*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R4 Owner's Lounge

Have you tried to raise voltage for all profiles in bios and then tried the app? I don't mean for normally use but for troubleshooting.

 

It works now just switched to oc 1 but will play with it more tomorrow

 

except when you receive a dud that stutters or throttles, it would be so much harder to return for refund. The last thing you want to do is to deal with dell tech support

 

Thanks. Any other way to look for deals or coupons? For this laptop specifically

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It would be easier with ebay actually... any issue ebay will side with the buyer for full refund no hassle. Their buyer protection is insane, it's actually quite unfair to sellers.

 

Does it do anything other than select one of the 3 BIOS profiles, but in Windows instead?

It sounds like it's a convenience tool for people that don't want to play around in the BIOS.

How does the laptop arrive? Is an OC Profile selected by default, or is it off in the BIOS until the owner goes into the BIOS to change it?

 

I have installed the OC tool. it's working fine. no hang etc. But there are a few unsigned drivers you need to install together with it. windows will warn you about it, you just need to accept it.

The OC tool is nothing more than a convenient way to OC without going into BIOS. meaning you get to switch ON and OFF OC with the tool without going into BIOS and restarting your laptop. However the tool does not allow you to toy with PL1/2 power limit. even in custom mode, it will only let you adjust voltage settings, and NO, it does not do undervolt too.

Also, once you toggle on OC mode, the fans will ramp up to 2000-2300RPM regardless of what profile or you actually OC or not. exactly the same behavior as when you OC manually in BIOS.

 

That's not exactly helpful is it

Can you adjust the fans in the other AW tools to a custom setting, or does the AW OC in BIOS or Tool make the fan speeds unchangable / override the custom settings?

 

Naaa

 

no fan controls whatsoever in the OC tool. The fan curve is still fully EC controlled. which is why as soon as you toggle OC switch ON, fans immediately ramp up to 2300RPM on both CPU and GPU regardless of system cool idle state.

Even under custom mode, no fan adjustment also. only core voltage and voltage offset. i hope they can improve this in their next version update. without a better manual fan control and undervolt, it's just not too helpful at the moment.

 

Well that's the most disappointing thing I have ever read....

 

Anyway ThrottleStop more neat, lightweight and battle proven tool. They should just implement a bridge to TS with an additional OC on\off option.

 

Implement bridge to ThrottleStop? I hope you understand DELL and other ODM's haven't a agreement with ThrottleStop'a author. Either skip the idea making a OC tool in their main software ACC or do it properly. Not like this mess who is useless and with no useable functionality.

 

Yes, I understand this I meant that they could collaborate with the author or at least take this program as an example.

 

Useless to us as power users but I can think of a ton of people that will find it useful as they don't know what a bios is or how to use it. I see people complain all the time that they bought a laptop / desktop that runs ( up to ) a certain frequency as it is OC capable but don't know how to implement that. This will help the novice user but I really was hoping for more functionality.

 

All know Dell's OC profiles is trash. Rather wait with releasing the OC tool in ACC if they can't make it useful or have proper functionality. Their not so knowledgeable customers as you so nice say, will only see increased temp and problems with the OC profiles who contain not very optimal voltage settings. Put this on top of the still remaining TRIPOD mess and you can see why I say this. The new OC tool is probably one of the worse I have seen. And Dell ain't a small boy in the computer world. They should manage much better than this. As well a fan control shouldn't be difficult to create and implement in their main software suite. Damn, we are soon into 2018.

 

Alienware/Dell has been making highend laptops for 20 years and have yet to release a oc tool or fan control system. So don't hold your breath waiting for it to ever happen.. properly anyway..

 

Alienware/ Dell has been making "highend" laptops for 20 years.

Hope that helps explain everything. A highend product tends to have superb customer service.

Example: Rolex vs Swatch, Lexus vs Toyota, normal people vs the I.T. crowd XD

A highend product isn't released without fixes and when there is a major outcry they fix it.

