*OFFICIAL* Alienware X Series Owners Lounge and Discussion

They can go for the ROG route and design some open-up mechanism. In this way they won't need any heatsink footprint. Or maybe they can design some external liquid thermal solution and sell it for another premium.

 

You can't fill a 15l plastic bag with 20l water. The only difference will be better airflow, but thinner chassis means you need to put in thinner cooling solution as well thinner/slimmer fans.

 

Hello everyone!
I'm new to this thread and looking to buy my first gaming laptop. I've done a decent amount of research and concluded that I want either an X15, X17, or M15 R6, all with a 3070 card. Are you guys suggesting that I should now stay away from the X17 due to the high density RAM? Or do you think it's still fine regardless. The R6 also seems like it could be the best bang for my buck, as the configuration I want is $500 cheaper than the X-Series and still comes with a 3070 125W GPU. Is the X17 still worth the extra money, though? I'm mostly a casual gamer, but still would like to make sure I'm getting the best machine possible for me. I'm also willing to spend up to $2,700 when it's all said and done.
Thanks!

 

Personally I won't worry too much about the ram since you can always update the ram down along the road, especially when you are a casual gamer.
I ordered X17 because I like larger screen and better thermal. If you put portable into consideration, you should consider some AMD machines with much better battery life.
I won't consider M15 anymore given you have the $2700 budget. You can shop around for some nice coupon/discount and that might get you 20% off, which translate to a 4k 120Hz 11800H 3080 X17 for about $2700 after tax. It looks like 32G ram is high density free.

 

Thanks so much for the help! And yeah, portability is not too much of a concern for me, so the X17 seems like the way to go. Interesting about the coupon/discounts. What's the best way to go about finding these deals? I know my dad got a deal once by talking with a representative back in 2013 when he got his Alienware 18. They were on commission back then so can I reasonably assume they're still on commission today? Maybe making a phone call can help!

 

Dell has some new customer/military 10% off, it used to be applicable to X17, but someone report that it has been disabled lately. I don't have those coupons anymore so I can't confirm it.
Rakuten sometimes have 10% cash back on Dell.
Combined you will get 20%

 

You might want to post a new thread in http://forum.notebookreview.com/forums/what-notebook-should-i-buy.16/
using the information in this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/what-should-i-buy-form-must-read-before-posting.29271/

This will help you take stock of your requirements. For instance, do you prefer 15 inch or 17 inch display? What sort of panel would you prefer? Do you need long battery life? Etc.

 

Yeah, you can still talk with sales support to get discounts. I recently made an order for the X17 and got $500 off.

Alienware X17

• i7-11800H
• 32gb-3200 ddr4 memory
• 512gb ssd (I have 2x1tb SK hynix Gold p31 that I can swap in)
• Cherry MX keyboard
• 4k 120hz screen
• 2 year premium plus warranty
• Price: $3400 before taxes.
• Before discounts the pretax price was ~$3900

I probably could have gotten more off (another $100 off) but I made the mistake of specifying a range by saying could you maybe take another $200-300 off since the Zephyrus S17 has 3 1tb ssds, so they only took off the $200 instead of the $300. If you want $300 off say could you take $300-400 off and they will comply with the lower bound of the range. Note that the extra discounts was stacked on top of an education discount for a combined total of $500 off.

 

Thanks a lot for the responses! That's some crazy discounts you got yourself there! It seems I could save around $300 for the build I want then, as I can get an education discount too because my dad's a teacher. And yeah, I'll start my ask a little higher then so I don't screw myself over lol.

 

They work. After my initial order of a X15 Dell wouldn't allow me to use discount codes, then a few weeks later before it shipped and options were available discount codes became available. I then canceled my X15 and ordered a X17 with a few extras. With the discount codes added the X17 was $100 cheaper than my original X15 order. I added the discount app to chrome and if it autoruns at the cart menu several discount codes until it finds the vest deals. Then I emailed my Dell rep who already has my retiree military ID information and he emails me back the 10% discount code quickly. As long as the laptop is in your cart you can share it with your rep with discount codes applied and he will add the extra 10% military discount to that. The app is FatCoupon Cash Back & Promo Codes available in the chrome web store. If you don't like chrome, it also works with edge equally as well. Typically, fatmenu doesn't like to stack codes but it will be depending on the codes. If you want to go with an older Alienware or even the non Alienware laptops like the Precision workstation models I have seen it knock several thousand off on a few occasions. I ran it again just for grins over July 4th and the same X17 I ordered with 64gb of 3466 memory and was cheaper than my current order tax included. If I hadn't previously ordered, and canceled & reordered 7 times in the last 4 months I might have done it again. FYI. If you go through financing, it's another few hundred-dollar discount at checkout. Just finance for the discount and when the laptop ships and you have the ability to pay your finance just pay the balance. If you can't pay the balance all at once it has 0% interest if it's paid off within 12 months. Fatmenu works with all Dell products and several other online retailers. Some manufacturers like Apple and Canon use MAP pricing. Link at the bottom explaining the difference between MAP and MSRP. Fatmenu is just one of many coupon apps but it does not require you to sign up like most do. There is also another called dealhack but I found fatmanu works better most of the time. They don't interfere with each other if you install both into your browser. One last thing. Some financial institutions like USAA for example offer bonus points which can be added as another browser extension. The way that works is you set the extension up through your browser, and when you purchase products, it automatically transfers purchase information to your bank and once the purchase is complete you can use those points to purchase other things or receive cash back. At the very least it might cover the cost of the tax.

