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

Yea I tried that. Surprisingly the driver was able to install despite not showing the card. Managed to get the 980m back. For future reference what is the correct way to plug and unplug the amp?

 

I'm not sure what you mean by plug and unplug. You plug the cable to the laptop and the GA, and that's it.
However, make sure Windows Updates don't install your Nvidia drivers for you (unless you have been using Dell Nvidia drivers), as the Nvidia drivers through Windows do not have IDs for the GPUs, causing problems after turning off the GA.
Sometimes, a simple restart can make the dGPU or eGPU appear and act fine.

 

Shut down the system completely.... then unplug the cord from the alienware laptop. Then turn laptop back on. Don't yank the cord when its asleep or hibernating as these are not the same as completely off.

 

Thanks for the tip guys. I have my 908m flashed with the premamod so I wonder if that caused any issues when I unplugged the amp while laptop was on.

 

I just noticed something weird with mine... the power supply fan was actually making most of the noise in my AWA... I had been out of a game and the loud hum was from the PSU and it was cooking.... Could I have a faulty PSU? I didn't get my AGA from AW directly, anyone know if these have a SN so I can call them to maybe get a new PSU?

 

Nah, having a modified vBIOS shouldn't be a factor.

 

Last thing... With the AGA attached is it not possible to sleep or hibernate the system?

 

Nope.

 

I don't think that's possible. We treat the Amplifier as a whole unit.

 

Download DDU. Use it to uninstall both drivers and reinstall them after reboot. When using DDU, it gives you the option to use safe mode. Do that and it restarts into safe mode for you.
That should work.

 

Question regarding the amplifier models. I have seen (9R7XN) and 15Q41. Is there a difference?

Also I am considering buying a 980ti, specially the MSI 980ti, will it fit nicely? Also has the nivdia drivers been fixed yet? So you dont need to reinstall them every time to get it to work, etc?

Thanks.

 

C3CMT W2M26 & FT8V7 are the three parts #'s I've come across so far, there may be others; you can call/chat with Dell, see if one of these part#'s is good/available (when given a choice I'd buy the Delta) - or simply find the dp/n on yours & ask them. Sometimes available used on eBay.

 

Someone have bought an Aw GA from mexico?

 

First try at over clocking my 15 r2 with the graphics amp

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/8021614

 

Nice! What 980ti are you running?

 

EVGA 980ti Hybrid

 

Good stuff, I had that. Until one day it hit 78C out of nowhere. Returned it. Will be waiting for pascal.

 

Hi, I am fairly new with the aga am looking to by a card. I have Alienware 17R3 with a 4K screen. So I want to get one that I will play at 4K without problems. I was looking at alienware graphics amplifier and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti FTW. Would this work and fit? Also I am not sure the differences of FTW and all that jazz. Anyone want to enlighten me on this. Please and thank you!

 

The FTW version is clocked higher than standard and has better components. It should work fine. Its just a better card than the vanilla 980ti.

 

From my experience playing with the AGA recently I would get a reference card style cooler gpu. The acx coolers and and non ref coolers don't do well in such a confined soace without the adequate exhaust. The reference cooler helps get the hot air out the back of the AGA. The acx cooler just circulates it everywhere inside. I might attempt a exhaust fan mod on the AGA I have here see if it helps get the hot air out.

 

I have a few quick questions if someone knowledgeable would be willing to help. Ive searched through this thread and others but havent been able to find the specific questions.

Do I have to use an external monitor with the AGA, or is the internal still used?
I have an FHD screen (220 nits, sadly), would using this with the TITAN X in the AGA be a waste without a better screen?
Does this unit draw power through the graphics port connector or an external power supply?

Thank you in advance for anyone that can shed light on this.

 

Yes you can

 

It will work just using the laptop screen. What laptop are you using it with? If it's a AW13 the cpu will be a big bottleneck for a Titan X. You'd be better off getting a 970 or a 980/ti if you plan to upgrade the laptop later.

 

Thought as much! Hybrid makes a difference

 

So anyone else swap out the fan that's in the AGA?

 

Its with the AW 15R2 that was just purchased in December. Now trying to sort out the best replacement screen to get more brightness, as I guess the FHD/1920x1080 is the best resolution Ill get with the 30-pin connector.

What card would you recommend below the TX, maybe in the 5-6 hundred dollar range? I just cant justify spending a cool grand on a gpu.

 

So i was downloading drivers to prep to upgrade from win 8.1 to win 10. I noticed there's no AGA drivers for windows 10. Do you guys just use the win 8 one?

 

Sorry to be all over this forum haha

Ive narrowed it down to two crads, basically the same but one is a FTW and one is not.

EVGA 980 Ti FTW vs. PNY 980 Ti

Also, Dell sells the pny card, and I have a credit line with 0 interest still, so hoping to use that. Is the difference between the FTW and the vanilla card significant?

 

Hi I just got a graphics amplifier but it came without the special cable that connects it to my Alienware 15 r2 . Dell support is utterly useless and it asks for a service tag but the amplifier has none and none of the number codes at the bottom are of any help on their site.
How do I get one of these cables???
I'm an international customer, but to call dell will cost more than my car , especially if they I have to wait for ever to speak to a rep

 

Call customer service about an existing order and give them the order number. Tell them you want to rma unless you get your complete order.

