*OFFICIAL* "All Powerful" M17x-R2 Edition Owners Lounge!

Im surprised you didnt already order one ... Waiting on new GPUs before you take the plunge ?... Or maybe the X8100 ?....

 

Hecatonchires

 

I think the M17x power supply isn't cutting it. The system temp throttles for a fraction of a second at stock clocks when it's pushed hard (e.g. furmark 1.8). When it's overclocked, it drops the clocks down almost immediately due to lack of power. This could probably explain why some people are seeing flickering in games, the system needs more power and the PSU just isn't cutting it. Either it's that or the bios is prematurely throttling the GPU. Personally I think it's more likely the former than the latter this time around (unlike the M15x which has bios throttling). If we can find an aftermarket PSU w/the same voltage rating but higher amps that pushes maybe 300+ watts it might solve this problem.

 

But you aren't seeing flickering, are you joker?

 

Check out this link... Very close to the single Nvidia Sager. Thoughts?

http://blog.laptopmag.com/hands-on-with-intels-blazing-core-i7-itll-rip-your-eyelids-off

Also has a nice comparison to the R1.

 

I saw it when I ran furmark 1.8 with all options selected. Especially if I attempted to OC the GPU, it would flicker and then drop down it's clocks and be fine. That points strongly to a lack of power.

 

Yes, it does.

It's funny though because in drake's video he wasn't doing anything in the game. The card wasn't drawing and frames except what was already on the screen. And it still flickered every 10 seconds or so.

 

That's PCMark vantage. Single GPU Clevo can't touch these scores.

 

Yep even at stock clocks it's pretty much at it's peak draw. Some games that don't push the system as hard won't have any flickering while newer ones with more effects etc will. Dell needs to ditch these cheap thin PSU's and give us a nice big bulky efficient one like the Clevo's have.

Edit: If anyone has a kill a watt, we can find out exactly how much this system is pulling. I might go grab one from ace hardware in a few mins.

 

I use mine with a sleeping 2 yr old next to me in pitch black, so I actually need it to be quite dark. Will these things go dOWN in illumination a lot?

I have my e1705 set to minimum brightness. It actaully loses colour as well as brightness. Will the colour reproduction reduce as well in an RGBLED?

 

This PSU issue better not be a serious one.

 

Providing more amps is useless without the wiring to carry it to the GPU cards, and on this case you will get nothing more of your system because of the failsafe components installed to prevent overload cases.
Now if this case is true due to lack of enough current to the GPU, I think it will require a hardware rev. to the motherboard itself.

 

Actually Dell's studio xps 16 has similar problems. It throttles down due to a lack of power + bios throttling scheme. When it's supplied with more amps via a bigger PSU + throttlestop, it takes advantage of the extra power and stops throttling. I don't think we have a bios implementation that's causing it but I haven't done enough testing yet. There's definitely a lack of power being given to the GPU's though because as I said, there's micro throttles that take place even at stock settings when furmark 1.8 is run.

 

hey joker you don't think is possible to use two psu's in parallel that doubles the watts and the voltage remind the same

 

Certainly may do so at some point. RGB, 920XM, and 5870's in crossfireX or better would instantly put me back over.

 

And how would you do that? lol

Please do tell.

 

You might actually be right and all you need is a bigger psu provided that dell engineers somehow miss calculated power rating for the maxxed out systems in xtreme enviroment.

Why dont we look at this issue from another perspective, Maybe throttling happens in a natural way as a fail safe by the drivers to prevent damage to the cards when its pushed to the limit, after all its a mobile system not a desktop.

 

In paralell you mean and only true for analouge psu not the new switchmode digital psu.

 

Ok I'm officially a happy dude. I went to check on my order status of M17x. Yesterday, it was in production. Today...it was SHIPPED!!!!!!! I'd do a backflip if I could. I should be seeing my laptop by next friday at latest.

 

That is awesome, congrats man, sadly mine is still in production. It will hopefully ship soon.

 

Come to our lessons, you will backflip

 

I hate to see that this thing has screen flashing issues. Why does every single 17 inch machine Dell put out have issues? I do hope they clear this up or there is a software fix. You'd have thought after the M1730, M17x-1, they'd have rigourously tested this, perception et all. This is why I checked out of the 17 inch gaming PC scene for now, i've spent years tweaking and troubleshooting my laptop and I can't hang anymore. Back to desktops ... aside from a mini Alien

I wish you all good luck with the latest issue though. I truly hope its only with the extreme CPU's, and/or there is an easy bios fix.

 

What day did you place your order?

 

Hope so dude. It's a nice exciting feeling to know your purchase will arrive ahead of schedule.

If your not lying to me I'll be there! A backflip is in order. I'd land flat on my back right now though...

