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

Good news! Well at least they got there in the end

You should try to hit them up for a warranty extension - I got 6 months after similar multiple parts replacements tries

 

Been testing out Crysis 3. Very nice but the awesome one I had to post. It has native 3D TV support! 1920x1080 @ ~50 FPS is superb. No input lag, I'm off back there :thumbsup:

Just popping out, I may be some time...

 

Well, I thought about canceling the order, but FedEx was too quick for me. The laptop seems nice so far, and it arrived a week ahead of schedule.

First impressions: No terrible 5400 RPM HDD, lighter than I thought, good thing I didn't go for 15-inches, subpar speakers, annoying glossy display bezel.

 

i just order my M17x R4 last night *noob question* dose it come with the latest drivers installed? just so i know when i get it. Thanks.

 

Congrats on your purchase
They seem to be up-to-date with everything except video drivers. If you check out the dell drivers page you will see the latest video driver they 'approve'. Unfortunately they do not keep them very current so it's down to the user to do it.

The latest NV drivers seem to be stable and install without problem but ask around before updating AMD. Which have you gone for?

 

I cannot read. Ignore

 

thank you for the congrats took me a while to save for the m17x as im only in high school and only have a part time job

Iv gone with the 7970m as its a lot better price and 'keeps up' with the 680m in terms of game preformance
so when it comes to me ill need to update the drivers then?
what about bios updates i saw that there was one on dells driver place for the m17x R4 but, when i was looking a video about it they said not to update your bios is this true?
http://downloads.dell.com/Pages/Drivers/alienware-m17x-r4.html

Thanks again!

 

Your very welcome

The video driver well definitely be an older one than current but do some gaming and testing before updating it to get some 'feel' for the base performance .

AS for the bios it will almost certainly come with the latest one, my last R4 came with a later bios than was available at the time! BIOS updating does come with risks so my advice is to leave it unless a release comes out that fixes an issue you are experiencing.

Hope the wait is not too long

 

alright sounds good!

right now it says a two week wait so hopefully it gets moved up :/

in the future im hoping to add an SSD as my main drive but im guessing installing it will void my warranty, so ill have to wait a year for that

 

It will not void your warranty. Also, I ordered my m17x on the 15th, and the EDD was the 28th. I got it today. I don't think you will wait long.

Besides updating the video drivers and benchmarking to test for performance, what should I do?

Fn + F7 doesn't seem to work properly.

 

Correct re the warranty. Dell do actually allow you to dismantle and replace parts BUT support can ask that original parts be put back if they think it might have a bearing on a call to them.

As for anything else you need to do, just get AV, MS Essentials is good and discreet if you don't already have an AV license from someone else . No *rap foisterware to remove, so enjoy

 

Thanks both of you! SSD here i come!

im glad you got yours early that's good for both of us!

what GPU did you get? Have you tried Cysis 3 on it yet? If so can you tell me you avg fps on high or ultra settings if that's possible

 

What video card/display did you go for? What happens with Fn+F7?

 

I went for a 7970m, and Fn + F7 does something that looks like lowering my resolution significantly. I have never seen such an issue.

 

Hmm, I don't have that feature since the Intel video is disabled on the 120hz model. It should toggle between the GPU's, can you reset the resolution higher after activating it? maybe it's just the default - dunno, sorry

 

isn't the fn + f7 thing only for Nvidia graphics cards for optimums?

 

I think it's more of a 'hangover' for when Optimus (AMD have their own version, enduro) was not around. People still use the FN-F7 for some games that refuse to switch to the NV/AMD GPU.

 

3Dmark11 won't run either. I'll try updating my VGA drivers.

 

Sounds like you are on the intel gpu only? What display adaptors do you see in device manager before you update any drivers?

 

I can see both the HD 7970m and Intel 4000.

 

Not that then. Afraid I don't know enough about your setup to add anything. Hopefully someone will chip in

 

Upgraded to 13.1 and my problems seem to be fixed.

AMD Radeon HD 7970M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3630QM Processor,Alienware M17xR4 score: P6524 3DMarks

 

Quick question what SSD would you guys recommend for reliability and speed? For the M17x R4

 

Im currently using a 256GB OCZ Vertex 4 SATA III SSD and it's one of the better ones in terms of speed+capacity to price ratio. Got one for 150-160 USD, which is cheap!

 

in the meantime, has anyone been able to download the latest A11 bios for the R4?

 

Today the link is a loop back to the top of the drivers and the pages seem to be mini-browser .

Wish someone from Dell could explain why this keeps happing with the bios releases

 

Picked up an R4, 3720QM, GTX680m, 265gb SSD, 60HZ, 12gb ram from the outlet. Looking forward to it arriving, haven't had time for much gaming for many years. Was thinking about trying out Fallout New Vegas, anyone got any suggestions for a game that will wow me?

 

A11 was available for me through the mini site last night. I downloaded and installed without any issues.

 

<s>Never mind what I said yesterday. The 7970m is still not worth dealing with. </s>

Ignore this message.

