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

That's strange are all your bios upto date.? Maybe a re install of the AGA software would a stab in the dark but worth a try

 

No problem, happy it helped!

 

I already updated the AGA driver to ... 1.09 I guess? The latest one for the R3 (even though I'm having an R2). What nVidia driver do you use? Guess the latest one (375.86)? Mobile or dektop? Is there any difference at all?

http://www.nvidia.de/content/Driver...-international-whql.exe&lang=de&type=geforcem
http://www.nvidia.de/content/Driver...t-international-whql.exe&lang=de&type=GeForce

Edit: if anyone else is having this question: the files have an identical MD5 hash... So they are pretty, pretty, pretty sure the same...

 

They are now the same so it does not matter which one you download.

 

is there only one model of amp or is there early models and updated ones ?

 

As far as I know there is only the current one.

And if anyone else is having the issue with the AGA doing several restarts or sometimes/always connects the GPU via PCIE x1: in my case the connection cable caused the issue. Got a new cable and no problems so far.

 

Really? When I tried the AGA it would power on and off like 4 times before actually starting.
So a new cable stopped that completely? It boots up consistently right away now, no flickering/rebooting/restarting?

 

One reboot seems to be normal as far as I know. After a few days now I can tell that in my case the new cable solved the issue once and for good. But as I wrote I also had problems with the PCIE speed. If you do not have these issues it maybe can be something else? ...

Anyway, if you still have guarantee on your devices I would call the DELL service and tell them, that your cable seems to cause problems - I guess they'll send you a new one.

 

So I hooked up my AWA to an AW13 with the i7-5500 and here is my results with a 1080. My graphics score was less than the 1060 AW 15 I tried out for a while. Is this normal? Also this one is using windows 8.1, would going to Windows 10 make a difference?

Here is the link to the fire-strike test: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/10884204

 

There's something wrong with your processor usage, and the low CPU performance is limiting your GTX 1080's performance. I would fix that and then do another run. Limit background activity and see what kind (and if) of throttling it's going through.
For a reference point, the i7-5500u can score sub 5000 in the Physic score (possibly over 5000 with the right settings).

 

So does anyone know why I would not be able to run firestrike from my x51r3 and the amp? I have tried uninstalling/reinstalling it and nope. Timespy works no problem, but firestrike is no-go. Ideas?

 

I have the same issue. no clue why. it just doesnt want to start

 

Hello all, just got my AW17 and my AGA. Everything appears to be working fine aside from the AGA does not have any lights coming on at all. The USB Hub works and the graphics card is working as it should. Alienware Command Center does not see the AGA. Any thoughts as to why there is not any lights coming on? The lights on the cable are on and I can verify that the 1080 I have inside it is working fine.

***NEVERMIND! After a reboot or two it came on. All is well.***

 

Hey Guys I am having some kind of dilemma. I read few threads on this forum and somewhere else but I am kind of confused. I have an Alienware 17 R3 2015, I was about to get an EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Founders Edition but at the last moment I read some comments on Amazon similar to the following:

-----
Amazing card only thing that makes me hate it is it DOES NOT WORK with the alienware graphics amplifier. Major driver issues!!!! Only way to get it to work with the amplifier is to use original drivers BUT you can't play newer games....
----

The idea is to mostly use it with X-Plane 10, flyinside and the Oculus Rift, but I am scared that this specific card will have some limitations/issues with the Alienware Amplifier according to those comments. I don't necessary have to get an EVGA or a Founders Edition, that was my personal choice, but what's the safest GTX 1080 for the Amplifier which will fit without mods and won't have driver issues? If anybody has any experience with X-plane would be also great otherwise a suggestion on the most "stable" and easier 1080 to use would be great too.
Thank you in advance for your help!

Matte

 

Some people can have driver issues but it should work with the latest drivers.

