*OFFICIAL* Alienware 15 R3 Owner's Lounge

My AW15R3 is acting a Bit Strange... sometimes when the System is a bit under load my mouse starts to Freeze for a Second.
I think its driver related. Does some1 got the Same Problem?

 

Don't feel bad for me, my alienware never throttled out of the box and with a repaste and an undervolt it runs cooler than most pascal notebooks out there.
You're putting everything in one basket...the 6820HK has serious overheating issues the i5 and i7 6700HQ are fine, at least more than the average of other notebooks. Early adopters will receive a working 6820HK sooner or later because yes like it or not there's premium support.

Regarding lightbleed, sadly it's everywhere, dell xps FHD, hp spectre, msi gs73, nearly all laptops that i encountered had it...

The 6820HK seems to be known for its overheating issues...but when it's alienware a lot of people like to throw oil on the fire (no pun intended), they did a bad job of course with their thermal paste...but still. Btw I saw your msi 16L3 barebone clearly the best non bga out there , because I feel like clevos heat more with the pascal refresh.

 

First... Don't expect that all users of computers is very good with hardware and how you fixing problems. The machine should work out of the box. Although the temperature can be a bit high.

Mr. Azor has the primary responsibility for this mess. When the boss does not deliver... Then they should take the consequences and let other take over. Totally normal in business!!

 

normal users don't overclock an already very hot cpu , just saying. But you are right they should do a recall of 6820HK motherboards it's not acceptable.

 

What kind of mouse? Some wireless mice can do some strange stuff under Windows 10.

 

I know that But advertised OC profiles from the ODM/OEM should work without hassle. And remember Mr. Azor said their machines have a extra 15% limit on the cooling. Then You should expect a headroom for higher Oc, with stock thermal paste At least when the machine is new and clean inside aka no dust.

 

BTW, the cassini guy from Youtube, is from Dell.

 

Do you know what was my FIRST lesson during my first engineering internship ?

NEVER listen to marketing bull$hit.

 

I agree, and for most users, it does work out of the box.

Are you saying that Steve Jobs should have been fired because the iPhone 3G couldn't even last for the meagre reported battery life? Or Bill Gates should have resigned because there were security flaws in Windows 3.1? Problems happen. That's also totally normal in business. Dell needs to deal with it, but the idea of the GM being fired for a factory issue is ridiculous.

That explains why he's been able to get access to the machines faster than everyone else.

 

I think the thermal paste mess isn't a big deal. But sum it up. Have you forgot the PSU mess and the Hybrid mess afterwards? A few Small rivers will be a big river in the end And I haven't started with the Aw desktops. @Cass-Olé can tell you more about that.

 

I knew i was treading dangerous grounds.. expected to see some people defending their purchases.

 

It's nothing to do with defending purchases. It's a matter of laying blame where it's appropriate. Manufacturing faults happen, and there would be half a dozen sub levels of people under Frank Azor before you reach the person responsible for the problem (or even the person responsible for checking for the problem before it shipped).

If you want to make accusations about the direction Alienware is headed (ie BGA discussion) then sure Frank Azor is the one responsible, but a build fault at the factory? Definitely not him.

 

Where's a 6700HQ in this machine that is "fine" ? I'm not doubting you, I just haven't seen someone post up some benches/thermals of just the normal 6700HQ. The 6820HK runs at 3.2ghz across 4 cores.. and was already hitting near thermal limits of 100c under Cinebench R15, which takes like less than 60 seconds to run.. That's scary.. What other systems hit this level of thermals in under 60 seconds with 6700HQ/6820HK? Most laptops out there are still in the process of "Warming up" during this test.. and have to run OCCT/Prime95 for at least a few minutes before they see their upper limits.

 

Disputing where to lay the blame? I'm over that.. It sounds like you personally know the guy at this point. I'm more interested in why user's HAVE to professionally repaste their brand new machines to keep things under control.

 

No, I just know that a general manager isn't the one responsible for build issues.

You're right, they shouldn't, and Dell needs to do something to rectify the situation. Generally they have very good support though, and I haven't heard of anyone being refused a refund / replacement / service so far.

