The Official M9750 Owners Lounge

thx for the reply. Was gonna order a m9750 a while ago before I went over seas for a couple weeks. Decided to wait till I got paid for the msn I went on and the paycheck at the end of the month. Now I'm playing my own waiting game...oh the humanity!

 

anyone else trying to duel boot xp & vista on the m9750?

btw I don't think there has been any cpu overclocking other than the m1710's/xps's or the 5790's that have an overclocking option in the bios...(as far as laptops are concerned)

and I think the m1710 and 5790's came overclocked...the user didn't have the option to Overclock the cpu which to my understanding is completely controlled by the bios

 

We control the BIOS... the XPS m1710 never came overclocked but but for $100 Alienware would factory overclock the 2.33GHz to 2.66GHz

 

I thought the red top xps, you could select the more expensive T7600 option w/ the overclocking option in bios?

 

The XPS does have to bios option but it will void your warranty, the Alienware m5790 came overclocked, wit warranty

 

When my 9750 arrives tomorrow I'll get to fire up my first laptop. Since it's my first I wanted to know if I plug it in and fire it up right away, will the battery be charging or do I have to let it fully charge before I turn the computer on?

Thanks, Rob

 

Hey I just wanted some general input of what you all think about apple macbook pro and comparing it to the 9750. Lets just take away the obvious that the 9750 just obliterates the macbook pro in graphical power. Other thoughts would be nice. Thanks

 

I've been looking and I haven't found a way to modify the media buttons. I want them to link to other programs instead of loading up WMP and Outlook. Has anyone changed these yet or know how to?

 

Ok.... Tripleosirus: first of all, the MacBook Pro line-up has been completely revamped. The graphics cards in the Macbook Pro series are all 8600M GT nVidia cards. Which completely stomps on the nVidia 7950 cards. I think the overall construction of the 9750 is better, as the parts are all name-brand parts and it's real hard to tell exactly what goes into the Mac. It's actually fairly even in comparison. I think interface should be the deciding factor. Do you want Mac or Windows. The CPU has even been updated to the latest FSB @ 800 MHz. Which is a step ahead of the Alienware.

 

I forget whether the battery will be fully charged when you get the unit (it might come half charged). Just plug it in and start it up.

That's a really hard comparison . . . they are in two entirely different classes of notebooks and are designed for different purposes. I can't even begin to compare them.

In what way? The 8600M-GT is DirectX 10 but that's the only real advantage I see it has over the Go7950GTX. The Go7950GTX will crush an 8600M-GT power-wise.

 

Well I am going to be using this computer mainly for school, which means a lot of rendering (3d studio max), photoshop, autocad etc (architecture major) and of course gaming on my spare time. I just keep going back and forth between alienware and apple. Supposedly macs are for those "rich" and "people who know what they are doing" users, but I could care less. I just want something thats going to kick some ass when it comes to gaming as well as my day to day program uses. Like I said something that will just render scenes for me at blazing speeds (well at least better than what I am going now). Thank for the help!

really...stomps? Chaz says otherwise...

 

Yeah the 8600 GT has about as much power as a 256 MB 7900 on its BEST day. LOL

 

Here's a thread on that exact question of gpu power between the 8600 Gt and the 7950 GTX.

 

I have the m9700 with 2 x 7900GS video cards, and I have one of the Santa Rosa MacBook Pros with the 8600m GT card. I'd say the gaming performance on the Mac is comparable to using one 7900GS on the m9700 - that's my subjective evaluation. For 3DMark06, I score about 5700 with the 7900GS cards in SLI, and 3750 on the MacBook Pro (running BootCamp/Windows XP Home). SO - I'd have to go along with the comment that the m9750 is going to be a much stronger gamer with 1 or 2 7950 GTX cards.

The MacBook Pro is a great all around 15" notebook - relatively thin and light, with decent gaming capabilities. The m9750 is in a whole different league ... doesn't mean it's the best choice for everyone.

