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

Why even put the slots if you can't access them?
Is AW ret*****?

 

Would the AW17 R2 sell as well as it currently is if the AW15 had as many M.2 slots? There have to be some differences between the two laptops, even if they share the same motherboard. It's a cost-cutting maneuver they pulled.

 

Because the AW 15 and 17 R2 share the same motherboard. It cuts down on manufacturing costs for Dell.

Even spec wise the two laptops are very similar, the only difference being screen size, processor selection (due to heat dissipation), and M.2 slots.

 

And the speakers and keyboard.

 

Well the keyboard obviously lol but didn't know about the speakers.

 

Has anybody looked on the Alienware website lately? It posts an option to have a 7200 rpm hard drive. And it varies depending on the preset configuration (in Canada at least), so I can't get the 128 GB SSD with the entry 970m version anymore? It lists two variants of the 256 GB SSD at the same price with a 7200 rpm and a 5200 rpm (or something like that) for storage. Weird stuff.....

 

Check out Best Buy, they have the i7, 970M, 128GB SSD, 1TB HDD (probably 5200 rpm) & 16GB RAM for $1799 which is a lot cheaper than the Dell website in Canada for the same spec, I'm gonna pick one up in a few weeks!

 

Cancelled my last AW15 order, when I was told that they wouldn't send me the 240W PSU.

Talked to another person from Dell Support today, who promised me one, so I just ordered another AW15.

980M
8GB RAM (will upgrade later)
256GB SSD

 

Yeah, saw that. I'm probably gonna buy it from there if dell doesn't have a sale or give me a good price.

 

I just got mine and I'm loving it so far. Stats in the sig!

I tried to skim the thread but it was too huge, so I'll just ask: what's the recommended source for getting this nicer 240W AC Adapter people are talking about? Mine came with a 180. I saw some that looked compatible on Amazon but they don't list this model specifically (they're for the M17x etc).

 

Purchase a 240W power supply for AW17R1 or Older model unless Dell will give you one. Check Ebay / Amazon.

 

Anyone notice how hard it is to remove the back cover to get the RAM/HDD?

After undoing the two screws for the backing plate, it is stuck on hard with plastic clips. I just about lost a retaining washer for one of the screws in to the inside of the unit. Takes excessive force to get it off, reminds me of a craptastic HP backing plate build, although the HP plates are easier to remove.

Needed to get in to try out my M.2 in the unit.

 

I've had two 17 R2s now and both backplates were easy to remove.

 

I am guessing the AW15 is much smaller and likley the plastic clips are closer together than the AW17 R2

 

I seen some people say buying faster than 1600MHz RAM is a waste of time as will not be able to use the speed. Found this setting the BIOS which oviously allows to run faster spec RAM up to 2133MHz.

I don't have any RAM faster than the stock 1600MHz, but I am not will to try and change the setting, just in case I cannot recover if the overclock is to high and end up with a machine that will not POST. I cannot see any CMOS clear under the back panel or even a coin battery which I could remove to clear CMOS?

btw. There are some BLCK settings at 10000, but could not change these yet. Should be able to get this safely to 103MHz which would mean a extra 100MHz of the normal max of 3700MHz with a possible max of 3800MHz

 

Couple of thing I have noticed.

1. If running GPU-Z, then may cause random BSOD at anytime (this happened 5 time while GPU-Z was open, suspecting it could be accessing sensor of some kind), otherwise if GPU-Z closed BSOD doesn't appear to be an issue. I haven't updated my Intel RST driver, there is no BSOD otherwise.

2. If running balance power plan then unplug to running on battery, put machine to sleep, plug back in power adapter, the brightness will be stuck on whatever you had it on (e.g. half) and cannot be changed after resuming via keyboard or in windows "Adjust screen brightness". Requires full reboot/shutdown to fix brightness control. I did go from 240W, battery, sleep, then to 180W, and resume, during the change however. Retested with just 180W to 180W and wasn't and issue.

3. Not exactly sure about this one, seems though the brightness of the panel while plugged in is being altered dimmer? Could this be similar to the brightness controlled by the 2015 XPS 13 firmware?

 

Click battery icon -> power options -> change plan settings -> change advanced plan settings -> scroll down to disaply -> turn off adaptive brightness

 

I was between clevo and alienware, but I ordered the alienware 15 on 4-15. Other than a 5% discount, I was unaware of all the haggling that could be done. Do you guys think they would give money back, even after I ordered?

 

Cool thanks, was looking for that option but couldn't find it, use to be able to get at it from the Intel tray icon.

Strange, opened up Power Options, it is already off.

 

Hm odd. I guess turn it on, save it, and then turn it off and save it again.

Yeah it used to be listed under the intel power settings, but its no longer there.

You can always cancel your order before it ships and get your money refunded, and then reorder it.

 

Wow, hugely impressed how long this 970M will game on battery using geforce experience. Ran GTA V on battery for over 2 hours and only used 70% of my battery. Settings were tuned down to do so, but it still looked great. Best thing is the fans stayed completely off 75% of the time, and the 25% of the time they were on was on the very lowest RPM.

Could see the GPU was clocking very low power state and the voltage was only about 0.8v, all 8 threads were loaded very evenly over the CPU.

 

The battery life on this thing is nothing short of extraordinary. I am managing through 6 hours classes with a single charge. Last night, I watched a movie and after two hours it still had 78% left. All criticism aside, battery life is just phenomenal. Just wish they shipped the 240W adapter by default...


