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

I hope yours shows up soon!!!! I havent turned on my 580 GTX SLI's, watercooled desktop since I go this thing. I think it might be faster then my desktop......

 

So ... I placed my order ...

Black, Intel 3940XM, nVidia 680SLI, 16 GB RAM, 512 SDD & 1 TB HDD, BR Player, Intel WLAN & 3 years Service ...

I should get it 23. or before ... now the long, long waiting time starts ...

 

Nice machine, Mythbuster One!

 

Still no tracking number from Dell. However my package "attempted" to show up at my house today. Everyone was home and up and I apparently missed the delivery. Now I must wait until Tuesday and I am extremely pissed off. -__-;;

 

Same here. Very frustrating to say the least.

Does anyone have a suggestion other than USB?

Thanks.

Joe

 

A doubt who bought a new factory with the adhesive 3940xm processor is the extreme black or blue come standard is not the extreme

 

A fantastic choice! Congrats!

 

Didn't know where to ask this but why do I have an "Apps" folder in C? C:\Apps. What is it for? Using Windows 7 Home Premium if that helps.

 

The owner's lounge is always a good place to ask random questions like this.

Apparently, something you installed created that folder. What's inside the Apps folder? Simply looking might answer that question. It's not part of Windows 7 and I haven't seen it on my Windows 7 installations.

 

^ It is empty. I installed IE10. Would that create it?

 

Assuming you have Windows set to show all files, including hidden/system files, try deleting it and see if you get an error message that it is in use and cannot be deleted. It's not hurting anything being left there. If it comes back after deleting it, then something you have installed is causing it to be automatically recreated. Check what programs are running at startup and that might provide some clues as well.

Looks like someone else had the same question at one point in time. See here: lost folder c:\apps ?

I don't think it is for IE10, but it might be some third-party toolbar, browser helper crap, or something you installed with IE10. It's hard to know for sure.

Do you have any iPod/iPhone or Android software installed?

 

^ No, it's not set to show hidden files, just checked. I can delete it without any error messages. It says Date Modified as 7/31/2012(Looking at the Uninstall Programs window, most of my default drivers were installed on that same day) ! I installed W7 last night using AlienwareRespawn. I was on W8.

 

How strange. If it doesn't come back later on its own, it must have just been an unnecessary piece of crud that was backed up with the Respawn image. Do you see any other files or folders in the root of C:\ with the same date?

 

Yes, Intel folder was created 8 minutes before App folder. Does that make sense?

Edit: Just saw your edited post, yes I have iTunes installed.

 

I'm not sure about what kind of Intel software would relate to "Apps" so that might be a coincidence.

I am thinking it has to be related to something that is not standard to Alienware and it is definitely not part of Windows. I just looked on 5 other systems in my house and none have a C:\Apps folder. I wonder if it is something for iTunes that has to do with synching files. Apple products are not allowed in my house, so that might be something to investigate since you have iTunes.

 

I see.

I've checked Program Files (x86) folder and there are two programs installed at the same time. 9:09pm. One of them is the Adobe folder and the other one is Cyberlink(inside there are PowerDVD9 and Shared subfolders). Another close one is 9:08pm with Creative Live Cam folder.

Can it be them?

Edit: AlienwareAutopsy has the same time 9:09pm but under Program Files folder.

 

It might be. Maybe someone else will have a C:\Apps folder and can find something common between your systems to identify why it is (was) there.

If you reboot does it get recreated automatically? How about if you launch iTunes or some other programs?

 

Well, I haven't deleted it yet as I'm thinking it's there for a reason and hoping not just an unnecessary piece of crud that was backed up with the Respawn image, as you mentioned. Because that makes me think whatelse was also created that I am not aware of :/

Edit: If I'm remembering correctly, it's always been there even when I first received my system. Not 100% sure though.
But you say you've never seen it and you received your system with the same softwares installed, right?

 

AlienRespawn is going to copy whatever folders and files are present when the image is created, so no need to worry too much about "crud" getting backed up with a factory-fresh Respawn image. If you create a new Respawn image after using the system for a while, it will be different than a factory Respawn image. It will create an image based on whatever state the system is in at the time it is created. It is not uncommon for programs to create folders for their own use. What I mean by "crud" is that sometimes files and folders can remain even after the programs that originally created them are removed. While that is not ideal, it seldom creates a functionality or stability problem. They are simply "orphaned" files and folders that no longer server a purpose.

