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

Ya well I got my laptop for like $1300 brand spankin with a crazy warranty so I could get caught up in all that...
I must admit, it is tempting but my desktop basically does that so I lose that interest.

Props and respect though.

 

Yes I understand that a long / crazy warranty is very important

 

I see what you are trying to do there but I personally would want it on any laptop from any manufacturer even if I had a Clevo.
Since Dell sends parts next business day and a slave tech to install if I dont feel like doing it that day its a must for me.
Plus as others have mentioned if the laptop fails towards the end of the warranty and they have to exchange the whole system they usually swap it for the latest and greatest.

I cant imagine what it would be like to have to wait for parts or even worse, to send my laptop off for weeks and then to have to deal with all these middle man resellers.
But come on, tech now a days always has failures from mass production. From ram chips to switches to even USB drives. Stuff breaks. Even the best company cant stop the DOA / failure train from mass production.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/why-is-my-alienware-15-cpu-throttling-to-800-mhz.777144/page-14#post-10255270

 

Ya the 15R1 and 17R2 was horrible.

 

Did you read about why you should have long warranty? Should be used when you've decided to Brick your laptop further down the road

 

So I got the MSI as a Whitebook from Cyberpower PC for 1297 shipped. With a large amount of extras even, MSI bag, MSI mouse, Msi, headset, and a useless razor nabu x lol.
It came with 2 256g ssd's , one intel and one hyperx. And only 8 gigs of ram but i took what i bought for my 15r2 and popped it in. Also G Sync is quite nice

The alienware I paid a little less for.

 

Wrong owners lounge.

 

I am interessested in buying a 15 r2 with gtx965m graphic chip. Does anybody know if alienware build in the new gtx965m GM206 Version. The GM204 is the old one. The 965m in the 13" model is a gm206 Version.

 

Yup, but I was asked

 

got a Aw15 R2 - pretty happy with the thing

 

I updated the bios to 1.2.13.. didn't explode yet lol

 

Isn't it for the AW 13 only for now?

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk

 

Nop also now for 15R2/17R3

 

I am searching for an extra SSD for my Alienware 15 R2. Now I am curious. Which SSD's are compatible with this M2 port. As I recall correctly there are multiple variants but I dont know which one to use.

Is the Samsung 850 EVO M.2 500GB compatible with the R2? Because it looks like it has an extra notch and less pins than the 951 that I have now in use.

 

Got my 15r2 from the outlet yesterday. Turned out to be fully stacked, about $1200 out the door.... 4k touch, 32gb memory, 512 ssd, and 8gb 980m. Very happy so far! It is heavy but feels lighter than I thought it would at 7lbs.

 

Return the MSI.

Congrats on the upgrade. The 17R3 is a great machine.

Edit: Didn't realize the msi was a 17"...hmm tough call then...

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I agree, cooling is not an issue after the repaste.

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How did you manage to get that system for $1200! It was above $2000 when I was looking at it

 

They had 30% off plus I got them to take a bit more off since I bought a 32" tv too. Wonder if you were looking at the same one? This was early last week.... I got on with sales immediately on chat and had them hold it until we could figure out the GPU, it wasn't listed. They couldn't tell me what was in it, but it did turn out to be the 980M 8gb....

 

Congrats, that's awesome. Now only if they had a 17" touch maxed out...more so just the 4k touch for me with the 6820hk. Although I don't use the touch screen, the touch displays are more sturdy which I prefer over the flimsy mattes. Just my preference. Maybe because I'm used to my MBPr.

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Don't really care about the touch either but.... It's the brightest/best screen they make, so why not?

 

I completely agree...as a designer and editor having that nice finish on the screen makes a huge difference. Just a touch up than the mattes for sure and much much sturdier.

 

Hi all, I should be hopefully receiving my 15r2 today and was looking for any tips on setting up the laptop and so on!

Before the 'I should have waited for 1080m and so on', I got a ridiculous deal for this set up after cancellations and free upgrades:

Specs of note include:

• i7-6820HK
• 15.6 inch UHD (3840 x 2160)
  
• 512GB PCIe SSD +1TB HHD
• GTX 980M

I guess that's all the options that are configurableish, so a bit of a beast. Also any ideas of how to use storage? I've had small SSD's in the past but with 512GB I don't know what to do with the HDD, any fancy ways to make use of the storage?

Also any good habits to get into with a new laptop? ( regular clean installs of windows etc.?) Open to all suggestions!

 

Not sure if your laptop will come this way or not, but my OS was installed on the 1TB and the 512ssd wasn't even formatted. May be something you have to deal with, who knows.

