Alienware M17 *OFFICIAL* Owner's Lounge

i was thinking them 185 drivers we're good, but while running crysis...they stutterd...i ran that test like 15 times and it stuttered in the same places...i ran the nvidia drivers and no stuttering. but those drivers aren't great for benching while stock drivers are. one big headache if you ask me..lol

can you tell which one andre is using? 9.1 or the older ones?

i ran across a few other sites testing with aa/af maxed. when i get back ill hunt them down.

 

simple to remove and re-attach. And, it saved me about 3-5c, even OC'd..it doesn't exceed 82c. Well worth the effort.

 

Vue 6 Infinite
Works like a charm, did a render that took 7 hours on the m9750, and got around 2 hours and 20 minutes, of course it was more than twice as fast because Vue 6 used all four cores

Render in question was: (the landscape/terrain portion, clicky clicky for for BIG version)

 

Well I probably can't tell. 9.1 doesn't show much improvement in 3dmarks over the older ones. It's still beta, but I'm sure the final version won't show anything significant over the betas.

 

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Newsentry.153+M547a37c24f2.0.html

Ok i know this website isnt the grestest but it tells you alot abot notebooks. It states the Asus w90 can use the 3870 CF/ 4870 CF and one single 9800m gs(maybe the 9800m gtx also.)

this is the same wuth the Ocz with the 1 mxm3 socket and the 1 mxm4 socket. so i'm guessing (hopeing and praying) that the ocz can use the 4870 CF.

 

Looking ay Asus
& now the m17x has 8gb ram

while our m17 has only 2 slots
so will never have 8gb ram even if we want it

is it better to return the m17
& get one of the above

 

the m17x only has DDR2 ... and I don't think you will be more happy with 8gb DDR2 than the less DDR3 @ m17

edit: has anybody tryed the new W7 version on the m17 yet?

Greetings
Julian

 

What do you mean the M17 does use 8gb of ram ddr3@1066. but it is not avalibal to everyone yet. just like 500gb hdd @7200rpm is only at aleinware, so is the 8gb of ddr3 @resellers so we just have to wait. plus the M17 is close to the M17x. if the ati 48????? is cheap then it will embarress the M17x

 

No I think^^ that he will be more happy with less (not 8gb) DDR3 Ram @ m17 than 8gb DDR2 @ m17x

I also think 2x 4870 CrossFireX will be avalible for the m17

Greetigns
Julian

 

What do you think the price is going to be for the 48???? cards. cause it is about 230 for the 3870. so i think 4-600 for the 4850. if ati wants to kill nvidia. but with so much effort put in i dont know what the outcome might be.

plus i think asus is stupid for putting 3 ram slots in @ ddr2. an don top of that it is only at 6gb. cost effective for us. but not for asus.

 

Sb. said (german forum) that the CrossfireX solution would be around 600€ ... but the technic support guy wich told him this said him that it isn't sure ...

Greetigns
Julian

 

Thanks Phritz, that makes me very happy to see that

 

Quick question...Does anyone here play RTS's at all if so, does the M17 run Red Alert 3 and C&C 3 on the highest setting and still look smoth?

 

i have red alert 3 and i have it on highest settings and runs smoothe as eggs.

 

are eggs smoothe?

 

I don't know. maybe the surface is.

Has anyone tried fallout 3 and deadspace.

 

I HAVe A PROBLm

i Am NOT ABL TO TYPe

SOme ALPHABITS ONLY WORK IF I PReSS
SHIFT KYe

AS U CAN See HOW Im TYPING
PLASe HeLP

ALReADY TRYeD SYSTem ReSTORe

 

Try another keyboard, a usb one perhaps ? Might be a keyboard issue.

 

if system restore didn't work, it's probably a hardware issue. try a usb keyboard.

 

i also have fallout 3, i put almost everything on highest except AA and the anistrophic settings. and also runs "smoothe as eggs", according to dave chappelle. i dont have any benchmarking tools for any of these games, but i guess i can run fraps and eyeball what the fps are.

 

hay getting m17 laptop Alienware dose any one know about the warrenty 1yr 2yr 3yr

what do thay cover

what if i drop my laptop or spill something on it am i covered

dose it cover the GPU CPU RAM HDD SCREEN

dose anyone know or used the warrenty before thanks

 

anybody know how to customize the access buttons up on top (music, dvd, tv, etc) on the m17?

