*OFFICIAL* Alienware 15 R3 Owner's Lounge

Hallo,

i want to buy this week a new Alienware R3 15 with following specifications:

Intel® Core™ i7-7820HK
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1070, 8 GB GDDR
15,6", Full HD (1.920 x 1.080), 120Hz, with NVIDIA G-SYNC
Killer 1535 (802.11ac, 2x2, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.1)

My question is, will I have problems with high temperature? Or they solve the problem with the high temperatures?

Thank you and greets

 

Temperature problems will always be there on almost any Alienware unit especially if you’re playing games with it. As much at it sucks, we actually have to repaste the new units at the very least.

 

And what you recommend? Simple repaste ( Grizzly Kyronaut) is enough?

Or complete programm LM, thermal pads, heatsink..)??

 

Repaste with Kryonaut and repad with arctic pads.

 

This is the most basic thing that you can do, @iRakY.

 

ist a 7700hq
clockspeed and temps seems wired. whats wrong there ?

best regards

edit: Ran furemark + prime for like 10 mins

 

Don't use Furmark for testing because it destroys your PC. Try OCCT or AIDA64.

 

THE 7820HK is more prone to high temperatures, statistically speaking, the temperature are better than early revisions but still too high. Don't buy an Alienware if you don't want to repaste your unit.

But if you repaste it it's worth buying one I'd say. I just hope they learnt from their mistakes for the Pascal lineup ! Will probably consider Asus/MSI for Volta, I had to suffer a little to have good temperatures, and this is not acceptable on a 2000+ Euro unit ffs.

Unless you're stress-testing a SpaceX rocket engine DON'T use Furmark . Follow Vasudev advices.

 

Hoping I can get some quick help here. I noticed when I was doing my repaste that one of the cables that connects to the motherboard had a slice in it. Looks like the one labeled KB BL or something. Everything seems to be functioning correctly. Is the cable going to cause me issues down the road? System is under warranty.
Note: The slice is thru 2-3 of the 9 or so gold lines running thru it.

 

That's the keyboard backlight cable.

 

If the backlight is still working should I be concerned? I have the exact same specs as you do btw!

 

What are your temps like?

To be honest, I don’t care that much about the backlight, but I still had Dell ship me a new set of macro keys because it didn’t have a backlight. You can ask them to send you a new keyboard (and maybe macro keys as well).

 

Hallo,

last question, I want to buy for my new AW r3 following external Monitor Acer Predator XB241H. It has 144hz and g-sync. Would it be possible to connect this Monitor with the Alienware r3 and use the full 144hz and g-sync? And which port it would be need for: HDMI 2.0, Mini DisplayPort or Thunderbolt?

Thanks again.

 

I don't think you can max out that frames on newer game titles on GTX 1060/70, maybe max would be 100, since it has GYSNC it's wise to connect to HDMI port.

 

I heared that HDMI 2.0 can only 60HZ, is it true? And what if i connect via mini DP to DP, will i don't have gsync?

 

What's the latest info on the best heatsink right now? Is it SUNON still for the latest releases?

 

You may have to see that using nvidia control panel. HDMI cable advertise as 4K @60fps.
I'm unsure about Thunderbolt 3 based cables because some 15 r3 were having Optimus, if you don't have Optimus, GSYNC might work.
https://community.dell.com/thread/19098

 

After numerous repastes I still can't get decent max temps below 91C running Aida64 with FPU/GPU. The core with the lowest temp is 81C which tells me that even I achieved a perfect balance that would probably be the best temp I could get with Kryonaut. I get why people use LM, but for portability it's not something I want to use. Luckily, I'm still in my return window.

 

What's your ambient temps and have you got a picture showing amount of paste applied?

 

Ambient is 23C
performance enabled
-145 undervolt with back lifted up.

I don't have a photo with the paste applied, but I did try to spread it and a small thin line and still got the same temps. For the GPU I just did an X on the chip.

Aida64 with FPU/GPU checked, really pushes up the temps. More then any other test I've run (OCCT/unigine). I just played an hour of BF1 and didn't break 78C.

 

Try spreading it evenly instead of a line/X/dot method. I have the same temp problem as most of us do, but that’s also because the Kryonaut I used was a bit too thick. I’ll be repasting again by next week.

 

Follow @Vaeron advice. Spread the paste on GPU first and then on CPU. Use a big blob on GPU and smaller blob on CPU afterwards spread it.

 

Unfortunately, I'm losing time in my return window so I had to send it back. I'm out of Kryonaut and pads anyway..
I may pick up another unit if they have a sale next month, since I'm more familiar with it. Using thermal pads to check pressure on the heatsink is one of the things I wish I had learned of sooner. I wonder if Dell outlet refurb units are more likely to have bad heatsinks vs new models?

 

I would not expect much variance in the heatsink installation across units. They are done by workers on an assembly line in a factory, quick and dirty. Assume they will all need to be tweaked with new paste and pads for optimal cooling. I have had 5 Alienware laptops since 2009, not one didn't benefit from repasting.

 

Hi,

since the 1709 update my keyboard behaves rather oddly: the windows key only works in combination with the fn key. Has anyone else this problem?

