*OFFICIAL* Alienware 15 R3 Owner's Lounge

https://m.reddit.com/r/Alienware/co...ntment/?utm_source=mweb_redirect&compact=true

 

I'm disappointed, i really hoped i could switch between dGPU and iGPU, like, when i start gaming i switch to dGPU and for the rest i use the Intel card, now if i have the 120hz panel i have to specify which program will use the dGPU every time? that sucks..

 

are they sending out a new unit or just the display and your doing a swap ?

 

No; the 120HZ G-Sync laptop does not have the iGPU availible at all. Everything always uses the dGPU. No need to specify anything

 

just got off the phone with dell there sending me out a replacement due to light bleed issue , he explained to me the panel is fine its a mounting issue with the glue and how the screen is attached to the bezel , there aware of the issue and have changed providers and how the screens are mounted on the new builds.

 

watch that tech like a hawk, most do not know how to take apart the laptop besides the pdfs we can view. The tech at my house just started yanking crap out and broke a bunch of stuff in my laptop. Alienware had to send out another replacement due to it.

 

i know , delt with that in the past , there shipping me a whole new laptop .

 

Yeah that was my problem as well. A technician screwed up so bad that the screenlid wouldnt even close straight anymore. They sent me an upgraded R2 laptop after. They broke a R1.

 

What is this statement based on?


Also does anyone have any idea if and when they will offer the 1070 gsync with the HK cpu?

 

WOW, isn't that bad? i mean, if it uses the GTX1070 even for web browsing or YouTube etc won't it drain the battery way more than if it was the intel one?? And won't it be heating all the time and make the fans run?
What do you think about that guys?

 

Yes, it uses more battery and generates some heat, though Pascal lineup is quite efficient, especially when idle.
Anyway, some users already have theirs, maybe they can provide more accurate battery life statistics. Otherwise I will have mine next week, and we will see.

 

Optimus is pure rubbish; for pure GPU performance, the dGPU driving the display will be superior in every scenario; but you do loose some battery life. It shouldn't heat up if not running on full power. Web surfing and idling, word processing, movies etc... about 30 -50 minutes less. You should still get at least 3 hours

 

Thanks but the downloads have been back for a few days now


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I hope for a little more, i'll get the 99Wh Battery and it will add some weight to an already heavy laptop, i hope it could last at least 4hrs+ while idle / browsing web :/

 

I was talking to an intel rep and he told me it's used to see if a chip is bad or not . Never heard of it so figured it could help out others .

 

You have a download link?

Sent from my E6853 using Tapatalk

 

I have more performance than many gsync 1070 notebooks...Pure rubbish is what exactly ?
Extra input lag ? Fps drops ? Extra heats ? Problem when using hdmi out ?

I don't have any of those issues and have an optimus system .

 

I tested Witcher 2. Degrees is between low 70s to mid 80s CPU. Not bad.

It's only Witcher 3 that can spike till 93 degrees just for one second and goes back to high 70s to high 80s on average.



Sent from my E6853 using Tapatalk

 

Should I wait for Kaby Lake or just go ahead and order the AW 15, 1070?
If wait, how long is the wait we are talking about?

Currently running a 3 year old ultrabook.

 

This has been discussed extensively on the forums.

In short, on optimus systems, the Nvidia GPU renders the frames, but they still have to pass through the intel iGPU to get to the display, and you suffer about 3-5 FPS loss due to this. Without Optimus, the Nvidia GPU is connected directly to the display, so no losses occur.

Pure rubbish might have been hyperbole. More like Optimus is a minor choke point. It can aslo cause stutters and other software problems on some systems, but I haven't read about any on te AW's yet. I just think, unless you need to be away from an electrical socket for more than 3.5 hours (which many people don't need to be), you are better off without optimus.

