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

I don't see why not. You're still plugging the VR's HDMI cable to the GTX 980 ti.

 

Little confused as to what power cables to hook up to a GTX 1080.
The AMP has two sets of connectors one is yellow and black and the other is brown and black , both are 6 input connectors with and extra 2 connectors one the same cable.
So my question is what set do I hook up to the GPU, the yellow or brown set? Does it matter what order I put them in ( the 6 input connector or the 2 first meaning the which one in front or the other....does it matter?)
The instruction manual is practically useless and very vague.
Got my AMP and GPU in first and want to have them ready to go once I get my ALPHA R2.
Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Forgot to add the GTX 1080 came with 2 x 6pin input to 8pin input adapter do I use that to connect power to the GPU ?

 

Use either cable, and there's no need to use the adapter. The 6+2 Pin connector acts like a 8-pin connector when you use both the 6 pin and 2 pin.

 

Any reason why there are to sets of cables?
Yellow and Black set or Brown and Black set both work the same to power the GPU?
It's my first go using a external GPU so I'm new to this and thanks for the quick answer.

 

Anyone here using a custom 1080 model? A list of compatible models would be very nice! I think without owning / having tested them, we can tell that

Palit GTX 1080 GameRock PE
Gainward GTX 1080 Phoenix GLH

won't fit the AGA But how about

Zotac GTX 1080 AMP! Extreme
Inno3D GeForce GTX 1080 iChill X3
EVGA GTX 1080 FTW
Gigabyte GTX 1080 G1 Gaming
Asus GeForce GTX 1080 Strix OC

for example? Anyone tested / uses them?

 

I'm running the Asus GTX 1080 Strix in my AGA. The lid wouldn't close at first, but I quickly figured out the problem. I had to remove some of the short plastic "supports" (spurs) from the ceiling of the lid of the case with my Dremel, but after doing that it fits perfectly. The card itself is working flawlessly without issue.

The 1080 Strix also has two PWM fan headers, I'm using one to control the front case fan, which I replaced with a Noctua.

 

Hey! Cool, thank you very much! I'm actually waiting for this card right now - ordered it some weeks ago - and already expected to remove some of the lids plastic! Thank you very much!

Can you tell me what noctua fan exactly you bought? Is it noticable quieter / cooler? Guess the Noctua NF-R8? Has anyone tried the "Be Quiet Silent Wing"? And the fan is connected to the VGA, yes?

Anyone here maybe changed the PLUs fan?

 

My latest Firestrike benchmark with my 980 Ti with internal display.

 

For GPUs that require 2 x 6 connectors or 2 x 8 connectors.

 

I am currently using the laptops internal screen. I have noticed none of the games give me an option to play in 2560x1440. I figured out i had to add the resolution in on the intel 530 options. Does this carry over to an external monitor as well?

 

If you connected the external monitor to the GPU in the Amp, then no since those custom resolution profiles are only readable by the iGPU.

 

In readiness of the 980gtx and GA arriving tomorrow
Is there anything I need to do to my AW 13 in preparation.
I have always downloaded drivers direct from the geforce software pre Installed on my laptop and always have the latest other drivers from the Dell support page

Do I need any tools. Or should it all work fine

 

I'm using the Noctua NF-A9, which is the successor to the NF-R8 (which is discontinued by Noctua).
Noctua NF-A9: https://amzn.com/B00NEMG5F0

Temps where a bit of a problem at first. With the AGA lid open the card would hover between 55C and 60C under full load with 2088 to 2100 clock speed and memory overclocked to 11000/5500. With the case closed the card was getting up to 70C+ which was not ideal obviously. Namely it would start to therm throttle the clock rate, not to mention I do not like the idea of my 1080 cooking. After doing a series of tests I realized due to the limited airflow around the card it was just recycling hot air, but the PSU side of the AGA was staying nice a cool. Somehow the air was not intermingling thou.

