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

https://www.microcenter.com/product/602252/alienware-area-51m-173-gaming-laptop-computer---silver

Does anybody think this pre-configured model is a decent price? The GTX 2070 seems to be at the same performance level as a GTX 1070 at 185W TDP which is nice.

 

It's hard to say, some people here have been getting pretty substantial discounts from Dell directly. There also was 15% cashback from Ebates a while ago that helped sweeten the deal.

 

It probably saved about 50 cents in production cost per heat sink by eliminating the extra heat pipe. Who wouldn't be willing to spend 10 to 20 times that amount for the better heat sink and cooler temperatures if they were going to purchase one of these machines? This is what we call being pennywise and pound foolish. When you compare the two, it's kind of a no-brainer. Going chintzy to save a few bucks (or less) on a flagship product make no sense whatsoever.

 

I want to see the book bag as I'm going to order it with my reward points!

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

https://www.amazon.com/Griffin-GC16034-Elevator-Stand-Laptops/dp/B013BNHROE

This is what I am using and it works great in my opinion.

 

I agree that the 51m Elite backpack is huge. I have not used it yet as I'm trying to decide if I want to return it or not, the zippers pulls on the bag also look like they will tear off really easily, so quality is meh for me. Unfortunately, so far I've found nothing else that this beast will fit into. I thought about the Everki Titan but even that looks too small to fit the laptop in the laptop sleeve. The problem is the depth of the machine at 16 inches is going to be very difficult to fit. I'm thinking I may order the messenger bag and see if that's a better fit for the machine. Anyone with the messenger bag want to comment on size and comfort of the bag? I'm generally not transporting the power supplies as I purchased an extra pair to leave at work so I'm just transporting the area 51m plus a 15" macbook pro for use in meetings most days.

 

Hi I am having the same issue can you please put down some steps so that i can follow through! I am trying to download the Nvidia Control Panel app but it does not show up anywhere as well as on Microsoft store it comes up as No longer available for Canada

I appreciate your help

 

I've not removed any of the software that was installed, for the most part the machine is pretty bloatware free (a change for Dell), did not mess with the killer (might remove this and see if I can use plain old Intel drivers) or Alienware software yet. When installing the new SSD I just did a straight clone of the drive.

To be honest I've had no real issues with the machine, the only problem I'm having is I use a thunderbolt 3 dock to connect the laptop to a couple of monitors, ethernet, and USB devices at work (makes for a quick connect/disconnect) and the monitors connect to the Intel on-board graphics as expected, then I use the laptop screen to have a total of three monitors. Every time the machine goes to sleep it forgets the monitor layout and I have to reset them, bit annoying and may force me to disable sleep whilst connected to power.

My thermals all seem to be within acceptable parameters (9900K and 2080), but I'll likely at some point repaste and apply better thermal pads to see if I can get a bit better (this made a huge difference on my previous Razer Blade 15). Pretty happy to be able to play games without compromise without disappearing to the desktop in my office and away from the family.

 

I found the instructions here with the direct download link somewhere on the page:
https://forums.guru3d.com/threads/nvidia-control-app-in-windows-store.423340/

 

Anyone who has bought the NVMe heatsinks from dell:

1. Did they come with the required screw?
2. Any issues with fit?
3. Dumb me forgot to take a screenshot whenever it was discussed 50+ pages back, what was the item number again?

 

Well the thing is I used new M.2 SSD and i did not clone the Dell OS and installed a new windows and the key was transferred over but now i cannot use any graphics drivers

 

The dimensions are smaller than stated, the depth in particular. I don't have a measuring tape (and I'm on the road with mine) but it fit in my Everki Atlas 17.3" backpack, albeit with no sleeve and I couldn't fully "bind" the velcro-adjustable "internal sleeve" that's in the notebook compartment. I wasn't super thrilled with the protection for the top corners so I added a thin layer of foam on each corner in a kind of hacky way to give me a little more confidence when travelling with it, but it zips without overly straining the zippers and I feel fine with it. I think the Atlas (notably larger than the Titan) would handle it no problem (though I don't know how thick your sleeve is.)

