*OFFICIAL* M11xR1 Owners Lounge - Part 4

Wow, that's alot of pages to sift through.....

What programs are everyone using that monitors their laptop temps?

 

either core temp or real temp for the cpu should work, one of them, (I think core temp) can be made to show the information on Logitech gaming keyboards and game pads with lil lcd displays, (g-13, g-15, g-19, g510). and either EVGA Percision and MSI Afterburner for the video temps and overclocking, hope this helps

 

I use Core Temp combined with a sidebar gadget called All CPU Meter.

 

has anyone ever had to have there m11x R-1 repaired, did u send it in or did they come out to your house, when I called about my light on the right speaker bein brighter then one on left they said they whould come out, but my friend has 2 with bad hinges and they said he had to send both in, why do they come out for some and not all?? anyone else have any experiance yet.

 

I've had two experiences - the first, they replaced the entire unit, then the second one, i had to send it in to get it repaired. both were coz of hinges...

 

Being targeted at the same consoles as the 2005/6 games, I expect similar performance. Of course, CoD:MW2 really did take a beefier PC than CoD4:MW, but I'm sure you get the point. For example, the 2005/6 consoles couldn't do Crysis with its DX9-based effects, but they CAN do Crysis 2 because they are the target platform. I expect better performance on the same PCs I played Crysis on in 2007... at least with the appropriate settings.

 

My hinges also failed. Called Dell to get it fixed and they said to send it in. I told them that I wouldn't as I have the in home warranty. He put me on hold for a minute and then told me they would send a guy out instead. The service guy came out the next day and installed the new screen.

I am sure he will be out again before the warranty runs out as I believe the hinges on these machines leave slot to be desired.


Spiff

 

wow.....

4 full threads of m11x goodness!

well i normally read thru a entire thread before posting but seriously this would take like 2-3days.

im coming from a 1201n that i upgraded, OCed and modded to the brim and its just not cutting it for me in the gaming dept. so i am looking to sell off the 1201n and other equipment to grab a new ultra portable. the other day my lil bro just got a M11x i5 refurb and after i messed around with it... i had to have one!

my question is.... C2D or i5?

im a gamer, mostly TF2 and other shooters. so needless to say i likes me some high frame count goodness. but... is the i5, or even i7 that much better to justify the extra $$$ and sacrifice the extra battery life the C2D yields?

thanks for any replies. i do consider OCing and tweaking the M11x when i get it so plz take that into account. thanks again!

 

I'm not an expert, but I've heard TF2 is one of the more CPU-dependent FPSs. Dunno if you've seen this yet, but it looks like there's a pretty good difference between the C2D processors and the i5/i7:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=5730

Alienware m11x CPU -- wPrime 32M test (lower is better)
Intel Core i7-640UM -- 39.47s
Intel Pentium Dual-core SU4100 (OC'd) -- 52.15s
Intel Core i5-520UM -- 55.37s
Intel Pentium Dual-core SU4100 -- 66.24s

Also:
PassMark - CPU Benchmarks - List of Benchmarked CPUs
Passmark CPU score (higher is better)
[i7-640UM isn't listed]
Intel Core i5-520UM @ 1.07GHz -- 1274
Intel SU4100 @ 1.30GHz -- 985
Intel SU7300 @ 1.30GHz -- 971

 

The SU4100 scored higher in Passmark than the 7300? wow...

 

thanks for the info Name user.

i guess i was trying to ask if its worth the extra cost and battery life hit to grab a R2 vs the R1. i understand that the R2s will have a bit more horse power when compared to the C2D but is it enough to justify the added cost?

i just figured id ask here cuz most of you guys have probably done a good amount of gaming on your M11x to give a better opinion vs some guy that spends a few days or hrs with one just to write a review.

spending $1000 vs $800 and losing 1-2 hrs of battery life for 2-5 more FPS isnt really a solid investment in my eyes.

 

I am sure it's been done elsewhere.
Any settings in nvidia control panel I should toggled to get the most juice out of my R1?

 

1. OC the CPU thru the bios (if you haven't already)
2. on the Nvidia control panel, there's some settings like maximum perfomance/maximum quality. That type of things. Also check under the windows power settings and make sure GPU performance is set to the highest setting.

 

Hi guys, new user

Been reading these pages for a few days now whilst waiting for a cheque to clear. Just ordered my m11x a couple hours ago!! Just the bog standard build for £599 and seriously can't wait.

