Dell XPS M1730 Owner's Lounge, *Part 3*

Yeah the fact there was a single card seemed like a shame, but the announced 18.4 should go sli once more
The thing I liked however is the fact the m17x r3 switches to cpu-based gpu, instead of using the real gpu all the time, the cpu takes over when idle or running 2d software.
That way, you get huge power saving on battery, and your gpu is used only for 3d software which must increase its lifespan by a lot, not mentioning you no longer get temperature fluctuations when idle and the need to have fans on all the time.

 

Kingpin - did you ever write that comprehensive tweaking guide for the M1730 you were talking about some months back?

 

Hi im after some quick advice if i can on comparing specs from my m1730 which dell are going to replace with an m17x,
Not being very computer literate ive no idea if what there offering as an exchange is fair.
I would be gratefull for your speedy replies
many thanks in advance
edd

is there any easier way to get current laptop specs?
What ive already got: xps m1730 extreme processor,dual 8800gtx graphic cards,physx adapter,blueray drive,4 gig ram,2x 250 gig hard drives,

BIOS Vendor Dell Inc.
BIOS Version A11
BIOS Date 04-23-10
Windows Version Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Processor
Manufacturer Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Extreme CPU X9000 @ 2.80GHz
Clock Speed 2.8GHz
L2 Cache Size 6144
Memory
Available Memory 28.06 %
Page File Size 3068.3Mb
Available Page File 72.93 %
Virtual Memory 6138.4Mb
Available Virtual Memory 40.23 %
Memory Slot 1 [DIMM_A] 2048Mb
Memory Slot 2 [DIMM_B] 2048Mb

Memory
Memory Slot 1 [DIMM_A] 2048Mb
Memory Slot 2 [DIMM_B] 2048Mb

Memory

Memory

Network Card
Adapters Intel(R) Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN

Storage
Drive Type Drive Size Total Available Space Used Space
C: NTFS 173.6Gb 17.10Gb 156.5Gb
D: NTFS 186.3Gb 77.29Gb 109.0Gb
E: NTFS 9.999Gb 5.246Gb 4.753Gb

Storage

Hardware
Type Description
DVD/CD-ROM Drives MATA BD-RE UJ-220 ATA Device
Disk Drives ST9200420ASG ATA Device 186.3Gb
ST9200420ASG ATA Device 186.3Gb
Display Adapters NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTX 512Mb
NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTX 512Mb
IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers Ricoh SD/MMC Host Controller
Ricoh xD-Picture Card Controller
ATA Channel 0
ATA Channel 0
ATA Channel 2
Ricoh Memory Stick Controller
Intel(R) ICH8M Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 2850
Intel(R) ICH8M SATA AHCI Controller - 2829
Keyboards USB Human Interface Device
Standard PS/2 Keyboard
Mice and Other Pointing Devices HID-compliant mouse
USB Input Device
Dell Touchpad
Monitors Generic PnP Monitor - (Standard monitor types)
Default Monitor -
Sound Devices Bluetooth Stereo Audio
High Definition Audio Device
Bluetooth Hands-free Audio
USB Controllers Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2831
Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2832
Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2834
Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2835
Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 2836
Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 283A
Intel(R) ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2830

What theyve offered:
Alienware M17x MLK : Base Space Black

500GB Serial ATA (7200RPM)

500GB Serial ATA (7200RPM)

Graphics : Dual CrossFire 1GB ATI GDDR5

MISC

SET UP

1 year colect & Return

Intel Wireless 6300 (802.11a/b/g/n 3X3) LAN Card

Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Keyboard

Ship Accessory : English Docs

Misc

Ship Accessory : UK/Irish Docs with UK Power Cord

6144MB (1x4096 + 1x2048) 1333MHz DDR3

MOD,SW,PDVD,3D,9.6,FI

MOD,SW,RXO,CRTR,STRT,FI

MOD,SW,ADB,RDR,9.0,MLANG

misc

MOD,SW,ANW,COMMANDCNTR,M17X10

MOD,SW,CRTV,CMRA,CSMR,2.X,FI

MOD,INFO,REMFG ORDER,EMEA

Power Supply : Alienware 240W AC Adapter

MOD-SRV,SW,ANW,M17X10

MOD,SW,W7P64,ENG,EMF

17in WideUXGA 1920 x 1200

Processor : Intel Core i7 Processor-840QM

No Media Offering

Operating System : Windows 7 Professional (64 BIT)

