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

I noticed that the optical audio jack outputs analog sound as well. Sounds louder than the other two as well. And that also isn't why it stopped, because i didn't put regular headphones in there until after it stopped working. I did have headphones in the regular sockets however. I did try unplugging and reinserting them a few times, but I'll keep trying that.

 

Ok so I have installed all drivers and I still have 3 issues in device manager:

1. SM Bus controller
2. Universal Serial Bus controller
3. Unknown Device

 

Install the usb 3.0 drivers from dell's website.

 

USB 3.0 is not native in windows?

 

3rd party chipset, 3rd party drivers

 

Installed the USB 3.0 drivers and I have 2 more issues:

SM Bus Controller
Unknown device

 

unknown device is most likely alienware on screen display
SM bus controller......i duno SD card reader?
edit: google says it's part of intel's chipset for low speed data transfer (thermometer, fan control, etc)...maybe free fall sensor?

 

It could be the accelerometer .

 

NP, not trying to be funny, but I have seen people rip into systems and damm........forgot to check "X"

 

Have you installed the latest Intel chipset driver? The SM bus issue usually arises when there is no driver for the chipset.

Ira

 

Yeah, I can bet. I had to tear it apart anyway to put in my extra ram, so i figured i might as well take a few extra screws out and check the wires.

 

So....question? I can custom build a Dell XPS 17 MAXXED out with 2820QM, 6Gb RAM, 3Gb vid memory, 1.28Tb RAID, 1920X1280 for about a $1000 less than the R3. Why shouldn't I go that route instead of R3???

 

Well first of all because you are wrong with your facts:

The XPS 17" only has a 900p screen very far from the 1080p of the R3, the RAM is not 1333mhz nor 1600mhz.

The video card had 3Gb of memory it takes from the existing RAM... It's a 555M which is about 1/3 the power of the 6970M and will NOT run crysis at 30FPS like the R3, heck it won't even run it a 15FPS.

Basically you should get an R3 because you are wrong from the start to the end on all your statements. Or you don't understand anything about PC hardware.

 

Um, it does have a 1080p Screen on the 3D version. And you are telling me that they would put an i7 chip in it but not have a BUS that supports at least 1333? Check the column that says MEMORY under tech specs!!! C'mon?!?!?!?

So I was wrong about the GPU(s). I was just asking. That is what forums are for, so we don't make stupid mistakes. I agree if that is the case with the GPU-I did some more checking-it does in fact, suck(the GPU) compared to the 6970.

Thanks for trying to belittle me and come of very obnoxious. We've found something you excel at. Now, you check your facts on the screen options and RAM-I admit I was wrong-you do the same.

P.S.-I like your laptop cooler.

 

M17x-R3 arrived today. I haven't messed with it much because I was busy doing other things but I'm just getting to installing Vantage on it. Initial impressions are positive overall. It's not as cheap feeling as I thought it would be but with the R2 sitting right next to it, I can see the loss in build quality. However, it is much easier to use on my lap than the R2 and the display isn't too bad for WLED (no dead pixels). It's bright and crisp although it does lack the color gamut of the RGB LED and that's noticeable on some webpages and images. I'll be doing a detailed review of the R3 and eventually R2 vs R3 in the near future.

 

If installing the OS under ATA mode works, could I change back to AHCI later?

 

NIce. What we ALL NEED-a direct comparison from an R2 owner going to an R3. Will be waiting....

 

Hey Joker, nice to see that your first impressions are good. Mine were too and I was surprised when I got it. I am sure you will like this PC a lot.

 

ATA mode didn't work. Windows couldn't even make a partition out of the disk. One last thing I'm going to try is to install it on my desktop. Also under the SATA III interface to keep things even. If this doesn't work, is it safe to assume I have a bad drive?

 

I would not say the drive is bad, just that it does not work in the M17x R3. I would get on the corsair support forum to see if this is a known issue to them. Most likely a firmware can fix it

 

But it might get closed!

 

I have to have the screen changed on mine. I discovered 2 dead pixels stuck on black and they won't unstuck.

Also, I have three impurities in the glass and one of them truly annoying.

 

Has anyone else gotten the Corsair P3-Series to work on m17x? I've just about given up. Does Crucial's c300 series work in the m17x?

 

SOB...
I put my old HDD back, set BIOS to RAID like it was before. Installed completely until the very end where "Windows could not complete the installation on this hardware." !?
So restart it, and it seemed to procede with setup until: "Windows could not complete the installation. To install Windows on this computer, restart the installation."
Now I'm thinking nothing was wrong with the SSD. However, this HDD did get to the setup stage where the SSD did not. Still, it was only the beginning of setup, I didn't get to the UI.
Anyway, !? What's wrong with my R3???
Please help!

 

That sucks. While I wait for my replacement I'm kind of afraid that what I'm getting is going to be of even worse quality than this.

I mean, the QUALITY isn't bad on these Alienwares. I think its the quality CONTROL that is.