Just hoping i won't have to wait long for it.

 

Kriiis you should of grabbed the deal I think got a 749 M11X for 599 on gaming deals on the Dell UK store but they seem to change them every other day!

 

@blacklisted89 - I was too anxious to get a laptop i went straight to the alienware site

 

The M11x R1 I just bought only has 2gb of RAM, so I'll need to upgrade. Do I need to go specifically with Dell-approved RAM, or can I just buy some appropriate SODIMMs off Newegg and be done with it?

 

Ive been asking this, you are fine to put your own RAM in but obviously if the RAM breaks it isn't covered by Dell.

 

Yeah, obviously Dell doesn't cover someone else's RAM. I just wanted to be sure there were no problems with non-Dell-certified sticks, which it doesn't seem like there are. Thanks!

 

Hey gang, anyone know what's a good discount for the m11x? Right now Dell has this system ( Alienware M11x Laptop Details | Dell) available with a $160 discount, so it costs $999.

Is this a good deal? The offer expires this week...should I wait for a better deal? Is there any way to find out what upcoming deals there are?

Thanks,
Frank

 

That's not a deal at all. You can get a "refurb" for 30% less and still have the same warranty options... doesn't make much sense to pay more for "new".

 

Hello guys, Im thinking of buying a M11x but im not sure if its the best time to buy at the moment.. I might wait until January and see if the prices drop

I was just wondering though what you guys think is the "best" build for under £1000 im not sure if the i5 or i7 is worth the extra money.. And can you see any updates in the near future ? i can see many of you have complained about the hinges..

Great forum btw cant believe you have had to remake it like 3 times xD

 

Right guys, mines supposed to arrive on the 29th

So i just wanted to know: What are the first things i should do when i receive it. (In terms of upgrading, downloading etc...)

 

FWIW, I kept my new R1 at the factory install and haven't had any issues, except I have bios 03 and I should probably update to 05. For an R2 I believe there are some updated drivers for optimus but I'm sure someone here with more info can chime in.

 

I'm also looking for a little checklist of things that I should change on my R1.

My R1 will be arriving Friday morning.

I'm so excited.

 

Mines being delivered friday now

 

update: i managed to not only update the bios to a05, but also updated my nvidia graphics drivers using the latest 197.72 (not the beta) on the dell support site and deactivated the startup of AlienFX (using msconfig).

I updated my directx install as well using the web installer/updater from the MS site to get some additional dx9.0c compatibility for my COD4 install (didn't install from the cdrom). I have to say everything is working very well so far. Tried COD4 and WOW with no problems; everything playing nice and smooth.

edit: i'm not overclocking yet on the cpu or gpu so it's all stock except for what i've mentioned above.

 

Has anyone bought there alienware laptop from NDC ? they have really good prices but i dont know anything about them

 

MINE HAS ARRIVED
Waited untill 6 in the evening for it, thought it wasn't going to come!

 

just ordered the R1, now my main question is: what am I limited to driver wise for the nvidia videocard?

 

Got my M11x R1 last week, and I gotta say, it's a great little machine. I was initially wary of the CPU performance, but it's not an issue so far. Haven't screwed around with any of the homebrew driver packages yet.

 

I was a bit wary about the CPU as well to begin with. But i find that it runs everything i wanted to run without hassle so it's not a problem.

 

New M11x R1 owner here. Ordered mine from Best Buy and have had it for about a week. Replaced an aging Toshiba A105-S2194 I've had for 5 years. Decided on the M11x because I needed something smaller with excellent battery life, and also wanted to game on it from time to time. So far I'm loving the machine and am glad to have a community that can offer advice and help.

 

bad choice, the one from bestbuy i believe is $799 not including tax or shipping and without bluetooth

You could have ordered from alienware with same the configurations like the bestbuy but with bluetooth and customize nameplate and will cost you around $670

xtra $50 to 250gb
xtra $20 Bluetooth
xtra 50 2gb ram to 4gb

from $550 sale because of the $200 discount until January 2011 and the $50 discount coupon

 

8⅜ months in, and my M11x SU7300 is still living up to my expectations.

Buying requirements:

• Sub 12"
• Good CPU/GPU
• Good external connectivity. Would have liked an express card slot, but HDMI and DisplayPort curb an major criticism.

​

Have several computer languages loaded(coding), MySQL server and Apache server.

I've had no problems with hinges or any other issues.
I still grumble about the hinge attachment strength as if it breaks it means epxoy and re-attachment.

