*OFFICIAL* Alienware Area-51M R2 Owner's Lounge

So the beast has arrived. 10900K / 2080 Super / 32 GB @ 2933 MHz. Stock CPU, Dell thermal paste, etc.

Straight out of the box (Balanced mode, no CPU undervolt or GPU overclock) I was getting:

* Cinebench R20: 5933
* Time Spy: 11074
* Fire Strike: 23387

In very limited fiddling with undervolting/overclocking/etc so far I've managed:

* Cinebench R20: 6200
* Time Spy: 11729
* Fire Strike: 24721

I've noticed a couple of things. Firstly I'm living on the edge in terms of thermals - cresting 100 C during Cinebench and Time Spy, can only sustain 4.9 GHz under all core load by the end of the benchmark. Secondly, my Fire Strike combined score is completely all over the shop. Some runs it's almost 11000, some runs it's below 9000. Does that sound like some kind of wall power draw issue?

 

What is it that you can't live without? Something Alienware has done that leaves its customers with no ability to think independently or make their own decisions?

 

Thermal throttling

 

Why should it vary so much between runs with roughly the same settings though? Surely if it's thermal throttling then it's going to throttle consistently (as in other tests).

 

Do you mind me asking why you decided to go with the 10900? Are you going to be doing more workstation applications them gaming?

 

Probably the same reason I went for the 10900K to be completely honest, because if I'm spending that much money anway, then I may as well get the best, lol.

More seriously though the way Dell does its offers and bundles, the difference in price is relatively small if you can claim the tax back and/or utilise EPP/Advantage programs on top of promos.

Otherwise no doubt quite a few people blindly purchase in the hope it will make a difference.

 

I had initially gotten the i9 with my previous order, but my somewhat more practical side interfered, and I opted for the 10700K this time around.

 

Primary reason was that Dell Australia don't offer the 10700K - it's either 10700, 10900 or 10900K and it seems a bit silly to not get a K version. I considered getting the 10700 then selling it immediately and getting a delidded Silicon Lottery 10700K (or 10900K) but I'm not sure how many people are actually buying a 10700. At the end of the day I figured I'd just see how the stock 10900K goes.

 

Macrium Reflect Usage Guide:



Here is how to create a bootable Flash Drive and partition it to have a single USB Stick containing both the Macrium Reflect Rescue Disk and a Backup Image partition in that rescue disk itself. So if you have a large/fast USB Flash Drive, you can use it to both boot into the Macrium Reflect program without installing and use its second partition to create a backup image of your computer



What I usually do when I buy a new computer, the moment I turn it on and before even getting into the Windows setup wizard I boot straight away to the Macrium Reflect Rescue Disk, create a full backup of the local disk including all its partitions. That way I always have a backup of the untouched factory image should I ever need it in case I changed my SSD later or had an issue that prevents me to use the local restore option

 

Thanks for the post but I already trashed the factory partitions and installed a clean copy of Windows

 

NP, you can use that flash disk to backup/restore your computer anyway not necessarily to backup the factory image

I have the factory image uploaded as well if you ever need it

 

I really hope he enjoys those #needed# apps from the Store. I rather prefer a working OS. In same way as yoo bro Fox

When you say the Fire Strike combined score is completely all over the shop... What with graphics and physics scores?

 

Hi guys,
I just received my 51m r2 today. Any suggestions on undervolting the 10900k? Should I use AWCC or ThrottleStop? I don't think i will go beyond -100mV.

 

Graphics and physics scores are stable between runs but when you have both loads at once for the combined test the score can vary by 1000+ using exactly the same settings.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

1) Set the undervolt, test, then save the profile to any name you want:



2) Choose the profile you saved from the home tab otherwise you didn't really do anything unless it's selected so it'd be active

 

many thx dude. i will give another try.

did you undervolt the GPU as well? BTW your youtube review is awesome!

 

No just the CPU.

Thanks

 

You have to use something like msi afterburner to alter the gpu voltage curve if you wish to undervolt the gpu as well.

I haven't bothered since it runs cool enough anyway.

 

You have to expect slightly variance between the runs.

