*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R4 Owner's Lounge

Any idea why hwinfo shows 2 temps for the PM961? The second temp listed goes up to 98c! But no other hardware monitoring program shows this "second" temp, only the first one that stays relatively cool.

 

Extended reporting of NVMe drive temperatures and added thresholds to sensors.

 

Do the stuttering problems only effect HK CPU's and 1080's or does it effect all R4 models?

I'm tempted to just got by a R4 with a 1070 from Micro Center and if the Temps go over 83CPU/75GPU, I'll just return it within the first 30 days since they have a no questions asked return policy. No restocking fee either.

Basically what I'm getting at is that some people are getting R4's that run cool. Right?

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I highly doubt it, if it's an HQ processor then there's more chance it will be under those temperatures you require but after an hour or two of intense gaming (BF1) on stock ****ty paste, I suspect more than 90% of R4s will go above those temps completely stock. Best chance you've got is tuning an undervolt on the CPU and down clocking the GPU to be sure

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New R4 here with specs in my signature. I'm running overclocks and don't have any throttling or stutter. GPU stays under 87C peak and the CPU averages 80ish C in gaming at 4GHZ. No core gaps either, all are within 1 to 3 C of each other.

 

Mostly people who have in-game stutter own the 1080 system with OC vbios, the 1070 has been problem free so far.

Most of the newest batch (ie: you buy now from Dell) have ok temperature due to improved heatsink. Small portion doesn't but you can always return.

More than 90% maybe, but depends on ambient temperature and how the laptop vents are oriented when used.

 

So i have An alienware 17 R4 GTX 1080, with a 7820HK.

When i got my laptop my temps where over the place, nu cpu could average around 90+ with spikes to 99°C.

I did a repaste, i repasted with kryonaught, and got my temps for my cpu down to about 80/75 degrees (flat on table) my gpu on the other hand would max out around 80 degrees °C. After the repaste It maxes out at 70 (flat on the table). When gaming on OC level 2+ my gpu gives me a constant VREL without stuttering. I noticed that my gpu keeps downclocking itself 20mhz (when gaming or benchmarking) so i'm not having a performance loss (when the VREL is being displayed) nor drops my usage to 0 what introduces the Stutter. My gpu usage is also normal (when gaming or benchmarking) my core clock starts most of The Times at 1885 and then goes back slowly, without me nothing except when i monitor the clocks.

Now after the repaste my cpu temperature stabilised, but i got temp spikes from a normal temperature (i.e. 74 degrees package temperature while playing fsx maxed out) and suddenly it shoots to 90+ for no reason. And then (something) i have An occasional stutter (due thermal throttling on core #0 or #02). Every Stutter i have identified over the course of the 3 weeks that i have my laptop are related to the cpu downclocking itself heavily, and then goes back to the speed it was (.i.e. 4298 on 4 cores.) The funniest thing is that my laptop rarely downclocks itself And almost 80% of the time it holds It boost speed (alienware it's cooling is remarkable eventhough some people have problems, it certainly can keep the laptop cool under load)

So my questions are, are the temperature spikes that i have bad. And could i reduce Them to eliminate the Stutter.

And the VREL my gpu displays, should i repad it or let it be Just like how it is right now (keep in mind i don't have gpu Stutter (VREL Stutter) the only time i get a Stutter is with a heavy cpu downclock)

Could It be my powersupply ? In the wall socket or extension cord i get the same vrel (and voltage)

My laptop performs very veryy well while gaming. The VREL of the gpu and the spikes of the cpu(that give's my cpu thermal throttling) are my only concern. This was all on An ambient temperature of 30.5 °C degrees.

Sorry for my bad english not my native language. And mostly i'm open to all suggestions. Thanks guys !

 

enable cpu performance mode and fan speed will be aggressive and temps won't spike to 90s

 

As long as your gpu load, frequency does not drop to zero during stuttering, you do not need to worry too much about vrel. However it would be prudent for you to ensure that the VRM, chokes and gddr5x are properly cooled by ensuring good contacts for all the thermal pads. Since you have experience repasting your laptop, this shouldn't be too difficult for u.

Also from your description, it sounds like you are experiencing pch thermal throttling which can cause the cpu frequency to drop to 800MHz as shared by some of the members here.

 

Thank you for your reply ! the cpu performance mode is already enabled. i strictly oc from withing bios. undervolting makes my chip become unstable (when iddling) but when i'm running a benchmark it survives the benchmark until it goes back to iddle and locks up my system giving me a BSOD

 

Try an undervolt of -40mV and not higher than 100mV.

