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

Orded mine last week can not wait ,delivered Tuesday next week almost drooling

1 V510491AU-Alienware M18XR2 1 3rd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3720QM Processor (2.6GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.6GHz, 6MB Cache)
18.4" (46.73 cm) WLED WideFHD (1080p) display (1920 X 1080)
1 Space Black Anodized Aluminum 1 Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 Label 1 Alienware M18x (R2)
Dell Wirelesss 380 Bluetooth Drivers 1 Killer(TM) Wireless-N Drivers
Windows® 7 Professional 64bit (English)

Slot Load Fixed Blu-ray BD-ROM / DVD + /-RW Combo Drive
16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM (4x4GB)
1TB 5400RPM Hard Drive 1 RAID 0 (Striped Disk Array)
1TB 5400RPM 2nd Hard Drive
AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7970M 2GB GDDR5 CrossFireX(TM)
Killer(TM) Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming & Video

 

Gratz,, you got an amazing deal, I wish I can get the same deal.

 

waiting for a call from a dell rep, to order the 3pipe heatsink cost appearently is 20 bucks without tax and shipping for item number 0MXJ5
does this sound right? sounds too cheap and too good to be true, however i asked if it came with the stock TIM, he said you can buy that from us seperate, maybe he meant a tube, and infact it does have the factory square tim chunk already there.

 

yeah, it costs for about 20$ that's true. Stock TIM would be here by default

 

well gonna order one today, 3720 @ 40/39/38/38 and getting 90c or so during gaming just isn't gonna cut it for me, so hopefully with the new heatsink it'll be in the low 80s high 70s

 

So this is my first post and first day on notebookreview.com I joined because every google search I did brought me here anyway lol
Based in Australia, I went ahead and bought a refurbished m14x r2 from the Dell outlet, it said only a few minor scratches. It turned up and looked great but the sound and video crackles and distorts like mad which made me worry about the creative drivers or the hd4000 etc then every visual effect or game I 'try' to play is in slow motion so I assume that could be a faulty graphics card, I then noticed a group of dead pixels in the middle of the screen so lots of issues straight away. Dell are sending out a Tech to fix it all next week so hopefully it will all work out but here's the catch, the day after I bought the m14x r2 I had trigger finger and bought a NEW m18x r2 that popped up on the Outlet for half the price it costs to build with Dell, it has gtx 675m sli I know it isn't as powerful as the gtx 680m or the 7970m but it is a lot more powerful than my Asus g74sx that cost the same. I never thought I could afford an Alienware and now I am going to have 2! lol So because of all of the problems with the m14x r2 and doing a google search on the m18x r2 and seeing many problems I am just really hoping I made the right decision it is brand new though unlike the m14x r2. Do you think I will have problems with gtx 675m sli are there any tips you can give me? Should I download the drivers from dells website or get the latest intel drivers from intel?

Here are the specs, I'm excited but worried at the same time.

DFO (NEW) Alienware M18x Laptop 3rd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3720QM Processor (2.6GHz
with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.6GHz, 6MB Cache); 16GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM (4x4GB); 2 x 500GB
7200RPM Hard Drive; Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 64bit (English); Slot Load Fixed Blu-ray BDROM
/ DVD + /-RW Combo Drive; Integrated 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet NIC; NVIDIA(R)
SLI(R) - 2GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 675M; FullHD Camera with dual digital microphones; 12-
cell Primary Battery; Killer(TM) Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming & Video; 18.4" (46.73 cm)
WLED WideFHD (1080p) display (1920 X 1080); Nebula Red Anodized Aluminum; 1 Year
2,271.82
12 Months Warranty
Australian price which I think is a bargain considering here the Asus G75 with one gtx675m costs 2500

Also, is it possible to upgrade the GTX 675ms with 680ms? I read somewhere that it wasn't possible because the 675ms use more power and require a different chipset or something? Is this true?

