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

Yes, I did go through Alienware Tech Supprt. I also tried Dell and they sent me back to alienware tech.

After reading your post Mr. Fox if what you have listed is all I am missing I am not going to worry about it. The roxio I can get as for the MacAfee I don't wont. I guess all I was needing was the webcam central and power dvd, but I have been googling for the past few days on the web cam and found a post stating that the the new Alienwares being shipped are coming with Cyberlink Youcam5 installed on them and I have already downloaded the trial version and it works perfect and I can buy it for 39 bucks I believe, so I will go that route. As for DVD software I am sure there is better out there I can purchase and as for drivers and the alienfx I have already gotten.

I was just wanting to make sure I had all the cool alienware stuff that makes it original.

All I can say is this is my first Alienware and I have always wanted one and got a great deal on this one with a warranty till july of 2013 and i love it!

This is also a great forum and I will be in here reading a lot and prolly asking questions from all you alienware veterans.

 

Now that I got the throttle all fixed on my gpu. I was just wondering what I can do to make this boot quick and free up some memory for quicker performance. I heard people with windows 7 booting in under 30 seconds. Mine takes atleast a minute to load everything and be usable. What processes or services can I deselect for start up and stuff. Basically what do you guys with your m17x's and alienware pcs do to get it to run super quick Thanks guys! You all been very helpful.

 

solid state drives...

Get a crucial M4.

 

Agree... SSD is definitely the correct next step for achieving the performance you want. I have the M4 and highly recommend it. Intel and Samsung SSD are also excellent. None of these brands use Sandforce technology, which is excellent when it works well and terrible when it doesn't.

 

I was actually thinking solid state. How do you install one and keep my existing 500gb in the secondary. Do you have to do a clean install? I never confgured two drives before and i heard things like people installed windows on the solid state and everything else on the regular drive.

Well i did some research and found that crucial m4 is good but what size? My worries are the difficulty of configuring because they say you cant do alienrespawn or something... im just very confused and dont wanna mess this up. I have no problem doing a clean install but what was the point of backing your out of box state with respawn if you cannot use it on a solid state?

 

hey guy my hard drive craped out on me and dell is sending a new one. this is my first time doing something like this so will I have to re install everything with the disk that came with the laptop? If so what would be the best way to do it and what all new drivers or bios should i download and install?

 

you do not have to download all of the drivers if you have made a back up cd/dvd factory settings.

Go to "alienrespawn" application and burn a dvd/cd copy of alienware factory settings.

Then once the hard disk arrived, fix the hard disk, switch on the laptop and insert the dvd and you'll have all of the factory settings and drivers readied once its been boot up. it saves all of the trouble.

But you could also choose to re-install every single drivers manually if you dont have the factory settings dvd.

 

Stupid question, but I can't find it anywhere....

How do I change the default range (need 6500) on my M17 r3 ?

Cheers

 

So my proper backplate for my 6990M finally arrived, installed it, did a repaste and a furmark stress test for 10 mins... result is pretty good:

http://img825.imageshack.us/img825/4749/furmarkz.png

 

nice results Geo, 69 max is really impressive

 

Sorry to repost this again but my original thread got moved to this thread (otherwise I wouldn't have to repeat) and when people post something after it, it kind of gets forgotten about. I just need a little help and maybe even step by step instructions on how to install and SSD drive AND a HDD. Also does it matter which drive goes where and do you have to install windows on both hard drives? Thanks guys this forums is awesome and everyone is very helpful.

 

By default your HDD should be in port 0. You need to install the SSD on port 1 (middle of laptop) and simply open up bios and put 1st boot to DVD, 2nd to second disk, 3rd to first disk and install windows on the SSD.. easy

Installing the SSD in is fairly easy, just a few screws, etc, fairly mindless

 

Okay so since my system is brand new i dont mind reformating my regular hard drive .... so i install windows on ssd and NOT my hdd? And also i cant use my alien respawn back up correct?

...is it recommended to format the old hard drive?

 

If you want to format the old HDD - I would leave the formatting till you have windows running on the SSD.

Obviously install windows on the SSD, that's the whole point ! Speeeeed!

 

Ok thanks a lot geocake ... so you suggest to just leave old hard drive alone? That should be my last question....................Hopefully lol

 

Nah I would format it once I have Win 7 running perfectly with all latest drivers on the SSD.

