*OFFICIAL* Alienware 15 R1/R2 Owner's Lounge

I'm loving i right now, yea some down poiunts, its warm, the fans make a little clicking noise, which i barely notice, who cares. Anyways, well i love the style, its very powerful and fast, 970m kicks ass, 4k screen is Amazing. Look at the good things

 

So how do I know what size of SSD replacement to order? How easy is it to change the 1TB drive?

 

temperatures in idle are not too high, if you use tools like hwinfo to monitor temps you can see that cpu in normal tasks as internet, playing doesnt' go over 55- 60°C, gpu nvidia is used only in game or 3d application.

 

Are there any proprietary or 3rd party fan control programs that work well with the A15?

 

Man, are kidding. I agree on that the Alienware 15 is the perfect zise

 

Playing SimCity (2013) or Installing Cities Skylines my temperature was at 90C is that normal???.. Everything is set at High. Core Clock (0,1,2,3) is usually at 3300 - 3500MHz but it throttle or stayed at 800MHz for more than half an hour.. so I had to restart the computer so core clocks could go back to normal.

Im using HwinFo64 for readings.

 

How do I make sure my Nvidia card isn't used unless in game or 3d app? I think my settings are messed up.

 

Did a clean install of windows and of the Killer software/driver. Every time I restart the Bandwidth Control option is enabled automagically. Really pissing me off. I disable and 'apply' the change every time.

Anyone else experiencing this?

 

Just placed an order for Alienware 15 with only the 970M, the shift to 970M cost peanuts and it automatically upgraded the CPU from a dual core to a quad core at no extra cost, didn't have to think about that one.
I don't plan on gaming that heavily on it, mostly want the good quality build and touchscreen. I couldn't justify spending on extra on a 980M with just the 1080p screen, otherwise a 970M is more than adequate.
Hope I am not making a mistake getting 4K screen, but wanted something special about it and that was the end of my budget, actually couldn't afford it, but got the UHD screen anyway.
Anyone can say anything good and positive about the 970M and the UHD screen?

 

Hi guys, I recently been playing league of legends and have extremely smooth 60 fps... but I'm having a problem. Randomly during game (at any time) it will drop to 40 fps and pretty much freeze up the screen for a half second... very annoying. Is there a way I can fix this?

 

Just noticed that AW15 actually has 4x M.2 slots, where two of the extra M.2 are hidden under part of the chassis (near the corner of the HDD). The only way to get to them to cut up your chassis, to bad about that and there is no RAID support, otherwise that useless mechanical drive could take a hike and install some serious SSD setup, even though they are just SATA ports.

Cutting chassis would mean structural rigidity damage, and would require BIOS mod to enable RAID0/1/5/10

The extra 2x M.2 are definitely there and physically wired to the board, can see them in the photos on notebook check http://www.notebookcheck.net/Alienware-15-Notebook-Review.136667.0.html

It would actually be possible to cut out the plastic and fit full length M.2 the same as the others there.

 

Try disabling the service

 

Bios update to A002 fixed this issue for me on LoL

 

the 17in model i believe have 4 m.2 slots that you can access, prob the same board as the 17, also if you look in the bios it shows 5 slots for harddrives

 

That's the Alienware 17 R2 motherboard in the picture you posted, not the Alienware 15.

 

I would love to hear their reasoning behind disabling RAID and physically blocking half of the M.2 slots. All the competing laptops I know don't offer four M.2 slots but they offer RAID and have PCIe capability to the M.2 slots.

It doesn't make sense to me to design a motherboard with four M.2 slots and physically attach all four slots but only allow use of two. Maybe it is a bandwidth issue but leaving unused hardware on the motherboard seems to me that they initially had the intent to use all four but later decided against it. I suspect the decision to include GA led to them covering up the other two slots. GA "stole" the PCIe lanes which could have otherwise been used on the other two slots. If my hunch is true, I wish they would have added a switching mechanism and a option in the BIOS to choose between GA or the extra M.2 slots, which theoretically could have PCIe capability.

As for disabling RAID, I have no idea why they decided to do that. They charge for "premium" backup services and hopefully they don't go adding RAID as a paid feature that is enabled from their plethora of software...

 

Wrong. The picture is from the AW15 promotional video. AW 15 is printed on the board. The photos in the notebook check review are from an actual AW15

 

Check the service manual, the 15 has a different heatsink.

Edit: Just double checked it, the 15's heatsink is only made up of 2 pipes while the 17's is made up of 3 (the one from the Alienware 15 promotional video you posted). I'm betting the mobo is the same for both because I see the 4 M.2 slots you're talking about in the manual too.

 

I am done upgrading my AW15.

Initially I purchased the i5, 8gb ram, ips, 970m, and 1tb hdd for 860 dollars, including tax, after all discounts.

Purchased 2 of http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231704 for 72 dollars. They were on sale a few days ago. 16gb ram for 72 dollars - what a steal.

Purchased Samsung EVO 840 500gb awhile ago for 175 dollars.

This all totaled to about 1100 dollars. Only thing lacking is the CPU, but I think this i5 is more than enough for my needs for the next 5-6 years.

Happy haggling and shopping to all.

 

Sometime only the stronger GPU's will get the larger heatsinks. Thus why there maybe different weights for different configs, depending on what extra parts or part not optioned they receive.

I somewhat not so optimistic of the CPU, launched mid 2013, it is already getting old. Soon to be during this year 2015 pushed back even further by two new gens in the coming months. Even is speed hasn't changed a huge deal, the thermals will which is important in a mobile based platform.

 

Ello! New AW15 owner here and I'm simply loving the notebook. However, I do have two things I'd like to point out and I'm wondering if I can get some quick advice.

