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

This is a normal function of these processors to underclock when speed isn't needed for power and heat. The desktop versions do it too, just not to the same degree. Run cpu-z with a windowed game or prime and she will show her listed speeds. Absolutely nothing wrong with your computer.

 

That's sad. I think the flagship model would have deserved that excellent manual, regardless if it is R1 or R2.

 

I also received no hat and no leather manual. I've read this from several other r2 owners as well.

 

Cutting corners... always smells bad... hopefully they would not do the same with the hardware ( which still shows the lacks of a sistemic / sistematic QC)

 

There are manuals available through the first page of this thread. Personally, I'd much rather that they not give me more things to end up having to throw away in a few years, and, instead, put the savings in that department towards optimized performance.

 

Agree, we don't need those "gifts" (like hats)... I too hope they will "put the savings" in the department of QC!

 

Hi guys.
Just received my m18x r2.
I opted for the 8gb 1866mhz memory but for some reason in alien autopsy its showing 1333mhz...really dont understand...the brand is kingston and the model no is the same as 1866 according to dells model no.. also cpuz was showing speed of around 666... Did they install the rong memory..is there anyway i can check by scanning my system.. the part no i get is
xxp4xh-hyb..... do i need to install xmp software or something???? when i scanned the system from cruical it stated that memory is pc12800 which means its 1600.... please help out meanwhile will speak to dell... thank alot

Btw editing the post checked from inside and i could find 2 1866 module by removing the bottom plate.... This means the ram is underperforming or maybe performs according to consumption... My windows score for ram is 7.7

 

Just posted on the same. You have 1333mhz ram if cpu-z is showing 666mhz....time to call Dell and get it sorted as they gave you the wrong ram.

EDIT: just had a thought - if its not HyperX plug and play, you very well may have to go into bios and select an XMP profile to enable the faster ram speed. afaik, Dell didnt provide the option to configure with a specific brand of ram so i assume you got your machine from another reseller - maybe HIDevolution or some other vendor that allows you to specify your modules.

 

Does anyone else feel gaming on the laptop keyboard kind of awkward? Like its to high up? Or is it just me?

 

Thanks for the reply..
Ill check in bios if thr is an option for xmp. Bought the system from dell. First i thought that they gave me the wrong ram but when i opened the system to install a new ssd i had a glance at the ram aswell and it clearly stated that its kingston 1866.. i think maybe 1866 is not supported just like the confusion of the tripple hdd option of raids as one port is sata 2... Ill call dell to clarify... Plus there is no option of 1333 mhz ram in m18x r2 in the US..btw sata 3 samsung rocks got 400+kb without raid.

EDIT.... IM SO STUPID YOIR RIGHT ITS THE XMP PROFILE I HAVE TO SET IN THE BIOS, BY DEFALT ITS 1333 MHZ SPEED AND THEN YOU HAVE 2 MORE OPTIONS OF 1600 AND 1866. As its not pnp... this is the info i found on the net so will check tomorrow in bios and will confirm

 

I thought as much. I had the older HyperX at one point and had to set it in Bios to XMP 2 to get it to run at its highest speed. Seems whomever supplied your laptop didnt issue you with PnP ram - maybe something you could take up with them as I would hate to have paid for something that I didnt get.....

 

It's likely because the keyboard is higher up than you've been used to in the past, if you haven't used a thick laptop like these before. You'll get used to it.

 

I agree. Also, I find that my Notepal U3 cooler makes things much more comfortable as it raises the back of the laptop to produce a more ergonomic typing position - better for using the KB for gaming. The U3 is nice and thin at the front (maybe 2-5mm) so it doesnt elevate the front of the machine much, leaving my wrists are at the same kinda level as they would be without my machine being on a cooler.

 

Just noticed new Bios on Dell driver website, dated 14 June, it says urgent and apparently gives improved fan control, Thought we passed that station while back. Has anyone tried it yet and notice anything worthwhile?

Disregard, just noticed thread on this subject on the next page. Apologies

 

Okay so i checked bios for xmp profile and tried profile 1 and 2 but the memory is still clocking at 1333.... I didnt change the voltage which is 1.5..... Any ideas how i can get it to overclock at 1866...its really annoying as the system came with 1866 buit they have not configured it... Called dell but there tech support sucks... I also changed te speed to 1866 but that didnt help... Doesnt the profile change the voltage etc settings? I read on kinston genesis spec sheet that voltage needs to be 1.65 and cycle shd be 9-11-9.. not sure about the cycle but sure about the voltage..... When u set urs to xmp2 did u change any other settings? Thanks for the help

 

When I had the "non" PnP stuff, all i did was go int obios, select the relevatn XMP profile and save & exit. Didnt do any voltage changes as the profile was enough.

DId you save & exit the changes in bios?