 

Dang you got that thing running cool, almost as cool as my 460 when overclocked.

 

Someone please tell me, I really don't know.
If it does, how do I access it?


The graphics card is: AMD Radeon HD 6900M Series

 

I know there's a bunch of threads addressing how to correct this but I have a different question. Does this issue affect most people? Does the throttling happen under normal ambient temps under gaming? Or just benchmarking? I have one of these bad boys pretty much ordered. I would like to know this before I confirm purchase or if I should get a PowerPro 11:36. Quick responses would be much appreciated due to me being deployed and trying to get a laptop out here. Thanks in advance!

 

now onto some overclocking

 

Hello everyone. I have an R3 coming around the 9th that someone bought me for Christmas. I looked at the specs and it looks like it is just the default one. I was wondering how the 6870m runs games like BF3 and skyrim. If its low, it is difficult to upgrade to a better card? Any upgrades you can recommend? I see most of you upgraded gpus so that why I'm wondering. I'm pretty sure the i7 is overkill and ram should be pretty easy. Thanks!

 

It's not difficult to upgrade. Just buy a newer card, and swap it out with the old one. Remember to undo the screws, because I've seen people attempt to just pull out their cards. And buy quality paste.

Your choices would be...
Amd
6970m(Not sure if Dell has them anymore.)
6990m(meh)
nVidia
460m(Don't get)
560m(don't get)
580m(Highly recommended)

As you can see, I'm an nvidia person, but those are your available options. Happy buying.

I would suggest you buy the cards through Dell. That way you get the cards and have warranty on them.

 

So I guess the 6870 won't be enough for those games I mentioned. Okay, thanks for the advice.

 

Only if you seriously want to play on ultra max everything. But otherwise you'll be fine.

I just hope you got the 1920x1080 screen instead of the 1600x900.

 

That's an awesome christmas present. When ppl make a serious purchase like that I think it's better to spoil the surprise and make sure it is configured in a pleasant way to the person recieving it, but it's not perfect world

I highly expect, at the very least, you'll want to upgrade the gpu. Never used the 6870 myself. I find the 580M performs well, for a laptop gpu. Many ppl compare the 580m to a downclocked Desktop 560 card. I personally would have a hard time accepting much less for PC gaming. Maybe there is someone with a 6870 that can reply though?

6970, 6990, or 580M would be reasonable cards to change into(performance wise) if you are looking to get into something that will run fairly well. I am sure this is subjective as 560m owners maybe are happy with their gpus... I dunno

 

I was severely disappointed with my 460m, and it seems on a less frequent scale, people 560m owners are having trouble with bsods too.

Something's wrong when you have to disable the integrated chip to get full performance without issues.

 

Is there a really big difference between the 1600x900 and 1920x1080 resolutions? She got me the former...not that I can complain.

 

well, a laptop for a gift is good enough, you shouldn't bother about the resolution

 

Sorry to re post. Mod threw it in here ad I didnt get to see the responses. Thanks in advance!

 

I don't get throttling....

 

So, i appologize if this was discussed before, but i want to get some opinions on this.

For Christmas, the wife got a new R3, and so far so good. But the one problem that is getting her right now, is that the power cable seems somewhat easy to pull out. Of course, in the middle of a game, this can cause some annoyances...

Given that her system has a need for the largest power brick available, there aren't alot of replacements out there.. any suggestions for a fix?

 

If it's loose enough to cause repeated inadvertent disconnections, call Dell and get it replaced. That's what the world class warranty is for.

 

I agree with graz'zt. It is a gift and a nice one at that. If you are not happy with it, Dell accepts returns for 21 days (possibly longer due to Christmas) and you could return it and upgrade the specs. The monitor and the GPU are the only things worth upgrading. Also the 6970 is a fine card and performs quite well. I had a 5870m which is the same as your 6870m. It does fine at 1600x900. I played Crysis easily on it and was very happy. Upgrading is nice, but hardly necessary.

 

I guessing by your slightly curt answer, that this problem is not common? To be fair, i had similar issues with my old Dell 9300, but hadn't really thought about it till now.

As it is, i did opt for one year of the enhanced warranty, but i have a worry that a replacement won't be much better...

