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    m15x with no discrete graphics?

    Discussion in 'Alienware M15x' started by TuuS, Dec 16, 2011.

  1. TuuS

    TuuS Notebook Consultant

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    I just purchased a "fully functional" (as advertised) m15x, it has some blemishes, scratches, and some undisclosed screen imperfections, but was an otherwise great deal and is obviously a high end unit, as it has WUXGA screen and X9000 cpu, but I was surprised to see it only has Intel graphics. I looked in the bios and can't see any mention of graphics, or ways to enable them. I was warned that some people remove the defective nVidia cards, so I popped the cover and both fans and heatsinks are present, so I'm not sure what to think.

    Here is a photo

    http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/1446/img0538bw.jpg

    I also see it has a couple unused miniPCIe slots, will this support an Intel Turbo Memory chip?


    I'd also like to know if the bios supports overclocking, I assumed since it has the X9000 that it would, but I saw no such options to adjust the multiplier.


    Thanks in Advance
     
    TuuS, Dec 16, 2011
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  2. Ldmoose

    Ldmoose Notebook Consultant

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    Thats a pre Dell Alienware m15x, this section is for the Dell/Alienware all powerful M15x. Try posting this in the area 51/legacy section, you'll get better help there. Alienware Area-51/Aurora and Legacy Systems
     
    Ldmoose, Dec 16, 2011
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  3. TuuS

    TuuS Notebook Consultant

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    Thank you very much :)
     
    TuuS, Dec 16, 2011
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  4. bigtonyman

    bigtonyman Desktop Powa!!!

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    the GPU and CPU heatsinks on that model have some small heatpipes :eek:
     
    bigtonyman, Dec 16, 2011
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  5. TuuS

    TuuS Notebook Consultant

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    This is a Core2 model, so it probably needs less cooling then your i7, but it is a high-end unit for this era, beings it has WUXGA, and the X9000, so hopefully someone can tell me if I can expect to find a missing GPU under that heatsink or not. I can't imagine someone ordering these expensive options and only getting the Intel graphics.
     
    TuuS, Dec 16, 2011
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  6. bigtonyman

    bigtonyman Desktop Powa!!!

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    well good luck :) it just seemed strange to see an older cooling system that looked so ineffective :p
     
    bigtonyman, Dec 16, 2011
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  7. svl7

    svl7 T|I

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    The GPU is definitely present (physically), check out the legacy section, they should be able to help you.
     
    svl7, Dec 17, 2011
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  8. TuuS

    TuuS Notebook Consultant

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    Thank you. I did post and got a reply saying to turn on OSD and press "fn" and "F7". I don't seem to have the OSD installed though, that I can see, and can only find OSD driver for the M17 model on the support site.

    Pressing the keys does nothing.

    I'm hoping someone can tell me if this has switchable graphics, or maybe it's only Intel on this model? If so, it seems strange someone would order a cpu that cost well over $1000 at the time, and a very expensive screen too, and not order the switchable graphics. I read as much as I could find and saw referrence to enabling the descrete graphics in the bios, but saw no such option.

    Hopefully someone who knows these systems will reply in either of my posts, I'll keep an eye out. If the seller is trying to hide a failed gpu, then I need to open a dispute before it's to late, but I'd hate to return the thing, I just want what was advertised, a fully functional unit.
     
    TuuS, Dec 17, 2011
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  9. otosan

    otosan Notebook Consultant

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    maybe u can try to open the case and see whther the GPU is there or not...,

    as for OSD, u can try download and install it 1st...
     
    otosan, Dec 17, 2011
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  10. t_man

    t_man Notebook Geek

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    t_man, Dec 17, 2011
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  11. TuuS

    TuuS Notebook Consultant

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    I did open the case, see photo in OP. I didn't pull the heatsink yet. As for OSD, I looked for it on the support website, but the only OSD I saw was the driver for M17 model.

    I'll look again.


    This has vista x86, I will install win7 x64, "if" I keep it, but I need to confirm it works first.
     
    TuuS, Dec 17, 2011
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  12. otosan

    otosan Notebook Consultant

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    That absolutely graphic card righ there... i see the card attached and connected...

    so probably is driver think? or is really hardware failure,

    i can't open link above... 404 error, can u show me ur device manager list? is there any unknown device inside there?
     
    otosan, Dec 17, 2011
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  13. TuuS

    TuuS Notebook Consultant

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    Just to keep this post updated, it seems someone removed the OSD hoping the buyer wouldn't notice. I installed it and as soon as I switched to dedicated graphics, I got no display at all...

    I could hear windows start, so I waited, hit "fn" and "F7", then enter, then enter again, and it rebooted into integrated graphics.

    I'm going to assume the seller didn't know this (for now), and I'm asking them to help pay for repairs. The unit was a good deal, so I'm not expecting the moon and stars, but it was advertised as fully functional.

    Worse case I'll resort to dispute and feedback.

    Anyone know where I can get a new card cheap? This is a budget machine, so it doesn't have to be a powerful one, but I would like to avoid the defective nVidia chip.
     
    TuuS, Dec 17, 2011
    #13
  14. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

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    katalin_2003, Dec 17, 2011
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