*OFFICIAL* M17x R3 Owner's Lounge Thread - Part 3

bigtony man is right, the 580m will be bottlenecking at res higher than 1080p.
Also, you might be surprise about the difference with your desktop 580 since I can tell you that my 580M overclocked to the clocks in rig performs 50% lesser than your stock 580 ! On the other hand, the 580M stock is even with the 6990M stock but while both fully overclocked, the 580M is performing about 15% better than the latter.

Many peeps got disappointed by the high end mobile GPU compared to their desktop cards so that's just a piece of advice

 

yea the 6990m is a downclocked 6870 and i could be wrong about the 580m, but is it a downclocked desktop 560 ti? I know you can reach about 560 ti speeds though, so yea its not gonna perform even close to a power hungry desktop 580 card.

 

Again, bigtonyman your statement is right 6990m=underclocked 6870 and 580m=underclocked 560ti so you can't expect much more from those card !

 

Theres a pretty big typo there bigtony

 

I was in a rush when i wrote it, think i fixed the error.

 

After some troubles with Dell Japan, it seems as they are finally building my notebook! I decided to go with only the one 500gb hybrid, and the intel 6300 wireless (don't think I really needed the killer), so I could use that money and get an SSD for my boot drive (have to reinstall windows to get it in English anyway).

So is a 120gb Crucial M4 good, can I go with the cheaper OCZ Agility 3, or should I pony up and go for the Samsung 830 Series or Intel 520 series?

About 8 days until expected delivery date.

 

Samsung 830

 

Congrats on your new system. I just went with the standard Centrino and my Wifi works like uhmmm wifi I guess. It connects, let's me surf, and play SWToR and all that. I'm not sure what super duper wifi gets you unless it's in one of my servers where I need high availability. I'm sure it's important to people but for me it's just wifi. If it works and it doesn't have crappy drivers with high latency then I'm good.

 

My neighbor just bought 2 x intel 520's but he is having trouble with slow writes so he is returning them. Could be a firmware issue...so avoid that for the time being

Avoid agility 3...there is a reason why its cheap

Samsung 830 is nice, i'd get one if the price was right...however, given the prices of the M4 recently (i saw the 128gig M4 on newegg for $130 shipped recently), I'd get that one. It is the best price performance out there right now. The M4 is a solid SSD...solid performer and extrememly reliable. The 830 is minutely faster on sequential writes, but the more important non-sequential performance between the two is a wash

 

Hey guys. I had a quick question for someone, if they could help me out. Have any of you replaced your thermal paste on your 6990M? Has it made much of a difference if you did? Do you gain any performance benefits when reducing the temperature of the graphics card? My 6990M is getting up to 80 degrees sometimes when playing games and I feel like I'm getting reduced performance in some games when I get this heat that is created. My laptop is also on a laptop cooler. Often I find that games like Battlefield 3 get FPS drops and lag and I'm wondering if this is because of heat. My drivers are currently at 12.2 preview.

 

^^^ Your temps aren't bad Pyro. 80c during gaming is about average for the stock paste job, but its well within the limits of the 6990m. Most of the regulars have repasted the GPU and it does make a big difference...it will drop your temps 10c+, elevating the back of the laptop will also drop your temps another ~7c. Just make sure your cooling pad is not obstructing the flow of air into the intakes of the fans underneath.

i've repasted with PK-1 and my Furmark temps are a steady 67c during the burnin test

 

Just wondering where the physical shaders are on the 6990m because those temps are always a lot higher then the rest of the card and I can't seem to be able to bring them down.

 

Tell me about it! I tried many times to no avail. I have to content with 70 on all but 84 on shader currently.

 

Anyone know where to get a pair of Nvidia 3D glasses for the M17x R3? I got my computer from the outlet and it does not come with them.

Thanks!

 

Ebay? .

 

Wow I feel stupid. I was looking at amazon, bestbuy, newegg, etc. and could only find the whole kit!

So are these the ones I would need? Nvidia 3D Glasses

 

YAY just got mine in today! I am loving it! However there is one thing I am not liking and not sure this is normal:

When I put my palms on the rest near the trackbar, (you know, the typing position) I hear a flimsy sounding crick...as if the computer isnt screwed together tightly enough. I can lightly press on it and hear and feel that noise...anyone else have this problem or is this normal?

