The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    M17X - Dual 260s - Need Advice

    Discussion in 'Alienware' started by Wraithbane, Nov 7, 2009.

  1. Wraithbane

    Wraithbane Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    29
    Messages:
    96
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Okay.
    I am network savvy and tech savvy to a point, but I have not been a hardware tech for 10+ years. I'm not really digging the idea of opening my brand new m17x though I actually modded my ps2 and xbox so maybe that will tell you where I stand hardware wise (or did... years ago).

    Stats -
    M17x - Dual Core Processor P8600 2.4ghz
    Dual 260s with the 9400 turned on as well.
    Factory shipped 1.5 months ago with Vista.
    Upgraded via the upgrade DVD to Win7 Home Premium.
    BluRay DVD Drive
    4gb RAM

    Played Fallout3 without issue for hours and hours on Vista before upgrading. Now the system grinds to a halt under Win7.

    Followed Batboy's driver switch last night and I'm not sure if it worked or not because the drivers in device manager show a date of 8/6/09 with Driver Version as 8.15.11.8664. I don't think the upgrade took though I followed the directions pretty much word for word.

    You guys are the M17X experts. What would you do if I handed you this system and it was your own? Batboy, others, what steps would you take so that I can get this system running right?
     
    Wraithbane, Nov 7, 2009
    #1
  2. Thatoe

    Thatoe Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    283
    Messages:
    557
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    31
    I'd do a fresh install.
    I'm never a fan of upgrading windows.
     
    Thatoe, Nov 7, 2009
    #2
  3. Belien

    Belien Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    87
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Driver version seems to match with what I have here (running Dell driver for 260's).

    I think suggestion above to perform a clean install by booting form the upgrade CD (+ select custom install) might be a good idea if you upgraded to win7 in place, although it's a shame for the time you already spent. Can't comment on performance for FallOut3, but the games I have seem to run even a bit better than before (ran different GPU drivers on Vista though).

    For the clean install, I only installed drivers that Win7 didn't recognize (Chipset, OSD, Geforce Drivers, Bluetooth Mod, Media Card, Command Center)
     
    Belien, Nov 7, 2009
    #3
  4. Wraithbane

    Wraithbane Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    29
    Messages:
    96
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Do you have your 9400 turned on? I don't operate on battery at all.. should I turn it off in bios or leave it on?
     
    Wraithbane, Nov 7, 2009
    #4
  5. Belien

    Belien Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    87
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    The 9400 isn't disabled in my case, and I don't operate on battery either (wasn't disabled in Vista either). I don't know whether this can make a difference. Just to make sure, you aren't in the infamous 'stealth mode', are you? Oh and after install, I changed the default power plan to 'boost performance' since windows decided to go for balanced. I must admit that the first few hours after instaal the system was slow for an unknwon reason (DPC process eating away 35% CPU), but this mysteriuosly dissapeared after a good night of sleep in my case
     
    Belien, Nov 7, 2009
    #5