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

What kind of prices are people getting on their builds? I'm just curious to see so I can compare when ordering

 

Nice build!

I goto the OCZ forums and there are a couple posts there under the SSD section with regards to general o/s tweaks & then also SSD related tweaks. I do all of those.

What SSD do they use? (I bought mine as aftermarket).

 

Ok, I just read about TRIM....damn...this is important. I may need to call AW on monday and change my order up. Does anyone here know about the current AW SSDs? I have a feeling if I call them and ask, they will spew bull and just say yes(that it supports TRIM). The reps usually have no idea.

 

Hi vzxyz,

You can use CPU-Z to maybe see if you have a new motherboard revision. Someone who got a recent Arrandale M15x has a new PM55 chipset revision. All three of the motherboards that have been in my M15x, have had revision 11 of the PM55 chipset, and 2 out of 3 had no issues with iPods.

The first motherboard swap, Dell sent replacement thermal "pads" for the CPU and GPU. The second swap, the tech used some "Dell provided" thermal paste. My temps seem to be around 5 degrees (C) warmer. All well Good luck!

Rich

 

Yeah..I have the revision 11. Dunno what the diff b/w arrandale and Clarksfield is. Too lazy to do a google search right now. Planning to drive about 12 hours tomorrow morning to philadelphia. Need to catch some sleep now.

At least I have the A03 version of the bios.

 

I have done it! Order my Alienware M15x today and should get it by the 11th! I cant wait! This is my first alienware system so im pretty excited about it!

The sales rep I talked to was great! I think he is the best rep I have ever dealt with! Not only did he get me discounts on the laptop but also free next day shipping 0_0!

spec

Alienware M15x, Cosmic Black
Intel Core i7-620M 2.66GHz (3.33Ghz Turbo Mode, 4M cache)
6GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz 1 x 2048MB + 1 x 4096MB
15.6-inch Wide FHD 1920x1080 (1080p) WLED
1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M
500GB SATAII 7,200RPM

 

i'm not sure what ssd model they are using right now, if you can ask for the model number, we can find out if it supports trim.

wow, congrats. welcome to the family,lol

 

Ya, it is vary important. TRIM is what tells the SSD controller that a memory block is no longer in use. Without TRIM as soon as you use a memory block the SSD controller will think it is in use forever and then after all blocks have been written the SSD Controller has no more memory blocks to so garbage collection or ware-leveling with.

In other words. With out TRIM your SSD will get crazy slow after about a month or two.

~30MB/s Read & ~30MB/s Write (Asuming you had ~200MB/s Read & >150MB/s Write to begin with)

There are 2 ways around this.

1. To make a backup of "Just the written" blocks of data. Like make a Disk Image but make sure to only image the written blocks.

Then write 0's to the whole drive. After that the SSD controller will know they are empty. Then coppy that Disk Backup back to your drive.
((This is a real pain to do with Windows))

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- Best way -

2. Fist thing when you get your laptop.

Reinstall Windows. In the Partitioning section. Delete all the partitions.
Then make a new owe 200GB partition and install Windows there. Leave the rest 40+GB free.

This way the SSD will never get ALL FULL so the SSD controller will always have at lest ~40GB to use for ware-leveling.

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The ONLY SSD's that have TRIM are OCZ Second Gen SSDs and Intel G2 SSD's

However, most SSD's use the same controller OCZ uses so OCZ's TRIM utility "May" work on your SSD.... But don't count on it.

Also, SSD's are extremely complex. They are not at all like Hard Drives. The Firmware is "The Most Important Thing." It is what controls the Write and Read Algorithms, Garbage Collection Algorithms, and Ware-Leveling Algorithms. OCZ is Vary Open about what there Firmware dose and how it works. OCZ is THE industry leader in SSD Firmware development. That is why they can use the same Hardware as Many other SSD manufacturers. Yet, they have 2-3 Times the Write Speed.

 

I currently have a 256gb samsung pm800 ssd in my m15x.
Crystaldisk mark reports show very low read and write performance(both ~ 13mbps) when it comes to 4k read/write tests.
Any solutions to improve my score?
The SSD came with the firmware that is trim enabled.

 

After further research on SSD from Dell, it seems that earlier batch doesnt have TRIM support... though the ones theyre releasing now with FW VBM24D1Q have TRIM enabled.

SOURCE: http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19310219.aspx?PageIndex=6

 

Right on. I guess I jumped the gun on saying only OCZ and Intel had TRIM.

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About the low 4K read and wright speeds. This is all about the Firmware. You can try IDE mode instead of AHCI or try RAID if ... no the M15x doesn't have a RAID controller. (4K Read/Write is always slow on SSD's though. Compare it to benchmarks that were posted of OCZ and Intel drives.)

This is one aspect of how important Firmware is in an SSD. The Read/Write algorithm controls this. It is a mix of whether to have faster Writes but take a BIG hit on Large writes. Or Faster Sequential Writes but take a Big hit on Random writes.

SSD's are a whole computer sub-system all by themselves.