Obviously that was not helping the Strix out at all. In the end I switched the front fan around so it is now exhausting air out the front. Since I taped off the PSU side of the AGA side vents this appears to have helped a lot causing more cool outside air to get pulled into the vents up against the graphics card intake. As of my most recent benchmarks (Valley and Heaven) the card was now running at 50C to 55C. So I would definitely recommend switching the front fan around to have it exhaust and tape off the PSU side of the AGA vents.

I was thinking of getting two Noctua 80mm fans and mount them on the interior against the vents on the PSU side and have them additionally exhaust air in the hope of pulling in more air on the graphics card intake. But after switching the front fan the exhaust that seems to have fixed the high temp issues and the card in fact seems to be running slightly cooler than when I had it running open air.

I'm using the PWM header to control the Noctua on the front and I have it set to be at full speed once the card gets over 50C. It is super quiet thou, to be honest with the average amount of noise in my house I can't even hear it when it is at 100%. All in all the audio from my gameplay drowns out any noise the fans in the AGA make and when I'm not gaming I still can't hear it unless I really, really try to listen for it.

Here are some screenshots of my fan profiles and the AGA itself so you can see how I modified it.

 

cool you manage to get one gtx 1080 strix its not available here yet

 

Ya I got lucky and managed to snag one from Amazon during one of the short windows they had some. They are hard to get at this point for sure.

 

Amazon still has it but it cant be shipped to my address =(

 

Does anyone know if the ASUS is the only 1080 with the 4-pin fan control? I really want to get the EVGA FTW so I can use the Precision X auto-overlock, and it's 2fps faster in reviews (splitting hairs I know) but I also have a Noctua fan just sitting around and it's easier to use the ASUS than splicing wires.

 

Now we have confirmation that an 11.75" card will fit in the GA.

What modifications did you have to do to get the card to fit?

 

Not much; just had to remove some of the plastics spurs/tabs on the inside of the cover where the graphics card sits. You can see in the picture I posted which ones I removed. I can try to get a better picture if you are having trouble with the one I posted. Dremel FTW. It was pretty easy and quick modification to make all in all. The top of the card sits around 1/8" or so below the height of the stock Dell power supply so there is plenty of head room for the power connectors. Once I Dremel'd the plastic bits on the inside of the cover it closed without issue; no resistance at all.

 

The Strix is the only one I know of for sure. Just to be clear, the 1080 Strix actually has two PWM fan connectors.

 

A shot of the lid with mods marked would be great.

 

Great score, is that overclocked? May I ask how much performance do you lose when you use the amplifier with the internal display compared to desktop?

 

WOW! Thank you VERY much for your effort! Sound pretty cool, guess I'll mod. my case the same way But the fan in the PLU is still the stock one, right?

 

Arrived. Set up and works a treat
But.....it is ridiculously loud!

 

Yes it is overclocked. I have my own custom BIOS. I have done another outputting to my TV so gets ride of the performance loss through to the internal screen.
Here it is... Not an awful lot of difference.

 

Is there a quick fix for getting a new fan.
There is a YouTube video. Bit that involved getting a new power block

 

The new Nvidia 368.69 driver is now available.

 

Yes indeed. The new driver has arrived and I installed it. Firestrike result down from around 15,700 (1080p) to around 11,600 overnight. Have reverted back to old .39 driver. Testing now................

 

I am considering purchasing an Alienware 13 with the Intel® Core™ i7-6500U. I will be pairing it with the AGA / NVidia 1080. I was wondering what the communities thoughts are around this. Will this system with the mid-range i7-6500U chip be able to take advantage of everything the 1080 has to offer? Is the 1080 overkill to pair with this system? Any current benchmarks with the AW 13 R2 i7-6500U with an AGA / 980 or 1080?

Thanks!

 

Are you planning on using an external monitor? What resolution do you want to play games at?

 

I bought a cx500M PSU for the AGA and a noctua no a9 fan but I'm having trouble finding where to connect the fan to the PSU? I installed the PSU fine but where to connect the fan is confusing because none of the cables it came with look like they can connect.

