*OFFICIAL* Alienware 18 Owner's Lounge Thread

Thats a real shame Steve. I really enjoy your input on here. I wouldn't let others bother you. Its nice to see someone British having a real input on an international forum. Plus you did help me get a good deal on my 18. Please don't go

 

Sorry, Bro - needs must unfortunately. Not having an Alienware computer and posting in an Alienware forum is not really conducive to offering good help for other members. I am glad that I managed to help you with your beast though - hope you enjoy it.

 

sorry to see you go stevie! its a shame pal you gave me reply after reply of help everytime i asked you something. Respect

 

It was my pleasure, Dazzy - only too happy to have helped you out, Bro - take care.

 

I'm gonna miss you Brother.Thanks for all your help to me. Pm me when you get a chance. Regards, Harlon

 

Your no to low. I got 11300


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Hello Brother Harlon

My ?

 

I had a lower processor (have to return mine and that's a whole nother story) but my out the box score was 11,700ish or 11,900ish (you can search my posts). A mild OC on mine ran about 12,700ish.

I don't think your's are low but maybe you have too many processes running. The 32gig of ram actually could be choking your score a bit as more ram doesn't always mean faster and higher scores. It can actually be "too much."

 

My pleasure, Harlon - I'm gonna miss a lot of good folk here, you very much included in that. I'll drop you a PM soon....thanks brother.

 

Farewell respected comrade. You have given so much to the community (myself included) of which we can only pay you back with our gratitude.
I really hope you come back one day.

Take care friend.

 

I haven't been around the forum much these last few days. Today I finally had the time to read through various threads and posts... and just realized about your decisions in relation to your Dell case and the forum. I understand and respect them. But you will be dearly missed, brother Steve.

 

Brother Stevie, you've been so helpful to so many people on this forum including myself. It's people like you that make it shine. I'm sad and ashamed that the same level of respect, patience and courtesy wasn't afforded to you when you felt you needed it most.
I hope a better time is near when all this is behind us, and you've found a happy resolution whereby you feel that enthusiastic need to get amongst the AW threads here again.
Until that hopeful day arrives PM me any time brother

 

Hey guys I just ordered a barebones 18 with the just the DVD drive. Can someone tell me what the part number is for your blu ray drive, and is it just plug and play? Thanks.

 

From my invoice:
429-AAFS Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BD-ROM, DVDRW, CD-RW)

I'm not sure about the plug and play part, but usually you put in the disk and it'll be played...

 

Crabeye, could you pls run 3dmark11/Vantage and share the results. I wonder if your 4.5Ghz OC is stable) what are the temps, btw? Looks awesome!

 

Whilst this may be considered 'off topic' I hope it is not deleted or moved, because I was directed to the owners lounge's after the moderators saw fit to close my last thread. Anyway.....

Thank you, guys. I appreciate your comments above. It's unfortunate, but Dell's actions over my case were too much to take. I really don't know why they could have not just stuck the the offer they made me for a replacement machine, but actually just get that specification right - instead of the insanely low specification they offered.

As for NBR, having my thread closed by the moderators - regardless of the reasons they told me of - was the last straw. Whilst I did not expect 'special treatment' from my mod. friends, I did expect that they would have targeted those individuals that were clearly being disruptive and argumentative for no other reason except to constantly seek to reinforce their own opinions on my thread, regardless of my many attempts and posts to keep things on track. I had hoped that the content of said threads would have possibly had some leverage with Dell, in terms of helping them recognise the very poor replacement specification that they had offered - that was ALL I wanted - a genuine 'like for like' offer of replacement, and I am still left very confused about why that was not offered.

Anyway, no point me going on about it now. I will not name names, but I think the individuals involved should be deeply ashamed of themselves for not respecting another members plight - instead, they simply chose to litter my thread/s with their own opinions and If I did not agree, they then further decided to cause trouble.

I did not start any of this, I wanted the threads to bring things to the attention to the fact that everything is NOT rosy when it comes to dealing with Dell EMEA, and overseas/US customers really have very little comprehension of this. I was hoping for understanding, but I was left wanting - with the exception of you guys and several others. Unfortunately, it only takes one or two bad apples to wreck things, which is exactly what happened.

I hope they are pleased with themselves.