MOD,DVDRW/BD-ROM,HLDS,BARE,ANW

 

Looks decent to me.
But you didn't mention the gpu model.
I saw the Intel Core i7 840QM has dual channel memory, if you're getting 6gb of ram, you won't be able to take advantage of that, am i right?
Be sure to give us the gpu model, that can make a big difference

 

thank you for your reply the Graphics : Dual CrossFire 1GB ATI GDDR5
so the processor there offering is better than my extreme processer i have now?
thankyou
edd

 

you didn't give the model number
is it a 4870?
edit: Ok just went to the alienware website, it's an HD 6870, which is pretty decent, but keep in mind they don't offer sli anymore, so I'm not sure if it's much better than a pair of 8800's
Problem is, gpus are getting stronger..and bigger, so fitting two inside the 17" alienware seems to be no longer possible, hence the upcoming m18x

 

Indeed, 6gb of RAM won't be taking advantage of dual channels. However, the difference is so negligent, that I wouldn't worry about it at all.
Judging by the CPU, they are offering you a R2 version of notebook. This makes it safe to assume that GPUs are AMD 5870s. This seems like a great deal to me. The CPU in the proposed system is a quad core, compared to dual core you currently have. In multi-threaded applications quad core will definitely be faster. It is also based on the more efficient architecture. So, yeah, i7 870QM is going to be faster than X9000 in most scenarios.
I'd also recommend posting it in the M17X thread to get some opinions there since they obviously know more about this system than us.
Just wondering....did they mention if this is a brand new system or a refurbished one?

EDIT: totostar, you were looking at R3. Replacement system here is R2

 

Lol, I was going to correct my previous posts but I came too late
Indeed it is the r2 configuration, The cpu is pretty good, equivalent to the r3's higher end sandybridge i7 2820qm, but will generate a little more heat.
So he will be getting sli 5870, very nice.
My next laptop purchase will probably be an m18x

 

No mate, i didnt.
Althought i wrote it, and its almost complete since a while now, but never bothered to proceed further.
there are various reasons to it: first most of the informations can be obtained reading this thread, second the interest is fading away (at least is what im understanding) and third i think that our xps is EOL specially with newer gpus and cpus out there. Dunno if this guide could help further some users, as the basic and advanced knowledge is already posted here in this very 3d. Feel free to say that im wrong, maybe ill post it then.

He's getting a decent quad cpu plus a crossfire HD5870 (since its an R2 replacement).
However we cant compare that i7 to the second gen SB i7. Difference is still big and the gap in performance is quite considerable.
Anyway, leaving this detail aside, that machine is awesome. The only problem there is AMD/ATI. The cards are really ok but so far Ati drivers and Crossfire profiles (CAPS) are the worst thing ever happened to a gaming user.
Some say they're ok, but most of the times either you shut down crossfire....or hunt down a driver that actually works decently.
I have experienced alot of problems with my past ATI systems (desktops and laptops) and let me say that NVIDIA driver system along with SLI mode is totally problem-free compared to ATI. They make great cards that they cant really use at their max potential due to their poor driver framework.

 

well I used this site
Intel Core i7 Mobile I7-840QM vs Intel Core i7 Mobile i7-2820QM (PGA)

i'm sure there are lots more specifications that are not listed but apart from the 45-32 nm I don't see much difference.
What's the big advancement with those new gen SB?

 

thankyou for all your replies ive posted in m17x forum as you recomended.
think im going to accept the replacement although wish they,d given me abit more info on screen id like to of known if this is the rgb led version.