 

Yes. I have two 27" Dell external monitors that run at 2560x1440 that I plan on using.

 

I would just say stick with either a 980ti or 1070 for 1440p honestly

 

Hi all, I've just bought the AGA and installed a GTX 1070. All working fine, however the card is too big for the lid to close. Are there 2 types of AGA. I've had a look on the web and YouTube, and seen other people manage to fit the same card and close the lid. Apologies in advance if this has already been asked/answered......cheers

 

Is there a reason for replacing the PLU - because many here seem to change it? Has anyone tried to just change it's fan?

 

Have you don't any testing in games to see which drivers are working best for games? Reason I ask in the past I have had trouble with firestrike but the problem was only in firestrike.

 

Which 1070 is it ?

 

It's the Palit Gamerock Premium Edition, I had the same problem with the Palit Jetstream 970 too.....cheers

 

Just got my amplifier last night. Ordered this card today because it was on sale and lots of reports of OCing to 2.1GHz.

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5916#kf


Anyone know of any incompatibilities with this card? I don't care if the lid closes or not (I don't think it will close lol) as I can mod the lid but just wanted to know if anyone else was using this card or not yet.

 

anyone got the gigabyte gtx 1080 G1 gaming in the AGA?

 

Same as I posted above with the 1070. It will not fit. Check back a few threads to see what you have to cut / mod like the Asus Strix card. It's simply too long. It should work with cover off though fine. I'll update with photos when mine gets here (1070 version).


Also, check this out too: http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/gigabyte-pascal-1070/

 

From the limited information I have found on this card, it looks like it is a bit too tall to fit with the lid closed. I have a 1070 founders edition and even with that its a tight fit for the lid to close. People have had success modifying some of the rubber components on the lid of the aga to fit slightly taller cards.

 

planning to get it since everywhere doesnt have the asus strix

 

Hey everyone, new user here, I am yet to by the GA, I have the Alienware 15, 16gb ram, i7 6700, GeForce 970m 3gb, I am looking at getting the GA and the GTX 1070, specifically the one below, will this fit ok and run all fine? I noticed that it recommends a 500 PSU and the GA has a 460, will this cause any issues?

http://www.ebuyer.com/750762-msi-ge...ddr5-dual-link-dvi-d-hdmi-gtx-1070-aero-8g-oc

 

269*111*35 mm on this:

AG supports 10.5" (this one is 10.59") without modding. It may just barely fit or just bit a slight tad too long. Only way to know is try or wait for someone to confirm I guess that already has it

I'm wondering if AW is going to release a V2 of the GA, because these newer cards are much larger.

The PSU will be fine. The PSU recommendation is in-conjunction with being used in a PC. You can always upgrade the PSU to something better in the AG as well. A few people have swapped the PSUs without issues. There are a few that are a direct fit.

 

OK, thanks for the reply, time to get the dremel out.....

 

Thanks for getting back to me. Yes, strangely enough, my Alien Isolation (modded to all Ultra settings/with 8k shadows and so on) slowed down from a rock solid 60fps with the V-Sync on to struggling between 30-40fps and much higher GPU temps (creeping up to 76C). With the old driver I was getting around 57-58C maximum and the better frame rate.

I wish NVidia/Dell would get together and produce a driver for the AGA with the new Pascal GPU's so that they work properly.

 

I have returned the amplifier, after using it for a whole 20mins gaming. I couldn't believe just how loud the fan in the amp is
I would need to play with headphones in

Looked on line and it appears I would have needed to change the power block and the fan. Crazy when the amp is already a lot of money?

Maybe they will make a vr 2 and I'd take a look.

 

It is entirely possible they will make another aga. Frank Azor even said they could easily tweak the wires to support the soon to released pcie 4.0. What exactly that means for the aga remains unclear though http://www.pcworld.com/article/3083...cs-card-tech-beats-thunderbolt-3-options.html

 

its not confirmed yet that they will another AGA =(