*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R2/R3 Benchmark Thread

Nope ! Viva the Transformers

 

Here is my best 3DMark11 score with 180 PS. I'll update as I'm supposed to receive the 240W tomorrow.

 

I have just posted my vBIOS Mod for this model, which a few user here have been rocking since quite some time now, for everyone on the blog (just click my signature).

ENJOY!

P.S.: If you want a GTX965M version, just send me a clean stock vBIOS dump.

 

I made a new thread for you @Prema. Hopefully, that will help more people find it. Fixing the power throttle should make a lot of folks happy. Thanks for all you do.

 

Does it address the problem of the cpu of the m15/17 throttling under heavy cpu+ gpu load and then making the gpu throttling as well?

 

Nope, that's done by most revisions of the system BIOS in order to limit the load on the originally too 'small' PSU.

 

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/5745367

With the new vBios from Prema, works incredibly. This is without a CPU OC - now that I have xtu working again, i'll grab a fresh score tomorrow with a better physics / combined / total score.

 

Awesome score! What were the GPU OC settings used?

 

http://www.3dmark.com/compare/fs/5183294/fs/5745367 comparison before and after prema's bios.

 

+275 core, +400 memory, voltage set to max.

Temperature stayed below 75 at its highest.

 

Holy ****! Wow. It's astonishing how much performance Dell left on the table with the stock clocks. 0_o

You have the 240W PSU, right?

 

correct. on A00

 

What are you using to Overclock the GPU with??

 

Prema mod see the forum post and follow the directions. Unlocks the core in nvidia inspector


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I asked this in another thread, but thought I'd ask here as well since I'm not getting an answer.


Question about Nvidia ShadowPlay... I am using the latest Nvidia GeForce Experience version 2.5.13.6 with latest Driver 355.60. For some reason gameplay recording doesn't work at all, however I am able to see the FPS counter in game. I am wondering if anyone else has this same issue? Is Optimus somehow interfering with the Intel GPU making ShadowPlay think the 980M isn't active, even though the 980M is set to being the only active GPU in Nvidia's Control Panel?

Right now I am obligated to use Fraps, and with Fraps a 4-5 minute recording results in a 20GB file, also Fraps for some reason always decreases my FPS while recording by minus 10-15 FPS an average.

The recordings via ShadowPlay are of a MUCH better quality IMHO, and they also leave a significantly lower file size footprint while maintaining a perfect accuracy of FPS while recording. My Zotac Titan X arrived today, & the Alienware Amplifier will arrive either tomorrow or Wednesday, so I'll be doing a lot of gameplay recordings. Really need to get ShadowPlay up and running so I can make proper videos.

Can someone please confirm if this is something Nvidia just screwed up (as they have done in the past) ie is it working for others on this same latest version I specified above, or what is the actual cause of this? Any help would be appreciated.


***Another question I have: What is in your opinion the best software to use when Overclocking the Zotac Titan X in the GA?

Thanks

 

Here are the results of my FACTORY 17R2 3DMark Run: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/8327246

& 3DMark 11 Run: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/10216040

Win 10 Pro, Nvidia driver 355.60, 240W PSU, BIOS A05, Stock vBIOS. Full system specs in signature or in benchmark.

Overclocked benchmark results with vBios mod on the 980M & XTU/Bios tuning on the 4980HQ will be posted before the end of the week hopefully.

I will also post Stock/Factory GA benchmarks with the Zotac Titan X using the 240W PSU & using the 330W PSU from my AW18 for comparison (curious if this will make a difference). Overclocked benchmarks with the Titan X will also follow once I dial in the perfect stable "sweet spot" on both CPU & GPU.

 

I achieved this score but I haven't posted it here I suppose and I just had the feeling to share it here.
Firestrike 9647 ( http://www.3dmark.com/fs/5739099)
4720HQ/980m Prema vBIOS/ A05&180W
+200 MHz Core Clock and +400 MHz Memory Clock and voltage untouched since I am worried of damaging my hardware. This OC setting is not stable for long periods of stressing, maybe if I knew how to set up the voltage settings it might become stable, I guess?

 

Here's my run on the 240W PSU, A05 BIOS, Stock vBIOS, no Overclocks, Win 10 Pro: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/10216040

 

Thought this was very interesting.!. I installed the better performing Corsair Vengeance RAM from my AW18 rated @ 2133MHz (2x8GB) & added the 330W PSU. No overclocking at all; this is my NEW 3DMark 11 score: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/10216545

The system literally feels much snappier.

 

Interesting... My 3DMark scores also received a nice improvement; again only changes made were the 330W PSU & 2x8GB Corsair Vengeance RAM rated @ 2133MHz. No overclocks. NEW benchmark results: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/8331108 VS previous benchmark results with factory RAM & 240W PSU: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/8327246

EDIT: Firestrike score improved even more after 2nd run with 330W PSU & Corsair Vengeance RAM: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/8331257

 

Ok, coming from PREMA thread:

970m + Prema VBIOS + 180W + A05 + Windows 10

Firestrike 7901
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/5816791

Very happy with this result

 

GPU score looks good! Is the CPU Physics score a bit low, I get 6650 on my ancient CPU, I think yours would be a little higher than the 6869 you got - maybe your CPU is throttling during that benchmark (temperatures perhaps)?

