My m17x has arrived

Well, here it is. I finally got my m17x. I'm uploading several unboxing photos for you guys to enjoy. As for my initial impressions, blu-ray playback is awesome, I'm currently installing Crysis to try out, and everything else including my AlienFX lighting is working fantastic. More to come!


Couldn't upload photos. No time. Will try again later today.

 

great!! what are your specs, mate?

EDIT: be sure to run 3dmark06 as well!

 

well you need to upload your pics on a photo image hosting website such as (photobucket.com) and once you have them uploaded they give you a link to paste it in your message to post the pic. the basic code is as such:



example:
[IMG ]http://www.pclaunches.com/entry_images/1107/20/alienware_m17x-1-thumb-450x353.jpg[/IMG]

that was the code and then i remove the space after IMG and this is how it would show up:



hope i helped get those pics up here faster

 

oooh, can i see it with all green lighting... and also with purple lighting...

it's all about the looks, eh?

and OP... what a tease!
IT ARRIVED...

NO PICS...

ha ha ha...

 

Dual 8800M GTX? I hope so...

 

Cool, can't wait. So far there's been a shortage of m17x reviews. It seems there's a new "my new m15x" post every day but none is sticking up for the m17x... (",)

OB

 

congrats on your m17x. I want one

 

Cool deal I will not be the only one with M17X.

 

mine arrived yesterday but... im on the other side of the world... my mother is going to be bringing it with her when she comes back this weekend ugh now this is torture theres nothing i can track or view feels weird dont know whats happening with it. cant wait till sunday

 

um... pics?

 

He's probably busy with it.
Funny how nobody reviewed the m17x yet with dual 8800M GTX...

 

Anyone you who have read some of my previous posts know i am not an Alienware Fanboy. Have been pretty harsh in some of my comments regarding my first M15X, but maybe not as harsh as Milics. Not a computer "Geek" but in the past have had laptops from IBM, HP, Dell, Sager, as well as Alienware. My first M15X with the X9000 cpu and 8800m GTX gpu had a chassis crack by ethernet port, creaking lid, unresponsive touch controls, downlocking GPU, and overheating problems. After complaining Alienware sent me a replacement that was much better. No cracks, no downclocking gpu, no creaking lid, and touch controls were more responsive. However after a few weeks i noticed the cpu was downclocking, certain games would freeze, and even though the fans were racing the temps still were in the 90's. Was ready to jump ship to Falcon Northwest, Sager or somebody but decided to give Alienware another chance since my experience with their laptops prior to the M15X was good. Said i would order a loaded M17X if they would give me a full refund for the M15X which they agreed to do. The process went smoothly except for the delay in getting the M17X. Juan Carlos Nunez from Critical Issues Department kept me updated on the progress and was always courteous and 100% professional.
Received the M17X yesterday. It has the X9000 cpu, dual 8800m gtx gpu cards, SLI enabled, Blueray etc etc. My initial review as follows:
1. Sturdy chassis. No visible scratches, cracks. or defects noted. Packed well.
2. No creaking or wobbly lid.
3. Slight keyboard flex but not an issue for me.
4. Touch controls responsive even the volume control
5. Bright screen, good colors and viewing from all angles.
6. Web cam works better than my M15X although i use a Logictech for camera work.
7. Palmrests remain cool but the area near touch controls and right speaker vent gets warm. The fans put out some serious hot air straight out of the back.
4. Ran Crysis for 2 hours in room temp of 74F without my Zalman cooler. Using HW monitor, Rivatuner, and Rightmark CPU clock utility did not see any downclocking from cpu or gpu's. Cpu temp never rose above high 50'sC, Gpu's never rose above low 80'sC. Fans kicked in stronger at 83c but the noise was not objectionable to me.
5. Liked the black matte finish but of course that is a matter of personal choice.
6. The power brick is larger than the M15X's

 

sounds like AW learned from the m15x and made the m17x a pretty good machine.

 

M17X story continued.
6. The power brick is close to the size of a brick.
7. Blueray works fine and does a good job as a player and burner.
8. Not tried the tuner yet or some of the other features,

Even though it cost me more, so far i am more than satisfied with M17X. Will post some pics and further comments over the weekend. Hope everyone else who gets the M17X also has a good experience.

 

Thanks for that tara that's REALLY good to hear since I was slightly worried about my m17x after I had heard all the bad things about the m15x. You have really put my mind at ease and the mini review you gave answered alot of my questions. Well have fun with ur system I can't wait till I get mine and get to play on this monster. Btw those temps look AMAZING

 

Tanamerra grats, and could you pls take a little time to make the m17x survey?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=268457

 

The power brick of the m17x is the same one used for the m1730 but have a different connector.

