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

I'll bet $10 that your cold boot bug will be gone after you install this board (if done correctly).

 

You are one of the captures, correct? Could be a moot point in a couple of weeks.

 

Each time I come in to visit this thread I die a little inside. To date my R2 has given me 0 problems. Every problem I have encountered with it has been the users fault I guess I've been one of the lucky ones. Prior to the R2 I had an R1, which had latency, but didn't bother me to much, but I sent it back to get an R2 a few weeks after getting it. R2 has served me well. Before my M17x R1 I had an Inspiron 1720, (Purchased summer of 07) which to this day is used all day by my brother. That system has about a gajillion hours on it, yea, a lot of hours. That system has been a champ. My 8600GT M has never had an issue as many others had. That system is still going strong like it was on day 1.

Before that I had an HP for a few days that BSOD out of the box, and I returned it quickly. Never looked back to HP, and been a happy Dell customer since.

Tech support on the other hand has been less then stellar, but Always been something I could fix. Can't say I've had hardware issues like you guys.

Hope you all get a satisfactory resolution and your systems run like my R2.

Looking forward to the conferance call. Though I will only be a lurker with no valid input, I look forward to learning from the conversation.

 

Nope I was never asked to do a system capture. I got a call from Dell yesterday about a system exchange, but I wasn't home. My wife gave them my cell number, but they never called me.

I let the tech do the motherboard install since he actually knew what he was doing. I can hear him turning it on now and it's just beeping (5 if my count is correct).

 

He didn't plug in the keyboard cable correctly. Let him know.. lol.

 

Aha! You're the one on the spreadsheet with no info. Let's take this to PM. See you there.

 

Well it booted. The computer is acting like an a-hole right now since it's on A00. How it even boots with a 2960xm is beyond me. I'm going to flash a newer bios on it and I'll do some testing later. I'm operating on zero sleep at the moment. zzzzzzzz

 

Just double checked. You are on the capture/exchange list. They just set it up with the same address the mobo went to. The case notes say "2 calendar weeks" for an ETA. We'll see.

So, if you can slug it out with box for a while, the cavalry is coming.

 

I'll keep that as an option, but I'd like to test this new motherboard out and put it through it's paces. Here are the current temps after I got A04 flashed. Give me a few mins to perform the 'cold boot' trick and see what happens.

 

@DR650SE - the R2 is still a super sweet machine. I had one with issues. The other R2 is essentially flawless. I've been using Dell laptops in business and personal use for a very long time and it just doesn't get any better than Dell in my opinion. I'll reserve comment about my 4 epic failure experiences with HP computers, since I have nothing good to say on that subject.

Even the trusty ThinkPad has become somewhat of a sow's ear under the Lenovo umbrella. (My company has a lot of them deployed and there are lots of reliability issues.)

Dell rocks, even when they make mistakes.

 

Tooootally agree!

As I say somewhere else before: "in Dell we trust"

 

So far so good. The tech didn't connect my keyboard bezel ribbon cable properly so I'm taking it back apart. No FX lights on it... I miss my "Tight" connections on the USB ports. Refurb Motherboards ftw.

 

IMHO, he shouldn't live the site before you check everything is connected and working ok.

 

Those ZIF ribbons are tricky. I did an LCD swap for my VP's XPS 15z last month and the keyboard cable wasn't inserted correctly. I had to tear it back down to get at the connector. That's a real fun system to work on. Ask the guys on the XPS 15z thread about it. Starting with RaMMiT's first post on this page and going on from there.

 

Ok so update. Talked to Bill-B a couple times, he got in touch with the people who will handle my system capture.

Just got off the phone with them and they will be sending me a same spec machine except with the Nvidia 580's in replacement for the ATI's.

I honestly dont have a preferance on either so I am happy with this (as long as everything works ok lol).

Im glad my system will be able to help get this issue figured out and resolved.

