Steam games will not run with Crossfire HD5870s

I just took delivery of an M17x (birthday present for my son). It has dual HD5870s with Crossfire. Drivers are the Dell "recommended" package 8.692.etc etc. BIOS is A05.

When my son tries to run Portal, Team Fortress 2 and Monkey Island 2 Special Edition (all via Steam) with Crossfire enabled the laptop "freezes" during the game load process, i.e. when you expect to see the game menu. Only option is a hard power off and reboot.

These are the only games he has d/l yet, so no games run successfully with Crossfire.

If Crossfire is disabled then they run fine!!!!

Does anyone know a solution to this please? Thanks in advance.

Another related issue is that with Crossfire enabled "sleep" works fine, with it disabled when the laptop comes out of sleep the display simply shows a black screen. A system restore in safe mode sorts this out, but annoying all the same.

 

The solution so far, is to wait for Dell to release new drivers, or 'hopefully' for AMD to add support for CF 5870's in CAT 10.7s

Although I don't play any of those games, I *do* suffer from hideously long load times in Empire total war and Napoleon Total war with my M17x. The only explanation I had after they ran just fine on my inferior desktop was that it had to be something to do with the 10.5s in my M17x since other M17x users reported the same issue.


have you tried running other Games to confirm it's just those and not say, all games? If it were all 3d applications that's more easy to diagnose. A faulty CF cable connection or even a faulty card could be to blame instead of the lousy 10.5 drivers.


If you can confirm it's just those games, I would first verify game cache integrity via the steam console, back them up, uninstall/reinstall. After that you can try to get the 10.6's working via the work-around...(the thread is in this sub-form infact, it should be on page 1 or 2) However it's a very cumbersome task and there are still a few people that have not gotten it to work. Alternatively, 1-2 people have mysteriously reported that 10.6 drivers work and install correctly. If you've just received the laptop, there's a very small chance you may have one of the 'fixed' systems.

 

hmmm help will be here shortly...

welcome to the forum!

awesome dad btw...

 

I have steam games that do work with crossfire 5870s, so its not all steam games. I think your in the boat with a lot of others that just have to wait for some updates to be released. I'm one of very few that have had no issues with crossfire, 10.6 and a05 on my newest 5870x2 M17x-r2.

 

when i had my 5870 xfire m17x i was playing left for dead 2 and portal just fine with crossfire enabled. All dell stock drivers too

 

Alright now you guys are making me feel like I made a mistake. I just ordered my M17X with crossfire 5870's and this thread pops up. All the games I have are on Steam and now someone is having issues with them!

 

I'm sure there's a simple solution because that's all i play are Steam games, Dragon Age, Dawn of War, LFD1/2 and the ever important BF2 (god i love that game!). I've got stock drivers and xfire enabled.

 

I have been playing Games on Steam with 5870Xfire quite well. I had a bit of a hardware issue. Thats a different thing, but my games on steam are fine, GTA4, portal.

In fact i just finished all the games in orange box through steam. Have you tried playing games outside steam ? Try downloading a trial version of some game or try running benchmarks to see if your crossfire is running fine. Or you could do
start->run->dxdiag and run a system test. I think that makes use of crossfire as well.

 

your not in stealth mode are you? that gets a ton of people...

 

Don't stress CajunCARTFan, it sounds like there is either some corupted files, or bad hardware in his situation. One of the games he is trying to play(Portal) plays fine under crossfire for other people so it's not the "general setup" it's something with that specific computer.

 

it shouldn't freeze, even in stealth mode.

 

Ive got my new M17x (21st june) and have d/l steam and portal too....dont seem to have any probs running the game but it did take about 2 hours to d/l it so i dont know if thats normal?

Thhe game itseld runs fine, changed to native resolution too and its ok with no probs that i can make out...

Im running A05 with stock gpu drivers and OSD 113

 

*DirectX and OpenGL are two major graphics application programming interfaces
*used to develop games and 3D graphics applications on Windows platforms.
*DirectX is a Microsoft proprietary API,
*Direct3D is a major component of DirectX
*OpenGL is an open standard API.
*Most games are either OpenGL or Direct3D mode
*odd game can switch but always one is optimized for one or the other.