 

Good job. Looking forward for more results, benchmarks?

 

is the material (chasis and all that) of the m17x the same as the m15x? I kinda mean the quality (cause some ppl say that m15x is made up of cheap plastic)

 

Well how's the full review coming along? Hopefully we get to see that soon

 

maybe there is a delay of SLI 8800M gtx.

 

A little late Nirvana

Nice job Tanamerra, now I want HWMonitor screenshots and 3dmarks and such

 

The review is will be ready by Sunday.

1. The m17x is way sturdier and it feels different then the m15x. As tanamerra said, the touch controls are way more responsive (they look smaller and sharper too) but still nothing is like HP Pavilions when it comes to touch controls. The power button though is not responsive (Why? I don't know) and you have to push it really hard comparing to the m15x.
2. The lid is even stronger than the m1730's (Yes, I compared them) but it does make little sound probably because it's new. I believe the sound will go with time because the lid on my m15x does not make sounds anymore.
3. The keyboard flex is not annoying but it's there (same flex is in the m15x and m1730 too). It's around the arrow keys (which are bigger size on the m17x than the m15x) and between the number pad and the keyboard.
4. The screen is simply stunning but mine had light leakage on bottom right (visible in black backgrounds). It's very bright and colorful. It's the best between the m15x and m1730 (the m1730 I compared has a Samsung screen)
5. Camera is better and delivers sharper images but still slow (not bad Alienware; it's smaller too).
6. The palm rest remains cool since nothing that gets hot is located below it (Which are the 12-cell battery, optical drive and the Dual-hard drives).
7. The speakers are very good and high (still far from surround sound of course but one of the best for laptops). I still prefer the m1730's speakers.
8. Smartbay is different than the one used on the m15x. It's a tiny bit smaller and has a different connector. (the connector for smartbay on the m17x is smaller)
9. AlienFX looks nicer on matte black then glossy silver (just my opinion )
10. Touch pad is way easier to use (still not great) but at least, it's not slippery anymore. I have to make sure my hands are dry when I use it on the m15x but the m17x is good. Still prefer the one on the m1730.
11. Keyboard has similar feel to the m15x. (and same lag probably due to the drivers.)
12. The temperatures go up to 87 deg C and the other card up to 90 (max) when playing COD4. The system remains silent when gaming. For some reason the second graphic card is always about 3 deg C higher than the first (that's what I always see on RivaTuner). When browsing temperatures stay on 60-63 (first card) and 63-66 (second). The m1730 (with dual 8700's) does not go above 83 deg C under stress (I wish it had the 8800's).
13. I did have a problem with the CPU in the system and my 3dmark06 score was never stable and it was always between 7900 (when it decides not to work) and 11400 (when it is perfectly fine). - not that impressed with the score really.
14. I also have a problem booting (probably due to the CPU). The m17x boots in 1 minute and 10 seconds while my m15x boots in only 19 seconds.
15. The m17x is very easy to clean (you know why )
16. The screen flickers a lot when changing resolution (especially when entering games) and/or Vista asking for permission (since screen has to turn off for a second) - is that a problem with SLi?

More Details to come...

 

hmm one gpu runs warmer than the other, how many fans does the m17x have?

 

The m17x has 3 fans in total. 2 for the GPU's (one for each) and one for the CPU.

 

GPU temps are a little higher than normal, but if it doesn't give any BSOD, then it means no problem. Also, when you say the bootup is xx seconds, do you time the bootup the moment you push the power button, or when the OS begins loading? For me, I assume to include the BIOS bootup time too.

 

i think one is higher than the other since in sli both gpus dont work the same. one will work harder than the other.

 

It is my belief that the 8th series can actually endure quite a lot of heat, upto 85-90C. Some people have had theirs running at 80-90C and they`re still ok, so I`m guessing they`re better than other cards.

My xps m1730 runs at max 75-76C ,only because the darn fans won`t kick in faster.
I`m planning on getting a X9000 CPU and keep it OCed so that I`ll be able to keep the fans on at all time.
Idle times are also in the low 60s for the GPUs and 35-40C for the CPU.

Nice config, awaiting benches on it.

 

For the boot times, yes that includes the BIOS loading which takes less than 3 secs on the m15x but takes about 7 secs on the m17x (I don't know if that is the case for all m17x)

 

m15x boots in 19s (including BIOS boot)? That's not possible! I saw the m15x bootup on youtube and it took about 50s! Unless you have SSD?

eleron911, is 19s actually possible without SSD or RAID0? cause my m1730 takes 45 seconds to fully boot (including BIOS boot). is mine normal?

