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

Just bought the GTX 1070 FE for my amplifier but having issues. First I installed 1070 plugged everything in and started everything up.. so far so good.. it detected and worked.. I selected 2160 res at 60hz(finally). Next thing I did which may have been the mistake was go to Nvidia's website and install the newest desktop driver 372.90.. it installed and right when it was done the screen went off and fan blasted on the 1070. I rebooted.. everything seemed to be ok but when connected to my tv but the res selection in display settings was greyed out.. no way to select res.. and if I start a game it Blue screens and reboots the laptop. So I thought I would post this while I start to diagnose things just in case this is a known issue and theres an easy fix. FIrst thing I'll do now is uninstall and delete driver then disconnect and reboot with laptop.. reinstall newest mobile driver.. then shutdown and reconnect GA, hopefully I'll be back to where it was originally.. because I was able to choose display res originally

 

all right.. replying to myself here.. but I think something's wrong with the amplifier, I wouldnt think that's possible but I can replicate the problem with a 750ti. Possibly a power supply issue. If I run the desktop at 1080p and games at low res like 1280x720 things seem to work and not crash.. if I run the desktop in 3840x2160 it will eventually crash the computer, it will just about instantly crash the computer if I run a game at 3840x2160. Just for kicks I threw in an old 750 ti I had around.. jacked up the res to 3840x2160 and started up Borderlands and it made it through the title screens until the new game/load screen. Would be great if this was driver related but I think it's likely the GA itself.. any ideas?

 

Have you tried using an older Nvidia driver? Use DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) to uninstall the Nvidia driver.
This is just to see if it's actually the newest driver.

 

Is there anyone who can help me find out how much space is left when installing an evga 1070/80 FTW card without attaching the power cables? I am able to source some low profile cables. With this i fo i can decide if i can buy the AGA

 

Still having the same problem. Most drivers I use work.. detects and installs drivers with no problems. If I'm using desktop res at 3840x2160 it will work for a while but eventually crash.. if I start a game at 3840x2160 it crashes almost instantly. The lower res the desktop res and game res the longer it works before crashing. It seems like a power supply problem in the Graphics Amp. Damn. Does the GA use a typical power supply? I may have one around .. just hoping it has an 8 pin power and the correct connector to the mini pci/board connector in the GA... otherwise I'm up a creek. The other issue maybe Windows 10 with anniversary update? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

Has anyone seen or heard of anyone trying to use an all-in-one water cooled card in the amp? By looking at it, it certainly doesnt seem impossible. Heres the card i was thinking about using, for example.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Z0UX8T...ails?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1474770860&sr=8-4

 

Problem solved.. was a bad power supply in the Graphics Amp.. what are the odds of that.. it just partially worked until under load! Anyway I figured this out and fixed it yesterday so I had an evening of testing all my games in 4k. Amazing how good Fallout 3 , Skyrim and the remaster of Bioshock look in 4k at 60fps... bloody fantastic. I can run Fallout 4 60fps at 4k with most things set to ultra and Witcher 3 everything at Medium/High at 60fps 4k which looks way way better than it does at 1080p 80/100fps in ultra. Max Max also looks incredible at 4k 60hz. I could run all of these before in 4k but 30fps really kills the experience.

 

How reliable is the Alienware Graphics Amplifier? Any issues that I need to know off?

 

From personal experience, when it works it works. Started with a faulty one, bought a new one and haven't had an issue since

 

Hope someone can help me with my problem:

Every time I shut down my computer (with the GA connected), it wont power off completely. The screen just goes blank while the keyboard lights are on. I have to Hold the Power button down for 5 secs to force it to power down. When the GA is not connected, it powers down completely.

I tried searching in the Windows Logs and can't find any app that might cause it to shutdown improperly.

I'm running a 1070 in my GA and am on the Anniversary Update version of windows 10.
BIOS: A00

I tried turning on/off windows fast boot but to no avail.

 

Bios A00 is quite old though... maybe test it with the latest firmwares?

 

Thanks for the quick response rinneh. I tried the latest which is A06 and the issue still persists. A00 has the best fan profiles so I reverted back

 

Did you try the latest graphics amplifier software as well? Application_5N27G_WN64_1.0.27.0_A02.EXE

 

Ok so I need some help. I have a 2016 17r3 with the 4K screen 970m and i76700hq I have 16gb Samsung ddr4 ram 2133mhz. I just bought the AGA and a Nvidia GTX 1080 FE. I have not changed any settings yet and ran a firestrike bench. My result are always around 18,000 for my graphics score. I updated my bios to 1.2.8 and I get the same scores (I was on 1.2.7). I don't have any issues and everything seems to run ok I just don't get the performance I expected. Every other score I see for my exact same setup is at least around 21000 graphics score.