 

<s>Can someone please mirror the A11 BIOS ?</s>

Never mind. I got it

 

Hi, depends on what you're in to but for me; Crysis 3, FC3, AC3, AC Revelations (better than III IMO), and Batman Arkham CITY are all very good graphically and you should be able to max the settings out

 

Witcher 2, The Walking Dead, XCOM Enemy Unknown, and Arkham City. There are so many great games enough to last you a few years/

 

Hey guys, ordering a SSD in order to have it when my M17x shows up (projected date = March 5 - can't wait!) Was gonna go with a 256 GB SSD but for various reasons I'm going to be able to get a 512 GB (hey, I know, with the 750 GB HD + 64 GB mSata caching drive 512 GB for the SSD is overkill, but one thing I've learned over the years since my first PC (Apple ][ in 1982!) is you can never have too much storage!)

Still waffling between the Samsung 840 Pro and the Crucial M4 but my two questions:

1. Will I have all the hardware I need when the drive shows up to install it into the M17x? Would be frustrating to have to wait for another cable or adapter or something I need to order!
2. Since I'm moving about 500 GB of programs and data (probably 350 of that is HD video files for my editing and music files!) I assume there's no tips or clever ways to move things from my m1710 500 GB HD to the new SSD and HD on the M17x beyond just copying everything to USB flash drives or external USB drives, then plugging it into the new M17x and transferring it back off? (And now I need to see if I can track down the serial numbers,etc, for all of the programs I have installed so I can reinstall them all, plus figure out how to best move things like Chrome bookmarks, etc. Argh!)
EDIT NEW QUESTION!
3. Will the 64 GB mSata Cache drive that comes with the system only be connected to the 750 GB HD? I.e. - I don't want the cache drive to be involved with operations on the new Sata 3 SSD.
Thanks!

 

1) You may not have screws in the other HDD caddy bay so piggyback temporarily using 2 screws from the other caddy. Contact a rep for the missing screws, if at all. Everything else should be in there.

2) Clone the drive

3) Use Intel's rapid storage technology program to control how the mSATA drive works. You can even choose to use part of the 64 gigs as cache and the rest as a separate data drive if you want.

 

Can you use that utility to control which drive it caches?
I don't think cloning the drive will work since I'm moving to a new computer, i.e. all the drivers, etc. that came over would be wrong due to new hardware?

 

Yes, you can control which drive to cache. If not, just remove the SSD and do the cache.

 

I wouldn't reccemend cloning the drive unless you really really need to. I have seen quite a few issues with either windows not using the SSD properly, or stuff getting corrupted. Fresh install is always best.

 

is there any chance that you can upload the A11 bios, that would be great.

 

You're right, the cloning option is only for copying the original AW installation to the new drive (but as said a re-install is commended).

The IRST caching will only be offered for a HDD in the machine, it does not allow an SSD to be cached - waste of time!

It will be a pain installing all your progs from your existing machine but windows 'documents and settings' backup is a good starting point. At least all your files and application settings are transferred so the apps should see they already have 'settings' when installing.

Don't know about chrome but I use firefox and that has an on-line sync feature for multiple machines. A bit tricky to set up due to all the security but works flawlessly for me. I fire up Firefox on the new machine, set it to sync with my 'old' machine and all my stuff (you decide what is synced) comes down.

 

Battlefield 3, Assassin's Creed 3, Far Cry 3, Hitman: Absolution, Guild Wars 2 will make you j*zz in your pants

And pretty much every other game since you can max every single one out with great fps.

 

Hey guys, I just wanted some clarification cause I'm a bit confused. With Dell, does ship date == delivery date?

I'm asking because on different pages of my order details, it says ship date: March 4th and on others EDD: March 4th.

Whaat??

 

EDD should be the estimated delivery date, however when your order ships it should say 'ship date' I think. Then there will be no EDD and you will get a tracking number, (took mine 3 days to get from china to uk).

 

Weird, cause my order is still in production and it hasn't shipped yet. But my estimated ship date and estimated delivery date are both March 4th...

 

Ahh, its usually the worst case scenario, if it says EDD is march 4th, then take it as it should arrive by march 4 on your doorstep. Mine came a few days before the EDD. Once you get your tracking info its easier to guess when it will arrive. I wouldn't be worried at this point, mine was in production for a week at least.

 

Alright, thanks for the info .

I ordered my alienware a week ago. I can't stand the waiting game!

 

What games are you going to be playing?

Add me up on steam if you want: MrNagasaki
or Origin if you play battlefield 3: Omnitika

welcome to the club

 

I had to wait 4 weeks for mine to even ship back when the r3's first came out so I understand completely. And as LeoVainio has said welcome to the club

 

Hi guys, I want to upgrade my DVD drive on my m17x r4 to a Blue ray drive i was hoping someone can help me find something under $80, i also need a small tool kit so i can pop open the laptop.
Thanks

 

You may want to look in here

NBR Marketplace

As for the toolkit you don't need anything special, just practice and patience.

Alienware M17x R4: How to remove the ODD

 

So... an alienware M17x will be soon arriving at my place & I'm kinda average when it comes to PC gaming(I've only now decided to switch from console gaming to pc gaming). Anyway, I would like u guys to do a quick simulation for me. To make it easier let's say that I will only be playing Far Cry 3 for now... As soon as the laptop arrives, after the 1rst boot up, what do I do before I can start playing Far Cry without any issues? Pls include anything u can remember as I am still a n00b when it comes to tweaks & obvious stuff that people have to do on their PCs before start playing at max performance...

Thank you.

PS : I figured u might need my specs in order to help me so... here they are :

Intel i7 3630QM

8GB RAM in 2 sticks

500GB HDD

radeon 7970M discrete/dedicated

1080p 17.3 inch screen

windows 8