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

I wouldn't since the screws didn't strip themselves.

 

omg... i feel like such a noob.. The buttons didn't really FEEL like they could be depressed.. i wasn't pushing hard enough.. lol.. It all works now.. You saved my life Sir!! ^_^

 

No prob, that's what I'm here for

 

Now, on to some other questions..

Is there any Dell bloatware i should get rid of?? Are the default drivers installed for hardware and videocard okay to keep?? Or should I install stuff directly from ATI for the Radeon 6990m?

Also, I cannot for the life of me get the trackpad mouse speed to stick.. I change it in the control panel for faster movement on-screen, and as soon as I reboot.. the trackpad mouse speed is slooooow again and I need to go set it again and again..

 

No those ones had nothing to do with me. I didn't strip them or lose them or anything. It might have been the Dell tech guy that hadn't worked on an AW in a while.

And getting Dell to give me the screws isn't that big of a deal to me. What I want to know is why they were missing.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

 

Does the m17x R3 have a second hard drive bay for me to install a 2.5" SATA HDD?? In addition to my SSD as my main drive?

 

It most certainly does

 

I think I'll post this here as well:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...tatus-discussion-part-4-a-99.html#post8447818

Update for my recently delivered refurbished M17xR3:

I got my unit here is the status:

PROS:
- It is pretty awesome it's so new!
- Its very clean, no marks of anything at all.
- It still has the plastic protection. Maybe the previous owner didn't bother to remove them before he decided to return it.
- Set-up went on fine and fast and I'm really surprised that this is under "refurbished" models.

CONS:
When I start checking the hardware config, I found the following:
- CPU is 2670QM instead of the 2720QM I ordered - Dell ordered the 2720QM and will send it with the tech support within this week.
- GPU is 1GB HD6870M instead of the 2GB GTX580M I ordered - Dell ordered the GTX580M and will send it with the tech support within this week.

Dell has no stock for both the components so they cant tell me when exactly this week because they still have to order.

Apart from the above, the rest came in as specified in my order list.
I am really so amazed by its beauty I fell inlove immediately
Here are some pics!

Spoiler

I'm still playing with the AlienFx hehe.

 

Grats on the system dude, Now you know why the rest of us own these awesome machines... the quality and the support

 

Is there any quick way with a shortcut on the m17x R3 to switch power plans on the fly?? Other than having to launch the Alien command center and manually select the power plan within that?

 

Here you go, Fantomexx:

Create a Shortcut or Hotkey to Switch Power Plans - How-To Geek

 

thanks.. now i got one more issue.. I can't get the m17x r3 to automatically dim or turn off display after specified amount of time in power plan or in command center.. I want to go to bed, but the screen is soo bright and won't turn off.. I don't want the laptop to suspend as im downloading..

But really?? Screen will not turn off after a while?

Edit: At the moment I found this 3rd party app http://sourceforge.net/projects/doff/
Just seems silly that I'm either n00bish about this new alienware or that it won't turn off display by itself according to the command center or power plan options.. >_<

 

Edit your power plans in Windows control panel instead of Command Center, make sure you choose the appropriate instance, on battery or plugged in and save changes when you're done.

Also, make sure that none of the programmes is preventing your screen from entering stand by mode.

 

Okay, turns out it was a program that had to finish its process first... then after that it went to sleep mode as defined in the power plan.

Also, the AlienFX lighting doesn't completely turn off when you do the Fn + F11(Alien FX) combination.. Only the keyboard and Alienware logo go dim.. The Trackpad square light and media control buttons stay lit no matter what? Kinda annoying if I want to intentionally dim all lights without putting the computer to sleep just yet.

 

That's good.

Not sure about the media panel but the touchpad on all Alienware models, as long as you don't have an external mouse plugged in, it will always be lit.

 

Just right click the AlienFX icon and de -select 'keep status zones on during go dark' Turns off the mouse pad light as well....

 

Thank you so kindly. I'll get these alienware specific system functions down pat yet.

 

Hi Fantom. Gratz on your unit. I just got mine too.
The function for increasing or decreasing screen brightness in the keyboard doesn't seem to work for me. A symbol with arrow going down is appearing on the center of the screen but the brightness is not changing. I'm not sure maybe I'm doing it wrong. Have you tried it?

 

Hey.
The brightness - Dimmer works for me if I'm pressing Fn + F4 (increase) or Fn + F5 (decrease).. So far all my Function combo keys work.. Sometimes certain function key pressed will not register if you have a certain different active window. In that case I sometimes have to click on the desktop to make it active and then all my keys work. Kinda weird.

