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

So anyone have this issue ?

 

I don't get a pop. What I get sounds more like an alert tone when I close the lid.

 

Hi guys.
I'm about to buy a refurbished AW17 R3 from EuroPC or Dell Outlet UK in the coming months.
What are the usual problems with the series ? Are there problem with the thermals for example, like in the R4 series ?

 

Not really. This series is actually pretty solid other than being gimped by Optimus, so you can't get G Sync or some extras unless you connect a monitor via AGA.

Temp wise it's only possible to get bad temps if you got a shoddy stock paste job, however this series is a major PITA when it comes to disassembly and repasting compared to the R4. Must be done with some patience...

Make sure you get a unit with at least i7-6820HK and GTX980M, OC both of them and you're good to go for a at least a year or 2. Mine is currently running at +150mhz core and +300mhz memory for the GPU and a -0.58mv undervolt for the CPU. GPU temps never go above 75c so I guess I'm lucky with the stock paste job.

 

Thx, it's good to hear, that it's quite solid. One of my first things will be to repaste it, with some quality stuff. Never really trusted stock paste.

 

I see you are talking about GPU overclock here.
Can you pls point me to a guide (dummy proof) for undervolting a GTX 1070? I have an 17 R3, but just got a second hand 15 R3 which seems to have the Micron Memory issue and I have read somewhere that undervolting may solve the issue.

 

Not sure about undervolting GPU. Maybe try nvidia inspector, iinm there's a voltage slider that you can adjust towards the negative values as well

 

One question also came to my mind. How loud is the 17R3 under regular web browsing load ?
My current laptop tends to ramp up to max (~50db) its fans even while browsing, and it's highly annoying

 

Mine was mostly silent, the GPU fan is off most of the time and the CPU fan will spin up once in a while but not on max.

 

Just joined the club! Just picked up a 17 R3 locally for $850 with the following specs:

i7 6820HK
16GB RAM
GTX 980M
4K Display
256GB NVMe M2 SSD
1TB HDD

This sucker is huge. I have a AGA coming in the mail so will play with that when it gets here. I'm about to run various tests on it to see how it performs.

Any suggestions on what I can do to make it run better? I know how to undervolt the CPU with XTU. What about overclocking the CPU and GPU? Thanks!

Also, one weird problem. The PM951 NVMe SSD isn't recognized in apps like AIDA64, HWINFO64 or CrystalDiskInfo. That's weird. They only see the 1TB data drive. I'm clearly booting off the SSD and it all works fine. On my 13 R2 the apps see its PM951 just fine.

 

optimus is cancer

I would not use the maxwell based alienwares at all

 

Best to do a repaste before you start overclocking, especially for the CPU. You can try overclocking on the GPU first and check the temps. Anything around the 60s to 70s range is fine. Update to the latest bios if you haven't do so

Have fun with your new laptop, that's a great price you got it for. Was it refurbished?

I would say at the price he got it doesn't really matter. At least these alienwares got a proper cooling solution unlike the latest. (bar the subpar factory paste which is a norm)

And he was intending to use it with the AGA anyway

 

No, I bought it locally from someone. Any ideas about the SSD not being recognized by apps? The OS is on the SSD and it works fine but apps don't seem to recognize it.

 

I figured it out. I had to change the BIOS setting from RAID to AHCI. In order to do that I had to do an advanced startup into Safe Mode. During the reboot to the Safe Mode menu I went into the BIOS and changed to AHCI. Then upon boot choose Safe Mode and it will boot in. Then reboot again the storage controller driver will change to Microsoft NVM instead of RAID. Now it's working properly.

 

I just tried to flash my 17R3 2015 with the bios update from 6 January 2017 and my computer has gone totally blank screen/no BIOS/no windows. The keyboard lights and power button light comes on but absolutely no BIOS or OS. Any ideas?

 

What's your BIOS version before flashing?

 

Hi All,

For recent couple of weeks, my Alienware 15 R2 is experiencing some faults.

although my power is plugged in, but in the bottom left bar the battery icon shifts between plugged in and unplugged every few second, especially while i play games AND LOSS FPS. and during gaming the battery will go down even with power supply plugged.

I have updated both BIOS and video card driver to the latest.

Is this a common issue? or just my power supply is broken?

 

Did you ask in the Alienware 15 R2 thread?