If an OpenGL game does not have a CrossFire profile, the Catalyst AI system will set the rendering mode to Scissor by default, with no way to change it to a more suitable or faster mode, such as AFR.

Catalyst AI to 'Advanced' allows manual mode setting for Direct 3D games, but not OpenGL games, to AFR. If running Catalyst in advanced mode doesn't help than I would look at your firewall and antivirus program. They may have blocked something like crossfire.exe from running thinking it is a trojan. Make sure you have the correct Dx version as well. Catalyst A.I. should turned off or on for troubleshooting purposes.

At present which are your:
a)Catalyst settings advance (list settings) or standard
b)Is Catalyst AI turned on or off
c)firewall brand
d)Anti virus brand


The Dell Stock Catalyst Control Center has an OpenGL Setting in the 3D menu under heading ALL. Select Tripple buffering for OpenGL games

 

Portal 2 is not an OpenGL game..nor is team fortress, nor is Monkey Island. "older' means usually from 10+ years ago. Quake III is a strictly openGL game, Source engine games are not.

 

Monkey island 4 A 100% DirectX or OpenGL compatible 3D accelerator is required

"As we have extended Source, our game engine, to support OpenGL, we have been working with Apple and the GPU suppliers to make sure we take full advantage of their capabilities. We have also been giving them feedback on opportunities to extend OpenGL to better support our games as well as the third party games that will be coming"

OpenGL vs DirectX: The Graphics API Wars Begin Anew - Tested

http://www.bit-tech.net/blog/2010/03/15/valve-looking-to-opengl/

The other games I have not checked yet

 

Right, not "100% OpenGL" , it supports BOTH APi's...

OpenGL is almost exclusively used for the Mac platform, and in professional workstation cards/applications. The driver support for OpenGL in windows for consumer level cards is *way* behind Directx support. If it's a source engine game and running in windows, it's using Directx. There are only an extremely limited number of games made for windows within the last 10 years that *only* use OpenGL.

but sure, go ahead. it's just one button to click...

 

*OpenGL has faster draws than DirectX
*OpenGL has first access to new GPU features via vendor extensions.
*OpenGL gives you direct access to all new graphics features on all platforms
*DirectX only provides occasional snapshots of them on their newest versions of Windows.
*The tesselation technology that Microsoft is heavily promoting for DirectX 11 has been an OpenGL extension for three years. It has even been possible for years before that, using fast instancing and vertex-texture-fetch. I don't know what new technologies will be exposed in the next couple years, I know they will be available first in OpenGL.
*Microsoft has worked hard on DirectX 10 and 11, and they're now about as fast as OpenGL, and support almost as many features.
*Problem with Directx is that don't work on Windows XP! Half of PC gamers still use XP, so using DirectX 10 or 11 is not really a viable option for some. *If you really care about having the best possible graphics, and delivering them to as many gamers as possible, there's no choice but OpenGL

 

As I stated I don't play the games as per the original thread. Quake Wars Enemy Territory is an OpenGL based game using a modified Doom 3 gaming engine. While the rest of the gaming development community has swung to the tune of Microsoft’s DirectX API, id Software was hugely successful sticking to OpenGL. Even Microsoft may abandon the DirectX (as per articles below) very soon. Steam has both Directx and Open GL games.

 

As I stated, no source engine game running on windows plays using openGL. I'd concede some lower budget games probally run it, however there hasn't been a big budget game made recently(with the exception of the ID Doom 3 engine, however that was FIVE years ago) that has used openGL with 0 Directx support. it just doesn't happen.

where do you see that? I want you to specifically point me where this person, is giving his opinions on Google's development of their web browser Api that MS is thinking about dumping Directx. Let me make this fairly clear, you're living in the same pipe dream that linux will take over the world if you think MS will give up Directx for openGL. How long has OpenGL had an advantage in features years before Directx? And how long have 95%+ of games been designed with Directx anyway? How many graphics card companies tune their consumer graphics cards for OpenGL games?

edit: editing previous posts hampers conversation :/

referring to this article
http://www.bit-tech.net/blog/2010/03/15/valve-looking-to-opengl/

I still don't see anywhere that MS is dumping Directx. Source going OpenGL isn't big news considering they just released support for Mac and Linux. What sense would it make to distribute an engine that can only run on some of your clients? Also, Portal 2 and TF2 are still directx.. the source engine in those games are years old.

