*OFFICIAL* M18x Owner's Lounge Thread

Steve,

Everything seems to be making a lot of sense now except the ssd problem. I have no idea why it's installing 63gb and not 30gb like the other member mentioned when he used his other ssd (M4). Do you think that mine (ours) is faulty or is it just the operating system being to large and bloated, very confusing?

I just don't understand why I should lose an extra 30gb for the same program when it's comparing apple's with apple's M4 ssd compared with Intel 520 ssd. Same ; maybe Intel hasn't decoded the software properly to install the correct data amounts. Should I return my drive and get a new one?

 

i take it you did not do the steps i mentioned. do them and it will be back to normal

 

I have just looked under my c:drive and Program Files (x86) is 31.7gb which I think is perfectly normal. Then there the files (windows) which has 16.8gb but it still only adds up to 48.5gb and not the 63gb so there is gb's hiding somewhere else. Strange.......

Alright I'll go back and try and complete them.

What is the disc clean up? Also how do I clean up page files?

 

Here I use this it works great Windows 7 - Ultimate SSD Speed Tweaks

 

Cheers, I have just done the page file clean up. I followed the instructions mentioned a website: windows + pause break key, system protection, advanced, settings, advanced and then change.

This leads me to my next question; it asks for a custom size; I put in 3000mb (I have 32gb of ram) is 3000mb too much or too little? When I put in 3000mb it freed up 20+ gb's of storage. I'm just not sure how low I can go without something damaging or something going wrong.

 

It should not, but I doubt it means there is something wrong with your SSD. The Disc Cleanup utility is part of Windows. You can get rid of native Windows apps that are useless (including features for tablet users, visually impaired users, assuming you are not of course, and childish games like Purble Place). You can use CCleaner to wipe out temp files.

You can right-click the Recycle Bin, select Properties and change the capacity of Recycle Bin.

To modify the page file, you go to Control Panel\System and select Advanced System Settings. Go to the Advanced tab, click the Settings button under Performance. In the Performance Options window, click the Advanced tab. Select a drive from the list that has a page file. Click the change button under Virtual memory and set a new size. Save your changes and reboot.

Edit:

You don't really need a page file except that some programs may misbehave without one. Some games need a page file to work correctly. Also, Windows must have a page file if you ever need to save dump files for BSOD troubleshooting. So a swap file that is only 4GB to 8GB should be more than adequate. Back in the "old days" with limited system resources, the rule of thumb for page file (swap file) size was 2 to 3 times the amount of RAM, but that no longer is necessary.

 

They were different OS's (see above) - one was Pro, the other HP. Pro is obviously a larger OS than HP, hence 63gb vs 30gb. There is nothing wrong with your drive....even though your 520 is advertised with a 240gb space, Intel will reserve a small amount of that space for what is called "over-provisioning" (basically, this leaves a small amount of space on the drive unallocated so that when the drive is getting full, it still performs well - a drive that is crammed up tends to not perform at its fullest). My ssd's are advertised at 256gb capacity, so you might think I have 512gb but it doesnt work like that......even on an empty drive, when formatted, the space is maybe 7% less than the advertised capacity...this is "over-provisioning" by the drive manufacturer.

Technically, you arent losing space, its just that the pro install is a larger install than mine or others using HP.

EDIT: Just found one of my CDM benches for when I had a single Crucial C300 with Win 7 Pro installed...benched just after OS install....you can see that the OS took up 57gb of my available 238gb (remember what I was saying about "over-provisioning"? - the c300 is a 256gb but when formatted, only gives 238gb free space....you will see similar with your 520). This was on a Win 7 Pro install before SP1 so the small 6gb difference between my OS install and yours might have been due to the Service pack update - I did nothing special like slimming down the OS install or deleting backups etc etc....this is as plain and straightforward as it gets....blank ssd, win 7 pro install...238gb free before OS install...57gb taken up by OS install....

My Single C300 256gb after a Windows & Pro install

 

hey guys, something regards to SSD, not in m18x in general but i donno if others having issues. i have 3 laptops all have SSDs in them, window boot up all fast and stuff thats cool but when i go straight to internet right after boot, it takes 3-5 mins just to connect before internet starts to work..

any idea how to solve this issue?

