What is Wrong with my m17x???

I just got my laptop on Friday. My specs can be found in my sig. With every game I play, be it Oblivion, SC2, WoW, or Crysis, there is a little intermittently flickering line on the far left side of the screen. Accompanied with this is mediocre framerates, and all the games look meh as well. I'm really not sure in what direction to go at this point. I'm not extremely technically literate so I'm coming here to see if anyone else has seen a problem like this and what it may mean. Thanks in advance for any advice I may be given.

 

is stealth mode on??? and did you update your bios to A9??? there can be a lot of causes of this

 

We can't run SCII or Crysis at full settings at 60 fps because they're demanding games. Can't run WoW at 60 fps at full settings because it is coded horribly. Oblivion should be running at 60fps maxed out. It's pretty old.

What VBIOS and GPU drivers are you running?
Make sure Stealth mode is OFF. If you are unsure, do a complete power drain by removing the AC adapter and the battery, and then pushing the power button for at least 30 seconds.
Make sure all of the settings in the CCC under '3D' are to the far left accept for Catalyst AI and Mip Mapping.
Make sure you're running the 'High Performance' power plan.
Minimize background processes.
What does your laptop score under 3D Mark '06 or Vantage?
Exactly what kind of fps are you getting in these games, and under what graphics settings?

 

My computer is now blue screening upon turning it on. Every time I turn it on this happens, and then the computer reboots on its own and it happens again. I've tried to reach customer service, but it keeps transfering me to people that want me to call 1800alienware. I proceed to do this and thenthe people can't speak english and they dont recognize my service code. I'm getting really fed up at this point. I've had less problems with a computer that costs a tenth what I've paid for this one. (if there are lots of typos on my response its because i cant see what im typing cuz this computer im using right now as an alternative to my m17x is a piece.

 

Chiefs. When you boot up your notebook next time keep hitting F8. Then select last known good config and boot with that. Then once your in Windows you need to update your VBIOS to the latest one on the dell driver support site.


http://supportapj.dell.com/support/...dateid=-1&formatid=-1&source=-1&fileid=416152

You will need to make a flash drive or Cd rom setup installation media. For the flash drive option it has to be smaller than 2gbs or was it 4gbs I can't remember now. Then you will need to reboot your notebook with the cd rom or flash drive you made and flash your GPUs. You will need to hit F12 this time and load up the boot menu and then select either the usb bootable flash drive or dvd/cd rom drive. Depending on which ever one you made. Then follow the on screen instructions and walla you'll be done and all fixed up.

That will fix your issues.

Cheers.

 

Did you drop to battery power before the blue screens started? With the old VBIOS and drivers, the BSOD loop started after dropping to battery and then reconnecting normal AC. Upon connecting normal AC the laptop froze and had to be rebooted. Reborn's post will fix the problem. There should be a sticky about this, IMO.

 

So essentially I need to reinstall windows?

 

I did what reborn said and it wouldn't boot into windows. It got to the login screen and the litttle loading circle that says Welcome froze along with everything else, the screen went black, and i got the little blue square on the screen again.

 

Reborn, thanks a ton for your help man. My ineptitude with computers is quickly changing thanks to you guys

 

I suggest fresh install.

It could be simple as GPU driver, but fresh install wouldn't be a bad idea to begin with a brand new system.

Make sure to download all the drivers from Dell.

 

Did the CD boot work if it said operating system not detected as its last dialog then started Windows? God I hope so lol. I'm so tired of screwing with this stuff. I just want to enjoy my new computer >.<

 

Just have it replaced. Call Dell and tell them you didn't pay 4k - 5k for a laptop to fix it.

 

If fresh install doesn't fix it, sure, return it, but not giving a fresh install a try and just return it? Not sure if that will save him any headaches going through the process of returning, etc.

If all M17x users had returned system because of problems, 90% of users on this forum probably had done it.