 

List of OpenGL programs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This conversation is getting pretty off topic to the original request for help in the thread. What I think Microsoft will or won't do is pretty irrelevent and whether you or I think Open GL or DirectX is better does not answer the threads original question. My original point earlier on was that Catalyst settings were one of many areas I would look at.

http://www.bit-tech.net/blog/2010/03/15/valve-looking-to-opengl/

 

I agree it's off topic. Have you looked at those titles though, not just how few there are, but how old most are? The *only* source games using OpenGL are the ones running on Mac..

it's 1 check box.. I seriously doubt it's going to solve the problem, but if it doesn't o-well. 30seconds wasted.

 

I originally thought it was AV, than firewall, and as a last option try turning on or off AI or Open GL.

 

The other thing I am wondering is whether one of these games has overwritten an important newer driver. A couple of those games are looking 3 years old.

You could try Control Panel, ATI Catalyst Control Manager, CHANGE, follow the option for express uninstall, select everything ATI. Than go to Dells website and use your express code to find the 5870 driver. Reinstall the Catalyst Control Center. Exit after uninstalling and reboot before installing again.

As an example Metro 2033 a very popular game yet hangs on install if you have AMD GPU and than they dump PhysX a Nvidia product on your system. I know in the past you could have a second nvidia processor for physics processing but Nvidia stopped that and said all Nvidia or nothing. Just an example of a bad install. Maybe one of the games has corrupted one of your video files, or AV has blocked something or firewall has blocked something.

 

Thank you all, especially FalconMachV for your input.

I was encouraged that some people can run crossfire with the 5870s and standard Dell drivers.

I will get my son to try the suggestions from FalconMachV

One point.... when we got the laptop we followed Dell's recommendation to update all "recommended" or "urgent" drivers off their website.

For the 5870 drivers we did an install only... should we have uninstalled, rebooted, then an install?

 

I was told by Dell NOT to do this! - if eerything is running fine, updating ALL of the drivers etc that are on their list can cause major problems. I too thought that i should visit their driver download and saw more than a dozen updates for different drivers etc and wondered if i really should go ahead and do them all but like i said, the Dell tech guy said not to.

Anyone have any input on what you should or shouldnt do regarding updating from the Dell website?? - would be good to hear.

 

Stevie you are 100% right, it is a very bad idea to automatically update all the "recommended" windows updates. These often include generic drivers. It is best to Check for Updates and Decide whether to install or not to install. Don't automatically let windows install anything without checking first (also dont get behind in checking). Windows will recommend many generic hardware updates and these generic updates will overwrite your manufacturers drivers. It is always better to get updates directly from your manufacturer, in this case Dell. Any update that are pertaining to the windows operating syste or microsoft security essentials (if you use mse) is fine.

Any driver or software on Dells site has been tested and retested for compatibility but if sometimes they do post a driver and than patch it a day or two later.

The official method from Catalyst is as follows.
1)go to control panel and CHANGE the Catalyst Install Manger. Than you are to express delete all ATI items
2)reboot computer
3)go to Dell and download the video drivers (catalyst control center)
4)install the Dell video driver

Dad the factory settings for your sons laptop are contained on a partition on the hardrive. If you are unable to fix this problem as a VERY LAST resort you could use the factory reinstall from partition. See your owners manual. In that case add one software application and test before adding more.

PS. thanks for the feedback.

 

Not sure if we got wires crossed Falcon, I was talking about the Dell updates/downloads that the OP originally states he has gone to Dell's website and , by the sounds of it, gone ahead and d/l & installed ALL of the available updates for his spec from the site which would include all bios/driver updates etc etc....

I too, initially thought that this would be good practice but asked a Dell tech if i should go ahead and download ALL of the available updates and apply them from the driver / download page (think there were over a dozen).

I was told by Dell, not to do this as it would screw with my laptop....funny as i always thought that by applying the latest stuff FROM Dell would be a good idea and keep my pc running to its latest/best potential.

