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

No and no.

 

Hey guys, I can either choose between

a. Alienware 15
-i7 4710HQ
-8GB ram
-256GB SSD(Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM (Storage)
-GTX 980M
-Killer 1525 802.11ac
-1920x1080 IPS
or
b. Clevo P650SE
-i7 4720HQ
-16GB ram
-250GB SSD + 1TB 5400RPM
-GTX 970M
-Intel 7265 AC Dual Band Wireless
-1920x1080 IPS Matte

Honestly, would you guys recommend me getting the AW 15? The are some things preventing me from wanting to do, like thickness, weight, heat problems?(dont know), throttling, and normal usage battery life. Can someone tell me how battery life is on normal web browsing? I get about 6 hours on my mbp 15.

 

Personally, After the experience I'm going through with my 17 R2, I would get the Clevo.

Customer service is probably better with Dell but up to now the 2015 Alienwares have a few annoying issues, Some have heat problems, others (like mine) have issues with the CPU keeping its power and clocks under load.
The Alienware will come with a 180w adapter and this will severely limit the computers performance too.

Until Dell releases a new BIOS that fixes these issues I cannot really recommend them.

 

OK finally received my 15 today (i7 4720hq, 980m, 128GB SSD + 1TB 7200RPM, 8GB RAM, 1080p monitor).

Put it through it's paces - under load in games, I haven't seen any thermal throttling whatsoever. However, my GPU and CPU temps never reach above 80c or so. Perhaps because I'm confined to a permanently frosty environment where it's a nice 20C year round. But I haven't had any problems whatsoever with my 15 - nothing but good things. The laptop doesn't get too hot to touch at all, battery life I couldn't care less about frankly so I don't know anything about it.

I had a minor issue where games were starting with the onboard graphics instead of the nVidia card - but after updating the factory drivers to the latest version (and using GeForce Experience to optimize the games) it hasn't happened since.

But so far, very impressed with the build quality and speed overall - plays all the games I'd like on near max settings!

 

I'd skip on the Alienware if you're going for the 980m. I've read about too many problems to reccomend it. I'd say get the 970m and upgrade something else like your RAM, SSD or Display.

The Clevo has worse battery life than the AW 15, though none are particularly any good. I haven't heard of too many beat issues, but throttling issues are quickly spreading all of a sudden. I'd say go with whichever you seem more confident towards, then return it if you're not satisfied (if possible).

I'm actually going through the same dilemma as you are, between these exact same laptops

 

Remember the option of the Graphics Amplifier.. a couple years down the road the AW15 will still be relevant because of the GA. In my case it made a pretty big difference when choosing .. 3 years from now it could be sitting next to my OLED 4k tv(i wish) connected to the GA with a Titan XXX or whatever the king vid card is then playing the next Elder Scrolls or COD in 4k. Or will be driving the Oculus Rift.

 

To be honest with you, I had the MSI GS60 with 970m prior to buying my Alienware 15. I've not had an ounce of problem with it thus far. I know that I may be some sort of anomaly here on the site, but I'm very happy with the 15. The CPU runs hot at times, but I've not experienced any throttling so far. I'm getting ready to buy TW3, so we'll see if my tune changes afterwards.

The 980m is stout. My Benchmark results are very nice with a very minor overclock on the GPU:

3dmark 11: 12,112
Graphics: 14022
Physics: 8719
Combined: 8427

Firestrike: 8984
Graphics Score: 10689
Physics: 9218
Combined: 4021

I have some Ballistix memory that I added into the system this morning, 16GB PC 14900 1866Mhz, and the system picked it up just fine and just blazes right now.

Couldn't be happier with the system right now. Not trying to sway you one way or another, but I went the "thin & light" Ghost Series of MSI, and wasn't happy with the build quality. Received this, and it seems so well put together. A few things bother me, but overall, I'll own this for a few years I know.

 

Getting the feeling Dell is just about to run this model out going on the New Zealand site. Gone are the options for either 980M and UHD display in the last week. Just 970M option remaining and crazy pricing for just a slight memory bump with SSD.

http://www.dell.com/nz/p/alienware-15/pd

 

Could be a stock issue. This used to happen with the previous laptops before, where a certain GPU went missing.
I also see the the AMD GPU is not listed as well, so the m390x hasn't reached AUS/NZ yet.

 

Is the m390x any good or just a rebrand of the old card that was listed in the same unit.

Strange their pricing strategies for the missing supply/parts, has not dropped and in fact looks like has increased!

 

Rebrand of the m295x. Could be more efficient, though, but almost everything else compared to the m295x is identical.
There's always webarchive to see if, in fact, the prices have increased.

