*OFFICIAL* Alienware X Series Owners Lounge and Discussion

Well, I contacted support and a friendly bloke organised a replacement screen for me. That was easier than I thought. Although I'm still worried that the replacement panel may have light bleed or something, the current 165hz panel looks phenomenal other than the dead pixel, the color and contrast are very nice, even compared to some other IPS screens I've had.

Also the 512gb SSD that came in my X17 is a Gen4 Samsung PM9A1 which was a nice surprise as there was talk about only the 2TB option being Gen4 at some point.

I also managed to make the speakers sound better by installing the Realtek drivers from the Latitude 7520 and opened the back of the laptop and put some foam between the speaker and wifi antenna block and the speaker and case bottom as they were touching and causing a distortion noise at high volume. Now the speakers sound ok, but I still recommend not updating Realtek audio drivers and leaving the factory drivers in place if you have a choice.

 

The power drop bug was fixed in the previous bios update.

[FIXED] Alienware X17 sudden power drop when CPU+GPU combined power exceeds 210W fixed with latest Bios version(1.2.1) [Credit: Desperate_Opinion_85 for verifying this and MogRules for bringing up the issue with Dell to fix] : Alienware (reddit.com)

 

It is absolutely a worry and huge frustration to have a new laptop you presumably had to wait for quite a bit arrive in need of a repair. Guess it's hard to have good QC and compete hard on price at the same time. Nothing new there. I would rather pay more for better QC, but that's just me.

The fanboys will tell you that other brands have QC issues, but the question really is: what is the rate of QC failures among the major OEMs? Also, with many other brands you often don't have to wait that long for your computer and you can just return it straight away without the prospect of a lengthy wait for a replacement if you wish to reorder (although to be fair AW machines are also available from some major retailers).

 

Hmm, good to know that the issue has been resolved. But I'm curious, how hot does it get after the power limit fix, if one uses this laptop with the stock thermal paste?

 

in that case this review should help

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Alienware-x17-R1-RTX-3080-laptop-review-A-new-beginning.563108.0.html

fresh out of the oven

 

Any tip on getting proper diskmark scores? With windows defender on I get 1700mbs read, with it off I'm getting 3500mbs read, but it should be closer to 7000mbs. What else is causing the reduced performance that needs disabling?

 

If anyone wants to try the final Windows 11 build early you can do it now. Microsoft just released the final build to testers.

How to get the free Windows 11 upgrade early - The Verge

 

Notebookecheck reviews tend to be a mixed bag. Some good info there but no RAM testing, glossed over the poor GPU performance achieved in their testing, not even listed as a "-" in the summary. The guy basically says "yeah, but it's much better than 3080 90W" lol . They state TGP as 165W instead of breaking this down into base + boost, etc.
Interesting to see high DPC latency, perhaps consistent with high RAM latency.

 

Just a quick update about Win 11 pro. Now that I've been on it over a week I have no complaints. All drivers are stable, no crashes or conflicts. In fact Nvidia's latest drivers are geared towards Win 11 so if nothing else it's become more stable. This is by far the most stable beta OS I have ever seen going as far bask as Windows 2000. I had a couple minor issues with my Stardock Start 11 but it was resolved after downloading the latest beta. I do like the Windows 11 Start menu a hell of a lot better then Win 10 to the point where I might stop using Start 11. And best of all, most of the annoying notifications are gone. It's as if Microsoft took a few lessons from the Apple OS playbook.

 

An interesting tidbit. The 3080 in X17 run with around same GPU temp but with a lot lower Gpu power than the 3080 in previous gen Aw 17R4 in the stress test. It seems the Dynamic boost 2.0 feature have drag it to another level.

x17 - 3080


Aw17 R4 - 3080 https://www.notebookcheck.net/Alien...p-into-the-atmosphere.533137.0.html#7499351-2

This depends on the user. Not all like the new Apple UI.



