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Excellent write up @Brian, [MENTION=119]Mr. Fox[/MENTION]. Some interesting results you guys have compiled there. Only complaint is to try to keep the colors the same in the charts throughout. In the Sleeping Dogs chart you have blue=min, red=avg. But then you switch it up for the rest and have red=max and green=avg. I suggest keeping them the same throughout as it confuses the reader when he/she has to re-read the legends in the tables (i.e. keep blue=min, red=avg and green=max throughout). Otherwise nice job you two.

.If you're interested why not all modified BIOS versions can be flashed the 'usual' way with the official tools, read this:http://forum.techinferno.com/alienware/2252-information-about-bios-updates-a07-a08-higher-m14xr2-m17xr4-m18xr2.html M18x R2 - 'unlocked' BIOS versions The following BIOS of the Alienware M18x have been modified so that all hidden menus and options are visible. It will allow you to further tweak your system and optimize its peformance. Most of the options are only meant for advanced users. Don’t change anything you’re not sure about. It's possible that you see options which don’t work for your system, so be careful when changing settings. In case you mess up and your system refuses to boot applying new settings, remove the AC adapter, battery and coin cell battery in order to clear the non-volatile ram of the BIOS. This should fix most issues. *UPDATE*Instructions: There are two ways to flash the modified BIOS: Downgrade to stock A03 by using the USB recover procedure. (Thanks @Scott Matusow for summarizing the procedure). Make sure to closely follow the instructions, and wait until the system is done with the flash. Once you're on A03 flash the modified BIOS using the regular way (using the tools provided by Dell)..This method seems to work very well on the M18x R2, at least as long as you do as instructed. It can be a bit scary though since you can't see what's happening. .. Flash the BIOS from DOS with the FPT tool. This will only flash the BIOS part and leave out the EC and so on. It's a really safe option when done properly and less scary since you see the progress and information on the screen. For the USB recovery method follow the instructions in the link above. Second possibility - flashing from DOS: Prepare an USB drive so that it can boot DOS. If you don't know how to do this, check the instructions in the spoiler. . Grab the DOS version of fpt for flashing, and my 'prr tool' to circumvent write protection.. Download a '[FPT]' labeled version of the unlocked BIOS. Put the DOS version of the flash tool on the root of the prepared USB stick (fpt.exe and fparts.txt), along with the prr.exe and the file you want to flash (plus the included flash.bat). . Restart the system and boot from your USB stick. Run prr.exe, then flash the bios by executing the flash.bat file. Wait until the tool completes the flash. If the verification is okay, reboot, else flash again.. Go to the bios, load the default settings and reboot. Done. NOTE: If you want to use an unlocked BIOS newer than A03 I highly recommend to first flash the desired version of the unmodified BIOS (grab it at the Dell download site). Once you're on the version you want to unlock, follow the DOS flashing procedure described above. If you want to go A03 or earlier, the best thing to do is using the USB recovery method. Here two pics of the most interesting options: ********** Thanks @Riri-Fifi for the pics and testing! Thanks @johnksss for testing my prr tool! ********* Flash and use at your own risk. I don't take any responsibility for possible damage on your system. ___ The software which I provide here ('prr tool') comes with absolutely no warranty to the extent permitted by applicable law. Download the bios files referened in this post from here:

What it's like in NY now. Emergency vehicles driving through rivers of water. The crane is near my building. My friend's car in upper Brooklyn. Flooded MTA subway in Jersey. Another pic of cars in lower Manhattan. Still no power south of 30th.

You can, implications... no picture in windows or crash. So no... not a solution when you have a Dell card.

Hahaha..maybe a few vapes sitting next to them and a cloud of smoke too. I'll take the pics at b00bs house.

No throttling. Real Game Play

figured it out last night. Ok to clarify steps and processes. 1. you need to enable UEFI and Disable legacy. 2. Enable windows Fast boot 3. Disable secure boot 4. either you need to follow the steps within this link to create a UEFI usb boot or you need an actual UEFI formatted DVD. from here if you are running your SATA in ACHI you should be good to install after this. IF YOU ARE RUNNING SATA IN RAID MODE YOU WILL NEED TO PRELOAD THE LATEST RAID DRIVERS FROM INTEL ONTO A USB. My problem with not seeing any drives was due to running SATA in RAID mode. once I supplied drivers to the windows setup it was able to see my drives. Once you have completed your Win8 install return to the bios and enable Secure boot. Fast boot will auto enable within win8 my shutdown and startup times are now 5- 8 seconds(from button press to start menu icons).

Joined site the other month on my tablet. Good old username typo. Regardless TI has a wealth of information and very intelligent users including hardware hackers. Great place to pick up info. I don't post much but I have occasionally on nbr and xda. Will continue lurking and reading the threads here on TI Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

I'm trying to perform a fresh UEFI install from media and my system is not showing any boot able media. I've got windows 8 install burned onto a DVD from an iso created by the windows 8 store app. I've also got the boot-able win8 usb stick (have tried with NTFS and Fat32) I've set the bios to UFEI I've tried toggleing Legacy support: Enable/Disable Secure Boot: Enable/Disable Windows 8 fast boot:Enable/Disable Add boot:First/Last/Auto Nothing seems to work anyone like to shed some light on this new A09 BIOS and UEFI options?

working great now, could of just been i was too friggin baked, hahah

Wow, great article guys. I was kind of outdated concerning graphic cards, but now I know what to buy, if I had spare money. ConkersGrillforce1337 posted a windows 7 windows 8 performance comparison yesterday. Would be interesting to see if this has the same effects on your benchmarks.

mww86, Michael, StamastiX & svl7- Thanks for the warm welcome everybody! This type of "welcome" coming from you "highly respected guys" makes feel quite at home. Can't wait to start hitting the threads that will help me on my current M17xR2 build. It was initially supposed to be a somewhat long-term plan it terms of doing the upgrades, but I guess I was bitten by the "upgrade bug", as I've deviated from my plan and somewhat sped things up. LOL! I guess this is what sometimes happens.