 

I am looking at getting an SSD and use it as my boot drive and my existing 750 GB as secondary. I read somewhere that bios version A09 loses the capability of using SATA3 speed. What about A10? A10 is my bios version, will I be able to take advantage of SATA3? Thanks.

I see. I guess I'll show the tech support when he replaces my CPU and GPU this week. I hope he can fix it onsite. Thanks btw.

 

From what I have heard, A10 hasn't fixed the SATA issues and is still downclocks to SATA II. You need the A08 Bios to get SATA III speeds. All it takes is an easy bios flash and you should be good to go.

 

I believe that all versions after A08 will cap the controller @ SATA II since Dell is advertising the M17x R3 as SATA II.

 

Does anyone have any good recommendations for a 3rd party app that functions like Mac OSX's expose' feature? Where you can get a quick birds eye view of all active windows and select the one you need??

I've been using Switcher 2.0.0 by Bao Nguyen Switcher Overview

Its a dated app with no new updates, support was originally for Vista, but ran fine on my Windows 7 machine. If there is a new app with continuing support from some other third party company, let me know.. I use Mac quite frequently too and Expose is one of my main features I have grown to love.

 

I just use the windows key+tab.

 

+1
That's what I use too.
Also, you can press Windows key + a number to take you to that spot in your open programs (at the bottom). So if you have Firefox and steam open, Windows key + 1 would switch to Firefox (if Firefox is first) and then 2 would open Steam. But any programs that are pinned there will also have numbers so if you have a program NOT open, and you press that number, it will open it.

 

Didn't know that +rep for the nice advice

 

Thanks for the rep ^_^
I had so much trouble explaining it, but if you just try it, then it's pretty easy to understand haha

 

Yeah, I know about that.. but its boring =/

Oh well **Installs old Switcher 2.0.0 version**

 

Np dude thanks again for the info. katalin I would also like to thank you for that guide you posted on the last page concerning the shortcuts for power options. Works like a charm

 

Found this Refurb on the outlet. Strange that it has a 320G HDD.
I will replacing the HDD with two 120G Intel SSDs that are currently housed in my MacBook Pro.

$1875 Seemed like a deal considering I was planning on replacing stock drive on Dell configuratior anyways!

Intel Core i7-2670 QM Processor (2.2 GHz)
Genuine Windows 7 Professional
Base Alienware M17x R3 Laptop
320 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
16 GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz (4X4GB)
8X DVD +/- RW Drive
Video 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M
17.3 inch Wide FHD (1920 x 1080 60Hz) WLED Display
Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO
Dell Wireless 375 Bluetooth Module


Now for the wait.....

 

Congrats on the system

 

I don't remember posting any guides on shortcuts for power options I think you're confusing me with someone else haha :þ

 

He meant the guide I posted for Fantomexx

Glad you can make use of it, Tony.

 

Oh I feel stupid now...for some reason I read it as katalin AND I would like to thank you....OTL

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using Tapatalk 2

 

Wait.. so my new m17x r3 which came installed with a 512GB SSD, will be running at SATA II instead of SATAIII? How can I check this to see if its true?

 

If your BIOS version is above A08, yes.

Run a benchmark (Crystaldiskmark) on your SSD and posts the results here.

 

Are there negative effects on downgrading to A08 aside from the good one about SATA3?

Almost same as what I just got from outlet too except mine has:
- 2720QM
- 750GB 7200 rpm
- rest is the same

Its offered about the same price but I got it down to $1450 including everything. Did you call a Dell representative already?

I know you can't reconfigure unit in outlet but if you can talk to someone, ask if you can have better CPU because I know 2670QM only supports up to 1333Mhz of Ram.

EDIT: But if you ordered already, its still a good price, big savings than buying a new one. I hope you get a really shiny one like what I got

 

Nah you should be good to go.

 

Hey guys. Do you use lap-desk fan on your M17x? Whether you put it on your lap or on the table, do you use desk fan underneath?

