*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R4 Owner's Lounge

What BIOS has everyone found to be best for 17 R4 with 17 7820HK Kaby Lake & 1080? I am currently on 1.05

Thnx

 

can anyone recommend a good Laptop Cooler for the AW17r? As usual it seems like the only decent ones I can find are for 15" or below.

It needs to be quiet <1,200rpm and preferably without LEDS or at least LEDs that can be switched off

 

Stay on 1.05

 

Welcome Back, My Friends, to the Show That Never Ends

http://wccftech.com/nvidia-gtx-1080-ti-notebook-gpu-performance-leak/

looks like i'll have to wait till Christmas.

 

I know this is a real old post, but I am hoping you can tell me if you were able to successfully replace your 17 r4's monitor. I am wanting to replace my un-overclockable one with the one from ebay.

 

Thanks. This helped.

 

You can always wait, once the 1080ti is released, 2-3 months later a leak will appear of the GTX 1180 which can be yours if you wait a few months. It's how stuff always gets updated.

 

Want to see if you were cheated?

Spoiler: HERE WE GO...

 

Damn! Just checked with HWINFO and it says I have an AU Optronics panel, has some light bleed and is kinda grainy.

 

too easy. Just remove the front frame.

 

2 ez

 

...I'm going to hold off until my 99th Birthday and get THE BEST.

 

I read here and there that some forum members managed to get their Toshiba/Hynix SSD switched to a Samsung SSD, considering the Samsung SSD's performance is considerably higher than the Toshiba XG4 that I have in my model, whats the best way to get it swapped for a Samsung SSD?

 

Complaining about sky high ssd temp + throttling. This ****y will kill your ssd's before time. Just run a few ATTO ssd benchmarks in a row. And monitor ssd temp and throttling with Hwinfo.

 

So I made this little video a few days ago, posted it here, to further help my tech support with my issue.



Simple video, less than 200 views. Funny thing is that 2 people have already replied having the same issue as me, in the exact same spec.
There have been users around here experiencing the same issues. I find it weird.

Maybe there's quite a few more 'lemons' out there...

I'm still waiting to get mine fixed. Dell confirmed that someone will come to my house to fix it (new motherboard), just waiting on the parts.

 

Mine just started doing that again too last night. Thought I had the issue resolved and it was good for a week... Will they fix it after doing a repaste?

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I have a bad feeling it's a widespread design flaw. I'd like to hear from any qhd/7820k/1080 owners that don't have the issue. If you're out there, please speak up so we can share a consistent test to really see if you don't have that issue. I'm still waiting on my replacement, but I'm not holding my breath that it'll be all better with a new unit.

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I don't have this issue Derek. I have a 7820hk with 1080. I am on the old VBIOS. Had the old one from factory. Let me know if you need any other information so that we can identify what is causing this issue.

 

Update the vBIOS and then come back and tell us if there's a problem

Just kidding! Don't do that!!
I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the vBIOS update. Mine and others already came with it.

 

Cool, thanks for reaching out. Can you also please let me know what screen you have? I just want to narrow everything down as best as possible so we're comparing apples to apples. Can you also please share what power intensive games you've played and for how long at a time? Maybe I can try something you have. I've really only gotten the issue to happen with Witcher 3 and Doom. It happens fastest at max settings on QHD resolution. I'm not sure if you've tried those titles or not.

I really hope it's just a vbios issue, but it's not encouraging that this happened for me right out of the box. I might have had a higher version though. It certainly looked like the clock speeds were pretty high, so maybe that was the cause. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Lucky dog Russel. I have the issue on my 7820hk/1080 and it's driving me nuts.

 

I have the QHD G-sync AUO screen without the banding issue (the new one). I've played Mass Effect Andromeda and Overwatch for more than 2-3 hours. No freezes/stuttering at all. My CPU is at 41x (undervolted by -0.095). My GPU is not overclocked (overclocking causes the battery to start draining when under significant load).

