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

I'm sure this has been explained before, but I can't find a summary anywhere on how to enable audio over DP.

My understanding was that the DisplayPort output on the M15x did not support audio only video, and that adding a DP>HDMI dongle was only good for video.

I've been seeing snippets on here that people are able to send audio over their DP output, even through an HDMI dongle.

How can I enable this on my M15x? Currently running GTX 260m, driver 8.17.12.5738

EDIT: Appears to be an issue with drivers more than anything else, does anyone know the best Nvidia drivers for GTX 260m in terms of performance, and which support audio output through DP?

 

You can put it into a .zip archive and attach it to a post, or send it per PM, or upload it to a filehoster like widezu said and give me the link... whatever you prefer. I can also give you my email adress if you want to send it per email.

Thank you!!!

 

I meant where do i get it from ) I'm n00b at this

 

Ah, sorry. The easiest way is using GPU-Z and clicking on the little symbol next to the BIOS revision line, at the right side of the window. This will save a copy of the vbios.

The other possibility is using a DOS bootable USB stick with nvflash and writing this command:
nvflash -b name.rom

 

here you go
GF106.bin

 

Hmm, there seems to be an issue with this vbios, seems to be corrupted. Might be an issue with nibitor but even with a resacan it still shows up as corrupted...

 

svl7 - Dell 460m BIOS attached

 

Ok, thanks guys. Seems to be a nibitor issue, the one from Seph 7 is corrupted as well. But I got some of the info I needed.

 

Some have had no issues, for others like me the audio only works with older versions of nVidia drivers (186.xx series or older). Enabling it is simple as right-click the audio icon by the time and select Playback Devices, select Displayport and click Set Default.

You definitely get better performance from newer nVidia drivers, +10 FPS or more in some games. I currently have the 257.38 drivers installed and don't use the audio over DP.

 

Anyone with tips here?

 

Requoting in case ya missed it.

 

Thanks for the tip.

Yeah my DisplayPort isn't listed as a playback device.

As I'd rather use this as a multimedia notebook I think I'll hunt down older drivers to enable audio.

Could someone point me towards where I could get my hands on those 186.xx drivers?

 

Hey, sorry for the late reply, here's the link for nVidia's download:
NVIDIA DRIVERS 186.81 WHQL

As for me, my M15x died a few days ago. The video card had been getting hot so I suspect it's at fault. Instead of replacing the card I jumped on the chance to upgrade. M17x-r3 is on the way

 

So i traded my M17x-R2 for an M15x+cash and im liking this thing so far, its taking some getting used to the screen downgrade, but its still a decent screen. my only question is with the no HDMI, to my fault, i didn't look into this but i was shocked to see no HDMI and ????DISPLAY PORT???? out? what a fail imo. display port isn't catching on and HDMI will be around like Dsub. just a thought.

As a new M15x owner is there anything i look out for? i don't have time to go through all the threads so im hoping the cast of owners here can point me in the right direction...

thanks

 

DP is better than HDMI imo, anyway, with an adapter you'll be perfectly fine.

Make sure your BIOS is up to date. Get the latest GPU driver, enjoy your system

 

maybe ill have to re-integrate my self with it..... can we over clock via setfsb or is there an Epic bios mod as there was with the R2? i loved the support that the R2 had as far as the community, im hoping for the same even though im now a late adapter to a non production machine lol..

ps forgive my unwillingness to use our forums broken search feature. =)

 

No, unfortunately there's still no epic BIOS mod for the M15x... SetFSB is the only way I know, except for the XM processors.

The M15x is a great machine, for example the 6970m works and combined with an extreme processor it can keep up with a M17x r3, hehe

Search function sucks, yeah, but with google it works perfectly:

Code:

key words  site:http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m15x/

 

which pll are useful fro the m15x in setfsb? i tried a few keep locking the system up so i figured id just ask...


and are you using the 240w PSU with those specs? it seems like the wimpy 150w wouldn't be able to handle all that..

 

Great tip on using Google to search the forum. One of those things that should be obvious, but never occurred to me before. Thanks for pointing it out. +Rep when allowed.

 

Sadly i to am guilty if this, +1 sir

 

Hey Guys, just upgraded from an M11x R1 to the M15x and joining the fun here. Just couldn't bring myself to order a new M14x as the upgrade with the M15's being so upgrade-friendly.

This has got to be the quietest notebook I've ever seen by far with this much power, even quieter than my M11x R1 which is saying something.

 

Cool! Have fun with your system, let us see some benchmarks The 5850m is a superb overclocker.

 

The more i push the computer the more it surprises me, I just got to find a way to cool it down more when im pushing higher clocks.

 

Hehe, and let us see some scores in the benchmark thread

 

hello! my m15x is having some weird problems and i hope you can help me out.. well my slot loading drive is not reading any dvd-r's.. but it reads the resource CD and the windows 7 DVD that comes with it.. it also reads CD's.. but not the purple ones.. please help.. my drive is an Optiarc 7640s dvd+-Rw with Elby clonedrive BD rom..any help will be appreciated! thanks!!

