haven't been able to boot in Safe Mode, BIOS never came up... just started black screening /:

If I do not hold down F8, it does not beep. But even if I hold it down for 1-2 seconds and the beeping starts, I let go of the button and it still beeps for the random amount of times :S

HIDevolution pasted IC Diamond on the CPU + GPU... I'm quite savvy with that kind of stuff but haven't done it before so don't think I'll be trying to reseat the heatsinks.

Thanks for the in depth reply Dolemite I'll try booting on an external monitor (anything I need to do? or is it just plug it in and it'll boot there?) , and I'll also try the RAM fix since I got a screwdriver now

Thanks for the replies I found a screwdriver, but didn't have time to do that yesterday... tested the screwdriver in the morning and it fits, so I'll be testing RAM once I get home from work. Will try find my VGA cable so I could boot on an external monitor too wish me luck

But all the signs point to a GPU problem /:

 

Hi all !

Yesterday I ordered my first alienware :
m17x-intel 3630-7970m

I have a few questions/remarks after reading almost all pages on this thread (7970m related)

1) It seems the first months after its release the 7970m had huge driver-issues but most of them seem to be resolved with the 12.11 driver ?
2) When AMD is releasing new drivers I see some games get more FPS. Is AMD doing common-driver changes or are they making changes for each game separately ?
3) Should I immediately remove stock-drivers and install these new drivers after receiving my system ?
4) Alienware is able to switch to the AMD card with FN-F7 and reboot, is this solving a lot of issues at the moment or was this a thing to do when the driver was still buggy ?

Thanks in advance,

greeting from Belgium !

 

Yup apparently the new drivers are incredible, driver sweep stock ones and get the newest ones

I don't own the AMD but as far as I've heard you shouldn't have a hard time with Enduro.

 

Any Guru Please Advise

Im going to get an M18X with Dual 675SLI with 3610CPU, SDD and HDD mix, Killer Wireless, etc etc. Im not to worried anou the side orders. Just the CPU and GPU.

Any other Group member have this config, SLI 675 and 3610.
Can you tell me what your experience is on the config.

I woud lhave got the later CPU but this is all i have availabel now.

 

You may be better off asking this question in the m18x thread.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/660296-official-m18x-r1-r2-owners-lounge-thread.html

I think they may recommend to get a single 680m and add another later OR dual 7970 (if the driver support has improved).

 

I have the 7970 and the new Enduro Performance Drivers have finally turned this card what it was suppose to be from the start.
They are great.
Download the intel gpu drivers from dell and install the new AMD drivers and your set.

 

"Does anybody know why Command Center 2.8.10.0 can't be downloaded from the Dell site? I'm trying to make Windows 8 work, but I can't do it without this."

My Windows 8 Pro is working fine with 2.8.8.0

DELETE This Post

Same here, this PC is a rocket compared to my XPS and is alot easier to work on

 

Download here: Drivers and Downloads | Dell [United States]

 

How's everyones machines coming along? I've found that time for me to surf the net lately's gotten less and less as the days go by

 

HELP!

So yeah I have an external monitor, with a VGA cable. Since my laptops display is not working, been trying to boot up to the external monitor with a Mini display port to VGA cable to test if its a GPU problem or whatever.

I can hear the log in screen, and log in... But I can't see anything on my laptop or external monitor. I've tried closing the lid, pressing Fn + F6, Windows key + Projector...

Nothing is working, don't notice any signs of it working... Is it just not gonna work, problem with GPU. Or do I need to do something to enable the external monitor?

 

This is a thing I know works on MOST external monitor setups, like when screens fail or etc.

If the screen has failed, then the external monitor CAN pick up the screen via VGA port on your left side during BIOS loadups. If that is the case, then you should be fine. Have you also tried HDMI ----> TV?

Now, did you give the computer a few minutes (like say 5 minutes tops). for it to fully load and possibly load all video drivers?

This is the first AW system i've worked on, so forgive me for giving you so many possibilities. However, when a GPU fails, doesn't matter what laptop i've worked on, the laptop refuses to boot up, it just has the beeps to initiate a warning that GPU has failed. I'm pretty sure this is the same with the AW, then again i've never worked on a laptop that had swappable GPU's.

