*OFFICIAL* M17x R3 Owner's Lounge Thread - Part 3

[Roykirk]

I always had issues with ATI drivers... I found Nvidia do a better job maintaining and keeping drivers current. I running the machine in my sig and playing skyrim and it is still a nice experience... That is why I chose the 580....

My experience has been the same. I finally tried an ATI card on my last desktop and found that the drivers were just not up to the quality of Nvidia. Neither company's drivers are perfect, but I've had less trouble with Nvidia over the years. At this point in time I won't buy ATI.

It's why I went with the 460M over the ATI back in March when I got my R3. I was willing to sacrifice some performance for stability. Other than a lack of support for Optimus over a period several months I've been quite happy, and now the Optimus support is there too.

[long2905]

The 6990M is my first entry into AMD/ATI. Though i got a brief moment with 6870M. Personally i struggled with the driver at first but then i grow to it and the interface now seems somewhat a bit more slick to me, with built in overclock tool. YMMV.

[RayCPH]

Hey guys, My order just got cancelled by Dell because my card payment got declined. After sorting it out, I am going to reorder again. Before purchasing again, I would like to know whether I should stick with i7 2630 and upgrade the GPU to the 580m or should I upgrade my 2630 and stick with the nvidia 560??
I would be using it for a variety of stuff but I just started to do more hardcore gaming(I use to only play FIFA 12) like COD and stuff but I would also need to use it for CAD for my university course. Thanks.

[Zyzzerzazz]

I very recently ordered an M17x (R2 I beleive) and look forward to receiveing it on the 15th next week. That said, as this is a Dell machine I expect it to be loaded with trial and support software that I really dont want. So I think I will want to do a clean install of Win7 Ultimate.

Aside from that, what else can I expect to do first when I get it? I read the guide on the Owners Lounge amd will make a Recoverable Media disc prior to doing the new Win7 install. After a clean install I will problably look for new drivers. But what else should I plan on doing or know of?

Sorry for the vauge/simple questions but this is my first real laptop purchese and I dont want to do anything dumb or not do somthing smart.

Thanks, (I hope there is not an existing thread out there that adresses these concerns)

Here is te unit details:
Alienware M17x Soft-Touch, Stealth Black
Intel Core i7 2670QM 2.2GHz (3.1GHz w/Turbo Boost, 6MB Cache)
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz (4DIMMS)
Alienware M17x 240W A/C Adapter
17.3-inch WideFHD1920 x 1080 60Hz WLED
2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M
500GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s
Custom Nameplate
Personalized Nameplate Trigger
AlienFX Color, Plasma Purple
Alienware Command Center Software, M17X
DataSafe Local BackUp
PC Restore
DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit Service Pack 1, English, w/Media
Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0 Multi-Language
Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Roxio Creator Starter,No Media
Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming and Video
Anti-Virus included With Dell Advantage Care
Dell Hardware Limited Warranty, Initial Year
Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Plus In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis, Initial Year
1 Year Limited Warranty
No Warranty, Year 2 and 3
Soft Contracts Service Hardware Agreement for Alienware
Warranty Support, Initial Year
S and P Drop-in-Box Marcom forDHS Notebooks

[SlickDude80]

of those choices, go with the 2630 and 580m. For gaming the 2630 is plenty. Then in the future, if you want more CPU, they are easily found on ebay for a fraction of what you would get charged at Dell. GPUs are alot more expensive away from Dell

You can use my CPU guide in my sig as a reference

that's an R3

The first thing i'd do? install your favorite game and give it a whirl. If you suffer any performance throttling which is common with the 580m, you'll need to employ a fix easily found here

[bigtonyman]

of those choices, go with the 2630 and 580m. For gaming the 2630 is plenty. Then in the future, if you want more CPU, they are easily found on ebay for a fraction of what you would get charged at Dell. GPUs are alot more expensive away from Dell

You can use my CPU guide in my sig as a reference

yup the base quad-core is more than enough for gaming and such. 580m would be the best upgrade you can get for this laptop minus getting the 1080p screen. That should be the last thing that you sacrifice on this laptop.

[The Revelator]

Alienware computers are blessedly free of the bloatware common to Dell consumer models, so there is no need to do a clean Windows 7 install. Just do Windows update (there will be a lot) and then at your convenience check the Dell Support board for updated drivers; in too many instances, AW continues to use older drivers for factory installations long after newer drivers are released. Then add your favorite programs, games and utilities and play.

[catacylsm]

LOVE AND CHERISH IT,

And you will probably love playing with the keyboard!

[Zyzzerzazz]

Ok cool - So dont worry about the OS being loaded with pre-loaded junk that would be easier to reformat vs deleting?
How did you know it was a R3 btw?
Finally, what would the symptoms of throttling look like with the GPU issue?

[bigtonyman]

Ok cool - So dont worry about the OS being loaded with pre-loaded junk that would be easier to reformat vs deleting?
How did you know it was a R3 btw?
Finally, what would the symptoms of throttling look like with the GPU issue?

one thing about alienware is that they don't put any bloatware on their laptops. As to symptoms of throttling, you will see frame-rates suddenly drop at random. If you think you have it do a furmark run to double check.