*OFFICIAL* Alienware 15 R3 Owner's Lounge

Yes it is.


6820HK is the only cpu that should be bought for non-xeon usage

 

I'm curious why you think this? I've had three notebooks all with a 6700hq.

Mainly because the 6820 is never available on dell builds in Australia.

 

I don't use GeForce experience and I just choose custom install when installing the Nvidia drivers and untick GeForce experience.

 

It doesn't make sense to why this cpu exist

6700hq compared to all other cheapest variant of i7 ivy/haswell quadcore MQ cpu is the slowest

 

So it's just slow not poorly designed?

 

It's just too slow, yes.

Would be a waste of money buying this when you have a powerful GPU.

 

I would have picked the 6820HK, but it's not available for the model I wanted. Only with the GTX1070 can you choose to upgrade.

How does the 6700HQ compare with the 4700HQ?

 

On nvcp you can set 60hz qhd resolution

6700HQ = 3.1 max stock
6820HK = 3.6 max stock - the catch is that you can overclock to 4 or higher (usually 4.2 is what I would recommend for daily use)

4700MQ = 3.4 max stock / 3.6 single core
4700HQ = cannot hold boost


The problem with HQ Haswell/Broadwell chip is that they have a defect which makes boost clock unsustainable, save for few chips (extremely rare!)

I would say that the 4700HQ/Broadwell equivalent is worse than 6700HQ, but a 4700MQ will be faster than 6700HQ (if you don't mind a few extra watts of power draw)


Only real advantage of 6700HQ is lower power consumption.




I highly urge everyone to read @D2 Ultima 's CPU guide!

 

3.2GHz 4-core load, not 3.6GHz. 3.6GHz would be with OCing. The fastest skylake mobile chip is the 6920HQ at 3.4GHz boost stock (4 core loads for both).

with OCing, yes.

It's not the clockspeed in itself, but rather power draw. 47W max, to be specific. If you're not at the power limit for usage, you can boost to whatever. I had to make 4980HQ users from MSI unlock their in-game FPS in games like BF4, because they kept telling me their chips held 4GHz+ while gaming. After unlocking the FPS, the CPU actually did some work and they throttled hard.

4700MQ OC'd to 3.4GHz on 4 cores will surpass a 6700HQ. Especially with some decent RAM, where it's hard to find good mobile DDR4 RAM but easy to find good DDR3L mobile RAM.

 

I think everyone should give the cpu a bit of nudge using TS regardless

Fixed my post, didn't do it quick enough though.

 

I wouldn't buy anything under 3.6GHz for an i7 if you want to game. 6820HK or 6920HQ are the only mobile chips worth anything.

 

I have posted this in "Which Computer Should I buy" but this is really the right forum for it.

I have purchased an Alienware 15r3 with i7-6700hq, GTX1060 16gb of 2666 RAM and the 4k Screen.

I do not intend to use this primarily for gaming. I want a high power machine for good number crunching (I have enormous datasets that I do graphical and statistical analysis on) and photo or video editing and I want a machine that will last for ages. Also, although I would really really love to have a lighter machine, I want the longer travel of the Alienware keyboard (coupled with a great screen) -- so I must take the Alienware weight. I will game a little bit but not that much.

I was in Dell Hell for a while ordering that machine (my experiences were horrific and included being yelled at and hung up on). It just arrived. I have not opened the box yet and I see that they have a newer Alienware 15r3. It has an i7-7700Hq which Passmark seems to think is about 18% better than the i7-6700HQ. In addition, it seems that they might have improved the case and cooling a bit since the September launch with the Skylake processors. (Can anyone confirm that the new computer case is somehow better than the one I just bought?) But, so far, the newer machines with the Kaby Lake do not seem to have the UHD 4k Screen. I realize that 4k gaming is a stretch, but as I said, that is not my priority.

So -- opinions please: Should I keep this machine or should I get the upgraded machine? (Or do you think something else would be even better?)

