*OFFICIAL* Alienware m15 Owner's Lounge

That seems way to big to fit in the laptop to me.

 

All it looks like is a thin copper plate. Just order some copper plating and some metal shears mark and drill/punch the holes and you have yourself a cooling plate...

I might even fab the copper pipes to get better cooling. Joys of having a carpenter in the family.

Heres a link https://www.amazon.com/20-Gauge-Cop...targid=aud-466346205544:pla-570851384836&th=1

and you can make a copper mug out of the leftovers for delicious Moscow Mules.

 

I got my m15 last night. I've jotted down some notes below based on my impression so far, in hopes that it helps those that are looking for info/impressions on the m15. It is a Christmas present for me, so I will have to pack it back up soon until then.

Specs:

• 1070 MQ
• 16 GB Ram
• 512 GB Single SSD
• 1080p 144hz screen
• 90 W battery
• Would have been fine with i5 but couldn't wait until the new year (my son is getting my 15r3 for Christmas)

Observations/Comments:

1. High-level feeling (details below):
   1. Satisfied with it
   2. Performs fine (will be better with repad/LM eventually), since I am okay with lower CPU clock speeds
   3. Main concern is lack of fan control and low load/idle temps
2. Solid chassis build - zero flex
3. Feels very light compared to 15R3
4. Size comparison to the 15R3/4 is consistent with pictures I've seen online
5. Disabled the Killer Network process via task manager to get internet connection to activate and install updates (found this tip online)
6. Ended up reinstalling Windows to get the drive partitions set up the way I like
7. Keyboard
   1. Decent travel - feels like recent XPS keyboards
   2. Spacing is a little narrower than AW 15r3, but could adjust to pretty quickly
   3. No dedicated Page Up/Down keys (unless you disable the num lock)
      1. Requires AutoHotKey fix to avoid special character mis-keys
      2. Discovered SharpKeys can remap the macro keys to Home/End and Page Up/Down
8. No concerns with screen
   1. Not super-picky about colors, but did not have issues; don't see artifacts or dead pixels
   2. Fast refresh rate is nice and noticeable even just navigating the desktop, etc.
9. 8.2% Battery wear out of the box
   1. Not happy about this, but suspect Dell wouldn't replace it like that.
   2. Will watch wear over the first six months and see if it gets to a point where I can get them to replace it.
   3. If I have to buy a battery after a year or so, it's not the end of the world
10. Battery life
    1. Haven't done a full run-down, but can get idle power draw down to 10-12W, which will result in over 6 hours battery life
    2. A little disappointing when getting nearly 5 on 15R3 (without Optimus), but this is mainly due to slightly smaller battery and then battery wear out of the box
11. Power adapter doesn't light up (no big deal, just was a nice feature before)
12. Fan control is limited
    1. AWCC gives a few options:
       1. Performance (100% fans)
       2. Balanced (assume typical setting)
       3. Cool (apparently throttles the GPU and maybe increases the fans some)
    2. AWCC allows you to make custom profiles but appears to largely ignore them
    3. HWInfo fan control doesn't work
       1. Disabling EC support option shows the fan control, but the buttons are grayed out
       2. I had them enabled at one point, but there were only three settings and they seemed to stop working after a few minutes
    4. Tends to want to leave fans off at idle, which leave the chassis warmer than I'd like
       1. Probably my biggest peeve is using a laptop on my lap that is warm under idle or very light workloads
       2. Okay in the winter, but can be very annoying in the summer
    5. Performance mode is pretty loud - not sure it cools that much better than balanced, just doesn't require as long to spool up
13. CPU required different settings in ThrottleStop to get the clocks the way I liked (compared to 15r3)
    1. The computer was idling at a much higher clock speed than I'd like, such that the idle temps were warmer than I'd like
    2. I found that adjusting the speed shift value and using the TPL section allowed me to configure it to my liking, whereas my 15r3 could be set just from the main screen
    3. For my use case, I don't need very high clock speeds, so I normally disable turbo to keep things cooler.
14. Re-pasted with ICD and undervolted -.125
    1. Helped temps in Heaven run (typical game simulation for me, GPU heavy, fairly light CPU load)
       1. Before repaste, many cores were in mid-low 80's
       2. After repaste, all cores were in low 80's
       3. After repaste, undervolt and downclock to 2.2GHz, cores were between 68 and 71
       4. GPU dropped from low 80's max to mid-low 70's
          1. Before and after, GPU generally ran at full clocks (1400 Core MHz and 2000 MHz memory)
    2. Did not prevent high temps in OCCT at stock clocks
       1. At stock clocks, OCCT stops within 2 minutes due to temperature exceeding 95
       2. Able to hold 2.7 GHz for extended period without going above 70 (after repaste), did not try higher clocks
    3. Probably just could have downclocked and been fine without the repaste (though I don't regret it)
    4. Getting to the heatsink was pretty easy
    5. Heat sink screws were spring-loaded, presumably to add pressure
       1. Some of them didn't want to screw in as far as the others and I didn't want to risk breaking it

