Secondary GPU (7970M) appears to be dying in my M18x R2.

You have a chance of getting a pair or 680's but they won't do 780's simply because those cards were never officially sold with the r2. My fingers are crossed the tech rocks up with a pair of Nvidia's for you though.

 

Well, I'll be just as ecstatic if he shows up with 680Ms.

Again, I doubt it'll happen, but I can dream, right?

I'm hoping that they'll swap them out these replacement 7970Ms with 680Ms later in the week, or next week, if/when Dell's head office actually sees my issue. It might be a few days before the head office sees it and responds to it.

 

You can always sell on the new 7970's. They sell like hotcakes and for similar prices to 680m these days.

 

I would do so, but again, I'm worried about that causing issues with my system warranty in the future if I don't have the original GPUs and they want to replace the computer. There's still two years left on the warranty, after all.

 

Yeah that is something to consider. I've just taken the chance on GPU's not failing. I'm still under warranty too so if anything goes wrong I just swap the parts myself. Of course this does rule out a system replacement, but the way I see it, is that it's not worth wasting time not upgrading based on the chance of a future system replacement. I'm not suggesting that's what your doing, it's more so my approach to a similar situation.

 

Well, it is something I will consider. I know the need for a full system replacement is unlikely to ever occur so long as they have replacement parts, and nothing is particularly likely to fail other than the replacement 7970Ms. I suppose that if a system replacement was necessary, they might not even notice that the system has 680Ms or 780Ms in if I send it in - nor should they care, since the system will be dead and they won't be able to use the parts.

Maybe I'll ask an AW rep here to see if they think it would be okay. I don't mind taking the risk of 680Ms or 780Ms failing if I buy them myself, seeming as they are so much more reliable.

I'd buy them and just keep hold of the 7970Ms if I could afford to do so...well, I can afford it right now, but it wouldn't leave me with much for the next half a year, particularly as I was about to blow 300 GBP on a monitor too. Presumably more if I end up waiting for a gsync version.

I'll see what happens with this repair first.

 

If you sell the 7970's and pick up 680's I am 100% certain that as long as you take precautionary measures to mitigate heat, especially if overclocked, your 680's will far outlast the remainder of your warranty. My R2 is two years old, I got it in June of 2012 right when it came out, and my 680's show zero sign of giving up the ghost. They have been seeing temperatures lower than with factory clocks (usually no more than 65 C, with very demanding games getting them up into the low 70's with occasionally a max around 75 C now that I am on Coolaboratory Liquid Ultra but even before then usually no higher than 70, 75 and occasionally 80 C respectively).

I fully expect them to last 4-5 years or more. If anything, what will likely go is a motherboard component from disassembling the unit periodically. Case in point, the data cable that connects the HD caddy to the mobo already has a broken tab, but the position of that cable is putting enough downward pressure to remain in place without it. Every time I disconnect all of the various cables I am worried that I might damage one of them now. That is really my only concern and that is partially why I was motivated to switch to Coolaboratory Liquid Ultra as I don't wan't to change the TIM but once a year.

 

Well then, I'll look into doing that if Dell won't replace these with 680Ms.

Hell, I might even pick up 780Ms. They don't seem to be much more expensive.

I assume I'd have to order the backplates, heatsinks and SLi cable from Dell though?

And I know what you mean about cables. I'm most worried about the four cables that connect from various components in the palmrest into the mobo...it feels like I'm helping to ease the wire out of the plugs a bit further every time I pull them out.