But the basics are nvidia drivers (geforce experience), alienware drivers, windows update, and BIOS.... I've seen you should get Killer's drivers from their site, not from Dell. I did just this and they've been solid so far.

 

I just yesterday ordered my first Alienware 15 r2 which is my 12th Alienware laptop (purchased, I have sold the other 11). It comes with:

• i7-6710HQ
• 15.6 inch UHD (3840 X 2160)
• 256GB PCle SSD+1TB HDD
• GTX 970M

How will this work with gaming?

Thanks.

 

It will be fine with most titles, I currently run a 970M and most titles I can run on high or +. If you like to max out your graphics settings I would recommend getting an AWA, possibly with either the 1070m or 1080m this summer (I am highly considering this).

 

AWA? Do you mean an AGA, Alienware graphics amplifier?

 

{Face palm). Yep.

 

Pop? Soda? Does it really make a difference? Haha ...jk

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I just found out that one of the speaker led under the left speaker is not working. It can display Red without problems. But it doesn't work for blue. Sometimes it works if I knock the laptop a bit. Pls help. Also the status light for the battery is flickering.

 

I had the same problem with mine. You could try checking the wire connection or calling Dell for a replacement.

 

In case anyone has the same problem and comes across this post...my speakers weren't working properly with any of the Creative sound drivers. I was getting bad delay before any sound would play through the speakers and Dell repair depot didn't fix the problem. I was sent a replacement system and everything with the sound works on the new computer. I think the issue had something to do with the motherboard but can't say that for sure.

 

Did you update any new drivers?

 

Hi guys,

i have the follow problem with my AW 15 (6700+980M+240W).
Very hot and big temperature in idle.
I got new motherboard with new CPU + GPU + heatpipes some weeks ago.
But my temperatures in idle are around 60°C and sometimes over 90°C with the throttling (measured in HWiNFO32).
The bottom of laptop si very hot.

Do you know what i can do?

If i try to run some games for example The Division, i get the temperature over 90°C in some minutes and very loud sound.

I bought new thermal paste ARCTIC MX-2 Thermal Compound but i can not disassemble my laptop by my-self
It is very difficult.

Thank you

 

Yep. I tried every driver version, bios version, fresh install, and install of Windows 8.1, as well as some a few other things.

 

The caps lock key led still does not work (even with new bios) when the touch pad is in use it works but the light freezes on or off for 5 seconds then returns to normal, if i use an external mouse it works fine , if use the keyboard it works fine , it only freeze for a bit when the touch pad is in use.

Any fixes?

 

So a while back I saw something around here about the screen on the 15 R2 not being very good and a recommended replacement screen for it. This came back to me because yesterday I had my 15 right next to a 17 R3 and I was really shocked at how much better the screen was on the 17. And yes they were both 1080p models.

Is there 1) a link handy to a recommended screen replacement, and 2) any kind of quick guide/hints in regards to the process of how to actually replace it and the degree of difficulty? Thanks.

 

You definitely need to re-paste, sounds like Dell did a worse than usual job with yours

 

See this thread - http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-15-r2-display-panel-mystery.783055/page-25

 

I agree. It sounds like the stock thermal paste causing the high temps, which isn't surprising as it is terrible.

There is a great repaste guide and I'd highly recommend you take the time to learn how to do it.

Also, return the mx2, that's old news. Instead, order some GELID Extreme or Grizzly Kyronaut.

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I repasted my heatsink as well and am curious about something. I noticed that even with lower cpu temps (around mid 30C to lower 40C) the bottom of the computer, especially near the center, can get pretty warm after a while. Is this normal? The stock fan profile barely runs the fans at all until the computer really heats up.

 

I observed the same thing and i believe that someone else in this thread mentioned the high temperature underneath the laptop.

 

How is the PCH temperature?

 

I haven't checked that actually. Will that temperature show up in HWiNFO64?

 

Yeah. On most laptops.

 

With CLU my temps for the PCH went as high a 100C sometimes. Except that, it is usually around 52 idle or 72 under load.

 

Up to 100 degrees is in the high level. Listen to what others have. When you use Clu, the fans will normally spin at lower speeds. This will affect the PCH temperature negatively. A good modified cooler pad will help.

 

Or more aggressive fan profiles in HWinfo i guess (around 3000rpm instead of 2500 and so on) right ?

 

Yeah..., better air flow will help. A very good thermal paste as Clu will reduce the use of fans with medium load. An adverse effect due to this better paste. As said before. A good cooler pad will also help.