 

Haha no man. I will never update to the new vBios. I think the gains are really small (actual gaming impact). The vBios is more geared towards bench marking enthusiasts in my opinion. I wonder why Dell decided to update it at factory. Should have always remained an 'optional' upgrade.

 

One of the members of the forum posted a downgrade for the vBios. It is not guaranteed to work, and may be a risky option to try. But well, in case you want to make the leap of faith (go to page 5): http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-17r4-1080-overclocked-vbios-issue.802964/

 

Awesome, thanks for the link. I'll try it when I get home.

 

6820hk with 1080gtx, QHD screen and latest vbios. I get stuttering when playing rocket league. It doesn't last for as long as in your vid but it's certainly noticeable!

 

Wonder if it's a qhd issue.. refresh rate ? If so, hopefully Dell steps up and replaces it

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Nice. Unfortunately I don't have either of those to test, but that's still good to know. Mass effect is pretty demanding, so I'd assume you would have seen the issue by now.

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This has only started happening to me since I had the motherboard replaced the other week and updated to the latest vbios and bios.

Just gone back to previous vbios and bios1.0.9 and still got the stuttering! Will try 1.0.8. Wonder if its a windows update which is causing it?

 

Fedex delivered my 17R4 with 7820hk, gtx1080, 1440p 120hz 512pcie ssd/1tb hdd, 32gb ram last week in a badly dented box. The lid and hinge is slightly eneven which im sure is due to whatever pressed into the box during shipping. The laptop still turns on so I decided to test the temps and run some games. When the laptop is not propped up, running doom on ultra yields cpu max of 96c. Core differentials goes up to 2-4c avg so im sure the heatsink is fine. When propped up, the cpu temps drop at least 10c and reach max temps of low 80s C. After playing BF1, I started experiencing constant freezes. The audio would play fine, and sounded like it was still playing live despite the screen being frozen for a few seconds. This became more and more frequent until the game was no longer enjoyable. I cannot rule out if this issue is a result of possible internal hardware damage suffered during shipping. I just read everyone elses experiences here and am hoping this is not some sort of widespread issue in the product line that just now everyone is discovering. I owned a 15R3 previously that had similar temps but the keyboard never felt as hot as this 17R4's keyboard deck. Could someone with a similar build tell me how their exterior/keyboard temps are?

Thankfully, Dell is sending me a replacement which should be here sometime next week. I will definitely report back if i experience similar problems.

 

I have a 17 R4 GTX 1080 i7 7820HK with the QHD screen and my box was dented too when it arrived. My issue with mine is that there is one blue dead pixel that won't go away and I can't ignore. Otherwise it's a beautiful machine, I love the build quality, the screen has a really nice picture and it's great for media and gaming, and it can run current titles like overwatch at 120fps at 2k.

My fps do vary though and I think it's due to thermal throttling. It gets to 89-90c during Overwatch, and in the 70's for Dota. I haven't tried a more demanding game. This is after a 0.5 undervolt. I'm sure if I did the repaste and added the thermal pads I'd probably have the perfect gaming machine, but I plan on getting it replaced because of the dead pixel and the backspace key feeling off from the rest of the keyboard. Who knows if that dent on my box was from a hard hit it took during shipping? It was almost perfect too, but it fluctuates in-game by like 20-30 fps. Can anyone confirm if it is indeed thermal throttling or how to tell for sure? Has anyone tried to see if they can hit 120 fps consistently on the GTX 1080 with the QHD screen without the frames dropping down and up?

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VOLT EXPLANATIO

 

My apologies, 0.05*. I can run cinebench later when I get a chance.

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All good! Test also with wPRIME v1.5 Run as adm. Select 8 threads in advanced options and fire up 1024M stress test. Post final results with Hwinfo. FYI PL1 and PL2 is all too low for stock clocks.

 

u can easily start with -100mV or -0.100V for 7820HK at stock speed. -0.05V is nothing

 

Just to add more info, I did play Witcher 3 before, and it worked fine as well.

