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    i7-840 Alienware M15x

    Discussion in 'Alienware M15x' started by HarveyMushman, Apr 18, 2011.

  1. HarveyMushman

    HarveyMushman Notebook Enthusiast

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    I just got an Alienware m15x with an I7-840QM and thought I'd run the windows experience tool to see what figures it came out with.

    Suprisingly for the Processor it only achieved 4.5?

    This makes no sense to me at all as my Studio XPS 16 has an i7-820QM has a rating of 7.1

    The only difference I can think of is the Alienware currently only has 3GB ram the XPS 16 has 8GB, but I wouldnt really have thought that would affect a processor test as the RAM is an independant test.

    Any thoughts?
     
    HarveyMushman, Apr 18, 2011
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  2. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    Have you toggled stealth mode?
     
    widezu69, Apr 18, 2011
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  3. HarveyMushman

    HarveyMushman Notebook Enthusiast

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    I just put 8gb Ram (2 x 4gb) in, I toggled the stealth button and got the following:

    stealth light on on touch panel

    CPU 4.4
    RAM 7.1
    Graphics Aero 4.7
    Gaming Graphics 6.2
    Primary HDD 5.9

    Stealth light off on touch panel I got exactly the same.

    Machine spec.

    Nvidia GTX-460M 1.5GB DDR5
    i7-840QM
    8gb RAM
    320GB 7,200RPM HD
    Full HD screen
    6 Cell Battery
    150w PSU

    I've manually run the driver updates for all the main components including the latest M15x Bios update from the Dell website.

    Most bizarre I bought this thinking it would be better than my XPS 16, thanks for your help it is appreciated. If you can think of anything else that would be great.
     
    HarveyMushman, Apr 18, 2011
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  4. HarveyMushman

    HarveyMushman Notebook Enthusiast

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    its running 64-bit 7 pro btw
     
    HarveyMushman, Apr 18, 2011
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  5. Fatal1ty39

    Fatal1ty39 Notebook Consultant

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    Fatal1ty39, Apr 18, 2011
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  6. madoon

    madoon Notebook Consultant

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    madoon, Apr 18, 2011
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  7. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    Have you tried a different power plan?
     
    widezu69, Apr 18, 2011
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  8. HarveyMushman

    HarveyMushman Notebook Enthusiast

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    I've just gone through the steps

    1. Reinstalled/updated the Ricoh Chipset driver
    2. Uninstalled and reinstalled the latest GTX460M Driver from nVidia site (previously had the beta driver installed)
    3. rebooted and reinstalled the latest BIOS from Alienware/Dell driver updates (1/19/2011 - A09)

    Also added the stealth mode indicator to make sure it was disabled and then re run WEI.

    CPU 5.2 (7.1)
    RAM 6.2 (7.4)
    GPU 4.7 (6.7)
    Gaming GPU 6.2 (6.7)
    HDD 5.9 (5.9)

    how can it be so low, my XPS 16 i7-820 with 1GB 4650 ATI gets higher rating than this ( XPS 16 rating in brackets above)

    I've checked the BIOS; Intel Virtualization and Speedstep are enabled.
     
    HarveyMushman, Apr 18, 2011
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  9. HarveyMushman

    HarveyMushman Notebook Enthusiast

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    I just thought of that at the same time I'm just running a new test using high performance power mode.

    edit: uh-oh I just realised I also have my XPS 16 PSU plugged into the m15x which is only 130w rated, so have plugged in the correct 150w PSU and re testing with power plan set to high performance
     
    HarveyMushman, Apr 18, 2011
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  10. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    How is that slow? The GPU is a bit off but it may be throttling under the heat (mine does) but everything else checks out fine. What were you expecting? The highest achievable score is 7.9 and hard drives are capped at 5.9 unless you have SSD. Honestly you are taking all of this way too much.

    Edit: oops didn't realise that the ones in the brackets weren't yours. Yeah still slow. Have you tried a clean install?
     
    widezu69, Apr 18, 2011
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  11. HarveyMushman

    HarveyMushman Notebook Enthusiast

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    ok thats a bit better:

    CPU NOW 7.2
    RAM NOW 7.4
    GPU 4.7 ( no idea why this is still so low)
    Gaming GPU NOW 6.9
    HDD 5.9
     
    HarveyMushman, Apr 18, 2011
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  12. HarveyMushman

    HarveyMushman Notebook Enthusiast

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    Not taking this too seriously at all, I've paid for a machine that has new and higher spec so expect it to perform better. This is one test that will show me whether it was a worthywhile investment otherwise I may as well have kept the XPS for gaming.

    I was hoping the new GTX460M would be considerably better than the ATI 4650 which it now appears to be marginally better, I certainly expect the CPU to perform better than my XPS16

    But it looks to be getting there now. which is good, had I not gone through this I would have been running a balanced power plan with stealth mode on and never got the full potential out of the machine, so thanks for everyones help
     
    HarveyMushman, Apr 18, 2011
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  13. widezu69

    widezu69 Goodbye Alienware

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    Try running another kind of benchmark like 3D Mark Vantage or something. Also post a screenshot of your GPU-z maybe there's something up with the clocks.
     
    widezu69, Apr 18, 2011
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  14. HarveyMushman

    HarveyMushman Notebook Enthusiast

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    Here is a screenshot of GPU-z

    [​IMG]

    Just downloading 3D Mark Vantage to test
     
    HarveyMushman, Apr 18, 2011
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  15. HarveyMushman

    HarveyMushman Notebook Enthusiast

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    heres the 3D Test results:

    Result
     
    HarveyMushman, Apr 18, 2011
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  16. HarveyMushman

    HarveyMushman Notebook Enthusiast

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    ok I dont get it..decided to re run it again out of curiosity, hadn't changed anything on the machine at all, now getting;

    CPU 7.2
    RAM 7.4
    GPU 6.9
    Gaming GPU 6.9
    HDD 5.9

    All good thanks guys for everyones help, it is very much appreciated, hope this thread helps someone else too.
     
    HarveyMushman, Apr 18, 2011
    #16