*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R4 Owner's Lounge

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With Firestrike and Timespy, you need to pay attention to both the Graphics and CPU scores independently. Stock GTX 1080 appears to outpace a well overclocked GTX 1070 by only about 100 to 500 points at most based on iunlock's test. So at this stage the GTX 1080 is MASSIVELY overpriced since the performance gap is next to nothing if you can't overclock it. (Which is about the same as having a GTX 980 Ti or GTX 1070 in a desktop setting as well. OC either cards and it's as fast as a stock 1080)

Stock vs Stock....the GTX 1080 has an edge for sure. About 17,000 vs 20,000 in graphics. But is that worth $400? Especially since there appears to be a limiting factor or setting in the stock VBIOS for any additional headroom. There is 1 tester who did get their GTX 1080 laptop part to a score of 22,743, but if the GTX 1080 in this laptop I have can't OC any further...I see the $400 as a waste.

At this point I'm going to continue to tinker. If I can't get the GTX 1080 to go any further I may just return it and get a GTX 1070 model and pocket the difference since OC the 1070 brings it right up to 1080 in testing so far.

Need to move on to Heaven and Valley and some actual gameplay to validate further.

 

Man what a run a fun it has been yea? Staying up til' 4-5am in the morning... time flies.

As mentioned earlier guys me, @richiec77, @DeeX, @Mobius 1 and @zergslayer69 have been on it with diving head first into the AW1080....there's hope and new discoveries will be posted here shortly in the threads.

Stay tuned!

 

Pfff...who needs sleep....haha.

CPU side could be better if the cold plate was mounting flat. At this stage I'm good with where it's sitting for now. REALLY need to work on the GPU side.

 

I've read somewhere that the locked cpus like the 6700HQ can be overclocked via BCLK but we need to alter the cpu microcode because intel has pushed an update in the latest bioses which prevents bclk overcloking. I guess this means a custom bios for the laptop.
If I can overclock it at around 4.0ghz it will be a nice boost in performance and less time in rendering.

 

That'd be nice. At 4.0GHz that'd put it to the level of a 6920HQ.

 

Thanks for the tip guys! What about undervolting other options like iGPU, I/O, system agent? Is there any sense to undervolt them too to get better temps on CPU?

I really can't do that now There is a 30 day return policy and I'm already out of time (delivery took ages), plus as I said shipping and export duties will be like a third of a cost, so I'm praying I can resolve the issues myself and keep it or sell it, since fortunately AW has a great resell value here (that was one of the reasons to choose it over Clevo).

 

We are also going to bombard Dell with anything they need to fix. We have some direct connections to some product managers. Not saying anything will materialize from it but its worth a shot.
The seem to be awesome so far.

 

Please please please make them use high-quality liquid metal thermal pastes from now on. When I was repasting my CPU I was shocked how much gray grease they have applied there, it was literally drowned in that cheap paste.

 

Unfortunately I don't think Dell would ever go liquid metal due to the risks involved. Heck they can't even get toothpaste right....LM would be a nightmare.

That grey factory toothpaste stamp is just.....SMH ..... shame on them.

 

I unlock I have a GTX 1080 model coming in by the end of the month. I am planning to past with Thermal Grizzly Kyronaut and use fujipoly extreme plus thermal pads. Do you think they will stabilise the temperatures?

 

Yes. GPU will drop to about 56/57 or 64/65 depending on the fan setting in BIOS. CPU temps will definitely come down.

 

Kyronaut will tame the temps, just make sure to be generous with the paste...applying too little will do more harm than good with the temps so don't be shy... You can even tape around the die's in case of pump out, that way it will be easy to clean if you were to open it back up to remove the paste for whatever reason.

Looking forward to your temps!

 

Please tell me if it's a bad idea but if i apply a little more paste on the core 0 and 2 when i repast like 1 & 3 (because less pressure on the third fix)???

 

Look at him go...



I'm here since such a short time but it's just really cool there are people here who are absolute magicians and treat tech with passion..

