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

Hi all, received my r2 fhd with 6820hk and 980m 8gb yesterday and it's fantastic. The screen is plenty bright enough and the colours are fine (no yellow tint). There is a small amount of back light bleed in the top corners, nothing serious. I got the LG panel though so maybe I lucked out.
One weird thing though is gpu-z, nvidia control panel, hwinfo and cpu-z all show 4gb of vram. Advanced display settings is only showing the Intel graphics but says I have 8gb. Anyone else having this issue? I waited ages for the laptop because they were waiting for the new chips, I can't see they would then fob me off with a 4gb card.

 

they've fobbed you off with a 4gb card. 8gb card order here to London- they shipped me a 4gb card instead

 

How do you know for sure? I presumed as the card was so new that gpu-z etc weren't updated to read them. Seems weird that they would put the build on hold for 2 weeks for the new card and then just use a 4gb.

 

because games, gpuz, and the nvidia control panel all report 4gb

 

It seems to me that you have reached the limit of your CPU's overclocking ability. All CPUs are cut from a waffer and are not equal. I'm pretty sure Dell doesn't warranty hardware to perform better than it's stock specifications and damages resulting from overclocking are considered "user caused" that will void the warranty.

 

Well that is very disappointing. Have you contacted Dell about it? I'm really happy with the laptop and don't want to have to return it, but I paid for an 8gb. I wonder why the adaptor tab tells me I have 8gb. Does yours say the same? (apologies for all the questions)

 

no worries shared 8gb is not the same as 8gb dedicated which I also paid for. I would also prefer to keep the unit but I have black light bleed as well which is worth replacing for.

 

Ok, thanks for your help. Best of luck with getting it sorted. I'll give Dell a call tomorrow and see what they say.

 

Just to add, in adjust resolution - advanced settings - adapter tab, it only shows the Intel graphics but says I have 8gb of dedicated ram.

 

Interesting . . . in talking to Dell / AW they are telling me that since I didn't purchase it "overclocked" that the settings in the bios can be used but are not guaranteed to work. . . . I would have thought since these are standard and locked in the bios they would be supported??

 

It was to test, really. I also dont like having internal batteries that I cat remove while leaving the ac adpater plugged in for long periods of time. Maybe not applicable nowadays, but even as short as a few years ago, leaving batteries plugged in for long periods of time was bad for their overall health. I would always remove the battery if I was gaming for long periods, so now I tend to charge fully, unplug, and discharge fully. In all honesty, I havent noticed a decrease in performance when playing Fallout 4 on battery at ultra settings. I also havent tested, these are just anecdotal observations.

 

There are many myths regarding battery life, you're getting caught up in one.
The reality is that the more you use your battery the shorter its life gets. Every battery is rated for a certain number of recharge cycles only.

 

Random question: does anyone know where I can find a key about what the alienware power button flashing lights mean? For instance, I know mine flashes a certain way/color combination for the battery at less than 10 percent, and a different way at higher battery levels.

 

Just got my replacement, same exact issue in the same spots, just below the top left corner and top right corner. Unbelievable... They upgraded me to 16GB RAM and an 128GB SSD, plus an Xbox 360 controller. I have to decide if it's enough to keep it...

 

100% that is not a myth as far as OLDER an battery goes. However, these newer models (and im not sure of the time frame) that may be the case. As early as my first dell laptop, a 33mhz 4mb ram beast with a 2400 baud modem, if you didnt charge and discharge fully. I had new batteries 4 times lol

 

Dell has a rather detailed FAQ on Battery related questions.

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/...sitelet/en/batteries_faq?c=us&l=en&cs=19#faq7

 

One solid color when you're on AC, another solid color when you're on battery.
Slow flashing from one color to the other when you're charging.
Fast flashing when you're about to run out.

And you can configure these colors through AlienFX.

 

Well, got the AW15 R2 w/ QHD in today. Light bleed is on the moderate side. You can see some minor bleed and/or IPS glow along most edges, but then you've got a section on the left that's a good 2-3" in diameter. Not unlike other recent posts.

But before it could even get setup, it died. Hah. I mean, no power, no lights, nothing'. Already disconnected battery cable, reset, tried another AC adapter, etc.

