*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R4 Owner's Lounge

Now that right there is absolutely insane. Holy cow...just unreal. That's some next level sleaze move.

 

Absolutely yes. That is the only way you'll get your monies worth with having purchased a GTX 1080.

 

I'm a bit sceptical to be honest I haven't heard of any 1080's shipping with 1.0.2 there might not be support for the gpu in the bios. Have you tried it?

 

Yes it works. Many of us are on 1.0.2 on the GTX 1080 / 6820HK.

 

Ok. Still waiting for mine will take about 2 weeks more to come the shop says. Do you think kyronaut will reduce the temps a bit and which fujipoly pads do you recommend? There are different conductivity ratings.

 

The normal procedure on AW Arena!! AW reps and those higher up will hide such important info away from new and possible new buyers!! Hide away the problem, so people who buy the damaged product don't know what they get instead of fixing the problem!! This isn't the first time bro @Cass-Olé . And will only escalate.

 

Yes Kyronaut is my #1 go to choice for traditional paste now. As for the thermal pads, the Fujipoly 11.0w m/k will work perfectly and save you about 40% of the cost from going with the 17.0's

Refer to my disassembly / repaste thread for more detailed info. It's all there.

 

So the 17's have no advantage over the 11's. I have seen your thread and I'm confident I am an apprentice at my local Dell reseller so I know a thing or 2. What do you think about what someone suggested instead of lifting the board removing the small fan screws and separating the fan from the heatsink? In my opinion that would lessen the work and the ESD risk.

 

Yes the 11.0's will work just fine and the 17.0's are a little more trickier to work with. As for the heat sink...there is a reason why I don't use that method. To each his own, but I won't go into it here... just know that I've already explored that option as it was one of the first things that crossed my mind as to make it easier, since the mobo would have to come off to access the fan cables. ESD is a real thing, but if you're worried about ESD risks, I would assume you're using an ESD band so that shouldn't really be an issue. Just make sure that you are grounded properly of course...

 

And one last thing noticed you are adding some more thermal pads near the cpu do we still bend the tension arm or not?

 

Yes. Have you seen the video where I talk about using thinner thermal pads for the chokes above the CPU?

 

Yes the one that OWNORDISOWN uploaded I have seen that.

 

Where are the videos posted?

 

they told me that the new name of the QHD panel is just new branding

image host

 

keep me updated on a fix or if you have to do a warranty claim, not sure wtf to do im pissed myself

 

I fixed it myself. Ordered an Intel 8260 card and was able to clean out the ends which is really no fun. The wireless card is kind of junk which is where the problems starts.

The ipex ends are the hard part. You'll need at least a 5x magnifying glass preferably more like 7.5x-10x, to view the ends. Then you'll want a razor blade or knife to be able to get the thin edge between the 2 rings to pop the broken part out. That took me about an hour to do.

I used hemostats to clamp onto the extended brass part of the end to hold the round part steady. Then used the razor to get between the end ring and the broken outer ring of the female connector that broke off the card. It's very tedious work and tiny.

 

I think you've found out Dell's secret thermal paste receipe: Pudding.

 

thanks, looks like project, going to have to buy me a magnifying glass

 

just claim that the wifi never works from the start and get it replaced
easier

 

I'm using the GTX1070 and 6700HQ ... just this past weekend I had to use my AW17 for about 40 hours straight ... just a full weekend of massively long gaming sessions of up to six hours straight (Borderlands 2/Hawken/Shadow Warrior) some random video work, a bunch of .FLAC conversions and just typical weekend use.

My desktop died a week or so ago and so the AW17 is my current desktop until I build a 6700K machine (which I already have the parts for) ...

I looked back on the HWINFO log info for the entire 40+ hours uptime and the hottest core on my AW17 (stock paste and cooling) was 80C. The GPU was much lower and in the 60's ...

I'm not sure what bios I'm on (same as bought from Best Buy a month or so ago) but I will say that I have "CPU Performance mode" selected which ramps the fans up fairly fast (def audible) only when the system is gaming ... the rest of the time the rig is silent.

So perhaps my experience is exceptional but I just can't find any reason to touch the machine right now, be it a bios change or a repaste. Temps are just fine ... functionally things are right on point and at 1080p (which I'm using till I build my new desktop) ... the thing just destroys anything I can put it through.

And surprisingly? When running in "Power Saver" mode and also selecting the "battery saver" option from the tray (not sure what the difference is) ... and *also* with a screen brightness of about 30% (still very bright in a dark rest/bar) I got a solid 4.75 hours of constant web browsing, music listening and other general social stuff I do occasionally at restaurants/bars. Totally stoked on that since the longest I'll typically sit and camp at a bar is about 3 hours (do lots of writing) ... and so I'll be able to go without the power cord if I have too.

