Battlefield 3 on M18x - Discussion Thread

All other games run fine like Crysis 2, Modern warfare 3....
I don't why its happening with Battlefield only.. It only flickers in full screen mode.
While in windowed mode, it performs really good like 55-65 fps.

 

Well, that seems to narrow it down to a problem with BF3.

 

Ok, I just tried to run 3dmark 11 and it flickers as well.
So, could it be the SLI cable or something?

 

Yes, it could. Try disabling SLI in the NVIDIA Control Panel and see if the flickering is gone.

Have you checked the GPU temps under load to confirm they are not overheating? May be as simple as blowing out the fans and heat sinks to get rid of the dust and lint accumulation.

 

Maybe I will try to reseat the SLI cable.
How hard is it to do it?
Do I need to disassemble the whole pc to reach the SLI cable?

 

No, only need to remove the keyboard. The SLI (or CF cable with AMD) is on top of the palmrest. Access is no more difficult than replacing the memory under the keyboard... exactly the same steps to get at the GPU bridge cable.

 

It was the SLI cable which was creating all the trouble.
After I reseated the cable, the flickering is gone. I am getting solid 60-75 FPS in ultra.
One more issue, I originally had 4gb 1600mhz ram installed in M18x. I had 8gb 1333 mhz in the M17x R1. So, I swapped the ram since I wanted to install the 8gb ram below the keyboard and add 8gb later easily. The problem is that the M17x
R1 is not booting up. The capslock key keeps flashing. Its the issue with the ram as of Dell. I read somewhere here in the forum that even though R1 only supports 1333 mhz, if we install anything more than that then it will downclock the ram itself. But in my case, the capslock key keeps flashing.
So, any help would be really appreciated.
Thanks

 

Awesome! That's terrific news.

I'll try to remember to come back later today or tomorrow and give some rep.

It may be a capacity issue with the M17x R1. I know the M17x R2 will accept 8GB, but I am not certain the R1 will. Does it not POST at all? If you could enter the BIOS, it might recognize the memory and straighten out. If you cannot, that's going to be an issue. Have you tried pulling the CMOS battery with the battery and AC adapter connected? Maybe that will reset the BIOS to allow the new RAM to be recognized.

 

I tried everything. Looks like R1 doesn't take 1600 mhz at all atleast in my case. I just swapped the ram back.
I got one more question. I had Sound Blaster X-Fi MB Panzer software version 1.2 with my system. I just reinstalled the OS inorder to fix that flickering issue. How can I get the sound blaster back? There is no cd or anything in the box?

 

Have you checked "My Dell Downloads" for access to download the factory-installed software? In case you haven't already discovered that, it is accessible when you log in with your user name/password at support.dell.com.

If it's not there, you might be out of luck if Alienware cannot provide you with the application disk.

And, BTW, +1 Rep for what I could not hand out yesterday.

 

I managed to get the disc out of Dell after My Downloads failed and they confirmed.

 

can anyone let me know there video cards setup running Dual nvidia 580's
i've just set everything up in the nvidia control tab to the max setting, is this ok? i 've then set everything in the game to ultra! any advice to best performance wise for setting these cards up correctly would be muchly apprciated, i'm not currently running sli mode!

 

ive set everything on ultra 16x AF and running on FXAA. getting around 50-70fps

 

How about just selecting the SLI profile for the game you are playing in the Nvidia control panel?
You will get the most out of your cards.

 

i just left the CP on default. running the settings all off the game.

 

How does 7970m CF play on Battlefield 3 max settings? How many fps?

 

based on my five minutes of play, with vsync off and everything maxed, i get around 80+ fps sometimes fps dips a little.

Don't know if this makes a big difference or not but in the CCC i also tweaked the application settings and pretty much maxed/turned alot of things on that probably didn't need to be.

 

Has anyone been using the Sound blaster X-fi MB software with their system?
I just installed it yesterday. All the games work fine with some nice sound.
But when I play battlefield, there is no sound at all.
Any one found out the solution?

 

A free bump

 

ALIENWARE M18X LAPTOP
Intel Core i7-2860QM Processor(2.5GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.6GHz,8MB Cache)
Dual 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTx580M NVIDIA SLI Enabled
Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit
16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM(4x4GB)

About how many fps i will get with these spec on high setting battlefield 3 (big map 64player )

another quest
the ssd that are used in desktop chassis does it fit in m18x? can any SSD can fit in m18x r1?

 

Hello, Jack, welcome to NBR.