MAP VS MSRP
https://www.thebalancesmb.com/what-is-minimum-advertised-price-2890196

Links to fatmenu and dealhack
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/dealhack/ffeejhiemifnhlbdjccehldkpphbllkc
https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/fatcoupon-cash-back-promo/cakejefemdjbmhdjkjhibjhmhgjefidm

 

With discounts. The only apprehension I'm on the fence about is cherry because I prefer my keyboards to be silent and type just fine with my logitech MX keys keyboard.

 

I ended up canx my x15 and grabbing the M15 R5 3060 that was recently on pretty steep sale plus military coupon. Then bought a 3070 Founders Edition off eBay (since I have a 9700K mini-itx desktop build ready for the GPU for the past few months). All together I overpaid for the 3070, but now I have a 125W portable machine + a 220W desktop that scores 11500 in TimeSpy. I like the design of the new R5 as I never liked the prior M15’s sharper corners and shiny bezel. My desktop is slightly held back by the CPU at this point, but it’s not a big deal as this bench score doesn’t really show parity in game vs an X17 that may score at that or higher in TimeSpy. So instead of one 3K+ machine I have 2 machines for the same price. I struggle with the idea of a laptop for 3K when you could buy two machines for the same-ish price, but I get that some folks prefer the one machine to manage. You could get an Aurora R10/R12 and a cheaper M15 R5 for the same price as a single X17. Food for thought.

 

Wait. . .this big power monster of a laptop doesn’t have a MUX switch or advanced Optimus? Man that’s criminal.

 

I thought about going that route but I like the peace and quiet of water cooling. And by water cooling I mean open loop. I even considered getting an alienware desktop, gutting it, then moving everything into my Caselabs case. But from my understanding Dell uses a proprietary form factor for their GPU's, so finding a water block to fit might present a challenge. Truth be told I am much more of a desktop guy, and before the manufacturers screwed everyone by selling most of their inventory to scalpers and miners in China I only really ever used a laptop for web browsing and paying bills. Nvidia shares a HUGE portion of the blame. They USE to sell some inventory directly, as was the case with the Titans which when I last purchased a pair of TXp's it was limited two per order. I now wish I had hung on to my TXp's which together cost $3,700. But when the 1080's were released I sold them for $1,500. But now because everything is so hard to find had I kept them I'd likely be able to sell them for as much as I paid for them. In addition to that I added EK water blocks and back covers adding another $400 per card. I've been building my own systems since the Pentium 2 days and this is the first time in my life that I've seen PC components that were outdated obtain equity. BASS ACKWARDS.

 

Can anyone please help me understand the FHD vs UHD difference with respect to Advanced Optimus and overall performance?

I'm keeping an eye on the X17 but I'm confused about the display to opt for (especially since some of you are returning the machine back) ... I intend to connect the machine to an external 4k HDMI 2.1 TV, is it still recommended to go for the FHD with G-SYNC and Advanced Optimus @360Hz?

And regarding picture quality, will there be no significant gain in going for the UHD?

PS: I'm not a professional gamer or anything like that so I'm not after pure perfection.

 

The choive of panel should have no impact on external display performance. We haven't heard from anyone using the 360Hz FHD panel yet, so not clear what the performance looks like. It's also not clear whether the "Optimus slowdown" has note to do with slow RAM. I asked the question but no response.

 

Is this about the low density vs high density RAM that the machine come pre-installed with?
https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/pfydresults/273259?categoryId=4325

 

Yeah, in general that's a big factor. Ultimately you could just look at the CL, alas Dell doesn't advertise this.

Not much is known about the actual performance of the 3466 Dell modules - these are not industry standard, but being low density they shouldn't be completely terrible.

The best option for several years has been to get the lowest RAM config and upgrade to HyperX Impact.

 

https://www.3dmark.com/spy/21432285

Timespy Score 13019
X17
3080 (125 core 300 mem oc)
11800h - 4.6all core 65mhz uv
32gb 3466 ram
1080p external monitor with laptop screen off
Full speed on fans
High performance battery

 

I just don't understand why a score for a laptop connected to external monitor should be valid? Too me it's almost same as people posting scores using a EGPU.

 

It stresses on the need for Dell to update the bios as it shows how much of a hit the GPU suffers from not having advanced optimus

 

Just incase your interested
Without the monitor
https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/63628572?

