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

please delete

 

If I'm not mistaken, this is for soldering directly onto the board.

 

Darn, that's all I could find - except for several others requesting the same 90' adapter.

I guess you could solder a straight up 8-pin to the back of the card - might need to trim the back plate if it has one, then feed it side ways. It would look weird, but get the job done - if that trims enough height off by feeding the cables off the side instead of off the top.

You could DIY one out of wire and a couple of connectors, like these:

 

Anyone here have any experience or opinion on the max available card to pair with the AW13 R1 with the i7 5500u? I get pretty good performance out of my 970 but i recently upped to a 3440x1440 monitor and can feel it straining. 3D mark seems to indicate the best performing card for this cpu is the 980ti. I was wondering if anyone with the same machine has been running the 980ti or either of the pascal cards and what their performance is like before i sell my 970.

 

Hi all,

A few questions/comments.

1. My issue with laptop screen remain on is solved by changing my graphic card from Asus 970 Turbo to EVGA 970.

Here are my further questions:

1. Earlier I was recommended to try wake up on lan app to start the laptop, however, the app doesn't work and I can't find that option in bios at all. Am I missing something?
2. Sometimes the laptop doesn't turn off completely when I shut it down. Windows shuts off as well as the screens but fans keep reving. Anybody experiencing the same?
3. How do I overclock this damn CPU (i5-4210h)? Can I do this at all? I'm running 15 R1 + amp and when I go to BIOS I can unlock OC but I can't increase multiplier for non turbo to anything above 29 (which is default value), I don't see any other multipliers for turbo mode and when I increase bus ram by 3% it hangs up immediately. Anyone?

 

I've looked this issue up but haven't seem to find an answer, I'm having issues with my AW 17 and AGA when turning back on or rebooting. When doing so it sometimes reboots multiple times before getting to the Windows lock screen, anyone experience this?

 

waiting for the asus strix gtx 1080...

 

Ok, buying my first ever graphics card!!!! Woooohooooo
I was waiting on the rx480, however it appears nearer 970 than 980 I was hoping
And so. 13 r2 owner. Looking at the 980gtx (they are coming under £300)
What do I need to consider when buying. I want, simple. Not bothered on overclocking etc. Just a good plug in (to the GA) and play Doom at 1080p and 60fps, on a good graphics setting

 

so am not pleased yet with the MSI GTX1080. Think was having better framerate with my evga GTX970. I am getting lots of jitters while playing in VR on my HTC Vive.

My setup is an alienware 15R2 with 970m and alienware amp with MSI GTX1080. I installed the notebook drivers and was getting a benchmark of arnd 15K in firestrike. Bios 1.2.2 and my cpu is the i7 6700HQ,

 

return the graphics card?

 

After reinstalling drivers the reboot issues have stopped. I got my oculus rift today and man is it freaking amazing. Worth the investment into the AGA .

 

Where did you find the 1080 SC?

 

Hi All,Have just purchased a graphics amp and am waiting on delivery.Have also purchased a GTX980 ti G1 from gigabyte and have provided the link to the card below. Really worried that it may not fit and the lid wont close as I have heard of others having problems with 980 ti cards fitting.Can anyone confirm that this card fits ok? https://www.mwave.com.au/product/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-980-ti-6gb-windforce-3x-video-card-ab73005

 

It fits no problem. Don't worry

 

cards dont go over that L shape should be fine

 

Thanks guys good to know ,any problems with the card needing two 8pin connections? And will the card automtically find drivers after install

 

You can get the nVidia drivers from Nvidia.com and you'll need the graphics amp software installed on your laptop as well.

I'm not sure about the two 8pin connections, I see two 4 pin connections in the photos on the site, someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the PSU in the graphics amp has a 4pin and a 2 pin connector to make a 6pin connector for power to the card. If this is the case, again, correct me if I'm wrong, you will need to swap out the power supply in the graphics amp with one that has two 4 pin connections.


Edit: You should be fine: http://cdn2.expertreviews.co.uk/sites/expertreviews/files/9/28//dsc04763.jpg?itok=eQ_dpE3k

Looks like there are enough connectors.

 

NCIX. I pre-ordered back in May. Got one in the first shipment. Crazy because they only received 50 for all of Canada I believe. NCIX received their shipment in BC, and sent mine directly from there to me in Toronto. Definitely a paper launch from Nvidia.

 

I am having issues running my Oculus rift on Steam VR. I installed the program and get Three boxes that open. From top to bottom I have one window that says SteamVR failed to initialized for unknown reasons. (Error. Not Initialized (109))

The next box down says in red letters "Compositor not available" and in white letters "You'll need this to run SteamVR to work correctly." Then there is a link in the same box that says "Launch compositor" and a (400) next to it. When I click "Launch compositor" it does nothing.