 

I am running the original Windows 10 image installed by Dell. I am at Windows build 1607 (not sure if that is what shipped or got updated at some point). I have had no success at installing 1703 no matter what I have tried. Has anyone else ran into this? If so what worked for you?

I have tried the windows update tool thing but that made no difference. Whenever I try to update, the laptop reboots, acts like it is updating, then right at the end reverts back and I never get any update failed logs.

Thanks!

 

Skip Creators and Fall Creators update for now and continue using v1607 because its alot stable than current version. If you interrested to get Creators use a clean installation to do that by downloading and burning the iso to a usb https://tb.rg-adguard.net/index.php

 

Ya, wanted to avoid a full reinstall if I could. Will sit on it for now then - just get to snooze that reminder every day lol

 

If anyone is curious about what @iunlock 's repasting service is like, I posted a review here : http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-17r4-15r3-disassembly-repaste-guide-results.797373/page-284#post-10621381

 

The reviews I posted was deleted. The reason for it and why I think it was unjustified is explained here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...e-guide-results.797373/page-285#post-10621940

Don't know how long till it's gone too.

 

I have the latest update and I don't have an issue at all

 

Hey guys just wanted to ask you. I am leaning towards buying the AW 15 R3 gtx1070 ips screen gsync model . But i am somewhat reluctant in buying due to large number of heating problem complaints about temps reaching 90 degrees plus while under load ( gaming,etc) which is quite problematic for the long life of the laptop. So i wanted to ask you is that problem resolved now or i would have to repaste it? Becoz i fear i would damage my laptop if i do that ,thus will it work fine without repasting ? Also i am returning from US to my home very soon.So i have very less time left to buy it.
If you do suggest to go for it , should i buy it from Dell directly or from Amazon/Best buy?
Please reply as fast as possible.

 

Buy it from hidevolution w/ international warranty and little discount for NBR members. You can trade-in your older laptop in a year or two to get rebates. Mind you, get the paste job done from Hidevolution ICD 7 on cpu and gpu.

 

uhh.. its a little too costly and out of my budget there. On dell's official site i can get it at <1750$(which is actually my max budget) and there atleast 2000$ so i would not be able to take it from there.
Also i have noticed that many people who have been having problems in the 15R3 recently have the i7-7820hk model which obviously puts more pressure on cpu making it get more hot easily.
What i wanted to ask was how are the the i7 -7700 hq gtx 1070 models? DO they still have throttling or is it resolved with the newer models?

 

They are affected too. Then again you can repaste. Alternatively, you can ask @Donald@HIDevolution for best rates. Hidevolution changed from ICD 7 to GELID extreme.

 

Reposting this here:

I'm at a loss as to how I should troubleshoot the freezing problem.

 

Has anyone tried the new bios SKL1.2.0_KBL1.2.0! Any improvements such as lower temps?

 

I've installed it with no issue. I'm seeing less (and sometimes zero) power throttling now. And that's with TDP spiking in the 50's. Other than that, haven't played with it too much.

 

Can anyone who has the FHD IPS screen tell me something about PWM? I've read in a review that the version without G-SYNC has PWM in lower brightness settings. I want to switch from an Inspiron 7537 IPS FHD and I want a good experience in low-light environments.

 

I have a 15 r3 7820 with a 1070! The unit was running great when I got it but the temps are getting higher and higher as time go by! My question: Is there a difference in heatsinks for the 15 R3 1080 vs 1070? If so what is the model number for the 1080?

 

It’s crappy paste that dell uses. Repaste with decent stuff and you should be fine.

 

Even Dell’s bad thermal stamps shouldn’t degrade within this short time if temp was ok in first place. Bad heatsink fit (Tripod mess) will make that the paste will “pump out” before time. The same will happen with new thermal paste as well if you don’t fix the underlying problem.

 

I have thermal grizzly kryonaut and the fujipoly thermal pads but don't want to waste it if the heatsink is bad! Thats why I was asking about the difference about the heatsinks for the 1070 and 1080? If I call up Dell what are the chances of them at least sending me a SUNON heatsink?

 

My temps have gone up 4c on my cpu after about 2 months on stock paste.

 

What’s the best way to run a game (destiny 2) while plugged into ac power but keep the fans off or low?

I’d be ok with not full screen too and low settings I just want to be able to have the fans down at the time.

Other times I’ll play full settings fans blasting ofc.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

You must be new to gaming laptops haha. Your best bet would be to use an AGA to offload the GPU and allow the full laptop cooling for the CPU but even then the CPU will still eventually get warm

 

I guess what I’m saying is like when I’m on battery the fans stay off but it only runs 30 FPS. I would guess other settings are lowered too. I’d be fine for that but just need it quiet in this location but I can plug in too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Either dust or the Tripod's coolplate is warped/uneven. Aka bad fits on die. Thermal paste will pump out. New better paste will go exactly the same destiny, if your heatsink problem doesn't be fixed.

 

Maybe ambient temp has increased?

 

I'll try a very aggressive undervolt and underclock on both CPU and GPU, and use HWInfo64 fan controls.