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Hello all. I just received a 3920xm CPU for use in my M17x R4. After a bit of standard tinkering it is working great! With the addition of this new CPU, I have some new options visible in my modded A10 BIOS by svl7. The Advanced CPU Control window now shows "Config TDP Configurations" at the bottom. I will post some screenshots of these new options, which I have to do anything with. Here's my question: HwInfo64 shows my new CPU's microcode revision number as 10. I'm used to seeing 15 there, as revision 15 is included with the A10 version of the system BIOS. I'd like to load microcode revision 15 onto this new CPU by repeating my original procedure for loading A10 modded BIOS - but I'm not sure if the XM CPU's have a different version of the microcode. If I attempt to update the 3920xm's microcode with the copy included in the A10 BIOS, will that cause problems? Will I perhaps lose any XM functionality of this CPU? Sorry if that's a dumb question but this is my first XM CPU!!

Hello. I've been tinkering with this issue for a couple months now, and wondering if anyone can shed some light or help think of something I have not. Purchased new M17x R4 from Dell, roughly 3 months ago. Unit has i7 3740 CPU and AMD 7970m GPU. I Added 240GB Mushkin SSD for boot and slaved the original 750GB drive into the secondary bay for data. Upgraded original 1600MHz RAM to 16GB (4x4GB) of Kingston's HyperX 2133MHz DDR3. The 2133MHz RAM does run - and passes all stress/performance tests with flying colors but is generally "finicky" at POST. Laptop likes to come on for a few seconds and then shut back off until a successful POST happens after a few tires. Once it's worked once, it works fine from then on - until you change something related to hardware configuration/settings. I read the wiki page for modern BIOS POST process and I'm thinking this "working fine once it's worked" behavior could be due to BIOS building a "hardware table" that it can then just read from instead of enumerating and detecting everything from scratch - until something changes. I have verified to my own satisfaction that it's not defective RAM. I purchased some extra sticks and observed same behavior with only new sticks installed. Another note - the 2133MHz RAM will function without this issue if forced into 1866MHz mode in BIOS (but I don't want to do that unless I absolutely have to.) Now, for most purposes, it's fine to just leave everything as-is and once I've tried a few power-ups and gotten a successful POST (sometimes it even works the first time after tinkering) all is well. The one place it's an issue is with manual graphics switching. I have the AMD 7970m card with Enduro (which sucks for certain games unless Enduro is disabled.) I don't want to leave the laptop in exclusive dGPU mode all the time because I do use it on battery at times and the discrete mode cuts battery life nearly 50%... so I switch modes with the Fn+F7 and reboot method when I want to play certain games. This causes a full reset and the failing at POST behavior is observed when the unit tries to power back on (in discrete or switchable mode - it's the ACT of switching that's the issue.) Final note - I use svl7's modified A10 BIOS (have verified same behavior with stock BIOS versions A05 and A10) so I have a lot of available options I can tinker with. Here are the things I've found that INCREASE stability (lessen the chances of the failure at POST, or the number of times it will repeat:) Reduce power limits on the CPU in the Performance menu (this helps but even at lowest stock settings, does not quite alleviate 100%) In advanced CPU power options menu, change boot performance mode from "Max Performance" to "Max Battery." In advanced CPU power options menu, apply a current limit setting of 160 (20 amps) to 2nd plane current limit (integrated GPU.) The fact that these things make an impact suggests that available power at time of POST may be a component of the problem. I do own 2x 240w PSU's and same behavior is observed with both, as is on battery. I wonder if the issue could have to do with the 7970m card not supporting power gating? I have observed that if I hang out in BIOS for a while, the 7970 card gets extremely hot - so it's definitely sucking back the juice at boot time! Once I exit and Windows begins to load, the GPU fan will then spin up fast for a few seconds to cool the chip. It runs cool then-on unless under stress. Adding voltage to the RAM (1.55v vs. the standard 1.5v) DOES NOT help, and in fact decreases stability. If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions, I'd much appreciate! -Adieu, Angie.