Keep up the amazing job man! And thanks for your findings. I really wanted to buy an AW17 but it's just a bit too much for me to accept.

 

Hi, did anyone try using the integrated gpu and external gpu (GA) at the same time?

 

It is best to have a nice generous even layer across the die, then what I normally do is add a line across the middle so that when the heat sink presses down on it, it will even itself outwardly, thus giving you even more assurance of there being sufficient paste. (Let the paste do the work in filling in where it needs to in the event of a gap...which we have )

 

Does anyone know how to enable OSD (On Screen Display) in 17r4? I do not have the option on the battery icon.

 

Well there is a problem I only ordered artic cleaner and kryonaut and copper shims for that PCH but I didnt see anyone talking about the thermal pads so now I have to order them which will cost me about 80$ for shipping wow its amazing r they really that useful ? coz in my country they dont sell something like this at all

 

I would recommend buying anything that you can get your hands on in your Country, because it will be better than the stock blue sponge. Even if it's not the top of the line thermal pads, just try to get the best that you can and you'll be better off than not having replaced the stock pads. Yes it is worth replacing the pads.

Cheers

 

You probably are missing some additional software, like if you did a reinstallation of Windows. If I remember correctly, there was a OSD function key also of some sort, but since my AW15R3 has been returned and the AW17R4 has not yet been delivered, I can't check myself.

 

iUnolck, where are the core on CPU ?



or

 

Well my system is on it's way with the 1080. I will be doing some downloading and benchmarking. I am little wary of doing any benchmarking prior to doing a repaste given how hot some of these systems are running out of the gate. So is basically every single AW shipping throwing temps in the 90s on the CPU? I'm really struggling justifying keeping this system. I really appreciate the guides and work iunlock does but I don't know if the majority of the readers understand that a repaste is not a full solution. I see some owners reporting repasted temps in the high 80s which to me is still unacceptable. It leaves very little OC room for the enthusiast. More importantly, it's just a bandaid fix for a systemic problem. Personally, I am not too attached to AW to do more than repaste the CPU and see if I am happy. I am not paying nearly 3k to fix THEIR problem. I'd rather wait for a company to put out a design and system I like that works well out of the box that I can then tweak to get the CPU/GPU performance I want. I think it's sad we have to repaste and re-pad to get barely working systems. I really hope I can be pleasantly surprised but it's not looking good. 8 years ago when the 8800MGTX debuted on the all new and original Alienware m15x, it came with serious design flaws. Myself and a bunch of forum members were loud enough to force AW to hear us, make our systems work right AND they redesigned their systems. I don't see many people trying to force Dell's hand on this; rather just submitting to the system and fixing what's broken.

 

I just bought them do I need the tapes too ? plz tell me no and I just bought the 1080 gtx heatsink for the aw 17 r4 with the gtx 1070 , so now in total i have the thermal pads and kryonaut and copper shims for PCH , 1080 heatsink sold on ebay btw there is one left if u want to buy it , the kryonaut will be used on my laptop and my friends laptop and will be reused on the new heatsink when it arrives will this be enough and do i need to buy something else ?

 

Question about copper shims. Do you place it on top of Both CPU and GPU or just CPU? Do you also need to paste on top of the copper shim between the heatsink?

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The copper shim will only be used to cool the PCH not cpu nor gpu

 

What is PCH? Sorry to ask.



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Our of curiosity, has anyone compared the AW17 R4 to the MSI GT73 VR which seem to be the closest one in the MSI lineup? I would imagine that many who consider the AW17 R4 would also have looked at the MSI models. Of course, design wise I must say I do prefere the AW design language, but I am REALLY concerned about Dells lack of QC although I don't know if MSI is better. Also like the Aours lineup but at least in my part of the world (Sweden), Aorus isn't exactly a well established brand and has very few resellers.