Edd

 

The difference its not in the manufacture of the die size as you pointed out,which leads to less heat, the difference its in the whole architecture.
Sandys have a faster clock-per-clock frequency and a built in memory controller which literally speeds up the whole performance about 30%.
Also the turbo boost is evolved, it can achieve higher speeds as the default clock is already higher than 1st gen i7s, and tye ration actually can be used as a single value for all the cores.
The new computing power of the cpu shortens the times, most of them around a 50%, its lesser oriented to a bottleneck.
In rough terms if we talk about a cpu score in any syntethic benchmark, we can safely say that the increment could be up to 45% compared to old i7s.
The problem with older i7s was their comparative to higher clocked lynfield (q9xxx) where those couldnt keep a wide margin in real life situations. Sandys however is the first leap into something new and the technology quite delivered the performance boost.
Check some benchmarks around: a fast example is how much time the sandys require to encode or render a movie/3d app. Results shows gains in terms of time up to 20minutes which is a huge gap.
In gaming terms specially on laptops, the difference shouldnt be huge as there are already two high end gpus; but still the base clock is slower and without doubt a Sandy linked to sli or xfire will boost performance (without even oc them) around 35% compared to an oced system.
Remember that the low end sandy i7 linked to a gtx460m was able to achieve more than 16k marks, thing not possible on 1st gen i7, at all.

 

Man, ever since I got my X9000, I haven't gamed much.
I still haven't properly tested AC2, and I only finished the Lost chapter in GTAIV...

I have to get back in the game

 

Thanks a lot kingpin, that was very enlightening, you clearly know your stuff
Once your xps gives out, will you turn to alienware, or is it over with you and laptops?

 

Depends really, prolly ill stick with a modest machine just for mobility as im more focused on desktop

 

yeah much more power, much more upgradable, less fail % for much less $
Sometimes you might wonder what makes AW attractive
Ah dammit... they do look nice

 

I am just being very honest here. . . the CPU is unacceptable in my opinion.

He has an Extreme CPU from the older models -- he should get at least a 920xm or a 940xm. This can be easily argued, politely, by mention that the extreme CPU spec has not been matched. They won't even argue back on the matter since there isn't much to argue. They'll most likely revise the specs and offer a 920/940xm.

I would also argue that he get a Blu-Ray Writer (BD-RE) as opposed to just a reader, but I hear that Alienware are out of these, so this factor can be used to simply make a point that he's compromising on one of the features and should be matched or exceeded on all other fronts.

The -rest- of the system looks okay. Of course, in reality, the new system will be one hell of a boost, but I also stand by the community rather than the company and this is where I feel that since many have initially invested in a top-line machine, the specs. should be matched by present standards. He certainly would be settling for a downgraded invoice spec by accepting the 840qm as opposed to a 920/940xm, which he should rightfully receive. Extreme CPU for Extreme CPU.

-FIN-

 

True that

 

Yeah it is true, the cpu is great but compared to how the x9000 was when it came out, he should have something equivalent.

 

Hi Kingpin,

It was probably me who prompted you to set-out all your great advice on one guide, and despite the fact that I haven't been back with daily questions since, I could really use it, and would be happy to donate. Here's why: I managed to get a sweet - running system with good FPS on Flight Sim X and then did a couple of 'upgrades' including the latest Nvidia GPU driver (on your advice, hehe), and now I'm back to a slug of a beast. Yes, probably not the driver change (or maybe it is....), but I'd really like to be able to go back to a set of basic rules/settings from your guide without having to trawl through the threads here - I would almost certainly miss something crucial. If you've got it almost complete, I'd really welcome you publishing it!

Cheers, Andy

 

thankyou for your advice , but i think its to late now as i gave my consent on order.

to be honest i used the overclocking in bios only a handful of times in 3years of ownership(was really a tax break when i bought them ive got two of them).

The reason for replacement is because dell couldnt supply me with the blueray drive and have had 6 graphic card replacements, 3 motherboards,2power supplies and have had to buy 3 batteries in that time between the two.

Only concern ive raised is the new replacement theyve offered is return and collect and not next day business for which they want £120 extra
edd

 

Hi Kingpinzero, I too would donate for your tweaking notes

Both since this thread has grown quite huge and some info has changed/improved
during it's lifespan, also many of us will probably stick with our beast for a while longer esp. since X9000 + 8800/9800 is still quite decent for it's age.

