New Nvidia Driver

Hi there

Just installed the latest nVidia 186.81 Notebook driver with Hybrid enabled and it installed just fine (i.e. no need to disable Hybrid, use custom .INF, or stand on one leg whilst pointing North) .

I've have yet to do any Benchmarking, but all looks ok for now, and have seen similar feedback on the forums:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?s=6f031b7ae751ea4af11e70fdc6777201&t=412586

Bon chance!

Trelawney

Thanks Trelawney. I got it installed and it seems ok. My machine's running quite a bit slower for some reason, and it didn't fix the problem that my game won't run at all but oh well.

Spoke too soon. It broke my RAID mirror. Grrrrrrr....

Hi Todd

Hmm .. the graphics driver shouldn't have any effect on the mobo/chipset driver or RAID (although both are nVidia)!

Did you update anything else at the time E.g. Chipset Driver or BIOS?

Here are the latest M17x updates (apart from the graphics)

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?os=WLH&osl=EN&catid=-1&impid=-1&hidos=WW1&hidlang=en&TabIndex=&SystemID=ALW_LP_M17X

If you install BIOS A01 - remember to go back into the BIOS settings on rebooting, and change back to RAID 0 (if that's what you have), as this goes back to BIOS default after applying.

The nVidia MCP79 Chipset driver is 2.03 for A01.

Try again and see if that fixes it!

Regards

Trelawney

The only other thing I did right before updating the driver was to set a restore point. That wouldn't break RAID would it?

Hi Todd

Restore Point - Definitely not

Maybe try a clean reboot, temporarily disable any unnecessary programs to be sure E.g. AntiVirus, then install BIOS and Chipset updates first (remember after BIOS reboot - go straight into Setup and set RAID active again - In fact you might want to go in beforehand to note the current BIOS RAID settings down first just to be sure).

Once rebooted again with these installed, try re-downloading (in case corrupted) and re-installing the 186.81 drivers again.

Just to confirm, I am running with Hybrid Enabled, and Stealth Mode Disabled (easy to be caught out by either - esp. latter!)

I tested Futuremark and got 12100 with everything running at stock (QX9300, 8Gb RAM, 2x280SLI) if this helps. Down very slightly on before, but image quality definitely good i.e. many folks just look at the benchmark and don't actually watch the demos for improvements in image quality.

Good luck (again!)

Trelawney

Ended up losing everything and having to do a full restore. Oh well, I'll stay away from that driver for sure.

Seriously Todd? That sounds strange. Graphics drivers forcing a full restore?

Well looking at the Notebook forums nearly everyone has it working with no problems, so sorry to hear that. I wonder if the issue was unrelated. The drivers are fine, really but just sharing my findings. These are the best ones yet.

I'd better not mention that BIOS and OSD A02 are out (and working fine for me) in case that blows something else up

Trelawney

Yeah, something in Windows got corrupted when I tried to reset the mirror and the system wouldn't boot. Couldn't repair it for some reason either. The only thing I lost that irritated me (other than time and frustration) was the Windows 7 beta, which I downloaded on the last day it was available. Was hoping to set it up on a separate partition to see if that fixed my game problems. Blankety blank Dell not giving people coupons for the upgrade. :(

As far as the BIOS and OSD updates go I'll probably go ahead and install them since they come from Dell directly and presumably had at least some testing done.

Unfortunately I ordered it a week before they offered the coupon. They also decided to start accepting my company's educational discount a week or so after I ordered. I've tried to contact them about both issues but they never wrote back to me.

Yeah the nVidia 186.81 ones are WHQL, so I think you were unlucky there.

You may wish to try again, or pass - but just to let you know they do work for most people. Sorry for the troubel you had Todd.

Trelawney

If you purchased your Alienware M17x after 26th June, then you are entitled to a Windows 7 Upgrade Offer form (which should come with the laptop - mine did). 

Note this is Alienware and not Dell (although Dell own them), but the way the OEM program is managed is different. Checkout the www.alienware.com (or .uk) website to confirm eligibility for the W7 Offer Form.

Regards

Trelawney

That's unfortunate on both counts Todd , but I don't think you'll have any luck unless you are prepared to do what someone else did in the US and argue that they didn't receive the PC until after 26th June, therefore the goods weren't technically 'purchased' by then !

You may find that e-mails are more easily ignored though, than speaking directly to your Account Manager (you should have had this person assigned when you first ordered).

Trelawney

That's interesting because I ordered on the 19th but I wasn't actually charged on my credit card until mid-July when the thing shipped. And based on the production steps they didn't even start building it until after the 26th.

Just reviewing my original order confirmation and no account manager listed. I'm not sure who I should contact or if it would even be worth the effort of trying.

Thanks for listening to me gripe Trelawney. :)