 

I need some advice.
I just got an Alienware 15 Laptop with an Intel Core i7-4710HQ CPU. I am worried it will bottleneck the new graphics amplifier and 980 ti graphics card I just got as well. I am running new games at 1080p on ultra with 80+ FPS and the Oculus Rift I also purchased runs really fast but there is a stupid warning at the top saying that my PC is not optimized for VR that wont go away. If this were true, then the games wouldn't run very fast like they are. I keep reading several things about CPU bottlenecking and about the laptops coming with Intel® Core™ i7-6820HK. I noticed the number is way higher than my i7-4710HQ. I am so afraid that I wasted my money and I'm going to have to buy a whole new laptop. Is this really an issue though because games are running pretty well? Why does it say it will affect my Rift, but doesnt, and how long until I will actually have to replace it? I bought the graphics amplifier in the first place so I wouldnt have to keep getting new laptops but this cpu stuff has me angry and scared.

I would like to believe the people who say that the CPU bottlenecking is just a myth and that it is not actually a big deal. I just want to know if my rig will still crush everything I spent a LOT on of money. Please help!

 

Has anyone had any issues with Source Engine games using their Amplifier? I have been trying to figure out CS:GO and CS:S..... The frame rate jumps from 50-200.... while that should be playable it seems very very choppy. I have not seen this issue in awhile and cannot remember how to resolve it. Doesn't matter if I put the settings on all low, mess with the launch options, or mess with the config via the console. Just really choppy and unplayable....

***EDIT: Just tried DOTA2, same thing, frame rate is all over the place and the game is extremely sluggish...***

 

Make sure you are not on "Desktop mode" and you are running high performance. When in desktop mode it will cut in and out from wall power and can cause that issue.

 

Can you clarify what you mean by "Desktop mode"? When I look at the status of my AGA it shows that my iGPU, dGPU, and eGPU are all on. Just need a little bit further explanation.

 

Is there anyone who can help me with this, it has given me a lot of anxiety.

 

I think you should be good, most of the time laptop CPUs and GPUs are not included in supported hardware. It is sad but that is the case. If everything is running fine and working well for you, then you are good to go.

 

right click on the battery icon on the lower right side.

 

Yeah when I right click on the battery, I don't have that option, I only have three options. I read there is a way to get it to that option through the Alienware OSD but cannot find a way to activate it. I already uninstalled and reinstalled Alienware OSD.

 

Pretty sure its a dell thing, but if its not there then thats not the problem. Hmm maybe your GPU is not getting enough power and is cutting in and out. Make sure the 8pin power adapter is fully plugged in and also maybe even use the other 8pin that comes off the psu. The psu in the amp is not the best but provides ample power. It doesn't necessarily sound like its a software issue if it works, then doesn't, then back again, etc...

If you have a buddy with a different gpu, you could try putting that in and testing if it produces the same results.

 

You are fine. As others have stated, you aren't going to see much more performance gains... especially from a notebook cpu upgrade. A 6820hk would cost a ton more and in a few months kaby lake will be here and you would be disappointed all over again. Stick with what you have, its a great CPU and should have several years of good life left in it.

 

Rolled my driver back to the last release prior to the Watch Dogs 2 version, seems to be a night and day difference. Thanks @MSGaldenzi

 

I have been working at this at what seems for days trying to fix a problem which I have tested as best as I can to my ability.

I had revamped my system and created a fresh install of Win 10 (64bit) and unfortunately, soon after this problem started.

I noticed it when I tried taking a screenshot.. WoW froze. So if my character is jumping, she stops in mid-air and the only way for me to un-freeze is to use the Windows key to get to my desktop, alt-tabbing does not work.
I've always had some stuttering, which I noticed in WoW and why I had originally reverted to the Intel (02/2016) 4390 Driver as read on reddit to help with that. I noticed that Firefox has issues, sometimes being very slow and Edge as well.
Chrome was the same way but I didn't even re-install it after my revamp.

To start, here are my system specs:
Alienware 17 R3
nVidia : 980M / Intel(R) HD Graphics 530
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6820HK CPU @ 2.70GHz
RAM: 16GB
Samsung 128GB M.2 SATA 6Gb/s SSD (Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM
SATA 6Gb/s (Storage) (WoW is located on my D Drive, not C, never had a problem with this though)
Using: Alienware Graphics Amplifier w/ nVidia GeForce GTX 1070

All of my drivers are updated. I'm currently running BIOS 1.3.9. Prior to my most recent update I was running 1.3.6.
I have used DDU and reverted to older driver versions, still the same problem is occuring. The oldest version I reverted to was 375.70 which I know I didn't have this freezing problem with. But now it is.
I have also used it to test several versions of the Intel HD 530 Drivers. Well, 2. The most current relrease of 4542 and one I was using prior to my revamp, 4390 (02/2016).
in nVidia CP, I have the PhysX option set to auto-select. For 3D settings, Preferred GP is the nVidia.

