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

I am sorry but there are two more things, one is with the WiFi, when i connect the wifi on my alienware, the wifi stops working, not only on my internet but all other devices. When i disconnect the WiFi, then all other devices are working. This I have tried looking on google and many people have faced this issue with windows 10, but there doesnt seem to be a proper solution to it

Due to this, I am thinking of doing a complete fresh install of windows 10, is there any guide available on these forums mentioning which drivers to install first etc? I am planning to install the windows on samsung 950 nvme.

 

What is the best way to uninstall IRST. Just removing it from control panel uninstall program, or is there any device in the device manager I need to remove to be sure its not working in the background.

 

I would use Add/Remove Programs (Programs & Features) to uninstall IRST, then I would reinstall IRST either downloaded from Dell/Alienware or the latest ones from the Intel website.

 

Thank you

 

@Mr. Fox, Could you use your connections to help us get these owners lounge threads update to include the 15R3/17R4?
Or perhaps a new 2016 owners lounge thread. As they stand now they are cluttered and confusing since this current one houses the 17R2/15R1 & the 17R3/15R2.
Either way could you please guide us to whomever we need to talk to in order to get this done?
Thanks.

 

I agree need a new owners lounge for 17R4/15R3 with the reviews and all the goodies.

 

A new Owner's Lounge for the 2016 models with Pascal would be a good idea. They are totally redesigned and do not resemble the previous models in any shape, form or fashion.

Normally, I and @katalin_2003 used to create those threads, but it is not required that a moderator create them. You would only need a moderator to make them sticky for you. I tagged Katalin so he can chime in, but I would see no harm in you creating the new threads for the new models.

I would recommend using the same type of subject line to make them easy to spot from the other threads, like this:

*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R4 (2016 Redesign) Owner's Lounge
- and-
*OFFICIAL* Alienware 15 R3 (2016 Redesign) Owner's Lounge

 

@DeeX @Mr. Fox New threads are up.

 

Sweet! Thanks!

 

Can you share

How did you manage to raise the laptop by half an inch? What setup did you use?

 

Why do it difficult?

 

Got to W*lm*rt's home office section. You'll find a metal stand with a screen back that is perfect for laptops and will allow plenty of airflow. It even has a somewhat effective cable holder on the back. I think it's around $15. I got one years ago because of temps on my P-7811FX. Have not had a problem since.

 

Regarding the M.2 SSD slots in the 17 R3, I can put TWO PCIe 4x SSDs in them at the same time (and have access to them both)? I ask because on virtually every other system I've looked at they say it supports two M.2 Sata drives or ONE PCIe 4x drive.

EDIT: I asked about the number of SSDs before and was told to "load 'em up", but I wanted to clarify the I could go with two PCIe 4x SSDs. It appears you can do this with the R4.

 

Haha thats a nice idea but short term, any permanent solution, I usually use it on my desk, so I dont have to move it, but I want to ensure good airflow underneath

 

Or more like this http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...lienware-laptops.593626/page-46#post-10208973

 

Can you kindly tell me whats the model number for your sharp 4k screen in 17r3? I have the AUO, just wanted to compare if there are any differences.

 

I sold it a few months ago but I was mistaken about it being sharp. It's AUO part number B173ZAN

 

hello JerseyBoy, the link you provided for the OS image isn't working ;(

 

Can you kindly tell me how did you manage to sort out the scaling issue?

 

That was a while ago, I've since received a new replacement... If memory serves me right I believe I ended up playing around with the built in Windows Scaling in Win 10, adjusting that fixed it for me. This link should help/point you in the right direction.

 

Jay, I was wondering if you were able to put together a guide for custom colors on alien fx. I'd much rather use white than going all rainbow

 

So, can we put two PCIe x4 SSDs in the 17 R3?

Also, can the R3 take 2666MHz or 2800MHz memory? And if so, would I see any benefit from it? Or would the firmware just underclock it?

And since it is a lot cheaper to buy and install my own PCIe drive, how easy is it to make that PCIe drive the boot drive? Is it as easy as copying the boot partition from the 1TB hard drive to the PCIe SSD and then changing the boot source in BIOS? Or is there more to it than that, and if so, are their instructions? Or do I have to do a reinstall of Win 10 to the PCIe SSD?

 

I'm using 32GB DDR4 2666MHz ram, just straight plug & play no issues.

Also have PCIe Raid 0 as my boot drive, difficult to set that up, however if you are not trying to do Raid 0 it is easier to accomplish. You will see one asx4, the other as x2.

In class now, no time to look for instructions but if you search through posts I made, you will see instructions on how to do it.

Raid 0 is definitely worth it, big increase in performance.

 

Thanks for the response. Read through your posts. Doesn't look any harder than when I did it on my 7811-FX.