 

I have been extremely busy within the past few days, looks like I have missed something, Stevie if you leave this forum, it will literally never be the same. You have been one of the most informative and helpful on the forum and will be sorely missed. I really do hope that you end up staying around.

I fully understand the logic behind the seemingly incomprehensive and irrational censorship that occurs on this forum, in only two years I have received 3 warnings for expressing ideas without so much as a hint of vulgarity or profanity. I have a question for all of the corporate/fascist/stasi loving moderators on here: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CONCEPT OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION? Specifically, what happened to the 1st amendment rights guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution? Just throw that in the trash? Might as well, we do live in a Fascist Police State after all, there is NO denying it any longer.

"Facism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power" - Benito Mussolini

The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that comprise the Bill of Rights. [Bold mine].

First Amendment to the United States Constitution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It seems that anything that threatens the computer-electronics Industry's profit margin, or the perverse consciousness behind automation, slavery/wage-arbitrage, the "Free Enterprise System", and the ecological ruin associated with the computer/electronics industry more broadly speaking is subject to "censorship" by the Orwellian "Thought Police" populating the digital-commons, masquerading as some sort of public good, locking down threads, again without any profanity to speak of or other information reasonably warranting said censorship. What exactly is the true code of conduct? Please put it here boldly for all to see.

I think it is time to either find or create a proper Alienware forum policed by moderators where the moderating guidelines are centered around decency to others, discouraging vicious attacks and using vulgar language (as there may be many children interested in computer technology, reading these forums).

Anything of social and political nature is fair game.

We are now beset by the worst confluence of crises in human history precisely because of our inability to freely express and explore thoughts, ideas and potential solutions. This was the same threat to the Status Quo that was met with a ferocious conservative backlash in the 1960's counter-cultural "hippie" revolution. What was the problem? People were talking about breaking free from the rigid hierarchical, dominance centered system originated in and perpetuated by the British Empire. Talk of having a political system closer approximating democracy, or even proto-anarchistic in nature. Talk of ending permanent war, permanently. Talk of getting off of dirty, carbon based energy and re-invigorating research into alternative forms of energy, many exotic and "zero-point" in nature (Nikola Tesla). What happened? Mind Control happened. Water fluoridation (for your own good!), mandatory vaccinations, genetic modification (the genetic modification of GM foods does not stop with the fruit/vegetable, it continues to modify the genes of organisms that consume it), compulsory secondary education (12 years of compulsory education isn't enough!), pervasive mind numbing devices (watch your favorite television show on your telephone, anywhere, just don't read!) and now we have the "Thought Police" out in full force on a good portion of the digital-commons. I could elaborate more in detail but this isn't even a blog-post and it is 3 AM where I am. Speaking of which, please explain the rationale of not being able to provide links to blogs.

"Those who control the present control the past and those who control the past control the future" - George Orwell

 

That's what you have to expect when you're posting on a corporate-run website. Anyone who actually reads the forum rules here should come to the conclusion that this place is not necessarily the best choice to post anything. Let me quote at least one little part of the rules here:

I don't think this needs commenting. And this is just one of the rules.

Don't you see... there is such a forum, and it has been there for quite a while now: Tech|Inferno Forums

Did you ever wonder why certain ex-NBR members founded Tech|Inferno more than two years ago? Exactly for the reasons you state above.

If you really mean what you just wrote then the only logical conclusion for you can be to leave NBR as well. The most important step is to realize exactly the things you summarized.



Let me quote a great thinker as well, Immanuel Kant:

Applied to the current situation enlightenment means realizing that something's terribly wrong here, and it has been like this for ages and only got worse. The one and only reason most people are tolerating the way things go here is because they're lazy - "lack of determination and courage".
Therefore - sapere aude! Wake up guys, really... if you don't act nothing will change.

We provide the platform, all of you are very welcome to become a part of the community.




.

 

Sorry couldn't resist.

 

Participation in most discussion forums is a privilege not a right. They are privately funded and admins have every right to dictate rules and restrict access to individuals.

 

Is this not all a bit deep for a laptop forum?

 

Thank you for the kind words, Brother Vulcan. I really appreciate your comments. I might lurk, but will certainly be withdrawing from such an active role, which saddens me. True shame.

I've been a long time lurker, not so active, but rest assured, if and when the time comes for me to continue with anything remotely related to high end computing, I will certainly be visiting you guys with regularity.