I never purchased a brand new M18x R2, so no, we would not have the same factory software configuration. At any rate, if your system is working well, there is probably no reason for concern about the presence of the C:\Apps folder regardless of how it got there. If you want to explore whether or not the folder is actually in use or necessary, you could rename it instead of deleting it. If it is a necessary folder for some software that has been installed, a new folder with the old name will likely be generated automatically by the program that needs it. If a new folder is not generated and the old one remains empty, it should be safe to delete if you don't want it.

 

^ Thanks you for the explanation. I was always wondering how the image was being created. Now I know...

I'll leave it alone. My system is working fine right now. I actually tried W8 and I really liked it. But Tomb Raider gave me low fps for some reason. I blamed the Windows update because in W7 Tomb Rider was working perfectly until I ran the Winows update. As soon as I ran the update I got the same low fps in W7 as well. So I thought if I don't do any updates in W8, TR should work fine but it didn't :/
Not sure what was causing it but I gave up on W8 for now. If I know what is causing the low fps issue, I would be more than happy to go back to using Windows 8 again.

 

I'm scared of allowing Windows Updates any more. It has turned into a white-knuckled experience for me, as the updates have screwed up my Windows 7 and Windows 8 installations repeatedly over the last 6 to 9 months. I no longer allow Windows to control the update process. I don't even let Windows check and notify me any more. I check manually whenever I feel like it and only select the updates that I think will be helpful. It has happened enough that I am actually more concerned about Windows Updates messing things up than I am concerned over the possibility of a remote hacker gaining control of my PC or becoming infected with malware that turns it into a Denial of Service zombie computer.

 

Thanks a lot!

It is my first M18x and it took some months to make the decision to spend more than 5k Euro ... but on the other hand: I am 45 years old and now I still like to play games like Civ5, BioShock and many other titles ... so when not now, when then?

 

Finally my R2 motherboard should be here this week. Only took 3+ months

Looking forward to reload OS and drivers and msata etc

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk 2

 

Update: I have had my M18x with 7970M's for 3 days.....and it was money well spent.

I have thrown every game at it and the only one that even comes close to slowing it down is Skyrim with all the rediculous HD addons. It drops to an average of 40 FPS. Everything else is off the hook. Crysis 3 on Ultra runs .

Forum Rules - *PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING*

 

Glad you're enjoying things Fiveomike. Being able to run the latest Crysis game is always a good sign ay.

 

hi all,
i'm a 3 week owner of a m18x r2. i wanted to make sure my system ran correctly before posting or else it would be weird posting if i ended up returning it. I purchased this from the dell outlet and this is a second system as the first one they sent had multiple small issues but the dell tech they sent just butchered my system making small issues larger.

he used a metal screw driver to open the plastic keyboard trim as well as the palmrest/touchpad assembly frame and ended cosmetically damaging the parts. i kept telling him that i have plastic trim removers and not to use the metal screw drivers but he told me he knew what he was doing. well after wards he had had to call dell for replacement parts as he admitted he screwed up. This process is where i almost got tired and almost decided to return the system for a refund.

Three times, i'm not kidding they times they sent a tech over to just replace the cosmetic parts but dell kept sending out an m17x sized frame so they had to reschedule. i lost about three days of work waiting for a tech who would re-schedule constantly.
After the third time, i just asked dell to sent the part directly and i'll replace it myself. i made sure i got the part#'s from this forum and gave the correct part numbers. the same thing happened, they sent the wrong parts. on the labels of the box, the correct parts are shown as well as the plastic bags the part were sealed in. but the parts were not correct. they were also used parts that were scratched up pretty bad. (i also discovered at this time a lot of missing screws from the laptop after dell tech visited)

so i called dell and told them i really like the machine very much but the dell tech service man as well as the wrong parts left a bad taste so i just want to refund my money as there was never a major issue but cosmetically looked bad i since the dell tech butchered it, and i can't seem to get the correct parts. they discounted 200 bucks and asked to send me a new machine. They told me compare it to the one you have and if you don't like the new one just send both back and we'll refund you.

well the replacement arrived pretty nice, the first thing i noticed was it was the wrong color ( had ordered red, this one was black, so initially i rolled my eyes and said here we go again with the wrong parts)

i opened it up just to check up and so far so good. the only issue i had was the crossfire cable was installed incorrectly but i used mr. fox's teardown vid to fix it. (it was installed on top of the cpu heat sink. so that could've led to worse issues)

when i finally put it back together, i powered up my machine, the new system they sent was different but in a good way. all the specs were upgraded.

the first machine had
7970m crossfire, i7 3630qm, 24gb ram (1600mhz), 256gb ssd Samsung 830, dvd drive, and intel 2230 wireless card.

the replacement machine specs
7970m crossfire, i7 3840qm, 32gb ram (1600mhz), 512gb ssd Samung 830, blu ray read only, killer 1103 card, blue tooth 4.0.

that made me really happy! Dell took care of me as well as the issue plus gave me a discount.

