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    *OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R2/R3 Benchmark Thread

    Discussion in '2015+ Alienware 13 / 15 / 17' started by Mr. Fox, Dec 10, 2014.

  1. Kirenaj

    Kirenaj Notebook Consultant

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    Ah cool! Going to test it. I rly like your results!
     
    Kirenaj, Feb 25, 2015
    #451
  2. HaloGod2012

    HaloGod2012 Notebook Virtuoso

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    anyone know why my cpu wont boost during gaming? it sits at 2.5ghz only. When i exit the game it goes back up to 3.4-3.6ghz. The temps are in check and im running a 210 watt psu. Any ideas?
     
    HaloGod2012, Feb 25, 2015
    #452
  3. Kirenaj

    Kirenaj Notebook Consultant

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    Testing with a 330W PSU
    BIOS still A01(don't dare to brick it, yet)

    Firestrike: (8122*) - 8372
    Skydriver: (18235) - 20261
    Cloudgate: (18046) - 22570
    Icestorm: (72661) - 81555

    (*type error from the 180w = 8122)

    Need to call Dell, I guess =P
     
    Kirenaj, Feb 25, 2015
    #453
  4. Red Pyr4mid

    Red Pyr4mid Notebook Geek

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    Looking to these results gave me the impression that having a 330w PSU gives further performance boost than 240w PSU but theoretically this is wrong because the laptop should not draw more than 240 watts without OC.

    Happy to be proved wrong, I don't want to start a 330w PSU addiction.
     
    Red Pyr4mid, Feb 25, 2015
    #454
  5. bnosam

    bnosam Notebook Evangelist

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    If you give me a bit, I'll run tests with the 180W, 240W and 330W PSUs without overclocking using 344.73 driver.
     
    bnosam, Feb 25, 2015
    #455
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  6. Red Pyr4mid

    Red Pyr4mid Notebook Geek

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    Thank you, that's for science you know.
     
    Red Pyr4mid, Feb 25, 2015
    #456
  7. Splintah

    Splintah Notebook Deity

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    FOR SCIENCE!!111
     
    Splintah, Feb 25, 2015
    #457
  8. bnosam

    bnosam Notebook Evangelist

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    Maybe if the laptop is stable enough, I'll try to run all those tests again with the same overclock too.
     
    bnosam, Feb 25, 2015
    #458
  9. bnosam

    bnosam Notebook Evangelist

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    Last edited: Feb 25, 2015
    bnosam, Feb 25, 2015
    #459
  10. Red Pyr4mid

    Red Pyr4mid Notebook Geek

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    What's your BIOS version?
     
    Red Pyr4mid, Feb 25, 2015
    #460
  11. bnosam

    bnosam Notebook Evangelist

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    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 2, 2015
    bnosam, Feb 25, 2015
    #461
  12. Game7a1

    Game7a1 ?

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    I see in notebookcheck's review of the AW15 (970m) that it had a BIOS of 84.04.00.17. Would make more sense is the overclock locked BIOS had a later number than the "unlocked" clocked BIOS.
    How strange your benchmarks are. With the overclock, your combined scores drop.
     
    Game7a1, Feb 25, 2015
    #462
  13. bnosam

    bnosam Notebook Evangelist

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    For what its worth, my machine has had issues with it, it has to be replaced, it shuts down randomly and other crap happens, so that may affect the score, so I guess I shouldn't be the picture perfect example of this. But when I get the new machine I'll do them up again.
     
    bnosam, Feb 25, 2015
    #463
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  14. HaloGod2012

    HaloGod2012 Notebook Virtuoso

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    I can confirm that dell will send out a 240 watt power supply for free. I just called Alienware tech support and explained that I have a 17 with a 980m in it and that the battery drains during gaming with throttling related to power. They are sending it overnight and told me I "could" send them back the 180 watt it came with. Very simple , try calling them now !
     
    HaloGod2012, Feb 25, 2015
    #464
  15. Papusan

    Papusan Jokebook's Sucks! Dont waste your $$$ on Filthy

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    Do you use high performance under power options and not balanced performance? Run bench tests with Hwinfo and maximum performance and look at the numbers. Easier to see if the processor is throttled with settings to high performance. Post a screenshot of numbers. Do the same with all the power supplies ..
     
    Papusan, Feb 26, 2015
    #465
  16. Kirenaj

    Kirenaj Notebook Consultant

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    Funny to see, when I switch between 180w and 330w in HWinfo64. The gpu goes from "throttling" 500-940mhz + CPU clocks to 3.600, but when the 330w is plugged in it goes to 1300mhz gpu and the cpu stable 4 ghz
     
    Kirenaj, Feb 26, 2015
    #466
  17. Irishsavan

    Irishsavan Notebook Enthusiast

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    Firestrike: 8069
    Skydriver: 20561
    Cloudgate: 20322
    Icestorm: 79335
    Mine with A02 and 240W. May re-run later without things downloading in the background.
     
