Jump to content

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 05/01/11 in all areas

  1. Please let me start by saying I have already written something once but this is starting over from scratch. I received my m14x literally 7 days after I ordered it. It pays to be EPP and have a DPA. I received it on Thursday April 28th. REVIEW: Intro: The M14x details were leaked about 3 weeks prior to release from a Chinese website. Judging by the configuration I dont believe this to be the successor to the M15x, but rather another product to fill a niche market of smaller more portable notebooks. Order: I ordered the M14x, Soft Touch Black, I7-2630qm, Nvidia 555m GT 1.5, 4 GB Ram, 720p screen and the standard 500gb 7200 rpm hd. Arrival: Order arrived by Fedex overnight. The packaging is top class and the notebook arrived in perfect condition. Validation: Powered the M14x and bios and Windows 7 booted quickly. At this point I powered the notebook off with the firm intention to take it apart a bit and swap out the standard 7200 rpm hard drive for a much faster 60gb Corsair Nova SSD. The process took about 10 minutes as you have to remove the battery and optical drive which takes a few extra minutes. The inside is nicely designed and lets face it...Everything is a tight fit due to the size limitations! My one complaint at this point is the spring loaded screws that hold the bottom or base of the m14x to the chassis. One of my screws doesn't fit well and I have never really been a fan of spring loaded screws. Reload: I performed my usual format and reload of the SSD and applied all the drivers from dell as well as the latest graphics drivers from Intel for the HD 3000 series integrated card and the 170.61 driver for the Nvidia 555 mGT. Testing/Benchmarking: Stock the system feels pretty strong. I scored a 1336 in 3dmark11 and was immediately impressed by the different games I have installed. I don't believe in the value of 3dmark06 anymore and therefore didn't install it. (I would be that the m14x scores higher in 3dmark06 but my m15x w/i7-720 and 5850 score higher fps). Note: My best 3dmark11 score is 1732 and I will back this up with pics shortly. 3DmarkVantage score is 8350 at 800/1050. 3Dmark06 score 15751 @ 800/1050. Game Benchmarks: Crysis 2 - Vanilla Extreme 22 fps average at 1366x768 native. Oc the gpu to 750/1000 and add a custom config to remove FSAA, MSAA and AF and the average fps goes up to 31-34 depending on map and enemies. 2011-04-28 22:13:17 - Crysis2 Frames: 1678 - Time: 41559ms - Avg: 40.376 - Min: 29 - Max: 52 (Vanilla High stock Clocks) 2011-04-28 22:14:28 - Crysis2 Frames: 5548 - Time: 155969ms - Avg: 35.571 - Min: 28 - Max: 45 (Vanilla Very high stock clocks) 2011-04-28 22:17:28 - Crysis2 Frames: 1395 - Time: 63071ms - Avg: 22.118 - Min: 0 - Max: 30 (Vanilla Extreme stock clocks) 2011-04-28 22:18:32 - Crysis2 Frames: 740 - Time: 35256ms - Avg: 20.989 - Min: 13 - Max: 30 (Vanilla Extreme stock clocks) 2011-04-28 22:28:33 - Crysis2 Frames: 775 - Time: 33650ms - Avg: 23.031 - Min: 18 - Max: 28 (Extreme with config minus FSAA) 2011-04-28 22:32:10 - Crysis2 Frames: 8320 - Time: 245499ms - Avg: 33.890 - Min: 25 - Max: 42 (Extreme with config minus FSAA and MSAA) OC 750/1000 2011-04-28 22:42:16 - Crysis2 Frames: 1332 - Time: 46457ms - Avg: 28.672 - Min: 21 - Max: 36 (Vanilla Extreme with OC 750/1000) 2011-04-28 22:43:09 - Crysis2 Frames: 1934 - Time: 66238ms - Avg: 29.198 - Min: 22 - Max: 40 (Vanilla Extreme with OC 750/1000) Battlefield Bad Company 2 - MP Map, 32 man Rush 2011-04-29 00:57:05 - BFBC2Game Frames: 13911 - Time: 140042ms - Avg: 99.334 - Min: 69 - Max: 164 (Vanilla Medium OC 770/1000) 2011-04-29 01:00:44 - BFBC2Game Frames: 8434 - Time: 148356ms - Avg: 56.850 - Min: 22 - Max: 84 (vanilla high OC 770/1000) 2011-04-29 01:08:44 - BFBC2Game Frames: 5977 - Time: 132226ms - Avg: 45.203 - Min: 32 - Max: 72 (vanilla high stock) 2011-04-29 01:13:40 - BFBC2Game Frames: 7562 - Time: 139091ms - Avg: 54.367 - Min: 39 - Max: 86 (vanilla high oc 750/1000) Call Of Duty Black Ops: Very playable at all levels. Here are some numbers again recorded with FRAPS logging while playing full MP TDM Sessions. 