*OFFICIAL* Alienware X Series Owners Lounge and Discussion

Having a problem with advanced optimus on the x17 4k variant. Every time I disable it in bios the system will restart when closing the lid despite me changing the settings to do nothing. This problem doesn't occur when advanced optimus is turned on.

All drivers are updated as of 1/8/2022

 

I have the identical problem. So, Until Dell resolves the issue whatever the cause may, I've been manually shutting down.

 

Shutdown problem has been fixed through optional Windows update. Showed up as Dell firmware update for Windows 11.

 

Dell firmware update in windows update = BIOS update

 

I've had problems with the Ethernet connection on my X17, which would disappear after sleeping or restart. So I uninstalled the Alienware-provided drivers and installed the latest Killer Software directly from Intel.

It didn't help my problem (which may turn out to be a cabling problem after all, I'll find out next week), but there is really no downside to installing the latest Intel drivers from my experience. If you have problems with WIFI or wired Ethernet, you might give this a try.

The (WIFI) drivers on the Alienware website are from September 2021 and current Intel drivers (rel. 3.1121.1159) a just a couple days old with lots of stuff fixed incl. WIFI causing BSOD under Win11 (in release 3.1121.104).

 

Just got in my KF432S20IB1K2/32 Kingston FURY Laptop Memory DDR4 3200MHz 32GB (2 x 16GB) Kingston FURY Impact CL20 1.2V SODIMM and 2 x 2TB Samsung 980 Pro for my 11800H 3070 X17. Wanted to post some before and after benchmarks for anyone that was thinking of doing the same upgrade.

 

Sorry Left Out The TimeSpy Before and Shadow of the Tomb Raider

https://imgur.com/a/rwpUf4s

edit: Made an Imgur account and added the pics if thats easier

 

So i just received my replacement unit and i don't have the black screen upon boot or some key RGB not working on the keyboard anymore.
Everything seem's to be perfect expect for one thing.

When i boot, it takes literally 58 second to boot to windows, anyone have any ideas why it's taking forever?

I see that Raid is on by default, is there a way to swap to AHCI without reinstalling windows all together? When i swap to AHCI it just won't boot to windows.

 

go to msconfig and click on the boot tab and select the safe boot option

restart the computer and go into the bios. change the setting from raid to ahci and save the changes and restart the computer again.

the computer will boot up to windows in safe mode. go back to msconfig back to the boot tab and unselect the safe boot option

restart your computer and when it starts up again you will be in ahci mode.

i have done this for both my x17r1 and my wifes m15r3 and it worked both times.

 

Damn GG that worked and i just booted to windows in like 8 second.
Thanks my man

 

So my consulting efforts got me a bunch more Dell rewards dollars. I just received another X17 (my first one returned due to a number of issues). As I am configuring it and putting it through its paces, I am faced with the issue that the 3080 will absolutely not draw more than 115 watts of power as verified by both HWinfo64 and MSI Afterburner. I have used both Valley and Furmark. Configuration:

11980HK, 32GB 3466 from Dell
4K screen
Windows 10 21H2, January 2022 CU applied
latest nVidia DCH driver, installed via NVCleanstall
testing using built-in 4K monitor

CPU is only drawing 20-25w during testing, so no where near the 210w system power limit

Power limit bit is immediately tripped when the stress run commences

I have tried with the BIOS Optimus setting on and off

No tuning/adjustments were made using MSI Afterburner. I noticed this while collecting baseline performance data.


I am certain I am just missing something silly, but I just can't seem to figure it out. Any suggestions?? Any assistance will be greatly appreciated!!


Oh, on a different note, I seem to have gotten another unit where the keyboard does not fire all inputs, with the first stroke (single or key-combo) being ignored itermittently but far to freqently to ignore. I have applied the Dell support Cherry keyboard patch file.

 

Hello everyone!
I want to replace my 1080p 360Hz display with the 4K 120hz in my x17

Does someone know where I can buy the display? Can I get one directly from Dell?

 

what's your temp like?

 

no problem, happy i could help.

