*Official Alienware M18x AMD CrossFire Discussion Thread (re: Dell/AW Conference Call)*

bill, any news on the 580's?

 

Uh oh. What news did I commit to and not yet deliver, specifically? Backlog status? If so, none at this time and sorry.

 

I was told by a manager by end of the month.

 

I love this line.....images spring to mind of a huddled group of tech's wearing surgeons gowns and masks, leaning over a dismantled m18x with the hope to find one cure for humanity (or gamer's) that will breathe life back into this once great system.....

 

John - is your question about status on a throttling fix, parts availability or something else?

That's really funny ...never thought of it that way, but now I'm going to have that same image stuck in my own head from this day forward.

 

availability. i know it was off topic...

 

Formal inquiry has started. I'll dig until I find that bone and toss it back here.

 

It's not way off topic because it's about the M18x and GPU issues and tied to our conference calls with Bill. Thanks for asking. I was also curious and had not asked yet.

 

Thanks guys.

seems like it's a hold on all gpu's at the moment.

 

There is no hold on the 580. The tools we use to show inventory are providing some conflicting information. This usually means that for one of about 5 different reasons, the part is about to clear backlog. We'll see.

 

sounds good bill. thanks for the update.

 

You're welcome.

 

I am a very irritated and highly upset. A dell tech came out to replace my 6990s and took apart my $4200 laptop just to find out that a bracket that is suppose to be on the 6990s was not present. Alienware said they can send parts out AGAIN but I refuse I want an exchange and with 580s or I want a refund. I have to wait for the supervisor who can authorize an exchange to come in Monday. This is utterly ridiculous for the amount I paid on this system that is 10 days old. Then as the tech was putting the laptop back together. The HDD hybrids which were working are now not being detected no matter how many times he tried reseating them. So now the system is completely dead and I am stuck borrowing my father's computer. There are no words to describe how upset I am over this. I would just return it for a refund but what other system what comes close to the M18x (when it works)? I have very little options for gaming laptops of this caliber...

 

Hi, I also have 6990m's. I was told there is a fix; but they were not "100%" sure. Instead of having the tech rip my laptop apart over and over again; should i request 580gtx's or do you suggest to wait? Assuming that GTX's for everyone is the goal anyway. I also read that the AMD's were taken off the UK site. Is there a reason for that?

I am sure dell is not going to write us all off and forgot about us......

 

No one at Dell is in a postion to hand out a bunch of free 580M's without trying to find a fix first, unless they want to look for employement else where.
In a semiperfect world, it would be nice if Dell could provide GTX's for everyone....lol. But in the end, Dell is in the business of making money. Just like every other business. I'm sure Dell will provide a fix soon. If an individual believes they are entitled to a GPU upgrade, they need to contact Dell and handle it by a case by case basis. These companies have safe guards in place to protect them against fraudulent claims & excessive abuse of warranty. That's why you can't just call up and get a free pair of 580M's. I really think comments about free 580M's should be directed to 1-800-ALIENWARE.

 

I completely sympathize with you. I have the exact rig you ordered and I can tell you if you can just get a working unit it is so worth being patient. Just an unbelievable laptop for sure. Just give it another chance. I was lucky and got two working 6990M chips with working fans, but honestly with all the poor driver support and overheating issues appearing I would just return the laptop and get one with the 580Ms. Good luck.

 

@killaz05 - That's terrible. lqm is right, it will be worth it once you get it sorted. And, I expect it will be straightened out. It's very hard to be patient when things like this happen. Who wouldn't be livid about it? I hope you are able to enjoy your weekend in spite of it. Dell/Alienware has always been very fair with me, but there have been times that it took patience on my part. I'm impatient by nature, so I feel for you, man. It's going to be worth the wait... as you noted, there is no other system you can buy that rivals the M18x. In price, specs, performance, build quality and appearance, it has no rival. Nothing else measures up.

 

I've had my system since mid October. Same issues (thermal shutdown, fans not turning on, etc). Techs have replaced both my heat sinks and now the 6990s, and the problems persist. The only semi-viable solution is SpeedFan and cranking the fans up to max--but even then, still some graphical stuttering.

On top of that, I have a replacement system coming this month (maybe?) with the same configuration and I'm not at all confident that the problem won't show up there too.

Oh, and to top it off, I'm deploying in January and I really would like a working laptop when I go. I suspect Dell is not willing to send techs to Afghanistan...

