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

Hi All !!!!!

I started lurking here yesterday, and learned a WHOLE LOT MORE than I thought I knew about the new laptop.

I've admired Alienware for years. I had a repair problem with a high end HP that was covered by Verizon Expert Care. The tech center scrapped it over what was really a minimal repair, but apparently the tech who worked on it didn't know what he was doing. Anyway, I just settled with Verizon yesterday on my replacement, and already had my MX 17 pretty much spec'd out. It was ordered this morning. I also spoke with a really great sales rep who really took care of me on the final cost.

I only ordered it with 4 gigs of 1600 mhz RAM, as I will order the other 12 gigs from elsewhere. If someone could advise me of the brand that works best, I would appreciate it. I know New Egg carries quite a few flavors.

I minimized the hard drive, as I will probably get a solid state later for the 2nd bay.

I use my machine for work (design & build custom kitchens), entertainment in the shop (stream TV, Netflix, etc), entertainment when traveling & camping, and oh yeah, I've been a big time gamer for over 30 years (started with a Commodore 64).

Anyway, my EDD is Feb 8th. I would welcome any advice on the new machine. I would like to order the additional RAM as well as a new TV tuner, and a pair of wireless surround sound headphones soon, so that I have them before the new rig arrives. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks in advance all !!!!

Bill

Stealth Black, I7 2760QM, 4 Gb 1600 mhz, GeForce GTX 580, 500 Gb Hybrid ss, 1920 x 1080, Blue Ray, Killer 1103,

 

congrats on the new system! looks like a great machine and good choice on getting the SSD and RAM aftermarket.

was bored today so I checked out processors on ebay. Found this if someone wants it: Intel i7 mobile CPU i7 2920xm ES 2.4Ghz- Shirley's CPU. Its an ES version so I don't know if it has different specs than the OEM version, but its cheaper so who knows.

 

Even better: Intel OEM Core i7-2920XM Processor Extreme SR02E (NON-ES) | eBay

I reccommend this seller, so place a bid folks!

 

Brand new here and I just made my first Alienware purchase.

Soft touch black
i7 2860QM 2.5GHZ
Nvidia 580m GTX
256 GB SSD (been reading threads here, wish I would have bought aftermarket, what a stupid waste of cash)
4 GB RAM
Killer N
17.3 3D WLED 120 Hz (why don't they use RGB like they used to? 3D support is so limited and RGB rocks so much)

Additionally I have a small concern in how future proof this machine is. Will I be able to upgrade the CPU and GPU to Ivy and 6xx down the line?

 

You will be able to upgrade your GPu because of the MXM 3b slot which is the current standard. With regards to Ivy, it appears that you will be able to physically, but there may or may not be bios support for it

 

Well ... great machine ... and to the rest:

You should enjoy your new machine and don't think about what will happen in two years ...

 

Actually the Alienware uses a PM830 SSD. That SSD retails for $400, it is possible you could get it for like $380 online, but really you did not pay significantly more buying it from Dell, and now it is covered under your warranty and comes ready to use.

 

Such a coincident, I brought the same machine with the exact built, lol

did you haggle with the sales on the phone? i got a pretty big discount by following a thread here

 

I did haggle with them and sliced off a good chunk, also got free one day shipping and combined with the 15% discount available at the time came down to around 2100.

 

OMG!!!! awesome deal!!!! Congrats Wish you could haggle with my Sales!! lol I would have save 200 dollars

 

Just traded my AMD FX8150 desktop setup for an Alienware M17x R3 and was wondering what the fastest CPU can be put into it. And where can I get it. Thanks

 

congrats on your trade, and welcome to the alienware forums.

as far as i know, the best sandy bridge is 2920xm or 2960xm... but i dont know if the higher end (2 pipe) heat sync is made for the r3 m17... i know its available for the m18 and m17r2

 

You can OC that 2960XM to 4.0 GHz or maybe even more with a good cooler.

