Just got my m11x - not sure if im happy with it

So I just got my m11x the other day. The delivery time was amazing. Ordered it on the 28th and received it the 4th. 2 things I have noticed since getting it.

After only turning it on and installing games via Steam and updating WoW it feels REALLY warm (especially under my palms as i type). Even though all of the temperatures seem perfectly fine at around 30-33 for the CPU.

It also has about 81 processes running in the background and all I am running is Steam, firefox, and ventrilo. Memory usage is at 38% right now and CPU at 28%. I awoke to a message this morning saying my computer was running low on memory and that was with only having what I stated open. Any reason for this happening on a just out-of-box m11x?

Oh Yea I have an M11x r2 i7

 

how much ram do you have?

 

4GB of ram. I did some of the optimoizations suggested just now and got it down to 58 processes 0-3% CPU usage and 28% physical memory used.

 

yea the factory install is quite crappy. glad you found a easy fix.

 

mind linking me to the thread with instructions on how to optimize this and get rid of those processes that are not necessary? thanks

 

Congrats on your new rig, if you don't my asking, what was difference in time between order date and ship?

 

I've seen quite a few threads like this. Dell tend to install a lot of crap that you don't need on the machine. The first thing I did when I got mine was rip the hard disk out, put a new hybrid one in and do a fresh install of Windows, then the drivers from the site. I've never had a problem.

You might want to check out soluto as well. That can give some very useful pointers on just what's being fired up as part of the boot process, and provides a very cool interface for deciding whether or not to get rid of certain pieces of unwanted crud.

Congratulations on your purchase and delivery time dude. I think the machine will grow on you - it certainly has me.

 

Ordered December 28th and Delivered January 4th.

m11x optimization thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/463114-m11x-optimization-thread.html

 

Dell? Any laptop developer/manufacter does that, HP, Asus, Sony, Toshiba, Acer, etc.

And IMO, Dell is the one with less invasive stuff in the laptops....

About the memory problem, it can be Fire Fox, some people report using around 2GB of RAM with 4-5 tabs in fire fox only...

About the heat, is normal, is a laptop, and a small one, I thin the left palm is where the ram is it, and unless the laptop is overheating (with GPU/CPU temps) is perfectly fine....

 

Ummm.. okay, they shipped it the day you ordered

 

Oh great you're lucky then, it took me 5 weeks just to get this baby monster delivered! x.x

 

If he ordered from Dell Outlet it would have shipped within a day or two since the laptop is already assembled and ready to go.

 

Not an outlet item, it was assembled...shipping time was real fast for fedex ground and assembly time was only like 2 days. Kudos to them for the lightning fast delivery.

 

Do a fresh format, install throttle stop, and give it a week. Granted I only did the format and time since I have an r1 and Im glad I did. I was starting to hate the m11x by day 2 and thought it may have been a poor choice but I gave it some TLC and time. By the time I was done setting up my 3rd reformat (yeah Im VERY picky about formats) I was 100% in love with the rig. So much then most times when I get home I dont even bother sitting at my desk because Im caught up in something on the m11x.

Basically right out of the box most PCs are gimped by crappy OEM installs(minus dell business models). A clean install with the provided disc takes no time at all and turns it into a new machine.

 

Do a fresh install off of the disk alienware sends with the laptop its a clean win 7 no bloatware you will have to download alienware command center and all drivers. BUT its well worth it!
Not to mention spend 20 bucks get a intel 6200 internal wireless increased my range by allot.
AND if you go the dough$$ I would strongly recommend a oxz vertex 2 ssd
I got my m11xr1 on black friday deal 599 + coupon so the money i saved i did all of the above + 8gb of ram and its like a completely different machine than my cousins which is still running stock everything (bought at the same time).