Attached to my AGA through the HDMI is a S2715H Dell 27" monitor. I'm not using my laptop's screen. In WoW I am using the "Primary" setting for my monitor. It's stuck at 59.9Hz. There's three options for the refresh rate, 50Hz, 59.9, and 59.9Hz. I run in Fullscreen mode, with 1920x1080 Wide.

My refresh rate in Win is 60Hz. nVidia Experience is optimizing WoW for me, I pretty much have checked every option I can. I'm running on Max Performance as well in Windows and whatnot.

Now, the weird thing is, if I have my laptop screen open at the same time while in WoW, it won't freeze no matter what. I've tried the different 59.9Hz options and they both freeze.
However, if I open my laptop monitor while at my desktop.. and click Display Settings in Windows.. then close the Display Settings window and shut my laptop... I go back into WoW, and there is that freeze again when I screenshot.
It sometimes does it as well when I have Firefox and/or Edge going as well.

I have already tried deleting my WTF, Interface (as I run addons, so I checked these of course) and my Cache folders, but to no avail. I have tried the different refresh options in WoW. I've tried changing my Primary monitor to "Monitor 1"...
in Windows I have even shut off my laptop monitor but if I re-open my laptop it comes back on anyway. Soo I tried those options as well.
Disabling the 530 did no good. When I rebooted my laptop screen would stick at the alienware loading logo and wouldn't reset until I enabled it again.

Please, someone help me out here. I can't figure out what the heck is going on. I know it's just Warcraft but I don't really play any other computer games at the moment. I'm wondering if it's my nVidia Drivers ... I'm using the 980M Notebook install with my Graphics Amp.. though the drivers shows compatible with the 1070. Never had a problem doing it this way though. That way if I just want to use my 980M in my laptop, it isn't an issue. I'm thinking it's something to do with the display drivers, since the settings lag WoW's screenshot ability.

It's driving me crazy as I didn't have this problem before my revamp, being in and out of the hospital all I wanted to do was relax and play my games without trouble. I figured this was the appropriate forum since I'm using an AGA, and the issue seems to be because of the Intel / Display drivers.

Just to note, I think I may need to call Dell to replace the cord to my AGA. It reboots several times before loading up Windows as other users here have had a similar issue. I don't think it's related to my screen lockup issue though.

Thanks to everyone who reads this!

 

I have noticed a HUGE drop in framerate with my alienware 15 laptop and graphics amplifier with a GTX980 ti graphics card! When I ran firestrike for the first time when I hooked my system up everything ran more than twice the speed. Now the speed has lowered more than half. I have a performance score of 4458!? Here is the link. http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/16507314?

Now I am hitting
Graphics Test 1 was 41.38 fps
Graphics Test 2 was 50.94 fps
Physics Test was 6.32 fps
Combined Test was 6.0 fps

Before I was hitting
Around 70-80 on graphics test 1
Around 80 fps on graphics test 2
Around 20-38 on physics test
And around 40 on combined test.

What has happened to my pc. Before my score was 17000 to 18000. I have the same hardware as I did before ( NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti(1x) Intel Core i7-4710HQ). I have tried to free up space on my hard drive, completely deleted my graphics card drivers and reinstalled them, I took apart my external graphics amplifier and cleaned the dust out (the card was hot) but that didn’t change anything. I went into the nvidia settings and selected max performance. Why is the physics test only 6.32 fps!? and the combined only 6 fps!? Please help me, I need to get my computer working again, its hard to play anything!

 

*SOLVED* I figured it out. It was the BIOS. http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/16572619? Thats my new benchmark.

