*OFFICIAL* Alienware "Graphics Amplifier" Owner's Lounge and Benchmark Thread (All 13, 15 and 17)

it always amazes me how forums like this exist and still when you speak to dell pro support on the phone they are adamant that this issue has never been reported before after asking multiple times, now with the release of the "new" series of notebooks, 6700 cpu etc and 980m has 240W power listed maybe they made some other changes to the way the laptop switches to the amp and are hiding that the solution is actually a hardware change that can only be taken advantage of by changing to the new models, i would love to see people that have bought/will buy the new model come onto the forums and tell us if they have same problems.

 

I just gave up as I really do not want to do a clean install just for the GA. It amazes me how much Dell/Alienware has fallen with the lack of support with something they are heavily pushing. I am thinking of canceling my new Alienware 17 and just keeping the 15 for now and keep my desktop.

 

If You Want To Enjoy your laptop I subject that you use an AMD cards on the GAP!!!

 

I completely agree, currently typing on a tablet as mine did a reboot last night and now wont post, just a blank screen. Dealing with dell pro support last night and I asked some questions and he hung up on me, I'm not even sure if tech is booked to come out. I will never be getting alienware again and I used to be a big fan

 

Sad to hear you guys are having so much trouble.
My AW15 is switching between the 980m and the 980ti without problems. I'm using the 353.30 (the mobile version) with Windows 10 and all the newest driver available from the dell support page.
Try removing every display driver you installed with DDU and reinstall the mobile 353.30 while the GA is not attached. Reboot with the GA plugged in and it should work.

Edit: I'm using the 353.30, as the newest driver crashes when I'm starting up without the GA connected.

 

Yeah mine works for a bit too, if its no too inconvenient can you use it exclusively on the amp for more than 24 hours, doesn't matter if its just on and sitting plugged in, then reboot leaving it on amp. Then shutdown unplug from amp and boot and see if bsod.

That's how I replicate it on mine as sometimes it works

 

Exactly, its something that is a great concept that is executed so poorly. I have read some other forums and people are having just as many issues as people posting here.

 

see I don't mind if there are issues with something new if a company owns those issues, actively works on them and compensates those affected. but with dell/alienware all they do is deny, claiming I'm the only person in the world with that issue and they are unable to replicate it. it reminds me of the 50 or so emails back and forward regarding my 18 with dual 880s throttling, it was escalated to the higher ups in texas that apparently "know" and specialise in graphics, concluding that throttling is the benchmarks fault, then it was the power supply, then it was the way they are meant to be, I never knew what it meant to literally cry is despair and simultaneously laugh at the stupidity of their repsonses until I finally gave up and let them close the case and I sold it.

In my eyes an alienware is like a exotic expensive car, its meant to be bought by someone that will use it once a month and baby it when he drives it, keeps it protected from the elements and normal everyday use, and it should be your 2nd or 3rd car, because when it does break down which it will, you just call them up to send a tech and you use something more reliable in the meantime.

If I sound angry its because I'm typing this on trusty surface pro 2 with a usb keyboard while my alienware sits on a table looking pretty with no POST in a reboot loop

 

so my 2 week old alienwares motherboard has been replaced with a refurb one, watching the tech from across the table i noticed the heat pads on heatsync are not replaced even though some fall off after removal, and the new thermal paste is put on gpu and cpu but old paste is not cleaned off heatsync before putting it back on, new problem now, my speakers dont work, all sound is mono and it is coming out of woofer, im going to try the 353.30 driver tonight to see if that fixes my GA issues

 

OK!!, i have a pretty good damn solution, thanks to being stubborn.

1.You need the latest amplifier software from dell
2.download the intel and nvidia drivers from dell but dont install yet
3.uninstall all nvidia crap from program and features in windows
4.unplug from amplifier
5.for windows 10 >go into control panel>system>advanced system>hardware tab>device installation settings> set to no and never and tick the tickbox. for other windows disable auto updates and dont update display drivers
6.reboot run ddu and clean all nvidia and reboot again (safe mode not needed)
7.install intel and nvidia driver from dell (currently im using 353.54)
8. reboot
9.windows 10> run a tool called wushowhide.diagcab (google it)> select hide updates and hide all nvidia things that come up (should be 2 of them)
10. reboot and check wushowhide again to make sure they are not coming up anymore
11. shutdown>plug into GA> power on it will install for first time, straight away run wushowhide again and hide anything nvidia (should be 1 there)
12. reboot on GA> run wushowhide again and hide anything nvidia (should be another 1 or 2 there now)
13. shutdown take off GA, and youre done.

