*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R4 Owner's Lounge

Hi guys. I have a QHD on my 17 R4 screen with a white line between the pixels. Do I have the right to replace this screen for warranty? Thanks. My type of guarantee "Onsite Service After Remote Diagnosis"

 

Yes Ts still works. But currently. It's off. I've replaced the pads with k5 pro, but still having core imbalance problems. But it does take alot longer for it to thermal throttle. Core 0 is currently the hottest.

I'm thinking about switching to my old heatsink & repasted to see how it performs.

I think the problem is heat related (downlocking my cpu when running on 4.2)

I do think the k5 pro works. I just think I'm doing something wrong with repasting (or this heatsink is to bring to make good contact). Will keep testing with different setting and report back.

Any recommendations ?

 

My brother picked up a AW15 this past black friday and is all giddy. Can anybody suggest a neoprene type "sleeve" that will fit the 15" Alienware? Also, are there any more cost effective but quality bags/briefcases anybody can recommend for the 15" model?

Thanks!
Joel

 

You'd probably have better luck posting in the 15 R3 forum.

 

Let's see some evidence of that! Hwinfo, an hour of a premium game perhaps?

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

you are so right ... lol ... sorry ... completely zoned on the forum section I was in ...

joel

 

The heating up the CPU from the GPU via the heatsink is not correct. The GPU runs a lot cooler in general.

The 1060 will run a lot cooler than the 1070. Just like this is much cooler than a1080

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

This has already been posted elsewhere in the GT73VR thread.

Adaptive vcore +100mv offset, AC DC loadline=1 to stop vid boost at load (0=vid boosts up to 1.80-2.10 mOhms).
Without +100mv offset, it would BSOD instantly. If AC DC loadline=0, it's obviously fully stable with no offset, but power draw and temps are HIGHER.
View attachment 151381

1182 manual vcore, AC DC loadline=1; i can use 1175mv; I had it at 1182mv to test a FMA3 load at 4.4 ghz later, which is disabled here at 4.5 ghz in prime local.txt, as I can't pass FMA3 at 4.5 ghz (temps too high or VRM's shut off)
View attachment 151383

5 ghz superpi 1M test
(1375mv, AC DC loadline=25 (0.25 mOhms)

View attachment 152402

 

Right so you're comparing an non-BGA chip in a supremely ugly, childish looking plastic, thick laptop with our Alienwares?

Ok in that case fair enough, I'd rather you had the extra few % CPU power i thought you had something interesting to post about BGA with this being an Alienware R4 owners thread an all...

It's probably best you and Papusan stop trying to beat down owners here with your CPU comparisons. It's not the same hardware...

 

Right, so you asked for proof and then you reply with a completely unrelated flamebait post. Got it.

 

What? Have you seen in his sig? You asked and @Falkentyne delivered As you have seen... FYI. Some in the thread wanted help with their 7820HK.

Edit.

Spoiler: What he showed... See TS main window. In Red on top.

 

Hello, I have an Alienware 17 r4, core I7 7th gen + GTX 1070. I am trying to overclock my cpu and I contacted Alienware on Twitter and they said my system is not "Officially supported for overclocking" but it is made to handle 3.8ghz any ways. Now Im getting mixed signal. Do I overclock or no???? HELP ME PLEASE THANKS

 

Ask one more time. As you can see, they officially promote overclocking Cpu up to 4.4GHz in their own sales website.

 

I think you have the 7700HQ which is not overclockable.

 

hi guys...im looking for alienware 17 r4 box only...if any of you guys have spare/dont want the box you can sell it to me maybe...Im located in US...
you can email me at [email protected]

 

Yes because I was on Tapatalk (which doesn't show signatures) and when I noticed your completely unrealistic results I checked the website and noticed your sig.

It's rich that you accuse ME of flamebaiting, I'm not the one posting on another manufacturer forum saying how people looking for help with their CPU results are far inferior to mine which infers they must have a problem when actually you have no idea because you don't have the same system as them! I'm just trying to keep the posts relevant to the topic, so this can be useful to others with the same hardware. You don't have an Alienware R4, your system has a superior CPU architecture for power delivery and cooling, congratulations, now let's discuss results more akin and relevant to an Alienware R4 system and properly help these people rather than confusing then with unachievable results...