 

i don't use a fan underneath. It isn't necessary. you will get 80% of the benefit by just raising the back of your laptop. if you make it easier for the intakes to suck in cooler air, your temps will drop 5-7c

 

I ran CrystalDiskInfo.. So I assume SATA/600 would be too slow?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskInfo 4.6.0 (C) 2008-2012 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : Crystal Dew World
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

OS : Windows 7 Home Premium Edition SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)
Date : 2012/04/18 16:29:34

-- Controller Map ----------------------------------------------------------
+ Intel(R) Mobile Express Chipset SATA RAID Controller [SCSI]
- PLDS DVD+-RW DL-8A4SH

-- Disk List ---------------------------------------------------------------
(1) SAMSUNG SSD PM830 2.5" 7mm 512GB : 512.1 GB [0/0/255, cs] - sg
(2) ST2000DM001-9YN164 : 2000.3 GB [1/X/X, sa1] (V=0BC2, P=3332)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) SAMSUNG SSD PM830 2.5" 7mm 512GB
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Model : SAMSUNG SSD PM830 2.5" 7mm 512GB
Firmware : CXM02D1Q
Serial Number : S0U0NYAB900021
Disk Size : 512.1 GB (8.4/137.4/512.1)
Buffer Size : Unknown
Queue Depth : 32
# of Sectors : 1000215216
Rotation Rate : ---- (SSD)
Interface : Serial ATA
Major Version : ATA8-ACS
Minor Version : ATA8-ACS version 4c
Transfer Mode : SATA/600
Power On Hours : 151 hours
Power On Count : 513 count
Host Reads : 1020 GB
Host Writes : 1590 GB
Wear Level Count : 11
Temparature : Unknown
Health Status : Good (93 %)
Features : S.M.A.R.T., AAM, 48bit LBA, NCQ, TRIM
APM Level : ----
AAM Level : 8000h [OFF]

-- S.M.A.R.T. --------------------------------------------------------------
ID Cur Wor Thr RawValues(6) Attribute Name
05 100 100 __0 000000000000 Reallocated Sector Count
09 _99 _99 __0 000000000097 Power-on Hours
0C _99 _99 __0 000000000201 Power-on Count
AF 100 100 __0 000000000000 Program Fail Count (Chip)
B0 100 100 __0 000000000000 Erase Fail Count (Chip)
B1 _99 _99 __0 00000000000B Wear Leveling Count
B2 _93 _93 __0 000000000210 Used Reserved Block Count (Chip)
B3 _93 _93 __0 0000000003F6 Used Reserved Block Count (Total)
B4 _93 _93 __0 000000003B0A Unused Reserved Block Count (Total)
B5 100 100 __0 000000000000 Program Fail Count (Total)
B6 100 100 __0 000000000000 Erase Fail Count (Total)
B7 100 100 __0 000000000000 Runtime Bad Block (Total)
BB 100 100 __0 000000000000 Uncorrectable Error Count
C3 200 200 __0 000000000000 ECC Error Rate
C6 100 100 __0 000000000000 Off-Line Uncorrectable Error Count
C7 253 253 __0 00000000000D CRC Error Count
E8 _93 _93 __0 000000001D70 Vendor Specific
F1 _23 _23 __0 0000C6D35078 Total LBA Written
F2 _50 _50 __0 00007F9D6E49 Total LBA Read

 

According to this site SATA, SATA II, SATA 600, and Product Confusion Fatigue
SATA/600 is SATA Revision 3.0 6Gbp/s.. So I do have SATA III mode active? Or did I interpret that wrong..

 

Fantome, you have to run the crystalDiskMark bench and see what numbers you get. As of right now, it says you have SATA3, however, you don't really know what your actual transfer speeds are until you run a benchmark

 

That doesn't look right.. SATA 300?? ... maybe i set it up wrong..

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1 x64 (C) 2007-2010 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : Crystal Dew World
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

Sequential Read : 259.228 MB/s
Sequential Write : 244.937 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 195.506 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 230.303 MB/s
Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 10.597 MB/s [ 2587.1 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 39.103 MB/s [ 9546.7 IOPS]
Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 195.203 MB/s [ 47657.0 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 139.478 MB/s [ 34052.3 IOPS]

Test : 1000 MB [C: 25.2% (117.5/466.7 GB)] (x5)
Date : 2012/04/18 20:06:30
OS : Windows 7 Home Premium Edition SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)

 

you are running SATA2 speeds based on those numbers

 

apparently i have BIOS A09.. so thats why I get SATA2 speeds i assume..

Is it dangerous to downgrade to A08? Will certain features possibly stop working? Pros and Cons to doing that?

 

i don't see any cons...i'm on the unlocked A08 bios and my computer is rock solid.

if you move down to A08, you will have to put your SSD into slot 1 (the harddrive caddy in the middle of your laptop) if you want consistent SATA3 speeds all the time. Slot 0 would downclock to SATA2 randomly which they fixed with bios A09 (it just downclocked them to SATA2 permanently lol)

 

You should be fine. As far as I know, Bios A09 and A10 didn't change or fix much of anything.

Edit: Slickdude beat me to the punch.... again

 

LOL...bigT, i just type faster than you do, but you're still one of the most helpful members on this forum

 

meh I try haha