The Windows 11 Start Menu is barely usable - gHacks

Not Everybody Is a Big Fan of the New Windows 11 Start Menu

 

I think in this case it's more to due with the fact that the base wattage on the X17 is 115W versus the 150W base wattage in the M17 R4. The CPU in this case is most likely pulling 35+ more watts sustained than the M17 R4. The screenshot for the M17 R4 doesn't include the average values unfortunately.

When running games this is less of a problem though. Furmark seems to hammer the GPU and push it to its base wattage when it is being ran.

 

The X17 officially has the highest wattage 3080 in existence. With a max power draw of 752.673W. XD /s jk of course. HWInfo had some glitched readings.

 

Windows 11 Pro Debloated version is here (And this time, it is pre-activated!). Enjoy!
Thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...y-auto-updates-defender-pre-activated.836857/

 

Fiancé bought this for me. Fits the X17 naked in 2 of its slots and one of its slots even in a Nidoo 17inch sleeve. Very comfy and nice and thin, I am not a fan of the huge packs that would hang far off my back.

Ensure you get the 30L.

https://www.nordstrom.com/s/hersche...schel Supply Co.&fashioncolor=Green&color=300

 

That is really clever from AW. Advertise it as 'upto 165W with dynamic boost' and hope no one notices the lower 115W base TGP.

And so, that finally makes a lot more sense. That is why the X17 had lower fps in Notebookcheck's Witcher 3 test compared to the Asus Zephyrus S17, which has uses a lower TGP 3080. And notebookcheck didn't even test the S17 on the turbo mode - they just tested it in a lower performance profile, and even that was enough to beat the X17. If the base TGP is indeed this low despite the bigger 17 inch form factor, the X series feels like a ripoff compared to the last year's Alienware offerings.

EDIT: One can also add last year's M17 R4 into the Witcher 3 FPS test comparison. The M17 R4 just blows the X17 out of the water, no contest at all.

 

Before you jump the gun, do realize that the S17 they are testing is running in Discrete Graphics Mode. The X17 they are testing is the 4K model with Optimus on.

Like I said in games the wattage isn't an issue. It will run at upwards of 140-150W in practice, assuming the game is sufficiently GPU intensive. Between the CPU and GPU there is a 200-210W total power budget that it will balance between the two processors.

 

The only thing Notebookcheck has mentioned is, dGPU is selectable through the BIOS on 4k 120hz models, and supports Advanced Optimus on other display variants. They haven't stated explicitly anywhere about whether or not the laptop was tested in Optimus mode, so it should be assumed that they tested it in the dedicated GPU mode, isn't it?

 

The issue is that their benchmarks suggest otherwise. Time Spy graphics is only hitting 12055 which is indicative that they're still running in Optimus mode. If they were truly running in discrete Graphics mode it should be near 12600+. I have the X17 and have done comparison benchmarks between the two modes before.

 

Remember they most likely bench stock machines, no UV or OC (nevermind LM).

 

The ~12600 Time Spy graphics score that I am describing is what you get with a completely stock system in discrete graphics mode, with no undervolts and no overclocks.

~12000-12200 Time Spy graphics score is what you get if you are running in Optimus mode.

 

I'm pretty sure I saw sub-12k results posted here earlier. I also saw you all over a reddit post claiming a TimeSpy issue is at fault lol

BTW could also be a question of RAM. IiRC NBC won Adata modules in the lottery, which seem to be the worst.

 

I totally forgot about the Windows 4K resolution bug with 3DMark. XD That may be the cause for the low scores in Time Spy on Notebookcheck. That's not a good reference then. Sorry about that.

The low performance they see may also may just be due to the ram as well like you said.

 

You're right - 3DMark doesn't set the resolution to FHD in TS, but upscales to 4K which is rather silly. On an external monitor the difference should be minor (80 points for me), but with Optimus it's 4x the bandwidth needed that way.

