Potential of the m11x r3 as a primary gaming rig

It comes with win7 home premium you want it or not, i don't see what will you want to install other than update the video driver with latest one from nvidia.

 

Thats the exact same order I put
Waiting mine on Monday (according to UPS)

 

There isn't any bloat unless you prefer your own version of office and a/v. Set your kb lights etc how you want and kill the process and yer all set

As for future installs when you have it running nicely but before all the game installls make a backup. I suspect the same software comes with r3

 

Isn't there a ton of drivers/support stuff that AW install for ya? Like for the motherboard and other components etc?

 

Not sure what you mean. Unlike other systems I was less tempted to reinstall and in fact found no need to do so at all. I *think* where you are coming from is the desire to install windows fresh and I'm suggesting to just use it as it is.

Some will swear by fresh installs but the variables are too many - just like latest video drivers or BIOS, it may or may not be of benefit to you in apps or games.

The only CPU eater was (forget which app) the Command Center if I recall. I configured things how I wanted for colors etc and then stopped it from loading at start-up (settings retained). Idle CPU is nearly 0 now.

After more than a year games play the same and benchmark is the same. I dont even reboot that often now that intel6200 NIC is disabled (grr).

An R3 i7 should have even less benefit than an R1 like mine in chasing processes.

 

As people said, just get your Antivirus as its not included unless you tick the expensive options. But really, there wasn't anything i wouldn't install on my own clean install of windows. i owned an ASUS laptop, that one was hell to kill all the bloat ware, on the lil M11x there wasn't any... Well i suppose when u cash out nearly a grand for a laptop, you should expect that.

Now that i think about it, theres alienware manual. Doubt it will kill much performance though.

 

I would much rather just keep it as it's shipped but since I'm putting my own SSD in there I'm gonna have to install everything myself. I'm sure it'll be fine.

Do you guys recommend taking the hdd outta there before I even turn it on, so I can set the SSD up straight away, or go through all the set up of the hdd, then take it out?

 

Soprano what I am planning to do once I get my system tommorow, is to create a recovery usb using alienrespawn, then switch to the ssd, and use the usb to recover factory state on it.

 

I'd recommend a fresh install for the SSD.

Just go to the dell website and download all the drivers for the R3 (assuming you have that one coming).

I just installed a new HDD in my R2 (250gb standard to 500gb XT). Installed via external USB card reader (using home premium windows disc that came with the R2 to create it). Downloaded pretty much everything from the R2 dell driver page (as well as newest intel hd graphics from intel site and nvidia notebook drivers from nvidia site) and the only thing I am missing is the log on and shutdown images which I have downloaded from this forum and not sure if I will apply them.

 

Yeah that's what I'm planning on doing, using dells site, but for example, if you hadn't mentioned the intel integrated graphics I would have forgotten that, makes me wonder what else I'd forget that's not on dells site under r3.

TheKriton I like your idea, v cool, so when you make the USB, does that have windows 7 install integrated into it? Or will Alienrespawn ask for the disk at the right time..?

 

According to this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...k-drive-aftermarket-drive-alienrespawn-q.html

all you need is that usb. Nothing else and you will get a nice fresh install. Havent tried it yet though (propably on tuesday when I will have both my m11x and the SSD ) so cant tell for sure.

 

Been meaning to read that thread.

Let me know how it goes dude! We seem to be doing the same thing, but since you're going first help a brother out and let me learn from your mistakes (jk) !

 

2gb ram? That (in my ind) seems to little. I would suggest bumping it up to 4,6 or even 8. When I am using my m11x r3 (same specs diff ram and hd) I am using 1.5gb of ram and playing a game it goes to 1.8.

 

Read his quote again, he is buying 8gb just not from dell as it will be cheaper

 

You'd be stupid not to, i did same thing, just that i salvaged my 4gb off another laptop. Dell basically ships same ram you can get for 2/3 less elsewhere... Just not worth ticking any optional boxes, except CPU one, if you need the CPU that is... Its just way more expensive than swapping it out yourself with another one bought off elsewhere.

oh and @ troll:

My m11x for some reason or another refuses to run crysis. So thats that. sry lol

 

Were talking playability not fps and yeah the R1 no play at a stable 30fps so no vid for you Its playable for most at 18-20 for the rare ones (like you ) i guess youll never play it on the go with your R1 and be a cool kid.

