*OFFICIAL* M11xR2 Owners Lounge - Part 1

sweet rep points to you .. thanks again. crosses fingers for good fps

 

Thank you but I'm afraid I have bad news for you.

Medal of Honor was installed without a hitch and my GT 335M was engaged, I could tell from my Hardware monitor temperature sensor was monitoring the dedicated video card.

I tried the game at 1366 x 768 with all details on MEDIUM and AA on 1 X only. Game was unplayable. Felt like I was doing CPU test during 3D mark vantage where it was 1 frame per second.

I promptly exited and dropped the resolution down to 1280 x 720, followed by 1024 x 720 with all detail turned to LOW and AA to 1X (lowest possible setting on everything). It was not even worth installing FRAPS to see frame per second. I can tell you from years of playing game, I was not going over 10 frame per second, I was long dead before I realized I got shot in the head...and my screen was still moving frame by frame.

Granted, I have the lower i5-520um cpu not the i7 and my cpu was NOT overclocked which may or may not have made a difference. But it would be safe to assume that even if you have i7 and overclocked it to the max, you probably would not be able to handle MOH at 1366 x 768 on medium or high detail.

Also, comparing with my desktop (you can see my signature below) which loaded each MOH game in 10-15 seconds or less, it took over a minute to load the each MOH game before I could join, followed by unplayable frame rate

At all steps, I did make sure my Nvidia was engaged and I played with the control panel to search if I missed anything and I could not find anything.
I was using 189.69 driver, and have not updated to the 2xx series newer beta driver which may or may not have made a difference, but I'm more inclined to wait for my system to break in and wait until nvidia release an official driver that would accomodate the R2. I finally got an M11x that is reasonably fast and quiet, would want to try to use final release software and not get too adventurous.

On the contrary, i could play Modern Warfare 2 at 1366 x 768 and everything on high without a hitch. Though I was a bit disappointed with MOH, but at least I take comfort in knowing 11/9/2010 when COD Black Ops release, my R2 will stand a good chance to play that game maxed out cause it use the same engine as MW2.....

Let me know if you have any other questions I forgot to cover.

 

Man that is a let down. I dont understand why either, because this game runs better then bf2bc on my gaming rig. Oh well like you said we still have black ops to look forward to. This laptop will just be for gaming on the go anyways and there are other good fps I can play.

Thanks for your help with testing and you cover all my questions for now..lol

 

No sweat, that's what we are here for

 

I am not sure how MOH compares to Modern Warfare in terms of required specs but if you're using HWMonitor then this most likely isn't the reliable way to know if the m11x is using the 335M card. For me, HWMonitor doesn't detect the Intel HD graphics card, it only keeps track of the 335M's temperature.

Use the program in this thread instead:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/495489-m11xr2-optimus-test-tools.html

Given how many issues people are having with optimus I wouldn't be surprised if MOH was running on the Intel graphics card.

 

Oh MOH I could tell was way more demanding than MW2.....call of duty basically use the same engine from few years ago, they won by making the game FUN when others were just concentrate on graphic.

 

Howard,

Glad that the fan meets your approval. Can you try running MOH with cpu O.C. with turbo enabled and turbo disabled? Oh and in regards to the charger, it does get pretty damn hot while gaming. I feel that thing needs its own fan.

 

Woot my order finally arrive. Also my first post and hello to all the other proud owners out there

my specs as follow
Stealth Black
i7-640UM
DDR3 8GB
500GB 7200rpm HDD
Win7 Pro 64Bit
The rest pretty much standard to the rest out there!

Pretty happy with the overall build quality. Except the soft touch which claims to leave no finger marks seems to be very sensitive to sweaty palm! Have not got time to play much with it yet. Still reinstalling stuffs thru the night and it went low battery. Left it to charge. At work right now. Will try out more with it slowly. Not overclock or anything fancy yet. Probably start doing some benchies and stress test after I am settle down with it. Cheers!

 

WELCOME! AND CONGRAD! with i7 and 8 GB of ram that thing is gonna have wing!

Just finished a round of modern warfare 2. During game fan was on high, which amongst all the grenade and gunfire did not bother me. After i quit the game, the fan switched to lower gear within 10 seconds, still running to cool things off but just air moving whisper sound. Completely rocks! What a night and day difference from R1.

 

I dont think anyone has answered this question. Or if they did I missed it.