So assuming replacement system also is defective, how quickly do you all suspect Dell could send a third system if I paid the difference for the NVIDIA cards?

 

Just be sure to have long enough warranty that will out last your system.

Good luck overseas

 

This appears to be the case. I checked the UK site this morning and the only gpu options are ALL Nvidia (see below)

i) Single 560m stock
ii) Dual 560m's add £180
iii) Dual 580m's add £1,020

As for the reason, could be simply out of stock (but I doubt it) - ive seen the xtreme cpu's "disappear" before now and then they come back....I guess with all the hype over failing AMD cards, it could be taken as a given that Dell removed them because they dont want to be providing customers with headaches.

That was something that Bill & Louis touched on - as they are currently working on a fix, its pointelss replacing parts over and over and over - its justs adds to the owners "misery" if they keep getting faulty or problematic hardware.

I do find it an odd thought that the 6990's are STILL available via Dell US - if they had been pulled from the UK site because of problems, surely, Dell US would have followed suit - along with all other sites too.....(I think even though they may be able to "order", those new units would or should be held in production until the issues are resolved)

 

i agree they should have a good fix first on the ati gpus then go back on the distribution cycle.

 

Mr. Fox - When will the conference call minutes be published?

 

Mr. Fox has complied his notes with several others that attended the conference. Technically they are ready. In order to insure accuracy and squash rumor and falsehoods he has submitted the notes to Louis and Bill of Dell for approval. Once Dell has vetted the notes he will publish them.

 

Thanks, nuroo. I could not have answered this question any better. Bill and Louis have a lot going, but I anticipate having a green light to post them very soon. I know there are others wondering the same thing and eager to read them.

 

I would definitely recommend exploring this option. I think that's a very smart plan.

If you are being deployed there as member of our armed forces, thank you for your service to our country.

This is good advice. I would highly recommend the Advanced warranty with accidental damage 4 years. For less than $600 USD it's worth every penny.

 

As noted by Louis in our call, shipment of M18x systems equipped with AMD HD 6990M CrossFire (not the sale of them) has been temporarily suspended. It will go back into production as soon as they have isolated and fixed the current issue. The US order configuration page still shows a preliminary ship date of 12/02/2011 with the CrossFire option selected. Until we learn something different, I'll take that to be a positive sign that we will see resolution in short order.

I'm not sure why it is not available in the UK... I could speculate on the reasons, but that would not be useful to anyone. Whatever the reason(s) are, I think it is a good thing that they are not available in the UK. Based on all the comments I have read, obtaining good warranty service is more difficult for customers in the UK. If this is true, it's advantageous for the uninformed buyer that the option of an AMD-powered M18x is not available at the moment.

As a US customer, Alienware's Tech Support and warranty service are generally excellent and having an issue like the current one is merely a temporary frustration.

 

Sorry for posting my findings so late in the game. I have only been a member for a week now .
Long story short.. I don't seem to be experiencing the thermal shutdown issue.

nuroo... My system info is noted below.

I had some issues with an AMD Catalyst 11.10 driver install (BSOD during install).
I did follow the "Uninstall -> Boot Safe Mode -> run Driver Sweeper / CCleaner -> Boot Normal -> Run Install" rule .

So I Alien Respawned my machine last night to go back to an "out of the box" state. No worries.
I haven't fully "moved in" to my machine yet because I have had four "lemons" and stopped installing my apps after replacement #2.
I have been using Portable Apps on a thumb drive until I feel comfortable with this fifth machine.

My "scientific" method and results are noted below for the curious.
"No Noticeable Fan Activity" means I couldn't hear or feel the fans running from the vents.
GPU-Z would state -RPM or 0 to 1 RPM at those moments but I think the fans are running at an extremely low RPM that GPU-Z can't register them.

