*OFFICIAL* M11x Owners Lounge - Part 3

Yes, why not, that is my personal vision on the whole subject I am free to express it, and yes like I mentioned 133mhz is a big deal for some people (obviously) not that big of a deal for me, but I still have that bad taste that I was lied...

 

While I can understand your disappointment, you can always return it within 21-days of invoice date if you have any reservations. Bottom line needs to be you are 100% satisfied. I know if I purchased a new system and had any issues with, be it performance, features, quality or anything else - I would be on the phone with Dell either working to resolve it or to process the return

 

Sure, I know that, but I am not going to return it just because I cant achieve the maximum safe clock on the CPU, I value other peoples work too, so like I said I will suck it up and enjoy the rest of that nice product. I am just hoping that there will be no other major issues, than I am not going to hesitate to return it at once. Thanks for the advise BatBoy, I appreciate it.

 

I know that I'm satisfied. Even with the "canceled" version :O This is one heck of a laptop. I can't wait for the "real" one to get here XD

 

I understand it's your money on what you spend so you have every right to get what you paid for... but you paid for a 1.3Ghz processor... you knew that, we all knew that.. The part about OC'ing is something the end-user needs to figure out themselves and there is no one to blame for not being able to OC it to something you want. That's like someone buying a processor rated at 3.0Ghz but getting mad at Intel b/c it can't OC to 4.0Ghz like maybe some other people got it to do. Dell was just trying to make it easy for you to OC via Bios. You WILL get the 1.3Ghz speed you paid for though. Everyone that feels blindsided or whatever by this change was simply assuming wayyy too much. Say HH got theirs to OC to something crazy, I dunno 2.26Ghz or something.. but Dell never mentioned that, you going to blame Dell too if that wasn't the case?

@jonjonk - what did the "canceled" laptop not have that you were wanting out of your legit order? Was it the cost savings? I'm just curious since we know what the SU7300 is capable of in terms of processing power, wondering if your real config is similar to the one you have in hand, why not keep it and try to cancel the real order? Or are you set on getting the SU7300 over the SU4100? I personally would check out the SU4100 if I had it and see if it was worth upgrading to the SU7300. =)

They're your orders though I'm just wondering, since normally I'm the kind of guy that rolls over and will go with what I have already =D I couldn't box back up the M11x if I already got to mess with it hehe - which is my problem, a minor defect I would still try to live with.

 

I agree, they've pulled the wool over our eyes. They knew exactly what they were doing when they advertised the bus speed in the manual instead of the CPU speed. With the SU7300 having a stock multiplier of 6.5x and other manufacturers offering the SU7300 @ 1.73GHz, it was safe to assume an Alienware machine would also.

But no, they lowered the multiplier and the voltage without telling us. All they had to say below the "OverClock" section in the manual was " Please note: The multiplier of the CPU is lowered from 6.5x to 6x in OverClock mode". It's misleading otherwise, and unfortunately, I believe that was exactly their intention.

 

Exactly, none of the Dell ads, in relation to the M11x, mentions OCing ANYWHERE. It's just a bonus. ps the manual is NOT an ad.

 

Sounds to me like the 335m isn't getting enough cooling, maybe a loose heatsink from shipping? Ive had a couple different laptops that had a similar problem and all of them were resolved by replacing the crap TIM Pad with some arctic silver and remounting the heatsync.

 

They didn't write the manual for the reading pleasure of the obsessive buyers who read everything available on a laptop before buying it. It was for the owner, and it does raise the FSB just like it says, age old saying, Assume makes an out of you and me.

Everyone bought a 1.3 Ghz SU7300, if it overclocks even 20 mhz then you got a great bonus, 300 mhz is awesome, we have no idea what engineering challenges they faced or why they made the concessions they did, or even if it won't be patched out in a future bios to let it go all the way to 1.73.

 

See, as simple as that, and no one would been upset, right?

 

I say this is a bug. Why would the voltage be HIGHER at 1.3 vs 1.6. That makes no sense at all, and probably attributed to Homes BSODs. My guess is that this will be fixed, and 1.73 will be possible. Either way, if you wanted to cancel or are cancelling due to the 133 difference, then you should have never bought it in the first place. You got caught up in the hype, and now your mad at Dell, when it was really your fault.

 

It is though its temp before the crash is on the gpu is 40C and the processor both 35C

And the thing is I taked to a rep about this and they said its overclockable and it'll be fine so its dells fault as I've been mislead. And I'm not gonna mess around with it or it'll void the warrenty phiz (jizz lol )

 

Assumptions are never safe, and the multiplier was lowered because, as stated earlier, battery life was a main push for this rig.

Edit: two things I never saw on Dells advertising and on the wesite were
A. Overclocking
B. The term netbook

 

Absolutely, I agree. I just thought Alienware (of all companies) would have been able to achieve it, and that's where I made my mistake. I put faith in a company's reputation, and they let me down. I'm just disappointed, that's all.

