Dear Dell/Alienware my issues.. Im really upset at this point.

Curious if they even gave you an option for a return....wouldn't think they would. Figured the run around till you got tired and quite would be the cheaper option for them.

 

ok reread the original post i did not go from 460s to 7970s lol

 

Dumbdumb a few people i have spoke too , who returned there systems into depot had there systems basically restored to how they bought it as stock ! i would bet money on it that you would get it back with a new mobo and 2 shiney new 460s !!

i would take several peoples advice on here and get in touch with the AW reps on here and not send it to depot unless its the final stand !!

 

no no they did not and i did not expect them to.. I just want the problem fixed..

lol this thread is getting out of control.. ive had 2 problems with my system,, and now i am on a third thats it.. people seem to think my system has had a crap ton of problems and it has not.. but I dont know about the rest of you but i dont buy warrenty for them to sit around and look pretty if i have an issue..

 

i think the trouble with your warranty is the 7970m's ! they clearly must not like you having them dude !!

 

quad ive had only 3 issues with my laptop so far.. lol not a lot..

 

and that is not an option.. i was upgraded to these cards and i expect to keep them.. or some thing similar.. not to go to a lesser of a card!

 

and that is not an option.. i was upgraded to these cards and i expect to keep them.. or some thing similar.. not to go to a lesser of a card!

 

Ok I just got off the phone with luis and i got to say that is one polite DUDE! he is working with me to get this resolved.. and found out because i asked ..if my service tag was red flagged or flagged and he said no .. it is clear and that there jsut seemed to be some major miss communications.. so as for the refurbished element of all this.. maybe thats true.. i forgot to ask if the level of service is different when you call in.. but I dont think it is.. i think you just happen to get a rep on a bad day but i might be wrong..

but any ways ill keep you posted..

 

Your in good hands, Luis has pulled through for many of us including myself. He takes pride in his work. Great guy!

 

Don't give up Dumbdumb!

You've paid for warranty so you should get your issue resolved.

In Australia we have even worse customer service than you guys and that is saying something. I rarely buy anything because of that nowadays.

Just don't expect to get a new 3920xm 680m SLI R2 as I don't think anyone has gotten that as a replacement yet for their troubles/ it's a bit unreasonable.

 

lol id take a low end r2 with 680s tho! and SSD's!:laugh:

 

I'm sure you would lol.....good luck.

 

Thanks to DumbDumb and deuceduzit for the good comments I do my best out here to help haha. I'm currently working with DumbDumb on a resolution for his case, we are planning to do the repairs soon and we'll keep you guys posted. As for the Red Flag, I did not see any on the account, the warranty is up and running for him.
BTW regarding the issues with refurb and new systems I have to apologize for the mistreat that you've had, to our eyes they both have the same warranty and should be treated the same.

 

all's well that ends well.

 

just wanted to show what my cards are doing.. here are 2 vantage test.. 1 with no xfire and 1 with xfire.. lol is all i have to say.

Spoiler

 

Nice.. scaling ;p

Jokes aside, it does remind me of the benchies I ran when I got shipped a 240W adapter at first..

What kind of clocks are the cards running during the test?

 

lol stock clocks.. 850/1200.. ive been running on the intergrated gpu for awhile.. i switch back and fourth every now and then to play around.. some time they kick in and do all most normal frames but for about 1-2 weeks now this has been the case lol.
and so you know i got the 330w power supply,.

 

Hey luis.. got the cards but im bsoding every 2 seconds.. going to reinstall the old ones for now..

 

Ok so I think i figured out some thing.. I installed the cards and they just started bsoding.. some times before windows loads fully and some times well into windows..

I too some pick before hand of the cards that i put into another thread.. but for here.. here luis..

1. new card before install..

Spoiler

and after i removed them..

2.

Spoiler

see the difference?

top picture its nice and clean and then on the bottom picture it looks like it got hot real fast..

 

That's scary... those are the new cards?

Wow... that looks scary.... maybe the motherboard is bad too?

 

Who did the install? Looks like the GPU wasn't properly attached to the heatsink and may have immediately overheated.

Can you post a picture of the GPU chip and the heatsink so we can see if there were any contact issues? Is this only on one of the GPUs are both?

 

I cannot see anything that would suggest that it was caused by improper assembly. I would be more inclined to see it as defective hardware.

 

lol far from a rookie when it comes to this.. there were seated properly and made awesome contact.. (after i pulled the cards i used the new R2 heat sinks on my old cards because they work oh so much better) the heat sinks that is.. compared to my old ones..

although i have got to say the discoloration of the heat sinks makes it look like some one took a blow torch and just heat these things up before the left the factory..

 

My old cards seem to work fine..accept for the same issues i was have.. the new heat sinks seem to take care of the over heating i think i was getting.. but i still artifact and stuff..since i belive the damage is all ready done..

 

Did both burn up or just one of the new cards? I thought they sent a tech to do the install... I can't imagine both cards sent to you were defective. Hope it works out soon for you.