 

If I am understanding your question, that's probably not your SSD, bro. That may have something to do with your network adapter, or your router taking a while to assign an IP address. Does it seem to happen on multiple networks (home, work, coffee shop, airport, etc.) or do you always use the same network connection?

If you are almost always using the same network connection, try assigning a static IP address to your laptop in the router setup.

 

I just had an offer to trade my R2 for an 18x. 2630 CPU 6990xf. Man tough decisions...

 

yea i start to notice this and i did some search online and seems other people got this issue as well. they are saying SSD is "too fast" and takes time for WiFi related services to connect after being loaded by window, then again i dunno any details.

Ive tried connecting to school internet, home internet and internet at work, all seems to be slow., like maybe not 3-5 mins, around 1-2 mins slow. i notice this due to msn is set to run on start-up, and it doesn't log in for about 1 min, and during that minute or minutes or so, i tried using internet, IE, Firefox and opera all doesn't respond due to no connection.

i tried doing some tweaks as solutions i found on other sites/forum/blog, disabling unneeded services such as workstation, net-frame work etc (dunno why) doesn't seems to have make much of a difference.

how do i go about assigning static IP address, every time i reinstall window i always set any network i connect to as "home" network, even at work, its "home" network and i never use any other ones. im unable to change anything in the wireless router at work/school, however i should be able to change anything thats in my home.

 

You would do that in your router setup utility at home, so if you use a lot of different networks that suggestion may not do you a lot of good.

 

Hey guys, thanks for all the help. Does anyone know if the motherboard that comes standard with the M18x can support the new Intel RST 11.5 when it does it get released so that raid 0 can get trim? Has anyone read anything about it and whether it'll be coming sooner or later because if I buy another Intel 520 ssd I really want the new Intel RST patch to work because obviously having trim is better than having garbage control becauase trim works whilst your using the computer in comparison to garbage control where you have to leave your computer along and not touch it so the drives can do their thing.

 

When the new RST is released with TRIM support for raid0 ssd's you wont have a problem using it. Its just a question of time now as to when Intel will release the final non-beta version.

AnandTech - Intel to Add TRIM Support for RAID 0

 

im also waiting for that.. lol as soon as that comes out imma get two vertex 4 =D

 

LOL why would you wait when I bet you aren't even maxing out 1 or even 2 Vertex 3's? Waiting for something that might not even be out for awhile is dumb, the sata 3 ssd's are already fast enough that waiting would be pointless.

 

OK, let's not insinuate folks are dumb. Please be polite.

I think the point is that RAID0 does not support TRIM and unityole is waiting for the new version of Intel Rapid Store Technology that includes TRIM support for RAID0. You can set up a pair of SSD in RAID0 and it will be extremely fast, especially with SATA-III 6GB/s drives, but it will need to be manually maintained without TRIM support. It's not a huge deal, but there are a number of folks choosing to wait.

 

I understand that; which was pointed out early in the posting on this topic but waiting for something that has no leads nor has any relevance to Intel RST 11.5 is just off topic completely. There was disrespect toward the other user, nor was it intended but saying your waiting for vertex 4 to be released is like saying I'm going to wait for something better than X79.

 

i have raid0 on my M18x. do i need to do some trim maintanance?

 

TRIM doesn't currently work on Raid 0 SSD's - you will have to rely on Garbage Collcection maintaining your drives. Best thing to do every now and then is to simply log off and leave the system idle at the logon screen.....do that and you will be just fine until RST comes out with TRIM support for us with raided SSD's.

 

I have been reading up a bit.

It appears that the Install size of Windows will vary widely due to the Amount of system ram you have. The default page sizes can equal the amount of memory, or more. Also, hibernation and suspend being enabled will also allocate a large segment of your drive space too.

My friend's PC hs 32gb of Ram, (Mine has 12), that must have been a part of the difference.

 

Hey guys, just checking into the lounge to say hello!

 

Does anyone think that while using a HDTV as the main monitor and having the 18 set to "do nothing" while lid is closed in the control panel have any negative effects on the 18? Basically I have the 18 closed while I use the HDTV through HDMI.

