*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R4 Owner's Lounge

I use this Everki Titan bag for my asus g750 17", built for 18" laptops ans the asus fits just right. I don't know the dimensions, but they can't be much different. I've been using it for around 3 years and it's still in great shape. Little expensive though.

https://www.amazon.com/Everki-Check...8&qid=1480191933&sr=8-1&keywords=everki+titan

What is ebates and how do you take advantage of it?

 

You register, and click on the store you want to shop through. They give you a rebate (each store will be different) for your items. I got $274 for my AW setup, some others got up to $500 for a diff (more expensive) configuration. It's 12% through Dell Consumer.

On the Everki, I'm getting a $135 deal through ebags, and a further $20 off from Ebates. Not sure if $115 is a good deal. Does anyone have the new AW backpack?

 

So I've noticed a 20 percent decrease in fps with gsync. As well as just overall slighty lower frames than I'd expect. I've updated Nvidia drivers and bios so far with no difference. Any ideas?

 

$500... your rig had to have been like $4000 after discounts... is that even possible?

 

They do the 12% on the subtotal MSRP which is awesome. So the 12% is actually on the $3200+ MSRP price for the GTX 1080 model as shown on invoice, which is before the sale price of 2649 and 10% coupon. $390 ebates. So with warranty options/ upgrade to 1tb ssd, $500 ebates is doable.

Subtotal: $3,224.99 <<<<< 12% ebates of that number
Order Level Promotion: -$817.50
Shipping & Handling: $15.00
Shipping Discount Applied: -$15.00
Environmental Disposal Fee: $4.00
Sales Tax: $183.07
Total Amount: $2,594.56

 

Guys, is this score ok for a 1070 with 7600HQ ? or something is holding it back?
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/16294215?

 

I just noticed that during gameplay I have huge FPS drop, for example I play rainbow six siege and from 120fps with 99% gpu usage it goes down to 58fps with 45% gpu usage for some seconds and then goes up again to 120fps without any reason. The temps are ok (gpu max 70C).
any ideas?

 

Ill run firestrike in a minute and get back to you

 

I also noticed that gpu-z says the 1070 is running at 8x and not x16. Can you please check how is yours? is there any setting from bios to make it x16 ?

 

I got 13100 without gsync enabled on my 120hz and 12100 with gsync enabled. Im watching the core clock and it sits way under max boost, and im under 60 degrees temp. also yes 8x

 

Or maybe you could just post it here considering this is after all a discussion forum for Alienware products? Perhaps you could share info about what recent Alienware products you have tried out and what you liked/disliked about them more in detail?

 

I raised my fps on overwatch by 30 when i changed the power management mode to adaptive in the nvidia control panel. Pretty happy now. Firestrike still doesnt perform well with the clocks for some reason but oh well, its just a benchmark not a game.

 

Curious, does anyone have experience in lugging around an AW17 on a daily basis? Mostly commuting back and forth to an office, not on campus all the time or similar. Have never used a backpack for this before but it was MANY years since I had something this big to transport

 

I had no clue they did it by the MSRP until i saw it this morning. So i ended up getting $460 back from ebates which was way more than i thought. If it wasnt for ebates i probably wouldnt have bought it. With dells 10% ($300) back the 1080 r4 ended up coming out to $2244 all said and done. Which is a pretty good deal since i was ready to pull the trigger on a 1070 15in a week ago that came out to $200 more. Glad i waited.

 

I'm also considering doing the same. If someone can comment, that would be great.

 

I dont have my 17in yet, but i carried around a 17in sager which weighed about the same and was twice as thick for about 2 years back and forth to work. My advice is to get one of those backpacks that has a clip that connects both of the straps together across your chest. It took me a few backpacks to find one that was comfortable to lug the weight around, but i ended up settling on the Alienware Vindicator. It wasnt my first choice since its a bit more attention grabbing then i wanted. But its comfortable as can be since the straps are cushioned, and the clip across your chest takes alot of the weight off your shoulders. I just ended up putting a small piece of black tape over the alienware logo on the bag, so it wasnt blatantly obvious im carrying around a gaming laptop. But thats more because i live in a city and didnt want to be robbed haha. I always said to myself though atleast if someone steals it and runs, i will be able to catch up to them pretty quick. Overall though, its definitely not ideal to carry around a heavy laptop and you will feel the weight. But you get used to it after a few weeks, and it isnt that big of a deal.

 

I am sure that something isnt working properly. I just made a video that everyone can see clearly the huge drop in FPS. Also in my desktop pc my 980Ti has more maximum FPS in the same game with same resolution and settings and also a lot higher firestrike score. I thought the 1070 supposed to have at least the same horsepower as the 980ti desktop. But except this, the huge drop in FPS (from 102 to 58) is unacceptable, it seems like throttling but the cause is not the temperature.

 

The desktop 1070 does. The 1070 for the laptop is not exactly 1:1 when it comes to performance. Its close much closer the previous "M" graphics cards but its not exact.
However with that said it would seem your situation seems to be a result of some problems going on.
We would need to know more details to properly help.

 

Ya i think firestrike should be about 15-16k. And my overwatch was oveer 100 fps, and now when i go on its down to 60-70.... So im not sure why performance is suffering so hard.

 

Maybe it has something to do with Optimus. Try it on dedicated graphic mode and see what happens.

 

Firestrike GRAHIC score should be in the realm of 17-18k is normal. You should also switch to dedicated graphic mode and see what happens.

