*OFFICIAL* "All Powerful" M15x Owners Lounge - Part 4

hey rev you got any benches since our setup are pretty much the same, just bored and want some comparisons.

 

Here's a 3dMark06 bench. I've hit a plateau with a panty-waist 5870 that craps out around 850/1100, at best. I think I'm also running out of power. I'm looking for a 160W Li Shin, but haven't found one from a reliable source yet. I also need a new card to go higher, but I don't care enough to justify the cost or the hassle. I really like this 8760, but it's not much of a bencher. Does most everything else pretty well though.

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That's twice as much as I get with my M11X 335GTm and you call the 5870 a 'panty-waist'?

I have a suggestion- get a desktop.

 

thanks for sharing, looks pretty good to me. yeah i think i hit my wall too. i think mandrake is gonna pown us all,lol.

 

LOL. I'm not disparaging the Mobility 5870, it's a great card. What I'm saying is that I have a fairly weak representative of the breed.

 

Have tried flashing your card to higher clocks? I'm trying to learn how to do that.

 

I have tried that, and it didn't help. Once you have the bootable USB stick set up, it's a simple process. You won't have problems at all. I'm no expert, but I do have some experience, so if you have any questions, I can probably help. Certainly willing to try.

 

Forgot to mention this, but the problem with that black screen I was having when starting up windows was indeed because brightness was off. Was wondering how the warranty process works. I have the advanced warranty, so lets say i crack my screen, would I just call them up and tell them i cracked the screen and tell them to fix it or send a replacement?

 

yeah I got the usb part.done, just need to learn how to write new BIOS for the card.

If you have accidental coverage then it covered, just call them.

 

Ah, sorry. I misunderstood.

Personally I can't wait to get the 5850 (I know, a weaker version of the 5870) as I was having difficulties with the 3670 in my XPS 1640.

 

New Nvidia drivers 257.21 WHQL numerous fixes will bench soon

for stock score on 06 i got 11600 which is the best stock score ive ever had

 

I'll put together a few files and a little cheat sheet for you that will walk you through it a bit later.

 

here is my vantage score with 257.21 drivers

3DMark Vantage

 

dude that will be awesome, thanks rev. gonna have to try new stuff can't let mandrake take all the top spots, hahhaha.

 

New Nvidia drivers = not so special 257.15 and .21 WHQL both still having issues needs more refining Nvidia. benching with 257.21 wasn't great either as when ocing to the limit it was giving less than the 257.15 drivers lol??

 

Anyone get this bluetooth message when they start up the laptop saying device not paired or something? I usually connect my orochi right away, and i always get that error, which cuts off my connection but then enables it again. I don't know whats causing it. Next time it occurs i'll try to get a screenshot.

 

no, but lately been getting the bluetooth stack error alot.

 

Well, I've tried everything I can think of, but the display driver still keeps crashing. It has to be a hardware issue. What do you guys recommend I do? Call Dell and get a replacement video card?

 

Call Dell and tell them whats happened and you should get a replacement shipped out and replaced within the week if you have normal techs unlike me who has one who works Tuesdays and Thursdays lol.

 

yeah call dell get it replaced asap, you spent enough time trouble shooting already. hope they take care of you.

 

@ Inapp – see if this helps in the vbios flashing effort. I understand that you already have a DOS bootable USB stick, so we can skip that process. I apologize if this is too basic.

1. Download and install Radeon Bios Editor (RBE 1.25): RBE - Radeon BIOS editor

2. Download InappPack.zip: UPShare.me

3. Unzip InappPack.zip to a new folder/directory: c:\BiosFiles (or whatever). The zip file contains:

a. AtiFlash.exe 3.79 – DOS flash utility ATI 5870 and 5850
b. TS35951.018 – duplicate original of current vbios for Clevo 5870M
c. Original.bat – automatically flashes TS35951.018 (recovery, if needed)
d. 750_1050.rom – example revised vbios setting clocks to 750/1050
e. 800_1100.rom – example revised vbios setting clocks to 800/1100