 

I test a MSI GT73VR 6RF since 3 weeks ago... Good beast... Very fat beast. Good temp but very very fat

 

Im not an expert all I know is I need to cool it down because if it reaches high temp then it will cause throttle and if u see Iunlock pics u will notice the PCH below the cpu on the left

 

Since it doesn't look like AW will be able to get me the 6820HK with 1070 and 120hz screen I am looking at the MSI GT73VR titan-017 which has all of that. Haven't gotten too far into my research yet. I wonder if the MSI forum has their own @iunlock to tear apart those machines.

 

You got to hand it to MSI and Dell that the both give the visually impaired a chance. While Dell seem to use them for manufacturing and QC, MSI goes one step further and even let them design the products

 

With the trade offs of the current AW17 with GTX 1080 (especially that you are stuck with the 1440p panel with its reported problems), would it be wiser to get something with a 1060 or 1070 instead and perhaps get the Amplifier to go with that and put a GTX1080 in that instead? Unless you really do power gaming away from your home/office, perhaps that is a smarter choice? What do you guys say?

 

Well, what's done is done... I just placed my order for a 17 with a 1080GTX, QHD screen (mandatory it seems) and 512SSD+ 1To 7200RPM. Should be here by the end of december (I think).

Despite all I've read (and I know it's completly irrationnal) I just cannot choose another laptop . The form factor got me here. I absolutely love their new design. It will be my fifth Alienware in nearly ten years and everyone of them was great. My 18 with its 780 SLI worked flawlessly for 3 years (from win7 to 10).
I tried to look at MSI or Asus ROG (even Clevo) but they are so bulky. The 17 is by far the classiest. My first gaming laptop was a Clevo (a D901) but once you taste the alien...

If it's just a repaste, then be it !


PS : forgive my english pls

 

Welp, I think my issue is fixed. It appears to have been driver related. Dell told me the next Nvidia driver will work with Alienware machines (They are no longer releasing their own). As such, I have been checking daily and the new drivers were released since the ones that were out when i received my machine would not install. Today the new ones were released and it appears to have fixed my problem. (Make sure you select the 10 (Mobile) series. Highly recommend downloading and installing the latest drivers.

In terms of temps, mine isn't having the high CPU temps reported. Infact during the IceStorm my cpu never went above like 85. Gluck!


Edit: Never mind. spoke too soon. Seems to still have the issue =(. Time to RMA

 

Are all these overheating issues related to the 6820k/1080GTX?

I was looking at alienware today (Canada) and the pricing is pretty good but decided to check out reviews on here (glad I did).

Does the 6700hq/1070 GTX have overheating issues I can't find temps in this thread, I've read 54 pages so far and jumped to the end here where everyone is talking about high temps and repasting...

 

So, my 6700 has the uneven temps (0 and 2 are around 12 degrees higher than 1 and 3), but it was NOT hitting the 90s; testing put mine in the mid 80s at max. I still did a repaste and undervolt.. because hey, less heat no matter what is ALWAYS good.

Ironically.. while i certainly don't excuse Dell (the uneven temps and throttling IS unacceptable out of the box), there hasn't been one laptop i have owned in the last decade that i DIDN'T repaste.. even great machines like Sager/Clevo can have crappy toothpaste out of the box.. and in machines where heat kills, i am happy to tweak and get all i can out of them..

 

Congrats! I am already missing it a lot since I returned the 1070 for the 1080 which will arrived today . The only issue I had with it was just a repaste and then it was almost perfect. I've looked into many other laptops as well and nothing beats the industrial but yet classy look that felt it was built like a tank. Nothing felt cheap and plasticky like many others.

 

I completely understand. I read all the warning signs and still made my order as well lol. The form factor fit and finish and the available power for the money is very competitive not to mention the razer blade pro is a $1000 more for the same specs while coming with an inferior CPU "6700hq". I used military discount and got my AW17 with the GTX1080 for $2400 b4 tax on the 25th of Nov. It's finally shipping today.

Like Iunlock has said repeatedly the cooling design on these beasts is remarkable. It's just bad paste and uneven contact on the heat sink making all the issues. Once you tweak it a little and repaste it-it performs amazing even with overclocking as iunlock has demonstrated. I really don't mind doing a repaste.

