*OFFICIAL* M11xR2 Owners Lounge - Part 1

Congrats to the new owners! Welcome to NBR's Alienware M11xR2 Owners Lounge...

For those still waiting for their R2 to make landfall, please post order status related items here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-order-status-discussion-thread-part-2-a.html

Couple of threads which may interest new owners -

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/492304-pictures-videos-m11x-r2.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/492232-m11x-r2-benchmarks.html

Manuals:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/Alw_M11xR2/

If you have a technical question/problem with your new R2, hit this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...lem-technical-question-thread-new-owners.html

Additional links will be added in the coming days. Have fun!!

 

Got mine at work this afternoon. Gotta say, I like the feel of this thing a lot more than I thought I would. Stealth Black is so much nicer than the cosmic black units I'd seen at BB and MC.

Time to start testing OC!

EDIT: I've run 180 minutes of Prime95 with this thing OC'd 166 without a hitch.

 

Got my r2 i7 this morning. I'll get onto doing some benches on the games that I have here this weekend and will report back.

 

Thank you guys. We really appreciate it!

 

can you oc it and try to find what a good stable oc is?

 

Mine won't post past 1.6 Maybe others can get higher.

 

I've been running mine at 166 since last night. I ran 2.5 hours of Prime95 without a hitch.

Today I'm using it at work exclusively on battery to see how long I can get with the intel gpu. Outlook, light surfing, RDP sessions out the ying-yang and installing apps. Right now BatteryBar is showing 6:55 full lifetime for the battery. Obviously that's probably inaccurate since it's only been running today and accuracy will improve over time.

I'm not sure what impact OC will have on battery life for this processor. Others have speculated that the undervoltage will help.

 

What are the specs on your machine? Thanks!

 

i7 @ 166| 160GB | 4GB

 

were you running on power-sharing mode? Those are some good numbers. thanks for sharing!

 

First time poster. Waiting for my comp to build/ship. Hello

 

Running the default Balanced power plan w/ screen brightness at 50%. BatteryBar is still holding at 6:45 for "full lifetime". Battery is currently at 55% with an estimated 3:45 left.

Again these estimates will become more accurate over time.

 

Figured out why GTA4 bench was not working. Ran a diagnostic in bios. ERROR CODE 0123. - integrity test failed

How bad is this? Does anyone know a fix? I'm on hold to A/W technical support have been for 15mins with no answer :-(

 

Run Memtest or wprime/prime95 for a few hours while you wait. It could be you got a bad stick of RAM.

 

I am really excited to see some benchmarks of the new ULV core i-series and battery life results.

 

damn that stinks mate!

 

Lucky. Mine won't even boot cleanly at 166. But 164 seems stable. Hmm, I'll have to try Prime95 too.

 

Is everyone doing a clean install when they get thier machine?
Also can anyone recommend a good lap use laptop cooler for the m11x? havent done much research on it but i was wondering for use for surfing infront of the TV on the couch etc...

 

The difference is minuscule, so I wouldn't feel too bad.

Everything has been running smoothly at 166, but I have yet to utilize the 335 much since getting the laptop. Temps have been good. We'll see how it handles some Mass Effect 2 while OC'd tomorrow.

 

is 166 mhz the highest it can go? what does that make the cpu clock speed and how does that affect the turbo thing; i am kind of a idiot when it comes to these things.

 

Hi, guys!

About R1 vs. R2:

I'm looked at the benchmarks and saw a very poor difference in 1-2 fps. And I know that R1's battery life better than R2's.
So if this correct does R2 has any major proses at all?

I'm going to buy M11x and need your advise. Thank you!

 

166 is the highest bus freq that the bios will allow. Turbo is unaffected, or should I say the turbo just affects the multiplier of the bus freq. So faster the bus the faster the cpu clock speed. For example at 164, mine crashes at 166

http://i47.tinypic.com/2bbrk7.jpg

 

there was only a 1-2 fps difference was because they used games dont DO NOT require much cpu..... go look at the last few pages on the m11xr2 benchmark, page 40's. they tested out a game that uses lots of cpu and it preforms much better then the r1, its too early to be assuming things bud

 

hi !
What about the heat and fan on this new version ?

thx !

 

what cards does the 3-in-1 card reader accept besides SD cards

 

I don't have any measurements or comparisons to the R1, but my first impressions on it is that the heat is well controlled and the fan is pretty quiet except when gaming where it kicks up on high and its a pretty low frequency and not too noticeable.