 

I have the same problem

 

hi guys. my hard disk in my M15x sounds like it could be on it's way out. now I could just buy a replacement of the same one that was installed by Alienware or maybe get a better one. anyone got any suggestions on good replacement drives? sadly can't afford SSD at the moment. fast and quiet are the things that i'd be interested in.

 

Well if you want space, Western Digital recently released a 5400 rpm 1TB drive which is 9.5mm which would fit nicely. In benchmarks it actually was faster than many 7200 rpm drives, Samsung have a 1TB version too. Remember when search for these, the have to 2.5 inches and 9.5mm thick. If you would like some speed, a Momentus XT is good as you get a 4GB SSD section where it cleverly sticks your most used files for faster access meaning quicker boot and load times for windows and your favourite programs respectively.

 

I was talking to Tech support other day and they told me that the M15x (last version) with the 260m. That the MB only support up to 750gig HD Max, anyone know if that true?

 

It was true until a week ago. Reason being, 750gb was the largest 9.5mm HDD until last week where a 1tb came out. Samsung had one out but it wasn't well marketed so people didn't really know.

 

if SSD is out of your price range and speed is still a priority, then i vote as well for the seagate momentus xt. fairly quick boot up speeds in comparison to other hdd's. during general use it feels like a solid 7200rpm hdd, the real benefit is the boot time (500gb ain't too bad either).

just remember to disable your virus scanner from active scanning of files for optimum performance since it can confuse the priority's. (i set mine to only scan files i actually open... not random crap)

@widezu69 if the new wd 1tb drives are anything like their 750's, i'll probably end up picking one up. they're great performers! i was pleasantly surprised. while i use a SSD to boot up, many of my larger apps are installed on the WD and the transfer rates are pretty decent.

 

Apparently the 1tb drivers perform as well if not better than a scorpio black 7200 rpm drive.

 

makes sense from a physics standpoint. higher densitiy platters mean the data is physically closer together.
they don't seem to be available yet where i live so i'll just have to wait a while.

i'm still waiting for my ribbon cable to come in the mail as well. laptop is worthless without it

 

thanks for the recommendations. i think the seagate momentus xt sounds like a good option. is it a fairly quiet and cool running drive too?
how does the 4gig ssd part work? does the drive just show as 1 full partition when setting up the partition to install windows too?
this is the correct one we are talking about yeah?:
Seagate 500GB Momentus XT 2.5" Hybrid SSD/HDD SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache - OEM


if i was going to go the full ssd route. i'd certainly be only able to afford up to around a 250gb drive. whats the best out there in this capacity?

 

As a SSD, I recommend the C300 one in my sig. Very reliable and good speeds.

 

i presume these ssd drives will just fit straight into my M15x just like a standard drive?

 

Yep you need to swap out out the caddy and the plastic connector thing. But as long as it is 2.5" with a thickness of 9.5mm

 

Bought my M15x a lil over 1.5 years ago, these forums helped me out a LOT. Played SWTOR beta last weekend and I definitely could feel the laptops age. I wanna clean it up and boost performance as much as possible before the game launches in 12 days...and I plan on busting 12+ hour gaming sessions for the first few days. These are my M15x specs:

Intel i7-720QM 1.60GHZ
Cosmic Black
1920x1080
4GB, DDR3 1333MHz
1GB ATI Radeon Mobility HD 5850
500GB HD
9 Cell Li-Io Battery

BIOS Version/Date: Alienware A05, 3/11/2010
5850 Driver: 8.872.0.0, 7/7/2011

3DMARK06 Score (pure default settings clean install of 3DMark06): 11466
3DMARK11 Score (pure default performance benchmark test): 2065

UPDATE* - 3dMark11 score...under Graphics Card noticed my Core Clock says 405 MHz, and some other guy on forums with identical M15x setup posted 800 MHz. Was this from overclocking or is something wrong with mine?

BIOS: Now I have read posts about A09 bios completely bricking M15x or dropping the 5850m's 3DMark scores. With the game so close to launch, if there really is no noticeable performance upgrade from A05 -> A09, I'd rather not take a chance of screwing it up.

GFX Drivers: Are these 3DMark scores normal (listed above)? Would I get any boost from update the driver? I remember when I first got the laptop i'd update very often, and some versions would have higher scores, some would be lower. Link to a recommended driver update if possible.

GFX Card: Not gonna upgrade my gfx card, but I was thinking about doing some slight overclocking. Will this really make a noticeable difference?

SSD: I have about ~$150 to spare atm...thinking about maybe sticking in a SSD to help with load times. Load times are very slow at 1920 in SWTOR compared to when im running at 1440. Is it pretty simple to swap out old HD for SSD (no chance of damage)? Planning on fresh install on it as well. Best upgrade for my price or something else you recommend?

Bottom line...I would like some performance increase because game isn't running too well in 1920x1080. But at the end of the day, i'd choose lower fps over a bricked laptop/fried hardware.

