OFFICIAL: Alienware M17x R3 / R4 - Owners Lounge

[deadbydawn]

haha, yeah, well, it's quite ok for all the trouble i had! like..frying the 6990 due to stupidity ))) ^^

ftw!

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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=47.551810,7.621337

[GeoCake]

The thing that makes me mad is that the 6990M can't be overvolted (on a safe software/vbios level) like the 580M, that's just not fair. The 5870M when overvolted to 1.2v could achieve like 900Mhz +++ on the core? That was pretty sick.

If AMD continue doing this they can piss off from my laptop ¬_¬

[mw86]

The thing that makes me mad is that the 6990M can't be overvolted (on a safe software/vbios level) like the 580M, that's just not fair. The 5870M when overvolted to 1.2v could achieve like 900Mhz +++ on the core? That was pretty sick.

If AMD continue doing this they can piss off from my laptop ¬_¬

1ghz core see the M17x R2 benchmark here he has the sickest mobile gpu overclock in the world via dry ice cool stuff i like the 5870m's i had too

[GeoCake]

1ghz core see the M17x R2 benchmark here he has the sickest mobile gpu overclock in the world via dry ice cool stuff i like the 5870m's i had too

I think AMD cards are more reliable.. I have sent mine to hell and back and it's as good as new. Killed my 580M (at least I think so) within 24 hours of getting it :/

Saw the 1Ghz core benchmark - jizzed in my pants!

[mw86]

i think both can be unreliable. Ive seen Iloveb00bs go through more AMD than Nvidia... I was talking about Amd5870m just got the 580m's recently. Honestly most gpus die from error... Vbios and handling these parts for repastes puts risk out there perhaps that 580m dies from an accident its not obvious when electric discharge damages a component. I had a set of 6970m die and that was due to my own stupidity flashed a undervolted vbios on 3d clocks and it wouldnt boot one day. Now i overvolt or leave stock... Never will undervolt a gpu again.... Ill improve temps somehow before ever undervolting. Honestly its hard to break a gpu overclocking withotu vbios mod or actually ever handling gpu... Not though including all the issues ive seen in m18x systems on early gpus seems motherboard revisions in my opinion could have aided in their demise as the bios ao5 covered overheat issues on AMD so it wasnt that

[deadbydawn]

i just got my new graphics tablet with display. now i'm thinking about putting the adobe master suite on my 17x-r3 (nice big fhd screen compared to my macbook air 11 and macbook pro 13), but i fear about any software on there which could lead to lower system performance. does anyone use their 17x for stuff like that, or only for gaming?

[GeoCake]

I got the Creative Suite 5.5 installed. Made sure to disable all adobe related startup entries via Run -> Msconfig -> Startup so my boot ups are as fast as always.

Working great with no effect on overall laptop performance.

[deadbydawn]

okay great, thanks a lot for your input

[mw86]

I also plan to eventually setup Adobe Suite also and thanks Geocake ill make Adobe services not start at startup perhaps glance at windows services in adminstartor tools and tell some adobe servicea to also not start automatic but manually

[deadbydawn]

installed the master collection and also the cyntiq 12 tablet. disabled all the startup bull"ç*, works like a charm

[Staff Sargent]

I use Adobe, Bryce, Convert X DVD (for videos I shoot) some DVD rip app so I can store digital copies when on the road, I do tons more then just game and push thing this very hard.

[bigtonyman]

I Just wanted to say hey. Been an NBR member for over a year now(same name) and this site seems awesome. Looking forward to seeing how you guys do things here.

[Brian]

I Just wanted to say hey. Been an NBR member for over a year now(same name) and this site seems awesome. Looking forward to seeing how you guys do things here.

Hi Tony, welcome to T|I! Most of us are current and ex-NBR members as well. We've got a very cool and knowledgeable community here, I'm sure you'll fit right in.

[mw86]

I Just wanted to say hey. Been an NBR member for over a year now(same name) and this site seems awesome. Looking forward to seeing how you guys do things here.

Welcome to Tech Inferno its great to have you Enjoy your stay. Nice setup bet your looking forward to the 6990M It's a beast

[bigtonyman]

thanks for the welcome guys, i appreciate it.

[nc88keyz]

new user, NBF seems kinda dull.

I too have wanted an alienware for a long time. Ive read about the r2, r3, and dont get me wrong i like the M18x as well, however, im not in a terrible hurry but getting the urge too.

I have invested about a week in trying to grab a deal at the outlet, but you if you work 9-6 like I do, its nearly impossible to catch it at the right time and while outlet center is open to get 15% off . So i have concluded i must use my 18 years of sales and negotiation skills. This is what I have arrived at. They will not do a penny less then where i am, no bag, no wifi upgrade etc. The 580M is OOS , probably due to transition and the 6990 is plentiful.