 

Oh and I forgot to add that those two years have been absolutely torturous, let me give you an idea:

I'm active 15 out of 24 hours a day. 11 out of those 15 hours my R2 is on (an hour or so in the gym, meditation, cooking meals, a walk in the park and an hour of reading make up about 4 hours) with 5 out of those 11 hours spent web browsing and about 6 hours a day gaming. I am not working, I have not gone on vacation, I have been subjecting my R2's components to high utilization and accompanying temperatures associated with gaming for at least 6 hours a day or more for the past two years. This really has to be emphasized as many who own a mobile powerhouse such as an Alienware M18x R2 may only use it on occasion, when they are away from their monster desk-top or maybe as a hobbyist who does occasional bench-marking (believe it or not a few here only bench-mark and don't actually play any games). Not me, my R2 is a DTR (desk-top replacement) and will remain so until I am on firmer financial footing and can build that monster desk-top PC, so certainly for the forseeable future. And up until say 6 months ago, I was actually homeless, and subjecting my R2 to all manner of temperature variation and vibrations associated with changing environments and packing up and moving the unit from here to there.

This system is mostly durable, especially if you take precautionary measures to mitigate heat, which is the primary factor in premature component failure, especially GPU's.

 

New GPUs installed - AMD 7970Ms, of course - and appear to be working fine at the moment. The engineer even used my IC Diamond for the heatsinks, as I asked nicely.

The engineer understood why I would have preferred nVidia GPUs, and is arranging a callback, so I'll see what comes of that. I haven't heard anything else from Dell yet, but I'm still hoping they're still looking at my case after Porras referred it to them.

Edit: Hmm. The screen tearing's back. The issue that started months ago. With two new GPUs and a new Crossfire cable. Hmm. Maybe the motherboard did need replacing. This is frustrating.

Another edit: Wonderful. AMD's drivers never fail to frustrate me. Trying to roll back to earlier drivers to see if the tearing issue is software related, and the older drivers just don't work properly. 13.12 is locking the cards to a maximum of 425/600 on the GPU/memory. And the tearing issue is still there.

Now I think of it...perhaps the cause of the tearing is related to the lack of working sensors on the secondary GPU? For months now, nothing has been able to report the secondary GPU temperature, or info from a number of other sensors that work fine on the primary. And the issue only occurs with Crossfire on. Perhaps...faulty socket on the motherboard? Could that be doing this?

Ugh, faulty mobo or not, I am so ****ing done with AMD at this point. Never, ever again.

Yet Another Edit: Can't get the GPUs to run above 425/600 in Crossfire on any driver revision. I've tried 4 so far, ranging from 13.4 to 14.3 Beta. The primary will (usually) run at standard 3D clocks when Crossfire is disabled. Also, whenever I attempt to disable or enable Crossfire, Aero gets disabled, Windows won't open any games or benchmarks like FurMark, and a restart is required to fix it (after which Crossfire will have been disabled/enabled). Again, this seems to be happening on all driver versions.

More Edit: Oh, I've noticed something else now. That issue where the frames from the secondary GPU weren't being displayed? That's still there. FurMark only shows odd-numbered frames (I captured the frame counter in slow motion to confirm this, it is definitely skipping every other frame), on both the internal screen and an external display.



Okay, after all that editing, I have to ask: what now? Could this be software? Every time I've tried installing the drivers again, I've made sure it's completely clean - with driver sweeper and CCleaner to get rid of old files and registry keys in between installations - so that can't be the cause. I would try reinstalling Windows, but...now my CD/DVD drive won't read any DVDs, so I can't. Could that possibly be it, anyway?

I'm really starting to believe that it could be an issue with the secondary GPU mobo socket. It would explain the symptoms I had before the primary GPU failed, as well.

 

Rather than investing your time in trying to solve these problems yourself, you're probably better off reopening that support ticket. Just call in and say that service call number 123 is having a relapse. Hope you get a motherboard replacement, among other things, this time.

 

The guy actually did bring a replacement mobo, but he never replaced it as neither him nor myself thought the motherboard was the issue. (Obviously, he would have replaced it if the GPU replacement didn't work.) And, well, the GPU replacement DID fix the issue where the machine wouldn't post, and I wasn't going to ask the guy to wait there while I test everything to make sure all of the graphics issues were fixed - after all, it took me hours of testing different drivers and using an external display as well to be fairly certain that there was a hardware issue.

What appears to have happened is both the mobo and primary GPU have had faults arise (or worsen) in quick succession, and I assumed all of the faults were due to the GPU.

