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

@Mobius 1: Did you try this driver http://www.station-drivers.com/inde...tory&Itemid=353&func=fileinfo&id=1746&lang=en
Hey, it looks like the scrolling **** is actually a FW issue, HP issued a fix only for their lappies http://www.station-drivers.com/inde...itory&Itemid=353&func=fileinfo&id=483&lang=en

 

mm that's weird

 

Hello Vasudev,

The drivers installation roll back mid-way. I am unable to have them installed completely, tried twice. Checking the installation logs it does not give much help. Any idea if I need a specific version?
My AW 15 R2 contains -
1) Killer 1535 802.11ac 2x2 WiFi
2) Killer Bluetooth 4.1

I have attached the install logs as well, kindly check and revert.

Edit: I have rolled back to the DELL factory version for all 3 devices (3 separate installations). Please advise.

 

Is this a dead zone already? C'mon!

 

Use Revo to remove the older Killer drivers, If possible, disable your 3rd party AV ( Windows Defender is okay)

 

Does anyone use" CPU Performance mode" on the bios and can tell me what it does. my laptop gets a little warm on my lap and I tried fan performance mode but it is like 100% fan all the time. I dont know if CPU performance mode is just a fan profile that is a little more mellow. I want a custom fan profile that is cooler than stock but not balls to the wall all of the time... I use my laptop for work 100% fans for 8 hour days would kill my fan lifespan and my co workers ears...

 

Use HWInfo to create custom fan profiles. Be sure to disable EC support ( In hwinfo) before continuing.

 

Hwinfo is not reliable though. Sometimes it stops working and the laptop heats up tremendously.

 

Or force max fans with Hwinfo if you push your hardware to max. Better than have to use Dell's max fan solution in bios.

 

Thats idneed a pretty good solution.

 

Hello,

So my "PC starting in the bag when suspended" problem has returned.. and returned with a vengeance. So much so that the laptop has been found 3 times this month with near 100 degree temps and
too hot (burning hot in fact).

The issue is a strange one.. even a hibernated session resumes in the bag.. so either the motherboard has a short or the power / switch is issue ridden.

The Motherboard was recently replaced for other issues like a malfunctioning USB post and heat related.

Now for this issue, I tried to update BIOS but it says the BIOS is locked and I cannot update it!

Any one has any idea on these issues?

So many things are plaguing this system, but DELL India says they won't replace it as it was bought in the USA. So endless repairs is what it is...

 

Do you have a wireless mouse dongle inserted?

 

Have you checked if AV is interfering with the update? If so, disable protection for 15 mins and check it out.
Check what settings are applied right now, When I close lid and Power button in Advanced Power options.

 

ADAPTIVE BRIGHTNESS!!!!! Is there anyway to disable it on the 15r2 with the 4k touch panel? I have gone into the Intel graphics and windows settings and changed those but I cannot get it to disable. Whoever thought adaptive brightness was a good feature should be banned from any sort of future product development....

 

if im right, there is no adaptive brightness sensor on R2, or may be im wrong.. for me that option never worked even back on my R1,

 

Maybe touch version has adaptive brightness option.

 

Yeah may be the QHD panel.. not so sure.

 

Greetings,

I installed a 2nd m.2 SSD into the 2nd slot, now the hdd light turns on permanently. If I remove the SSD, and boot only with the main SSD (where win 10 is installed), it's working normally i.e. the hdd lights act normal and not permanently on.

I'm running on AHCI mode and made sure no background apps are running

Please help.

Thank you.

 

New BIOS is available for Alienware 15 R1. A08. Anyone flashed? Is it ok? Any changes? (for eg. with fan profile)?

 

Hello Guys,

I am having a issue with my alienware 15 r2 gtx980 and I would appreciate if anyone could help me with this problem. While a play an specific game (Miscreated) at all times my charger stops supplying the laptop, i can see the lights of the charger some times lighting up and then five seconds it goes down and stops permanently. so i have to plug it of from jack and plug in to start working again, but once i try to play again it keeps doing the same thing, which makes impossible playing. Dont know what to do at all, the charger is working well while i do other things on the laptop, no problem at all, or even playing different games it doesnt happen this issue. i have tried already to put down the Core Voltage Offset -0.120 it worked for a little while but the issue came back. the charger is an original one and i have checked and it seems everything ok with it.

Anyone could help me?

Thanks in advance

 

Very little traffic in this thread any more; I guess everyone has moved on to R3 (or other makers). I did the exact opposite. Shopping the Dell Outlet Memorial Day sale, I ultimately opted for a 15R2 instead of 15R3. The 15R3 doesn't come with a touchscreen option, and I insist upon that in my laptops now. Also, the 15R2 are a bit better bang for the buck IMO. Yes I realize it's last-gen tech, but unless you're an XTREEME gamer (I am not), how much of a difference is it going to be?

The 980m appears to be comparable to current gen 1050/1050 TI performancewise, so it's really no slouch.

I just read through the entire thread and there has been very little discussion/review on the 4K Touchscreen option on the 15R2. Was it that expensive of an option originally, or just limited/late option on the model? IMO it's gorgeous.

The one I got had the 4K touch, 980m, 32GB RAM, 256GB NVME SSD + 1 TB HDD. Out the door after tax at $1023 and the rebate cash back will ultimately bring it down to $950 net.

Appearancewise it looked brand new, although the LED under the right speaker appears to be out. No biggie... once the cash back clears I'll contact Dell about it.