-----------------
Here is a 120GB OCZ Vertex
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/f...-This-IS-Vertex-Vertex-testing-and-discussion

 

One warning, I set my M15x to IDE mode (intending to flash my SSD) but the laptop would not boot up. I had to clear the CMOS to get going again.

 

Owe ya, sorry about that..... You have to reinstall the OS to switch between IDE and AHCI... Owe also, there is NO TRIM support in IDE mode.

So, no there is nothing you can do. Sorry for giving you bad advice.
-----------------------------------------

Hay, I was wondring.... Hum, do you guys have an evenly lit space bar and stuff?

 

i just can wait till the damn things get cheaper so i can get a 512 for a 256gb price..256 is way too small for me..

 

256 is not that bad.. You can just store all your medias on an external HDD, thats what I did with my ol' computer!
Personally its the price which happen to be a turn off

 

No, Also I find the AlienFX really bad compared to the Area 51 m15x alienFX. In the old model I could clearly see the colors of the keyboard in a well lit room. On the new model its barely visible in a well lit room and only visible in a dark room.

I have been wondering if I am the only one with this. But I guess its just how they come?

 

except, i need all my media with me at all times... lol... and yea your right theyre so overpriced... but if it was 500-600$ for a 512ssd... i'd consider buying it... but those are not even out yet... (for mainstream laptop users)

 

yea same here... jus the bottom part of the spacebar isnt that well lit in a bright room... but i could live with that...no biggie

 

Alright a little off topic but...my girlfriend just received her windows 7 discs and while i didn't have much time to really mess around with her laptop last night (you could say i was too busy messing around with sumtin else LOL)... i quickly backed up her files, and chose the recommended option (not a clean install) to just upgrade it from vista(64bit) to win7(64bit)... AND like i expected, it failed. I was always skeptical about these upgrade win7 discs that apprently offered a quick, easy no hassle upgrade. yea right. So the install froze and about 6 hours later, still said it was installing... which is impossible..

so i stopped the install and rebooted the system and now when i try to go install it again to choose the clean install option, it no longer lets me choose and immediately tries re-installing which again freezes. i did this about 3 times...

so now im wondering....is there anyway to reset this? or should i just go ahead and reformat and then load up the upgrade discs again and choose clean install ( like i should have done the first time..dammit!) If anyone has experience with the win7 upgrade your feedback would much much appreciated thanks!

 

^^^ try to go into bios and set to boot from disk, instead of going into windows to install.

 

yea i tried that... whatever i'll just re-format thanks though

 

^^^^ that sucks, but a clean install is always the best why to go.

 

OK, reading up that getting an ssd from dell is STILL hit or miss, I called customer service today and changed my order, yet again. I got rid of the SSD and decided to upgrade to the 820 QM and 6 gigs of ram(1333). I was speaking to the El salvador department and they are by far the most professional and nicest dell team I have encountered. Kudos to them for being friendly and also throwing me a free headset and shipping <3.

I will use the 500 gig HD, worry free, and in about a year I am sure the 512 gig SSDs will be available at an affordable price, in which I will indulge myself.

 

hahah ... last time, congrats...lol

 

lol...i know right? 3 damn M15Xs within a month and a half. Longest ordering process ever

 

Well looks like my M15x is stuffed. Started up Mass Effect 2 and whilst I was playing the laptop shutdown automatically and I immediately noticed a burning smell (from the left side of the machine which I believe is where the GPU is) which is obviously not a good sign. I unplugged it and let it cool down before opening it and looking around. Didn't notice any visual signs of burning on the GPU or CPU. I tried plugging it in and as soon as I connect the AC adapter to the laptop, the little blue LED turns off. So it may be something to do with the power supply? I was running with my GPU overclocked for a while, but I never saw any danger zone temps, but i've lately been running it at stock clocks until my laptop cooler arrives and GPU-Z wasn't showing anything above 84 degrees on even my heaviest sessions on stock. So I don't know what happened, but it seems like something in the machine fried. *sigh* Not even a month owning it yet.

 

I've never seen it go above 70C on stock clocks. Maybe a fan wasn't working? Either way, time to give Dell a call.

 

yeah, and don't mention to dell that you OCed it

I know its a buzzkill, but don't worry. It will get taken care of.

 

Sounds like you fried your mobo . Can you try to start your lappie on battery only? Also, can you unplug all (power cord + battery) and hold down the power button for about 10 seconds. Then plug in the cord an try again.

Did you maybe play on a soft surface (e.g. bed?)

 

did you try turning it back on to see if an error code appears. like cap losk or number locking blinking or solid color. but yeah diffenitely can dell asap, could be anything.

 

Owe ya, that is thing the windows installer dose. So, if the install crashes it will just startup where it left off. I'm lazy and there is really no need to learn what key to hit so it will not just pick up where it left off.

The reason it is not needed to do that is that your just going to wipe everything with a clean install anyway so just. Do this.

Download and burn a Gpartted Live CD ISO brun the ISO to disk with ActiveISOBurnner. Then boot with that and delete all the partitions on the hard drive. Then you can do a clean install of Windows 7 no problem.