Anyway, the engineer said that he would arrange a callback when he left, because I was unhappy about receiving AMD GPUs again. (He thought that they might listen and consider the GPU replacement.) I'll give them a polite earful when they call, and hope that they replace the GPUs with 680Ms or 780Ms as well as the mobo. And the DVD drive, seeming as it won't read anything.

 

Dell never called back, of course. I had to phone them, spent about 75 minutes on the phone with the guy to explain my issues, have him check them and rule out driver issues through their support software, and then work out what to do. They (understandably) want to rule out software before hardware, so I'll need to reinstall Windows, but my recovery DVD is unreadable (or my DVD drive is busted, or both), so they're sending out a new one to arrive tomorrow...

I'm starting to become really annoyed and upset about all of this crap. It's not the fault of the guys in the call centres, of course, but it's absolutely ****ing ridiculous that it's so hard to escalate my issue to anyone higher. They can't authorise a replacement of the GPUs for nVidia cards without me paying 800 quid, end of story, and my only other option is to post a letter. Still nothing from them after Porras's referral.

All of this crap makes me never again want to touch an AMD GPU for the rest of my life. I...I just don't know what else to do at this point. I want to believe that something might happen if I send their head office a letter, but I can't stop myself being very pessimistic about them caring or even responding. I suppose all I lose for trying is the cost of the paper, envelope and stamp, and the time taken to write a formal letter, but I feel like I shouldn't even bother getting my hopes up.

At least my new 144Hz monitor works fine. Now, if only I had a working computer that could actually run it properly...

 

About re-installing Windows, the tech on the phone will not manually check when your Windows was installed. You can phone in right now and tell the person you were asked to do a re-installation and found the problem to persist. Of course I'm not saying you should do that since good boys NEVER lie.

If your goal is to restore your computer to working order, you should get motherboard and GPU replacements.

If your goal is to be given NVidia cards, well, you might have to burn through a few more pairs of 7970M's before a system exchange is on the table.

 

Well, it's fair that I try a new Windows installation first. Some of the issues, or even all of them, might be hardware related...but, equally, some might be software, so best to weed those out now (even if it doesn't fix all of them). Hell, at this point, the GPUs have just given up entirely and reverted to being 'Standard VGA graphics adapters'...and no AMD drivers will work with them. So...a format is probably in order.

Burning through a few more 7970Ms could be arranged with some voltage modding...but I don't think I'll resort to killing them on purpose to try and get nVidia cards, as well as being immoral I'm fairly sure it would be illegal too. I'll send a letter to the Dell head office and see if that gets me anywhere.

 

If you're convinced that AMD cards fail quickly, just wait until they do, rinse and repeat until Dell swaps your whole machine out.

If you believe the cards will not fail on their own, then perhaps there is no need for buyer's remorse after all..

 

They only do system replacement after replacing hardware three times.

 

Well, a fresh installation of Windows has fixed most of the issues, the AMD software isn't being quite so awful right now and the GPUs are finally working at their proper clock speeds in Crossfire again. However, the tearing issue is still there, so I suspect a mobo replacement will be necessary. (No other plausible explanation; the tearing shows up on an external display as well)

I'll have buyer's remorse whether or not these cards turn out to be perfectly reliable. The drivers are . They were when I got the machine (well, actually, there weren't any officially compatible drivers when I got it) and they are still today, just marginally less so. Even with the marginal performance difference, I really wish now that I'd paid the extra 400 quid for the 680Ms when I bought the machine.

In any case, I don't want a system replacement. The 18 is fugly in my eyes, not to mention the CPU is/was crippled (did that ever get fixed?) and it doesn't do anything that the M18x R2 can't. Honestly, I'd rather keep my M18x R2 with some replacement 680Ms than get an 18 with 880Ms.

 

Sorry to hear that drivers are still giving you trouble. My AMD journey finished somewhere around 13.12 and I remembered that towards the end the drivers were doing all I wanted it to. Overclocking was forgettable but gaming was satisfactory, especially after Crossfire frame latency issues were ironed out. Perhaps they broke something again after I'm gone?

