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

Finally received my replacement unit. Same LG panel as my dead unit but this replacement has a more warm or yellow tint to it while the other had much whiter whites. Or maybe I’m going crazy and just have OCD ? Jesus.....not sure if this is normal or not


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That ebay seller for the 780w PSUs finally got back to me. Here’s a link for those interested in buying through ebay instead of Eurocom.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/133045254821

 

I'd say take it apart and if you see lemons then RMA it and demand upgraded hardware. If everything is fine then delid that cpu and put liquid metal b/w ihs and dye and reseal with silicon gasket maker. Then put kryonaut with some high quality thermal vpads and put it back together. This way you'll be able to push it WAY harder than stock + if it holds up, you can keep using it without any further work. I don't agree with stock gaming on this machine if you really want to push it. In stock condition it will thermal throttle and you won't be able to push it hard enough.

Pictures?

 

Already sent the other one back, but here is the new unit. I decreased the reds and increased the blue and it seems better. My eyes adjust and the whites keep changing. Think it’s just my brain






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Oh, I thought you were saying it about the color of the chassis lol. I think you should recalibrate the display and it should be back to normal. There is a night mode option in windows 10 though which has anti-blue function that reduces blue light. May be that's turned on. I purposefully turn it on though for night times by scheduling it. It's a lot easier on the eyes.

 

My 32GB Hyper X impact kit finally came. Installed and had no issues, super quick and it's being read correctly.

Only issue, which I didnt check before I swapped the memory out was in CPU-Z it says the DRAM frequency is 1196MHz. Shouldn't it be 2400Mhz? I'm currently playing a game as well.

 

It's a DDR4 so multiply that single channel speed by 2 to get the effective speed. It's perfectly normal.

 

Just FYI, there will always be color temperature variations between display panels even on same display. This is why it is a smart idea to invest into calibrator like SpyderX Pro and similar ones and this is also why it is NOT a good idea to use someone else's display calibration data.

 

Some fresh news here... and it's not that good...

I passed a call this Monday, as i was supposed to receive my laptop in around 3 days, non repaired by Dell's workshop in order to get my 32 GB memory, 1 TB Samsung Evo & 2 TB Samsung SATA (yes i sent those parts with the computer as Premium Support asked me in order to fully debug my problem...) just before Dell start the procedure of Swap / Free order for my dead computer...

I somehow managed to talk on the phone with the person in charge of my personal case :

She told me that they were already doing me a favour to swap my unit with a 0€/$ invoice ...even more because my case is complicated as i bought this computer out of E.U with HIDEvolution.

She told me that if they send the unit back to me, non repaired in order to get my parts back there's a increased chance that i can't obtain a swap and i have to wait a lot more...

So as my unit wasn't already sent to me, i somehow accepted to leave the unit, losing some more money reordering those parts...

She told me she'd ask ASAP for the 0€ invoice...

I think i'm so tired that i don't wan't to fight all those problems... i just need all this to stop...

--

Anyway... Little question for you guys :

I got an Arozzi Arena Desk, it's a desk with a mouse pad surface all over the desk...

The mouse pad surface is quite a foam and is not a 100% solid surface ...so i guess that won't be a nice thing, when i receive my laptop to put it directly on this mat, as the laptop may sink in the mouse pad surface and have his vents blocked...

I think i better buy a laptop cooler, could you advise me a model i can buy ? I need something that won't shine all over my desk, no L.E.D...

Thanks for all your advices

 

I've been running creative drivers from nVidia no issue.

That's Eurocom's eBay account LOL

 

Ahh okay. Thanks for the heads up.

 

Good to know! Haha!

 

I personally use an Xotic PC notebook cooler. It has stop feet at the bottom which keep my laptop from slipping forward. Plus it's light weight.

I was just checking out the Eurocom 780W PSU unit for Area 51m. 200mV peak to peak ripple/noise?!? Wow! No thanks!!! I'd NEVER buy anything above 30mV p-p or 50 in the absolute worst case. Too much signal noise has the capability to fry components in the long run and introduce funny coil whines.

 

New replacement is going well so far. Here is what dell gave me as free upgrades from the model I ordered from HID:

9700k to a 9900k
8GB ram to 32GB
128GB to 1TB nvme


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Damn. Same spec as mines now, but only white! Checked my specs and found that my 16x2 are Hynix 2666MHz sticks. The stock 512GB NVMe I didnt really check, but I shoved a 2TB Intel 660p that was on sale for quite cheap.


