*OFFICIAL* Alienware 15 R3 Owner's Lounge

asus vg248qe vs the swift pg248q? regardless of price

 

Then why are you still on this thread complaining? You have posted a few times about this issue. You returned the product, got your money back, and should now be over at the Gigabyte Aero 14 owners thread helping them out.

We get it. Your pissed, and others had bad luck with support. As for me, mine is working fine, and I am completely satisfied. I did have one issue where it stopped booting, but support helped me through it, and its working great now. **** happens. Get over it and move on.

 

1080 at 120hz should work though.

 

i just noticed that I was re-reading your first reply when i wrote this. Excuse me for my testiness. Wrong side of the bed this morning.

 

The only site i could find that had input lag and pixel response measurements for the vg248qe was toms hardware. Fortunately they also have measurements for the pg248q. You might want to check out the articles and compare what is most important for you. For me its brightness and input lag so i went with the vg248qe.

 

Hey all. I just purchased an 15 R3 with 1070 and have been noticing while playing wow, the GPU start off around 1440 then slowly drops down to 1000 - 800 mhz. I have also been noticing the FPS drop off significantly and the GPU Usage stays around 35-50%. Temps stay well below 65c and slowly drop down to 53c. CPU stays below 75c also. For a PC like this to only play wow at 35-55 fps at 1920x1080 seems like pure crap. My Razer Blade (970m) played it just as well with the same settings. Have turned off Sahdowplay also. Any help would greatly appreciated.

 

should look at the MG279Q, it's a freesync 1440p 144hz IPS monitor

have you tried to uninstall all the dell bloatware and use DDU to clean install nvidia graphics driver?

 

1080 FHD model on the 15R3 has a decent factory calibration, the color temperature is on the cold side but it's not as bad as the TN panel that comes with the 120hz AUO 17"






that said, calibration will make a huge difference for this screen







unit belongs to @raphyr

 

Are there any ways you can download that software Display CAL and load up a pre-set profile?

 

Displaycal only facilitates the making of calibration profile

 

Does somebody know/tested the jacks? im planning to use a hyperx cloud headset with it, but thats a 60ohm headset, not the usual 35ohm. Does the alienware has decent amplifiers for the jacks, or thats just the usual cheap laptop one, which will not run the headset well to its potential? (on the pc side, only the premium gaming motherboards have normal maps as well, so i guess on laptops we didnt have one at all?

 

I guess it will be a question of how loud you want it. You will need to turn up the volume about 2x as high as a 30ohm user to get the same volume. So if people are using the volume at 25% lets say then your are easily fine getting the same volume at 50%. Obviously these are just bs numbers but you get the idea.

 

Thats not that easy sadly, if the ohm is too high for the amp, the mids and lows will be mushier...

 

I could use some feedback, since i was told by Danish DELL support that:
"
I checked the pictures with my colleague and he said that this is a small amount of lightbleed that we cannot replace the LCD for.
It looks worse on one of the pictures because you took the photo in a pitch black room. So we are very sorry but this is ''Working as Designed''
"

 

ask Jon on the Alienware subreddit about your situation. He is an Alienware social media representative who recently showed up trying to right customer service wrongs - I think this qualifies.

 

Correct; however, the equipment you are using as well as his question being focused on it working or not indicated to me that audio quality was not really a question. Now if you were asking a question about audiophile grade headphones than my answer would have been different.

If your actually worried about sound quality as you appear to be you should be more worried that you got a headset when the laptop already has built in mics allowing you to have spent your money on decent headphones instead. If you have some sort of crazy mic requirement that would be better served with an external mice and not a headset.

 

I just purchased a new Alienware 15r3. There are some good and not so good things, but overall, I have been pleased after one whole night of ownership.

One thing that has been bugging, however, is that Alienware Update keeps trying to update the BIOS. The initial app works and my laptop restarts and it attempts to flash the BIOS; however, the BIOS doesn't actually flash. I then get another notice from Alienware Update to update the BIOS.

 

What bios version are you on now?