 

Yes those are the glasses that you need.

 

No they are not! Lol jk. That could have been a movie reference

 

If you haven't already bought them, I have 5 pair laying around my home and a full kit.. I can part with a pair PM if interested.

 

wow, very cool of you tayer. +rep just because you offered to help the guy out and didn't even mention having him pay for a set.

 

hello everybody ,
is there a place where members can trade alien parts, older hard drives , ram and stuff ??
why can't we do something like that ??

 

Hi dr.nassef.
NBR has a marketplate for BST. Follow the link: NBR Marketplace

 

does anyone know how i can get a higher WEI score with my 580m? I currently get a 7.2 with the latest drivers, which seems low considering i have seen the less powerful 6990m get a 7.5.

 

Overclock? How else? I got 7.8 on my 6990M.

 

Same here, 7.8.

7.9 should be achievable with a 900mhz core and 1000 memory overclocks

 

So while waiting for my shipment, I'm going around the forum and FAQ to figure out the most existential question of all: Once unboxing is done and before a game is installed, what shall I do! I have tons of questions if anyone can help.

1) I read around that the bios I want to be on is A08. Where in the bios can I see what version I am on? It might be obvious, I don't have the laptop with me to check! Will a new alienware come with the A08 by default? If not, should someone who never flashed a bios before go for it (either downgrade or upgrade)? Is the "risk" worth the up/downgrade?

2) In this post clean windows 7 install, the order of drivers installation is listed. This is for a clean install. What about when you have a factory image like all of us get when we order a new laptop? Do I need to update the drivers? Around the forum, a lot of people said that Dell is known not to have the latest/best drivers installed. What drivers should I downgrade/upgrade? I presume Catalyst would be the first (12.2 preview). Anything else?

3) Any bloatware you know of that comes with the m17x? When I ordered mine, the option NOT to have Mcafee SC was not there so I had to opt for the 15 months one. Did you keep it? Did you remove it? Any other bloatware?

4) When should I do the AlienRespawn recovery disk? Before updating/downgrading my drivers or after? Does it matter or does the Alien Respawn always reinstall the same original drivers anyway? I presume it would be the same with bloatwares, Alenrespawn will resinstall them regardless? Is this enough for me or should I do another backup/recovery with another tool? What about a Restore Point? Should I do one?

5) I currently have 2x 500GB RAID 0 set up as HDD (default option). I expect to get an SSD eventually, say in 3 to 6 months. If I read correctly, this will push me to format my PC because I'm set up as RAID 0 (where both HDDs are linked till death/format). Should I remove the RAID option immediately(is this even doable) or bite the bullet and reformat once I get an SSD?

6) As I'm not super familiar with RAID setup, how does partitioning work with a RAID 0 setup? Will my new laptop come with different partitions or just one fat 1TB partition (or 2x 500GB partitions?). Regardless, what is the best practice in this case? Should I create a couple of partitions to separate my stuff? For example, if I want to run Windows 8 on a separate partition

6) The FAQ suggests CCleaner, Auslogic disk Defrag, CPU-Z, HW Monitor, GPU-Z, Speccy, Who Crashed and LantencyMon as system utilities for your new baby. Any other diagnostic tool you guys love to use?

7) What else should I look at before going ahead and installing my games? Any other best practice when you have a laptop? I'd like to make sure that I have everything covered on this laptop. In the past, I would reformat every 2/3 months because I never do recovery disks, restore points, don't install AVs, etc.

 

Responses in red.

Just enjoy the laptop. Don't read into every little thing too much. Install your games and go!

 

Why would you not at least use an anti virus?

--
Sent from my SGS2 Skyrocket using Tapatalk

 

To change your SATA Controller from RAID to ACHI you can try this. Not sure if it will work if you have 2 HDDs set in RAID. I was able to change from RAID to ACHI without having to do a reinstall of Windows.

 

Hey guys, I am having a problem with my R3. It won't boot up when my USB mouse is connected before booting. It will get to Alienhead loading screen with the red progress bar and just freeze until I turn it off. It works fine once I unplug and turn it on again. Any ideas? I haven't tried with another USB device to see if the same problem exists...

