Warranty direction? My beloved M18 R2, she is dying.....

My M18 R2 (with 7970's in crossfire) is acting up again. Last year around this time, I had my 2 video cards replaced, and she was running great up until last month. My M18 is doing the exact same thing it did the last time when my video cards went up. When my cards are enabled, it won't even boot up, all I get is a black screen. So I have to disable my cards to even use my machine.

Last year, I had to spend about 4 hours, 2 days in a row with a tech on the phone, while he/she did things remotely. Eventually the tech decided to send some one to my house and replace my AMD cards. The first time the person came to the house, they didn't install the crossfire wire properly, but they came back and it was fixed.

Like I said, my laptop is doing the same thing again. So I haven't been running my cards for the past month or so, and there seems to be a lot of other little problems.....very slow start up, fan runs like crazy at times, windows 7 wont let me perform any sort of system restore, etc etc.

But my biggest concern is my cards.

My question is this......I have a few months left on my advanced/extended warranty. Do I need to spend around 8 hours on the phone again to have some one come to the house and fix me up? Honestly I will do what I have to do, but finding the time during the week to do that, will be extremely difficult.

All I want is for my laptop to run at it's full potential again. I have come to absolutely LOVE this laptop, and it kinda bums me that it's on life support...lol.

Or am I completely screwed?


Lastly, I have come realize high performance machines like these maybe out of my league. I never realized the amount of fine tuning you need to be familiar with to keep high performance rigs like these running smoothly. I just don't have the knowledge, but thanks to this forum (AND MrFOX and others) I have learned so much.

I love this M18 and love the years of enjoyment it has brought me. For the love of God I hope she can be fixed by the right people, and I can get some more time out of her, while I look forward to purchasing another one.


Thanks for any and all help.

-Jason

 

Most of us learn by doing. It's no longer out of your league once you learn how. None of my systems require any special tinkering to keep them optimized. Maintenance and basic optimization is no different that an ordinary computer... other than periodic things like manual TRIM and degrag operations, cleaning fans and heat sinks, and maybe a repaste now and then, maintenance is almost non-existent. Mostly a set-it-and-forget-it task. Overclock settings don't change. Once you know the right power settings to use for various overclock settings, you can change them on the fly with XTU or ThrottleStop like using a toggle switch.

Unfortunately, with 7970M it is not a matter of if, but when, they are going to stop functioning correctly. It's a shame that a crappy GPU is causing you to have second thoughts about indefinitely keeping the best high performance laptop ever built in the history of laptops, questioning its integrity, or doubting your own abilities. But, it's understandable and those GPUs do have a way of spoiling the experience. I would have them replace the AMD cards with 680M SLI under warranty, as they have done this for tons of customers already because 7970M is such an unreliable and flawed product. If you happen to get the right tech support rep it should not be difficult or time consuming. Those that have been around for a few years will already know that 7970M is a ticking time bomb and they will understand the need to end your misery and stop their own money hemorrhaging by repeating the same mistake over and over again. Since they have already been replaced once, the repeat failure is a compelling case that doing the same thing again and expecting a different outcome on the third dispatch would be an insane and costly move on their part. (ALWAYS go through Alienware Support by calling 1-800-ALIENWARE, but NEVER deal with Dell Support if you are in North America. The Dell Support people are worthless for Alienware machines.)

Whatever you do, do not allow them to exchange your M18xR2 with an Alienware 18 or downgrade you to anything newer and far more pathetic than an 18. If they do not agree to replace your 7970M CF with 680M SLI, tell them to close your case without resolution and go buy a pair of 780M yourself. Or, get the new red cards under warranty, leave them in their packaging (instead of installing them) and sell them to offset the cost of a 780M SLI upgrade and let your warranty expire without extending it.

Bear in mind, there is always a potential that any replacement part can be DOA, flawed or defective, and NVIDIA GPUs are not exempt from that possibility. 680M and 780M are very durable and have a very low failure rate compared to 7970M. Once you make the switch from red to green and have a solid pair of video cards to work with, your ownership experience will dramatically improve. This scenario has been true for many M18xR2 owners.

 

I would say PM the reps on here, but this isn't 2012 anymore. I actually did not have a hard time with some of the Latin reps I get sometimes, they tend to be very easy to work with. If you get an Indian rep, you will probably have a hard time. Just hang up and redial.