While gaming/benching the keyboard and palm rests gets warm but not hot even I over clock it. The bottom does get a bit hot but not uncomfortably hot. And of course while just surfing on the balanced setting, global set to integrated and not O.C. its nice and cool.

I remember reading about people complaining about the R1 fan kicking on every minute or so, but it seems pretty constant to me. And the fan doesn't kick on at all during surfing.

 

What is the max temp on CPU and GPU after say, 2 hours of gaming?

 

Hello you lucky m11x owners! I'm thinking of purchasing an m11x, and am wondering if it's cheaper to go for the base RAM and HDD and then upgrade them myself, and if so, what specifics I should be looking for, because Dell won't tell me what type of RAM they're shipping with it.

 

If you want 4GB of RAM, go ahead and let Dell upgrade. The memory include in my unit is Samsung DDR 10600, so it' 1333MHz RAM, it's just downclock to 800 because of the CPU. HD wise, upgrade yourself is cheaper. On the other hand, buying memory from place like crucial will be more expensive, but u get like lifetime warranty if that's important to you. I find that it's pointless, as 2 years from now, i won't be able to recycle the RAM and use it in a new machine. HD wise, upgrade it by yourself mean u practically get the 5400RPM 160GB for free and you new harddrive will get like 3years warranty instead also.

 

**for the R2 owners**

I had 2 R1, the fan would alwys get stuck oh high gear and drove me nuts with the non-stop fan noise. That's even with latest Nvidia driver and Bios 03.

I am very sensitive to noise, would any R2 owner please let me know how the fan noise is? I understand and have absolutely no problem with fan on high while gaming or a bit afterward to cool the machine down, but does the new bios and optimus does a good job in throttle the fan down to silent if not quiet or does it still stuck on high or random high and low even when just normal browsing?

Any response is appreciated...eye balling the fast ship edition to ship tomorrow if the fan noise is favorable..TIA.

 

i am not sure where you are located but you can do the HD upgrade much cheaper yourself and end up having 2 hd one inside the laptop and one as an enclosure. You probably want to pick up a 7200rpm HD if you want speed or 5400rpm if you want battery life and price. Post up your thought if you want 7200rpm or 5400rpm and we can give you a heads up of what is good.

The ram i would recommend let dell replace it the price for 2 sticks of ddr3 upgrades from 2gb to 4gb for $50 is worth it since you will spend much more than that. Pick the i7 if you can spring for it since it is not user replaceable it is soldered on.


Here is a good HD but out of stock currently. 500gb 7200rpm 32mb cache and 4gb nand flash Hybrid SSD

Newegg.com - Seagate Momentus XT ST95005620AS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache 2.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s with NCQ Solid State Hybrid Drive -Bare Drive

Seagate ST95005620AS Momentus XT 500GB Solid State Hybrid Drive - 500GB, 7200 RPM, SATA 3Gb/s at TigerDirect.com

 

The fan noise is pretty low when it kicks on, except of course when I'm gaming. But even then its not too intrusive. When I'm on a balanced power mode and web surfing, I don't notice the fan kicking on at all. Most of the time its off.

I also tried an experiment where I'm gaming for a while and then just switch off to general web browsing. Then the fan will just turn off and remain that way. If its plugged in, then i will kick on once in a while.

So I think that optimus and i5/i7's turbo mode dropping down is doing its job.

 

Thank you very much for the response, from what you have typed, seems like you did it mostly when you were on battery power, if not too much trouble, would you please let me know how the fan noise and on/off onset is when it is plugged in, whether gaming or just sitting idle, browsing? My R1 is silent on battery but when plugged in the fan would be on all the time full blast

 

Why no i3 option in the US? Seems like this would be the sweet spot for this device. Be less cost, as well.... I guess I just answered my own question.

 

Hello again, I'm in Canada, and well....what kind of battery life difference is there between the 7200rpm and 5400 rpm? If there isn't too much of a difference, I'd probably spring for the 7200.

 

So here's what I did:
Balanced mode, plugged in, 2 bar on brightness, on top of foam thingy (so not a heat sink), room temp 72F.
8:33 - wake machine from standby and idle - fan off.
8:39 - Running youtube video - fan kicks on low(but quiet)
8:44 - Video ends. Now just browsing
8:48 - fan off.
8:50 - Watching movie from NAS box over wifi - fan on, low
8:52 - Stop movie, just browsing
8:55 - Fan off
9:00 - Fan on, low, still browsing
9:05 - Fan off, now just idling.
9:11 - Fan on,
9:16 - Fan off

I guess on idle, it toggles between low fan and off every 5 minutes.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...rket-upgrades/59053-pros-cons-7200rpm-hd.html

 

REALLY REALLY appreciate it, just repped you while it comes on more often than normal notebook I suppose but its 1000000x better than R1 where it just goes full blast. I'm 1 button away from submitting the order, so when the fan is on, its lower frequency and quiet?

