*OFFICIAL* M15x Owners Lounge - Part 5 (see post #1 for links)

That makes perfect sense and should have known that. I might as well just spend the extra money and get the 780m right away. Of course my M18x will get a little jealous, but that would be fine and dandy in my book.

 

Apparently the 680M works better than 780M in M15x. 680M tweaked vBIOS by svl7 is perfect for M15x and allows some overclocking. 780M only works well at stock I think.

 

I know that svl7 is the master at tweaking things and happens still to own a M15x and just released a vBIOS for the 780m that everyone over at the M18(x) forums are really having fun with. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he really gets it right to work with the M15x. I've also donated money over at Techinfo to help him upgrade to a newer Alienware.

 

I'm wanting to get an M15x, but I don't know computers. Can someone let me know if this is a good deal for what I need? Intel Core i7 Q720 @1.60GHz -
8Gb Ram Memory -
1Gb of dedicated Nvidia GTX 260M graphics -
500Gb Hybrid hard drive (HDD & SSD) -
Windows 7 Ultimate
I'm buying used off eBay for about $580.. is it a good deal? I'll be playing games like World of Warcraft, Diablo 2 (maybe 3 if console version doesn't work for me) and a couple Command and Conquer games. Serious Sam. Stuff along those lines. I'm not into BF3, so not worried bout that one.

 

Its not a bad deal but its not a bargain. The graphics card is very dated and you would definitely need to upgrade it. Everything else should be fine for playing those games on medium/high settings provided you upgrade the graphics card.

 

What about an Alienware m15x r1 with these specs? $430 Core2Duo T9300 at 2.5GHz

Full HD Display 1920x1200

500GB SSD/Hybrid drive (Seagate Momentus XT)

4GB RAM

Nvidia 8700M GT with 512MB dedicated memory

BD-ROM Drive - burns DVDs, CDs

Windows Vista 64-bit

Games I'd play : WoW, Diablo 2 and 3, Serious Sam..

 

Dont even bother with the pre dell alienware, waste of money. Better off getting post dell alienware. $580 is a bit much for those specs.

 

After doing a little bit of research, I am thinking it might be best for me to upgrade my M15x's i5 540m to a quad core. I mainly play Battlefield 3 and I'm looking to hold at least 60+ FPS consistent in 720p. I have a GTX 460m but it seems like it is throttled whenever I'm in-game. The GPU usage constantly bounces around from 40-70% usage while CPU usage remains very high. Should I consider upgrading to an i7 740QM?

 

probably a driver issue with the 460m...u can easily get up to 60fps in bf3 with the i5 on 720p

 

I really don't think it's a driver issue. I've tried many different drivers since the game's release. And I'm not asking for it to go up to 60fps. The framerate bounces between 40-90 fairly rapidly, depending on the map and game mode. I'm asking it to maintain 60+fps.

 

Well to put into perspective my rig in sig does 60fps steady at 720p on close to maxed out settings. In saying that my 5850m is also overclocked to about 750/1100 stock voltage. Is your 460m running on stock clocks?

 

My 460m is overclocked to 745/1625 with stock voltage. I play with all all low settings.

 

Thats really odd that you play on all low settings because the 460m and the 5850m are similarly matched. Are you referring to single player or online games and if online how many players on map.

 

Exclusively online. I usually play with anywhere from 32-64 player matches. I usually keep it around 48 though.

To be honest, every video I find on youtube that shows BF3 online gameplay with either a 460m or a 5850m has very similar framerate to my own. That is why I'm concerned about upgrading. Especially if it's struggling to hold 60+fps on BF3 when BF4 is almost here.

 

Yes online you will struggle more, I was referring to single player (sorry). An upgrade would not only be a massive performance jump but a good future proof as well. Either the 7970m or the 680m (from what i hear it works better).

 

Yeah, I've been hearing good things about the 7970m and the 680m in an M15x. I've been leaning more towards the 680m only because from what I've gathered, it runs cooler in the M15x. Plus I'm a sucker for PhysX. My only concern is that I have to flash the card's bios if it's Clevo, right? How easy is that to do? I would be terrified of messing anything up.

 

Stick to buying a dell, and check out tech inferno on getting the 680m running in the M15x. Svl7 has the vbios for it and any other tips you will need.

 

Sorry if this is in the wrong spot im using my note 2 I just picked up a m15x with an i3 and 5730 card ive already installed 8gbs of corsair 1333 ram. Im looking for advice on what to get. Im not a heavy gamer so I dont need the biggest graphics card available but I was thinking of an 17 820 and a 6970m and a 1tb seagate montemus xt hard drive. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. And a good cheap battery replacement

 

If you're not a big gamer then those components you mention should be fine. Possibly consider an SSD to boost boot time and generally get the OS running smoother. You can fit a 1TB drive in the optical bay using a caddy!

