*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R4 Owner's Lounge

Yes, but its called a heat sink these days


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Ah you figured out how to get the tactx keys white as well. How did you do it?

 

Would anyone with a kaby lake 17R4 mind creating a bios backup of k1.0.2 and sending me a copy? (Not the skylake 1.0.2 that's on Dells website). I've had nothing but problems with temperature and power limiting since trying "Skylake 1.0.12 / Kabylake 1.0.5" and "skylake 1.0.9/kabylake 1.0.1". I called dell tech support and said that only the factory has a copy. Pretty ridiculous. Any help would be much appreciated.

 

What power limiting are you talking about? And what temp do you get with max OC, lets say 4.3GHz?

 

The turbo boost power max and turbo boost short power max. I sent you screen shots before of me running 1024m 8 threaded benchmarks with my 7820hk. It runs 4.3GHz easy with the power limits set to 100W and a temp of 84C max on k1.0.2. I updated to the new bios and now I can't even do OC level 1 without power limit throttling and >95C. If I try to do 4.3GHz it immediately thermal throttles. What crap considering I can't download a copy of the factory bios to revert.

 

An old proverb says... If it ain't broke, don't fix it. The question is whether you can obtain a bios dump and create a file that can be used for flashing. Be stuck to using an old firmware due better performance/cooling is terrible. You risk not to be able to use newer firmware who fix problems now - later or provide other improvements. Some firmware can't be flashed back. Aka you can't have previous versions.

 

Have to do something apparently. Just ran 5prime 1024m 8 threads with everything stock and I got power limit throttling galore:

 

The pict is crippled.

 

Hopefully this is better:

 

You can raise power limits and clock speed in XTU or TS. But max temp will follow after A very nice fix for the uneven core - overheating from Dell's engineers!! Push out new Bios is a easier and cheaper fix than to fix the underlying problem. What with the higher graphics TDP promised by Mr. Azor? He only replacing a problem with another

 

raise the Turbo Power Max and Turbo Short Power Max to 230

 

Just to be sure here, from which bios version did you upgrade to which? Does the Kaby Lake BIOS follow the same verioning as the Sky Lakes?

Really just sounds like you have the Infamous AW CPU temp problem, and no BIOS in the world can fix that

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Must say that trying to switch from an AW17 to a MSI GT73 turns out to be harder than expected. The good news is that unlike the AW, it actually has working thermals and no throttling. On the other hand, the overall design, bloatware, small unique programs for this and that makes it harder. And add into the equation remapped keys, the worst PSU plug ever and such and I am honestly starting to have second thoughts here...


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The bios versions for kaby lake follow a different nomenclature. As soon as kaby lake was released, any new bios versions that come out have an s or a k in front to designate skylake or kabylake. I moved from the factory default k1.0.2 (which is not available online apparently) to k1.0.5 which is packaged together with the s1.0.12 update.

I'm aware of the 17r4 issues. I repasted with kyonaut and modded the heat sink so I'm pissed that they still managed to screw my laptop up. Also not thrilled that I had to explain the bios nomenclature to alienware's own tech support while unsuccessfully asking for the old bios.

 

Which begs the question...what real alternatives are there for the AWs? Only thing I can think of eith similar styling etc is the Aorus line X7.

I noticed that the latest BIOS for the Sky Lake version seemed to lower the fan curve (or rather raise it) which of course did not help the already bad cooling.

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Are you UK or US based?
A properly cooled AW can easily trade blows with MSI!
Evidence is here:
http://www.3dmark.com/search?_ga=1....HK&gpuName=NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 (Notebook)

Select 1 GPU in the filter and check out who's 21st (mixing it with the very best MSIs). 19k might be possible with the TDP of the AW 1080 increased!

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Neither.

How would you change the TDP (in a somewhat safe way)?

One interesting thing I've noticed when doing benchmarking is that the fans aren't really all that loud, ie not running as much as they perhaps should. This of course wont fix the problem with uneven core temps etc but it should at least affect the overall temps. Not really sure what this Fan Performance Mode is intended for in the BIOS, sure, it makes the fans run, but who would want them to run max all the times unless you are seriously into OCing?

 

This is a historical moment! The impossible has finally happened!

Dell/Alienware Update has found something!!!

 

I'd be careful if it's that audio codec!
TDP can only be increased with a BIOS / vBIOS update from Dell

 

Have not seen any such options in BIOS. XTU however seem to have it.

 

And it gets even better, after installing that update...my sound no longer work. Getting the feeling I might be trapped in some horror movie

 

Mine is reminding me every day to update the Audio driver. I'm avoiding it because of the issues that people have had.

 

Lol I just told you not to do that!

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Easy fix, take a look at my post on the sound problems thread

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Was going to reinstall anyway so no biggie, was just so excited after having seen the first ever update from Dell/AW updater

 

Actually, I dont really care of overclocking and winning any prizes. I just want something that works as promised. When that hardware is not good enough anymore, i will just buy something new. But right now, Dell does not (again) deliver on promises.

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I told you. I had the GS63VR for a week and didn't like it at all. I am thinking your feeling the same.

 

Thanks for the settings , my aw 17 r4 7820hk comes with 1.02 bios though , thanks god i havent update it yet , it seems 1.09 got lots a problem though

 

what about using 4.4oc do you get power limit throttling ? i get lots of power limit throttling from 3.8-4.4oc , not sure what had happened to my computer ....