 

Hey Rob. mine was about 80-90% charged once i got it yours could be a bit diffrent but charged. now you can turn it on any charge no need to worry about 100% to turn it on. but when you have it on a desk and you got a power outlet near by i recommend to have it running on ac power all the time now what i mean by that is once the battery is 100% charged it will automatically switch to ac power from your poweroutlet rather then using the battery. also you get max performance when using ac power now when you use battery power it will switch to maxium battery life. hope this helps. enjoy when you get it.

 

ROFL Audiose, "The 8600M GT stomps on the 7950GTX". Santa Rosa is overhyped - there is a miniscule performance increase, its only a dealmaker if you really plan on upgrading the processor to a C2E or C2Q, or want to use 4GB of RAM.

Try setting the Program access and defaults to change your default e-mail client and mediaplayer

 

Thanks for the replys. I know I'm going to enjoy it. Especially not lugging around a shuttle and flatscreen from ship to ship. It's about midnight so I've only got 11 or 12 more hours till it gets here. Now if I can only find a good GPS card and global map software to install I'll be set.

Thanks again guys,
Rob

 

I was under the impression that the FSB on the new C2D CPU platform allowed for a greater all around performance boost (800 MHz FSB and all)
As far as the 8600M GT nVidia card, it seems to me to be the best out there if you get the biggest memory chunk on it that you can. And I assume it will definitely stomp on most once SLi becomes enabled in Vista.

 

Uh.. we have already concluded that the 8700M GT is stomped on by the 7950GTX, what makes you believe that the 8600M GT is better; can you please show me anything where the 8600M GT is faster than the 7950GTX? The faster FSB is actually just a very small performance increase, the most important thing about Santa Rosa over Napa is the new socket (which future C2E's and C2Q's will use) and support for 4GB RAM instead of 3GB

 

Is there is going to be a huge difference if you only use 3gb of ram vs. 4gb? If so how can this be fixed so you use all 4gb?

 

No. Napa only supports 3GB of RAM, just like Windows XP and 32bit Vista. Nowadays for gaming, general use etc. 1GB of RAM is already enough, 2GB is the optimum, 4GB is silly unless the comp is a server or you're using applications that have been written for 64bit and can use more than 2GB of RAM. There won't be a big difference between 3GB and 4GB

 

4GB of RAM at this point in time is a waste - I found that out the expensive way with my ThinkPad. I bought 2x 2GB modules and installed them. One of them failed after a few days and I've been running on a single 2GB module for the past few weeks. I haven't noticed the difference. Of course I am only doing general applications - the ThinkPad is not a gaming machine.

At most I'd get 3GB.

 

Hi everyone! This is my first post and I am now an official Area 51 m9750 owner! I ordered an Alienware m9700 just over a year ago in June 2006. After a lot of hassle with a lemon and a lot of compounded mistakes made by customer service, I finally was refunded back in January 2007. Back then, they told me the m9750 was two months away, so I decided to wait for the m9750 which I got about a week ago. OK, six months is a LOT longer than two months. But, being patient can sometimes be worthwhile.

I almost gave up on Alienware, but they gave me a nice discount after a year of hassle and mistakes made by customer service. I won't tell you the discount I got. But, I will say that Alienware has made it worth my while and made a great effort to make up for all of my fustration.

At this point, I am dual-minded about whether I should have gotten Windows XP instead of Vista Ultimate. There are some features I love about Vista Ultimate--but, it is so new that certain things just don't work right.

The three main reasons I ordered a machine is:
1. Flight Simulator X (because I am a pilot)
2. Importing old family videos and pictures
3. Maybe an occasional game at a LAN party

The top two items are troublesome:
1. Flight Simulator X just doesn't quite work well in Vista--it crashes (no pun intended) much more than in XP. I guess I'll have to wait for Vista to stabilize.
2. How do I access the S-Video input? I need that to capture my old family videos!
3. Haven't tried LAN party yet.

In addition to that, I have a new high-definition camcorder which records in AVCHD. These newer videos will play on the m9750, but I constantly get studders in the video and sound. I am guessing that this is because the NVIDIA driver is fairly recent.