The New 18's CPU was being held back by the BIOS stock settings in previous versions but since A05 the settings have become more reasonable. In any case, one can always adjust them manually and unleash the fury of the Hotwell. Indeed it is the thermal limits that have become far more daunting than anything else. Not sure if you would ever be able to tolerate the appearance but as far as performance is concerned, a New 18 with 880M SLI does raise the bar over it's R2 brethren. (Just saying that you shouldn't be sad if you end up with one )

 

I tend to agree, although 880M's would make the trade-off enticing. To me I don't like the additional bulk, yet the same screen dimensions, and the cyber-nanny UEFI Secure Flash BS that seriously hinders any kind of OC potential. Look at the benches here, the R2 is still the king, by a wide margin.

IF Dell were to put a 19" screen in that bezel (looks like it would fit) ditch the cyber-nanny non-sense and provide a way to connect two 330W PSU's like the Clevo can AND offer all of that, including an i7 4930 and 880M SLI for around $3500 then I would be totally interested.

Oh and that chassis looks like it could fit the water cooling system, the patent of which Dell purchased from Asetek.

If Alienware wants to survive, they are going to have to the above. The PC gaming community has a multitude of choices available to them. I point out in another thread that I could right now purchase an Intel i7-4770k Nvidia GTX 780 PC for less than $1500. If Dell thinks they can charge us $4k for these things, they better be at the cutting edge of innovation, including experimental liquid-cooling and with NO cyber-nanny BS.

 

Yeah, they broke something. My laptop!

In any case, the drivers are certainly an improvement over where they were when the 7970Ms released. (That's not saying much, given that there weren't any 7970M drivers on release...) However, overall it's still lacking compared to nVidia's drivers. Not only are they still behind in terms of features (like gsync and 3D), their multi-GPU efficiency and compatibility is still behind nVidia's, but worst of all, the bugs can still sometimes be horrendous.

I had a period of time a few months ago where the drivers would nuke themselves if I tried to enable or disable Crossfire, requiring a full clean install. And then you've got what happened here...which required a fresh installation of Windows to fix.

Thought I'd also just say that on further investigation, the secondary GPU's frames still aren't being displayed. Either that, or it's producing frames so close to the first GPU that they don't show up at 24fps in Furmark on a 120Hz monitor. EDIT: Never mind, it was just the way Furmark was displaying frames, running with 8x AA in Furmark to slow down the frames shows that it's fine (just that sometimes the frames are very close together, which is what I must have seen as the skipped frames)

Well, I wouldn't be sad if I ended up with an 18. But I would find myself asking why the hell they screwed up the styling so much.

Well, I've always wondered if it would be possible to custom-build a desktop nVidia GPU card for one of these. Produce a special socket that's two or two and a bit times larger than the standard MXM 3.0b sockets, take a 780Ti and shrink the actual card down as much as possible so it can slot in, and create an extra wide heatsink for it with two fans for cooling (maybe even three). Just as fast, if not faster, than the multi-GPU solutions we have, while coming with none of the downsides of the multi-GPU solutions.

Oh, also, 120Hz displays in the 18 would be nice. As would the water cooling system.


EDIT: The tech I've been speaking to has now authorised a motherboard and optical drive replacement, which should hopefully be done tomorrow. Hopefully this fixes the issues once and for all, although I'm still sending a hopeful letter to the head office to see if they can switch these for nVidias. Oh, and for those who were wondering what the tearing/flickering looks like, here is a crappy video I captured with my iPhone. I slowed down most of the video to make it clearer, so this happens about 4 times faster in person.

 

And Windows chose the moment I shut down the computer with the engineer here to install 177 Windows updates.

The updates that it could have done last night. Or the other 4 times earlier today that I shut it down.

Nope.

I gave it 45 minutes, and with the system still nowhere near finished updating and the engineer already running over 2 hours behind schedule before he even got here, I just said that we'll do it next week.

DAMN IT, MICROSOFT.

