*OFFICIAL* Alienware m15 Owner's Lounge

37 or 33 degrees reduction?

 

37C average use, 33C full load.

 

So, does anyone reckon the i9/2089 m15 will have a whole new cooling solution, or will it just run throttled more often?

 

Knowing dell, the latter! They did mention a vapour chamber design in the future so we can but hope

 

Probably the same and throttle more.

Sign me up.

 

Well, if we're hoping, I guess one that's a drop-in replacement for the m15-r1 version might make sense in terms of keeping the other case parts the same, and so reducing inventory...

 

Wow! I'm guessing a lot of that is due to much better die contact after your modding rather than just better paste...

 

Did you do any special modifications to the heat sink? I don't think the CPU side fits flush which is why I might not be getting good temps across all cores.

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@Rei Fukai which have the AW17R5 and i9-8950Hk say the Vapor Chamber heatspreader Alienware put into latest models is pure Scam.... I can’t see a change will make the big differences in cooling
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ber-to-a-heatsink.826742/page-2#post-10842297

 

True ! There is no "Vapor Chamber" Cooling within the heatsink. Just a polished coldplate to trick us into thinking that it is an vapor chamber. I'd say the R5 heatsink is marginally better than the R4 heatsink due to more contact area they created for the heatpipes to connect to the heatsinkfins. AW = Utter garbage BGA cancer with locked down castrated bios running in an COMPAL chassis. Nothing different from DELL

 

I don't think so. Definitely was making full contact per the remnant thermal paste. An excessive amount of of thermal paste was used originally.

Just removed the junk.

I'd primarily note that it was also very poorly assembled from the factory. I'd recommend taking it apart and redoing it properly.

 

That's for the gpu though, what did you do to the CPU side other than liquid metal? I've repaste twice and overwatch still hits 95 C on overwatch at 120 fps.

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If you have bad temps still, try to repad it as well.

 

I think the liquid metal is key. I tried my usual goto paste and it didn't improve things much.

 

New BIOS update to properly fix fan curves! FINALLY
https://www.dell.com/support/home/u...osCode=WT64A&productCode=alienware-m15-laptop

- Fixed the issue where the system fan does not run according to the custom thermal profile settings configured in Alienware Command Center.

Fingers crossed

 

Is it the bios they added like 2 days ago or yesterday? If so I'm sorry to disappoint you but custom fan curves are still not working, at least for me anyways.

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I'm pretty sure this is not new. It's the same version (1.2.5) as what they released last month and the detail page shows a release date of December 5. Thanks for sharing with the group though

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Has anyone here been able to run league of legends @ 144 hz throughout the whole match? I get 144 fps at the beginning and then it dips to 120 or 110 when I get to lane or a team fight.

I recently repasted and playing overwatch with all CPU cores at 3.9 GHz and -140 mv undervolt the cores seem to be still hitting 95C. I think the heat sink on the CPU isn't making proper contact otherwise the screws wouldn't be sticking out a little....

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It says it was updated today... That's the whole reason I linked the page. >.>

 

It was updated today.

 

The fan curves work properly. You need to create a profile then apply it in the Alienware Command Center under Home. Then change it where it says "Active System Theme".

 

But it's the same version, same file name, etc. They did this before with a prior version. The release date would say today if it were new. I don't know why they do that with the updated date, it's confusing.

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That's what I've been doing and no luck. For me, they work for a few minutes, then go back to behaving like balanced mode - basically shut off below 60 C.

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Can anyone tell me the part number for the m.2 ssd double heatsink?

 

Just to answer my own question: See https://www.reddit.com/r/Alienware/comments/a5om3d/m15_m2_heatsink/
The two m.2 ssd heatsink's part number is 0R46DX

 

Have you guys seen this already? https://www.engadget.com/2019/01/08/dell-4k-oled-xps-alienware/
OLED 4k is coming to m15 in March!

 

Yeah, kind of a bit miffed as I wanted an OLED panel and now it comes with both that and a 2070. Too late to return it.

 

Its good to see LG OLED screen on Dell w/ cinematic quality picture and video just like demo I saw on LG TV OLED 4k.

 

Well, if they fix the cooling system, I might consider getting one. Not holding my breath though.