My other issues is when I do a firstrike off my internal 970m my CPU scores a 9600 which is the norm for my setup. But when I use the AGA and my GTX 1080 I get low 8000 for my CPU score. Why would my CPU change?

I also ran a heaven bench just for another comparison. I get 26 FPS low and 167 FPS high AVG around 98 FPS. The high I see for my card is always around 200+ FPS

Any ideas on what you guys have done or what I'm missing with my setup?

 

Yes I am using that version. Are you on win 10 Anniversary Edition?

 

*First off, are you running the benchmark on the internal display? try using an external one and see if it improves.
*Check if your CPU is turbo boosting or not. If not, then try disabling the CPU overclock (when the GA is connected) in BIOS. Also check if speedstep is disabled (should be enabled).
*make sure NVidia drivers are updated.
*make sure High Performance mode is selected in Power options.

 

Ok I will check these things and report back not home at the moment but will give it a go later today. I do think the CPU is boosting though because on the firestrike bench it shows 2.6ghz and 3.3ghz. These are the same numbers I see when I'm using the 970m and the score is higher. Is it normal that the CPU settings are changing from when I use my 970m to the AGA and the GTX 1080? It runs fine when AGA is not plugged in.

Also I am on the latest Nvidia mobile drivers for my 970m and my power settings are on balanced. I'm not familiar with speedstep but I will check later as I mentioned.

 

I havent the amp myself. Actually just ordered one. Hopefully I can mod the cables to that I can close the lid while using an EVGA 1070 FTW. Or else I have to send it back.

 

Hmm On my desktop I have a similar issues with the 1070 GTX. The CPU/physics score is lower when using a 1070 compared to my old 970. But not 1600points lower though.

 

Is your physx processing set to auto in graphics properties? It could be selecting the gpu with the new setup you have. Maybe try selecting one and then the other during testing? There is also reports of speed step getting stuck in lower mghz when not in max power settings. Also, doesn't the 6700 turbo boost to 3.6?

 

I believe it should turbo boost to 3.5. And I not sure what or how speed step works what would I need to do to check that and adjust it.

 

I have tried everything you mentioned an no success the scores are the same. The only thing I could not test is the external display. Also I notice my aga fans are almost silent. I can feel them working but all the post say it's super loud which mine is not at all

 

have tried everything you mentioned an no success the scores are the same. The only thing I could not test is the external display. Also I notice my aga fans are almost silent. I can feel them working but all the post say it's super loud which mine is not at all

 

Does hwinfo rate the pci express as 4x on your graphics card by the way?

 

Hi guys, I have been having issues with the AGA displaying full screen videos in Chrome, Edge, and Netflix. Everytime I do that, the screen just goes black with sound. The problem only shows when I hooked up a 4k monitor on the AGA (GTX1070 FE). And also when Google Chrome is running, everything on the computer becomes laggy.

I have looked up all over the net (including this thread, on page 19x something), and for you guys it seems that the solution is to disable the Intel HD 530 through the device manager. I can confirm that the solution works, but only partially. When I disabled the integrated gpu, the external screen works perfectly, but on the Alienware, the screen just freezes white (or black) with the back-light still on, until I re-enabled the Intel.

Do you guys have any other solution for me? I'm on the verge of selling my Alienware setup because of this frustrating issue. Any help greatly appreciated...

 

what drivers are you guys using with your aga for the gpu. Driver from Nvidia directly or alienwares support page? Also are you running purely mobile drivers or a combo of desktop drivers too?

 

Are you talking about this because it says 8x.

 

Gpu z shows I'm running at x4 3.0

 

Ok so I was able to use an external monitor and boom my performance skyrocketed. Is there anyway I can get the internal display to work smoothly. I know others have done this.

 

Hey Reyllx,
Do you have any issues running a full-screen videos (when using chrome) using the AGA hooked up to the external monitor?

 

No I do not seem to have that issue. Everything works great but I just can't get my benchmarks and foster to be normal on internal monitor. How well does your work on laptop display?

 

I'm not sure why yours is this way because I go from a Gpu score of 21800 to 18600 when using external to internal screen.

 

May I ask which driver are you using for GTX1080? Is it the mobile or desktop driver?
I am pretty sure that I'm using the desktop version on mine.

As for the performance on my laptop display, it doesn't seem like there was significant differences, on the screen it's about 3% lower I think (that was 2 weeks ago).