I had also order a new Lenovo Yoga 720 to compare, and after many benchmarks, overall the AW was on par or slightly ahead, despite the Yoga being newer tech. The Yoga was $200+ more as well. Back it goes.

The one area where the AW came up way short against the Yoga was SSD performance. I think I might drop in a Samsung 960 EVO for the boot drive and relegate the stock Toshiba SSD to storage or caching.

I hope Alienware brings back the touchscreen in future generations.

 

surprising that there's a new bios for an old model

maybe you want to be the first one to test?

 

Not at all. Remember Dell pushed out the G/A for older models and is committed to support it. But don't expect other features or performance improvement than better support for the G/A. The laptop models itself will still be crippled!!

 

@Mobius 1 @judal57 @Papusan @rinneh : I observed strange problem since couple of months. Whenever I game on battery the screen dims to lowest brightness level and usb mouse/devices gets disconnected. Even the battery itself is hot to touch, I observed this on Windows only and not on Linux. Any insights? Continuous gaming on battery causes to shut down itself and refuses to power up unless I connect AC adapter. Is the problem caused by battery? My battery wear level is at 10% after daily battery usage for web browsing, college work etc.

 

with 240w or 180w psu?

 

Of course its 240W since in India you get models with 980m only.

 

have you tried gaming with another psu and/or with battery disconnected?

 

@Mobius 1: My problem is exactly the same as this one https://na.alienwarearena.com/ucf/s...tness-and-disconnect-usb-devices-when-battery
Does Dell use arctic thermal pads?

 

they use tissue thermal pads

arctic is better, does amazon.in sell?

 

I think Dell used Arctic Thermal pads in mine. [Q] AW 17" R3 / AW 15" R2- Repaste now or wait until your warranty expires?
Dunno why one to buy?
Arctic Ones: http://www.amazon.in/s/ref=nb_sb_no...-alias=aps&field-keywords=arctic+thermal+pads
Fujipoly: http://www.amazon.in/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias=aps&field-keywords=fujipoly

 

those aren't arctic

you can use fuji on the VRM, as they're important

lesser parts such as the vram and chokes can do with arctic

also use thermal pad for the backside vram modules and connect them to the keyboard

 

Can you post an image on how it looks and what measurements the pads must be. Because I have no idea about thermal pads. I didn't understand what you meant by this? also use thermal pad for the backside vram modules and connect them to the keyboard
VRM, you mean the black metal things or chokes right? Thermal pads are new things for me.

 

@iunlock

believe all thermal pads are 0.5 on the r2/r3 aw17


on the back of the motherboard, facing the keyboard, there are vram modules. you can use thermal pad (1mm) to make a thermal connection between the VRAM module and the back of the keyboard for better heat dissipation

 

::iunlock::

 

Won't it stick to back of the keyboard and it will be difficult to remove the palm rest w/o damaging the pads in case battery fails and we need to replace it

 

that's thermal adhesive, not thermal pad

 

Hi guys - new to this - have a AW15 with R9 m390x running stock drivers, how does one overclock the GPU?

 

Use MSI Afterburner.

 

Try clearing the cmos. SOmetimes the EC gets weird in the alienware. If that doesnt help, your battery might have gone bad though. What are the battery stats?

 

Did that several times, even installed Creators update clean installed. Whenever battery thermistor value crosses 35C it simply dims the screen to 0% brightness and USB devices are unplugged/disconnected. If you use GPU based tasks on battery be it Blender or VS, the battery feels very hot and GPU performance is low. I used to play games on battery and it ran perfectly. Should I contact Dell?

 

Hmm the battery does become more warm, on the left side of the palm rest when in use. Its providing quite some watts of power. BUt it shouldnt dim the screen etc. Maybe 1 of the battery cells is gone?

 

Anyone try bios A08 on AW15 R1?

After I installed it, FN + F1 doesn't toggle Graphics Amplifier switching any more if its plugged in. Ever since I installed the bios it stopped working. Reinstalled AW command center and GA software, and it won't work any more. If I click the button on the GA cable connector, that doesn't trigger anything either.

I have to turn off the computer in order to disconnect the GA.

 

so the latest bios breaks the GA functionality?


with GA afaik you have to restart to disconnect

 

I meant that the FN+F1 button doesnt work any more. You cannot prompt or force restart to disconnect GA (setting for button is in AW command center). You have to turn off the laptop and GA cable the plug out. Also, the button on the GA cable itself doesn't do anything anymore. It won't prompt or force restart.

 

Its worth checking Graphics Amplifier settings in AW Command Center.

 

Has anyone installed the Samsung 960 PRO / 960 EVO on the 15 R2? Trying to find out a few things

- Is there a noticeable performance difference in system speed as against the 850 EVO
- How easy is the install process? Does it work well on UEFI boot? (never got my 850 EVO to work on UEFI, had to switch to legacy)

Anticipating feedback. Thanks

 

For normal tasks and games no difference at all. Unless you copy/read 4k movies along with OS updates, web browsing and even editing a 4k movie, PCIe SSD is superior in these days to service all apps w/o any slow downs whatsoever.

 

850 pro is a better choice

 

Yeah, 850 Pro is a damn good choice. I don't touch ssd's with TLC nand. Not even ssd's with the new TLC 3D-Vnand. Buy biggest possible size and put it in your next computer as well.

 

The and it will become even worse QLC is coming......

Even though my oem samsung tlc is going okay regarding disk health. I prefer mlc or slc still for long term durability.