I agree. I used to do -120 mV at stock speed.

 

I just ran atto once with a 32gb test file. It was half way when performance became lower and lower, checked with hwinfo and saw that the temeprature of the ssd was up to 84c. Contacting dell now, see what they say about it.

Edit: They are sending a Samsung PM961, could also get a Hynix, LiteOn or Sandisk, but pretty sure the Samsung is the best of the bunch.

 

Did you get to try it out?

 

what would you suggest at 4.0 or 4.1 (kaby lake)? -0.050

 

Anyone who owns the AW17R4 with the 240W power supply could post a picture of the pins on the power cord that connect with the power supply?
I will need to buy a new power cord because my friend forgot to send the cables with the notebook, and I want to buy the cable before the notebook arrives so I can use it as soon as it is delivered, so I need to know what kind of pin and the conection format in the power supply, if someone can post the picture I will be grateful.
Sorry for the google translator English!

 

Yeah, Both other ssd's is Trash. Hynix slow and LiteOn can overheat. Dell gets good deals on them and charge you double or more.

 

That's called capitalism. You don't think HID, Euro, Sager, Msi, Asus, Acer, HP, Lenovo etc etc etc doesn't do that?
Come on you know that all these companies get all their parts for pennies on the dollar.

Also FYI the Hynix is actually pretty good. I wouldn't call it slow, the one in my XPS does 2000 MB/s Read 940 MB/s write at a max temp of 49C.

Why do you call everything trash? Perhaps my definition of trash is different then yours.
Just because and SSD is not the best SSD on the market doesn't make it trash.
You really should get a better outlook on life lol. Being so negative about things isn't good for the soul.
The cortisol released from the extra stress of being negative can literally take days off of your life.
By your definition all of my tech is trash. However all my tech seems pretty awesome to me. I enjoy it.
I guess one man's trash is another man's treasure.

 

Yeah, all resellers and ODM/OEM's want your money But you can select what you want spending your money on. Tell Dell that you want exactly Samsung, Hynix, Lite On or whatever they can offer you. You know the answer. And ssd's is one of the products they try milking out more money from you. Up to yoo how much This below isn't my words. You could also read the thread. You will find more if you want or have time. I have seen more than enough to have my own opinion about tech. Same as you I think.

 

@DeeX He just has very high standards (I hope it's not another reason). And us mortals, we are fine with the ugly BGA etc., and moreover, we're willingly (or not) spreading this great filth over the world. And the worst part is - with a joy!

 

I said nothing about BGA in my latest posts, HaHa. However, ODM / OEM or resellers should not use or offer you ssd brands that creates problems for you. Or offer you ssd's that boil in your machine. See also
The heat KILLING the ssd's - More of the same ssd overheating - ssd overheating - SSD overheating - SSD overheating. A lot people ask me in PM or threads, how they shall deal with this mess. Maybe I rather should say this isn't a problem? The quality is top notch? I ain't like this. I'm honest. It's no fun to choose between pest or cholera(speed or overheating). You are surely might agree.

 

I do understand you and like your fair criticism
Not everyone can invest as much time as you did into research of all this tech stuff. Therefore, this allows different companies to use 'cheaper stuff' and successfully sell it. But this is a normal practice in our world.
So, trust, but verify if in doubt.

 

@Pete Light , i noticed u have toshiba nvme HOT ssd, how did u keep the temperature in check? your ssd temps look decent. mind to share?

 

I posted this on the other thread, but in case anyone has the stuttering/freezing issue, downgrading the vbios in the link a few pages back solved my issues completely. GPU power draw dropped by about 30W, so I'm guessing it was a voltage setting too high in their vbios.

I can't believe how long this has been an issue and Dell has done nothing about it...

 

So my laptop had a slightly sticking out Bezel for which Dell has asked me to send my laptop to their depot. Has anyone else experienced the depot service here? Is it reliable?

 

Nope! Dont do the depot.