Regarding WIINDOWS updates, I have it set to download automatically and let me choose which ones to install....for example i update ALWAYS for MSE and security alerts etc but optional updates (such as Windows Live Essentials) i have chosen not to install.....my belief that Windows Live Essentials isnt really "essential" as it has alot of junk within that i would never use and would occupy space/performance when i dont actually need it.

I wonder, regarding the Dell updates, what the correct policy is....wether to install 'em all or just leave them alone if your running fine. (also, i found that my pc already had some of the latest stuff already on it !

By entering my Service Tag, it comes up with a list of recommended updates, some of which i already have (like Bios A05) so, why bother to re install it! - confusing!

 

Hi Stevie,

I was late for work and didn't read the original question careful enough. The Dell Tech is correct in a sense. The driver and download page in theory contains drivers for all hardware choices associated with your model. Certain hardware has multiple options and you must decide which are the correct version for your system. For example there are both 4870 & 5870 drivers available. This is the case with several hardware components. Downloading everything carte blanche can mess things up if you download drivers for incorrect or hardware not contained in your system. The drivers/downloads are classified as either recommended/urgent/optional which I think is pretty self explanatory. If in doubt call Alienware about a particular driver. There were a lot of updates in June and some are worthwhile.

In regards to windows I think it better that you have windows show you the updates before downloading them. Often there are security alerts for programs like Office. Highly unlikely a student or home user would encounter security situations requiring those updates so it is difficult sometimes to make a call. You can also hide windows updates if you decide against them to stop them from showing up each update.

P.S. The Dell driver page becomes confusing over time as you will forget which downloads you have accepted already.

P.S. Install one driver at a time. Forget about the download manager as it can be confusing. Also create a restore point after each driver download. Reboot after each driver install. If you try to download multiple drivers AT THE SAME TIME you may run into MAJOR problems. Some driver updates require you to stop and remove older software or drivers first. Don't install the same driver over top of itself or you will mess up the registry.

 

Good advice once again Falcon.

I found that i have already got some of the latest recommended stuff installed such as bios A05 and Dell's gpu drivers so for me, it would be pointless to go ahead and update the lot.

I do wonder though, how do i know which ones i SHOULD choose to download and install...doesnt seems to be much of a method to it.

My last laptop (sony FW11) had software called vaio update whereby IT would let YOU know which updates were available for YOUR model....i found that quite invaluable....just a shame Dell doesnt offer something similar for system specific updates.....

 

if it's on dell's website,and listed for your specific model, they're safe to use. They *only* put drivers that have already been tested and MS certified on their website. If it's there, and it's newer, I would download and install it assuming it pertains to your hardware configuration.

 

True, i think that also....but how do you go about identifying which of the LISTED stuff you already have.....i have just noticed several available AFTER the date i received mine....such as Bios A06 and command centre A07 so should i install them?

 

you can read the release notes for BIOS updates to see if it has any additional features or fixes that may pertain to you. However, for you specifically and in this case, it doesn't do anything worthwhile. That being said, I still installed it for giggles(even though it didn't do anything for me either), it loads in windows so it's quick and easy. I would update CC, since it has a few minor fixes.
The discussion for the new version of CC is here
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-5-48-0-command-center-11x-15x-17x-17xr2.html


most of the time, dell is decent about including information under fixes in their download lists.


The best way to tell if you already have it or don't have it is to just look at the release dates. If it has been on Dell's site or was released in January of this year, chances are you already have it installed

 

Actually, that is the old version - please use this one when updating:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...1xr1-r2-m15x-m17xr1-r2-discussion-thread.html

 

Thanks for that....as im new to AW and gaming , can anyone say wether or not its normal to have slight flickering on "Portal" that i d/l from steam as a freebie.....i have x/f enabled and running at native res all high (i think)

Just noticed some horizontal lines scrolling kinda like refreshing.....

 

Hi Stevie

Back in February Dell posted the following message:

"LCD Flickering
* This issue is specific only to the R2. There will be a Bios update in the immediate future to address this issue. As a workaround, disabling Turbo Mode in the Bios will eliminate the symptom"

 

To keep track of which Dell drivers you have downloaded is easy.
Open Start menu > open Computer > open c: drive (if this is where you OS is) > open DELL folder > open driver folder > you will now see a list of files that begin with R and have 6 numeric digits. These are all the Dell downloads/drivers you have installed since your system arrived.