Sorry for the long post, but I am wondering if anyone else has seen these issues. I was hoping that things would go smoothly for at least my top two priorities...but I guess that is asking too much.

 

Welcome!!!

I got my 9750 through a similar situation. Though it was actually available when I ordered it, and it came FAST!

I am also curious about the s-video input. I tried using it with the Set Top Box for my satellite receiver, but Media Center wouldn't let me without the "IR Control Cable". I have not found a way (with media center anyway) to use the s-video input without at least temporarily plugging in this mysterious cable I do not have.

Is anyone using the s-video input on their 9750???

Is COAX an option to capture your videos? Guess you run XP, or dual boot for Flight Simulator...

 

Hi Welcome to the forum Yeah i also like flight simulator x and it runs pretty good running it on (xp) lets just say 50x better then my desktop but fsx bin hard for alot of notebooks/comps m9750 handles it quite good.

 

The sad part is that I bought FSX a year ago and have not been able to use it much, first because of a bad m9700 and now because Vista doesn't play well with it. I am definitely going to see if I can find an old unused copy of XP kicking around. This should be an easy fix.

The s-video is turning out to be the tough one. I have searched high and low for information on the s-video port and have come up with nothing. Technical support told me that if I plug the s-video cable from a device such as a camcorder, I should get an option to configure Windows Media Center for s-video. But, so far, this has turned into a wild goose chase.

 

Are you connecting to the correct one? theres two, the one in the middle of the back is the Video In afaik, haven't tried that yet

 

I am sure I'm am using the correct one because one has an arrow pointing in. I also took a look at the diagram and it is labeled as "s-video input". It is the one next to the coax input.

The problem seems to be more along the lines of finding a configuration setting or software which will allow reading the signal from that port.

 

Hi all,

After some input from others, I created a new thread for the s-video input on the m9750:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=145585

Thanks!

 

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html you might already know about this..... but its kinda interesting you can see what framerates you get on any graphic card and game and also cpu what is better.

 

Just so you know, that chart will NOT show any mobile graphics cards.

 

Ya thats the bad part. But might be helpful lol.

 

Hi all,
The 9750 is my firs laptop so this info may not be of interest to you but I'll post it anyway.

Itested using the free version of Aquamark3 so the settings are 1024x768, AA off, and details v-high.
-overall score: 101,622
-GFX 18,876 (1 GTX card)
-CPU 11,017 (2.0 GHZ w/dual core hotfix installed)
-I've got 2GB memory


Here is part of my data sheet that came from Alienware:
Test Date: 07/17/2007 11:20 AM

Burn-In/Benchmarks

Doom 3
Doom 3: 143.0 fps
3DMark 2006
Customer Information:
3DMark Score: 5,943.00 3DMarks
SM2.0 Score: 2,474.00
HDR/SM3.0 Score: 2,631.00
CPU Score: 1,711.00
Game Score: 0.00 Points
SM2.0 Graphics Tests
GT1 - Return To Proxycon: 20.75 FPS
GT2 - Firefly Forest: 20.49 FPS
CPU Tests
CPU1 - Red Valley: 0.54 FPS
CPU2 - Red Valley: 0.86 FPS
HDR/SM3.0 Graphics Tests
HDR1 - Canyon Flight: 23.49 FPS
HDR2 - Deep Freeze: 29.12 FPS

I can't believe how quiet this puter is. Maybe with dual graphics card the noise would be more noticable. This may be a little off topic but does anyone know if I can program a key to enter my email address? I don't want to use auto complete.

Thanks,
Rob

 

For those running Flight Simulator X, I discovered there is a service pack (FSX SP1) which pretty much fixes all of the issues I had trying to run the game in Vista. I also installed the Oahu Mega Scenery pack which makes a few tweaks that really helps with the performance. I must say that the m9750 running FSX with the service pack now has more than double the performance of the m9700 (this was before the service pack). I am flying over extremely dense scenery and clouds at about 20fps. This scenery would have killed the m9700 (previously tested at about 6fps). I must say that I am extremely happy with this. I can imagine that once updated drivers come out of NVidia, this can only get better.