My MSI GS70 Stealth Pro could never even reach 3 hours under similar conditions (more like 2.5) and it was always stressing me out ... LOL ...

...

So for me? I haven't had a bad experience at all. I'm pretty sure the 1080 rigs are suffering worse, though.

Hope that helps ...

 

The Crest Toothpaste Challenge was all in good fun and to satisfy the curiosity of those who've always wondered, "...What if? How would it compare to stock paste? etc..." - It could have been on any system, but being that we're having these thermal issues is the reason I'm testing everything under the sun to provide data.

The thermal issues are being addressed so we'll hope for the best.

 

Take it picture of it. Send it to Dell when you talk to him. They will overnight you a new card. Did it to me twice. But I know its going to happen again so I got an Intel 8265 coming.

 

then i would have to send my laptop out to get repaired and how long would something like that take? and what if they tried blaming me for neglect?

 

how do i contact them via chat or e-mail?

 

Greetings guys,

Just an update for the community that Dell is fully aware of all the issues and more importantly, they are listening and taking action to address these issues. They are fully aware of the uneven heat sink problem (as I've addressed in the video) and the lines on the QHD. These things are actively being addressed as we speak. So for those curious about that "other fix," in addition to the bending of the tension arm; although it has been mentioned in the OwnordisOwn video where I talked about the clearance levels, we can now put a seal on it as Dell confirms this to be the issue causing the unevenness.

One assuring thing that I was told when asking the question of, "Will AW always have an unlocked CPU and GPU in the line up?" was that they would never get rid of that and it will always be an option.

In regard to the bios issues, it is confirmed that there were some errors in the DTPF within the stock bios profiles that caused the systems to throttle. They are also checking on the PL2 limit for us and know that there is a hot request in place to look into that. It was said that the throttling of any kind was not a deliberate act done by AW. I know that may not make sense to you, but lets just wait and see what happens with the next bios update. You can count on me and others to dive right in once it is released to confirm any changes.

As for the Killer WiFi 1535 cards, they know of this issue and will take action to get it handled. Hopefully Dell switches up the line up to the Intel 8260 and 8265's. - Here's a fun piece of info., the antenna array on the new AW's are much bigger than the previous generations so the wireless performance is much improved.

All in all, the important thing here is that they are listening and willing, so if you guys have any questions or concerns, feel free to PM me or just let it be known here in this owners lounge thread and it'll be noted then passed along accordingly.

There was a lot of information that was discussed in the 2 Hour meeting so I've highlighted the main points to keep this from being a TLDR. Hope this helps and we'll surely keep you all updated. - Team LHz ( @DeeX, @Mobius 1, @zergslayer69, @iunlock)

 

How are the thermal issues being addressed?

Ha! You posted a follow up just as I asked.

 

So I'm facing a weird issue with my AW 17 GTX 1080 with G-sync panel. When I play games (Overwatch, Witcher 3) fullscreen g-sync on, Fps drops by 20-30. When I play windowed borderless, it works perfect. Anybody else facing a similar issue?
I tried disabling shadowplay and xbox game dvr. Also updated to the latest graphics driver. Issue persists. Any tips?

 

dell tech come to your house

 

Sent them a email, well see what they say i rather not have one of those half fast tech come to my house to break it even worse

 

Great work iunlock!! Looking forward to see what the end user results would be. Many my issues are very minor besides the fact that my screen horizontal lines is very irritating and I have already replaced it once. As long as we continue to report, Dell will have to listen and hopefully good results will come out after that.

 

Longer transmission lines don't make a difference. It's the tuning of the 1/4 wave length that makes the biggest difference and good cable shielding to prevent IEM interference and phase loss along the tangents. Bigger cabling can help in minimizing attenuation...although at less than 3 ft OAL....It's damn near nothing. Connector Diameter helps to prevent VSWR and other...blah blah..

Physical Wavelength measured is: 2.4GHz is 1.2" and 5GHz is 0.6"

So....yeah. Might be a computer science engineer but lacks overall understanding of RF engineering.

 

Call the technical service line. Are you tech savvy enough to do it yourself? Dell will always incline to sending a technician down. I refused in my case because it was only a bad wifi card. It's much faster receiving a card(next day) than waiting for a technician who can mishandle your laptop.

