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

I have been looking at your thread for a while now and I suddenly feel like my PC is not at its best

Problem is that I have never gone beyond opening the back panel of any of my PC's to put in a RAM stick or add an extra drive, seeing a complete dismantle is quite overwhelming, I keep having nightmares of a bricked system.

What would you say is the best link/tutorial to look at for a complete dismantle of the 15 R2? And possibly a list of items needed so I don't realize halfway that I forgot to buy something. I live in Africa, all my parts will be bought and shipped from Amazon, so I don't have the luxury of missing something out

 

The difference between Conductonaut and CLLU is 2-3C at Max. Temp from my own experience's, Conductonaut being the winner. Having repasted almost a dozen times total between my AW's and friends AW's, particularly the 15/R2 and 17/R3 a few of the early repastes were all done with CLLU until I got a hold of Conductonaut.

I have also used Grizzly Kyronaut as well, in fact I've tried GK before GC. One thing that I along with others who have used GK already on their AW can tell you is that after a while your temps will go up anywhere from 3-4C. Kyronaut seems to have been designed for extreme OC'ers (for competitions) and not for longevity. This is why I highly recommend GELid Extreme if one was to go the traditional paste route.

From my own experiences and having received confirmation from others who have used GK, the increase in temps after about a month or so tells me that the integrity of the thermal paste (GK) itself is in question for long term use. Sure if you were OC'ing and repasting frequently, GK may be fantastic for that, but opening up our AW's is not something that is easy as popping off the bottom cover and repasting it, unfortunately. Thanks a lot Dellianware. Jerks...

So again if one wants to go liquid metal:

Grizzly Conductonaut and CLLU. Hands down. The little in temp difference is irrelevant really because with a proper repaste using liquid metal, one should never even come close to thermal throttle limits. Therefore, the few degrees in temp difference won't really matter anyway.

I'm a firm believer that GELid Extreme still remains to be the best all around traditional paste for performance AND Longevity.

 

Here you go. Click here. Or you can always click on my signature where it says, "i7-6820HK..." in blue and it'll link you right there if you ever need the link quick.

This should give you some confidence. Between this thread and my thread that you've seen already, there is pretty much everything there that you need to know for a proper repaste.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

 

Okk. Thanks iunlock for the reply. Goes me some confidence,surely!

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It's my pleasure. Let us know if you need any help with anything else.

Cheers

 

Well. I may have pulled a quick trigger. I had gone out to for some computer shopping and got the Samsung ssd evo 250.

The thing is, since this is not the (m2?) chip version, will I need to sacrifice the existing 1 tb physical hdd? Can both of these go together in the aw15r2?

Let me know please, I may need to revisit the shop in case I need to change it.

To make it clear my intention is to install this ssd drive as the os drive (the c drive if you will) AND use the physical 1tb one for the storage and games etc. So use BOTH not either.

Please advise the proper model in case I did screw up.

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If you bought this then you're going to have to remove the HDD. There is only one 2.5 inch drive slot. Sounds like you're going to need to return what you bought and buy a m.2 SSD instead.

 

Thanks for the reply. Can you point me to a product listing /link or the model number please?

Also would I be able to boot up windows from this drive?

Edit: is https://www.amazon.com/Samsung-850-EVO-Internal-MZ-N5E250BW/dp/B00TGIVZTW this the one?
Thanks!
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Guys am going back today in a little while to exchange the evo 250. Would appreciate any help on the possible model numbers and links for the ssd compatible with the alienware 15 r2 model. Thanks.

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I take it you're wanting a 250GB drive?

Here are some links to all the m.2 drives that will work.

Samsung 850 EVO - 250GB - M.2 SATA III Internal SSD (MZ-N5E250BW) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00TGIVZTW/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_FDDPxbN79FZZ8

And

Samsung 950 PRO Series - 256GB PCIe NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V5P256BW) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B015SOI392/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_kFDPxbY2SB359

* excuse the full links, I'm on my phone right now....I'll fix them when I get to the computer.

Powered by: Quad Core Exynos + 6820HK

 

Hello. Thanks for the efforts man. I already got the same one, m.2 sata version though.

This is something which is not clear at the places it should be. Well, now comes the installation. Any tips on installation and optimal configuration in Windows ? I need to boot from it with Windows and use the 1tb for storage.
Thanks!

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Refer to this thread. The most important part is going into the BIOS making sure the SSD is on ACHI and not RAID mode. You're also going to need to create a bootable USB to reinstall windows on the new SSD you have. You can learn how to do that here.

 

Thanks a ton @Shooby319 and @iunlock! Shooby for pointing me to that great thread and iunlock for all that work on the OP. Reps to both!
I am at office right now but after going through the all 17 pages of it, feel more than confident for going at it.

Will post back my results when I am through!