Laptop will now work with 353.54 on and off GA with no BSOD's

If you like the latest drivers youre out of luck for now until alienware pull their finger out.

The only thing that can break this is if windows magically decides to instal an updated driver or if you do

 

lol I was surfing the net and found that there are laptops coming out soon with full fledged GTX980 in them coming out, even thin aorus X7 coming out with one with something like 3% performance drop form desktop with 980... so yeah maybe people will just lose interest in amplifier...

 

Dell has great service manuals. I would take it apart and put it back together myself. A tech will never treat the computer like it's their own. He probably didn't put it together right.

 

This is the guide I was waiting for before I upgraded my AW13 to Windows 10. The forced autoupdates was the killer for me because video card drivers have to be controlled manually.

Will I have to manually install device drivers for other new devices from now on? That would be the downside to all of this.
I'm going to try a Win 10 upgrade to my AW13 after I clone the current Win 8.1 image to a new SSD.
So what are the REAL advantages to Win 10 over Win 8.1. Will my already low and random battery times get longer, shorter or more consistent with Windows 10?

 

No Way! Those GTX980 laptops will be huge, heavy and hot. The whole point of the AGA is to unplug and go. I love having desktop graphics available to my AW13. It prevents me from having to maintain two systems or breaking my back carrying around a 'desktop replacement' laptop.
I got my AGA completely for free by using Dell's rewards for financing through them for my AW13. Also no interest due to 12mo same as cash deal.
All I had to buy was the EVGA GTX960 4GB card and bingo, $220 for an instant powerful 'desktop' computer.

You miss the point.

 

This is something to note. I wonder if the background updates are the cause. I know the Nvidia drivers through Windows' updates do not work with the GA in Win8.1 (no Dell IDs), so if the same is true in Win10, then that can explain some things about the situation.

Well, the Aorus laptops are pretty thin. But that's one of the 6 announced laptops with GTX 980 notebook edition .

 

the disables only work for the selected devices, everything else will still update fine (my razer keyboard did an update today through windows update) and windows 10 should offer more consistency, I have had no problems with it, and battery life is alittle longer on my other laptops but not by much, remember to cap the processor percentage when on battery in advanced power options that makes a big difference for me when max is set to like 30%

 

I miss nothing, some are big i agree, but your 13 even with the amplifier is not a desktop replacement due to CPU. ignoring that look at the aorus X7 DT, although i havent held it, it is super slim for having a 980 in it.

I also dont see your 13 as their competition, i would see the 17 with amplifier going against these, or even the 15.

 

it definitely explains why i would have it working for a few days and all of a sudden the problem would come back (windows updates in background while i sleep or something)

either way, its still working for me now, and i keep checking the updates etc to see if they are scheduled

 

Oh, and testing new BIOS A06 that came out recently, CPU temps are 20 degrees lower at idle, but the default settings for CPU overclock when connected to GA still disable speedstep and turbo, so i disabled that to be able to turbo past 2.5GHZ. so they still didnt fix that

 

Hey guys, i'm having trouble finding some solid info so hopefully someone can help.

I'm selling my gaming rig and laptop and getting an alienware + GA setup.

I really prefer the idea of the 13 for portability, but here in NZ the last gen 15 with a 4 series i7 CPU is actually about the same price (clearence).
We do now have the skylake cpus available though in the 13.

I guess I'm curious just how much of a bottleneck the skylake ULVs are giong to be with the GA versus the i7 quad. (especially at super high setups)

I'm leaning toward getting the 15 since it just seems like the better choice. but if the new 6200u or 6500u are actually going to perform well enough with an external GPU I would much prefer the 13.

I will likely be using both 4k and 144hz monitors (i play around with lots of tech) so i feel like a dual core is just a bad idea.