 

actually i dont think replacing heat sink will solve the problem, but replacing thermal paste is the actual solution, but your keyboard will be hotter than before, that is base on my experience on 6820hk before replaced to 7820hk , when i play bf1 the most i got was 85c with 4.4oc , no power limit throttling , but if i ran wprime in 4.4oc , i got lots of power limit throttling

the best way is to request a replacement for your laptop

 

If AW managed to build something as good as promised, I wouldn't be in the MSI land at all. That said, you have to give it to MSI that they deliver what they promise, not like they promised an understated design with a standard keyboard etc. From what I have seen, the GT73VR works as promised (and really works great). So in that case, it is more my fault than MSIs, and perhaps the fact that there are very few gaming laptops out there that are not "too much".

 

Have you noticed that its apparently not called throttling by Intel unless it is below the advertised speed, so that information can be a bit misleading (at least I think it is). A downclock is a downclock in my world.

 

So, are the 7820HK anywhere in sight for the AW17R4 with GTX1080? Any hopes that an AW17 with that instead of the 6820HK could have better (acceptable) thermals? Know there isn't much difference between the CPUs but perhaps Dell manage to fix some of the problems finally...

 

That's just a bad photo. The macro keys at left are default orange ... haven't found where to edit that data ...

 

There is lots of different between 6820HK and 7820HK , 6820HK is skylake , while 7829HK is kaby xxx , don't remembered.. it is totally improved a lot , not only thermal , but the stable for the normal clock...not those wprime or something ,lol

 

Maybe you should man Alienwares Twitter account instead

 

as they have already agreed to replace my heat sink I will wait for the results with the replaced one ...I was also wondering if I remove the thermal stamp on this replacement heat sink and apply liquid metal will this void my warranty ?

 

There was a comment left by alienware on there youtube page like a month ago when they were showing off the new kaby lakes. Someone asked the same question and the rep said late febuary/early march. So if hes telling the truth im guessing we might see something in the next few weeks. My exhange has been in for my r4 for nearly a month and a half, everything ive heard from alienware on the phone makes me believe the 6820hk/1080 version is dead and its being replaced by something. Its the only reason ive kept my exchange open for so long in hopes that i can just jump to that.

 

Interesting, anyone else having seen similar things when waiting for a new AW17 R4 with 1080? It is strange that it is still listed with the 6820HK on Alienwares site if it is not available with that....but of course, Dells sites usually stink.

 

anyone experiencing some lag in the system ? i remember someone mentioned it and i cant find it now
it like the the windows laggs for a second or the mouse become slow when switching between apps or sometimes just doing regular work .. i am on 7820/4K/bios 1.02

 

I honestly think there just selling a laptop they dont have at the moment, just so they can still have a 1080 version. Its probably why the wait time is so long and people are getting there orders cancelled left and right. Ive been told by like 4 reps just to do a refund on my r4 instead of an exchange because there is no plan/time line on when there going to get parts/shipping out new laptops. I just have no plans to do that, id rather wait around and get a 1080 laptop that works instead of dropping to the 1070. Ive only seen 1 or two people actually receive there 1080 r4 and ive talked to a bunch of people who are sitting in line just like me. There is another rumor going around that they are ditching the 1440p screen for a 4K one because of the water mark issue which might have something to do with the hold up. The reality is they have to be working on something, every other laptop is upgrading to kaby lake so alienware has to do the same eventually. It would make sense that they wouldnt be ordering new parts for a model they are going to replace. I honestly think there just collecting everyones money in hopes they stick around and wait it out and if they complain about the wait they just tell you to do a refund. Its kind of shady but it makes sense from a buisness stand point.

 

It's well worth the wait!

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Luckily mine works at the moment, if it didnt i would be pretty pissed. Ive managed to fix most of the issues ive had with mine while ive been waiting over the past month. The only reason i put in the exchange was because i was within the 30 day window and hoped to get a better base to work with. So right now my plan is to shut my mouth and play the waiting game for another few weeks. Hopefully if i keep my exchange going long enough i can get a upgraded model since there eventually going to have to come out with one. I figure they wont have another choice if they still tell me the 6820hk is unavailable.

 

So I just placed an order yesterday for a 6820HK + 1080GTX since I was getting a decent deal on it.

Agent didn't mention abnormalities and said any problems with the QHD panel were resolved by technical and marketing departments.

So far I have a delivery date of March 17th.

I'll let you guys know of any weird changes. I'm really stoked to get the laptop, if I get a 7820 that would be a nice little surprise.

 

I still don't get why they don't sell it with that one already

 

I ordered 2 6820HK + 1080GTX on the 2/2/2017. Have been in production since last week Thursday, EDD is 1st of March...
The additinal specs are: 16 GB DDR4; 256GB M2 SSD; 1TB HDD; QHD screen. One for me and one for the wife......

 

Frankly at this point go with the Dell Outlet, there are 1080GTX equipped ones popping up around 2,5k usd every odd day, its a great price for what you get and they are actually in stock

 

Since the GTX1080 in the AW17 is crippled, how much of a difference is it really to a GTX1070?

 

Crippled?!?

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/11749736

Works great for me. Even though it has a slightly lower power limit it's still less than 1,500 graphics points in firestrike from the best MSI scores with a higher power limit!

I've just been playing resident evil 7 in 4k HDR with everything maxed and minimum 60FPS! Let's see a 1070 do that!

 

As interesting as that might be, it doesn't really answer the question.