*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R2/R3 Owner's Lounge

Thanks man, it took a fair bit of my afternoon to write it and think of what I wanted to say. I was gonna make a new thread for it, but I didn't want it to get trolled off topic so I just stuck it in here.

 

You, get trolled off topic? Never!

 

Great review bnosam! I also found the track-pad to be very annoying that I decided to live with it.
I hate how it suddenly scroll all the way down or up while normally browsing a page.

For the screen bleeding, I noticed minimal bleeding which didn't bother me a lot because I rarely notice it. However, I read about the issue and found that applying a gentle pressure (just as if you were clean wiping your desk with a dampened cloth) on the screen and on the back of the screen would help. I tried it and it did make the bleeding even less.

So I got my AW last week but I haven't had the chance to fully check it out.
I got it with these specs. (for $2880 without tax):
i7-4980hq - Gtx 980m - 16gb ram - Touchscreen - Win 8.1 Pro - A01 BIOS
and 256 GB M.2 SSD + that 5k ish 1 TB HDD (I feel stupid for getting the M.2 from their site)

I'm coming from an HP laptop made sometime in 2010. So I have no complaints so far concerning performing normal tasks. I installed programming applications (Visual Studio, MATLAB) and some photo editting apps as well and they run quite fast, it's unbelievable. Also the OS boots quickly.
The screen is just beautiful.

I've been reading this thread for a while and here's what I've done so far:

I tried benchmarking (I'm new to this) and I got these results:

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/9666624
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/6565246


NOTE:
I had a cooling pad (which I use almost always) and some internet tabs running in the background. And this was using the 180W Adapter.

I emailed dell for the 240W adapter, and I received a call to confirm my address a day later. I received it but they sent me the wrong power cord. So contacted them again and they sent me the right one and asked me to return the 180W adapter within 10 days.

Using XTU, I undervolted the laptop to -68mV and it's running much cooling. Before undervolting, the cpu used to be stuck at 2.8GHz when stress testing and its avg temperature was in the low high 70s and mid 60s when in light use.

Now the cpu doesn't stop at 2.8Ghz and the avg stress temp is in the low 70s and low 40s when in light use. Again I had the cooling pad on all the time, with balanced power settings.

My question here is, should I downgrade to A00? Honestly, I'm satisfied the way it is right now. But I haven'y done any gaming yet and wonder if downgrading would improve the performance.

I'll do another benchmark tests with the 240W later when I get free.

Also, today I received a gift card from Dell worth of 153$ (limited to buying from Dell) and I decided to spend it on games (I picked Dying Light for starters).

One more thing, I'm planning on getting the Samsung 850 EVO 500 GB M.2 3.5-Inch SSD from here http://www.samsung.com/us/computer/memory-storage/MZ-N5E500BW

But I'm confused, I already have one M.2 from dell and the HDD, can I install the EVO along with the other two or do I have to remove one (if so, which one?)? I'd really like to have both M.2s along with the HDD.


One more thing concerning batter life, does it harm the battery life if I kept the laptop plugged when when fully charged? Right now, I unplug when it's fully charged and plug it back when it's at 10%.

And I'd like to thank you all for contributing here, I learned a lot!

 

Everything is in line with your laptop with what it should be. There is some evidence of throttling but it shouldn't be a huge deal in actual use (from my experience). My use seems similar to yours (Visual Studio, MatLab etc).

There are 4 M.2 slots and one 2.5" harddrive bay in the laptop so you can add additional M.2 SSDs to your laptop as long as there is space for it.


Now my experience with the BIOSes. I recently downgraded to A00 from having A01. A00 runs 4-10 degrees cooler in situations for me. It is a DEFINITE improvement. I would recommend downgrading but be aware there is always some risk of bricking the computer. I've only heard of it happening once, so just make sure you close all your programs and run off the adapter when you update the BIOS to old versions. It's up to you to determine if the risk is worth it (it was for me), but be aware that there risk is there.

So new temps from the old bios A00
Ambient temp: 20C

Idle: 40-50C
Load 68-73C

 

Disable inertial scrolling in the touchpad properties.

Not really. The battery will stop charging itself when it gets to 100% and then it just holds the charge.

Lithium ion batteries do not suffer from memory issues like the older Ni-Cad batteries did.