First I would like to say ive been roaming this forum for a short time now and it is a wonderful place a great deal better then other forums that shall not be named *cough* NBR *cough*. Never the less I thought I would post this to tell people about Alienware's Warranty. My story begins with a m17x R1 I received it for a gift and like any self respecting gamer I was excited to say the least. The specs on the laptop were a core 2 duo t9600 @ 2.8. 5400 RPM hard drive a Nvidia 260m and a 1920X1200 LCD Screen 4gigs of RAM. Well to save me from typing a whole five pages of info it was giving me problems from the day I received it. Locking up during game play just not a good experience for my first alienware. Luckily I bought a Warranty the day I received it and called Alienware and they sent out a tech to replace the mobo and Video Card and problems still arose. So after reading and rereading my Warranty I found a clause that states that if a tech has been sent to your house more then twice and your PC has been sent to a depot to be fixed and still has issues you are to be issues a replacement (This is not how it was written just in non lawyer speak lol ). As I told alienware this they soon agreed and sent me a replacement A M17x R2 with the specs of a Core I7 920XM @ 2.0 - 3.2 Turbo a 7200 HDD a AMD 5870 HD and a 1920X1200 RGB screen Nebula Red. I thought wow alienware isent so bad they gave me a huge upgrade well three months past with no issues at all and then a BIOS update came along and as I started to flash mid flash my computer powers off. Anyone in tech knows it is not a good thing I tried to turn it back on and not to my surprise the BIOS chip wasn't working properly. Called Dell they sent a Tech with a replacement for everything Mobo, video card, HDD, RAM you name it. After it would not boot up (bad mobo) The tech told me a little secret since Dell and alienware a now one and the same alienware call centers are no more unless you can get the one in Costa Rica. This is the only call center thet "Alienware" has that is purely for Alienware laptops not XPS or any other computer. The tech told me how they will go to the ends of the earth to please you. I did not want to go through another month of not having a laptop like I did with my R1 so I called the number and spoke to the gentlemen the tech told me to, after I told him all the trouble I have gone though there was a pause and then the person said "I am So very Sorry Sir" and then he said you have been though more trouble then most people I know. and said here is what I am going to do for you. After about thirty minutes of talking and most of it was about video gaming a order was placed for a M17x R3 Core I7 2630QM @ 2.0 - 2.8 Turbo a Nvidia 580M a Samsung SSD and 8 gigs of dual Channel Ram along with the WLED 1920X1080 screen. The Manager told me he would upgrade me to a higher CPU but by regulations if they give you a max setting on one thing such as the 580m they can not upgrade anything else. (which I was fine with). After all the talking he told me never to call the 1866 number ever again just to email him and it would get taken care of. Some people might view it has more of a downgrade R2 Vs R3 result but hey the way i see it i have one of the best mobile video cards and a SSD for free thats a good 500 - 800 dollar savings Im good with that. This is my story of how even though some dell reps can be stubborn or just hard headed know your rights as a costumer and always read the warranty.

Guess we needed one of these too. I've had my M17x-R3 on order since March 7th (went into production March 8th) and when I call the order status line, it tells me my system already shipped on March 28th (I guess I must have dialed into the future via a black hole at Dell HQ) and I should expect it by March 30th. From Michael:

Dun dun dun... I guess they wanted Tech|Inferno to teach them how to do a cooling mod for their R1/R2? LOL!!! There's going to be some more M17x articles featured on the front page along with a review of Asus G73 soon! The official launch of the page and forum isn't until Friday so those of you that are here right now are by special invitation...don't you feel special?

https://picasaweb.google.com/109631313223265896524/RGBLEDVsWLED#slideshow/5443905378279244610 This was done without calibrating either monitor. Thoughts? It's a shame Dell got rid of RGB LED so quickly for the Studio XPS 16.

