Alienware 17 R4 GTX1080 in game random Stutter & Freeze

Are dell support assists & other bloatware's running in background?

 

No useless Dell stuff.
I have CCleaner, Malwarebytes, Google Drive, OneDrive, Adobe Creative Cloud and alienware's sound, lights and macro software running

I repasted this afternoon, I'll try gaming on it a few hours and report back. I noticed ONE of the CPUs power regulation chips wasn't getting great contact

 

Update. I've been gaming a while now and it's better.
I don't know if it was the repaste or not. Today's ambient temps are like 5 or 6ºC cooler.
My CPU is reaching 86ºC, GPU 83ºC, PCH 73.5ºC, SSD 55ºC so they don't seem too bad.
I'm using conductonaut and now, for sure, every damn pad is making the best possible contact.

Games run fine but I did notice some inconsistencies. Instead of the severe freezing where everything would be at 10FPS forever now I only get some very occasional drops of frames.

However, in HW Info I did notice that the GPU is stating "YES" at the Performance Limit - Power
CPU PROCHOT is also marking as "YES" but it's at zero thermal throttling.

It's better but I still have zero confidence in this machine. It's way too sensitive. Where I live temps get pretty high in the summer and I start having issues.
I usually play with friends, we get together and LAN our gaming laptops. I'm the only one with issues though. Clevos, Asus J750 and a Lenovo are as hot or hotter than mine and play fine...

I'm really thinking about what to do. Last time I had to contact Dell support it took more than a month and 2 tech visits to fix it. I have the 17 R4 since May, what are my options for returning it? Any chance I can get my money back?

 

Remember you only know max temp for cpu, gpu, pch and ssd's. Not for other important components on the MB

 

Yeah that's what worries me. These components can't handle the temp.

I'm trying to give it the best chance possible. Conductonaut, arctic pads, best possible contact on all the other circuits, good cooling pad. I don't even have any cpu core differences in temp...

It seems way to sensitive . How will it fare in one or two years time?
I really don't feel like wasting more time, I've lost enough. Does Dell give refunds when it's a recurring issue?

 

And you have the Dell firmware lottery. What if you really need a Important fix and you get a mickey? Screwed second time!!

 

make sure you have a good laptop cooler when you do the PCH mod

 

do those programs cause stuttering?

 

Sometimes it is caused by RTSS v6. I upgraded to v7 beta and very rarely it stutters the game. 3dmark doesn't play nice with MSI AB and RTSS, I always get test failed error with RTSS on.

 

Hmm ok. I've been even getting stuttering only when I have an overclock via TS at 4.0-4.4ghz. LM repaste and PCH mod done so temps aren't an issue. The only thing I notice is my nvme ssd is running extremely hot so I think it might be damaged. Could that be a cause of stuttering? 70c on idle & 80c when gaming

 

So, how is the temp of HDD, is it high 70s or below 40s?

 

HDD is like 40s ssd is like 80c

 

HDD is actually below 40 now

 

Switch the current SSD to Samsung SSD. I think you have Toshiba SSD, correct?

 

Even some LiteOn boiling!!

 

I have a Liteon in my laptop that stutters and I had a different brand before. I'm not sure that 70C is outside of the operating range of SSDs though. I don't think they start throttling until they hit 100. There is a video on youtube of someone transferring 200+ GB and watching the temps and speeds and the drive didn't even start to throttle until 100C.

That said, I still have no idea why the stuttering is happening in the first place.

 

Most of ssd's brands put max operating temp around 70-80c. ssd throttling start long before. Depends on model.

 

Yes. That is usually the max ambient operating temperature. The ICs themselves will go up to 100 before throttling.

 

Show me all types ssd's running fully load and not throttling before 100c. You can hit up my posts regarding boiling ssd's( You will find a lot). Or Google the web. I'm sure you will see Fully throttling and in the end reduced remaining lifespan after 3-5 months.

 

Oh they will throttle for sure. But throttling is different than simply locking up and not delivering any data.

Here's 2 m.2 drives operating at 100C.

 

Once the ssd's can't deliver, they are throttling and ain't deliver what you paid high prices for!! You don't pay for 25% of maximum speed. Money down the drain.
People buy NVMe ssd's and expect they shall run fully speed. But all they seeing is crippled performance once temp go over the threshold. All depends on the ssd brand and what machines they are put into. Just ask the ssd doctor on NBR @tilleroftheearth

 

I understand that but I was talking more in the spirit of this thread. I can't see the SSD causing the stuttering issue if it's still giving up data even at 100C. I mean my laptop stutters and the SSD is like 70-73C in HWinfo.

 

It's several reasons you get throttling, freezes and stutters. Not all showing same behavior. Don't dismiss ssd's as a problem source. Hardware work with each other.

 

If you know what's causing it then tell us so we can fix it.

Otherwise your speculation is just as good as mine.

 

Swap to better components on MB. Firmware can't fix it. Even ok temp wouldn't fix it in some cases. They have already had similar problems now since first AW Echo models was released early 2015. Dell to blame for this mess.

 

Yep my pc started stuttering and I checked my temps and saw that the SSD was running at 80c in game and 70c on idle. I've had the laptop since April 2017 and never noticed it until now. At first it didn't stutter but after about a month or two I started noticing it. So 3 months running on 80c for 5-6 hr gaming sessions more than likely damaged my drive and is possibly a reason that there is stuttering. Hopefully after changing To Samsung 960 evo it goes away. I forgot to turn on my laptop cooler yesterday and was gaming and was getting major stuttering even with no OC's. All temps fine except SSD

 

Have you tried raising or lowering the rear of the laptop.

