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

Just be careful, the rep may say that if there's any issues with installing the part yourself, you are liable, whereas if the tech guy messes up then you aren't at fault.

 

I know folks personally who had screens sent to them by demanding the risk of the techs messing it up even more (dents, scratches, stripped screws etc....)

My philosophy is to not even want any nucklehead tech to do even 50% of damage putting his hands on a machine that I paid for. (Can't reverse an oops....the annoying scratch not made by you.)

Sending it in is different, because if I noticed even a scratch I'd raise havoc to demand a compensation.

From my experience and from what I know of others, most of these techs are complete retards that have no understanding of care in handling electronics in general.

Maybe my sour taste stems from past idiots, but to me the whole idea of techs coming to your home to lay hands on your expensive machine is strange. Because I know that I can do a better job, guaranteed. (Confidence)

Most of the folks on here can handle their own. =)

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I fix my Aw laptop with the technician sitting watching. This is the only way to use the warranty from Dell. Without this opportunity to fix your Aw is Dellienwares guarantee essentially useless. I would also never ever sending my laptop to Dell's service center for repairs.

 

I totally get the warranty and not wanting to use it for fear of ruining your laptop. I feel same way. It's your machine, your baby, yours to use everyday. To then it's item number this or service tag that. I don't trust them. Nandi alot of horror stories those are with anything such as mechanics and your car or anything. I always do everything myself.

Most manufactures will send you parts to replace yourself, to some extent. it saves them money. But you are held responsible for any damage caused then. And I think depending what person you talk to from support, determines the extent of what they will allow you to fix. Like a fan, includes minor disassembly. Keyboard, well depending on the model could be easy or could mean total disassembly and they might not allow that or they might.

I always have onsite warranties with my workstation laptops, and even for easy things I always have them come out. My part gets there quicker so my laptop is fixed quicker. And in my experience tech shows up with other parts as well, so what was thought to be a screen turns out to be gpu, and then it's still fixed same day, vs them thinking while you replaced screen you broke something else. But when they do come, I hover over them like an over protective mother at the Dr office.

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

17.3 touch ips panel on r2

Does anyone know if you can swop the Alienware 17 r2 touch glossy panel with the Alienware 17 r3 anti glare?

I'm not bothered about touch I just prefer the glossy panel and there's no option on the Alienware r3 to buy with glossy panel so I want to install the panel from last years r2.

 

Lol it's exactly how it is for me....sometimes they think I'm crazy or something

 

Well this is the way I Iook at it. Then you have a knucklehead who thinks they know everything then you end up making things worse, then your system will cost even more because your warranty doesn't cover the mistakes done by you. I have confidence you're going to mess it up further then you'll blame Alienware even further because of your stupidity. If your system is not under warranty that is one thing, if it is I hope you break it further you are stuck buy a brand new system costing you even more money.

 

Not really. That only holds true in someone that isn't confident or competent enough.

@Papusan, I agree...."You (tech) sit and watch....I'll perform the work..."



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I have had two tech guys come over and replace my motherboard. Neither one of them got it right and the second scratched the **** out of the top of my laptop. I finally just had to send it in for them to repair it and replace the scratched area.

 

Wow .. So how can I preserve my battery life? Is it OK to always plug in the laptop whenever I'm using it at home or work?

 

I'm curious as well. I turned off the quick charge, as I know that thrashes the battery expected life. I use good split battery and plugged in, had for maybe 2 weeks and already went from 0-1.5% battery wear (according to battery bar pro)

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If you can't leave it plugged in reliably enough for Dell's desktop battery mode to work, then you'll want to just unplug it once in a while and let it drop to 50% or so. Lithium-ion batteries like to be exercised a bit (although they don't like going to 0% either).

I should mention that the desktop battery mode seems to be working for me, as I noticed my battery was around 50% charge this morning and is at only 75% right now (5pm).

 

anyone have an idea of where I can install dells desktop battery mode? When I did a clean install to windows 10 I lost it and it's not in any of the available driver/software applications

 

I think it's part of the Alienware On-Screen Display package on the downloads page for your service tag.

 

Guys I'm thinking of getting an R3 with GTX980m 8GB, but am really concerned that the laptop will run really hot.

I'm will only uses the laptop for games (eg. GTA5/Fallout4 etc).

Does it get ridiculously hot and throttle back with games like these?

 

I have the 980M w/ 8GB and it runs very cool compared to other gaming laptops. I'm also overclocked to 4.1GHz and very stable.

In fact, I've just finished gaming at 4K on Max Settings and have recorded my temps...here you go...



The first two spikes were benchmark tests at 4K on Max Settings. The rest of it is all 4K gaming on Max settings.

Hope this helps.

