Alienware M14x, i7-3610QM

ThugRen

Well I have done it. I finely broked down and order this Alienware M14x.
i7-3610QM
8 GB DDR3 Dual Channel
2GB DDR5 Nforce GT 650M
750GB with a 32GB mSATA
BR-ROM player and +-DVD
Its the M14X R2..

I will get it on the 18th or 20th of this month.

Axkingz · 06-02-2012, 00:26 | posts: 108 | Location: U.S.A.

Have that laptop in my sights as well... my only concern is the heat and how good the monitor is color wise.

But those are some great specs for a 14"!

scoutingwraith · 06-02-2012, 05:18 | posts: 9,222 | Location: Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha

Congrats. Hope you enjoy the lappy you ordered. It is quite a spec there as well.

kanej2007 · *Last edited by kanej2007; 06-02-2012 at 06:58.*

Fellow gurus, sorry for hijacking this thread only I wanted to ask a question as it relates to the Alienware M14X

First of all congrats on your new purchase!

Several months back I too ordered an Alienware M14X laptop which was bought primarily for internet/surfing, casual use & some light gaming when I'm not home or do not have access to my pc.

Obviously it will not play titles such as Battlefield 3 or Crysis on High/ultra but will gladly play them at around 30-40fps on medium.

However, for titles such as Doom 3, F.E.A.R, Half-Life 2, Left 4 Dead & Left 4 Dead 2 it will gladly play them at 60+ fps at maximum settings...

My question relates to the Alienware M14x laptop but since your thread relates to the M14x I didn't want to open a second thread.

Spec of my laptop:

i7-i7 2670QM 2.4Ghz (3.5GHz Turbo Boost)
6 GB DDR3 Dual Channel
3GB DDR5 GT 555M
500GB Serial ATA (7200RPM)
DVD+- Drive

As you can see my laptop is similar to yours only it's the previous model.

Problem I have is some kind of microstuttering, not in all but in many games I experience this issue.

Gameplay is smooth one minute & the next it's not. I've tried differerent drivers but unfortunately the problem persists.

It is not lag or a frame rate issue as I ran benchmark tests in the game to see if it was frame rate related.

Micro stuttering occurs badly in Left 4 Dead & Left 4 Dead 2. However, Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2 Episode 2 & Counter-Strike Source who use the very same engine as the Left 4 Dead titles are silky smooth and do not microstutter.

F.E.A.R also microstutters even though when performing the performance test I get minimum 58 fps and an average of 59fps...

The game will play silky smooth and then stutter when turning.

I've never had this on any previous laptop and would like to know if there's anything I can do to eliminate this microstuttering issue.

Despite the GPU being highly overclocked the microstuttering persists...

Thanks gurus for any advice you can offer.

ThugRen · 06-02-2012, 20:57 | posts: 77 | Location: Sask. Canada

Kainej I am new too the alienwares stuff. But I do know what can cause that problems. A few Issues could be based out of the Nvidia chipset bios, or something as simple as overlaping drivers. If You can I would say too format and start over but download the newest drivers and burn them too CD or DVD, Another issue too is the memory could be going bad or just is timing issues.. Check for Bios Upgrades for your laptop?

now as the Reason for me getting this Laptop how upgradedable is this unit? Can I Upgrade the Video card in the future? I will keep you guys posted on how it turns out..

Axkingz · 06-02-2012, 23:15 | posts: 108 | Location: U.S.A.

As far as i know it is not possible to change video cards in laptops yourself. Maybe Alienware has some sort of upgrade plan?

scatman839 · 06-03-2012, 00:00 | posts: 8,727 | Location: Dundee, Scotland

It is possible, but dell do not use mxm cards in their laptops, you will not be able to upgrade.

ThugRen · 06-03-2012, 17:06 | posts: 77 | Location: Sask. Canada

Damn them DELL.. I knew that Dell buying out Alienwares was a bad was a piss poor thing for customers.. I am still amazed at how some of these better companies get bought out by the piss poor companies.. aka Maxtor getting bought out by Seagate.

scatman839 · 06-03-2012, 20:41 | posts: 8,727 | Location: Dundee, Scotland

Googled a little, alienware put mxm slots on their larger laptops, the 15x, 17x and 18x sport them, the 14x and 11x do not.

But still, the 650m is a very good card.

kanej2007 · 06-04-2012, 06:17 | posts: 5,700 | Location: Dubai, UAE / London, UK

Quote:

Originally Posted by scatman839

Googled a little, alienware put mxm slots on their larger laptops, the 15x, 17x and 18x sport them, the 14x and 11x do not.

But still, the 650m is a very good card.

How much better is it than the 555m?

I'm angry at the fact I only bought my laptop several months back & now a newer cpu & gpu have been released in the very same laptop!!!

zipper · 06-04-2012, 08:02 | posts: 456 | Location: finland

Quote:

Originally Posted by kanej2007

How much better is it than the 555m?

