*OFFICIAL* M18x Owner's Lounge Thread

Hey guys, I've got a question that I'm hoping you can answer for me. I am an owner of a M18x and just recently had problems with my computer and awaiting a replacement laptop to be sent from dell; I had to delete partition through the windows disc and re-install windows 7pro again onto the system. By deleting the partition off my ssd; does it effect the speed of my ssd or boot up times or does it harm my Intel 520 ssd in any way?

 

I posted this in the general AW warranty thread, but I figured posting here for the M18x specifically would probably get more specific answers. Here goes:

So one of the GPUs on my M18x is overheating (the 6970M) and still have a few months of warranty left

Anyone dealt with GPU replacement through warranties before? Are they going to ship me one to install, or will a tech come in to do it? Or will I have to ship it back?

Also, since I had a 6970M, and those were discontinued a while back, would I be getting a 6990M or something else?

 

It will most likely be a tech. Push for a newer card when you call since they clearly don't care about older ones now and took them off the new order page

You will likely get a 6970m or 6990m though.

 

anyone know anything about the new m18x? looks like it has 3 SSD in raid 0. if you go to configuration page it'll show 768GB SSD RAID 0 (3x 256GB SATA 6Gb/s SSD) THREE HARD DRIVE SLOTS?

 

I am wondering if the new M18x R2 actually has full support for Optimus "on the fly" switching.....if you look at the table in the link below, compare side by side tab, all the boxes are ticked for a 675m SLI setup.....

Help Me Choose: Video Cards | Dell

 

Hi all!

I ordered my very first AW product the other day: M18x Dual 6990.

I have a few questions I hope you guys can answer:

1) Is the killer WIFI the "top option" for wireless internet connection?

2) Is there a place that lists games that support CrossfireX?

Any help is much appriciated as I am no tech wizard (as you can see from my questions lol).

Kind regards

 

No, it will not hurt anything. A fresh Windows installation usually has the opposite effect and improves performance.

Man, I certainly hope it does not. After seeing all of the problems with Optimus, manual graphics switching seems to be infinitely better and more reliable. The convenience isn't worth the headaches unless something has been done to make Optimus work correctly.

Welcome to the NBR Community and congratulations on the M18x. If you do online gaming, test have shown the Killer wifi to provide the best performance for gaming. If you have the Intel Ultimate-N 6300 it is also rock solid and delivers very good online gaming performance. Both are 3x3 MIMO with 450Mbps capability.

You can find web sites that include a list of games that do or do not support CrossFire using Google. Most of them are incomplete and not kept current. I haven't found such a list on this forum.

If there are specific games you are interested in, chances are pretty good that you will find a thread somewhere here at NBR Forums that is specifically for those games. The forum search feature works poorly, but using Google to search this forum works great.

Click the link in my signature on the left side and you will find an index with links to a number of useful threads. Down at the bottom are the forum rules and how to search our forums using Google.

 

Hi all, new to the forum. Strongly considering picking an M18x up with the following stats. Use is mainly for MMO gaming...

COLOUR CHOICE Alienware M18x Stealth Black

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 2670QM (2.20Ghz, 6MB, 4C)

GRAPHICS CARD Dual 1.5GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560M SLI™ (on the configurator the cost difference between SLI and a single 560M is £0 is this some sort of error? lol)

MEMORY 8192MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x4096]

HARD DRIVE 750GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive

LCD 18.4" (46 cm) WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD
---
However, I'm in the Uk and PC Specialist offer this cheaper alternative below.
---

Chassis & Display
Vortex Series:17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£79)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2670QM (2.20GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 675M - 2.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 3 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1102 WIRELESS GAMING 802.11N NETWORK CARD


I'm struggling to make a choice because although PC specialist is cheaper, I ideally want the alienware (which is why I'm posting here ) but dont know if I am willing to justify to pay a significant difference. Basically I'm looking for someone to justify the higher price other than just brand name.
Also, one thing that I am concerned about is the lack of matte screen for the alienware. I read that the screen is 'semi-glossy' because it has an anti glare coating. How effective is this compared to matte screens? I'm asking because it's an important factor for me as even in a dimly lit room I can see annoying reflections all the time in some shape or form.

Many thanks for all the advice given.

