*OFFICIAL* M18x R1/R2 Owner's Lounge Thread

M18x just arrived a few hours ago. Ive been at it for the past 30 mins installing essential programs.

specs: 2820qm, 580m sli, 8gb ram, stock everything else

I just remembered to make a backup via Alien Respawn (yea i know i was supposed to do that first). But better late than never I guess.

Anyway im just gona keep doing some windows and driver updates, but what now though as far as everything else I have to do to get this beast running at full capacity?

Also, is there a special way (or should i say, recommended way) of installing nvidia drivers? new nvidia owner here....

 

you like the smell of new electronics? if so the very first thing to do is smell the product. put your nose in the vents.

the second thing you need to do is question yourself on why you ordered the 580m when the 7970m is 50% faster?

the very last thing to do is simply instal your software and have fun. there is nothing really "to do". the system comes fully assembled

 

just got my 18x
do you get a hat or shirt ?lol
i got a mouse pad.looks like from reading this topic me picking triple ssd in raid may not have been a wise move..

 

lets put it this way, dell certainly did not lie about the three SSD able to run in sataIII speed, however since one of the port is sataII, your raid 0 of triple drives will be at max sataII speed. so instead of two SSDs in raid 0 at 6gbps which can possibly bring you up to 11-12 gbps, you get three drives at 3gbps each totals of 9gbps max, which is kind of pointless lol.

the only thing you probably get from this is MAYBE lower latency in read/write to the drive which you can also benefit lots from it, but i highly doubt that. best bet is to use intel 520 or other good sandforce SSDs and triple raid them to get max out of the 4K read/write which most program benefits from. two drive raid may get you around 35-40MB/s in 4k read, where as three drive raid even at sataII can get you up to 45MB/s, and if you compare side by side you'll notice the difference.

 

at 1125MB/s max bandwidth (3 x 375MB/s) i highly doubt you would really see any differences unless your bench testing. raiding 2 SSD is already gives insane read/write speeds. but yes at the end of the day the sata2 controller is a limiting factor. well aware that 1 SSD can saturate a sata2 bandwidth. i wouldnt worry 2 much about it unless your trying to extract every performance you can get from them.

 

one ssd would saturate the sequential and sustained read/write, but never the 4k at queue 1 depth which is probably most important and noticeable difference when using window and 90% of the programs.

 

Ah OK nice. Yeah I went for the 3 year warranty as well . Mine ended up being $3356 with the 3 year warranty plus the 24" monitor! You got the monitor for $1 right?

I got less ram and only the 750gb hdd though. And no blue-ray drive, but i was happy with that since 8gb of ram should be enough for me, and I'm going to get a 240gb ssd as soon as I receive my m18x r2. I only ever watched a blue ray movie once on my ps3 just to see the quality and never watched any since, so i figured i probably won't need the blue ray drive upgrade

When is your estimated time of delivery?

Wow how much did your config cost you? You bought your 3 ssds through dell? they charge a hell of a premium for ssds here in AU, around twice as much as what i would pay for at the pc shop.

 

too much my friend but a 5% gift card is coming,got around 300-350$ discount,missed the 15% off gpu upgrade by a day but called back and they
honored it and got a printer free thur a promo.

 

Just order mine yesterday. Can't wait to test that baby out. Got the factory overclock option. Hope that wasn't a waste of $$ as dell told me the bios and heat pipes are different from the non overclock 3920xm.

Did anyone order the 3920xm not factory overclocked?

 

I hope so. They charge quite a premium for something anyone can do for free if they know how.

 

Oh that would be surprising since the last revision had the same
Bios didn't it?

 

Dell lied to him.

Go here:
link

electrosoft has triple pipe plus OC options in BIOS and no factory OC...

 

Ah cheers for that looks like I missed a post :/

 

Ha no worries it's like 6-8 pages back. Tough to navigate into the past very well and the search hasn't been too great.

 

So does your non-factory overclocked CPU have a triple heatpipe or just dual

 

His post did say if he got triple pipes. He said they are interchangeable. Do we know for sure the non-factory overclock 3920xm has 2 or 3 heat pipes. If it has 3 then I was lied to and there will be hell to pay!!

 

=( sad face x10
looks like it'll be another long wait

 

It arrived with a triple pipe heatsink.

The part number internally matches the part number listed on the configuration/order.

It was not an OC model.

This doesn't mean Dell supplies triple heatsinks for XM CPUs regardless of OC status. It just means this is how mine arrived. The price increase for non-OC to OC experienced a substantial increase from the same M18x r1 option.