I had a brief session where I ran it with the rear raised and the CPU/GPU temps didn't hit 80 but the PCH and SSD (next to the PCH) started creeping up slowly but surely. Eventually the stutter started. When I put the laptop flat it seems like it started to draw air through the case and the temps came down substantially on the PCH/SSD. The CPU/GPU temps shot up though to 88-90. I didn't spend much time in game to see if it fixed the stuttering.

Try this out and let me know. I'm going to try it again when I get the chance to spend some time in game and see if it really takes away the stutter.

 

Yeah that's some voodoo sh*t right there.

If I use a base PCH will go up to 85ºC and the GPU and CPU will stay cool around 80ºC. I get ocasional stuttering. This is with the base fan turned on.

With no base or if I turn the fan off, the CPU and GPU get quite more hot. 86ºC aprox, whole chassis feels warmer but the PCH is around 10ºC cooler and I don't have freezing.

 

yeah i play with my AW on a laptop cooler so its always raised and getting lots of airflow. just installed a new 960 evo and still getting stuttering...wtf!!!

 

Try turning off the cooler fan or playing without it. Tell us how it goes.

The 17 R4 behaviour is trully mindboggling.

I gotta get a warranty extension stat, there's no saying how it will be holding up gaming in the summer in 1 or 2 years time.

 

no difference for me

 

Hi everyone,

So I think I have a similar situation with my Alienware R17 stuttering during gameplay. Also using HWMonitor I'm getting really high temps all round. GPU 91C, Cores 90-100C.
My Laptop is setup on a flat surface on my desk. I'm running games on Ultra ect.. Am I safe to continue using the laptop?

Also when using GPU-z I'm getting the gpu load drop to 0% on each stutter, they happen from 30secs-2 mins apart. Am i looking at a thermal issue?

Am i best contacting Alienware as it's still under warranty? Whats the best terminology to use to explain this to them? haha



Thank you

 

Just what you have there should be enough.

Man that stuttering is insane.

 

91C for GTX1080 is totally not normal even with stock stamp paste. Alienware 17 R4 has one of the coolest GPU temperature when under gaming load. i have a hard time getting mine past 65C.

 

@bluesky yeah that's really bad. My GPU doesn't go past 80 and only stutters with the rear raised under heavy load like BF1. Doesn't stutter at all in WoW (about 60-70% GPU usage). I'm not sure what is going on with your machine (or mine for that matter).

Also, I don't really think AW knows what's going on. This is obviously a prominent problem and they don't address it at all.

 

If AW has a clue to what is going on, we wont be having this discussion. when did u both received your system? i was under the impression this matter has been contained because it has gone quiet several weeks after i posted this thread.

 

I asked Umar from alienware about this issue over an AMA being held on twitch he said that they are aware of it and are working on it. He also mentioned that overheating Toshiba SSDs and inadequate Heatsink pressure are the two reasons that they have identified so far.


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what are they going to do about it?

 

No idea.



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Inadequate heat sink pressure on the VRMs? The CPU/GPU temps on my machine aren't the best but they're acceptable. The CPU rarely hits 90 and the GPU hardly hits 75 or so. If there is a problem with then heat sink pressure then it is on the VRMs and chokes.

 

Yes on the vrms


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Hey everyone thank you all so much for your replies, it's great to have people to discuss this issue with but I'm sure we'd all be happier with working machines to begin with! lol

Yeah it's pretty frustrating

Mine was shipped on the 4th June 2017.

 

to check if your stuttering is the same as what most of us experienced, fire up gpuz and look for GPU usage dropping to 0% when it stutters. you can refer to thread #1 for more info.

your best course of action now is to contact dell and convince them of your issue and let them dispatch whatever parts they deem necessary. I resolved mine by ensuring proper VRM, choke and GDDR5x thermal pad contact and cooling. despite having a good heatsink, the manufacturing tolerance is just poor to say the least.

 

I don't think it's only restricted to CPU.
I got throttle shop installed and my cou undervolted with prochot disabled. CPU maintains turbo and nice temps while gaming but I still get an occasional stutter. I can't really trace it.
The GTX 1080 reports at a minimum of 130MHz on hwinfo while gaming. But that can be the freezing or just loading screens and stuff like that

 

i was talking about GPU usage, not CPU usage. GPUz reads GPU load, frequency etc. from there you can see why your GPU is stuttering. If the GPU load drops to zero and perfcapreason indicates Vrel, it's saying something is wrong with your power delivery circuit, which is pointing towards the VRM and chokes

 

hi, im having the same issue with my alienware17r4 gtx 1080 and i will try to fix it so can you tell me from where can i buy the pads and what will i need to fix it. if u could give me the links i will be grateful to you

 

Hi everyone just a quick update on my situation,

So I went ahead and contacted the Technical support at Alienware/Dell and advised them on my temperature readings 100C CPU / 91C GPU and stuttering after 10-20mins of game play.

Was advised the reason for the high temps is the fact i'm running my games on their maximum setting and the GTX1080 is not designed to perform at this level and I am required to run the games using Nivida Geforce experience that will optimized the game to run at a lower level which in turn will not overheat the system.

Even though at these settings i'm still getting 60-100 fps its strange that the card was supposedly not designed to run at this level. hmm okay..

Anyway I said yeah sure sounds good i'll give this a shot and see what happens hopefully this guy is correct and we're all going to be happy! Expect for the fact running the game on optimization did nothing as you can see from the HWmonitor scngrab!

Maybe I'll have to DIY this instead

 

Hey at least the core temps are close to each other jk. Should call them again.

 

Are they serious? Alienware=high perf systems. If that does not hold true might as well get an inspiron or something else.

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They say the same things about how its a laptop and not a desktop but they sell it as Desktop level performance. Can't blame them because they know too little about it.

You need a repaste. Check the thermal pads while you repaste. Also, be careful about Toshiba SSD because it overheats.