The Official Area-51 m15x Owners Lounge II

Because of the overwhelming number of responses in "The Official m15x Owners Lounge" it would be a god idea to transfer the discussion to a new and fresh thread.

Old Thread " The Official m15x Owners Lounge" (link)



Please post information that has to do with the Alineware m15x :

Thank You.

 

Wow talk about musical threads But it is good to be in a clean house haha. Well I have played a few hours of gaming and my temps were 75-86. 86 was the max temp. This is without any coolers but being careful with my laptop positioning. While my knee fry's, it is much cooler than it being on a table and I would assume on a table my temps could possibly be higher. I recently moved and newegg was having trouble verifying my address with my CC so I am probably going to let that order cancel (automatically does in 3 days if you don't verify). I am going to go to best buy tomorrow and see what kind of coolers they have there.

I really haven't noticed any downclocking while gaming. Would it be noticable in game? I always run FPS windows and I don't see any abnormal dips. Should i do the steps to do rivatuner..im afraid to see the results lol..ignorance is bliss

 

CPU Underclocking when overheating.(New Fan, CPU and Heatsink on thier way)
GPU Underclocking at 85-90 degrees C.
WebCam Not focussing(Blurry Image).
Touch Keys not working when coming from StandBy.

What is working well.
Keyboard. No issues with my keyboard. No flex no missing lights and no delay.
Alien FX works fine.
Touch Keys work fine when not coming from Standby.
DVD Drive is fine. Burns and reads at correct speeds.

If we can get these issues resolved I am sure the over all mood towards the M15x will improve. Yes these things shouldn't happen but they are here and very real. Now we need to find solutions, we have alot of educated and smart people here on this forum. We should be puttig our heads together and come up with something to help out.

Maybe a Fan Conrol Program like IK8Fangui to enable control over Fan speeds. One thing I have done is removed the plastic over the mesh covering the Hard Drive. This allows more flow over the hard drive while using the Zalman Cooler, and hopefully allowing more flow through the case.

So now that we all have vented let's get this SHIZZZNIT fixed..

 

As I read other threads I understood that the overheating problem only apply to the 8800GTX, so the first questionis : Do you have a 8800 in your laptop. The overheating + downclocking problem occurs when playing a game on high settings for a while, this downlocks the card and makes gameplay terrible.

 

ok heres a step further into deep forest of card downclocking
while im wating for my AS5 to arrive tommorow i decided to go ahead and dissassable the video card completely. Heres some thoughts. The termal paste look very loosy and i dont think there is a good contact between two.
Anyway i took of all the grease that was out there and put it back together just to see what happens. Be4 all that dissasembly stuff my card temps was at 57-60 at full clocks and rps was at 3100. When i use ati tool it maxes out at 85-89 not more than that and card downclocks for around 5-10 secs than gets back for a couple of minutes or so (all that was with thermal grease _full load). So when i boot up without any thermal grease at stealh mode (low clocks) temps went to 66-68 at 4000 rpms which i could expect. Then i set off the stealth moding taking it to full clocks at _idle, no load. Thats the interesting part. The temps went to 95-98 at 5100-5200 rpms. And all that time (around 30 min wich was enough to drop multiple time clocks with grease) the clocks didnt drop once!!.
Heres the conclusion
1. Im not really sure the heatsink and GPU core have a good grip (more likly there is a gap between them)
2. The card (or drivesr) IS NOT set to downclock due temperature raise (i found out that because my card was downclocking at full load with T at 85 and didnt downclock itself at full clocks but no load at 99 degrees.
3. Conclusion of all above. Card seems downclock for another reason rather then temperature. The card will only dowclock at full load which makes me seem like there is a problem not with the video card overheating but some kind of power element is overheating and it seems alienware knew that. Unfortunatly my knowlegde ends here. (sorry for my mistakes)

 

naah dun do it, u will not like the result.

If I dun play crysis, I wont even know its downclock. THe 8800 GTX is so damn powerful that u wont notice a tad diff if it downclock on other games i.e (COD4, Total war, SOF payback etc) U only know its downclock after reading the log.