 

no only one.. the other looks fine.. tomorrow im going to try combinations of the new card an my old cards and see what happened.. and I dont know if the card is even burnt up to be honest.. it still works..post to bios load up to windows some times and bsods.. im good for a bsod like any where from 10 seconds from power on to 1 minute.. i even got into chrome and scrolled down a page of NBR and bam bsod..
but on my old cards i can run em and not bsod until i try to game.. so its a catch 22.. my old cards work better for ever day things like web browsing but HD full screen movies will kill the system.. and so will games..

On the new cards its just bsod after bsod..

so i dont know.. I think its a quality control issue.. there are people with rockin R1 systems and people with rockin R2 systems with these cards but those people are very few and far between..
Im pretty sure Alienware knows that there is a real problem with this card hence why when ever its brought up they decline to comment and I understand that.. but AMD on the other hand.. they need to rethink who does there chips..
hell even there desktop 7xxxx series cards are failing so its not just these.. but the switch to nvidia is easier on a desktop than it is a laptop so we are left dealing with multiple issues like this..

All in all 2 set of cards and both have major issues.. so I really think Dell/Alienware needs to discontinue this card until the issues are worked out.. and or amd makes some major changes..
If all the computer company's would quit selling there card maybe they would wake up and say ..my god maybe we should listen to the people that use these cards and do some thing about it..


so guys ill let you know what goes on but as of now IM 100% completely with Mr fox on this .. Im done with amd.. this is redonkulous!

im going to take a clearer picture of the card tomorrow..
and of course ill keep you informed..

 

Spoiler

new R2 heat sink


old



new








misc

and to clarify some thing real quick.. that picture of the card looking all messed up is a before picture.. I didnt notice it at the time because I was taking shots of the part numbers and just quickly snapped the photo with out really reviewing them..
but i did find the full shot of the card i took after.. and its the same just dated for a later time on my camera.. ill get that up in the morning some time..
but i do got to say ..what heck happened to that heat sink.. looks like it went threw the ringer.. it looks bad.. lol

 

Hey was the 7970m recalled? Im reading in multiple spots across the web that the 7970m has been recalled by several manufacturers?

 

ok Luis.. I put the first card back in just to see and it heats up like no tomorrow..it gets insanely hot to the point or smelling it but it works.. so i took turns putting all the cards in the first slot just see what was going on and they all heat up hotter than i would think safe..but none as hot as the new card. so i started with my old cards and left the top off and started up the comp and made sure it was in xfire and when its idling second card doesn't heat up.. but the minute you run a test the second card heats up insanely hot also..

not as hot as the new card but hotter than i think it should be.. . when running a test like vantage or heaven.. all cards smell hot.. like you can really smell them..

so next im going to take a laser temp gun and use on the cards the cards... because on the heat sinks the whole heat sinks there super hot.. hotter than my xm cpu heat sink under a 4.8 load of back to back wprime test..

 

Hey bro, did you ever get this resolved?

 

not yet im currently waiting on a reply..

 

DumbDumb I keep checking up on your story. I can't tell you how empathetic I am with your situation. I seriously hope it gets resolved soon. I know it's hard to think about anything else when you're constantly dealing with these issues but remember there's so much more to life than this dredge.

If you feel alone and want to vent, PM me and I'll listen.

Love your avatar btw

 

Whoa... That was a lil deep eh? How come I didnt get this type of love when I was dealing with my ordeal?! <---- jk jk jk

 

mmm well yes a little deep but I do appreciate the offer.. but what can I say Im a likable guy!

and you did get love! hahah i was there for you 100%...lol

next time your in sac hit me up! we can go to a star bucks and and make the mac owners jealous with envy!

 

Is Dell still giving you the option to send it into depot for service?

 

yes that been offered but thats an absolutely last resort..

 

what other choices are there at this point? just wondering...

 

thamn...! your case is weird

 

Why don't you just send it in and get it fixed once and for all?

 

well for one i need my laptop on a daily basis and for two, read around the forums and listen to the horror stories.. im very capable of doing all the work my self.. and chances are ill get my laptop back with some thing less than what i currently have and that is some thing im not ok with..

now if this was going to one of the techs on the forum like federico.. sure id do it in a heart beat as I know he knows what he is doing.. but some random tech..no way..

 

Well as of today I dont know what the solution will be.. ill just be patient and see what happens..

 

The problem with this claim that you want to perform the repair yourself is that per the warranty agreement you can invalidate your warranty by attempting to fix your computer because you are not an authorized service agent. Sending you parts to install is a risk to Dell and I don't see how they will want to do it again considering what happened with the latest set of 7970s they sent you.

I'm not sure how being patient helps in this case. Is there a risk that they may downgrade you to the original spec that was purchased? If so, I can understand your hesitation but then shouldn't you take that up with the person you bought this replacement system from? You did get a pretty good deal from what I recall. And, since he did list it as a replacement system and didn't hide that fact, I'm not sure he holds any responsibility either.

