*OFFICIAL* Alienware Area-51M R1 Owner's Lounge

I've ordered fujipoly extreme with HIDevolution so the computer was already on those pads, i also ordered gelid gc extreme with HIDevolution.

Then i kept the pads when the technician changed parts and i asked him to put Kryonaut, i had very nice temps (around 75/79°C GPU & 65/70°C CPU on PUBG / Overwatch / Anthem)

 

Haha.. I thought Furmark was EOL, I guess I was wrong.

 

u need to identify the cause otherwise this issue will never end. disassemble it and look for faults or burns

 

I won't have the time to do this (work, daughter, etc...) until Dell pick my computer tomorrow.

I opened it quickly to take the SSD's off, back up data's and put everything in place.

The only thing i can tell you is that i can smell burnt components/tracks on that part here near the fan :



From what i can see here

Could be power elements near or the graphic card...

I need Dell to do this job i won't have time.

Trust me, on a less priced machine i'd tried to diagnose this myself but in that case i'll be sending this to Dell's workshop... I think they can find out what's happening here no ?

If that's not the case i'll be considering legal options...

 

Even if he did disassemble the laptop and look for the issue, that's not going to solve anything. He isn't Azor or a Dell engineer. That's their job.

Legal options for what? They will either replace or repair your system, you don't have any legal grounds.

 

And they have been quiet as oysters. Always a reason for that, my good sir. Where is the transparancy they talked so nice about? Still not found the problem/flaws?

 

I don't know that's what i usually say i'm pissed off .... you should try it ^^

You see, i was sure this will be driving me completely mad

 

Those mosfets look crunchy as hell!

 

Second one is not my photo it's from LaptopMag, that was just to illustrate.

First one is mine

 

With the new series of mosfets, I'm sure this isn't going to be a problem. And somebody in the designers team will be getting fired.

 

If the problem continue to show after repair something like one day (in my case) or in two weeks (also in my case) people will send it back right after this happens, let's hope they get tired of having their laptop back and fix the bad parts ... no ?

Ok i'm a lil bit credulous on this one...

 

Only one of the two power connectors is on this side of MB. The second on the oppsite side of MB. But it looks like it's a double problem. Both MB power delivery and the DGFF graphics. One fix doesn't fix the other.

 

If they replace the faulty MOSFETs with same rated MOSFETs from different company the issue won't get solved, they might need to pick up the MOSFETs from their desktop lineup and solder it there for further testing.
Look at @alexnvidia signature, he used to have 17r4 which had uneven heatsink and similar GPU issues and he switched back to old AW.

 

i never got to resolve my uneven heatsink cpu temperature difference issue, but i did get my GTX1080 180W stuttering issue resolved completely. i actually sold my R4 in anticipation of area-51m only to get screwed by dell for not releasing it in my country.

 

They keep pushing machines with more flaws for end users to fix. If it was costing 2000$ with 512GB SSD+32GB RAM+QHD IPS panel then users will forget the flaws and tweak it. Now, 5000$+ PC with inferior specs and disaster or calamity causing PCs that fails midway during work/gaming should never exist.

 

i disagree with you. if you look at things that way, then yes, it's non of our business as a consumer. however, by having this mentality, you will be going back and forth with lots of time wasted because you simply dont care what's causing the problem. you can let them fix your problem with parts replacement, send it in etc, but in the end, it's your downtime, your feelings hurt, your disappointment. if you are a free person who has nothing better to do than to go back and forth with dell, then by all means. i'm definately not that free.

i for one, always try to take things into my own hands whenever possible. As the saying goes, if you want it done right, do it yourself. the fix could be as simple as making sure the thermal pads are in proper contact with the GPU VRM, or changing the pads to a better high performance ones before turturing it with furmark. there are no thermal sensors on VRMs so even if your GPU and CPU never overheat, it doesnt mean the supporting components arent.

 

On the Prema BIOS thread (somewhere in this forum), there's a big warning about this tool. Do *NOT* use Furmark!

 

i agree. as a consumer paying so much we should expect perfectly engineered machine. however, the reality of today's world is a total opposite. things are not built to last as they once were.

 

Sure it would be cool to know what is going on, but it's not going to change anything. Unless you can redesign the power circuitry and have it built, you're not going to be able to solve this issue. Sure if it was a simple temp issue you could resolve it, but you're not going to fix a broken design with thermal pads.

 

if that's the case there will be a recall by now, but there isn't. and let's not forget there are only a handful of cases as compared to thousands of machines they sold. this hardly qualifies as broken design.

 

Because my GPU is a different part number, I'm inclined to think they changed something... Either way it's not up to the end user to "fix" the issue.

 

The rumor that the side vents on the RTX 2060 version of the Area 51m are not functional is not true. The side vents work quite well, actually.

 

Hey, Guys
I was referred over here by ssj92 from another thread, and I'm hoping that you can help.
I stumbled in to this forum after being frustrated by my new Alienware Area-51m. I had run the 3D-Mark test and scored well below expectations. Adjusting the Alienware CC overclocking really didn't seem to do much, and adjusting the Nvidia settings along online guides were no help. I came here and remembered why I used to love to build systems, instead of ordering them. Checking the other threads and posts, I see you guys killing my 3DM scores out of the box... and not by a little bit either. https://www.3dmark.com/spy/6849262
I went and downloaded some of the tools mentioned earlier in this thread and really love the MSI Afterburner. It looks easy to understand and use upon reading and watching videos. However, when I ran the Scan my A-51m hard rebooted during phase 3 both times that I tried to run it. I was watching the gages and it didn't seem that it was that hot when it booted.
I figure that you guys are at the top of your game in this area and maybe you might have an idea what is going on. I've got the i9/rx2080/16G version. So what do you guys think? Thanks!