 

My M11xR2 does this sometimes. It is so rare that it hasn't caused me much grief. The things I would check if it happens all the time are the USB options in the BIOS. I know some devices have issues with being allowed to operate as "Legacy" devices, so that would be the first option I changed.

 

Try this: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/606707-wont-post-usbs-plugged.html

So just to make sure, after doing my AlienRespawn, I should flash to A08 unlocked regardless of what I have.

You mean 2 partitions right? Each of 500GB? Or do I need to assign the other 500GB to a new partition? I'd think that all the 1TB is already partionned...?

Hahah! Will do. No worries on this as the second I see the EDD confirmed after the shipment, I will be "working from home" for a couple of days

+repped for taking the time to answer all my questions

 

Yes flash to the A08 bios if you want sataIII speeds instead of sataII. They borked it with the A09 bios.

In terms of the raid array, you won't see the other drive, only one 500gb drive will show up because of the raid array.

 

Sorry to be insistent but I want to make sure I understand!
So I will see a 1x500GB drive partition only but I still have 1 full TB of diskspace right? I'm on RAID 0, not RAID 1.

If I open my c:/ in say win explorer, the total amount of space is 1TB (minus whatever is installed of course), not 500GB. Correct?

It's just that in a partition manager, because of my HDDs being set up as a RAID array, I can only 'take control' of 500GB.

Did I get this right?

 

if you're running raid 0 with 2 x 500 gig drives, you will have a single drive in windows with 1TB of space.

For example, you will see Drive C: and it will show up as 1TB

EDIT: Didn't see the SSD on the previous page...If you get a SSD, seeing how you only have space for 2 drives, you'll end up with SSD, plus one of your 500gig drives, so 2 drives. For example, drives C: and D:. It will show up as SSD (whatever the size is as C: ) and one 500gig drive. You will have to reinstall windows

Are you plugging that into the USB 3 ports? Those are the ports on the right side of the laptop. Have you tried the USB 2 ports on the other side of the laptop? There were some reported issues with the USB3 ports

Also, certain Devices cause this and there is no way around this. Like certain Razor devices will cause a hang. Try a different mouse and see if its a laptop issue or a mouse issue

 

I was thinking about getting an Alienware M17x
I wanted to ask people who have used the HDMI input
Have people connected their cable or directv box to the input and been able to see the video in the capture software?
if so, then it can be recorded as well
I wanted to ask here because these fools at Dell have no clue about this
I assume people are connecting their PS3 to this to play games

 

Screen recording software won't record hdmi in. It will just record your desktop. You can still watch tv through the hdmi in, but you can't record with screen recording software.
And yes, I use my Xbox with the hdmi in when the tv is occupied. It's really useful

--
Sent from my SGS2 Skyrocket using Tapatalk

 

I love my R3 but little problems keep popping up that prevent me from fully enjoying it.

1. My R3 randomly locks up out of nowhere and nothing brings it out (I.E. Ctrl+Alt+Delete doesn't work) and after about 60 seconds, it just comes back and everything I tried doing to bring it out pops up (such as Ctrl+Alt+Delete).

2. Random BSODs; The blue screen says Driver_Power_State_Failure or something along the lines of that...

Any idea what is happening and what I can do to fix it? The BSODs are occurring every 10-15 minutes...

 

how do you know the capture software won't record the incoming video? Have you tried it?
I have a laptop now with expresscard slot and HDMI input and I can see and record the video coming in. I have dual core processor and I most likely need quad core power to get smoother recording
all my capture softwares can see the incoming video and play it in HD with no problem but recording requires lots of processor power. I can record it now but it may have some lag or stutter
I hope to hear from anyone who has tried it

 

i will second this, USB 3.0 is driver Driven, with no local "legacy support as USB 2.0 has, so likely our machines will not recognize devices plugged into this port before the OS is booted. i always use the eSata port when doing bootable USB and always the 2.o ports since it is BIOS supported.

check the thread you made =)



On another note is it worth the hassle of replacing the 1080p screen with a comparable 120hz screen or even a RG+B screen? i saw a half completed thread, but no real definitive answer.

