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

Think you can spend about ) $1200 more and make a ryzen PC put the quadro in there. It's a work place GPU, not meant for gaming or normal use.

OR you can try refund it (if possible) then use the money to get a Titan Xp or (thing I opted for) evga 1080ti ftw3.... and if you are really hardcore open it up and water cool it with ekwb parts change out the power supply and you should be good.

 

How bad is the performance hit using the internal display for a 1080 or 1080Ti?

 

Hello everyone!

I ordered an Alienware 17 r4 and I'm still waiting for delivery. 7700HQ with 1070.
But the last few days I started thinking about buying a A13 instead with the AGA and put a 1080 ti in it instead.

Obviously the performance would be alot better. But the main reason would be to increase the mobility. Watching movies in the bed etc.
I was wondering about the mobility with the A13 combined with the AGA. Do I need to reinstall the nvidia drivers every time I disconnect the AGA?

How good are the temps in the A13 r3 with 7700hq when the AGA connected?
Does Gigabyte Aorus geforce gtx 1080 ti fit inside the AGA?

 

Doesn't need reinstall driver every time after disconnect the AGA. Install only once.
But, when you disconnect the AGA, then need reboot Windows couple times, because first time after disconnect the AGA, Windows dosen't load the NVidia Control panel and Physx driver, that's why need to reboot after first load Windows.

When the AGA connected, temperature of AW13 more less if compare with onboard GPU is on

 

I purchased the Alienware graphics accelerator a while back and never had the money to drop a decent card in. Not too long ago I bought an Nvidia 1080 GTX and installed it, it ran amazing. After I unplugged the laptop from the device to take to work though, my old graphics card diddn't seem to have any rendering power, things that normally ran great crashed, or ran very poor framerate. Upon discovering this i plugged the device back in to enjoy a better framerate and it no longer functioned. Annoyed, i reformatted my computer (Thinking a windows update may have been to blame) and re installed the new video card drivers and behold! It ran amazingly again! Until I again took my computer to work. Same situation, again. I called Dell tech support about it, but they refuse to help me without a warranty, for mine has expired. Is there anyone here who might be able to shed some light on this little technical difficulty? Please tell me im not alone here.

 

Always use AW CC's AlienAdrenaline to safely disconnect eGPU and restart normally. Try it. Even Fn+F1 should the work.

 

uhh....may be my age showing but......what?

 

Hello, guys! Im going to buy Alienware Graphic Amplifier and when I look on Amazon I find 2 of them, both are with different price.
https://www.amazon.de/s/ref=nb_sb_s...sprefix=graphic+am,aps,232&crid=1LTDRTN1RUIGY

Im not expirianced in computer tech and can someone tell me difference between those two?
I own Alienware 17 r3, Skylake 6700hq, 16gb ddr4 and 970m gtx, if that can help you.

Thank you in advance!

 

Choose the first one.

 

First open AW Command Center then Click Alien Adrenaline followed by Graphics Amplifier and do the necessary settings for example what will the system do when you hit fn+F1 key? Should I restart/shutdown the PC or Prompt Options

 

Have you tried to make sure that the mobile gpu is showing up? I had that happen once where I unplugged my amplifier and the GPU was not being recognized, I had to remove the nvidia drivers and reinstall them. Press Windows+x then click device manager. Under display adapters you should see your integrated graphics and your mobile gpu.

Also on a few instances, all I had to do was restart the laptop to get it working... I assume you tried restarting it a few times before wiping the system.

Also make sure you have the GPU turned on. I think there is a way to force the graphics card on. Its one of the FN buttons I think. Again, probably already knew this.

Last but not least, make sure all bios and drivers are up to date. I know there have been a few for the amplifier specifically.

 

I have a 13r3 and am thinking about getting a AGA with a 1080 TI. Will the EVGA 1080 TI SC2 run without issues and fit in the AGA without modification, or would I be better off just going with a FE?