 

I have a question regarding CPU temperatures.

I've had my AW15 (980M) for a little while now, and usually the CPU temps have maxed out around 78-80 when playing games like Splinter Cell: Blacklist.

I've been playing The Witcher 3 for the last few days, and after a session (4-5 hours), it maxed out at 85c yesterday and 88c today! Should I be worried? If so, what can I do?

Using 240W PSU and A00.

 

Is there a repaste guide for the 15? I've searched but nothing comes up for some reason. I'm not sure if search isn't working right now, or what.

 

Is the drivers of the Alienware 15 on the dell website updated? If it is not, could somebody post where I could find the most updated drivers? The driver for the USB 3.0 from the website isn't installing as well, is this normal?

 

Anyone experience no sound after waking up from sleep? also how do i know which bios i currently have on my aw? Thanks

 

My new alienware is doing a strange sound in the right cooler. It looks like the cooler is spinning and hitting in something inside it. Depending on the position of the notebook this sound go away. What should I do?
I am also experiencing high temps at the CPU (4720HQ), higher temperature after 3d mark benchmark firestorm is 93 degrees celsius and in iddle temperatures between 60-65. Is that normal?

 

In case that is still a question, check my post a few pages back. I wrote a short guide how to do it and hell yess it is waaaay faster.

 

Hello, I had this same problem and it's a faulty fan (cooler).

 

What u did? You called the technicians or solved the problem yourself?

 

What is the panel ID for the 4K monitor on the Alienware 15? So far I've found just one post where a member has shared the panel ID of his 4K AW15.

Also, does anyone know if the 4K panel on the AW15 is the same as the one used on the XPS 15 2015?

 

Hi Guys,

I am new here and not yet an Alienware 15 owner but maybe you will help me to take the decision
Sorry for my english it is not my native language... I travel a lot and would like to have a strong machine for my work, for video editing and to play some games when I have time at the hotel.

I'd like to take the 4k panel with the 980m but I was wondering if the 300€ over priced compare to the 970m were justified or not? Also, I often do some writing work when I am in the plane, how long would the battery last at best?

I can't decide between the XPS 15 and the Alienware 15... The XPS has much better value... Comes with a very good 500Gb SSD, awesome 4k panel, 16Gb of Ram, better battery life, lighter, smaller and 600euros less expensive if you configure the Alienware with the Dell Spec excpet the graphic card off course wich is the problem of the xps, only a 750m.... And I know exactly how it works because it's the same as in mine ex MBP 15 retina that has been stolen unfortunalty (that is why I need a new laptop but after 2 year with the Mac, I find that what you get for the money you put is not worth so I go back to pc and windows...)

I am not a BIG gamer and I have a good gaming computer at home.... So I have few questions for you Alienware 15 owners.... :

- Can I use the Alienware 15 on the go more than 3-4 hours for some random work?
- Do you think it is worth the price if you don't use it as your main gaming machine ?
- 970m or 980m ?
- Is it not overkill for a guy like me that plays just for fun when time when I travel for work (few days once or twice per month) ??
- Would you choose the XPS 15 in my position?

Thx for the help!!

Cheers

Wolf

 

I can't speak for the Alienware owners (Microsoft store is out of stock ), but based on general knowledge and research, I can answer your questions.

1) Battery life should be at least around 4 hours as long as you're not in high performance mode or something. That shouldn't be an issue.

2) It depends on your usage and the price, but it may be overkill for you. There are other notebooks on the market with 860m/960m graphic cards that might suit you better.

3)I'd say get the 970m as you don't need the power of the 980m, but at least you can keep this for a while and not worry about performance down the road.

4) Yup, way overkill. Like I said, look for a 960m or even 965m if you decide a little more power is necessary. The Alienware offers the 965m, but I doubt you even need that if a 750m suited you before.

5) I would choose neither and got something like an asus g501/UX501 or a Lenovo y50 if you're on a serious budget. Really, anything with a 860m/960m will save you money and you won't have to worry about heat and noise as much.

Hope I helped

 

Nah, don't worry about it. If it gets any higher, like in the 90s, maybe you should run some tests to make sure everything is alright (benchmarks, stress tests, etc.).

Some games utilize more CPU than others. Anyways, the temps aren't that bad considering you played for that long.