 

Yeah it helps alot the new update they have it increased my performance alot.

 

are you using the beta sli driver or just single gpu?

and with FSX the main problem is not GPU but CPU (and it's not optimised for dual core)

 

Correction: FSX SP1 is supposedly optimized for dual core CPU's

 

I am using a single GPU right now for FSX. I didn't want to buy two cards just to replace them later with DirectX10 cards.

 

By the way, you can see the m9750 specs in my profile.

 

FSX SP1 makes FSX compatible with multi-core CPU's now, in FSX its the CPU thats the bottleneck not the GPU

 

Yhis may have been mentioned already but the 9750 does fit in the Alienware odyssey backpack. You don't have to get the Aurora mALX backpack.
I ordered the Odyssey from Newegg cause it was less and since I already got my 9750 from Alienware I figured it would ship quicker through Newegg. I then looked at the Alienware sight where they show both bags and started sweating. Now I was worried the 9750 wouldn't fit cause the bag I got (Odyssey) was the smaller of the two. The Odyssey from Newegg arrived after two day and I'm happy to say it fits like a glove. Just wide and long enough for the 9750. Great zippers, fabric, many useful pockets and it looks really nice. It even has a neat cell phone pouch w/alien head logo on the left front strap. I recommend this bag to anyone with an Alienware 9750.
-Rob

 

Hm...Rob 41 could you put up your whole m9750 configuration? I have I think the same hardware (2.0 C2D, single 7950 GTX, 2 GB RAM) but my 3DMark score that came with my machine was in the 6100s. Maybe just a different reading? It just made me wonder so if you could post your hardware that'd be great.

 

Here is the rest of the info. from my build sheet.

II. Configuration


Processor(s)

Processor 1
Name: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T7200 @ 2.00GHz
Manufacturer: GenuineIntel
Caption: x86 Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 6
Version: Model 15, Stepping 6
Processor Id: BFEBFBFF000006F6
Current Clock Speed: 997MHz
Address Width: 32Bits
Data Width: 32Bits
Socket Designation: CPU 1
Processor 2
Name: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T7200 @ 2.00GHz
Manufacturer: GenuineIntel
Caption: x86 Family 6 Model 15 Stepping 6
Version: Model 15, Stepping 6
Processor Id: BFEBFBFF000006F6
Current Clock Speed: 997MHz
Address Width: 32Bits
Data Width: 32Bits
Socket Designation: CPU 1
Verified Hardware Device against Order: CPU-2.00C2DT7200
Verify Correct Processor Frequency

Case Color: New Background


System Memory

Memory Module 1
Capacity: 1024MB
Bank Label: DIMM #1
Mem_Type: DDR2
Mem_Frequency: 665 MHz
Verified Hardware Device against Order: MEM-MOBLDDR21GBP53QM
Memory Module 2
Capacity: 1024MB
Bank Label: DIMM #2
Mem_Type: DDR2
Mem_Frequency: 665 MHz
Verified Hardware Device against Order: MEM-MOBLDDR21GBP53QM

BIOS Information

Manufacturer: American Megatrends Inc.
Name: Default System BIOS
Version: W8350F02
Version: ALWARE - 5000703

Motherboard Information

Manufacturer: alienware
Product: Area-51 m9750
Serial Number: To be filled by O.E.M.
Version: To be filled by O.E.M.
Verified Hardware Device against Order: MB-W835DIX17WUXGABLK
Verify correct motherboard
Power settings optimized

Video Adapter

Caption: NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX
Adapter RAM: 512MB
DriverVersion: 6.14.10.9423
Verified Hardware Device against Order: MOBL-VW835G71MUU512D
Test Video Card

Hard Drive(s)

Volume0
Model: Volume0
Size: 200GB
Total Heads: 255
Total Cylinders: 24321
Total Tracks: 6201855
Tracks Per Cylinder: 255

