*OFFICIAL* Alienware m15 Owner's Lounge

Thanks for your advice @Kuro Kensei.

So, as a last ditch attempt, I've switched the GPU back to the offending Optimal Power setting, set the fans to max (which seems to bring the temps down on idle by good 5-10C) and re-tested. No crashes so far..
I still have 5 days to the return decision so willing to give the repaste a go. What do I need? I couldn't find a good repaste guide on the m15 so would appreciate some help.
1. Kryonaut (don't want to risk LM, not sure about the new 35W/M/K graphite pads - they are conductive)
2. Isopropyl alco / cleaning kit
3. You mentioned repadding. What needs to be repadded, what thickness / brand would you recommend, what area/size are we talking?
What method would you recommend with the Kryonaut? Pea drop in the middle, cross, use the spreader?

Many thanks in advance.

 

BTW The cooling is surprisingly more efficient in max performance compare to the "Optimal" mode. Keeps CPU (presumably toothpasted by Dell) under 90C when turboed to 3.9GHz (1234 in CB15, 2684 in CB20), GPU max is 62C under full load (TimeSpy 4K 7137 vs 6900-7080 before). Def more of an impact that on my old 15R2, suggesting that the Optimal fan setting is not aggressive enough. Update: a further CB20 run was less impressive - temp shot up to 98C and 2550 score.

Anyway, would appreciate any repasting tips people could spare. In particular, I'm looking for info on repadding. I can get 145mm Arctic pads, but the question is what thickness: 1 or 1.5mm? Also, how do I actually affix those pads to chips and such? With a tiny drop of thermal compound?

 

Are you within return period?

 

Yes.

 

I'd recommend returning it to save some headaches and money in the long run.

 

I'd be tempted to do so immediately if there was an amazing alternative. Very similar Gigabyte Aero 15-X9 is actually more expensive with less warranty (got 3Y on this). Reordering, paying Dell 10% more because of missed promotion and waiting 2-3 weeks for the lottery result doesn't sound appealing either. I actually like the current machine - perfect screen for one thing.

 

But if you know it has a problem, dell support will surely put the problem on your head and refuse any claims whatsoever.

 

Part of the reason people pay the extra for Dell/Alienware stuff over the grey box alternatives is the support! If your machine has a problem and you dont take advantage of the support, that seems like wasted money to me!

 

Not sure what you mean, at this point I'm considering repasting and then returning if no improvement. Is there a flaw in that plan? The other option is just to return since I don't plan on going through support hell over this. Support is just to cover any issues that develop past the return period.

 

If you open it they will blame you for destroying m15 and ask a re-stocking fee+damages.

 

Is that right? Opening the laptop is a standard procedure, as is repasting - they even have an instructional video on their website. Have you had a personal experience of this kind?

 

Hey,
I've been looking to buy a m15 for some time, was waiting for the right special / specs. I thought I found it with the rtx 2060 and oled panel but after talking with a Dell rep after failing to order it online (error message says you need a 240 watt power adaptor) it turns out that the oled option will be removed with the rtx 2060 because the computer is overheating. So that would leave me having to pay 300$ more to get a 2070 max-q which, from my understanding and reading, is not performing better than the 2060.

I'm a programming student so I will be using the laptop for coding and gaming (I play mostly mmos and rpgs). I liked the idea of having a 4k oled screen as everyone seems to be saying how beautiful an oled screen is and, while coding, I like to have several tabs opened on my screen at the same time.
So my question: Is it worth paying more for a 2070 max-q just to get the oled screen or should I stick with the 2060 with the 144 (or 240) Hz panel?
Second question: I would lean towards getting the cheapest 256 gig ssd and buying a 970 evo to compensate but from what I read Dell will not include the heatsink for the second ssd. Is there a way to get it? Or would it be easier to pay a little more and get 2 512 gigs ssd directly from Dell.

Thanks for your advice.

edit: Contrarily to what the sales rep told me, the oled screen is now available with the RTX2060 but comes with a 240W power adaptor.

 

From what I heard *cough*, Dell won't give you a spreader (it's not really a heat sink) unless you order a 1GB SSD.

 

If you open it up and break something it's on you. If you open it up and repaste or repad and nothing breaks? Your good! You can always repaste or repad!

 

If you succeed in lowering the temps with a repaste, wont you have accepted a poorly assembled machine and spent your own time and money fixing something that was their responsibility in the factory to get right?

If it were my machine, I would expect to have them fix or replace it at their expense and probably push for some additional warranty/extended return period because they failed.to test it properly before they shipped it.

If you bought a new Ferrari would you try and fix a head gasket that was bad from the factory just because you have a how to guide?

 

Sounds like I should let support know about the preexisting issue. From my previous experience, I'm not looking forward to that. I have it documented here and on Nvidia forums though.