(Edit: I believe that there is nothing new to the case now that I look at the press release. So the only difference is the 17-7700HQ and the missing 4k Screen. I think the 4k screen might show up later this month).

 

You should wait for the 7820HK, the 7700HQ isn't going to be significantly better than the 6700HQ.
18% is only on short benchmark runs, once you optimize both system the long term sustained workload on CPU will show that the two chips are equal. *Unless 7700HQ has partially unlocked multiplier*

 

Has anyone played with the 1.09 bios? what exactly does it do? I do not notice any difference in the computer

 

are being still experiencing thermal throttle with their december purchase?

 

Does overclocking a CPU affect its power draw at idle? i.e. does overclocking simply raise only the maximum frequency or does it also raise the minimum frequency.

 

Only when loaded

 

Yes, I know this, I just forgot to mention about switching to the integrated GPU after switching to 60hz in that post.
But as I've already found out it is not possible due to the direct connection of the dedicated GPU to the display..

 

yea if you got a gsync display there is no igpu for you.

 

Even with a non gsync screen you cannot use igpu

I tried a 15R3 4K and 17R4 FHD screen on a gsync model 17R4-1080

 

Are you sure, several people say that you can click the hardware button (f5 or around there?) to turn off the dgpu. This cant be done with the gsync as its hardwired to the gpu therefore not allowing the igpu to connect to anything. My non-gsync 4k comes in tomorrow and I will test this but this was a major factor in my purchase so I hope you are incorrect.

 

I thought that non gsync systems had optimus which uses the igpu and then only the dgpu when needed. Also as I understand the non gsync versions have the laptop display connected to the igpu rather than the dgpu. If the igpu can not be used why is the monitor connected to it rather than the dgpu?

 

Which power limits PL1 and PL2 should 6700HQ have? XTU shows 92W for both as default.

 

with a gsync motherboard, even though it is connected to a non gsync panel, it will refuse fn + f7 switch to optimus mode

 

with the 6700hq it is not needed to raise the power limit


3.1ghz turbo can stay below 45 watt


the only thing left to do is to return the unit and get a 6820hk model

 

Oh so your talking about when someone took a gsync system and removed the gsync display from it and replaced it with a non gsync display. In this case the display is still connected to the dgpu and not the igpu and thus no igpu usage.

Unless he orders from the sale section they only got 7820hk now and if you want optimums support or anything other than the 120hz TN you are going to need to wait for them to offer it.

 

I did replace my 17R4 gsync with 15R3 4K non gsync yes

 

The 7820HK is an option -- no need to wait. What is not available is the IGZO IPS 4K Display. That is what I would have to wait on. I suspect that trading up to the 7820HK cost me about 7% more than what I am paying now.

So what are the differences in measured performance of the CPU? It is not hard to find 6700HQ benchmarks. It is a bit hard to find 7700HQ benchmarks. And 7820HK benchmarks are very rare at this point.. The only place I can find all three is CPUMonkey. Here are some results from that website (I hope that posting will allow the spaces to format correctly so that this is a table).

PassMark Cinebench R15 MC Geekbench MC
i7-6700HQ 7975 672 13212
i7-7700HQ 8790 762 14668
i7-7820HK 9052 748 15105

Based upon that, I see a 13% improvement with the i7-7700HQ (for a 7% increase in cost) vs a 14% increase for the i7-7820 for a 25% increase in cost.

Which makes me think the i7-7820 is not worth the extra money. Unless I were to overclock. But overclocking gives me concerns about CPU and other component longevity.

For other comparisons between the i7-6700 and i7-7700 I looked at UserBench. It gives the 6700 points as follows: 90, 316, 483.
The 7700 gets 107, 371, and 524 points. Which suggests the 7700 is about 15% better than the 6700.

When comparing the 6700 to the 7700 on the Passmark CPU Benchmark page i see a result of 8105 vs 9145 -- which is a 13% improvement.