 

I wish it was easy as most other laptops or I would have already swapped out this mediocre 900p panel. I was looking at the standard 1080p screen directly from dell and it was like $700. Not jumping on that for a while. I think im just gonna buy a $200 external monitor and call it good for the time being.

 

I restored my computer all the way back to when I first got it, the restore basically left my computer bone stock. I don't get BSODs when on AC but when on battery and watching videos, I will BSOD. This leads me to believe that it is a Graphics/Optimus issue?

Here is the message I get...

"A problem has been detected and Windows has been shut down to prevent damage
to your computer.

The problem seems to be caused by the following file: ntoskrnl.exe

DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE

If this is the first time you've seen this stop error screen,
restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow
these steps:

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed.
If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer
for any Windows updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any newly installed hardware
or software. Disable BIOS memory options such as caching or shadowing.
If you need to use safe mode to remove or disable components, restart
your computer, press F8 to select Advanced Startup Options, and then
select Safe Mode.

Technical Information:

*** STOP: 0x1000009f (0x0000000000000004, 0x0000000000000258, 0xfffffa800ca8a680,
0xfffff80000b9c3d0)

*** ntoskrnl.exe - Address 0xfffff800030924da base at 0xfffff80003013000 DateStamp
0x4e02aaa3"

Here is my dump file...

 

its seems like to me its a driver issue,( the one listed is a Kernel driver instance, which is a sign of OS corruption) i personally would do a full reinstall with all new drivers, but you can attempt to uninstall /ccleaner/re-install all the drivers in the proper sequence,

If you google it you will find alot of the same, with the only fix a fresh install of windows.

EDIT: Here is a link to a thread where someone with the same laptop has similar issues
http://www.pchelpforum.com/win-7-vi...enware-laptop-driver_power_state_failure.html

 

^^^

Let me google that for you

Could be anything really, from a botched driver install to a hardware failure.

ALIENWARE M17X R3 - BSOD 0x0000009F DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE | Dell UK

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ashing-bluescreening-out-box.html#post7356746

 

makes sure you got SP1 installed. I always used to get either that same BSOD or something very similar with out the service pack installed. After I got windows up to date the issue always went away. Not sure if its the same issue, but it could be worth a try.

 

So I...

1. Reseated/swapped position of my RAM (2x4GB)
2. Swapped position of my SSD/HDD
3. Reformatted
4. Re-installed drivers in proper order

I am still getting BSODs when on battery and watching videos or anything that requires graphics processing but the BSOD screen just blinks for a microsecend and I cannot see what the error is. On top of that, there is no dump file. I use Bluescreenviewer which usually automatically detecs my dump files but it is now finding none.

This is driving me crazy.

EDIT: A search for *.dmp revealed a dump file...

This time is says....

 

Not sure how applicable this is to your discussion here, but I boot with an external 2TB drive connected to one of my USB 3.0 ports without any issue.

 

Nevermind...getting the normal Driver_State_Power_Failure BSODs again...


DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE (9f)
A driver is causing an inconsistent power state.
Arguments:
Arg1: 0000000000000003, A device object has been blocking an Irp for too long a time
Arg2: fffffa800776ca10, Physical Device Object of the stack
Arg3: fffff8000189a3d8, Functional Device Object of the stack
Arg4: fffffa8009c82ab0, The blocked IRP

 

Agent,

I got one of those same BSOD's a LONG time ago on another system. I don't know if there is the option, but it was an IRQ assigned to my VGA controller (onboard). Due to the system being PnP (which might also be an option in the BIOS to check) my motherboard was assigning an IRQ that the OS was trying to use for something else.

Look around for :

Assign IRQ to VGA : Yes/No

PnP Os Installed : Yes/No

The IRQ should be set to no, and the PnP OS should be set to yes. At least that was my fix for the problem. The actual error you are getting was slightly different but the description of the problem :

Arg1: 0000000000000003, A device object has been blocking an Irp for too long a time
Arg2: fffffa800776ca10, Physical Device Object of the stack
Arg3: fffff8000189a3d8, Functional Device Object of the stack
Arg4: fffffa8009c82ab0, The blocked IRP

was the same for me.