 

So far, after playing with it some tonight I am definitely leaning towards liking this PC. There are some concerns, though.

While making dinner, I went to go check email and couldn't get Chrome to load webpages - at all. Gmail would come up but would quickly freeze. Everything else just spun as if it was trying to load. Edge worked just fine - no problem at all. Rebooting worked once and then it did it again, shutdown/reboot didn't work thereafter. I had to uninstall/reinstall Chrome. So far so good there. Was busy with dinner so didn't get to dive into it much and it's easy to reinstall.

Didn't get to touch it again until a few hours later. Played FFXIV for about 45 minutes. On "balance" mode temps were hovering around 90s. On "performance" mode, they were hovering near 100, which it did hit and then shot down to the 80s pretty quickly, building back up. On both modes, the GPU was staying around the mid-high 80s, max of 87. Didn't compare the FPS between the two. The keyboard and sides get stupid hot. Had the wife touch near the side where my mouse was, she was not a fan. I tried the "cooling" mode and my FPS dropped to the teens and the game was all but unplayable. Not sure what that's about but since I was in the middle of something, just changed it back. Fans were definitely loud, but they don't have a high pitch to them so it's bearable. I did have the volume lower so I can get a sense of them. With a higher volume or headphones, it probably wont be that bad.

Based on the above, it's definitely looking like a repaste and undervolt will be needed. I may also do a fresh install of Windows if odd problems like the Chrome issue props up again. I usually do a fresh install, but with all the issues reported skipped it.

Things I do really like... the sound quality for a laptop is impressive. It gets loud. At 30% volume, you can hear it clearly. 75% I can hear it across the house. Screen is fantastic and I do like the higher refresh rate. Keyboard has grown on me. I'm typing this on it and feel just as comfortable on it as I do my G710+. Trackpad is still ok, gestures seem to work and haven't had any issues with the palm rejection.

I have noticed the same problem I had with the G7, just not as bad. The corners are not rounded, so they do dig into the arm some. Again, nowhere near as bad as the G7, but it's enough to force an adjustment to my natural setting.

I'm currently on battery, after a full charge and it shows 5 hours 30 minutes remaining. Screen is at 40%. Only thing running is two tabs of Chrome. Been like this for about 30 minutes. I plan to use it during work tomorrow on battery to do a real world test of its life. Temps show it to be around 42-43, which is impressive. This is on "quiet" mode - the fans are not running.

Surprised that the Killer 1550 is doing so well. It is performing better than any other laptop I've touched this year and is stable - minus the early issues with the software.

