[Alienware Refresh] Initial thoughts and impressions? Hit or a Miss?

The removable bottom cover will be great. Finally. Well let's hope haha...

 

Well if it really is only 7 screws and then you can repaste, clean fans, upgrade ram / ssd / hdd that's perfectly fine.

It wasn't that big of a deal for the alienware 17 R2 but having to unscrew the entire laptop and pull out the motherboard just to repaste was rather silly.

 

I will not be upgrading my AR 13 R2. Why? For one, why would anyone want to do VR on a 13" laptop? You'd plug it into a bigger screen to do so and even then, the 1060 wouldn't be the best for VR. Secondly, they slimmed down the chassis and added more cooling, to me, they should have kept the thickness and added what they did w/ the new cooling design I guess time will tell with this. And third, it looks %^@*&^$ ugly IMHO. Like they went back to the old Area 51 m15x design and added a modern look mixed in.

Also, does anyone know the weight of this thing? The 13 that is, I know the 17 almost got ~15-20% heavier with this update. If it got heavier, they're defeating the whole purpose of a portable laptop, especially at 13 inches.

 

I agree, the design for accessibility on the 15R2/17R3 was very poor. It's much better for the entire bottom panel to come off...please let it be so....

The design is nothing new and from a functional perspective, it's a good effort....that is IF the beefed up cooling system actually works. With the higher TDP's of the Pascal chips, it'd be a disaster to try and fit a Pascal in a traditional looking chassis and call it a day. Ain't going to happen...the sacrifice here with the new AW is the hump lol / forward hinge design.

IMO I think the new design looks a lot more mature and if the cooling system actually works, it's a decent attempt all the while keeping it thin. Not sure what more can be done other than minor aesthetics.

 

Why make the new AW 17 thinner than its predecessor, as they now made it heavier? This will be at the expense of better cooling and probably also for overclocking. Dell could rather increased the max TDP of the graphics than creating this model thinner. Dell go the opposite direction with this model also!!

 

Well with good engineering it can be done and the new AW is heavier due to more of the three major metals being used, copper, magnesium alloy and steel. Of course thinness is even possible due to it being bga, but that doesn't mean that it has to be thick for it to have better cooling. It's all in the design.

Now lets see if AW can execute what they have made and what that idiot Azor has claimed in, "no throttling out of the box." I have a funny feeling that he's speaking so confidently about making that claim due to it being throttled back and/or TDP....What good is a crippled 1080, but then again, what good is a 1080 that can't stay cool. Same thing.

 

you can expect zero throttling, zero performance compromises

crippled 1080 in the guise of 150w would be the sine qua non of performance compromise shipped direct to your living room, & it's November until 1080s are said to either ship or can be ordered, & that's a long wait for some answers. Can you have both? Zero throttling &/with zero performance compromise.

The Guru says MXM 1080 is 190watts, is an AlienBGA 1080 150watts (?)

TechRadar: 'Alienware has made some bold claims that it's 17-inch gaming laptop will be able to tap into the full 150W power of the 1080 while other companies have only achieved 120W performance'. Fazor: 'What you may find is that some companies may take the 1080 chip and underclock it, then put it into a product and advertise it as a standard 1080 ... (ours) operate at the full operating criteria for the CPU and GPU, which is 150 watts'

Desktop chip is 180w / MXM 190, what's this 150w business ... let's ask the Guru:

Got it?

For the record, the poll needs option #4: 'I'll pass, & wait for new KabyLake BGA CPU'

 

I personally caught that idiot Azor lying through his teeth in another video when he said the AGA was ready for the 10 series GPU's the moment they were released.. Meanwhile 3+ weeks after the release no one could get one working with the AGA, so I posted said video in these forums to flame him. That guy is full of $hit, always has been and always will be. Goes hand in hand with Alienwares extremely deceptive marketing. The souls they chose to represent the Alienware brand genuinely disturb me due to their goofie nature; way to choose a bunch of chumps who do a perfect job of repelling others from the brand.

 

Precisely. I mean just look at the dude...sleazy snaky used car salesman written all over him.

 

As I said in previous posts. It's easier too cool hardware with lesser TDP capacity from graphics. Same as what Dell themselves said in their advertising of their new models. You need less cooling capacity if you choose to gimped down a 1080 graphics to 150w. Also overclocking will be hurt.


And why not put in their most powerful battery, and skip the low powered 68 Whr battery?
Offer only a 68 Whr battery in a 17 inches laptop in the basic configuration is pretty amazing if you ask me!

 

The old 17 had a 92whr, lasted me around 5 hours with a custom power profile.


Papu, do you know the tdp on the 1080 clevo (sli/non sli)?

 

As I can remember. It's rated for 190w. And the cooling in P870DM (the big single heatsink)is for 200w 980

 

But this still doesn't answer why anyone would want a 13" laptop that can do VR. I will agree with you that Azor or whatever his name is, does look and talk like a car salesman.

