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

if its disabled by means DISABED/Switched-OFF. Go to your BIOS and browse trough all the settings see if its really disabled there, if it is so - re-enable it, save & exit the BIOS. Done

 

Thanks! I picked one up on ebay, around a few weeks ago. The 3820QM was definitely a capable processor, but I'm loving the XM!

 

ok, i will try to check the bios when im back home. Thank you for the advice.

 

Just picked up an I7-3940XM(QS).. Time to do some overclocking

 

It's part of the chipset, exactly the same as the internal SATA ports. It's enabled 24/7 and does not require any drivers other than the Intel Chipset, same as all internal HDD/ODD and anything else connected to the SATA controller. If you are connecting an eSATA drive, some of them need auxiliary power and some do not. If your external drive it not being detected, that might be the problem. I've never had any problem with the port, but I did have trouble with a couple of eSATA drive enclosures in this way. They need to be eSATAp to draw power directly from the eSATA port. Otherwise, you will need to use a USB port to deliver power to the drive enclosure if it is made that way.

Try resetting BIOS defaults. Maybe something you set manually did something to disable it.

 

Just figured I would see if anyone had input on my earlier question

 

I use the express card slot to read my Compact Flash cards from the pictures that I take. As far as bios mods if you get an XM chip you can have a lot of fun with it, once you get an unlocked BIOS that is.

 

Friendly bump for R1/R2 owners who might want to upgrade to 680m SLI - see my signature! :thumbsup: - no point me having 680m SLI lying around gathering dust on their boxes!

 

well said, best bang for your buck people! Hurry up, make him offers, this guy is real deal, what you pay is what you get

(you should really pick up an R2 I still think (come real real real dirt cheap with like 80% discount) and just rock these cards for another 1-2 years until there are more competition for them from newer line of GPU's )

These 680M's are gold, people!

 

It's tempting, Bro. I'm just having a complete change of heart about things (as you know) and these babies will be surplus to my requirements. Absolutely ZERO plans to buy an 18 with 780m sli either, as 780m sli holds nowhere near enough increased performance over 680m sli....maybe I'll return to AW laptops in a year or two....

Not just saying it as I'm selling 680m SLI, but they are 'da bomb' and in terms of 'bang for buck', they will knock the socks off 780m SLI any day of the week...

I love your RX7 btw....

 

Hi,
im have one question. My friend change card in Alienware m18x r2 on 780 DELL or CLEVO.
He buy new 18 r2 3630qm(changed 3920xm + 3pipe)and 660.
He dont't know choose card dell or clevo.
Please help, thanks !

 

Does not matter. Both 780M GPUs work exactly the same. Whichever one he can get the better price on is probably the way to go.

The Dell 780M seems to have a higher grade of vRAM chips, but for most people that are not overclockers that makes no difference whatsoever. Even still, it hasn't been proven to matter. Johnksss and Harlon21 have Clevo 780M SLI and their systems overclock beautifully with the lower grade Clevo vRAM.

 

What would you choose? Dell or Clevo card?

 

I would choose the dell one. But where is the dell one, where will you buy them?

 

Edit: Never mind. Turns out the system I ordered was a base configuration awaiting upgrades, so, I decided to cancel it.

 

awesome spec oh damme yea this bad boy m18xR2 will kick a55 pretty well for anything on the horison if OC'ed well, price is a steal too. Perfect

 

I think that will push the right amount of air, right? Although.... maybe that's not enough for an overloclocked M18x r2. Anyone has a spare Jumbo Jet engine in the garage? I might have a good use for that, too.

​

 

Lol, I think that'll do.

 

^^^ I've spare rotary engine in the garage, but that can only cool your beast down if you mount it on the roof-top vehicle you put that engine in to otherwise, it will only produce more heat than your beastie can cope with

nice setup, I would suggest put laptop on the table, hose 10" foil-duct hose from outside the window towards the fan blower bott0m and just kick off the back panel of your alienware and call it a day! dont forget to repaste GPU's and CPU

 

Yeah, that was just for demonstration. The beast is already repasted and even took it to the SPA for some nice manicure. By the way, never mind about the engine. The guy in the picture just sold me one for 5$. You can see him with the engine in his basement, proudly showing me my new M18x r2 cooler.

 

^^^^^^^^ krazyyyy!!!

 

hi guys, where can I buy cover nebula red m18x r2?. Clear on ebay...