2011-04-29 17:29:35 - BlackOpsMP Frames: 39923 - Time: 469813ms - Avg: 84.976 - Min: 59 - Max: 94 (1366x768, Texture High, No AA/AF, Trilinear, Stock GPU) 2011-04-29 17:46:38 - BlackOpsMP Frames: 29408 - Time: 438051ms - Avg: 67.134 - Min: 46 - Max: 95 (1366x768, Texture Extra, 16AA/AF--max, Trilinear, Stock GPU) HOMEFRONT: Outstanding Performance! Homefront Benchmark - System Settings: 2630qm @ 103.1 bclk, 555 1.5 @ 750/900, driver 170.61 whql. PHSYX set to auto detect and went active in game (notification window) Game settings, DX9, all high, all visual options enabled (only vsync disabled), no AA or AF, 1366x768 (native) Full 32 man session, Battle Commander, ping @100ms or less 2011-05-05 22:54:04 - HOMEFRONT Frames: 26113 - Time: 430579ms - Avg: 60.646 - Min: 43 - Max: 81 Temps: During Gameplay at OC levels the GPU reaches 72-74c and the CPU 82c. Palmrests - The softouch gets a bit hot during gaming and can over 100f. Screen: Screen is quality for a 720p display. It does exhibit the "glare" that also plagues the m11x. DVD's look nice on it as well as HD720p video. Noise: The m14x is very loud at performance levels. I mean loud. To compare it, have your wife turn on her blow dryer at low and it's that loud. Seriously. I do not recommend any game or performance activities while in class or at library! Overall - Having the machine now for over 72 hours I give it a 8 out of 10. The 2 marks off are for FAN NOISE.
    5 points
  2. 2 points
  3. With regards to benchmarking methods, that's what we also employ. However, with "dynamic" benchmarking, we use single player (e.g. bad company 2) at a certain scene so that the results are as close to each other as possible. We typically run 3 FRAPs tests and then average those out.
    1 point
  4. I had a lot of rep there... if you look me up it was up to like 8 or 9 green boxes and a number 19 whatever that means... Says I have 943 rep points if you look me up. I am not banned there but I might as well be. Stevenx
    1 point
  5. Yes... Charles P Jeffries can kiss my ass. I spent hours upon hours benchmarking the m15x and the m14x. Said my posts were spam and to stop posting so much. Apparently when your Avatar is Bobba Fett the professionalism goes right down the Rancor's mouth. StevenX
    1 point
  6. Dååth , From the Blind (without drums and vocals)
    1 point
  7. I don't remember hearing Dell changed the screens on M11x (correct me if I am wrong), they just did something to the hinge. So, assuming it's the same type of screen as on R1, this is how it looks like vs Thinkpad X200t with the glossy screen (w/ anti-reflectivity layers): Btw, this is taken in a pretty dark room.
    1 point
  8. Next in line for a Class Action Suit following the PSN debacle
    1 point
  9. Like on gas? Here it jumped from $3.70 straight to $4.15. Nothing in between. 10:30 am it jumped two days ago. /rant Given the 18x price tag, Id be interested on thier launch sales. I just want to see the bios
    1 point
  10. after taking the 2 screws off, just slide the panel down and left it up. super easy. yup only 2 screws holding panel in place. just did this earlier when i was checking for the widi leads.
    1 point
  11. They got porn sites that are iPhone compatible I think lol.
    1 point
  12. I will make a video of the mod and post all the material but it's a 5050 RGB LED, just type that in google and click images and you will get a pic of it. When I have time, I'll make a detail explanation of what I am planning to do.
    1 point
  13. Brian- Who would have thought we would be looking at a $4500 price tag for your config. OUCH!!! I still want a gaming laptop with a lighted keyboard (not Asus)
    1 point
  14. Thanks! I've been stalking this beast even before Eric G. announced it. I'm so addicted to it, I've been going through all kinds of reviews of anything that is Alienware. This beast will be replacing my 6 years old AMD Athlon 64 x2 Dual Core 4600/ATI 1950 xtx desktop, and it will be my first laptop ever. Actually, I've been planning on buying an Alienware ever since I've started watching unboxing videos of it on YouTube 9 months ago, which led me to watch a comparison video of yours regarding 5870m vs 4870m. Yes, I'm THAT much hooked. On a side note, I'm really happy about the IGP, but I'm not sure how I feel about the screen. My own 4 years old 24 inch LCD suffers from washed out colors and LOTS of backlight bleeding. I hope it's nothing less than gorgeous. Since I'll be replacing my desktop, I don't care about size or weight as long as it's somewhat portable, so I'm hoping they won't downclock anything for the sake of a 240 watt power brick. However, I really hope heat isn't an issue, as I will be going with 2x 6970m. Also, I've seen one too many processors benchmarks to know that the 2920xm is overrated; 2720 offers amazing performance, which is almost comparable to the 2920, for a lot less $. Last but not least, I hope purchasing an M18x R1 won't make me a lab genuine pig for a way better M18x R2.
    1 point
  15. Welcome to T|I's forum. We weren't given a release date, only "May". So it's anybody's guess right now and mine is around 5-24.
    1 point
  16. I will wait for the M18x-R2 (winning... like Charlie Sheen LOL)
    1 point


  • Newsletter

    Want to keep up to date with all our latest news and information?
    Sign Up
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.