*OFFICIAL* M17xR3 Owner's Lounge Thread - Part 2

Zippy, try unplugging your laptop, pulling the battery and pressing and holding the power button for a minute. That'll drain the unit off the power and, perhaps, the wireless will reappear. Had my nvidia 460m disappearing on my like that so even the BIOS couldn't detect it. Fixed by draining.

 

Guys make sure to report these things when they happen as they are most likely driver issues and they need to be fixed.

They will only get fixed if Dell knows about it and since it seems that we lost our Dell correspondence on this forum it is very important to report it directly to Dell.

 

I noticed there are no drivers for the 6970M on Dell's website. Does it ship with the PC or do you guys use the ATI reference drivers?

 

for some reason the drivers are not on the website but they come on the resource DVD

 

Did you try the ATI reference driver to see if they work correctly?

 

i try both the one on dell website and the one on the disk with no difference on performance but i didn't try the latest AMD version yet

 

Has anyone with the 'pre recall' R3 contacted (or been contacted by) Dell yet regarding getting their mobo's replaced or whatnot with a new one (without the flaw). I'm a bit annoyed that I havnt been emailed or even officially informed by them about it, I have a feeling when I call its going to be annoying.

 

Yeah I called them last night due to some issues I had with a BIOS update and got the typical "IQ of 3" technician on the phone who knew nothing about it. I'm just gonna deal with it through my DFS/Sales rep and see if I can just get a system swap.

 

Is there a way to make sure that Dell shipped the PC with the new chipset? I know that I have to trust them in this but I am sure it can happen.

 

From what we saw from Mumak (HWInfo author/programmer) there is no software way to do it. The only way I can think of would be to open the system up to see what's physically printed on the chip.

 

CPU-z shows the chipset revision.....

 

Please refer to the B2 thread : http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/560916-dell-send-me-chipset-rev-b2.html

 

yeah there is no way to see the chipset revision because they override the device ID for compatibility so we may have to open the system like someone mention already

 

This is a pretty shady move by dell/intel imo. They couldve just released some kinda other update for compatibility, and allow us to see the revision. Meh.

Can you provide a link to instructions on opening the R3?

 

Documentation

 

Can anyone comfirm the viewing angles on the 60Hz version screen with 6970M, are just as good as the 120Hz panel with the GT 460M?

This link has the 120Hz version to compare with:
Alienware M17x R3 - 3D Vision Gaming Laptop Review - Boot Time, Screen / Sound Quality Videos

Thanks.

 

Let me / us know how this goes, I havnt seen anywhere any info on what theyre doing to repair it for us... Have a feeling that im going to have to talk to a ton of reps. I'd just leave it for now but I dont want to be stuck with a shoddy chipset.

 

According to Dell Platforms Impacted By The Intel Stop Ship Of The Cougar Point Chipset | Dell

They are:

Topic 3: What Options Are Available If I Have Already Purchased One Of The Impacted Platforms?

For customers impacted by this issue, Dell offers a couple of solutions. Customers experiencing issues will be supported under the warranty and service terms. Once Dell has new chipsets from Intel in early April, Dell will provide a motherboard replacement that corrects the design issue at no cost to our customers. Replacements will be provided at the customers’ location and convenience via authorized Dell service providers. Affected customers may also contact Dell to return their product.

They JUST RECENTLY started to ship the new chipsets in product, I am sure there is a backlog. Give them some time and I am sure they will make it right.

 

Not because i own one but the viewing angles are Amazing on the 60hz screen i can't be happier if you look the screen from the right or left it just looks like you was looking straight if you look from the bottom to top it looks even better the only way you get bad details is looking from top to bottom

The color reproduction is something i was concern too because i like my games saturated but with this screen i don't have a complaint is colorful and the contrast ,blacks are amazing

 

Thanks for you reply.

From what your have said it sound promising, the only part that sounds bit bad is the top viewing angle.
The video in the link provided didn't appear to have a problem in this area.

I was most concerned that the 60Hz screen that I and others will recieve, would be inferior to the 120Hz screen?

 

Anyone else having their keyboard placed oddly? I'm not sure how to take it off but I'd like to "re-seat" it if possible.

The bottom right of the keyboard is sticking up pretty noticeably. I can push it back down but it won't stay.

Its a simple problem with a simple solution (once I figure out how to remove the keyboard ) but its still sort of disappointing for a "premium computer"

Heres a left and right comparison.. Higher res can be found here
http://img847.imageshack.us/g/dscn0710.jpg/

 

my keyboard was missing 4 screws....open it up and check yours out...

 

Anyone get a 6300 aftermarket for theirs? I had mine running and now my laptop doesn't even recognize it. Anyone know what driver from Dell to install first. There are like 5 and I can't seem to get it working for good. I also checked to make sure it was seated well and it was.

 

Fixed the keyboard issue! All I had to do was unscrew the 5 "I" screws under the back cover, lift up the little frame in the picture and then snap it back in and re-screw.

I guess they just missed hooking a tab in or didn't tighten them enough or something.

 

I have to say I love the M17X R3 even more than the R1 or R2 and I had all three so I am making a real comparison.

I just love the way the palm rest feels and the power of this PC without the noise. At full load it is just as quite as the R2 on 1/3 load. It's crazy.

I am very glad of this purchase and though I was highly skeptical, I don't regret it at all.

 

This makes me happy

I'll be overjoyed when it actually comes to me. Be on the lookout for my super subjective/nub/improvised review

 

Dookie looking forward to your review.

 

Guess we'll see. I don't think I'd be thrilled with the loss of rgb led. Noise isn't a big deal on a notebook to me.