 

Go here to get the drivers:

http://downloads.dell.com/published/pages/alienware-17-r3.html

 

Hi
New to the forum. I have the AW A15r2 laptop which has the gt980 graphics card (I believe this is a desktop graphics card in a laptop ??)
I have just bought the GA and an EVGA GTX 980 Ti card. My laptop sees the graphics card in dxdiag and it runs off it. I am playing Rise of the Tomb raider on ultra settings and am getting around 30fps - is this normal for this type of card or should I be expecting higher 60fps rate? Im new to the laptop gaming thing but I dont seem to be getting much difference over the laptops dedicated card.
Has anyone else got this game and is there something I should be doing to raise the fps?
Last night I unistalled all the Nvidia drivers ussing DDU and then reinstalled with the GA connected which was recommended somewhere

 

I have a similar issue with my new GTX980 Ti - its running around 30fps. Someone at work mentioned to go into NVIDIA GE Experience and under performance/preferances tab there is a option that limits the FPS called battery boost -- have you tried unticking that? I cant try until tonight anyway.

 

Rise of the tomb raider with settings on ultra is tough for any single card out there. but I wouldnt expect the 980TI to perform like that. The 980 in the laptop is the mobile variant by the way. A bit slower than the 970GTX desktop card. Are you sure Tomb Raider is running from your 980TI?

 

I assume so - its set to use the dedicated NVIDIA graphics on the NVIDIA settings and I know the GA disables the laptop DC when it boots - and no more fan noise from the laptop.
A friend at work has suggested checking if the GE experience performance screen has the battery boost option ticked as this limits fps to 30 fps, so I'll check that when I get home.
But yeah starting to get the picture that Tomb Raider is very hungry. But what a game!

 

Thanks , after 30 minutes of explaining what the graphics amplifier was to the rep, she did her thing and told me that dell does not sell the cable by itself, and I would need to purchase the entire package. So I'm basically stuck with a paper weight

 

I have a 980ti and i get around 60fps on ultra on rise of the tomb raider with 1080p. 4k, I get around 30fps

 

The geforce experience tick box will only affect it if its running only on battery, not if its plugged in

 

Yeah, the night before it was running at 30fps so I had used DDU to remove all the NVIDIA drivers and then reinstall with the GA connected. Didnt have time to test as it was late, but got home from work yesterday and its all running at 60fps so happy days

 

True story... I heard about this a while back when people were selling just the housing on ebay without the cable for like $50/100... people assumed that you could just get a cable and it would work out, many found out the hard way. You would think dell would just make extras and charge $50-100 for the cable... what a shame. I hope I don't happen to break mine.

 

That's ridiculous. So, when the cable wears out due to being plugged in and unplugged everyday, you have to buy the whole lot again!!?? Ridiculous! Sometimes I do wonder why I put so much money into Alienware! Don't get me wrong. I have no issues with my current R3 and AGA but when I wanted to change out my screen, they wouldn't sell it to me! Just like the cable!
Do you think these cables are designed to be plugged in and unplugged everyday? Is it going to last?

 

Well at this time, they are not selling the cables separately... not saying that if you had an issue with the cable going bad, they would not either warranty it (no questions asked) or allow you to buy another one provided you show them your current bad cable, etc... I will note that the cable is fairly robust and I don't see it going out anytime soon.

As for not selling you the screen part... That is hard to swallow. I was pretty sure they would have to sell you that seeing as its a common part. There may be an issue though bc sometimes the screen upgrades need an entire lid swap opposed to just the display panel. I know if you have a matte screen with a bezel you can't easily just swap to a touchscreen model with glass covering... maybe that is why they were giving you a hassle there.

 

I ended up having to buy the 4K screen on ebay from America and fitting it myself. Just had to change the display cable which I got from the same seller. I just think they could be a bit more accommodating seeing as we all spend a fortune on their products. After all, we are not asking for the spare parts for free.

 

guys do you think it will suffice if I get an evga gtx 970 superclocked acx 2.0 for my amplifier that I got yesterday? Mostly will be used for VR and am connecting to my alienware 15 R2

 

It should be fine. I am actually going to upgrade the PSU/Fan later today. I picked up an Antec VP450 PSU and Noctua NF-B9 fan. Want to see if that fan helps with cooling, the stock fan on the AGA is really annoyingly loud.

 

Let us know how the antec vp450 noise levels are vs the stock psu. I was eyeing that one also on amazon.

 

Well sadly it only have 1 pci express connector, going to try a Corsair CX500M PSU today.

 

FYI I experienced PCIE linking issues with the new BIOS, only linking at PCIE 3.0 x1 and not the expected PCIE 3.0 x4 had to downgrade back to A03

 

Make sure the power outlet port in the back aligns with the amplifier. Because of the design of the amp it limits the types of psu we can buy, unless you don't mind modding the amp.

 

The CX500M lines up perfectly. It's all nicely installed and a new quieter 92mm fan as well.