The A06 release contains:
1. Enhanced the 920XE and Crossfire current draw on DC mode.
2. Enabled Intel® Turbo Boost feature for Arrandale CPUs.
3. Fixed automated RAID tool for system integration in factory.
4. Enabled support for new Intel® Core™ i7 740QM, 840QM, & 940XM CPUs.

Arrandale is the code name for an Intel processor, initially sold as mobile Intel Core i3, i5 and i7.. Current draw would effect temperatures in battery mode so important if you are gaming in battery. Too bad they don't give more semantics about the turbo boost feature as that sounds interesting.

 

The only i7 arrandale processor sold in the M17x is the 620QM. If you have a 720 820 or 920 you do not have an arrandale processor.

 

Hi Falcon......tried what you said about the above....i cannot find any "Dell" folder on my hard drive....(C is where my OS is but nothing on it with dell or dell drivers????

 

Hi Stevie

Your running Raid 0. Not sure if this is why you can't find this folder. My "Dell" folder was created when i installed my first Alienware patch. It is possible that you have downloaded and named this folder differently. Sometimes you can hide folders by going into CONTROL PANEL and FOLDER OPTIONS and than changing the VIEW settings. But I don't think that is the case.

Under C: I have folders like
AMD
ATI
DELL
INTEL
Program Files
Program Files (x86)
Program Data
TEMP
USERS
Windows

 

Hmmm.... just checked my C:

I have:

Intel
Program files
Program files (x86)
Program data
System volume information
Users
WINDOWS
msdia.80.dll

Have looked through them and cant find any "Dell" folder...also, i havent done any Dell downloads yet so maybe thats why it isnt there huh?

Also, in relation to the flickering, i have only tested the one game that came free with steam but if it happens with others, isit recommended to disable the turbo function in bios and if so, how do you go about doing that?.....would disabling x/f have any effect as i have heard that many games arent x/f compatable?

Does disbaling turbo mean that im left with a 1.6ghz cpu instead of a possible 2.8ghz with the 720qm?.......seems that if i disable turbo, it will only operate at stock speed of 1.6ghz? is that right or wrong and if itis correct, surely disabling it will be a major drawback to cpu performance?

 

Sorry Stevie, I thought you had downloaded a few driver/downloads already. When you do this for the first time the folder will be setup automatically.

The turbo mode is reached via the bios. When your computer boots up tap F2 to enter bios. Use the arrow keys to move throught the menus. Open Advanced Tab. Than arrow down to the Performance options. Than enter. You will see a menu choice called Turbo Mode. This will either be Enabled or Disabled. I have it Enabled. Yes a Dell rep said in February to turn it off it flickering was a problem. The issue was suppose to be delt with in a bios update at some point. The flickering on my system is ONLY at the loading screens so I haven't really cared about the issue. If you find it really bothers you than you can try this setting. For example on L4D2 it comes up with the valve screen which I quickly hit escape to exit. The odd loading screen flickers. Never during game though.

F10 to save.

 

Lozz is correct about arrandale. You have a 720 so this turbo fix does nothing for you.

 

So no point in disabling turbo for me....what will fix the flicker then!

(getting fed up fast with alienware problems as you can well imagine)

 

I was talking about something different, to clarify here is the old suggested fix.

M17x R2 - Alienware Forum - Alienware Club - Dell Community

The new bios is for other issues.

 

Thanks to all for input to the original problem.

I have tried the suggestions, I was hopeful about the "remove ATI via change, reboot & reinstall" but sadly this made no difference.

I did not try the respawn back to factory settings, as I am not convinced it ever worked. This is a VERY new laptop, perhaps it is a different batch of cards?

So... just to get the laptop working for my son I think I will remove the slave 5870 and simply run with one card, waiting to see if Dell ever fix the drivers.