Look, I'm not trying to say this isn't an issue. The CPU temps are unacceptably high. For those willing to get their hands dirty, this isn't a significant issue as they can repaste their laptops (which is why a lot of people aren't going to be regretting their purchase). For everyone else, it's bad, and needs to be fixed.

 

I only re-paste for benching and overclocking. You can't use stock thermal paste from ODM/OEM or resellers if you bench at 4.8 GHz, but stock paste work for 4.0 and even 4.4 GHz. Overheating in bench with a wimpy 3.1 - 3.2 or even 3.8 GHz is nuts!! I talk about same multi on all cores!!

 

I'm just worried that AW is going to start telling people that their thermal issues are "Within spec" and hope it blows over... The sad part is that we're not the kind of people they want to sell to.. They want to sell the the average user that has no idea their CPU isn't performing like it should.. or that things are potentially overheating. Even if everyone on NBR returned their AWs back, they've already sold more to the general populace otherwise to not hurt their bottom line at this point.

 

Correct.. I don't think I can break out of the 50C range if I bench at 3.1ghz/3.2ghz across 4 cores.

 

Actually it's Vsync enabled alongside Gsync that does the frame limiting.

If the performance won't reach 120 fps to match the default refresh of 120hz, Vsync can't do anything to increase the FPS.

You need to decrease the refresh rate to just under the average FPS the laptop can perform in that game, and then Vsync / Gsync will be of use again.

Nvidia G-sync FAQ
http://www.geforce.com/hardware/technology/g-sync/faq

 

I have bench Cinbench R15 with a score of 1001 cb with @4.5GHz and max 48c degrees Almost same as idle temp on the new Aw machines

 

I don't think you understand how G-Sync works. If your average framerate is less than 120 fps, then enabling G-Sync is the only thing you need to do. There is literally no benefit to running the display at 100Hz vs 120Hz. If the game is running at 110 fps, then G-Sync will automatically reduce the display's refresh rate to match that. You don't need to do it manually.

 

I thought there was a range of operation where G-sync would track the difference between refresh and actual FPS, but below that it wouldn't track. So dropping the base refresh rate was required / desired.

If you have experience with using G-sync on a 120hz/144hz monitor, and G-sync tracks down all the way to 30hz, that would be great.

Does it work that way for you?

It should then also work if we do manually tune the refresh lower, closer to the actual average FPS of a game.

Whether there is a benefit to that or not, I don't know, but it would be fun to find out

 

There is a range at which G-Sync operates, but reducing the screen's refresh rate isn't going to improve the G-Sync range.

It depends on the specific monitor/panel, but G-Sync typically operates all the way down to 30Hz. FWIW, AMD's FreeSync is capable of working all the way down to 9Hz, but most FreeSync monitors only support down to 40Hz (and some not even that).

Yes, it should work, but as I said there would be no benefit. You're not going to get a lower G-Sync minimum by manually lowering the display's refresh rate.

 

Thanks for the info, I already had all those specs for G-sync, including the range of effective use, and it will be fun to test out how it works.

Please let us know how your use of the internal 120hz display works out

 

FYI you redeem the Gears of War 4 code here https://redeem.microsoft.com/enter

 

overclocking , when i boot to bios under advanced i click and enable cpu performance , however no other settings to overclock the cpu , am i missing something here ? what happened to level 1,2,3 you uaed to be able to select .

i have the i7-6700HQ (Quad-Core, 6MB Cache, up to 3.5GHz w/Turbo Boost

guess i need to get up to speed , my last system was the alienware m11x . any pointers would be appreciated,

thanks.

 

There is no overclocking with the 6700HQ. You need the 6820HK to be able to overclock.

 

You are stuck with 3.1 GHz on all 4 cores. And almost no software / games use single core. Aka higher Single core clockspeed up to 3.5GHz is almost worthless

 

ok thanks , on a side note is the 6700 cpu upgradeable on the the 15r3 ? if so what socket.

also side note configureing the 15r3 i no longer see an option for the i7-6820HK cpu i swear it was there last week.

 

No, it is soldered to the motherboard.

Depends on region and stock availability. For instance, it's still available from the Australian store, but only in certain configs.

