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

I'm just not sure if the ambient could take so much effect on the gpu thermal.
82c in balanced fan profile
85c in max fan profile
that's a huge difference

 

17 degrees in temperature going trough the system is also huge, hence why many overclockers have AC units to cool the air going trough it.

 

maybe someone could do some experiments on the ambient temp vs laptop cooling performance lol

 

my ambient temps are around 22-24 degree. Today a bit more due to high temps outside.

 

What's your undervolt profile bro?

 

1850mhz @ .85

 

I think it's my ambient temps being too high as well. I will try Captain's settings and report back soon.

Edit: Tried his 1850 at .85V and Heaven crashed in 5 secs. LOL

Sent from a Galaxy S9+

 

For 1800 MHz, you don't need that high voltage. I run my gpu at 1950 MHz at less than that (937 mV). You can safely drop it even further. A good estimate is to start with the stock clock curve and cap it at the required speed and then gradually push it down one notch at a time while running heaven in the background in windowed mode until you get a crash. Then bump it up a couple of notches.

 

Try a value between 1800 and 1850 MHz

 

No need for disappointment. Desktop systems have similar issues with same setup. Only major difference is coolling solutions which, as a notebook user, is a trade-off. You get the portability and have to play the micromanagement game until you find the right settings for each situation.

I have Metro Exodus installed and may attempt at higher clock settings to see what I can get while maintaining below 80C (my no-go for actual lap gaming). Will record ambient temps to help out.

As for @Nomadsan74 for the 1.5.4 issue, just check several pages back for @Darkhan ‘s use case. I may try it later, but I gotta crunch those Division 2 hours today before Apparel event ends. I can try it later when that is over. (feel free to add LoneSyndal on UPlay if you are up for the grind...)


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Temps only make sense in reference to ambient. If I say my CPU temp is 60C and my ambient is 20C, what I'm saying is that the CPU temp delta to ambient is +40C assuming no throttling. If my ambient temp was 40C, the temp would be 80C. Of course, at some point components start thermal throttling and thus expend less energy reducing the delta to ambient.

 

I ordered mine on 30th April and I still don't have mine. For the last week and a half, I keep being told by the customer service team that it'll ship in the next 24/48 hours, and that's coming from the manufacturing team. I've since logged a formal complaint and dealing with someone from the advanced resolutions team who've informed me that they are still waiting on shipment of the graphics cards, and there is currently a shortage at the moment. They themselves are waiting on shipment of a 2080 TI just for testing purposes, which was on order over a month ago. They've even been given an updated estimate for that for July.

nVidia seems to be to blame for these shortages/delays, but they still shouldn't be taking orders until those supplies are in and back orders are completed.

 

Sounds like more reason to develop an AMD variant so you would never be on such short supply... Nvidia has been backlogged in the notebook arena for weeks now.


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I’m guessing you’re like me and are not going to cancel because of the power of this laptop?

 

Here in italy it says it should be shipped within 9-11 working days if you get the 2080, otherwise 5-7 if you get the 2070...is it the same in your country? Because i have to order another one as my first one died 20days ago and my refund should arrive this week hopefully..if msi doesn't release the gt76 i guess i will give alienware another go..

 

You can use nvflash to lock the SPI chip from writing using -writeprotect ON|OFF. That will prevent Dell from writing new flawed vBIOS in the future. Don't do the same for Main BIOS SPI chip.

 

I don't think Dell is that stupid to flash a graphics vBIOS through Windows update or through their AlienwareUpdater app. That would be absolutely comical if it were to happen. God bless those Reddit moderators then...

Sent from a Galaxy S9+

 

Dell Bios includes everything. MS Surface gets firmware update for each parts through WU. https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/Search.aspx?q=surface firmware

 

Whats stupid on the US page for the 51m. If you choose a 9700k the win10 pro upgrade is +$60. If you choose a 9900k the win10 pro upgrade is +$95.

 

I purchased a Win 10 pro key on eBay for $3.95, had a $3 coupon paid .95 cents

 

That and I got 14% off with the discount code. Plus, I've also been promised extra money back when it's shipped due to all the delays. I don't think there's any other laptop around that has this amount of power. I only went for the RTX 2060 version, but it's still more powerful than all the "mobile" RTX 2060's in the other laptops.

If I go through the order process, it still shows "Shipping in 9-11 days"

 

jup true, myself got an surface pro 3 and i see firmware upgrades regurly being pushed throught WU. same is true for AW.