Try run Fire Strike 3 times in a row and post screenshot results for each run as the picture. Do the same also for 3DM FS Extreme and FS Ultra.

 

This piece of junk will get an huge patch. Want it now? Or have you already installed it? I wonder what work correctly in this OS version. I can't grasp that people want it installed on their computers

Announcing Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 19042.487 (20H2)

Here are the details of today's Windows 10 20H2 Build 19042.487 (KB4571744):

• We fixed an issue with pinned Add-ins that cause Microsoft Outlook to become unresponsive.
• We now provide the ability to sync the Microsoft Edge IE Mode unidirectional session cookie when an administrator configures the session cookie.
• We fixed an issue with rendering PeerDist-encoded content in Internet Explorer and Microsoft Edge.
• We fixed an issue that might prevent ActiveX content from loading.
• We fixed an issue that displays a black screen to Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) users when they attempt to sign in.
• We fixed an issue that might cause apps that use the custom text wrapping function to stop working in certain scenarios.
• We fixed an issue with Start menu apps and tiles in virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) environments. The issue occurs after you sign in to the VDI environment a second time and use a Remote Desktop User Profile Disk in a non-persistent virtual desktop pool.
• We fixed an issue that generates an error when printing to a document repository.
• We fixed an issue that prevents Visual Basic 6.0 (VB6) applications from using ListView in OCXafter upgrading to Windows 10, version 1903 and later.
• We fixed a runtime error that causes VB6 to stop working when duplicate windows messages are sent to WindowProc().
• We fixed an issue that causes a stop error when the initialization of the graphics adapter fails.
• We fixed an issue to reduce the likelihood of missing fonts.
• We fixed an issue that prevents users from reducing the size of a window in some cases.
• We fixed an issue that causes the touch keyboard to close when you touch any key.
• We fixed an issue that adds an unwanted keyboard layout as the default after an upgrade or migration even if you have already removed the layout.
• We fixed an issue the prevents applications from closing even though programming code directs them to close.
• We fixed an issue that causes attempts to take a screenshot of a window using the PrintWindow API to fail.
• We fixed an issue with a memory leak in exe that occurs when you refresh an application that has an editable box.
• We fixed an issue that truncates a potential list of characters (candidates) when you type characters in the Simplified Chinese (Pinyin) input method editor (IME). When this happens, Chinese characters do not appear.
• We fixed an issue that prevents the first key stroke from being recognized correctly in the DataGridView
• We fixed an issue that causes an application that uses dll to stop working, and the 0xc0000005 (Access violation) exception appears.
• We fixed an issue with Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) that causes a memory leak when multiple clients connect to the same server.
• We fixed an issue that prevents Cortana Smart lighting from working as expected if you shut down the machine while Fast Shutdown is enabled.
• We now provide the ability for Dolby Atmos for Headphones and DTS Headphone: X to be used in 24-bit mode on devices that support 24-bit audio.
• We fixed an issue that prevents the IME user dictionary from being used when leveraging folder redirection with user profiles.
• We fixed an issue that causes Microsoft Office applications to close unexpectedly when using a Korean IME.
• We fixed an issue that displays incorrect folder properties in File Explorer when the path is longer than MAX_PATH.
• We fixed an issue with a blurry sign in screen.
• We fixed an issue with Windows Update becoming unresponsive when checking for updates.
• We fixed an issue that prevents the correct lock screen from appearing when the following policies are set:
  • Policy “Interactive Logon: Do not require Ctrl+Alt+Del” set to “Disabled”
  • HKLM\SOFRWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\System
  • DisableLockScreenAppNotifications = 1
  • DisableLogonBackgroundImage = 1
• We fixed an issue that causes File Explorer to stop working when you browse directories of raw images and other file types.
• We have improved the tablet experience for convertible or hybrid devices in docked scenarios.
• We have improved the user experience of the Windows Hello enrollment pages for face and fingerprint setup.
• We prevent accounts from a different tenant from signing in to a Surface Hub device.
• We have updated the time zone information for the Yukon, Canada.
• We fixed a stop error 0xC2 in sys.
• We have fixed an issue that causes the Event Viewer Microsoft Management Console (MMC) to stop working when the secondary monitor is above the primary monitor. An out of bounds exception appears.
• We have fixed an issue that prevents the migration of the Windows Remote Management (WinRM) service startup type.
• We have fixed an issue with object performance counters.