 

Both fans were at MAX speed during benchmark, may be thrtling because of 180W PS. I'll check it out. Thanks for the advice!!

 

Alienware Amplifier with a Zotac Titan X, no overclocks, 330W PSU, Win 10 Pro: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/8340722

 

Alienware Amplifier with a Zotac Titan X, no overclocks, 330W PSU, Win 10 Pro: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/10220039

 

Alienware Amplifier with a Zotac Titan X, slight overclock on GPU only (Clock +100, Mem Clock +500), 330W PSU, Win 10 Pro: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/8341627



3DMark 11 Link: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/10220149

 

Very nice results! kind of expected with the titan. I'm going to try and fit a 980TI in the GA but i need to do some more research to make sure it fits. How are your temps after you OC'd with the 330W on A05? Any chance you've done any benches with the 240W same setup?

 

Thanks! Temps were excellent all around; during overclocked benchmark I set the fan on the GPU to 70% (which was overkill imho) you can see a graph of all the temps if you check the link(s). It was nowhere near uncomfortable temperature wise (lots of room left over to dial in significantly higher scores) but I'm too happy with these as it is.

This thing is a beast!!

The 17R2 is resting comfortably on a Cooler Master cooling pad with 6 fans underneath it (they are surprisingly silent). Normally it comes with only 3 fans; but I bought an extra one just to use the extra fans on one pad for benchmarking .

There is a lot of proper airflow happening because the AC air is literally getting pulled in by the cooling pad's fans. Not concerned with heat at all.


In regards to the 330W PSU vs 240W PSU there is always a noticeable difference with every run. If you want to get max performance use a 330W PSU. The 4980HQ with a 980m will use the power, anyone who tells you it is completely limited and evenly distributed via BIOS doesn't know what they are talking about.

Free time is very limited but I'll do my best to post the overclocked run using a 240W PSU for comparison within 24-48 hours.

BTW, a 980Ti will fit like a glove in the amplifier. You'll have to make some adjustments in BIOS to make the CPU run at max turbo clock when using the GA; straight plug & play for me made the CPU downclock to 2.8GHz!! Drove me nuts, until I messed with BIOS to get it working right.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I'd like to ask you a question. Since you have the 330W adapter I think you don't get CPU throttling, right? I am using the 180W adapter on BIOS A05, my 4720HQ was performing good, if not perfect. It would throttle to 3.2 GHz occasionally and it keeps it 3.4-3.45 GHz clock generally but recently I can't keep the clocks and after playing demanding games such as battlefield 4 for 20 mins my CPU throttles to 800-1200 MHz. This is with throttlestop activated and its combined with a 60 mV undervolt. Do you think 330W or 240W adapter would help? Or in other words, do you experience throttling when you use the 180W adapter (I assume you still have the stock 180W adapter).

 

I don't have the stock 180W because when they sent me the new 240W, I had to give them the old one. My best guess as to why you'd throttle that much is too much heat, or the 60mV under-volt could be the main culprit. Not all CPUs in the same category perform the same. Have you asked others with a 4720HQ if they are experiencing the same kind of throttling? Can't really say if a 330W would fix that, (although it might). If others are not throttling as much as you, (without the under-volt applied) I would ask for a system exchange due to it not performing as intended. Now that I messed with bios long enough, I get no throttling under load; if any is evident it is so small, not worth mentioning. Example: under full load it stays at 4.0Ghz 90% of the time. If it dips at all, it is never less than 3.845Ghz (which is rare & doesn't last long). Every single run with 240W vs 330W was a smaller score, every time. If I were you I'd remove the under-volt completely. Always make sure your power settings are on maximum performance; not balanced or power saver-even balanced mode reduces CPU performance significantly. Contact Customer support for troubleshooting; if they can't resolve it they replace the machine or send a tech out to replace the motherboard. Never settle for less performance than what is advertised, everyone should reap what they sow.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

240W RUN: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/8351866

 

Dell knows that some processors in AW15 and 17R2 throttles. But this comes back in the priority queue of fixes from Dell. Those who experience throttling should contact Dell support so that the problem gets fixed before it becomes to late. Anything else is unacceptable. Don't think this gets fixed with a bios update.

 

These are my best results thus far



Link: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/10223870




Link: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/8353087




Link: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/8353116



NOTES: Max GPU temperature was 63*C, Max CPU temperature was 74*C. Used 330W PSU for benchmarks.

 

Brilliant news. I am stuck with my throttling machine since I cannot even use the warranty because this laptop came to me as a gift. I don't even know the buyer. I guess I'll stick with this machine for a while for a year or so maybe then get an AW 18 if it has 0 problems. I wouldn't want to buy an alienware anymore after my huge dissapointment with this machine but there is no other laptop manufacturer selling laptops which look good as AW's and OC'able as AW 18's as far as I know.

