*OFFICIAL* "All Powerful" M15x Owners Lounge, *Part 3*

Im torn between changing it to the m17x but the sales person said it would ship after 2/18. I really need a laptop!! I think i might stick around and wait to see if they get the keyboards in stock this week. Ill also try to bargain with the customer care person and see if i can a discount or free stuff for this inconvinience!

SoccerThiery, i suggest you give dell a call and ask them whats up with your order. They will def upgrade your shipping to 1 day, also try to bargain with them

 

Glad to see you calm down. I do agree that their customer service sucks, but their laptops are amazing. Keep calling them, I'm sure they could also add a mouse or headset too,

 

Ugh you cant be serious.. I'll give em a call when I can.. Its better be fixed soon..

EDIT: THANKS GOD O_O
The minute after I wrote that, I go to my gmail account and I got a mail saying that my M15x shipped on the 23rd 8D 8D
Thats Fantastic

 

Congrats! Youll be happy with your new system

 

lol, congrats

 

some dell rep just tried to convince me that the m15x using integrated graphics with the i5 will get 8 hours of battery life with the 9 cell

 

hahahahahahahah!!!!!

ah man that is the funniest thing i have ever heard.

amusingly stupid reps are amusingly stupid.

 

It's actually 8.25 hours on an i5.

 

Are you serious?? Well congrats to you. When did you order? I need to get to the bottom of this

You have no idea how pissed I am right now, and if you ordered later than me im cancelling my order all together and buying from someone else.

 

I wish, haha!

 

Having some trouble finding an answer for this. Does the M15x have an upgradeable GPU? 260m is fine for now, but it is beginning to show its age.

 

There was someone who put in an 280m, and the new ati's are suppose to be compatible also. hope this helps

 

Indeed it does. Thank you.

 

on a realistsic side any idea on battery life for an i5 on integrated for this thing? I heard 6 cell about 2+ hours and 3+ with 9cell.

 

i thought the integrated didn't work on the m15x or the m17x thats what i read somewhere

 

Hi Thorpe,

The new i5 (Arrandale) processors with the integrated video require a slightly different chipset. If you plug the new processor into a PM55 based motherboard, the GPU is disabled, and ony the memory controller is used. The new HM55 chipset, which is basically the PM55 (which is currently in the M15x and M17x) with support for GPU out. So, I would guess that the current M15x and new M17xR2 will not use integrated graphics. I wonder if Alienware will offer the HM55 in future notebooks?

Rich S.

 

Hum, I thought that with the PM55 chip-set only "Switching" was disabled but you could still chose to use the Intel or nVida GPU in the CMOS setup.

Is that wrong?

 

I already know the Ati will not work in the M15x. I beleave Mr. Moo and someone else online went to Mc Donalds. 100 Miles each to meet. Tried a ati 4870 in a M15x.

For silvercup a idea is try a search for M15x with a 280m.

 

yeah i saw that too, but i think the newer 5800 series should work, well at least i hope it does. i think moo and witcher needed a bios for the ati's to work, but we may never know.

 

I actually searched that exact topic and found out something about it on the first page of this very thread. Shame about the 4870, any idea about the upcoming ATI's?

 

What we need is someone with the I5 chip to tell us the truth about the battery life not a sale man at dell

 

Well I finally reached the dell care department this morning, and they said that my m15x is in testing stage and should be shipping in next 2-3 days. And I called the automated number and it said its in boxing stage So hopefully I will be receiving my alien soon!

 

Congrats!! Make sure you test for throttling and apply the fix if necessary!

Also, make sure to uninstall synaptics touchpad driver. Oh and under linux the touchpad is a lot better

 

I can never understand Dell / Alienware.
When i ordered my machine the only choice was an I7, now there are i3, and Quadcore choices. lots of cheap memory choices but then the kicker...
In Holland you have no option to choose the 260M, it comes with a choice of 1, a 240M. To much competition with the M17x ?

 

I believe you can get the 260m if you order by phone. There is another topic about the M15x coming without the 260m in European countries on this board so check that for further details.

Link: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=451189

 

So im finally back after having to have my motherboard replaced. i had installed the throttle fix as well as applied rivatuner, and i just rand 3d mark and my computer has fallen way below the grey line on the chart? why is this? stealth mode is not on either.

 

If you get the i3/i5, you cant use the GTX 260M.. Looks like there are compatibily issues or something..
@pukado; Awesome congrats!