 

thats funny cause when i ran cpu-z and prime it only went to 3.358MHz or 3.4 Ghz...so they are definitely locking it down to extend life for warranty concerns...plus tech support saw it too and issued me an exchange then when I received the new machine..it wasnt mine...or what I ordered...when I called they said too bad and that I cant get it replaced..I said but you sent me someone else's machine, they didnt care and next thing I know I got a inbox message telling me to return both machines under two seperate RMA's and that they cancelled the order and if I didnt do what I was told they would charge me additional 4000.00 USD for the machine..So i was forced to comply...now I have nothing...BTW i noticed in bios a multi of 12 that the 3820 defaulted to...should be 27 as per white paper of that proc and per every single company selling 3820's as an upgrade that base clock is 2.7GHz not 1.1GHz

 

So DHL from HIDevolution to my country took 2.5 days for my m18x stock config with 7970m crossfires.

I have a single bright pixel on the bottom right of the screen. Initially was thinking of bringing it to my local Dell dealership for an exchange, but was told that m18x is not sold in my city, and that a replacement would involve shipping and waiting time from the United States of 6-8 weeks minimum. And as it's a 1 time consignment order, no guarantee that the new replacement would have no dead pixels.

So I'm going to live with that one dead pixel, not that big of a deal for me.

Absolutely stunning build quality, a mammoth machine! Stunning piece of hardware, I snarl at all the thin and sleek form factor laptops that are the rage now. Go big or go home! Best $2400 I've spent in a long while!

 

Thanks for the reply steve... I did save and exit but didnt have time to thoroughly test it so will get back to u in the near future after examining it thoroughly...

 

Just received mine.

Without having to trawl all the threads, could anyone tell me - am I best just sticking with the supplied drivers for now?

 

another new owner like me! If everything works, no reason to update drivers.

That being said, I updated my ATI GPU drivers to 12.6, works without a hitch thus far.

 

is there a way to disable the screen notification on the r2??
the problem is that i usually use (caps Botton) to walk in my first person shooting games, and that annoying sing of caps on and caps off makes my games minimize...... please help

 

Anyone know how to download and install the dell dock software on the dell site - I had it pre installed on my m18x before, but when I download from the dell site it just say error - only for dell pc!

 

You mean this? The Dell Dock, by Stardock : Powered by ObjectDock

 

Might give those a try then. Although technically things like Crysis and BF3 have high frame rates they don't seem to play as smoothly as I was used to with my GTX675 if that makes sense.

There are a few hiccups with Crysis 2 with flickering and lighting problems.

Awesome bit of kit though.

Did you download them from the ATI site?

 

i want to update the firmware on my SSds. My drives are in RAID0. OCZ toolbox does not see them. i will need to remove them and put in my PC to update the firmware. will that break the stripe?

 

Yep, I downloaded 12.6 directly from the ATI website. That being said, the only game I play regularly on the M18x is Diablo 3, which doesn't even run in crossfire mode; a single 7970m maxes it out at 100fps.

Looks like it's time for me to get me some BF3 and figure out which drivers are optimal for the 7970m's.

 

I'm quite sure it will but some of the newer OCZ firmware aren't "destructive" depend on the model and from which firmware version you are upgrading

FYI: diablo3 does run in crossfire. I have ~25% gpu usage on each gpu according to afterburner.

 

Hey Stevie, yes that's the one.


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the wait for 680m sli pricing to come out is killing me

 

Doesnt it work for you, Bro?

 

Finally got my laptop working properly, and finally got a chance to play some games on it.

Bloody hell, this thing is incredible.

I've only had chance to quickly test BF3's campaign so far, but maxed out and with 2x AA it was running at 80-100 FPS. It pulls off a minimum of 40FPS on The Witcher 2 maxed out (excluding Ubersampling). Obviously these aren't proper benchmarks, but there's no doubt this thing is powerful. This seems to be an order of magnitude quicker than my previous system when it comes to graphics.

The screen is awesome, having a laptop with an aluminium exterior is great, the quality of sound from my headphones seems to be much better, and the cooling system is fantastic.

I'm in awe. I can't wait to spend an entire summer playing games on this thing.

Just one thing, is there any way to use the mSATA SSD to both boot and cache? If I partition the drive, can I use the second partition as a cache in Intel SRT?

EDIT: I do have one small problem, the clock seems to be going bonkers. After playing a game for an hour or so earlier, the clock had jumped to the year 2019. Anyone has any idea what could be causing that? Could it be malware? Or perhaps an indication that I have a faulty CMOS battery?

 

Hi, I just reinstalled Windows 7 on my new M18x r2, but I have found a driver named Intel DPTF Driver on dell drivers download. The problem is I get a 404 not found when I am trying to download it. Is this driver really important at the moment? Will my system work porperly without it?