 

How do I switch to dedicated graphic mode? if I press the FN+F7(I/D GFX) it says not supported on g-sync panel. Also inside bios I cant find any option regarding graphics mode

 

Nevermind. G-sync panels don't have Optimus so you are already running dedicated mode. Have you tried different video drivers? Out of curiosity, what is your CPU temp?

 

CPU temp is not good on full load (prime95) I get 91-92C on the hotter core, and a difference up to 15C between cores. I will do a repaste soon but I am waiting for dell to replace my screen first because it has a red line in the middle.
However while gaming cpu never reach 100% full load so the temp never reach 92C, it hovers around 79-80C but I cannot use the cpu for 3dsmax rendering and other heavy stuff , it will fry. I hope a repaste will fix it.

 

Mine is very similar to his or even lower with the same gsync panel. Im running high 60s in games/firestrike, gpu is low to mid 60s. 12200 with gsync enabled, with gsync disabled 13100. I have removed all the nvidia drivers and installed the lastest ones, with a clean install. I also did the bios and didnt notice much of a change in fan profile.

 

Download intel xtu and under volt the Core Voltage Offset, i got mine to do -.150 which dropped my temps a ton, like 20 degrees off the max temp almost.
you can open up the run command and type shell:startup and drag the intel xtu shortcut in that folder to make it start each time automatically.

 

A good repaste will drop CPU temp down about 20C to 25C like mine. Have you try different video drivers?

 

Gsync is known to have a 5-10% hit in performance. Are those scores your graphic scores in Firestrike or is it overall?

 

I don't have a good feeling the more I am reading about this. It seems to be a systemic issue and repasting is only a bandaid on the problem. I'm debating cancelling my order as what's the use of a 1080 when the CPU is going to bottleneck the entire system due to inability to deliver consistent long-lasting performance. I see undervolting as a user-end work around to a design flaw on Dell's end. People usually buy systems to either get maximum performance out of the box or overclock to get maximum performance. Undervolting from the enthusiast end is usually when GPU and CPU clocks are so high, undervolting the CPU a bit to balance out other extreme measures going on. I never read about undervolting a stock system just to make it work "pretty good" instead of "bad." Don't know what to do...

 

Btw, I just remember, are you guys running with vsync off? When gsync is on vsync must be off.

 

Right now it seems as though Dell is doing a piece crap job on thermal pasting. No undervolt needed after a repaste and it runs as cool as the other side of the pillow. It is a shame on Dell overlooking such a vital part of the system.

 

I can live with that if that's the case. If the system itself has good cooling and the proper heatsink and ventilation otherwise. It's sad because their paste actually used to be recommended to be used on the AW 18 as it was durable and long-lasting. I do wonder how long this paste will last given how hot these CPUs are running. I have a hunkering feeling that the paste jobs aren't going to last as long and we will be tasked with multiple repastings but time will tell.

 

Heres my firestrike screenshot. This is with gsync, and its even lower this time. Also I can see the core clock on the gpu dropping up and down during the test, Ive seen 1070s running overwatch over 100fps on 1440p on epic. I mean i changed a setting and it ran at 100 fps, closed overwatch and reopened it, back to 60-70 fps.

 

i can run firestrike back to back one with and one without gsync, and have 2000 more score on the graphics portion. 16k to 18k

 

People run their tests with gsync off. Yours seems a little low. My graphic score is 18k right around where 980ti should be at. Hopefully you aren't starving your CPU by undervolting it too much.

 

Iunlock will tell you as well. After a good repaste and this cooling system shine like Dell had always dreamed of.

 

That's about right! I got it past 19k overclocking. Desktop 1070 runs 18-19k stock.

 

This is with no gsync, and its the same score with or without the undervolt, just tested both. My main issue is with overwatch though. 70 fps isnt acceptable when i see people running at well over 100 with 1440p

also on the undervolt, firestrike maxed at 74 degrees without it and 63 degrees with the undervolt.

 

Overwatch with gsync on 61 fps, its not capped at 60, if i move it will jump up to 70s etc



Overwatch no gsync 112 fps

 

Which current setup (CPU/GPU/display) would you guys recommend with VR and gaming (+watching movies)
being the primary use?

And would the Graphics Amplifier be necessary getting or will the GTX 1080 be the last card thisone will support in any case?
The Black Friday sale is still running in Europe until monday and I'd like to take advantage of it.

 

Just tested on windowed borderless, and i get no frame drop with gsync. This appears to be a reverse of the gsync frame drop on windowed mode bug that was patched and now is affecting my fullscreen gsync? I dont know its weird.

 

Ok just got this laptop with the 1070 and my FPS rates across my games is garbage. What gives?

 

is it the 120hz gsync model?

 

maybe you are not plugged in

 

Glad I cancelled my Alienware 17 order.

 

Its actually really really good in almost everyway. Just a few little things that need to be sorted. Mines almost perfect just need to figure out this gsync issue now.

 

Whoo! According to my order status, my laptop is complete! From what little info I've seen (nothing concrete), perhaps the larger heatsink on the GTX 1080 models will not have the heatsink issue. I'm hopeful.

 

So, what are the actual performance difference between 1080 and 1070 in the AW17? Also, any idea what the 1070 in FHD would stand compared to the 1080 in QHD. If I, like many others, hadn't had such a fear for "second best" the AW17 with the 1080p IPS and Optimus would have been the obvious choice considering the reported problems on the 120 hz panel and support for Optimus.

 

on default gsync is off when windowed

 

Is it just the heatsink that is bigger or is the chassis bigger as well and heavier? Wouldn't seem to strange if it was but Dell lists all as having the same size and weight.