 

jamming members PM inbox with question of already posted matter is not cool dude! Laptop part-World No.1 stockist

 

1> USB problems, 3 different WD passport (HD's) Keep losing connection.Happens on all ports but 1. Happened many times. They work great on 3 other computers .(hd's are usb 3, tried many times in all 4 usb ports)

There are no errors in device manager. Right when it plugs into the USB port, it reads and works fine, Move 4 or 5 files around then error pop up saying no device found, 3 secs later it finds new hard ware on all 3 drives. However the little light on the drives never go off. Like they are getting power.


2> Seems like network card is not very strong. 15 feet away and i get 1 or 2 bars. (Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO)

My specs are

Dell Wireless 380 Bluetooth 4.0 LE Module
18.4 inch (467.36 mm) WLED WideFHD (1080p) display (1920 X 1080)
Processor: Intel Core 3rd Generation i7-3840QM Processor (8MB Cache, up to 3.8GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)

512 GB Solid State Drive
12 DV88G Space Black Anodized Aluminum
13 V9KPP Processor Label
Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming & Video and Bluetooth 4.0
Slot-Loading Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

Dell Outlet Alienware M18x R2 Laptop
Windows 7 Professional
Powercord,125Volt,15Amp,10 Foot
330W A/C Adapter
512GB 2.5 inch (SATA3) Mobility Solid State Drive

32.0GB, DDR3-1600MHz SDRAM, 4 DIMMS
Dual 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M - SLI Enabled


this is driving me crazy. WD 2TB my passports keep disconnecting from all usb ports except the top one on right side. All size passports from 500meg to 2TB drives. Disconnects and reconnects every 5 seconds.

 

Did you try reinstalling the USB host controller driver? That usually helps.

 

Is there someone can help me out? I failed in flashing my vbios of 6990m on m15x. It turns into brick. And it can't be detected. So I'm looking for someone who has m18x with 6990m can help to reflash my vbios. My email [email protected]

 

Check this out. Maybe it might help. Windows 8 and Intel USB 3.0 Host Controllers | Plugable

 

I finally joined the ranks of the dual GPU systems. I used to own an M17X R3, but decided to sell that off. I pretty much maxed out the specs on that one (2920XM, 7970M, 16GB RAM). I picked up an R2 from this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/notebooks-desktops-sale/729029-sold-m18x-r2-i7-3740qm-680m-sli.html, specs also down in my sig. Did a clean install and am still finishing up on driver installs and updates. Unfortunately I don't have an SSD yet, so it appears I will be doing this whole process again in the near future. I don't mind so much. In a strange way, I enjoy doing clean installs when first setting up my system. It's when I need to do it because of random issues as a last resort, that pisses me off, lol.

It's been about a month or so since I sold my M17X. Getting the M18X, I do notice it is bigger, but not as drastic of a change as I thought it would be. Granted, if I still had my 17, I'm sure it would be a different story. Also, I'm surprised about the weight of the system. It is heavy, but not as heavy as I anticipated. I'm a bigger guy that enjoys working out, so I guess that may attribute to it (please don't take that comment as me showing off. I'm in the military, so we need to stay in shape. Even before that, I have always been athletic and into sports and weight training, but deep down, I'm a geek at heart, lol). I do notice that the screen is crisper and the colors are more vibrant. That may be because of the 680M vs 7970M.

I can't wait to finish up and get to some gaming. I wanna see how the 680M SLI compares to the single 7970M that I had in my last system. Think I'll notice any difference, lol. I may do some benchmarks just to make sure my cards are functioning properly. Not expecting to chase numbers. That is until I get my XM processor.

 

You'll definitely see a HUGE! different in performance going from a single 7970m to dual 780m Enjoy!

 

Price alert for any R1/R2 owners who want 680m SLI upgrade!! - check out my signature - recently reduced in price!! WOO HOO!!

 

Gotta say, I'm loving this machine. I haven't done too much gaming, but I already know this thing is a beast. I picked up an Adata XPG SX900 256gb SSD. It comes with a copy of Acronis True Image. Do you guys recommend doing a clean install on the SSD or would it be fine to just use the software to to copy the image over?

 

I'd probably say to go with clean install. It is the best way to ensure there are no hiccups. You can use the cloning software - Acronis True Image is good software - but cloning does not always provide the best end results - disk alignment can be off, data corrupted etc. It might just work perfectly, as Acronis is good, but if it doesn't, you can always fall back on a clean install. If your new rig didn't come with respawn media made (and you still have the recovery in tact) I'd say make respawn media (USB or discs) and stash 'em. From then on in, it's really just a case of choosing which method you want to go with.