 

That’s great! I noticed if you go with a sale default configuration it looks like they ship in 3 days. I worked with sales and configured specs like I wanted and it put my order ship date at 39 days.

I did Dell Financial Services to get a cheaper price. I’m happy about my purchase, I just read this forum and started thinking about how I’m going to have to do so many mods to get this thing cooler. Everyone here is awesome, love the tech power here, smart people!

 

What is the difference brick graphics vs. the whole machine? Firmware updates is always a risk.

I wonder if Dell will pay for the mess if they continue with firmware updates via Windows updates and brick your machine more than one time https://www.dell.com/community/Cust...S-update-breaks-motherboard-CMOS/ta-p/6063959

Of course. The only way to be 100% sure the owners have the latest and greatest of firmware + this will help lower the RMA/tech support costs significant if they encounter even more problems than we already have seen.


Edit. Same tragedy for the Asus branded laptops... http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...1-owners-lounge.805107/page-125#post-10918989

 

Not an option in my line of work.

 

That's very sad really. I hope everyone one of the users have heard of the simple program called "Windows Update Blocker" (WUB). I've used it for a long time and works like magic. It a good way telling those Mafia corporations that I do not want your damn upgrades, neither on my OS, nor on my firmware.
At least on Area 51m there's is a option to stop automatic BIOS upgrade in the BIOS itself, but as you can imagine, its OFF by default. These corporate greedy think of everything, don't they?

Sent from a Galaxy S9+

 

Yeah I have already posted this advice in the thread to Stop Windows 10's madness. http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-owners-lounge.826831/page-1192#post-10917130

But I'm not sure the option to stop automatic BIOS upgrade in the BIOS will work 100% if Dell have added in code in their firmware to let them do it anyway (If they really want push the upgrades on the peoples machines). See... More as emergency button. Only Dell engineers have the answers for this.

 

If you guys really want to break your laptops to force Axor and Company to RMA them and give you a fixed one, just do this easy and brainless test.
Trust me. 190 Amps will turn those VRM's Extra Crispy. Only thing missing will be the side order of salt and Chili Lime seasoning !

 

If anyone is interested with my experience with Hidevolution's "thermal upgrades", here's my experience I posted in another thread:


My experience with Hidevolution is also absolutely horrendous. Their customer service is very good, no doubt about it and dealing with Donald was great.

Unfortunately their thermal services are absolutely dreadful and overrated like crazy. I've a delidded 9700K from Hidevolution on my Area 51m and it ran super hot right out of the box. I paid for their premium services with LM and Fujipoly and all that jazz.
When I eventually received the system, I was told that its normal for a laptop to run at 100C within 2mins of AIDA64 stress test. The communication between their technical team and their customer team is also dreadful. I was told that my system passed all their thermal test including a "43 minutes AIDA64 run" at their store and I am doing something wrong with my "settings" and its a user error.

What was the tipping point for me was when I ran Division 2 at stock in my Area 51m at stock with FULL fan speed, the CPU reached 97C and GPU hit its threshold of 85C within 10 mins of gameplay and at that point I knew that the thermal upgrades was just a scam! Nothing more! I was told not to open the system until they check remotely and I knew the system is beyond fixing remotely. I then cut off all communications with them. I also knew about the 10% restocking fees so decided not to return the system and shipping from UAE to US is another $300!

I bought some Gelid extreme and did the thermal application myself. What I saw inside was absolutely unbelievable! I will not bother going into the details but let me just say that the screw of the back panel of the laptop was tightened so hard that ended up cracking up the panel while opening it the first time.

After my own thermal application, the CPU has never exceeded 80C and GPU is running at acceptable levels too.

It's fair to say that I'll never recommend Hidevolution to anyone else in the future. Stay away from their upgrades. I paid $170 for a generic QLC based 1TB nvme drive which runs at 1600Mbps and $120 for a out of date 16GB Kingston DDR4 ram which is the slowest DDR4 Sodimm I have ever used! And they're say its "Hidevolution approved". What a joke!

Edit:

I had initially decided not to post this after all the bull crap I went through regarding thermals but when I realized that I am stuck with a 2 × 8GB Kingston ram sticks which I cannot find anywhere else on the market and that I cannot ever upgrade to 32GB without wasting my current SODIMM, I think it's fair that I warn potential buyers regarding this.


Sent from a Galaxy S9+

 

That was my experience with my old Clevo/EVOC dm3.

 

Ya, it's a scam no doubt.

