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

Did it increase temps at all? Do I need to open the intel extreme tuning utility every time I start my computer?

 

XTU settings should stick.

Increase in power limit should also mean increase in temps.

 

I was thinking that but I don't know if anyone has tested the difference.

 

Honestly, it's kind of hard to hit the 15w TDP with an undervolt for a prolong period of time under normal use. Maybe under stress tests, where it'll hit ~20w, but that's about it. I've also noticed no difference in temperature.

 

doesn't AW13 allow cpu to take up to 20w? instead of 15w default skylake u?

 

You can actually edit the value to whatever, it seems, but there is a hard limit. I'm not sure what the hard limit actually is. Could be 20w, 25w, or 30w, depending on the CPU mode (performance or not). Alienware left the TDP value unlocked to XTU and Throttlestop, so something can be done.
In Throttlestop, I have the Long Power Limit set to 25w and the Short Power Limit to 35w.

 

try running occt and find out?

 

I ran it for 10 minutes, and the max my i7-6500u used was 17.4w. Was usually above 15w. No TDP throttling. The clock speed was a constant ~3.0 GHz on both cores.

 

excellent!

 

nice to know. I have a crucial mx300 525gb m.2 coming soon hopefully that goes well, first time with this brand. Also is it normal for the 13 r2 to make like beeping/buzzing noises? I'm not sure what it is. It could be the 180gb intel ssd. Its noticeable up to around 8-10 volume. It stops sometimes when the computer is doing a task or loading. If I open a tab it will pause for a split second. I can hear it coming from the speakers (maybe because there's slits there?) and by the power button.

 

I'm comparing to a m14x r2 which is dead silent idle with a 7200rpm hdd.

 

As far as I know, there is some electric coil whine in the 13 R2 but through a certain frequency (I'm just passing down what someone told me). I've only been able to detect it audibly when the laptop is wall-bounded.
However, you could ask for a speaker replacement as this is the first I've heard the speakers being affected.

 

I forgot to say this is while on battery not charging. I will give dell a call and hopefully I can get someone who knows something. Anyone know the best intel drivers to use?

 

I'm more than happy with the level of performance provided by the laptop as is, but like I said, I'm not that heavy a gamer anymore. I was wondering, my old m14 r2 charger puts out a bit more power than my m13. Anyone know if they're compatible?

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

 

As far as I know all of them are compatibles

 

Thanks. I don't want to blow anything up with the wrong amperage or wattage or anything.

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

 

I was wondering what everyone's opinion was on what GPU would be best paired with an alienware 13 - i7 5500u CPU - and a graphics amp? Would the i7 5500U bottleneck a GTX1060 running 2560x1440?

 

Do you think any 13.3" screens can be replaced with the AW 13 original 768p? Including this 13.3" ASUS Zenbook UX303 UX303LN LTN133YL01-L01 HD+ 3200x1800 LCD Display Screen? on Ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/13-3-ASUS-Z...320694?hash=item360c94ed76:g:C~8AAOSwbsBXnwVf

Where are other screens we can get? What about the OLED ones? Thanks so much again.

 

You need an different screencable for the higher resolutions.

 

You will definitely need a 40pin connector for the 2560x1440 or 3200a1800 screens but you should be able to upgrade to a 1920x1080 panel as both the 1080 and 768 panels appear to use a 30 pin connector:

https://www.laptopscreen.com/English/model/Dell/ALIENWARE~13/

 

For which intel component in the system?

You can even use the 330w in the AW13, as long as the plug fits and the charger is Dell branded.

I would say you can use the GTX1070, but a dual core can only take you so far.

Really depends on the game too, an example of Warframe is CPU agnostic but on games like BF1 you'll lose around 35fps compared to a quadcore system.

 

I have the 5500u AW13 model. I also have the graphics amp, but I have the GTX960. I'm a 1080p only user because anything greater requires a lot more $. I can use the graphics amp with the fan disconnected and use the GPU's fan only with no problems. I see about a 2X performance increase over the GTX960M in the AW13.

I think the GTX1060 is like the old GTX970 in performance, but with the lower power requirements of the GTX960. With the GTX1060 @ 1440, you'll probably see up to 5% bottleneck due to the CPU, and you could probably disconnect the graphics amp fan. For these reasons I think that would be an great choice for the AW13 r1/r2 and the graphics amp.

The AW13 r3 is 'VR ready', so the graphics amp would be useless unless you had gobs of $, and put a $500 or more GPU in it.

 

I think that the GTX1070 (a $400 card) is overkill for 1440 resolution. I plan on getting BF1 and I bet it will run just fine with the 2 cores of the AW13r1 (I7 5500u) and a GTX960 GPU (in 1080p). For 1440 res, the GTX1060 4GB (a $200 card) is a perfect match.

 

The 1060 is not all that great for 1440P gaming. 1070 is definitely the sweet spot. Unless you dont mind framerates around 30~45fps.

 

Just a heads up, Custom Nameplate Poll has ended and its a great outcome!

43 'Hell Yes' Votes to get these plates manufactured! Amazing result for everyone!

If anyone hasn't seen the thread
Any love for a Custom AW Nameplate? (Poll)
or is interested in a custom plate. Please PM me your required plate details, name & shipping details over by end of week!

Again, thanks to all for the support over the last week! Great stuff!

Cheers

Rairch

 

Send me an email
[email protected]

Thanks CN

 

That I don't. CRT interlaced TV's were only 30fps. 35mm movies are only 24fps. I consider games 'playable' at down to 20fps. I also don't mind $200 in my pocket to spend on other things.

 

Different thoughts about it i guess as soon as i cant maintain a framerate around 60fps. I will switch to something better. Games dont have the blur of 24fps movies. So they appear more jittery. But even from 60 to for example 120 is a huge difference. Games play so much better. I rather spend that 200 and also enjoy extra longevity.

