kune

Thanks boss, appreciate it!

According to this 3 month old article (original source here), the HM67 chipset will not support Ivy Bridge CPUs. The Chinese site goes on to say that your mobo needs ME8 firmware to be compatible.

I haven't noticed any mention of this article as of yet, but was away from the interwebs for a few months so forgive my ignorance if this is old.

Any opinions?

Edit: It seems Gigabyte is already rolling out Ivy compatibility updates for their desktop mobos

duty = tax, and you already paid full tax so no duty. That's all customs is allowed to charge without finding fraudulent shipments.

brokerage or handling or whatever is part of the extra money we pay in ordering from .ca

Anyone have link to A04? A07 is messing with my 6970 clocks with autocad/revit

New BIOS revision for the M17x r3 is out, A08. Incredibly fast update considering that A07 got just released about a week ago...

On the Dell site it only says "Support new CPUs", this indicates that the release of the Sandy Bridge refresh is just about to happen.

That's only a guess, but I think it mainly means the i7 2640M, i7 2760QM, i7 2860QM (and i7 2960XM , see also here for more information about these CPUs)

I wonder whether they also already fixed some of the bugs which apparently came with BIOS A07, no further information so far.

Report here about your findings, I'm especially curious whether the 580m throttling issues is still present with this BIOS.

Click here to download BIOS A08

What issues have been reported with A07? I haven't noticed anything more than slight annoyances.

"ON MY HONOR IN EXCHANGE FOR FREE COMPOUND I DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR TO TEST AND POST MY RESULTS"

I would also like to do the CP tests, which I will indicate in my email

...finally decided to plunge after reading entire thread

They honestly look essentially the same.

Just wondering because I would absolutely love to be able to toss a dual (or quad? lol - But yes I'd pay out $100+ for one if it would fit) pipe CPU HS in my 17x-r3!

Is the 18x-r1 HS the same as 17x-r3?

If you need CAD skills, I'm available.

All m17xr3 and m18xr1 come with 3 antennae, even with default wireless card.

Because I had an extra GPU to mess around with.

Memory temps are what dropped, and they dropped by a good 20C ++ vs. the terribad Dell stock pad job. I saw memory temps around 100C before.

Thanks for adding some logic to my bad heatsink idea lol

After pasting my memory chips I noticed they weren't quite touching the heatsink (dell 6970 in m17x, but essentially same as 18x for area over memory).

That said, temps dropped massively vs. pads....even without proper contact.

I was wondering how bad of an idea it'd be if I picked up a thin sheet of copper and affixed it to the heatsink over the memory chips.

1. to close the gap

2. I'd use silver, but it's super expensive. Copper's a decent conductor.

Would really like some input before I do something potentially (more) retarded (than usual).

Biosmod fail

same issue with powerplay, Michael

Nice unboxing, Brian!

EDIT: Couldn't dell get an IPS panel built for it like they did with 17x r2? I would pay a bunch for an upgraded, high end screen. More worthy upgrade than wireless HD broadcasting or Blu-ray IMO.

I'm sure they could, but that doesn't mean they will.

Even their flagship business notebook - the Precision M6600 - is shipping with a 60% gamut screen; though, IPS is available on the 15" M4600.

What are your temps like with 6970, Dane?

:Banane16:

Now I just need HIDevolution to get their page up!

Oh, and ~$4500

What config are you looking for? I'd be willing to order for peoples: The system can be cheaper if purchased from Canada, depending on the config.

2920XM xfire 6970M USD = $3300

2920XM xfire 6970M CAD = $3150

I can't believe it.

base + xfire 6970 is $200 cheaper in Canada than USA.

System is cheaper all around in Canada actually, unless you get it fully loaded with 4 year accidental care.

I just completed my first repasting, thanks to this guide (CPU only)

Used the "credit card" method, and I think I fkd up. Couldn't quite get the MX-4 to a uniform thickness across the CPU.

Temps dropped like 4 degrees under load, which is fairly insignificant (max is now 80C under extreme load @105.71 bclk)

Any advice?