Oh well, it was probably getting returned anyways with that screen defect. Just not sure who else is using a descent quality screen these days.

On the plus side, my new XPS 13 with QHD has a perfect display. Absolutely no light bleed. You know, before somebody chimes in saying IPS + Light Bleed = Normal. Hah.

 

So this may date me here, but you used to be able to interchange most screens quite easily (pre HD, 1080p, etc screens were pretty simple) . Does anyone know if the xps screens (equal size and connector type, obvs) or other quality screens would plug right into the AW's?

 

I knew I wasnt crazy. The full charge/discharge was for the nickle metalhydride batteries

"Contrary to last decades' batteries, modern lithium ion batteries do not need to be fully discharged to maintain health."

 

Seems to be a recurring issue, some on here have light bleed around that same exact area. Sending mine back, I'm not going to compromise on a $1000+ laptop and I doubt I'll have more luck with a third replacement. Too bad, I was hopeful of reconnecting with Alienware machines, I've owned every M17x model until the refresh and loved pretty much all of them.

 

Has anyone else received a 4gb gtx 980m instead of the 8gb?

 

Thanks, it's not just me then. Have you got a link to that forum?

 

http://eu.alienwarearena.com/forums...ort-1/is-the-980m-8gb-a-lie/last#post-1122252 <--

 

Well, I'm not seeing any good alternatives at the moment. Seems the vast majority of gamers don't care about light bleed, so the manufactures don't either. I mean, good luck finding a review even mention it. They'll talk about color temp and accuracy all day long. But a widespread screen defect? Nope.

Decided to go for one new system exchange. Even though the AW15 R2 sitting here is basically a paper weight, it does look nice and seem well built.

 

Hello all, I ended up purchasing a 15 R2(specs below) and I was just wanting to see what the first things I should do when I get the machine, uninstall/install, update drivers, etc? Also I purchased the 1TB storage version for the sake of it been a little cheaper.. and I was wanting to purchase m.2 SSD: possibly a SAMSUNG EVO/Pro, any suggestions? And what would be the easiest way to transition to the m.2 when it arrives?

And another concern, while running some simple benchmarks(passmark) my fans went off like normal and a really kind of high pitch sound occurred..(only when the fans were going..), ill try to add the recording to this post. Hopefully it isnt anything to serious but it was rather annoying.

Alienware 15 R2:
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 970M with 3GB GDDR5
Intel® Core™ i7-6700HQ (Quad-Core, 6MB Cache, up to 3.5GHz w/ Turbo Boost)
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
15.6 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS Anti-Glare 220-nits Display
8GB Dual Channel DDR4 at 21"
33MHz (4GBx2)
1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s (Storage)

 

For any interested about the 980m with 8gb issue. I received my 15" R2 today and it had the full 8gb.

 

anyone have this behavior? Simply install Google CHrome and watch a video on CNN.com - it just can't stay smooth? it skips and stutters.. wtf?

I'm beginning to become extremely annoyed with the alienware r2 15 - if this is another buy the computer and become a tech support troubleshooter product.. it may have to go back.

 

Got my r2 in the mail the other day. No real issues so far. Loving the screen.

 

bigtonyman

Did you get the 8gb 980M by chance? if so - did you confirm the 8gb? if so - what is your part number?

Thanks!


Farson

 

I stuck with the 4gb 980m sorry bud. couldn't justify the additional price tag.

 

So my replacement system came, no issues. Screen is good, USB devices are recognized on hard boot. But I've noticed now that the loading screens on fallout 4 are taking almost 3 times as long as they did on the first r2. I need to verify specs later, but even if it was 8gb of ram instead of 16 I don't think it would do it. If it's not a physical difference it's gotta be related to a recent uodate, either windows 10 or steam or fallout. Ugh.

 

Does anyone have a new 15 with the UHD screen that doesn't have backlight bleed? Mine is pretty bad, and I'm thinking about exchanging it.

 

So far no one has reported having one without backlight bleed, but it could be that people who don't have any issues with their AWs don't frequent these forums.

 

I have the UHD screen with pretty bad backlight bleed. I'm also not sure i'm sold into a UHD with a matte finish, it just looks too foggy for me.