 

Fusionsenses has a tutorial on customizing the buttons here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=325318

 

It's good to have it stickied. But the NBR guys aren't doing it.

 

It also works for anyone who gets the whitebooks as well.

 

thnx lol i was ondering that now i can do it

 

No, no. It doesn't make sense that it isn't stickied. I've seen the button config question at least half a dozen times now. Only seen one guy that actually started a brand new thread for it though.

 

I couldn't help myself I read to page 35 .. still reading.. I just purchased an M17 and wanted to post what I was getting.. I purchased it on Friday night 1-9-2009 here Monday 1-12-2009 and in step 2. Looking forward to much reading here on this thread.

My Rig:

Code:

[1] M17

Video/Graphics Card: Dual 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870 - CrossFireX™ Enabled!
Processor: Intel® Core™2 T9400 2.53GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Design & Display: Black Skullcap Design
Chassis: 17-Inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p) with Clearview Technology
Keyboard Options: Illuminated Keyboard – Alienware Exclusive Design - Astral Blue
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Home Premium (32-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Internal Digital / Analog (ATSC) TV Tuner with Adapter
Memory: 3GB Dual Channel DDR3 SO-DIMM at 1066MHz – 1 x 2048MB + 1 x 1024MB
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 250GB 7,200RPM (8MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
Optical Drives : 8x Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Wireless Network Card: Internal Wireless b/g (Full Mini-Card)
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with Surround Sound
Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Onsite Service and 24/7 Toll-Free Phone Support
AlienRespawn: AlienRespawn v2.0 Recovery DVD – Windows Vista® Edition
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mesh Cap
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mobile Binder
Alienware Extras: Owner Identification Card
Alienware Extras: M17 Protective Cloth Sleeve
Alienware Extras: M17 Keyboard Diagram Overlay
Avatar: Alienhead Glow
Window Style: Graphite Window Style
Mouse Pointers: Standard Mouse Pointers
Wallpaper: Alien Cyborg
Power Plan: High Performance
Automatic Updates: Automatic Updates On
Sidebar Gadgets: Weather Forecast (default location)
Time Zones: (GMT - 5.00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)

EDIT: I take it back. I made it to page 42 before I posted this.

 

while you're at it check out the "8.12 modded drivers" thread by E-wrecked.

 

Thank you Shznittle, I will.

And thank you E-wrecked for updating this driver. I will be checking this out when I get the laptop! E.T.A. January 23, 2009

@fusionsenses - Thanks for all the reading material (Reviews, Tutorials, General inf, ect.). That sucks about your thermal pad problem you had with the video, I hope that crap don't happen to anyone else. I'd hate to have to go on a "JellyBean Rant".

I found everyone's postings here very interesting and informative.

One thing I wondered, I've read about the similarities with 'ocz whitebook' and using the bios from that notebook to overclock the AW M17. I can see plainly in sigs' how much overclock their getting on their CPU.
I am wondering,...
How is OC'ing actually working out for you out their doing this on the M17? / Heat problems? Stability issues? Voltages? Please inform.

 

update to sig:

 

By delivery the 9.1 ATI driver should be out. I'll try to have that one modded and up the day it's released. And as far as OCing, the system is stable up to a point. I can't get the 13.5 multiplier to run stable for me. But, gonna fool with it tonight and see what I can come up with. I've got a few ideas I'd like to try. Oh, and I am also upgrading hdds tonight. Tired of this secondary seagate crap. Anyhow, I suggest the ocz bios. AW frowns upon it though. Congrats on your purchase too!

 

@ E-wrecked - Cool, I'll be sure to check for those drivers, then!
For sure, Update us on the overclock when you get a chance.

Would anyone like to comment why one would think a partition would be stupid?
IMO, (if you only have 1 HD) Windows on a 250GB in 1 partition is not practical.
If you need to reinstall, you loose your game installs, data backup, ect.
As opposed to having a 30GB partition seems perfect for large OS's.
After a format, shortcuts to most of your games is alot faster than reinstalling them.
At least with the ones that you can do this with.
I consider data access time to copy files is longer between drives.
But, if your going to reinstall Windows every month or 2 and install 2+ games then you will be saving yourself lots of time. This includes keeping your 'My Documents' on the secondary partition so you can also keep your saved games.