 

It is not a rumor, in fact a user here got the GTX 2060 version with no side vents and returned it because of this.

You just lucked out. They gave you the wrong chasis, or there is some sort of majic combination that ships you the very basic non vented chasis

 

Not to be contradictory, but how do you know the guy who had non functional vents did not have a malfunctioning unit? It seems highly unlikely that Dell (who is saying the 2060 version does have functional side vents) would lie about this and I would get a magical unit?

Perhaps the first units that shipped did not have working side vents, but now 2060 units being shipped do? Maybe Dell got the memo?

 

what Heatsink do you have? can you make photos?

 

I believe they're not of the same rating. The new ones have a higher power and thermal rating.

 

The vents were physically absent. The heat sink also has no fins on the sides.

Dell is the one saying that they ship different versions for the GTX 2060 base model.

"Dual-Intake, Dual-Exhaust Airflow Design: The Area-51m chassis prioritizes performance with a dual fan design that pulls in cool air from the bottom and top vents, while exhaling exhaust out the rear and side vents for optimal core component cooling. (The Intel® Core™ i7-8700 with NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2060 configuration does not have a side-exhaust)"

 

I'm at work, and I haven't worked up the courage to take off the "rib cage", but the heat pipes and parts that are visible look exactly like the ones from the Dave's Corner video. His is a 2070, I believe. I'll take a photo after work.

 

Running the 200W Vbios with no issues so far. I did notice I had to reduce my overclock on afterburner from +75 core to +60 core. It does appear the card is boosting to the same clock rates though despite that so maybe it has to do with the extra voltage.

 

Aahhh. Mystery solved. I have the i7 9700k version. Seemed like a reasonable upgrade to me, if not overkill. Still... I planned on upgrading the GPU down the road so I got the upgraded processor. Sounds like the cooling is upgraded too.

 

Do we have pictures? I don't think it's feasible to create a different chassis for one model when the same chassis can be used for all. From industrial mass manufacturing perspective its dumb and not feasible for any corporation. I feel that there are some over blown claims being made by people that seem somewhat agenda driven.

 

Out of the box playing BF4 the 9900k hits 104c peak and the average temp is 99c. The GPU was maxing out at 84c. A straight -100 undervolt using AWCC got it down to 96c. Intel XTU with AWCC and AWOC uninstalled kept wantign to reboot and would give and error once back up and the undervolt would be gone. Have not tried TS yet. However using AWCC and AWOC tools I locked the CPU to 4.1ghz with a -100 undervolt and dropped the GPU clocks -70 and undervolt i can play BF4 and the CPU peaks at 74c and the gpu peaks at 72c. I can probably tweak the GPU down a little more by locking the clocks and voltage in afterburner. May put in one of my delided 9900k's see if that helps.

 

Pop out parts for the chassis parts where the venting is? Having said that, side by side would be nice. Perhaps a nice reviewer that got both models can show the side by side.

Homer

 

As long as Azor, Umar or Ernie cannot confirm that they have upgraded hardware components, you all have only what Azor himself has said in Twitter... There are no hardware issues. Aka the buyers will get exactly what was designed with the release. Listening on Dell support is as have a chat with the Devil. They say what's fits into the conversation.

 

Nope. My invoice is showing different parts and both HIDevolution and @DellCares confirmed it.

 

Different parts doesn't mean they are made better or rated for higher power/thermals. Dell buy parts everywhere. Just look at their ssd drives. Some of you should tweeet Azor again.

 

They are higher grade mosfets. I'd recommend that you compare the datasheets for both and run the numbers yourself. They can't afford to slouch here at this point in time. Reputation is a big thing.

 

So with all those burned out motherboards/GPU cards which are clearly power related, where would an end user stand with regards to his warranty if his A51m blew up while being powered by a foreign PSU?

 

Are you saying you would tell them?!

You need to seriously adjust your static voltage. I get under .98V @ 4.5 GHz. Undervolting via the adaptive voltage is not enough on these chips

 

looks like your Heatsink is not mounted correktly. 4.7ghz with UV should result in Temps below 90

 

I'd not risk using a foreign psu on these systems, ever.

 

static voltage using throttlestop? what settings for static did you use for 4.5ghz? also what did you set for cache with what voltage? just trying to get a basic idea of your settings for checking up on static.

 

Ill check it out. Good thing is I have no variations in cores. They all are the same with one exception of one core being 1c different.

 

Never used static voltage before. But if you set static voltage under .98V you don’t have to (or can’t) use adaptive voltage?

 

I'll take some screenshots when I get home for you and @pathfindercod. Probably around 6pm EST.

I always match match my core and cache voltage if I can.

 

that would be super awesome! thanks in advance

 

I assume you mean undervolt? (You either have adaptive or static, never both).

You can undervolt and have static voltage at the same time. Doing so, I find, negatively affects stability too much.

 

If reputation was a big thing they would do major changes on last two years TRIPOD heatsink mess. Not put in a fake VC heatspreader cold plate. @Rei Fukai

Have you the new specs. Both for MB power delivery and for DGFF graphics? Thanks

 

Your best bet would be to ask for a full refund based on your experiences and troubles, and I am sure they would grand it, because they have been exceedingly helpful with my AW17R5 (all three of them).

It appears ICs blow up, physically, with visible scorch marks Fixing and adjusting better thermal pads is like applying duct tape on the hull of the Titanic

Well, as it is all software controlled (the centre pin and the handshake to identify the PSU) who is to say they do not keep logs.