Finally the box at the bottom has a drop down box at the top, a message that says "Not Ready" underneath it, and a picture below that shows my rift headset flashing green and my sensor green as well.

I read to run the room setup but that shuts down every single time I try to open it saying "Oops! The game crashed. The crash report folder named "2016-06-29_235614" next to game executable. It would be great if you'd send it to the developer of the game!" I hit the OK button and it closes.

Also when I put my Oculus Rift headset on, it works perfectly in the oculus home store/games/apps etc, just not with SteamVR.

Even though I get these three error messages I will still put on my headset to see if it is trying to load, which it is. It exit the Oculus hub and says "Sorry, vrserver.exe is taking a while to load. If this issue persists, please take off your headset and check this app on your computer. " and nothing opens.

I currently have an Alienware 15 laptop, an Alienware Graphics Amplifier with a GTX 980 ti, and Asus 1 ms monitor (which I have my laptop closed while using) a USB 3.0 port hub (because it was having issues detecting my sensor) and the games run GREAT. Even though I get the error message "Your computer doesn't meet Rifts recommended specifications, which can lead to poor experience in VR." (can I take that off because its wrong?)

Anyway, sorry to hit you guys with all that stuff at once, please I need help because I am tired of making purchases in the Oculus store, I wanna use SteamVR

 

I'm going to see if I can get an RX 480 soon and to see if it works in the GA well.

The only thign I can think of is have you tried running SteamVR by right-clicking its desktop icon (if you haven't made on, do so), then selecting Run with High-Performance Graphics Card? SteamVR doesn't know what an eGPU is, so it just goes with what it first sees and moves on, even if the GTX 980 ti is the one that's actually working.

 

Hey
I really fancy this card - however unsure if it'll fit (I'm getting a bit lost on reference designs etc)
If someone on here has this and it works well in the GA let me know and I can then join the GA club

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-354-as.html

 

That sounds like it will work, but I have no option that says "run with high performance graphics card" where do I find that?

 

I found it in the Nvidia control panel. It still didnt work. Also yes, I selected allow unknown sources from the Rift control panel. Someone please help!

 

Are you sure? It's an 11.65in card. If it does, then this is confirmation that an 11.5in actually fits.

 

so am using my alienware 15r2 with GA and MSI GTX1080 FE on my HTC Vive. Have read that you get better quality if on external monitor. How can I achieve this ? I have my GA connected to the alienware and the htc vive to the hdmi port of the GTX1080.

 

Use a monitor with the display port

 

Slight improvement when connected to external monitor directly from GTX1080 (via AGA).

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/9045893

Firestrike Score at 1080p= 15,859

 

What is the best way to hook up an occulus rift using an alienware alpha r2, and graphics amplifier with the display being my loungeroom tv. does the hdmi cord for the rift plug into the back of the graphics amp while the alpha plugs into tv via another hdmi cable?

 

hi i recently buy the 1080 for aga i saw that 980m driver dont support 1080 but 1080 works... i run 3dmark 11 with score 17500 but i am not happy with this i mist download the 1080 driver?? i have bios 1.2.8

 

on the safe side to make sure AGA lid closes

 

Just bought a zotac 1070 fe and it works straight out of the box. Did a quick a firestrike without messing with anything http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/12850249




UPDATE: Slight OC http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/12852171

 

Trying to figure something (actually a couple of related things) out that has been driving me nuts for a couple of months. I've got an Alienware 17 R3 with a GTX980M 8GB and the 17.3 inch UHD (3840 x 2160) IGZO IPS Anti-Glare 400-nits Display. Running 32GB RAM (not that it matters). I am running a 3 monitor setup (all 3 using 1920x1080 native resolution) with a 4GB PNY GTX 960 in my graphics amplifier. Using Windows 10 Professional with all current public updates. Besides having to guess at which power supply to connect if only using one (maybe it doesn't matter and maybe I got lucky, but I couldn't find any documentation on it), the video card worked immediately. The first issue I notices was some edge bleed onto the extended monitor to the right when a window was maximized on the monitor to the left. A couple of other things I noticed were huge fonts when hovering over a taskbar icon and really small parts of windows like the buttons on VLC Media Player and other in app windows. A couple of other issues were blank shortcuts when dragging a program to the desktop from the all apps list (worked if copied from the all apps folder though) and printing from multiple apps cutting off all but the top of the page (printing from Chrome for example). I had got to the point where I was dealing with the issues, and for some reason I can't even remember I needed to sign off in Windows and sign back in as the same user. Interestingly, all of the issues described above went away even though the new login resulted in the same extended display settings (and native resolutions) and the same desktop icon size. On normal boot, the 3 monitors plus the laptop would be mirrored to the laptop showing normal taskbar fonts and larger desktop icons and show the laptop resolution until the lid was closed. If I tried closing the lid before the display settings occurred, I'd still get the 3 mirrored displays. It is a strange workaround booting up, closing the lid, signing out, and signing back in without ever opening the lid, but it works. I'd rather figure out why it is working and solve the root cause if anyone has any ideas.