So far, I like it better than the X1 Extreme and the Razer Blade. I do think the G7 was better out of the box, but the cons definitely outweighed the pros for that PC. I really did want to like the G7. If a repaste and undervolt can bring the temps down on the m15, this might be a winner for me and may actually see me making it my daily driver so that I can give my wife my desktop I built earlier this year after my old one died as opposed to investing in a new desktop. Hers is starting to show its age - an old XPS desktop she bought about 5 years ago. I swapped out the PSU and added a SSD earlier in the year, but her GPU is struggling (think 540 or 560, can't recall off the top of my head) and her fans need replacing. I can replace the GPU and fans easily enough, but you start asking how long you're throwing money at an old system as opposed to a new one. Plus, she games more than I do and deserves a solid machine. We only bought this as my old Thinkpad with a 940m started to barely hold its own on any game I played and work has me travelling a lot more than before. While I travel, we play games together and talk in Discord. Plus, I am doing a masters degree online and spend a lot of time doing schoolwork around the house and when I travel.

Even if I don't make this my daily driver and just keep it for travelling and schoolwork this laptop is overpowered. Hotel gaming, even at current temps, would be OK. But, I'd love to try to get them down 10-15 degrees. That said, with my specs being i7/1070/16gb/512gb/144hz/90w/silver and after all of Dells shenanigans, I paid, with tax, $1,766 USD with two years of premium onsite warranty included. For these specs, I'm not sure what else is out there that I could get for that type of money. Had I paid full price, though, I would be singing a different tune. As it stands today, I plan to keep this PC.

 

Lost a % of drive life.

 

Yeah, saw that. I'm debating swapping it for a Western Digital black 500gb as it is

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

Did u reinstall the killer 1550 drivers, or is it plain disabled?

 

I agree with almost all of your pros and cons. I did run the drive tests on my 970 Evo 1tb and the temps hit 106c! Am I looking at this right? I'm going to clone windows to my 860 Evo 2.5" 1tb see if the stuttering stops gaming. I'm thinking temps are jacking up on the 970 Evo and it stutters with the temp. I could be way off but can't hurt to try to the heatsink gets here. Also waiting on another 8gb ram and gonna try a repaste. Without undervolt it hits 100c gaming after undervolt it stays about mid 80s and might hit 90c but no throttling. The GPU hovers 68-69 with a high of 71 no undervolt, yet. I really wish the heatsink was separate instead of this setup. The CPU needs more, the GPU is no issue.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

Are the screen hinges tight or does the screen have some free moving play?

 

Amazing review, really appreciated. I bought my m15 and I expect to receive it by the 13rd (UK). I didn't include the Killer wifi card and I am wondering if I still get the wifi issue or not. In the case I do a fresh installation of the SO, should I install the Killer centre as well? Sorry, my first AW and I still don't know which software/driver is required and which is not.

 

Hi, just joined in, and I just bought the m15, will still arrive on dec6, but reading through the posts, i’m a little bit worried, because I originally planned on getting the razer blade 15, but i saw dave2d’s review on the m15 and said that the m15 thermals are really good, that, and the ability to get a 90w battery got me decided on getting it. Now i’m worried. Can anyone post a video on what is the best heatsink and repasting solution and how to do it? It would really help a newbie here. Thanks!

 

Mine is on the truck for delivery... so hopefully get some more impressions later today.

 

Some more info about the heat sink...

The service manual refers to the screws as "captive." There are little plastic rings on the bottom of the screws that keep them in the slots when you pull the heat sink off. I'm not sure the justification for those, but one of them broke when I pulled the heat sink off (I was fairly gentle, so I think it broke in assembly). I didn't have any issues putting that screw back in, so I assume it's fine.

As I mentioned before, the screws are spring-loaded and are beefier looking than the tiny ones used for the 15r3 HS.

The stock paste looks like Dell's typical "stamp."

The pads on there look very thin. I'm guessing 0.5 mm will be the way to go for a re-pad but I won't be able to test that until after Christmas.

The HS felt like it laid fairly flat on there. With my 15r3, the HS would wobble when you set it down before screwing it on until I did a re-pad (followed iUnlock's guide), then it was flat (no wobble). The m15 didn't have that, though I still had some CPU core temp differentials, so it's probably not as flat as it needs to be.