• We have fixed an issue that prevents Microsoft User Experience Virtualization (UE-V) settings from roaming to enable the signature files that are used for new messages, forwarded messages, and replies.
• We have fixed an issue that prevents users from setting the REG_EXPAND_SZkeys in some automated scenarios.
• We have fixed an issue with the EnhancedAppLayerSecurity node in modern device management (MDM) that prevents its setting from being applied correctly to client devices.
• We have fixed an issue that causes a memory leak in the exeprocess when the server is under a heavy authentication load and Credential Guard is enabled.
• We have fixed an issue that might cause a delay of up to two minutes when signing in or unlocking a session on Hybrid Azure Active Directory-joined machines.
• We have fixed an issue that prevents hash signing from working correctly when using the Microsoft Platform Crypto Provider for Trusted Platform Modules (TPM). This issue might also affect networking software, such as virtual private network (VPN) applications.
• We have fixed an issue that continues to display the previous username hint in the smart card sign in box after a different user has used the machine with domain credentials.
• We have fixed an issue that causes communication with the TPM to time out and fail.
• We have fixed an issue that sometimes prevents AppLocker from running an application whose publisher rule allows it to run.
• We have fixed an issue in which AppLocker publisher rules might sometimes prevent applications from loading software modules; this can cause partial application failure.
• We have fixed an issue that causes the promotion of a server to a domain controller to fail. This occurs when the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS) process is set as Protected Process Light (PPL).
• We have fixed an issue that prevents you from unlocking a device if you typed a space before the username when you first signed in to the device.
• We have fixed an issue that causes a system to stop working and generates a 7E stop code.
• We have fixed an issue that causes applications to take a long time to open.
• We have fixed classification failures caused by the wrong User Principal Name (UPN).
• We have fixed an issue in cluster scenarios that causes handles to .vmcx and .vmrs files to become invalid after storage failover. As a result, live migration and other virtual machine (VM) maintenance activities fail with STATUS_UNEXPECTED_NETWORK_ERROR.
• We have fixed an issue with interrupt targeting that might cause an interrupt to arrive at an incorrect processor.
• We have fixed an issue that causes delays during shutdown when running the Microsoft Keyboard Filter Service.
• We have fixed an issue that causes a machine to request a new IP address after authentication.
• We fixed an issue that causes the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) to download data while a device is in cellular mode without explicit user permission.
• We fixed an issue that prevents Always On VPN (AOVPN) from automatically reconnecting when resuming from Sleep or Hibernate.
• We fixed an issue that causes AOVPN user tunnels to use an incorrect certificate.
• We fixed an issue with AOVPN that occurs when user and device tunnels are configured to connect to the same endpoint.
• We fixed an issue that causes VPN apps to stop working in some cases when they attempt to enumerate VPN profiles.
• We fixed an issue that causes the Optimize Drives dialog to incorrectly report that previously optimized drives need to be optimized again.
• We fixed an issue that fails to turn off the host memory buffer (HMB) when you force the shutdown of a device. As a result, solid-state drives (SSDs) do not delete HMB contents.
• We fixed an issue that prevents apps from downloading an update or opening in certain scenarios.
• We fixed an issue that might cause a stop error (0xC00002E3) at startup. This issue occurs after installing certain Windows Updates that were released on or after April 21, 2020.
• We fixed an issue that might cause stop error 7E in syson servers running the Network File System (NFS) service.
• We fixed an issue with Server Message Block (SMB). This issue incorrectly logs the Microsoft-Windows-SMBClient 31013 event in the Microsoft-Windows-SMBClient/Security event log of an SMB client when an SMB server returns STATUS_USER_SESSION_DELETED. This issue occurs when SMB client users or applications open multiple SMB sessions using the same set of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connections on the same SMB Server. This issue most likely occurs on Remote Desktop Servers.
• We fixed an issue that causes SMB to incorrectly use the original, cached non-Continuous Available handle to a file. This handle becomes invalid after a network error or storage failover. As a result, applications fail with errors such as STATUS_UNEXPECTED_NETWORK_ERROR.
• We fixed an issue that causes the loss of written data when an application opens a file and writes to the end of the file in a share folder.
• We fixed an issue with some apps, such as Microsoft Excel, that occurs when using the Microsoft Input Method Editor (IME) for Chinese and Japanese languages. You might receive an error, or the app might stop responding or close when you attempt to drag using the mouse.