 

I'd say with modern IGPU and nvidia drivers, this choke point is more 1-3 fps.
Stuttering and software problems were here when optimus wasn't mature enough, I've tried a lot of softwares and did not see those issues (vsync on when I can).
Optimus is here to reduce the heat in idle/light task and increase battery life, if you don't care about both, you're better off without optimus .

 

Really happy with my 1070/6820K/4K so far with exception of the incredible light bleeding on the right half of the screen. I'm thinking about taking it apart myself to see if I can even put the pressure between the bezel and panel. I've also got something loose inside the laptop near the right fan shroud. I opened up the back panel and couldn't see anything.

I'll probably call Alienware first but I'm not sure I trust their technicians to have the necessary care and expertise.

I haven't had any temperature issues, probably because I've been using a 1080 FTW in my graphics amplifier, which is helping keep the laptop cool. I will do a repaste at some point to improve temps and get a hold of whatever is rattling inside, but for now I'm just enjoying games at max settings on my XB271 monitor.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I nearly get twice the battery life by using optimus. With gtx1070 only i get around 3h and with optimus its close to 6h

 

99wh battery? just for web browsing/idle? double the time seems absurd, are you sure??? **** i really want that 120Hz GSYNC panel, that's a huge blow -_-

 

Sounds about right. If you look at review sites you'll find those that have Optimus support get about twice the battery life per Wh (ie, consume half the power) in idle tasks compared to those without it.

 

Is it just me that is having problems with scrolling in the main web browsers when running on my new AW15 R3? Despite there being no load what so ever (according to task manager), I just can't seem to find how to get scrolling to be smooth. This is when using the Intel GPU, haven't really tried it with the Nvidia GPU.

Edit:

Just tried switching to Nvidia and now the scrollling is smooth. Any idea why the Intel GPU can't handle this? Driver issues?

 

Y and U series already in production. U-series Kaby Lake is ALREADY selling in updated XPS13.

H series CPUs (45W) expected to launch Q1-2017. Everything depend of how quickly Intel will ramp up enough quantity. Since process is polished I dont see any reason for delay. I would say on Feb AW will start to sell H-series Kaby Lakes. Hope so at least.

 

New BIOS to fix the temperatures is out:
http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=F007Y

As to be expected, it's not an amazing difference, however I can confirm that it has helped at least somewhat with my CPU. I've found a difference of ~10C, which in turn has meant there's less throttling in extreme load tests. I'm still experiencing a high difference in core temps (up to 20C), so I suspect I'm still dealing with an uneven heatsink (or at least, the heatsink isn't making full contact with the CPU). I might try for a third attempt at repasting with more paste on the CPU this time and see if that helps, and if not I might try to get them to replace the heatsink (Dell Australia are adamant that a replacement isn't going to help and hence they're not offering it, only refund or repair).

 

Now that is really good news! Wanted to order the 120hz model, but now thinking to order regular 60hz. Maximum battery life is always a good thing to have
Can anyone else confirm the double battery life? Maybe someone with 120hz can make a little review about it? Also what to you guys think about the black Friday deals, should I wait till the end of week? Maybe there will be some good deals to grab?

 

Coding Websites and Java/Light Websurfing...
I havent done any "battery benchmarking" like batteryeater or stopped the Time for accurate data.
That was just what windows told me.. and from my (subjective) opinion this could be true.
I was from 8am to 5pm in class and the aw15 still had 20% left as i came home (ofc it wasnt powered on the whole time)

 

With absolutely minimal battery usage (ie, pretty much just notepad), yet with full brightness, I got about four and a half to five hours this morning. I expect Optimus would give 7 to 8 with this usage.

 

Guys, isnt there a way to scale the GTX performances down when its idle or web browsing? in GeForce manager or something? thats really annoying..

 

The GPU already does that. It uses 120W when it's under load, and only ~10W at idle. The problem is that that 10W is roughly the same as what the rest of the system uses at idle, hence why it's still double the total power consumption.

At the end of the day, for the Alienware laptops you're just going to have to make the choice between long idle battery life vs G-Sync with 120Hz.