Alienware 17 R3 ordered. They don't waste anytime charging the CC, do they? Will probably upgrade memory sometime next year, but the SSD(s) will get installed before Xmas for sure and maybe even before T-day. May swap the Killer wlan for an Intel 8260, but will wait to see if any issues crop up first.

How current will the drivers be when I get the laptop? Will they be pretty up to date or does dell use the same image they were using when they started building the systems in 2015 (I'll have to update just about every driver on the system)?

 

I have never found their drivers to be perfect. The very first thing you should do is re-install the OS from scratch and install all the latest drivers manually. Good luck getting RAID 0 to work as your boot-you will need it; trust me. LoL

Let me know how it works out for you.

 

First thing I did was re-install the OS and update all the drivers. Its a surefire way to have a clean running OS, with your own tweaks. From my experience, clean OS install equals less errors, and longer system life. That has been my experience.

 

I do plan on doing a fresh install when I get it. What kind of bloatware comes on an Alienware these days? My last experience with a Dell, granted it was 8 years ago, was that there was so much bloatware as to make the system almost unusable.

I ordered my system Monday. I got an email on Tuesday saying my system had been built and was on it's way to the shipping department. It is now Friday and nothing has happened since then. I checked the Dell website and it still has not shipped. I paid for expedited shipping. Are they just tardy in updating the shipping information or is my laptop likely on a palate in a hallway outside the shipping department? Is this business as usual for Dell? It is listed as expected delivery Nov 4 (today) and Nov 10 (Thursday) which is later than what it said at checkout when I selected the expedited shipping. You'd think they'd have a handle on their supply chain and workflow management by now. Will it do any good to call and complain?

 

Can we disable the IGPU on this unit? and what is the current stable bios?

 

Can any one share with me icc profile for the 4k screen.

 

No, there is no way to disable Optimus and the iGPU.
That is one huge advantage of the R4.

 

How do I tell if I am running on the iGPU or the dGPU (Nvidia)? And how do I switch between them? BTW, the iGPU (Intel HD Graphics) on the 6700HQ has better benchmark numbers than the dGPU (GeForce 9800M GTS), or so I've read. I'd like to compare the two myself.

 

So, got the new laptop with Win 10 Pro. Couldn't find AlienRespawn on it anywhere, so I tried to install it. That, apparently, was a mistake. After a few reboots was finally able to get rid of it and my system seems OK. (BTW going back to two prior restore points both failed. Not feeling very good about that.) Been doing some searching on the web and supposedly we are supposed to make a USB recovery drive (Under Windows System in the Start menu). Tried that with a 16GB USB and it failed. No reason given for failure, just that it failed. According to one source I found, I need a 32GB USB, will try that tonight. I also found my way to a Dell support site that required me to enter my support ticket number and let me download an iso for my system to make a bootable USB thumbdrive (which I did). The online doc says that it will reinstall Windows but doesn't say if it will reinstall any drivers or other support software... does it?

There are 5 partitions on the hard drive. One is "Image". Why is there an Image partition if there is no way to recover it? Or will the USB thumbdrive I made recover stuff via this image partition.

Am I going to have to download all the drivers from Dell's support site and install them manually? After years in the business, you'd think they'd have streamlined this process. The hardware is great, but it doesn't seem like Dell has put much thought into providing support for Win 10.

I have a 1TB SATA SSD to put in place of the existing disk (I'm waiting to see what the prices and reviews look like for the next batch of Nvme drives before getting some m.2 SSDs - the 960EVO looks promising) and I'd like to do a fresh install on it, but the instructions I've found thus far are for Win 7 and Win 8/8.1 systems and mostly require AlienRespawn.

On a positive note, this thing kicks @ss. The 4K screen... wow! The case is very nice. And it feels about two pounds lighter than my 7811fx. Not sure I like the Killer software. When I was downloading the Steam upgrade I seemed locked out of any other internet access.

 

Hey guys made an account just to warn other AW 17 R3 owners of this serious problem.
Keep an eye on your DC-IN Cables! There's an issue with the Bios and power management that causes this. While under load my system would drop in performance randomly and the screen would dim. The system would switch back and forth between battery power and DC while being plugged in. Took it apart and found that the cable was melted! I ordered a new cable and switched it out. Instantly noticed a huge difference in performance haven't had an issues since. This problem could have easily shorted out my motherboard or even worse start a fire. My system is only 4 months old and this happen to it. If your in or out of warranty do your self a favor and have a look at your cable.

http://imgur.com/TIBZMoE

http://imgur.com/3ey6GkN

 

Anyone try to connect extend monitor to AW17 via usb-c port. I just bought thr monitor asus pg278q and usb-c to displayport cable. It supposed to be just plug n play. But nothing happened. Go to display, try to detect it, shows up as didn't detect another display. Go to control panel, it shows up as billboard device.