 

^^ word :thumbsup:

 

Hello, does anyone know the purchase code for the 330w adapter's power cord? Mine seems will break in near future so I just want to get a backup.

 

XM3C3 330w which includes adapter + power cord. If you want just power cord then i think it's same as desktop PSU power cord.


Yesterday, i did re-paste both GPU & CPU, now temp. stays lower then before But i notice that both GPU heat sink screws(2 x 4) slightly worn out, so i think it's time to replace it. Actually i dont know exact size of it, if anyone knows please let me know

 

Hi Guys. I bought a used m18xr2 with 680 SLI. The system already had a modded bios and vbios (both from svl7). The overclocking results were great but I had 2 issues: 1) Temps were too high (near 90 degrees with 250/400 overclock). 2) I don't like the starting screen of the modded vbios which always says: modded by svl7. I really like the work of svl7. But I want to be a little "undercover" in case of repair works during the warranty period...

So I restored the default bios and vbios. I used the following bios (I hope that is really the default one):
VGA Bios Collection: Dell GTX 680M 2048 MB | techPowerUp

I tried to overclock it very slightly with MSI Afterburner (like +135MHz core). But it doesn't change the clocks at all with the default vbios. Is that normal? I have overclocking deactivated in the bios (but I guess thats just for cpu and ram. Or does it affect the gpu?).

 

I was doing a little research on modded bios for R2 and it appears there are a few different ones; A03, A08, A09, and A10. Is there one that is better than the rest? Since I don't have an XM CPU yet, I'm sure I don't really need to worry about the modded bios, but would still like a little info on it.

 

I found out the following (thats with default Dell vbios and the actual certified nvidia drivers). If SLI is deactivated I can overclock within the defined limits (+135 core or something like that). However if SLI is activated the clocks will not change at all.

Has anyone an idea or experience with the default vbios and overclocking? I would be happy with a moderate overclock with the Dell vbios.

(Remark: I know that I can fix that with the modded vbios. I just wonder how to overclock with the Dell vbios)

 

Hi all as a long time lurker, I realize this is one of the best places to ask for help regarding Alienware issues.

I bought an Alienware M18X r2 with SLi last summer. Today after my flight, my power adapter stopped working. When I plug it into the wall, the green light doesn't light up.

I live in Canada and I have bought 3yr warranty. I was wondering if someone could point me in the right direction to get some help. I would really really appreciate getting my beast up and running again asap. No power = a shackled and tied down kitten.

Thank you so much for your help!

EDIT: ok, so I called Dell and was transfered to Alienware hardware dept. They said they will ship me a new adapter. Hopefully it comes soon, I really need it for work.

 

Any issues relating to hardware and dell should be your first port of call for replacements.

 

Just any typical PSU cord? hmm Can you give me a link for an example? Thanks

 

From the parts lists linked on the opening posts of this thread, the part number for the power cord only is 5120P. If you Google that, you'll get lots of places to buy one come up. Dirt cheap. Here's an example from Parts People:

New Brand Grounded Power Cord for PA-7E AC adapter 5120P

Or Flea-bay:

Dell 6ft 125v AC 10a FM-008 Power Cord NEW 5120P | eBay

 

Thanks. This is exactly what I am looking for.

Cheers

 

^^^^ I thought so :thumbsup:

 

Dell just told me there is no Blu-ray burner option for the M18x R2. Is this correct?


They sent someone to replace the dvd burner on my exchange unit with a blu-ray burner (only way i accepted this exchange from my m17xr2). Found out today that they exchanged it with just a blu-ray player not a burner. They are sending me a 4x player with 4x burner to replace the 6x player. Can i just replace it , with the one from my m17xr2?

 

I used a nice heavier gauge one that came with my receiver

 

Pretty sure the BR Burner ceased existence with the M17x R2 - discontinued. However, the drive should be a direct swap.

 

I'm lookin forward to get New screws for 7970M X-brackets heatsink as old ones are slightly worn out, But i dont know exact size of it. If any one know please do let me know.

 

Just use a cord from an ordinary desktop ATX power supply... works perfectly. You can pick one up dirt cheap at almost any electronics store and often in a variety of choices on length based on what you need.

This is a standard ATX PSU connection:


American Outlet:

European Outlet:

 

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