Example: Apple iPhone (they gave you a phone case) Apple MacBooks, thou under powered... you dont need the latest hardware to run a Mac OS.

Alienware/ Dell has been making "highend" laptops for 20 years.

 

Just pulled the Trigger on a 17 r4.

7820hk
1080
120hz 1440p

Was planning to mirror the 1TB drive to a 512GB 960 Pro and Hyper X 2667 32GB ram. Thoughts? Other good ram options?

 

One of the CPU cores hit 96C and throttled whilst gaming on my 7820K/1080/QHD.

I've bought some Kryonaut to go a repaste. What's the best method for applying it? Lines or a dot etc?

Do I really need to change the thermal pads? I don't get any stuttering or freezing at the moment.


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If your repasting nd have torn the machine down that far, might as well re-pad. It will only help... just a repaste is kind of like doing half the job and cutting corners

 

What date did you receive your laptop? Ordered from Dell's website?

 

Spread the paste using the rubber applicator. Spread it horizontally, in simple words; spread width wise.

 

Is the Hyper X 2667 ram the best for this machine?

 

Read the confirmed-ram-list-feedback-alienware-17-r4-15-r3

 

I thought mine was bad when I hit 70s using conductonaut (well I am scared some might be squeezing it self out due to change between the cores) but 96c........ kind of glad I didn't buy a 1080 or 1080ti from Dell.

If you are using normal thermal paste there are guides how to put it on. It's no different from the rest.

I unlock put up a great guide how to dismantle your laptop

 

I did see inunlock's guide to take it apart. I just wondered if there was a specific way to put paste on them. I thought I'd seen a post on here saying to use a blob for the CPU and a line for the GPU.

It's a shame it's got a bit hot, but it's actually been working really well and this my third one!

I've had it 2 months. Got it direct from the Dell UK site.


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With this amazing Perpetual TRIPOD mess, use the spatula supplied with the thermal paste and spread for best results.

 

Someone could test the new bios (SKL1.1.8_KBL1.1.8 ,SKL1.1.8_KBL1.1.8)? Any improvement? (Does not say anything on the Dell download website)

 

you sure it is for AW17 and not AW13?

 

Yeah, I downloaded it a few hours ago. But now it does not figure on the Dell website. Ouch! I already installed it... I'm going back right now ....

 

Maybe HT bug fix, check revision code in hwinfo before and after flashing BIOS.

 

Again appears ... but nothing in bios detail

 

Just a little word of praise in regard to the Alienware Vindicator Briefcase that I've been using for a good while now ...

Recently, in a hurry at a convenience store, I decided to simply drop a Monster energy drink in to the center compartment of my Alienware Vindicator briefcase, for later consumption and all; this was around lunch time; as the day wore on, I would finish my work day and then haul my laptop all over Houston that afternoon and evening, all the while forgetting that I had put that can of Monster in the middle compartment my Vindicator case.

Long story short? Some time that day? Apparently, something else in that center compartment (most likely the prongs on my AC adapter) actually punctured that can of Monster drink ... and the entire 16oz can drained into my Vindicator briefcase. I didn't notice that this had happened until the next day because there were white stains all over both sides of the case (most likely from dried Monster ingredients of some kind).

So when I (horrified) realized what had occurred ... and trying to quell the subsequent heart attack that ensued (even though I have spill protection) ... I anxiously pulled my AW17 from it's sleeve in the Vindicator ... there were slight moisture stains on the side of the laptop that rests against the plastic laptop sleeve ... actually, some moisture (sticky) beads on *both* sides of the laptop. At that point, I had no idea if any of said moisture had leaked through the bottom and in to the innards of my rig and I tell you ... I was *horrified* ... LOL ...

So I took the laptop it's compartment in the briefcase ... quickly cleaning both sides of the rig with paper towels and my go to cleaner ...

My life flashed before my eyes.

I sweated and my heart pounded through my Hawken game t-shirt.