Edit: Ok, I can see my two 7970m in Device Manager, but there nowere I can enable CFX in my CCC... I ran a 3dmark11 and I got a 6500 score :S and CFX was off. How can I enable it without CCC? BTW I have CCC from dell drivers download.

 

lol maybe this is one of the reason i choose to wait for 7990m. stuff like this always happen regardless of what hardware. if its new, its bound to get some problems.

 

Well, I just installed 12.6 beta and I can now enable CFX, but I still don't know what DPTF does and if I need it.

 

If CFX isn't working from you, try this:

I just did the registry change (still on stock Dell drivers) and CFX seems to be working now in most games I play.

 

No, I try to install and it comes up with an error message 'for Dell machines only'. Which is a little odd.


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Have you tried getting it from My Dell Downloads (aka SmartSource) ...... might work, just register if you havent already and see if you can grab it from over there...

 

Massively disappointed with the Crysis 2 performance. From my experience ATI cards have always been crap with Crysis, and I'm experiencing exactly the same problems now as I did with my 5850 xfire set-up and the original Crysis. High frame rates generally, but stutters every now and again, and generally not feeling smooth, even when registering as being 60+ fps in fraps.

The cards have handled everything else I've thrown at them with ease, including BF3 on Ultra and everything maxed out, and Crysis 1/Warhead. It's just Crysis 2 that's the problem. My GTX 675 actually gave me a more enjoyable experience.

One section in particular, quite early on, which just involves walking through a plastic tunnel is in the region of 19/20 FPS. Firing into water also brings the cards to their knees.

Have tried every drivers available, including the 12.7 betas that went out yesterday, and no improvements.

Wish I'd held on for the 680s, and probably won't go with ATI again. Just always the same old story for me.

 

simple, when playing crysis 2 or 1 which ever it is, use single 7970m instead of crossfire. a single 7970m would out do 675m SLI so theres no reason for you to get super worked up over this. micro stutters happen in both ATI/nvidia graphics in crossfire/sli, theres probably no way around it unless some super driver released.

 

It's not Micro stuttering, It's more like it's a texture load issue. And using a single 7970 doesn't help - it has exactly the same issue. It's just annoying that over the years I've had equal amounts of both cards - probably 15 of each, but always get issues with ATI. Every time I tell myself never again, but always fall foul to impressive benchmarks, rather than real time playing.

 

maybe ask for replacement? if this issue occur so many times to you surely some other people would encounter the same problem. i havent hear much about this though.

 

so.. 680m is out and sli for 1100 dollars =/

 

Though it was $850? EDIT: well its IS $850 if you click through the promotions link: http://www.alienware.com/Landings/promotions.aspx

 

I checked a few minutes ago and it showed $1,100. Yikes...those better be awesome cards (performance and stability/reliability-wise).

Edit: Maybe it depends on your starting point...

 

I sold my M18x

i wanted to say goodbye to you good folks. hopefully ill be back. i will see you all in the other sections of the forums

 

I think people turn a blind eye to be honest! There are vids on youtube showcasing Crysis 2 - yet they demonstrate exactly the same problem, somehow it goes unmentioned though.

It doesn't make the game unplayable, it's just frustrating.

 

or maybe your standard is too high lol. i do understand u expect everything to work so well cause of such expensive machine, but im used to play games on lowest settings with like 10-15 fps with integrated mobile graphics card so such things dont really bother me, maybe thats why i think of those mini spikes as something thats suppose to be there.

and tbh im a competitive gamer so i still play old old games on these new graphics card =/ games like lemmings, starcraft1, warcraft3 and cs 1.6 =D

 

Yeah, that is half the problem. I get suckered into the tech side, and spend too much time worrying about frame rates etc rather than just enjoying the games. It's why I wen't for a high end laptop rather than building another desktop. Seems theres no escaping for me!

 

Tried it with no joy. Funnily enough you can install Nero through Alien Autopsy - Nero and Dell Staye are offered for free in the options when purchasing. Must be somewhere, I'll ask them.

Meanwhile....I was overclocking my 3960xm using the dell step settings in the bios......and the motherboard blew when I restarted.... .....

To say I don't believe it is an understatement. Dell have it as a known issue and have new parts being flown in.....trouble is wont reach until next week....

I've alerted the desktop review community as there are bound to be other casualties.

Dam, no gaming this weekend. The wife will think I'm up to something not being on the pc. I can't tell her it's bust again, I get enough flack as it is!


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Alienware Aurora R4, i7 3960xm o/c 4.2ghz, 8gb 2133mhz ram, nvidia gtx 680 sli, blue ray, Samsung 830 512gb ssd / seagate 1tb 7200rpm hdd, aw2310 3d monitor - stock 3dmark11 - p16116