I did get some game time last night for my last test. I played Doom at ultra settings for about an hour and the CPU and GPU maxed at about 70 (I didn't take a screenshot so I forget exactly). I mostly played with the CPU pegged at 2.7 GHz, but it was fine (though a bit cooler) at 2.2 GHz. The game tended to want to run at 72 FPS (presumably because I had V-Sync on), though it had some spikes above that. I didn't think to try disabling V-Sync to vary the frame rate more. The chassis was definitely warm to the touch, but I was able to play with it on a thin board on my lap and it kept the heat off of me. That's my typical gaming use case and it seemed to work fine in that setup.

Lastly, here is a pic of the HS so you can see the pads:

 

Don't tell me they did the tri screw design AGAIN. -_- OH DELL

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

They did, but the tripod is on the GPU this time. Since the GPU tends to run cooler than the CPU (and the GPU ran pretty well in my testing), I'm not too concerned about the tripod being there. The CPU has 4 screws around it.

 

What a funny world we live in, I used to remember when the gpu would always get hotter than the CPU and now it's the opposite.... At least the cooler component is facing the right side this time. I bought some new thermal paste mentioned earlier in this thread. Hope I won't have to use it and I hope the battery life isn't ****.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

Didn't touch the drivers, only the software.

 

I haven't done a fresh install, yet. I only installed the drivers and removed the software. Drivers should be the only thing you need.

 

Has anyone tried updating the killer software? The idea behind it is really attractive but it seems to always be poorly implemented :/ I wonder what happened? Do they not have any QA guys?

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

isn't the 1550 Killer just using the Intel 9560 NIC?

 

I disabled the service via the "Services" window after killing the Killer process in the task manager. Out of the box, I could not get an internet connection via wifi until I killed that process.

When I did the fresh install, I just installed the wifi driver and Windows downloaded most of the rest of the drivers and I didn't see the need to install in the Killer software.

 

Think it's the 9260. http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/killer-wireless-ac-1550-review.814190/

 

Perfect, then just ditch all of the Killer crap and install the intel driver. Should solve all the problems. I do this ALL the time. Killer is killer when it works.

 

Will the Intel driver even work with it?

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

I have yet o see it NOT. Killer uses intel NIC now which was brilliant on their part and better for us.

 

I might give it a try, I just happen to have the Intel chip though... Would that be better? Or should I stick with the killer card?

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

There's no such thing as a "Killer" card anymore. They use intel NICs with their Killer software to do what they did on previous NICs featuring the Killer name. So you will definitely have an intel NIC.

When I do my fresh ISO on this once I receive it, I will NOT install any of the Killer stuff from their site. Heck, the current Windows build should automatically recognize the NIC as an intel product and install the drivers accordingly.

 

With my fresh install, it didn't recognize the WiFi card. I had to install the WiFi driver from Dell and then Windows downloaded most of the rest of the drivers.

I also couldn't install normal NVIDIA drivers. I had to install the Dell ones to get the GPU working. I assume that is due to the max Q spec being different by manufacturer, but this is my first max Q. It seems to want you to install the GeForce experience and then update drivers through there. Not thrilled about that. I'll have to tinker with that more after the holidays.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

You would connect your laptop with the lan port and install the NIC drivers from their site.

To get the Nvidia drivers to update on an Optimus laptop you must install the GeForce experience app first, sign in and then download the drivers through that app.

 

Dude. Your specs are the exact same as mine, save for the color (I went Nebula Red) and I went Windows 10 Pro. I have had my order canceled twice and reordered due to Dell issues and I am currently sitting with a price of $1,792 BEFORE tax. Just about $1,900 with tax here in PA. How in the F did you get it down so low? I also don't have any warranty, but don't care to have one.

My delivery date is 12/11. Original order date was 11/7/18.

 

I ordered yesterday and I’m not going to chase Dell down should they cancel mine.

Fingers crossed these issues have been sorted

 

I'm still super scared I'm not going to like the glossy bezels, they seem so cheap via pictures.