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From my own brief testing, if anyone is to buy the 970M model which is more than adequate GPU for the 1080p panel. 180W vs 240W make no difference, even if the CPU and GPU is overclocked the 180W can handle it jut fine. But yeah is getting the 980M then 180W is a deal breaker.

 

Does anyone with the 240W adapter have a system with the 970M? The 180W should suffice, but I'm curious. Please test if you do.

 

People have already tested this and found 180W more than adequate. According to notebookcheck, the peak power consumption of AW 15 with 970M is 175W , well within 180W. However if you own a 980M like me, it's a problem because, the power requirred at max load becomes more than 180W.


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Well, a 180W PSU doesn't pull exactly 180W from the wall. Some is lost, so I was curious to know if it will help.

 

Is that with the 4k screen?

 

Mentioned in the my post above yours, I tested with both 180W and 240W even overclocked with 180W and made no difference

 

Okay, that's good. You tested both benchmarks and games?

 

Better with a power supply that runs on 75% with the possibility of properly charging simultaneously with max load. What if there is a opportunity for overclocking?

 

Yes for the short time I had it (being returned to Dell in the next few hours due to faulty fan), appeared to be excellent on 180W. I guess I would need more time to intensive testing.

Only thing I have you can look at it here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...5-benchmark-thread.770319/page-7#post-9985171

 

Sorry for the late reply, but call and talk to someone else, I find some phone-techs are know-it-alls and only do what they want and others are actually helpful.

If i don't get the answer I wont most of the time, I will just call back.

 

No chance, but they will give further discount on another product like a bag or headphones etc

 

Just... don't post if you don't know for sure. This is completely a wrong information.

There are two major discounts from Dell: One before ordering through the sales representatives and two after you receive the laptop and the discount through the returns representatives.

If you call back and tell them that you're thinking about returning the device and mention any faulty part of the computer, they will offer you 100 dollars minimum. They will often try a 5% discount, but 10%+ is possible if your haggling ability is good. Through this, I got 15% off, which was about 160 dollars in my case.

 

New BIOS A03 has been released...someone has tested it?

 

I am looking for some feedback on common issues or things to look out for on some of the AW15's being produced. This isnt my first rodeo so I expect issues with any gaming laptop on the market. Thanks in advance.

 

also keen to get feedback before I switch to A03 - dell tech said this should fix the CPU throttling issue brought about by the 180W adapter

 

Good day NR!

I just got my new AW15 yesterday. Been playing with it a bit. I was expecting a cooler laptop because i came from a heat machine which is the Lenovo y510P

My idle temps hovers around 60-68. That's without doing anything. Even if i change it to power saving mode with minimum and maximum proccessor states at just 10% it doesn't make a difference.
Our natural temps here in my place hovers aroung 10-25. 10C at nightime and 25C daytime.

And when i play non intensive games like League Of Legends It goes to 82C. Thats with a cooling pad btw.



My lenovo laptop hovers arounf 40-45 idle and at loads goes to 85-89C

Should I return the laptop? Will Bios update help? Will repasting help?

Any inputs would be appreciated !

Thanks

 

Which BIOS are you on? I went to A02 and then noticed, that the temps were really bad. They must have changed something in the Fantables, as they (at least for me) almost never spun up while on A02. I then reverted to A00 and temps were ok again.

 

Provide us with your system build details and we can be much more thorough!

 

Well I have the 1080p display with the 980m and I'm pretty sure 180W is not enough. They promised to send me a 240W once they have stock, hence it's all good I guess . I updated my bios to A03 and now battery life has gone down to about 5:30 hours of video from 8 hours. Is downgrading safe? Where can I find the A01 bios?


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thx i will try

 

You can run it through some tests like 3dmark vantage extreme and linpack, tests that are known to highlight issues when you get it.

 

Vibrating fans.

 

Yesterday I received my AW15 (1080p GTX980M )
I´m love the laptop (the perfect size and excelent design)

I just spent 3dmark13 and cpu works at 98ºC. The temps are horrible...

If I execute furmark and prime95 at the same time, the cpu only works to 2,5Ghz (sometimes run to 800mhz).

The repaste is realy complex in this model.
I Think the best option is return the laptop to Dell
(Sorry my bad english)

 

Either repaste or return your laptop and get a new from Dell.

 

Hey guys, just received my Alienware 15, it's all good I think but it's sitting at 60°C doing nothing, is this normal?

4710, 16GBRAM, SSD + HDD, 970M, 1080p

I'm using speedfan app to measure the temp, ambient temp is 26°C.

Thanks!

 

just flashed AO3 last night. Do you have links for A00 bios?

temps are so bad on this thing. Its making me sad @_@. Waited 5 weeks for this laptop and this is what i get.

Also the fans on mine barely spins :{

when i flashed A03 BIOS - while flashing ( the fans were like jet planes lol)
i thought after a restart it would make a difference. But i guess nothing changed.

I hope dell would provide a change log for each BIOS

 

you can find them on the dell website in the support / driver section.

yeah i know, i was irritated also. but since im back on a0, everything is ok again.

they do, i looked at them yesterday. in a02 they changed something concerning fantables and this remained unchanged as of a03.

 

Will never happen. Most just baffling nonsense in change log. It is not certain new AW15 and 17 get a proper fan profile from Dell. Just as previous AW17 and 18.