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

Up and running with my new toy. Not much time to play games, but I got to try out Skyrim, and it was running nicely on ultra (lowered AA) with high res texture pack. Rage seemed really nice too.

Overall, I'm very pleased. The build quality seems real nice, though I wish the lid felt better opening up; it seems I need to be careful with it. The screen is great, even though it has quite a bit of glare.

It was easy enough to open up and add an SSD, and then install Windows 7 on it, using the dell provided disc.

 

congrats on the new system

 

Hey guys I noticed a little piece that came with my laptop, but I'm not sure what it's for. It's black, and it has a gold connector piece on the end that seems to fit into the headphone port. The back side has a square opening. can anyone tell me what it's for?

Also, I noticed in someone's sig, that they had PowerXpress on their 6990m, and I'd never heard of it, so I looked it up and I figured out it's the AMD equivalent of Optimus. If it's possible on the 6990m, I'd assume it's also possible on my 6970m, so can anyone explain how to do this? I tried looking it up but I couldn't find anything.

 

That would be the TOSlink adapter for the SPDIF jack.

 

Oh I see. Thanks for the explanation

 

Do not use it. Refer to this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...g-after-using-optical-external-audio-out.html

 

Hey guys, I just sold the system in my signature unfortunately due to some medical bills. Wife & I are in the process of buying a house, so we had to pay cash vs a payment program for my medical situation, so I had to sell my GT783. It was an absolutely awesome machine, best gaming laptop I'd owned. I got home off shift a few minutes ago, and some of my Jordan autographs that I had listed sold, and the guy had already paid for them, so I had quite a bit of money in my Paypal funds, so I searched on eBay real quick for new systems that had been listed, found a M17x R3 configured w/ the following:

Detailed Specifications:

-- Alienware M17x R3 Laptop

-- 8X DVD +/- RW Drive 8x speed Dual Layer

-- Dell Wireless 375 Bluetooth Module

-- Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium

-- Certified Refurbished -opened by me for testing only!

-- 1TB, 2x500GB SATA Hard Drives (7200 RPM)

-- Dell Support Center 64 Bit 2.0

-- 8 GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz

-- 9 Cell Battery

-- 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M

-- Soft Touch Stealth Black

-- Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO

-- 210W/240W switchable Slim 3P A/C Adapter

-- Processor: Intel Core i7-2670 QM Processor (2.2 GHz)

-- 17.3-inch WideFHD 1920x1080 120Hz WLED

-- 125V Power Cord

-- Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Operating System DVD

How much, $1299 w/ $49 expedited shipping. Needless to say, without even thinking, I used the commit to buy function, as it looked like a no brainer. I've never owned an alienware, but I figured that the PC has to be worth $1350 w/ the 580M, right?

Anything you all can think of that I will need to get started? 2x500GB in RAID fast enough, or do I need to go w/ a SSD + 7200 RPM Storage drive setup again?

Also, the warranty is for 356 more days, so a year warranty to boot.
Thanks, Will

 

gonna be hard to beat that price/spec from other brands brand new so It's a pretty good deal given it has warranty, almost brand new

if you're strapped for cash then I say just get a seagate momentus XT as your OS drive and 1x 500gb drive (or replace the ODD with the other 500gb drive)

an SSD specially for a gaming machine is more luxury than a necessity since it really won't help in gaming at all save a few seconds in loading times.

but if you'll use it for other apps where you tend to open/close multiple different apps like word documents and pdf files then you'd see more benefit in having an SSD.

 

thats an insane deal. Good luck with the system and welcome to the alienware club

 

Since its the 120Hz screen, does that mean it's 3D?

--
Sent from my SGS2 Skyrocket using Tapatalk

 

yup thats the 3d screen

 

Guys any idea where I can download the SiBeam drivers for the WiHD card? They don't appear in my downloads list on the Dell website and a google search didn't yield anything useful. I am doing a clean install which is why I need them. My system is refurbed which means I didn't get the 2nd install disc with the drivers and apps.

 

I think this is the right one. Intel (R) WiMAX Link 6250 Driver

 

Big Tony, that one is actually the WiDi driver not the WiHD driver. I have the Killer Wireless 1103 so the Intel drivers don't work on my system. Appreciate the effort though.

Another search on Dell's website was able to yield the drivers I was looking for. For anyone interested they can be found here.

https://www.dell.com/support/driver...ormats?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&DriverId=R298183

 

oops my bad dude

 

Thanks fellas. Never really considered Alienware, but searched for 580M, and bam, it was listed 34 more minutes before, and someone had already made an offer, so I went the Buy it Now route to secure it, ha. And yeah, it's the 3d screen. Is that a good or bad thing? I have a 3D Samsung TV, but we never use it. Hoping it isn't a negative for gaming. Of course I know I won't be gaming in 3D though.