I can't answer your first question but regarding the SSD, any 2.5" SSD on the market will fit in the M18x.

 

you would be getting 50FPS+ on ultra with that kind of power. look on youtube

SSD are 2.5" so they just fit in laptops usually you have to use a 3.5" bracket if you want it in a desktop. i would recommend the M4 crucial most people seem to have no problems plus 3 years warranty is good

 

i have searched on youtube cant find bf3 with gtx580m sli...

i want to take intel 330 series 120gb ssd, is it good?
i will need to install my windows 7 64bit on it

 

Yeah the intel SSD is a very good option if you wish to boost the performance.

 

i'm using an Crucial M4, and its great, good value/speed if i didn't get this i would have gotten the samsung 830, alittle more performance for alittle extra cash, the samsung is a very solid drive. heh no pun intended.

 

Battlefield 3- Full Ultra @ 1080P on Alienware M18x - YouTube ( this one has the 6990m xfire which is about 5% slower than the 580M SLI)

Alienware M18x Battlefield 3 SP - Part 1/2 - YouTube (this one is a single player game footage but with the 580m SLI)


Alienware M17x R4 - 7970M - Battlefield 3 Ultra Graphics - Multiplayer Gameplay (TDM) - YouTube (this last one is of a 7970m but one of these is equal too 580m sli)

 

I just select ultra on mine, and it seems to work great, i've just change my hd to a 256 gig Samsung ssd, amazing performance and am very very happy with it!

 

For reference, I might chime in and let you know what FPS I get online. I've been playing alot of BF3 64 player multiplayer maps lately.
With everything on ultra and 4x AA, V-sync on, It's normally at 60fps but sometimes frequents 50 fps and even 46 with 7970 CF.
64 player maps is a different beast and is much more demanding than single player.

 

Out of curiousty do you have msaa on have you tried turning it off for fxaa instead and see if that gives you more perfomance in BF3

 

Bumped to top for newer forum members looking for a BF3 thread

 

In case some of our newer forum members haven't already noticed, there is already an established thread for Battlefield 3 discussion.

Please continue the conversation in this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...elease-version-m18x-discussion-thread-35.html

And, for discussion and questions on SSD, we have this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...llation-questions-troubleshooting-thread.html


If you have questions, please use Google to search the forum for existing discussions before starting a new thread. It's very simple and highly effective. Here's how:

In your Google search field start with the prefix site:forum.notebookreview.com and follow that with your key words.

If you only want to search for M18x threads, you can use site:forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x as the prefix.

Example: site:forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x Battlefield 3

The first search result is this thread. The second hit is the establish thread linked above.

 

first, I would like to apologize if this problem has been posted before. I tried searching and cannot find a posted fix. First time posting and hello to all.

I just recieved my brand new customized m18x r2 last week... i7-3920XM with 7970m Crossfire running windows 7 ultimate with 8 gb of memory.

Im currently having issue with Battlefield 3. The game plays fine no BSOD or crashing but after seting up MSI afterburner OSD / HWINFO64 to monitor my CPU and GPU temperatures / usage, I notice Only 1 7970m gpu is beeing used. On Ultra settings, my FPS is 30s - 40s only. I read at forum that with 7970m Crossfire it should be in the high 90s fps. Crossfire enabled is showing on top right corner of the screen.

I also have crysis 2, MW3, Batman arkham city and Lost planet 2. All games are playing perfectly with crossfire enbled and both 7970m being used. 3dmark Vantage and Heaven benchmark is also working fine with both 7970m GPU running. GPU-Z is also showing both 7970m active.

I have tried the factory Dell 7970m driver it came with (april, 2012), the july 15 and the now the most current july 28 published from ATI amd homepage but still no Crossfire and only 1 GPU working on battlefield 3.

I appriciate any info you can give me guys.

 

Hi, and welcome to NBR. We're glad you joined our Community. Congrats on your awesome M18 beast, too.

This might seem like a silly question, but I have to ask... don't overlook the obvious, you know.

You are running BF3 in full-screen mode with no border of any kind, correct?

Have you already installed CAP3?

 

hi and thanks Mr. Fox. lol yes i tried both full screen and windows mode but still only running 1 7970m GPU. Cap3 is installed.
Its really weird since all my other games runs perfectly with both 7970m active. After reading the forum,frankly im suprise my crossfire 7970m are not having any issue at all besides battlefield 3, every games I have runs perfect NEVER BSOD and crashes so far.