Also at a new location and about to push the machine further on power usage. I had a throttle moment last night which i can attribute to heating up on GPU side when playing in odd places. Will be spending about 2-3 hrs on fine tuning it.

 

So... I spoke with a salesperson yesterday about acquiring their extended warranty... they wanted $890.00 for 4 years, offering me a $100.00 gift card.

I called again, spoke with a different sales rep and was offered 5 years of premium plus for $899.00 + the $100.00 gift card... I ended up biting the bullet... Do you guys think I've paid too much?

I'll use this laptop as my daily driver, carrying it around every day to and from work... I currently work in Redmond, WA (guess where...) and the computer I have (Surface Book 2) isn't powerful enough to run my stuff, hence the reason for the Area 51M… I needed a desktop-like pc...

 

I am not clear on the details of my warranty, but does yours cover upgrades through Dell? If so that sounds awesome.

 

It covers the service... I'd still have to purchase the parts... does this make sense?

 

Anyone notice the 200w vbios was updated a week ago on dells driver page? Wonder what they changed


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Nice. I upgraded myself though. My monster carries 1xSamsung 970 Pro (1TB) NVMe as the boot drive, 1xSamsung 960 Pro (2TB) NVMe as the secondary drive and 1xSamsung 860 Evo (4TB) Sata drive. 64 GB Corsair Vengeance and a delidded 9900K.

It was changed alongside the new Bios release and changes seem to be pretty much just for compatibility with the new Bios.

 

I upgraded ram, ssd myself too when I had the HID model, dell now just gave me all the upgrades and more for free plus a better CPU. I’m just waiting to make sure HID transfers my warranty to the new service tag. They better ....


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I finally decided to take a good look at my Dell warranty. Just a heads up, I purchased this through Amazon from HIDevolution and so far, it does not disappoint. Also have the HID warranty as well for the 'upgrades' they added.

https://i.imgur.com/Ghs0TZn.png

EDIT: @S.K I have tested my gaming profile (4.8GHz on all cores, max GPU setting at 1975MHz and 1000mV. Temps were very good with CPU peaking 64C and GPU at 71C. Undervolt at -130mV with Cache at -120mV. Tested by playing Division 2 for 1 Hr on Ultra while engaging in intense PvP action in Dark Zone. I however did not experience any abnormal temps on palm rests using either my Audeze Mobius (USB plugged) or my Apple Airpods. Might be that you had a faulty board. The left palm rest does get very mildly warm, but it isn't uncomfortable and is very subtle. My test ended a bit earlier than expected because someone needed an outlet slot and I was using the only two in a 50ft area. That Eurocom 780w cannot get here fast enough!

 

The notes of the release say it resolves an issue with McAfee AV?! weird for a vbios.

 

For swapping out m.2 drives I’m assuming it’s ok to reuse the heat sinks that come with machine ? Are there any thermal pads or is it straight contact?

 

That should be fine yeah. And it has a thermal pad on it.

 

In case anyone wants a nice RTX decal to match the intel i9 decal. This would look great on the lunar light

VATH Made NVIDIA Geforce RTX Metal Sticker 12 x 35mm / 1/2" x 1 3/8" [987] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NBJF371/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_NHI0CbPD5NKMW


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$700?!?!

Wasn't this like $400 two weeks ago? I was considering it. $700 is just legit stupid, and I say that as someone with 64GB of RAM for gaming, lol

 

I wouldn't pay more than $300 for it tbh. Even then, I'd hesitate.

 

Try plugging a headphone set that has a built in microphone into the audio jack and then check. This is what started problems it seems. It was and still is fully functional though. Just that it heats up.

 

I did a repaste and repad with Kyronaut/articpads and i have used the X method for both Cpu/Gpu. TBH even with stock paste, my temps before was almost perfect while playing any games for hours with max temps 75 for cpu and 70 on gpu. Im pretty happy because for the first time i've got lucky with silicons. But now, my idle temps are lower (42 cpu and 38 gpu most of the time just using basic like youtube) but my max temps rise a little bit most noticible on gpu (77c playing games). Any ideas? Should i wait more for a cure time or just open and do a repaste again?


Obs:
- Using max fans all the time while playing games
- Undervolt -130 Cpu/Curve Gpu

 

Not worth the repaste, those temps are low. Also, I heard it takes time for new paste to break in


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Even if my temps with stock dell toothpaste was better? well... at least the max temps.