Letting your battery discharge and recharge constantly will wear it out faster than keeping it plugged in

 

Looks like bios A03 has just been released... if anyone is at home and can try it out and report back some temps I would appreciate it

 

I saw that. But I refuse to be a tester for a new BIOS

 

I'm happy with A00 so unless A03 has amazing fan profiles and temperatures, not really interested.

But the list of fixes isn't very much at all, and is completely cryptic so who knows...

 

New bios update from Dell;; Modify OA3 behavior with RTC event ~ OA3 /secure bios/Uefi = Maybe also firmware That can not be downgraded ... Be careful. Maybe Garbage from Dell.
If there are problems(behavior) with RTC event (real-time clock RTC) it's not certain it is possible to downgrade the new flashed bios to a old one...

 

I just got my r2 and everything is perfect (it even came with a 240v!)

Just two stupid noob questions:
1. Where do I find the free Witcher 3 code?
2. The guy said it would come with a $100 gift card for the dell store, is that supposed to come later or something? cause it wasn't in the package :/

 

Hi, i recently contacted dell to change my 180W to 240w, they have rejected it saying that they had a BIOS update to fix the issue !! Now i am confused, will it really differ if i will buy a new power supply, should i insist on changing the Power supply?

Would be nice if someone tested the new bios with 180W and 240w and see the difference !!

 

Where are you located?

 

Canada

 

Thanks for the help guys!
I guess I am happy with A01, I don't feel the need to downgrade to A00.

Also, I tried playing with the setting and disabled the inertial scrolling, but sadly the issue is still present .

@tritan132 congratulations! I didn't get a code for Witcher 3; however, I got a gift card of $153 via email after a little more than one week from my purchase date.

Also if any of you is interested, here are my new BenchMark tests with the 240W adapter, A01 and -68mV. I happily see my scores improved
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/6669150
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/9704810

 

I am in Toronto. I had submitted a request through the Knowledge Base link, but got no actions. I called them today (1-800-254-3692). The lady asked me if I had updated the Bios. I told her that it creates heat and noise problem, and users are downgrading to A00. She went away for quite a few minutes, and came back with an ok. She will send out the 240W adapter, and I have received an email confirmation from her.
Hope this helps.

 

Tritan132 I was wondering the same thing before I got the laptop. Apparently it is preinstalled. The chat representative told me that.

 

while gaming CPU process drop to 0.80 Ghz and causing FPS to drop to 20 in GTA 5 any idea?

 

If it is brutals drops from 60 to 20 fps for 5-10 secondes, I had this kind of issues with far cry 4.
Since I change the bios from A02 to A00 I never had that agian in game (with far cry 4) even with +130/+180 on the GPU.
PS I use the 240W PSU

 

For anyone trying to claim the Witcher 3 deal from Dell after buying the laptop, don't try. I went through quite an argument and hell trying to find out an answer. I spoke with an agent who promised to get back to me within 3 days. He never spoke back to me and I ended up calling back a week later and spoke with a supervisor who told me he would look into it. I told him I know he wasn't going to call back and he promised he would saying "When I promise something, I stick by it, I'm a supervisor". NOPE No call that was 5 days ago. So I called and asked for him and was sent straight to a manager of the centre.

The manager was extremely confrontational to me. He kept cutting me off and raising his voice over mine so I raised mine over his and he told me to be professional or he would disconnect. So I dropped the "f word" and he disconnected. So I called back and he told me if I'm not professional he was disconnecting the call. He once again tried to tell me there was nothign they can do about this for me and kept interrupting me before I could explain anything to him. I told him I would like to file a complaint against the agent and the supervisor for promising a call back but not providing one. He told me he would register a complaint but they won't get reviewed and he would close the complaint because they don't have to give callbacks even if they promise them so they violated no policies. He then kept telling me they don't promise callbacks.
I told him I record all my calls and he interrupted me and told me he would be disconnecting the call if I am recording it because he does not consent to being recorded since Dell already records calls.
I informed him that here only one party has to consent to the call's recording to record it. He told me "well I'm not consenting." I said "I consented to the recording". He said "I am disconnecting now because you are recording the call without my consent."

Man Dell's customer service outsourcing centre sucks a lot of ass. I can't handle being interrupted constantly, then him telling me my complaint isn't valid because he doesn't deem it valid. He never even listened to the call and refused to listen to my recording of the supervisor promising me a callback.

 

My blood was boiling just reading what you have gone through.

