*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R4 Owner's Lounge

I wouldn't do that, the fresh install with the link to the guide I posted will get rid of all the crap/bloatware/spy ware from Microsoft, manufacturers, Dell and alienware...

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1.0.9 is apparently a very risky BIOS which can brick systems. I personally had no problems with it but others have, particularly @iunlock. Team LHz have also confirmed the issues with Dell also!

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Thanks for linking me to the guide, I haven't seen that before and it will definitely hep me out. No, I haven't installed a fresh Windows install to a nvme SSD before. Do you mind sharing the extra steps you learned?

 

@Pete Light, do you have the Creator's update (1703)? My Windows Hello stopped working with the Creator's update, and I opened a ticket with Tobii. They responded that they're having trouble with Creator's update, and expected to fix it in a release scheduled for April 18.

 

Well Dell has approved a replacement for my faulty maxed out R4 w/ gtx 1080. When they gave me the order number to check out the build progress of the replacement, they're planning on sending me an R4 with a friggin gtx 1070! Ugh I hate having to go back and forth with them to complete a simple task.

 

I had the same issue two or three times and got tobii working again by either simply un/replugging the tobii eye-tracker board cable by the rear i/o port (no 4 in the link below) or by reinstalling the realtek IR camera driver (which I'm sure you've already done).. hope you get it working soon again

http://www.dell.com/support/manuals...9A3AF8-1CBA-49B8-9E91-A838E29F7DF2&lang=en-us

 

Of course but it'll take a while to post as answers are buried in a pm conversation with Gonz0. Basically you'll need the nvme drivers direct from the Intel site on a usb stick as when you go-to install Windows you won't be able to see the nvme drive in the Windows install utility. Also once installed it won't be able to boot using the drive until you create some kind of profile in BIOS. Then finally you'll want to do some tweaking in Windows to optimise the drive and use the OCZ drivers and benchmark to test. I get 2.5GB/s read and 1.5GB/s write speed

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Yes! My order is marked as SENT by Dell!
Previously I had an estimated delivery date of first week of May, now I'll probably get it mid next week, can't freakin' wait!
I'm even excited for the Vindicator Backpack, it looks like it will be great to lug around in my motorcycle and keep a sporty but understated style.

Very cyberpunky - nerdy - chic, too bad my bike doesn't have pink tron neon lights

 

Not sure how do I check?

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Type "winver" into the Cortana search bar. The Creators update is version 1703. Anniversary was 1607.

 

Yeah... the service is disgustingly bad. How long did it take to get your order number? My exchange was processed/approved Thursday morning but I've still not received any emails about it..

 

I went around-and-around with the Exchange Department and Alienware's Facebook account regarding the definition of "Software Error" and my inability to get the laptop exchanged. They won't do exchanges for Software Errors, which apparently includes when their techs remote in and brick your laptop by incorrectly applying a BIOS update...

The next day I spoke with a new agent and we were able to work out a voucher and get the exchange started. Now I'm just crossing my fingers for no additional whammies.

 

Thanks! So the BIOS that will come on the laptop will not recognize a NVMe drive to install Windows? I just assumed that by now (and since we can configure the laptop to come with a NVMe boot drive) the BIOS would be able to see the drive without any or much work having to be done. Or is the issue Windows 10 not seeing the drive to install to?

 

well, perfect example of the old wisdom that ips is always better. and even calibration with the spider or colormunki cannot do a miracle. like I saw It on ips screen calibration can make a screen really look like a picture from the national geographic and on tn panel it hits the brick wall. so solution here would be to have two panels and switch them depending on the usage. if it would be so easy like it is possible to do on the Microsoft surface book.

 

why everything is so convenient in the world of dell, so user friendly and so impossible to buy. on the dell web site in us I can select ips panel but only with 1070 gpu, "upgrading" it from 1060. and with 1080 or 1070 gpu I can select only tn panel. maybe somebody knows some magic trick which could help me to persuade dell to sell me high-end gpu and high-end panel

 

My system is already running windows creators (1703) and haven't had problems with Tobii nor windows hello so far

 

Anyone got an advice on what i should do? Because im running out of ideas here.

I just got my replacement r4 about a week and a half ago. Every issue i had with my old laptop is fixed but now im having a whole new issue with this one. I kept getting BSOD because my SSD was cooking its self to 95c+. I could alt tab out of games and watch it rise until the point of it just restarting. This is with the toshiba 500GB SSD.

So i call alienware and get a replacement and ask for a samsung one instead. They come and replace my toshiba with a samsung drive but now instead of BSOD, im throttling like there is no tomorrow. The SSD is still running hot, but not to the point of shutting itself off.