 

First and foremost the 5850m is a beast of a card.

Now if I were you, I would flash to the A09 bios (very simple process), and also make sure that the gfx drivers are up to date (find the most stable drivers). As for you clocks being 400mhz that doesn't sound right at all, because a stock core clock is 625mhz. Only way you would be in that range is just say if your gpu is being used slightly but not enough to warrant it to go up to full core clock, lowest core clock being 100mhz. Overclocking will give you a good boost as a 5850m can overclock very well, but bear in mind that not every card overclocks the same.

I use sapphire trixxx, which is very simple to use and doesn't cause a permanent overclock. All you basically do is slide the core and mem clock sliders and find a stable setting. You can then save that as a profile and load it up whenever you game. Then revert back to normal stock settings when you don't game.

As for the 3d mark scores, I can't comment on that as I only ran it on my old 260m. Have yet to run it on my 5850m.

Also, an ssd will definitely improve load times and technically yes it is plug and play just requires some work afterwards in setting everything up again the way it was.

 

my 260M can hit 12K+ on 3DMark06, so i think 5850 is indeed should be better... IMO

Btw, playing those game on 1920x1080 is a bit overkill for our spec i think, heuheu, why not decrease the setting abit? ;p

 

That 3dMark11 score is fine, but the 3dMark06 sounds a bit low. I got about 13.1K with an 820qm/5850m setup; I would expect your 720qm/5850m to be slightly lower, but close. If the 400Mhz reading you refer to comes from a 3dMark.com report, ignore it; they often reflect random clocks. Those 11.7 drivers are good ones and probably provide as much performance as any later releases; AMD began to concentrate on the 6800/6900 series cards about that time to the detriment of the 5800's. Try overclocking to 800/1100, but some cards require increasing the voltage to 1.05v or 1.10v to support the faster settings. I would also recommend updating the system BIOS to A09. I've never heard of any reduction in 3dMark11 performance or otherwise; in fact, I'll go further and say no such reduction occurs. The 5850M is a great graphics card, let it work for you.

 

just did the 11.11 update from post on front page of M15x forum.
these are 3dmark11 marks that I got right after install. here is a link to another guy with exact same setup getting ~300 pts higher. http://forum.notebookreview.com/7188927-post657.html

got CCC working again.

 

Your 3dMark11 score is just fine for stock settings. StevenX was running at 800/1000 when that score was made. He probably also had disabled Tesselation in CCC. Go to Gaming>3D Application Settings and uncheck both boxes in the Tesselation Section, then move the slider to the far left (Off). While you're there, also move the slider in the Catalyst A.I. section to the far left (Performance). Your 3dMark11 score should magically increase by up to 300 points. On second thought, that may have been before the option to disable tesselation was included in the ATI drivers, so his score was probably just a result of the much higher clocks.

 

haha ok great, just wanted to make sure everything looked good.

my main concern is the BIOS update...i've read a few posts about it bricking the mobo in the M15x, but this was i think back in like A06. is it worth the risk performance wise A05 -> A09? if it bricks, i def wont have a gaming cpu for a month+. everyone says its risky, and if your cpu isnt having any problems, probably best not to do it. do you agree ?

 

I compulsively update to new BIOS's as they become available on the theory that Dell wouldn't create and distribute them without a reason(s) . It's been a long time since I updated to A09 and I can't remember any specific benefits. There's nothing wrong with the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" school of thought. If you have concerns, forego the update until there is some clear reason to undertake the effort.

 

Got a 2274 disabling those things in CCC
got a 2686 at 800/1000

Pretty happy hehe

 

I'm confused - my specs are worse than yours, got a dual core cpu, 3gb ram... But my game ran butter smooth on the highest available settings in beta (everything max cept no AA)

Now I ran it in 1600*900, so its less demanding but it ran it reaaaaaaaaally easily... So it seems to me like it might be a software issue perhaps? Format hard disk, reinstall windows, get latest gpu drivers.

 

My game ran great at lower resolution like yours, however the difference I saw between 1600/1400 and 1920 was HUGE. I could not go back to lower res because it was like watching NFL games in 420p as opposed to HD.

It still runs decent at 1920...fps dips quite a bit at times, and the load times get ridiculously long.

 

I ran it maxxed out and never dipped below 60fps with my m17x at 900p, wonder why you were having such a hard time with it

 

I would say for you to update your bios, because when I flashed mine to the A09 when I had my gtx 260m I did notice better and more consistent performance out of that card. Now I can't say for sure that will be the result for the 5850m, but I'm lead to believe it would help consistency and better performance as both cards were offered around the same time. Doesn't make sense that they would make the bios help one card over the other.

People that say they have bricked their laptop by doing a bios update have done something wrong in the process. It is as simple as obtaining the correct bios, making a cd, and running the cd. But again your choice, your laptop.

Also, since you have started to overclock your gpu, keep an eye on temps to make sure they dont go above about 85-90c. Use gpu-z to monitor temps. Or you can use hwinfo32/64 as it shows your cpu/fan speed/etc as well.