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

Does anyone know if the Graphics Amplifier will work with Pascal GPUs?

 

It should since it will be using PCIe and backward compatible with older motherboards including more than six generations ago. For example, from 3dmark site you can see that there are many older CPUs using 980ti, R9 290s, etc. The 6th Gen i7-6500U dual core has about the same Physics scores as the quad core i5-2500 3.3 GHz when running 980ti or 290x.

Thanks.

 

Thank you. That's good to hear.

 

I can tell you that its not a standard windows 10 issue, i have 4 different setups consisting of 15's 17's 970m 980 and 980ti in my main, and never have seen that issue, i dont disable anything.

I suggest you use the intel drivers direct from alienware after cleaning out the ones you have, intel drivers form intel cause issues even if you upgrade to them, you may also go back through this thread to one of my previous posts explaining how to stop windows form changing your drivers during windows update after you have proper alienware drivers.

Please note, i only use alienwares intel driver, i dont use their nvidia one.

 

Sup guys/girls
without sifting through 96 pages what have we come to be the max length of gpu being able to be used in again thanks

 

I have a EVGA GTX980Ti which supports DSR. Does the amplifer support this or not? Complete bulls*** if not!!!

 

Hi Boongair,
See the links below. It fits my 290x 11" and still has about 1.5 - 2+" of clearance. It seems you can also replace the intake fan with a slimmer one or move the fan around in the available space there. Good luck.

http://www.techspot.com/photos/article/944-alienware-13-graphics-amplifier/#Alienware13F-23

 

Hoping someone can answer this Graphics Amplifier question for me. So I'm looking to buy one, I'm in the military and will be deploying a couple times in the next few years, so I'm looking for a portable/powerful system like this set up offers. I currently have a 980 ti hybrid evga. My question is, is it possible to knock out the PSU side of the Amplifier and set it up with a 120mm rad/fan mount? Or possibly add that mount to the front of the interior of the box. Basically if anyone has any input or advice on this matter, I would seriously appreciate it.

 

Hi Merty,
It should support all the GPUs listed on page 1 and their features including DSR. Thanks.

 

DSR is not in the options where it should be. This card def supports it (the one in my sig) but no way to enable it, even when I plug my HD tv into the GPU.
I think its because it still runs through optimus.
Anyone have experience with this?

 

Is anyone here planning to try the Razer Core? Since it uses USB-C those of use with that port should be able to use it. It should also be usable with any other laptops we buy that have USB-C.

So you could connect it to your Alienware or your wife could connect it to her Dell XPS13 if need be.

it seems much more versatile than having a dedicated port like the GA does.

 

Well Dell just dropped the price of Australian stock on Dell Australia ebay shop to $199 au ($135usd) so that's 46% off. You think there is a revision coming soon?

 

I think they are realizing how much better the thunderbolt 3 solution is

 

yeah I bought it anyway 200 ain't that much and if new version comes out probably be $$ anyway so will do

 

Hopefully thunderbolt solution can offer near 100% performance!

 

has anybody managed to install a hybrid system at all. it must be possible to modify the amplifier to get it in?

 

I'm desperate to get the AGA but 2016 is bringing so many things to think about. Wait for a USB-C alternative, wait for the new NVIDIA and AMD cards to be release? Freesync or G-sync? I was dead set on an AMD 390 and an LG 27" 4k freesync that's coming out this quarter since those are the cheapest options compared to g-sync, but I'm thinking the new NVIDIA Pascal cards are going to wipe the floor with AMD. The upgrade bug is hitting me hard and I only got my AW w/ 970m less than a month ago lol.

 

I would wait. See how the new external gpu solutions stack up against the GA. Unless you're in a hurry to pair up a 980ti/titan to your laptop.

 

Can someone please reply with the boot time it takes to get into windows when the amplifier is hooked up. I just bought a new laptop and amplifier, and noticed that when it's plugged in, my boot times are 3 - 4 minutes. When the amplifier is not hooked up the boot to windows is less than a minute. Is this normal, are other experiencing similar boot times? Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

I have no difference between boot times when AGA is connected.

I have a 980M/980Ti

 

I might just return the laptop then and maybe try another one. What is your approx boot time to windows? My laptop has SSD so its under a minute without AGA. It seems that every time it boots with AGA windows going through the process to redetect the hardware. I would expect that the first time through, and as long as i left the AGA hooked up with the power etc, the subsequent boots wouldn't need to redetect the hardware had would boot up faster.

 

When are we going to be able to use DSR on high end cards with graphics amplifier? This sucks

 

Hi, i just order the Alienware 15 with the Alienware Graphics Amplifier. Was wondering how's latency on the device, and will it be able to use my GTX Titan Black.

THANKS !!!

 

TB3 theoretically has 1 GB/s more bandwidth than the GA's 4x PCIe Lanes, but that's putting it very simply because the two interfaces while similar, do not directly compare with each other.

PCIe has much better bidirectional data transfer capabilities(like those frequently needed in a GPU) than Thunderbolts split channel architecture does for example.

There's also the fact that you're going to have (some) overhead pentaly with the TB3 controller vs direct PCIe lane access like the GA , probably not much, I guess in the single digits of a percentile but we're talking about two very similar measures already. By '100% performance' I presume you mean 100% vs 16 pci-e lane bandwidth on a revision 3.0 setting about 16gb/s. In that sense I would say no, it's not going to have 100% of the performance, it still has less than 1/3 the bandwidth.

I would expect TB3 enclosures to perform on the same level or very slightly better than the GA's PCIe cable.

 

I'm not sure I agree with your description of Thunderbolt.

Thunderbolt 3 is a x4 PCIExpress 3 lane. It's just an external extension of a pci-e slot.