 

I apologize if this has been asked before but anyone here recommend a place to get laptop skins for the R2?

 

Some website they stared to do it but only for the pascal models iirc.

I believe it's migthyskins, google them.

 

looking at purchasing a 13" gaming laptop and wondering if the AW13R2-8900SLV is still a good choice for around $700. can anyone let me know what their thoughts are?

 

Hi guys. I have one big question.
Is Alienware 13 R2 quiet in idling condition? I want to use this laptop not only for gaming but also for writing in university library.
I have Alienware 14(2014). However, I can't use it in the library because of its fan noise. (Of course, I'm not playing games in the library. I use it for my writing works)
Hoping to get your replies. Thank you.

 

Specs on that unit?

Link us to the website also.

Fan noise is completely nonexistent on idle because the machine is passively cooled (fans don't run).

 

If it has OLED screen or the GTX 965m it is a good deal. If it has both it is a steal

(If it has neither, but is an unopened box/brand new it is an ok deal)

 

Its dead silent on idle, web surfing, and media/video viewing. Lite (sidescrolling) gaming is also decently quiet

 

What intel drivers are you guys using for the i7 6500u 520? I'm using 20.19.15.4300 currently and they're buggy.

 

I can't find an answer to this here, though I'm sure it's buried in this very thread somewhere, but I have to replace the Killer Wireless card in my R1 Alienware 13. I know this card is garbage, and I have no doubt others have replaced it previous to this, so I'd love some guidance.

I contacted Dell and Intel about the appropriate Intel card to swap it with. I've ordered three different cards from Amazon, and each one seems to be much to big to replace what I have. I mistakenly ordered a 7260 once, but the other two times I got the 7265.

Recently, I gave yet another call to Dell, and the guy spent some time with me, and his recommendation was the 7265AC. Unfortunately, the card I ordered most recently was already an AC card, according to Amazon, though it was technically the 7265NGW ( https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00STV5UKW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1), and it still looked much bigger than the Killer card already in there.

Can anyone guide me as to which card I should be getting? The Killer card keeps dropping the wifi signal, and I'm worried its going to crap out entirely soon (instead of just being crappy).

Thanks!

 

Get the 8260. It should fit.

 

Indeed, it is what mine came with as a factory option. Keep in mind though that the Wifi indicator LED will not work, because Intel kinda forgot about supporting this or whatever. But it works fine otherwise.

 

Hey guys, just joined the club. First time Alienware owner. I just picked up 13 R2 locally for $600 with these specs:

i7 6500U
16GB RAM
512GB NVMe M2 SSD
128GB SATA SSD
GTX 960M
4K Touchscreen Display

It's in perfect condition owned by some doctor who doesn't even play games. I just bought a GA from eBay for $100 so waiting to play around with that. So far I've undervolted it -0.080V in XTU and it runs in the 50C range stress test no throttling 3.0GHz steady. I've only played Rocket League so far but it seems to struggle at ultra settings.

 

What graphics card did it come with the amp?

 

I have a GTX 1080 in my desktop right now that I'm going to test with it. I know the CPU is going to bottleneck it so I'll probably get a lower level card to go with the 13 R2.

 

I read that amp doesn't really give too much performance in terms of FPS so spending extra 600-700 bucks just to have laptop cooler because the host GPU is not being used, is not best bang for the buck. Unless I have read the wrong info.

 

That's not the reason I bought the AGA. I bought it because it's cheap and anything is better than 960M in the 13 right now.

 

In the aw15r2 with a 980m i have more than 60% increase with an AGA and a 1070gtx. It was totally worth it. But i have a quad core cpu ofcourse.

 

So is the best bang for the buck buying a new $1000 laptop every time a new gen of video cards and games come out?
Just because a few frames/sec are lost with a 2 core (4 thread) CPU doesn't make the AGA worthless.
This forum has more info for you to read about it.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...and-benchmark-thread-all-13-15-and-17.770323/

 

Something to add: The GA has 4 USB Type A ports, and the 13 R1 has 3 (worse for the 13 R2, which as 2). You can get it for increased GPU performance, but you can also get it as a USB HUB without sacrificing your current USB ports (albeit an expensive USB HUB, but you get the added bonus of using it as an eGPU dock).

 

Not sure how many people still read this thread but with the R3 being pretty mainstream and easy to get now, even at the outlet, is the R2 still relevant? I managed to get a pretty good deal on an R2 with the specs I want (OLED, i7, 965m) and I am pretty happy with it but can't help but think that the R3 is that much better. A comparable R3 would set me back about 500 to 600 more. The advantages of the R2 would be the better battery life, lighter weight, smaller footprint which for my use case is all I'd need it for. I recently took my 17R4 on a trip and it was just too big. In my youth I would take even the m18x out but now, its just not as appealing. I think the 13 is the sweet spot for still being able to use it on a plane, train, etc.. The games I play are pretty low rent and when hooking up to my AGA with a 1080 my frames are above 60, so I am fine with that too. For media consumption, the R2 is pretty great because you get the nice OLED and smaller/lighter overall package that generates less heat. I guess my question is this, do you guys still think the R2 is still relevant or is the R3 just that much better in every respect that its almost necessary to save for an R3?

 

Battery life in the R2 is not much more than the R3 at all, I've had both. It doesn't justify the ULV processor for that extra 1 hour IMHO. The gtx 965 will be fast outdated. The GTX 1060 is 107% faster on average for context. Down the road I think you will wish you had the more powerful CPU most of all.

 

That's pretty much exactly what I was thinking. I thought the battery life would be 2-3 hours better... if thats not the case, 1 hour does not justify it at all.