Now, if I assume that the UserBench difference between the 6820 and the 6700 are about the same as between the 7820 and the 7700 then this would mean that the 7820 is about 24% better. Or if I assume the same using the Passmark CPU benchmark scores, it would be 68%. These two results roughly match but I would expect UserBench to have included overclocking

But at this point I am speculating quite a bit. Certainly CPU Monkey does not support this speculation. But if that speculation is correct the improvement of the 7820 is worth the increase cost -- but only just worth it -- while the 7700 is definitely worth the upgrade cost.

So, at this point I definitely want to trade my machine in for the 7700, but the problem is that they don't offer the 4k screen at this time. If they did, the decision would be slam dunk.

I wonder how long it will take them to put the 4k Screen in. If they can get this done before January 30th, then I am probably going to make this trade.

If they don't then I am not sure.

 

7820 is meant to be overclocked

I can't comment on the screed situation atm

 

alienware 15 R3 with 6700HQ - 1070 - 120hz
,
i did undervolt with throttlestop the cpu/ cpu cache by 150 mv and the igpu by 50 mv.

and getting temps on full load with occt after 25 min of 67,71,64,62

Otherwise i do have the 120hz tn pannel with gsync so igpu will never be used, it's possible to just disable it, no use at all.

will test now with some games...

 

Also for those wondering the overclocked cpu should only use the extra "power" that an OC takes when it is under full load. So when on battery if your not stressing it you should not stress about battery life. It does though prevent you from undervolting and extending battery life that way, unless you managed to OC and decrease voltage by winning the lottery lol.

 

Great post with a lot of time spent, thanks! One thing to remember though is that comparing the HK not overclocked at all is not really showing the benefit. The cpu is intended to be overclocked and even at a modest overclock would probably add 10% improved performance. If you don't want to spend time doing the OC, you can use the stock oc settings in the bios to get more out of the cpu. Also if you ever intend to use an alienware amplifier, you will get more headroom bc of the OC and the better cooling when on the amp. Although I completely agree that the 7700HQ is a good improvement and worth it, I really think the HK cpu's are really the only way to go.

 

But if we use Intel XTU for overclocking, what if we maintained two separate profiles? One with an overclock and normal voltage, and one with normal clocks and an undervolt? There's no downside to constantly switching between profiles, right?

 

Do it simple. Download TS from @unclewebb's sig and create 4 power profiles you can use on the fly with a simple key command. Less wasted process cycles as well vs. the bloated XTU. Why do it more complicated than it must?

 

Quick question guys, so the Kaby Lake refresh has brought a 60Hz G-Sync Enabled IPS screen. I was wondering if that model still supports Optimus or not. One of the sales guys I have worked with in the past for a few years says so but I am not 100% sure. I know the 120Hz screen model Optimus is turned off entirely.

 

Today I noticed that there is no longer a UHD panel option for the 15r3. Do we know if UHD has been discontinued for this line?

For gsync to work my understanding is that the display must be connected directly to the dgpu. Therefore it is impossible to have Optimus and gsync at the same time as Optimus requires connection to the igpu to work.

The only way around this would be if there was a physical switch that transferred the connection to the igpu and allowed you to use Optimus and then you could press a button and switch to the dgpu connection and use GSYNC.

 

G-Sync is hardwired so, no Optimus unfortunately... Wait for a bit and you will get the IPS with 1070 and non g-sync model if you want optimus.

 

Do you have an ETA or just more or less just wait to see when it's available?

 

Thanks for posting the discount coupons. I used them, plus the ebates and my Member Purchase Plan to order a new 15R3 Kaby Lake at a cheaper price than the Skylake one that I'd ordered (which was delayed 5 times before I cancelled it). Overall, I managed to get the pricing down by $515, compared to the posted online prices for the i7-7700HQ, GTX 1070 8GB, 16GB RAM, 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD, and the 60hz gsync. I don't really need gsync, but at the same time, I won't notice the battery hit since this system will be plugged in continuously. I only got a laptop so that I can play games while in the same room as my fiancee, who uses my other system to watch Kodi.