P.S. I am running Bios 1.2.8. I tried 12, 13 and 14 and all of them crashed my system so I reverted back to 8. Completely unrelated but probably having to do with how the system responds to being booted without the amplifier after having been booted presviously with it. The system acts like a brand new graphics card and software have been installed and installs a desktop shortcut for 3D Vision Photo Viewer. Mutiple boots to the ampolifier or to the laptop with no change do not leave this annoying install. Only when you change from amplifier to laptop without amplifier does it happen.

 

Hi Guys, any thoughts or experiences with my question?

 

Plug the VR's HDMI cable to the Graphics Card's HDMI port in the GA.

 

You're right. height won't be a problem. How about length?

 

fire strike extreme! i must buy it? to run?

 

not too long obviously

 

Hi All,

Just signed up to notebookreview but obviously should have signed up earlier....
I have an Alienware 15 i7 4720 with gtx980m and this week bought the AGA + sapphire RX480 and I'm not very impressed with the 3D Mark Fire Strike results from the RX480.

RX480 = 7914 -> http://imgur.com/mQmyuc7
GTX980m = 8236 -> http://imgur.com/D2T1WLZ

Any ideas why the results are so bad?

Thanks

 

because RX480 is barely faster than a GTX970
because the AGA -> internal display loses performance
because AGA is x4 PCI, slight loss in performance
because GTX980M is only 20%~ behind a GTX970, with all the restrictions above, the RX480 can't really outperform the GTX980M

get a 1080, 1070, or a cheapo 2nd hand 980Ti if you want real performance boost with the AGA

 

thanks

 

I really would recommend you return that RX480, get your money back.
Maybe when AMD releases drivers for improving the performance it'll be worth it, but atm I don't think AMD cares about that.

The RX480 also poses some dangers due to PCI non-compliance: https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/4qfwd4/rx480_fails_pcie_specification/


FS 8358 with GTX 970M overclocked to hell and back

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/12891249

 

I think you may be the first to post a bench of the rx480 with the AGA. So I am not sure signing up earlier would have helped. I also thought the 480 was supposed to be somewhere in between a 980 and a 980ti, but after seeing some benchmarks I am pretty surprised. I would honestly go with the 1070 if you want to see serious improvement in games. It is cheaper then a 980ti and the 1080 and I personally love it.

 

Got the 1070 working in the AGA. Using the internal display until I get get a better monitor to really take advantage of the extra power.

 

It seems such a mind field.
I didn't think it would be so tough to buy a card

So low down. I want to play doom* at 1080p, high setting and 60fps on my AW13
Knowing all the bottle necks on the way with the dual core i7 6200 u etc
What do I need in the GA?

In addition. Is there a forum common 'what is the max size of the card'?

The max width is x, max length is y etc
And finally. What is the score with the 'pins'? as all cards appear to have a different pin set up?

And really. I just want to a card that's the right size and correct pin requirement. Slot in and away I go

So I've looked at (within my budget)
980gtx reference design
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/msi-...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-280-ms.html

RX480
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/sapp...ddr5-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-37b-sp.html

I would like to buy new. and buget on here is £300.

Your recommendation and help would be brilliant

if there is anything else on that overclockers website that you know fits and works out of the box with the GA within budget let me know. I really want to join the club

 

[

well - I wouldn't recommend the RX480. Just look at my 3Dmark score on the previous page.

As per other cards - I'm asking a similar question to swap out my RX480.

Can anyone confirm if these cards fit? Any other recommendations?

Gainward GeForce GTX 1070 Phoenix 8GB Video Card
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB WindForce 3X Video Card

 

Answering my own question in case anyone else is having similar issues. I figured out how to get rid of the edge bleed and small/big font issues (along with the other related stuff) without signing off and on. If I close the lid while on the Windows splash page and then sign on, the same thing is accomplished as the sign out and back on. I was pretty certain I had tried that before, but what the heck... it is working. On a side note, the 3D Vision shortcut is not coming back now. Maybe NVIDIA realized how stupid that was and fixed it in the last update. Now for a bios fix I guess.

 

Sorry double post but was wondering if i had a hdmi cable from my alpha r2 to my tv ,alpha connected to a graphics amp (running a 980 ti) and then plugged the hdmi from the occulus into the hdmi port in the back of the amp would this work?

 

Gave up!
Ordered this. On route
In budget £300
Hope it fits and is very much a plug in and play
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/evga...s-graphics-card-04g-p4-2983-kr-gx-261-ea.html

 

That EVGA will fit.. It's basically a reference card with a aftermarket cooler. That said a reference card is best in these things with the blower style cooler as it helps suck air in and blow it out the back. The aftermarket coolers just circulate air around inside with no real exhaust it gets toasty inside.