 

hello I was wondering if http://www.corsair.com/en-us/vengea...m-3000mhz-cl16-memory-kit-cmsx32gx4m2a3000c16 is compatible with the Alienware 17 r4

thank you.

 

CONFIRMED RAM LIST

 

Hello I want to know if there is finally solution for subwoofer options greyed out in Soundblaster control panel? Does it work for anybody at all? What is the action taken by Dell if this problem is reported?

 

Also is it worth getting screen replaced for two mild screen bleeding spots?

I have warranty expiring in a week. Also is it worth getting warranty extended? How many of you got it extended?

 

IINM the subwoofer option isn't supposed to be enabled when using the onboard speakers. The onboard speakers are only recognised as two front facings, despite the presensce of the "subwoofer". As long your subwoofer is working fine it shouldn't really matter

I personally don't really mind screen bleeding since I don't notice it at all unless in total darkness with a black wallpaper, and for me 2 is actually considered minimal.

 

Hello there,

Sorry for the delay. I was able to use the F9 trick to revert back to previous BIOS. Thank goodness it worked!

 

Hi, I have an Alienware 17R2, with 125gb SDD and 1TB HDD, and 16GB Ram.

What software is best to clone the 125GB sdd on th a 500GB sdd, and can I then install the 125GB version in to one of the other slots?

Also, is 16GB RAM the max I can install?

Thank you.

 

https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree

I don't see why you couldn't use the other drive as a secondary drive.

 

Hello people

I own an Alienware 17 R3(i7-6700HQ + GTX 970M). Recently, the surface has been overheating(keyboard and above, palm rest remains cool). And it's not normal warming, it's actually 'hot' to touch. And don't even talk about the base. It's getting so hot, it's hard to touch the base without getting a red finger. All this happening UNDER ZERO OR NORMAL LOAD! When I game, fans run and temps remain about the same, so no further heating there

And I've taken all precautions like keeping it on a flat surface, cool room etc. My CPU temps remain absolutely below 85C. Recently Dell Replaced Heat sink and fans but to no avail.

Now, they want to replace the motherboard with a refurbished motherboard!

My question is, is it a motherboard problem at all? How safe is it to accept a refurbished motherboard?

Thanks

 

Check the internal dc cable inside the chassis next to the battery cable if it isnt burned.

 

Absolutely no experience in opening up the laptop! Can only check this when the technician comes in to replace the motherboard. Any other possibility?

Just one question: can motherboard by itself cause this heating issue? Because I can't seem to wrap my head around the fact that motherboard is causing the heating of keyboard

 

its very subjective, is it warm or really hot the keyboard. the bottom becomes warm yes but how much is hard to measure online.

 

All I can say is it is abnormally 'hot'. If I rest my palms on the keyboard, they just feel HOT, not just warm or VERY warm, but HOT. And it's been a recent problem. I'm having this laptop from over a year and haven't experienced anything near this level of heat. Only way to bring this down is to run fan in performance mode all the time, which becomes very noisy.

The bottom though, it is literally burning hot. That's the best way I can describe it. You cannot hold onto it for more than few seconds without taking your hand off it

 

Try a repaste.

 

Pretty sure it's the burning power cable problem as mentioned by @rinneh. A while ago a member laptop had the same symptoms as yours and he opened the bottom hatch only to find the power cable burned

here's the thread

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

 

Well then, first thing Monday I'm going to service center and getting this checked. Yesterday the assembly got so hot, I wasn't able to type on the keyboard without getting my fingers feel the heat!

And finally, since Dell is generous to replace the motherboard, should I go for it?(They tell it's a refurbished motherboard). Has my current motherboard suffered degradation due to this bad heating and thus, a replacement would be better? What other parts could be affected by this insane heating?

Edit: I opened up the back panel after reading the other thread and took a photo of the battery cable. Does this look burned? I really don't know:

 

If you could remove battery plug and try giving a picture of DC cable directly. What's your current temps.?

 

I don't know if this is what u are asking for.

My current temp tops at 85C(thermal grizzly kryonaut paste)

 

This is the closest picture to give an indication of cable burn. I'm not able to conclude anything

 

Have you repasted before? Its too difficult to conclude if the wire suffered a burn, I saw a little shiny black lines I wonder its the camera flash, right?
Can you post your temps using HWINFO along with CPU cores and PCH temps?

 

Here is the temps from ePSA that dell believes firmly. I can only interpret the CPU temps. <90 looks fine under load. And I've repasted with Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut when the fan and heatsink was replaced few weeks ago.