 

Hello,

This is my first post here, as i was looking to buy an AW 15 with gtx 1070 I came up on this forum. After reading every post on this thread I must say that i am really disappointed that such a beautiful laptop has this kind of issues. However, recent buyers are reporting normal cpu temperatures so it seems that AW listened to communities like these and fixed the laptops (thanks iunlock for confirmation). In conclusion i decided to buy one, but i cannot find any coupons. Do you know any Europe/UK discounts or i should just talk on chat with them and ask for a discount? (This would be my first alienware so i don't exactly know how this thing is going, but i've seen some good deals here). Thanks!

 

Hey,
When you have gsync panel, it means that 530 never works.
So if ever i down as max as possible ratio and voltage, would it do something ? lower cpu temps and doesn't lead to bsod ?
thank you

 

Had a chat with a Dell rep about the RX 470 option. Asked whether this one has FreeSync and they said it did. Worth considering? Very close to picking up an AW 15...

 

I would not rely on the reps for 100% accuracy. I know many who have been disappointed because they were misinformed in the past.


On another topic, I just got one in from the outlet with an HK and 1070 and upon startup it would not recognize the IR camera. I figured it was a fluke and then I went to DL the drivers. I installed the IR drivers and the Tobi software. Tobi now says, connect the camera... it should be connected already. I then tried to set up windows hello in the settings and nope, it says there is an error as it cant detect the camera. I am guessing my camera came busted... Any thoughts?

 

AW 15 R3 - OCZ RD400
I cant get the OCZ RD400 to be recognized in Windows 10. It is seen in the BIOS.
I have done the following:

• Changed the setting to allow for install of devices in the BIOS
• Swapped out the stock SDD and OCZ slots
• Installed the OCZ with Toshiba driver and without
• Reimaged the stock SSD
• Sent OCZ for RMA and 2nd OCZ has same issue
• Went through every step with AW support and OCZ support

Is there a setting I need to change? Do I need to remove the SATA drive?
Should I ditch the drive and get a Samsung 960 Pro?

 

Have you changed from raid to ahci in bios to see it? Ubuntu wouldn't see the ssd in raid mode.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

 

Also I am getting intermittent wifi... for no rhyme or reason it cuts out on me. I have to turn off the wifi and then on again to get it back. Pressing the WIFI/Airplane also fixes it. *Edit* Seems like its when I am downloading a lot it cuts out... Should I DL the drivers straight from killer?

I also noticed that on OC3 I am only getting 3.8/3.9 where as in the 17R4 I was using (same cpu) I was getting 4.0/4.1. It could be the bios, but man my temps were getting up there. Also the variance on the cores was bad, like 96 on core 0 and 76 on core 3 (max temps seen).

OC3 scores on newest bios. Firestrike 14,052 - Timespy 5,206. Really not bad and proves that the 1080 is only about 10% better for about 1/3 additional cost.

 

Just got (finally) my AW15r3, I´ve played a few games (CS GO, Fallout4, SC2) everything maxed out. No problems.
I just print screened the temps while gaming.

imgur
http://imgur.com/a/Gu9W6

 

I did try that and Windows took a BSOD dump as I thought it would. I would need to reinstall Windows 10 again to change from RAID to AHCI. I wanted to use their image and clone the drive to the OCZ. #$%@%!!!!

I may need to just reinstall Win 10 on the drive and install all the AW drivers and hope for the best result.
Anyone else have a suggestion before I piss all over this install, again?

 

Those are great temsp, I assume you bought it new and it has the updated thermals?

 

No! You don't have to reinstall!

https://www.tenforums.com/drivers-h...-ahci-mode-after-windows-10-installation.html

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk