The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    M14x shuts off randomly when unplugged

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by Kluchy, Mar 20, 2013.

  1. Kluchy

    Kluchy Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    14
    Messages:
    88
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Hey guys, I mainly play BF3. When I play unplugged after a little while my machine shuts off. However when I boot it back up the battery is not dead. It only turns off while I am gaming and unplugged. Also it wont boot by it self I have to plug it in to get it to boot up again?

    Any help?
     
    Kluchy, Mar 20, 2013
    #1
  2. Alienware-L_Porras

    Alienware-L_Porras Company Representative

    Reputations:
    3,658
    Messages:
    6,874
    Likes Received:
    969
    Trophy Points:
    281
    Try updating the BIOS to the latest version, if that doesn't help send me a PM and I'll help you as much as I can.
     
    Alienware-L_Porras, Mar 21, 2013
    #2
  3. Kluchy

    Kluchy Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    14
    Messages:
    88
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I am on the latest version of bios and it still is happening.
     
    Kluchy, Mar 22, 2013
    #3
  4. Kluchy

    Kluchy Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    14
    Messages:
    88
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I think it is due to overheating. But only when its off the charger.
     
    Kluchy, Mar 22, 2013
    #4
  5. antik

    antik Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    107
    Likes Received:
    12
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Same thing happens to me when playing graphic intense games like Far Cry 3, I think it is normal, possibly not enough power being supplied to the GPU causing a crash
     
    antik, Mar 23, 2013
    #5
  6. Mastaa

    Mastaa Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    9
    Messages:
    127
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I can just say that this is not normal, I can empty my battery on high performance while playing Far Cry 3 unplugged without any issue.
     
    Mastaa, Mar 24, 2013
    #6
  7. Kluchy

    Kluchy Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    14
    Messages:
    88
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I'll be calling Dell on Monday, thanks for the info.
     
    Kluchy, Mar 24, 2013
    #7
  8. mortiky

    mortiky Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    17
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Let me know what they say. This happens to me as well, and as others have implied I believe it has something to do with too much power being drawn from the battery -- causing the computer to shut down and the battery to be disabled until it cools down. I can't play any intensive games on battery.
     
    mortiky, Mar 24, 2013
    #8
  9. bigtonyman

    bigtonyman Desktop Powa!!!

    Reputations:
    2,377
    Messages:
    5,040
    Likes Received:
    277
    Trophy Points:
    251
    could it be the battery getting to hot? Just a thought. I never play games on battery so idk.
     
    bigtonyman, Mar 24, 2013
    #9
  10. Kluchy

    Kluchy Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    14
    Messages:
    88
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I called and was placed with indian speaking agents who were trying to sell me printers, I'll update tomorrow when I call again.
     
    Kluchy, Mar 26, 2013
    #10
  11. 12and4

    12and4 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    20
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    stop pushing the power button
     
    12and4, Mar 26, 2013
    #11
  12. Alienware-Luis_Pardo

    Alienware-Luis_Pardo Guest

    Reputations:
    1,141
    Messages:
    1,459
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    56
    We are aware of the situation and our engineering department is working on a solution.

    In the meantime, I found a workaround posted by another owner to help people play on battery while the fix is released.

    Essentially the battery does not have a high enough wattage to power the higher end i7 CPU along with the hip and the core system when on load. The ac system has ample wattage which is why it doesn't happen on ac. You can get around it either by creating a custom power profile then changing the advanced power settings so the CPU to 75% . When on battery just switch to the custom power mode. Effectively underclocking your machine to play games on battery.
     
    Alienware-Luis_Pardo, Mar 26, 2013
    #12
  13. Kluchy

    Kluchy Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    14
    Messages:
    88
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Thanks for the info, will this setting lower performance?
    And I called and they said a BIOS is on its way to fix the issue, will they new BIOS completely fix it? Even with the i7?
     
    Kluchy, Mar 26, 2013
    #13
  14. Alienware-Luis_Pardo

    Alienware-Luis_Pardo Guest

    Reputations:
    1,141
    Messages:
    1,459
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    56

    It might decrease the performance a bit as you're limiting the power source, but it will at least be usable.

    That's the plan :)
     
    Alienware-Luis_Pardo, Mar 27, 2013
    #14