 

ppls that receive their base config with the 765sli, Are you happy with your setup? I'm still waiting on mine since 20june, been at least 2 week in production...

 

Need some help gang. Just got my 18 today and I installed an 840 pro and used the migration software to transfer the os. But now it seems to be on the ssd and hdd?

 

A clean install of the OS on an SSD is always recommended. Backup your data, install the OS on the SSD, restore your settings, and wipe the HDD clean. A migration tends to be problematic most of the time and you'll regret trying to bypass this important step

 

Hey thanks for the reply. I agree with you and tried to myself. Problem was when I went to clean install windows my 750gb hdd was not showing so I could format it? Any ideas? Also i'm confused by the BIOS I cant see a way to change the boot order?

 

@mcdonnell77 - try changing the BIOS to legacy mode if Secure Boot is enabled and see if that helps. Secure Boot has a special way of really screwing things up.

If doing that does not work, use DiskPart to clean (wipe) the disk and create a new volume with MBR (instead of GPT) format and you should be able to see it then.

 

Thanks mr fox! But according to the bois its already in legacy mode and secure boot is disabled?

 

OK, that's good. Then go with plan B (using DiskPart, clean and create MBR volume) and see if that works.

The boot order is in a sub-menu. Select LEGACY BOOT: (first item in menu, press Enter key) and that will open another menu with the boot order. (See photos provided.)

You should also be able to press F12 at boot and manually change boot order on a one-time/per-use basis.

 

hmmm having a hard time here. cannot seem to format my Samsung drive now. does anyone know how to install windows on an 840 pro and use the 750gb drive as storage?

 

Depending on whether you want to use GPT or MBR. I chose to go with GPT. To do that you need a Windows ISO, then use Rufus ( Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way) to create a UEFI bootable USB drive. Well just to play safe first plug in the Samsung 840 Pro and format it in diskpart. You start up CMD with admin, then you do:

1. diskpart
2. list disk
3. select disk x (whichever is the Samsung)
4. clean
5. convert gpt

If you do list disk again you will see that the SSD will have a star on the GPT column.

Maybe sticking to MBR is a better idea but I foresee myself getting 2 1TB SSD and putting them in RAID eventually, and so it might go beyond 2TB. GPT allows you to have boot drive bigger than 2TB.

As a sidenote, I opened up the 18 again for repaste. I also didn't like the fact that the SLI cable goes on top of the heatsink, touching the hot copper pipes. Therefore I tape some foam onto it. I also put the foam around the LVDS cable, which also goes on top of the heatsink. To be honest, although the machine is solid, there's quite a lot of waste space inside, making it unnecessarily bulky. Perhaps the magnesium chassis is harder to machine.

Another thing, it seems like you have to remove the screen completely to remove the heatsinks of both GPU. The stock paste job is awful to say the least. It's all caked up. Some of my better thermal paste stays soft and sticky for a long time.

View attachment 99527

 

McDonnell,

I recommend getting the usb thumb drive directly from dell with the OS (assuming this is Windows 8 with the time you're having), and doing a fresh install on the SSD. As has been stated already, it's the most reliable way to get a working installation on a new SSD. Install the SSD, keep the storage drive out, and boot up using the thumb drive to install the OS on the SSD. Once installed, shut down, install your storage drive, and boot up. You should then be able to format the storage drive.

This is the method that I used, and it worked pretty well.

 

It's too bad it has come to this you have helped me out with lots of good information I appreciate that. Thanks again and do hope you will stay around.

 

Thanks Bro. I appreciate your kind words. Soon to be strictly a 'lurker' here, though.....

 

hey steviejones133, what happened Brother?

 

Stevie, you will sorely be missed!
You have helped a lot of people, including me. Best of luck on your future endeavors.


On a side note, here's my Alienware 18. I'm having trouble finding a backpack for this. I've tried many stores and they don't carry bags for 18.4"
I'm starting to consider using a luggage with wheels to carry this beast around. The charger alone is heavier than my other laptops LMAO.

 

Just a quick question:

How come when I alt-tab from games and click back into the game, the game removes itself from fullscreen?
Is there a setting for this? It is irritating. I have to manually go to the game's settings again to enable fullscreen..

 

That happens to me some, too. Sleeping Dogs is the worst about doing that.

 

Exactly what I'm playing! Haha.
So there is no way to fix this?

