***AMD Beta Driver Release***

downloading now.

 

Hmmmm strange,

I left the notebook on downloading over night as I usually do. Opened the lid and the M18x wouldn't come too. Just stayed on the black screen.
So I just used the put it into sleep trick (FN + F1). I thought it was worth a shot before I held down the power button.
It went to sleep then hit the power button and there I was back again. Not too sure what happen there.

Cheers.

 

Weird. I take it you have power options set to "close lid - do nothing" and "sleep never" right? - I left mine on last night whilst the driver downloaded from Bill and it came to fine this morning. I havent left it on a "long sleep" for ages now but I seem to recall something like what you are describing happening to me in the past too........

 

I'm very happy with these drivers, dunno if it was the latest Skyrim Patch or these drivers, but game runs very well regardless.

Shame about the lack of brightness control, but its no real biggy (for me at least), also tried out a few other games, Metro 2033, Fallout New Vegas, all feel & run very smoothly.

Big thumbs up from me

 

I would imagine Dell would iron out the brightness problem fairly soon if they are gonna release these as official drivers....hopefully.....

 

Yup Stevie,

I have everything set to not sleep ever! Strange but no real biggy. I do remember seeing this happen once before quite a while back too.
I just thought I would report it.

Cheers.

 

is this update any different from the amd 11.10 ones - the non dell certified one? i have the amd 11.10 and prefer not to go over this ordeal of installation if the result is the same. thanks

 

For those that need the Brightness Control and for them it's dificult to wait until Dellienware solve the issue (wich I'm sure they will), please take a look @ my other post in another thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/607421-what-users-want-m18x-r2-43.html#post8118338
...and smile!

 

I also have 11.10 WHQL drivers. I have got some time right now, so I will give it a go and update you on the performance differences

 

Wierd! This driver is really good.

 

Why is that weird? I would expect a Dell/Alienware optimized driver based on a current or recently released reference driver to work very well. They almost always do. In general terms, it is only when they become obsolete that they are not the best. Is brightness control working for you?

 

This driver with the 11.11 Cap2 is definitely working great for me. Games work great (Tried Mw2, Mass Effect 1&2, Mw3, and SC2) however I haven't seen MUCH difference in performance compared to 11.10 with 11.9 Cap 4, except it feels smoother (or Im going crazy ). Brightness control still doesn't work, but you can simply work around it by choosing the brightness you want and changing gpu CFX settings.

 

Hey guys, will these work on my M17x? I'm pretty keen on giving them a shot.

 

Worth a shot man. I would try it too but I'm too lazy atm lol.
If you decide to try it out let us know how you go.

Cheers.

 

No worries. I'll download them and try them out tomorrow morning.

I'll get back to you and let you know how it goes.

 

Downloading them, i'll test them on my R2 this evening (at work right now). I'm curious to see how they work with R2/clevo 6970's combo. Right now i'm on 11.11a /cap2 11.11.

 

Cool Guys,

Brilliant stuff. Hopefully they give you guys the pretty stable and awesome performance that most testers have seen so far. Or silky smooth as they say

Cheers.

 

I concur, it does feel silky smooth.

I am getting better fps in BF3 so much so that I had to enable vsync to keep it from tearing. That is with everything on ultra except for the msaa. ATI cards seem to have an issue with that.

 

Yes.

10 char

 

What did Dell do to these drivers to make them so smooth in games? I don't understand lol.

 

Funny you should ask. I just sent a note over to Louis asking him that very question.

 

Having updated drivers is fine and good but any word on the A05 Bios update. Dell is putting pressure to get the unit back. Now they inform me no repairs coming 6990's are on back order with no ETA and are canceling my service call. Also refuse to switch out to Nvidia cards. I really want to keep the system but no service and no replacement, never been treated this bad wonder why. Bios may fix it.

 

any timeframe when we can expect to see the updated Dell driver posted for download?

 

Bill, can you ask him if there is gonna be a final revision of this driver with functional brightness control before it goes live? - imho, that would make these drivers the best available right now for AMD based M18x's.

Also, please pass on my appreciation to him and his team for a sterling effort!

 

How did everyone pass over this? Amazing job man! Does this do the same thing as the FN keys would do or is this purely cosmetic, meaning it's just tricking the monitor?