Many thanks

 

Most of the problems you've heard of or read about the m18x R2, was related to the 7970M systems, some work fine some are a nightmare, its hit or miss, most nvidia 600m series cards seem to be having very few issues right now... the 675's in SLI should be roughly equal to a 7970, since the 675's are rebranded 580m's.
Either way, your system will kick butt! only thing you gotta do is open it up and enjoy! make sure everything runs properly before anything!

And as far as Drivers, dells drivers are about the best you are going to find right now, there is another driver that is currently being tested, but i'd say you should let them work out the kinks if any before just installing them. end of story Dells are the best in my opinion.

 

Thanks a lot for your response You have put my mind at ease. I am quietly optimistic that It won't be faulty out of the box and reading about all of these upgrades and replacements, I shouldn't have a problem if it is.

I will dodge the driver disc (all but the killer driver) and go straight for the latest ones from dell after the windows updates have finished.

I did really want to wait for the gtx 680ms in SLI but I just couldn't say no to the price, it worked out about 1800 cheaper than if I were to build it myself and that isn't even with the 680ms.

I am aware how good it will be because I didn't have any problems with 1 gtx560m in my old Asus so this is a big step up and really exciting. I feel like I'm 12 years old again on Christmas day haha

Do you know if it is possible in the future to upgrade the GTX 675m to 680ms? If I purchase 3 year warranty and have problems in a couple of years do you think they will upgrade me to the 680ms or whatever is about by then? as they are the next step in the chain.

Just new to all of this,

Cheers!

 

Hello, welcome to NBR.

Yes, it is possible to put two GTX 680M in there.
As for the replacement parts, that's completely up to Dell. Who knows, your system might hold that long without needing any servicing.

 

7970 is much better than the 675's/580, Its just under the 680m.. Thats if you get them to work correctly like mine.

Just sayin...

 

Excellent thanks Is that a service Dell offers? Or is there a place to buy mobile GPUS? I wouldn't be planning to do it for the next year or two anyway but it's good to know I can.

--

Yep, the power of the 7970m is not doubted. I went for the 675m sli because I got a bargain and considered any future problems if they arise could result in an upgrade which would be great. Looking at past posts the trend seems to be 580m gets upgraded to 675m and 6970m gets upgraded to 7970m so with a bit of luck the 675m in a year or so will be upgraded to 680m because If I have problems I paid for Nvidia and I would expect them to keep me on Nvidia.


One thing I am not sure about is obviously because I didn't choose my build I got a red m18x r2 what are all of your thoughts on the red one? lol

 

I love the red, i however opted for the black because it was instock and ready to ship that day at hidevolution, and im as impatient as a 12 year old girl on christmas LOL wait a second, i'm a guy... oh nvm...

 

haha, I think the black looks slick but if only they did a pink one!

 

I had a red m18xr2 for about 3 weeks before returning it and getting my black replacement. The red is nice but kind of flashy for me. The black case also looks good with any FX lighting , the red kind of clashed with certain FX colors in my opinion.

 

probably waiting for R3, and just get 7970m replacing 6990m in my R1. already went ahead replaced dual copper heatsink to a triple, pretty good so far.

 

Yeah except later I received an email from dell

" Dear Customer,

Unfortunately we’re unable to process your Dell Order as the product you have ordered is no longer available.

You have not been charged for this order. "

pisses me off because I spent hours refreshing and finally found one with 7970s.

 

I agree but then I'm pretty flash lol To be honest it looks just like the Star Trek shirt. It should go with my The Flash belt buckle but not so much my Batman one though.. lol

That reeeally sucks. Did you get an order confirmation? I would be on the phone appealing. If you made payment it is classified as consideration in a legally binding contract, they can't just cancel the order. You may just get one without the scratch and dent now if you choose to pursue it. Just because they are a big company doesn't mean you don't have rights

 

Yep got a confirmation right after I payed.

"================================================================================
DELL USADell Outlet
================================================================================
Order Acknowledged
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This e-mail is an acknowledgement of receipt of your Dell Order.