 

that card will fit in no problem mate, probably run a lot quieter than a FE

I have an EVGA 1080Ti FE in mine but ive fitted the Hybrid cooling kit it so its water-cooled as well, keeps the 1080Ti overclocked and at 52c under max load, perfect in the AGA

 

i7 6500 u.
Does that means there will be a bottleneck for what graphic card to pair with AGA?
What's the best card that is compatible with AW13R2 + AGA

 

So I purchased the Graphics Amplifier a couple years ago along with my 17 R3 notebook. It's been sitting in the box up to this point, but I think I'm ready to put a card in it and run dual monitors. I do some gaming, but not a whole lot. What's a good "future-proof" card that is budget friendly. I don't want to install top-of-the-line, but am willing to spend the dough on something that the price-point has dropped enough. Please excuse my ignorance as I am not up to speed on current graphics technologies.

 

You could buy gtx 1060 or radeon rx 580 which are budget friendly and has more than enough power for current generation of games but not future-proof.

 

Am I better off still going with a 1080ti founders edition rather than an aftermarket card such as the Evga 1080ti SC2?

 

Yes

 

This is the 3DMark Time Spy score of my Alienware 17 R4 7820hk with AGA + Gigabyte Aorus 1080 ti Xtreme...

 

How's the cooling/noise with a non-ref cooled 1080ti?

 

It is extremely quiet with the fan curve by default. Even at 100% fan use. 55c with 100% gpu and 100% fan.I am pleasantly surprised with this graphic cards. Much much better than a gtx 1080.

 

I see you are using Gigabyte Aorus 1080 ti Xtreme GPU in the amp. How did it fit? Any trouble getting it installed, and does the case close with the GPU in it?

Thanks

 

I can not close the cover ... but I already knew it was going to happen.

 

Radiated heat sinks like that one aren't as good as blowers despite what people say. The issue with radiator style heat sinks is that they heat soak easily because they are not removing hot air and rely on the case fans to remove it. You are better off purchasing a reference style blower and calling it a day

 

Hey guys, I noticed someone said they fit their 2.5 slot card into the Amplifier but I read elsewhere 2.5 would not work. I just got a 1080ti Zotac Amp Extreme Core Edition and I haven't opened it yet... Does anyone know if it will fit? I'm not terribly concerned with the amplifier closing I just want to make sure I can actually use it.

Thanks!

Would be great if anyone can confirm it works, otherwise I will bring it back for a lesser card

EDIT: What about a FTW3? It definitely looks too tall but is the AGA modable to fit it? At least the FTW3 I don't have to worry about width and seems I can for sure run it with the case open.

 

If you say it...

 

This is 2.5 slot card, It works perfect, but you can not close the top cover, it stays like this ..

 

Awe man, I just returned it for a EVGA SC (original). I saw someone confirmed it fit 100% so I went for it even though I know I'm probably losing a lot of overclocking headroom. Sigh.

Stupid impatience

 

It is a mistake to say that it does not fit. Many people say "it does not fit" because you can not close the top cover.

Evga sc 1080? Or 1080ti?

 

1080ti. By original I mean not an SC2 (out of stock sadly and again, impatience)

Edit: I technically haven't opened the 1080ti SC yet either but I don't want to be "that guy" and keep making them do exchanges... I think I'm going to settle... I... think...

 

I am impatient too many times. I do not think you notice much difference in the performance, do not worry. But anyway, use the top cover open, the fans are very close to the lid even with that graphics card. Understand what I say? It is better to use the top cover open because the air flow is better...

Run a 3dmark benchmark (firestrike, firestrike ultra or time spy) to compare performance

 

So... There was no real point in getting the smaller card? :| lol Do most people use non-blower cards open even if they fit?!

 

I do not know what the rest does, I tell you what works for me

Run a 3dmark benchmark (firestrike, firestrike ultra or time spy) to compare performance... Try with the cover open and cover closed and compare the result.

 

When my AGA arrives I will do exactly that and post the results here w/ temps! At most I'm going to lose 3% performance over the bigger cards so I'll cut my losses here and experiment for science!

 

Good, look at my signature, there are results to compare. You can also use Superposition benchmark, is a nice benchmark tool... Good luck!

 

I was wondering if Cooler Master V550 would fit a Alienware Graphics Amplifier...


I am trying to find something modular that would fit.... or does none exist?

 

I replace with Corsair CX650M ... with this psu you do not need to make any modifications. Fit perfectly

 

I am trying to find something fully modular if not would probably just go for the next cheapest thing on the market. They DO need to upgrade the dymention of he external GPU thou.

 

cx650m is semi modular, there is no difference with full modular. Only 1 non-modular cable... I could not find another psu that has the power plug in this place. With all the other psu I had to modify AGA...