A candy / straw wrapper in my heatsink? And this isn't the first time? Wat? I just wish they could give me a new case and screen but keep these internals. It performs great and is stupidly stable. I'm afraid I might even get a cosmetically flawless system but have huge issues or something with crashing.

 

Hey guys looooong time no see, anyway getting on after months of problems, 7 graphic card exchanges (god knows how many times they will try until they realize IT'S NOT THE CARDS), 2 mobos, 2 hdd, 3 sets of memory. Dell has finally agreed to build me a new R3 system equivalent to my original purchase price. Anyway my question is which specs should I be nabbing on my new system for gaming/3D gaming performance. My original budget on my R1 system was 3,300 before tax. So that's my budget, I'm pretty sure I can almost max out a new system.... Thoughts

 

ask for extra pairs of 3d glasses, 16gb ram, and at least 1x 256gb ssd

 

So are they giving you a new warranty with that new system? That'd be sweet.

In terms of best performance though, I'd go with at least the 2720qm, 6970, and 1080p screen. Got to buy the ram elsewhere since Dell doesn't offer 1600mhz ram that the 2720qm can take advantage of so its best to let the SSD upgrade option eat the rest of the $3300 budget.

 

For anyone running on Catalyst 11.4: Were you able to get integrated gfx + 6970M to play nice together? Seems it's one or the other and you have to reboot (or use the control panel) to re-enable the 6970M after you switch to the Intel gfx. If anyone's got a workaround I'd like to know.

edit: got it working. Just had to enable it once through teh control panel, reboot and set it in ccc.

 

^^^See. This..........is good info!!!

 

after you change to Raid, be sure to power of f your computer before turning back on to install windows.

 

Same problem here. =/
Tried to install 3 times. No luck yet.

 

Biscuits, here is what I would do: $3347

Genuine Windows® 7 Professional, 64bit
Intel® Core™ i7 2820QM 2.3GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (2DIMMS)
2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon™ HD 6970M
1.5TB Raid 0 (2x 750GB 7,200RPM)
17.3-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 60Hz WLED
Intel® Ultimate N WiFi Link 6300 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO Technology
Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Alienware M17x, Soft Touch Nebula Red
Alienware Orion Laptop Backpack - Fits Laptop of Screen Sizes Up to 17" - Black
3 Year Advanced Service Plan
Alienware M17x 240W A/C Adapter

Upgrade the ram your self and dont pay dell that stupidly high price for an SSD, upgrade it yourself as well

 

So what does that mean for us? If we can neither install on SSD or our old HDD?

 

Did anyone check your motherboard's step?? Mine and my friend's is 04/B2, if it is a fixed version, it shoule be 09/B3???? Does this mean it is alienware do use some old version to build some oders?

 

You are right mine says B2 also and the B2 stepping is the one affected. I am confused. Did Dell chip the PC with the damaged chipsets anyways? This would be outrageous.

 

Just today even this has been discussed over 3 times in the same forum.

Even though CPU-Z says B2 Dell is not shipping out broken chipsets. The "surefire way" for most people is to look at the revision number.

04 = effected
09 = fixed

Even Batboy got sick of this and posted in like 3 pages ago.

 

I think recent orders should be all B2. I have contact dell, Dell says it should be ok, but I do not know if it is really OK.

 

Finally calling tech support. See if they can help. This is slightly frustrating. I understand if the SSD won't work, but c'mon, the original HDD.

 

I apologize. I am always the first one to yell at people for not reading threads so I'll take the blame...

 

Stupid. So before we got too far, the dude wanted to tell me that trying to reinstall the OS voids the warranty. Are you F'n kidding me!?

 

This is really frustrated. I would like to think about wether I will keep this R3

 

Dell reps are stupid, what else is new.

The rep told me installing my own HDD would void warranty when I asked about an extra bracket to install my own later.

Best bet is to just not mention any personal modification to reps. At all.

So you're thinking about returning because of a non existent issue? Hmm...

 

That's obviously untrue. Hang up, call back, speak to another rep.

 

I am not sure if it is exist, I just want to know this B2 MB in my laptop has no problem. I need a certain answer that this version is flaw free, however no one can give me a clear answer.

 

Easiest way to be sure is just take the heatsink off and look at the chip for the northbridge. This should be done anyways since they use such cheap thermal paste most of the time

 

Sounds easy but is not on this case because to get to the chipset heatsink is necessary to remove the motherboard sadly

 

So went from regular tech support, to alienware support, now back to regular tech support. He tells me I'm supposed to be in AHCI mode for single HDD. I could have sworn incame in raid mode, and also that others have said to install in raid mode. But I'll give it a shot if I haven't already. Now just to stay on topic somewhat. Did the m17x come in RAID mode with one HDD or not for you guys?

 

From what I've read, m17x comes in Raid even with a single drive.

 

I asked this in a stand alone thread this morning, but no one has answered, so I'll ask here as I really only care about the R3.

Can you install the graphics drivers that AMD posts, or are you stuck with using Dell supplied drivers? I hate having to wait for Dell to release updated drivers when AMD releases updates every month.

Thanks,
Ira