(PS: I haven't listed the full specs and prices for both laptops since I am still undecided on accessories and warranty settings but as a rough guide the Vortex is approximately £350 cheaper without considering the dell 3 year warranty, otherwise its about £600 cheaper.)

 

I would get the 18x, aside from it bieng faster 3 G of video memory as aposed to 2, the build quality and finish is second to none. If you are needing to pinch pennies get the lowest ram and disk drive options and upgrade them urself its very easy.

If you are truley looking for a biased opinion you have came to the wrong place. Here at the NBR M18X we love our machines.

 

manual graphics switching seems to be infinitely better and more reliable. totally agree M.R Fox!!!

 

Yeah, I agee guys - some people want it though I guess.....I wonder if it will be supported for those that do want it.....

 

I tried searching, but I couldn't find an answer and I apologize if this has been discussed in this thread or another thread. Almost Every time I stick a DVD or blu ray into my optical drive It seems to take forever to load and even if it manages to load it's hit an miss in terms of the video (choppy sometimes). Originally, dell or alienware support thought that it was the optical drive and replaced it. Later upon troubleshooting they decided to restore my then brand new notebook back to factory settings. It worked when we tested it and I thought nothing of it again until I needed to load a pc game. Again same problems... In comparison my 4 yr old gateway fx loads a DVD immediately. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Edit: for anyone reading this post, it was to MagiaMagic who was undecided on buying an m18x

Im brand new here, I have an order for an m18x in the works as of 14/04, but I can totally relate OP as I was in the same boat as you for about 2 months deciding which laptop to get - I was looking at the Viper III from them (which apparently they no longer do)

Simply put the way it looks and the dual 6990ms pushed me over to alienware.

I knew the main feature I was looking for was the 18 inch screen and seen as Clevo are the only other chassis that support that I was stuck with a pretty ugly looking machine with lots of power (taking the tribal tattoo lid, the weird keyboard all shifted to the right of it, as well as thickness into account) or a really nice looking machine with lots of power which was, like you, £300 more.

Ask yourself the question; Do you think you will be happy with the laptop from PC specialist, in terms of how it looks and what it has in 1/2/3 year(s)? And will you ever really ask the question "I wish I had sprung the extra money and got the alienware?"

Go onto youtube and find as many hate videos you can for either product - bear in mind most (unofficial reviewers) will give you a really polarised view spewing either hate or love for something. This should help you find out what to look out for or try and figure out whether what they don't like is actually valid, or even matters to you.

The only comments I could truly find that were negative for the m18x were "its too big and carrying it around with me is hard" and "The fans turn on, and this means noise", which in my opinion makes those people idiots.

also if you're going to play games take:

Computer Games on Laptop Graphic Cards - Notebookcheck.net Tech

into account. Alongside this, if games are a big deal then get the best graphics card setup you can afford.

 

Fixed after reading multiple google posts. Thanks.

 

What was causing it?

 

hey fox just quick question, in my bios it doesnt show intel HD graphics cause i got the crossfire right? or the intel HD is suppose to be there regardless what kind of video cards i have?

 

When you're booting into discrete GFX (your crossfire) it shows that. When you're booting into Integrated GFX it'll show that. The way it was explained to me is that since it's a BIOS switch, as far as the laptop is concerned the integrated GFX don't exist when you're booting into the AMD cards and vice versa.

 

Thank you Mr. Fox

 

Yes, after seeing benchmarks and doing a little research I'm willing to spend extra for the 6990m SLI (it isn't that much more) but I also came across some people complaining about AMD driver support which is lacking compared to Nvidia, especially when it comes to windowed mode and SLI performance enabling as well as scaling. Is this generally true? And is it a big enough deal to consider Nvidia instead? (Sorry, I'm not trying to start a nvidia vs AMD war here by the way, I'm just worried about spending too much time tinkering and fiddling with various tweaks if I know I can go Nvidia instead to avoid such issues).
Have you come across any issues regarding this Trashpants? Thanks.
Edit: I forgot to mention that the posts I saw regarding the driver issues were about 1 year old lol. I couldn't find any more recent ones so I don't know how things have changed with regards to that (I assume it has become better?).

