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

Okay, I'm new to the nbr aw forum and after reading through many of the pages on this thread I'm getting concerned. My wife has my m17x r2 sitting at home (I'm currently in NC after recently getting back from Afghan), she's opened it up and installed av and yahoo but that's the extent of it. The specs are as follows:

i7 920
8gb ddr3 1333
256gb ssd
500gb 7200 hd
2x 4870
rbg led 1920 x 1200

So my questions is, does this problem apply to ALL 920's or just a few? And is it just that we don't have powerful enough power supplies? Also does this flicker and throttling issue happen during normal use or normal gaming or only during extreme stressing such as benching? Thx ahead of time, 10 days and counting till I get my hands on it. I'm just concerned cause she's bought it for me after spending like 5200 so I'm getting worried that I'm going to have a brick when I get home.

 

Yeah, that's freakin close to 240W !! so, would it be possible for Dellienware to just start giving us 300W PSU instead and that would fix the problem ??

 

You can return it within 21 days for a full refund no questions asked if you decide. Just tell them your not satisfied with it and why.

 

I apologize for not searching.

Some more watt tests perhaps, maybe by someone who does not have the throttling problems?

 

If I have to tell them why wouldn't that be asking a question? lol But still, is this a problem that affects all the 920's? Also is that 21 days from the order date, ship date, or date received? Sry for asking out of topic questions. Kinda hard to sift through 200 something pages of stuff.

 

21 days from the date of reciept. You don't have to tell them, but when I returned my M17X I just said it didn't meet my needs. My needs were the M17X R2

 

The problem "seems" to not affect EVERYONE, as 1 guy said he didn't had any problem... but thats only 1 guys I saw saying he didn't had any out of what ?? 5 maybe, don't forget that not many got their new R2 system yet, and not all of them are 920s. As for the EDD date, any estimated date prior to shipping is crap, don't expect anything, can be faster, slower, exactly that date ( yeah right !! )

I'd say we'll know a lot more starting next week, as lots are expecting to get them beginning of next week ( still wish I'll be 1 of those )

 

Okay cool. Well then I still can't wait to get home and really try this monster out. I had an estimated receive date of 2/18 but got it on 2/1 so I'm thinking someone at dell knew I was coming back from deployment and didn't want to wait. lol

 

Everyone is saying it might be a power issue, but I disabled turbo and it still flickers. Is there a way I can shutdown 2 of the cores to see if that works?

 

Are you referring to Witcher?
He has an ES 920XM instead of an OEM, this could be the differance...?

 

If I'm not mistaken you can set windows to ignore 2 of the cores via msconfig. But most of the time that function is only used for debugging.

 

I got my R2 in earlier, and everything runs fine but I have one problem. I updated the ATI drivers to 9.12, but before and after this when I go to run a few certain games the screen scrolls when I'm running in crossfire. WoW and another MMO that I believe don't use crossfire do this, I disable crossfire and they work fine. Another MMO that does take advantage of crossfire works fine when its enabled. Any ideas?

 

What do you mean "Scrolls", do you mean fllash ? or like really scrolling throught a page ??

 

For WoW, sitting on the login screen it looks like you see the login screen statically in place like it should be then a second image of the login screen that keeps scrolling down constantly.

Update: I just noticed if I disable Catalyst A.I. it also stops the problem too.

 

Well, mine came today (as mentioned on the ETA thread and I may have a long snowy weekend to play with it so I got it just in time). And I have to say I'm glad Joker convinced me to get the RGB LED. Man it is pretty. First thing I did was watch some videos on it and damn. Also, I got a hat with this which was unexpected. So now just waiting for my replacement laptop bag to come in (not that I'll use it any time soon).

So, next thing is to actually install stuff on it like Anti-Virus (Endpoint 12) and MS Office. I already have my Steam games loaded so that work nicely.

Not sure what to do after, are there any recommended things to do such as updated drivers or optimization stuff?

Otherwise, I'll pop my old laptop's HD into the secondary bay and hope the bracket is compatible (mine didn't come with a second bracket). I'm thinking of just doing that next and moving my files that way and then either deleting the old system files from that HD or just reformatting it.

Man this is exciting!!!!

EDIT: Also I'm loving that the power cord has a changeable light. That was unexpected (as was the hat).

 

I just noticed the hat on my "Original System Configuration" screen, when I use my Service Tag on the Dell site. Didn't realize they came with hat.

F837R Accessory, BASEBALL-HAT, Alienware, M17X

 

Hey guys, Matt K brings up a good point. Has anyone ordered only one drive in their system AND received the extra bracket to install in the second drive bay? I ordered a single 500GB drive, as I already had a spare 320GB 7200RPM drive laying around that I planned to install in it. Can anyone confirm either way? Thanks!