 

Thank you for your reply ! your video with ownordisown helped me alot ! my PCH was also something that was on my suspects list, but strange enough it maxes out around 73 degrees. for my terms it isn't that hot, but could it throttle with a temperature like that ? i've tried different things to bring down the spikes but it happens random, and it last max for 3 seconds and Boom it stabilizes again. i've just benchmarked my laptop on a ambient temperature of 28 degrees C (i live in the carribeans ) and it still has the same behaviour. cpu temp average is 76 C min is 37 max is 94. my bios oc settings are #core1 offset 4300 #core2 offset 4200 #core3 offset 4200 #core4 offset 4100 boost is set to 10000 without extra voltage (it only ramps up my temperature)

 

an undervolt of -15mV let's my system crash already. slowly starting to think that i'm on the bad side of the silicon lottery. my heatsink is an sunonlake type so i definitelly have the "improved version"

also i got a different vbios than the one alienware has provided for the GTX 1080 (if someone could see what is the difference between my bios and the oc bios) the last letter of my vbios is different than the oc bios. i also noted that afterburner reports a core clock of 1771 mhz, but when i'm running benchmarks (or alienware support assist) it automatically starts at 1885 mhz (no oc (yet)) could it be due to the bios it gives me back a VREL ? it also dissapears at some games when i play DSR4K (have the 1080p tobii oc'ed display to 74mhz)

 

Post a screenshot of ThrottleStop w/ something cpu heavy running in background.

 

https://goo.gl/photos/yXX66g3TdfzkYzT27 i couldn't reply with a picture so i have an link where you can view it

 

Thats great for CPU gpu seems high


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It's not the PCH it's s classic case of an imbalance of the heatsink contact on the CPU caused when you repasted it I'm afraid. The higher temps on cores 0 and 2 are proof of this, they are both the north side of the CPU and the contact there is minimal. It's happening in gaming because this is when you're properly stressing that CPU and testing the thermal dissipation of the heatsink with combined CPU and GPU heat.
Only option is to open that sucker back up and dry fit the heatsink to the CPU. Press down on the CPU and check if it lifts on the GPU or anything else. If it does then it's imbalanced and you'll need to bend the heatsink gently to try again. bend the CPU arm to apply more pressure on the north side of the CPU as well. It's very sturdy you won't snap it. Also after you've put paste back on, apply pressure as you screw the heatsink back to the mobo down on the CPU area as you do it. Forget the numbering on the heatsink, focus on the criss cross around the CPU first then GPU

HTH

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Hi thank you for your reply, as i stated in my first post my temperatures where already over the place (before i repasted it) my cpu temperature would be 89 degrees with spikes to 102. After the repaste the temperatures went down, but my spikes where still present. And more noticable (average got lower)

That's when i started to try different configurations for oc/gaming/normal usage, without the spikes and VREL. They're Both random but still only the cpu affects me. I think my last chance is doing a repad/cpu arm bend.

The way you described how i should screw it down, i already applied it from my first repaste. (I did some extensive researching, so i would know what i could expect from This revision) thank you for replying cause i still forgot about the cpu bend procedure so i'll check that out tommorow (tommorow my speaker Will also be replaced by a support tech

 

Alienware 17 R4 vs MSI GT73VR Titan Pro Comparison Smackdown

 

#update1 welk i thought i have nothing to do so why don't i bend the cpu arm and see if it improved, and it indeed did! My Max is 88 and averages around 79/80 it keeps fluctuating between those values. It's not much but it's something. Again thank you @Pete Light for your reply it helped me a Little bit further

 

For a good OC on the GPU and 100 percent load for a couple hours , 87C max sounds good to me for this machine

 

Playing Destiny 2 beta with my i7 7700/gtx 1070 1080p with 2160p DSR via nVidia CP, temps didn't rise above 63c. That was about a half hour worth playing.

Everything highest settings, and using SMAA. 100+fps easy. Highest I saw was 148fps.

 

Mines been LMd and repad but I don't get over 72-73 no overclock


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A 1070 and a 7700hq should be that low.. the heatsink even though not perfect is overkill for those chips


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Yeah, just looking at real world numbers, vs the synthetic numbers in the mid 90's.

 

I'm going to agree to strongly disagree with that! I'll stick with @iunlock 's review which is far more detailed and relevant...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...re-17r4-vs-msi-gt73vr-unrated-version.801192/

 

I think @iunlock 's Alienware 17r4 review is based on the laptop *after* repasting, re-thermal-padding, and adjustments + tuning.

My guess is that @iunlock 's out of the box review would be => The Alienware 17r4 Sucks!!

@iunlock ?

 

Her review said something about 65c on load for the msi for the CPU... thanks cannot be right. Even after repad and LM repaste and heatsink balance the 17r4 hits 80 after about 30-45 minutes no higher though on the 7820hk


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Could be due to the larger size and thermal system of the GT73.


