M17x R3 Audio issues

Did you clean install like this?

Order is important (chipset first). Use latest version of drivers.

ftp.dell.com/.../alienware-m17x-r3-all.html

If you DID install like doc linked above, then just try installing the latest version of audio driver.

Hello Yuven,

Try external speakers or headphones and test the audio.

I am using a alienware m18x and I have experienced your problems too, sometimes it occured, not always. Luckily, lately it did not occured with me so good luck :D. Try to restart your computer and set the audio option back to default, maybe it wil work.

@Karen: I have tried other speakers, and it does not help at all.

@Tesla: Unfortunately, I could not find my install CD, so a friend of mine who is a computer engineer took care of the installations.

Could it be problems with the hardware? Audiocard maybe?

Yuven

Send me a PM with your service tag, phone number include the link for this thread and I'll get back to you.

Hi All,

I am facing this exact issue with my alienware M17XR3. I am not sure what the problem is. Thinking that my operating system is corrupted, I re-installed my system and unfortunately, the problem persists.

While playing any music related app or video related app (games, flash, VLC etc) the sound is completely distorted. After a while the PC becomes dead slow and almost non-responsive. 

Called the customer support and they say that my video card is not functioning properly and advised me to have it replaced with the motherboard as it is mounted. I had high hopes that Alienware would last for at least 3 good years (from the market hype and product price). I am totally disappointed.

Any help regarding this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the reply.!

Yes I am running the latest BIOS. I think I bumped into a thread where this issue was resolved by rolling back the windows update. However, I do not know as to which exact windows update should I uninstall.

You can roll back to a date when the system was working properly.

Hi All,   I am facing this exact issue with my alienware M17XR3. I am not sure what the problem is. Thinking that my operating system is corrupted, I re-installed my system and unfortunately, the problem persists.   While playing any music related app or video related app (games, flash, VLC etc) the sound is completely distorted. After a while the PC becomes dead slow and almost non-responsive.    Called the customer support and they say that my video card is not functioning properly and advised me to have it replaced with the motherboard as it is mounted. I had high hopes that Alienware would last for at least 3 good years (from the market hype and product price). I am totally disappointed.   Any help regarding this would be greatly appreciated.

Hello Mayur.Karanth!

I’m sorry to hear you are having sound issues.

Have you tried to flash the BIOS to the latest version? Try to uninstall the audio driver and reinstall it again that might help.

The distortion happens with both, the speakers and the headset?

Thanks. Uninstalled all my windows update and my system is running perfectly as of now.

Same issue, M17X R3. All latest drivers and BIOS. Still occurs after a clean install. Not willing to roll back Windows Updates to correct this however. They're there for a reason. Are enough people having this issue to where Dell will actually do something about it?

I was actually wondering the same thing. Apparently, quite a lot of them have the same issue. I had called up the customer care, initially when I encountered this problem and they told me to replace my motherboard with the graphic card (because they are mounted). Thankfully, I dug a little and realized its a known issue. Had I taken Customer care advice, I would have been broke now

Its frustrating when a company/corporation completely ignores their previous customers just because there are new models out there . Sadly I payed big sums to buy this laptop and not pebbles.This will be my last Alienware. They forget the thumb rule to give after sales services.

Did not expect this from a very reputed or so called 'world's best gaming laptop' company. 

I noted one discrepancy. When booting into safe mode, the audio doesn't glitch so it's obviously a driver issue that dell needs to fix. Nothing wrong with the hardware at all

Same issue, M17X R3. All latest drivers and BIOS. Still occurs after a clean install. Not willing to roll back Windows Updates to correct this however. They're there for a reason. Are enough people having this issue to where Dell will actually do something about it?

If the problem doesn't happen while you're on Safe Mode as you said, means it's a software issue. It could be related to the driver for which I recommend to uninstall and re-install the driver. It could also be another application or program interfering with the Sound Card, so System Restore is the best option.

If it were a hardware issue, then it's either the Sound Card or the Speakers. If external speakers or headphones have the same problem, the issue is with the Sound Card and that's when the Motherboard is replaced.

System restore is not an option with my configuration; however, I have ran sound with a USB audio card, external speakers, and headphones and had the same results with the glitching. I also noted while having issues between the discreet and integrated graphics not cooperating and performing hours of troubleshooting with ideas from another forum here that when I had no graphic drivers installed at all for either device, there was no audio stutter either. When I got the graphic issue fixed with the latest and proper drivers, audio stutter returned. I believe that narrows it down pretty well. Here is my hardware config:

Alienware M17x R3
Intel Core i7 2820QM 2.3GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)
16GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (4DIMMS)
17.3-inch WideHD+ 1600 x 900 60Hz WLED
1GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6870M
500GB 7,200RPM SATA-II HDD
Slot-Load Dual Layer Bluray Burner
Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio with Optical out
Wireless 802.11 g/n