*OFFICIAL* Alienware 13 R1/R2 Owner's Lounge

It will be indeed way faster than the 960M. You can check benchmark data for the similar specced Razer Blade stealth. A game that is not CPU dependent will have almost no bottleneck for example. The Witcher 3 and BF1 beta are ore CPU dependent so it will bottleneck to some extent.

 

Okay sounds good to me then! Thanks so much ! My other option was a Alienware 17 with 4710mq and r9 m290x but I didnt hear many good things about it. Btw do you know if I can directly swap the QHD panel on the 13 with the 1366x768 panel ?

 

I posted an article about calibration and what media players, browsers, etc to view color managed content in and how:
http://www.chrisevans3d.com/pub_blog/calibrating-alienware-13-oled-laptop/

I am coming from a lenovo 13, anyone know how to put two HDs in this thing? One drive is not going to cut it.

 

Only way to have two drives is to have the m.2 HD caddy/cable. You cannot fit two 2.5 HD/ssd's.

 

Is there a compat list for the M.2 SSDs? I just opened her up, she has a Toshiba M.2 and caddy, one slot available.

Was looking at this:
https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-850-EVO-Internal-MZ-N5E500BW/dp/B00TGIW1XG

 

Anyone can prefer any accessories for the 13? I just ordered my Alienware 13 r2. Also is there any modded drivers or anything like that for this thing ? Thanks !

 

Wow. What have I gotten myself into.

Ok boys and girls.. Dell has told me the SAMSUNG EVO 850 is not compatible with the 13 R2. I asked for a list of SSDs that are compatible and they said they did not have one! I will have to wait 48 hours for a call from engineering!

I have been trying to get the M.2 SSD to 'secure erase' with the samsung software. I am unsure if I have ever gone through a more user-unfriendly process. Literally, after booting from a non UEFI bios into a freeDOS USB stick and running their EXE, they tell you to hot unplug the M.2 chip from the motherboard while the laptop is running.

The drive seems to work under normal use, I am trying to get the hardware AES encryption to work with bitlocker.

 

I went through the same thing getting bitlocker + hardware encryption working with an EVO 850 in an XPS 13. What I ended up doing was using an adapter so I could connect the EVO 850 as a secondary drive in a desktop system and used the Samsung Magician software to secure erase it. This is the adapter I used: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00OKSFF76/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Get parted magic, make bootable USB. The newest version has nvme and regular ssd support for secure erasing etc. I use it to clean all my drives in all my machines.

 

To add to what was already replied. Just finished the games LIMBO and INSIDE on the OLED screen. An amazing experience.

All of the high contrast games pop so well. And for the readers, Amazon Kindle app with the black background saves hours of battery and is really easy on eyes fro long lengths of reading.

Would not go back to an IPS panel unless I absolutely had to.

 

Hi I'm new to this and wanted to ask a quick question. I have an alienware 13 with a gtx 860m and i7 5500u. I've been trying for the last few days to get 5.1 surround sound via HDMI to my Samsung TV and then optical to my av receiver. The issue I have is there's absolutely no sound and and ive tried everything. Under device manager there's only realtek HD audio and Intel display audio there's no HDMI or digital audio source. I've updated all the drivers, bios etc and still no digital audio, no HDMI nothing.only stereo sound. I've left clicked in audio dives to unhind the not selected options and there's nothing. Can someone please tell me does this device even support 5.1 surround via HDMI ? Or am I just stuck with stereo soubd. My TV supports Dolby digital 5.1 DTS passtbrough etc

 

In Playback Devices, Select the HDMI/Samsung tv; you may have to "set to default" before you hear sound

 

I've done that but the issue is I can't get more than stereo sound to output. When I try to configure my speakers it's just stereo. I've tried playing files with 5.1 audio and it still plays stereo.