 

Well a quick update on outputting to a 4k tv... with an hdmi 2.0 rated hdmi cable and a mini display port adapter also rated for 4k at 60hz I am unable to get the 60hz and it's bitter sweet. Things look absolutely stunning at that resolution but the 30hz very much puts a damper on the experience.. I ran all sorts of games at the 4k res.. skyrim/fallout/borderlands2presequel/diablo3/witcher3/pillarsofeternity and more.. they all looked insane! Borderlands pre sequel with it's cell shading and bright vibrant colors looked especially vivid and beautiful. BUT while that is disappointing to be limited to 30hz.. when running 1080p at 120hz which the tv supports(p series vizio) is a whole different experience, games aren't quite as stunning but not too far off and the silky smoothness of the framerates is a sight to behold. The Desktop experience is also much better at 1080p.. Vizio p series has just about the lowest latency of any 4ktv out there.. put's my old sony 52 lcd to shame.. truly a premium experience sitting 7 ft away on a couch with a bluetooth keyboard/mouse and a ps4 controller. I guess the only thing that could improve it woulda been if I would have gone with the 60 or 70" versions.. but at $499 for the 50 I'm more than ecstatic. I'm gonna do some scouring on the 4k/60hz thing.. hopefully there's something I'm missing and I can get it to work. Anyone have any ideas?

 

Well a quick update on outputting to a 4k tv... with an hdmi 2.0 rated hdmi cable and a mini display port adapter also rated for 4k at 60hz I am unable to get the 60hz and it's bitter sweet. Things look absolutely stunning at that resolution but the 30hz very much puts a damper on the experience.. I ran all sorts of games at the 4k res.. skyrim/fallout/borderlands2presequel/diablo3/witcher3/pillarsofeternity and more.. they all looked insane! Borderlands pre sequel with it's cell shading and bright vibrant colors looked especially vivid and beautiful. BUT while that is disappointing to be limited to 30hz.. when running 1080p at 120hz which the tv supports(p series vizio) is a whole different experience, games aren't quite as stunning but not too far off and the silky smoothness of the framerates is a sight to behold. The Desktop experience is also much better at 1080p.. Vizio p series has just about the lowest latency of any 4ktv out there.. put's my old sony 52 lcd to shame.. truly a premium experience sitting 7 ft away on a couch with a bluetooth keyboard/mouse and a ps4 controller. I guess the only thing that could improve it woulda been if I would have gone with the 60 or 70" versions.. but at $499 for the 50 I'm more than ecstatic. I'm gonna do some scouring on the 4k/60hz thing.. hopefully there's something I'm missing and I can get it to work. Anyone have any ideas?

 

any of you guys having problems with audio?

For me, if i take the headphones out there wont be any audio coming from the speakers unless i go to the creative sound panel and change the jack settings to another one.. and every now and then.. the volume just gets so loud, and i cant lower the volume with the sound mixer :/

 

After Uhming and Ahing over laptops and basically deciding to park the search until sometime next year, when I came across an AW15 in the UK dell outlet.

Scratch and dent; 4710-HQ with R9 M295X for £786. List price for the 965M version is £1150, so that seems a good saving. Will see how I get on with it, if I like it but the scratch n dent is too heavy I'll probably keep an eye out for spares on ebay.

Not the best graphics card but I'm hardly a serious gamer- I usually play games a couple of years old that I pick up cheap on steam.

 

Finally ordered mine, free of bloatware and trials from the Microsoft Store : Signature edition Alienware 15 with a 4k screen, 16gb RAM, i7, 970m and 256gb SSD. Fully knowing about the multiple issues associated with this device (thermal throttling, sleep throttling, poor fan profiles, etc.) I'll be testing it as soon as I get it in the next few days. At least I can get by with the 180W PSU, though I might ask for a 240W

Does anybody have recommendations for benchmarks, monitoring and recording?

Also, does Dell still give out 240W PSUs in Canada? Amy idea how to get it?

 

Yes they do. You just e-mail them from here: http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN295814
[email protected]

Then when they call you, just say you have stuttering issues while gaming and you have a friend who had the same thing and had their power supply upgraded. They will send out another one right away. Took me 10 minutes on the phone couple weeks ago.

 

Hi everyone. I am looking around alinware 15/17, and probably someone has an idea when updates to Intel 5-gen could be provided?
As well, question is - does raid.0 massive works in laptop? Becouse I cant find some info about that in reviews.
Thanks

 

What is the best way to upgrade/downgrade bios? last week my system bricked and had to wait 3 days for dell to replace my mobo. also what is the best bios now? the new mobo they sent me has a bios of a02

 

Has anyone been able to fix Ghosting/Trailing on the 1080P screens?

 

Got my AW15 yesterday.

Two things I've noticed:
1) Left mouse button sits fractionally lower than the right mouse button. Not a real issue, but slightly annoying as the edge of the lit touchpad makes this obvious.