And I am doing a full re-install after my comp is back from service
so would definately be nice with any of your notes at hand =)

 

Weird question here, but does anyone else notice on their m1730's that blue's all looks slightly off on the LCD. It's hard to explain what I mean, but this is actually my second m1730 and I've noticed this on both. Basically all colours look normal apart from blues, they look dim and slightly greyish/greenish, basically they just don't look quite how they should. If I have my m1710 turned on beside the m1730 then you really notice the difference. Your probably all wondering what on earth im going on about here but just though I'd check if anyone else had ever heard on this. Thanks

EDIT: If I plug in an external monitor you can really see the difference, what should be a bright sky blue (as it looks on the external) looks like a dim turquoise blue on the m1730

 

I know what you mean, but since I use an external monitor 99% of the time, I'm not really bothered. But yeah, they look slightly off, the onboard lcd ain't the best one out there, it's old tech though ...

 

Oh right thanks, good to know It's not just really bad luck getting 2 laptops with bad screens, if they all have them thats a bit better I guess haha! Shame though as the screen on my m1710 is amazing! It's way brighter and all the colours look how they should, annoying they take a slightly different connector so I can't just swap them!

 

Yeah I copied my wallpaper from m1710, blue didn't come out right, I changed the "digital vibrance" in nvidia CP to get a little better blue but it's not quite that.

 

Hey guys, I need your help, it's an emergency.

I put the laptop into sleep mode last night and there were some voltage fluctuations.

This morning I try turning it on and there's nothing on the screen. So I reboot and nothing. No beeps, no POST, the screen doesn't even turn on. External monitor shows nothing either.

I did the battery out + Fn/Power boot thing and the three LEDs light up then the middle one continues to flash.

Any ideas?

I had just replaced the vid card in this with warranty parts so I have a spare motherboard that Dell sent (I know, lucky!). But I want to rule out anything easily solvable before I go about replacing the board. My old vid card was still booting the machine (it would artifact in games sometimes).

 

Got it working! I just removed the CMOS battery for a minute and it started up again. The date/time had become corrupted too and now all the LEDs are back on. That was a close one.

 

Oven Bake

I thought I would report my success with baking my 8800GTX SLi.

I originally had issues and removed the Physx card, the system carried on working so I didn't give it much thought. Somewhere along the way I "lost" the SLi slave card but as my daughter uses this for homework and The Sims 3 neither of us really noticed the loss until 2 days ago when the screen went blank. It booted into safe mode or windows without nvidia drivers so I reasoned the card was faulty and started looking for prices - a shock to the wallet!

I stumbled upon the oven bake theory and researched it for a whole day. As I have no warranty, what did I have to lose.

Today, oven set to 200c card stripped down and placed right side up on foil balls, with extra foil over the DVI connection, 10 minutes baking, 20 minutes cool down and re-assemble with AS5. With the scorn from the missus ringing in my ears, I switched it on and Win7 found the SLi controller, nvidia drivers installed and bino! 1 very happy 11 year old.

How long will it last? Dunno, perhaps other pioneers can advise?

Thanks to all those who went before me; your courage was my inspiration! Did I dare tell 'er indoors, "told you so" with a smug grin? Did I heck!

 

Yo Kiwi,
Well a baked card usually lasts around 4-5 months, but there are things you can do to make it last longer.
When you opened the card you surely noticed the sli bridge, a tiny chipset in the middle. You need a copper shim, a square piece of very thin copper,about 1mm, on top of it, but first you need to apply a good thermal compound.
I advice two: ic diamond 7 and AC mx-4, the best out there.
Screw AS5, is overrated and less effective.
Also you may want to apply a copper shim on both gpu cores to keep them running.
Good luck and have a blast

 

that much if you're lucky, one user here has baked it every week, for around 12 times till he gave up.

opening and re-assembling the laptop so many times is getting old...

 

Spoke too soon

I came back to the laptop after a bit (I always have it on) and the network card didn't seem to be working right. It wasn't able to do anything on the network, no internet. This happened once or twice before so I rebooted. No screen again.

I pulled the CMOS battery for a minute, then it booted again into BIOS. After I quit the BIOS, it wouldn't show the screen again. So this time I pulled the power adapter plug and the battery, held down the power button, waited a bit, then put them back in and it booted again and went straight to Windows. I have to do this everytime I boot now.

What do you suppose is causing this? Should I replace the CMOS battery? Or the entire motherboard? Is this a normal case of a battery going bad? Or has something been damaged? The machine runs fine once it boots.

 

Do you have any pictures of a copper shim?