 

Hi all,

I have litterally read about a thousand reviews on the AGA now. I am looking for someone to tell me what the direct difference in performance is like with my system a 7700hq with something like a 1080ti? I have the option to build a desktop or get an Aurora R5 and a G-sync monitor probably the ASUS Swift IPS version, I can't do TN as the monitor will do more than just games. Obviously with 165hz to play with my laptop 1070 can't compete at 2560x1440p I was thinking that I could save some money with the AGA as opposed to a regular desktop. I do prefer to have a laptop over a tablet or a desktop and having both a laptop and a desktop seems less fundimental to me now.

So what do you guys think? Spending money to lose performance in my eyes seems counter productive. If I am losing to many frames I might as well just build a desktop. If its a viable option though the AGA seems more cost effective to me.

 

1) don't buy a Aurora R5, Dell uses crappy parts and charges you a arm and a leg for it. If you just got the new Alienware you would know that the ram isn't good, and the PCIe NVMe is priced in comparison to a Samsung 960 pro but it's not a 960 pro.

2) with the NEW AMD Rysen chips the difference in value between laptop and desktop have increased like a ton. (Depends on your budget) you can get a decent amd rysen 5 build under $1000 (excluding GPU) and it will rip the Alienware to shreads.

Guessing your investment is excluding the GPU. Also it would depend on your work. Do you use your Alienware as a portable desktop if so yes the external GPU makes sense if not make a pc.

 

That's a fair point I swapped my PCI-E Toshiba drive for decent Samsung 960 evo's. I have currently got ram on order from Kingston.

When it comes to budget I don't really have one. My real concern is something that matches a decent performance to value ratio.

I already have my Alienware laptop so adding the graphics amplifier seemed like a cheaper option than adding a whole desktop. One device is also far easier to have round. My issue is that if getting the Amplifier means I will lose a large chunk of frame rate I would rather build a desktop.

I use my laptop as my gaming desktop and also as my go to device for everything. It does everything from my music player, film player, general laptop, tablet (not keen on tablets) , games console. Majority of the time though it never leaves the house. I just love Alienwares industrial design currently. Though I also like the Corsair one pro. I prefer smaller form factor designs. I also really don't have the urge to build systems anymore. I like ones that are built and I can just upgrade bits in the future.

I should confirm I have owned a lot of Alienwares stuff, AW18, AW14, AW15r2, Area 51, now AW 15r3. I do Agree three Aurora uses poor base parts but I would replace the ram, and nvme drive of my own. I would not buy them from Alienware.

My Plan was to use the laptop as my go to device then when I want some serious gaming I would use my predator monitor and also the AGA. I replace my laptops every 2 years anyway. Howver if I lose to much performance using an AGA I would rather build or buy a desktop

 

Think the performance drop is only like 3-10% (10% at the worst case scenario) I would modify it a little aka just take the entire top off and put in a evga 1080ti ftw3 (but that's just me)

 

In fact, you gain performance on the Laptop + AGA, it works cooler because it does not have to share the heatsink with the iGPU, it is only used for the CPU. Anyway, 3% performance loss is not perceptible.

 

I thought the AGS was only PCIe 3.0 x4?

 

Yes, my mistake... i delete a part of the post. Thks!!!

 

hope these videos helps you have a 7700hq so you are fine, but if i didn't need a portable workstation I would go create a PC with AMD risen 5/7... throw in a EVGA 1080ti kingpin or EVGA 1080ti ftw3 (but that is just me)

 

Why is the performance better with external display? If you use an external monitor does not matter if the AGA is Pcie 3.0 x4? What matters is the bandwidth of the hdmi port (hdmi 2.0 up to 18Gbps)?

 

And rysen looks awesome!
Seems. Team. Blue might take a battering as I don't think anyone I know actually wants to be on intel.

I see vega got release today. I feel it was more of a let down though even the vega 64 liquid cooled with its price tag doesn't make much more sense over just getting a 1080ti

 

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vega is good, just not good enough that is why Nvidia is delaying next GPU.

As for 1080ti, just thanks the entire top of if you get a external GPU. And put in a proper 1080ti example evga kingpin/ evga 1080ti ftw3 or what was the other one >.<

Or a Asus one