 

Can anyone confirm/deny if I will be able to upgrade my CPU to an i7 920XM in the future? The motherboard should be compatible right?

 

to answer alinaB's question

it's been said before no integrated graphics on this generation of the m15x or m17x r2, only on the original m17x.

 

yes you can upgrade to the 920xm, all the i7 have the same pm55 mobo.

 

and yes from a 720 to 920 no problem, the theory is from an i5 to an i7 might be a problem.

 

Ok, yeah I figured that out, so I would only have to update the bios or something like that?
And would it be hard to swipe my 500gb HDD for a SSD? Could I do it by myself?

[Yeah I dont even have it yet and I'm thinking about upgrades...It's not like I have the money anyway ]

 

no need to do bios update for cpu change, the system automatically detects the cpu. hdd to ssd is really easy, i did mine myself, took maybe 5 mins in total. if you need help let me know, but i think you can figure it out, did mine the first day i recieved my laptop.

 

Hehe, I will have to wait though, these SSD things are so freakin' expensive O_O
Where'd you get yours?
Oh, and thanks for the prompt answers

 

sorry to seem like a badger but does anybody know what the reason could be for my question a page back?

 

no idea, run some diagnostics i guess

 

i ran the diagnostics under the boot menu and everything passed fine. im just unsure why that would happen. i mean i scored higher when my gpu wasnt oc.

 

Hey guys! I ordered my Alienware M15x this morning. I am upgrading from the Area-51 m17x, which had the dual 2.8 extreme processor, 4 gigs of RAM, 500 gig Hard drive, 1080p, 2 8800gtxs, and PLENTY of ports.

That laptop was a beast, but it was too heavy, the mic didn't work (hardware) and the alien software was VERY iffy. I finally sold it on craigslist for 1400 to a DJ who really didn't care much about gaming. He just wanted it for the lighting .

I budgeted 2000 for a new laptop, so getting another Alienware was a no brainer. I went over just a bit...oops. First, I decided on a 720 QM. I LOVED my q9000 on my old alien....it would fly. Seeing how this i7 does better compared to the q9000, that was an easy choice. For what I use the laptop for (gaming only when not home, net surfing, pictures, chat, etc), it was very sufficient. Plus I can tell my friends I have an i7 in a laptop, and thats enough bragging rights. I went with the 260mgtx...again, more than enough to run any game enjoyably. The resolution MUST be 1080p for me, and for 100 more...easy choice. Did the 4 gigs of ram at 1333 and the 9 cell battery. I wanted to do the red, but my GF thinks thats a girly color on a laptop, so I went with black. 500 gig drive. MMM. Can't wait!

Estimated delivery of Feb 5. Someone needs to link me to the page to test the throttling issue. I am an average user, so don't speak tech to me please

 

Hehe, congrats, M15x is the way to go 8D

 

i got mine off craigslist over a month ago, it was a sweet deal got it for only $300, ended up buying 3 of them and sold 2. so it was free for me plus extra $$$.lol love loving in silicon valley. not sure where the guy got it from and don't want to know but he had at least a dozen of them.

 

can you run gpu-z to see what clocks you are running at.

 

yea im running 550/950/1350

 

Baww lucky you!
I'll wait for this summer for the SSD and probably not before xmas 2010 for the 920XM, it's so expensive atm anyway!

 

what was your score? are u running on high performance settings? if not it could be a glitch, did you try running it again?

 

ive only ran it once....and i am on high performance, my score was like P4000 or something idk i mainly looked at the chart and saw that i was way below the grey line. what are typical scores for PC & 3D Mark???

 

just google m15x throttling you'll get what u need, it'll be a notebookreview url

 

Thank you sir.

 

^^^^^^^those are synthetic test, if you run those you will see throttling for sure. just play games and use your everyday app and run gpu-z to see if it throttles. no need to fix it if it doesn't affect your daily uses.

 

those score seem real low. could you run window experience index to see your score. i haven't run 3d mark yet, i'm trying to download it now to see what i get. btw what driver are you using for your gpu?

 

I got a huge change once updated to 195.62 with 12000+ on 3DMark06 (1024x768), having had 6000+ only with the original out of box drivers. Best to uninstall the original GPU driver and then reinstalling it, otherwise there's greater chance of missing bits in the control panel.

I've said this before, but given that throttling is mainly potential issue i.e. only one that may come up in the future with applications that will require closer to 100% CPU/GPU, suggest not applying the throttle fix unless you notice significant slowing without the fix.