Because my last 18 that I had to replace suffered from the 8 beeps, and never really got better after replacing the motherboard and GPUs.

I was wondering if that could be the cause.

 

Keeping the lid closed while the system is running might have a negative impact on your temperatures (higher values).
The 8 beeps code is related to LCD error, but that can translate into a lot of things.

 

Hello Brother Drifter! Long time no see. I hope that all is well with you. Thanks for dropping in... don't be a stranger.

 

Hi there! buddy - hows things? (good, I hope )

 

I received my M18x last Wednesday and so far I have been extremely satisfied with the total quality and performance! It took Dell 16 working days to build and deliver this laptop for me, which is a very good good time considering that the expected delivery date was April 9th.

I haven't had any problems with anything so far. CPU temp has been from 42C to 49C when browsing and GPU temp has been ranging from 43C to 51C for primary card and secondary card has been from 42C to 46C. Had a small testing with Furmark and primary card temp was nicely kept around 79C and there was no throttling observed.

Cooling system is also excellent and really keeps the temps in a decent level, and I know that many laptops suffer from the touchpad area getting very hot while gaming, but in M18x the whole keyboard and touchpad area has been nice and cool. I was afraid how loud the fans would get, but surprisingly they are pretty quiet, and game sounds tend to cover the fan noise. In fact when my MacBook Pro is stressed, the fan noise gets higher then in my M18x.

3D Mark 11 & 06 scores were what I expected. Pretty much same results what I saw in few reviews and all games I've played so far have worked perfectly without any fps problems, crashes etc.

The 1080p screen is great and works really well with blu-ray movies and games. Sometimes the glossy screen can be a pain because of the reflecting, but that's just me because sun shines directly to my room. Viewing angles are very good, probably one of the best I've seen so far and I have seen some crappy screens over the years..

Keyboard is what I expected, great touch and responsiveness. Good for fast typing and gaming.

Sums it up for me. Great product and I don't feel bad paying a bit more money for this as so far it has been worth every penny!

 

You know.. the Fans aren't that bad at all. If anything, my wife gets annoyed not by the fan, but by the sound of me relentlessly pounding the keyboard and mouse in an abusive onslaught of grin-educing game mayhem.

 

I couldn't agree more with just about all that you said. I love my M18x also. +1 Rep for sharing your experience.

 

Hello Newyorker! Welcome back!

edit: Mr Fox, like your new pic (avatar) very much! You look slick and refined...

 

just reinstall window 7 then install ur vid card, without any alienware apps aero will have the transparency work just fine. never had any issues, only not working when graphics card arent installed

 

unityole, why are you quoting a post by Steve from way back in September? The Aero bug was resolved a very long time ago.

thank you

 

Hmm thanks for the input. Makes me feel better.

 

k i needed a bit help here with installing win7 from usb drive.

cant install window 7 when they get to select disk and partition it says "Setup was unable to create a new system partition". now, i got a SSD and a HDD, installing from DVD/CD worked totally fine but with usb it cant.

ive did some research and its a common issue. mostly because usb drive is plugged in so they cant install from CD/DVD, but in this case im installing and booting up FROM the usb drive, so usb STAYS in, or else would be pointless.

i have read places where it says its also because usb boot priority is higher than 1st/2nd HDD and DVD/CD/blueray. so i made sure in my m18x bios with F2, usb boot priority is lower than all of those, then proceed to boot from usb drive using F12 force boot selection.

then again, same issue occurred and cant install window 7.


heres seems to be another solution which does not apply to m18x alienware:
"Keep the USB as the only boot device and take the other two out of the boot scenario. Run the install, when you reboot, go back into the BIOS and set the harddrive as the first boot device."

in the m18x bios, i can only change priority, i cant take them out of boot scenario, or else i would have to disconnect dvd/cd, hdd 1 and hdd 2 but im trying to install to one of the hdd, so cant really take them out.. what should i do.

 

are you installing from a usb 3.0 port or a usb 2.0 port?
and you can try switching ports when it gets to that point. some say this works as well.