Crysis is like a ground breaking game. THis type of game comes once a year.

 

Hey that is interesting. I guess that explains why so many people are reporting downclocking at different temperatures. Maybe it is a power supply issue. There just isn't enough juice continually flowing to keep everything alive.

 

Power element? You think it needs more power? I dont quite follow you, but it sure sounds interesting that its not the video card overheating.

Im ordering m15x or xps m1730 (depending on the heat problem in m15x) in 6 days. I would just like to know (from owners of the m15x) how long does it actually downclock the GPU?
It reaches 85+ and downclocks for 2 minutes then full speed 2 minutes then downclock 2 minutes and so on? Or it stays downclocked till you quit the game? I can live with the downclocking if it just happens a couple of minutes every hour or so. Hope you understand what i mean.

Are the cracking case covered by the warranty?

Offtopic: Can anyone post a video of 3dmark06 running on m15x? And a picture with the dvd drive open.
Thx!

 

If all owners can confirm the is true i personally dont see the problem being so big of a deal as it is made in the forums. Yes there is a problem and it must be fixed asap by alienware. But the system just sounds nearly unplayable atm. If this is true i will go for the m15x.

 

no im the 14 year old... he's like 8... or at least seems like it.

@ nokep

Good find. It's nice to see some actual improvement in this entire situation.

 

me? Im just trying to get help and advice before i blow 4000+$ on a computer. My english isn't the best.

 

No Prob Orluff, most of here aren't much better even as english are our first language.

Well I remember using my XPS 1710, and my power supply died. All I had left was a 90w power supply, and not the 130w that I needed to run the 7950 GTX.

When ever I would use this 90w power adapter it would downclock the GPU. The CPU would run fine, it was ony the GPU that wouldn't enable the full speed. Once a new power supply arrived I was back at full speeds again. It was even checking for the correct power supply at startup, and the system would warn you of the downgrade in performance.

Maybe we need a 8800m GTX BIOS update or a system BIOS update to ressolve the issue, maybe it's a conflict in power requirements. Although I am pretty sure we aren't going to get away that easy lol.

 

does anyone else hear unsettling noises when opening and closing the screen? like theyre almost hurting something. it seems way too hard to open and close screen, like its secured too tight. ???

 

I do not think he is talking about you Orluff. I have an idea of who he is talking about but I will refrain from sharing to keep this thread strong.

@Orluff - Yea it is good that you came here before you purchased. A lot of us here have been a lot of help suggesting different parts to upgrade, what to upgrade yourself, etc. I feel like we have done a good job here as a community.

 

It definatley looks like you are getting somewhere instead of just critisising the computer. Some people are really doing a nice job on are using a lot of time on this issue. Im glad i can check here before i spend nearly all my money on a computer I just really like the m15x because of the 14xx res instead of having to go 19xx on a 17" so im glad ´people are helping each other out to try and find a solution so we could all enjoy this amazing (on paper) computer.

 

I’m sad to say it but I'm still having problems after playing a game for a short time (about 45 minutes) that the game starts lagging really bad. I checked the temps and it did not go above 85. That was with a cooling fan mat! I have already had the GPU replaced once and am starting to really worry that my first Alienware purchase was a mistake??? I guess I will be calling customer support again tomorrow.

I just wanted to add that I have no other complaints about this computer as it's very fast in every other aspect EXCEPT gamming and that is why I bought it!

 

yeah thats what happens to me 45minutes and than bang , it goes from gaming notebook to budget emachine in no time. alienware said they would call me back within 48 hours to make a deal with me or allow me to return it for a full refund. thats pretty bad support if you ask me. i think we did make a mistake by getting this laptop in its early stage. good luck with customer support. we know much more than them.

 

Yeah, I have try to open and closing and realise there are some screws not seated probably. Worst of all I had a loose screw inside> Open it up and solved some cracing sound but ended cracked plastic all over. So open carefully.