I searched all over could not find the parts or picture of R2 fan... R1 is like a small 3-4 inches diameter fan that spins like it would fly out with a high pitch fan noise.

 

Thanks for the Rep . Its a low frequency and quiet, but you'll will hear it if you pay attention to it. The only thing I can compare it to is my XPS1210 which is usually on full blast (low freq) all the time when plugged in, definitely noticeable and loud in a quiet room. The m11x in comparison is quiet and is normally drowned out in normal ambient noise.

Compared to my work laptop lenovo T400 (right next to me) is always on when plugged in, but it is slightly quieter and lower frequency than the m11x.

 

Thanks for the link. I see, so there isn't really a difference aside from price. Hmm, okay then. Let Dell upgrade the memory, and then install a hard drive myself. Just as another question for you folks with that Seagate Momentus, how are you liking it? I was thinking of getting a 500GB or 750 GB drive, if I have the money.

 

Thank you very much, ordered the quick ship edition ( I kinda doubt I"ll see any tangible differences in real life with i5 520 or i7 620).

I5 520UM
4GB DDR3
250gb 7200rpm HD
GT 335M
Bluetooth
and the usual thing..

1167 shipped. I chose 2 days ship for 39.99 (should ship out today or tomorrow). Then I get 3% for using Dell account and I'll also get 10% Bing cashback which should equate to another 105 off

 

Posting on my brand new m11x r2

 

I like, it, keep in mind the momentus name is also regular HDDs, the XT models are the ones with a (little) bit of flash.

 

po1son, can you run some quick battery tests with the R2? Or at least just let us know, in general, how long the battery lasts for day-to-day usage (word processing, internet browsing, movies, etc.)?

We'd all appreciate it. If you do decide to post about the battery (or any other aspect of the laptop), it will definitely deserve its own topic!

 

I'll try some battery tests tomorrow

 

Please tell us what you think once you've had time to play around with it. I'm pretty sensitive about noise as well, and I want to know what someone with similar preferences thinks about the updated hardware. And, I want to know what this "low frequency" sound is like...

 

Hey man did you see this quick ship option

The Dell Online Store: Build Your System

you should be able to do the same thing with bing and DPP. You get free 4gb upgrade and 320gb 7200rpm and bluetooth. $1099 plus tax & $9 shipping.


Check out this thread

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/493410-need-opinions-fast.html

 

Aye...sorry to disappoint you. After extensive research, I decide to cancel my order for 2 reasons.

1) I could not find any facts that indicated the fan and whole cooling structure has changed from R2 to R1. The M11x is still a single fan solution and internal is probably (just my guess) the same. As a result, please take a look at this post. If this is the conclusion they have drawn, which is sensible to them and it seems to keep m11x from failing from heat, I doubt the noise level has really changed.

Alienware M11x Fan Noise - Alienware Forum - Alienware Club - Dell Community

2) There were several report of Nvidia optimus driver bug, some game would not be utilized by optimus and unplayable cause it got stuck on intel HD 4500 video card. I also checked nvidia site, optimus driver was available for lots of ASUS laptop but Alienware M11x was NOT part of it. M11x fan would be stuck with dell release. Some use modd driver but I'm too old and too lazy to do that.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/492051-m11x-r2-nvidia-optimus-issues.html

In conclusion, I love the manual switch on the c2d m11x cause I'm in control and has better battery life, but the fan noise kinda sucks. I guess it won't hurt for my money to stay in my pocket a while longer.

 

Not to be a troll or anything, I'm just incredibly amused at how so many people are trying to justify their purchase of an R1 (or an R2).

 

Number 2 will is extremely likely to be fixed on the next driver release from nvidia. The m11xR2 wasn't out at the time that the latest driver (.21) was making its way through the WHQL pipeline.

I really do wish there'd been a way to incorporate a manual switch on the R2 alongside Optimus though.

EDIT: And just to be clear, it's not a bug in the current Optimus drivers. It's that the R2 isn't supported/recognized by the driver [for the reason I've stated above].