2) Much more seriously, the temperature of the underneath seems to be very high. CPUID HWMon reports a CPU temperature of around 50 to 60 degrees under relatively light usage (browsing steam, half a dozen tabs open in firefox etc.) but the vents below CPU/GPU area seems to be not far off that temperature!

I'm on BIOS A04 at the moment, so I'm thinking a downgrade to A00 with its supposedly better fan profiles (I'm yet to hear the fans kick in at all) will help?

My suspicion is without the fans running there is not enough of a temperature gradient along the heatpipes to draw heat away from the CPU/GPU (although I'd presume the GPU isn't actually running). Anything else this might be- looking at notebookcheck's review I'm seeing temperatures well over what they saw for the base.

 

I noticed the mouse too, mine has Always been lower on the right button, its not an issue at all, but yea its something i noticed as soon as i opened the laptop.
it does get very hot, i haven't used it on my lap lately, just at home with a cooling pad and it really helps it, but when i watched videos on my lap and stuff it was very hot.

 

I downgraded my bios and bricked my system. Screen went black. Fans went spinning to max. Stuck for 40mins and left no choice. Saw another post with another person w same problem. Took only 3 days to change my mobo but its a hassle talking to indians over malaysia and their english sucks alot so i had to be very very patient. My two cents leave it as it is.

Sent from my SM-N910S using Tapatalk

 

Excellent. Absolutely excellent.

How the hell have they screwed this up so much since A00? Why do I suspect they've gone for minimal noise... What a great idea on this sort of laptop.

 

Downgraded absolutely fine from A04 to A00. No issues whatsover.

Early days as of yet but for "idle" behaviour as above it hasn't made a huge difference- CPUID HWMon reports much the same temperature as before the flash and the fans are no more active. Looking through BIOS release notes the only comment re. fan control is on A02, about using an average temperature even if fans are on maximum. No notes as to what average that actually is though.

Interestingly the laptop seems much cooler underneath tonight. Not entirely sure why that would be, but it is definitely more comfortable to use. Obviously a cooler is the way to go and I shall be ordering one presently.

Will keep an eye on things but I suspect I will end up flashing back to A05. Obviously I need to game on it first to check it out, downloading one on our creaky broadband as I speak!

 

Ok I finally got my requested 240W PSU and I am currently on AO2 so which BIOS do you guys recommend me to downgrade/upgrade to or should I stick with AO2?

 

A00 is the coolest but i would keep it as is as i bricked my system and had to wait 3 days to get a motherboard replacement. I think a few degrees wont matter much but do what you have to.

 

Hai... I am planning to buy an 15 with i5 and 970m... Should I worry about it... Is there any serious problems in it??.. I am in India. I am buying this from USA... Will I get customer support in India??

 

Support is all over the world. Dell call center is based in india or malaysia i think cause last time i called i was clearly speaking with an indian. Regarding the machine it is very nice. No problems whatsover

Sent from my SM-N910S using Tapatalk

 

Thanks for the reply.. Should I choose gtx 965 or gtx 970...?? What is the difference??

 

Go with what you can afford.i got myself a 970m cause i felt that i didnt need the 980 +the extra $$ got me a ssd

Sent from my SM-N910S using Tapatalk

 

Does anyone knows a replacement screen model number or brand for a touch screen?

Sent from my MT2L03 using Tapatalk

 

Anybody else having issues with the integrated graphics on Chrome and Firefox? IE works just fine, but I can't play 60fps YouTube videos and performance is lacking when using the HD graphics. Using the 970m works just fine, and IE seems to like Intel's graphics. I'm thinking it's either browser compatibility, nvidias optimistic or a problem with Intel's drivers.

Also have sluggish performance with trackpad on all browsers except IE.... Weird

 

anyone here upgrade to windows 10?
i did it and had massive problems... had to revert back to 8.1

 

what kind of problems?

 

I wonder same, what problems? I love such posts.... I am also consider if change to win 10 today, so if anyone tried, please share details with us

 

i literally could not get past the log on screen.. the screen kept flickering.. and kept glitching.. even if i managed to type my password.. the laptop just goes back to the log on screen.. i booted it in safe mode and it worked fine.. so then i disabled all the non microsoft services . and rebooted.. in normal mode i had the same problem
played around for a bit and eventually gave up

 

I'm having problems with windows 10. Mainly with sound. Last night i couldn't get sound out my headphones which i fix but today i can't get sound out of my speakers. I also can't upload to certain sites. Cortana's features won' load so i can't get into the settings. When setting up Cortana it tells me my mic isn't compatible. Ok now the settings do open up but it says i'm offline. SMH