 

from 70-80 fps drop to 20 fps
im on 240 psu

 

Holy crap that's crazy. Well, here's the response I got through email (i'm cutting out most of the text):

So if I don't hear anything from them on or before the release date, I'll contact them again and I'll have this email to quote, so there should be no problem.

 

Yes I got that from time to time.
Someone on the forum told me that he resolved the problem by downgrading to the bios A00.
Since I did it, it has never happened again plus the fan profiles are way better.

 

I just received it. Took 2 business days. This 240 W adapter is really huge and heavy. No wonder Dell did not want to give it out. I wonder if I should keep the 180 W and just live with the problem, which I have not run into yet, since I have not played any intensive games on it yet.

 

I just took the plunge and ordered one myself after going through a bunch of reps to get a decent deal, any idea if it's possible to have the 240W PSU sent before I get the machine itself? They wouldn't sent it together.

 

Hey guys, well, I've got this new beautiful 17 R2 and since the first time I turned it on I got a BSOD that have been recurrent. It says WHEA_UNCORRECTABLE_ERROR. Following several other BSODs I managed to know that the USB 3.0 is causing it, at least is what I think, it always shows in my device manager that there is some "Unknown USB Device (Link in Compliance Mode)" device that has the most recent driver but doesn't work and I can't update, also, Alienware guys told me to re-install the eXtensible usb 3.0 host and I can't even open the installer, it says that my system does not meet the minimum requirements, etc. It is really annoying, I've had it for about 3 weeks and there's no day I don't get a BSOD. Also when I wake up from suspension it also happen randomly. Please help me guys. It has the 970, 16g ram, 1tb hdd, 4710HQ. Thanks in advance!!

 

The USB installer won't work its meant for windows 7 32bit.

Downgrade to A00 bios (from dells website) and reinstall windows. Get all the drivers from dells website except for the Intel rapid storage technology, Intel HD graphics and nvidia. Get those from Intel / nvidia.

Also keep in mind there are two wireless drivers. Don't download the one that has Bluetooth in the title its for 32bit only. The other one is 64bit.

Sometimes doing that fixes the random issues from a factory image. If it still occurs then contact dell for an RMA replacement

 

Hello everybody, I just received my Alienware 17 R2 a couple of days ago.

i7 4980HQ
GTX 980M
16GB RAM
512GB SSD + 1TB 5400RPM

This thing is a BEAST of a machine. So far it is running flawlessly. My boot up time is averaging 11 seconds and everything is insta-quick. I just emailed Dell for my PSU, hopefully I will not run across any issues.

 

I just ordered a refurbished 17 inch yesterday and the description said it has GTX970 x2 which I assumed is SLI. My friend told me today that Alienware don't make the current 17 inch model with SLI, is this true? Did I just buy a laptop with misrepresentation from them ?
I even went on Dell's regular (not outlet) website and you can't configure a new 17 laptop with SLI !!!​

 

No sli...

 

WOW, so this suck big time. This is the first time I order from Alienware/DELL and assumed AW makes SLI GTX970m like other laptop manufacturers !!!
This is what the detail look like and there are two lines with the GTX970 in it.

Alienware 17 Windows 8.1 $1,581.75 1 $1,581.75 04/29/2015
86MF0 Alienware 17
080F3 256 GB Mobility Solid State Drive
2D5JP Alienware 6 programmable Macro module keys
2V43M Software
33RD8 Documentation
3E476 Certified Refurbished
48XT4 LCD Cover
51G3C 16 GB Dual Channel DDR3L 1600MHz (8GBx2) Memory
61F2H Windows 8.1 64BIT
7GXWD 17.3 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS-Pane TrueLife 300-nits Display with Touch Technology
85Y47 Software
8C2D1 Office 365 - 1 Month Trial (Internet access required to install & activate)
9R8RT Windows 8.1 64BIT
CK4DP Windows 8.1
CRMYP Software
DDKVK NVidia GeForce GTX 970M with 3gb
DDKVK NVidia GeForce GTX 970M with 3gb
DMR33 Windows 8.1 (64Bit) English
GV0CP Wave Systems Software
GXG05 Killer 1525 802.11ac 2x2 WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0
HVG8V English Keyboard
HY9WR Service Software
J5V02 Software
M3GVR Office 365 - 1 Month Trial (Internet access required to install & activate)
MC9FV 180W A/C Adapter, 3P
NG6N4 Software
NXN93 Processor: Intel Core 4th Generation i7-4710HQ Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.50 GHz)
P6XPR Software
PN3PP Service Software
R609C 125V Power Cord
W6WRV Shipping Material
W753G Information
X02KF 1 TB 2.5 Inch SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
XG74X 8 Cell 92W Hour Battery
Y4M1H Software

AL 17 : 1 Year Alienware Basic Support (In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis) (Included in Price) $0.00 1 $0.00 N/A

 

anyone here replaced the lcd? anything I should watch out for? I had a few stuck pixels and ordered one on ebay because I didn't feel like dealing with Dell's warranty BS.

