*OFFICIAL* Alienware m15 Owner's Lounge

Thanks - I hadn't thought about that. The fact that they are listing that in the notes tells me it is on their radar somewhat, so that gives me some optimism. If they haven't updated AWCC by later this month (my m15 is a gift, so my use is limited for now) or done another BIOS update to (actually) fix it, I will try that and then resort to bugging technical support about it.

I usually wait a little while to do BIOS updates (unless they add a feature I'm really hoping to use) in case their QA department didn't test it sufficiently, so I'm hoping I don't need the downgrade capability (I've never done that in the past).

 

if you have warranty make sure to use it indeed ! only that way you can ensure yourself you'll have a working (or new) machine that works !

 

None knows if Dell have locked it further down.

 

I've been doing some more benchmarking tonight and I've had some.. curious results. This laptop seems to prioritize higher clocks and higher temps and lower fan speeds vs trying to keep temps down and ramping up the fans to do so. In XTU for example, (with throttlestop) I still am around 80c or so and the CPU fan comes on pretty strong. When I run a game (superposition benchmark) the fans don't seem nearly as loud, but the CPU tops out in the low 90s and the GPU is at around 74. That's strange to me, I don't know why the fans don't ramp up more to knock temps down.

 

That's been my experience as well. They really seem to care more about keeping it quiet than preventing overheating. Performance mode is pretty loud, but balanced doesn't spin the fans up enough at all, so there's not much else you can do.

I want to see if there is some way through afterburner or maybe GeForce experience to override the GPU throttling that happens with the cool profile. The fan curves seem much more reasonable and I can override the CPU settings with ThrottleStop, but there is some kind of power limit throttling or something that kills the GPU performance.

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Guys, a detailed gaming review by OwnOrDisown:-

 

I'm extremely skeptical on the liquid metal job HID did on his m15... Stock paste has better temps than that

 

If they ever get around to fixing the custom profiles/fan curves in AWCC maybe we can use that to define our own fan curve and fix the issue. Here's hoping. I really love the laptop otherwise, there's just nothing else out there that has a 4k screen, this level of hardware and overall build quality and this relatively slim form factor.

 

So this guy has said that his heatsink the M15 is defective, and after getting it replaced, his temperatures dropped drastically...
https://www.dell.com/community/Alie...-throttling/m-p/6226971/highlight/true#M18312

 

So an update for AWCC dropped yesterday also apparently. I installed it, rebooted and ran superposition about 6 more times.

Bad news is that it still doesn't appear to respect custom fan curves in any way, and setting a fixed speed flat out doesn't work.

Good news is that it at least appears as though they've changed the fan curves for the stock profiles. Running balanced, I'm getting much higher fan speeds (good thing) in superposition, going all the way up into the high 80% or even touching 90%. HWMonitor still shows spikes into the mid to high 80's, but AWCC doesn't go above mid 70s for either CPU or GPU and if you actually watch HWMonitor that's where it spends most of its time, right around 75 or 80 tops. XTU still tops me out around 80-85 with these (theoretically) new fan curves. It's an improvement for sure, and I'd love someone else to test it and verify my findings. I'm using 1080p extreme preset in superposition for reference.

Interestingly, even though my temps have dropped, my score in superposition has not really changed (fluctuates maybe 50 points or so each run at most). So even though the laptop was definitely running hotter than I'd like it to have been running before it doesn't appear as though it was thermal throttling.

 

Interesting. Would make sense if Dave2D's initial impressions were correct.

Plus, with all the damn venting this thing has it should run much cooler in my book. Something just is not right.

 

Going to the link brings me to the Dell deals site.... Can I get a new link? To the forum post about the heat sink?

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I hope this is the case but at the same time how badly will this impact consumer perception...

 

His link is fine. I ran into this yesterday with a different link. You can't go to them through Tapatalk - it takes you to the Dell deals site. If you follow the link from a browser, it should take you there (it does on my PC anyway).

Interesting finding. I'm not sure I would want to gamble on the tech replacing the HS (mine definitely runs hot without my tweaking) unless I was really unhappy with temps.