 

Ship has landed... installing Steam to test some games & temps (I'm not a benchmark guy). As long as temps are manageable on CPU & GPU I will put in the 512 950pro I have waiting for it

Initial impressions:

Keyboard is a little shallow, but better than 7377 keyboard I had I think. Overall I like it.
Screen is nice, got the same AUO panel as others.
A bit smaller than I was expecting from AW, the size is great.
Nebula red was the right choice
PSU seems lower quality than previous PSU's I've received from dell..

 

I had to replace my order 4 times. Each time I negotiated a discount. I did end up being on the phone with various front lines and managers for about 5-7 hours.

 

The bezel doesn't bother me to much, but it's a fingerprint magnet and cheap looking. I do wish it was matte, but I'm ok with it.

 

Man, just downloading and installing software is pushing the CPU to almost 80c. Not a good sign.

 

I've been very fortunate in that I've had the same rep. But my GOD that price difference is too much for me to ignore. I just reached out to him. Even if they have to place a new order and can't just issue a credit for the difference, the delivery date won't get pushed back that much.

This whole process has been a major cluster F.

The problem with pushing so hard is I worry that they'll screw me with a crappy build, lol.

 

I have a y580 with shiny bezels. It does not bother me. It's not a touch screen so I don't see why it would get too messy.

D brand would likely make something for it in the future.

 

Dude they called me thanksgiving day right before dinner to tell me there was an issue and they needed to cancel and reorder. I was so pissed.

 

Ok so after a little bit of Rocket League, the CPU hit 94c and the GPU topped at 73c. It does get a little loud but I don't think it's terrible for a laptop this size.

The 144hz screen is crazy nice. I will say, I think there is some input lag or other lag because compared to my 160hz desktop setup, my control doesn't seem as clean in Rocket League, which is a great game to see if there is any lag. I'd say it's subtle, but overall for laptop I find it acceptable.

My biggest concern right now are those CPU temps... if it doesn't pass 94c in my other games I may live with that. 73c is very acceptable for GPU.

The biggest thing I'm not liking right now is how the entire laptop is warm. It's almost like they use the body of the machine as one big heatsink lol. Right now I think it's the deciding factor for me to return (assuming I don't spike over 95c on CPU in my other gaming tests).

 

If RL is getting to 94c then 100c is a guarantee lol. Can’t wait to melt mine.

 

I still think the laptop body won't heat up as much as a razerblade 15 with their vapor chamber...

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

I suspect the same lol. I don't play any really demanding titles though, Rocket League is my #1 by far. And typically this will not be used for gaming, otherwise 94c would already be a no-go for me.

 

Undervolt easily lowers temps to mid 70s I heard though which is nice

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

I know others may cringe at this, but I'm curious how yours would run if you disabled turbo on the CPU. You can do this through ThrottleStop (there is a "Disable Turbo" button on the main screen), though the instructions to tweak more than that would get a lot more involved. If you don't need the full CPU performance for that game (most games I play don't need it), you should still get good frame rates, but have a much cooler CPU. It begs the question "why put a CPU in there that can't run at it's designed capacity" but that seems to be Dell's MO lately. Hope this helps. It's been very useful to me.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Yeah I would have gone for an i5 if it were cheaper and available, I don't need lots of CPU typically.

 

Only reason I bought the i7 6 core is cause I plan to duo boot gentoo Linux (everything is compiled from source) and multiple cores will help with compile times...

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

Temps are warm out of the box but with a bit of tweaking you can get it right down.

I run quiet profile,
Undervolt of -.150
Cap cpu to 3.5ghz in throttlestop
Raise the rear an inch

By doing this the machine is so much quieter and I get good temps.

The only thing I have left to do is repaste but I have just been so busy lately

 

yes it is : https://www.killernetworking.com/products/killer-wireless-ac-1550/

 

Perfect!

I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these! I’m going to do my best to make it as awesome as possible.