I also upgrade often, so i'm not worried about it lasting forever. I'll likely get a new alienware laptop each year assuming it continues to meet my needs.
What I don't want to do is pickup a 13 and then struggle to get decent performance for games coming out later this year (battlefront 3 is my immediate worry)

 

Well I'm not using 4K because dsr doesn't work with ga, but I can say the higher resolution you go the less concerned you need to be about pci bandwidth.

I would definitely go the i7 quad because you get the horsepower in case you want amd cards and the latest games are becoming more and more cpu dependant, but at 4K your single card will be the bottleneck, it's know that 4K gaming requires a beefy setup maybe with at least dual 980, for reference I top out at 15500 you score with my 980 overclocked.

The latest 6 series CPUs apparently only net 5-10% performance but if your getting something now I understand not caring about discrete graphics but I would get a strong cpu

 

Thanks.

I currently use an overclocked 980ti it it does 4k perfectly. I'm selling that, but will likely get another down the track when i get another 4k monitor (currently on 1440p144)
I imagine the cpu will be a big issue at high frame rates though. I wonder how 1080p144 would work.

I suppose it makes sense that hi-res makes more sense when you have a CPU bottleneck.

You've pretty much confirmed my decision though. I will probably get the 15. I just know i'm not going to want to take that to the cafe with me, so it won't get as much use out of the house.
Perhaps in another year I can sell it on for a new gen 13 that has a better CPU.

the advantage of the 15 is also that a 970m is solid enough that I can actually not worry about getting a GA and external GPU right away. so it's the obvious choice.

But damn I hate 15 inch laptops.

 

Its not that big, or rather the 13 is not that much smaller.

Maybe your better off with a xps ultrabook i7 or something when out of the house and a beefy desktop for home, i feel your demand on laptop size vs horsepower needed at home might be too much for the GA and you inevitably be disappointed but one or the other within the year

 

That's basically the setup I have now. But i travel and like to be able to have real gaming horsepower. I freqently buy a game laptop, use it while travelling, and then sell it when it gets no use.
Then there's hassle with things like game save syncing.

I love the idea of the one machine that I can just take with me. I will likely need to get something more work friendly anyway, so will get an ultrabook or transformer tablet in addition to the alienware.

 

how do you get around graphics settings? i mean my main issue with my last laptop was at my desk i was at 4k with max settings, then away from desk opening the same game without horsepower (not even the same resolution games would stuff up.)

I know we can use geforce experience but have you encountered that issue? because 980ti to 970m is big jump

I would really reconsider if you already have the beefy desktop and will be getting an ultrabook either way. it sounds like your buying just for the change lol, your starting to sound like me....

 

Yup, buying just for change. I pretty much get a new toy every month. monitors, laptops, tablets. It's the only thing I like spending money on (travel is for work and family commitments, not pleasure).

As for graphic settings, that's pretty much my current issue. I usually get a new laptop, have to go through the rigmarole of getting it working, use it exclusively for a month or so, and then go back to my desktop and barely touch the laptop.

That's why this setup appeals to me. Just disonnect from the dock and away you go.
I am now considering just getting a 1080p144 monitor with a 970 for now though. that way at least the graphics settings will remain persistent between the dGPU and eGPU

 

New laptops coming out soon with full GTX 980 in them, i know they may be too big for you, but they will lower the price of the alienwares.

And they are as close to horsepower on the go as you can get, i think the asus even has watercooling, in a laptop!! LOL

 

Yeah I was reading about those. not super interested in the ultra-high end laptop market. I want ultra-high end performance when I'm at home, but when it comes to portable i'm happy with highish settings and 1080p60.
Also, i never generally buy anything that can't be paid for out of a single paycheck haha.

 

yeah, their release may affect price though (if your not in a rush)yeah, their release may affect price though (if your not in a rush)

I probably will regret saying this but alineware might fix the bsod and driver issues with amplifier when they need to keep selling them after this new stuff comes out also, maybe even release a new version of the amp that actually fits alot of the larger cards for future proofing and offers gigabit etc and acts more like a docking station. (but that will never happen as long as they are making money)

Or its the reverse, the new laptops come out and alienware ditches GA altogether (or only continues support for 13 with GA) and focuses on building there own version with descktop card built in etc

 

true. I have just sold my old setup so want to get something asap (games to play and all that)

I really hope they continue to support the GA, as it's the whole reason i'm buying this.
Would certainly pay for a new version though. Chuck in 8x PCIe and i'm sold. If they can get that going, along with a decent quad core there should be virtually no difference between a real desktop and a GA setup.