 

True that, at least with the retention mod on both my CPU and GPU I hardly ever hear my fans spin and if they do, its momentarily (taking about few seconds).
I agree, the 1080p and especially the RGB-LED is something that will strike odd to someone who jumps from the R2 to the R3.

 

will the rgb led 17.3 screen from the studio 17 work?

http://www.ndc.co.uk/details.php?sid=13665&country_id=230#USD

 

Connector is likely different and even if it weren't, you'd need to physically cut the back of the panel to remove the LCD and replace it.

 

Thats cool, I thought I would really miss the RGB, even though its not a R3 ....it doesnt bother me as much as I anticipatd.

 

Joker, from what I know of you from the forum I would say the M17X R3 is not for you. We all know the M18X is coming so just wait for that, you will have Aluminum, two GPU, and maybe an RGB LED.

I do agree with you though the loss of the RGB LED is a BIG loss and I regret it a lot but there are many things in the M17X R3 that make it better in every way then the R2 or R1. The screen is just not one of those things.

 

It will be interesting to see if the M18x is a Compal or Flextronics design

 

Anyone else experiencing similar issues?

YouTube - M17x R3 "Rattle"

 

I try to overclock the HD6970 with Rivatuner,MSI Afterburner and AMD tool with no luck i even try to edit the rivatuner CFG file to add the device id but no luck , even flashing with ATI flash don't work it says "no adapter found" i think this time dell did something so we can't overclock i hope some body figure out how to unlock the card

Here is the pics of the Dell card it doesn't have ram on the bottom so i guess at least that is a good start i can see the crossfire connector so we can expect this on dual card configurations like M18X

 

Are you looking for problems with the machine?

Dell clearly loose their quality control first day i get my machine i heard something inside was loose so i open it up and it was a screw right under the CPU fan i am talking about an extra screw for no charge

 

It probably isn't an issue of Dell locking things out Speedy it's probably just a need for updating the software to support the 6970. Did you try to extract the Vbios using GPU-z and opening it in RBE to see if anything looks funny?

 

Hi, i don't try with GPUz because every time i try before with Fermi cards the file gets corrupted but i may try today

 

I'm not looking for problems, I'm finding them as I go.

The entire machine should NOT be rattling if I do something as simple as type.. I'm going to open it up and look around before I call Dell.

I've already received the system with a screwed up keyboard frame (Fixed that myself), a hot cpu (fixed that by repasting) and a plastic wrapper INSIDE my CPU heatsink... At this point any more flaws and I'm going to start questioning the quality control of these things.. I've talked to a few owners and none of them have this rattle. I think something isn't fit in right or is loose.

 

Still having those blur & smudge issues. I still believe it is a hardware related problem.

I've done two clean installs and have re-installed the display drivers multiple times. The issue persists.

Examples of things that are blurred/smudged are the mouse & loading wheel on the desktop, the dialogue wheel in Dragon Age 2 (which has a lot of screen tearing and the like), the cards in Solitaire, the player controls in You Tube videos, some elements in Steam (Shift + Tab in game), the entire Command Center (tearing, blur, hard to read).

Dell doesn't even believe me at this point. The crashes I experienced earlier were a result of driver conflicts (I'm still missing 3 or 4 devices under DM). The Event Viewer lists the critical issue as Event ID 41.

Really don't know what to do anymore...

 

with the higher demand of this machines and the chipset problem Dell loose their quality control but it will get back to normal ones they ship this first batch i hope

i don't have the problem you experience but like you say maybe something loose or wrong placed inside so just open it and check the palmrest real good is maybe not in place

 

Just opened the system again, that rattle does seem to be coming from inside my Blu-Ray drive.

Think Dell would send me a replacement and let me install it myself? I REALLY Don't want an inexperienced tech futzing around with my computer.

 

They might but then again they might not. From what I have seen from taking apart the M17X R3 it is much easier than the R2 in every way and therefore this would limit the damage from an inexperience technician.

 

Well I'm not rushing to any judgments yet since my R3 should be here by this week. Who knows, I could end up liking it as much as you or not. Either way I'll be providing a detailed review.

 

I do hear the rattle on the left side when you tapped it, not so much on the right. Sounds like the palm rest isn't fully fitted so you may want to re-do it and see if it takes care of the problem. Your birds are so loud I thought you were filming from somewhere in the Amazon.

 

What specs did you order?

 

Nah, its on the right. Crappy digital camera mic... I am 100% positive its coming from the Blu-Ray drive or above it closer to the top.. I didn't take it out. Most likely going to call Dell and see if they can send someone out or something.

It isn't a MAJOR issue so I'm not too concerned with it. Everything is working including the Blu-Ray (used it to burn recovery disks for factory and recovery disks for my install) I honestly think its something in the Blu-Ray itself thats loose.. I know they have quite a few moving parts.

And yeah; Daytime is loud with birds LOL

Also just ordered one of these in black 16-17.5"
http://www.radtech.us/Products/NotebookScreenSavrz.aspx

And (over the phone) had it setup so it'll be embroidered with the old white Alienware logo and "GLaDOS" under it as thats what is etched on the bottom.
Should come out like this (Mspaint lol)

 

Basic setup: 2630qm, 4gb, 320gb hdd, amd 6970m, wifi 6300, standard dvd. Thing is I have a pair of R2's here that I can use parts from to swap into the R3 like a blu ray drive, 8 gb of ram, 2 x 500 gb hdd etc. If I elect to keep the R3, I could upgrade the CPU to 2920xm later on and then when M18x hits, swap the 2920xm into that and sell the R3. I wish I had another 6970M to test because I want to see if Crossfire works in the R2 or not.

 

By the time you get it hopefully we will have resolved the issues with overclocking the 6970M which seems to not work so far.