 

i considered a solid state but the price of one that would have enough space is easily 3 times a seagate xt and the reviews i was reading showed that the seagate hdd wasnt much slower then a ssd and still faster then a wd scorpio black 7200rpm hdd i also use my disk drive so i would rather not get rid of it.

 

Just so you the 1333mhz ram you bought will downclock to 1067mhz til you put an i7 in.

 

that was going to be the next thing i got. i picked it up now because mine only came with 3gb plus i only paid 30 bucks for the ram so i couldnt pass up the deal im looking at a couple of i7's on ebay right now

 

i got an i7-720 on the way. my friend got it off ebay for 50 bucks for me since i replaced the hard drive in his wifes laptop the hard drive was from a netbook with a fried mother board that was given to me so my total cost now is 380 bucks

 

anything i need to change or is it just plug and play with the processor?

 

Just want to say hi, I just put a deposit on a M15x, i7, radeon 5850, 4gb ram.
I just want to make sure this can run most/all games out at the moment? And would it be worth getting another 4gb ram ????
Thanks for any advice.

Oh, and also it will be ok to play world of tanks. ????
Thanks

 

Yes the 5850m can run most games on high settings when overclocked ( i use sapphire trixx to overclock). Adding 4gb of ram is worth it consudering ram is so cheap, but check your current setup. If you have 2x2gb you would need a new set of 2x4gb to run dual channel. Best upgrade to make your laptop snappier/faster would be an ssd because if you don't really utilize more than 4gb of ram you won't notice any benefit with the additional 4gb. It should have absolutely no problem running world of tanks. How much did you pay for the M15x, which i7, what's the screen res?

 

Hi, the CPU is Intel Core i7 3rd Generation 840QM Turbo Boost, I really don't know what monitor, to be honest I didn't know there was two different ones. I paid £450.
Thanks

 

Oh ok. The i7 840qm is first gen not 3rd. By screen res, as in 1600x900 (900p, HD) or 1920x1080 (1080p, FHD). But all in all you will be fine running games. I don't have any issues running games on high settings.

 

i just replaced my i3 330m with an i7-740qm and my windows score went from 6.3 with the i3 to 4.2 with the i7

 

turns out its got it clocked really low when i tried to install intels turbo moniter it told me it wouldnt because i dont have an i5/i7 turbo boost cpu

 

Would a gtx 460m for 140 be a good deal?

 

I wouldn't think so, I bought my 5850m for around that price like 1.5-2 years ago. It'll be an upgrade from the 5730 you have but not really future proofing. Better off saving a bit to get a higher end/more current gen card.

 

any body know how do get xp to work on an m15x? i want to play c&c zero hour but 7 is a pos and wont let me

 

Have you tied following this guide? How To Play Generals / Zero Hour In Windows 7 X64 - Command & Conquer Generals / Zero Hour - CNCNZ.com Forums

Just did a quick google search and found it. If you haven't tried it yet, it seems like a much more viable option than to installing XP.

 

ive tried every trick on the internet with no luck and ive tried it with 6 different computers all running 7 64 bit and all of them had more then capable hardware to play it

 

I'm just curious if there are any collectors of Alienware systems who may have a new Alienware M15x. Perhaps not factory sealed, but in new condition. I joined the Alienware 'arena' only last year and have learned so much among the Alienware community. People collect all kinds of things, why not a laptop? It would be cool to see, in my opinion, as I've never actually seen one in person. I've even considered buying one, but I don't think I will.

Anyway, thanks for your time. Hope to see some pics of a shiny new Alienware M15x.

J.Dre

 

I also wondered this, I considered buying one instead of a 17. 15inch is the perfect size. To bad they don't make them anymore!

 

Well. Pretty sure you could find a refurbished almost new condition one somewhere pretty easily..

They don't make the M15x anymore because they figured the M14x with soldered GPU (which is their bestseller) would make them more money.

They were right. Wanna know why? Here we go.

An M15x can be specced to date with;

I7 920/40xm good for 3.2-3.3ghz across all cores landing it still with the big boys.
16GB of 1333mhz DDR3 ram
Any GPU you want except 780M due to high power requirements. That means 7970M,8970M and 680M.

This relic can still compete with current 15" offerings. There is simply no money to be made making a new one when the 5 year old one still runs everything fine! Plus the fact no one would buy the M14x...

 

I'm just wondering if there are any Alienware collectors around these forums with some old systems. I looked around eBay and found some, but they're not exactly what I'm hoping to find.

I'm not wanting to buy, I'm just wanting to see some pics or something. I doubt there are many out there, but there has to be a few.