 

yes, single drive systems still come with the bracket.

 

Guys, if I disable AI then it doesn't stutter/flicker in crysis WITH turbo ON. I had it all the way on so I'm guessing that's why it happened with turbo off.

 

If you disable Catalyst AI, crossfire is effectively disabled, suggesting either your drivers, secondary card or cable are faulty, or you are having power issues. Advanced forces AFR though, so try with Cat AI on standard to ensure it wasnt an engine/AFR compatability issue.

 

mine was waiting on me as soon as i got home from work. got everything set up and realized that my hds were not in raid 0 now that i have that setup i have to reinstall win 7 sigh

 

Mine weren't in raid 0 either.
When you are finished can you see if crysis flickers/stutters?

 

Is this flickering/throttle issue only affect the i7 920XM?

 

We aren't sure yet but it seems like it.

 

will do. gotta finish win 7. hopefully the 820qm don't stutter

also brandon1337 what settings were you playing crysis at?

 

1024x768 no AA
EDIT:Suddenly there is no flickering... AI on standard, turbo on...? I didn't do anything, it just seemed to happen.
Let me restart...
EDIT2:Confirmed turbo is on, still no flickering... Yay?

 

Strange...What did you do? You must've done SOMETHING.

 

Did you specify on the order to be RAID 0?

 

I have a quick question, whats the power cable i need for my M17x?
I think its a 250V cord but i can be wrong..
Here's my guesses:

Power Cord: European Power cord 1M (kit)
http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sn...aspx?c=se&l=sv&s=bsd&cs=sebsdt1&sku=450-11993

or

Power Supply+Power Cord: European 210W Slim AC Adapter with Euro Power Cord
http://accessories.euro.dell.com/sn...aspx?c=se&l=sv&s=bsd&cs=sebsdt1&sku=450-12890

But i dont need another power supply..
Anyone know?

 

Good to hear there is a temp fix. Anyways, I have never owned an Alienware and would like to get one at some point...just a little hesitant now.

 

Did he perhaps set Cat AI to standard rather than advanced as per my previous post? AFR doesnt work well on all engines.

 

Yes:

I don't remember doing anything, but the flickering is completely gone, I can use 2x AA on 1024x768.

Yes.

 

i specified them to be like that and they were not

 

Raise the res. 1024x768 is well below the native resolution.

 

@Brandon1337

If you care to PM me with your service tag number, I can check the order with the factory to ensure there isn't some systemic problem. If you ordered your config as RAID 0, it sould have arrived that way. Either way, I'll have it checked, having a specific tag makes the investigation go faster.

 

I've heard of others who ordered raid and it wasn't setup that way. They must be rushing these out the door without setting things up properly?

 

Will do, won't make a difference anyway because I'm getting a replacement system, but why not.

It's the fastest crysis runs at without going back to the dinosaur ages of 800x600
EDIT: Actually it runs pretty well at 1280x1024.

 

I only suggest it because it's not a fair test for the "flickering" issue. You should be able to run any game at that res without a problem.

 

Guess I was wrong, that power cord's light isn't changeable.

 

I tested at all res, no flickering.

 

Have you tried any other games? If you don't have it you would be the first one.

 

Wait, so cat AI in standard solved the flickering? That means the system is still in CF right?

 

he may not on crossfire also not all the games do that i warranty you if he runs prime and furmark dual gpu he going to see flickering stuttering all over

 

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
Looks like I spoke too soon.
I get a random BSOD playing crysis and the flickering is back along with unplayable framerates at 1280x1024

 

So, moo, what was the temporary fix again?

 

Set your max cpu to 80% in power settings.

 

Default is standard. It seems a little better when you choose advanced.

 

Per Joker. First:

Ok the "fix" or rather bandaid for us 920xm users is ridiculously easy. Go into power settings, switch minimum processor power to 80% and max processor power to 80%. Then turn throttlestop on and checkmark both clock/chipset modulation to 100%. If the GPU clocks refuse to go above 2D (sometimes they get stuck), use rivatuner to set them back at default. I played frontlines fuel of war at smooth 60+ framerates 1200p max everything.

Then later:

Something much easier is to use evga eleet and set the turbo multipliers lower. I keep mine at 17/17/18/18 and I've been able to get flicker free gaming in. I just hope AW can figure out what the deal is with it and issue a fix.

 

Does not seem to fix anything here..

 

Wow this flickering issue is such a clusterf**k. I feel bad for all new R2 owners. Makes me wanna wait a little before Dell/Alienware get their sh**t together