 

I've got everything working fine. I shouldn't have let the tech touch the system at all, but he claimed he's worked on a handful of M18x systems before. Either way, nothing is broken and the temps seem fine. Sitting at 47ºc now even with the cards flashed to 800/1000.

 

if all he did was forget to plug that in, (while you were sitting there watching him like a hawk) then you got a decent tech.
since you missed it as well..

 

Lol... I was on the wife's computer posting the pic of the motherboard revision. Perhaps I should have played babysitter. Now that the fans work normally, I just need 1 more thing - fan controls through CCC. I don't like the stock fan presets, so I control them with HWiNFO64. That program takes an annoyingly (is that a word?) long time to read all of the AMD sensors when it starts up. A simple fan profile for gaming would be legit. I can dream for now

Bill - thanks for the help and the quick motherboard dispatch. I hope everyone else has their problem resolved smoothly as well.

Edit: Here's a screenie of my temps after a furmark run. I went out for a smoke break and they had time to cool down afterward, which explains the low 'current' idle temp. It's 70ºF in the house and the laptop is just sitting on my SF-19 with no fans running. (POS fans quit working on that too...).

 

i find that hard to believe..hahaha. with all the tech problems you had.

as to hwinfo...
click hwinfo
click configure
take the checks out of gpu 12C support
take the checks out of gpu 12C nvapi
click ok
and that's it

 

Told ya the motherboard would fix the problem.

 

wow thanks john. Now I'm not waiting forever for sensors to detect. Is there a way to have hwinfo load with fan profile at starup?

 

Nice temps Nicholaus.rossi,

Mine are around the same if not slightly hotter on some diodes after about an hour of gaming or so.
I hope I am able to continue problem free and help test out the new Dell driver that will be out later this week.


Cheers.

 

what what, your ditching your 6990m's???????????????????


@nuroo
yes there is...it loads and the fans kick on automatically and all...i kind of forgot how to do it at the moment....give me like 20 minutes.

 

Of course, why are you shocked?

 

Yeh I just saw that too LOL!
Hmmm awesomes Joker! I hope that fixes up your issues.

So far testing for 2 days on the new GPUs, running pretty great. No real issues to report. I'm finally getting better at tearing down this M18x beast. My 3rd go and it only took me an hour this time LOL from start to finish. I was being extra careful of course!

Cheers.

 

yes and no.

since yours is running well...can you run stalker?

 

Not a problem. You were on my Christmas list, though. You will be receiving a new exchange to a 580 based system. Do you want us to cancel the order so you can keep yours, or do you want to keep the option open for now?

 

I check my order status at Dell website and it's showing a new order in production. I think I'm also getting a new system with 580s, although the tech rep hasn't actually call me back since yesterday.

Kinda glad but also scared. My current system is perfect except for the overheating issue, and I just hope the new system isn't any worse and doesn't introduce a new problem, and finally end my disappointment .

 

Hey Johnksss,

Stalker the benchmark or one of the games?

If the benchmark I will need to dl it and can do some runs after work later on.
Anything you want me to look out for?

Cheers.

 

Cheers to Bill for his contributions here. +reps

To have a Dellienware representative @ NBR forums ROCKS!

 

The brightness issue alone is enough for me to switch. Plus the 580Ms seem to be doing well so its a no brainer and i'm tired of AMD drivers. Hopefully I have time to do some quick benchmark comparisons between the two with the latest drivers (I'm thinking BF3, skyrim, rage and maybe a few others).

Anyone else get their motherboard replaced besides nicholas and me?

 

It certainly does rock. Great to have such a positive and friendly Dell voice on the forums, someone who goes the extra mile to help out - truly outstanding. This is THE definition of "customer service"

All I can say is "WAY TO GO, TEAM DELL"

 

yes, just the benchmark...wanted to make sure my numbers are right.

i was missing my digital vibrance!

i did. got 3 of them, then had to send the system back and get the one i have now.

 

I want to thank Bill also. He allowed me to partake in the system capture which means I am also getting a brand new system with the 580's. Now if only I had the money to upgrade to the 2960XM at the same time. lol

Thanks Bill and all of Dell for working hard on this and taking care of us guys.