4. Insert bootable USB stick and copy all files in c:\BiosFiles to the stick

5. Trial run to vet flashing process before modifying the vbios settings.

a. Restart computer, enter BIOS and change boot order to put USB stick first
b. Upon exit, it should boot directly from the USB stick; otherwise, reboot
c. At the DOS prompt, type “atiflash –i” (without quotes). This will return information about the current vbios. We are using it primarily to confirm communication with the video card.
d. Assuming contact, then type “atiflash –s 0 VBIOS.ROM” (Note the 0 is a zero). This will extract and save a copy of the current vbios to a file VBIOS.ROM, so you can return the card to its original state.
e. Now, we flash. In order to see the effect of flashing, use the file 750_1050.rom. This is a duplicate of the original Clevo vbios (TS3595.018) except that the Clock Info 00 (boot clocks) have been changed to GPU = 750 and RAM = 1050, with the voltage unchanged at 1.15v.
f. To flash the new file, type ”atiflash –p 0 750_1050.rom” and hit <enter>. Flashing will proceed and a message will appear to provide a status report and telling you to restart to complete the process.
g. Remove the stick and reboot.
h. Upon entering Windows, run GPU-Z to confirm that the 5870m is set to 750/1050.
i. Congratulations – you are a blooded flasher. You can either leave the clocks at the new settings or repeat the process to flash back to the old vbios (vbios.rom) or run original.bat to flash to the original Clevo vbios (they should be exactly the same). I would leave them where they are for the moment.

6. Amending the vbios.

a. Insert the USB stick and copy the file vbios.rom to c:\BiosFiles
b. Open RBE 1.25
c. Click on “Load Bios”. This will open Windows Explorer.
d. Navigate to c:\BiosFiles and select vbios.rom (your original vbios)
e. You will get a warning that the file does not contain Overdrive setting. Ignore it and proceed.
f. Look around but don’t change anything on the opening page.
g. Click on Clock Settings at the top of the page. The only settings we care about are Clock Info 00. The other modes are not currently used by our version of the 5870 with our vbios and drivers.
h. The settings are exactly the same as Engine and Memory under AMD Clock Tool. Use them the same way.
i. The Voltage can also be changed, but it is not clear that the card implements the new setting. Leave it alone for now.
j. Use something gentle for your first modification (775/1075 maybe) and click Save Bios.
k. It is best to use a file name that describes the clock speeds, i.e., 775_1075.rom
l. Exit RBE
m. Copy the new vbios file 775_1075.rom to the USB stick.

7. Reboot from the USB stick and flash the new vbios file (atiflash –p 0 775_1075.rom).

8. Reboot and you’re done.

If you have any questions, let me know. Once you done it once, it’s dead simple.

 

wow!!!! thats going way above and beyond what I asked for. Dude your awesome, can't thank you enough bro. have to try this all out. btw just broke 11k in vantage, gonna post the results in a little bit. can't wait to see what i can do with these. this post is a gold mine, i owe mad rep points.

 

11,000 in Vantage? Wow!. That's another record. Congratulations.

Hope the other is useful. Ended up being longer than I intended, but didn't want to get too skeletal.

You're going to have to teach us how to do what you're doing with the benching -- at least some of it.

 

yeah was trying out some new things today. owe you big time, so what ever you want to know bro, hahhaha still pretty new to benching, so i'm really surprised i'm doing so well,lol. wanna gave mandrake some competition, well at least i hope so.

thanks again rev, made a new bios and flashed it. kinda went overboard went with 900/1100 hahahhahahah have to do some benching now for sure,lol.

 

Well done with the 11k inap! I'm just happy I broke 10k with mine. Hopefully I can break 18k on my M17x
We can dream can't we

 

Awesome Inap on breaking 11k people with their M17X single gpu config should be worried now lol

 

11K1 F'ing A, bro!

Gave Rev some rep for ya!

Now up to 12K, Inap! Give Mandrake a run for his money!

 

Het guys just installed an SSD. Everything seems to be working fine but I can't find out how to get my Alienware screens and theme back.

Man, this SSD really speeds things up!

 

Look here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m15x/488201-new-m15x-owner-information.html

under Troubleshooting

 

Hey Wattos, good link. My main problem is that I have both these problems

Problem: The laptop restart instead of shutting down.
Solution: Upgrade your nvidia graphic card drivers. There seemed to be a problem with the drivers at some stage

Problem: [NVIDIA] There is no sound over display port
Solution: There seems to be a problem with the latest driver of nvidia and getting sound over dp to work. Reverting to the dell drivers will do the trick. Also, there are some drivers on the nvidia website which also work. Im afraid you would have to do some experimenting

In the immortal words of Bart Simpson: You're damned if you do and you're damned if you don't

 

Thanks Wattos

 

So now that my M17x has replaced my M15x. I have an extra 9Cell Battery that i've never used. Anyone know what the going rate is on these?