The reason I asked for your results is because you were supporting Papusan in earlier posts and I then suspected you were doing the same thing as he always does. Turns out I was right...

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

Yes, and that was so helpful of you and Falkentyne to point out that his results were trash by comparing it to a completely different system therefore probably confusing him in to thinking he has a bad Alienware unit (which of course we all know that's what you want) when actually it could be perfectly normal under the circumstances.

Why can't you just leave Alienware alone, they've done nothing to you and the users here deserve good, fair advice. I don't understand why you keep punishing people for buying BGA by giving them false and twisted statistics, comparisons and advice...

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

 

Completely different system Yes, but still same cpu. You mean 770cb in Cinebench is perfectly normal for 4.3 or 4.4GHz? He posted bench results and said this was normal score. I just gave him feedback on the showed results!! Read the post before and after. How bad can this be give feedback on a reply?

Edit. Would you not reply back with correct info, when someone posted result with scores in a reply to you?

I expect you saw the pict of the test you asked about. No need for look into the sig. TS was up and showed or shall we say flashed 7820HK.

 

@Rei Fukai maybe you didn't raise the PLs enough, that's why your 7820HK cannot hold higher frequencies (power boost time window?), hence you got lower scores.

Just did a quick test on my AW17 at 4.5 ghz (first run, didn't try to max out the score). You can also notice score 785, this is at 4.5 ghz with default factory PLs (the result is obvious..).


hwinfo:

 

Could you try with 120.000w for PL1 and 2 ? Beacuse this is the power limits @Rei Fukai used. Test with 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5GHz. You could even test with 4.2GHz who should give +-935-940cb in CBR15.

 

Sure, here you are:

Edit:
Windows Fall 'crematory' update
BIOS v1.0.5 (from factory)

4.2 ghz:

Spoiler: 4.2 ghz

hwinfo:

Spoiler: 4.3 ghz:

hwinfo:

Spoiler: 4.4 ghz:

hwinfo:

 

As you can see... 120.000w for PL1 and 2 was as xpected more than enough. +rep

Edit. Test with 4.5 as well if you have time. Thanks.

 

Spoiler: 4.5 ghz

hwinfo:

 

still won't hold boost clocks. when reaching around 70 watts thermal throttle kicks in so it's defintely not my powerlimits

 

The processor shouldn’t thermal throttle before max Cpu temp reach 93C. Checked temp?

 

yes you're totally correct. at around 64 watts my temperature of my cpu is around 85+ when it spikes to for example 71 watts, core #0 and core #2 throttles, and kicks my clocks back down (to 2.9) then it goes back up (for example) to 4ghz (while i'm benching at 4.4) and keeps fluctuating till the end of the benchmark. it fluctuates between the 2.9 and 4.2 then

EDIT: i can do a R15 test real quick to show you. i've also done a 30 min occt run and core #2 started throtling towards the end of the benchmark.

i'm thinking about returning this thing to dell, get myself an Alienware 17 R5 (LGA) or build myself a ryzen 7 pc with a 1080 or something. this is the second Alienware laptop that behaves like this, and i'm not in the mood to keep fighting things that should've been done from the factory (or even drawing board.. i mean a tripod heatsink design...) even the cheaper dell xps series has a normal heatsink with 8 points to screw it down. and i'm not even down with the hole BGA happening. i've become used to being able to hotswap parts when necceassary. i feel that this laptop should've been a step up, from a 4700mq/880m/8gb ram to a 7820HK/gtx1080/8gb ram, but if i look back at the last 4 months it's only been a headache and not even enjoying the performance Azor promised people. i think i'm going to voice my opinions, link alot of NBR forums and overall voice the people's opinions on twitter. i do not care if he reads it or not, i care about the people that look for raw performance for something they pay for, and Alienware is not the company anymore to give them it. we games never asked for thinner laptop. we wanted faster chips, beter cooling higher refresh rates and the best performance. alienware this year does not exceed in any of those. except for making a workspace friendly looking laptop (but eurocom and gigabyte are also becoming more of a factor) they should've never merged with dell. that was their dead. and it began with the 17 R2 bga crap

 

i was a little bit mad, but i've tweeted frank. i hope he reads it, maybe it will change something, maybe it won't.