For more details, head over to the official blog post.


KB4571744 [Manual Download] Windows 10 2004 19041.487 and 20H2 19042.487

Manual download of KB4571744

• windows10.0-kb4571744-x64.cab

 

I mean that list is pretty small compared to what works in an kernel/OS that's been built upon for 20+ years. I kinda get the hate for windows 10 with regards to the telemetry but the rest of it is better than windows 7 imo. I don't have any issues with it.

For comparison here's what was fixed in the latest linux kernel patch. https://cdn.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v5.x/ChangeLog-5.8.4

All evolving software introduces bugs and whilst you can stay on old software such as windows 7 eventually you'll get left behind on features.

 

Hey guys,

I got a silly question to ask. I have repasted my 51m CPU and GPU with grizzly kryonaut. How can I know if the repasting worked?

 

Well. So my R2 is a go. If anyone is interested, here you can check the details:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...0-super-intel-i9-10900k.833947/#post-11042266

Basically a new laptop at a great discount due to some things.

 

Run a benchmark and check the temps but kryonaut isn't a great paste it dries out within a few weeks at the temps these machines run at so you'll probably get high temps within a few weeks.

The "lesser performing" pastes tend to have a longer life and are less prone to drying out.

 

Thanks mate. Any paste suggestions please?

I did two tests with R20

Room temp 17C. Both tests were done under full fan speed.

1. Overclock off in AWCC, no undervolt


2. Overclock and undervolt as pic shown


Not sure if my repaste with Grizzly kryonaut worked. Any suggestions are appreciated.

 

very impressive CPU scores, the 9900k undervolt & maxed fans can get you as far as score 4700 R20 and unstable.

your CPU is more than 25% of 9900k for sure.

 

Temps looks alright to me with the undervolt so good job. If worried about applying thermal paste just remember you can't apply too much the excess will always pump out. It might look messy but it works.

As for pastes a lot of the guys here swear by phobya nanogrease, but Arctic MX-4 and Thermaltake tf-8 are both supposed to last a long time as is Noctua-NT-H1.

 

I see, I have non k version 9700 in my R1, love it. Temps are always in the 60s for the most part unless I push it then its low 70s. I wish I could have got one of the silicon lottery 9700k. As one of the previous posts stated, even with the vapor chamber there 10900 was hitting 100 Celsius which is silly to me unless you need those extra cores for something particular. If I was going the workstation route, there are plenty of Quadro solutions on the market. This is a gaming laptop after all. I dunno, 100 Celsius seems crazy to me, just thinking about it brings me straight back to the old laptops that used to melt they got so hot; Voodoo PC and even some of Alienwares first custom laptops would get as hot as a frying pan.

 

My silicon lottery delidded i9-10900K with GELID GC Extreme on the CPU + GPU (not even using Liquid Metal)

Granted, I don't need all those cores as you mentioned but I had to get the top spec in order to choose the fastest RAM so it is what it is.

CINEBENCH R20



Fire Strike



Time Spy

 

@Papusan @Spartan@HIDevolution
So i did what @Papusan suggested and updated Nvidia driver with the latest and it solved the Latency problem with Nvidia (thanks @Papusan)
But then it was some other driver that would cause Latency: WDF01000,sys

After some research i find out that WDF01000.sys wasn't at fault but the victim (if i can say it like that) of another driver. I have tried a lot different scenario and desactivating some services and turning off different apps etc...
In the end i updated realtek audio driver: https://www.dell.com/support/home/e...wt64a&productcode=alienware-17-area51m-laptop with the latest and it solved all the latency. So for my 51Mr1 i needed to update both nvidia driver and realtek audio driver.