 

Arghhhhhh! Something is taking control of my audio and it is driving me insane and I need help sorting it out before I go and buy an Apple

If I am listening to music (media player) and start playing a game, for example Europa Universalis, I can hear both my music and the game noises through the built in speakers. If I do that with speakers plugged into the speaker jack suddenly media player is paused and I only get the game noises. Media Player is actually paused not silenced. That was annoying but now I am trying to play Crysis using headphones and for some reason the sound was really quiet so I Alt - Tabbed to check that the mixer settings were all the way up for Crysis and lo and behold they were way down near the bottom. So I crank the mixer settings back up and Alt - Tab back into Crysis and then after a brief burst of noise I hear nothing! I go back to the mixer and something has decided to reset Cysis and Steam to a really low setting...again but at the same time now the game has been silenced. So now the only way I can hear the game noises is by unplugging my headphones and listening through the built in speakers or the external speakers. Can someone who knows what is going on please help!!!!!!

I have looked for a program that could be controlling speaker / headphone jacks but can't find one in the start menu or all programs list.

By the way I really wouldn't buy an Apple

 

Why not wait for the ivy bridge since it's just around the corner?

 

Just around the corner? You can always wait for the next generation ... but then you will never have a machine at home ...

 

Excellent choice young chap!
I too have volume issues, but in a different way, and I'm not sure what your problem is.

--
Sent from my SGS2 Skyrocket using Tapatalk

 

Do you mean to wait for a new Ivy Bridge Cpu? I'm new to the gaming laptop as well as Intel scene. Always been a AMD, desktop fanboy.

 

Search for the idt control panel and check the headphone settings . I think you might have tweaked a setting accidentally there.

 

Hey Man. Strangely the only way I could navigate to the IDT control panel was to go into Program Data / IDT. Anyway I couldn't seem to get it to do what I wanted so I took to the computer with a chainsaw and removed the IDT program and then reinstalled it. Then when I connected my speakers and it asked me speakers or headphones I remembered I selected rear speakers last time....well......because they are speakers . Anyway this time I selected headphones and everything is good. I get music and game sounds!
Thats Tony

 

Hey guys, poping in to to request a little help. NBR is holding a contest and one of my threads made the cut. If you could click the VOTE link in my sig and vote for NBR Folding@home team thread I'd love you forever! Also, join our folding team!

 

Any time dude, thats why im here

 

Voted.

/10char

 

What is the fastest CPU that can go into the R17x R3? Will the new Ivy Bridge mobile CPU's work? Worth the wait? I am an upgrade junky.

 

Currently a core i7 2960xm, but the 2920xm will be cheaper and overclock just as good

 

Thanks. But would it be better to wait for IVY Bridge? Will they work in the M17x R3

 

Only if a BIOS update is released to support it.
Besides, Ivy Bridge is merely a process size shrink from Sandy Bridge's 32nm to 22nm. They have higher stock and turbo clocks and run slightly cooler but clock for clock I think they will perform the same.
The Sandy XM chips will beast all Ivy Bridge QMs imho!

 

Don't forget that the integrated graphics will be a lot better in the Ivy chips...however, i don't think that is a concern for Alienware owners who seem to have this upgrade bug

 

Hi everyone, I just purchased an M17x R3 not too long ago and joined up on here. I never got a chance to post really, been busy lately.

What brought me back though, is I have a question about the SATA controllers. Since Alienware ships your system in RAID, even if you have one hard drive, what were to happen if you were to add a second (different) hard drive to bay 1?

 

nothing will happen. Your system will run 2 seperate harddrives with different letter assignments

You will have to assign a letter to the new drive within windows then format, then use it as normal. Probably will be your E: drive or whatever you choose.

 

Awesome! Thank you.

In that case, what would be the point in switching to AHCI? Any better performance?

 

AHCI is a tad faster (although you won't notice a thing). It also enables some features like hot swapping and NCQ. You don't need it though. When i installed my ssd, i left it in RAID mode

 

I see, is TRIM a feature that is AHCI specific?
Also, is there still an issue with Bay 0 reducing the access speeds?
I read about it awhile back, was curious what happened with that issue.

Thanks once again for all your help!

 

You want to install ssd in the HDD caddy in the middle of the laptop (that is slot1). That one stays consistently in SATA3 with bios A08...bios A09 downclocks everything to SATA2 (things get complicated lol)

no, trim is not AHCI specific. By default, it should be enabled in Windows 7. If you want to check...

open an administrator command prompt
and type:
fsutil behavior query disabledeletenotify

DisableDeleteNotify = 1 (Windows TRIM commands are disabled)
DisableDeleteNotify = 0 (Windows TRIM commands are enabled)

 

Really now? Is it a hardware problem or BIOS problem for slot 0?
Any idea if they are trying to fix this?.. Downclocking it and making it worse certainly doesn't sound good, I remember reading about this way back.