And the other thing people are forgetting is that this is not just an Alienware issue. There are other laptops across the board experiencing 20 degree differentials between cores. It's an easy fix with amazing results with good paste. Im not letting delianware off the hook especially with them claiming that 90 degree temperatures is normal which is NOT COOL, but in the end Im not too discouraged if I can get it perform well with minimal work invested. Which at this point seems to be the case.

I think you'll be happy with your purchase being that you are willing to repaste.



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I wanna give a huge thanks to iunlock, Mobius, Deex, zergslayer, hmscott, richie, and anyone else I may have missed for teaming up, sharing info, and essentially volunteering to troubleshoot and find fixes to these issues. You're the team we need looking for things like this over at Dell, haha. They are literally saving this refresh, and I'm stoked to be having iunlock repaste my unit for me in the coming days.

 

What is Dells stand on warranty if you open up the laptop and do stuff like repasting? I believe that in the US there are some special laws allowing this, but what about other markets like Europe (EU), is this allowed here as well? Or at least to open up and install a second SSDN (and remove that ancient HD) without voiding the warranty?

 

Well I received my AW 17 with the 6820 and 1080. I went into the bios, unlocked the 6820s overclocking ability as my first stock run of TimeSpy showed the CPU only running at 3400mhz. I reran the benchmark with the level 3 OC, and the score went up a bit but the temps skyrocketed. Two cores were running at 96-98 degrees and the other 2 were at 89. This is running with the fans in "performance" mode which appears to be "Full on." I am monitoring my clocks with HWinfo.

The only other glaring issue out of the box is that I have a "battery plugged in; not charging" status which is preventing the battery to charge. I will have to look into that. I do have other 330watt PSU so I can do a quick rule out by switching my PSU.

I have to say that the screen, at least initially is a let down. I feel the color palette is much duller/paler than the IPS screen of my AW 18. I would say that screen wasn't quite as good as my previous AW m17XR2 which had one of the best screens I have ever had. I haven't downloaded many games and other benchmarks yet and I am unsure if I am going to spend the time to really tweak the system. Before i download everything and repaste I have to take some time to see if I should even keep the system.

My concern is that with stock temps reaching near 100C after a short benchmark, I know a great repaste will net me about high 80s but won't be sustained for a long period of time. I am getting older, have way more responsibility in my life than ever and don't feel like opening and tinkering with my AW like I used to. I know repasting will need to occur more than once over the life of the system given these horrid baseline temps and poor heat sink design. I haven't researched heavily what has caused this problem but it appears to be an issue with the design of the heat sink. So as of today I have to take some time to see if I want to keep this system and work WITH the design flaw or return the system. I haven't run benchmarks in a long time on my AW 18 880m SLI. However I had a fire strike score of around 12,700 with my current system and 15,100 on my new rig with the lvl 3 overclock. I can still game comfortably by returning the system and waiting for a better product to launch. I wish I had better thoughts or news. I am glad some people are really enjoying the system and see great potential but I just am unsure about standing behind a product that has a glaring design flaw that won't be fixed unless AW takes accountability which doesn't appear to be happening as of yet.

 

So i received mine about a 2 hours ago, it was actually sitting on my porch for like 4 hours since fedex decided they didnt need a signature conformation after all and no one rang my door bell.

My first impressions are good so far with one minor hiccup which i will have to keep my eye on in the future. I saw someone else post about the bottom right bezel separating from the screen. Well mine had that (not badly) but i could see the gap and the glue inside. I pushed it back together and it went flush again so hopefully it stays that way. If not i will make dell come and fix it at some point or just do it myself. The build quality is really top notch though, coming from cheaply made sager laptops the outside case is like 10000x better. The thing weighs a good bit, but it has a "solid weight" to it. It just feel like its completely one piece once the screen is folded down and there is zero screen wabble.

The 1440 screen looks nice for a TN. The banding is there, but its not noticeable unless you within a foot of the screen. Even then i didnt notice it unless i looked for it, so i cant see it being a big deal. It also gets really bright too. EDIT: There is a tiny bit of light bleed in the bottom left, but its no big deal since its right on the edge.

