*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R4 Owner's Lounge

Umm guys. After the VBIOS update on my AW 17 R4 with GTX 1080 (BIOS 1.0.12), my battery is draining while playing games. I had a minor +150 Core/Memory OC on my GPU, but I noticed even after removing it that my battery is draining, albeit very very slowly. What's up? Is this a 1.0.12 BIOS issue?

 

Hey guys....precursor?

If this is any indication of what we could expect with the new AW17R4 / 7820HK / GTX 1080 on the new vbios....

This are some respectable numbers....I'm confident to break 19K's....just getting started.

Asus G701VI / 7820HK / GTX 1080



228W before I had noticed that the CPU fan power cable wasn't even plugged in!


Explanation:


---

How will the new AW 17R4 / 7820HK / GTX 1080 do? Will it be able to stand up against the new Asus G701VI / Kaby Lake? We'll know shortly, but if it's anything close to what we're seeing with the Asus....this should be an exciting ride...

 

Me wonders when said config will be order-able....

 

March 13th.

 

Hi guys, I am new at Alienware, and bought me an Alienware 17 R4, I have it since 2 weeks ago, but, I never can use Tobii eye tracking, can you help me to setting this?
May be, I don´t have specific driver to make work the eye tracking....
Specs:
CPU Core i7 6700HQ
RAM 16GB
Display 17.3 inch FHD 1080p with Toby Eye Tracking
GPU nVidia GTX 1070 8GB
SSD 128 GB
HDD 1TB 7200rpm

 

Here you go bud....

Click here. - Then look under, "Mouse, Keyboard & Input Devices (5 files)"

Enjoy...

 

Thanks, but, 5 files, which of this I must install in my laptop?
This? Alienware-17-R4_Input_Driver_NXX61_WN32_2.4.1.5412_A01.EXE
Or this one? Input_Application_YWTRJ_WN32_2.5.1.5629_A02.EXE

 

Both.

 

2017 17 r4 1 Month Update (1.0.12, 3.6 Ghz, 1080 VBIOS, -0.150mV)

Stock - No repaste

http://imgur.com/nlnQDwF

 

Wow you have a great working machine and no repasting too. I am seeing that undervolting does a lot in terms of lowering temps!

 

It's ridiculous how well the GTX 1070 plays Deus Ex: Mankind Divided at 1080p ... just buttery on HIGH settings ... pleasantly surprised as the game is a bit of a pig (a pretty pig, though) ... ;-)

 

I disagree there is a problem as the clock numbers are not holding. Solve that and I suspect temps still increase a lot!

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

I was sifting through Dell outlet for several days pertaining to the AW 17 r4 and came across a few Kaby Lake models like this but its TDP is 35W which is fixed by the OEM. It also doesn't indicate the dGPU is included. Does anyone know will the lower TDP hamper performance for CPU-intensive tasks or is it a power efficient mechanism?

 

So I just received an email from my sales rep notifying me that my system has shipped. My config was the 6820, 1080, 120Hz. Ordered Feb 18.

Anyone else waiting on this config receive anything? Curious if the panel will be the new one.

Will keep you updated, the tracking I received so far shows no information.

 

Got mine on Friday, the panel is the old one.

iday

 

Wonder if the CPU will be upgraded too since I heard they don't have 6820s anymore unless they are pulling them out of refurbs

 

Seems like the dGPU is the RX 470. For some reason, AMD mobile GPUs aren't listed for Alienware laptop. The 240w charger also is configured for the GTX 1070 or RX 470. If it ends up being a GTX 1070, it would be a better deal.
As for the CPU, it could be a typo.

 

Is the Old one meaning you got the TN with banding and grey line issues?

 

Please show your power limits. I can almost guarantee that they are being capped at under 45W~56W.

In the case it's like driving a car with a governor and only going 60MHz....yes you'll get great gas mileage (in this case temps), but it's not being really pushed to to the max.

It'd be great if you can adjust your hwinfo64 so that we can see your pl1 and pl2 power limits.

The core differentials aren't too shabby for being stock. Good to see improvements there.

See my reply above, but yes...if one is happy at staying stock and doesn't mind throttling, then those are great. However, the laptop isn't running at its full potential.

The GTX 1070 is a fantastic card. I bet you were lucky enough to land the chipset with Samsung memory?

Yes indeed.

 

Banding yes.
What is the grey line issue?

 

I have one coming tomorrow... I suspect it will be the old panel even though I was assured my 1+ month wait was to get the new panel + all other issues addressed.

 

Hi there, just ordered a 1070 UHD configuration and I have some questions:

- Does the TB3 port also support USB 3.1, if it does, can I terminate a daisy chained TB3 setup with a USB 3.1 Device ?
- If it does not, do you know any TB3 to Dual M.2 Sata(or NVME) Raid? I have only found them running on USB 3.1...
- Has anyone tried TB3 on CentOS on that machine? I am planning on mostly running CentOS (Davinci Resolve/Nuke/Flame all run on CentOS now..)