 

hum that sucks, but i'm still going with that 120Hz panel, the few times i'll take it off power to browse the web, i don't think i'll need more than 3+ Hrs so...But that still sucks lol..

 

I thought that the gsync ones had the old crtl+F6 re-implemented. So that you could toggle between the igpu and the nvidia.

Alienware used to call this feature "Binary GFX"

 

Hello fellow 15R3 Owners...I've got some good news for you. So as many of you are aware or are experiencing the uneven core temps, along with high CPU temps...here's some hope.

News Flash: For those of you with the 15R3, keep in mind that the fans are smaller than the 17R4 so don't get let down by not being able to achieve the temps of the 17R4. Expect to have a little higher temps from the 17R4's, but if you repaste with liquid metal you should be well within the comfortable range so no need to worry.

The CFM ratings for the 15R3 are:
7.6 and 8.7

The CFM ratings for the 17R4 are:
12.1 and 12.8

This translates to the CPU fans being ~37% larger and the GPU fans being ~32% larger on the 17R4, which is a big difference guys so again, 15R3 owners, don't be discouraged.

Spoiler alert...

Can the 15R3 achieve as good of temps as the 17R4? - Drum roll....

YES! In fact, if you have a chip that is a silicon lottery winner, you can tune it to achieve some great temps! I've been here at my work station tuning a 15R3 for hours and finally found the sweet spot...check out the results! ( BTW notice the even core temps?)

1 HOUR of running OCCT. (Check out the average temps!)



Enjoy...

 

No, the Fn+F7 key combination is disabled for G-Sync motherboards. And note that the motherboards are indeed different; the display is connected directly to the GPU for G-Sync, so there's no way to ever use the integrated GPU.

 

Could you please explain what you did and how? Thanks

 

dell put that on my computer about 4 days ago, it doesnt do anything but keep the fans running longer lol.

 

@iunlock Big Thanks for getting my beast to perfect temps!

Looking forward to seeing what you can get the new 13 temps at!

 

It's been a blast turning your ice machine. In ratio to the 15R3 having smaller fans and cfm's than the 17R4, your temps are actually mathematically (size/cfm to chassis) better than my 17R4, which I think is the coldest we've seen. This is big news for the 15R3!

Also the uneven core temps have been cured and fixed...so that is another one for the win to give hope to those suffering with the uneven cores on the 15's.

 

I guess the upside to this is that the gsync versions also will be the only to support external gsync displays.

 

uneven core temps have been cured and fixed.. . is this in relation to the new bios ? as my temps are way off .

 

This is incorrect. G-Sync works on the DisplayPort output for an external monitor even on the Optimus models. I tested this on a 17r4 and it worked fine. The DisplayPort appears to be wired directly to the nvidia gpu.

 

is the gsync option only for the gtx1070 configurations ?
doesn't seem like you can get it with the gtx1060

as these 2 panels

15.6 inch FHD (1920 x 1080)
120Hz TN+WVA Anti-Glare 400-nits NVIDIA G-SYNC Enabled



5.6 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS Anti-Glare 300-nits Display

then there is the igzo

 

What were your pre-1.0.6 temps ?

 

Are you saying that even with a non GSync AW laptop you will get GSync on an external monitor that supports it by using mDP?

 

That's exactly what I'm saying. When Dell refers to "G-Sync" they are referring to the capabilities of the LCD panel in the laptop only. The video card supports it either way so as long as you have the proper monitor connected via DisplayPort then you're all set.

 

It seems today the 1060 is the only option available for the 120hz. Last week 1070 was default and 1060 was option. Not sure what changed?

 

I'm looking to order one in the last week of November. The configuration will most probably be fhd screen, 6700hq and gtx 1060. The thing is, I'm ordering it in the US but I'm in another country and my friend will be bringing the laptop. With the issues about the temperatures, is it advisable to order one considering my friend won't be checking much for problems and it can take quite some time for me to get it and hence no replacement ?