The speakers are loud, but i feel like they could be a bit louder for its size. I will say though this is the first laptop ive owned that actually has some bass to it and the sound is crystal clear even at max. I just wish they went a little louder.

The first thing i did when i turned it on was play around with prime 95. The temps shot up to 92C the first second, then the fans kicked on (after about a 5 second delay) and after a minute i was in the 60/70c range. It kind of blew my mind considering i was hearing nothing but high temps and was expecting it to be like 80/90 across the board. The core differentials are there 0/2 have about a 2c degree difference, while 1/3 have a 3 degree difference. But there is a good 20c on opposite sides of the CPU. After 10 minutes:


So i went into the bios set lv3 of the overclock to see that that did to the temps and this is what i got (never turned on the fan performance mode). Looks like a 10c+ degree increase in temp across the board. That 2 degree difference between cores 0/2 dissapeared and my 3 degree difference between 1/3 turned into 4 degrees. After 10 minutes it leveled out to this.



Lastly i couldnt get prime to keep the clocks at 4.0 constantly so i went in and manually set them to 4.1ghz with intels tool and using there benchmarks. After 10 minutes i got this. Oddly enough 1/3 that kept getting higher differentials each time finally matched. While core 0 finally hit the 90's and core 2 just chilled rock solid at 88C.


Not really sure how to take it to be honest. On one hand im pretty happy i saw no throttle due to temps, but a 20c core difference is pretty big. Hopefully after a repaste that will even out, plus alienware has some ****ty OC profiles, so once there tweaked i wouldnt doubt it will drop a few degrees. If i can manage to get core 0/2 to cool down a bit and become better friends with number core 1/3, i dont see any problem with this laptop hitting 4.2ghz. I will say though so the base performance temps out the box arent bad even without a repaste on mine. Even with the temp differential there till in line. Not perfect but acceptable.

Lastly heres a quick firestrike benchmark i ran while i had all 4 cores at 4.1. I have no clue how to judge firestrike so let me know if this is any good. I bought the program during the steam sale and this is the fire time ive actually used it. Im more about game performance numbers than benches. Ill definitely update this when i play bf1 later to see how the temps do in gameplay:


Also the idle temps are pretty damn low in this laptop. It just hangs between 30c and 40c in a 75f room.

 

Nice thanks for sharing your findings. Like you said at least it's not throttling and with a repaste you should be golden. Hopefully mine will be here by Wednesday.


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Yes, although it is true that we shouldn't have to be fixing their problem, this 'problem' with the thermal issues is not just with AW.

Going with a different brand is not the answer that will fix all the issues. Every OEM has problems, but with thermal issues aside, if you look at everything else like build quality, warranty, screen, keyboard, trackpad, etc...it's important to factor those in as well.

The good news is that the AW's have a great cooling system, but it just needs some work to bring it to life. Yes, it's unfortunate, but I along with others have shown that you can bring complete rubbish to something great. Have you seen my temps?

The shim is to be placed only on the CPU die, however you must use traditional paste or you'll for sure 100% have pump out with LM. As for the PCH do not just place the copper shim on there...there is another method for the PCH, but honestly I haven't had any issues to where I had to address any issues on the PCH side of things. I'd just leave that be and focus on the CPU die.

We will be working on MSi's and other brands as well with equal dedication. Stay tuned...

I would not even consider the 1060. Go with the 1070 at the very least. Future proofing via the AMP is a nice option, but if you really need the portable power, go big on the on board GPU. Even with a 1080 in your AW laptop, with a proper repaste, repad and tuning you'll be good to go with nice thermals.

Yes the design, build quality and overall engineering of the form factor is excellent. There is not a better built gaming laptop in this class out on the market. No, the Blade Pro doesn't count as that is crippled in it's own way so that is not a fair comparison. AW did hit a home run with the design and construction, but just has failed miserably in the thermal paste and heat sink alignment / screw design department.