Ya, I am sorry for upsetting you. However, when it comes to SSD's you really really have to get the vary best one. SSD tech is moving so fast that if you get an older model you'll be missing out on MAJOR advances.

 

It was great advice. Do you know how upset I would have been if I dropped 500 on a ssd? Thats why I joined these forums...in order to make sound decisions and help others down the road.

 

Yeah, i bought an SSD about a year ago with my girlfriend's laptop. I'm gonna go ahead and run some tests on it when i get a chance and see if i can bring some more knowledge to the Table about SSD's. I wanna learn more about them myself as well.

 

Glad to here your responses. I mean no disrespect or to send you off in the wrong direction. I only want to make sure you don't get screwed.

Ya, there is a lot to know about SSD's. I watch pod casts and most of the stuff they say is flat out wrong. Like the Intel SSD's are not the best. They don't suck but they have some of the slowest write speeds of all. I mean I got an Intel one... I regret it but not really at the same time. That extra 15GB really made the differences between needing an external drive or not. I also didn't want to chip in the extra ~$60 for the 120GB OCZ. Also, at the end of the day 100MB/s Write is still vary fast. + The fact that SSD's have like no latency at all.

If you want to learn about SSD's IMO I think the OCZ forums are the best place. Then like say you come across terms of things like TRIM or Garbage collection. Then do google searches on those things and try to find technical papers.

Just don't put to much stock in blog posts or pod casts, like tekzilla is full of crap. That is mostly just the blind leading the blind.

 

I think your right about the mobo being fried. The laptop won't start on battery, adapter, holding down the power button or any combination of the above. It's completely dead. I'll have to call them tomorrow (it's sunday here). I did play on my bed, but the laptop was on an elevated bit of plywood so it was on a flat, hard surface with good airflow. I do however live in Outback Australia where it's hot as hell so that could have elevated my temps a bit.

Like vafaskillz said, it's a buzzkill, but there's nothing I can do about it now so i'm surprisingly calm about it. Usually I would have nerd raged by now

 

Ouch, also Wood isn't the greatest of things to play on... Something plastic (It's ok) or metal (Much better) would work out as a good base for a laptop.

 

Hey how much would the 1080P LED screen itself cost alone?

 

Guys I'm on a road trip and unfortunately my new Command center is buggy like hell. The alienhead logo lights decide to turn on/off on their own. It's kinda embarassing when I'm trying to show the neat FX system to others. Seems to be more of a software clash issue (I'll probably open a new thread to discuss what applications I've got on there)

Anyway, I didn't bring along my original dell driver CD with me and now there is no way to revert back to the old command center for 3 weeks (until I return home). Does anyone have a direct link to the old CC?

 

Hi, dell provides all versions of CC on the webpage. There is a link when you press on the CC driver on the page. Click on the "Other versions link". Or here:

http://support.dell.com/support/dow...=-1&osl=en&vercnt=2&os=W764&checkFormat=false

Note, that the command center itself is not buggy, but rather the firmware for the alienFX device, thus its not as straightforward to fix as it should be. What might work is the following:

* Turn Pc off
* Unplug battery
* Unplug power cord
* press and hold the power button for 15 secs
* reconnect the power cord and start

This might work, but its not 100% sure it does. If that fails, follow the instructions in this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=461136

(you need to do some digging yourself).

Finally, some advertisement, you can use this program to set the lights as well:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=458528

 

Did you try making a new theme from scratch? I hear it can help. I've only just done it myself a couple hours ago, so far so good but it's not been long.

 

Ugh, any idea why my lappy is stupidly slow every time I use it on battery?
This morning I dont have the aero style even though I selected high performance settings, and its really slow..

 

Have you checked your power settings, on battery it usually limits the CPU and GPU to save power.

 

Hey guys I wanna make some changes with my order unfortunately its in production already and they told me that I cant make any changes once it hits production. Is there anything I can do for this? Any advice is much appreciated. Thanks!

 

Are you in the US? Search the forum for team blackhawk. I have heard they can do those changes for ya

 

I did, changed everything to max power and all.. Weird, maybe it the CC acting again?

 

hey guys

was wondering, do any of you use the laptop on your lap? like when lying on the couch, having it resting against your knees.... or does it get too hot and burn your pants off?
as ive got a 13incher atm, and wanting to upgrade it, saw this m15x at my local dell mall outlet, and found its smaller than i expected, reasonably sized (was expecting at least an extra inch in width).

cheers

 

Baw, fixed my look by plugging the AC power then switch back to Aw theme, but the performance are still very poor, I have hard time gaming while I'm not powered via AC, which makes it very embarassing when you are showeing off your 2k laptop to your friends and it lags like crazy! D=

 

The laptop goes into stealth mode once on battery afaik.

 

If its on your lap and you are laying down, not gaming, then its perfectly cool. I haven't had any issues with this, as I do it almost every night. However, since the laptop's front end may rest on your stomach, the pointed divot in the front of the computer may bother your stomach and you will end up with an indention in your skin after about an hour

 

I was wondering about this too. With the M17x the temp is not the issue, it's the weight. It crushes your legs after about 30 minutes.

The M15x might be better for my usage.