m17x-R2 Laptop / ATI 5870 Crossfire - Can't Install Latest Video Drivers

We do not support the usage of retail or tweaked retail video card drivers on our Dell OEM (original equipment manufacturer) mobility video cards. Please reinstall the latest Dell WHQL driver, R281215.exe 8.763-100810a-104118C-Dell A01.
Fixes & Enhancements =
1. Displays configuration becomes incorrect when Crossfire is disabled.
2. A non existent 2nd monitor appears in CCC and Display Manager after resume from S3/S4 with CrossFire disabled.
3. Dual 5870 internal LCD gets no display after disable CF and un-plug external monitor.
4. System hangs when crossfire is disabled and re-enabled.
5. Driver updates.
6. Support for new game titles.

Then install the Vbios R281544.exe
1. Fixes display corruption issues found on some 5870 video cards.
2. Fixes issues on battery (BSOD, S3, S4, and black screen) with older VBIOS and 8.7xx drivers.

How can this be a "gaming laptop" when the video drivers listed on the Dell web site is over a year old?! Gaming requires being up-to-date with the video drivers.

On the ATI site, the drivers I install are for the mobile 5870. Who else would use these drivers other then a laptop? What's the difference between the Dell drivers and the ATI drivers other then being more then a year old?

Drivers this old suggests Dell has abandoned the video card.

Drivers this old suggests Dell has abandoned the video card.

Almost correct. Once a machine is 1 year old, starting from its release date, Dell abandons ALL support for it. Of course this is almost entirely related to driver and BIOS updates. And because we may not install the original hardware supplier's updated drivers, there is no way for the average customer to use his machine as a serious gaming rig.

It is incredibly frustrating and must be costing Dell a significant amount of previously loyal Alienware/Dell customers, not to mention the negative word of mouth generated!

Chris, you see this complaint every week and yet you say nothing. I cannot believe you have not passed it on to Dell so what is their reaction? Why do they not provide driver support after 1 year?

Yes, it's incredibly frustrating that a company like Dell don't give us a solution now.

I hope what the ATI Catalyst 12.1 OCL work in my m17x-R2 Laptop with ATI 5870 Crossfire.

The price of this Laptop is very high and I can't have this issues.

Chris, you see this complaint every week and yet you say nothing.
* I can only state policy. I do not MAKE policy.

I cannot believe you have not passed it on to Dell so what is their reaction?
* I have. They are aware of how long it takes us to get drivers out.

Why do they not provide driver support after 1 year?
* I do not know. You should ask the next time we have a con call with the Notebook Forum guys.

Well, lack of support = no future purchases from me.

My laptop is anything but relegated to low end casual games. I'm playing BF3, Skyrim, Batman AC with just a few tweaks to the video settings. To think Dell doesn't care anymore after 1 year is very disappointing.

And $3k a year to stay supported by Dell?! Who would do that?

But thanks for the responses, guys. I really appreciate it.

The release ATI Catalyst 12.1 is a very good oportunity for Dell and AMD to solve this situation with m17x-R2 and keep the customer satisfied.

Thanks

I too am having similar issues - how do we give feedback directly to Dell about this issue?   The M17x is supposed to be a top of the line gaming rig - but with drivers that are almost 24 years old - its no where near that...

- sorry i meant 24 months...

Agreed, I'm stuck with the 11.10 drivers and any update after that blue screens. Why can't the latest ATI mobility drivers (12.1) work for Alienware laptops...

what games are you playing that have issues? I play BF3, MW3 and a number of other games from different suppliers with no issues at all.

hi guys

Just bought myself a 17-r2 and went through the whole update the driver, BSOD and rebuild process. I am in direct contact with the alienware support guys and am hoping to get some feedback from them on the issue. 

The cool factor is lost when the latest games stutter and crash.

What is funny is (or not) the available warranties exceeds driver support.  My mx17 r2 fails to perform because of bad hardware, I get it replaced.  If it fails to perform because of no driver updates, I hear get to hear crickets chirping and find no explanations. 

There is nothing more disappointing than dropping cash on something you thought was going to be "AWESOME!" and only find out it only looks awesome.  If Alienware is the Porsche of the laptop world, you kind of expect a little more service than if buying a standard business machine.

1yr (One Year) !!!??? I get longer software support for my cell phone.

I find that my R2 plays games fine provided Xfire is disabled. Of course the problem with that is you pay for an extra video card you cannot use.

On a slightly different subject, when I first got this machine I had a real problem with poor quality video playback. It was absolutely useless. Dell replaced both video cards and that changed nothing. Then they changed the mother board. Still no improvement. They then decided it had to be a software related issue and transferred me to their software dept (a paid service). The software tech said it had nothing to do with any of my software nor codecs and bounced me back to hardware support who promptly abandoned me. I have never heard from them since!

But guess what? Once I had disabled Xfire my video playback quality became perfect. Anyone else experience this?