Information originally from my Wikia site which is no longer available for use. Thus I have migrated the information to our new forum: United States Casing * Y750M - Dell Alienware m17x Silver LCD Back Cover * J226N - Dell Alienware m17x Black LCD Back Cover * Y727M - Dell Alienware m17x Silver Bottom Base Cover Assembly * J180N - Dell Alienware m17x Black Bottom Base Cover Assembly * J181N - Dell Alienware m17x Red Bottom Base Cover Assembly * 8MK45 - Center Control Power Button Cover / Hinge Cover * KGR2D - Touchpad/Palmrest * C395N - Bottom Cover Assembly RAM * W795M - MOD,DIMM,8GB,1333MHZ,DDR3,2X4G Miscellaneous * F836R - Alienhead Mousepad * N329P - Alienware Generic Nameplate Alienware m17x Motherboard * F415N - Dell Alienware m17x Laptop Motherboard (System Mainboard) * F421N - Dell Alienware m17x Mulitmedia Audio Ports USB IO Circuit Board Alienware M17x-R1 CPU * D720P - Module, Processor, Core Penryn QX9300, ANW NBK GPU * D684N - ATI RADEON MOBILITY 4870 CFX (DUAL) Hard Drive * H375M - Module, Solid State Drive, 256 S2, 2.5, RBAM, Across Line Of Business * F584N - HDD 1 Caddy Set o Y248M ASSEMBLY..., BRACKET..., HDD, SECOND..., M17X o F673N CONNECTOR..., Serial ATA..., 22P, FEMALE..., S, FEMALE..., INTERPOSER o D837T SCREW..., M3.0.5P, L3, ANW, M17X * HYT0K - Module, Bracket, HDD, FOAMKIT, M17X Optical Drive * Y329J - Module, Dvd+/-rw, Sony Nec Optiarc Inc., BARE, Alienware Wireless * C771R - Module, Card, Network, AW1510, United States * MGNNT - Module, Card, Network, 370, Foxconn, Consumer Notebook, Dell Americas Organization Keyboard * Y573P - Module, Keyboard, Alienware United States, England, M17X Dao/bcc Screen * K001R - Module, Liquid Crystal Display, 17.0 Wide Ultra Extended Graphics Array, Alienware, M17X FM Tuner * YC8XT - Module, Tuner, Software, TVT11 NTSC, Advanced Television System Committee Battery * T780J - Module, Battery, Primary, 85WHR 9C, Dynapack International Technology Corp AC Adapter * K972H - MODULE..., ADAPTER..., ALTERNATING CURRENT..., 240W/210W, DELTA - AC ADAPT..., WORLD WIDE... * N971H - MODULE..., CORD..., POWER..., 125V, 2M, C13, UNITED STATES... Software * WR9G4 - MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., W7U64, DIGITAL VIDEO DISK DRIVE..., MULTI-LANGUAGE..., ANW * W871N - Module, Software, WINDOWS-LIVE Consumer * D9KVP - MODULE..., SOFTWARE..., QUICK FIX ENGINEERING..., WIN7, CNB * H919R - Module, Media, Resource Dvd, Alienware, M17X Alienware M17x-R2 Battery * W075J - Battery, Primary, 85WHR, 9C Lithium, Dynapack InternationalTechnology Corp * D582J - 9-cell Primary Battery Keyboard * 8WK6F - Keyboard, Alienware, 101, ENG-US, Personal Computer CPU * G335R - Intel Core i7 820QM * MM14W - Intel Core i7 940XM Screen * K1NFP - 17" Samsung RGBLED (1920x1200) 1200p WUXGA * 9PHFF - 17.0" UltraSharp WUXGA (1920x1200) 1200p RGBLED Display with TrueLife Hard Drive * H608T - 500GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive * H609T - 500GB 7200RPM 2nd SATA Hard Drive * K256M - Solid State Drive, 256GB, S2 2.5, Samsung, RBAM * 9JPNY - HD Bracket + Foamkit (should have interposer and screws) Optical Drive * TR555 - Dvd+/-Rw, 8X, Serial Ata, SLOT, Sony Nec Optiarc Inc. * CDKX3 - Slot Load Blu-ray BD-R, BD-RE / DVD+/-RW Drive with DVD+R double RAM * X830D - Dual In-Line Memory Module, 4GB1333MHZ, 512X64, 8K, 200 Wireless * 4W00N - Intel Ultimate N WiFi Link 6300 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO Technology * K5Y6D - Broadcom BCM94313HMG2L half size mini PCI wireless network card (Quad mode 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N) * M960G - Bluetooth Module Video Cards * ATI Radeon 5870 Mobility o F603N - Left Fan o F605N - Right Fan o C8245 - 5870, primary - (goes on left side) o RV546 - 5870, secondary with cable and heatsinks (goes on right side) * NVidia® GeForce® GTX 285M o F2T8J - SLI™ Dual 1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 285M AC Adapter * J938H - 240W AC Adapter * 5120P - Cord, Power, 125V, 6Feet, SJT..., Unshielded Documentation * WRD6T - User Manual * DW6RN - Software/etc