 

Had this exact issue a few months back.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/17r3-dc-in-cable-temperature.792607/

Had dell replace cable and mainboard and it has been fine since.
This also happens to the 15" not just the 17" model

 

Wow how could something like this pass testing?
I bought mine second hand and dell refused to help me so a motherboard replacement was out of the question. I bought the DC cable and replaced it my self and it has fixed all my issues so far. I've updated to the latest bios and really hoping this issue doesn't come back.

 

Man im in the same boat. No warranty. It used to happen to me all the time (the psu chord light would shut doen for a bit then power back on) but idk if its the tempurature here getting lower or a bios update but seems to have stopped. Used book to no warranty :/ where did u get that d/c cable? I should probably swap it out when i repaste this thing

 

How does something like this pass testing? Very easily. Especially since the fix is in BIOS. It is very possible that their burn in test used an older version of BIOS that did not result in this issue or that their burn-in test simply isn't long enough to expose the issue. It is also possible that their component suppliers made changes to the components after the fact. It is also possible that they don't open up a laptop and check the motherboard after certain tests. But, one cannot rule out the possibility that it is just sloppy testing.

The thing is, you can't test for every single possibility. You test for those things you think are critical, and you test for those things that are known to have caused problems in the past. I expect this resulted in a couple new tests being added to their QA process.

 

Remember Dellienware's engineers missed totally on the power draw calculation with 980M and the famous *flimsy* 180w psu. Then began Dell's engineers to play with the Battery boost. The result of all the bad engineering is what you now can see

Dellienwares first Echo machines aka early 2015 represent a record in motherboard swap. Only 24 motherboard, distributed to only 4 users. This is a Worldrecord I think.

 

Just registered to pop a question,
I just got a Dell Alienware 17 R2, and I have trouble finding the charging indicator.

When the unit is turned off, If I plug in the Power Cable, How do I know if it's charging/charged or not?
Isn't something supposed to light up like regular laptops?

Help on this mater is much appreciated !

 

You can set alien-fx to change the colour of the alien head power button when the adapter is connected.

By default, I think it lights up green when on battery and blue when on power.

When laptop is switched off the alien head should light up when power is connected

 

Thanks a ton for the prompt response!

Mine is updated to Windows 10. Did a clean installation, after quite a struggle with Enabling DotNet older versions, managed to get the Alien FX installed and working.

When the Laptop is powered off, None of the lights will switch on when I connect the charger.

Since you mentioned it needs to be enabled in AlienFX - I'll give it a try. Just one question (I dont have the laptop with me right now to test), Would it be possible to enable the upper alien head on the outside of the laptop rather than the power button one?

Thanks!

 

Just tried mine. The power button lit up whilst it was switched off when I plugged in the AC with only 50% battery power remaining. but, it doesn't seem to come on if the battery is full when plugged in.

So the light must only come on whilst charging when switched off. I have never noticed that before.

I think only zone 1 (Power button) can be customised to change colours when on battery/AC . I dont think you can make the back head do it.

 

Thank you so much for the information and for spending time to confirm it!

Cheers!

 

I've found a couple places that caution against running Furmark on Alienware laptops, but those postings are 4 to 6 years old. Can the current laptops handle Furmark? Should it still be avoided? I thought I had seen a similar caution against running 3DMark06, but I can't find it now. Are there benchmarks to be avoided, and why? I'd like to benchmark just using the Intel Graphics built into the 6700HQ and compare it to the 8 year old GTS 9800M in the laptop my Alienware 17 has replaced. More for my curiosity than anything else.

Also, is there anyway to disable the 970M in the Alienware 17 while I run the benchmarks?

 

Hi,

where can i activate the XMP-Profil in the BIOS? I use the 32GB G.Skill ddr4 3000mhz, kit but i don´t find the XMP Menue in the BIOS.
Can I select XMP-Profile from Windows?

 

Furmark is banned by Firmware modders and Nvidia Don't use it!!

 

Use unigine heaven on 4K, tesselation extreme, ultra quality, and 8x antialiasing (not fullscreen)

Running this for 30-45 minutes will give a general ballpark temperature where the GPU will operate at

DO NOT USE FURMARK
DO NOT USE FURMARK
DO NOT USE FURMARK
DO NOT USE FURMARK
DO NOT USE FURMARK
DO NOT USE FURMARK
DO NOT USE FURMARK

 

I am getting a strong sensation... a very strong feeling... that perhaps I should not use Furmark.

Oddly enough, when I got the 7811fx, my son was only 3 or 4 and he loved watching the fuzzy donut.

 

Was in the old days that you can run furmark without damaging the silicon