So what do you think of my negotiation skills??? Is it advisable to drop the CPU and swap out the 3d bundle and 120Hz/ or keep the cpu boost.

Quote

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I will worry about the memory and ssd upgrades with newegg :) 560m , and 3d 120Hz, 4d bundle, $1589,

580m , and 60Hz screen $1591

Either system will have another 2% DPA and 3% Cashback as well. So it be gettin to b a good price!! Any chance R4 will be 1 inch less on height and RGB LED? 1920x1200 Edited March 11, 2012 by nc88keyz

[Brian]

Hey ncc88keyz, welcome to T|I! The build looks pretty solid to me, the 6990M is a good choice for the R3 since the 580M seems to have some throttling issues at 78C. If you don't mind the lack of 120 hz screen then I'd go for it. If you can afford to wait a bit longer and spend a bit more, I'd say the ideal setup is 120 hz + 580M (with throttle fix) since the 120 hz screen has a higher brightness candle value than the 60 hz one. As for R4, there's no solid information yet but all indicators point to an April 19th release for Kepler (nvidia 600 series). If you can wait a month and a half more, I'd go for the R4 with 675M (which is basically a rebadged 580M but will have higher resale value). If you don't care about resale value, then buy now.

Edited March 11, 2012 by Brian

[mw86]

Much agreed 120hz and 580m would be superb... but as mentioned R4 greater than R3 most likely

[GeoCake]

You lose Optimus with the 3D screen. There's no way I would settle for 2 hours unplugged use! I can pull off 5 hours on battery power using integrated graphics (will not be able to power the 120hz screen).

6990M comes with switchable graphics which is just as good, especially when you have more control over switching.

Edited March 11, 2012 by GeoCake

[nc88keyz]

thanks for all the comments, i see there are some nice outlet deals, one right now with a 580m for a few bucks more than what i am paying new so i know two things, dell wiggles on prices with persistence, and 2. im getting a great deal new in box. As much as it pains me. I might hold with R4, or at the least, wait till 580m is available , maybe downgrade the CPU and ad 50 bucks to the price for the 3d 120hz bundle. I just dont know if i can bring myself to AMD " the darkside" again after all those issues year ago, I kinda on team Geforce.

a risky projet would be purchasing systems from outlet and piecing them together for the ultimate M18X sli machine. it could be done though if you lived in a state dell didnt charge tax. I dont. so its would be real risky for me. for instance buy an 18x with 560m, swap the 560m and take the 580 out of the m17x, pay for one 580m in your new machine. It "could" work with patience.

Its fun to think about it. Im on a 7 year old Acer Travelmate 8200 WLMI. It was a sexy machine when had in the day. I upgraded it to conroe a few years ago, maxed it out . 1600x1050 resolution. Never did upgrade the shitty lcd in this laptop though, Its so dull compared to a 400 notebook these days.

I dont believe in sitting on fence forever, waiting for the best thing to come along, but the R4 is close and I should at least give benefit that dell could have listened to some of the requests.

1920x1200 - RGB LED, not likely, has to do with manufactures and what they are bulk producing these days

new chassis , thiner, aluminum, perhaps for thr m17x,

a 15.4" nope , 14" takes satisfies that market,

GPU refreshes, of course.

waiting for the next best thing, seems like forever,

Owning an alienware, The most anticipated project of 2012 thuse far.

[Brian]

You lose Optimus with the 3D screen. There's no way I would settle for 2 hours unplugged use! I can pull off 5 hours on battery power using integrated graphics (will not be able to power the 120hz screen).

6990M comes with switchable graphics which is just as good, especially when you have more control over switching.

Good point but I personally would give up an hour of battery life for a better screen and gpu. If you plan to unplug the notebook often then optimus may be a good idea.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk

[mw86]

I agree id prefer a nice display and gpus over huge battery life id get a Thinkpad and a slice battery if i prefered long battery

[Staff Sargent]

Have been messing around with drivers and seeing what I can get better performance out of my alien. I was messing around with the myfi stuff and upgraded the drivers to make it work better and found that when I put the machine to sleep or off the WiFi would take up to 2 minutes to connect. So not using the myfi stuff and I went back to dells drivers and the wifi works great now. the myfi thing still works just some settings were lost that I liked. Really wish I had started getting alienware computers long before this.

[mw86]

Yeah the ability to make your own access point for other wifi computers or devices is pretty cool. I noticed same thing about wifi if its been off or in sleep it takes me awhile to get it to correctly connect. im on Dell stock driver but its not been very consistent. Intel 6200. I read in Dell docs in device manager to turn off some of the low power features helps.

[Staff Sargent]

Have been messing around with VMware and created 2 virtual machines and had both up and running and was seriously impressed that overall the machine didn't really feel like I was pushing it to hard. Have had my R3 for about 3 months now and still finding that is has more power then any of my personal machines ever dreamed of having.