Alienware M14x-R2 is nothing but problems

Hi Foodheck,

I would like to apologize for the issues you've experienced with your system, I understand how frustrating that can be, I'll do my best to help you out.

1. Have you checked your system temperatures?

2. What video driver version and BIOS version are you running?

3. What exactly are the sound issues that you are experiencing?

I'll be waiting for your reply.

I have a cooling pad, the recommended one when I bought the computer, infact. I have just recently updated everything I can as far as drivers and whatnot goes. The bios is Alienware A09, 6/29/2012. Video driver would be Nvidia GeForce GT 650M - Driver version 320.49. I am not having sound issues anymore  - I went and spent more money on external speakers so forget that. My main focus is on the HIGHLIGHTED  important part of the post. I Can't play games at high settings. I should be able to. People even look at my system specs when I tell them what I have and they're like, "what the , how are you not getting 60 frames all the time?"

well 60 fps is far fetched  idea  for a 650m.. I have an i7/650m/ssd on my acer and  average 35-40 fps. its not that powerfull of a card but this is besides the point. I see you installed NVidia's BETA driver, have you tried a driver cleaner, clean all  of the original driver out and installed the OUTDATED dell  recommended driver FROM DELL to see if it works any better? are you running on battery or wall power as battery it defult to the onboard useless intel card for  battery life. have you tried making a custom profile for game to be run in NVidia panel  to make sure it runs the NVidia card. (diagnosis  reason not meant as perma fix). unfortunately I don't have a lot of experience with NVidia optimus, I run  ati with my M18X R2  due to fact I was able to shut of the onboard which if you have latest bios. I  believe is A10,  apparently it is possible on the M14X R2  to disable the onboard in the bios. ( I take no responsibility if you brick the machine while updating bios as its a recommendation). go to the BIOS setting. Once there, you can go to the advanced tab, scroll down to the bottom option and change the setting from SG to PGE.

People with weaker cards have better FPS than I do, so i'm not going to believe you that 60 fps is far fetched for my machine. Half of the selling motto of the machine was "Insane framerate at maxed settings!"

It was working even worse without the most recent driver updates I did - So I will not be downgrading back to recent version

I will also not be changing settings like the ones you mention under BIOS settings unless told to do so by a representative of DELL, which you are not.

If THEY tell me to do something and my machine gets messed up, its on them and they are responsible. You however, are not.

I'm extremely upset that the entire point of the computer is now being revealed to me to have been a lie.

"Yeah, everything you have in this machine is insanely powerful and will NOT dissapoint you, even a year down the line!" is what the representative told me. It isn't even a year later, and I'm being told my video card is becoming outdated for high-end gaming.

Games I used to play on max settings 60 FPS now play on maxed settings 30-40 FPS. The games an offline, non-updated game so its not like the games I'm talking about are requiring more from my computer that my computer can't do.

I really am looking forward to a professional response where somebody can actually start helping me troubleshoot. Maybe send me a phone number I can call to get in touch with a representative who will make it their life's goal to solve my issues with this machine that I spent way too much damn money on for what it's making me go through. (That IS what customer support/service is!!)

well I was talking for of consistent 60 fps.. but okay sure....  I play tf2 get 120 ish play css get 120 ish play cod4 .... fails hard  (settings maxed.... on all)  it depends on the game but also depends on cpu as some games are more cpu heavy then gpu...  anyway ...

I know you want dell to speak up but maybe call them , this a a community support forum moderated by dell, most of us have experience in these machines with direct issues owning them I may not have a M14x but I do own a M18x R2,

changing a setting in bios wont hurt a thing, worst case is pay attention to what you do in event system don't boot into windows then revert back.. simple, the information I posted on changing that setting was from alienware forums so each to their own.

updating bios can brick the machine if it fails, I understand not doing this and reason I said at own risk, I don't want to be responsible for such..

also your original post stating you get 15 on low settings which sound sliek its running on the intel hd video card... now your saying 30-40 fps ...... so im confused

Well, some games are better than other as you say. EVE still runs at 60 FPS but pretty much everything else is capping at 30-40, which used to be 50-60.

If my machine is using the intel hd card instead of the nvidia, couldn't that be my entire issue?

Sorry if I insulted you at all - wasn't trying to say you don't know anything :)

Can you PLEASE answer me back DELL? I've called multiple times too any everybody says "Go to the forums or contact somebody that can come out and look at your machine firsthand" I DONT WANT TO PAY FOR SOMEBODY TO COME LOOK AT THIS MACHINE!! Help your  customer, please.

Hi Foodheck - 89fordprobee has been on the alienware forum for a long time, he may not be an "Authorized Dell Rep" but he certainly know what he's talking about, and to be completely honest, in my experience with Dell onsite "Engineer's" and telephone tech support, he is by far more educated on Alienware fault's and troubleshooting than at least 70% of dell representatives.

Please listen to his advice, if your in doubt about something then google it to confirm it has been done before with no problems.

Most of the regulars on this forum are here to help people like yourself.

If I was in your position there would be a couple of things I would try depending on the warranty status of your laptop.

1. Is it's still under warranty then call tech support and have the issue escalated to senior management, they have the power to completely replace your laptop, as you had problems straight out of the box it sounds like you may have a lemon. Lemons (completely faulty laptops) dont happen very much if you consider the actual volume of units sold, BUT THEY DO HAPPEN. If you still have warranty then this is definately what you should push hard for.

2. Run the Dell PSA test - When you start your laptop hold F12 and select the PSA test, this will let you know if you have problems with your Fans, RAM, CPU and a host of other things, including your AC adapter

3. Your prob going to hate this but my next suggestion is to do a complete reinstallation of everything, Alienware computers can have a lot of software issues and sometimes it's easier to just start again than trying to pick through the haystack of software.

If you've installed a few nvidia updates there may be bits of the older driver left in the windows registery, there are programs to remove these "bits" but like I mentioned above, somethimes it's just easier to start again, reinstallation will also wipe any other corrupted files and/or undetected virus's

If you do decide to follow this then check the alienware forum/tech support page for correct installation procedure, Dell has a very detailed guide on how to and more importantly WHAT ORDER the drivers need to be install in

keep this post updated on how you go and people here will be able to assist you further

Goodluck foodheck

I tried everything - at this point I'm going to need a new laptop. I updated my BIOS as well as  fordprobee advised me to - It helped slightly but only ever so slightly. Everything is up to date. I will be calling support tomorrow - I just hope they somehow reimburse me for all of this trouble that I shouldn't have had to deal with. Spent 3,000$  dollars on a computer only to find out its a flawed machine that isn't even an ACTUAL alienware - it's just had the alien symbol stuck onto it. If i knew DELL owned alienware when i bought it, i wouldn't have bought it. My first alienware was fantastic, before dell bought alienware. Now I buy a computer from them and its horrible. And look at these forums! Whining everywhere - "My computers broken, fix this, fix that" is all I see about Alienware. It's a ripoff. I bet they don't even use top-end parts, and just make cheap ones themselves in some factory (PROBABLY one of the reasons my machine is working so bad after such a short time is that they used   parts that degrade way too  fast instead of what alienware used to do which is use quality parts). Once again, lets hope DELL pulls through and gives me a computer that I can say was worth 3,000 dollars.