Within 24 hours, you should receive an Order Confirmation e-mail that will contain your
Estimated Delivery Date, your customer number and your order number(s)."

Dunno maybe I can get a quote for a new one with like 20% off or something. I'd rather have 680s but I would have been fine with 7970s at that price.

 

I wanted 680ms too but got a new one with 675ms come up in the outlet because it was an offer I couldn't refuse. Considering the asus g75 with one gtx670m is the same price. Never had a sli setup so I hope it all goes straight forward and works. Do you know if I have to change any settings? Or should sli just be working when it arrives?.

You should definitely get a new one with the same specs for the same price or like you say maybe a discount on a new one with 680ms but that's up to them. You are now entitled to what you ordered at least and I doubt they will scratch and dent it for you lol. I'd be so angry if that happened to me and I wouldn't settle.

 

most of the time SLI isn't enabled, but it should upon starting and loading, nvidia control panel will detect sli and give you an option to enabling it, otherwise enabling it is as easy as right clicking your desktop and choosing NV control panel and clicking set SLI configuration and enable sli and reboot

 

5 days from home to the 'Stan, can't complain about that huh?

No battery with it, having to ship that separately via Fed Ex or DHL, but I was able to plug it in and fire it up. It's in excellent condition considering that it's a Refurb, this is based on a quick overview, haven't really had a chance to dig into it yet.

Did open it up, definitely not set up to work on as easily as the 17 is that's for sure, was able to find the 2nd HDD caddy, now I have to figure out how to get it out without removing the ribbon cable from the MB.

2 different manufacturers of memory in it, total of 6GB. Ordered 8GB (2 X 4GB of Kingston Hyper X) for it along with a Samsung 830 256gb SSD, will relegate the 500gb that it came with to storage duties for now.

Looking forward to getting it back to the room tonight and getting some testing done on it.

 

A refurb R2 eh? I'd hazard a guess that you paid less $$$ for it than I did £££ I'm sure you'll enjoy it no less though!

 

$2468 delivered to my house. $48.70 additional getting it to Afghanistan less the battery.

 

FedEx sucks! Delivery exception!

 

Allow me to say hello to everyone. I ordered an m18x yesterday and hope to have it in hand the first week of September.

Some of you may recognize my name from the Clevo/Sager P270wm owners thread. I had been patiently waiting for Clevo to do something since February, as I intended to purchase their latest beast. But my current Asus G71G has been acting up recently and I decided I needed to pull the trigger sooner rather than wait for Clevo to pull their thumb out of their butt.

I have steered clear of Alienware for quite some time, mostly because of the cost. But the rep I spoke with yesterday who was able to provide an offer that was too good to refuse. I ended up knocking $500 off the config I put together, as well as a backpack included for free.

I am looking forward to discussions with fellow owners in the coming weeks.

 

So I just realized I don't have the typical Windows 7 Ultimate sticker with the serial key on it on my laptop.

Is this normal now? I used the provided Windows 7 disk that came with the system to do a re-install of the OS on SSDs so they have the serial alredy written in.

Or is the sticker hiding some place else?

m18x r2

Thanks Guys.

 

Mine is inside my battery compartment, but I figured maybe that was because it is a refurb. My service tag is on the bottom outside of the case along with the green REFURB tag. Maybe yours is in the battery compartment as well and it's not just a refurb thing.

 

Thanks SlimShady.

I will check when I get home.

Stay safe out there fellow brother in arms.

 

Yeah mine is under the battery too (not a refurb)

 

I'm glad to hear they are putting them there. That's a smart place to put them so they don't get damaged. Plus, you can replace the bottom cover without losing the COA and other labels. I wish they would have thought of that with the M18x R1. What's very silly (and rather ugly) is putting the other stickers on the right side of the palm rest. I don't get that at all. Removing them would be one of the first things I would do. I provided feedback about how tacky that is (pun intended) when they started doing it and my impression was they agreed and planned to stop it.