My 7970Ms are still working just fine (knock on wood), but at this point, I would try to switch to 680Ms if possible. Do not allow Dell to to downgrade you to a Alienware 18 or a Alienware 17 R2.

 

Mr. Fox said it. Long as hell read, but good advice.

If your GPU's are the only problem, call up HIDEvolution and speak with them about some GPU's. They usually have a 1 year warranty on their products. That's better than most on eBay or other resellers.

Don't extend the warranty. Alienware has nothing good to offer you anymore. Their systems are BGA trash.

 

Thank all for the responses, and direction.

My previous experience with tech support was pretty good, so i can't complain about that, yet.


I was hoping that an Alienware tech/reps here would maybe give me some direction.


As far as buying my own GPU's.....that maybe an option down the road, but I feel like I paid for 3 years of a premium warranty and I would like to see/hear what Alienware is gonna do first. I thank you guys for telling me to stand firm and not take any sort of down grade, I was concerned about that.

Would a single 680 be a down grade to my twin 7970's?

Again, thanks forum for the help.

 

A single 680M? The 680M performs like 5% better than the 7970M... So, yeah.

They honestly have nothing to offer you that will replace your system. According to Frank Azor, they are supposed to have 780M's in stock (leftovers) for warranty requests. You should ask them if they can send you two of those.

780M SLI > 7970M Crossfire. Nice upgrade. Don't get the 880M!

 

Man, after all the issues I had with 7970M, I would have been willing to trade them for a pair of 580M... at least 580M SLI worked correctly 24/7. But, yeah, with an svl7 vBIOS mod the 680M SLI is way more powerful than 7970M CF. They are only close to the same when they are both running stock, with stock vBIOS. With a vBIOS mod, the 680M kicks the teeth out of the 7970M.

 

That's true. They can overclock like champs. But I'd still recommend grabbing the 780M's if Alienware is where you plan to go. It's unlikely they have 680M's in stock. The 780M's also have twice the VRAM, so they will provide you will a longer lifespan of usefulness.

And @Mr. Fox overclocked the hell out of the 780M's as well. So, they're just as good, if not better.

 

Oh yeah, 780M is da bomb... quite a lot better than 680M, especially when overclocked. I recommended 780M in post #2 already. The 780M is now second in pecking order only to 980M. Overall, 880M is not as good as 680M IMHO... but even 880M is better than 7970M. And, I'm still overclocking the snot out of my 780M cards. They take a lickin' and keep on tickin' LOL.

 

In SLI models (I mean, because of the paltry 330W adapters) or in all models that support the 880m? Is the 680m because of heat or (overclocked) performance, or both?

 

All I can rely on is what I have seen posted by 880M users. I cannot answer based on experience. Because of all the problems reported and demonstrated, I have never purchased 880M, plus I have never had a sincere interest in benching with a single GPU. As far as overclocked benching performance is concerned, I have not seen an example of 880M SLI offering an advantage over 680M SLI except for the rare example we saw from @johnksss that seemed to work well most of the time. From what I can tell, 880M seems to run hotter, and I never had thermal challenges with 680M SLI. That said, things have dramatically improved for 880M with driver maturity, but there are still not very many 880M/880M SLI overclocking examples to draw conclusions from.

 

The 880M is basically the handicap, "fat" brother of the 780M - fat referring to the 8GB's of VRAM, and handicap referring to its throttling issues due to voltage and heat. The 780M = 880M in every aspect, other than those issues, and a slight overclock. So, the 780M is the better choice all around.

Summed up: NVIDIA was testing the 8GB's of VRAM, making the 880M a "test" release, and it failed miserably, which they've fixed in the 980M.

Ask Alienware for 780M's if you still have warranty leftover or plan to extend. That would be your best option, if you wish to stick with Alienware throughout this process.

 

Guys, if this a warranty issue (as suggested by the thread title) and replacement cards are gonna be the flavour of the day from Dell, the OP is only gonna be offered 680m's at best. Obviously, whole different ball game if he's looking at a replacement machine. If its cards only, the best he can hope to get under warranty is 680m SLI, which is still kick-ass.

He ain't gonna get 780m's for an M18x R2 because they were never validated for use on that platform.

 

I doubt they have 680M's in stock, and I know they have 780M's in stock. That's why I'm talking about the 780M.

My guess is that they'll try to replace it with an Alienware 17 R2 or Alienware 18. Forget it.