I appriciate any more suggestion.

 

Have you disabled ULPS? That may help.

Have a look under "Additional Information" in post #1 and the content of post #2 in this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...sink-7970m-crossfire-upgrade.html#post8568526

Also try RadeonPro and use the BF3 profile to force CrossFire into submission.

If neither of those suggestions correct the issue, you may want to read up in this thread: http://www.overclock.net/t/1152730/...known-fixs-here-12-1-a-and-11-12-cap-2-inside

Keep us informed and let us know if you find the fix. I'm sure it will benefit many.

 

what is ULPS and how do I dissable that?

 

That is part of AMD PowerPlay... ULPS stands for Ultra Low Power States, and it causes all sorts of problem when it is left to its own devices... Look at the first link I posted under "Additional Information" (which is the reason I posted that for you)

 

ahh ok .. I dont want to mess around with that ULPS (seems complicated for me lo) since every game I put on the machine runs perfect with crossfire. I recently added skyrim, metro 2033, mass effect 3 and Duke Nukem and all played fine on crossfire with NO problem or crashes whatsoever.

I did tried radeonpro and set that up with battlefield 3 to force play in crossfire mode..Unfortunately, it didnt make any difference. It still playing on 1 7970 GPU only.

thanks for all the advice mr fox, for now I can live playing battlefield 3 on 1 gpu since im still getting 30s- 40s FPS on ultra setting. I hope someday i can get the crossfire to work tho.

 

I had the same problem as you. Battlefield 3 would usually only run on 1 GPU, unless I did a restart and started the game up straight away first thing.

The last Battlefield update seemed to fix that rather nicely. I believe it was a June or July update.
Have you tried those updates yet ?

 

I already updated it, should be be the latest version.. still NO Crossfire

 

I finally figured out how to get Battlefield 3 to play in Crossfire mode. Incase anyone with dual ati 7970m crossfire and not able to utilize both GPU ingame all you have to do is >>> While ingame, go back in your desktop by pressing the windows sign on your keyboard ( between CTRL and Alt. Battlefield 3 will then go on windows mode. Now go to option and select Full Screen ON. This made the game activate both my 7970m in crossfire.

For the price, this amd 7970m is amazing. My FPS on battlefield 3 with Ultra settings is 70+ to 115+ ( NO overclock ). microstuttering is very minimal if any since I never notice any.
I guess im one of the lucky ones who got a good working 7970m GPU since I never experience any of the problem being discuss here.

 

Good... glad you got that figured out.

Sounds like your results are appropriate now.

 

Talking about PURE power and eye candy, 7970m crossfire is just amazing when it works.

I really feel bad to all the people having problem with 7970m crossfire. I think it has something to do with the earlier and later release of the actual GPU chip. I notice, most people who got their 7970m on August like I did with updated Vbios are experiencing less to NO problem at all.

7970m crosfire is just amazing, Im glad i chosed this instead of the 680m SLI. Now I got an extra $550 with about the same GPU power.

 

Mine doesn't work properly, even though the gaming result are pretty decent the way I have things at the moment. I've done all kinds of weird hacking and tweaking to make it functional most of the time. I have no 2D/low power mode, so my GPUs run 850/1200 @ 1.05v 100% of the time and they cannot be overclocked. (Obviously, running full speed all the time is not a good long-term solution and the lifespan of the video cards may be shortened because of accelerated fatigue.) Without the tweaks in place, they do not work correctly most of the time. But, my system is rather unstable without the tweaks, with frequent freezes and BSOD issues. I am waiting for replacement parts to correct the situation.

 

thats sucks to hear... I hope the replacement parts you get fix all your issues. I would be worried myself to run my GPU on full speed all the time. But thats what warranty is for .

Also, is it worth it to get a extended warranty with the accidental coverage? The cost is a very big factor in my case. For $344 I can either get a 2 year basic warranty extension or 1 year extension with accindental. I currently have 1 year with accidental on my m18x r2.

 

Hi,
I am having an issue playing BF3 on my laptop (m18x r2 680m sli).

Whenever I spawn or die my Screen goes black for a couple of seconds when playing on my external monitor via DVI, when playing on the internal screen the black out also occurs but it is a lot shorter.

Has anybody experienced similar issue, is there a solution for this?

Thanks in advanced.

 

In game setings Enable and disable the vsync

 

Oddly enough my Issue disappeared this morning - not sure why.

If it turns up again I will try enabling and disabling vSync as you suggested. Thanks for the tip.