Thanks again!
Chetan

 

Hello Guys,

A couple of Q's for the SSD setup now!

My DISK usage scenario is going to be as below -

1. Use the Samsung Evo 250 as boot disk with windows on top.

2. 1 TB physical HDD as a dump drive for EE
(with 3 logical partitions).

A) SSD backups - Having heard a lot of horror stories WRT the SSDs and they way they *can* abruptly die, what is the best (possibly automated) backup strategy which can be deployed on the above setup?

B) USE OF SSD - Currently I use folder sync to sync my external Backup HDD with the 3 extended partitions (no primary backups). My existing setup uses all the profiles and "My Documents" sort of folders on the OTHER partition. Now that the OS would be on the 250 SSD, I intend to place my profiles and other recurring used docs as well on the SSD. Is partitioning the SSD a good idea? Is it using the same method like a spinner disk or anything needs to be done differently?

C) I generally use a VMware image for taking care of my work. Can I place this image and run off the SSD now.
I mean, is running the VM off the SSD along with the HOST Windows OS ok or advised? Or am I hastening the warning bells here?
In case yes, will I need any drivers in the client/hosted OS for the SSD?

As always, thanks for the replies!

Chetan

 

Duplicate, deleted. Sorry!

 

Samsung 250 EVO? you dont mean the 850 evo?

You can only use 1x 2.5inch drive which would be your 1TB drive. The other SSD has to be an m2 sized SSD card.

SSD's dont die that often though. I have yet to see one malfunction. I wouldnt parition the SSD though if it is your main drive.

 

Ah Yes. Meant the m.2, 250 evo. Sorry!

And using the 2.5 inch 1tb as well.

And yes, they are better now and don't die that much as they did previously but the backup strategy is still the need I want to fulfil.

Any particular reason why avoid the partitioning?

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An SSD's works the quickest with space available for caching etc. Lets say you need to have at least 10% to 25% of the space free for optimal results in terms of performance. This becomes harder when partitioning.

For backup I just advice you to use an external backup drive.

 

Thanks @rinneh. Let me explain my need in a bit more detail.

I am having a main SSD (m.2) with 250 GB and a 1 TB spinner. I want to split it in something like 150 for O.S. and programs and the rest for running profiles. This would include the documents folder, Firefox and Skype profiles and my local Mail PSTs.

I generally always keep my OS drive separate in case I need to wipe and clear (which happens at least once a quarter (may get lucky with Win 10, who knows )

Actually, I thought the way SSD stores data it should not matter if a partition is created at all. As for the OS based access, both the SSD and the OS see the same SSD drive with all the allocations and free space VERY differently. And the partition should be anyways just a logical break.

So, to sum it up, my only need of partitioning is better organising

As for the backup, yes, I would like to keep active images of the whole SSD + a backup of the 1TB spinner on an external drive. The query here is on the best application (preferably free) which can do this for me on a routine basis (preferably incremental) and which will help me restore the same as well seamlessly (when the time comes).

CK

 

I just got the Alienware 15R2. Relatively happy with it.....BUT the SSD speed.

So, I have had quite a few SSD's, mostly external and 850 EVO drives. Also, the SSD that came installed in my Mid 2014 Macbook Pro. All pretty slow when it comes to editing photos (zooming in to 1:1, even after fully building 1:1 previews) and clicking through photo after photo....

Over the past few years I've used i7 processor with 16gb ram and now my Alienware 15R2 has the i7-6700HQ processor, 16gb ddr4, 4gb video card, and PM951 samsung NVMe PCI-e SSD (I realize the read speed is only 1300mb/s and write is only 300mb/s...... Still no improvement.... What HDD do I need? Samsung 950 Pro that has 2500mb/s read and 1500mb/s write? I just want *instant* viewing of my 30MB photos... It's insane to me that this set up is not any faster than my 3+ year old i7 3rd gen laptop with slow samsung 850 evo ssd...

 

So I decided to give the AW 15 R2 another go seeing as using my alienware amplifier with my x51r3 just seems silly. I got one from the outlet and it has a 256gb m.2 and 1tb hdd.... the guys over at the outlet set the 256 as a cache drive for the 1tb spinner... WTF. I am debating sending it back because the whole reason I spent the cash I did was because I just wanted it to work. If I wanted to save quite a bit, I would have just put in my own 256 and dealt with all that jazz.

Long rant short... anyone have a guide on how to separate the 2 drives? I think I have done this in the past, but a short google didn't turn up much so if anyone has any experience with that or a link for me I'd be super happy. None the less, looks like I'm back for a little while longer.

 

By separating the 2 drives you mean Installing Windows on the SSD and use the 1TB for data i guess?

 

That is exactly what I did as well. Let me know if you need any help.