 

Maybe one or the other is interested in some real world temperatures.

Cyberpunk 2077, QHD, DLSS UPerformance

Cpu @4.3@UV / GPU OC +100/+300 / Lifted Back (1cm), Balanced fan, 30 min heat up time




Silent profile, cpu@4ghz, lifted back



Full fan, U3 Cooler, [email protected], GPU OC +100/+650

 

You should be able to squeeze about 20 more from core gpu

 

Here is one more with real world temps. The unified heatsink combined with the balanced power share algorithm between Cpu and Gpu help the Cpu to stay at 100C

 

I'm not sure why my x17 can't maintain 4.5 whilst gaming, it keeps dipping to 3.5-3.7 with no throttling power or thermal

 

Neither do the Cpu in the video I posted. Be sure you use Max Performance power plans.

 

I guess the i9-11980HK is not the best choice for a thin laptop. I think I'll go for the i7 if I finally buy the x17.

 

I Install warzone at the moment and will give feedback asap. Maybe with a short video.

 

Can you confirm max allowed undervolt for Cpu? Be sure they stick (someone whispered to me about a undervolt voltage cap introduced by Dell). And run it 1080P (1440 or whatever you prefer). Run it both default voltage and undervolted Cpu Most people run with default voltage as you know.

 

Open TS and raise long turbo power limit.

 

No. UV is unlocked.

 

I know undervolt is unlocked. But I mean I have seen some said Dell have added a max undervolt cap (high value undervolt didn’t work). Either in software or firmware. Max out core and Cashe negative voltage offset and see if it will stick and works as intended.

 

As i said. UV is fully unlocked. -120mv instand Blue, -90mv unstable, -65mv fine. No UV Limit on Dells site

Warzone, Balanced fan, 4.5ghz, -65mv via AWCC, temp hovers +-5 degree, stock paste, GPU stock



Full fan, GPU temp stable, CPU hovers +-5 degree



Dell made a little dickmove with the 3080tgp in the X17... I disabled GPU boost and saw the real tgp ^^

Its not 150w+15w. Its 120w+45w. So there is a wider window to reduce power If temp / load is to high

With GPU boost enabled.




Boost disabled.



So its basically a 115w/120w version with higher optional boost... sneaky...

 

I wondered because I saw Gizmo tech struggled with the undervolt. See from 1:24


Did you run the game at 1440P ?

Yep, the power shearing between Cpu and Gpu is pretty disusting. A nice way to avoid make a cooling that can handle full 100% load on both Cpu and Gpu at same time. Also the reason for the TCC Offset. Hardened push for awful home brewed power sharing algorithms show its ugliness.

 

How are you enabling/disabling gpu boost?

Temps look good in COD

 

Looking at his CP2077 footage around 03:10:00, he is hitting over 90C on the CPU, and 80C on the GPU. That's not great at all, is it?

 

First Youtube video of the x15 R1. If you want/prefer replaceable wifi-card for later upgrade then don't jump on the much bigger and thicker sibling x17 R1. Weird choices from Dell's engineers. Less ports, need dongle for ethernet and soldered ram but they find place for a wifi-card slot. Why not just weld it on the PCB as the bigger AW x17? Maybe they think the X15 will be the business model due more portability? Hmm

 

LOL. Power jack on the side, all the ports at the back including MicroSD slot. Usability slain at the Altar of Thin Madness and tossed into a shallow grave next to upgradability, performance, and common sense design.

 

At least Dell AW don't make any differences between their laptops vs. desktops.
Dell Needlessly Crippled The Aurora R10

Dell could have done a lot with the Ryzen platform, but instead they chose to cripple it right in the core, and remove all potential for upgrades, unless you ditch everything that Dell had any hand in, in the system (motherboard, chassis, cooler, high-latency RAM). Ouch.

 

Here ya go

 

Lovely, no mention of timings, even on the label. They really want to keep this under wraps, don't they?

 

I've been looking everywhere since my post and best guess is CL17. But I'm still 2 weeks out from my delivery date. After I put them in and run AIDA64 all will reveal itself.

 

What is this guess based on? I would bet fair amount it will be more in the CL22 ballpark. Think about the track record here, and the fact that if you had CL17 3466 RAM on offer, you would want to advertise that.

 

The 3466 Ram is not the fastest one.... CL24

 

Right... Overclocked Kingston Value RAM. Nice marketing move.

 

Is that gear2?

 

CL24

Jesus not seen ram that slow in years.

 

To help us get a better sense of how abysmal this 99ns latency is: my HyperX Impact at 2666 shows 64ns latency in AIDA. Sure, the sequential access speeds are lower, but, similar to SSD benchmarks, as the AIDA info balloon next to the "MB/s" benchmark explains, these do not represent typical workloads. Latency is king.

 

Not sure why the CL isn’t specifically stated like it was in my last system. Either way we’ll get to the bottom of this. If not AIDA them memtweakit