I doubt a single card has the bandwidth to saturate the TB3 link.

 

I don't understand your reasoning here, the GA with 4 PCIe lanes suffers from aprox 15-20% reduction in performance. Why do you feel the TB3 would be any different?

I've re-read the TB3 whitepaper I had and it does seem I'm mistaken. The TB3 channels are infact, duplex

 

Hello,

I'm looking to buy a 980 Ti for the AGA and I'm confused with all the different brands and versions.
They seem to be priced similarly as well.
Could anyone advise me on which one to get?
Thanks.

 

I have a basic PNY and works and benchmarks well around the others listed

 

Thanks.
That's the one Dell uses if you buy from them as well.
After googling a bit, it seems EVGA 980 Ti Classified is a popular pick.
Same price as the PNY as well.
Does anyone have the Classified with AGA working without issues?

 

I think thats not true. Gen3 x4 PCIe GPU is about 0-5% slower than x16 PCIe.

https://www.techpowerup.com/mobile/reviews/NVIDIA/GTX_980_PCI-Express_Scaling/21.html

 

The Classified is to tall to fit in the AGA and close it. You can do the normal EVGA's with the ACX 2.0 cooler. I run the Gigabyte 980 Ti G1 Gaming and it fits just fine. You are limited to cards that are not that much taller and wider than the two slots, there is plenty of room for long cards.

 

Thank you.
That's what I was worried about.
I'll just get this one instead then.
It should work fine, right?

 

I have EVGA. The one in my sig. Very good card. I am impressed. Also, fits no problems at all.

 

Thanks!
That's the exact one I linked.
Will be picking it up this Monday.

 

Nice!

 

Post your benchmarks. Want to see if that matches up with mine

 

Default benchmarks with no overclock. Graphics score on firestrike: 17370

Whats yours?

 

Wow did you update you computer any? I get around 1400 1500 with OC. So what am i doing wrong. I am plugged into an external monitor

 

Sorry, thought that was your over all score. just for graphics I hit 1658

 

Mine was with firestrike..... not firestrike ultra or extreme. What one did you use? I dont understand how ur running any game at all with that score? That cant be right?

 

Just noticed a few people saying DSR doesn't work. Has anyone been able to do it on here? Will definitely wait to purchase if DSR doesn't work.

 

Not sure about the DSR funcionality, but to be honest, I don't really care, as the whole system wouldn't be powerful enough to render any game these days in higher resolution than 1440p at acceptable framerates imho. But as I can't even see the DRS settings in the nvidia menu I'd guess that it's not supported.

Here is a link to my latest firestrike results (AW15, 4710HQ, 16gb RAM, EVGA 980ti SC+ (watercooled).
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/7378208

 

How did you water cool it? Did you have to modify you graphics amplifier? If so..... Share info... I need!!

 

DSR doesn't work as the nvidia card runs through the intel card via optimus (even with ext gpu). Sucks really. Optimus is awful!!

 

Would disabling/uninstalling Optimus drivers work or is it impossible because of the hardware? I guess I'll keep my eye out on future USB-C products, or I guess if my next monitor will be 4K it doesn't matter.

 

Whenever Optimus is involved, I've learned to stay away.

Best alternative is to find a laptop that has a mux switch that you can switch from dGPU (discrete GPU, like Nvidia GTX 9xx series), and iGPU - Intel built in GPU - for battery use. My GT80 does that.

2nd best, maybe best from many points of view, is to not even wire up the Intel iGPU and only use the dGPU. My G750JH was like that, as is the new GT80S series - no iGPU at all.

Optimus feeds everything through the iGPU, so your video tuning options are limited to what will pass through the iGPU.

iGPU optimus is 60hz only, no VR support, no 3D support, no DSR, no G-sync, etc, etc. And, these are the more tolerable failings.

The worst part is trying to get applications to switch over to the dGPU from the iGPU. Windows graphics all run through the iGPU, you can't switch to the dGPU. Many popular rendering / video processing packages won't switch from the iGPU.

The worst worst part is that Intel puts the higher and higher wattage iGPU on the same package as the CPU. So the iGPU steals power from the CPU. Even on my GT80 i7-5950HQ the CPU speed drops 100mhz when on iGPU - even if I have OC'd it.

Intel is dropping package power, and on top of that stealing power from the CPU, dropping CPU performance through power throttling.

The worst worst worst part, is that the iGPU raises the core temp about 10c just being enabled and running Windows graphics during normal use.

Benchmarking between Asus G750JH and the next generation G750JZ with optimus (same CPU) showed 10c higher CPU temps in benchmarks - which means you can't OC as far, and if you do it all is lost in thermal throttling.

The G750JZ could handle the extra thermal load, but the other models in that series couldn't and were constantly thermal throttling.

Optimus is bad. iGPU's are bad, dGPU's are why we spend all the $ on these high end laptops, Intel is messing up

 

When you dis

When you disable the intel card, you cant use the nvidia card at all. Cant be got around unfortunately

 

Oh wait...so even with the AGA I can't get freesync or G-sync? Bummer....does this mean that even with a new USB-C product that may come out (like the MSI) that I'll still be limited by the Optimus?

 

You still can, but not if you connect the monitor to the laptop.
The external GPU acts as it's own thing, so G-Sync and Free Sync should still be possible if you connect the monitor to the eGPU.
As for DSR not working, I don't know. Maybe it's the mobile drivers or something, but I never got DSR to pop up in the Nvidia Control Panel with my laptop or desktop (something with Geforce Experience, but even with that installed, it never popped up). That said, AMD's solution, VSR (Virtual Super Resolution), does work (this I can confirm). As well, making custom resolutions was available when connecting he monitor to either the AMD or Nvidia desktop GPU.