*OFFICIAL* Alienware 13 R3 Owner's Lounge

so looks like theyll be shipping the 13s that were on hold in the usa soon

when i receive it, is it safe to assume i can just change the fans in bios and not have to worry about throttling?
i read some of you got much better temps in that perfomance cooling mode thingy vs stock fan profile

 

Just wanted to post this to help any of you who are OCD like me and can't tolerate the 1-2 second stutter ex-game (aka when just browsing windows 10 file explorer, using chrome, etc.)

Since it's a pascal driver/optimus issue and nvidia doesn't have plans to fix it anytime soon, what I do is instead of enabling the nvidia gpu for every application in the nvidia control panel which was briefly suggested here, I just go to device manager -> display adapters -> right-click gtx 1060 and hit disable. Then, when you want to play games or do anything that specifically requires the firepower of a gtx 1060, just go back to device manager and enable the 1060. Then when done playing, just go back and disable the nvidia gpu. I've never experienced any stutter in-game when having both the intel graphics and nvidia graphics enabled so I've never had any reason to disable the intel graphics when playing games.

The reason why I do this instead of just enabling the nvidia gpu for every application in the nvidia control panel is b/c it saves battery life and allows the aw13 to actually be portable. Enabling the nvidia gpu all the time will probably drain the battery in like a hour on battery.

Hope this helps the select few of you who are OCD like me and can't stand any lag. This machine is so amazing in every way except for this. I can let Dell off the hook since this is a nvidia issue. I'm seeing tons of other ppl with gtx 1060 laptops from other manufacturers experience the same thing.

As a DP, I ordered Nov. 1 so I got one of the very first batches and with simple -0.100V undervolt on intel xtu, my system doesn't even break 75 degrees (cpu temps) on Dishonored 2 and Fallout 4, 1080p, ultra settings. The core differentials are still there but I'll take my chances with these low temps. I bought my laptop with a credit card which automatically adds an extra year of warranty to any purchase using that card so if things get worse in the future, I can always ask for a replacement within the next two years.

Always use a credit card when making any large purchase, esp one that's for electronics. Not every CC offers this benefit but at least in the US, most of the major CCs do (chase freedom/sapphire/ink, amex, citi, etc.)

 

Man, this stuttering thing is kinda scaring me. I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I guess I'll find out when my unit arrives :^]

 

Is anyone else having strange behavior when two-finger scrolling on the trackpad? I notice when I am scrolling down slowly, sometimes the screen starts scrolling up instead. Sometimes the screen is stuck, even though I'm scrolling down.. like it can't decide which way to scroll. It's really annoying .. I can't tell if it's some kind of conflict between Synaptics drivers and Windows, or what.

 

I just bought one last night. Picked up the AGA to run my triple monitors with a 1070.

 

This has likely been posted already but it looks like some laptops have decent temperatures without re-pasting, I'm wondering if there was a batch that want out with too much thermal paste, as I've encountered similar thermal issues on one desktop I was helping fix after the person who built it used too much paste on the CPU, or something along those lines.

 

Yes

 

Could you share the link please?

 

Don't worry about it. And if you don't notice it. Don't look for it or think about it.
I wouldn't say it doesn't exist because I haven't looked. So my unit feels "normal". If you look for it. You might return it. And then when. You buy another brand instead you will look for it and then you might find it. And what you will find happening is your returning tech back that you like because of something that never initially bothered you in the first place.


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is it true it takes 5-7 days for the laptop to make it to the usa?
thats some slow shipping, for a company that expects to catch up by christmas.

 

I have no microstuttering whatsoever, so to cheer you up it's not 100% guaranteed you will have this issue

 

The Samsung. It's more reputable. Longer warranty. A few bucks more gets you a free game worth a few quid if you do t want it so you can make the cost of the Samsung cheaper. And it's more saleable should you want to sell it on.


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Guys, does any one know about a plugin that allows the AlienFX lighting to change based on the music being played on any media player. The ones I have been able to find are all outdated (2+ years old)

 

Click your battery icon in your system tray and immediately try to move your mouse. It's apparent on the 15 R3 i'm testing right now.

