Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
Hey folks- so I've got my M17x showing up tomorrow, and wanted to say thank you to everyone all over this forum that have done brilliant jobs pushing this beast to the limit and finding out how to do it. What I'm hoping to do here is start a sort-of guide for people just getting their machines and want to get the most out of it, without having to constantly bombard 189319248 different threads with their questions.
So, without further ado, some of the questions I've had, the answers I've found, and hopefully you all can rip them apart so I can fix them.
Q- Does turning the integrated graphics chip off improve performance, and if it does, how do I turn it off?
A-From all that I've read, turning off the integrated 9400m does increase performance when OC'ing, as well as removing the possibility of using Hybrid SLI instead of normal SLI (if you have two discrete cards). Disabling it via the BIOS is also the most efficient way of turning it off- but it does come at the expense of battery life.
Q- How do I overclock/replace GPU/CPU?
A-See Moo's tutorials! Overclocking / CPU Change / GPU Change
Q- When I'm OC'ing, should I fiddle with the memory speed at all to peak performance or will I be safe just leaving it at 1066/1333 while pushing the CPU?
A- Still not entirely clear on this one, but from everything I can tell, keeping the stock speeds on the 1066 at least doesn't seem to be a hindrance, even when OC'ing something like a QX9300.
Q- How do I make sure SLI is enabled, and how do I test that it is?
A- SLI is enabled through the (I believe) Nvidia control panel, as is the ability to show the SLI markers when playing games or ?using software? that takes advantage of it.
Q- I've installed a new processor in my system, but in the device manager it doesn't read it as the correct processor. What's wrong and how do I fix it?
A- I'm not sure WHY exactly it does this, but I know from what I've heard regarding the QX9300 that you should just right click the pairs that aren't correct and disable/unistall them from the device manager, then Windows will recognize them (next time you boot?) as the correct ones.
Q- Are the stock drivers for the GPU's any good, or should I install new ones ASAP?
A- Not completely sure of the answer to this, as there seems to be two groups, drivers that allow peak benches and drivers that are solid and good for gaming. That being said, I have heard nothing but good things about BatBoy's drivers. For all your driver needs, check out the thread HERE and for BatBoy's, check out THIS thread.
Q- I've reflashed my BIOS and it won't boot to Windows.
A- You need to go into the BIOS and reset the drive configuration to RAID 0 (if you're running a RAID 0 array)
Q- Help! My computer suddenly seems to be running very sluggishly- what's going on?!
A- Make sure you're not in Stealth Mode by pressing the button for it in the top right corner of the machine and then rebooting.
Q- I've lost the option to change the lighting on my M17x! How do I get it back?
A- Check out Mandrake's fix for this problem HERE.
Q- My touchpad is being quirky and scrolling doesn't work properly/is hard to use
A-Uninstall the Synaptics drivers that came standard on the machine and use the default Windows drivers- Windows should do this automatically after a re-boot, but keep an external mouse handy just in case.
Q- I want to upgrade Vista to Service Pack 2 without re-installing my OS, but can't seem to find the update.
A- Download the stand-alone installer from Microsoft and run it. Once it is installed, make sure to run Compcln.exe from the command prompt to remove temporary files.
Please, feel free to rip me apart/add more Questions, Answers, and/or anything else you all (as the experienced ones) would label as 'Frequently Asked Questions'
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Another one could be Mandrake's fix to the keyboard lights going out after a clean install of Vista.
Here.
Don't forget to give him credit.
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Also added links to Moo's tutorials- hope you don't mind Moo. They're just so good....
Favor- could someone please post or PM the link to BatBoy's drivers? I can't seem to find it for the life of me... -
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I agree entirely Hollis- hence the attempt.
Anything not on their that drove you bonkers? I get mine tomorrow and am sure when that happens I'll have tons of stuff to put up, but until then, and even after, I need help! -
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Yeah, like Sleey0 said windows will automatically detect the touch pad. I might keep a mouse on hand just in case though
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Might also want to add something for this issue -
Problem: I am unable to update Windows Vista to Service Pack 2 straight out of the box.
Solution: Download the stand alone 64-bit installer from Microsoft. Once installed, be sure to run Compcln.exe from a command prompt to remove all left over temp files - you wont be able to uninstall the SP but who cares about that
Or, you can just perform a clean install. I didn't feel like it since I didn't have any bloat software (I said no to that McCrappie free install).
Cause: Unknown. Quadzilla and I have both witnessed this issue. -
hey thanks batboy... Ive been having this issue and couldnt find anything about this...even contacted micirosoft via email with no ado... They tried to make me chat with them via internet for a minute by minute fee
Yeah right...
Ill wait for batboy
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Getting The Most Out Of The M17x FAQ
Discussion in 'Alienware' started by Praetorian77, Aug 17, 2009.