 

He stated everything was fixed middle December last year.

 

i can't see his reply :/ cause i'm going to send my heatsink picture. i know it won't make alot of differences, but if people see how he reacts while i i'm having clear proof of the opposite he says, people will start looking different to them

 

They won't be able to fix it while there will be a tripod HS, only if they will be doing manual balancing of HSs and repaste of all machines, which will rise the prices quite noticeably.
So, if you bent CPU's lonely heatsink arm , did a good repaste job and applied enough amount of LM paste, replaced thermal pads to arctic\fuji and still having overheating issues at 4.4+, then as was mentioned before it might be a loss in the 'silicon lottery', that's it, not much you can do about it.

 

Well, the problem is that from the moment you ship something that does not do it's job correctly, everything that happends afterwards you are responsible for it. Do not forget that dell is a multi billion company, so spending a little time on a product that already costs a whopping 2000+ nothing can justify that.

The fact that Azor bragged about having a 150+ watt vbios (knowing that the tripod mess cannot be fixed without a redesign is messy already.

The fact that the CONSUMER, should open a NEW GAMELAPTOP to do a REPASTE with LIQUID METAL and do a REPAD is already too much. You just paid for a NEW laptop.

What do you think will happen if Lamborghini sells a car that cannot go around the track all of a sudden, when their consumers consumed cars that where track monsters. If Lamborghini ships a car with a broken engine, dashboard any of a trivial part, that can **** up the experience, nobody will be buying them.

Now Lamborghini is a luxury car so it's a bit extreme, but you get my point. People pay a price, and expect a certain amount of time, or performance from it. Dell is not delivering it right now, and everything that they have to do to fix this mess, is in them. Of coarse they will hike up the price. Michael dell only wants to see dollar bills (and it's investers etc) but by keep buying AW stuff you're only supporting their evil practices (like EA has found themselves in a lootbox fiesta).

If dell (or rather alienware) do not want to lose customers, they should fix this mess, and own up to their mistake.

 

Yes, I fully understand and only support you in this. Paying such a price for a premium quality laptop should include at least sane thermals from the beginning, but we have what we have (AW17R4 owners) and Dell obviously is not going to change anything (they have to redesign mobo and call back all existing which is heavy even for multi billion company, it's easier for them to take this dirt and to design a new tier model), as it's not super critical for them (it's not as your laptop doesn't work at all for them, you can still even OC it for certain level). If you're looking for a ready solution - forget BGA and look for the custom built laptops (Eurocom, HIDevolution etc.) and be ready to pay some more.
So if you're not enthusiast\specialist\brave enough to get messy with internals, then it's not for you (unfortunately Dell doesn't mention it anywhere ).

 

Actually 1060 at 1080p is pretty playable, you can get near 60FPS with medium to high options for W3, mainly because the resolution. The CPU's in this case are far from being any sort of limiting factor, they can handle the hair works and all that sort of jazz just fine too.

 

Exactly, where on the same page. I do find it sad for the people that have to put in the extra work without having the "skills". It's definitely a shame paying Such a steep price, and getting left behind in the cold. Exactly of coarse not, they exactly like how you describe just rather wave off the problem and see if the next line up does better. It's a company only focussed on $$$ so putting any more money in the current Line-up is a no-go. But anyways, I'll try and see if I can get a new working laptop, or a refund. I think I'm gonna build a water-cooled PC, and enjoy a soundless gaming experience. I love the product design, and philosophy. But not the performance.

An disclaimer of dell would be nice Lol, I loved my 17 R5 and tinkering with it (upgraded from a 860m to a 880m myself) and that's where my Alienware love started, but that was post BGA. The coarse they're sailing is not the right one.

 

You shouldn't get power spikes (from 64 to +71w) with a fixed constant load as from Cinebench R15 benchmark. This is not a benchmark with fluctuating load as from XTU.