 

1.01. I noticed that the later versions all had another set of numbers "771" while mine had "778"

I tried flashing the other BIOS versions, but the app upon start indicated that version was unsupported for my laptop. The app works (per above) for the 1.09.

 

Hi guy's, is still unsafe buy an alienware now after kaby lake upgrade, I mean dell have fix temperature problem and display thanks in advance?

 

They have addressed some of the issues but it's a pot luck. Some still have issues with temps but a repaste with LM is best bet

 

So I received my replacement 15 R3 with i7 7700HQ GTX 1070 and am trying to compare it to my Kryonaught 15 R3 1070 i7 6700HQ. But when I run Heaven benchmarks, the 6700HQ is doing much better in terms of FPS. like 10-20+FPS depending on the scene. It seems like the 1070 is being throttled on the Kabylake, possibly via BIOS. I went into the power options in the control panel and Alienware settings and made them match my 6700HQ,which is when plugged in, prefer maximum power.

Anything else to try? I want to have a good test of temperatures for both myself and the community. And if the 1070 is being throttled then its pointless to test Heaven + OCCT together

Edit: the 7700HQ has Micron chips and the 6700HQ has Samsung, so is this the problem?

 

They have said that this is a bug regarding Kaby lake models. You are on the right bios version, just Dell update thinks you aren't.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

 

Very well could be. Some of the micron models can't run stock. Out of curiosity, what issue is the replacement for?

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk

 

Someone quoted me about something in a different thread with this - http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...bal-issues-gpu-firmware-update-needed.800219/

This is ridiculous that it's been nearly a month. It's like the GTX 1070 is running at 60% performance when running the benchmark. And this is something that can't be fixed by a replacement, since the reason they switched to Micron is due to low/no samsung supply or cost, either way they'd use the samsung if available

 

Thanks. Much appreciated.

 

The Micron issue is supposed to be solved via a firmware fix for the effected gpus. If they admit there is an issue and they can not get the samsung parts then where is the word on a firmware fix for the micron? Once we get a firmware fix you should be able to run the Micron.

 

Yeah but I was doing research and this has been around since at least October 2016 for 1070 GPU's + Micron. Even if they learned of it in early January, that's still plenty of time to make the fix and send it out. Some vendors did it in a few days from what I read. Their Kabylakes came out last month, they have 2 months worth of information on the internet to understand the problem. Anyway, I posted on the Alienware Facebook page and also contacted the manager (via email) that approved me exchange 2-3 weeks ago and asked to get that information to whoever deals with those problems. I feel like he will, cuz once again, one problem fixed and another created (for me). Though I said as long as I am not getting artifacts or driver crashes I can deal with it, but encouraged him to not them let continue to drag their feet

 

The only word we have to go off right now is:

More people with the issue need to complain for them to fix it sooner.

 

In fact the issue has been identified since September, and it only took a couple of days for all the major manufacturers to get it fixed (mainly desktop cards obviously). However, Dell didn't get enough compaints on their 15R3/17R4 as these have only been available since around early October, and it seems that they're not doing a lot to solve the issue... We need to start pushing for a fix asap imo, it's a very easy fix to do with voltage timing in the vbios.

 

Yeah I'll get back to you guys with any info I receive from my email. It sucks cuz I was one of those people that saw the problem, but didn't experience it so I overlooked it. And now I have the problem haha.

 

Just adding my 2 cents - I just received one of the Alienware 15 R3 laptops from the outlet. Specs are:

i7 6700hq
GTX 1060
1920x1080 120hz TN Panel
8GB DDR3
1TB HDD
240w AC adapter

I was swapping my hard drive into this laptop and I noticed something odd about the heatsink while I had the base panel off:


The heatsink was missing 2 of the bottom screws on the CPU side. I figured I could probably get Dell to supply those (which they have, very quickly) but I wanted to see how the thermals were anyway. I booted it up and played Overwatch for a while, but the temperatures were actually really reasonable.