On a more separate note, I think I found a solution to the glossy screen. I found this website which sells matte films that can be applied over a glossy screen. Don't know how good the quality is but will definitely consider it if I get the alienware though: 19" Wide Diagonal 16.06 x 10.03" (408 x 255mm) - Maxi Anti Glare Film | Photodon.com Screen Protectors

 

I don't actually have mine yet, I'm patiently waiting - I ordered my machine 6 days ago So unfortunately I can't really comment on performance for you.

Either way I am willing to do some tinkering should things not seem correct.

As far as performance goes 6990m XF are comparable to the 580m sli which they don't sell in the UK there is actually a vid on youtube running a bunch of benchmarks between the 2. As such, I logically guess that the 6990m XF setup will be more powerful than a 560 sli setup.

In all honesty, from a year ago, I assume they would have been fixed by now. I'm going to look into it more around here though.

The matte screen film looks interesting, I've kept a tab on it and if I feel there is a need I may try it out

 

Alienware is by far the best. I have owned and used many brands of laptops (Dell, hp, Compaq, Toshiba, IBM, Lenovo, Compal, Sager, Panasonic, Itronix/General Dynamics) and still use other brands at work (just had my garbage hp 8510p replaced by a somewhat better T420 ThinkPad) and nothing else compares to Alienware. If glossy screens bug you enough to be a deal breaker despite all other factors, then maybe Alienware is not for you unless you are willing to do some modding. I actually prefer the glossy over matte finish.

 

Thanks, I heard the build quality is top notch and yes the only that is holding me back right now is the glossy screen otherwise I would have placed an order already. What I will do is use my brother's glossy laptop for a while and see if I can get used it lol.

 

You can remove the glossy cover and replace it with a bezel. There is a matte finish screen underneath the shiny cover. You'll no longer have the look of the edge-to-edge display, but some folks just really prefer matte finish and are willing to accept the bezel.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...mizable-custom-bezel-m18xs-matte-display.html

 

In what ways do you find the Alienware to be superior to the Sager product line?

I've had an Alienware M17x R1 for 3 years or so now, and although I like it, and it's been the coolest laptop (literall) I've owned, I'm strongly considering going for a very high-end Sager laptop. Their stuff doesn't appear to be overpriced like this brand and from what I gather runs just as cool.

 

haha. that's true brother Fox.

 

Does Sager offer a laptop with an anodized aluminum chassis? Do they offer the same level of warranty and technical support? Unless something has recently changed, the answer to both is negative.

If you get a bad Sager (or Asus, or MSI) laptop, you can pretty much expect slow resolution, sending the machine off into la-la land and waiting to have someone try to fix it, and possibly spending extra money out of pocket to get things made right. There is a chance that your issues will never be resolved to your satisfaction.

I have an older Sager and it does not come close to meeting my expectations (NP2080 aka Compal HEL80) in build quality. It's a few years old. It still works and one of my sons is using it. It's just nowhere even close to matching the quality of the Dell XPS M1730 and Alienware laptops I have owned since giving it to my son. I have replaced the plastic chassis twice because of cracks. It's pretty ragged looking now, but replacement parts are not readily available.

As far as the internal components are concerned "parts is parts" pretty much. You can pretty much expect like or similar performance among identical internal components.

The Alienware line also has the killer look that some love and others hate. Sager and the other re-badged white box spin-offs look pretty ordinary.

 

Ha ha! Finally got back in town and got to open this beast up! All I have to say is awesome. I mean this thing is huge even compaired next to my Corsair 800D desktop case! About to load up my SSD and fire away. Everything seems to be running great at the moment! Build quality is SOLID especially on the M18x it just feels stronger. My poor trusty m9750 is jealous....

 

A question for you lovely M18x owners Is a $3000 SLI worth it? Im trying to decide between a M18x SLI and a G75 (if it ever releases ;D) Would a 675m SLI M18x be worth it for that price (dual 675m is +600 last i checked O_O) Do you guys have to deal with dual gpu issues or anything (besides new games releasing without SLI support i know that one ) overheating? BSODs? Anything at all? I really like the M18xs design (so many youtube videos) with the side panel buttons on the left and volume playback controls etc on the top right of the keyboard. Also love the HDMI-in (G75 NEEDS this!) so i always have a tv for my xbox/ps3/whatever ill stop and let you answer now

 

No issues whatsoever with GTX 580M SLI. Temps are great, system is very stable, and performance is phenomenal. A G75 is not going to be near the computer (performance or quality) that an M18x is. I am extremely pleased with mine.