Please post any info from the conversation, if its official available on the internet.

 

Power spikes can happen because of bad temps and bad heatsink fit. As temps go up, resistance goes up so power draw goes up. Hotspot on a core can cause spikes. So if hes at solid 64W, it is possible to hit 71W with tripod laser heatsink

 

so whatcha do with the AW17 ? You can stick a 1070 in that beast !

 

Oh yeah, well the consumer has to do some of the dirty work in keeping these upgraded and relevant if using aftermarket upgrades, but people like myself and the companies that do aftermarket support are generally trying to help the average consumer keep these around and get more of their bang for the dollar they spent already.
For less than a 1,000$ including all the mods and such, you can turn one of these older laptops into a laptop that competes at the level of performance that starts around 2,000$ for a laptop. Considering these are like 4-5 years old - thats damn impressive.

Anyways Lamborghini infact if most famous for a car that was pretty much useless. The countach or however it's spelled had no rear windows visibility, the original side windows only went down like an inch, the mirrors for viewing on the sides, for your blind spots, had to be moved by hand, which means you had to get out of the car, because the windows couldn't even roll down enough to put your hand through it. The gearbox/shift was in a different configuration as well, neutral and first gear were switched or something, and this meant it was like driving a different standard.

they also sold these with a warning that unless you did close to 10,000 miles, you shouldn't go past 3-4K RPM because the engine was not broken in yet - so people basically never really got to use these. There was actually tons of stupid little things about the car that made it one of the worst cars in all of history to own or use, and yet - its probably the most famous car ever.
So the example is not great.

 

Here you go:

https://twitter.com/GA_Craane/status/937995882162778115

https://twitter.com/GA_Craane/status/939048706271260672

https://twitter.com/GA_Craane/status/939063264914395136

https://twitter.com/GA_Craane/status/939064169709690880

https://twitter.com/GA_Craane/status/939064724272173056

https://twitter.com/GA_Craane/status/939065066430791680

https://twitter.com/GA_Craane/status/939065665826250752

https://twitter.com/GA_Craane/status/939066261325189120

https://twitter.com/GA_Craane/status/939066754709549056

https://twitter.com/GA_Craane/status/939067200102682624

https://twitter.com/GA_Craane/status/939067982336151552

 

that's true ! but internally it cannot be changed (except a new motherboard) so i tend to go all out on BGA. LGA Does not matter that much cause it's hotswopabble.

 

wow, thats a read full... so you been contacting customer support all this time and never got resolution ?
I usually can spot that sort of thing about to happen, and go full nuts on a company when they try and take me for a ride. I go public and go straight to the BBB as well.

 

I'm trying to repaste my alienware 17 r4 but i can't take out the screw from the heatsink it seems it was damaged so i can't take it out to repaste or repad it, anyone know what tools i can use to remove the stripped screw?

 

I had a similar issue. I went to the hardware store and got the most appropriate screwdriver size I could find. I got lucky and found one that was individually sold and it worked alot better even though the other one seemed to be the right size as well. Besides that I had to learn how to push down hard on the screwdriver while turning the screwdriver very slowly. And not turning too far if the screw wasn't moving. Do not try pliers as they are very likely to slip off the round screw and scratch the pcb. Hopefully it's not totally stripped. Thankfully I didn't strip mine before I bought the other screwdriver. Also you want to be careful about how you support the other side of the pcb while you press down. Some things are sticking out and it can cause it to bend of you apply pressure without supporting it right.

 

i like how you think, a fresh view to things. the countach is one example, of a faillure almost every company has. the countach is a great example, of something done wrong. and i mean completely

Yes, since the day I got my laptop I had core imbalance problems. This is the second time that dell refused to help me cause of a repaste. I've never damaged anything, but because (that's what dell from the Netherlands claim)
I've changed the cooling paste, it's not in it's state that dell shipped it to me.

