*OFFICIAL* Alienware 15 R3 Owner's Lounge

Like I said some Asus GL502/GL702 are IPS, but ask them to take a look at the inventory sticker on the side of the box, it should say IPS, otherwise it's a TN.

You could try it either way, you can always return it

 

On the AW15? No it isn't.
Edit: Nevermind, Asus.

 

Except in these cases your going to want the best cpu even more so as your not caring just about FPS but how the system performs at various tasks from file compression to video and photo editing ect. When your trying to replace a desktop with a laptop you are always going to want to go for the best cpu the laptop can offer as to get as close to desktop performance as possible.

 

What desktop applications, that most people run, *need* an LGA laptop??

Nothing.

Word? Excel? IE? Firefox? Outlook?

Nothing.

If you have a need for CPU rendering, explore GPU rendering, it's possible on most tools, and preferable as well.

CPU Benchmarking, that's it. You're personal usage. And, you're scores are so high there's no need for anyone else to compete

I'm happy you're happy with your LGA "leaf blower", but most of us don't need, want, or would like living with a loud laptop.

LGA in a laptop, it's just not needed.

No, you don't go for as much performance as you can get, you go for as much performance as you need.

There is a big difference there, and thank goodness most of us don't need a loud noisy LGA laptop as a desktop replacement.

A 6700HQ Quad core CPU is miles above those 15w-18w Dual Core ULV "laptops", and some people are happy with a ULV CPU for day to day use.

An LGA laptop would be a ridiculous choice for 99% of potential laptop owners, the fact it takes up so much discussion space here is silly.

 

So should I go for the 6700HQ or the 6820HK ? I'm about to order the AW 15 with a GTX 1070 and non GSync FHD 60Hz.
I'm traveling a lot so I will be using the laptop for gaming in hotels and when at home I'm planning on buying the graphic amplifier with a GTX 1080 and a big 32" screen connected to the AW 15.

There is more or less 100$ difference between the 6700 and 6820 here in Switzerland.

Thanks

 

Both the 6700HQ and 6820HK have been reported with the high core temperature differential, so can both fall victim to the uneven pressure heatplate issue, those 3 screws need to apply pressure evenly across the CPU for even CPU core temperatures.

Warning: Some i7-6820HKs and i7-6700HQ have Uneven Core Temps due to Uneven Heatsink Pressure
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ven-core-temps-due-to-uneven-heatsink.797477/

[Alienware 17R4 / 15R3] - Disassembly + Repaste Guide + Results
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ste-guide-results.797373/page-8#post-10377745

So there's no reason to prefer one CPU over the other based on cooling, just check to make sure you are getting CPU core temp differentials less than 10c when applying the same load to all 4 cores.

The 6820HK when cooled well can OC to 4.0ghz, or even higher, some get 4.1ghz-4.3ghz, but don't count on it.

If you like playing with tuning CPU / GPU performance, then get the 6820HK.

Otherwise it's an even choice between them if you leave them at stock settings, with the 6820HK 100mhz higher default turbo max on Core 0, which isn't much of an advantage.

You don't get value from the 6820HK if you don't OC it.

Please come back and let us know how it works out for you

 

fml the asus just went up in price by £250..

 

Shop around

Maybe that increase is to make the Black Friday price look even better

 

anyone know if i can do this ?

 

Not having done this on Windows 10, it's a guess, but yes it should re-register the new license automatically.

Or, you might need to call MS to get an override to allow the new hardware to unbind the old license before binding to the new one.

It's gone both ways for me with Windows 7/8.1 clone drives to new hardware. In all cases I have been able to resolve it without rebuilding from scratch - the clone worked.

Please come back and let us know how it works out for you

 

Yeah probably. To be fair I've had my eye on the 15" 1070 version for £1690 and the 17" 1060 version for £1350 for months now. That's why the drop to 1099 caught my eye.

..good thing it was in my basket already
I have had scan & overclockers confirm that it is an IPS display.

Cancelled my AW15 6700hq, 1070, 1080p TN gsync dispay, 512gb ssd, 32gb memory order for £2000.
Just grabbed the asus 6700hq, 1060, 1080p IPS gsync display, 128gb ssd, 16gb memory for £1100.

