Ugh...

Hi,

I got my alienware on the 3rd of June. I have i7 820,CF 5870, 8 GB @ 1333.

I had a 'screen rolling' issue on most games and 3D mark around high brightness . Called up tech support. The Tech came over a few days later, tried replacing the cards. The System wouldn't boot up. Those cards were sent back.

I got another set of cards the next day. Replaced cards, the system would not boot with the newer set. Same as before.. All the lights would come on. but no POST, no Caplock, nothing.

I got a system exchange, I got my new system about a week ago, and guess what ? They sent me 4870's :O instead of 5870's!!

Called tech support, they sent me another set of 5870's, put it into the new system, and it did not work!

Now dell states they've got an issue with 5870 and the new R2. I do not know what they mean by 'new R2'. It seems they are working on some Bios update. They said they would call me back once its ready, For now, im running on one 5870, the other one sits in a box next to my desk..... its sad really...

 

you need to look around some more before you post

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/495822-5870-x2-crossfire-work-round-solution.html

 

Hi geode

Your specifications listed are identical to mine and my system was shipped May 30'th and arrived June 3 the exact same day your system arrived.

My system shipped with A05 bios. Everything has been extremely stable and have not seen any video problems.

If you look at the bios release notes for A04 & A05 you will see a lot of modifications for Broadway XT which is the code name for 5870. Interesting what you are saying about the bios. Sounds like they still have more work to do.

As far as I know there is only one R2 which is "new" compared to the older R1. I don't think there are 2 versions of the R2.

What concerns me about your story is that you have bought a new product, it was defective, and now they are bringing you more defective parts, and asking you to install yourself. Rediculous. Try to get yourself out of this loop by contacting your sales rep and getting return authorization. Tell them you want to order a new system.

Computer failure rates in transit are very high. Have heard figures as high as 10-15%. Perhaps you system was impacted by vibration on the truck.

P.S. I have assumed that your "screen rolling" was out of the box and not after messing with drivers? That is usually the first thing tech support will ask.

P.S. There is a difference between having them "send you" a new system vs "ordering a new" system. Once the 21 days have passed you are now going to be issued used parts. Take control of the situation and send the system back and insist you order it yourself from scratch. That guarantees you will get a new factory system as opposed to a rebuilt system from the service department.

If you go to amazon.com and google 5870 you will see a least a dozen desktop variations of the 5870 all branded slightly different. Your system may have shipped with a card slightly different than mine, perhaps your card came from one factory and mine another. That is maybe why some people have driver issues and others don't.

 

Hi the3vilGenius,

I did read your post. Right now I think i will wait a week or two to see what Dell has to say. I want to know what they are planning to do about this. My ticket with them is still open. Will circle back with updates.

 

FalconMach,

With my original system, the parts they had sent were refurbished. I spoke to the dell tech support about this. So when they brought me the parts to replace the 4870's in the new system, they were new 5870's The onsite tech also confirmed the same. Generally theres a label that states refurbished on it. These didn't have them, and the packaging also seems to confirm that these are brand new.

Btw, what your 3d mark vantage score ? I'd like to see what my system gets when it becomes fully functional, since we have the same config. Mines not SSD, but I dont think that will matter too much in the benchmark.

Wish me luck.

 

Currently there is a world wide shortage of 5870's as parts. I had to ship my first m17xR2 back as no parts were available and had to reorder from factory. Some customers in UK were told no parts and no availablity as of yet. I asked them what they were going to do with my return. They told me it depends on how many units they have in stock at the refurbished center and parts availibility. If they need parts they start stripping returns. But in my opinion if they test 'new parts' on systems than those parts tecnically aren't new anymore.

I don't have 3D mark on my system so downloaded a free trial version of 3D Mark 6. The install hung and now I am trying a windows restore point. Shareware.....@#$#$%. Will have to get back to you on that one.

 

Interestingly, I had gotten an email ad from Alienware the other day saying how the M17x was all new and more powerful, AGAIN, with the introduction of CF 5870's.

Is CF 5870's something that has just recently become available? Single 5870's have been out for a while, and CF 4870's, of course, have been out a while.

 

The single 5870 came out in May and the Dual 5870 came out roughly two weeks later. The dual 5870 have been out just over a month now. Still very new.