I think though dell's tech have issues, their customer support really tried to make things work and left me very very surprised and a happy owner of an alienware.

 

Make sure you really check that Killer 1103 card - a lot of us are having issues with them. (Tech is coming out for mine tomorrow, to yank it out and replace it w/ a 6300 - just hope my tech is competent!)

Not sure if I should be worried or not - talked to the tech, and asked if she'd had a chance to work on M18x's before. She said no, but she always studied the night before going over the specific model and procedure so she was prepared. This made me feel better.

Then she mentioned that, well, she always did this - but in reality, this was her second service call ever. She's brand new. Somehow, this did NOT make me feel better....

 

i actually brought the intel 6300 ultimate when i was reading mr. fox's post of using that card. i got one off ebay for 14.99 shipped! so that's my spare backup in case the killer acts up

 

David that is a pretty sweet upgrade, if the exterior doesn't matter and coupled with the additional 200 off I'd keep it. You've found one of the many problems with Dell, their tech service leaves a lot to be desired and that's putting it nicely. I've had machines butchered at home and at depot; usually dell/alienware will try to rectify the situation. I've had techs use power tools to service my machine, I've been left with machines in pieces with techs promising to come back. I've had techs come and open up empty boxes, no parts just paperwork or an empty bag. I've met a few really awesome techs and they have their own special hell to deal with. They're constantly having to suffer with the mistakes that dell makes and they can't talk directly to alienware. The last time that happened they just couldn't understand that the m18x had two graphics cards that needed specific parts. Imagine this guy suffering for an hour when if he had talk directly to alienware this would have been like oh, yeah and a 5 minute conversation.

 

yeah, after the upgrade and 200 refund, it is totally worth it. i'm not sure if i'm allowed to post on this thread the price so i didn't in case, but i can tell you that it's a killer deal. (if i can post i will definitely share)
i don't think any deal i ever got was as good as this.

cosmetically, it's in pristine condition so i can live with black. (i don't really mind the change in color but i just was surprised as they kept telling me over the phone they can't make any changes to my machine as i told them i don't need 24gb of ram. but they told me they can only replace it with the same exact specs and it has to be another refurbished one. (i didn't argue) they said they will have to find if one is avail to replace mine. i guess they couldn't find a refurb with my configuration so they sent out this one.

it's a keeper! i'm mostly a gamer. (i don't mean to go off tangent) reading about the drivers, i installed amd 13.3 beta but the lights flicker on resident evil 5 when you limit it to 30fps in crossfire. ( i was just playing around with the settings and like the look of 30fps, reminds me of the xbox/ps3 version) so i had to switch it to 13.1 (stable) catalyst. and things were fine. another issue is the amd drivers don't mesh well with ie10 so i had to downgrade from IE10 to 9. RE5 will just shut off running on dx10 with ie10 installed. other than those hiccups, i'm excited with this machine and to find this forum where everyone is very friendly as well as very thorough with their information.

 

Finally got my beast today!

Alienware M18X R2
3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3840QM (8MB Cache, up to 3.8GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
16GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz
Dual 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M SLI Enabled
32GB mSATA caching SSD
1TB RAID 0 (2x 500GB) 7200RPM
Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit Service Pack 1, English, w/Media
Nebula Red Anodized Aluminum
Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Killer Wireless-N 1103

Loving it. However, is there a thread or somewhere someone can point me to that might give tips for new owners? This is my first gaming rig. I have already gone in and messed with Nvidia settings to increase some performance output. However I am a severely new to this.

 

Great news! You are in the right place for new owners, every time I have a question I look it up here first. They are monstrous out of the box, have fun & congrats.

 

Specifications: Alienware M18x R2 laptop w/ 1080p lcd
- "Dell Outlet New" (not used, not refurbished)
- Black (lid actually looks brown/bronze)
- Windows 7 Home Premium (ask about custom install)
- Intel i7-3610QM cpu
- 8gb 1600mhz (2x4gb) ram
- Nvidia 2gb 660M gpu
- 750gb 7200rpm hard drive
- Intel 2230 wifi
- dvd-rw optical drive
- 240w a/c adapter
- Dell Warranty until 4/2014

on sale in the nbr marketplace is 1200.00 a good price for this machine? Or should I wait for dell coupon since its a bare bone system.

 

@Dave, congrats on your M18x R2 replacement man! It's a very nice laptop. I was in the same situation, mine first laptop died in Dec 2012 - M17xr2 (black), i7 820m, 5870 crossfire, rgb srceen, 6GB ram, 1TB HD, bluray drive, and 6300 intel wireless card. I called Dell and they gave me a refurb near maxed out M18xr2! Check out my sig And yes I had the advance warranty at the time. I guess I won the biggest deal of the year in 2012 from Dell. This is why I went with Alienware (Dell)! AW 4 Life!