But... a few questions about this:

1. Do I need to get a blanking plate to replace the removed card, or simply leave a hole?
2. What about the slave side fan, do I need to remove this too?
3. Finally, I assumed that simply removing the slave card (along with the crossfire cable obviousy) then rebooting will be ok. Or... do I need to do anything before this process? E.g disable crossfire, uninstall slave card from device manager?

Thanks in advance for the advice

 

Hi Adrianrp

Your are mixing terms, can you please clarify whether you have the M17xR1 or the M17xR2? These are two entirely different systems and unfortunately people just tend to call their system M17x regardless of what they have. I think you are intermingling some terms so best to clarify.

The dual 5870 are native to the M17xR2. However the M17x R1 they are not. If this is a refurbished laptop that has been modified to fit the 5870's than that is a different story. Alienware respawn is a feature for the R1 and Dell Datasafe does the same thing but for the R2.

My advice to everyone is the same, if you are not 100% happy with your purchase than I would contact Dell and let them know and than return your purchase or ask them to make it right. Worse case scenario have them send a tech over to your house or UPS the system back to them for repair or replacement. The hardware you are disconnecting is worth $500 (depending on wether it was purchase as parts or factory install) so a sad solution to the problem. If you have the M17XR2 than there is no reason why the 5870 CF should not work.

I strongly don't recommend removing those components as you might run into further trouble down the road. Turn the problem over to Dell and let them fix or replace. Maybe the card is broken?


P.S. This is Dells official policy on modifying the R1 with 5870's. In regards to upgrading to the Ati Radeon Mobility HD 5870 on the Alienware M17x, Dell has no plans to qualify and warrant the system with that GPU configuration. But, if as an individual user you want to purchase the card and upgrade it yourself, there is nothing stopping you. We just want to be clear that we are not guaranteeing functionality of the card with the BIOS and driver set. Nor can we warranty any hardware failures that may happen as a result of running the Ati Radeon Mobility HD 5870 in a non-qualified platform.

If you have a modified R1 than you may be better to return and upgrade to the R2. If you have an R2 than you might want to try the dell datasafe factory settings or simply return for repair. You have paid hefty for the warranty and service so you might as well use it.

When I googled GAME FREEZES LOADING WITH CROSSFIRE some suggestions were that the card may be damaged, not enough ram, corrupted drivers, mismatched GPU's, overclocking, wrong bios settings, et et,.

When system are returned to Dell they will either sell them in the reburbished center or strip them for parts. If your system is refurbished you never know where the parts have come from. New or used I would let Dell take a look at it. Even new system have a high failure rate do to damage in shipping.

P.S. Dell may want to send you some new GPU and they may ask you to install them yourself over the phone. Politely decline to do the installation yourself as this voids your warranty if you damage any parts during installation yourself. Insist they have a tech do it for you. Because the system is so new they will probably just ask you to return and send you a new one. You have 21 days in the USA to return no questions asked. If you they do send you a new computer. Try playing a newer game with good review first for 3 days before installing older games or less than stellar games. You never now whether an older game has overwritten a new video driver with an older one.

 

Hi FalconMachV,

I hope I have a R2, it was bought new from Dell and delivered a week ago.
None of the packaging or order info says R2 (nor R1). I attached the spec sent from Dell below. Can you tell from this?

A development is that the only way my son can play games is to disable crossfire, when re-enabling it gave a black screen, and he also had this when playing a game (it was still running, with sound but nothing on the screen).

After uninstalling/reinstalling ATI again one of the 5870s has the "yellow triangle" in device manager and " Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)" which looks like a driver error. Bizarrely this seems to help, in that crossfire is not an option, he can run games and resume from sleep.

I get your point about contacting Dell, but I called them about the original problem where we had a black screen when resuming from sleep with crossfire disabled. The "techs" solution was a format and reinstall Windows, until I suggested a system restore which he then said was all that was needed.

But, despite this I think a call to them, taking your advice about getting them to fix the problem will be best. I just feel so sorry for my son, what was meant to be a nice birthday present for him has been a pain the "you know what" and has rather spolit it for him.