 

I could be wrong but i was under the impression you get 8x with 15 or 17 with any i7 4710 or higher.

but yeah i could be wrong. but again the pci speed doesnt matter at higher res (will affect 1080p though especially when running image back to laptops screen) make sure you put your monitor on eGPU for best bandwidth

 

You only get 8 lanes with the onboard Nvidia / AMD GPU on the 15 / 17. When using the GA, you only use 4 lanes as that is a hardware restriction (the ports and the cable only have 4 lanes).
That said, since Thunderbolt 3 is launching, a few OEMs like Acer are making eGPU enclosure for TB3 (I think it has the same bandwidth as the GA on every compatible Alienware but the 13 R1), eGPUs will get popular, and Alienware will continue to support the GA. Maybe a GA 2 will launch with 8 lanes in the future.

 

If it's a cable limitation then it's probably a port limitation, be hard to run a ga 2 on a laptop not supporting the new cable bandwidth

 

It's mainly a physical limitation, but if they want the GA 2 to be backwards compatible with laptops that worked with the GA 1, then an adapter would have to be released.
I don't like the idea, though. Would cause confusion.

 

It will most probably be like hdmi2.0 port will look the same but nothing you can do to get it other than upgrade laptop

 

I'm happy to invest in a new laptop and a new GA assuming the performance gains are there. As long as my current one will at least handle the next 1 year of games i'm happy.

i'm back on the fence between the 15 and the 13 now. i've talked myself out of it thinking the 13 would suffice for everything for the next year. would love to find some benchmarks on a 13 at 4k with a 980ti versus the same setup on a 15. don't think anyone has done this yet though?

 

Your best bet is to find someone with a 13 with 980 stock clock running fire strike ultra and getting a score from them, I can do the same test with my 15 with no overclock so you can compare?

 

are you able to do that at 4k? you mentioned something about DSR not working?

 

Yeah ha can't do dsr which means I can't pump 4K to my 1080p monitor but fire strike ultra is down sampled 4K so it will give you an idea of difference if there is one

 

ah cool, ill look into it.

Though honestly, i will likely be placing an order tomorrow. I think unless I can convince myself that the 13 will meet my needs, i will get the 15. Id rather end up hating the form factor than ending up with crappy performance.

 

EDIT, sorry wrong thread.

 

Msi gs series with dock eliminates pic issues and is very small too

 

No dedicated GPU though right?

I still want reasonable game performance while travelling. Ie, i'll be going away over christmas, and there are lots of new games i'm going to want to play.

I think i'm going to go for the 15, and pick up an asus t100 chi at some point for the lighter work I need to do (document editing and basic web design and coding)

 

i think its a very similar setup only the dock has more features, not sure of the stats, you might wanna do your homework before spending money

 

Just

checked, and it is the one I was thinking of. integrated graphics only. No dice.

 

Oh that sucks, better CPU and 16x PCIEx through dock, would be the perfect solution if they put anything decent in the laptop

 

MSI GS dock can't use the internal notebook screen from what I hear. The laptop must sit on the dock and the dock is pretty large, so the dock isn't something you want to put on your desk. When you have the laptop plugged, your almost forced to use an external monitor and keyboard, which many would be using anyway, but for me I want to use the internal screen and laptop keyboard most of the time.

The MSI dock has 16x pcie because it doesn't have a dgpu (retains 8x lanes), and it is basically an exposed pci-e connector without cable or conductor length restrictions. There are reasons why alienware only has 4x lanes in the cable and port (keeps the port and cable diameter smaller, possibly limitations with signal integrity at 1.5m cable length).

 

I'm going to do some Windows 10 GA testing in a couple weeks once I get a new SSD just to see what's going on and to help out more (and to test how DX12 works with my GPUs).

 

Yeah I'm on win10 with Gtx 980 on a 17, let me know if you need any help, I have solved my bsod and shutdown issues

 

hey guys,

I am thinking about getting an amplifier though I would like to mod it to sit in a smaller case.

would be possible to run a GTX 960 - 980 off a pico 160 watt psu or hdplex 250w?

the 460 watt seems like overkill.

The GTX 980ti has a TDP of 250W.