 

Watching that OwnOrDisown video makes me glad I didn't bother paying extra for HIDEvolution to get an m15 with the LM and repad treatment. I had read another thread recently on reddit about someone that had just gotten a laptop from them (different model) and was having temp problems in the 90's despite having the LM treatment from HID. I have read several good reports on HID here on NBR (they post helpful information on here often as well), but seeing these anecdotes gave me enough hesitation that I decided to buy direct and do the repaste myself. I would expect the CPU to run much cooler under a professionally done LM/repad job. The GPU ran very cool pretty much the whole time I think (not a shocker). I appreciate how detailed the guy on the video is - testing many combinations, etc.

Edit: It could just be a mix-up/misunderstanding on whether or not the laptop in the video had gotten the LM treatment as well. We have no way of knowing for sure.

 

I'm still struggling to justify what I paid for mine. Thinking about sending it back and just not getting anything right now.

 

I hope that Alienware is onto it and will update the bios further to modify CPU usage, there's no reason it should be hitting high 90c under stress tests with the way the heatsinks/fans are.

 

Might be a good idea, with the RTX laptops being introduced at CES in Jan. There might be some good options for laptops. But you would be looking at Feb for the earliest releases I guess.

 

Do you really think that RTX laptops won't come with bleeding edge pricing and 1st-gen thermal solutions?

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I think we can all agree here those rtx laptops won't be worth it for the price they ask at the beginning. Plus it's worth noting that 1070 is more than enough for 1080p gaming. Maybe even a 1080 Max q if you really wanna push it. Pascal prices are getting cheaper by the day and the performance gap between Maxwell and Pascal is WAY bigger than Pascal to Turing.

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Yeah I wouldn't be waiting to get an RTX laptop.

I'd be waiting to get even better pricing on current tech. I feel like every option I look at, I am compromising something.

 

Where is the update for AWCC I'm not seeing anything past June

 

Just thinking about ordering a M15 ... I'll replace my desktop because I'll travel a lot for my new job starting in January.
Right now I'm playing some BF5, Overwatch, CSGO, Dota 2, Far Cry 5.
Would you recommend me the 1060 or the 1070 version?

 

I'd recommend waiting until they straighten out the thermals or not buy it at all.

 

I would wait. Far Cry 5 is probably the most CPU intensive game around. The CPU will most likely throttle. Best to wait for a BIOS update to fix the fan curve issues or the heatsink factory issues.

 

I just got my m15 (UK) and I can confirm the temperature of the chassis are noticeable also at idle workload (55 Celsius degrees) while installing windows updates.
What I am more concerned about right now is the battery. Hwinfo tells me the designed capacity is 90WH but the full charge capacity is only 85WH with a wear level of 5.7%. Is it something I should worry about? I don't think it's normal that a brand new battery is already partially consumed.

 

Everyone with the 90 it seems are showing around that number for wear. Not sure if it's being read wrong by hwinfo as I've only seen it on the 90. Maybe I'm wrong but just the pattern I've seen.

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OK, so I know this is the AW M15 owners lounge, but I just got the Aero 15W (GTX 1060 model) and although it seems to limit boost out of the box, thermals are pretty dang good, and it's got a nice feel to it. For those on the fence here...

 

I am no expert by any means, but don't batteries need a bit of a break in period to get their full capacity anyway?

 

My m15 is at 8-9%, with the battery capacity being like 81-82WH. When I bought a replacement battery from Dell for my 15r3 (it had gotten to 40% wear towards the end of the second year), it had 2.4% wear. I've had other laptops be at 5% wear after 2 years. Seems a bit hit or miss among Dell and other manufacturers.

I plan to watch it closely and see if it gets bad enough to try to get them to send me a new one in the first year.

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The original battery performs like absolute ****e and the replacement should be much better. Kill it faster to get replacement ASAP. If you game on battery few times it'll due very soon. If you see Simplo Battery rated at 16.4V at standard charge and 18.x-19.x at Turbo charge then its that crappy battery. The replacement from Panasonic or Sanyo or LG/Samsung should be much better.

 

https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/product/alienware-m15-laptop/drivers

It's on the drivers page for me. Last updated date is 12-05

 

Thanks for that info! Very helpful. I had contemplated doing a few full cycles to see if the wear picks up quickly like the 15r3 default did. I'll have to check that out.