 

After nearly 3 months of hassle trying to get that model, I finally just cancelled my order and got one from the outlet. it just got delivered to my dad, and I wont get to check it out until the 17th or so when i get back to the states, but hopefully it will actually be refurbished rather than just a return that was put back on the shelf.

 

is this confirmed somewhere. dell rep i talked to today said they didnt have that info yet. wondering if i should wait.

 

On other AW models with older Intel CPUs, the dGPU is known even the AMD RX 470. It was perplexing to see a number of refurbished models with a Kaby Lake CPU but not the dGPU.

 

One of the sources of this date: https://twitter.com/aw_umar/status/834766442591612929

 

Cool thanks. I am having some issues with my 15R3 so I am thinking I should probably just upgrade. I guess I can wait a week.

 

Does HWINFO tell you what screen you have? Just received 1080GTX -Quad ... curious about the screen.

 

Yes. As well Aida64

 

Did you find the part number? How is the screen compared to the older qhd?

 

AUO1096 ------ Looks like they are still using the AUO's.

 

oh wow. Is the watermark issue resolved at least?

 

Same boat, same issue. Ordered a new system to replace a very poor 2017 unit. Order date 2/10/17, expected date of delivery is the 24th this month. Got an email today informing me that the new unit will be here in a couple days. Bitter sweet I guess, really was hoping to get it towards the end of the month and receive the alleged fixed QHD panel. Maybe this one won't overheat within the first 5 minutes of turning it on. That is a more realistic goal I should be aiming for.

 

What's the best way to test?

 

Oh the watermark issue, was just visible white/grayish horizontal lines accross the screen. They are usually more noticeable on gray colors, but mine were pretty visible throughout. Here is a pic of how mine looked: http://imgur.com/mvUc6vv

 

30 minute run with AIDA64 ....

 

the radeon 17 looks like a pretty good deal. It runs neck n neck with the gtx1060, and hundreds cheaper

 

Hi All,

Long time lurker, first time poster.
Been keeping a very close eye on this forum, as I went through the process of spending hours & hours pondering over which new laptop to buy. In the end, came down to a decision between 3:
1) AW 17 R4
2) MSI GT73VR Titan Pro
3) Asus G701

Each had there ups & downs, but in the end, I ended up caving in to the temptations of the AW17, which arrived today (!).
I got the i7-6820HK 32gB GTX 1080 (1/2TB SSD SKHynix + 1TB spin) with the QHD 120Hz TN screen.

I had seen reviews of the Asus and it looked great on paper, and despite the potential performance, the consistent theme was CPU throttling due heat (but then again, don't most/all laptops suffer the same fate without a decent thermal paste...???).
Likewise the MSI Titan Pro seemed like a great laptop, but the cheap plastic'y appearance and feel, as well as the much thicker dimensions (and relative lack of support) gave way to the Alienware in the end.
For me, the choice came down to good pricing and competitive 4 year warranty for accidental damage with next day on-site repairs which couldn't be matched by others (and the fact that this is transferrable overseas was a big bonus). Plus the fact that AW/Dell recognised/acknowledged there was a problem and offered a solution, which has (potentially) resolved. So hopefully the high temps are behind us...(?).

I must admit, I hadn't been able to see the screen banding issue that had been noted and hated by many,...
...up until I looked up very very closely (within 10cm from the actual screen).
I'm ok with this, because I will never stare at the screen so close, and TBH I didn't notice it at all whilst gaming.

During the 5 hours of gaming (GTA V and BF1 at maxed out settings), HWINFO showed a max CPU temp of 79degrees and GPU around the low-mid 70's (no overclocking - I'm a noob when it comes to OC'ing).
I DID notice Cores 0 & 2 were consistently 3-6 degrees celcius higher compared to Cores 1 & 3 - to any of the pro's out there, would this indicate an uneven paste job? I understand taht the GPU still gets a crappy "stamp" but I thought the CPU had an actual paste applied (to offset the single swingarm issue)...?
Should I be concerned?
Throughout the GTA-V benchmark, the FPS dipped down to high 30's at one point (bright sunlit beach as jet flies over it) but bounced back to the average of 50-70 fps within 3-5 seconds (sorry, I don't have any benchmarking programs).

What's the best thing to do with this new Alienware?
It only had Windows 10 with no apparent Bloatware (other than a few things like Candy crush which I simply uninstalled). Should I still do a clean re-install?
So far, loving all my games maxed out, but only 2 USB ports kinda sucks - I use an external keyboard & mouse, which really restricts any other USB inputs...
Is it just me, or are the fans really really loud...? It sounds louder than my old laptop (Alienware M17x)?

Now, I've been following the comments here regarding upgrading BIOS to 1.0.12 - mine is currently using 1.0.9 - should I not upgrade? (I think someone commented everything ran a bit hotter since upgrading...?). iunlock - would you recommend leaving it at 1.0.9 for a while???

Also, what's the best process of upgrading the BIOS if I do?