I can imagine that really sucking if you manage to RAID a couple SSDs, lol.

I don't think it would make a difference for me, though, I purchased my computer back in September and elected for a Samsung PM810 SSD. (The one Dell offered on-site.) I don't think I would be able to clean install all of it myself. I've had horrible experiences with drivers and such, lol.

 

the dell fix so far in the new A09 bios is to just limit both HD slots to SATA II speeds. Everybody is hoping this is all resolved in the next bios revision and that both ports will always be at SATA III speeds.

 

Err.. seriously? I hope that isn't really their intentional fix, but knowing OEMs... lol
Thanks for the info, though.

 

Is it better to run the system in RAID or AHCI? If Raid which mode?

Does the M17xR3 allow you to overclock the memory? I tried setting my memory to 1800mhz and even though it says in the BIOS its set, in Win7 its at 1600mhz.

 

Do you have memory that will support 1866MHz?

 

Kingston Hyper X 1600mhz. I set the Bios to the higher speed and it boots, but Win7 Utilities say its at 1600mhz. Even set it to 2133mhz and it saves to BIOS and boots.

 

As soon as my tax refund hits the bank, I'll be ordering a kickass m17x!
I do have some questions, however. I'm on the fence about which GPU to select and have heard good things about both the 580M and the 6990M. I'm also aware of the throttling issue and re-paste recomendation. Since both cost the same amount, which would be the wiser choice? :confused2: If I do go with the 580M, I will definitely perform the BIOS/throttle fix as well as apply some AC MX-4 to the GPU.
My final question involves the RAM. It's a no brainer that ordering it with the minimum (4gb) configuration and ordering from Newegg or elsewhere, is much cheaper than the price Dell tries to gouge us with. With that said, I plan to order another 4 (maybe 8) gigs, but would like to know what brand Dell installs in the R3's? Even better, what are the timings?

Both GPU's are currently priced identically.

 

What is the difference between a ES version of the i7-2920xm and i7-2920xm? Will they perform the same, and because both are extreme editions are the multipliers unlocked in the BIOS?

 

sigh...why was this moved? I'm not an owner...yet....:confused2:

 

This might help you out, on the difference between them, but I believe they both should function the same. Information about Intel Engineering/Qualification Sample Processors

I'd go with nvidia (580m) just because I personally like their drivers better, but some people will disagree with me. I also believe that if you are unsatisfied with the 580m that dell will replace it with the 6990m at no cost to you. as for the speeds of the stock RAM, it runs at 1300mhz and the timing is 9.0-9-9-24 (according to hwinfo)

 

So is it worth getting the ES version if it's $300 cheaper?

 

Guys, people here say that better to use AHCI rather than Raid mode for your SATA Hard disk. Mine just realize that I use Raid while in the Bios. Try to google and found some way (Registry Edit) so that I can change the mode even without reinstall all my software from beginning. Does anyone already try this method ?? it is safe ? Does the difference between AHCI & Raid mode is very significant ? or should I just stay in Raid mode for now.....

I'm using M17xR3 and use OCZ Ability SATA III SSD in my laptop.... appreciate your answer, sorry for my bad english....

 

It is a refurbished one which I got for £954 from UK Dell outlet with:

i7 2630QM
FHD screen
4GB RAM
AMD 6990M
320GB Sata HDD

I can't tell if it has been used as there aren't any scratches but one of the feet is coming off and there wasn't any cellophone or protective layer on the laptop other than the shrink wrap.

Also, there were no software DVD's in the box which strikes me very strange. What if the hard drive breaks down

Anyway, I'm going to get it set up, so does anyone have any recommendations? Is it worth going to the Dell site and downloading all the drivers?

I want to make a backup also, should I do this before I do anything else?

Cheers guys

 

Does it have alienrespawn on it, if so do that first...

 

Yes, it's backing up with alienrespawn now, thanks.

Did your lappy come with any software DVDs?

 

I just got mine from the Dell Outlook. Mine came with the Alienware DVD but it did not have Alienrespawn on it.

It also didn't come wrapped or anything, it was just the laptop with the cushions holding the laptop suspended, along with the DVD, the manual and a safety type document. Very bare minimum type packaging.

But it's working great so far. Did some stress test and it's working fine so far.