steviejones133

I wonder, now that there appears to be a newer ROM, wether this would now work on the M18x R1 to enable TRIM for raided SSD's - the latest RST 12.5 is now up on Intel's website and there was a newer ROM posted over on Station Drivers.com:

www.station-drivers.com • Afficher le sujet - A gift for you guys! (Latest Intel RST & ROM) & https://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=2101&DwnldID=22676&keyword=Intel+Rapid+Storage+Technology+%28Intel+rst%29〈=eng

It would be great if this could work somehow - maybe worth someone with the "know-how" to have a look to see if it's possible or not....I know that previous attempts did not work.

FYI, new version of NvFlash for Windows: NVFlash 5.134.0.1 for Windows

Try again now - you need to make 5 quality posts to download attachments.

Sent you some beer money, svl7 - thanks for all your (and anyone else's) hard work on the vBios files, really came in handy for me and my M18x R1 upgrade to 680m SLI. Thanks a bunch, it's not a fortune, just for you to have a drink on me.......

Hi Svl7, what's the new feature in the latest DELL 680M 80.04.5B.00.02 bios version?

If I'm right, it's basically just the fact that they now enable Secure/UEFI boot to work properly - no other noticeable differences, as far as I am aware.

Ahhh - cheers for that, Bro.

Quick question here, for the vBios guru's

Is the latest 5.127 DOS version of NVFLASH okay to use for vBios flashing from USB or is it best advised to use the older version posted (5.117) on the first post ??

Hiya guys,

Wow, it's been a while since I posted - although I have lurked for a good while now. Just wanted to say that everyone here is doing a really great job. I'm gonna try and be more regular so I hope to be able to contribute more and be a valued member of T|I.

Logically one would assume that a dual card system should be replaced with a similar dual card one. However, the way Dell handles it is convoluted: If you have a model that is discontinued (e.g. M15x) they have the option of giving you an M17x as a replacement as a step up. If you have an M17x-R2, they have the M17x-R3 as the newer revision even though the system is obviously NOT the real successor to R2. The M18x is considered a separate more premium model and you have to fight tooth and nail with Dell to convince them to give you that option. It can be done so fight them on it until you get your way.

Oh I will fight with Dell, thats for sure. Done enough of that already LOL, seasoned pro here!

There is no way on earth that Im gonna accept an R3 for my "vastly more powerful" R2 .... its easy to see that c/f 5870 beats a single 460m or 6970m quite handsomely....obvioulsy, due to the "makeup" of the R3, it cant have another card "added" to make it more powerful (not that I know of anyway) so that really only leaves the option of another R2 or an M18x.

We will see how it goes.....will keep you posted.

lol they might offer you an outlet R2, be careful! More than likely if they offer a different system, it will be the M17x-R3, for some reason they don't readily offer M18x because it's considered a separate line of AW (M18x vs M17x). One of our mods here successfully convinced them to do it but he had a huge sum of money invested in the system (around $5000+).

Dunno how they can compare an R3 to an R2....its nowhere close being a single gpu setup...plastic fantastic to boot. Does a single 6970m considerably wail on the 5870xf? - I dont think so! - My impression about replacements was like for like....in each area. If not possible, then the next best thing, but not a downgrade...which is exaclty what going from a dual gpu rig to a single gpu rig would be if im not mistaken?

Also, wether i was offered an R3 or M18x, I would be losing out on the rgbled I currently have....surely to god that should count for something!

Heck, my system at time of purchase was £3500gbp retail....thats over $5k........

Cheers guys.

Yeah, finding apples to apples was proving impossible for mobile versions of the cards. I think I will just have to go along the lines of single card comparisons and maybe use the notebookcheck crappy info that shows the two providing fairly similar results but one with a f-ing desktop cpu and masses more ram.

Who knows, I may not even get the offer of one....knowing my luck, they will offer me a Dell Streak.....

Hi guys, probably been done to death, this one...but I could do with some info. I am looking for as much info as possible as to which of the above two configurations is the more superior.

Ive been on a few reviews etc but cant seem to find a DIRECT comparison of them side by side that is not biased in any way.

I have checked the info on notebookcheck for both set ups and whislt NBC have it listed above the 5870's , with a little bit more digging into the setups they used whilst "testing" the both, seems that although the figures show that the sli is better, the rigs used are vastly different and provide incomparable results.

5870's

[X] HellMachine (HD 5870 Crossfire)

Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6GHz

Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Crossfire (700MHz), 2x 1024MB (1000MHz) GDDR5, 8.753.0.0 (10.10)

4096MB RAM

460m's

[X] XMG U700 ULTRA

Intel Core i7 (Desktop) 950 3.1GHz

GeForce GTX 460M SLI (675MHz), 2x 1536MB (625MHz) Shadertakt: 1350 MHz, GDDR5, ForceWare 259.51

12288MB RAM

Obviously, there is a huge advantage for the 460m's in this test as the rig has a desktop 950 vs a 720qm....and also 12gb Ram vs 4gb Ram.

Based on the figures I looked at for Metro 2033 on Ultra, they both come out at 18 to 18.5fps.....

So, on that conclusion, seeing as how Metro 2033 is a very cpu dependant title, it seems apparant to me that its an extremely unfair advantage to provide these results using such vastly different cpu's.

Im just trying to get it straight - I have 5870's now and IF someone offered me a system with gtx460m Sli, I personally, would consider that to be a backwards step.

If anyone can give me some feedback on this, that would be great...any links for additional comparisons greatly appreciated.

I wonder how the 460's would compare to the 5870's if they were tested on an identical rig? - anyone??

TIA

Stevie.