 

yeah how much? i may want an extra one for road trips. so how is the M17x treating you so far, must be a beast.

 

thanks guys, now trying for the 10k gpu, wish me luck.

 

just noticed a really high pitched noise emitting from the keyboard lights when all of them are turned to 'white', using alienfx...is this normal??

it's also fairly noticeable when using some of the lighter shades of blue as well...

 

I just installed the ATI 10.6 drivers. I'll see if it fixes my GPU crashing problem. I'm guessing not, because it's most likely a hardware problem, but who knows, maybe I'll get lucky.

 

Oh man the M17x is a beast, Battlefield bad company 2 maxxed out is nuts. But there is a ton of ongoing driver issues with the 5870's so right now its a waiting game.

 

yeah that not normal, so it coming for the keyboard?

 

Well, hopefully it fixes it. It's about time for a bit of luck!

That is absolutely not normal! I've never heard any noise coming from the lights. Just tried it on all white, but nothing. Pretty strange.

 

10.6? I wonder if it will work with the m17x.

 

Yes, its only from the keyboard lights...when those are lit-up, in all white. It's only noticeable when there's no other ambient noise around, like a tv, etc.

I probably won't ever use the all white color keyboard setting...but it's still a bit disconcerting, lights shouldn't make noise...

If you want a good example...if you have an old CRT television, it's similar to the pitch sound it makes while a tv like that is warming up the lamps...but on this, its constant.

 

Well I thought I had everything working on a fresh install to my new SSD but the ATI driver installed but its not there.

I Installed the 10.3 drivers but in device manager is still says "standard VGA adapter"

Is there something special to get this to install since its not the Dell drivers?

 

that driver seems like its outdated for the 5850 is it not. Try the new 10.6 driver or whatever is available on the Dell driver page.

 

its like you have a V10 engine but yet the transmission can't shift right lol

 

The Dell driver installs fine but alot of people here have been running the 10.3 drivers with the best success. I don't think the Dell driver is very good performance wise.

Maybe I have to install the 10.3 after the original Dell driver is installed first?

 

Hiyaaa

Thanks for the tip! It worked perfectly!
though I still have that odd Blu-ray drive O_O
I'll reformat once I get done with school and all, I really dont have the time this week!

 

Hey guys, not an owner yet, but hopefully will be soon

Anyway, just wondering about the battery life you guys get on these M15x laptops. I'm interested in this being my college laptop, so I need it to last throughout my classperiods (wherever else I go, aka, library, starbucks, dorm room of course, I can have the lappy plugged in, and don't mind doing that, and I don't mind carrying it around campus in a good backpack, an additional 4 lbs won't kill me). Anyway, how much battery life do you guys get on this? I would appreciate any responses at all, but specifically if you have the core i5, the 5850, and the 1600x900 screen. Also post what cell battery you have. Thanks guys!

Also, thoughts on this versus the m11x? I really hate the M11x's small screen, and love everything about the M15x except the battery life. Might even think of getting an additional 9 cell to the included 6 cell battery with the purchase to swap out between classes. Any ideas guys, or thoughts on using the M15x as a college laptop?

 

with your config you will be able to get just above 3 hours on battery saver. with my config i just hit 3 hours with battery saver and i use more tdp as i have the i7 620m and 260m and 1080p.

EDIT: this is with a 9 cell btw

 

Hi Kraz,

Battery life on the 6 cell (with the 240 card at least) is around 2 hours with productivity software and internet running. With the 260 card and the ATI cards it is probably a bit less. Not really good in all fairness, but then again, it is a gaming machine. The M11x holds out 5 to 6 hours but I really wouldn't recommend it, screen is too small to do serious work on, build quality is way behind anything Alienware has ever made (sorry owners, personal opinion) and it's basically a netbook, not a notebook. If you're plugged in most of the time and don't mind the weight, it is a fantastic choice.

 

I get about 2 hours with the 6-cell, i7-720, and ATI 5850. I think that's pretty good considering the power this laptop has, and all the energy it's using.