 

I have to agree, I have been using the drivers sense posted and the functionality is very smooth. They definitely are the best current drivers in my opinion.

 

My benchmarking results are here, I've also cross posted this into the benchmark thread (kindly editied to link back to here by Mr. Fox)

Testing my M18x with the new Dell AMD drivers. I just ran the installer. Didn't remove the old driver and didn't restart either.

3D Mark Vantage: From 22438 to 22900
3D Mark 2011: From P6367 to P6404

Heaven Settings
Render: direct3d11
Mode: 1680x1050 4xAA fullscreen
Shaders: high
Textures: high
Filter: trilinear
Anisotropy: 4x
Occlusion: enabled
Refraction: enabled
Volumetric: enabled
Tessellation: enabled

M18x Old Driver Av: 53.6 Max: 111.6; Min: 28.2; Score: 1350
M18x New Dell Driver 30/11/2011 Av:57.0 Max:123 ; Min: 23.8; Score: 1436

Definite dip in the minimum but good increase on the max.

Dirt 3 Settings
Resolution:1920x1080
Refresh Rate:60 (120 on PC)
Multisampling:4 x MSAA
Vsync:Off
Aspect Ratio:Auto
Night Lighting:High
Shadows:High
Particles:High
Mirrors:High
Characters:High
Ground Cover:High
Distant Vehicles:High
Objects:High
Trees:High
Vehicle Reflections:High
Water:High
Post Process:High
Skidmarks:On
Ambient Occlusion:High
Cloth:High

M18x Cat 11.9:Av: 60.32; Min: 49.92
M18x New Dell Driver 02/12/2011:Av: 60.46 ; Min: 50.97

Not much difference in Dirt 3.

F1 2011 Settings
Resolution:1920x1080
Refresh Rate:60 (120 on PC)
Multisampling:4 x MSAA
Vsync:Off
Aspect Ratio:Normal
Direct X Version:11
Shadows:High
Particles:High
Crowd:High
Drivers:High
Distant Vehicles:High
Objects:High
Trees:High
Vehicle Reflections:High
Post Process:High
Skidmarks:On
Cloth:High

M18x Cat 11.9:Av: 33; Min 24
M18x New Dell Driver 30/11/2011:Av: 49; Min 36

Massive increase in F1 2011, not sure what's going on there.

X3: TC Benchmark
Resolution: 1920x1080
Texture Quality: High
Shader Quality: High
More Dynamic Light Sources:No
Ship Colour Variations:No
Automatic Quality Control:No
Antialiasing:4x
Anisotropic Filtering:4x
Glow enabled:Yes

M18x old driver
Trade: Min: 20, Max: 118, Av: 54.1
Fight: Min: 44, Max: 255, Av: 116
Build: Min: 91, Max: 247, Av: 143.7
Think: Min: 40, Max: 109, Av: 60.1
Overall av: 93.457

M18x New Dell Driver 02/12/2011
Trade: Min: 19, Max: 118, Av: 53.8
Fight: Min: 44, Max: 255, Av: 115.1
Build: Min: 91, Max: 317, Av: 153
Think: Min: 39, Max: 132, Av: 72.2
Overall av: 98.519

Very slight drop in 2 minimum's but big increase in max.

Overall an improvement pretty much across the board (bar Dirt 3).

 

Bill,

Can I ask what the heck is going on with Brightness controls? I am not as notebook savvy as everyone else, but why is "brightness controls" so hard to figure out? Seems like it would just be something in a inf file or something.

 

Been good! Haven't had to contact Dell much since I got this. lol R2 is still running like a Dream, and I am glad to see you are still active on here Bill! No one took care of us SXPS users like you did! I had a question will this driver have the 5870's ID as well?

 

yes.

 

Thanks for the quick response + rep!

 

I asked about the BIOS just before I left today. I should have an answer tomorrow morning. Will post.

I hesitate to guess, but it could be any day now.

I sent that question over as well. Will post back.

You got me, but SOS4Dell seems to have a popular workaround in the meantime. I am chasing info on this now. Will post back.

 

That would be great, Bill. Thanks for asking about this for us. When you have some news to share on the BIOS, please post it in the other thread ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ussion-thread-re-dell-aw-conference-call.html).

Have a great Friday and an excellent weekend!