 

Video what they do

 

I couldn't find there contact info online, but I found there email, wrote them a quick email they should get back to me with in 24 hrs

 

I'm just hoping I can remove the male connector with out damage the wire

 

Man that is great news!!! Thanks again man for all the hard work and I'm glad Alienware is not letting this slip through the cracks. For those who decided to keep their laptops and ride this thing out are going to be pretty happy once all this irons out. Can't wait to see what this next BIOS brings. Im fixing to watch this video again and pay close attention this time


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Yes, it's why I encouraged anyone getting the system to not accept the inherent vendor side problems. Continued advocacy does indeed work. It worked for me in 2008 when a bunch of NBR members beta tested some major heat issues on their very first m15x and I am glad that despite Dell being much bigger and scaling in size, they are still listening. As long as AW continues to listen and course correct mistakes, I will continue to be a customer.

I have found this system to be rock solid so far and it has exceeded my initial low expectations thankfully. I didn't think a repaste would be sufficient but it was. For those that have GIANT core discrepancies and are going to use a paste instead of LM I would strongly recommend IC Diamond for it's THICKNESS. My cores don't vary more than 2-4 degrees at all times now. I idle in the 20s, max in the 70s and average in the 50s (gaming mostly).

 

Great news !!!

Mine got in production only yersterday(12/14), delivery date on the 30th of december. I hope the screen issues will be fixed. I will test it out of the box but as I have already received my Kryonaut and Fujipoly pads, ultimately I will still do the repaste.

 

It's worth giving it a shot especially with the new units being shipped.

Bubble gum reviews? Yea those are comedic. How can one take someone seriously that raves about how powerful a locked chip is and how great the temps are when they don't even realize that they are being power capped etc....*face palm.* - Everyone needs a good laugh though.

Great to hear. When did you order your unit?

...and with a Company that is listening and taking action, let alone the results of what these systems can do with a little oil change....I'd be hopeful to!

It's amazing how it arrived as a space heater that is now a fantastic well rounded machine...Two phase ownership? Bake your bread then chill your drinks....

 

Hi all, its very nice to read all your posts. I am about to purchase my first Alienware laptop. I have been a Dell XPS and Precision user up until now, but want something very solid and very high performing and that will play high end games very smoothly. I am looking at ordering the AW 17 R4 (which i believe is the latest release) however i need help to see which screen and processor are worth getting. I can get the full HD screen and the i7-6700HQ processor and 7.3 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS Anti-Glare 300-nits Display with Tobii IR Eye-tracking as standard. However I have the option to upgrade to the i7-6820HK Processor for an extra €150 or Upgrade to the ((((17.3 inch QHD (2560 x 1440) 120Hz TN Anti-Glare 400-nits NVIDIA G-SYNC enabled w/Tobii Eye-tracking)))) for an extra €100. It comes with 8GB RAM and a 1TB Sata (7200RPM). Any advice and reasons would be very much appreciated as i would like to order this this week. Many thanks all. CTX

 

For such a little bit more, you get way more. 6820HK and the QHD all the way. It's automatic.

 

Hey everyone! I have been following this thread by the sidelines for a while ^^ And saw some of you looking into how to get the heat spreaders for the m.2 SSD slots. I just ordered 2 today directly from dell.

The part number you are looking for is: JV98R

Remember too ask for screws aswell!!!

Just call dell and tell them that you want to buy these parts "Out of warranty" this is really important!

SO now im ready to buy 2 x samsung 960 evo, and run them in raid 0 ^^

Just got all the parts and tools for overclocking my 17r4 6820hk/GTX1080, with14w/mK fujipads (The only shipping to europe) and conductonaut.

So i'm looking forward to get alot power out of this monster

 

Very nice. Thanks mate.

 

@iunlock what is the best clocks speeds on the 6820hk you have accomplished?

 

How much did they cost you?

 

560DKK so 78 dollars But I'm also really good to get my prices down. They actually wanted me to almost pay the double because of the ****ing screws... o.o So I only paid for the actual plates and not the screws

 

Hah, I called yesterday with the same part number, and was told they had no such item. I'm in the US. I sent another email back to the service consultant that sent me the part number. Perhaps she can find someone who can find it on the list like she did, and your part person.

My 6820+1080+1440 is still marked as "confirmed" and is due for delivery 1/1/17. I too, hope I am on the far side of the "fix it" hump that we seem to be going through.

 

Try contact the technical support Thats how it worked for me

 

Just couldn't resist - post #2000!! Thanks so much guys for your support and help here! Huge thanks go especially to @iunlock and @hmscott, who constantly amaze us with their problem-solving-solutions for our expensive babies THANKS!!

 

Thanks for the pics. Is this anti-dust system?