I'm pretty pleased, but I'll still be doing a repaste of this laptop later this week. Also, the most annoying part about this machine to me is the fan noise fluctuation. The fan profiles seem pretty aggressive, as they were almost at full tilt even in the low 70s. I'm hoping a repaste can keep them at a more moderate speed, but if not I suppose I always game with a headset anyway.

 

I would say that the missing screws, once replaced, should bring Core 2 and 0 down to match 1 and 3. Run OCCT fro 15 minutes, Overwatch is not too CPU intensive; you will get a better idea of temps and core differentials

 

"which will not run the headset well to its potential?" i was worried about the sound quality
About the built in mic: i dont know about you, but i value my friends more then to force them to listen to my laptops vents during a gameplay session. Have you heard builtin mics with full fanspeed? terrible experience
Also, the hyperx cloud is basically a cheap, decent headset, not the usual overprice razer kraken ****s and so on. True its not a sennheiser hd600 with a modmic, but its cheap as hell, and sounds very decent. Plus i have an audiophile set as well, but thats not for gaming, the tone of it is good for listening, not to get in a game.

 

Just wondering how much you got yours for from the outlet as I'm trying to decide if I should to save money. Did you talk to a sales rep or just straight ordered off the website.

Thanks

 

My screen is the G-Sync 120 TN panel. Its very bright, crisp, and has better viewing angles than my Lenovo IPS screen.

 

I was sent this response 10-15 minutes ago regarding the Micron memory problem.
"
I believe our engineering department and Nvidia already released a solution for that issue. You need to do a clean installation of the Nvidia driver using version 378.49 from the Nvidia website."

I am working on uninstalling and installing this driver to test it. I don't have much hope for a driver update fixing a memory bug, but I'll let everyone know.

 

Picture couldn't be loaded, all I can see is a stop sign.

The only way for you to know is to try and overclock the memory, usually the micron ones don't go that far if you don't force 3D mode on the GPU first. The issue is that the vBIOS of the GPU applies the extra voltage to the micron memory too late, causing crashes.

The new vBIOS for desktop cards corrects this issue, it is not fixable by software AFAIK.

 

Well, currently running 378.94 on the Kabylake and its doing better than the 6700HQ Samsung memory in Heaven. Before the Samsung was doing WAY better, like the Micron was running @ GTX 1060 speeds. I'm glad I didn't doubt the guy.

It seemed like the 378.49 didn't want to install with no Nvidia drivers. I used DDU, installed the Dell GPU driver with a clean installation. Then I installed the 378.49 with a clean installation.
6700HQ + Samsung : Max 86.1fps, score = 2168

7700HQ + Micron : Max 89.2fps, score = 2246

Just did one test as I'm tired but that is good enough for me

 

What's ddu? I gotta do this tonight.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Display Driver Uninstaller. It's the best program to completely remove videocard drivers to do a fresh install. It's actually recommended to use that everytime you update GPU drivers but I def don't do it every time. But if you have problems it's good to do it

 

If you try to overclock, you will see that the memory bug not fixed Just set the memory to +600 or +700 and witness the whole thing crash because vram voltage timing is applied too late. They only improved the Kaby Lake support of the driver at stock clocks with some games.

 

Don't mean to be posting about the same thing in 2 threads was just trying to make unaware people aware, but just ran Heaven with +496 on Memory, ended Heaven with 92.0FPS, score 2316.
@ + 602Mhz, it was freezing and stuttering at times but never crashed the laptop, driver or program. It looked just like it was a GPU that couldn't overclock high. Is +500 considered fixed? At least for Kabylake? I am gonna try running around in Resident Evil 7 with the +500.
According to GPU-Z its getting a lot of Pwr perfcap reason. Not sure if that helps with anything, just sounds like its hitting the programmed GPU laptop power limit.

Ran Resident Evil 7 for about 5 minutes with +512Mhz, it actually is a pretty intensive game, but couldn't run it for much longer than that. I don't have ReShade on this laptop yet and this game looks disgusting without it.