 

Who buys a 13" laptop for VR? That was so obviously an oxymoron that I didn't even think twice about it.

 

Haha, I know right? But they are already marketing it as a laptop for VR XD

 

That is baffling.... I bet that was Azor's idea...

 

Yeah, it was in one of the videos for the release or something. Kinda odd. I usually like Alienware's approach to things as of late, but not this time I'm afraid. The thing that makes me curious is why they released a new version of the 13 like 2 months ago and just reveal a newer version now. Looks like I'll be using this laptop for another 6 years like I did my m11x.

 

VR Ready, the marketing buzzword for OEMs this Summer. Notice how every brand is marketing their laptop as VR ready?

Azor: All of our notebooks down to our 13 inch are gonna be VR capable

See how nice that sounds to the general crowd

 

Yeah, sadly, the general' crowd ;-; If you really wanted VR in the 13, you'd just buy the amp, throw in a 970 or something and do it that way on a r1 or r2.

 

i like the way it looks. thats about it.

 

They claim to have increased the max TDP. That is part of their marketing hype. Dunno I guess we will find out.

 

If that's the case it will be monumental. I'm really curious now.

::iunlock::

 

Yes, DELLIENWARE did so... But do not forget that 980M in the previous Echo was a lower TDP card Did they say that they increased the max TDP on 1080? +180W 1080 will never ever be put in the new Echo!!

The massive single graphics heatsink for P870DM2


More info.

This was much worse than I thought was possible. *In this category of products*. What? http://www.techradar.com/news/mobil...we-don-t-feel-that-benefit-right-now--1327167


*We're putting ninety-five watt-hour batteries in our existing notebooks, and ninety-nine watt-hour ones in our next-generation models. The battery pack probably weighs like a pound-and-a-half by itself* Yeah.
But will this better battery be in the stock config? Or must you pay extra premium price for battery bigger than the wimpy 68 Whr in a 17 inches laptop?

Edit. From Mr. azor... *Again, it's just a different design philosophy - we're designing for the gamer that wants no compromises. That's who we appeal to and what is expected from Alienware, and it all comes in a certain form factor, size and weight. Some other folks have different goals in mind - they're looking to design something that's really thin and light for customers who might not be as interested in future expandability and want to compromise some performance or upgradability in exchange for a form factor*

What kind of performance issues would you run into if you attempted to squeeze a 1080 into a chassis without sufficient headroom for cooling?

*What you may find is that some companies may take the 1080 chip and underclock it, then put it into a product and advertise it as a standard 1080. That's not something we're doing with these notebooks - they operate at the full operating criteria for the CPU and GPU, which is one-hundred-and-fifty watts. If we ever put a lower performing version of any graphics card in our product, we would clearly highlight that with the customer so that they knew upfront*

@Prema Is the new 1080 graphics from all ODM/OEM brand only one-hundred-and-fifty watts as Mr. Azor said??
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...view-by-htwingnut.795187/page-2#post-10321796

Edit 2. What about PCH chips cooling?

 

150 watts for the CPU AND GPU or GPU itself?

 

@Papusan a thin sheet of metal is not a heatsink on your laptop as well. So dont suddenly make this into an Alienware issue. The AW15 and 17 already came with a 95wh battery standard. So why always come with the negativity?

The TDP of a desktop card 1080 is 180watts and the 1070 has 150watts. But since the laptop versions are tuned differently I think they are indeed around the 150watt mark. SInce the laptop MXM boards also perform around 9% lower than the desktop counterparts.


In this video you can see more details of the cooling. The inside design looks pretty good in my opinion. Easy to clean the fans as well. The laptop chassis looks like to have a good construction. Unlike all Clevo barebones out there which look sto me like strapping a ferrari engine to a volkswagen golf.
The heatsinks are quite long and copper so I expect them to cool well. They are twice as big as the older AW2014/2015 heatsinks which did cool the 980M around the 65C mark which is quite good with low fan noise.
This laptop looks like it was designed for my needs. I would buy it in a heartbeat.

 

I dislike this new Aw line. The people demand a 18" screen, dual GPU and so on. While they put Tobii eye?! Who need it? I think the Dell CEO and Tobii CEO meet togheter and choose the tecnology based on YOURS needs, not the OURS. Another example is Graphics Amplifier.

 

I don't make this into an Alienware issue. Just point out that Dell continues in its same tracks!! You can later follow what other OEM'a will use or not in their best models. If you don't think cooling whatever solution they use on PCH work as expected and resulting in lower max temp... Ok, Your words on this...
We will easy see the stock max graphics load from Echo 1080 card later. Then just use HWINFO and compare the results with other brands graphics cards afterwards.

 

The people? You aint speaking for me. I only want a maximum screen size of 15inch. I think they knwo well enough what the people want the most and cater to that. Speak for yourself, not for others you cannot speak for.