 

Yeah its also 2xs as much probably more And i asked about 675m SLI not 580m Im thinking noone has one of those yet Ill most likely end up getting a M18x ivybridge when it releases (no matter how expensive it is ) but i still want to hear from all you people Another question. We can download Nvidia drivers directly from Nvidia right? Or do we have to download them through dell cause that sucks.

 

Anyone have experience with this?

 

Well, you do get what you pay for. Performance, build quality and warranty are superior. There are many former Asus G-series owners that own Alienware laptops, and some that still own both. I haven't seen anyone that owns/owned both posting comments that indicated they felt an Asus G-series machine was as good as their Alienware.

The 675M is the same hardware as a 580M. I would expect the ownership experience to be essentially identical with the 675M as the 580M. LINK There is little or no difference between them. So, six of one, half dozen of the other. The 675M is new, so it's unlikely anyone has received an M18x from Dell that is equipped with the 675M.

As far as drivers go, yes. Most of us do use newer NVIDIA reference drivers rather than the older NVIDIA drivers available for download from Dell Support.

If you're asking about the existing M18x (R1) I haven't notice that anyone has tried it using the optical drive bay for the third drive in a RAID0 array. There are only two bay for HDD/SSD. I don't know that the SATA port that the optical drive bay uses supports SATA-III 6GB/s speeds.

If you're asking about the M18x R2, you can actually order it with 3 drives in RAID0 if I'm not mistaken.

Here is a link to the thread for discussion about that machine: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/657864-alienware-m18x-r2.html

 

Im most likely save up for a year or more and get a M18x so maybe someday ill be able to post in this owners lounge and actually be an owner

 

will it be possible to modify the mSATA slot to fit 3 HDs in the m18xr1 as a modification?

 

Thanks for your input.

And you're right about the aluminum body - it's a huge drawback in my opinion for a machine of this caliber in the $2k-$4k range NOT to have it. Just doesn't make sense to me.

 

Interesting question. I don't know that the slot you are referring to will work. I think it may be connected as a USB port and it is intended for wireless HD cards. This question has been asked before and kicked around, but I do not know that anyone has ever attempted it.

 

Tech replaced my keyboard trim, slightly better but the problem is pretty much still there (big gaps, keys scratching). The problem must be with the palm rest assembly, but tbh I don't want to change it because I have already gotten used to it.

 

Hi everyone,

I heard it from few persons, so i guess mobile Ivy Bridges are not compatible with M18x R1, and the HM67 chipset mainboards,
even if it seems that mobile Sandy and Ivy use the same socket.
Found some old news here http://www.drivershouse.com/drivers-news/ivy-bridge-required-detailed-the-need-for-new-firmware-new-bios-intelivy-of-bridgesandy-bridge6-chipset-compatible-firmware-bios-3.html

 

Let's see if there was any cooling and OC'ing potential improvements with the Ivy and R2 and then think about it. My guess is, there's not enough boost to justify upgrading anyway. I might just grab a 29x0xm at some point and play with cooling mods. I'm sure, even at stock clocks the xm sandy should be pretty much on par with all but the top 2 ivy quads. And if you start OC'ing the difference might disappear completely.

 

totally agree brother aikimox! but whta you think of the new AMD graphics card?

 

So.. Who has ordered up a Machine with Dual 7970Ms!?!

 

are they offering dual 7970's for the m18x yet?

 

posted on dell us website.

 

Dang. I just accepted my replacement offer with sli gtx675's. I didnt see them as an option on the site so i figured they werent going to offer right away. Oh well : (

 

They have pulled the 6990m's for the M18xR1 from the Alienware UK website

 

Really? They are not posted as of right now.

 

Really? I don't see it on the us Website.

 

They took it off in a heartbeat.. Someone must have messed up somewhere lol.. Check the screenie on the speculation thread.

 

hi i would like to ask some owners here

i noticed some squeaking sound somewhere on the left side of the chassis.. what are your thoughts on this. thanks

 

That's where the hard drives are located. What are you doing when you hear the squeaking? Does the squeak coincide with something you are doing? If you are hearing a random squeak that happens even when you are not touching the computer, it is most likely a failing HDD. The squeak may be a spindle bearing going bad if you have one of more ordinary hard drives.