 

Good to see OLED is back. No light-bleed. +/- 0 Response time. No burn-in in laptop screens unless you use keyboard as ashtray and close the lid too soon LOL


Rest of laptop makers will have to follow, or 'no business'. Once anyone gets OLED in laptop as main computer (me) there is no way not to want it in next laptop (to put it softly).
I hope Clevo will offer OLEDs in their laptops.

I don't know about you, but I noticed that many thin 15 inch laptops are offered now with (non MaxQ) RTX 2080s. How is this possible? Cooling?

 

I'm still waiting on 120 hz oled panels, the oled panels coming out soon are confirmed to be 60hz only

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My dream m15 would be QHD @ 120 Oled 15.6" panel with 2070 Max q and small built in legs on bottom panel to prop up back AND tobbi eye tracking! That's all I want! But I already have a 1070 Max q so I'm stuck with this for now lol, 2070 is hella expensive, about $700 more than what I paid for my current m15

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Man if I had the resources I'd pay to develop a better heat sink for the m15. I honestly think the m15 is the best laptop of all
It's not heavy
It's not too thin
Good form factor
And I love how easy it is to repaste this thing!

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Unless you are a pro gamer, the 120hz average response panel won't be better than a 60Hz ZERO response OLED. Also, those who had a pleasure to own/work/game on a AW 13 OLED, would never go back, not even to a great 120Hz screen, not willingly at any rate. The difference is just night and day.

 

Yup, that's how I feel. All other screens suddenly look bleak and laggy. Was gonna replace my AW 13 but there's no alternative at the moment. m15 + OLED = high hopes!

 

Go opposite way vs. Alienware's design language such as their new m branded models is a good thing. More pipes, more vents and thicker profile. Alienware talk mostly about how thin and slim their models has become. Design is become more important than functionality. Same philosophy as Apple.



Gigabyte will slowly phase out the Aorus X series this year
The manufacturer will be leaving behind the Aorus X design in favor of a newer narrow-bezel look with more heat pipes, more ventilation, and a slightly thicker profile... The change will hopefully address some of the most common drawback as heat and noise...

 

So I broke down and exchanged for a 3rd unit and have some very interesting results during early testing. I did so for a few reasons, but first off I do need to give credit where credit is due - Alienware/Dell Support. After returning my 2nd unit and being approved for a refund, I received an email from a manager/escalation point to ensure my return and refund would go smooth. This was most likely an auto-sent email, but after deciding to give it a 3rd go, I replied to it and received a response within the hour - from the "manager" (it could very well be a made up position/person, but they replied quickly and professionally).

The boring reasons why: for the build quality and specs, I knew I wouldn't get the same deal I got on this as I would anything unveiled at CES. I had already tried multiple other offerings from 2018 and wasn't interested in trying any more. Further, after seeing the price increase due to the RTX (my same build was over $150 msrp) cards and knowing it would be at least 30-60 days before I could get my hands on one, I decided to give the m15 another chance. In my reply to the manager, I specifically stated that I would allow the refund to be cancelled and another unit sent to me if they would extend my refund opportunity for another 30 days, thereby allowing me to return this 3rd unit without penalty with a full 30 days. This was important as my initial 30 days was up - I returned the second unit for a refund on the final day. He approved my conditions and in writing stated I can return for a full refund if it does not meet my expectations.

I also decided to double down and bought an Amplifier and 2070. Long story short on the AMP - I had to disable both the Intel and 1070 GPUs via Device Manager to get it to work without lag in games. So far, with about 30 minutes of gaming - it runs just like a desktop.

So, here's some initial testing with my m15 (8750h/16gb) and AMP (2070) being pushed onto dual 27" monitors and using the laptop screen to house discord:

Out of the box: CPU hitting 100c easily, and averaging 85c. The 2070 averaged about 70c.

ThrottleStop - 144 core/cache and 0 EPP - CPU averaged 67c with the highest being 71c. Difference of only 3c on all cores.