I was playing ghost recon wildlands earlier and was flying around in the heli. All of a sudden the game just stops loading, textures pop in like 10 seconds after i land on the ground, and enemies are taking like a minute to spawn. I was only playing for about 20 min.

So i exit the game see the SSD is about 78c and it topped out at 88c. I run crystal mark and this is the result. Then i wait about 20 minutes for everything to cool off and run it again.

http://imgur.com/a/fjqkl

As you can see the SSD was throttling to all hell while i was playing.

So im not sure what to do. I even tried putting the SSD, in a different slot so its closer to the vent but it made no difference. Like what are the chances they gave me two messed up SSD's in a row? Im starting to think its the laptop thats messed up. Since i didnt seem to have this issue with the last one but i just dont see how that could be case since the internals are exactly the same.

 

Maybe you could convince the support department to send you a 500GB Sandisk X400? That SATA M.2 SSD runs much cooler than most of the other PCIe drives that they ship it with.

 

See, ssd's in newest Alienware Boil themselves to death due overheating The Internal design (airflow) can't be top notch when you see same problem over and over again even with different ssd brands. More of the same overheating... SSD overheating - SSD overheating - SSD overheating - SSD overheating The list will increase.

Edit. This ssd benchmark tool ATTO Disk Benchmark push ssd's harder than what Crystal Diskmark - Assd can do. Test it. Aka run it 4-5 times in a row.

 

My MSI GT73VR has a big m.2 SSD hestsink that goes over the 3 m.2 SSDs I have in it and it never gets hot. If after all attempts you still can't fix this I suggest to refund the laptop and the same one I have

 

anyone has problems with alienFX after windows 10 creators update? i can no longer launch the software

 

Has anyone had to do any pre-maintainance on the new April 2017 : (repaste or anything)
7th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-7820HK (Quad-Core, 8MB Cache, Overclocking up to 4.4GHz )
Alienware 17.3” QHD (2560x1440) 120Hz TN AG 400-nits w/ NVIDIA G-SYNC and Tobii Eye-tracking
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1080 with 8GB GDDR5X

 

I can launch the software but my 'inactivity timer' for the lights is behaving erratically. Keeps turning on after going off.

 

Anyone else have laggy scrolling in Microsoft Word while on battery only?

 

Hi guys, any update about the heat problems of Alienware 17 r4 Kaby Lake models? Most specifically the ones with i7-7820hk, gtx 1080, qhd tn 120hz?
Did dell completely take a full control about this certain issue?
EDIT: Also, was there any backlight bleed issue to their TN Panel"ed" laptops?

 

Download the Intel rapid storage driver for your laptop, extract it and inside you'll see a bunch of folders.

Find the Windows 64x folder and you'll see a bunch of files inside.

Select all, except the application file.

Copy this into a folder on a USB flash drive.

During the Windows install when you get to that one window, insert the USB flash drive, and select load drivers.

Navigate to the USB and select the folder where the drivers are and load...

Then your m.2 nvme will show...

(excuse the short type... I'm out at dinner...)

Good luck!



::iunlock::

 

strange, the software starts, i can right click the alien head and change colors. but if i double click to open the fx editor, nothing happens. and i'm pretty sure this is caused by windows 10 creators update, cos my logitech options software behaved the same after the windows update.

 

I think AW CC is certified to work till Anniv update.

 

add me to the list of "creators update messed up my alien fx among other things"

 

looks like im not alone

 

Alienware laptops are shipped from China... Today I learned.

Ordered on the 11th, confirmed on the 13th, "sent" on the 15th.
I got 3 tracking numbers, two of them are in China and have not been updated since 15/04, the other one has no match on the UPS site.
I also got a little warning on the top of the page stating that tracking can take 7 to 12 working days to be updated, I didn't know it would take this long.

Well... better get comfortable.

 

Yeah... I'm in the same position Shark00n. It has been 72 hours and I still don't have any confirmation of my exchange. Just shot a message off the Alienware's twitter account again to see what is up.

Does anyone know if the 21-day return window is extended due to an exchange? I'm very worried the new laptop might come with an overheating Toshiba SSD or worse LCD bleed. In the case of the SSD, would it be a problem if I swapped them between the two systems?

Thanks!

- Jason

 

Where did you get yours from? Europe?
Mine comes from Alienware Spain and, because no Alienware in europe ships outside its country, I had to do this real shady "scheme" where I got a subscription with a mail forwarding company in spain to get a spanish address. Alienware will ship to them and they'll ship to me. Only ads a few more days waiting but certainly ups my stress levels as I don't have that much confidence in this service and it will be a b*tch if I have to contest something



And an unrelated question about battery life, specifically on the 1440p 120Hz GSync display.
If I set the RR to 60Hz and turn off GSync can I expect a nice bump in battery life?