 

you can find people on this forum that only come to throw sand hahahaha i have a desktop CPU!!! look my 8Ghz OC.... we dont care a **** about your ugly machine ... your battery cant last more than 1 hour unplugged, so in this order, you have a ugly desktop with a cable to the wall.
i think the purpose of this forum is trying to help people.

also I dont believe on your temperatures .. you should be using a cooling stand or something like that. if you show a video using your laptop in a normal desk and make a burn test in aida64 xtreme edition (all options marked) using your 4.8Ghz i will belive your cooling system is perfect ...

 

I have all bench on video (as backup for verification of scores). But these are reserved for people who understand hardware and have the same interest as yourself. You can only believe what you want. I help people all day. All brand, models socket or BGA hardware. I help everybody if I can. If you mean other ODM/OEM's models is ugly. I haven't problem with this. All can't have the same meaning about what's nice or pretty. Same with the internals!!
Ps. I always use cooling stand, if this is what you call it
Dust cleaning inside the laptop only two times a year. Work very well.

Spoiler: My mod cooler master U3

 

@Papusan using a cooler is not the same as stock ... and more with that types of models that have a lot of air entris on the entire back of the laptop. for example i like to use my laptop without cooler and i always make benchmarks without using it, becase is something like unfair. if my laptop cant do the benchmark without using a cooler is not only my laptop, i have to say that i used a cooler to reach that temperatures the CFM that a cooler can give could be insane !!! i dont like when you laught when someone laptop is overheating ... bga, bga .. for example i will always choose a 6820hk over a 6700k because of less energy ussage, if you pull that 95W cpu and half of your gpu you could damage your battery, becase they are not made to give this insane amount of wattage. but yes, i love the performance too .. but the balance between performance and portability is really important to me.

 

Who in goods name run fully load aka +4.8 GHz on battery? 2x 330w is more than enough for feeding a laptop(not all laptops is crippled with battery boost aka Hybrid bios). As well a single 330w can be good for +423w in bench, but not 24/7 Have tested it.
You forget the advantage of ThrottleStop. 4 power profiles on the fly. 4.5 - 4.6 - 4.7 and 4.8 GHz with A single keystroke. Or make BGA clockspeed if you want more portability...
And don't expect a notebook cooler will give many degrees down. This is well tested.

 

a single usb Artic breeze fan can give me 5°C difference i could not imagine a moded cooler master U3 for example, it can give you a big improvement, not only in cpu and gpu, also in pch, ram, SSD, etc ... and seen your pictures at 20°C i can only think you are using conditioner air or you live in a super cold country. with really good ambient temps, a good cooler can give you a 15°C or more difference. I have studied that a lot of things related to heat exchangers. and i dont need to go far, my cheapy usb fan give my 5°C improvement, that in terms of overclocking is a lot.

i know you can downclock your cpu, but your system consume an insane amount of energy that could compromised your battery life. one of the first things i look is the battery in a laptop 99Whr is the to end in this moment. you cannot run at full speed using your battery, in the other hand i can. i dont know if the 1070 users can but I'm certainly sure that they can. Can you do it ? R// no or yes killing your battery

 

@Papusan also the materials used on these laptops are really cheap .. for example give me the code in the plastic that appear on the back side of your laptop ??? for example the back of my alienware is made of a composite of polycarbonate + carbon fiber at 20% (LEXAN FRA 460). the palmrest is made of Polycarbonate + ABS (Iupilon TMB1615). just look and give us a picture .. i will traduce the code for you, i studied a lot of materials too. i can ensure that is cheap plastic made.

 

You can't possibly think that everyone will like a laptop that has 2 * 330W PSUs...

Once again
BGA => portability, battery life
DTR => performance and upgrade friendly

There's no PERFECT laptop, each to their own. I NEED portability and battery life, and yes I need Optimus...I wish a socketed slim laptop with decent battery life existed but NOPE, since we have to use desktop CPU it's not really tailored for portability .

Now tell me, do I need to run throttleStop EACH time I want the undervolt or there's a background task that will do it once you set your parameters ? I'm using XTU because it has the xtuService process, but everyone seems to prefer TS for UV.