 

I dont all this heatsink massive. The heatpipes are too long for it to be really effective. Thats why they use so many small ones. In thte end those 2 smaller blocks on the top matter and those arent that big. Granted its the same size as the AW15 and AW17 current gen for both the CPU and GPU.

When I talk massive I look at my EVGA FTW desktop GPU. That thing is like 8 times as big.

 

Yeah, you probably don't like the design as all with Clevo But show me a laptop graphics heatsink that can push away up to 300w heat in an laptop regardless of size. We talk about heatsink in mobile format

 

Dat Screen looks so much better than previous model in the video!

For me Sept 30th cannot come fast enough!!

Good job Alienware!

 

I'll leave this here

 

I see the same as you. Gtx1080 with GDDR5 ram What the F*** have Dellienware v/ @Alienware-Frank done this time? WTF!!

 

Sorry guys, couldn't resist posting the gtx 1080 gddr5 memory. Probably cost? That could probably be the reason why it will be released in November? Just speculating though or it could be a typo.

 

As usual. Maybe you remember that Dell updated their Echo models 1 year after with increased VRAM for same 980m. A big upgrade!! From 4 to 8GB!! Maybe the next refreshed AW Echo R5 model will get Gddr5X ?? And people will run into Dell store and upgrade their newly purchased Aw machines. Probably with new Kaby lake as upgrade option as well!!

 

I honestly think it's more or less a typo, if it turns out true then NGREEDIA should get as much blame as AW for pushing out a gimped 1080 variant

Pricing info, take it with a pinch of salt as always with any FB post

 

It's likely a typo as the video below says it's GDDR5X.

 

I've seen quite a couple promo videos of these new AW and the 17 will have GDDR5X, while the AW 15 and 13 will have GDDR5.

 

the system cooling looks different than the photo you posted

 

Looks like that's going to be a pain in the ass to disassemble again.

And I REALLY hope they don't paint the heatsink with black paint again.

 

1080 getting gddr5 is extremely unlikely. That means Nvidia would have to redesign the memory controller for 1080 just for single company. Not happening lol. It is pointless nitpicking with single typo.

 

I know right? The lengths some people will go in order to satisfy their denial...SMH...

Even a gimped 1080 > 980 ... this one is going to sting...

I guess we'll know when we know about the new refreshes. Soon enough.

Update:
Well now we know that the 1080 on the AW17 will be 180W.

::iunlock::

 

Actually loving the new design. Not too sleek to hinder cooling by too much and not too thick.

 

Quite annoying people come to this forum while they hate the products just to off load their bad assumptions. Very mature.....

 

I'm iffy about the design, I don't love it or hate it. I'm really interested in seeing how cool it will run. Possible buy after reading a few reviews.

 

A point that's not being made by those in denial are that both the DM3 and even with the DM2 with the single 1080 are reaching 90C LOL....that's normal? And the fact that good engineering is not equal to poor engineering...ie..."Let's try to stuff everything into a small area and make it work..."

People need to also realized that a high watt 1080 running at such high temps can be just as gimped as a 1080 with a lower TDP. We'll just have to wait and see...

The very hardware/machines some people are using to polish their old 980 ego, at least what's left of it *shrug*; all the while being in denial that even a gimped 1080 will walk circles around their (high watt) 980 is just comedic. The 1080's in the DM2/DM3(SLI) are not even putting out respectable numbers (temps), well unless 90C+ is respectable to some people?

Everything is still up in the air. We'll know soon enough if the new AW17 with the 1080 is a worthy contender or if it is a total bust equivalent to the sleaze ball Azor and his worthlessness.

Again my opinion stands firmly as follows: "Do no pay DTR prices for a bga machine."

Here are my top picks so far:
1. 775DM2 - 6700K / 4K / 1080
2. AW17R4 - 6820HK / 4K / 1080
3. ________________________?

I'm in the same camp...At this point with it being thinner, the question is if the engineering will prove to be worthy or not in cooling the 1080. The new 17" is similar to the Asus design and the Asus is a much bigger laptop, however, the determining factor here is if the AW is better engineered to provide better cooling while being thinner.

 

Look, all I'm saying is that it is possible. There is no need to redesign the memory controller for Pascal since it supports both gddr5 and gddr5x.
Dell is only buying the chips after all.
http://www.anandtech.com/show/10325/the-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1080-and-1070-founders-edition-review/7

I'm interested in it's cooling too for the 1080 but it is a good three months away. It also looks like it has a lot more copper compared to my AW17 R1. I like the bottom of the R1 more.

 

I stand corrected, but I do think it is just typo. There is absolutely no need for Dell/Alienware to create their own version of 1080 outside of Nvidia's configurations.

 

...as their first choice if anything would be to adjust the TDP and Under Clock before opting for hardware changes. I could be way off base...who knows...but that seems more logical to me.

 

Would make no sense if they made all those hardware changes to fit those brand new 10 series parts and have to make hardware change on top of it. And I doubt going down from GDDR5x to GDDR5 would help much in terms of TDP anyways.