Thanks!

 

Some games just simply do that Jourdy. Max Payne 3 is another one that does it. You may have to live with this one.

 

You should be able to just hit ALT+Enter anytime that happens to get back to fullscreen .

 

I was going to say, "no" in response, but I just learned something new from Brother Quad. Please let us know if that works for Sleeping Dogs.

 

Anyone have any issues with powering up the Alienware 18? Mine has been perfect....up until about two hours ago. I received a HDD caddy in theh mail to add another drive (would have been 4!!) and installed it. It fit perfectly and I thought "easy" right? Apparently not. Now for some reason that escapes me the 18 will not power up. I have tried caddy with hdd, caddy with no hdd, optical, nothing, etc...No power. I added RAM, an SSD, and an mSATA drive day one......no issues. The 18 has been a beast since I recieved it. I put a HDD caddy in place of the optical drive and....paper weight. Anything obvious that I may be missing? Dell support says they will build me a new one and send it. Gonna be another long wait. I have tried a number of things and can't seem to come up with anything else. I can't shake the feeling that this is something obvious that I am overlooking. Tears. Out. Hair.

 

It probably is something obvious that you are overlooking. Did you try pulling the CMOS battery, holding down the power button 30 seconds, (with no AC adapter or the system battery connected,) then reconnect everything?

 

Hey Jourdy, I was looking for a backpack for my HP 18.4 inch and I found a really nice one at Target called Ful. I didn't want to get a Alienware backpack because I thought it would be too conspicuous and I don't want to be a target. Lets keep Stevie entertained, he has made this forum fun for all. Its only 15 pounds, hey I lift weights so its great exercise. My buddy uses a big rollar bag, but is too bulky for me, so I plan to use a Costco foldup roller dolly and use the chest strap to secure it to the dolly for longer treks voyages. The larger wheels absorb the shock better, but I might prefer to carry it if there are flights of stair so tackle. Great pics by the way, I get my Quad-Play later this week with a new U2713HM purchased directly from Dell to get the latest version, enjoy the speed of your new 18.

 

Damn sorry to hear what happoned Stevie. As a lot have said you have helped more ppl here the most, one of them was me. You will be missed and hope to god you do not disappear from this forum.

On a AW 18 note that i got thanks to Stevie. Machine arrived on the 17th in the UK. Sad part is I was not able to test it and am unable until I go pick it up in mid August. I let my relatives son test to see if there was any problem and if machine was up to spec ....only replay i got was "Wow". The wait to go pick it up is starting to kill me lol.

 

The TactX macro keys on the AW 18 don't seem to work very well in every game. It doesn't work in Dota 2, which is annoying. I am running out of keys.

 

I got a windows 8 Disc today from dell instead of a windows 8 thumb drive as I was expecting.

Its a Dell Disc,

Says

Operating System
Already installed on your computer
Windows 8 recovery media for windows 8 products 64bit

 

Don't ask, Bro! - I'll just say things didn't work out over recent problems with my 18x. Probably more reading than you could ever want over here, with a few links to the full story, to save from being off topic here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ion-thread-please-rate-share.html#post9298450

Thanks, jourdy! - nice pics, by the way. The screen looks pretty good - not as reflective and the colours seem to pop. Of course, hard to tell from pictures but it does look like an improvement over the R1/R2, but that is from my perspective not liking glossy. There are new AW cases for the 18...not sure if anyone has used the old 18x case/backpack just yet, but I would imagine it would fit pretty well.

You and me both, Brother. Thanks for the support. I'm glad it arrived nice and safe in the UK - the wait would truly be hard to bear, I don't envy you the long wait. Good to hear that the response was "WOW" - that's certainly very reassuring. Have him run it through some benchmarks and monitoring etc to make sure all is fine - if he is able to. Congratulations, my friend! :thumbsup:

 

Hi,

Long time lurker, first time poster here. I just received my Alienware 18 system and Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD, and I already need some help. I'm trying to do a clean install of Windows 7 using an installation disc, but I'm having a hard time figuring out if I need to change any settings in the BIOS before I start the installation process. Specifically I'm thinking about the SATA operation mode. Should I just leave it as it is (RAID mode) or do I need to change it? If anyone could point me in the right direction that would be greatly appreciated!

Vinisia

Edit: Found the answer at page 77, I think I'm on the right track now.