 

ok heres some more explanation to my previos post

I beleive there is enough juice to provide power but i think some kind of power element (either on the motherboard or most like on the video card that give its juice to core) IS overheating and says like "hey thats too much heat for me i about to die and the clocks drops down.

No, i dont think the power brick downclocks or can even do that, thats not the issue.
I actually heard interesting sounds while doing that reaserch. When i had my card with grease (old one) full clocks at 4100 rpms _full load the temps start raising up 85-89 degrees there was a whining sound slowly coming up definatly from the area where is video card is located (im pretty sure its coming from video device board, if some may familiar exactly the same sound that when cpu whines due to different state of throttle, but that wasnt a cpu issue 100% ill explain in a moment) and when after 5-7 minutes or so when it got downclocked the whining sound had gone! Then again it put it back on full clocks (of course full load) and there was no sound for a while than again it started appearing slowly and after a minute i could here that noisy sound very_ clear than again it dropped the clocks and the sound had gone and so on.
So im not the one who designed 8800m gtx and have diagram of all condesators, resistors and so on, but something is overheating and think that something has to do with power being delivered to core and memory. At this point im pretty sure neither GPU core or memory have _any heating issues. But porblem is still big for me.

 

anyone tried using a notebook cooler and see if it prevents the downclocking?

 

yes as i understand several people have tried that with no luck. i dont think the effect of any notebook cooler can curb this problem. and i dont want use one anyway, i should not have too.

 

Ok I used rivatuner and had a flat line across the screen and played COD4 and CS:S back to back. I didn't see any downclocking. I think it stayed at 1350 and 540. These are the correct settings right? The mhz did not go down as evident by a straight line correct? I think I am interpretting the lines right. I haven't enough time tonight to play for hours on end but so far no underclocking....crosses fingers and does rain dance.

 

So I think you are saying that the actual piece the power goes to first and basically holds the charge is over heating? If this the case, a bios fix may be able to help, but I have doubts. More or less if this is the case, it sounds like this piece needs its own heat shielding..

Any testers for that? Get some car heat shielding and see if we can isolate the location and see what happens? No harm should be done from such a procedure.

 

Already done that bud. I have not even used it without one and have still had problems.

 

My Zalman did prevent me from Downclcoking the other day. But when it did begin to downclock I could never get it to be consistent.

It was always different temperatures between 85-90c.


And if the power supply isn't supplying enough power to the GPU it will downclcok on my XPS System. It isn't physically the power supply stopping it, as it would be done in the BIOS.

This was well documented over at the Dell forums. That was why most people who have upgraded to the 7900 gtx cards needed to purchase a new power supply (130 watt).

 

cs source is a bit to easy to stress the notebook try only cod4 for two hours and get back to me. im not trying to crush your hope, i just want to make sure you find out the truth.

 

daveh98
try to use ati tool 0.27 , games dont always put 8800m on full blast

 

OK I will try ati tool .27 tomorrow. How long do i run it? is it a benchmark?

 

When I use ATITool I just tell it to warm up for 15 minutes, that way it's forcing the card to be on the edge for 15 minutes.

 

thats promising ricky. I think this is going to work out just fine. I really do love this laptop. If I could do it over again, I would not change for another laptop...unless things dont get resolved and or get worse for my situation.

 

talked to a tech agent. he said he sees (in the computer) only 1 other person with GPU underclocking issue.

he said he sent an email on my behalf to the other department (can't remember which, its the one who works out the solutions for these type of problems) stating the under clocking issue. he said that AW is already working on release new drivers, and that they are still working with the new driver, because they have to test it and make sure all the flaws are gone, before they release it.

quicktouch controls not working after sleep mode: he said AW has to work with the company who makes the case for the laptop, to work out a solution for the quicktouch controls.

 

Dogpile!

I suppose that as soon as the Alienware support website starts responding for me, I'll start filing support tickets.

 

Can i just ask where it is most people are in the world that are experiencing these problems? Might be location specific, that there could be someone slacking in the manufacturing plant when building these... good to know if it is a worldwide thing, or just in EU/USA... I am still awaiting mine (decided to wait on it... hopefully nothing wrong with it), so will let you know how mine fairs down in Australia. Oh, what kind of thermal paste do they use? Is it AS5 or something else?