 

Fed Ex delivered my M18xR2 today....so that make mean official Alienware guy I guess huh? Went with the black case, seems stealthy. I'm really enjoying it so far. Hopefully I wont have any issues.

 

hardware have way too much stuff inside and tbh anything can easily go wrong, could have something happening right now without you knowing. thing is this machine will be a beast if its stable, probably wont find another laptop as good as alienware imo. if hardware starts to go trippy, dont give up and try to get it fixed as much as possible before returning it or selling it.

 

hi guys... I recieved my brand new customized m18x r2 last week. Specs are : intel 3920XM, Ati 7970m Crossfire, 8gb memory and 2x 500gb sata HD in raid0 as storage with 120gb vertex 4 SSD for bootdrive.

Im concern about my 3920xm CPU temperature. In stock, idle is at 48-52 C but in full load using prime95, its goes as high as 88 C after 10 mins. my room temperature / ambience is 79- 80 F (about 27 C ?). I ordered the 3920XM with NO factory overclock. Is this temperature NORMAL?

Does extreme ivy cpu have a different Heatsink than regular NON extreme cpu?
How do I know if my 3920xm heatsink is triple or double copper without taking it apart?

 

Can't help you with knowing which heatsink it is but can tell you that 88 is nothing to be concerned about.

 

Look at the middle vent and if you see copper (heatsink fins) that means you have a 3 pipe, if you see aluminum then its a 1 pipe.
Use a flashlight if you need to.
You should have a 3 pipe heatsink assuming there was no error at the factory.

For 27C ambient I'd say your temps looks fine even if they are somewhat high, did you prop up the back end of the laptop ? that will help with temps by a few degree.

 

hi.. what do you mean prop up the back end of the laptop? I do have my laptop on top of my CM SF-19 cooler is that the same?

Out of curiousity, I called dell customer care and told them about this temperature issue and they arrange to send me a tech on Friday with brand new CPU and Heatsink. I really dont want to have anyone opening up my brand new m18x if it isnt necessary.

I also tried Overclocking it on level 3 40/40/40/40 and flex Vid set to 0. CPU temp went as high as 97 after 10 mins on prime95. so NO everclocking for me with this CPU/heatsink as it is.

Im In California and its pretty hot here this summer, Got my AC on 80F 24/7 so i dont know if that has something to do with it.

I got 2 days before the tech from dell come over and opened up my brand new m18x r2, should I even have him replace my 3920m and heatsink at all?

thanks for the reply guys

 

that will give you similar temps yes, I have the same cooler and it is not that great for the m18x but it get the temps down to about the same level as raising the back end of the laptop with a book (or something else).

that seems higher then what most are getting with an XM cpu, did you manage to get a look at the heatsink fins via the middle vent ? does it looks like copper or alu ? I'm thinking they might have shipped you the wrong heatsink (I recall this happening to at least 2 users from this forum)

To compare (not sure how useful that is though ...) with my setup I get a max of 82C under prime95 after 30min with a room temp of ~24 with my 3720QM at 40/39/38/38 with a 2 pipe heatsink.

 

yes i just look at the heatsink fins in the middle and it looks cooper (brown) and the 2 on the sides looks (white) aluminum ( both GPU ).

I'm at 26 C (78 F) right now in my room and running prime95 now for 10 mins with max temp at 86 C. All setting is stock with NO overclock. I think this is too hot for this CPU.. no room for overclocking with this high temp.

 

Yes, I think having your AC set to 80°F is part of the problem. That ambient temperature is just too warm for good overclocking results. Why so hot when you have AC? Trying to save money on the utility bill, or personal preference? That would be far too hot for my liking, so I'm sure your CPU is not happy. If you did not have the 3-pipe heat sink your temps would be much higher than that and you would likely be experiencing a problem with thermal shutdown.

 

its personal preference. 80F is actualy a bit cool for me already as anything lower ill freeze lol.