 

Playable has 2 meaning

1.) It can run the game
2.) How smooth it can run the game at native resolution regardless if low/med/high settings.

Now an old Nvidia Go 7600 can run Crysis or any 2010-2011 games but is it playable? Hell to the No!

People always use the excuse of not needing more than 30fps since the eye can't see it is not always true because it is not about the 30 fps that you see, it is how smooth when you move and when you go from left to right where it shouldn't feel laggy or should not dip below 25fps.

A playable smooth fps should always be native resolution (regardless if it's low/med/high settings) and should only go as low as 35fps or lowest 25fps if it has to be when reaching cpu/graphic intensive parts on the game.

First Person Shooters games especially Crysis, if you only get 18-20 fps and you are happy with that then that's good. But that's not playable, it runs but it is not playable on the 2nd meaning of the word "Playable".

 

Worked like a charm.
So steps are:

- open m11x for the first time.
- Plug in a 8+ usb.
- Use alienrespawn to create a recovery usb.
- Shut down PC and swap disks.
- plug in the USB to the usb 2.0 port (the one on its own. wont work on any other).
- start PC. hit F12. select boot from usb.
- select restory to factoy state. will take some time.

easy


btw, m11x is amazing good choise for me. hope you feel the same

 

I like eye candy and i max out graphics if i can, even if sometimes it drops below 20-25FPS on my laptop. I do not count it as unplayable, it plays just fine, just in some places its not as smooth... It would be unplayable if it was a racing game etc. where you need to keep sharp and in control... Like Grand turismo on ps3, its running at 60fps or something like that, i am sure it makes the game feel much more real and responsive...

And Playable is a word that can be stretched wide and far, as for example on PS3 i got GTA4, while on PC i can't really play it, as it does look quite poor or has too few FPS... But even on PS3 it does get poor FPS, maybe its harder to notice on the TV and from the other end of the room, but it definitely feels rubbish when racing or doing something that requires game to respond sharply and quickly... Thats why i still haven't beaten it, its unplayable to me. Console shouldn't have those issues...

It all comes down to ones personal standard of what playable is, aswell as to the game at hand.

 

Cheers mate!

You've got me excited now, can't wait to get it!

The only issue I read about with using the Alienrespawn method (rather than doing a fresh install of windows and drivers) was something about the "recover partition" or something being a different size...not sure whether it's a problem or not..


As for the FPS discussion, I think that 30 or lower is "playable" but not enjoyable. I prefer sacrificing fancy effects for say 50fps

Just my two...pence?

 

Well i do noy have a alienware but i do have a sager and a asus and i saw this thread and i just have to reply. i would say no to it being a main gaming rig unless you play very low end old games. Dont get me wrong it can run the games but not very well
i would for sure go with a 17 or 18 so you can get a more modern gpu to really play some games some games at great fps. Personally i would say the M17x

 

It's gonna play the sort of games I intend to play (Skyrim, fallout, mass effect 1/2/3) just fine.

Theres a million billion squillion YouTube videos showing such (well, not Skyrim)

Not interested in Crysis.

 

Actually it is like a fresh install as it restores things to factory settings. In our case btw (both old and new driver being equal size), all partitions are of exactly same size.

 

Cool, definitely going to do it then. Only difference is I'll use DVDs instead of a USB cos I'm buying an external drive anyway.

 

My M11xR3 is my main gaming rig and to be honest, I can play any game that has been released so far at high or medium settings and achieve a nice performance.

This tiny laptop is much more powerful than it looks.

 

People often harp on about the need for >30fps but if the display you are using ghosts then its pretty much irrelevant. i'd sooner have a nice display at 30fps than an inferior one at 45fps!