I do "some" 3D editing in Blender and 3DS Max, but other than that, I do tame gaming. The 580M ran through everything I threw at it on the GT783, and I really wasn't expecting to be able to get another for cheap.

Is there a good reputable reseller that you all use for your parts? Maybe the mounting kit to put the HDD in the optical bay, things like that?

Also, how is the thermal compound in them? Will I be better off repasting when I get it, or does AW do a good job?

Hey guys, posting from my phone, so I can't "edit" my other post currently to ask this question. I've searched the first post in the thread, can't find the answer.

Are the new GPU's backwards compatible w/ our mobo's in the R3? Will the 680M work and replace the 580M when released?

Thanks, sorry for the double post. Mods, if you can merge the posts, I'd appreciate it.

 

Yes it should work.

 

Haha, I've watched most of your Skyrim vids before GeoCake. You playing it w/ the M17x R3 in your signature? So it runs it without a hitch, everything Ultra?

 

Hehe yup, but I have to play at 720p windowed because ENBseries is insane and Fraps shaves off another 10 FPS (I've noticed GPU load drops by 10% for some reason). ¬_¬ It ranges from 30-60FPS whilst recording and is certainly playable. I can't stop adding mods though, I think I added 2 more today. Must have 60 by now.

Thanks for watching, yay, lol.

 

THIS! I don't understand why. I set everything to Ultra, use full AA, boost every possible graphic. Without fraps, my laptop never whines and my FPS is way over 30. When fraps is on, my GPU fan goes banana and my FPS approaches the 30 (still over it though)

 

Turn it off and enjoy your games

 

What is fraps? And for my GPU, what should I set Skyrim too? i tried it on Ultra but it was a bit laggy sometimes so I turned it down to high.

Also, for some reason, I can't turn down my screen brightness...The "Dimmer" box shows up but all the bars are full and I keep pressing it but it never goes down. The other FN buttons work fine....

 

fraps is screen recording software. Gamers use it to record framrates as well as whatever game is being played on the screen. Not sure on Skyrim as I don't have it, but have you updated your drivers recently? Might also help with the brightness thing as well.

 

I haven't updated my drivers recently. It was working a couple days ago though so I can't see how it can be a driver problem. I can change the brightness if I right-click the battery icon and do it from there, but I can't go up or down from the keyboard (FN + F4/F5)

Will Fraps record HDMI in?

 

nah doesn't work like that sadly, think of the m17x screen as a TV, it just displays the data nothing more.

 

M17x R3 has HDMI In?

 

yes yes it does. The main reason I got one.

 

Hopefully someone can help me out with this. I just did a clean install of my m17x r3. I have it running smoothly except for one certain software that came with my original install. I'm unsure of the exact name of it and it is greatly hindering my searches. Basically it's software that tells me all the info of my computer like processor temps, hard drive info, and a feature to run tests on everything. Anyone have any idea what the software is called?

Thanks for any and all help.

Israel

 

Sounds like AlienAutopsy

 

Yep, that's it. I don't see that on my resource CD or dell software site. I'm going to have to search elsewhere I guess unless yiu might know where I go.

btw thank you for answering my previous post.

Edit: I found it and I'm currently downloading.
thanks again SkylineLvr. Rep added for you.

 

Haha yeah. That was what sold it for me

--
Sent from my SGS2 Skyrocket using Tapatalk

 

Glad I could I help

 

Looks like mine shipped today. Should be here by Thursday.

 

Just out of interest: why did you upgrade from your MSI?

The MSI with those specs is beast enough

 

Actually, had to sell the MSI to cover some medical bills (my daughter fell on my arm, and broke my wrist, lol). My wife & I are in the process of buying a house, and we didn't want any new credit timelines on our report that may effect our home loan, so I sold it so I didn't have to finance the medical costs.

I had some Jordan auto's listed on ioffer.com too, and literally the day after I sold the MSI, I sold 3 Jordan auto's, which instantly made me want to keep the MSI, but I already agreed to sell it, and he seems like a great guy so I didn't want to back out of it.

Luckily, I searched 580M "newly listed" on eBay, and this one had been listed 45 minutes prior at the unbelievable deal, so I bought it w/ the auto funds, ha.