Upgrade BIOS first, then do the vBIOS?
And wrt the video drivers, do I need to update all three?
1) nVidia GTX 1080 vBIOS for 120Hz screen
2) nVidia GTX 1060/70/80 driver
3) Intel HD Graphics 530 Driver for i7-6820HK
If so, in what order?

And lastly, wrt thermal pasting, is Liquid Metal very liquidy (as opposed to the traditional paste which is gummy and doesn't run)? Once I do this is it going to be a constant re-paste every few months? (I only got that impression from @iunlock as it seemed he re-pasted on a few occassions [unless this was for different machines...?]).

Sorry for the numerous questions, but I've been saving them up for a while... #^_^

PS - how do I message people...?

 

Welcome. I prefer bios 1.0.9 for performance on the 6700hq however there is a known issue with it temporarily bricking machines. Requiring you to open it up and short 2 points on the mobo. Also it drains my battery. So 1.0.9 isnt the best. iunlock has found an issue with freezes when running 1.0.12. I think for now you go with 1.0.8. Your temps are ok meaning that you will not get throttling at those speeds and 3-6 deg diff between cores is ok as well. These machines can run much cooler which could extend life and would also allow higher overclocking/performance. However you should know that opening it up yourself is something that i really only recommend if you feel ok with a project like that. Normally you would want to have some experience with computer hardware and hopefully laptops. If you really want to for the first time and you are VERY careful, well reasearched, patient, and prepared then you will probably do fine. Just understand the mindset the benefits and the fact that you really dont HAVE to if you are uncomfortable with it. GTA V is a decent stress test. The best stress test i know of is overwatch.

 

Bingo. Well said and good choice.

I'm on the road (not driving / on my phone atm) but I'll reply more in detail when I get to the computer.

I'll pm you...

::iunlock::

 

Dell reps don't know anything other than what they see on their screen. The 13th is from the horses mouth, but we'll see...pretty optimistic though, either way the release is right around the corner.

 

UGH!!!

So, after waiting since the end of January when my system exchange was processed I finally received it yesterday while I was at work.

When I got home around 0100 this morning, I opened the box, took out the laptop, and I noticed a bulge in the lower right hand corner of the bezel...



There's also "light bleed" at the bottom of the display...



Should I be able to angle the display in such a manner so that I can look inside and see the inverter?



WTF has happened to ANYTHING even REMOTELY resembling a quality assurance program at Dell?

This was supposed to be a brand new machine, not a refurbished one since mine failed within the first 30 days of ownership.

In case someone was wondering, this is the panel that shipped with the exchanged system (I know it has nothing to do with the f'ked up bezel)



Is this REALLY what $2.5k gets you from Dell now a days? Am I being too picky, expecting the system to arrive in pristine condition?

My first system had a defective CMOS battery or connector. They dispatched a replacement MB which I installed, LM'd, fuji-poly'd only to put it back together and find that one of the CMOS pins on the motherboard wasn't even soldered and wiggled back and forth, resulting in the identical problem. I demanded a system exchange, which I eventually got (yesterday), and this is what I get?

Any suggestions from the forum as to how to handle this with Dell? Obviously, I don't want to have to keep pushing in on the bezel to make it stick to the lcd panel...

Thanks in advance,

CP

 

On a lighter note, after finding the bezel f'ked up, I opened up the laptop to see which SSD I ended up with (Toshiba) and they have some sort of heat shield? now that I didn't have on the other system...



There's even some "fuji-poly" type substance between the SSD and the heat shield!

 

Having an issue where when I go to Shut Down and the screen turns off, but the laptop itself doesn't fully power down and the lights stay on. Anyone else have this issue? Maybe update the bios?

 

How are you guys doing with battery life on these laptops? Talking specifically to the 1080 card and g-sync display version.

 

Hi iunlock,

I am actually knew to this site as well. I was curious about your repasting service. Is it possible for you to PM the details about it? Thanks

 

Thanks @openclg & @iunlock

I guess the issue is once you pop, you can't stop...?

er,...I meant, once you pop, you can't continue-to-receive-or-claim-warranty-issues, as it voids the warranty...? But it just makes SOOOOOO much sense to keep a system cooler for longevity in all the affected components (from the chip, through to the fans...). Pity AW doesn't have an option for upgrading thermal paste...too much to ask?

@cyber_patriot , I'm in the same boat as you, I've JUST discovered! It was only when I saw those pics, I gave my screen a good look over, and the plastic panel above the ALIENWARE title is also popped out by approx 2-3mm, exposing the internals! I can push it back in (obviously it's held by double sided tape or something), but in a matter of 30-45 minutes, it's popped out again... >.<
Please keep us posted on that.

 

My brand new order unit from feb 2017 is coming tomorrow, I think they are selling all refurbish 1080gtx unit as a brand new . I will try to contact dell to cancel my unit before the arrival.

 

Do you guys know what SSD brand comes in their most expensive R4? Aka the 1080 GTX version with the 1TB SSD

 

Er... Ok you do that. My NIB looks great from the build stand point and being brand new... nothing obviously wrong from the outside. See my temp's posted on prev page ...and the only real issue is this baby is "HOT HOT HOT"