 

@S.K @JinTexas Since you both are using Windows 11 I wanted to ask if you two are experiencing issues with Alienware Command Center? The Overclock and Thermal profile hangs and is stuck loading. I can't change them currently. Are you experiencing similar issues?

EDIT: (FIXED) I figured out what the issue was. Because I had "Virtual Machine Platform" enabled under Windows Features it prevented the AWCC OC Controls from accessing GPU registers. Likewise, Throttlestop and undervolting weren't working while "Virtual Machine Platform" was enabled. Disabling "Virtual Machine Platform" fixes the issue.

I just need to remember to disable "Virtual Machine Platform" when I am not using Linux in order to get back fan control, overclocking, and undervolting.

 

Ty for this. I found it funny when I switched to win 11 from 10 that my temps on some core went back up to 90c after they used to be mid 70 with ThrottleStop

 

They have now tested 3Dmark Firestrike with the new bios for boosted performance.

We ran 3DMark Fire Strike both before and after applying the BIOS update and only saw a slightly higher graphics score of just 1 percent (25471 to 25730 points). We suppose it's better than nothing and users may still see greater gains when gaming.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Essen...nable-hybrid-graphics-switching.565200.0.html

 

And just to confirm since I don't use it very often I had no issues with Alienware Command Center. So far the only program I have issues with is Paragon hard disk manager. The old version I am running works fine but the newest version refuses to install no matter what compatibility settings I try. I also uninstalled the old version with Revo uninstaller with no success. I emailed for support a few days ago with no response as of yet. Since the current version of Win 11 is the release candidate their have been very few updates to the OS over the last week. Their have been a lot of updates to apps in the Windows store.

 

Question 1: Is their a way to get the Nvidia driver to recognize external monitors? Before the last firmware update it did. Now regardless of having advanced optimus enabled or disabled only the Intel driver sees it.

Question 2: While attempting to change my system settings to RAID 0 I cloned my system drive to an external USB drive with the intention of booting of it and then re-cloning that back to my X17 with RAID enabled. The problem is no matter what boot settings I try I can't boot from the external. The X17 sees the external just fine as well as windows boot manager off of it. The problem is in the middle of trying to boot of it the X17 always crashes. I have tried all the usual trouble shooting techniques such as disabling the original boot manager, disabling secure boot. The problem is that the stupid BIOS refuses to allow legacy boot even though the cloned drive was set up for uefi. Their is no reason why this shouldn't work because I have successfully booted onto cloned USB drives with other systems. I just really hate the idea of doing a fresh Windows install if I don't have to since I have zero performance issues and my primary reason of switching to RAID 0 isn't because of speed but because I only have 215gb free on my existing 1tb drive. BTW. Using my Dell rewards from the purchase of the X17 I only had to spend $12 for a 1tb Samsung 970 evo plus.

 

Question 1: I am not sure why your laptop isn't detecting the external display in the Nvidia Control Panel. The external monitor still shows up in the Nvidia Control Panel on my X17. I am running Windows 11 build 22000.194 and Nvidia driver version 472.12

 

The external display refuses to allow me to force it to the Nvidia drivers. Even after disabling the Intel drivers and disconnecting cables and trying to connect directly through Thunderbolt or my Kensington dock it's the same results. I always do a clean install of Nvidia drivers so I'm not sure what to make of it.

 

When thin design is prefered over better gaming performance, more I/O ports and chassis rigidity. Not everyday you'll see its predecessor mop the floor regarding gaming performance. Aka opposite of progress.

Chassis rigidity is a slight downgrade from the m15 R2/R3/R4/R5. Both the base and lid flex more readily from their respective corners and with slightly more creaking than on the older thicker design. Applying pressure on the keyboard center or outer lid will result in a bit of flexing as well. We find the overall build to be comparable to the MSI GS66 while being a few steps down from the Razer Blade 15.