 

I am using the latest bios 1.3.6 I believe and I am using the latest driver from Nvidia for my mobile Gpu. No desktop drivers. And I installed the mobile drivers without the amp plugged in

 

That is normal. You lose around 10% on the internal monitor because it must send the signal back to your laptop.

 

My Alpha R2 has stopped recognising the amplifier? Keeps telling me to restart the system but never recognises it after doing so.... any help please ?

 

Just got the amplifier. Stuck an 8GB RX 480 into it and hooked it up to my 17 R3, pretty pleased with the initial results. Setup was fairly easy, popped in the card, connected the power cables, connected it to the laptop. I didn't get any notifications initially, but downloaded the Amplifier software manually along with the Radeon drivers, restarted, and it worked fine.

Haven't run any benchmarks yet, but it's killing Hitman at 1080p, running Witcher 3 and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided very well too on a mix of high/ultra. Definitely runs better when I hook it up to my TV than on the laptop's own display.

I'm very tempted to get a FreeSync monitor now. This card should be good for 45-ish FPS at 1440p high/ultra on most games, going to be a massive step up from the 970M

 

A new GA Software is out. It's for the 15 R3 and 17 R4, but it can be installed onto the 13 R2 (as I just did), and unassumingly the 15 R2 and 17 R3.

 

Hi,

What kind of FPS would i expect to get on games like Battlefield 4 / Star Wars Battlefront running 4k on an Alienware 17R3 with Internal Display + Amplifier with 1080 GTX card?

Thanks,

 

Around 50~60fps. I think if I see other benchmarks. BF4 will run pretty wel lon 4K and might go beyond 60fps.

 

external monitor will boost performance though

 

Does the ASUS strix with its 3 fan design fit in the graphics amp? Im looking at a new card for my desktop PC and plan to throw it in a graphics amp when i upgrade again.

 

No not without modification. It's to tall to close all the way.

 

I just tried the EVGA 1070GTX FTW and it does not fit without modding the case. There are some structural plastic beams on the top cover that collide with the height of the card in my case. I have to cut those out to fit in my card. But not sure if I am in the mood to do that.

 

I'd return it.

I got the EVGA 1070GTX SC

• 1594MHz Base Clock
• 1784MHz Boost Clock
• 191.2GT/s Texture Fill Rate
• 8192MB GDDR5 Memory
• 8008MHz Memory Clock
• 256.3GB/s Memory Bandwidth

Fits fine and only $10 price difference

 

I have the 1070 for a few months now already. I pulled it from my desktop. I wanted to replace my desktop with my aw15 laptop.

 

Just wanted to give an update on my experiences with my 17r3 and my aga gtx1080 fe. So I have managed to get everything working perfectly. There is a noticeable gap going from internal to external monitor. But I have concluded its more noticeable for those of us with internal 4K screens. The ones who do not have a 4K internal screen and rather the 1080 internal notice it less. Also the gap only seems to effect higher fps not the lower. When I benchmark or play a game it's hard to notice the difference unless you are getting well over a 100 fps. Both internal and external dip to about the same lows. I have not tried an external 4K monitor yet just a 1080p. So far I'm in love with this setup as it has so many possibilities compared to a traditional desktop setup. I can literally pack all my stuff into 2 backpacks for storing or travel. Or I can take just my laptop with the 970m and still have a nice gaming experience at 1080p with mostly high or max settings. I plan to keep upgrading along this path if Alienware allows it. A rotation seems best every 4 years replace laptop and get good internal gpu and every 4 years replace aga gpu. If you alternate these cycles then every 2 years you will get a gpu upgrade and every 4 get a new CPU upgrade. Seems like a smart way to upgrade if you wanna stay on the bleeding edge. These cycles could go longer too if there aren't drastic changes in the market. In all I love this purchase and wouldn't change it for a desktop solution. The GTX 1080 is a beast whether in a aga or desktop alike. Only games I cannot max at 4K 60fps on the setup is both Tomb raiders (to be expected) and Xcom 2. The other games I have played run amazing 4K 60fps max.

 

A nice idea

But in reality, Technology progression is not linear. In the next 4 years Moor's Law will max out when we jump to 10nm technology. I suspect within 8 years we will be computing on a new platform. The short of it, somewhere in between 4 and 8 years PCI Express 3.0 will be gone forever.

(I probably will upgrade my AGA Gpu every other year, and Laptop whenever I feel like it, because these AW's retain good resell value)

 

Damn that sucks. I have no clue which 1080 to buy, since i really dont want a blower style fan. The evga gtx 1080 ftw or SC was my second option. Im going to assume the MSI one is a no go too, since it has those extra heat pipes.