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

Has anyone else started noticing their keyboard keys beginning to stick? My backspace key (one that I don't use as much as say WASD) is starting to stick every 10 keystrokes or so. The machine is not even 5 months old.

 

Mines been ok, there is a bit of resonance through the body of the laptop when i type (weird knocking sound when i type coming from the laptop not the keyboard) but its probably just due to the way its screwed down.

 

I disagree with that mostly because I find my m17x to run much cooler then both my mates asus g75vw and msi gt70.
I very rarely find any part of my laptop to go above 70 and that is only recently that it has.

 

Have you looked under the key? Maybe there is something causing it to stick?

 

Nothing under any key. Now I felt the "1" key beginning to stick a bit too.

 

Had my machine for over two years now and on my second keyboard, I haven't had any issues like that . You sure you didn't spill anything? Keys shouldn't just "stick".

 

Nothing spilled, but this is a temporary "sticking". The keys seem fine now.

 

My GPU doesn't even go above 60 when my clothes are blocking the middle vent. But that middle section gets so damn hot like the plastic gets hot. That is what I am wondering if maybe side vents would help air that out. Or maybe they should have made it out of aluminum.

 

Does anyone else notice the R4 struggles a lot more on Far Cry 3 than BF3? I'm assuming the drivers need some further tuning.

 

That is where the VR's are, most laptops I have had get too hot for my legs. Aluminium would be nice but dell dumped that, probably another cost saving exercise!

Yeah, later game with a lot more graphic features to stress the GPU. The drivers have pretty much been fully optimised with the latest releases so it probably won't get much better.

 

Was a owner of a R3 with a 6870m at fist then a 6970m that kept dying one me. After 5 swaps i got the 580m and am lowing the M17x R3

 

Anyone have any issues with the Alienware m17x r4 / Radeon 7970m combination along with the the latest Catalyst 13.3 driver? Hesitant to install a BETA driver, but the performance improvement looks tempting.

 

I have had no major issues with 13.3. Turn off the HD 4000, and you can install most drivers without concern.

 

And to turn off the HD 4000, it is the function f7, correct? That should take care of it?

Every time I installed the 13.3 BETA drivers and rebooted, I would get the new MS sad face, BSOD. I am guessing maybe because I still had the 4000 enabled? I will try and disable and re-install the 13.3 drivers.

Also, one more question. I noticed that the sata configuration in the BIOS is set to RAID... If I install another HD in the open bay, will I be forced to use RAID with this configuration? Or can I still use than as 2 independent drives? This was the default setting in the BIOS and I am afraid if I switch them now, it may cause issues since the OS has already been installed?

Thanks again!

 

You won't be forced to use raid as you still have to configure the HDD's in the raid bios, however if you aren't going to raid, switch to AHCI (should not be a problem to just switch them in bios since you installed in raid) because you'll still be forced to watch/wait for the raid bios to load on each boot. It's a few seconds of your life each time

 

New M17x R4, I've noticed that every time I shut down I get the screen that says Windows is waiting for programs to close before it shuts down, hit cancel to close them manually, etc. and it takes a while for things to shut down. Does anyone else get that and do you know what program(s) are causing the delay?

Thanks

 

it's something to do with the AlienFX program. One of the Alienware reps posted a fix, but I can't seem to find it.

 

So I got my zalman nc2000nt notebook cooler. I have to say this thing is perfect. It is the perfect size, sits on the lap really well and it brought my GPU temps from 52C when it was on a desk (or 56 when I had it on my lap or clothes) to 42-46C.

It makes no noise on low setting and doesn't really become audible until the max setting. Even at that point it is barely audible and in no way intrusive. Also it has no flex what so ever (unlike this laptop).

 

A problem though I noticed when I plugged the USB in for the laptop cooler on the left my laptop said it was downloading device for USB 2.0. Aren't all the USBs on the m17x 3.0?? Why is it saying 2.0?

 

The ports on the left are 3.0, the ports on the right are 2.0. The cooler is pretty unlikely to be 3.0 though so it likely needs 2.0 drivers.

Also if you look at the ports they should have a little USB symbol, the ones with just the USB symbol are the 2.0 ports the ones with SS then the USB symbol are 3.0.

 

Im pretty sure all usb ports on the R4 are USB 3.0 except for one on the right. The one that is an eSATA/USB combo is a USB 2.0. Correct me if i'm wrong.

 

You're absolutely correct.

 

Mine is plugged into the left. So your saying if the cooler runs on 2.0 that is what it will use regardless if I plug it into 3.0?

 

It just runs on the highest compatible speed. usually USB 2 speeds. Doubt it would make a big difference. Maybe try the esata/usb port since that is the most powerful usb port of them all (it provides a higher output compared to the other usbs I think). The 'normal' usbs output 1A and the esata/usb powers >1A I think. My android phone notices the difference between them when its charging by the cable.

 

I am fairly certain ALL usb outputs are 0.5 A

 

How do I know which is the esata one? All my USB ports look the same with the SS above it.

 

its the second port in from the back of the machine on the right side. Can't miss it. I'll see if I can find a pic.

 

its the second port in from the back of the machine on the right side. Can't miss it. I'll see if I can find a pic.

Edit: ESATA port is the one I clumsily outlined in blue.

 

Just an FYI on that port. There is a bios option (powershare I think?) that allows you to set this port to be powered when the machine is off - never tried it though...