Oh, and then Windows decided to fail to configure the updates when I reboot, so now it has to try them all over again. Sigh...

It honestly seems like everything that can go wrong is going wrong with this whole ordeal. I know it could be worse, of course, but that doesn't make this any less annoying...

 

Windows update should be configured to be run only manually. It is your computer so assume total control like you own it (you do). Tbh though, if I were in your position I'd just force shut down. Windows update can be done at your leisure but repairman's time is hard to come by..

 

It was a fresh installation of Windows. I forgot to switch automatic updates off, and I didn't want to screw up the installation by killing the updates. The engineer was the one that suggested that he could come back later in the first place

 

Just disable Automatic Updates using Group Policy Editor.



Or, if you have a "Home" version of Windows (no gpedit.msc) do it in the registry.

Download Tweak: View attachment NoWAU-Tweak.reg.zip

Or, make your own reg tweak if you're the suspicious type... copy/paste into NotePad and save with a .reg extension... double click to apply registry mod.

Code:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU]
"NoAutoUpdate"=dword:00000001

Or, easiest of all... just use Regedit...

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU
NoAutoUpdate
Reg_DWORD
0 = Enable Automatic Updates
1 = Disable Automatic Updates



Either way, you can still run Windows Update manually, but the automatic update process is disabled and cannot run with this tweak. This gives you the power to decide what's best for your beast instead of Micro$haft. Most Windows Updates don't deserve to be installed and some do more harm than good. The only ones that truly deserve being considered are security updates, but you have to read the documentation to determine if it actually matters in your situation. I find that many do not apply to my situation and they end up being "hidden" and skipped. Always create a system restore point in case the cure is worse than the disease. In terms of system performance, it can sometimes be substantial and the risk of running unpatched might be worth it instead of accepting the hit on performance.

After installing Windows Updates, always check to be sure Micro$haft did not turn on Automatic Updates without your permission. They do that sometimes. If that happens, reapply the tweak if you need to.

Configure Automatic Updates using Registry Editor | TechNet Library

End result... You're the "System Administrator" and you have taken control of your system. The option to re-enable Automatic Updates is even grayed out and disabled. :thumbsup:

 

Hey that's a great idea, I too wondered why no-one has attempted to shoehorn an actual desktop GPU into a laptop. You really sound like you know more than I do about this stuff!

And yeah a 120 Hz 19" display in the AW 18 would be tantalizing! That and/or the ability to go the 3D route if one wants that, like the M17x R3 or R4 has the 3D display.

So youre saying that your GPU's aren't actually bad and that your motherboard is being replaced?

This my friend is Murphy's Law, when everything that can possibly go wrong converge upon a single point in time.

 

Thanks for the tips Fox, I'll do that.

Well, I don't see why they shouldn't be able to get a desktop GPU in here. I can't remember which GPU or which manufacturer it is, but someone shrank a fairly high-end graphics card for smaller desktop builds, without any loss of performance. After all, my 7970Ms are just shrunk down versions of a desktop 7870 with a slightly underclocked GPU. So I can see it being possible for, say, a 780Ti to be shrunk to the size of two MXM 3.0b cards without dropping the performance. And if we can cool two 100W GPUs with one heatsink and fan each, then it should be possible to cool the one bigger GPU with a much larger heatsink (or dual heatsink) and two fans.

As for the 120Hz display...I really don't see why they haven't already done it. Why have they put it in the lower performing M17x that can't manage the same framerates or fluid 3D gameplay in the highest settings?

Oh, no, the GPUs were faulty. Or, at the very least, the primary GPU died. Replacing the GPUs did fix the issue; it wouldn't POST with the primary installed before they were replaced.

No kidding...

Oh, not to mention that if Royal Mail's tracking is accurate, the letter I sent to the head office that should have arrived the next day still hasn't arrived. And now we have a couple of bank holidays because of Easter, during which the head office might not even be working. Plus, Porras referring me to the people in charge of the EMEA region doesn't seem to have done anything.