 

Found this: http://www.tomsguide.com/answers/id-2736545/connecting-hdmi.html

 

So I just got my Alienware 13 and upgraded it to Windows 10. I also installed the latest Nvidia driver that Nvidia experience threw at me.. I have bad lag on games , and on bo2 it seems okay ..but there's slight lag..no game runs smoothly. Any ideas ? Do I have to use the Nvidia driver listed by dell on drivers page ?

 

Anyone using the Intel SSD 600p Series (M.2 80mm PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4, 3D1, TLC) in Alienware 13? Is more cheaper than Samsung, any thoughts?

 

Just a heads up guys .. on my Alienware 13 I disabled Intel speedstep in bios and my games run so much smoother

 

Does anybody with the OLED screen have an issue with the brightness controls? When I toggle through the settings (0, 25, 50, etc), the screen does not change the brightness.

 

you need to install the intel OLED driver from Dell's website

 

Yeah that was my first try as well. Dell was out today and replaced the motherboard (which was locked with a password) but the screen brightness still doesn't change so now they are going to try another motherboard.

 

I have the AW13r1 w/ gtx 960m.
I have had trouble with the driver updates from nvidia that seem to be released every week.
The latest update to 372.70 made the gtx 960m to not be recognized when playing Shadow of Mordor.

I downloaded the driver from Dell (353.84) and the 960M was recognized.
I don't know how well the 'game ready' drivers work for the games they target because I haven't bought any games in the last year or so.

Also, when using a USB 3.0 display dock (targus / displaylink) the 960M is not used, but I think that is a completely different video driver, or maybe they work in conjunction somehow. I can get the 960M to work with the DisplayLink driver, but I have to start the game on the laptop screen, then plug in the display dock. When the screen transfers over to the dock, it uses the 960M. Only about 5 FPS are lost by using the video over usb 3.0 with this method.

 

I plugged my phone (Oneplus 3) into my alienware 13. I used the app ampere to see which port is most powerful..
Left USB 3.0 port says Max usb current 1500mA & Right USB 3.0 port says Max usb current 500mA. Just curious why is that if there both same usb 3.0 ports?

 

Hmm maybe ill try the factory dell nvidia driver and see how my gaming is. I did go back to win 8 and went to win 10 after a few days and it seems to smoothed out a bit now.

 

The left USB is part of the motherboard. The right USB ports are a separate module. I found this out because the left USB port tongue is strong and the right USB tongues are 'floppy', so I looked at the service manuals. Also, the left USB is the only one with the little lightning bolt symbol next to it.

 

I saw the new AW13 in pics and reviews. I'm soooo glad I have the the original r1 w/ gtx960M. (except maybe the battery is too small)
This new AW13 takes away most of the reasons I bought a 13" gaming laptop in the first place.
The Dimensions and weight listed on the Dell website under the size picture of the new AW13 are wrong. It says it weighs 7.07lbs. I saw a review on Youtube that said 2.6kg or 5.7lbs! I have an all aluminum 15" laptop that weighs less than that.
The desktop GTX1060 in it basically removes the need for the Graphics amplifier.

I wanted a semi-capable gaming laptop that is light to carry around, good to type on, full HD non glossy (non touch) screen, and can be docked to the graphics amp for high powered gaming.
I got that with the AW13 r1. I also wanted good battery life, but you can't have everything.

This new AW13 has none of that (except the good keyboard) and you might as well buy a 15" or 17" laptop.

I like my AW13 r1 and graphics amp, but If I was to buy something today to meet the same needs, I would buy the XPS13 and a TB3 graphics docking station. Sorry Alienware department of Dell, you lost me. :-(

 

Anybody know where to find the NGFF Adapter for the 13R2 (G8C4P) ? Cannot find one in all of the interwebs (Search ebay and parts re-sellers).