The following fan behavior was noticed for 1 hour of idle time after a "cold boot" this morning. I also ran two benchmarks:

Alienware M18X Replacement #5

Order Date: September 13th
Arrival Date: September 26th

System BIOS Version/Date: Alienware A03, 7/29/2011
Motherboard: REV F2 1136
GPU1 and GPU2 BIOS Version: 013.012.000.012.040739

Driver Packaging Version: 8.851.2-110609a-120503C-Dell
Provider: ATI Technologies Inc.
2D Driver Version: 8.01.01.1152
Direct3D Version: 7.14.10.0833
OpenGL Version: 6.14.10.10765
Catalyst Control Center Version: 2011.0609.2331.40394

AlienFusion: High Performance Profile Defaults

After Cold Boot, Login and starting GPU-Z
=========================================
Core Clock: 100MHz on GPU1 and GPU2
Memory clock : 150MHz on GPU1 and GPU2

GPU1: 41c (No Noticeable Fan Activity)
GPU2: 39c (No Noticeable Fan Activity)

Idle after 5 min
================
GPU1: 51c (No Noticeable Fan Activity)
GPU2: 49c (No Noticeable Fan Activity)

Idle after 10 min: Fan Activity Occurs
=====================================
GPU1: 64c (Fan runs until GPU1 is cooled back down mid to upper 40's)
GPu2: 62c (No Noticeable Fan Activity)

Random Sample of Temps observed after another 45 minutes of idle
================================================================
GPU1: 47c (No Noticeable Fan Activity)
GPU2: 64c (Fan runs until GPU2 is cooled back down mid to upper 40's)

GPU1: 51c (No Noticeable Fan Activity)
GPU2: 53c (No Noticeable Fan Activity)

GPU1: 65c (Fan runs until GPU1 is cooled back down mid to upper 40's)
GPU2: 49c (No Noticeable Fan Activity)

GPU1: 48c (No Noticeable Fan Activity)
GPU2: 66c (Fan runs until GPU2 is cooled back down mid to upper 40's)

GPU1: 49c (No Noticeable Fan Activity)
GPU2: 52c (No Noticeable Fan Activity)

GPU1: 56c (No Noticeable Fan Activity)
GPU2: 50c (No Noticeable Fan Activity)

GPU1: 65c (Fan runs until GPU1 is cooled back down mid to upper 40's)
GPU2: 54c (No Noticeable Fan Activity)

GPU1: 55c (No Noticeable Fan Activity)
GPU2: 57c (No Noticeable Fan Activity)

Noticeable Fan activity occurs on either GPU when Temp is between 64c - 66c.
Temp differences between GPUs were anywhere from 2c - 18c during an hour of idle time.

Benchmarking
============
Fans run REALLY HARD in unison to keep temps in the mid to upper 70's on both GPUs.

Core Clock: 715MHz Max on GPU1 and GPU2
Memory clock : 900MHz Max on GPU1 and GPU2

Heaven DX11 (Default Settings):
GPU1: 75c Max
GPU2: 79c Max
Note: At stages 05 - 18 ; Display washes out and goes white; Screen Tearing; distortion; cards seem out of sync.
But everything returns to normal by stage 20 and the benchmark completes normally. Probably driver issue.
My previous units, Alien#3 and Alien#4, were able to run Heaven without incident "right out of the box".

Stalker (DX11, Ultra):
GPU1: 76c Max
GPU2: 78c Max

 

Unless it shuts down even with fan maxxing out it doesn't appear to be the same problem.

 

Zer0WaitState - welcome to NBR, we are glad you joined us and happy you're part of the Alienware Community. We look forward to hearing more from you in the future.

Congratulations on your M18x. It appears yours is functioning properly. I am very happy your M18x is not experiencing this issue. Thank you for the post with the comprehensive observations regarding the behavior of your system.

For you and any others that are new to our Community, below are some links (some of which you may have already discovered) to jump start your membership with NBR:

Forum Rules
(important for maintaining a community where everyone feels welcome)

Alienware General Information & HOW TO: Search the forum - *READ BEFORE POSTING*
(includes excellent tips, including how to effectively search the forum for the right thread to post and avoid creating the clutter of redundant threads)

Reputation Points/Power and User Titles
(what the colors of user titles mean, what the little boxes for rep points are, how they are calculated, etc.)

Forum Guide and "How-To"
(a comprehensive resource covering a variety of topics)

How To Properly Insert A Huge Image Into A Post
(self-explanatory)

Have a pleasant weekend.

 

With shipment of m18x's with Dual 6990s suspended--I'm trying to replace the 6990s on my yet-to-be-shipped exchange system with NVIDIA cards (offering to pay the difference). The answer I'm getting from Tech Support is that that's "impossible." Being told that the only option is for them to send the 6990 system, me pay full price for the NVIDIA cards which they'll send separately, have the on-site tech install, and I GET to sell the new 6990s on ebay. Joy.