Edit: Désactivating all dell services seems to helped a lot too.

 

I have been using my A51m R2 for a week or so now. I have erratic mouse movement when a touchpad button is held down for 5-6 seconds (which I am almost sure is a driver problem). While debugging that with Dell support, the Support Assist tool said my graphics card is faulty and has to be replaced. Rather than fixing the laptop, I am contemplating returning it and getting a new one with a few changes.

My config is a 2070S + 1080p 144Hz. I am considering getting a 2080S + 1080p 300Hz for roughly $300 more. Obviously the 2080S would be superior and the only reason I went with 2070S in the first place was a fear of temps. I chose the 144Hz because I didn't know much about the 300Hz one. Even though I chose the 144Hz with G-Sync, what I got was 144Hz with G-Sync and with Tobii; donno if that is what they intended to do. I don't even know if I need/want G-Sync; I don't play but am hoping to start whatever the modern day Counter Strike and Age of Empires are.

Questions:
1) Is my fear of temps with 2080S unfounded?
2) Is there any reason to not get the 300Hz over the 144Hz?

I have a quote of $4K before taxes for 10900K, 16GB 2933MHz (64GB HyperX sitting on desk to be installed), 2080S, FHD LCD 300MHz, and 512GB SSD+1TB HDD.

I would love the hear your thoughts.

 

Temps for the 2080s are fine mine doesn't ever go over 75 on max fans. Even on gpu intensive games such as metro exodus.

 

So the variability with Fire Strike combined score seems to be a known issue. It appears to be related to some kind of issue with Windows thread scheduling. This Reddit thread is related to AMD CPUs but I presume something similar is at play in general:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/awjixo/3dmark_firestrike_combined_test_inconsistency_and/

 

Thanks for that.

Any thoughts on the 300Hz panel?

 

Watch the review, I talk about the display and everything else in it:

 

So my Kryonaut repaste today has been a bit of an anticlimax. Idle temps are little lower, very minor bump to Cinebench R20 score, fairly small (~200 point) bumps to Time Spy/Fire Strike scores. Still thermal throttles during Cinebench R20. Best scores I've managed so far:

- Cinebench R20: 6,286
- Fire Strike: 24,922
- Time Spy: 11,883

 

Thanks. Initiated my return; just have to pay for the new one.

By the way, I wasn't having much luck with this laptop at all. I will detail my problems to see maybe you have them too and just haven't noticed them.

1) With Tobii disabled, swipe left and right slowly on the touchpad to get a feel of it. Then hold any of the buttons for 10 seconds and release it. Now, swipe left and right at the same speed as you did before. Does your pointer move erratically too? Mine did and would go back to normal if left untouched for 10 seconds.

2) With Tobii disabled, the touchpad buttons random got stuck (not physically) until I swiped the touchpad. If I held a touchpad button down longer than 3 second-ish and then released it, the button would remain stuck until I swiped the touchpad. This made two handed dragging of files impossible. Also, long right-clicks wouldn't trigger until i moved my finger over the touchpad.

3) With Tobii enabled, two finger scrolls are super erratic. Scrolling is super labored in Firefox. In some apps, like Tobii Experience's game catalog window, scrolling speed is normal but the pointer would vanish. In some apps, like MS Store, the pointer would vanish and no scroll would happen. All those problems occur with Tobii enabled but all enhancements off. Tobii support kept on talking about a "Scroll to Gaze" which my Experience app did not have but I have seen screenshots online where there is a switch to turn it on or off; mine didn't have that switch. Disabling Tobii, scrolling would work as expected.

4) With Tobii disabled, two finger scrolling in RegEdit would bounce back. So I would scroll to go up and it would go up; that is until it hit the scroll top when it would bounce back as if it was scrolling the opposite way.

5) Despite running Dell's diagnostics tool several times that said all was okay, the last one dropped the framerate to 20-ish and then said hardware failure and that the graphics card has to be replaced. I used to noticed screen being garbaged when waking from sleep but felt it was just a driver issue; perhaps it was not.