 

Nope, no stuttering. I have done no tweaking to hdd, gfx or anything so I'm guessing it must be hardware related. I do have the oled screen and when I try to just the switch key (fn+f7) for the gpu it says I can't. So I'm guessing it's either the gfx setup being different for oled or it's related to the SSD type.

 

The 13 R3 doesn't have the FN+F7 switch.

 

I know, because of the oled screen. So could be the reason.

 

anybody running on 8gb of ram? should be enough for most games i think

 

I have the same question!

 

Fn-F7 works if you have the IPS panel.

 

Hmmm I dont know, Ive just done this (only out of morbid curiosity only mind you) and the performance is the exact same. Yes, there is no lag when clicking on the battery icon but beyond that?.....I can't tell a difference and the performace when browing light/tasking seems to me to be the same whether its via the Intel or the GTX chips withe either disabled. I think theres a lot of confirmation bias and a bit of hysteria because somethings cost so much money we want it to be perfect, and it aint. I sat last night comparing my old laptop (Gigabyte P34G) to the AW side by side - just browsing and the stuttering seemed to be about the same and I'd never noticed it or even heard of stuttering issue till someone raised it on this forum! I'm wondering if the AW community and others are suffering from some form of mass delusion.
I think Sisqo above is right!
Am going to mediitate on the issue.....

 

But what it do? I thought maybe it's the screen or if it was when you have egpu set up to switch from internal or external graphics used.


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what do you mean? just youtube it, I told you I run starcraft 2 with it and this is 3-4 years ago with a 580m GTX



if you asking me for a video of the GTX 10 series utilizing wine then I dont have one, I am not formatting my box jjust to prove to you it works, I am fine with my window 10 enterprise edition, I was simply giving that other guy an option other than using Window 10.

 

exactly! no one ****ing care if you ***** or whine, which is what I'm say.

I never said virtual box was an emulation...where do you get that from? WINE isnt an emulator which I acknowledged, reread what I said, I havent use the program or run linux in 3-4 years, I dont remember the technicality but the point is, it runs games on linux. Stop debating over the technicality which is aside from the point of this conversation.

 

Again, you are missing the point and reading between lines.

Let me break it down for you,

1. A person who is buying A13 R3 would not be interested in games supported by WINE

My original quote "Person who is buying a Alienware won't be interested in games supported by Wine" like starcraft 2 or AC2

2.Yes you used WINE 3 to 4 years back I get it and I'm using i right now. All I said is "Requesting you to kindly get the facts right before recommending something" .

 

You seem to care and get triggered a whole lot.

 

"A person who is buying A13 R3 would not be interested in games supported by WINE" well thats your uneducated opinion. If someone *****ing about Microsoft product and actually dont want to use microsoft product and instead of *****ing and whining, then they would switch to linux and ultimately use wine to play games, YOU are not the consensus...

The list is not conclusive, you know that right? wait let me get this right, you proved my point that WINE CAN play window games and yet you asked me to fact check? what logic is that?

 

You were already linked the Wine database. Most DX11 and all DX12 titles won't work.
Wine as an alternative is a very bad one.

 

nope, I dont care which is why I'm using Window 10, I care about the original conversation between me and another member, which, he link me to his idiotic post which has nothing to do with this thread.

 

are there other method? maybe, maybe not, I am giving HIM an example of what is available, since he ***** about Microsoft product being so bad.

 

The one with the uneducated opinion would the one who doesn't even understand how Wine works. Writing a compatibility layer between DX11 (and most definitely DX12, which would be a fool's errand) and converting that to OpenGL is a losing game. It usually doesn't work. Again, there is the Wine compatibility database for you to check.

 

Thanks for your generosity, but you were already pointed out that it is not an alternative.
But that is not even the point. He has every right, what so ever, to point out flaws in a product, especially one he forked out money for. We do want to hear other peoples' opinions about those products, products we consider to buy. That is the point of this forum.