    Irishsavan, Feb 26, 2015
    #467
  18. HaloGod2012

    HaloGod2012 Notebook Virtuoso

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    HaloGod2012, Feb 26, 2015
    #468
  19. bnosam

    bnosam Notebook Evangelist

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    I will do that when I get a fully functional machine. But the way it is looking now, I may just end up going for a refund and sharing my experience with as many people as possible online in the tech world. I've had too many issues with customer/tech support that would make you cringe.
     
    bnosam, Feb 26, 2015
    #469
  20. starrk

    starrk Notebook Consultant

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    Ugh, what the crap is wrong with my 17 R2? Low fps in Warcraft and now this:

    Firestrike: 7756

    http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/6055607

    It's with the 180W PSU but has A02 bios.
     
    starrk, Feb 27, 2015
    #470
  21. Splintah

    Splintah Notebook Deity

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    Do you have antivirus running?
     
    Splintah, Feb 27, 2015
    #471
  22. Kirenaj

    Kirenaj Notebook Consultant

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    Kirenaj, Feb 27, 2015
    #472
  23. starrk

    starrk Notebook Consultant

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    I think your R2 is broke in a good way. Seriously though, there have been tons of benchmarks, and I don't remember seeing one anywhere close to that on A01 with a 180W PSU. Something strange there.

    Nope, sure don't. I'm thinking about respawning back to stock and seeing if I run any better. I'm scoring way too low.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 2, 2015
    starrk, Feb 27, 2015
    #473
  24. Papusan

    Papusan Jokebook's Sucks! Dont waste your $$$ on Filthy

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    Physics Score on 7067 with i7-4980bga is a disaster. Also the total score... It is not certain it helps with recovery. Run the test with Hwinfo and RTSS for monitoring hardware..
     
    Papusan, Feb 27, 2015
    #474
  25. starrk

    starrk Notebook Consultant

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    I disabled desktop mode on the battery settings and ran test again.

    Firestrike: 8352

    http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/6056990

    What did you do to hulk out your machine? Just a page or so back you were at 8122 on stock. Now you're saying 10853?
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Mar 2, 2015
    starrk, Feb 27, 2015
    #475
  26. Kirenaj

    Kirenaj Notebook Consultant

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    I quoted a 3d mark 11 result with 180w psu.
    When I run Firestrike, i hit 8300 +/- with 180w psu and Bios A01
     
    Kirenaj, Feb 28, 2015
    #476
  27. starrk

    starrk Notebook Consultant

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    Ahh darn!! I thought you had found the key to boosting performance lol! Thanks for the clarification though.
     
    starrk, Feb 28, 2015
    #477
  28. warchucky

    warchucky Notebook Enthusiast

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    so do i still need to make a complain at Dell for a new PSU or should i just update my BIOS?
    because when i look at his numbers there is almost no diff between the two PSU's
     
    Last edited: Feb 28, 2015
    warchucky, Feb 28, 2015
    #478
  29. bnosam

    bnosam Notebook Evangelist

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    I would go with the higher power PSU just because having the ability to draw more power is never bad. I wouldn't update the bios personally just for this. It'll drain your battery dead to use the extra power from it. Your battery life will end up going and once your battery is gone, your performance will throttle badly again. It's a temporary solution, not a permanent one like a new PSU.
     
    bnosam, Feb 28, 2015
    #479
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  30. Papusan

    Papusan Jokebook's Sucks! Dont waste your $$$ on Filthy

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    He gets locked into the old bios forever if he want avoid the brilliant hybrid technology in bios.. HaHa. Brilliant. Idiocy :D
     
    Papusan, Feb 28, 2015
    #480
  31. Splintah

    Splintah Notebook Deity

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    Just installed the 347.71 driver from laptopvideo2go and performance is now flying, before everything was a stutter-fest and now it's buttery smooth and 60fps most of the time in far cry 4. MSI Afterburner is still mis-reporting the GPU clockspeed as 540mhz though, but apparently GPU-Z reports it correctly. This is all using the 180watt adapter, I will do more testing with the 330 watt once I get it from home.
     
    Splintah, Mar 1, 2015
    #481
  32. Firebat246

    Firebat246 Notebook Deity

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    Ok guys here's my first two benchmarks with my new 17. I have the 4980hq cpu with the 980m. I am using a new 240w psu they sent me.

    Firestrike scored 8261, graphics 9722, physics 9536, and combined 3550.
    http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/6109170?

    3dMark 11 score P11274, graphics 12337, physics 8883, and combined 9077
    http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/9508828
     
    Firebat246, Mar 4, 2015
    #482
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  33. Firebat246

    Firebat246 Notebook Deity

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    Firebat246, Mar 4, 2015
    #483
  34. HaloGod2012

    HaloGod2012 Notebook Virtuoso

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    the only way to check for throttling is to stress the cpu and gpu at the same time. Play a game of crysis 3 or any other intense game and check the GPU and CPU clocks. When I had my 180w PSU, the cpu would always back down to 2.5ghz, it would never boost, didnt have the power it needed.
     