Makes me wonder what else could go wrong. I hope I don't find out...

 

Well...

Motherboard and ODD replaced.

And the screen flickering/tearing is still there.

Dell should be calling me back in the next couple of days...and I'm guessing that I'm looking at a system replacement now. I'm not sure whether to be pleased or annoyed...

But I'll definitely be pissed if I end up with AMD GPUs again.

 

That's a bummer. It may the the screen cable...

 

I'd be annoyed if the replacement is an Alienware 18, but that's just me. If I did not get all excited about extreme benching the Alienware 18 would be fine. It will game like a real champ if it has 4930MX and 780M/880M SLI.

 

It happens on a TV over HDMI as well. Besides, after all of this crap, I don't think asking for a system replacement is unreasonable...more than half of this system has been replaced and it's still not working as advertised.

Well...looking at it now, I wouldn't be upset with an 18. I'm not a bencher, and provided the CPU runs as well as mine currently does (3.8GHz 4-core, 4.3GHz single core) then I'll be happy. Provided they give it to me with 880Ms...I won't accept anything less than 880Ms. Even if I have to pay for it, as it's only 110 quid more than a pair of M290Xs...(which are, of course, just 7970Ms with 4GB of VRAM).

I think I'll also use the argument that my CPU runs at 4.3GHz (on a single core) to say that they have to give me the 4930MX, as that's the only CPU they ship that's certified to go that high.

Oh, I'll also demand Windows 7. Because **** Windows 8.

Of course, this is all assuming that they don't have any refurb M18x R2's in stock with my specs or better, or they might just offer me that instead.

 

I wouldn't go in guns blazing and claim you deserve the 4930MX because you OC'ed your poor 3720QM to 4.3GHz. That would be giving them ideas! I think it is fair for them to give you the 4800MQ or 4810MQ since they are the rightful heirs of 3720QM.

As for GPU, I took 780M's for 7970M's with a smile so you should probably be happy with that. System exchange specs are usually non-negotiable (unless they failed to give you like-for-like) so an offer to trade up to 880M's is unlikely to be answered.

Windows 7 should be a given since that's pretty much the only component that can be replaced exactly across two generations.

Hope it all works out for you!

 

Well, yes, alright, a 4930MX is a big ask unless they're feeling nice. I'm not going to demand it, but I will at least ask for a 4800 at minimum if not a 4900, just so I can be sure tha tthe CPU is just as quick.

When it comes to GPUs...well, if they build a brand new 18, the 780Ms aren't currently an option for configuring it. I would, of course, be entirely happy with 780Ms. And when it comes to the exchange, I'll be entirely honest and tell them that I have zero confidence in the AMD GPUs. If they won't upgrade to the 880Ms for free, I'll pay for it, as the difference in price between them and the R9 M290Xs is only 110 quid in the UK. So, if they're building a brand new system, that seems entirely reasonable to me.

I'll see what Dell say when they call. For all I know, they might want to replace it with a refurb, but there aren't any on the outlet in the UK (no M18x R2s or 18s) so unless they have more in their storage, that won't happen. They might try to continue working on this system (in which case, I'd ask them to try the nVidia GPUs and see if it makes a difference), but given what's already been replaced to no avail, I doubt they'll want to keep working on it.

 

If you already have Windows 7 installation media, get Windows 8 if you can. Use the M18xR2 Windows 7 installation media to install the better OS on the 18. But, first save the product key and secure Windows 8 OS installation media and set them aside as plan B for a rainy day.

I've ransacked Windows 8 to the point that it's actually a fairly decent OS other than the crippling effect it has on CPU performance. It doesn't resemble Micro$haft's version of Windows 8, but I like the mutant version that I'm dual booting. It looks pretty darned sweet on the desktop. The Modern UI really blows chunks, but you can more or less disable functionality for the better part of that and ignore what's left of it.

 

Wait, the Windows 8 key on an 18 will work fine for Windows 7 as well?

Hmm...I still have the recovery media for my R2, will that also really work in an 18?