 

So your best advice is never test your new hardware for faulty hardware? If it's feels normal, it's 100% ok? Oh'well

 

If we can nail down what differences mean stuttering vs no stuttering, that would be helpful not just for the AW13 owners but also owners of the MSIs etc. Can you please give your detailed specs? As detailed as possible would be great, even things like RAM capacity speed and model, SSD size and model, which Killer card you have and its drivers. Graphics driver version for Intel and NV would be great too. Win 10 Home or Pro?

The MSI folks have failed to figure this out for 4 months now, so we need to leave no stone unturned if we want to get to the bottom of it.

 

I dont need to understand how WINE works, why the hell do i need to? I'm not a developer, I know WINE run on what applications I need it to run for. Again that list is not comprehensive, but its quiet extensive. You are not going to run every program known to man. I suspect for most players here the top 10 would suit them just fine.

 

Most modern games will not run with Wine. Again pretty much anything after DX9 won't run. Some of the few OpenGL/Vulkan titles might. That would suit most users here just fine? Ok, ask them.
Raising Ad Hominem arguments and defending on a tangent isn't very impressive. No point of dragging it further.

 

YOU suggested WINE to some person to run games , did you forget that ? We are correcting you that WINE doesn't run ALL GAMES.

Dude , YOU suggested WINE to some one for playing WIN games in LINUX.
I said ,"WINE, doesn't run all games" .. Hope you are clear on that ? Place stop giving out your uneducated recommendations out and stop *****ing when you are corrected.

 

Basically... yes. It's called the placebo effect. If I tell you if you look hard and long enough into the sky, that it is really green and not blue, some people will believe the sky is green. Most of this "stutter" stuff being thrown around, is mostly much ado about nothing. And because some seem to preach "look hard enough, it's there", other's believe it too.

The human brain. It is an extraordinary organ.

 

I'm not just talking only about this "stutter" stuff. Of course the whole package. Test everything on your machine and bench hardware to make sure everything is in order, should be mandatory. "Feel" your machine is working correctly isn't good enough. But that's me

 

I always used to find problems on my electronic equipment. Once I stopped looking, the problems went away. It's called temporal OCD.

 

Can someone please do a video tear down of a repaste on a 13 R3?

Starting to throttle playing TitanFall 2 for long periods

 

Out of curiosity, when did you purchase the laptop?


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Bought on the 2nd of November and received on the 6th

 

Sorry to piss on someone's parade, but the stutter will be noticeable in all configurations. Just because one guy doesn't see it or want to see it... it will still be there. I got the oled one with 32GB Hynix ram, the 256GB toshiba drive, now replaced with Samsung ones. I've tried different ram sticks and replaced the ssd. Still stutters. Windows 7 will work without stuttering. As I posted before this is not an nvidia problem alone, it's also how windows 10 decides to trigger the Optimus gpu change...

 

do you have the oled driver installed properly?

 

Yes, happens to me too with the OLED configuration. Personally, not a big deal, only get it when clicking on the battery. Should be fixed in the future.

 

is there a proper way to install the oled driver?

I did a clean install of windows and when I dl-ed the oled driver from dell and installed it, there wasn't much going on. I just clicked install and there was no progress bar or anything.

 

You can know based on whether you can control the panel brightness.

 

Dx12 doesnt work. I cant run BF1 in DX12 and I cant run Deus Ex in DX12

The display driver just restarts and it says that the gpu has been removed everytime. Plays fine on DX11 though! I dont get it.

This thing needs a replacement anyway. But does anyone else have this issue?

I have the latest nvidia driver. But now I have to restart after that issue happens because its like my card doesn't exist after it does.

Everything is normal after a restart but DX12 still triggers that.

 

A fault is not there unless you look for one. I cant really say that stuttering is hardware related. It's software. The gpu temps are fine etc but yet that "problem" persists. I can live with it though I haven't noticed it or want to. Others can't. Nothing is perfect. If we was this picky. Non of us would get married or have a girlfriend. A car. A house etc.
But generally of course checking a unit over for faults is different. Lol even I did that. But I'm just referring to the "micro stuttering" that people talk about.


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