 

Waaay to go Bill!! Pretty soon there won't be any team red left....lol. It's nice to see Dell go above and beyond. I'd rep you again if I could. So I guess it's confirmed that replacing the motherboard can fix the thermal problem......that's a relief. What motherboard revision did our members receive?

 

What's the needed criteria to get on the green side

 

No criteria per se. Dell is capturing specific systems with specific issues to assist in their diagnostics process. They are avoiding sending out replacement systems with the same issues to affected customers.

 

Man, I should have taken advantage of that capture... I want to go back to green. AMD makes me die inside.

 

+ over 9000 rep

 

I could position my question like this:

Are all systems with the coldboot issue being replaced with 580s instead of 6990s?

What I really mean is this:

This is my second round of nightmares with crossfire, is there any way I can get my 2.5 week old system replaced with one with 580s?

 

i hate all of you! free 580s!

 

Just return and re-order.

 

Just wanted to say that my system has had motherboard problems. During the remote technician troubleshooting they flashed bios and of course I too got that 5 beeps.

I was eventually able to get the machine back on after a lot of effort. I was on the phone for at least 3 or 4 hours but I didn't mind cause alienware techs are so nice. Additionally as a tech myself I was just stumped in regards to the problem and had exhausted all my options before I called.

I've been waiting for a replacement since 22nd. Either the graphics card or motherboard is not in stock and I can never get an answer as to when the problem will be resolved.

Currently my Intel 3000 HD doesn't exist and never has. I also get that switch graphics cards which knocks me out of whatever I'm doing and has nothing to switch to nor any reason to have me switch since I'm on AC.

So I threw the m18x back into the box and I'm using my desktop again because it's utterly worthless.

I'm banging my head, this is a brand new replacement of a replacement. I just want a machine that works!

 

Bill,

I am experiencing all of the same issues with the 6990Ms overheating. My problem is that I'm in freaking Afghanistan...

Dell only offers phone support for Alienware! The phones out here SUCK, the calls are dropped, the touch tone features only work half the time, the audio cuts out and there's a huge delay. Not only that but the hours they offer are all extremely late at night here in Afghanistan.

Is there a freaking E-Mail address you know of or some form of 24/7 chat? I've been trying for days to even contact tech support. Evey dell rep I get on chat sends me to the Dell Hardware Chat but if I enter my service tag into that it tells me chat support isn't offered! UGH!

I tried to PM you however it said I didn't have permission to view the private messages page?

 

Not enough post count yet that's why. I could PM him to take a look at your specific post.

EDIT: Ok I have PMed him for you, pointing to your post.

 

I'm downloading the benchmark now. Will post up results once I get a chance to run it a few times.

download from Guru3D.com
This is the one right?

What results did you get?


EDIT: Okay I just ran my 1st ever run of Stalker benchmark.
What settings did you need me to run the benchmark on Johnksss?

added a 2nd run with a mild GPU OC!
Cheers.

 

A couple of venues for escalation that Dell-Bill_B recently shared with us:

(1) on Twitter send a message to @DellCares, or

(2) use the Support link on the left side of the Dell Facebook page.​

 

delivered 22nd, problems on first boot

Nvidia 560 card, Motherboard Rev G2 1142 -Intel HD 3000 doesn't exist
Poor build quality, missing screws

Can't speak to performance or gaming since I kept getting that switching dialog popping up.

Can't remember the last time I had a working laptop.

Whoever said we should get warranty extensions, I agree. I have wasted so much time and energy troubleshooting, with tech support, waiting, without a working machine, etc.

 

Sad indeed. More saddest evidences of the lack of a Systemic Quality Control system... will 'they' ever listen and learn? Or will the consumers need an 'army' of Dell-Bill_B?

 

Dude. You are on the list. Check your account. There should be an order number. I can find it if you don't see it. Unless I'm completely mistaken, in which case *egg on face*.