oh ok to me i don't see significant differences (it might have dropped for a few c hehe). of course it's better to apply paste haha! i haven't replaced the thermal paste on gpu. (still stock paste/pad from dell until now) it's always below 73c (bf4; 4+ hrs non-stop)

how's your .ac setup? please do share ya!

aurora alx is much spacious imo. i have aurora standard. to me it's sufficient for now; and the size is not that bad. still in the process of adding stuff.

desktops should have plenty of space to house stuff. that's why it's bulky. don't even think about carrying it around. it's heavy
uh? how come? there is a new firmware released just a few days ago. try that and see. i do check and update the firmware of my ac66u regularly.

omg 800m series gpu are incredible

Hi guys. Anyone of you guys experiencing M17X R4 BD ROM issue after upgrading to windows 8.1? Mine can be detected but if I insert any media, it can't read it, just make normal reading noise  & later eject it. I uninstall & reinstall the driver but no go. Next week I'll try fresh install windows 8 to see if the problem persist. FYI, I upgraded to Windows 8 from Windows 7 & later upgrade it further to 8.1. BTW my BD ROM is "HL-DT-ST DVDRWBD CA40N".

Today i went to singapore and try out a notebook with Two GTX 880m

crazy , i tell you this rig can easily beat desktop r9 290X  or even a GTX 680 - 770

Crysis 3 can run maximum settings still get 80+ fps

notes: after some brief tests, i think intel 7260 ac card is just 'partially' working for aw17. (maybe i have done wrong somewhere) the bluetooth module is having problems (unable to run due to some unknown reasons)

the replacement of wifi card is quite simple in aw17. just take out the back cover (2 screws); disconnect the antennas from the stock card; take out the stock card (1 screw); replace it with the new one; reconnect the antennas, and finally replace the back cover.

if you do not use the bluetooth module, just get rid of it from device manager by disabling it in the bios. (good for me because i only use wifi; i never used bluetooth )

with the latest intel wifi driver 16.x (16.11.0 to be exact), it is stable at 866.7mbps, when coupled with asus rt-ac66u. note that somehow the cutting edge 17.x driver didn't work well with it.

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About 3 meters lol! My ac router is near to my desk

I found the drivers here: https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopi...post&p=67153619

this alienware m14x r4 damn hard to access, my ex sager so easy to access, need to tear all part @@, and i dont have the screwdriver that same size with the screw, also afraid i make wrong things as i currently doing my fyp..lol

do u offer such service raymond? if got can pm me, i already got the IC diamond thermal paste.

Sound cards for laptops essentially are DACs too. But sound cards for computers utilize cheap DAC chips to say the very most and rely heavily on software EQ to make the sound sound 'better' to the untrained ear.
External DACs or DAC Amp combos will push high end cans and IEMs to the next level. Don't take my word for it, try it out yourself and you'll know what I am talking about. External DACs utilize fully high end components and provide the best sound from hardware prowess alone and not software tweaking and EQ.
My recommendation is to try out the CEntrance DACport. It's small. And affordable (for an Alienware owner, I am guessing that it should be). Try to bring your headphones and see the difference it makes from the M17 headphone outs and from the CEntrance. I used to use it with my Beyer DT880 too when it was the flagship at that time. Before I got the T1 which is Beyers current flagship.
If you do test it out one day. I would like to know what's your take on the difference. (:

updated to 8.1 update 1 via offline mode. seamless. offline mode is better to save some time to wait for the update file downloads (800+ MB per OS; it's time consuming)

just download and then follow the installation sequence highlighted here, http://www.extremetech.com/computing/17809...-free-right-now

repeat for all the machines.

well i did tried to resit it a lot of times but no luck. i worry it might be the cable being faulty.

That's too much

With 1080p I can't even see my enemies in battle field (like tiny dots with zoom)

I bet the gpu is 880m sli or better hehe

Oh my bad i meant without zoom hahaha!

My kill/death ratio always increases when i play games with laptops (17" screen is easier to spot enemies lol!)

for aw17 the heat from 780m is fine. the triple-heatpipe gpu heatsink is good enough. (however it's not in the case of cpu. my 4900mq generates a lot of heat during gaming. it's still bearable i.e. no throttling yet at room temperatures) r4 on the other hand are fine, the cpu heatsink are good for 3820qm and 3840qm with slight oc at room temperatures.

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yes it's possible with some tweaks here and there. however initially i think it's for desktops/servers only. (there is no laptop cpu that can handle 64gb ram yet :/)

planning to 'songlap' R4 once the price drops to 3k-4k

well, best that if i can find one with 3630QM or 3740QM with GTX660M, then i will buy a GTX880M (or maybe GTX980M) and fit it into the beast.
last time i heard of someone mentioning direct factory units but not sure is it possible to get any of it.

yeah that's the result of a few generations' improvements

i believe the cycle will repeat for the new 17.
a base model will work for you. i have one, but it's a beast now (after my cpu/ssd/ram/wifi upgrades)

will give it a new brain later (3940xm )