Alienware x15 R1 laptop review: Dell's thinnest UFO has landed notebookcheck.net | Today

 

So this will bypass the igpu on the none supported screen configurations like the 4K 120hz panel? Or is this just forcing it to not use the igpu? If it's the former it definitely better than nothing. But less than ideal considering how expensive that panel is.

 

Wanna hear something funny. I got Dell to replace my screen because of a stuck pixel. But after having it replaced now there is some light bleed and the quality of the panel is just lower, the color and contrast are visibly worse. Original Panel was AU Optronics AUO5793 and looked mint other than the stuck pixel. Replacement panel is Chimei CMN1770 and looks exceedingly average. I'm pretty annoyed.

 

You were warned. To be fair, it's pretty hard to just return a laptop after being forced to wait several weeks for it.

Those NBC reviews are getting pretty biased these days. A "home run" lol. The massive TGP cut of over 20% becomes "a slight cut". What would motivate a reviewer to act this way, I wonder?

 

Ouch. I'm not sure how, but I would try and get that returned. You might have to get on the phone or live chat with a few reps. That's crazy they would give you a panel that was just completely different from the original.

 

Guess 3080's are hard to come by. AW removed the 3080 options form their website. Couple days ago it was over 2 month build time on a 3080 machine

 

The X17 with RTX 3080 is no longer available in the US and German Shop (also no more 11980HK). Three users from German Alienware forum Aw-Community have reported in the last 24h that their orders were pushed back to end of November.

 

Finally RAID'd my 2 980 pro's. Not for the speed but for the combined space. Regardless this was crystaldiskmark. This was not an easy task with Windows 11 because I had to create a bootable ISO of Win 11 then load the drivers during install. At least I have a clean Win 11 install for the release version.

 

Made a cooling pad for my x17. A ton of air over the bottom helps a little on temps. Might see how much it helps to just flip it over and let it blast on the keyboard when using an external keyboard and mouse and keyboard.

 

Looks like the best way to get maximum performance with the Samsung 980 pro's is to RAID them. Yesterday I installed the release version of Win 11 pro so that might have something to do with the speed increase.

 

This just reinforces why I hate all the kids running the PC industry today Kids being anyone under the age of 40, but so far I have had nothing but positive things to say about Win 11 and every single review I've seen says it's full of bugs and not worth the upgrade. So far I have seen nothing like that. It is actually more like a streamlined version of Windows 10 with better icons. Their is a lot less bloat then Win 10 and your finally able to get rid of things like cortana as well as a lot of other forced upon you apps. The only issue I have ran into so far is with AIDA. It now shows the proper info for memory during the memory benchmark but it's giving all 0's. I'm waiting back for a response. The update to HWinfo64 looks real cool.

 

For those like me that hate paying subscription prices I downloaded Office Pro plus today for For $202.39. Dell is charging customers over $400. I hate that these companies want to charge subscriptions for everything because that $200 I paid today is still less then a year of Office 365 business premium and Pro plus has all the same programs. I also recently upgraded my Adobe Acrobat Reader pro, non subscription version, from 2017 to 2020 for $127 through student and teacher addition, otherwise that cost over $400. Anyways, Here's the link where I purchased office.

https://softwarekeep.com/microsoft-office/office-2021

 

Hello,
Someone with rtx 3080 can put a gpu-z screenshoot please, thanks!

 

Got a response from AIDA64 and a link to the new beta released yesterday. That fixed the issue and the cache & memory benchmark finally shows all the date for the memory. This is a first run so the memory needs to be tweaked for the latency but here's the link to the newest beta and screenshot.
https://www.aida64.com/downloads/latesta64xebeta

 

Thanks,
I see the x17 has 150w not 165w like m17r4 has...

 

I fix it for you All is about the Dynamic Boost 2.0 feature now (120w+45w = 165w) http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...e-and-discussion.835993/page-79#post-11105815

 

guess again

 

115w it is.

 

Even worse. 115w+50w Dells own specs-sheet still say 150w+