Have you tried repasting the unit? Please keep in mind that you're highly likely not going to receive a system that is going to run fine out of the box; so don't jump the gun too quickly without realizing what needs to be done here in order for you to have a smooth and cool running system. Exchanging the system or opting for another brand is not going to cure the thermal issues. It is an universal issues across the board.

The issue is across the board. AW or not...

Exactly. Now that CPU's & GPU's are bigger (power wise) and beefier now....what can one expect in terms of thermals right? Yes of course Dell should be the one to be addressing this issue and have it right from the start, but given the reality of things, we have to do what we have to do for now....shame and Dell and go throw eggs at them, but please people...let's not let this be some huge surprise with these thermal issues. Jumping ship and going to another brand is not the cure for all answer. I'm with you @Divine_Madcat ...there hasn't been one laptop where I didn't repaste it....heck even my MBP has LM! LOL....

I agree, which is why I opt'ed for an AW as well. With a little work one can have a fantastic machine all around. My GPU's max is only 56C and my CPU temps are in the 60's at most in a beautiful laptop that is built like a tank....I'm not complaining.

The way that I see it, with what Dell has done to us (the customers) with their monkey circus stunt in shipping these things out with rotten toothpaste and a deformed CPU cold plate with a missing leg; there's not much one can do to top that in bringing any harm in taking matters into your own hands. Shame on Dell...SMH....

 

And I hope everyone realizes this. I'll be posting some temps of my 1080 soon... muhahaha

 

@iunlock could u post the before and after pics of the arm that you need to bend to hopefully get even CPU temps?

 

Exactly I did take a look at the pic and I didnt notice the bend at all I cant even tell if its bended or not

 

@iunlock I would like to speak with you about your services. [email protected] Please and Thank you!!!

 

EDIT: Testing done using Stock OTB Dell driver, 375.95 and just now using 376.16

GTX 1080 results so far appear to show it running about 20K~20,800 points in Graphics in 3DMark Firestrike and about 6600-6800 in Timespy. There is just about NO ROOM to OC the GTX 1080 what so ever with the current BIOS. You can eek out about a 50MHz boost on the core but its very tricky to even get that. Card wants to sit around 0.875-0.925V. It will hit up to 1.050V but only for a couple frames and then Power Limits the card back to lower voltages.

A Clevo unit with an MXM GTX 1080 can OC fairly well. Hitting the better boost clocks and no Power Limiting so much. 3DMark hits around 24K in Graphics and about 7600 in TimeSpy. So that unit is not Limited by Power.

Conversely....an Overclocked GTX 1070 has MUCH more room to work with when it comes to Power Limit. Appears that Dell built the GPU area to handle the same 165W TDP stucture and uses it for both the GTX 1080 and GTX 1070. So even though the GTX 1070 has a rated TDP of 120-125 it has MUCH more room to breath in relation to power and can OC itself up to GTX 1080 performance in 3DMark Firestrike and TimeSpy. At most, the 1080 is about 1-2% faster. It's very disappointing to pay so much more for a GTX 1080 and get next to nothing for the money.

Currently waiting on iunlock to have some time to run some Heaven and Valley benchmarks to see if there's any hidden difference between the 1070 and 1080 in regards to the additonal SMU and shader units making the 1080 better for Physix or Tessellation...etc.

Right now, the 1080 isn't justifying its price tag. It is not Thermal limited as 66C fans barely spinning is cool. 55/56C fans running about 70-80% shows it can handle much more heat.

Dell really needs to address this design issue. It's most likely a V-BIOS design. If they could bump the TDP to 180-200W like the MXM cards..we could be hitting 24K-25K in Firestrike and 7600-8000 in TimeSpy making the GTX 1080 worth the price tag.

Also.....Unplugging the power brick caps the DGPU HARD!!!! Changed power options and advanced settings...still caps Hard. 90-100FPS in Heaven plugged in, 30FPS unplugged. Power goes from about 150-158W plugged in to 74W unplugged. So much for Mobile gaming at all.