 

It may be that Windows is not finding any place to create a new system partition.

If you have not already done so, in Windows setup delete any existing partitions that are present before attempting the installation. You want to begin the process with a drive that contains nothing but unpartitioned unallocated free space. Then either create a partition in the unallocated space or simply let Windows do that for you.

Also, if possible, make the USB drive read-only like an optical drive. Windows setup may be attempting to create a partition on the USB drive because it sees it as a disc it can write to.

 

its usb 3.0 ports, from a usb 3.0 drive. booted from the 3.0 drive on the 3.0 port, load install driver worked, just cant install OS.

someone has also mentioned something very similar with the hidden MS 100 mb partition, but primary i donno the steps how to do any of it. what i thought was the right thing to do could be totally opposite so im unsure. what i did was i deleted any and all parition/drives, extend/combine the partitions to make the unallocation space. then i try to either install in that space, or format (becomes allocated) and then install, both failed with same error.

as you stated create a partition, means there should be more than one partition? or how to let window do it?

also making the usb read-only wouldnt that means i cant write anymore files to it? cause my usb drive is 64 gb.. lol and i donno about how i can go doing that. i can make the files on drive read only, but i donno any ways to make the entire drive itself read only.


EDIT: i found this might be the solution, then again i donno how to create the hidden partition like i stated above, disk part seems difficult to use.

"If setup is showing the 500G drive but failing to install, it could be that it is trying to put the boot files on the USB. It would fail because the drive is not formatted ntfs, or it is read-only, or it is trying to create a 200MB partition at the beginning of it and can't."

after seeing this, i do recall even if boot priority setup that hdd/cd before usb drive, but with usb plugged in, i could definitly feel the delay when starting up computer during the F2/F12 screen.

 

I just bought an Alienware M18x from ebay for $2000, and I'm just wondering if my new laptop can play Skyrim or Battlefield 3 in High Settings or Ultra Settings.

Here are the specs of the Alienware M18x that I bought:

Processor
- Intel Core i7-2670QM (Quad-Core, 2.2GHz, 6MB Cache)

Operating System
- Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)

Memory
- 8GB, DDR3, 1333MHz, 2 DIMM (Max Memory- 4 DIMM, up to 32GB)

Video Graphics
- 1.5GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M (NON SLI)

Hard Drive
- 1TB RAID 0 (2x 500GB) 7200RPM Solid State Hybrid

 

You will need more horsepower for those games at those settings. Are you outside the US, if you are in the US you can definitely get more bang for the buck by negotiating over the phone with dell.

 

Horsepower? Are you referring to the Video Card? So I can't run the following games on Ultra High? I'm from the Philippines so I can't really haggle or negotiate over the phone with dell and just as I said, I bought the machine from ebay.

 

Yea video cards, to run those games on ultra you would need at minimum dual 560m sli but comfortably with 580m sli or 6990m crossfire. CPU is fine.

 

You can't really change the video card of the M18x when you bought it right? Correct me if I'm wrong Thanks for the fast reply.

 

You can order new cards from them if you'd like and the technician will do the swap over.

 

Technician from Dell you mean?

 

You should be able to upgrade your cards via buying them from Dell and having a Dell Technician (or yourself) install them. I would imagine Dell will charge ALOT for , say, a single 580m.

You may find that the price is cheaper via Ebay or the like - example

I am not sure how much Dell would charge you for the same.....

 

All right thanks for the help guys. I'd canvas more about the video cards and take a look at their prices. Thanks you guys for the help!

 

Actually I can play ALL new games on high settings. And my specs are in my sig.

 

Is Nvidia GTX 460M better than GTX 560M (NON SLI)? I'm not so sure about that...

 

No its not. I was just letting you know how my systems run. However having a SSD has improved my game play. Even still the 460m pulls its weight in rendering. I havent had any issues. So with a 560m I think you will be more than fine.

 

SSD won't really help on games like Bf3 at any settings, a 560m won't play bf3 at ultra settings, maybe high settings at a lower framerate with some settings dialed down.

ultra settings for bf3 would be pushing even a gtx 580 on a desktop.