 

I've been messaging Alienware FB and Twitter once a day to glean why my exchange wasn't moving... finally got a hold of someone after waiting on hold for an hour, and they confirmed my exchange "glitched" and was not processed.
What crappy luck! I just hope they didn't do this intentionally in response to my bringing attention to the many problems at Dell.

 

Creator update installed and no problems to speak of. AlienFX works, Tobii works and no problems that I can find.

 

Hmm... you have Kabylake... I wonder if its a Skylake problem?

 

Nope. I have Kaby Lake and I'm facing both Tobii and AlienFX issues.

 

Anyone have just the driver for the Killer E2500 LAN?

Killer website only has the full suite VIRUS. Grrr...it's so annoying. That suite literally WiFi blocks my Intel 8260 card LOL...very strange things....

Update:

Nvm....got it...

Here's the link to download, just the driver.

So during the install make sure to do a custom install and deselect the ones you see in the pic if you are running an Intel WiFi card like me. ie... ONLY install the Ethernet.

Cheers

 

If kept stock, no. All the units I've come across are very good stock.

ALL laptops are recommended to be repasted if one will be unlocking the power limits beyond stock.

Even stock, you can throw any title at it and have a good gaming experience, for the most part. (I'm only saying that because there are lemons with everything.)

 

Does the Alienware 17 R4 support BIOS recovery over a USB thumbdrive?

 

Yikes...guys guys say no to Virus updates lol...

Updates do not equal better.

It is such a false impression to jump on the latest updates....please don't.

Whether you are privacy/security conscious or not, the negative experiences that are happening to even the average user is a prime example to not jump on updates.

Here is a great thread by @Phoenix if you want to get enlightened on how to do it right.

>>Here<< is how I do my clean installs.

.

 

Mine was pretty good out of the box if run at stock. I was seeing high 70's low 80's. I repasted anyways with Conductonaught and am now seeing high 60's low 70's on the CPU and never more then 64 on the GPU so far. I didn't go as far as iUnlock does on his though. I didn't change thermal pads as they are harder to get for me in Canada and I didn't do all the balancing of the heatsinks so my results are not as impressive as his.

 

You're temps are great mate. The most important thing is that you did repaste and even more of a bonus: Repasted with Conductonaut.

 

If it aint broke dont fix it.

 

Hi,

I've received my new 17 R4 yesterday - 7820HK, 1080, QHD

I'm really happy with this one - no screen bleed, decent temps, screen is ok etc.

However, only half the keyboard works! Are the ribbon cables easy to check? I have a feeling maybe one isn't seated correctly. If not, I'll speak to tech support.

 

Congrats on the machine..

Yes the ribbon cable is very easy to reseat...that's likely it. Minor issue if that's all it is...

 

Same here and per my build illustrated below. I have been tempted, all but coaxed, and came very close to upgrading BIOS to .12 / w-VBIOS upgrade, etc. and refrained from doing anything...and thank God, ...I think thus far. The bottom line is I am with 1.0.9 with zero effort made to upgrade vBIOS and my battery levels remain @ 100%, screen, performance couldn't be more perfect / ideal and without ANY odd quirks or behavior as of now, and despite waiting a couple of weeks after release to update NVIDIA drivers, so far, so great really....geezus please I hope I haven't cursed myself.

...I just wonder how many more days/years I will have to read every post on this site as my normal day-to-day maintenance until there is a somewhat stable and fixed universal basis for this thing.

 

Yes, there is a procedure for bricked / BIOS recovery via USB drive if this is what your asking for . Nevertheless I haven't tested it yet

 

by the way... I am currently running BIOS 1.05 and VGA BIOS (acc to HW Info) is 86.04.54.00.0a. I have not updated anything, as I have heard few times thats better not to. Anything changed ?

 

I unfortunately had the same problem. My left Macro keys don't work at all, but everything else is functional. They have shipped me parts as a reseat of all cables didn't help so hopefully it is just a defective macro key section. Hope the cable gets you sorted out.

If your happy with the way it's running then I say leave it. I tried to update to 1.0.8 last week and had a mini heart attack when the system just restarted to a reboot loop. I left it for 30 minutes before shutting it down and powering back up at which point it came back up but still on the old bios. I have not tried again since and have no intention on doing so. I did flash the 1080 to the new vbios and it does improve performance but minimally and you do get more heat. I got about 4c more on stock paste which dropped back down to 60c with conductonaught under load.