 

edit: sorry for double post

 

I understand that warranties can be transferred when a laptop is sold or gifted, (well unless you mean 'illegally gifted' of course!) - you'd have to contact the original owner and have them transfer the warranty to you.

 

Here's a Project Cars gameplay video 110-170FPS Maxed out on Ultra Settings.

Zotac Titan X inside Alienware Amplifier.
(FPS counter is on the top right of the screen; view in 1080p full screen)

 

Yes but I can't contact the original owner. I don't really know what you mean by illegally gifted It's a long story how I got this laptop but it's a gift to my father from a company which my father's company does buisness with. I really tried to find a way to contact the original owner but that seems impossible.

 

Haha, you know what I mean! Fair enough, pity you can't find the owner.

 

Meh I guess I'm not that much mad now because this throttling thing doesn't happen in all games. I've been playing Wolfenstein: The Old Blood almost maxed out for hours and my lowest CPU frequency is 3350 MHz which I find great. Also max temp is 86 deg C and average temp is 76 deg C. The machine works well for a free laptop I wonder why I have trouble getting battlefield 4 or metro series running. As I have said before I'll try the 240W adapter which I think might help.

 

Always better with 240W! Both Metro Last Light & BF4 use loads of CPU power, so that might be why you see a negative on those games - 240W adapter will help if you're not having temperature issues.

 

Have you checked the type of throttling in XTU? (method to do so detailed over here)

 

I am always getting power throttling. I've checked xtu. No thermal or current, just power throttling. Throttlestop also reports TDP throttling.

 

That's good, because it means there's nothing wrong with your unit as far as heat concerned. There are 3 solutions to stop power throttling from Intel XTU until your 240w arrives (in order of preference):

1. Undervolting (IIRC it causes BSODs for you)
   
2. Underclocking; reducing the active core multipliers by 2-3x (I recommend this for you)
3. Raising the "Turbo Boost Power Max" to 58w (might need a restart, YMMV)

You could use ThrottleStop to do it too, but I prefer being able to visualize throttling/TDP over multiple runs.

 

Thanks for the tips. I'm ok with all things you said. If my machine can handle 3.0 GHz that would be enough for me. Yes undervolting caused BSODs for me.

 

Maybe not reduce volt too much as before?

 

The thing is that BSODs don't happen in every game, just battlefield 4 and Metro series. In these games if I even do 1 mV undervolt the game crashes after a while. Other than that I can play Hitman: Absolution without major throttling (just 3.3 GHz sometimes instead of 3.4 GHz) with a 90 mV undervolt. I believe the games which cause BSODs just require more CPU power, thus CPU's pacakge power needs to be higher (when I play hitman or dying light etc. CPU's package power seems to be around high 30's-low 40's) and my PSU&A05 can't provide sufficient power which leads to several BSODs. I might be totally wrong since I am new to these things but one thing I noticed was the usage of power increases as the CPU usage increases.

 

You're totally right about it. I could run at 3.5GHz, but with low CPU usage = 7w. With that same 3.5GHz - having high CPU usage = 47w.

However, undervolting should reduce your power draw, if anything. My guess is your chip is worse at undervolting during higher frequencies... try running games that usually don't BSOD, with
"High Performance" plan enabled together with your undervolts, and see how it goes.

 

Question about the 17R2's M.2 drives/controllers... I know it holds 4 of them.

The one Alienware shipped my system out with is the Samsung SSD PM871 M.2 2280 512GB.
Manufacturer SAMSUNG
Heads 16
Cylinders 62,260
Tracks 15,876,300
Sectors 1,000,206,900
SATA type SATA-III 6.0Gb/s
Device type Fixed
ATA Standard ACS2
Serial Number S207NXAG702693
Firmware Version Number EMT22D0Q
LBA Size 48-bit LBA
Power On Count 73 times
Power On Time Unknown
Speed Not used (SSD Drive)
Features S.M.A.R.T., NCQ, TRIM, SSD
Max. Transfer Mode SATA III 6.0Gb/s
Used Transfer Mode SATA III 6.0Gb/s
Interface SATA
Capacity 476 GB
Real size 512,110,190,592 bytes
RAID Type None


What I would like to know is if I could upgrade to the much faster Samsung's SM951 PCIe SSD (Link: http://techreport.com/review/28446/samsung-sm951-pcie-ssd-reviewed)

*Because it is PCIe I am wondering if it will work on the 17R2 and still get the full advertised read 2150 MB/s write 1500 MB/s speed??
Or would I not see the full advertised speed at all?

Is there any way to make it work at the full advertised speed, or am I just stuck with the max read/write the Samsung 850 EVO M.2 offers which is significantly slower.?.

Basically I need much more storage, but want to buy the fastest SSD's the machine can handle. What is my best choice?

Thanks.