Spec from Dell (with some boring stuff removed)... is this an R2?
210-30985 Alienware M17x MLK : Base Space Black
200-69143 N06W7X01
213-11343 Processor : Intel Core i7 Processor 620M(2.66GHz,4MB cache)
230-11313 Display : 17in WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 - Beyond HD (1200p) - RGB LED
340-21154 Ship Accessory : English Docs
340-21163 Resource DVD : Alienware M17x MLK
370-15259 Memory : 4096MB (2x2048) 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
400-19650 Hard Drive : 250GB Serial ATA (7200RPM)
429-14134 Optical Drive : Slot Load Blu-Ray ROM Combo (Blu-ray read only, DVD, CD read and write) Drive
490-12186 Graphics : Dual CrossFire 1GB ATI GDDR5 Mobility Radeon HD 5870
545-10007 Gaming Software : Steam Gaming forum and download application
555-12848 Wireless : Intel Wireless 6300 (802.11a/b/g/n 3X3) LAN Card
583-12939 Keyboard : Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Keyboard
619-23022 Operating System : English Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)

 

Alienware is sold in 35 different countries and they often code them differently. For example in the USA & Canada they refer to CF 5870 differently. In theory because you have the intel i7 this should definately be an R2. I have never seen the MLK extension before. Have googled it and have found nothing. It looks like this is simply part of the UK nomenclature. I orderd mine late May but unfortunatley it is off the system now and I can't check the nomenclature. Could someone else kindly shed some light on the subject of what the MLK means? Someone back in February asked the same question and the question wasn't answered. I am really curious about what MLK stands for and whether this is a standard R2 or a variant? One website said that only dual cards were available with the MLK (The site didn't look reliable so I didn't post that information).

Code 43
This code means that one of the drivers controlling the device notified the operating system that the device failed in some manner. Reading between the lines that could mean hardware or software failure.

UK return policy
I take it you purchased in the UK so you have 7 business days. I have been told by people living in the UK that there is some mechanism over there for faulty products that could extend this but I am not sure.

Dell Service
What you are being told is completly unacceptable in my opinion. The UK 1 year performance warranty is supposed to diagnose problems over the phone or next business day IN HOME REPAIR.

Tech Solution
"The "techs" solution was a format and reinstall Windows, until I suggested a system restore which he then said was all that was needed." A manual OS is very complicated and I highly advise against. However the Factory reinstall from the Dell DataSafe is a very good alternative(follow your manuals instructions and call alienware if you are not sure about the settings). At this stage you have either a damaged GPU or corrupted files perhaps from 3'rd party software. To diagnose that you really need to go back to factory settings. This is one of many reasons why I harp about AV. Once you add a lot of 3'rd party software it is very hard to diagnose anything. I don't recall you answering my question before about antivirus? There is slight possibility that your antivirus has disabled the CF driver. I would recommend no antivirus to test the system after reinstalling from Dell Datasafe. If 1 game works than I would suggest switching to MSE, microsoft security essentials which by the way is FREE. In order to diagnose the problem Dell wants to put the drivers back the way they came from the factory and this is pretty much how all service calls end up. If after you have done this and still no solution than they will start to change parts, return et.

P.S. I reread your reply and noticed you said 1 week ago. You have 7 business days no questions asked return. You are far better to ship the problem back to Dell and reorder a new one. They may be dancing with you in order to push you beyond 7 days. If this is a viable option for you than I would call Dell first thing Monday morning and ask for a return authorization. As soon as you get that contact your Sales person, tell them off and demand a free upgrade for your trouble. I am thinking 10% more off or a CPU upgrade at no cost beyond your original cost. The salesman has already made his commission so this extra sale is just gravy for him.

 

Neither Dell UK or Dell Canada could explain what the MLK stands for. They kept saying all M17x are the same which only perpetuates misinformation. This could be a code for your voltage. As far as they were concerned everything being sold is exactly the same everywhere except voltage. This is also confusing as I thought they were still selling up until recently the older refurbished R1.

Can anyone shine any light on what the MLK refers to? It will get very confusing if new systems are again refered to as M17x. Rather stupid on Dells part.

I am pretty sure your MLK is like our R2.

 

My R2 is also MLK.....its a UK machine so i think it must just be coding of some variety.....i think when you configure via the UK website, you will find that they all have the MLK suffix.....

Or see here fore some fun reading: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/460077-m17x-mlk.html