 

... and so far, we don't know the real reasons behind that substantial (unexplained) increase.

 

We do - profit! LOL

 

My assumption is that the basis for the cost of the factory OC option is that it requires an extra step in the process, and perhaps someone with a different skill set, at minimum additional knowledge, to handle the machine.

 

If that is the reason... I think that Dell has better ways. That's the kind of profit that kill the goose of the golden eggs.

 

Finaly ordered it.............................

Item Number Quantity Item Description

225-2944 1 Alienware M18X R2 - Direct
317-9730 1 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3920XM (8MB Cache, up to 3.8GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
317-9705 1 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz
331-6910 1 English Keyboard, 101 Key, M18X R2
320-3263 1 18.4 inch (467.36 mm) WLED WideFHD (1080p) display (1920 X 1080)
320-3624 1 CrossfireX 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 7970M
342-4399 1 256GB Solid State Drive SATA 6Gb/s
330-6106 1 Personalized Nameplate Trigger
331-2426 1 Custom Nameplate
313-8797 1 AlienFX Color, Terra Green
421-7437 1 AW Command Center M18XR2
421-5789 1 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit Service Pack 1, English, w/Media
318-2318 1 Space Black Anodized Aluminum
410-0548 1 Adobe Acrobat Reader
318-2003 1 Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
421-5106 1 Power DVD 9.6, 3D
318-0770 1 Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
430-4708 1 Intel 2230 Wireless-N
331-6854 1 Alienware M18x 330W A/C Adapter
331-6865 1 Alienware Documentation
331-6858 1 Placement, M18X R2
331-6915 1 Shipping Material, M18X R2
461-8389 1 NO VIRUS PROTECTION REQUESTED
331-6908 1 Resource DVD, M18X R2
331-8045 1 Windows 7 OS Label, Alienware Notebooks
420-9691 1 DataSafe Local BackUp
420-9956 1 PC Restore
421-0092 1 DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG
421-3874 1 Camera Software 2.X, Factory Install
421-4289 1 Dell Support Center Software 3.0
421-7438 1 Quickset, M18X R2
312-1333 1 96WHr 12-Cell Primary Battery
995-6083 1 Dell Hardware Warranty Plus On-Site Service, Initial Year
995-6103 1 In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis, Parts and Labor On-Site Response, Initial Year
951-6520 1 Accidental Damage Service, 1 Year
950-9797 1 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3
421-1719 1 Soft Contracts Consumer Accidental Damage Agreement for Alienware
421-1723 1 Soft Contracts Dell In-Home Hardware Agreement for Alienware
994-3730 1 Warranty Support, Initial Year
421-1586 1 Alienhead Chrome Red
421-1596 1 Alienhead Chrome Red
421-1360 1 Steam and Portal Factory Installed
421-0757 1 Skype VOIP Application
330-5090 1 Thank You for Purchasing AlienWare
A5750525 1 Your Dell Advantage benefits have been applied
* AW:Rayhan

 

I ordered the non overclock and got the same part number (heatpipe) that electrosoft did also.

 

Well I'm a little pissed about this. If you got a triple pipe and didn't pay for it then good for you, but if they flat out lied to and said the heatsinks ar diiferent when they are not then that is not acceptable.

 

If its true they lied to you you should call them and demand your money back on the OC, or a parts upgrade.

 

I agree. This is just dishonest. I just want to get may fax straight before I loose it on a sales rep. If anyone has more info I would appreciate it.

 

can you buy the triple heatpipe and how much is it?
if it helps with the cooling and lowering the temps i would consider puchasing it to upgrade myself even though i dont have the high end CPUs.

 

no need to lose on the rep, to tell you the truth most of them donno. they arent technical enough to know everything. but what they will do is give you false info, lying or not, to get more money out of you.

 

I checked with a contact in Level 3 Engineering on Friday and for the time being it is not available for order on a system not already equipped with it from the factory. This is expected to change and I will order one when the become available. I'll post the info when the time comes.

 

always thought about this so i thought i should ask now, where and how you get contact or contact with level 3 engineering with dell?

 

Alright I have a question I have been going back and forth on for a few days and would like to have your opinion on the matter. I have still not received my M18x that I was supposed to get on the 22nd. I have been think about reordering it with the 3920XM and the killer wireless instead of the 3820QM and Intel 2230 that I have on my current order. Would it be worth it? I plan on keeping this for a while and won’t be trading up anytime soon.