Optical Drives / Other Storage

Optiarc DVD RW AD-5540A

Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional


DirectX Version: 9c


Assembler Initials: RR


Tester Initials: AI


Test Date: 07/17/2007 11:20 AM


Burn-In/Benchmarks

Doom 3
Doom 3: 143.0 fps
3DMark 2006
Customer Information:
3DMark Score: 5,943.00 3DMarks
SM2.0 Score: 2,474.00
HDR/SM3.0 Score: 2,631.00
CPU Score: 1,711.00
Game Score: 0.00 Points
SM2.0 Graphics Tests
GT1 - Return To Proxycon: 20.75 FPS
GT2 - Firefly Forest: 20.49 FPS
CPU Tests
CPU1 - Red Valley: 0.54 FPS
CPU2 - Red Valley: 0.86 FPS
HDR/SM3.0 Graphics Tests
HDR1 - Canyon Flight: 23.49 FPS
HDR2 - Deep Freeze: 29.12 FPS

IRQ Configuration

0 System timer
1 Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
2 -available-
3 -available-
4 -available-
5 -available-
6 -available-
7 -available-
8 System CMOS/real time clock
9 Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System
10 -available-
11 -available-
12 Synaptics PS/2 Port TouchPad
13 Numeric data processor
14 Primary IDE Channel
15 -available-
16 Marvell Yukon 88E8055 PCI-E Gigabit Ethernet Controller
16 NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX
16 Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27CB
17 Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN
17 Ricoh MMC Host Controller
17 Ricoh Memory Stick Host Controller
17 SDA Standard Compliant SD Host Controller
18 OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
18 Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27CA
19 Intel(R) 82801GHM SATA RAID Controller
19 Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27C9
23 Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller - 27C8
23 Intel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 27CC

Miscellaneous

Optiarc DVD RW AD-5540A
Device Name: Optiarc DVD RW AD-5540A
Description: CD-ROM Drive
Class: CDROM
Service: cdrom
Driver Version: 5.1.2535.0
Driver Date: 7-1-2001
Verified Hardware Device against Order: MOBL-NEC8XDVDRWR1
test optical drive if applicable
Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN
Device Name: Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN
Description: Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN
Class: Net
Service: NETw4x32
Driver Version: 11.1.0.86
Driver Date: 2-25-2007
Vendor Id: 8086
Device Id: 4229
Revision: 0061
IRQ Number: 17
PCI Slot: 33
Verified Hardware Device against Order: NIC-INTELWIREL4965

-Rob

 

WE HAVE OUR DEVICE NUMBER!!!!

Finally lol, it's been bugging my head for AGES.

The Alienware m9700 is an Arima W830-DA
The Alienware m9750 is an Arima W835-DI

 

Ah ok Rob41 the difference is that I have 2 GB of RAM and you have one. Not too much of a difference 3DMark-wise though. Hm...

 

Hey shoelace,
I don't know what the difference is but I DO have 2GB of ram also.

System Memory
Memory Module 1
Capacity: 1024MB
Bank Label: DIMM #1
Mem_Type: DDR2
Mem_Frequency: 665 MHz
Verified Hardware Device against Order: MEM-MOBLDDR21GBP53QM
Memory Module 2
Capacity: 1024MB
Bank Label: DIMM #2
Mem_Type: DDR2
Mem_Frequency: 665 MHz
Verified Hardware Device against Order: MEM-MOBLDDR21GBP53QM

Unless I'm reading the spec's wrong. I'm gonna double chek it after I'm off of this puter.
-Rob

 

What was the average time you guys were in pre-production (Phase 4) for?

 

90% of the time
i just went to phase 9^^

 

Cool, so I should expect to wait a while yet then as I've only been in phase 4 for a week. When did you order your's magictomcat?

 

I was in phase 4 over a month to be honest but this was when it was like a preorder still with alot of backordered items. but when i did jump the phase it went to 6 not 5 so they just don't update it i guess even if you email them they will just say your onphase 4 but really on phase 5 lol but it al depends on backordered items if you do got some then ya expect a little wait if not they build quick.