 

First of all, Dell is not Ferrari. Apple is (and sure enough I would pay 1.5-2x for a MacBook Pro with similar specs).
Have you ever dealt with Dell support? The reality is that there is insufficient competition in this market segment, and astonishingly Dell's PC support is one of the best (and yet I have some of the most frustrating conversations in my life with those people a few years ago) .

Another thing to consider is that repaste should be done anyway, because all laptops use inferior compounds, and in the case of the m15 this shows really badly.

I will do more testing and ping support and if the machine is stable on max fan setting it will be safe to conclude it's a thermal issue and will repaste. If that fails will return and God help them delete all the angry posts if they try to screw me on the refund.

 

BTW For completeness' sake: another bug (I'm sure I've seen this in AW 15R2 too). After coming out of sleep the CPU refuses to turbo all cores to 3.9GHz in benchmark, despite the fact that temps are in low 70s. Setting power mode to max perf makes no difference. Oh dear..

 

Dell sells SSD heatsinks, they have one which covers both slots for $10. I believe R46DX is part number.

 

Thank you! Are they necessary with 512 GB drives?

 

They might be if the drives will get very hot. And it seems like everything in m15 gets very hot so I would get them just in case.

 

I can confirm that is indeed the part number. I just ordered it yesterday, having installed a 2nd 512 GB m.2 drive alongside the 256 GB drive that came with my system. They get pretty toasty in there.

 

I am a new owner of the m15 with the RTX2060 and one 512 m.2 with the 60w battery. I am looking at adding additional storage. Can any one tell me if this configuration has the HDD bracket and HDD cable? I am also debating whether to go with a HDD/SDD or m.2. Are there any advantages of one other than speed?

 

What do you guys think of these temps (8750H, 2070MQ):

Idle CPU


CB20 CPU Tubo


CB20 CPU Load no turbo



Idle GPU (external monitor on)


GPU Stress Test

 

Inside there is no HDD Caddy or cable, you need this as a spare part from Dell. I orderd this and got it after 2 two days. Installing the caddy and cable is very easy.
The spare part costs around 35 Euro.

 

Are the thermals better with the 2070 max-q (because of the max-q limitations) compared to the 2060?

 

Not sure about thermals, but you get ~7k (max 7200 for me) in Time Spy, 8GB and 230W PSU thus avoiding Dell's brilliant Hybrid Power Technology. If the thing works instead of BSODing that is.

 

There's still a big difference between a couple of cores and the rest. Really looks like heatsink is not applying good pressure on CPU. If I were you - I would try repasting it, and if it wouldn't help (for example you would still get same results after a couple of months) - I would try more thin thermal pads for things around CPU. Of course, the other option is to return it for replacement and hope the replacement is better ;-)

 

Thanks. I'm not that worried about thermals and general performance of this laptop when it works, the main problem is that they sold me a clearly malfunctioning Nvidia GPU. Terrible. I opened a support ticket. I was wondering if they could get someone over in a day or two ("Onsite Service") - had almost the same issue with AW15R2 (wrong GPU provided) - they wouldn't replace the mobo.

This time though they responded pretty quickly. The support assistant says "a hardware issue has been found and we are working on it" and the support have responded asking me to check if my BIOS is up to date (strange, I would have thought they should get this from SupportAssist) and they offered to send a support technician to replace the mobo "within 3 business days subject to parts availability". Will see how it goes. I also mentioned the thermals and asked them if the technician could repaste / repad using my components at the time of mobo replacement.

Even if return in anger, I'm not sure what to get instead. They killed off AW15, the new RTX HP Omen 15 (with service hatch!) looks like a close contender if one wishes for at least a mirage of decent service, but reviews are thin on the ground. Gigabyte Aero looked promising until I learned about the idiotic service sticker and generally terrible service.

 

So the repair has been preliminarily scheduled for Monday "subject to parts availability". It would be carried out by a service partner. Hmm.. Should I trust Dell and their undisclosed service partner?

 

BTW my battery was showing 5% on arrival. Presumably indicative of my receiving a returned unit (along with things like a peeling off protective sticker on the Alien head)

 

Mine also arrived with a 5.7% wear level, i also saw a review of someone who had a 2060 model with a 6% wear level on the battery, perhaps an issue with the batteries in general? I got mine yesterday with a 2080 max q.

 

Good to know, thanks. I asked the actually seemingly local and helpful support contact about this and will let you know if there is any response. A minor issue for sure.

One more thing I pointed out though is that when an external monitor is connected, closing the lid causes the external screen to go black, closing it like 80% causes weird artifacts. Anyone else noticed this?