 

thanks for sharing, i read your sig, and out of all the upgrades you have, the most desired one i would've liked to have is the alienware backpack.

 

if it's for gaming i would try to get a good deal one with a GTX680m sli or 7970m crossfire configurations.

 

would the 660m handle crysis 3 on low/med settings I think I could make due with that.

 

I agree, as it happened quite a few times to me as well. Microsoft seems too busy with its Surface campaign and building a dumbed down Office suite that connects you to any Cloud and Twitter to really focus on the quality of their updates.

 

Yes, it probably will. For only $1,200 that's pretty hard to beat. You can upgrade to 7970M CF or 680M SLI later on if you want to. A new (or like new) fully functional M18x R2 would be worth $1,200 without any discrete GPUs installed. And, you could probably that 660M for a couple hundred bucks to help offset the cost of the upgrade. (You would want to hang onto it for the duration of the warranty, just in case you ever needed system repairs or an exchange.)

 

Hey guys, I've got an off-topic question for you all. I've had my M14x up for sale for a few days and wanted to get your opinions on an offer I received from a fellow member. He offered to trade me his Mini ITX 7970 setup for my M14x, and I'm undecided. Here are the full specs:

Bitfenix Prodigy in Fire Red Steel
i5 [email protected]
Khuler 620 water cooler
PowerColor 7970
Corsair Vengeance 8gb 1600mhz
GIGABYTE GA-Z77N motherboard
250Gb Samsung 840 Ssd
500gb HDD
HP 27xi 1080P IPS monitor

It sounds like a pretty great deal, but I wasn't really planning on getting a desktop since I've already got the M18x. I was basically just wanting to sell the M14x r2 and buy another cheaper M14x... probably an r1, since I don't really need much power. I haven't received any other serious offers besides this, so I'm basically torn between keeping the M14x r2 or going for the desktop. If I did trade, I'd probably try to sell the rig and keep the monitor and ssd.

What would you guys do in my position? M14x specs are in my sig. Thanks!

 

Some nice pieces in that set up. Mainly the SSD and Monitor.
But, if it were me I'd give it a miss. Its not like that setup is going to do anything your beast can't, its just going to gather dust and play second best for the rest of its miserable life...

Thats if I were you

 

Yeah, I was thinking the same thing... if I went through with it, I was going to try and sell it so I could just grab another M14x, that way I could keep the monitor and ssd. I'm not sure how much I could get out of it, though.

Thanks for the advice bro

 

Intel 3940XM Ivy Bridge Mobile CPU | eBay
Would this work in my m18x r2?

 

Certainly would

 

what is a good price to get it for?

 

The 3940XM is going to be more expensive than the 3920XM. OEM 3940XMs normally go for $800-1000, while OEM 3920XMs are usually in the $500-750 range. QS versions of each one are usually cheaper.

 

ok in my ebay link is the particular cpu oem or qs and what are the differences?

 

hmmm it doesn't say in the title or description, and the picture isn't clear enough to read the model number on the CPU. I'd ask the seller to see which one it is. Just to clarify, if the title or description says "SR0T2" for a 3920XM, or "SR0US" for a 3940XM, that means it's OEM.

Oh, and I tried pming you back but your box is full. Sorry for calling you bro, it's a bad habit of mine

always nice to meet girls with great tastes in notebooks! lol

 

So, it's Sister churt44, not Brother? That's cool... awesome, in fact. I wish we had more women Alienware fans in our community... welcome.

A "QS" is a qualification sample that was not intended for sale. As the final version of a prototype, it should be very close to the same as OEM/Retail if not identical. An "ES" on the other hand, is an engineering sample. It can be significantly different than a QS or OEM/Retail CPU in terms of quality and specs. An ES CPU should be very inexpensive in comparison and may not perform well compared to the final product. It can sometimes be very hit or miss with an ES CPU. They are sometimes incorrectly identified as a CPU other than what they are a prototype for. Some of the 3920XM ES processors are misidentified by Windows and CPU-Z as a 3720QM ES.

 

Just took delivery of mine today. It only shipped in the black and blue alienware box and looked like it had a taken a beating. It's a good thing they package the computer so well. Will say this thing is a beast. I am coming over from the Apple community (been there for about 13 years). Loving it so far. Only upgrades I made were to the 3740 and the dual 7970 CF. Just getting it all set up now. Looking forward to reading up on these threads for the gems lying around.