Gas here is $4.35 and up. Thankfully my Mazda gets good gas mileage.

Be thankful you live in USA more than how good the mileage on your mazda is

Gas prices in Ontario Canada are equal to $5.30/gallon (we use liters)

Add in currency conversion and it's ~$5.56/gallon USD

More than $60 CAD to fill up my tank

I hope so too! Same for your replacement!

What was the problem with yours that you asked a replacement?

I wasn't very satisfied with my purchase from the moment I opened the box.

Ordered and paid for, but did not receive the 3D package -- they paid me the difference in refunds though.

media bar ended popping up and scratching my LCD.

track pad was misaligned somehow and ended up denting the LCD or whatever....tru life garbage. There were also 3 or 4 white imperfections in the tru life protection.

bsod on startup if anything was plugged into usb 2.0 ports

Although there were more defects/issues, what really ended up doing it for me was the soft-touch finish peeling/rubbing off -- I'm pretty sure it was from using the provided notebook sleeve.

Sliding the r3 in and out of it 2-3x daily seems likely to cause the damage to the finish; it was only on the corners which is where the bag rubbed the system the hardest.

When you get yours, take note of the texture inside of the bag/sleeve.

That, combined with the chipset recall, lead Dell to offering me a refund of original purchase price after 64 days of ownership. They even let me keep what was previously refunded (3d package + bribe for not sending it back) and offered 20% discount on the purchase of any new alienware system.

Replacement seems fairly solid. My CPU is beastly for a Sandy - I've had my bclk as high as 107.81. So far, I've only spotted 2 issues (one worsened by myself - oops!)

1. No plate under keyboard to cover the top DIMMs. Major flex. I'll have them ship one out.

2. HDD came misaligned. I noticed while secure erasing my OCZ Vertex II, so decided to SE the HDD too. Something went wrong and I ended up perma-locking the drive. Guess I'll have them send me a new one of those, too.

For mine I had to go into the ATI CCC panels and change the settings within the color panels, based on the screen that I've had so far(3 as sad as it may seem) all 3 were slightly different so just play with the settings for your panel to what looks best to you. Now if you're going for the best color reproduction don't ask me as I didn't "tune" it just played with the settings til it looked better. On a side note if Dell ever actually ships it I got the specs on my replacement rig and I have to say I'm very happy Got upgrades on the CPU from a 2630qm to a 2820qm, upgrade from DVD to BR, upgrade from 4gb to 8gb, and have the 6970m/60hz/6300 with standard on the rest :D

What the hell, Dane!

You raped them worse than me!

Let me say, it's super nice to be free of Optimus. This 6970 is smokin!

Dropping by forums to try and figure out how to:

OC this badboy and,

which benches to run (to start the potential addiction) edit: I guess I'll start with vantage

my 2720 pushed to 105.06 with no problems. Can probably go further, but want to bench first!

I wonder if Dell will honor those orders. I have a feeling those M18x orders will be cancelled.

That, sir, would be jokes.

but I must agree. Especially after paying $300 to upgrade from a single 6870 to a single 6970 @r3

I'll call my Dell rep in 2 hours and see what he has to say about this.

If it's true, I'll deny delivery of my r3 (on truck to my house right now) and apply my 20% discount to an 18x

...but I'll have to set aside an extra $2k for chiro bills from carrying this beast around all day!

Well, I confirmed that the prices are real.

Was able to setup an order, but the EDD is way beyond what I absolutely require

It's really too bad that I need a notebook by March 16, or I'd be all over this.

+150CAD for xfire 6970

+50CAD for 330W PSU

No XM offered in Canada

I'll call my Dell rep in 2 hours and see what he has to say about this.

If it's true, I'll deny delivery of my r3 (on truck to my house right now) and apply my 20% discount to an 18x

...but I'll have to set aside an extra $2k for chiro bills from carrying this beast around all day!

My replacement is on a truck on the way to my house right now

https://eshiponline.purolator.com/ShipOnline/Public/Track/TrackingDetails.aspx?pin=AAK007318451

I really hope yours is defect free, Michael!