 

I finally solved the problem. I found a reference online about the nVidia Platform Controller being involved with Dynamic Boost 2.0. I had omitted this module from my NVCleanstall configuration. I use DDU to wipe the existing installation, reran NVCleanstall with PC added to the mix, and voila - 165w while benchmarking.

Now I need to figure out why I am only seeing about 137w on the GPU and ~57w on the CPU when running Furmark and Cinebench R23 concurrently. I was expecting to be hitting around 210w between the two. GPU temp was steady at 71C and the GPU Power Limit flag was on. That last part seems odd, unless it trips at 115w and stays on during all boost operations. CPU temps were mid to upper 70s, with no limits tripped.

UPDATE: I opened HWinfo during the dual stress test and it revealed that what MSI Afterburner was showing me was only part of the story. HWinfo's Total System Power was steady at 229w while Furmark and Cinebench R23 were both running.

On to the next step - undervolting the 3080!

 

So my replacement X17 shipped with 32GB 1rx8 ram
And PM9A1 1TB SSD (PCIE 4.0)

 

It seems the problems with my (cable-based) Ethernet connection were a driver problem after all.

Intel release new drivers last week (3.1122.182) that corrected the problem:

There is no new driver release from Alienware yet. So you have to uninstall the Dell supplied driver package and install the Intel one, if you want that issue fixed!

 

Check if you received low density ram to make sure you have the good stuff. The PM9A1 is the OEM version of the Samsung 980 PRO, one of the best drives available on the market.

 

It's the good ram!

 

Where oh where will all of us notebook people hangout after this month?

 

Is the forum closing or something?

 

Yes, it is shutting down effective January 31st, 2022.

Forums closing at the end of January - Alternatives? | NotebookReview

 

Hello everyone,
I have the Alienware X17 R1 with advanced Optimus (360Hz G-Sync and 3080). I recently installed the new NVIDIA driver "511.23".

When I put my BIOS to "discrete graphcis only" I get a black screen when Windows 11 loads. Windows Hello is working but I can't see any picture, only a black screen. When I attach an external monitor I can see that I have logged in to Windows.

Then I installed the Driver from Dells Website and it worked, even with dGPU mode only (set in BIOS).

Anyone has an idea why the new NVIDIA drivers are not working in dGPU mode?

 

is there a way to activate alienware high performance mode without the high fan speed?

I ask bc theres a big difference in cpu scores between alienware high performance mode vs default windows 10 high performance

 

@Papusan @Mr. Fox @etern4l @iunlock

I don't understand, how come the x17 R2 has only 4800 MHz RAM while the x15 R2 has 5200 MHz RAM?

 

Alienware tweeted back to me when I asked this: More configs are coming soon, stay tuned!

 

The x15 R2 uses LPDDR5, but the x17 R2 uses regular DDR5. The two shouldn't be compared as if they're the same (at least from what I have understood skimming through the differences between LPDDR and DDR).

 

As above. Could be that's the current greatest non-LP DDR5?

For example, the upcoming, optionally water-cooled, XMG NEO supports up to 64GB DDR5-4800.

https://www.xmg.gg/en/news-xmg-neo-15-e22/

 

wow! nice catch! I would've never have noticed that

 

They didn't give us any screen options for the x17 R2 only FHD which from the review I've read has even lesser brightness than the x17 R1 coming it just at 360 nits vs the x17 R1 which had 400 nits. The x15 R2 has a QHD screen, I wonder how bright that is

 

The thinner x15 R2 use BGA memory. And the 5200MHz ram is for the bragging factor. Faster laptop memory means even more disgusting mem timings than ever. And you can't fix it. Everything welded on the MB.

Btw. The bigger brother the x17R2 play the 2nd violin vs it's competitor in gaming. But I expect 2nd is better than 3rd Has to be better than 3rd, bro @Mr. Fox

And nice to see the older x17 can keep up with the new and shiny R2 with the new added TI moniker from Nvidia...


Tested: Alienware's x17 R2 Beams Core i9-12900HK, RTX 3080 Ti Aboard for Battle

 

I stopped trying to figure out why they do things the way they do them a very long time ago. I am almost certain I would disagree with it even if there were a valid list of lame excuses.