NEW RESULTS
Graphics Test 1 - 88.32 fps
Graphics Test 2 - 66.9 fps
Physics Test - 27.43 fps
Combined Test - 25.06 fps

Old results
Graphics Test 1 - 41.38 fps
Graphics Test 2 -50.94 fps
Physics Test - 6.32 fps
Combined Test - 6.0 fps

I cannot believe it. Here are the steps I took to fix it.

I reset my comp, hit F2 as it booted to go into BIOS screen. At the bottom it said to hit F9 to restore to defaults, so I hit the button, it prompted me again (hit yes), Done, then it took me back to the BIOS screen again, I then hit escape and made sure to hit "save and continue" when prompted for that. I ran the benchmark and it is fast as hell now. Just a quick question. Do you guys think I will be able to make it another year or two years with a i7 4710 HQ before needing another upgrade. Thanks again.

-Vanessa

 

You should be good for a while

 

Hello, I have the new 17 r4 with graphics amplifier + gtx 1080 g1. I wonder if it's working properly. Only works with PCIe 3.0 x4? Look at the 1st picture.



The integrated gtx 1070 card works at x16? Is it faster than the GA? It means that it is faster than the GA + gtx 1080? Or does it only matter the link speed?
Somebody can explain it to me, please!!

 

This subject has been discussed many times. 4x does matter a lot and there is a lot of documentation about it online why. Anyway, the 1080GTX in your AMP will be quite a bit faster than your internal 1070.

The 4X is a limitation of the laptop chipset which does not have more lanes available.

 

thanks for the info. now I understand. The gtx 1080 would have the same performance on a desktop pcie3 x16?

 

You lose a few frames at 4x. but it is neglible. there are some tests online where they test this on desktops.

 

Muc

Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my questions. Very friendly.

 

Does anyone know how to enable OSD (On Screen Display) in 17r4? I do not have the option on the battery icon.

 

In the new 17 R4... why when I use the Graphic Amplifier it turns off the "suspend" option on Windows 10?

powercfg.exe / hibernate in

Hibernation error: Unsupported request.
The following items prevent hibernation on this system. The system firmware does not allow hibernation.

 

Yeah, hibernate function is not compatible with the AGA.

 

The osd Desktop mode function too?

 

I never tried that so i dont have a clue about that.

 

Successfully fit a GTX 1080 hybrid in the AGA without mods. Completely self enclosed.

 

Hasn't the 1080 always been compatible?

 

"Hybrid"

 

A picture is worth 1000 words... pics or it didn't happen

 

Anyone here noticed this yet? Just a heads up in case anyone is trying to understand why their Fire Strike scores keep getting lower even though they have not changed any of their CPU or GPU settings.

Benchmarks run just minutes apart with identical CPU and GPU settings, with no change other than the version of Fire Strike. The lower score is the "latest and greatest" version.

 

I've noticed it for a while now and have stopped using Fire Strike and instead Time Spy because of the degradation in performance.
Really hurts when trying compare an older score with a more recent one to see if something's wrong with the computer or AGA.

 

Thank you for saying so. If you could post something in that thread it would be appreciated. Futuremark has also replied and acknowledge the issue.

 

So bottom line here is Firestrike is bugged out and Timespy is a better and accurate representation of hardware performance?

 

It needs to be fixed. At least now they have publicly acknowledged the issue. Time Spy is too new and there are not enough results for it to carry as much weight as older benchmarks like Fire Strike and 3DMark 11. It's a good test with a very limited data set.

It is still a valid benchmark, but the value derived from using it is diminished when the results grow more and more inconsistent over time. If you compare machine A to machine B or overclock 1 to overclock 2 on the same machine on a given day using the same GUI version, not a problem. If you upgrade your GPU or buy a new PC and want to compare the difference in performance using the current GUI and a benchmark you ran with the previous configuration with an older version a few revisions back, the difference is going to be skewed and not completely accurate because of the instability of the benchmark program. There is always a small margin of error and that is acceptable, (even unavoidable,) but spread out over time something like a 5 or 10% (or greater) variance is not acceptable.

 

I would have to re-run some benchmarks first.
I also may have confused Fire Strike with Time Spy since I saw degradation there more than I saw it in Fire Strike.