I wondered how I could get a temp replacement in case I had to send it in for repairs.

I thought about calling my mother.

;-)

...

And so I plugged it in (after also meticulously cleaning the sticky Monster drink off of the PSU and cord) ... and it booted right up and everything was (and still is) fine. This was a week or so ago that this happened.

So kudos to Dell/Alienware for designing a laptop bag that *specifically* employs a water/liquid proof, plastic barrier between the laptop and the rest of the bag; this saved my @#@$%@ life~!~!!!

But the entire bag was otherwise soaked. To clean it, I emptied everything out of the briefcase and quite literally sprayed the whole thing down with water ... and then hung the briefcase out to dry for a few hours.

Good as new!!!

 

I'm running 1.0.9 with undervolting, locked at 3.1 ghz with speed shift, speedstep completely disabled and turbo power limits locked to the tdp of 45watts with throttlestop and I swear I'm getting the best performance I've ever had on my 6700HQ. I'll run a bench mark with this vs 1.1.8 stock and with my custom settings but I highly doubt anything will run faster as my current setup drains the battery and the later bioses put an end to that.

 

3.1ghz? I use 1.1.8 cpu 7820hk and 4.3ghz (pl1,pl2 200000) with undervolt -0,050... the performance is amazing...

This new BIOS improved my connection to the graphics amplifier

 

Your sig is confusing. How are you raiding a SSD 850 evo...? no space inside... Also you over clocked your 60hz to 100 hz?

 

Maybe 2 x 850 Evo SATA m.2

 

@QuillP that would be my guess... dual m.2 SATA 850 EVOs.

 

@ganzonomy What is the difference in price between an Evo 850 m2 and an Evo 960 pcie or pm961? Do not (practically) cost the same?

 

I'm sure it's much faster. I think the problem here is the power system on the 6700hq models. Bios 1.0.9 drains the battery and therefore provides the best performance. Limiting my turbo power limit to tdp ensures that I don't get any hiccups in games. The performance of my system is just so much higher with these settings and this bios.

The most important thing to me is getting as high of fps in overwatch as I can. With these settings I'm able to get over 200fps most of the time. And never below 170fps. I have a flawless sensor mouse and a 240hz gsync screen. So having my computer put out consistently high fps has been something I did alot of experimentation to get.

 

How do you limit the turbo power? I had a 17r3 with 6700hq model and I do not remember that it can be limited.

 

I mean the package power limits in throttlestop. I think in ETU its called "turbo boost power max" and "turbo boost power max short". I set those to 45 and it helps in overwatch.

But I think on the 7820hk you do not have the same power supply issues.

 

With the 6700HQ, proper undervolting will make the CPU consume less than 45w. Assuming you didn't get a bottom of the bin chips.

XTU and throttlestop PL adjustment is completely unnecessary when this is done correctly.

 

Hi guys,
Quick question if it's okay. For each 15 R3 or 17 R4 (if eligible) - there is usually a recovery IS image on Dell's site that can be downloaded. And on stock machines from Dell - there is usually a recovery partition.

Say that you were to install new SSD into the laptop - and want to start clean install completely (though would like those recovery partitions) - do the Dell recovery download give you the recovery partition back? (e.g. ensure the system was as it first arrived?) or does it not give the recovery partition back?

 

Yes they do contain a recovery partition if you download OS Image from Dell.

 

If it powercycles over 45watts it will drian the battery more

 

They don't have the power system to even supply the 6700hq. Mine is undervolted by -137.7 mV core and cache. I get about 1 V at 3.1ghz. I even have the system agent and analog io undervolted not that it does much. Trust me it's just the way these are made.

 

Best Bios consensus for kabylake 7820hk gtx1080 setup

While the best bios for skylake cpus on A17 r4 seems to have been 1.0.8, in terms of both performance and cpu temps is there a consensus on the best bios for kabylake ?

 

The last two work very well for me. 1.1.6 and 1.1.8...