In Europe we have consumer right, that's when you buy a product you can expect a certain performance level or time for people to use it. And since my laptop was shipped with core imbalance problems, it was not shipped how it's supposed to be shipped (not broken, core imbalance, bezels coming loose, lightbleed) you have the right to demand a new product, or a refund. Consumer right is a minimum of 3 years, and since (my) Alienware is 2000+ it's in my favor, cause a product of 2000+ cannot be like the 17 r4. This whole year the whole line up, from 13 to 17 R4 was plagued with problems.

In the Netherlands I've already found 5 people with the same (or other) problems. All have a 7820HK, or a GTX 1080, or the g-sync display that's been plagued.

I will NOT be buying Alienware products anymore, cause they've become the EA of gaming laptops. I bought this laptop for my gaming sessions and work, but I can't even work normally on it, cause it "Can" thermal shutdown.

From the moment Alienware became BGA I had to now that the quality would go down. From the moment dell acquired Alienware, it was game over. But then it was just a matter of time. With the 17 R4 for me, they've done it. I won't be looking back at AW no matter how good the warranty, or beautiful the chassis of the laptop. No BGA, No to bad QA and especially No to companies that try to suck them consumers dry, but cannot take responsibility to help their consumers when in need. Alienware releases laptop just to sell, they haven't made a laptop in the recent 5 years that their competitors couldn't touch. The models only went downside (so was their QA) and now, when buying a AW, your gambling for A) having a screen that works great out of the box no bleed etc B) a GTX 1080 that's being cooled properly not giving Vrel and stutter like crazy C) heatsink alignment over your core's that you won't have a imbalance D) keyboards that stop working, Tobi that stops working, thermal shutdowns, people receiving a bricked mobo etc. The fact that you have one of those 4 factors when buying (or gambling) for a new AW laptop (their PC's aren't much better either) says to me like AW needs to stop their ******** and get their **** together. But hey where just customers what do we now right ? We do not now what we want, the company's now it all the best Lol.

It's a shame that they do not have a HID revolution reseller in the Netherlands or a clevo reseller (they have bto but their chassis are ugly as F*ck)

I'll see what dell will do, if I get a refund I'll build a new PC (or laptop) or a new AW 17 and see how it performs.

 

some of us resellers ship world wide , pretty sure most of us do. So you do not really need a local company.

Also there are consumers acts protecting people everywhere, so you should be able to get DELL to follow the ones you have locally no issues, just have a ticket escalate to corporate.

 

wow, umm the 4 tiny screws ? You should be able to use thin pliers and just manually unscrew them though tedious, or find the perfect fit.

 

Yes that's true, but with other companies they won't send a engineer to your house or work. When something breaks, I do not like to send It back to the company and wait. Cause I'm not getting paid the time that I'm waiting on my product.

Offcoarse they're consumer acts everywhere, but In the us when dell says you do not have warranty anymore, you do not have it anymore. You can sue, but that's if you have the money to take them to court. With this there is no court involved. I got a problem dell refused to fix my problem, I contacted them with the consumer rights message that I can demand a new laptop even after my warranty is void.

There is a difference between getting a new product, or getting a "refurbished", and in the Netherlands, i'm pretty sure dell has to give me a brand new laptop, or give me my money back. And even if I got a brand new laptop from dell, if I still would not like it I can get a refund. I paid for a working product, and it's never been in the working state, dell advertised it to be, and that's where i would be the one winning in a case if this would become a case. Cause they've effectively shipped a broken product. I'm sitting here with core imbalance problems, speakers that blew up after 3 days of using my laptop (not even ocing at that moment) and tobii that windows hello cannot start, but In games it works fine.

My keyboard refused to work with me after coming from a sleep, my laptop sometimes hangs on a black screen, and resets, itself there I am lost all the work I did maybe for that day (I'm a software Developer)

These laptops just have too much problems that nothing can justify it.

I already had contact with my lawyer before I contacted dell.

They said that they're gonna escalate it, but I'm not sure how long it will take.

 

By any chance do you remember what exactly you used?

yea those 4.... not sure about pliers though

 

@Papusan here's my cinebench r15 run info. Even if i lock down my clocks at 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 it won't boost higher then 4.0. i think it's related to heat, and it clocking itself down, or something like that

 

why is your UNCORE ratio set greater than 39 ????