If you guys can find a Kingston KHYXPX-MIE 8GB sticks RAM anywhere on the internet, please do post links as I want to upgrade my RAM without wasting more money on this laptop.

Sent from a Galaxy S9+

 

I was planning on giving Donald a call when the time comes to pick up a 51M, this is disappointing to hear. Do you know if Xotic is any better?

 

Dear forum members, I have just received my A51M and with all the knowledge I gained here I upgraded rom&ram and drivers and I want to thank you all for sharing your knowledge and just tell you how happy I am with this beast of a machine!

 

Our boy decided to say this just now...






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"World's fastest notebook shipping today".... LOL

....with a 2400Mhz RAM support......

I want whatever this guy is smoking...I bet I won't get Charas as good as his even in my Himalayan jungles.



Sent from a Galaxy S9+

 

Anyone use this heat sink on 970 evo, did it fit without issues and did it work?

EKWB EK-M.2 NVMe Heatsink- Black

 

Yeah, optimize the Platforms reliability! And not a single words on why this was really needed Maybe due what I have said before? Do whatever needed to reduce the RMA numbers. Swap out burned out parts for own costs ain’t cheap. I wonder what the next firmware update will contain.

 

Someone needs to tell him Alienware support is telling people that 1.5.4 is garbage and not to install it.... WTF?!

 

Whilst I agree with you, practically there is not much choice for those who want to buy a powerful laptop and customised to their own needs right from the word go. You cannot do that with any other brand except the Clevos. With MSI for example you will buy whatever the retailer has in stock, the combination of screen type, RAM, disks etc is determined by the retailer, not by you. And I do not think any others have the structured support the warranty of Dell.

 

Guys I need some help. I finally managed to get dual booting working again. When I press F12 I can select the other SSD and it works great.

Now the option has mysteriously disappeared and all I have is "Windows Boot Manager" again. What gives?

 

Maintain the leadership with the new BIOS.
Yeah, great talking, just left someone's 200w performance boost promise completely behind!
So this throttling crap is finally the corrective action for the burning issue, quite clear now

 

Yeah that's pathetic.

 

Not the first time they have created changes in their firmware.... http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/xps-15-9570-owners-thread.817008/page-248#post-10890814 And this won't be the last time...

 

Thankfully, for the most of us, thanks to some great users here I might add, we're still on 1.3.2 and 200W vBIOS. I don't see the point of upgrading the BIOS until they release 2666Mhz RAM support which I know will never happen.

They will release a "R2" version just like they did with the M15 and M17. It's a sad state of affairs and we need to be more vocal about it. Most of the media outlets are paid puppets of Dell sadly. Gordon from PCworld seems to be Azor's "go to guy" for hyping things up! Sad really!

Sent from a Galaxy S9+

 

Wait, they rolled back the 200W VBIOS, too?!

Or are you just saying it's impossible to leverage 200W when there's a 74 (78?) max temp before throttling?

Either way, some straight-up garbage.

 

Dell releases statement featuring no responsibility.
I believe they have a Finding Excuses Department for remedying their stupid moves.

Even worse
Actually the initial vbios offers 190w power, the newest 180w is a complete backwards not just rolling back.

 

How is that not legit false advertising?!

I think we outta be in a position for a refund at this point.

 

That is utter garbage from Dell and i'd be looking to return it and get a refund since Azor cannot deliver what he promised. I would be careful with Dell support too, it wouldn't be beyond them to try avoiding repairs on users a few months down the line who kept the 200W vBIOS. I still don't trust Dell to fix their own issues from their pocket after they bodged the last Dell jokebook I owned.

 

Azor probably got back the projected costs for recalling all shipped and ready to ship Area 51m units to do the hardware engineering changes (EC's) vs. neutering all units past and future in this model build.

Spend a bunch of money, or disappoint Alienware owners? AW is already well experienced with disappointing Alienware owners...

Hopefully the R2 will be better... or better even than that, maybe instead of the Intel R2 will be a new model with an AMD CPU in it. No more performance losses from current and future security mitigations in software, firmware, hardware.

If you love the laptop - need the laptop, and it's working adequately for your needs, I'd keep it. If you can skip this model, and need something right now, return it for a cash refund and get something else.

What else would you get right now?

 

Problem is that the chassis is quite good and size is perfect for its build. I dont see myself lugging the GT76 around and my S.O. says the A51m looks appeasing to her. If anything, I got warranty for few years and can blow the unit up for another and hope they give me newer parts.


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