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i have the 980m (4GB) in an AW15 R2.....

they're cool as a cucumber!!, here's an image i took the other night while playing Battlfield 4, maxed out .... this image is actually a '30 minute' window.... i just cut the image to short to see it.

as you can see temps are amazing...

 

Looking great!

I see that you have all 4 cores set at 41x eh? Should I change all four to 41x in BIOS and still keep the voltage setting at 0?

That flat red line is awesome haha...

BTW, how much VRAM do you use on BF4 max settings? I've scratched 3.75, almost 4GB on some games when connected to my external 4k monitor.

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That's just what I wanted to see! Thanks for the responses!

Would I be able to play really old games (AOE3 for example) with it on my lap?

 

i dont use the BIOS at all........ just XTU!!!, mine will actually run its 3.2ghz boost with a -200mv reduction from the stock vcore, but in order to hold 4.1 on all 4 cores i need 10+mv

not sure about exact VRAM usage in BF4 ...ill have a look, i know itll be right on the edge of the 4GB though.

 

The 980 in this baby does run very cool. Looping unigine a few times I was topping out around upper 50s low 60s. However for some unknown reason, if I game in 4k the fans will scream really loudly even though the temps are hovering around the upper 50s low 60s area. If I drop it to 1080p then the fans become an acceptable level of noise. Everybody else have their fans squeal at 4k? I'm wondering if repasting with high quality paste will fix this, or maybe use the premamod thing?

 

Are you sure the fan is not coming on due to high CPU?

 

Hmm, I'll look into that and check back with you. Although I find it odd that running graphics at 4k would affect the cpu so much vs running games at 1080.

 

So what is everyone using for their USB-C display output? I want to hook mine up to a 4k monitor but am not sure what is the best dongle to use. (I would just use hdmi 2.0 but my monitor does not support it).

 

Hello,

I have seen some people asking for recovery images.
So I have uploaded the image of the usb recovery disk(is it specific to 970m?!) sent to me by dell. (I am not sure if this works when you do not have a recovery partition! I also do not know whether only barebones of OS is included or everything is present in this disk image as I have never restored it.)
I have also included a tool to restore this image to your usb. Use a 8gb or more usb drive.

Here is the link: https://lamar0-my.sharepoint.com/personal/vmerugu1_lamar_edu/_layouts/15/guestaccess.aspx?guestaccesstoken=oBIaa2e6Di8D7ncNiCKMOD67MMt6r2ZbwEWF8utTpl0=&docid=0aac2b6ad5a0b4bf8a05d318ec63a3d74&expiration=3/4/2016+8:04:16+PM


I have set the expiry of this link to 30 days. So get it quickly if you need. Infact I will remove it before that date to avoid any chances of getting banned.

 

I've got an R3 with GTX 980M 8GB and it runs Fallout 4 just fine. GPU usage on mostly Ultra settings plus advanced tweaks (godrays and shadows turned down, but TAA enabled) at 1080p is about 90%. With ENBSeries added to get better DoF and Shadow Boost for shadow distance throttline, I'm at 99% GPU usage but still get 60fps.

CPU is not taxed much while playing Fallout 4, unless I use console commands to spawn hundreds of enemies to ramp up AI and physics processing. The new games that are cross-ported to the new generation of consoles are more GPU-bound on PC.

Fans do come on, but they're not too loud. Definitely not as loud as when I set them to max in the BIOS.

 

Which image is this of? Windows 10 pro 64bit? And should I add a .iso extension to the file?

 

Windows 10 home 64 bit 970m i7 6700hq(Do not know if it is system specific or if it is just bare bones of the OS without any drivers installed)

1. The file you have downloaded is a 7zip compressed file. Extract it!

2. You will get a .bin file(image that can only be restored to usb) and "image usb TOOL" folder like so:



3. After restoring the image to usb, you will see the following files in the usb drive:


4. Then you have a bootable usb recovery disk which is same as the one that will be sent by Dell if you request one to send it to you.(which they will send for free of cost)

 

Thanks for the detailed response, that is exactly what I wanted to hear. After you've been playing F4 for a couple of hours, how hot is the machine to the touch?

Also, I think I'm going to place an order, am going to go for 1080p/GTX980 8GB, but can't decide whether its worth upping the RAM and HD to 16GB and 256SSD.

I will only use the machine for gaming and maybe some browsing, all my day to day photos/music etc is on my MacBook air.

 

There is some warmth but nothing is disconcertingly hot. I think they did a decent job with the thermal design. As with my old XPS M1730, the GPU fan appears to be on one side and the CPU on the other, with intakes on the bottom and exhaust on the back, and rubber feet on the bottom that give it enough clearance for the intakes (so make sure you operate it on a hard, level surface). It's nothing like my wife's old Macbook Pro that you could fry an egg on because they use tiny fans (with intake and exhaust hidden in the gap where the base and monitor come together) and use the aluminum casing (including the area just above the keyboard) as a heat sink!