I would also like to comment on the difference between 1440 X 900 and 1920 X 1200.
In my own experience and personal opinion.
I ran a game 'Fable' on windows xp. Which pointed this out as 'obvious to me'
Most settings off (Shadow's ect.) at a resolution of 1920 X 1200
(is much better looking than) >
Full settings at 1366 X 768 or 1440 X 900 or lower.
The 1200p actually improves the looks of any image.
Anyone who purchased a (less than) < 1200p monitor I do apologize.
Your missing out on the 1 thing you probably won't upgrade.
It's worth the +200 if you game.

 

I agree with your resolution comments. No reason to short yourself there. Well worth the extra couple bucks.

 

hey guys.. I started a thread on ATI's support Forums. I invite you all to please make some noise in the thread so that ATI understands that I'm not the only one that's disappointed.

http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm?catid=264&threadid=106733&enterthread=y

Please, invest 5 minutes of your time to request support for our cards. I invested much of my time to assist everyone here..and all I ask is 5 minutes of yours so that I'm not a single entity attempting to be noticed. Thank you in advance.

 

I made some noise, thanks for getting this started E-wrecked, everyone else please chime in.

I also sent a note to the moderators of the forum asking to get AMD/ATI to respond on your thread.

 

Thank you. And thank you to all who have already posted.. Keep em coming. The squeaky wheel gets the oil..

 

would just like to request you all post a 2nd time in another thread..
http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm?catid=279&threadid=106781&enterthread=y

Thanks

 

"Its upto the laptop manufacturer to give you updated drivers not AMD."

It only took 6 minutes to point the finger.. way to go AMD...

 

really??

is that what nvidia did?? since they released beta drivers for their mobile cards? not really sure if they went to every last odm and ask to release it, but you never know i guess...


my reply over there. and they answered that one quick. lol

 

This may be directly related to the driver problem..

http://www.driverheaven.net/modtool.php

"ATI have for many years had their hands tied with laptop manufacturers (OEMS) who request that ATI do not offer support for their device in the Catalyst Driver. This may seem strange, however makers such as Dell may have implemented their own support system and they do not want their customers downloading "reference" drivers from ATI's home page."

More...


Added Chipsets:
Windows XP
ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3430
ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3670
ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3850 X2
ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3870
ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3870 X2


Windows Vista
ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3430
ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3670
ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3850 X2
ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3870
ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3870 X2

Can someone check this out and let me know what's up with it by installing...
I don't have my laptop yet. But I would for sure be looking into this as well.

 

Welcome to NBR.

 

~Thanks.

I got a question.
When you get the M17, does it come with an install disk for windows vista?
I seen someone asked about this around page 40-something, but, I just want to make sure.

You pay for the operating system you should get an install CD!

What about the alien respawn cd. That's just an image correct? Can you put a new hard drive in and expect everything to be the same using that disk?

 

I think it does comes with install disk to install the windows on M17, don't expect full windows dvd though. And there are drivers and aw program disk.

The alien respawn dvd is just an image of the working partition portion of the hard drive, which costs me $0.25 to burn by myself and takes 15 minutes. But many ppl feel there is a need to give alienware high profit for it.

ps: I restore/format my partition 7+ times, and never used windows install disc, so I wasn't sure what's on the AW windows disc. I just use the image I created to restore.

 

I would like to know how that can be done
it would really make life easy
or if there is some software i need to but to do that ?

Or is the backup & Restore Center
under System & Maintenance
do that job ?
Thxs

 

Well, I use a program called Acronis True Image Home (Image Software) for that task. It will restore the OS exactly to how you had it in like 10 minutes, to any hard drive or computer. I never trusted microsoft backup and restore much. Does AW do like DELL and put a backup image on a separate partition?
EDIT: In other words, is there a 'hidden' partition on the drive?

EDIT: you could also check out http://www.macrium.com/reflectfree.asp
for free image software.

EDIT: BTW i'm in Phase 6, Phase 7 expected tomorrow. That took a whole 5 days. Hurry please !

 

Acronis is the shiznit.

 

What is the correct way to pronounce shiznit?
Google doesn't help.

 

It's quite a technical term. Google can sometimes fail to assist with finding proper references to such words. But, shi.. As in shin. Medium Z.. Nit, like knit a sweater. Word.

 

Well, I'll join the club. My M17 est. arrival is in 30st January. Big hand to Whizzo for helping me out with my noobish questions.