I beginning to feel bad now about how much I've posted on the subject. Owners/buyers don't want to listen to me give out about an extra feature on their new machine so I'll cut back on the discussion about it, until hopefully further information becomes available. I'm not in urgent need of a laptop just yet so I can wait and see what surfaces.

 

Man I wouldn't feel bad, this is the owners lounge for a reason, I would say this is a safe place to discuss these things in depth.

 

I found a different CPU measuring tool directly from Intel. Would someone care to run it? Take note that the release notes say that it incorrectly identifies the SU7300/SU4100 processors. The speed should be correct but it may display unknown Intel processor.

http://www.intel.com/support/processors/tools/piu/

 

duffy, nice find, thank you sir.

 

Good tool, I forgot about that one.

Just did a quick run of it with an Intel Atom CPU, it correctly displayed the core speed when I disabled Speedstep.





So it should work the SU7300, even if it doesn't display the CPU name.

 

I am pretty sure that most people buying this now are game geeks like us, so most of them (game geeks) would NOT have bought it if OC was not a feature, which it certainly is in the bios

At a bare minimum, the interest would not be as high.

 

That is the point, Home's temp posts did not show a problem with the 335m activated. System worked until OC and also works OC with 335m not activated.

Common denominator appears to be power load- IMO.

One more thang':

I think that 99.99% will not care about the 8% clock difference once they get their M11x and play games with it. The form factor, portability and Mini-Me cuteness will override any
concerns about 8% Bank on it!

@tymonator: I suggest that if anyone has "flawgic" it is Dell, since they allow open OC in bios, but then apparently caveat with warranty voids

 

Your logic is seriously flawed... (I think I will call it flawgic)!

 

I can only surmise that you were not here in part 1 or 2 of the owner lounge, before anyone had any inkling of the ability to overclock and we still filled 20+ pages a day in new posts from all the anticipation.

The overclocking doesn't matter one bit to those of us who really wanted the laptop, it really only matters to the people buying it for the hype, and the bragging, for those actually buying it to use we don't really care.

 

agree. i don mind the oc issue. i love the size as this is designed for ultraportable gaming.

 

As tymonator correctly pointed out, this is "flawgic" and an incorrect analogy. Dell's warranty has nothing to do with the law; now to continue with your analogy:

Say VW manufactured my car with a turbo feature that I could enable and disable. I enable it and my car fails. When I bring it to VW, I expect them to fix it under warranty because they manufactured my car with this specific feature. I don't care that the advertisements never said anything about it, if they put this in as an option, it is their responsibility to cover it.

Now, if I software OC the processor to 2.4GHz and it blows up, of course I won't expect them to fix it for free; but if I use an option that they installed, I expect to be able to use it without voiding my warranty.

 

yeah... I'm replacing my HP DV2z with this machine so basically I'm getting a better processor (Intel culv > AMD neo) and a MUCH better GPU (335>>>>>> ATI 3410) everything else is about the same (footprint/battery life/powerbrick/BT/SSD) except a lil thicker and more weight which I'm more than willing to live with... this really is a no brainer for me, even without OC its better than current

 

What caveat? Show me the actual PRINT that states the warranty is void. Logically, it is a safer position believing that because OC is built into the BIOS that it WON'T void the warranty rather than taking the position that it WILL which is pure speculation on the part of all those worried about it.

 

Man, now that you mention it, I think watching the M11X blow up would be pretty dang cool! I wonder how many volts that would take?

We could start **Official** M11X blow up thread!**. That would be sweet. Problem is, those that can post in it, probably won't be able to since they will be pushing up daisies. Still it would make a sweet youtube video! As long as your alienware doesn't stutter when watching it. That would be a killjoy. But chances are alienware developed an anti-explosion throttling feature.

 

I'm not sure that makes a lot of sense. What pushed me over over the edge to order was that the processor could overclock; I was worried that 1.3GHz wouldn't be enough, but knowing that I could give the CPU a little more juice I was sold. I don't want this computer for the hype or the bragging (lol?), I want it because it's the first ultraportable to pack a lot of power.

Maybe I'm just crazy for wanting to get as much power out of my laptop as I can, but try not to tell me why I bought what I bought.

edit: @DR650SE lol Yeah especially with all of the RGB LEDs, you could go all out with AlienFX before you blow it.

 

I agree, hence the "flawgic" in some reps making comments that since the device did not ship OC'd it could void the warranty.

 

Agreed on the OC. Part of the appeal is the OC. No desire spending $1,000 on a 1.3ghz device, the extra clock makes a significant difference in 3D games and emulators Some may not care, but probably the minority.

 

That is understandable, but I would think what should have pushed you over the edge were the excellent reviews, which all tested the machine at stock speed. Therefore, you should have purchased the machine happy with what those reviews said, and then if it can OC a little great, if not, you still got the machine they tested which will perform the same.