1) I'm getting random WiFi disconnects where my other devices haven't. I've ensured the latest version of Killer Management and drivers were installed. Also made sure that bandwidth limit is checked off. I'll be in a skype call and suddenly everything disconnects with my SSID going from " Connected " to " Limited "

2) Should I be worried about this random imperfection? http://imgur.com/I5vAUvs -- There's a VERY small gap that's visible where you can see the underside of the backlit keyboard. Bothers me everytime I go to plug in the graphics amp. I can live with it. But I just want to know if I should... you know.. seek a replacement or something?

Suggestions are welcome.

 

Paid for already, just waiting to it to arrive. Is this laptop not to heavy to actually use on lap for an hour or two, if just using e.g. surfing the net while watching TV intermittently ?

 

This laptop is incredibly lighter than I expected, and perfect for lap use. The only problem is that it heats up like a toaster very quickly. Grab a comfy laptop cooler or desk.

 

Hey guys, another thing...

My only dislike of this system is the lack of atleast 5.1 audio!! the M14x r2 had it with the 3 audio plugs this only handles 2.1

 

That's what you get from buying a BGA machine.

 

Awesome can be used on lap without being to heavy. I would expect if using balanced power profile and not using the 970/980 GPU then with a bit of light general usage load shouldnt get to hot at all.

Does the AW15 not have some kind of it own audio card?

 

Personally I don't see why lack of 5.1 is an issue, The jack ports output through the soundcard which generally is never that good anyway. Better off to output via usb to a specific decoder for quality 5.1 sound

 

My AW15 is currently waiting to be built, having second thoughts as got a feeling that in a few week to a month or so, Broadwell will be out in these thing, then I will have a old obsolete processor. Had a Haswell already way back in 2013 when the AW14 came out. I bet Dell will just slap on a gen 5 quad onto the same motherboard with a BIOS update for Broadwell. 2015 feeling a bit stale for another Haswell, wondering if I should cancel and wait out next couple of months?

 

anyone know how to find out if my computer is throttling? im playing league of legends and it keeps stuttering at random times, and also drops 60 to 40 fps for 1 sec

 

Any owners can tell me if using the inter graphics for normal usage lowers temperature in idle or web surfing by a lot?
thanks

 

Have you updated to BIOS a02?

 

My cpu temps in idle with BIOS a02 are around 55-60 degrees. I ve noticed that with this BIOS the CPU fan is more quite (lower rpm) and starts less times than before with a00 bios

 

I will give that bios a try then thanks Giangy

 

guys... I just noticed a static/ crackling like noise coming from my AW15... what do you think this is? sounded like some electric surges going through

edit: i think its my hard drive... but is it suppose to sound like electrical static? its happening randomly

 

Some guys said it's the Fans, i dont hear it much or i just dont pay attention to it probably

 

U have this static noise as well? wtf is wrong with these AW15 having so much problems.. what is another laptop i could get with 970M that's as good? these things are pissing me off lol

 

Lol, you really gonna return/change a laptop for a static noise once in a while? i really don't feel it, or i really need to pay more attention.
well thats not my case, i m really happy with it
970m you can go many laptops now i think

 

Pay attention that with new BIOS a02 temps are generally higher than before, almost for me

 

then i will wait rather keep it as cool as possible

 

it's pretty frequent if u pay attention... is this normal though? lol

 

I dont know maybe who owned Alienware before or had a good gaming machine can help you, maybe try contacting Dell and ask them if its some you can fix

 

Do you guys find that certain pop ups or programs (like utorrent, or the pop up on the bottom right saying someone has signed in) has a weird resolution? looks slightly blurry?

Is that a program thing, windows 8 or alienware because it didnt look like this on my 1080p screen for older dell on Windows 7

 

Yeah, this happened to me. Right click desktop > Screen resolution > "Make text and other items larger or smaller" > Then click change all items to medium (125%) size > Restart comp.

Fixed

 

Legend
Thanks

 

Does anyone know if Dell whitelists their BIOs by chance? Reason why I ask is because I'm having some issues with the Killer WiFi maintaining a consistent connection and would like to try installing an Intel 7260 AC adapter to see if that fixes up the issue. I know certain manufacturers BIOs wouldn't allow for any hardware changes/upgrades by any means.

 

I saw in another post you stated you were having issues with wifi

Here are a few thing to try, as a process of elimination

Disconnections from you AP (Accesss Point) maybe be caused by your power settings.
I would try changing your Power settings from Balanced to High Performance. Could be a setting you have set to save power.

Could Try
Right-click on “My Computer” and select “Properties
Select “Advanced System Settings” and click on “Device Manager
Find your wireless card under “Network adapters” and double-click it
Verify that there aren’t any auto power management settings enabled that might be shutting your card down prematurely.

Also make sure your Router or AP has the latest firmware installed.

Try uninstalling the wireless driver and then reinstall it.

Also maybe as a test you could try lowering the security settings on your router to see if the issue goes away, if these two dont solve it, maybe you have a bad wifi card.

 

Windows doesnt know how to scale the application, another solution is to Right Click on the program shortcut, select properties, unter the compatibility tab, select Disable scaling, hit apply

 

Hey thanks for the suggestion. Upon taking apart the back panel to add in another SSD, I've discovered that one of the antenna cables that connect to the card was actually skinned! Exposing the wiring. I've already spoken to AW/Dell and they've hooked me up with an RMA #.

 

Hi, has anyone tried a PCIe m.2 SSD in the 15? Can it take an m.2 x 4 PCIe SSD?

 

I'm having a weird problem where when the computer turns on, one 1/4 of the keyboard lights don't turn on... anyone have this? they eventually reset and turn all on when the computer logs in but still