 

i tried to cut the back panel with an industrial laser cutter and it cant pass through (i was trying to make a pattern) .. the back panel is insane heat resistance because of carbon fiber .. in fact all the back finish is made of that composite. the machine was a high end laser cutter

 

This is my second Clevo. Is pleased with the plastic quality. Not as good as my Aw 17 but more than approved. Even more pleased with the performance of P870 BGA-KILLER. I hold all the processor bench records for 4 core i7 in laptops High performance is what I appreciate the most in computers. I Can't stand run benchmark with a weak soldered i7 , as this gives me nothing. Regarding the palm rest aka quality ... The Coating on palmrest on AW models are useless!! See this forum or other places on the web... And you will see/undestand why. There are many ways to judge the quality of the material and cooling in a laptop. You look on the plastic quality and thin design. I prefer raw performance. Thats it!! I cant get high performance from a AW machine. Either a Clevo with socket hardware or a home build desktop rig with phase cooling I used before.

Edit. @wickette Set your OC in ThrottleStop. Then You can Setting a scheduled task in Windows. And TS start When you log on

 

that is you, i cant live paying an insane amount of money for a monster in a cheap plastic box

 

@Papusan and yes, there are many ways to judge the quality of the materials like mechanical properties, thermal properties, thermal expansion, corrosion resistance, fatigue resistance, toughness to impact, deflection resistance, etc ...

 

Yeah, That's why I switched back to Clevo from AW But I will come back if Alienware have something to offer me. I dont look on the brand name!!

Spoiler: This is too much for me

This is too much. Only a few flaws. And 24 motherboard swap for only 4 Aw owners is too much. http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...aming-wont-turn-back-on.796294/#post-10349641

But I assumes that you have seen all the threads / posts. We don't need to discuss this in such details.

 

My 15 r3 with 1070 and 6820 runs to 90+ degrees the moment I do stress test on CPU. What can the reason? There is no paste at all?

 

Probably need re-paste. Bios will probably not fix it. And Your new laptop isn't the first with this problem.

 

Are they getting overheated the NEXT second stressing it?

 

I don't know. But you could run Cinebench R15 and see how fast temp rise with only processor in use http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/cinebench-15-download.html

 

I tried with AIDA64. First time it climbed to 90s in seconds. 2nd time I clicked the button, it shut down.

 

For having owned 3 clevos I can tell you that they're FAR from perfect speaking of quality, thermal control, thermal paste and overall build quality.


Personnally speaking :
With my last clevo :
- Had to repaste out of the box 93°C CPU in P95
- Had to change the bezel as it was popping off each time I opened the lid (nice...)
- Changed the keyboard...because yes when I pressed W in a game and released the keyboard felt that it needed to keep pressing on for few seconds, great in a gaming laptop (not a mechanical problem btw, the heat of the CPU was damaging the keyboard)
- Had a bios/Ec crash once : bip bip bip, fan maxed out and shutdown. a bios CMOS battery reset solved it.
- They take months to release ONE bios to crrect stuttering issues, video out issues etc. And after few biosesthey stop releasing them and it's up to prema to fix clevo (i love this guy).
- And let's not talk about Clevo Control center.

But I really loved my P650SG tbh, overall it was great but not perfect !
What you like is the freedom in a clevo to do anything you like (change CPU, delid (not on my p650 of course), UV, thermal paste) and put the bios you want etc. that... i kinda miss ^^,
once they fix the few quirks of the P650SG or they improve the quality and thermals of the batman P77xDM will hope in the clevo train once again surely for Volta .

 

Either apply a new thermal paste yourtself or call and book tech Alienware / Dell so they can do it. The other option is to return the machine and get a refund You can't use the machine as it work now. You will kill it.

@wickette I'm talking only about my experience with Clevo vs Dell. Of my last 5 laptops. It was just my Aw 17 who had problems with the quality. Others will of course experience the opposite. No brand will be perfeckt But 24 motherboard swap for only 4 Aw users is amazing

 

Will repaste. Is 1 gram Kryonaut enough? Because for larger pack they charge 20 euros for shipment.