I still have my fried 8800GTX, I've been meaning to give baking a go so I don't have to keep using the 8700.

I also only have access to AS5 for now where I am. Should I wait until I return to the States to do this?

 

Well, if you`re not tampering with the warranty issues, go for it.

If not, better wait, the warranty has saved me of at least 2k$ expenses so far...

 

I noticed that there is a small copper square on the sli chip. I see there is a a copper shim kit on ebay us, would it be any use to shim the gpu's as well? Unfortunately, there's no such kit available here in NZ

On another note, is there anything that allows manual control of the GPU fans?

I do have it sitting on a Zalman NC-2000 which seems to help a little.

 

Hey guys I have a quick question. I just received my laptop back from dell after the fixed it due to a blown MB and the nvidia litigation. However they replaced my video card with the same 8700m sli that I began with. According to them nvidia "fixed" the problem with the card, but as far as I can tell its the same G84 thats the killer of laptops. When I pressed customer support on the details they seemed to dance around the issue saying the "fix is 100% guaranteed." I think they are full of it, any advice where to go from here?

 

Did you make sure to clean the oven thuroughly after baking the cards? And when you do the oven bake method you should be sure to have the room well ventilated.

Baking the cards has become a popular fix for dead cards but its still dangerous to your health if not approached properly.

**********************************************************

Now I have a question regarding a program called ThrottleStop and the affect it may have with my T9300.

I downloaded this program, latest update as of February 2011, and it reads my CPU fine. But I really have no clue what Im trying to do here and haven't bothered messing with anything until I can get some info from people on these forums about it.

Basically I was hoping to do a little overclock on my T9300 while lowering voltages at the same time. Also would like to know if theres a way to control fan speed or if the system would kick up the fan's as if it were an x9000 cpu. I looked over on ebay and had some chances to get x9000's for cheap but people seem to like making needless bids on items for no purpose than to continuously raise the price on them hours, if not days, before the auction ends. =/

 

If they say its "guaranteed" and the thing dies on you, then you can force them to "fix" it again I would think. I wouldnt worry to much about it. I hoped that I would be able to benefit from the litigation from the day I heard whispers about it but unfortunately when I tried making my claim online it said my system wasnt supported. Mainly because my system originally came form the UK. Irritated me. And I have an HP laptop affected as well but for some reason HP doesnt say my laptop is supported. So much for that!

 

Hey Everyone...first time poster....have some questions and I'm sorry that they are a bit all over the place.

My 3-year old refurbished 1730 has been working like a champ...till my kids got a hold of it...OOOPSS...that will teach me for leaving it out.

Right now I'm waiting for a tech to come out and replace the keyboard (3rd was bored and pull keys off and they won't pop back on), new motherboard/heatsink/ac adapter (laptop won't power on half the time, battery seems to be bad/drained).

Is there anything I need to look at to make sure that I get the same, even though older, X7900 Extreme CPU?

Got it to boot once and noticed that the LCD screen is damaged...either the laptop was droppped or something dropped on it....THANK GOD for the warranty...same question the LCD being replaced?

Been having sparadic problems with the Nvidia 8700 Video Card. Had to start using an external monitor. When I called Dell Support that I need to have the cards replaced, since I had just missed the Nvidia Recall deadline, the first thing out of the techs mouth is that the 1730 is NOT effected by the Nvidia GPU Recall. Told him many times that YES, it is, and found the web site for the settlement that lists the 1730. The tech ttill says that it isn't and points me to a web site that states which cards/systems are effected. Guess what...SAME SITE that I went to first.

What do I need to do to get the cards replaced while I still have the warranty, which does run out in about 2 months?


Since the warranty is about to expire, is it worth it to extend it? Don't have the funds to replace it with the Alienware m17x.


Final question...I have the Dual 8700 video cards. Aside from being able to get my hands on it...can I only go as high as the 9800m GTX or can I get a more current mobile video card installed?

Thanks!!!!!

 

Extend it!
And then smash the computer, have them replace it

I mean, if you have Complete Care.

If not, OC it crazy, until the cards die, hehe.

 

Dell Dell Exchange Team is trying to replace my XPS M1730 with another XPS M1730 with a single 8700MGTS GPU While my config has dual 8800mGTX's in SLI.... What should i do?