 

I changed some settings and cleaned up a bit. So far, no freezes whatsoever. I thinking I actually might keep it now. I've been playing on and off all day and it's rock solid at -145mv, so it runs quite cool. The performance fan settings is the perfect balance it seems.

I'll probably rob my Clevo of it's 32gb 2666mhz ram once I finally decided on what do to.

 

The 17" variant of the Vindicator 2 also fits the A51m, if thats any good to you.

 

Have you done any OC post UV or is everything standard outside the UV?

 

Does anyone have any idea!
I have Installed windows on new SSD and I do not have any graphics control panel can anyone help me with that

 

How loud are the fans on that setting?

 

Thank you!!

 

Hi all,

I've been reading this forum for quite a while as I am very interested in buying this laptop, I used to play competitively so I am willing to have butter smooth performances while gaming. Do you think that the combo i7-8700+ RTX 2080 & 16GB ram would be enough? I was initially looking for the i7-9700k but from what I read, it seems to be safer to go with the 8700, as the better CPUs tends to overheat according to what I read. I really don't want to risk the whole stability of the machine for a few extra FPS.

 

Thanks haha! I’m hoping at least the Price will be around the US price!

 

Just got my 8700k delided and binned @5ghz. Also have a 9900k Delided and binned at 5ghz but I am sure the 8700k will be best option.

 

It's only a 8700 (not K version)

 

I had my own 8700k delidded and binned. From Dell I went with 9700k and will swap it out asap.

 

People have installed 8700K’s into the system and are getting great results

 

Nah mines came in last week. It’s huge but not as flamboyant... I’d say if you need to carry it on the go just tape up some of the spot light AW heads or stick a personal sticker over it lol.. tbh I’m reading this thread and suffering a bit of buyers remorse.. I’m no pro with these things yet so hearing the remarks from people I’d consider pro’s in this category is definitely disheartening.. I bought mines nearly maxed with both CPU and GPU.. but I can’t help feel like they’re giving us the short end of the stick here... I might stay the course and see how it all pans out later... I really wanted this to be the laptop that ends all laptop buying...

 

Were you happy with the device before you read all the angry benchmarking comments? This games up to expectation, but inferiority complex vs Clevo is setting in for those firestrike scores.

Are you will to trade all the advantages of the Area-51m for the advantages of the competing alternatives? Many factors such as aesthetics, form factor, etc. are a part as well. That said, I am like you - if I'm not satisfied I'll send it back. I already sent back the Lenovo Legion Y740 17" with 2080MQ, and I'll do the same for this if I feel necessary. Right now though, I am quite pleased.

 

But what can we expect of a 8700 ? Should I definitely go for the 9700k over it because it's actually worth it and I shouldn't worry about the heat ?

 

I wonder sometimes if certain people on here even game or just like playing with and bragging about their e-peen since they don't have a real one.

 

Stay away from non-k desktop CPUs in my opinion. They are poorly binned versions of their K counterparts. Roll of the dice if it better or worse thermals.

 

Its buried somewhere in this thread. Also you can contact AW support. You have premium support and they will get you taken care of fairly quickly.

 

A link to a side load of it was posted 6 posts before his question.

 

1. They don’t come with a screw. I ordered those too.
2. Since I didn’t have the screws, I only placed them in physically. They don’t seem to have any issue with fit and I’d bet are 100% compatible. I’ve got the screws and will install an M.2 SSD soon.
3. JV98R for M.2 heatsinks (from other AW notebooks), and something like 3W3W3 (for 51m). But, they’re the same. The M.2 screw part number in the pics below.

 

You can't exactly get this configuration on Dell's website (closest is two 256 GB SSDs), but it's about a $300 discount (so less than 10%) from the closest thing on Dell.
On another note, I didn't know the Area 51m was at Microcenter. Once they're in stock at my local one, I'm going to go check it out and compare to my 15 R3.

 

No, completely stock except for the UV.

I guess it's all in the beholders eye... neither me or the wife thinks it's loud. It's blowing wind all right, but we don't think it loud enough to be intrusive. I'd say it's exactly what I was hoping for TBH.

 

Mine came with a screw ready for the Samsung 970 Pro NVMe I placed in. I've thoroughly attempted to murder the pro, sans heatsink, through rigorous benchmarks and don't see any thermal issues. I may get the heatsink just for safety though, as it is quite cheap and easy to apply.