Do any of the toucpad or Tobii issues happen to you too?

 

1) I don't ever use a touchpad

2) I don't disable stuff and start looking for problems until I actually face one which I didn't

0 issues with this laptop.

 

Random question. Assuming proper application, what kind of lifespan do liquid metal and thermal pads have?

 

In my experience, Liquid Metal has always lasted for the lifetime of the laptop. @Papusan can shed more light on this.

 

yes sir especially if applied correctly. Problem a lot of people don’t properly prep, apply and protect it.

 

As I expected, this is further proof that something is wrong with my machine. Thanks for confirming.

 

I would think twice about using liquid metal on the Area-51m as it already has a good cooling solution for a laptop. If you decided that it is a must, I would have one of the Outlets do it for you and have it covered under warranty. There has been many instances of owners doing the work themselves and frying there laptop from a stray blob landing somewhere without evening noticing it ever happened. I researched and did my homework on this threw forums, videos, testimonials etc...Yes as spartan explained it can last the entire life of the unit if there are no other issues as in the seating level of IHS(Integrated Heat Sink) to copper cooler or with the cooling solution it self. If your laptop is going to run in the 90s and 100s regardless if you use LM or not its just going to dry out the LM as the application isnt what its ment for. I would never use LM on an GPU, ever...Your just asking for trouble. Now if your thinking of say getting a silicon lottery CPU its very appropriate to use LM(liquid metal) between the CPU die and the IHS, that makes a lot of sense and I would recommend that. Other then that, I would research what kind of thermal paste it is you want to think about re-pasting with if that is something you want to do.

Even so, I say if your not having a third party outlet do the work for you like HID Evolution then enjoy your laptop for a year or two before you go hacking it apart and trying to re-paste everything. Its an expensive piece of hardware, I dont think it should be someones first laptop that they own to begin with, and definitely shouldn't be someones first time taking apart a laptop.

I do recommend however if you need to add memory or change out the harddrives etc... Its satisfying being able to do those things and experience the beautiful work that goes into this system. Repasting though, I would wait awhile and research what it is your trying to accomplish. Another words their is no need to fix something that isnt broke especially when you first get it. Now if your some crazy enthusiast like Spartan, sure, splurge and get the best of everything but he is an experienced mobile enthusiast that knows what he wants.

 

My oldest machine, M18x R1 from 2011 still has its original application of liquid ultra applied and working just fine.

 

I’m tempted to order a R2. Is it worth getting 3200 ram over 2933?

 

I ordered mine from HID and requested them to do the application, so I should be in good hands. Thanks for your insight!

Why is LM on a GPU trouble?

 

Why not wait 3 more days, and then order on the Sep 1st to celebrate the release of RTX 3080?

 

If you play online FPS games, 300Hz in general is a worthy update. You don't want Gsync for that specific purpose, although I guess it might be nice in other games.

Whether a 300Hz 17" laptop panel makes sense, is another matter. I couldn't find any detailed specs. This particular Dell panel is probably an overclocked 240Hz, with a relatively slow response (just by looking at the specs of the 240Hz panels they put in the m15 - 8ms response time, vs 1ms you can get on a gaming monitor). Because it's not a regular monitor, there won't be any way to customise it in a way you can tweak an external monitor. No overdrive control, no presets, no monitor-side colour control, no dark area stabilisation, no dedicated gaming features. Apparently, there are no pro reviews where they would look at the screen performance in detail (colour coverage, contrast, black uniformity, response time, input lag etc.)

Basically, if you expect to play fast-paced games, and must rely on the laptop display, go for it - you should see an improvement over 144Hz, otherwise pick a higher image quality panel or get a proper 24" monitor.

Bear in mind, there is basically an inverse relationship between image quality and speed of panels, so if you are more of a content creator/photo editor - you will likely get better results with a slower panel.

 

The 300hz panel model is in my signature. It is: AU Optronics AUOBE8E 17.3" FHD 300Hz 3ms 300-nits LCD