I hope I've helpd in some way or another.

 

Has any 1 played far cry 3 with the 7970m?

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a few people have and there is a thread somewhere around here with more info on what settings and such people are using. i'll see if I can find it again.

Edit: here you go: Thread: Far Cry 3 / Settings

 

Will Turtle Beach Earforce Z6 Headset work with the R4

 

I read a report saying it will work

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Thank you!

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No problem that's what I'm here for.

 

What is the speed of the mSATA slot?? is it SATA II or III? i've read a post saying that it only runs at SATA II speeds. im planning to go for a mushkin atlas as OS for the mSATA at xoticpc until i read that.. so after that i'm planning to go for a 240GB samsung 840 pro SSD plus 500GB HDD for storage.. originally im planning for the mushkin atlas 240 GB for OS and 500GB for the storage then i'll just get another ssd afterwards for the other hdd slot. which is better? thanks in advance guys! :thumbsup:

Recently im planning to get the GT70 0ne 276, but i heard that there is some issues regarding the hinges.. im from the philippines and i don't want to take chances because it would be hard for me to get RMA just in case..

I 'am planning to get the m17x r4 btw.

 

mSATA i believe is SATA II only.

 

Guys, what do you think about keyboard protectors? It is necessery or better if I use one? I am thinking about 2 things:
-The keyboard has high durability to use it normally? The color is staying after years?
-The Dell clean the machine and also under the keyboard in guarantee?

Cheers

 

Uuugh don't get a keyboard protector

They look so bad, and come on you have an Alienware keyboard don't spoil it keyboards are meant to be used, constantly.. so of course they're durable.

 

Seriously? Can someone verify this.. Thanks "xxgokouxx" for the reply.. if this is true i might as well go for the samsung 840 pro.. please verify someone from ALIENWARE NBR team..
Thanks guys!

 

I'm also 99.9% sure its SATA II

 

I've read it many times. One guy tried 3 SSD's in a raid but could only get sata II on the whole array because of this. The chipset supports 6 sata III ports. 4 are taken by the fast-USB ports and the remaining 2 for the primary drive bays.

FYI though, in use an SSD running at sata II is hardly noticeable against sata III. I had problems with my R3 and swapped drive bays to get sata III. Couldn't see any difference except with benchmarking ( and a couple of seconds off win load).

 

Very much agreed, my desktop isn't anywhere near the performance of my laptop besides the video card, BUT it is only a tiny bit off in load times compared to the laptop.

 

So what do you think about my setup?; mushkin atlas mSATA 240GB for my OS and 500GB for storage. i'm planning to get another SSD for the other drive bay after the holidays. is it worth the the mushkin atlas??
Or i just get a regular SSD for OS (samsung 840 pro 240GB) and the 500GB?
Thanks again guys! will be waiting for your replies.

 

I believe any SSD, even the cheap OCZ Vertex 4 drive I have (which IMO is cheap for a SSD) does more than enough in loading times. I've gotten literally 2-3 second load times from windows boot screen really..... I dont think you can go wrong with either drive performance-wise. Now reliability-wise, that's a different story..... People say sandforce controllers suck but my OCZ solid-3 is doing A-OK. a little bit slower than my vertex 4 but it's still running strong

 

Hey guys i have an issue with my M17x r4 with a 675m gfx card. Basically if i arnt plugged into a powersource my laptop wont boot, all i get is 8 beeps, as soon as i plug her is it boots up like normal. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated - Adam

 

Beep Code Descriptions
1 short DRAM refresh failure
2 short Parity circuit failure
3 short Base 64K RAM failure
4 short System timer failure
5 short Process failure
6 short Keyboard controller Gate A20 error
7 short Virtual mode exception error
8 short Display memory Read/Write test failure
9 short ROM BIOS checksum failure
10 short CMOS shutdown Read/Write error
11 short Cache Memory error
1 long, 3 short Conventional/Extended memory failure
1 long, 8 short Display/Retrace test failed

But it works if you're plugged in :S so I have no idea

Personally my brand new M17x "broke" and it gave me a different number of beeps each time I tried to boot, so can't be sure how reliable that is.

