*OFFICIAL* M17xR3 Owner's Lounge Thread - Part 1

It sorta did for me today. I typed "m17x backpacks" and got lots of threads for...





the G73... LOL

 

This thread is moving too fast to keep up!

Here are some numbers for a single and CF 6970m in an x7200 for anyone interested:
AMD's Mobility Radeon HD 6970 In CrossFire On Eurocom's Panther : AMD Attacks On the Mobile Front

 

let me take an excerpt from this wonderful link you have provided us Scoook9:

"We noticed that the Radeon HD 6970M appeared CPU-bottlenecked at lower resolutions, and reducing our comparison to the panel’s native resolution puts this in perspective. At 1920x1080, the Radeon HD 6970M CrossFire provides similar performance to the GeForce GTX 470M SLI, yet costs roughly 18% less. Matched performance at reduced cost looks like an AMD win to us.

Yet, as nice as the HD 6970M appears in CrossFire, the single-card configuration is where it truly excels. A whopping 17% lead over a single GeForce GTX 470M gives hope to mid-budget mobile gamers, while hinting at the true potential of CrossFire, should scaling be improved by future drivers.

Our special thanks goes to Eurocom for providing its Panther 2.0 with the extra hardware required to make this comparison possible."


So it looks like AMD/ATI is STILL offering the same or better performance for much much cheaper than Nvidia... hmmm some things never change hehe

a single 6970m is BEAST... holy crap... but it looks like ati has some major xfire issues at the moment with these cards... lets hoep by the time the 18x comes out, they'll get this sorted out

 

ATI has had major Crossfire issues with all their mobile cards. They just need to get the drivers sorted out (maybe a HW issue as well?)

The desktop 6800 and 6900 parts have greatly improved CF scaling but sadly the "6870m" is really still a desktop 5770 downclocked

 

****************6970m

 

The 6970m is the 6850 silicon so it may do well in CF. Hoping that is purely a driver issue that will be sorted out

 

yea...fingers crossed... either way it outperforms the 470m/480m in single card configurations.... so that is what is most important for this thread, since the r3 has 1 gpu

still waiting for news on the 485 though

 

I like how you guys already have 6970m while we chinese still can't order M17x R3 just because it's not even up LOL

 

We do not have the 6970m yet, that is benches in a Clevo

 

Yeah but UK and France does.

 

Well. looks like everyones gonna have to return the R3 because the chipset has a fault that requires a 'silicon' fix.

I heard the R3 was gonna be released in china in a few days which means that shipment has the faulty chip as well. Its going to be a while until the fixed chipsets are on the market. oh well.


EDITED

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/intel...law-in-sandy-bridge-rollout/44257?tag=nl.e539

 

You are going to have to provide a source on this or the post may get removed for being so grossly misleading to people who come here to learn about the R3.

Update: just saw the article myself. Shame Can not blame dell/alienware though, this blame goes straight to Intel

 

And no one has received it yet, just been orderable for a few days (and Chinese new years will definitely delay the shipment of them)

 

I actually meant you guys can order a M17x R3 with 6970m already...well at least some of you can

 

got a URL for that article ? I would think alienware would not still be selling them untill the fix, but as of now I see them...so.

 

Intel hit with chipset design flaw in Sandy Bridge rollout | ZDNet

 

No but there is a thread talking about it with links to several articles about it

 

Here is the thread: Intel Design Flaw NBR Thread

 

Just read it.....glad dident order yet. I am supprised Dell is still takeing orders though, with that issue.

 

well. Maybe they just got the call from intel and is having emergency meetings to decide what happens. I'm sure they have procedures for stuff like this.

But just think of the inconvinience. Because the CPU is fine so probably they have to take that off and then somehow reuse it. but would they be allowed to do that without telling the customer?

all kinds of messy logistics. Good thing they havent shipped any other notebooks with sandy bridge yet. as far a s i know anyway

 

In-home change my chipset/MB and extend my warranty.

Too many other things can go wrong to worry at this point.

 

Did anyone that has the R3 tried calling Dell to find out what their position is at this moment?

 

As long as there is nothing wrong with the CPU and there is no damage done during repairs yeah they'll reuse the CPU no question about it. No reason to fix it if it's not broken.

 

Actually, I think the 1200p screen on the Alienware m17x R2 is 17.3 inches. I could still bee wrong, but I did contact Dell and ask them, and they said it was 17.3 inches.

 

The 1200p screen is 17".