Thanks

 

I'm replacing my old Alienware M14x from 2011. I was able to get a pretty good deal on it from the Dell Outlet with a 25% off coupon at the time and used it extensively on an 8 month deployment and after until this past summer when one of my cats knocked a glass of wine on it. Now, the laptop powers on, and will boot Linux from a USB stick, but won't boot from any internal hard drive, and the keyboard top letter row isn't working. So I'm finally going to upgrade. I might even try to have the old system repaired if it doesn't cost too much. I haven't gamed much in a long time, but I like to have the option when I travel (which is still often). Anyway, I've found a seemingly good deal on an Alienware 13 R2 with the following specs:

Intel Core i7 6500U (2.50 GHz)
16 GB Memory
256 GB SSD
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 2 GB GDDR5
13.0" (3200x1800) Touchscreen
Windows 10 Home 64-Bit

$860

What say you?

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I just got an 13 R2 from the outlet for a steal really. I have the i7 6500u and 965m. I downloaded battlefield 1 and the performance seems choppy or stuttery. I have it on medium settings, 1080p. I have messed with some nvidia control panel stuff and dx11 - dx12 but cant seem to get it. I dont know if anyone else plays this game but some help would be nice.

 

I should have mine tonight. I hope things get figured out for you, since I'll be playing the same.

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I have tried titanfall 2 also and it does it in that game too. Going to try battlefront later. let me know what games you play.

 

Will do. Did you get a similar deal to what I paid?

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Can this fit into an AmazonBasics 14" laptop bag? I want to get the smallest one possible that works.

 

Yes, it is a perfect fit with the 14" I didn't try the 13" but I have doubts that it would fit.

 

I got mine on black friday and there was a 20% discount that day. I got i7 6500u, 965m 4gb,8gb, 1800p, 180gb m2. I cant think of any other important specs. when I bought this it said it came with a 960m 4gb so I got super lucky there. Paid $850 for it, I called dell the next day got another $50 off. I have yet to talk to dell after receiving the product (price might go lower). Despite having an awesome machine, I am kinda happy with the product. I need to figure out how to get smooth performance. I think this machine new would have costed like $1800 which is crazy. Amazonbasics 14in sleeve is perfect btw.

 

Nice deal! I got the same thing, but the 960m, sadly, with 16gb RAM and the 256GB SSD for $860.

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Have you tested and played around with it yet?

 

So far I've only played Star Wars Battlefront on medium settings at 1080p
It was the 4 hour trial and I had to fully update all drivers to get it to stop crashing to the desktop.
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That game played ok for me. The only driver I updated was the nvidia drivers.

 

So, I'm not using fraps for framerates, but I played Battlefront at 3200x1800 and it was playable on med high settings. This is probably more a sign of how long it's been since I was a gamer.

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I use msi after burner, its a nice program. I'm going to have to try that again because mine wasn't up to my standards at those settings haha. Maybe my settings are off in the control panel? I wonder how much the intel drivers on the 520 effect the system.

 

why people still use fraps and not afterburner + rtss nowadays boggles me

fraps is like internet explorer, but only much worse

 

Yeah, no one said they used fraps. I'm using msi Afterburner.

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I started to overclock my gpu, I did the obvious +135 to the core and now i'm slowly working on memory. +550 stable so far in battlefield 1. I have so many questions about this laptop!! I wish the forum wasn't dying

 

when you OC memory just be sure that the DDR5 ECC isn't kicking in, else you'll get backwards improvements in temps

 

@Game7a1 Did you finally mod the BIOS to unlock de +135 mhz threshold in GPU overclock?

Thanks in advance.

 

for 13 you need @Prema to step in

 

What Mobius 1 said, and I have no interest in making my GTX 960m unlocked either.

 

@Game7a1 I was looking back at the forum and I noticed you have used intel extreme tuning utility. Does raising the wattage of the turbo boost power max of the i7 boost gaming performance using the internal gpu? Its like 15w normally and you upped it to like 35w and some other number with the turbo boost short power max.

 

It wouldn't boost performance, but I think it would stabilize it since there would be less TDP/Power throttling.

 

Increase it even if you don't game.