 

I just tested this app and it works great with my 580M SLI set up. Thanks, SOS!

My question is for AMD 6990M CrossFire... does this app work for you guys with the AMD reference drivers and/or Dell's latest driver in place of the normal keyboard brightness controls? If so, please confirm it by posting.

 

Hi Mr Fox if you are reffering to dimscreen yes it works like a charm on ati with the lastest dell drivers

 

Yes, that is exactly what I was asking. Thank you for the prompt response. I am very glad to hear this works in place of the native brightness control that does not.

@Dell-Bill_B, if this third-party display brightness control app is working where the AMD driver support fails, then I am wondering if it might have some connection with OSD's screen brightness controls. This might be something Louis would be interested in for further investigation... If this app is tapping into the driver-based brightness control successfully, then it seems the lack of brightness control using FN+F4/F5 hotkeys could be tied somehow to the AMD driver conflicting with (or simply not communicating with) OSD. Given that NVIDIA drivers have all the proper support in place and the AMD drivers currently do not, maybe this is just another manifestation of the need for better support from AMD.

 

Had heaps of trouble trying to install these on my R2.

I went through the motions as recommended of unistalling Catalyst, rebooting in safe mode and driver sweeping then booting back into Windows and running the setup. However each time I try to install, nothing actually installs. It says that it does but after I reboot, the standard VGA drivers as still in use. I reinstall and the same thing happens...

I've given up for the time being and reverted back to 11.10 but if anybody else has any luck with these on their R2, please let me know.

 

Tryied this driver set on my R2 with Clevo cards and the driver wont install. Installation goes without problem but the only things installed upon reboot are AMD sdk and HDMI audio drivers. No CCC nor Drivers installed

 

I installed this driver without a hitch on my m17x r3 with A 6990m and my brightness control works so I'm happy

 

Cross post. Check it out.

 

I always get File "not found." This is with IE or FireFox.

Even with the direct link http://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER00181378M/2/M18xR1_A05_W32_X64_ZPE.exe

 

its most likely because the setup doesnt have the clevo 6990m ID's. I'm going to add them to the driver ill let you know how it works out.

 

No problem here. I upload it on MegaUpload :

M18xR1_A05_W32_X64_ZPE.exe (3.61 MB)

 

Norton blocked this when I downloaded it

Full Path: j:\downloads\m18x\a05 bios\m18xr1_a05_w32_x64_zpe.exe
____________________________
____________________________
On computers as of Not Available
Last Used 02/12/2011 at 18:30:15
Startup Item No
Launched No
____________________________
____________________________
Unknown
Number of users in the Norton Community that have used this file: Unknown
____________________________
Unknown
This file release is currently not known.
____________________________
Medium
This file risk is medium.
____________________________
Threat Details
Threat type: Insight Network Threat. There are many indications that this file is untrustworthy and therefore not safe
____________________________
MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service Downloaded File m18xr1_a05_w32_x64_zpe.exe
Threat name:
WS.Reputation.1 from
megaupload.com
____________________________
File Actions
File: \downloads\m18x\a05 bios\m18xr1_a05_w32_x64_zpe.exe
Removed
____________________________
File Thumbprint - SHA:
5d56802eb98dfad6fc4ae8e44d395ab85635fee29eb96b905ac47a95cd85197c
____________________________
File Thumbprint - MD5:
36bbe14576757394f4a34dfb4601d4d3
____________________________

 

Norton

 

ok i added my clevo 6990's ID to the installers of this driver with orca. This drivers work seem to be working fine on my R2 i just cant control the brightness. Going to do some gaming.

 

Maybe Norton is "too proactive protectiveness" , something necessary in these days... But it's better to be on the safe side... Knowing the reliable source...just tell norton to accept the running...

 

It's the 2nd false positive in the past few weeks . Will get it on my other pc that has Mcafee (freebie from online bank).

 

download the driver using Dell download manager and it will work fine. Anyone know when the A05 BIOS will be added to the Alienware M18x BIOS selection, as currently the UK and USA site do not show?

 

WOW this driver on r2 with CF 6990m is ing amazing on BF3 i dont think i ever dropd once from 60 fps from any map. BF3 settings are all ultra+vsync i just had deff. AA off and my text settings on CCC are at max and text opti. on with opengl on also. cards at stock clocks