 

You could be right, I just know it not enough to charge heavy duty usb things like an iPad etc.

 

Who know what dell did with the power on the combined port? See: eSATAp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Hey guys...

I have an m17x r4, AMD 7970, Intel 3610 with intel 4000 graphics, Windows 8, stock Dell 7970 driver from September 2012.

Here is an issue I am having along with my solution. Is this normal to have to do what i did?

I tried updating the 7970 to the most recent 13.3 BETA Catalyst driver and once I did that, games ran better than I could imagine. Far Cry 3 went from 24 FPS to almost 50 FPS on the same settings. BUT... the Windows 8 BSOD struck once I installed some Windows 8 updates. Had to factory reset the entire machine and start over.

I did the same thing with the updated drivers.... BSOD struck again! Had to once again refresh the entire machine. the Catalyst updates always seem to work fine, but when updating Windows 8, or restarting the machine, I would always get the Windows 8 sad face, Blue screen of death.

This time I disabled the Intel 4000 (Fn-F7) so that the only detectable video card in the system is the 7970. Updated the Catalyst to 13.3 BETA, and have been running fine for a few days. I have been able to install Windows updates, game updates, etc..

It seems that to effectively use the 7970, the 4000 should be disabled.? Has anyone had the same experience? Anyone else running Windows 8 with the 4000 and 7970 both enabled and able to update the 7970 to the latest Catalyst driver without first disabling the 4000? Maybe I have a system issue, but thats what I needed to do in order to accomplish this.

Thanks.

 

Hey gyus
I want upgrade (new HD) and reinstall win 7 on my alien rig.
And isn't first time for me to do that.But it will be a first time for me to do that on alien ware.I read some people had a issue with integrated graphic card and so on.
Do we have here topic/ thread with some "how to do" maybe?

Thx.

 

Hi all,

To those with 7970ms, how well do yours overclock? My old one could reach about 1ghz/1.5ghz, but this one cannot exceed a 930 Mhz core clock (about 9% extra performance in benchmarks). I'm scoring 500 points lower in 3dmark11 with a 3740qm overclocked to 4.1Ghz than I did with a 3630qm because of the graphics score. I hope that I don't have to overvolt for more performance.

 

IMO over clocking on laptops is a no no... call me a softie but i don't think laptops are cut for this. It will reduce the life expectancy of the machine as the parts will be stressed far beyond what they are intended, plus confined space and ventilation, cooling etc.

on a desktop its a different kettle of fish as the world is your oyster regarding cooling, fans and whatnot.

just my 2c... i guess moderate over clocking is fine but certainly pushing a laptop hard would not be very wise.

 

Hey Barnes, it's been well established that one loads the AMD CCC in dGPU only, you just learned the hard way.

A whole thread on it.

 

What are normal laptop temperatures when playing a game?

 

What GPU do you have?

 

It is a 680m

 

From what I've read, 60-70C without a cooling pad is a good range for the 680m. The 7970m runs a little hotter than the 680m, and my 7970m only reaches 70C in Furmark.

I saw this thread. I know how high the 7970m can go, but I'm not sure how the stability of 13.3 beta compares to that of previous drivers, and the thread isn't particularly active. Of course, the problem could also be 3Dmark11 compatibility with Windows 8.

 

That's what I am reading on the 680 as well. Low 60's without an OC. My 675 - 68C to 71C with 10% OC.

 

Also I was wondering for the trackpad. Is it suppose to be slightly raised compared to the left and right keys? It may always have been like that I don't remember. But if I run my finger over it you can feel how the 2 left and right keys are slightly lower than where you rub your finger to move the cursor.

Also my card is not OC and I have a cooler and I was getting around 62C I just wanted to know the max before it gets to dangerous levels.

 

Sounds like perfect temps. I don't like going over 72C but that comes from having one that locked the machine up without fail at that temp

Trackpad - I'd say about a 0.5mm height differential on mine - looks fine to me

 

Yea same as me I'd say. So I love this dell has sent 2 people to replace my bottom cover now they have to send a 3rd. The guy twice now hasn't put it on properly and now he took my nameplate too. So they are sending me a new cover, new bottom assembly to fix my cursor jumping issue when I type, and a new name plate. And this time I will make absolutely sure I am at the house when the guy comes.

If they don't fix it this 3rd time I'm demanding a new computer again and then they can send someone with the 6300 at the same time since you can't order it with that.

 

My temperatures doing raids in WOW are around 61-63C

 

err, I (we) can't read your mind, only your post :thumbsup:

 

I wouldn't be complaining about heat this the newer gen cards. My 6990m is in the 70C's and into the 80C threshold while gaming.

 

Interesting, seems like my 680m runs a bit hot. Even with a cooler master U3, my temps while gaming are around 63 ish but that might be because my laptop fans refuse to go fall blast with the cooling pad underneath.

Might be time for a repaste...but its only been a month...curse you cheap factory paste

 

You tried just tightening down your xbracket etc? I havent repasted mine, but last time I cleaned the laptop I noticed the xbracket wasnt fully tightly on. Temps have remained at 60-67 while gaming for me.

 

You should also take into account room temperature, mine reaches 70-75 while gaming in a 28.0C~ room temperature without a cooling pad.

Good suggestion, this will make sure the heat sink makes good contact with the GPU.