 

There's a new BIOS up on Dell's download page for my 17 R3. I'm guessing this is the Skylake Prime95 freeze fix: http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016...auses-pcs-to-freeze-during-complex-workloads/

 

I noticed this too, but I'm too chicken to be the first guinea pig.

 

I installed it and it seems fine. Played Fallout 4 for at least an hour last night with no issues.

 

Cool ... I may try it. I also noticed that they removed the BIOS that I currently have (1.2.3) from the site.

 

Yea I did notice 1.2.3 was missing. I wonder why. Didn't notice any difference with 1.2.7.

 

I think I saw someone mention seeing diagonal tearing on their LCD screen. I have the 1080p and can definitely notice it in Firefox if I force it to run on the nVidia GPU instead of the Intel GPU. This could be part of why there's a default profile in the nVidia control panel that overrides it to use the Intel GPU regardless of the global default setting.

Edit: I should also mention that diagonal tearing isn't unusual these days. I have a handheld game console that does it too. It's just related to the way the particular LCD panel works. It's probably more distracting for people who like to play games with VSync disabled though.

 

Anyone have the original 1.2.3 file backed up?

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Here's a direct link from a Google cache. Better archive it quick if you care about it: http://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER03422976M/1/Alienware_15R2_17R3_1.2.3.EXE

 

Hey guys,
There is an annoying issue on my AW17r3. Whenever I use the lap unplugged, the screen automatically sets to lowest brightness, and disable all USB ports. I tried to disable Saving battery mode in Intel graphic card menu and also check prevent disable this device in Device manager, but did not work. How can I fix it ?

 

There are tons of power-related settings in Windows. The easiest place to find them is in Alienware AlienFX -> AlienFusion. Click Enable Admin Settings and then check out both the Quick Settings and Advanced Settings tabs.

Alternatively you can do it the Microsoft way in Windows 10 via Start->Settings->System->Power & sleep->Additional power settings->Change plan settings->Change advanced power settings->Change settings that are currently unavailable (see why I suggested the Alienware app? lol).

 

Just got my alienware 17 r3 and every time I try to play a game online, it disconnects me within 10 minutes and wont come back up until I click on the wifi. I cannot seem to find any solutions to this. Any ideas?

 

Are you playing on battery power? Do you have Intel or Killer networking devices? Do you have the latest Dell drivers installed for your networking devices? Killer also has even newer drivers on their site if you want to try them.

 

I am playing with the laptop plugged in.
I have Killer networking.
How do I find out if I have the newest dell drivers? I found the GeForce drivers, I updated the Killer driver. But I wasnt having luck finding out if my dell drivers were up to date. This is my first time with Windows 10. Most drivers I found were for 8 and down.

 

The version number of the Killer drivers is displayed in the lower-right corner of the Killer Network Manager utility. You can compare this to the number on the Dell support site for your service tag (current latest version from Dell is 1.1.56.1236) or to the version number of Killer Networking's site at http://www.killernetworking.com/support/driver-downloads (currently 1.1.57.1679).

You may also want to try rebooting your router/AP and making sure you have a strong wifi connection, as the problem could be on the router/AP side.

 

I had the same issue on mine (received it yesterday), I ended up uninstalling the Killer Wireless drivers and application and only reinstalling the driver, the application seems to mess up the wireless card under heavy load.
Mine kept on disconnecting while downloading from Origin or Steam.

I hope this helps.

Also, if your boot is slow, change the bios to AHCI and update the KIONIX Freefal Sensor driver, instead of a 2min boot you'll have a 15s one ;-)

 

I have posted a solution on page 194. I am quoting it here:

 

I believe Killer has a driver-only download on their website.

I guess I'm lucky, as I'm able to handle 100mbit downloads from Steam. I actually throttle it back a bit because nobody can do anything else on the Internet at home when I'm sucking down that much.

 

My girlfriend had this same issue with her 15. Go to device manager>network adapters, then goto properties on both killer drivers. Click on power management and uncheck the box that says allow the computer to turn off this device to saver power

 

I got my aw17r3 best spec.... From september and it wokled fine after unboxing. Didnt update anything (just nvidia drivers from oficial website). Recently i decided to go to dell site and update all drivers. After update my wireless and bluetooth disapear in every mrans from pc and i used system restore just before i updated laptop. Still working like charm just sometimes random diacomect from wifi...

 

I have a question for you guys, I can't find this on Google as it just shows me M17x R3 configurations and service manuals.

Does the 17 R3 have an MXM 3.0b video card or it's a BGA unit? I know the R2 was BGA, while the first 17 had a conventional MXM 3.0b video card.

I have a good deal on a 6700HQ/970M combo and I want to upgrade to a 980M in the future, but if the card is BGA then I need to change the whole motherboard with the CPU included and that's just not worth it.