Don't expect Dell to do anything about the hinges, but not going to let that over shadow an otherwise fantastic wee beastie.

Only time I've max'd the CPU was converting video format/size, but didn't effect the outcome other than a few extra minutes.

With support by Nautis, thomaskc.dk, RigelKent and others the future of the M11xR1 GPU hybrid drivers look good.

All going well I see my M11xR1 taking me through the next 4-5 years.

This could be a hard ask, given the growth in technology.

That said, my cia 1999 Toshiba Portégé netbooks (yes two) are still going strong. I have heard myself saying, "Why don't you just die!!!."

Hopefully my M11x will live long and prosper.

 

Rock on!

I've never had an issue with this laptop in over 10 months of use. Even my Area-51 M5500 (yeah bought when AW was still AW owned ) is working like new to this day and that was almost 5 years ago. To be honest, I've only ever had 1 issue with my AW lappies and that's with my M15X: I upgraded the BIOS when the latest update came out and the system shut down in the middle of it's upgrade and now the system is borked. I'll send it to the 'Mothership' after I'm done with my Military TDY (Temporary Duty), which is set to finish in a couple of weeks.

 

Can someone post links to forum threads where the hybrid driver dev is happening? For the R1 I mean.

 

This is just a few I know of. There is probably more, but it's not just the M11xR1 as there are a few other notebooks using the same Hybrid Graphics drivers listed within the same inf file.
At least this should get you started and you can then see the pointers within these threads.

Sony Vaio Z Hybrid Graphics

M11xR1 260.99 Hybrid Graphics Intel 2020

Nautis Hybrid Graphics/

 

sorry guys, hinges that break every 3 months were a total deal breaker for me. Apart from that, I did love my lil alien.

 

Got my black friday r1 today (4gb ram, 250gb hdd). After spending the last two weeks reading about hinges, scratches, failed overclocks, warped keyboards, and all manner of techno horrors, i'm pleased to say that everything is looking tip top. It's oc'd, stress tested, and now loading it up with games.

Oh and this is replacing my 4-yr old xps m1210. I paid $2000 then, just $650 for this one.

 

I just recived mine it OC's, runs Wow on extreamly high settings, switching to Nivida card works flawless, Im extreamly happy with the purchase and with a 3 yr warranty Im not worried about hinges either

 

How did you guys get oc to 1.7 ghz? bios oc only goes to 1.6 ghz. Do you need throttlestop or another program to up the multiplier from 6 to 6.5?

 

Check out this thread here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-r1-multiplier-stays-6-so-cpu-only-1-6-a.html

 

next time around i would like to see them produce either an m13x (which i think the current m11x should have been) or really produce a traditional 11.6" form factor and weight. if they go the 11.6" path i wouldnt mind if they put a lesser gpu in it if they could stick to that ultra portable path, something like the macbook air. now that would be cool.

but either way i still look at the m11x with envy, its a thing of beauty.

do you think there will be a revision talked about at ces or any time soon?

 

The MIIx *IS* the M13x. They just chose the smaller screen for whatever reason. If it was only to be able to display the Alienware logo I'd be ticked. There's ample room to fit a 13" screen in there. I would have much rather had the larger screen given the size and weight of the machine.

 

i totally agree, that was kind of what i meant, i hope they release it with a 13" and then also develop a true 11.6" (even if slightly less powerful)

 

Yes, a true 11.6" with ULV i3/i5 and ION graphics and 13" with mobile i3/i5 and GTX 430m or something along those lines would be great. The ION is a great performer, and coupling that with a ULV i3/i5 would be tons better than all the crap Atom CPU's.

 

maybe a noob question: can someone tell me the benefit of updating the r1 335m gpu driver from 197.xx to the most recent nvidia one 259 or something? will this improve my fps in black ops? will i be able to overclock more efficiently? thanks.

 

Hey man, strange, I'm in exactly the same boat as you, I have my m1210 right now, my m11x for $650 just came in, one thing to note though, the core2 t7200 on my m1210 has a windows experience rating of 5.0, from the notebook check review m11x with su7300 overclocked to 1.6GHz only got 4.6... so aside from gaming normal usage will actually be less smooth, not that I have any complaints with the speed of my m1210 processor...

 

I just got my R1 M11x. Can you just install regular nVidia drivers? I thought you needed Dell's hybrid drivers for GPU switching.