Seems like great value. I'll let you know what the temps are like.

 

Wow, that's a great price

Please let us know how you like it, here and in the Asus thread, when it arrives and you've had time to get to know it.

Have fun

 

What's the best way to clone the os ssd?

Sent from my SM-G935W8 using Tapatalk

 

Over the years I've used many tools, but right now Macrium Reflect Free does a good job.

MRF will let you resize the destination partitions to match size differences between the original disk/volumes and newer smaller or larger volumes.

I make an clone image file to put on a large USB 3.0 flash drive, and make the Macrium Reflect boot USB drive - both can be the same drive - or you can have a different boot drive and image storage drive.

I use it for full image backups too.

I make an image for the recovery image - original out of box configuration - as it's faster to restore using Macrium Reflect Free.

Then I make an image after doing all the updates, so I can restore back to that patch level easily.

Then I make and update occasionally my current image, maybe weekly or monthly depending on usage - sometimes I just copy over my User files to an external volume to keep documents, pictures, and downloads backed up.

Does AW have an app for doing an image recovery backup? MSI has BurnRecovery, Asus had a tool but used Windows 10 recovery last I checked. I would make a backup using whatever tool the vendor provides too, just in case

 

You can, it will deactivate windows you just have to do the automated phone activation. I did the same thing with my replacement.

Sad thing it's effecting more than Alienware. Other companies are having uneven cores.

If you want to overclock and play with benchmarks go 6820 if you just want to game and want cooler parts go 6700 it's about a 2-3 fps difference in gaming between the two, had both on the aw15r3 maxing all games at 60fps on both but the 6700 is stable gaming at 60-65 c and fans are more quiet.

 

Yes it's like no one knows how to mount a heatsink anymore Oo... and they like glue the screen to the bezel and or press the bezel so much on the screen ...come on man, that's just the best way to have light bleeds.

I mean think about it it's the opposite of logic : too much pressure on the ips screen, not enough pressure on the heatsink.

Really disappointed by this pascal generation of notebooks : overheating, light-bleed, gigantic price hike etc.

 

Yup, the MSI 6820HK uneven core temps came in first, but the AW issues have dominated the discussion since.

The MSI 6820HK uneven core temps were rare reports, most people show close core temps, so although it's possible for this to occur on other laptops.

The AW heatplate design means the 6700HQ and 6820HK can both show the core temp differential equally, and there are a whole lot more reports of this problem on the AW laptops, for some reason most people have the problem.

Someone just reported this on an Aorus laptop as well, their 6820HK has the same high core differential temperature problem.

I should note that this can happen with 6700HQ's too, it's just that most people that get a 6820HK are more likely to notice the problem - they are checking temps for OC and tuning, while most 6700HQ owners won't look - they should

 

Hey it's less than 1% consumers who have this problem

 

Its not the pascal gpu lines fault. it can be intels fault. the lightblees is manufacturer fault. the higher price is a given, because you cannot get twice the raw power for the same money! laso tdp is higher but thats ok.

Why does uneven core temps a problem btw? i mean, if the highest core temp is still ok, is that still a problem? why? doesnt the only thing to look for is to keep the cores under healthy temps?

 

I just received my 15R3 with the i7 6700HQ and 1070 yesterday. With an hour of benchmarking on Dirt Rally, I get core temps of 100, 93, 99, and 89. The average FPS is 72 compared to 97 for a single pass through. Is there any sense in trying to get this replaced or should I just return it? How good is Dell at waiving the restocking fee?

 

They all seem to come needing a repaste, and a tweak on the heatplate - your temps seem even though so that's good - you only need a re-paste.

I would assume the next one will be the same or worse... so far noone has come and reported "no problems" out of the box they have all needed re-pasting.

Unless you believe AW that 100c is a "normal" good temperature

There shouldn't be a restocking fee - get your credit card company involved if DELL try's to pull that on you.

Escalate to a supervisor, and tell them it's not acceptable and you don't want another one, you just want your money back - 100% of what you paid - including shipping costs back to AW.

