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    Stay clear of 0F03 XP BIOS for m9750

    Discussion in 'Alienware' started by trias10, May 6, 2008.

  1. trias10

    trias10 Notebook Consultant

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    For any m9750 users who have dual 7950 GTX in SLi on Windows XP, I highly recommend you avoid the 0F03 BIOS update as it seems to do something strange to the SLi performance of the system, even with clean drivers installed on a clean install of Windows XP. I tested using the 174.82 and 174.93 drivers from Laptopvideo2Go, both of which gave me around 8300 in 3dMark06 using the 0F02 BIOS. On installing BIOS 0F03, I couldn't bench much more that 7300 on both drivers, and my actual game performance in CoD4 seemed much worse. I downgraded back to 0F02 and the problem went away.

    I only upgraded because I heard rumors that you cannot install 4 gigs of RAM on the m9750 without the 0F03 BIOS for XP. Since I've ordered a m17x, I no longer need the added RAM, so I felt fine going back to 0F02. For curiosity, I'd be interested to know if anyone has actually installed 4 gigs of RAM on the 0F02 BIOS.

    Just a heads up to save people some time :)
     
    trias10, May 6, 2008
    #1
  2. Alienwarez

    Alienwarez Notebook Evangelist

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    no matter wht bios, xp wont see 4gigs of ram, only os to see that from m$ right now is vista 64 bit.
     
    Alienwarez, May 6, 2008
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  3. dozzen

    dozzen Notebook Guru

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    Vista 32 sees it as well, but using it is a different story :D
     
    dozzen, May 6, 2008
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  4. trias10

    trias10 Notebook Consultant

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    Yes, but XP should still be able to see about 3 gigs or 2.5 gigs (depending on if you have SLI) when you have 4 gigs of RAM installed.
     
    trias10, May 6, 2008
    #4
  5. mjl2142

    mjl2142 Notebook Evangelist

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    Here we go again:

    The m9750's chipset CANNOT ADDRESS MORE THAN 3 GB OF RAM!
    It does not matter what BIOS, what 32 or 64 bit operating system you use, it will not work, as the intel chipset as a hardware limitation in line with the 32 bit OS one.
     
    mjl2142, May 7, 2008
    #5
  6. trias10

    trias10 Notebook Consultant

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    Does the chipset used in the m17x also suffer from this issue?
     
    trias10, May 7, 2008
    #6
  7. yomamasfavourite

    yomamasfavourite Notebook Evangelist

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    Nope, but you must have 64 bit vista to use it - so whih is the lesser of the two evils, vista 64bit (due to lack of drivers) or 2.5/3 gig ram
    I suppose it all depends on what you wan't to do with the system.,
     
    yomamasfavourite, May 7, 2008
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  8. AlienContact

    AlienContact Notebook Evangelist

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    Can't XP 64Bit see 4GB, i'lll try mines in a couple of weeks!
     
    AlienContact, Sep 4, 2008
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  9. Stone825

    Stone825 Notebook Virtuoso

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    On the M9750 it does not matter if you are running a 64 bit OS or a 32 bit os. The fact is that the MOTHERBOARD cant address more than 4GB. If you are running SLi that takes you down to 2.5GB and if you are not running SLi you get 3GB of Ram.

    Trust me on this one we have a good thread on it.
     
    Stone825, Sep 4, 2008
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  10. AlienLover

    AlienLover Newbie

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    This is an old thread...but how do I get the bios 0F02? It's not in My Hive. Any help, please?
     
    AlienLover, Mar 16, 2009
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  11. lchialeux

    lchialeux Notebook Enthusiast

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    :confused:

    I didn't send it to you by e-mail?? :(

    It didn't work?? :(
     
    lchialeux, Mar 16, 2009
    #11
  12. AlienLover

    AlienLover Newbie

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    It wasn't working but I got it to work a bit after posting this. For some reason I was getting an error during setup, so I went to alienware and saw how to install it and they suggest to use Nero to burn the iso. I was using MagicIso and that wasn't working...used Nero and I'm good, thanks a lot buddy!
     
    AlienLover, Mar 16, 2009
    #12
  13. lchialeux

    lchialeux Notebook Enthusiast

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    :D

    i'm glad to hear that... ;)
     
    lchialeux, Mar 16, 2009
    #13