 

Get off your high horse. The m11x does exactly what Alienware said it would, every test and score both AW and other press have advertised has been and will be replicated by consumers (even improved upon). What Alienware promised with the m11x they have delivered.

You are the only one to blame for your disappointment.

 

It is just a number, the M11X performs great at stock, who cares about the number associated with it? In reality it is just for bragging or your own mental happiness, the real world gains or benefits are very minimal.

 

I just bought the M11X to look cool and score chicks. The OCing it won't really help. Sure it would be nice to say, " Hey babe, my CPU clocks to 1.6GHz...what are you doing tonight" But I think chicks like 1.3 GHz. After all, it's better then average for a computer of it's size. Besides, it's how you use the GHz. Not how many there are.

 

hi to all the m11x in Europe (France) they are with LED screen thank you

 

@Yoda & michael: Blasphemers!! Gamers need the extra clock The 335m with 1.3ghz is a sin!!

Seriously though, you will notice a profound spike in interest after the Hardware Heaven discussion about OC. Also, since the same basic chipset as the 30vt, I inherently counted on some form of OC, as did probably most other game geeks (or just geeks).

@DR650: Yeah, you also have to count the root

 

Odd, the way you worded this is presumptuous, therefore YOU are the person on the high horse!

Just kidding, but none of this discussion would be happening if AW clocked this puppy without a voltage step down in the first place- or did not have it at all, so nothing to talk about

Then again, it could just be a bug, but I do believe AW marketing would have caught it when Hardware Heaven reviewed it. They surely do read the reviews and browse these forums.

 

It's true that the game reviews were excellent at stock, but I like to do a bit of multitasking and image editing and the added CPU would help greatly with that. Plus if it's built in to the BIOS, it would be supported with little effort in Linux.

But it's not a matter of if OCing is included, it's the amount. Personally, I like every little bit of extra power so it's disappointing to hear that it's lowered below what it could potentially be.

 

Wow, did you even read my post? I clearly said "That's where I made my mistake". Even still, I don't need someone like you to tell me anything related to how I feel about this laptop, I've already done it. Get off my high horse? Does that even make sense in this context? I'm disappointed with the performance of the CPU, and I've voiced my opinion. Deal with it.

Alienware has a reputation for offering machines successfully overclocked, when other manufacturers haven't. Considering Asus runs this exact CPU at 1.73GHz, it was a reasonable expectation to expect Alienware would do the same.

If you don't like my opinions then add me to your ignore list. I've done the same for you.

 

Yes, I am disappointed that it can't go to 1.73Ghz. Is this laptop still a power house at 1.3Ghz and 1.6Ghz. The answer to that is YES. Not many laptops out that can get 6000+ on 3DMark06.

 

Fight fire with fire, as they say. You need to respond to an egotistical post with one as 'strongly' worded.

I'm just tired of the negativity, plus most of it is speculative seeing the majority of us don't even have our m11x yet. It'd be good to see the excitement and anticipation return to this thread, oddly enough like it was before people started talking about OCing.

My point has been proven, you have serious ego issues.

 

3dmark06 ful score is how much? sorry im a noob.
1.3ghz and 1.73ghz difference very big?

 

am standing in the middle of both sides, i would choose to overclock till 1.6ghz with the software provided by alienware web.

 

One of the forum members posted scores of around 5600 (1.3ghz) and 6200 (1.6ghz), it does sound like a pretty big difference but most people are saying it will only account for a couple of FPS in actual gameplay. That being said, the guy who did the review on HH did some comparisons and overclocking definitely makes a significant difference to frame rates in the games they tested.

 

It is important to note though that NO M11X has ever gone higher than 1.6 Ghz. So the Hardware Heaven overclocked tests are what everyone who gets the laptop can expect. All this rage about it not going 173 Mhz higher is silly, really really silly.

 

yeap, to me its really really silly. and sickly silly
how many fps increment you can get by overclocking from 1.3 to 1.6?
take for example cod mw2, or dragon age origins.

 

1.3 to 1.6 is prolly like 5 FPS maybe. Not huge by any stretch. It could easily be no increase at all if the game is GPU bound.

 

Perhaps that few frame rates would make a game playable in a higher setting? or a better overall consistency in performance.

While I don't see the point of sulking when M11x OCs at 1.6ghz and not 1.73ghz, I can't deny I would find myself disappointed if it can't manage 1.6ghz smoothly.

 

okay noted.
thanks alot guys for the information.
my final decision would be either not overclocking or maybe overclock till 1.6ghz max (for testing purpose only)

 

CPU overclock has very very little impact on gaming. GPU is where it's at. If you want to increase your FPS by more then 1 FPS, your going to have to OC the GPU. Most games are GPU reliant. Few are CPU dependant.