 

Didn't intend to be curt. But it's hard to describe or for someone else to understand the degree of play or looseness in a PSU connection. It's a trade-off. You want it tight enough to stay hooked up in normal use, but loose enough to separate in the event that a dog, child or other person trips over or gets tangled in the cord to prevent pulling it to the floor and causing damage. Only you can judge where that balance falls. I prefer to err on the size of separation, but I rarely move the notebook while plugged in, so it's not a sacrifice. Unfortunately, the problem is most often the receptacle, so it's not an easy fix. Best of luck.

 

So I'm pretty new here. But I'm pretty awesome too. So that's all good.

I recently bought a used R3 off of ebay. It has a 6990m in it (I think the rest of the specs should show up in my sig if I did it correctly) and I have done lots of reading about the dell stock thermal paste and repasting and whatnot...

I really only plan on using this on my Cooler Master U3 laptop cooler so all of my testing was done using it as well. I only noticed a degree or two difference while the three fans were on the highest speed but since I already own it, I plan to use it.

I have been overclocking the video card using Sapphire Trixx and have tested the clocks using Furmark's stability test at 1920x1080.

I have the card up to 815/1030 and have left the furmark stability test run for over 30 minutes. My GPU temp peaked early in the test at 82 degrees then the internal video card fan kick into high and it spent the rest of the test between 75-77 degrees-never above that.

So my question is:
Is it worth it to repaste the GPU on this laptop with something like IC7 (which I just ordered a tube of)? Or are these temps within reason for the 30 minute stress test with my OC settings?


Thanks for your help...

 

82C? I wouldn't re-paste it. That's pretty good, almost as low as my overclocked GT 540M(MSI X460DX)

775MHz - Memory: 975MHz - Shader: 1570MHz --- 74C max.

 

@Larrythesimpleton - those temps are excellent at your settings. No need whatsoever to repaste.

 

Just to make sure I am right, so if you get the 120Hz screen you do not get the ability to switch graphics cards??

 

If you mean swapping between the integrated GPU and the Discrete card then yes you are correct. If you want to upgrade your discrete card though, you are stuck with nvidia. Don't really know which one you were talking about so I addressed both.

 

Hi all,

I will be getting 1 unit of the R3 soon about end of January.. Probably I will be needing help from you guys soon. I will be getting the GTX580M and I worry about throttling issues.. Below are the details..

Thx All
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M17x R3 | Soft Touch - Nebula Red | i7-2860QM | 8Gb 1333MHz DDR3 | 2Gb DDR5 GTX 580M | 500Gb 7200 Solid State Hybrid | BD-ROM | 1920 x 1080 3D LCD 120Hz | Killer Wireless 1103 | Win 7 Ultimate SP1 64 bit|

 

Hi there I have just ordered an m17x r3 expected date 20th Jan !! cant wait

 

Congrats on the system, you won't be disappointed

 

i just got my M17x R3 been reading alot of these threads , dead scared of defective items or parts in mylaptop , i got it since 7:30 pm been charging ever since,um.. nots 1:44 am honestly how long should i charge for, by the way, when you open up the screen theres a logo, befor when i was charging it was lit up, now it has not been lighted up for some time, does that mean its charged fully already, and one more question can i leave it plugged it, or does it not sense it has been fully charged and that caused the logo head to go off please get back to me asap THANKS GUYS , AND HOW long did u guys charge for

 

The battery should have a full charge out of the box. Start it up and start shredding some games

 

I ordered a 256gb M4 which will arrive with my laptop, do I need to do a clean install?
anything special I need to do? back up anything?

 

All i did was a clean windows install on the M4 with the Windows and driver disks that came with the laptop. Then i formatted the HDD

I didn't do anything special or follow any sequence. Everything works great

 

I'll be getting 16gb RAM for my m17x. Is that overkill, or is 16gb a good number?

 

Hello, just wanted to say Hi, I'm a newbie both to this forum and to my new Alienware M17Xr3

 

Welcome, I am going to try to beat Katalin and let you know a few things to make life easier.

Look here for alot of the general questions.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ial-m17xr3-owners-lounge-thread-part-3-a.html

Also, as a tip, try setting your signature through the User CP to be similar like mine, so if you ever run into any problems, we can help you out if you ever need it.