 

I got it while they were running a 10% off all AW 15 R3 models, so it was $1194 after tax. I tried adding it to the cart and using the coupon, and talking to the rep with no difference in price. However, I got an additional $90 off from the Dell sales rep when I initially tried to return this laptop due to the missing screws. It sounds like it is pretty common for them to offer an additional discount if you're trying to return it, so that might be something to try.

As a side note: the missing screws arrived in the mail yesterday so I installed them and ran 3DMark aaaaand... the temperatures actually got worse. There is a larger difference between each of the cores now with 2 of them reaching 80C and the others staying at 69-70. I'm still waiting on some Kryonaut to arrive in the mail, and when I repaste I may just try it first with only the top screw installed again. I'm not sure if the reduced pressure will have an impact on the life of the paste, but I just wanted to see if the contact is a little more even without tightening the bottom screws.

 

Did you do +500 memory in MSI afterburner with micron memory? That's 9000MHz effective? If yes, then you got a very good card

 

Well, 496 when doing the Heaven test, didn't have a mouse plugged in and didn't want to bother sliding around the extra 4 but I'm not gonna lie and say it was 500. I did however put it to 512 when going into RE7.

I noticed a problem though, when running OCCT and Heaven, the GPU is running at like 50% of what it should be. Does OCCT support Kabylake/could that be a problem? It doesn't show the correct values, when running it it does show "24Mhz Bus" so something is wrong there. But my 6700HQ + 1070 (samsung) runs fine in Heaven + OCCT. 1070 (Micron) runs fine during Heaven. But 7700HQ OCCT + 1070 (micron) I'm getting about half the FPS in every spot. As though its throttling somewhere even though it has less temperatures than 6700HQ. Tried both with a undervolt and without, so this is why I am questioning if something isn't working right with OCCT. Maybe I should try Intel XTU + Heaven

Edit - XTU + Heaven is running perfectly fine. Laptops are such a pain compared to desktops.. I will never recommend a brand new laptop to anyone lol

Results before the repaste of the new 15R3:

6700HQ + 1070 (Samsung) (Kryonaut Paste) :
idle gpu - 48
idle cpu - 47, 46, 46, 45
load cpu+ gpu - 94, 87, 88, 83 gpu: 80

7700HQ + 1070 (Micron) (Dell stock Paste) :
idle gpu - 50
idle cpu - 48, 49, 48, 48
load cpu+ gpu - 90, 89, 84, 84 gpu: 73

 

I think it's either power supply or just overheating in general.

Stack revo uninstaller on top of that.

 

Never heard of revo uninstaller, their page even looks like some fake sht lol. But you probably know more than me so I trust it. Curious though, does it look like I used too little LM? The temps I got are definitely better than the stock paste, but I can't help but think they should be much better. http://imgur.com/R2hmqAr

7700HQ + 1070 (Dell Paste):
idle gpu - 50
idle cpu - 48, 49, 48, 48
load cpu+ gpu - 90, 89, 84, 84 gpu: 73

7700HQ + 1070 (Conductonaut):
idle gpu - 40
idle cpu - 40, 41, 40, 40
load cpu+ gpu - 81, 79, 75, 76 gpu: 69

It's hard to compare it to other's temp cuz everyone does just OCCT, but I could care less about just the CPU temp with the CPU being maxed

 

Update on my replacement.

Was a new 7700/1070/120 hz

The occt ran around 75-80 in non optimal conditions (on a bed in a hotel on vacation lol) and cores seem prettty even.

So it looks like a keeper. I might repaste it eventually but ima try to keep from opening it if I can.

Haven't run any gaming on gpu testing on it yet tho due to the aforementioned vacation.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Hello!

I had the dell tech to replace the MoBo and the cooling system on my 15r3 due to heat issue. Since they replaced those parts it is impossible for me to lower the brigthness of the screen, either by using the Fn+F9 or by going in the windows settings. I can move the bar up and down but no reaction on the screen brightness.

Is it possible that the Dell guy forgot to reconnect a cable ? He had to disassemble the laptop a few times cause he forgot to reconnect a bunch of wires at first...

I have a 15R3 with GTX1070 and G-Sync panel



Thanks for your help