 

if a core is higher than the other, the package temp is off the highest temp, so if you have one core at 90 and the other 3 at 60, then the fans will be maxed out and your boost clocks wont be as high, thus limiting your performace, i would much rather take a cpu with even cores at 70 on load verus 2-3 at 60 and the others at 80. Like I am having now. I even repasted and added more paste on the cpu to try to "fill in the gap" and did the arm bendy thing it dropped it to a 9c difference.

i would just replace it, with dell you kept the laptop they send you a new one, you can play with the old one till the new one gets there then they tell you to send the old one back. Everyone needs to do this to make Alienware realize they have a ****ing problem with their ****. I am on my 4th one and i got a friend I talk to he is also on his fourth one.

 

Yes I know, but nothing beats the new AW models. Up to 40C between the coldest and warmest core is rather extreme. + the max temp is pretty awful
I follow the threads and can see who complaints. The numbers is huge!!

 

Here is the Razer Blade Pro benching, its about as good as the 1060.... For a 3400 laptop that is sad, For all the haters out there, Alienware is one of the cheaper laptops and its 1500 dollar laptop destroys this, about the same thickness too.

Alienwares is a heatsink problem, plain and simple. Since when has 3 screw points been used for a heatsink. It will always create weird pressure points. Least on the 15 and 15 the top screw is in the middle and it applies some pressure to cores 0/2. the 13 has one screw on the top but its to the right side. From the looks of it, cores 2,3,4 will be fine and 0 will be cooking since there is no pressure on it.

 

it's all about that marketing... look we got a 1080 in this thing! that works at half its power....

Though I want to see if it's just his case or it's actually that much lower due to his settings or whatever.

 

not really, the 1080 is a 180 watt card, and the processor is 45, but you have to realize thats the max wattage, those items wont hardly hit that. even if you did thats 225 with max everything plus a 10 watt for the accessories and screen. the psu is a 240 watt, which can handle spikes higher than that.

 

It will be fun to see what fix comes out of the hat from ALIENWARE's CEO Mr. Azor - Umar. And a firmware update can not fix a flawed heatsink

 

Unless that firmware update limits the CPU down to 35 watt.


With my crooked 15's heatsink it was okay on 30-35 watt, beyond that temperatures would climb up to 99c+.


Edit:
Intel 8260 works with the AW15/17, currently the machine in my sig is browsing the internet using the 8260 wlan bought off ebay.

 

if it limits the cpu you still will have the temp difference just at lower temps.

 

I will report back with temps on my asus gl702vm (£1100) when it arrives instead of my £2000 aw15.
If AW has some nice black friday deals AND there have been progress on the heatsink issue (aka not just issuing bios updates and telling people 90-100c temps and 10-20 differentials is 'normal') then I will consider sending the asus back and re-ordering my AW15... won't hold my breath though. Shame as I am in love with the AW15 visuals.

 

Still no reviews of the AW17 with GTX 1080? And still no options to get a AW with GTX 1080 with optimus?

Personally, I don't really plan to game on anything as small as 17" unless I have to so G Sync on internal display isn't really worth anything, but Optimus for better battery times are worth a lot. I would imagine I am not the only one thinking like this.

 

Why not get a desktop then?

I'd guess most with a 17 will be spending a lot of time gaming on the unit. Otherwise they'd just get a 15 for portability.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Valid question but for me it is a laptop or nothing as it would also be used as a productivity machine (workstation). If the 15" offered 1080 with similar cooling capability it would be a no brainer. If MSIs didn't look like something designed by a 12 year old for other 12 year olds I might have considered that. Really like Aorus but their slim chassis just isn't a good match for a GTX 1080 as the DT model proves with throttling etc.

 

My dream machine is an alienware with highest cpu possible in a slim body without any dgpu, so we have a porable light laptop with the external case waiting us at home... i dont get why they didnt build one lol ?

 

Anyone believing that a Desktop with the necessary peripherals is as easy to move around as a 4,5 KG laptop really need to get out more

 

I created an account just to reply and add a few things that may help people in making a decision to order an Alienware 15.