 

Tell them NO.
Your system has dual 8800M GTX, with 256 bit, and the 8700M GT is 128 bit, and single!
Not to mention that even SLI 8700M GTs aren`t better than A SINGLE 8800M GTX.
That`s pure downgrade right there, tell them equivalent config or BETTER. Nothing less.

 

Damn I wish I had warranty, on mine, I'd drive my car over it and wait fro an m17x replacement hehe

 

I just got another one of these while playing StarCraft 2

Last time I got one was in December when I used a driver that idled at high temps.

Ambient temperatures were just 3 degrees (Celsius) higher than usual.

Ugh, I really need to build a desktop. Laptops are useless.

These are stock 8700M GT SLI (idling at 53 C with fans on full via BIOS). My 8800M GTX SLI idled like 10 degrees cooler because I had used AS5, but that finally blew after a year and a half. Looks like I need to try the oven fix asap.

Btw, I'm on 258.96. Any better drivers out yet? These were the only ones that didn't crash all the time because of Adobe Flash.

 

I've been without my 1730 for almost a week.

Waiting for replacement keyboard, motherboard, heat-sink and ac adapter. Have to wait for Tech so they can put in call for LCD Screen (damaged). Won't budge on getting the 8700 Video cards replaced. You know the deal, they say it's not effected. Everything online says they are, blah, blah, blah.

Anyway I first called Friday morning. Had to call back Friday evening and they were supposed to put in a service request for various hardware replacements. Monday they called back to say the system wasn't under warranty and they couldn't help. Took 5 minutes of "Yes it is under warranty, the support sites STATES my warranty is good for another 50+ days" before it finally sunk in and they created the service request.

Remember, Called in Friday and now it's monday so I'm out 3 days from that delay.

The parts were received by the Tech from FedEx Wednesday morning. It's now Thursday afternoon and I haven't heard from the Tech at all.

Chatted with a support rep to see what the hold up was about the tech coming out. Told me that I had to wait for the tech to come out before I call back in with any problems.

What do I do...I have the service request number, do I complain to Dell and ask for a replacement since I"m already out a week and I'll be out even more with the LCD having to be replaced?

HELP....thanks

 

Was wondering if anyone has been able to successfully get Dell to replace their defective Nvidia graphics cards?

And if so, how many hoops did you have to go through?

Also along that same topic, did you get the extended warranty to cover the GPU for an additional year?


Getting the run around from support to get my 8700 video cards replaced, since I still have about 40 days left of my warranty....supposedly they replace the graphics cards AND the motherboard???.. but they won't because the cards are not effected by the lawsuit.

When I push the issue they point me to the nvidia lawsuit web site which..LISTS the 1730 as being effected.

 

only up to 9800mGTX sli

just keep persisting with dell until tech comes out to fix M1730 an make sure tech reports damaged screen,
######also make it very clear to tech about problems have with 8700m########
idea is also get this tech to report problems with 8700m, e.g - if sli sometimes not working is a very good case for dell to have to replace cards.....

device manager sometimes only shows one card is proof - this is how got me 9800mgtx's replaced, tech come out to check in Device Manager first to see missing card then proceed to replace cards,,,(took em about 5 days before they came out to fix)...after tech left lol found some keys not working on keyboard so reinstalled keyboard to fix

Weird...never asked em for extra warranty but they gave me extra year warranty for free for the "Nvidia Issue".
(this free warranty is for replacement cards only)

Bot line- Nvidia cards in our Beasts should last atleast 4 years fault free ... but there not!...so reckon u an ever other M1730 owner deserves a replacement with fault free cards or money back.

Tech that replaced me cards said it didnt cost dell a cent to replace me cards, because there ganna send faulty cards back to Nvidia to make claim for costs of me card replacement.

 

you'll find a company on ebay that does the reballing with lead based soilder

 

Hey guys, me again, I reinstalled windows last month and forgot to install the light FX's stuff, however I've got the software installed and everything is working fine and the lights are on. I am not happy though, the reason for this is LAST TIME i managed to get Alien FX plugin for winamp to work with my laptop and it made for such a better show, the panel light used to flash like a strobe light to bass, and i could set each colour to a frequency.. =/ now the plugin just says no driver found, any help?

i used to get this.