Regarding warranty... Im thinking about extending my 1yr accidental damage warranty. I can afford either an extra Two years Basic Next Day Onsite after Remote Diagnosis or just another One year Basic Next Day Onsite after Remote Diagnosis but with Accidental Damage Service. What would you recommend? Both will cost me the same at $344.12

Does this additional warranty gets more expensive as I get closer to my end date or stays the same?
Anybody tried and succeded on price negotiation (over the phone)for extended warranty after the laptop has been purchased?

 

Hey again guys,

So i got both my GTX580m replaced last month, the system been running smoothly for a month, then BAM i got bluescreen again

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 116
BCP1: FFFFFA800FBA1010
BCP2: FFFFF8800FFA6AC4
BCP3: 0000000000000000
BCP4: 0000000000000002
OS Version: 6_1_7600
Service Pack: 0_0
Product: 256_1

Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Windows\Minidump\082312-16894-01.dmp
C:\Users\Ivander\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-21824-0.sysdata.xml

Read our privacy statement online:
Windows 7 Privacy Statement - Microsoft Windows

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt

I really dont get it, i do fresh windows install, do the 296.10, but no luck
what do you think gone wrong guys?

Bluescreens whenever I used any application that requires high load of Graphics, this happens doesnt matter im on SLI or not

I am so pissed with the Alienware Support that they only says will call me back tomorrow X(

do you think it's the motherboard? i can't seem to find any explanation of this

 

I've been hearing this kind of hissing too on the original board and the one I replaced today (due to some other issue). IMO this is highly dependent on how sensitive/accurate your headphones are. Now, my tests today:

some Nokia bluetooth headset headphones - no hissing/no noise
Razer Chimaera 5.1 - no hissing/no noise
Denon AH-C710 - audible hissing/noise (kinda crispy)
Monster Turbine Gold Pro - audible hissing/noise (less crispy but then Denon feat. more vivid mid range)
Audio Technica ATH-CK100 - audible hissing/mid level noise

 

Thanks for taking the time to test all them out mate! Glad I'm not the only one with this annoying issue (& a big selection of headphones :thumbsup Does anyone know how we can get the engineering team to look into this?

 

I don't think it's the mobo...the BCCode relates to the video drivers/gpu drivers. Maybe you got a corrupted download. I would re-download a fresh version of 296.10, do a full uninstallation of the current 296.10 drivers with a CClean/DriverSweep and try re-installing the freshly downloaded drivers.

 

I agree with Steve. That would be my first attempt at correcting it.

 

Dell technician is here taking apart my 1 week new m18x r2 to replace the Heatsink ackkk.. I looked at the heatsink and it does have the 3 pipe copper. I hope this replacement fixes the high temperature.

If this fix works out, Im definitely buying and extended 2 more years warranty. I dont understand why so much rants about dell customer service, they seems to be awesome.

I tried blasting my AC last night and hit 74 F ( 23 C? )then run prime 95 again. CPU temperature went to 87 C after 15 mins... everything on factory default setting with NO overclock. Im also using a CM sf-19 cooler.

It hurts seeing my beast getting rip into pieces I tell you.

 

Wow, those are some high temps... I figure anything over 80 Celsius is destruction.

 

i wouldnt do anything thats over 75C imo, when at 70C i would just max my fan.

 

Wow, those are low temperature expectations for an XM CPU. I guess overclocking is not in either of your plans, because those temps will be exceeded in normal use scenarios at stock clock speeds in a warm work environment. Most Intel CPUs shut down at ~100°C to prevent damage. If the spec truly needed to be lower than that, it would be.

So, how did it turn out Brother jethsmart?

 

Hey Guys thanks alot for the answer, I tried your solution stevie, still doesnt work, i called the dell technincian and we did some stupid tests, like running 3d mark vantage -.- where i clearly tell them that if i ran anything that uses the graphic card heavily it will blue screened, still with dell connect they want to try
and guess what
it blue screened.

even with 296.10 with driver sweeper still doesnt work.

disabling SLI seems to be not working either.

so they proceed with sending me with one primary GPU GTX 580m,

I really hope that this will at least buy me another year without problems :O