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There is no way. I must have misheard. Must be the 7700hq. @iunlock since you review can you validate temp of gt73 vs 17r4


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I've owned both of these laptops and they each have their positive and negatives.

• The MSI is thicker, AW is thinner
• AW has better GPU cooling but MSI has better CPU cooling.
• I find the fan noise to be the same
• The aesthetics are subjective of course, but I prefer the more subdued looks of the AW to the more gamer-ish style of the MSI.
• MSI is easier to work with, although both are a pain if you want to repaste.
• AW has better build quality
• AW has better warranty service and support after the sale.
• MSI seems to have better chances of being good out of the box.
• If you catch a sale, AW is cheaper.
• Screen quality is subjective. Both have 120hz gsync but I prefer the new 1440p AW panel.

 

You forgot the biggest +

Alienware has a external GPU thus 10 80 Ti

 

I'm pretty sure 7820hk will run with equal temp as the worse binned [email protected]. And Prime95+FurMark stress test should push your Cpu harder than any gaming You could try same test setup yourself and see how it goes with the Alienware.

 

You needed a raid driver. Download the appropriate raid driver, put it on a USB and point the install at it from the screen that isn't showing the SSD. I do this every reinstall without changing from raid and it works fine.

 

Hello all,

I've just recently purchased my Alienware 17 R4 in June 2017 in Australia. The setup was quite good although it was quite hot when running games on max settings. I had it with the QHD+ screen with GTX 1080 and i7 7820HK - and 512 GB SSD + 1TB Harddrive. I also added another 1 TB SSD (Intel) after the purchase which I installed just fine.

I am currently overseas on business for a month (till mid October) in Indonesia, and a few days ago I had the laptop running as I run downstairs to the supermarket, and when I came back the laptop was suddenly off (it was plugged into the mains). When I checked the light indicator on the adapter brick, it was off - which was weird. So I tried turning it on, no power, no fans, no lights just dead. So I tried unplugging from laptop, then unplugging from mains - when I plug back into the mains, the adapter brick indicator light turns on again, but as soon as I plug into laptop, it turns off. I did this multiple times. I thought it was the power adapter being dead, so I ordered online for the same 330W power adapter (also Dell).

I got the new power adapter a few days later, and tried again with both new & old, and both exhibits the same behaviour. As soon as I plug into the laptop, the adapter light turns off. So I assume the problem is not with the adapter.

I remember that a few days before this issue, I remembered seeing a boot up error message something like "The AC power adapter wattage and type cannot be determined" - I just pressed F1 I think and it went on to boot up normally. I did a few shutdowns and boot up after that and never saw that message again until the day the laptop just died.

So looking online and at the forums, I did the following:

1. Check the power adapter & plugs (did this with multiple different mains, tried different power cables and the 2 adapters, 1 brand new) - nothing can power up the laptop.
2. Did the power drain - unplug battery and pressed the power button for over 30 secs - nothing happened, laptop still won't power up. Alienware: Power Drain - YouTube
3. Did the CMOS reset following the Alienware 17 R4 manual from Dell website (unplug the round battery for > 30 secs). - still laptop won't power up.

I've contacted Dell support, and they believe that my motherboard is gone. As I'm currently not in Australia, they're trying to give it to Dell Indonesia to respond. It's been 3 days since I first contacted support, and there's a few queries I wanted to get some suggestions about:

1. Is there any other thing I can do to diagnose & fix the issue besides the above? Have I missed something?
2. Is it better to wait for myself to get back to Australia in mid October rather than go for Dell Indonesia support? I'm worried about the spareparts in Indonesia (Medan - the city I am in) - will they have the proper spareparts? As the mobo is the one that's fried - if that's the case, wouldn't it also mean that they will need to replace the CPU & GPU too that's soldered onto the motherboard? I'm just afraid if they have it all in stock in the city that I'm in. Have anyone have experience with overseas laptop service or specifically in Indonesia?
3. As I will be travelling out to another city mid September, do you believe that this kind of issue can get resolved that quickly before I get back to travelling? Perhaps someone who had a similar problem with the Alienware 17 R4 motherboard issue before?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and suggestion and hopefully this gets resolved soon as I actually need the laptop for work quite urgently. I had 2 alienwares before (M11x and Alienware 13 - and never had any serious issues with them... this is quite disappointing for a 2 months old premium laptop that I paid AU$4k over) I hope the support team will be able to resolve this.

 

That review claiming those temps...hmmmmm...first off the Max the CPU hit was 38x which is the 7700HQ. The 7820HK Max stock is 39x.

Given this, those temps are about right for the HQ chips.