 

sure, but.. how do I do that never OC and i5 or i7 before

 

Go to your BIOS. Should be the second tab over. Look for something that lists your clock speed (should be 132 or 133Mhz). Press enter on it and it should give you a list from 134-166Mhz in increments of 2. Select a value, save your settings, reboot, and you have officially overclocked your laptop!

166 doesn't work for most people though. 164 also runs choppy for some people. Just start from the top and move you way down until you get something that's stable for you.

As for turboboost, there should be another option to turn on/off turboboost/speedstep.

There should be something about this in the manual haha or maybe someone else can elaborate more.

 

congratulations for receiving your R2, im very happy to "hear" that

 

Anyone got the one with Core i3-330UM?

Im still wondering how much difference can turbo boost make..

Comparing the [email protected] , [email protected], [email protected]....

Also the OC clocks hmm..

 

Here is my scores are you guys getting similar scores?

 

Can the R2 take 1066MHZ or 1333MHZ Ram now since it has an iSeries Chipset and compatible motherboard?

 

I think the memory bus on the ULV processors are still only 800mhz - prob a power saving measure.

 

Got mine last night, spent it installing and configuring stuff. Games this Canada Day long weekend.

Specs are as follows:

Rubbery Black
Core i7 (already overclocked @ 156 - haven't pushed it yet)
250gb hd
2 gb ram
AOC screen
Hinges are OK

Overall I am pleased with it, but gaming performance will still be the deciding factor whether I will get an envy 14 instead. From what I have been reading on these forums I should be A.O.K.

Thanks for the info!

 

That WEI score is with the integrated GPU.

 

What was your avg delivery time for the M11x r2? In Germany it seems to be about 4 weeks... :/

 

Ordered June 18, Shipped June 29. Ordered it on a saturday so I don't think it was processed till monday anyway.

 

4 weeks, damn ...
I ordered yesterday also in germany, transfered the money via online banking.
And Iam still waiting for the order confirmation.
But I can't wait for 4 weeks, because I leave at the 20th of july for a longer vacation

 

So is the i5 520um still on a 10x multiplier? just wanna know the speed when I OC, never dealt with one of these newer low power cpu before..

 

I just called Dell and they told me that the "german units" are not built in the EU.

That means they need 1-2 weeks to produce it and 5-7 days shipment (to Germany)

Seems that we have to wait : (

 

I recieved my Alienware M11x R2 today. With Optimus. Now I can join this lounge

God I still can't stop smilling

 

It will be interesting when the local electronic-discount (Media Markt) get the new version with i3/i5/i7.
Then I'll cancel my order.

I wish I could send you a pm Vamosso

 

Oh, forgot to say I got mine from Dell Germany as well. It was fast. I ordered it on the 18th and got mine today

 

Was your estimated delivery time set to the 30th ?

 

Tomorrow is the day! yay!

 

Haha glad to see so many people are having their laptops come in. Best wishes for everyone and I hope you guys will be satisfied after the long wait!

So normal laptops with a backlit keyboard have the lights fade out after a certain amount of time. I can't seem to find a way to do it with this laptop. I can only turn it off/on with the switch; there's no fade to darkness after X minutes. Does such a thing not exist? Also is there a way to shut off the alien head light that's on the outside of the laptop (not the power button one)?

 

I just accepted emails by users. Can you now send me a pm?

 

Not really . But you can add a Skype account or whatever to your profile

 

They told me I would have to wait 3-4 weeks, but its status got changed to "shipped" pretty fast, and yes, estimated delivery date is today.

A cousin of mine (live in the same house) bought a Dell laptop (not Alienware though) from the same Dell Germany site, and the laptop arrived 2 days before estimated delivery date. I guess it depends on your luck

 

I haven't found a way for either, not with my previous M15x and the two M11xR1 I owned, not this one either.

 

Damn, that sucks. Also another thing that's bothering me is how changing the brightness shows some sort of message on the screen but the volume doesn't do it. I read somewhere that a BIOS update for the first revision fixed this, so hopefully we'll get something too.

 

How much power does the backlit keyboard and other AlienFX lights consume when running on battery. If it's negligible then I suppose it can always stay on?

 

Finally joining the owners lounge, my thread here w/ pics, http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...2-unboxing-first-impressions.html#post6414695

Does anyone have the same problem that I have at the top. Also, modern warfare 2 is not running for me, it keeps closing with a windows notification of optimal resolution.