Not sure if other temps are off the charts(PCH temps is 78C?)

 

ePSA don't stress your hardware. Aka Just a simple diagnostic test. Expect higher PCH temp with maximum load on all hardware.

 

THats the battery cable, i mean the cable that is next to it. If that one is looking the same as the battery cable. Something else is up. What location on the palm rest is hot? Above the keyboard or on the left palmrest or the right palmrest? I know the left size next to the trackpad can become warmer when charging (turn express charge off by the way in bios). On the right side in the middle of the keyboard is where the PCH is, so the PCH warms that part up. If it is the whole keyboard, it means your heatsink is becoming hot but the fans arent dissipating the heat quickly enough.

But still, it is hard to guess the temperature for me. Gaming laptops get fairly warm at those locations. Not sure what too hot would mean.

My PCH temp can go up to 80c under full load by the way.

 

M 13R3 gets pretty warm too but it's also a tolerance level. Are u sure it's burning hot or just hot on the hand. If you don't smell anything like burning wires then most likely your just not use to a gaming laptop.

 

@sagarbhathwar: I noticed really high battery wear of 23% and also you're using 180W adapter. May I know your specs esp. CPU and GPU.
EDIT: If your GPU is 980m, I recommend you try swapping 180W adapter with a 240W. I suspect the cause is with HSF or Heat Sink Fan. It happened to me, one day whilst I was typing, the keyboard was very hot to touch like you said.
Did you clean the HSF of Dell paste using isopropyl alcohol and some Q tips?
I have done a repaste, its not detailed as @iunlock did because my hands were dirty and could grab the shots of CPU and GPU. [Q] AW 17" R3 / AW 15" R2- Repaste now or wait until your warranty expires?

 

CPU and GPU

 

Thanks for keeping track of it. I feel Stupid that I asked such a bad question.

 

Entire keyboard and above the keyboard(LED lights for CAPS lock, power button etc., that strip of region) is hot. Palm rest is cool, and I mean, really cool. Not a speck of heat after playing Witcher 3 on High settings for 20 min. I agree that heat dissipation by heat sink becomes relevant while gaming or video encoding. But watch a movie or even leave my laptop Completely idle(Usually runs at 10% CPU usage) for about 15 min and you can feel the keyboard + upper part burning.

Express Charging was turned off the moment I saw it on in BIOS one year ago! Stupid Dell, my battery had worn out 10% in two months already!

I would say this is abnormal since this is recent and never did the laptop heat up this much before. Heck, it gets pretty darn warm when I'm using it on battery just for programming at my university! Once I lift it off the table, anyone who touches it would feel the heat. All I can tell is that this is abnormal recent behaviour of my laptop

i7-6700HQ + GTX 970M + 16GB RAM. And yes, I use 180W adapter that came with the laptop

I gave my Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut 1.1g tube to the technician(big mistake?). He cleaned the older paste with the packaging sponge that the new heatsink was sent in . What was he thinking!!?? And the thermal paste on the new heat sink(is it thermal paste? It looked like it was pre applied) was not removed since the technician was adamant that it is "Dell original thermal paste" and shouldn't be removed.

Now I don't even have the Kryonaut(I imported it from USA, I am in India and it's not available here). My best option is Arctic MX-4 for the new motherboard(if I should go for it)

I've attached the new temps while gaming witcher 3 and I'm surprised! CPU core temps are reaching 95C on Grizzly Kryonaut(which is supposed to be damn good).

Can someone guess what is going wrong here? I'm out of ideas. Should I take the new (refurbished) motherboard that dell is replacing?

 

Wow yeah if your idle and you feel it hot then yeah there is definitely a issue. You stated the tech simply applied the Grizzly Kryonaut over the existing Dell paste? If so that would be an issue for sure. Why would you give Dell Tech the paste!!!

95c is definitely way too hot. I would say it's a result of tech not properly pasting the thermal paste

 

Holy ****! Just ram Prime95 and I think if it ran for more than 5 min, It would kill the CPU! I've attached the temps
By the way, Dell tech wiped old paste off the die and applied Thermal Grizzly over it. But the heat sink thermal paste(on the new heat sink. Is that pre applied thermal paste?) was not wiped.

 

Yeah, double up with thermal paste. And everything mixed together, Oh'well
Next time ask the tech if you can do the thermal paste job yourself. Even the cleaning of old paste!!