My feeling there are probably some faulty components on your motherboard and your system may require substantial repair. Dell can't possibly send all of the components to a nbd repair agent. The only way it is going to get fixed at this point is via a replacement system or depot service.

Good luck. I think the only way you are going to get the outcome you want is if one of the dell agents on this site decides to 'be extremely generous' and you have some leverage since Dell has already lost considerable money on the original sale of this system.

 

lol ok bro.. you are entitled to your opinion.. ... and also lets look a little deeper here.. 1. it was never listed as a replacement on the original sales thread until after i sent the money and i didn't even know that until about a week ago.. 2. the Laptop came with a warranty that is able to be transfered to a new owner.. 3.the original cards took a huge crap on me.. and they refused to fix it even tho i was under warranty.. 4.I had to pay an extra 1180.00 to get the fix i required.. 5. I bought 3 years worth of accidental damage warranty for a hefty price.. 6. after buying said warranty the machine failed again..
7. I spent about a month trying to the problem rectified to no avail..

so Based on your opinion Dell has lost money huh.. I guess if you were running things people that spend money should get screwed? and better yet you probably feel that its ok for company's to screw people out of money when you under warranty and have a problem that is 100% covered?

Dude nothing personnel but your post are starting to bother me.. Am i asking for any thing ridiculous? No.. do all the reps state that this laptop is user serviceable if you are capable..yes.. am i capable..very..

Now it seems to me that your trying to stir the pot.. for what reason I do not know.. but I will say this.. Ill ask you kindly to stop..

Now as for the cards Im sure there are plenty of people that will state that these cards have some real issues and the set i received did not work.. I am not the first this has happened to and im positive i will not be the last.. if you got a good working set.. awesome I am happy for you.. but kindly quite with whole i got a good deal crap.. I bought a laptop and it does not matter if it was first party or third ..or what ever.. The fact is the laptop came with a warranty and they should not of given me the dang run around in the first place and they should of fixed the very first problem I had and we wouldn't be here now..
but that's not what happened.. I was strong armed into buying and extended 2 year warranty and separate at that.. so no deal was given to me there.... and here we are..

Now Im in no way am at fault here.. this is 100% on Dell and ive paid good money for my warrantys.. now since you brought this up and im sure this would effect pricing on all alienware systems in the fututre for resell value..
maybe dell in the future should discontinue the transferable warrantys.. man if they did every systems resell value would plum-it.. the value alienware held would be gone essentially.. and lets go a step furth may be they should get rid of the option to extend warranty's.. sound like its what you want..


But hey thanks for your opinion..


And oh yea how the heck does the person I bought the system fit into this? I do not understand your reasoning.. there.. he sold it i bought it new owner new case history.. or thats the way it should be once the warranty has been transferred..

oh and like i said before i am working with luis on this.. and i gave an update.. and im still baffled as to how and why you came to your conclusions.

 

+1... What are you talking about bro? Anyways.... Cool story bro... Do you work for Dell or something? For some reason your really starting to sound like those lvl 1 techs that are a nightmare to deal with.... I just don't get your argument... Why are you so wound up on dumbdumb sending in his laptop? What makes you think they "can't" send all those parts for NBD repair? I can tell you for certain it has been done before.... So....boooyaaaa son! <---sorry, its Friday and yes... I am drunk

Edit: Just re-read your post again and I have more to add... The part about Dell losing money... This just got me all worked up.... I mean, what would you do if you insured full coverage on a used/gift/new Ferrari and then get into an accident? Are you going to be like "oh yea.. just go ahead and jerk me around, you guys already took such a big lost with this big claim in repairs to the car... Oh I would totally understand if you give me a Geo Metro instead..." ???
..... :yaoming:

 

lol and bwhahaha

 

Yea, its been one of those weeks... Nothing personal jywang. I just don't see your point in all of this...

 

let me go a step further and say why dont you take it up with the guy you got the car from because some how he is to blame /involved lol
or you could just lie down and take it since you got a good deal in the first place.. even tho you spent all that money on insurance.

 

I think dell Alienwre is taking the same way That boodooPC did.

I remember The original Alienware, When Nvidia Used To release a new graphics card they used to sell then as an upgrade with out any compatibility problem...!

 

Brother bumbo, there are no compatibility problems. The 680M and 7970M work perfectly in the M18x R1. Based on some of the things I see posted, I think my 7970M CrossFire setup is working better than some of the m18x R2 systems that are being shipped out. The trouble is getting a good pair of 7970M video cards. That problem is not limited to Dell. Getting bad 7970M video cards is something people with other brands are having to deal with also. The 7970 desktop video cards have many of the same issues the mobile cards do, especially where a CrossFire configuration is involved. The other problems with 7970M CrossFire have to do with crappy AMD drivers. For the record, I also received a defective pair of 7970M cards and returned them because the two I have (at least one of which has a hardware defect) work much better than the replacements I received.