 

Perfect!

 

Fantastic, thank you so much!

Your laptop already had the screws or your 970 Pro came with the required screw? If the laptop already comes with one then I’ll most likely skip the heatsink/screw order from Dell.

 

Yes, it's actually quite nice. I was a bit nervous to "downgrade" from 1440p on my Clevo to 1080p on this AW, but it's a real nice FHD, so I don't miss anything there.

I have some very slight coil whine from time to time, but the fans drown it out, even when they are on low, so it's not really an issue. On a ultrabook - big no-no, but on a gaming rig, not really a problem. ;-)

 

I was skeptical from the get go tbh.. I don’t know much, but I know a powerful cpu in a small limited space will produce a lot of heat lol.. As of right now, I don’t plan on pushing the rig to it’s limits. However it’s definitely going to be something I do once I’m more comfortable with how overclocking works. I too was expecting a 8 pipe heat sink, but I ca live with 7... I just hope the rig can too lol. I’m going to wait until it arrives and go from there. It was going to be this or a high end SFF... Portability is paramount as I work out of a semi.

 

Yeah, I ordered my 51m with just the SSHD and, to my surprise, it didn’t include the screws. I saw @ninja2000 's unit with 1 M.2 SSD from Dell did have the spare screw for the second M.2 drive, so I assumed mine would have the 2 screws, minus the heat sinks.

I got nothing, so I got everything separately by purchasing thru Dell Support (heat sinks + screws).

 

The laptop had a screw where the nvme would go, I didn't have one prior. I can't say for the second slot though. I'd say just use some dell rewards and get the heatsinks and screws.

edit: seems to be a very YMMV when it comes to if the screw is in the laptop or not.

 

for the extra 100.00 for the 9700k is best deal, that's the road I would take and did.

 

Thats great to hear! Thanks for sharing. This will be my first gaming laptop so im super hyped! It still says Confirmed on my order so the wait is super fun!! :S

 

So what's the part number for Area-51m M.2 Heatsink and what's the part number for the Screws? I'll order them now.

 

So, dell engineer came today and replaced my panel assembly because it had light bleed more than acceptable limit.
This is how it looks now. Is this fine??

 

Yes mine had all the needed screws for the 2.5" and the M.2 drive bays and boy did they tighten the M.2 screws down, thought I was going to strip them trying to remove them first time. I ordered the M.2 heatsink (part# JV98R) from ebay, it was a refurb/second hand but came in a plastic baggy with the needed thermal pad and fit just fine. I think it's debatable if you need a heatsink or not, but for the sake of looks (that I only know about) and piece of mind it was worth the $20 it cost me.

 

Go back a page or two, pictures were posted with part numbers for the heatsink and screws

 

I think the key is the fan pitch, on a thin-n-light the fans are very thin and spin very fast pushing air though a small outlet. The combination is loud and quite a high pitch. On the area-51m the fans are nice and big and can run slower for a given air volume movement and the outlet is also nice and big. This leads to less air movement sound and also the fans have a nicer pitch to them so they are less annoying. To me they sound like a room fan running and I can easily hear the games sound without cranking the volume super high.

With my Razer Blade 15 I'd get looks like is that thing going to take off, where as with the area-51m no one seems to notice. Could also be they are staring at the size of the laptop in the thin laptop obsessed world we reside in

 

I screwed up an install of fresh NVidia drivers, it got to the point of uninstalling the old drivers and then the installer blew up leaving me without any nvidia drivers. To reinstall I downloaded the driver from the Dell support website ( https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER05...0-2080-Driver_TGMTD_WIN_25.21.14.1749_A00.EXE) and installed them, then let nvidia experience update the drivers to the latest ones. Hope that helps.

 

I think you're gonna love it! What config did you go for?

Yea, that's looks quite ok IMO. A "perfect" screen is probably almost impossible to get. This looks fairly uniform.

I hear ya, and I agree. The AW-A51M have a nice fan curve, kind of soothing-ish. The high pitch fans are what kills many laptops. The Matebook X Pro comes to mind. Almost perfect, but that high pitch fan thou... urgh.