I believe somewhere in the forums someone suggested to another to consider getting a Eurocom laptop. Please don't, I just spent a month and a half with problems regarding my Eurocom laptop and even bounced between two models (Sky X4E2 and MX5 R2). They are very poorly built (very flimsy and weak), but the main problem is their terrible customer service. To quote what an employee and CEO told me, "Today's IPS panels all have backlight bleeding. You can either keep your laptop and or send it back for a refund". They wasted a month and half of my time saying they will fix the issue and that no laptop costing over $2000 Canadian should have backlight bleeding, only to then tell me I don't have a choice in the matter. My suggestion is to stay clear of these kind of companies that lack proper customer support (It makes Dell's customer support seem amazing by comparison).

Back to the topic of the Alienware 15 heating issues. I contacted a rep and have a chat log in case problems do arise in the future about the situation. He assured me that Alienware is "aware" of the situation and all bugs have now been fixed. Here are the two important messages he said which lead me to keeping my order:

- "the Alienware did have this issue in the part. but I assure you all those bugs have been fixed now."
- "Not to worry, they have been recently upgraded and fixed"

Hope this helps anyone that's still deciding whether they want the laptop or not, but keep in mind, I'm just taking their word for it.

 

...When you have an LGA sure, but we are talking about a BGA laptop.

Actually I think if you wanted cooler parts you would go with the 6820 which can be undervolted and thus achieve lowest possible temps and max battery life.

 

Those reps will tell you everything to make a sale. I had 2 different ones who assured me all panels are 120hz

 

bruv be patient, it just released yesterday


@iunlock has a review unit coming in

 

6700HQ can be undervolted just as well. Dropped temps a bit and while it still gets to 91 degrees under stress it kept steady 60-70 playing the remastered Bioshock 2 (if that's any valid benchmark for CPU stress)

 

I thought that could be a problem. Since I have evidence from an employee that everything should be working properly in the laptop, I should be able to a get full refund or compensation for providing me false information.

I was apart of that whole m11x hinge fiasco that happened a while back. There were a lot of people complaining on the forums about their faulty hinges, but me and three other friends had zero problems with the laptop. Even now it's working perfectly for all of us though we don't use it anymore. So I figured although there are bunch of complaints, I might as well give Alienware a shot. If I happen to get a heating issues as well, then I will let everyone know on the forum. I should receive my laptop by the end of the week.

 

no

 

About to return my 2nd AW, I like this merchine so much! But Dell is destroying everything.
Guys, I know it's stupid, but do you think I should try to order again? Worry about only 3 screw on heatsink...
Any brands suggestion to replace AW?

 

Just received my alienware 15, 6700 HQ, 1060 and fps won't go higher than 30 on overwatch. Configured all settings to low. What am I doing wrong?

 

Is it plugged in? Playing on battery will do that.

 

Just ran prime95, and max temps were around ~75/98, with 96-98 on two cores and 75-76 on the other two cores. In comparison, my gt62vr runs at 64/57/64/55 max temps. I think I read from here that a repasted 15r3 runs about the same temps as my gt62vr.

The gt62vr costs $1400 at the time of purchase. The 15r3 costs $1650 after ebates but without dell Cashback. If you include dell Cashback, they both costs about the same. But gt62 has 256gig m2 and 16gig ram, while this alienware didn't come with a m2 and with 8gig ram. Im thinking about whether or not I should repasted and under bolt or just return the laptop and keep the gt62vr. On one hand, the gt62vr runs pretty great OOB, but on the other hand, it does not look physically appealing to me. The 15R3 looks amazing!

edit: what do you guys use to undervolt?

 

alt tab in and out of the game, i have that problem with full screen programs, it will lock at 30. I alt tab and go back in and it bumps it back to 60fps, or you can run windowed full screen.

 

Intel XTU

 

They said they fixed it, and they mean that. What happened: they changed bios in the new settings so the system will only shut duwn around 105C. They fixed the issue, becuase the laptop still gets around 100C (which is unhealthy!!!) but doesnt shut down. So problem Fixed. We have several quoted lines from reps where they say 100C in a cpu is normal and 15+C difference between cores is normal. So they did jackshit about the problem.

 

All I can do is hope it works since it's already been shipped. If I have the same problem, I'll just refund it and not even let them try to "fix it".