I don't know what to tell you... but it seems like your system isn't getting enough power without being plugged in. IMO could be a fault with the battery :S but I'm no expert. You'll get a better reply soon

 

Thanks for the reply Leo, yeah i saw the beep code descriptions before i posted but like you say the fact it works plugged in is strange. Ive done a few more tests and it definatly boots every time when plugged in and also runs when i turn off the power after its booted. Out of 5 attempts from booting without power connected it has booted once for some reason.

I noticed that before these problems every time i switched to the nvidiaGFX card (fn + f7) it would require a restart and boot up with the Nvidia card but then when i shutdown after that it would automatically revert back to the Intel onboard gfx. Is that normal? its doesnt seem to revert back now since this beeping problem has started and always boots with the nvidia card :/ - Adam

Quick update, it was doing its usual beeping thing so i turned it off, turned it back on started beeping again, turned it off/on again and it booted so i shutdown, turned it on again and it started beeping, off/on again beeping, off/on again beeping, off/on again booted. So it seems its randomly booting when it wants to. during doing all this i never had power connected and didnt move the laptop at all so i doubt its a dodgy connection anywhere. I can only think of it being something to do with the switchable gfx maybe? - Adam

Im sure its something to do with the damn switchable graphics, no matter when i press Fn + 7 its just seems to boot up with whatever card it wants sometimes it says the nvidia card can be found in the nvidia panel and sometimes it doesnt. The main program i use is 3ds max which seems to use the intel onboard gfx card regardless of whether the Nvidia card is activated or not. Do i need to have the power connected to switch to the nvidia card properly? is there a way to disable the onboard gfx card? thanks - Adam

 

I personally feel it's a harddrive issue. Can you try switching the bays and boot?

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After a few more goes at switching the gfx it seems the 675m is being used again, its available at the nvdia panel and also showing up in the 3dsmax settings. But again it wont boot without having power attached i tried like 20 times in a row to no avail - Adam

 

Hm... If you want to disable the iGPU, I think you gotta do that in BIOS.

I have the 120Hz model so I don't have that problem, but can't you just go to Nvidia Control Panel > Manage 3D Settings > Global Settings > Preferred Graphics Processor: High Performance NVIDIA Processor

Couldn't that solve your problem?

Try updating your graphics drivers.

Edit: Coming back to my battery theory what if when you're not plugged in, it boots to the iGPU because there's not enough power for the Nvidia GPU.... just a wild thought, might wanna look into that

 

would i switch the bays then set the bios to boot from the same hdd?

My drivers are upto date :/ with regards to the battery theory if that was the case why wont it boot with the iGPU i wonder instead of just beep at me?, much appreciated - Adam

 

Is it not the battery that is faulty maybe? Tried checking the LEDS on the bottom do they light up? And what are your computer specs btw?

 

Yeah the battery lights up when i press that little button on it, my specs are m17xr4, 16gb corsair vengeance, 120gb samsung 830, 750gb hdd, gtx 675m, 1080p (not 3D) screen...

Ive narrowed it down to this:

Whenever my laptop is plugged in i can switch between graphics cards normally, the nvidia display panel is always available regardless of which card is activated.

Whenever my laptop is unplugged when i switch GFX cards (Fn+7) after the reboot my intel gfx card is in use and the nvidia display panel is unavailable "an nvidia card cannot be detected on the system" when i do Fn+7 again my laptop wont boot and i get the beeps, when i plug it back in the laptop fires up and the nvidia panel is again available and the Nvidia card is in use...

- Adam

 

Hmm weird, havent really used battery much, I let optimus do what it wants, and force using whichever adapter when needs be using the right click run with graphics adapter option. Using the latest drivers? Checked your clock speeds as well just to see if the 675m is running properly.

You running windows 7 or 8 btw?