30 - 70% depending on the benchmark (3DMarks).

kanej2007 · 06-04-2012, 09:21 | posts: 5,700 | Location: Dubai, UAE / London, UK

Quote:

Originally Posted by zipper

30 - 70% depending on the benchmark (3DMarks).

Nice, wish I was able to upgrade my GT 555 to the GT 650.

Whilst the GT 555 is decent it struggles to max F.E.A.R & even GTA IV is unplayable...

scatman839 · 06-04-2012, 12:12 | posts: 8,727 | Location: Dundee, Scotland

Quote:

Originally Posted by kanej2007

How much better is it than the 555m?

I'm angry at the fact I only bought my laptop several months back & now a newer cpu & gpu have been released in the very same laptop!!!

To be honest I thought you knew when you talked about that laptop, but I didn't understand why you were getting it.

Just make sure you overclock the 555m.

kanej2007 · 06-06-2012, 10:22 | posts: 5,700 | Location: Dubai, UAE / London, UK

Quote:

Originally Posted by scatman839

To be honest I thought you knew when you talked about that laptop, but I didn't understand why you were getting it.

Just make sure you overclock the 555m.

Haha, yeah, already done that. I flashed the bios which increases the gpu's voltage, core & clock speed.

This was the MAXIMUM overclock I could get, any more & I get artifacts as it's unstable.

scatman839 · 06-06-2012, 12:36 | posts: 8,727 | Location: Dundee, Scotland

Memory only 985? I get it to 1020 quite easily and I don't think i'm anywhere near where the card starts to artifact.

Or have you chosen higher gpu for less memory?

scoutingwraith · 06-06-2012, 18:21 | posts: 9,222 | Location: Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha

Quote:

Originally Posted by scatman839

Memory only 985? I get it to 1020 quite easily and I don't think i'm anywhere near where the card starts to artifact.

Or have you chosen higher gpu for less memory?

Each GPU is unique in over clocking abilities.

Monitor your temperatures on your system and see if something is not overheating. As for microstutering I had that on my m11x and I replaced the stock drivers with the newer ones that Dell had up. (mine were the optimus ones so not sure which one are yours)

Oh and yeah in the past Alienware did use MXM technology but stopped the moment Dell bought them

scatman839 · 06-06-2012, 21:44 | posts: 8,727 | Location: Dundee, Scotland

Quote:

Originally Posted by scoutingwraith

Oh and yeah in the past Alienware did use MXM technology but stopped the moment Dell bought them

They're still using them in the larger laptops, even the new ones.

scoutingwraith · 06-06-2012, 21:54 | posts: 9,222 | Location: Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha

Quote:

Originally Posted by scatman839

They're still using them in the larger laptops, even the new ones.

Really ??? Havent noticed. Ill borrow one of my friends Laptop to see if there is any in the M15x. If thats the case then thats good i guess because you can somewhat upgrade.

scatman839 · 06-06-2012, 22:10 | posts: 8,727 | Location: Dundee, Scotland

Yep, apparently even the 7970m works in the m15x r2.

kanej2007 · 06-07-2012, 08:57 | posts: 5,700 | Location: Dubai, UAE / London, UK

Quote:

Originally Posted by scatman839

Memory only 985? I get it to 1020 quite easily and I don't think i'm anywhere near where the card starts to artifact.

Or have you chosen higher gpu for less memory?

As scoutingwraith said, each GPU is unique with regards to overclocking abilities...

I've overclocked everything as high as I possibly could. When running ATI tools I get Artifacts should I go any higher...

Some people have got their GPU clocks to 850. However they've increased the voltage to stable it or they've got golden chips!

That said, how do they keep temperatures under 80? I've seen my laptop gpu reach up to 80 and it's not heavily overclocked...

Quote:

Originally Posted by scoutingwraith

Each GPU is unique in over clocking abilities.

Monitor your temperatures on your system and see if something is not overheating. As for microstutering I had that on my m11x and I replaced the stock drivers with the newer ones that Dell had up. (mine were the optimus ones so not sure which one are yours)

Oh and yeah in the past Alienware did use MXM technology but stopped the moment Dell bought them

Very true. I got the max stable overclock my gpu will allow me to...

ThugRen · 06-25-2012, 04:19 | posts: 77 | Location: Sask. Canada

Well all is working good. I do love it..

kanej2007 · 07-01-2012, 10:16 | posts: 5,700 | Location: Dubai, UAE / London, UK

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThugRen

Well all is working good. I do love it..

You didn't tell us how the laptop performs or what fps you get when gaming...

It would be nice to know how it runs Crysis, GTA IV, etc...

Oh, and one more question, how is it for overclocking and what are your idle and max temperatures?

yelsewshane · 07-05-2012, 04:55 | posts: 1,468

I suggest you cancel the order and get a touchscreen laptop to work with windows 8 that will be out soon

scatman839 · 07-05-2012, 14:24 | posts: 8,727 | Location: Dundee, Scotland

Why would anyone want to do that?

zipper · 07-05-2012, 15:51 | posts: 456 | Location: finland

Because