 

hallo there guys. have been reading around on the site and else where. this seems to be the perfekt place to ask.

i have an old m15x. and its still alive. barely. i slow on start up and when i play games is just doesnt perform good anymore. it used too but.

i main use it to play world of warcraft. and at lowest settings i get a max for 30 fps. dropping to 10-15 when something happens on screen.

specs are as follows

I3-330M 2.1 ghz
4 gb ddr3 ram 1333mhz
nvidia 260m
250 gb hdd 5400 rpm

any thougts on what might be the big factor here?. should i upgrade or scrap?

thx in advance

 

I can't help but feel this has been written a hundred times before but here goes:

You can upgrade the old M15x massively to the point where you can run brand new games on highest settings.
I'm currently running my i7 940xm at 3Ghz and my 7970M at 900Mhz Core and 1450Mhz Memory. This combination can run Far Cry 3, Assassins Creed IV: BF, Crysis 3, Metro 3 all on very high settings with my just a few post processing features turned down.

Every single component of your M15x is holding you back. You'd need to upgrade to an i7 Clarksfield Processor, get a recent graphics card such as GTX 680m or AMD 7970M and more RAM as well as an SSD.
Total cost could be in excess of $500-700 depending on your choices. If you're willing to splash the cash the M15x can definitely keep you going for a few more years.

Based on how much you'd have to upgrade, it might be better to get a new gaming laptop with faster wifi, SATA-III and other new technologies.

 

I believe the same, sometimes it's just not worth the hassle vs getting a new PC.

 

What is the condition of the chassis? Mine ain't great! Might be interested if you intend to scrap! 1080p? A09 latest bios?

 

King's right! As you can see in my signature, I can attest to this. I spent probably close to $1,000 on all this hardware, but I guarantee that if Dell was to release something like this in a modern form...it would reach $2k+!

 

Although the 780m and 880m do work fine I was wrong there


On the go from my iPod touch

 

hey guys, does anyone happen to have a copy of my thermal paste guides. just realized they aren't available anymore and my backup hard drive that i save it on has failed. just gave me a pm, thanks.

 

hey guys, does anyone happen to have a copy of my thermal paste and gpu replacement guide . just realized they aren't available anymore and my backup hard drive that i save it on has failed. just gave me a pm, thanks.

 

Newbie here,

I have a m15x with the following specs:
Hard Drive - 500GB SATAII 7,200RPM
Memory - 6GB DDR3 at 1066MHz
Processor - Intel® Core™ i7-620M 2.66GHz (3.33Ghz Turbo Mode, 4M cache)
Optical Drive - Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

I really only use this laptop to play sims 3 (i know, i know get the laughs out now) but my game seriously lags and freezes....a lot. I want to add a HDD caddy with this ssd (Samsung MZ-7TD250BW 840 Series Solid State Drive (SSD) 250 GB Sata 2.5-Inch ) and I read this tutorial http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...drive-hdd-caddy-installation-56k-warning.html which shows how to add a HDD caddy but its so old that none of the pictures show and ive searched online and cant seem to find a video on how to install this. Also which caddy should I be using, the one in the tutorial is $40 or so and there seem to be many universal caddy available for $10 or so now.

So i guess to sum up what im asking is :

- Do I have the correct SSd for my m15x (Samsung MZ-7TD250BW 840 Series Solid State Drive (SSD) 250 GB Sata 2.5-Inch )?
- which HDD caddy should i purchase?
- Is there an updated tutorial for the m15x with pictures or a video to install my hdd caddy?
- Also, how long should this process take?

 

Lagging and freezing can be the result of many different things. SSD's will only cure load times. What kind of graphics card do you have? What resolution and settings do you use? You have a great SSD, and I would use that as your primary drive for all your Windows stuff and games. I would use the original 500GB HDD in the caddy as your backup drive for storage.

As for what caddy you need, I think others here would be more helpful then me, because I have not installed a caddy onto my M15X. It would take at least 15-20mins+ I think. That also depends on your skill level and if you know your M15x in and out. I'm sure there is a video on youtube on how to replace the optical drive in the M15x. (same as the ODD caddy)

There are other things you can do to increase performance on your M15x. You can look into getting a quad core i7-920XM (around $200), which would also allow you to use up to 16GB DDR-III @ 1333Mhz RAM. You can also upgrade your GPU to something like the AMD 7970/8970M or the nVidia GTX 680-780M. These stuff may be pricey, but that would solve your lag problem a lot better than adding a SSD.

Having an SSD would make the pc boot quicker, and apps load quicker, but once they are loaded....it's up to the CPU+GPU+RAM to do it's job and process the data the SSD feeds it. Hope this helps.

 

Took me an hour to totally dissemble M15x following YouTube teardown video. It's very fiddly and there are a ridiculous number of screws so be careful but its definitely worth it.

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