 

Yeah it’s not worth it because both are already very low. Plus the new paste should do better over time once it breaks in. Not worth tearing it down again and risk ruining something. Enjoy it and relax !


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Hey all, thinking of buying an Area 51 laptop. Thought I read thst a bunch were having problems, smoking, burning out, etc? Is this still an issue or are there any other issues which are reasons NOT to buy?

 

Are you willing to gamble on one? You won't be out any money because the warranty should cover damages, but you may see your blood pressure rise if you do have problems and have to wait on a replacement. Wish there was more public info available, but Dell is keeping this close to the vest.

Pick up the thread for currently known issues here - http://forum.notebookreview.com/posts/10907129/

 

Guys don't get excited if your 51m comes with 2666mhz ram, the timings are abysmal.

 

they should be around 19-19-19-43

standard is usually 18-18-18-43 or so, anything tighter is XMP

 

Think my timings were about 17-17-17-39 with stock ram. Just upgraded though and now its 14-x-x-x.

 

You using the Hyper-X CAS14 kit?

For some reason ever since the 8th gen came out timings have been awful for 2666 memory and the only laptops that seem to suport faster memory are Clevos/MSIs/Dell's precision (they advertised it with 3200 memory then retracted it!!!! it now only supports 2933Mhz).

Ridiculous how the Alienware 17 (R5) and 17m (R6) do not support faster than 2666 memory.

Crucial just released their 3200Mhz memory for notebooks and its CAS22
HyperX has Impact 3200 @ CAS 20
Corsair has 3200 @ CAS18 IIRC
Gskill has 3200 @ CAS 16 and 18

Esports usually benefit the most. Overwatch/CS: GO/DoTA 2 etc...

The Area-51m has a 1080 panel so it NEEDS the fast RAM. The 8700 would benefit the most from the pack as its locked.

Total joke, it's why I don't have one yet.

 

It's the Hyper X Impact 2666 CAS15, but since it can't run at 2666 yet, the timings are lower at 2400.

And yeah you're right, its ridiculous that this machine won't support higher than 2666, or at least they haven't spoken about it. Walmarts OP laptop runs at 2666!!

I do hope they actually release an update SOON for 2666MHz support though.

 

Well now you guys wont have that to complain about much longer....
As @Prema pointed it out to me. That damn eagle eye he has!
Timings are a Cl16

https://www.3dmark.com/spy/7113782

 

Waaait. What??

 

teach me

Another thing I don't like about the Area 51m is how Dell thought it was a good idea to include the amplifier port. That means that the GPU as shown in Johnkss' screenshot is 8x PCI-E 3.0 maximum. It won't matter in synthetics but it will in some games. It's the reason why there are no AW SLI notebooks, CPU can only do 8x + 4x + 4x or 8x and 8x. Default is 16x for one GPU. When PCI-E 4.0x drops this won't matter though.

 

@S.K The left palm rest got warmer when running my Audeze Mobius on 3.5mm jack, but not to the point of discomfort.

And an image for the tests under gaming load.
https://i.imgur.com/WOoeGA3.png

 

Anyone here using throttlestop to apply undervolt on start up?

Is it possible to do this with XTU?

Reason I'm asking is because my wife frequently forgets to apply her UV I'm XTU, so I figured if I could have it apply on start up, it would make things easier.

 

XTU keeps undervolts you saved on startup. Only times it wouldn't is if there was a crash/bsod due to too much of an under/overvolt.

 

Doesn't seem to be this way. Everytime i shutdown and start up, i have to reapply the UV (by hitting apply). Or at least HWinfo is telling me that it's not applied, and it does after i hit apply.

 

I prefer TS because of the faster profile switching and less crashing on UV.

That aside, if you install Logitech Gaming software for their mice, it bugs out the AW Pointing Devices software and ruins the touchpad when switching back and forth between external mouse and touchpad. I uninstalled and confirmed it fixed my issue.

 

Shouldn't you have a Sound Blaster X G6 with that setup?

Either way an external USB sound dac would get rid of the heat

 

I've received my Area 51m today and applied an undervolt of -0.150V to the CPU and -0.100 to the GPU. Haven't tested the GPU yet, but as for the CPU, ran a stress test and it kept the temps stable around 82 degrees...