 

My MW2 initially kept Alt/tab itself out to desktop, however I did not encounter any problem with optimal resolution. I did realize when I had messenger or anything that's active on desktop, whenever there's activity it alt tab mw2 back to desktop. I just closed everything and it ran fun the first time. Subsequently never had any problems.

My screen and bezel are clean and tight, none of your problems.

My USB port is tight, its not a locking mechanism..some laptops are just like that....

If your game still doesnt work right, may I suggest reinstall or even install the beta video driver on dell site for R2.

 

Howard: is your laptop black or silver? i'm wondering whether the color of the laptop is even remotely related to the build quality

 

black, and whats wrong with ur battery life?

This one of course will be shorter than R1, R1 u can dedicated integrated which sips juice, this one not much control over it. r1's SU 7300 use 10W our i5/i7 use 18, thats 80% more.

 

Just ordered EDD 7/16....i cant wait...i really hope it doesnt take that long.

 

Wow, this thing does suck down juice....

Played two rounds of ground war on modern warfare 2, about 25 mins or so total with keyboard light on. From 99 down to 67 percent with full brightness.

Good news is the optimus works well, on battery there were no lag, gameplay was fluid.

 

Howard can you tell me what your settings are at. You probably have posted or someone else has but im to tired to search.. lol

My rep called and said it should be shipping out withen 2-3 days.. Should be mobil gaming by next week just hope I dont look to old to be gaming in public..lol... I had read somewhere that this laptop/notebook was for younger teens.. whatever

 

I'm assuming you are inquiring due to the 30 mins gaming and went from 99 to 67%. It was standard normal power setting, keyboard and all the backlit were on, with i5 520um NOT overclocked. NOT in power saver and im 99.99999 sure I was on GT 335m othrerwise the game wouldn't run.

 

I managed to get my new steam account working! They locked my account and I missed out on yesterday's sales so I didn't get Team Fortress 2 or Street Fighter 4 =(

Instead I downloaded Left for Dead and Torchlight. I messed around with Left for Dead's resolution but left everything else on the recommended settings and it ran really smooth. Temps spiked up to around 70C for both CPU and GPU. Despite these high temps the laptop wasn't even remotely hot; just warm. I am very impressed considering the XPS1340 would pretty much burn your hands off playing games =P The CPU temps have me a little worried though. This is with 160 overclock and Turboboost/speed step enabled.

Battery life is a disappointment. I haven't done extensive testing but I get around 3 hours just browsing around(although this is cause Chrome activates the 335M when using flash) and I haven't gotten around to testing gaming time but it's on my list. I really want to be able to push 5 hours with this thing doing normal computing because as it stands now, I am getting the same battery life as my last laptop, maybe even slightly less. Battery life was one of the main reasons I decided to make one more purchase with Dell and sadly this laptop isn't meeting up to par.

I've been getting a few freeze ups lately. Not really sure why as I don't think it's the overclock or it would happen while gaming and not internet browsing.

Laptop is getting a little squeaky. I think it's coming from the left hinge. It's not loud or anything and honestly if I weren't reading all these threads about people with issues I'd probably never notice it.

My last little complaint is that I find it really stupid that it's the power button that shows you if your laptop is charging/done charging. If I shutdown, close my laptop, and leave it to charge I won't know if it's done charging without opening up the lid again. I really think the head on the lid should be the one to fulfill this purpose. Does anyone know if the 5 bars on the battery meter means 100%? Or does it light up 5 bars if it's anywhere from 80-100% charged? Also I sorta expected the Alien FX to also shut down the alienhead on the lid but it doesn't. Oh well.

Still, I think the pros outweigh the cons. I am sure optimus will get fixed in the future and hopefully the battery life is a fluke or something.

 

Did you completely discharge your M11x? The capacity of the battery should be better, i read sth. about 6.5 hrs doing office. (wlan and mid brightness)

Have others similar problems?

 

I primarily travel with my m11x R2 to work. Do you guys think it's ok to leave it plugged in all the time at work?

 

Apparently the way the battery is designed, from what I've read, it's perfectly fine to leave it plugged in all the time.

 

Cool, I feel better now.

 

my R2 came today and so far no problems at all...i love it.
the keyboard takes a bit to adjust to tho, the keys are so slim.