(oh, was also told that NVIDIA cards are backordered anyway from Thailand--true or not, who knows).

to paraphrase Han Solo: "No framerate is worth this."

 

Thats a tough one.....had your system been a purchase and not a replacement, it would have been a simple case of returning & reordering. As you are kinda at Dell's mercy here, the way I see it, your best bet would be to see if you can talk to an L3 and plead your case the best way you can.

The problem being is that they are in the process of building your exchange and it cant be altered after a certain stage.....that's why they are saying its impossible. The difference here is that the hold up for you is because Dell arent shipping with 6990's right now for obvious reasons....that right there is maybe your best bet of getting a gpu swap as you are currently in an exchange programme and you "need" the rig like yesterday, right?

Saying that, I believe that "nothing is impossible" - you just have to get to the right people to "make it possible".....and I know also that me saying that doesnt help you out one bit.....I am feelin' for you.

 

hey mr fox... after removing the bad card from the equation...i can come out of sleep mode fine. have not had one issue since...how weird.

 

Thank You Mr. Fox

My long journey to get to this point is documented here.
To summarize, you have to exercise extreme patience with Dell.
In the end they want to and will... make it right.
We are witnessing that right now with this issue.
It was nice to put voices with the names of some of the "heavy hitters" in this forum on the conference call.
Good job to you and the Red Team Panel!

OK, I've detracted from this thread long enough.. back to the real matter at hand

 

Wow! That is very strange. But, I'm glad you discovered this. It's always nice to find the source of a problem, LOL. Now I am wondering if that icky card somehow affected your SATA port issue also. Tried to rep you again, but I have to spread it around more first before it will let me.

Thanks for your kind comments and for your level-headed view of things. +1 Rep. You are 100% correct about them wanting to make it right. When you treat their support reps with respect and politeness it helps them want to help you, too. You have not detracted. Your points are highly relevant even though your system is working properly.

 

As usual, good suggestions from our UK "heavy hitter" from Chester. Mr. Jones has traveled the road and knows his stuff about dealing with exchanges.

 

no worries..

i need to get around to testing that as well...i will first thing monday.

 

You guys still have problems coming out of sleep mode with 580M SLI?

We use the sleep function frequently on our 580M SLI M18x's and have not had any problems with it.

 

no problems now...but ill see when i get my replacement 580

 

Crazy.....I can assure you that it works properly with my configuration.

 

I have no doubt that it does, matter of fact next week I'll be calling on you.

 

Just a slight OT post but I'm loving all the pimp avatar's that are springing up....you guys crack me up....nice pics gunner & nuroo! + rep to you both!

 

LOL, skygunner27's had me laughing too. Had to follow.

 

Well, I have been resisting comment about the avatars. Skygunner's was an immediate distraction... and now there are two of them, LOL. I agree with Steve. You guys crack me up, too.

 

Update. Rebooting doesn't seem to be fixing the issue about 50% of the time now. I used it all day after a reboot and had no issues, but since I returned from dinner I've had shut downs after 4 full boot/reboot cycles. Though now it seems to be working okay. (after 4 reboots, that is)

 

It's totally random for.me as well.

 

What about hwinfo64, doesnt help u guys? Works for me

 

Called Dell support on my thermal shutdowns and they want me to send it in. This is a new replacement I received about a month ago or so.

 

I look forward to it.

I'll shoot some back when I'm finished with this post if it lets me.

Saints Row The Third is one of the best games I have ever played. The short story of that pimp is....he was imprisoned as a gimp slave by a rival gang. While taking down their club you rescue him and he joins the Saints. He says some off the wall stuff, always using a vocalizer. Just like Zapp and Roger. He really adds a lot of fun dialog to an already fun game.

width='560' height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kdVU68_q-kQ?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kdVU68_q-kQ?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width='560' height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

width='560' height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/csTf2Z7xlQ0?version=3&amp;hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/csTf2Z7xlQ0?version=3&amp;hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width='560' height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

Here's a pic of my character in-game. Checkout the link for a better view.

http://i.imgur.com/OlRJj.jpg

I'm glad I could be a part of a few smiles

 

I forgot to mention that this game is resource heavy and runs like a dream maxed out with 580M SLI. Unfortunately AMD drivers don't currently support Crossfire on this AMD branded game, causing it to run like garbage on AMD based systems.

 

lol well you can always use Radeon Pro and force AFR but yeah AMD sucks.