Fantastic temps. Keyboard deck, very obviously doesn't get anywhere near as warm. I only used FFXIV as a test as that is a great combo of CPU/GPU utilization. FPS in my personal house in game (it's instance and has a lot of rendering to do) - 100% GPU utilization and 150fps average. FPS in Kugane (popular town with a lot of player traffic, FFXIV scales GPU utilization down and uses more CPU in zones like this) 70% GPU utilization and 95fps average.

I did a similar test on my desktop (8700k, 16gb, gtx1080) last night. FPS in my personal house was 150fps and FPS in Kugane was 120fps. I believe since the 8700k is more powerful (what, 20-30%?) compared to the 8750h, that this would make sense. I also tested on my desktop around 4am with limited amount of players as compared to 9pm and a lot more players - so not directly a fair comparison. Surprisingly, though, my temps are better - albeit not by much - compared to my desktop (about 10c on the CPU and 5c on the GPU).

Fan noise on balance mode was almost inaudible and my 2070 was barely running its fans. For a laptop and desktop card, this is great imo.

I will do further testing, but I'm pleased. I did spend more money (the 2070 wasn't cheap) but had I ordered an RTX or another offering from last year, I believe it would have been a wash or darn near close. I'm hesitant to say it, but I think I may just have a winner here.

TLDR because I know this was long:

- Made a deal with Dell to get a 3rd exchange instead of a refund
- Bought a 2070 and AMP to pair it with
- Using an undervolt of 144 and 0 EPP, I'm getting almost identical performance to my desktop, but better temps.

 

If you get the 60Whr battery do you get 2 M.2 slots?

 

They all have two m.2 slots.

 

Hah thanks.

This video does tell that if you get the SSD slot you get only 1 M.2 slot..

 

OLED is infectious. I simply won't to a phone w/ no OLED. I felt OLED was really natural and blue light is somewhat lesser than LCD. In dark lit rooms with OLED screen I can browse/use the phone w/o disturbing others and has less eye strain.

 

If you get the 60w you do get the 2.5" bay

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Does anyone who has the m15 also have a 13 r3 to have some side by side and on top of comparisons?

 

Hello, everybody!!!
New BIOS release today v. 1.3.3
https://www.dell.com/support/home/u...osCode=WT64A&productCode=alienware-m15-laptop

 

The release notes don't look that exciting to me apart from the GPU tweaks.

I wonder if this is actually the first BIOS release with support for RTX GPUs...

 

Yeah, but the speaker in the video was mentioning that if you get the 2.5" bay, you get only 1 M.2 slot since that occupies the M.2 slot space.
I thought you lost the battery space only if you got the 2.5" bay

 

I think that he meant one 2.5" bay.

 

Anyone have some optimal throttlestop settings to share? Do I enable speed shift AND speed step? Or just one? Did the new bios change anything in Alienware command center at all?

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sadly enough, there are no "optimal settings" every chip's outcome is different when being manufactured, and really depends on which side of the wafer your chip is originally from. but what you can do fairly safe, is a 1.2 static voltage on the core, and a -0.175 undervolt.
Undervolting system agent, and intergraded cpu + cache can also help.

 

What about speed step and speed shift? Should they both be enabled? How much more or less can the gpu be overclocked? I know the gpu memory can be overclocked at least 400 on the memory but not sure on the core

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If you turn off speedstep your cpu won't boost above 800Mhz, i have speedshift turned off, cause it ****s with my windows powerplan settings. I'm also still run windows 1703 (running the image of my old 17 R4 but replaced my drivers from the R4 to the R5) cause i do not like the windows kernel bossing my cpu around (cpu should be able to boost to the Ghz i set it to, not what windows thinks i need ) so no speedshift. GPU oc: again depends on the chip, but a safe number is 50Mhz and with steps of 10Mhz you can overclock your gpu. Make sure to run a game (or heaven benchmark) to test your GPU under full load. That way you can make sure, your gpu does not crash when having a three hour+ gaming session. The memory can indeed be OC'ed 400+ Mhz (had my old 1080 running +780Mhz memory) and is very safe. Begin with 400, and then again in steps (of 20) until you find the desired OC level.

if you want it to make it easier, you can also use Nnvidia oc scanner, so it scans your gpu and creates a OC profile for your gpu.

 

I tried MSI afterburner beta and I could get Nvidia oc scanner to work...

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