At the very least, there are legal ways to get the Windows 7 .iso installation files online so I can do that if the R2's recovery media doesn't work, however, are you sure the 18's product key would work fine for Windows 7?

Thanks.

 

Hope that helps... worked great for me.

 

Ah, I see now. When I said 'recovery media', I meant that I have the original recovery DVD from the package. (I have two, actually...they sent a second one out when the first wouldn't read in my ODD, in case it was the DVD that was faulty and not the ODD)

So, in theory, I should be able to stick that DVD in to an 18, and it should install and work fine?

Thanks, that's great.

 

Yup! And, your OEM Alienware Windows 7 product key(s) will also work fine with the generic Windows 7 ISO files available for download as well. The only caveat is they are brand-specific product keys. If you use your Alienware Windows 7 DVD, or a generic ISO installation with your Alienware product key on a Dell or anything else, it will fail to activate and stop working. As the labels on the disks generally indicate, they are authorized for use only on the brand they were provided for. In most cases that means activation failure can be expected.

 

Wonderful. Absolutely wonderful.

They want me to send it in to their depot.

I have zero confidence that their 'senoir engineer' will be any more capable of fixing the issue. In fact, I fully well believe that they'll end up claiming all is fine, at which point they send it back to me with the same issue, because their 'tests' might not trigger the flickering black line.

Well, I don't know what to do at this stage. I really don't want to send the system in to the depot at all because of fears of what they'll do with my system, potentially damaging it, or just not fixing it at all, at which point Dell will claim they won't do any more and I'll have to take them to court over it.

Replacing the motherboard has not fixed it. Replacing the graphics cards and the crossfire cable has not fixed it. The issue shows up on external displays, so it can't be the internal screen. What the hell else are they going to attempt?

Guess I don't really have a choice if I want a fully functioning machine. Should I really be this pessimistic about it?

 

I've got a feeling you're going to end up with a new system..for better or worse

 

Well...who knows? I've no idea what they'll change in the depot to try and fix it.

What I do know is they still refuse to swap out my AMD GPUs for nVidias without me paying over 600 GBP. And this is the guy at the damned head office.

I actually hope they can't fix it and will have to replace it, that way I'll at least have a shot at getting the nVidia 880M GPUs in an 18. Hah...probably won't even get that, not even if I offer to pay the difference between those and the AMDs.

Yep, it's official: Dell EMEA's support absolutely sucks compared to the US support.

In any case, I'm not sending this off for over a month, I have exams coming up in early June and can't be without my system, not even for the one week long expedited repair they're offering (which they can't guarantee because of parts, etc.)

 

Depot can be a bummer if you don't have a secondary system but could you possibly borrow one from home/friends, or even the library? The thing is they need to go through the motions of exhausting all available resources before settling for a system exchange.

Sometimes depot service can be good--I had a free swap from UK keyboard to US without ever having to ask, all while they were replacing the 7970M's (without long-lasting success unfortunately). If depot doesn't fix your issue or break something in addition, it's just another round of ammunition for the rep to request a system exchange for you.

PS: Why is one-week repair supposed to be "expedited"? IIRC that's the standard promise for a depot service..

 

I can use the computers in my uni's library, but it's almost an hour away and I don't want to have to go in every time I need to use a computer. I can wait until after my exams are done before sending it to the depot (the guy I spoke to agreed to this.)

As for being 'expedited', it's only 2-3 days in the depot itself, however the shipping each way apparently is a couple of days each time. Because Dell are seemingly too thrifty to pay for one-day guaranteed shipping each way when they're already paying hundreds to repair a system...

EDIT: It's starting to glitch out more now. Random squares are popping up in Windows when a window is opened/maximised that are transparent (show whatever's behind the squares instead of what should be there). This absolutely baffles me. The only parts that should have possibly ever caused this have been replaced. It only occurs with Crossfire on, which infers a problem with either the GPUs, Crossfire cable, or motherboard. It can't be the internal screen as it happens on external displays too (over both HDMI and DP). What the hell could be causing this?