 

Until Dell releases some kind of word on what their plan is, lets use the thread in place -

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...upgrades/551902-sandy-bridge-design-flaw.html

There really is no need to clutter up the OL with this and having multiple threads spread across NBR doesnt really help either.

If Dell posts something on their site or if Chris gets over here and makes some type of announcement, I'll sticky it in the main AW forum.

Thanks guys.

 

But how does the 6870 do? Should I have saved the $52.50 on the 460m upgrade and stuck to stock gpu?

I called. The first csr said that she was aware of the situation, but could not answer. She deferred to another csr in teh America's, who told me that he did not know about the situation yet, but will do his "best" to keep me in the loop. He then apologized for the inconvenience and changed my shipping frmo 7day to NBD, which I'm not sure if that's supposed to keep me happy or not... lolz...

 

I want a high powered notebook for college, and I am now considering the M17x as an option. How much battery life are you users getting with optimus enabled, everything throttled down?

 

As always, what you should have done and what posters on the board think is best are two completely different things. Are you happy with the 460? Did you get the 3d with it? I think if you're happy with it, what posters think is irrelevant. Optimus will eventually get worked out and you'll have a greater % of battery life. Were it me, I would have waited for the 6970 but I haven't had a proper gaming laptop in quite some time. Ultimately you gotta enjoy your computer, so what anyone else tells you is irrelevant.

Enjoy.

 

I ordered the 460M non-3d setup with the 1080p 60hz screen. Haven't receive it yet though, so I'm not sure. I, much like you, haven't had a proper gaming [computer]. More like, haven't had one EVER, lol. So I know I'm gonna be extra happy to receive this new toy

 

well as u said the only game u play is sc2 and some psx emulator so ull be able to max out your stuff with the 460m so ur fine what your gonna use it for

 

Just out of curiousity why would you order the non-120hz panel when it's only like an extra $100-200...Spending so much money already why not a little bit more?

 

Cuz of Optimus. I need battery life for grad school. Also, I hate it when people say that : "You're already spending so much, why not spend more?" Obviously I didn't spend more because A) I don't have any more, or B) It's a waste of cash.

In conclusion, I spend only up to the amount I feel worthwhile. Best bang for the buck mentality, ya know? Makes sense to me

In my case, it was primarily A), and also for Optimus. I like the idea of 3D but they didn't offer the 1699 package through aafes. It was only regular price and wouldve come out to be 13xx anyways, instead of the 1189 I originally hope for.

 

Because the 120hz panel is only available if you purchase it with 3D and the nvidia 460m. Some would rather RHE 6870 for the switchable graphic.

 

And some would rather have 460M+60hz for Optimus.

Btw, has anyone received their Optimus capable machines yet?

 

and im legally blind in 1 eye so i cant even see 3d so its 100% pointless for some 1 like me to get it

 

He got 460M

 

I wonder if it will be possible to order the 360 Bundle and have the 120Hz screen and then swap in a 6970M? Anyone know about this...

 

Noone has attempted it. Most are assuming it won't work (including myself) because the cards do not support 120hz panels on the laptop panel.

 

the 6970M should work with the 120Hz screen, says in the manual.

 

Dell doesn't let you purchase the 120hz LCD without the NVIDIA card =/

 

Yeah that kinda sucks. I'm going to try though, maybe they can alter the order.

 

Yea but I think I can deal with it. Main advantage of the 120hz screen is 3D enabled, smoother (because of the higher refresh rate?), and you can have FPS >60 without tearing right? Other then that the 60hz panel should be pretty good / about the same?

 

guys, i know this doesnt related to the R3
but i purchased the alienware orion backpack with the R3 and today was the first time that i took it out to look/use

i loaded in my R3 into the bag, and when i zipped it up, the seams on the left side of the bag just tore... will dell do a replacement/refund?

 

I know. This is why I posed the question about buying a 3D (120Hz, 460M) system, and swapping in a 6970M later. Some think the 6960M can't support a 120Hz screen.

 

Considering none of us here work for Dell, no idea, have you called them......seriousely.

 

just called them. they are asking for pictures before doing anything

 

A reasonable request in my opinion.

 

I think that is garbage. You received an obviously defective product and want to return it. Pictures? Next you will need an expert backpack maker to certifiy its defective and notarize his letter for Dell.

 

Mine's sitting at Fedex facility since yesterday. EDD tomorrow. Will try to review tomorrow night upon delivery.