Is the Alienware M11X normally Slow?

I have an Alienware M11x off of ebay, it has these specs

Core 2 Duo at 1.3 GHz, Overclocked to 1.73 GHz
4 gigs of ram
250 gig hdd
windows 7 home premium

It seems to run slow. Its a fresh install of windows 7 (not sure where the source was from since the seller didn't use the disk that came with the laptop. It was still sealed.)

It runs sorta slow, but the Graphics aren't at all. It's just the CPU or the HDD. Is there something about the m11x that I should know?

Also, I just sent it into dell to fix the backlights on the keyboard because they wouldnt work. I installed the drivers, and even reinstalled them, yet couldnt get it to work. They fixed it in 1 day and it was software issues. How do they fix it, just in case i reinstall windows again in the future (uninstalling windows makes the backlights on the keyboard unable to function.)

Thanks in advance guys.

 

You have to keep in mind that you have an R1 model, which is quite old now. I wouldn't call it "slow" but if you're comparing it to a dual-core desktop chip or an i5/i7 then sure it's going to seem slow by comparison.

Is your HDD a 5400RPM or 7200RPM? If it's a 5400 then that may also attribute to the sluggish feeling.

Also for the lights you need the AlienFX suite installed.

 

Processor is old and it's a R1 model as pointed out above.

Typically, it shouldn't be slow for normal use but if you're running "editing" software than you'll experience slowdown.

 

Any windows fresh install , even on a Core 2 Duo cannot feel slow ..

Depends on what you call slow , if you have to wait like 5 sec to have your C: showing or opening a folder , sure it's not normal.

But for typical desktop use, you should even not be able to see the difference between a core 2 duo on fresh install to something like an i5.

Now , if you launch 10 firefox tab , Steam downloading , Antivirus scan , skype talk and trying to launch something heavy , you'll start to feel the difference.

Explain us what you feel " slow " ?

 

maybe you could give us a hint of what your desktop config is, if that one is a beast we can assume that you could find anything less powerful "slow", especially if you have an SSD in your desktop.

 

it should not feel sluggish...

my M11x is basically just as snappy as my desktop with a Q9550 @ 3.8ghz & a SSD. obviously my desktop is much more powerful when gaming & loads programs faster with the SSD, but with just general use they are both in the same realm of speed.

i build many PCs for ppl and tho the Core2 tech is "old" it is by no means dated IMO. yes the Intel I series CPUs are noticeably faster in most senerios. but unless your main use is heavy music/video editing, i see no reason a C2D shouldn't be enough power for the avg person under W7.

most slowness will come from a sloppy install, badly fragmented HDD or slow HDD. but even the base 160Gb 5400rpm HDD that came with mine from Dell wasn't too bad after i re-installed the OS. in fact just about any Sata HDD ive ever ran across wasn't too bad in terms of speed with a proper clean install.

IMO try to do a fresh install your self with the DVD. Pre download the Drivers from Dell so you have them ready.

if it still seems slow consider a 7200RPM HDD. i love the WD black drives with 16mb cache! or even try a SSD if space or price isnt a issue for you.

 

My R2 with SSD definitely rock's so SSD is the way to go, even with the R1, compared to my M17x R2 it is slower, yes but that's explainable

 

I've had the same install of Windows 7 that came with my M11x almost a year ago. I'm seeing my system slow down a lot, and I'm sure that a factory reset would get things back to normal. I guess you could call it laziness, but I haven't gotten around to doing it.

 

Just a quick tip, I tend to do a complete re-install on all my machines as soon as they arrive to remove the usual cruft that manufacturers put on them. When it's done, and patched, I ghost the drive. Then, if when I re-install once a year or so to get things snappy again, I just restore the ghost image. Takes very little time and is completely painless. Storing data in the cloud as well (MS Live Mesh and DropBox) means that I get all my data back real quick, particularly useful for those pesky save game files.

Not really addressing the OP's question, but I thought I'd through it out there as a tip related to it.

 

Ok guys thanks for the answers and SORRY I did not reply. I had to disable the alienware FX facial stuff, and I did updates, and now it's running fast after I got the latest drivers.

Thank you for all your answers. I appreciated it.

Merry Christmas

 

Another upgrade that you can consider is a hybrid hard drive. I have a Seagate Momentus XT in my new m11x and it performs much better than a 7200rpm drive once it 'learns' what you use and stores those frequently used apps in cache.

Darin