1/25/10

 

I'm quite serious. You could learn much more than just a backflip.

 

Might be something I should look into. Would be a good idea to have something else to do besides playing games.

 

It doesn't seem to be an issue with my setup, yet. Maybe the dual 4870 and 920XM is really putting to much stress on the PSU?

Ad as a side note, my 3 yr old XPS 1710 never had a single issue, so not ALL 17" Dell laptops have been a failure

 

I have a Kill-A-Watt, but wont be able to test till later tonight when I get home.
That flickering you mention worries me...

 

You have a 720, so it shouldn't apply to you.

 

Let's hope you right... I will test anyways

 

Ok I just went to ace hardware and picked up a kill a watt adapter. I will be posting up some number soon, stay tuned.

 

It will give some indications, waiting you my freind.

 

It seems power draw isn't the problem like I thought unless our PSU's just aren't able to push more than 200W consistently. Here's what I saw and I will edit this post to add more numbers from other tests (e.g. 3dmark06, l4d2 demo run etc):

System idle w/max RGB LED brightness: 74-76W
Vantage:
Graphics test 1: 167-194W
Graphics test 2: 174-200W avg about 185 W
CPU test 1: 155-180W
CPU test 2: 155-175W

Furmark 1.8:1280x1024, stability test, xtreme burn



Varies from 150-220+W.
Shortly after reaching peak draw (~220W+) the system flickers and then throttles the GPU clocks (I'm guessing as a protection mechansim). If I attempt to close furmark after that, it locks up the system.

 

Run furmark as that's what was causing issues, right?

And maybe the 240W psu is incapable of pushing a clean 200W. Those slim adapters seem pretty inefficient to me.

 

hmm, what is the power rating of the psu?

 

Never mind my q about psu its 240w (safe enough to drive the system), but do try and measure it when flickering occurs if you can.

 

It's definitely power related. Furmark 1.8 (hell edition) when run at 1280x1024 stability test, xtreme burn, post processing and bump mapping crashes the system each time. I looked at the peak draw before it crashed and it went above 220W. When I run it w/the same settings except bump mapping and post processing turned off, it draws >200W and then the bios kicks in and throttles the GPU clocks down to 300ish which lowers the power draw in the 130s range. It's a combination of bios throttling + PSU inadequacy.

 

I +repped you for this.

Thanks joker.

Well, I hope the non extreme systems don't suffer this...

 

should I hold off on the R2 for now since I am looking to get the i920xm?

 

Joker try to play some game and test the power draw (Something which push GPU & CPU to the max)

 

damn.. i put my eyes on 920.. hope dell provide fix - new power brick with bios fix

 

Wow... a gruesome discovery for all the xtreme benchers....
Another petition to Dell should be issued! This is not funny any more.

 

I'll be damned

 

I predicted it would throttle before the system was even released. I knew Dell was employing throttling with their other PM55 chipsets so this one was doomed to have it. The 5870 based revision will have similar problems.

Edit: I added this in post #1883:



Furmark 1.8:1280x1024, stability test, xtreme burn
Varies from 150-220+W.
Shortly after reaching peak draw (~220W+) the system flickers and then throttles the GPU clocks (I'm guessing as a protection mechansim). If I attempt to close furmark after that, it locks up the system.

Until Dell decides to use REAL PSU's instead of these cheap thin flextronics garbage PSU's, we're going to be stuck with throttling algorithms and power draw limits. It's as simple as that. The design of the AW machines is rock solid, they're the best in the industry but they're handcuffed by bean counters and marketing execs that refuse to spend money on quality PSU's.

 

So what are you going to do with your system, joker?

 

I'll keep it and see what dell does. I normally never push my system as hard as a synthetic like furmark. If it flickers in my favorite games (L4D2, Frontlines fuel of war etc) then I may return it for a refund.

 

Yeah, if it's good while gaming and normal stuff I wouldn't press matters too much either.

Waiting for a fix from Dell though is a long shot as you and I both know.

 

Hell....I'm glad i decide to wait. Let's start another petition.

 

Oh yeah I know all too well based on the M15x throttling. At least with Unclewebb's help we devised 2 fixes that completely resolves it for them. M17x-R2 users as of now are stuck. I'm not very familiar with ATi mobile GPU's so I haven't looked into ways to force the GPU to stay at full clocks. I read that desktop users did it by editing XML files but we don't have those overdrive profiles. I'm sure there's a way to do it but I doubt I'll bother unless I see flickering in the games I play. At most I'll spend a week or two trying to find a fix if that happens otherwise it'll go back to Dell. I really like this RGB LED and don't want to give it up, no other gaming system on the market has a display that comes close.

 

Joker, you said it maxed out at 220W right? Aren't the power supplies supposed to go to 240W? Does the brick itself have it's output printed on it?