 

Have anyone tried to play with no battery in the computer? Just the powercord. My (close to FUBAR) laptop sometimes freezes in games but it has never done it when the battery is not inserted (battery only holds power 5 minutes anyway) Might sound stupid and i dont know anything about electricity. But it is suggested that it might be power related so why not try it out.

 

isnt it supposed to score around 10000 ? or is that only in 1200*800?

 

my guy said all sorts of *BS there just trying to blow us off. there is probally hundreds of people that called but they would NEVER admit that.

 

I just got off the phone with tech suport and they want me to run benchmark tests (3) times to get an average and note the temps and then call them back with the results.

 

I got around 10k on the first run through, but as it gets hot it gets lower.

 

nope its 1440x900

 

gophins. game for 1 hour first so its really hot when you do it so your sure it downclocks

 

I have actually conducted test with my Notebook cooler. Cooler Master Notepal Infinite.

And noticed yes it does keep it cooler by 5c in my previous posts before. If you look at the time in the ATI tool for both of the pictures you will notice that the one WITH the cooler could endure a bit more before possibly hitting the downclocking temp.

Pic one with Laptop cooler running
http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=15992&d=1205068397
Pic two without laptop cooler running. Keep in mind that it down clocked and shot the temperature readings down to 79c before that it peaked at 88c
http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=16062&d=1205214466

 

Just got my m15x last week and a few quirks I've noticed already
- the quicktouch does deactivate and mine happened after a reboot
- I can't seem to turn off my quicktouch/power button lights. I can turn off the other ones (side, alienware sign, and touchpad). I did not get the keyboard lights.
-When on battery, I cannot reboot - It only goes to the point where the vista sign makes a sound and then it shuts down. I have to plug the ac in then it properly reboots.
-Gaming
-Frontlines : Fuel of War at 1900x1200 at medium setting 30-50 fps
at high settings it will freeze about every minute and continue; is this the
video card needing more memory?
-Battle of Middle Earth 2 -1900x1200 max settings 30 fps
-Need for Speed Pro Street - 1900x1200 max settings at 30 fps
-Conflict of War - unplayable and 1900x1200 ; looks terrible for me
Stealth Mode - everything is halved - so fps is around 10-15.
A note about stealth mode - awesome if you are using those universal external batteries like the APC UPB90. These external batteries wont operate beyond a voltage of 100 watts. The Stealth mode keeps it between 65-90. Normally, the wattage of this laptop reaches 100 watts and up during gaming and watching bluray.

My right speaker has some distortion. Too bad since sound quality is pretty good.

I live in Canada and it took about 3 weeks to get here. Did not have to pay brokerage duties.

The inability to restart on battery troubles me.

Another thing about the quicktouch controls. At one point they would not work. I shutdown the laptop and restarted later and it did work.

Like I said, quirky.

 

i have the same issues with not being able to reboot on battery, as well as the quicktouch controls being flaky in general but will usually work again after a restart, that is of course, if the ac is plugged in! definetly quirky and annoying. i also dont like how tight and scary it feels opening and closing the system...like i could hurt something at any time...attatched too tight i think.

 

yes, creaking and pinging..

 

im 13 years old

 

Did anyone in the UK received a M15x yet? Does anyone knows why is it taking so much time for them to start sending laptops out?

 

we aren't talking about the cpu getting to 90 we are talking about the GPU. 55c is still low for an extreme cpu though. But ya my CPU is in the mid 50's as well.

 

There are 2 separate threads on the european problems. But no, nobody in europe got any M15X yet. The problem was that at launch everything was on backorder. In the end it seems they have all the components except the chasis+LCD and the power brick. which means they have the CPU and the graphic cards lol. The replies from CS vary somewhat but it seems that they might get the chasis somewhere in the beginning of next week and the power brick in the beginning of April. So delivery will probably start in the first 2 weeks of next month.

 

So news travel fast...

http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/12/...rs-outraged-by-overheating-cracking/#comments