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Man, all these temperature reports really are making me want to wait for that i5/1060 variant. Anyone have any idea if they'll let you max out the other specs if you opt for the lower spec processor, or have they done it before? I know on the 9570 they lock you out of upgrading a lot of options if you go for the i5.

 

I don't think they've said. I think there was a tweet at one point from Azor about allowing an i5 with the big battery and it was coming next year, but that's all I recall seeing related to the i5.

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Do that at least twice or thrice to get instant results = Higher Wear level.

 

M15's are on sale for 15% off with the coupon code (US) : AFF15AWPC
There's also a flat discount atm along side the coupon
But there isn't a Ebates event going on, only the standard % cashback.

 

Where do you see the brand of battery? Hwinfo doesn't say it right?

 

Now's the time to grab it Bob! Need that review!

 

I was wondering the same thing. I took a picture of the battery in my m15 and it just says "Alienware" in terms of companies (see below). to the right are a bunch of warnings. I didn't pull the battery out and look at the back, but I don't remember there being any lettering on the back of my 15r3 battery.

 

Thanks but I lack confidence in these at this point, especially at $1700 shipped for the model (post discount) I would prefer to test. I have a GL704 and the OP laptop coming in. At least I have faith in those two laptops.

I have been working with Stephen on his, so hopefully that review will reflect my testing style and overall thoughts. If not I will be sure to add what I think is important to the comment section.

 

I repapplied my LM today, because I had the feeling that I might applied too little or that it dried out already because of the copper and it did. Then I found that I can't screw in the screws for the CPU heatsink completely so the stock pads might be too thick? Can anyone confirm that? Anyways I ran OCCT for 5 minutes and this is what I got.

AWCC Fan Profile = balanced

144mV Undervolt

Speed Shift - EPP = 0

Speed Step disabled

https://imgur.com/a/E4RpdgF

 

I had a similar issue where some of my HS screws didn't want to go all the way in. It felt more like the screw (or the spring around the screw) was giving the resistance and the HS felt secure and flat, so left it, not wanting to risk stripping the screws (I had that happen once on my 15r3 - not fun). It could have to do with the retainer clips (just speculating). I am less worried about it being perfectly flat since I'm not using LM. My temps have been fine with non-LM and proper CPU and fan settings. You could try replacing the pads. I assume you'd need really thin ones (based on what I saw), but it's kind of a trial-and-error thing to get the HS to fit just right. While I really want to have that and be able to use LM, I just don't want to invest that much time.

I'd be concerned if your LM has dried out that quickly. On my 15r3, it took 6 weeks or so before that started to happen. I was worried about the chance of pump-out, since I could tell the seal wasn't that good with it drying out. With a proper seal, LM should last a very long time. There might be a way to make a dam around the dies to seal it off from air to prevent the drying out, but I didn't have the time to invest.

 

Now run a CPU intensive game so we can see what happens when the heatsink is heat soaked from both CPU and GPU. You might have yours dialed in but I want to know for sure. Great job so far!

Thanks for the pics!

 

outside of having to throttle the turbo to keep temps down, I am pretty happy with mine. I like the keyboard a lot, though the trackpad is kind of meh.

Honestly - I just played around with the Aero15w today and I was mildly impressed with that machine. The stock software seems to really neuter it, but if you open it up it can fly pretty good with temps barely touching 90 and no need to limit the turbo at all. But it feels a bit sluggish compared to the M15. I prefer the chassis and the touchpad on the Aero and the screen is really pretty to look at.

Overall I am still sticking with the AW, but I could see buying an Aero 15X if the price came down a bit. It's so nice and compact and with the battery life, it would suit me a lot better.

 

The AERO needed a fresh ISO for sure . Out of the box it wasn't as snappy.

 

I do have that OP Walmart jobbie coming on Tuesday. I wanted to make sure I got that ridiculous price before it goes away. Looking forward to your review Bob.

 

No doubt lol. Hopefully I’ll have that review up by that following weekend

 

Quick question, has anyone gotten alienfx working with league of legends? Or any alienfx supported game for that matter?

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So apparently Alienware command center uses Intel xtu to control the CPU. I see a bunch of Json config files in the command center program folder in the overclocking section. I see some overclocking profiles for gpus but none of them listed is the 1070 Max q (but 1080 Max q is defined) I wonder if we can tweak it such that an option shows up allowing us to overclock the gpu from command center....

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