 

Please let me know what fps you are getting in any of the following games
1. League of legends
2. Destiny 2
3. Apex legends
4. Fortnite
5. DotA 2
6. Overwatch

I have a 1070 Max q and I wanna compare. I can't get a stable 144 fps on league, can only achieve around 132 stable.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

After repasting the cpu and gpu with gelid gc extreme, putting a 1.0mm thermal pad to replace the cpu pad and finally using throttlestop to limit my cpu at 47 watts ( i noticed it would sometimes pull up to 70) limiting my clockspeeds to 3.7 on all cores, the cpu on a flat table with no elevations doesn't seem to touch higher than 85 C. I've seen some reviews that mention raising and tilting will improve temps further, but with the tweaks i've done performance is very nice for the form factor, not to mention i usually play on my bed with my laptop on a cooling pad to avoid scalding my nutsack, so i think the temperatures will be slightly better with a cooling pad. The test i used for temperatures was running shadow of the tomb raider for about an hour and a half.

Cpu is an 8750h
Gpu 2080 maxq

 

Sure man when i get home off of work at 6:00 p.m I'll install those games and get back to you!

 

Thanks! I appreciate it.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

Could you post CB15/20 and TimeSpy results?

 

I've had 5.4% battery wear for over a year and hasn't changed since I got it. I don't use my laptop on battery very much though.

 

Hi, anybody with the m15 8950HK and the AGA? I have a 13R3 OLED with the 7700HK and my main use is on a cooling pad connected to the AGA (1080Ti). I'm thinking about getting the m15 8950HK + 2060 from HIDEvolution (I got the 13R3 from them as it is fantastic). I know that the temps with the 8950 + 2080 are unacceptable, but what about just the CPU? I've was planning to get it with liquid metal and use throttlestop to undervolt (as I've done in the 13R3). I do not play AAA titles on the go, but want to have just one computer (desktop-like when at home and as portable as possible if needed). Is this a viable option? I checked another thread with benchmarks on CB20 and it was pretty bad

 

1. 180Fps it dips down occasionally, but relatively good
2.140fps or so
3.100-140 depending on the area and what is going on average is about 114 or so
4. Don't have fortnite lol!
5. 150-160 I only played the tutorial since I don't really play dota 2
6.144-178 it constantly hovers above 144.

 

Hi guys!

I’m planning to order m15 after the 9th Gen CPU come out.

At this moment, OLED option is not yet available in Japan but I’m considering getting the OLED screen if Dell Japan offers it later.

I always keep my laptop for 3-4 years (or more). How do you think about the OLED degradation and its longevity in long period? I understand that the blue OLED emitter has shortest lifespan when compared to red and green. Also, I read that we need extra care when using OLED screen such as always hide the task bar, do not use full brightness etc.

 

Hey, I was just at that Microcenter yesterday (Fairfax)! If I recall your in the NOVA area. I had to pick up some thermal pads for the X7200. I miss the M11x R1 as well. That thing was perfect for browsing the web in bed.

 

Cinebench R15 is 1083
Cinebench R20 is 2616

Don't know how to post media here, so if you'd like the images I have saved of the scores just pm me your email address and i'll send it to you.

 

Thank you, solid midrange numbers, although was hoping you would squeeze more out of it after repaste.
Could you just post the 3DMark Timespy score? No need for a screenshot.

BTW imgur is easy. Click New Post, Paste the picture, right click on it and Copy image address, paste the link or use the little image button in the post editor and paste the link there.

 

That is the old stomping ground. I worked there for 4 months in college back in 2008. They had the Area-51m out on display, I had to ask for them to get an open-box m15 for me to see that one.

 

Timespy was about 7900 for graphics, as for the cinebench scores i'm positive i could have squeezed more out of it, with fans on max in anything i'm not getting hotter than the 70 degree range with it on a cooling pad, however i left it undervolted and clock limited at 3.7 for the cinebench run. The performance is fantastic for me, on balanced core 1-2 will touch into 90 (as a max spike) but the other cores sit at 83 (as max temp spikes), so there is still some contact issues, or it could just be the heatsink. This doesn't worry me though since i can just shoot the fans up if I'm not comfortable with the occasional 90 degree hike.

 

Thank you. Basically, there is good 10% improvement vs 2070 in this taxing benchmark, which is not that surprising given that both are 90W chips. BTW I tried to get Dell to upgrade my mobo to 2080 since they (Unisys actually) are going to replace it anyway: they quoted me exactly 50% more than the price difference when buying new lol

Your CPU temps are great and clearly motivate a good repaste/repad. Will try to get the tech to do it during the mobo swap.

Have a fun weekend

 

Wondering why I can't configure an m15 from Dell Canada website with a 2080 max q and 8950hk cpu...the website returns a weird 'invalid cpu label' error...and it won't accept with Windows 10 Pro either...???...will not let me add to cart...ne1 else experience this issue?

 

Ahh, gotcha. It's the kind of place I can get lost in for hours.