Long story short, I def didn't want to give up my GT783. That thing is a beast and a half. I'm hoping the M17x lives up to it.

 

Ah fair enough, I've seen quite a lot of people migrate from MSI, myself included. The Alienware is for enthusiasts, not noobs, so if you're comfortable with things like re-pasting you'll defo be proud of your machine after a little tweaking. I've been through 3 different CPUs, 5 GPUs, upgraded RAM, flashed RAM to 1866 from 1600, been through multiple HDDs/SSDs, replaced heatsinks, couldn't be more happier. ^_^

 

Haha... I'm comfortable w/ repasting and tweaking no doubt. Why have you went through CPU's, GPU's, etc? Just because we have the ability to? Not because things went bad I'm hoping, haha.

Like I said, the Alienware was an impulse buy. Hadn't ever really considered them as I haven't been a fan of the looks, but looks like configuration wise, I'm almost back to where I was w/ the GT783. Need to grab a SSD, upgrade the RAM, MAYBE but highly doubtfully go with a BD Burner, but more likely switch the ODD for another ODD.

Ha, I guess you do really start "messing" with what you have, if you have the ability to do so.

 

While MSI is a solid machine (since i used to have one) I got to say M17x R3 is better, in almost every aspect. Plus HDMI-input!

 

pfff dont like you guyss

edit: don't be surprised if you see Alienware Mxx in my sig...one day...

 

Haha... Yeah, I swore off Alienware, but we'll see. A laptop with a 580M for less than $1500 was too good to pass up in my opinion.

Especially if you can upgrade to the 680M at a later date, sell the 580M and have a cheap gaming laptop.

 

Surprised is the last thing i would think of . its like with SSD, once you tried it, you no longer want anything else. And couldnt care less for those who are still wary or trash talk of it.

 

+1 you don't know what you are missing to you have one of your own.

 

CPUs, I just wanted more power till I got the XM. GPUs I killed a 580M with Furmark and I think my 6990M just passed away after I benched the living daylights out of it... I had a perma vbios gaming overclock that might have contributed to it... and maybe even the beta drivers. I might have switched from integrated to dedicated too many a time, I might have mishandled the card when I re-pasted idk. R.i.P.

 

Haha. That's great.

So with the M17xR3, we're able to go from AMD to Nvidia GPU's? In case the 7xxxm series outperforms the 6xxm series, we can upgrade to either?

 

The inside word right now is that the next gen cards are going to be MXM 3c. So they will be backword compatible with the m17x r3's...good news for the tech geeks, bad news for our wallets lol

 

Thanks for the insight. Who's in the avatar? I want one, lol

 

Hi, can someone tell me if the S/PIDF light is supposed to stay on all the time?

 

mine used to stay on all the time, but it doesn't anymore. I have never used it so its not a big deal for me though.

 

Hey all, I am new here and have been trying to scour google and all sources relating to Alienware m17x r3 reviews and comparisons. And forgive me if this is the wrong thread to ask this in, but this thread seems very active.

I want to purchase an m17x r3 this week yet, but am hung up on some customization options. What I have chosen in the Alienware/Dell configurator is the following:

Intel® Core™ i7 2760QM processor (2.4GHz, 3.5GHz with Turbo Boost, 6MB Cache)
16GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz (4DIMMS)
1.5GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M
1 TB RAID 0 (2x 500GB) 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s
17.3-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 120Hz WLED w/3D Bundle
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming & Video
Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio


My question for that setup is, what would the Windows Performance Index rate at? Also is the GeForce GTX 560M any good? How does it stack up compared to 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6990M

In some reviews I have seen the m17x r3 get only a 5.7 (Windows Performance Index) overall rating, and the weakest link in those scores was the video card.

Would I be able to play most games on max settings? Right now I still have an older Alienware Area 51 bought in 2008, its Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz, 4GB DDR RAM and has a GeForce GTX 280 PCI-e video card.

That system has served me well for the last 3 years but is now REALLY showing its age big time.. So I imagine this m17x r3 would definitely blow my desktop out of the water.

Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated, Thanks!

- FantomexX

 

If you can get it, go for the 6990M. In game performance, it will provide a HUGE boost over the 560M. 580M, tad bit better than 6990M, depending on what game. After that is the 570M, which can be overclocked pretty nicely as can the 6970M. Then, there's a pretty good size gap, and then the 560M. If you can do it, get any of the other 4 above over the 560M, namely the 6990M. Very nice card for the price.

Also, dont' pay too much attention to WEI. Check out benchmarks on games, posted either here or Notebookcheck.