 

True. I very much doubt they have 680m's, therefore I reckon a machine with 880m's will be the outcome.....let's face it, Dell with have a few of them in stock - I know Dell Outlet UK tends to be flooded with them.
An 18 (new revision) with 780m SLI is not a bad proposition in comparison to an 18x with 7970m's - I know which I'd take, and that's not because I've got an 18 with 780m SLI either....

 

I agree... Forget it is the only appropriate course of action if they were to try pulling that shenanigan. That's why I suggested a "Plan B" before. In fact, I think that would be better than getting an 18 for an M18xR2 at this point. If they cannot fix the M18xR2 the right way, then it's time to cut your losses and move on. Downgrades suck.

 

I mentioned the 780M because it's honestly better than the 880M. And Frank Azor said there are still Alienware 17 R1 and Alienware 18 GPU parts in stock for warranty requests. There should be some 780M's leftover. I also say, "forget it" to the 880M.

We know the 780M will work. We know the 880M will work. We know the 970M/980M won't work (not properly, at least). So, the only "good/viable" option is honestly the 780M. It would be a mistake to accept anything other than the 780M at this point.

Go 780M SLI from Dell or go aftermarket 780M SLI from HIDEvolution.

 

I agree with the forget it about the new line up - that is totally unacceptable. An 18 with 780m's ain't bad in comparison with an 18x with 7970m's. Sure, the 18 isn't as 'friendly' as the 18x, but for someone who doesn't 'tweak', it's still a decent upgrade over a machine with crappy 7970m's, don't you think?

I'd agree with the sentiment about 880m's - not good.

 

Yes, absolutely... much better. And, it's better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. Downgrades are never a good thing, even as the lesser of two evils. That's not to say the 18 is no good... it is good, it's just a downgrade. I love how the 18 is built and I think it looks great, too. It's crippled, but for someone that doesn't tweak or bench, that isn't the end of the world. It's an excellent gaming machine, and extremely powerful considering its artificially engineered overclocked functional limitations. Unfortunately, it is also an EOL product, so you're not really gaining anything. Better off to fend for yourself instead of prolonging the agony or wasting money on a warranty extension. Both machines are far better than anything else they can offer in a new laptop.

 

The Alienware 18 with 780M SLI is an upgrade, benchmark wise. But I'd keep the M18x R2 over the Alienware 18. First of all, Haswell is just a mistake on Intel's part - it's power hungry & hot, which makes it completely useless over Ivy Bridge.

Honestly, it comes down to what the OP wants. Speaking purely as an enthusiast, the M18x R2 is the better option of the two. If he can get an Alienware 18 with 780M SLI and a 4940MX, then I wouldn't tell him not to take it. Thing is, I highly doubt Alienware has any left in stock. Anything less than that isn't worth it. It looks like they have mostly 860M SLI Alienware 18's.

Going 780M SLI in his current machine is possible, and a great option. You can't go wrong here. And if they give him 880M's, I recommend he sell them and buy 780M's, lol.

 

I suppose you could try to snag an Area 51 with dual 980's as an option, but I would imagine it could be a tough battle to convince them to do that. That would be a fair system exchange, but nothing else would. In terms of performance and original purchase price, it would be fair and not a downgrade.

Having to worry about downgrades in the event that a system exchange becomes necessary is something new. We've never needed to be concerned about that in the past. Alienware has painted itself into a corner by the fact that they used to be really good as what they do, and got better with each generation. Unfortunately, they seem to have listened to their own mantra long enough that they cannot recognize the gravity of their bad engineering choices. They seem to actually believe that a 17r2 with an eGPU is a good substitute for a dual MXM beast with and Extreme CPU. If not, they're doing a mighty good job of faking it, LOL.

Look no further than the YouTube videos and Facebook shouts... they are bragging about 50-60 FPS when using an eGPU contraption to play current games when I get 100+ FPS running stock clocks with the beast sitting in my lap, kicked back in a leather recliner, or sitting in a hotel room after work, 1,000+ miles away from my desk at home.

 

If I had this issue and still got warranty I would try to see what they offer me. Since they never supported anything better than 680m and 7970m you will most likely receive a 7970m because I doubt they have any 680m left.

Then I will sell those 7970m and buy some 780m. You will not be disappointed with the 780m. Just don't let them give you any downgrade. Even the 18 is a downgrade for your M18x R2