 

No, I have a 200GB 7200rpm hard drive. I know the video you are taking about. The m15x in that video is acting like the m17x I have.

 

how heavy is it ielsayed, in comparison the m15x is the thickness the same?

 

The m17x does not look very thick (I don't know where they got the 2.1-inch thickness from). I have some pictures of both side by side that I will be posting soon with the review. About the weight, it depends on you really. For me, I don't find it that heavy and 10.5 pounds is what you would expected from a 17-inch gaming notebook.

 

Well if you used the m15x as a comparison how much bigger are we talking?

 

iElSayed, did your old m15x had a turbo memory installed?

 

If the m15x is a size large laptop then the m17x is basically an X-large version of the m15x . It's very close to the m1730 in size.

@ckh
Yes, my m15x does have a turbo memory installed.

BTW I decided to keep my m15x not the m17x because I never had any performance problem with it (I have to admit though, I dislike the build quality of the m15x and only wish it was better.)

 

I see, now it makes sense why you can get 19s.

 

I've seen ultra fast boots, and they either had Robson Memory, SSD's or tons of services disabled,and had used bootvis or other apps like tunexp to speed up booting. However,one way or the other,that messes up registry in time and windoze will get sluggish later on. I keep it as it and boot in around 30-35s,7200rpm hdd.
So yours is normal, my sager boots in 45-50s. 5400rpm hdd.

I was surprised about the xps1730 too(which I suspect to be as thick as the m17x), it's not that heavy nor that thick compared to my 8.5pound sager.
Although my sager is the same thickness in the back, it's much thinner in front.

Questions of preference I guess.
How does it do on temps? (m15x vs m17x)

 

What happended about your faulty CPU?

OB

 

ElSayed,
Did your M17X come with the Infineon Security Platform? If so did you enable it? How did you do it?

 

Nothing really, as I said, I decided to keep to m15x because this is the only laptop that actually never gave me headaches. I will be shipping out the m17x today. The reason I wanted to replace it is because of build quality.

Yes, it did. I am still trying to figure out what the hell is that. I did not enable it, I just ignore it, but what is it?

When playing COD4
m17x max temps are 87 (first card) 90 (second card) --> temps stays stable all time and system stays silent (graph is a straight line)
m15x max temp is 93 goes back to mid 80's when fan is at full blast (it's noisy when speakers are off.) (graph goes up to 93 back to 86 and back up...)
m1730 with 8700's in SLi stays stable at 83 both cards.

 

Tried COD4 on my M17X and results were similar to yours except my temps were a little lower. 81 first card, 84 second card. Fans speed constant also. Playing Crysis fan speed increased but noise was not objectionable.
Juan Carlos Nunez from Alienware told me Infineon is a security platform that protects your data from hackers. Have not figured how to enable yet. The instructions are not that clear.

 

To enable TPM, check out this knowledge base article:

http://4help.alienware.com/cgi-bin/...nBfc2VhcmNoX3RleHQ9NTg3OQ**&p_li=&p_topview=1

 

VERY VERY positive stuff cant wait to have mine i got 1 day 22 hours and 22 mins left till i get it (thats when my mom's plane touches down ) i got a countdown set up

 

Thanks James. So far i am very pleased with the M17X. Alienware did a good job this time around in providing a quality product.

 

Yes, the m17x is a darn fine machine. I'm getting 12,400 on my 3dmark06 scores, but I figured a machine like this would be closer to 13 or 14,000. Anybody have any idea how to overclock this thing?

Can you just move a jumper around on the motherboard like you can on a desktop computer? Yes, I know that voids the warrenty; but Dell says you can safely overclock this CPU to 3.2ghz on their XPS laptops, and I think I should be able to as well being that I paid so much for this monster. But of course, Alienware had to lock out the options in the BIOS. Back to my question, is there a way to unlock the BIOS like on desktops?

 

well, i am sure glad to see and hear of good news for the m17x...

now i'm contemplating having a nice discussion with the missus... immediately after a long foot rub and all... oy! the joys of married life...

 

your scores should be fine, 12-12.5k is about where the dell xps m1730 clocks in as well.

 

I used the "It's easier to ask for forgiveness than it is to ask for permission" approach. We lost a little plaster off the dining room wall when she threw something at me with my back turned, but she's okay with it now.

 

Oh, okay. Still, daddy want's ALL his 3.2ghz, not just 2.8 of it.