 

Hi, thanks for the info.. I contacted Alienware tech support via Twitter and they said the will be replacing my PSU

 

make sure it has eDP connection and doesn't say COMPATIBLE anywhere in the seller's description, so they will send you the exact panel

 

Hey guys, I have switched to the A03 bios, I have the 180w psu and notice that after a few hours of gaming my battery drops to around 95%-93%, as low as 90%.
I've contacted dell and they did a bunch of checks and said it's normal. I asked about the 240w psu that it should have came with but the guy kept switching the subject. So, should I try again, is the new bios a fix, should I give up and just buy one. If the third will it even matter now, I used another psu from a friend and it would register as being plugged in, but wasn't accepted and kept getting a message to use the 180.

What should I do? I can post benches but don't really see anything to compare them with.

 

Call Dell back and say the A03 makes the temperature higher and fan is louder, and you have to switch back to A00. Ask for the 240 W since BIOS does not solve the problem but makes it worse.
BTW my 240W I received runs cooler when it is charging my AW17R2.

 

That'll be the hybrid power kicking in - taking extra juice from the battery to supplement the weak 180W PSU. I think you're entitled to a 240W PSU if you ask for one (Alienware reps have said you just need to request them). You can say you're not happy with the battery running down during gaming when on AC Power.

 

It will be sad if no one can update to newer bios because newer hybrid bios versions prioritize the use of the battery along with 180w power supply and quieter fans.

 

Did they request that you return the 180W adapter in exchange for the 240W? I should say this question is for people who received the 240W one through Alienware Tech Support.

 

I had to return mine. But some people didn't have to.

It should say in the email reply you got from alienware.

 

I had bsod at the beginning, to fix it I reinstalled all the drivers that were one the alienware site for the 17 r2, I downloaded all of them and installed them all, then downgraded bios to a00. But it was windows 8 not 7

 

Yes, this whole hybrid system is a cheap nonsense, just include a power supply that has enough juice! For a start, it's nice to have a power supply that can actually charge the battery while it's gaming, not one that wears it down! Haha!

 

Many people said try again so I did. Thank you, new psu is on its way.
The second person I talked to flat out said that the 180 is underpowered.

Thanks again guys. I'm sad that a number of people that order these may not know of the problem.

 

Yes, their email and says I have to return it. It will be useless to me anyway so why keep it.

 

Thank your very much franky j. Today is arriving a 1tb ssd so I'll make my install with the media from respawn. I'll downgrade to A00, hope it works

 

I just got my new 17 R2 and it's been pretty good so far. After isntalling XTU I've noticed two things I was hoping you guys could help me figure out--
1. There is a significant variation in core temps with the difference being 15*C on average.
2. There are wild fluctuations in core temps from a moment to moment basis (consistent across all 4 cores) on the scale of 20-30*C at a time.
Both of these issues cause the CPU to throttle as it senses core 0/core 1 are very hot, and will cause the fan profile to kick into max. The air coming out the vents however is only lukewarm.
Does anyone have any ideas about what could be causing this?

Here's a picture demonstrating what I mean. At the end I ran the XTU benchmark utility to demonstrate it a little better.

 

If the difference between the warmest and coldest core is so high, it is due to an bad application of thermal grease or heatsink is not completely smooth.
Rather test with Cinebench 11.5 and monitor temperature. More realistic test of your processor.
http://downloads.guru3d.com/CineBENCH-11.5-download-2475.html

 

You really need a re-paste on that. Those temps are crazy high.

 

My Alienware 17 with 980m is coming in a month with 240w psu. As i have read, i should not update the BIOS at all for now right? How does A03 perform with 240w anyone has an idea?

 

Just ordered an R2 from the outlet and I noticed in the order form it shows the 180w power adapter, is that ok for the base config (970m)?