 

From a personal perspective, if I was planning on keeping a machine for a lengthy time (which I am planning on doing, as I don't want to get into the circle of constantly upgrading every 18ths or so to keep up), I would want to have it ordered as futureproofed as possible.

I would also say the XM would be money well spent - the Intel or Killer would be an easy and cheap upgrade at anytime but if you ARE gonna re-order, I would advise getting the strongest configuration you can afford at that time.

You could look at an aftermarket ES or QS cpu (if you can find an IVY ES or QS chip substantially cheaper than buying an OEM chip from Dell - right now, I just looked at a 3920xm quality sample on Ebay and its $1,480usd!!!) but it wouldnt be covered under your warranty and it can also have adverse effects with Dell and how they treat/diagnose/help any future issues that may arise with your machine.

Bottom line, get as strong a specification as you can afford, as much warranty as you can afford and sit back and enjoy money well spent.

 

Also I was wondering if the 3 or 4 year advanced warranty is worth it.

 

I would say 10000% YES! - you are spending alot so you want the best cover possible and Dell's warranty is second to none.....I dont know of any other company that would replace your machine, if it died in two and a half years time, with the current equivalent system at that point.

 

I have done the same thing...I have changed my order(Cancel and reorder)for 3920XM from 3820QM only because I am planning to mild overclock and Factory install cooling(Three heat Pipes)....now if you don't planning to overclock CPU then just stick with your 3820QM.........I have Core i7 995XE for my Desktop(Built)whichone is overclock to 4.5GHZ from default 3.6GHZ...........I don't belive in bragging but if you wants the best get it now then later..you wouldn't be regreat..........

 

A foxy fox will never reveal all of his paths... or else he will get catched by the greyhounds out there...

Seriously: Every single penny! Don't even hesitate on it!

 

Direct access to Level 3 is not available to the general public, nor is Level 2 support. End user contact comes only through internal escalation or triage of unresolved issues.

 

Just a question for fellow M18x owners. Do you think it's a good idea to invest in a mechanical gaming keyboard for my AW? My main reason is that I'm kinda harsh with keys, especially when gaming. I just want to know if it's a good investment or not.

 

Probably a good idea if your usage pattern allows for an external keyboard. If you're not used to it, buy an inexpensive USB keyboard first, (like a $10 Wal-Mart cheapy,) that way if you decide an external keyboard is not what you want you haven't already blown a big wad of cash.

Using an external mechanical keyboard would be inconvenient if you use your laptop for mobility more than sitting on a desk, but it would keep wear down to a minimum on your integrated keyboard.

 

Anyone have the Bios Mod to unlock everything on the new M18X R2? let me know please if this exists, thanks!

 

Thanks for the input Mr. Fox.

I actually plan on using the external keyboard for home so that I can preserve the integrated keyboard for mobility. There are some small mechanical keyboards that I'm looking at. The sizes are just right and they aren't that bulky to bring. I'm just trying to find out if it's a reasonable move on my part.

 

just got my baby today!! cant wait to play around with it! however, question, are degrees of around 50-55 normal for around 15% load? Had IC diamond installed, but not sure if it was a bad paste job

update to my last post, just ran the heaven benchmark, and the black strip near the power button feels very hot to touch! the processor maxed out at 78 degrees, not sure about gpu though. Should i be worried? D:

 

Temps are ok........you might try on external cooler to bring it down little

 

sounds about right. however mine stays around at 70C with hwinfo manual fan control. i dont rely on drivers too much.

 

I have a couple mechanical keyboards - the Razor Black Widow Ultimate and the Corsair K60. The K60 is pretty compact (in comparison to the Razor) but still of standard size. I prefer the Razor by far, but the Corsair is pretty good. I've heard a lot of good things about the Steelseries 6Gv2.

 

Anybody manualy overclock 3920XM(Non OC Version)yet?

 

Thanks! The gpu was 78 too, is that normal?

 

Can I ask one of you lucky M18x R2 owners...

Does this model have the expresscard slot in it? I have found a couple of places that don't list it in the specs.

 

yes it has expressslot, im not so sure about the R2 but i think its still there. design didnt change much so it should still be there. as for the GPU temp, 78 sounds about right for doing benchmark, i would max my fan with hwinfo to keep it under 75 though.

also 680m release date was suppose to be june1st donno if thats changed. cant wait till see the spec and clock speed of it. hopefully its something that can challenge nvidia =D