The AW's stock temps sucked big time back when it first released and had a long stretch where it was a crap shoot on whether one would receive an ok unit or not.

Within the past few months, the AW systems have been pretty decent if kept stock. I've had several units come and go that had very respectable temps for stock and even when OC'ed to 40x and 42x. Some held for a little bit at 44x, but the crappy stock thermal paste and even worse the toilet paper thermal pads gave out.

The AW's do come with real paste on the CPU now, but it still rocks the stamp on the GPU.

The thermal pads are the same as before, but they look a lot cleaner.

AW now also only comes with the Sunon heat sinks which are the best ones. They've phased out the CCI ones.

As with all gaming laptops, I'm a big advocate of not comparing them straight out of the box due to the variables that exist with stock systems...ie...they are not at their full potential.

When I review a system, it is almost always both repasted to lessen the margin of error.

Yea it's the 7700HQ...look at the max clocks...Only 38x which is the max boost of a 7700HQ.

That pretty much sums it up. I would add that with them having two different approaches to the cooling system, in ratio, the AW cools the CPU just as well.

 

One thing I forgot to mention was the MSI does have better I/O. More USB, a card reader, 4 audio jacks... I wish AW had included more. There's certainly room on the chassis for it!

Since I believe you've had both the MSI and AW systems and tuned them both - which would you prefer after tuning for max potential?

 

... at this point, I'm already well into the fresh install, software updates, etc. What difference will there be if I started fresh again, and using the raid driver instead of the route I used?

 

This was with alienware r4 with 1070 and 7700hq? Those fps are good it seems for 4k dsr. I'll have to try it tonight on my 6700hq 1070. What area were you testing in?

Edit scratch that im not upgrading to the destiny2 game ready drivers untill they fix gsync

 

Fix G-Sync? Works fine for me

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Thanks for the detailed response, I do believe tho that most people don't expect to need to go through all that effort to repaste, re-pad, and adjust the metal work to get a good performing laptop.

So for most people the Alienware 17r4 is a crap-shoot as far as will they get a good one out of the box. As you say it's been very bad along the way since release with no good units coming out of the box for a long time.

Even though your experience recently has been better it's not something reflected in the reports here by new owners discovering their laptops are overheating, so there are still plenty of "bad ones" getting shipped.

This high percentage of failures out of the box have shaped your stand on not testing and comparing laptops out of the box performance, and insisting on reworking them all before comparing.

That works for a very small percentage of people, as they don't have the time or the skills to accomplish the same level of performance as you are reporting after comparing optimized laptops.

Reporting results from tuned machines doesn't help anyone trying to get some idea if their out of the box experience will be a good one.

What is the % likelihood someone will get a good Alienware 17r4 workable out of the box in the short and long term, without reworking it?

 

Maybe he read the Errata for the driver?

Issues and updates:
[1931970]Stutter when connecting external G-sync monitor to notebook after updating to Windows 10 Creators Update

https://forums.geforce.com/default/...lay-driver-feedback-thread-released-8-24-17-/

 

Its gsync with external monitors and you dont have to have the creators update to have it. They will be rolling out a hotfix for it soon hopefully. More info in the thread in the sager / clevo section.

 

Link(s)?

 

That issue has been going on for the last few driver revisions too. Switching to windowed full screen mode instead of plain full screen fixes it for me in games.

 

I think this is the thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ops-to-0-freeze-stutter-temporary-fix.805220/

 

Wow, external G-sync broken since May 2017!

Was it one of those fixed then broken again G-sync problems, or has it been consistently broken in all driver updates for 4 months?

What is the last driver version external G-sync was working?

 

Yep, that's what I said and what I've experienced in a month of gaming with a 7700HQ + GTX 1080 GT73VR 7RF model. As I also said, expect a 5C temp increase if not more with a 7820HK overclocked. This is real world gaming testing, not running Prime 95 + whatever to generate maximum synthetic load.

The cooling-- heatsinks, pipes and SSD heatsink assembly is overkill. And the entire bottom is ventilation. Two exits for each fan as well (side and rear). This model is all about cooling.

 

It's been going on for a while but seemingly only on the gtx 1080 laptops. I noticed it both on my GT73VR and 17 R4. It's not a constant stutter and like I said before, switching to windowed full screen seemed to stop it from happening.

 

That's great to hear, the GT73/75 are great platforms for unlocked CPU and 1080 GPU. It will be good to see a GT75 review to make sure the cooling is as good or better in the new model.

Are you going to try to get an Asus Chimera in for testing? That looks like Asus is serious about cooling again with that large frame and venting like the GT7x series.

The Asus Chimera also has a 144hz display and I'm wondering if Asus beefed up the power on that 1080 to provide more performance to feed it a steady 144 FPS.