 

Running windows 7, how would i check the clock speeds? and how do you find the run with graphics adapter option? when i right click stuff i dont get that option - Adam

 

HWinfo 64 is good or gpu-z gpuz doesnt need install and is slightly easier to use. When you right click on the steam icon on your dekstop it should say 'run with graphics adaptor' and then you can choose the nvidia or integrated. Most of the stuff i do only needs the integrated so the dedicated isn't used much unless its gaming basically. Make sure your up to date on the drivers, sounds like you arn't the latest version of nvdia is 306.97 or 310.64 BETA ones. You shouldn't really need to use fn+f7 much tbh. I don't use it much since the right click run with nvidia thing does the trick most of the time. Also if you go into the nvidia control panel and go to view 'display gpu status in taskbar' a little icon shows and it will become coloured if there is a application using the GPU.

 

Yes can u try that?

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I dont use it for gaming only 3dsmax/maya etc and it doesnt seem to have the option unfortunatly. My nvidia drivers are 306.97, ive noticed that my bios is A08 and there appears to be an A09 version out should i try that? i also noticed when i switch to the nvidia card without power if i enter bios the first time round before it needs restarting again and beeps it doesnt even detect the discrete graphics at all :/ - Adam

 

The A09 bios is basically for windows 8 fast boot (UEFI) compatible. I don't think the nvidia cards like to boot without the igpu, windows 8 with UEFI wont boot under the nvidia card as the drivers dont play nice with the UEFI aspect.

Also did you enable the taskbar icon for the nvidia gpu activity (its in the nvidia control panel, under view/display I think), it will show you if maya or 3ds max is using the dedicated gpu or not.

If you right click on 3ds max application in the windows explorer -> program files -> etc. can you see the option to run using a certain graphics adaptor?

Can you report your clock speeds too? it might tell me if your drivers aren't installed properly/working. (if its at 324mhz most likely a driver issue).

I am not sure if you can run just solely in discrete gpu mode, I can't try it since im running windows 8.

 

K ive got the notification thing to work it only appears when i arnt in gtx675 mode, regardless of whichever option i choose to run the 3dsmax app with, it always shows up as using the 675 although if i choose the 675 its glitchy in the viewport and if i choose the intel onboard its runs fine but shows in that taskbar icon as using the 675.

My GPU clock is 620mHz in the gpu-z app

thanks for the ongoing help! - Adam

 

Hey guys I can finally say I'm the proud new owner of an m17x r4 after waiting nearly 5 weeks for It to arrIve and after unboxing and setting it up half the keyboard doesn't work!

So I called up dell and next day had a tech come over to my place and replace the keyboard. Didn't really wanna pull it apart so early but gotta say alienware have really pit some thought into future upgrades. After hearing all the bad things about dell Australia this was done pretty quick, quite happy about that.

Specs are as follows

3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3840QM Processor (8MB Cache, up to 3.8GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)

17.3 Inch (43.94 cm) 120Hz WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD w/3D Bundle

64GB msata Solid State Drive

750GB 7200rpm hard drive

Slot Load Fixed Blu-ray BD-ROM / DVD + /-RW Combo Drive

2GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 675M

Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming & Video and Bluetooth 4.0

Probably a little bit overkill but oh well

Just gother a few questions hoping some of you AW gurus can shed some light on the matter.

With the 64GB msata it looks like it's only a cache and doesn't actually have the os installed in it, is that correct?

Also if I was to put a 512GB Samsung 840 pro (or If theres a better ssd) in it and do a fresh install can I raid the msata to it?

And if there's anything else I can do to this laptop to improve it in anyway could you guys point me in the right direction. I've already updated the drivers as well.

Many thanks in advance sorry about the long post

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^^ You might as well opt for the AMD 7970M, unless you have specific reasons to utilize the CUDA cores of the nVidia GPU.

 

^^ yeah after reading about all the 7970s I was thinking I should have got that graphics card instead and save the $100 bit oh well live and learned guess.

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Yeah that 7970m is amazing especially for the price.

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To tell you the truth I don't even think I will utilise the the whole graphics card anyway I play CS:S and a bit of NFS plus some video ripping.



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You guys should think about joining the NBR Folding@home team. Nvidia cards really do quite well with F@h.