I am starting to think 1080p panel was the better choice, as with the matte screen for me its not ideal i really have trouble getting used to it when all my other gear has crystal clear screens. So if we're stuck with Matte anyway may as well go 1080.

When i get my 8gb 980 replacement I'm hoping the CSR will be flexible, and let me downgrade to 1080p for the replacement model and ideally some cash back for this screen..

We will see!

 

I thought about going FHD as well, but it sounds like the 1080p panel is even lower quality, dim display, etc. Would be great to compare, but haven't heard anything promising.

 

Hdd or ssd? If you have mods can be it

Enviado desde mi Nexus 4 mediante Tapatalk

 

Stupid question probably but, on the M.2 slots, port 1 (as it appears in BIOS) is PCIe and port 2 is SATA, correct?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I can't help feeling you have a dud screen, as I'm completely in love with mine. Apart from the slight light bleed, it's perfect. Even with the bleed, it's the best screen I've ever used.

 

Hello all, I ended up purchasing a 15 R2(specs below) and I was just wanting to see what the first things I should do when I get the machine, uninstall/install, update drivers, etc? Also I purchased the 1TB storage version for the sake of it been a little cheaper.. and I was wanting to purchase m.2 SSD: possibly a SAMSUNG EVO/Pro, any suggestions? And what would be the easiest way to transition to the m.2 when it arrives?

And another concern, while running some simple benchmarks(passmark) my fans went off like normal and a really kind of high pitch sound occurred..(only when the fans were going..), ill try to add the recording to this post. Hopefully it isnt anything to serious but it was rather annoying.

Alienware 15 R2:
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 970M with 3GB GDDR5
Intel® Core™ i7-6700HQ (Quad-Core, 6MB Cache, up to 3.5GHz w/ Turbo Boost)
Windows 10 Home 64bit English
15.6 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS Anti-Glare 220-nits Display
8GB Dual Channel DDR4 at 21"
33MHz (4GBx2)
1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s (Storage)

 

I love mine as well. Very nice screen for a laptop.

 

Has anyone else had temp problems with the 6820hk? I'm playing battlefront with low settings and my temps are getting into the low 90s. It was even worse until I upgraded bios to 1.2.3. Hwinfo fan adjust feature won't work (has the fan picture but when I press on it nothing happens). Doesn't seem like the fans are ramping up enough.

 

Woah thats really toasty. 10more degrees and your at boiling point. I used hwinfo to create a fan profile

Sent from my SM-N910S using Tapatalk

 

try setting your fan profile to manual instead of custom auto.. EC fan control might be interfering with HWinfo.. setting manual should do the job. and about the BIOS.. after testing every single bios for more than 2 days. I found A00 is the best bios for temps. on A06 I was hitting around 95c and got CPU throttled no matter how good my ambient temps are, on A00 fan kicks in early around 60s so it runs cooler, ill be posting a video soon comparing the last bios vs the old ones..

 

I must take back some of the comments i said earlier about the UHD screen. Yes, it's a little warm for my tastes and the matte isn't ideal but my eyes are adjusting to it and so long as i dont have another glossy screen around (lol) i am starting to enjoy it more. I calibrated it so it's a little on the cooler side now and it is much better.

Fingers crossed my replacement 8gb machine has a UHD screen with slightly less light bleed.

 

Guys could you tell me after last windows 10 builds and after new driver updates how is alienware 15 r1 980m gtx 4k touchscreen doing? I want to buy one unit and upgrade it to Windows 10.

Is the touchscreen ok? How about games performance?

I read there were sound issues and a lot of bugs in Windows 10 caused by bad drivers. Is the situation solved with last builds upgrades of windows 10?

Enviado de meu SM-N920G usando Tapatalk

 

Does anyone think we'll get an A07 BIOS?

 

Running the fire demo in 3d mark . . . I was hitting 100c on 3 of the core while the 4th was hanging around 60c . . . so I'm kind of happy they messed up the 980m and gave me 4gb instead of 8. Hoping the temps on the new on are a lot better as I've never done the repasting thing and I'm a bit afraid of doing that.

How does repasting affect the warranty?


Farson