    HaloGod2012, Mar 4, 2015
    #484
  35. Papusan

    Papusan Jokebook's Sucks! Dont waste your $$$ on Filthy

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    A Physics Score on 9341 in Fire strike is low. Should it be so low with i7-4980bga? Possible it is throttling of the processor.
     
    Papusan, Mar 4, 2015
    #485
  36. Firebat246

    Firebat246 Notebook Deity

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    I would be very surprised if it's throttling the cpu... Especially because I'm using a 240w psu. My 3dmark 11 seem on par or slightly better then others I have looked at. I could always track the cpu clock and see what happens.
     
    Firebat246, Mar 4, 2015
    #486
  37. Splintah

    Splintah Notebook Deity

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    I noticed this, and the strange thing is, it will get stuck at 2.5ghz and will require a restart to bring it back to 3.9
     
    Splintah, Mar 4, 2015
    #487
  38. Splintah

    Splintah Notebook Deity

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    btw ran Firestrike with a 780ti last night and I score 10,000
     
    Splintah, Mar 4, 2015
    #488
  39. Papusan

    Papusan Jokebook's Sucks! Dont waste your $$$ on Filthy

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    Check this out. http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4107273
     
    Papusan, Mar 4, 2015
    #489
  40. Firebat246

    Firebat246 Notebook Deity

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    So in my test it shows me hitting 3.9 in yours you are sitting at 4ghz clock. Other than that I have no idea why the numbers would vary. Aside from trying a 330w psu I'm not sure what else will give me that extra boost.
     
    Firebat246, Mar 4, 2015
    #490
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  41. Papusan

    Papusan Jokebook's Sucks! Dont waste your $$$ on Filthy

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    Not my laptop.. I dont like bga hardware. :D It is more than enough that the Southbridge is soldered. 100MHz extra speed of the processor does not increase over 1300p in 3DMark physics. :p A more real test of 3DMark is Sky diver. This bench test pushing more out of the hardware. Also Wprime 1024(8 treads) is a good test for prosessor.
     
    Last edited: Mar 4, 2015
    Papusan, Mar 4, 2015
    #491
  42. Firebat246

    Firebat246 Notebook Deity

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    Ill test sky diver when I get home for my dinner break. As it is this model runs circles around my last gen horrible 880m series R1. I really don't wanna mess with overclocking this time. But i am curious as to why those results vary on physics so much.
     
    Firebat246, Mar 4, 2015
    #492
  43. Papusan

    Papusan Jokebook's Sucks! Dont waste your $$$ on Filthy

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    You can also track the CPU clock with Hwinfo and RTSS under all benchtest..
     
    Papusan, Mar 4, 2015
    #493
  44. Splintah

    Splintah Notebook Deity

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    It blows holes in it, can't wait to pair a 980ti or 390x with this. Despite the issues this is truly the direction that I was looking for, unobtrusive and easily upgradeable without having to open the system and buy 800 dollar parts from a secondary market.
     
    Splintah, Mar 4, 2015
    #494
  45. Firebat246

    Firebat246 Notebook Deity

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    Its so refreshing after having so many issues with my last one. Already surprised on the few games I tried last night. Even gonna buy the extended warranty. Just hate the new speakers they suck and still feels like it gets hot above the keyboard. Aside from that gpu runs cool 60s and 70s and in firestrike cpu temps didn't get too far past 80.
     
    Firebat246, Mar 4, 2015
    #495
  46. Firebat246

    Firebat246 Notebook Deity

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    Firebat246, Mar 4, 2015
    #496
  47. HaloGod2012

    HaloGod2012 Notebook Virtuoso

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    So has anyone monitored the cpu clock speed during intense gaming with a 240+ watt PSU? (crysis 3, dragon age inquisition, dying light). I have my replacement system coming soon and I just received my 240w adapter; i want to make sure the cpu issue was the lack of power. The cpu would stop boosting and stay locked at 2.5ghz till i reboot or re-plug the AC adapter.
     
    HaloGod2012, Mar 5, 2015
    #497
  48. Red Pyr4mid

    Red Pyr4mid Notebook Geek

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    Check this link: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-r2-owners-lounge.770314/page-27#post-9947316
    Maybe you have my same issue: audio comes out only from the subwoofer and your frontal speakers are mute. Tomorrow a technician will do a complete teardown of my system to fix that because the speakers are located under the palm rest, I chose for this option 'cause having a new machine could bring me new issues. If you want to test the issue just boot the laptop while pressing Fn+Alien logo, there is a quick 8-bit audio check.

    I highly suggest you to perform this test because from what I can read on this forum this issue is not too less common in this Alienware generation.
     
    Red Pyr4mid, Mar 5, 2015
    #498
  49. Ramzay

    Ramzay Notebook Connoisseur

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    Funny, the new ASUS ROG G751 machines had that exact same issue - turns out it was a Realtek driver problem. Sounds was only coming from the subwoofer.
     
    Ramzay, Mar 5, 2015
    #499
  50. Firebat246

    Firebat246 Notebook Deity

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    Firebat246, Mar 5, 2015
    #500
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