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I had to call customer service and they remotely logged in via DellConnect and did it for me. Took like 2 hours total or so. Mine came like that also....lame.

 

replying to my own question. Turns out Adobe Lightroom will never be instant. I have found a program which is.. Photomechanic.

 

2 hours... yikes. Its not that hard, pretty sure I could do it myself for less time. None the less at the price I paid I think I should just return it and stick with what I got. I am pretty sure that the next gen is coming soon with all of the new GPU's popping up here and there.

 

well i didn't have to stay in front of the computer for more than 15 minutes or so. How much did you pay for yours and what are your specs? you might be convincing me to return mine too...lol. I got refurb.

 

Mine is a refurb as well. i7-6700/970/16gb/256+1tb/970m/4k/2 year accidental warranty - about 1200 OTD. Not a bad price at all but eh.... If I wanted to spend time messing with boot drives I would have saved some money going with a standard hdd and done the work myself (I even have a 256 nvme laying around). With pascal and rumors of some AW refreshes in the works... not sure its a good buy at the moment.

 

I tried to return today but decided to take a $100 refund to keep it. I got pretty much your same setup minus the 4K and 2 year accidental warranty and it was 1100 or so....so now 1000.


Question for anyone.... Is it possible to take advantage of 144hz or 120hz monitors? And is it possible to take advantage of G-sync? If so, do you need a G-sync monitor? I would like to try G-sync with the native LCD screen..

 

Ya, you can output to 120 or 144... just need the hardware. Pretty sure G-Sync works but you will need the monitor.

So after reading this: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Nvidia...-1080-SLI-GTX-1070-and-GTX-1060.171566.0.html not sure if I will keep mine. They did offer the don't return it and take this discount but I am still 50/50

 

What did they offer you? $100 max? Do I have to use the USB-C for the 120 or 144hz monitor or will HDMI work?

Why not just get a 1080 or 1060 and the Alienware Amplifier? Will it be a huge difference? I read about the limited pci lanes or something.. I find my 970m pretty sufficient. Better than anything I've ever had by far at least...

 

Ya 100 max. I am 99% sure that is the most they can ever do. I have an amp and a 980 ti so its not like I am really that concerned with power, its more about resale value. When the new gen is 2x faster and on par with desktop the value of the 9xx series laptops will drop significantly. Not saying that I plan to resell this if I keep it, but usually within a year I swap and I like to usually keep 75% of what I paid because of a good deal.

Being HDMI 2.0 I think you can get 120/144hz out of it... but I am not 100% sure.

On a side note, I love my amp now that I modded it. New PSU makes a world of difference.

 

As far as I know Gsync only works if you use the graphics amplifier. All the ports are going through the Intel iGPU first.

 

Hey guys I have a new issue with my Alienware 15 R2. When the computer is idle in "Balanced" mode the CPU speed will not lower properly. The lowest the clock speed will go is around 1.3 - 1.6 ghz. Any idea why that would happen? As a side note, I've already tried changing bios versions and reinstalling Windows 10.

 

GTX 970m is now on the supported list for G-sync. It used to not be... even a month ago when I bought the 15R2....what does this mean? I hope it means I can enable G-sync on my native 15" screen....

 

You can't

 

To add to my question. I installed Windows 8.1 and it fixed the idle clock issue. Can anyone that has the newest update of Windows 10 and an i7 6700hq tell me what frequency your CPU idles at in Balanced power mode. It used to be around 0.8ghz for me and recently is closer to 1.3ghz.

 

what PSU does the 15R2 come with by default? I see you have the 180W PSU..

 

I have the 970m and mine came with the 180W PSU I listed, I haven't replaced it.

 

Mine idles at 800mhz.

 

new BIOS marked Urgent released on dell page 1.3.6

 

Well that's annoying I just updated to 1.2.15 from 1.2.2 because they said it was urgent. I think I'll wait a few days and see what happens to other early adopters.

 

Are you on Windows 10 version 10.0.14393?

 

You mean that 1 year anniversary edition? Nope.

 

Ok, I updated to it 2 weeks ago and just noticed the issue within the last couple days. It might be from the anniversary update then. Otherwise it could have been the cumulative update a couple days after that.

 

OK, is it worth upgrading to the higher watt PSU or is that only for the 17" model?

 

I can't really answer that since I haven't ever used the higher wattage PSU. I haven't overclock my system and it runs fine with the 180w block. Maybe someone else who has used both will have better information.

 

240W can be used on all Aw models outside the AW 18 which need the 330W.

 

Can anyone who has the latest Windows 10 build (Anniversary update) let me know what their CPU idle clocks are in the task manager.

 

My 15 r2 isn't sleeping properly when I close the lid.... For the third time or so I've found it quiite hot inside my laptop bag because it didn't go to sleep....... have i damaged it?