*OFFICIAL* Alienware m15 Owner's Lounge

What temps and score do you get during a Cinebench 20 run? Give max, averages (HWInfo screenshot is best) + ambient. Advise if the laptop is flat on the table, raised rear or using a cooling pad.

The most important thing is that the Nvidia BSODs went away by some miracle, your odds of sorting out the temps are much better. Run EPSA Diagnostics. Are the fans working correctly?

 

Alright, bumped up my undervolt to 140mV, Limited the boost to 3.5 GHz, Cranked the Fans to 100% in the AWCC, and laptop is flat on a table. Here is a screenshot of the results after one chapter of the Battlefield 5 mission, Under No Flag. Ambient temperature is 28 Degrees Celsius, and I have a small fan pointed towards the laptop.



Hmm.. at least it improved.. I would see if I could undervolt a bit more... My Battlefield 5 has also been set to 1080p Medium Graphics Settings to ease the load on my system throughout my test runs. At least my temps seem to be under control... and no thermal throttling..

Currently idling on desktop, temperatures are at 54-60 Degrees Celsius. Going to try out Cinebench as well.

 

Well, I honestly don't know how or why anyone would have a surprised look on their face by this.
They're developing a solid reputation for nonsense.

 

Yeah, this doesn't tell me much - I don't have BF5. When you take an idle temp reading, make sure you close all the apps and check that nothing is running in background.54-60C is too much even correcting for your ambient.
Sounds like you don't have a cooling pad - get one for desk use, particularly in your climate.

 

Okay, just ran Cinebench after allowing my laptop to cool down for a while. I have also allowed my CPU to boost to it's maximum frequency, whilst still maintaining my 145mV undervolt.

Got a score of 2438 on Cinebench r20



This program is a CPU murderer. O_O Anyways, not sure if this is good or bad.. Not really familiar with Cinebench scoring and ratings, etc.

 

Your max temps are just slightly higher than mine without a pad at ambient 25C. So that basically means that your LM is doing something, although I would have expected more of an impact. I can't reason much about average temp because the time window is over 10 minutes so certainly beyond the duration of the benchmark. My score on that run was lower than usual 2750. Yours though is quite low. Either something's wrong or you have some stuff running in background. Needless to say you should make sure nothing else is running on the machine during benchmarking.

Your min/ambient temps are very high, but given the similarity between our results at max load I suspect something is hammering the CPU (if not then I'd worry).

Temps without pad:


Getting a pad helps...

Temps with pad:


HTH

 

Yeah, already approached HID and they would check on my system when one of their technicians are free to conduct a session with me, to see what exactly is going on with it. Oh wells, one problem after another. Hopefully this one could be resolved with some software tweaks, I have already pushed the undervolt as far as it could go, 145mV is still not bad I suppose.

 

Not bad, some people's 8750s only manage -125mV. Good luck!

You mean download RW Everything portable 32 bit and unpack contents to TS directory? That's it? Hmm, why isn't it mentioned in the guide?

 

Engineering ruler is what I use on the go.

 

Well they just went to socket CPU/GPU with the Area-51m so one wouldn't expect them to pull a Apple/Razer and soldering a RAM stick.

And it's only one stick! There's still one so-dimm slot, makes no sense! I would love to meet the person who made that decision on the team.

 

I feel the LM has run off or has dried off mysteriously.

If you go into TS folder and click mega.url to download the driver.

 

The only links in the latest TS folder are referring to TS guide.

 

One step forward, two steps backward. Status quo for the industry. If it is good enough for crApple and Razer fanbois that love their anemic BGA turdbooks, it should be good enough for the Alienware fanbois that like the thin and light form factor.

(Not really. And, I don't agree with that. Just trying to visualize what the excuse might be from the angle of the retard that made that lousy decision. I agree with you that is was really dumb. The bad decisions on the part of their competitors don't make the same mistakes OK for Alienware. Just like mama used to say... " two wrongs don't make a right" and " if all your friends are jumping off the cliff, that doesn't mean that you should, too" LOL.)

 

The Zephyrus S does this too. Either solder both on not at all. If you’re going to do something stupid at least commit.

 

URL= https://mega.nz/#!CNNA0SoC!Z2Xi2icwX4d4jzW016dKnKGhVglWmSSPpgiRU7VCG6g

 

Hey did someone test the new Bios 2.0.4? Are there any improvements to Version 1.6.2?

 

So got my new m15, did a 30min gaming session playing Rage 2, mostly 60fps with vsync at 1080p(its the 60hz 4k Panel), good temps as well(no cooling pad, used the box my smartphone came in to prop up the back and help with airflow), but the battery life isn't good at all. First of all out of the box the battery has a 8% wear level, and I've checked Optimus is working correctly, its using the iGPU and not the dGPU, but CPU keeps going into boost all the time. Windows is showing 3hrs14 min remaining at min brightness just a few open chrome tabs, windows update is not running either, My XPS 9570(4k too) usually shows over 8hrs at this percentage level. I know its a smaller battery(by about 7whr at stated capacity, but my XPS is at 92 and the m15 at 82, so its a 10whr difference) but surely the difference cannot be this big?

Another thing I'm disappointed in is the screen, the specs said 100% adobeRGB but it does not look like it to the naked eye, I'll have to get my hands on a Spyder to test it out myself but I honestly believed this used the same panel as the XPS but it does not.

 

Fixes & Enhancements
Supports Intel 9th Generation processors.

Urgency: optional

Nuff said.

Looks like Dell was lying about the 90Wh battery capacity. Everyone reports 5-8% battery wear out of the box. If you search this thread there is a ton of battery optimisation tips.

 

Need to wait at least a couple of days to get accurate battery readings. Your computer is probably indexing and what not behind the scenes. Also, you’re the first person the not like the screen that’s posted about it. Might be defective as everyone else is blown away by it.

 

Waiting a couple of days didn't help my battery.

 

I think perhaps there's a general misunderstanding why most PC motherboards have sockets in the first place - the vast majority of buyers will never swap CPUs and a lot of people wont upgrade RAM either. The sockets main reason is to make it easier for the PC assembler to provide a load of build options without having to put the expensive bits onto boards just incase people want them. Socketless laptops must be PITA for stock keeping because of this unless they really are assembled and soldered to order...

I suspect someone at Dell has the spreadsheet that tells them that the vast majority of their sales have 16GB of ram, so soldering down that 16GB is good business sense for them as it saves them the cost and PCB area of a socket and forces you to buy at least half your RAM from them.

I can understand why people on this forum don't see it that way, but I suspect they are a niche within a niche within a niche as far as Dell are concerned...

 

I'm very worried for Dell if they rely on such primitive tools for these decisions. Specifically that would mean they have no concept of the impact of soldering RAM in an enthusiast gaming notebook on sales. Every single review is pointing this sh*t out so only the dumbest tail of the clientele won't take notice.

I also suspect you have no data whatsoever to support your claims about people not swapping or upgrading RAM.

 

I doubt any of us have that data but if I had to place a bet that most, if not all of what he said was right I would.

I’m older and have been building computers since 486. I have helped thousands of people and I can count on one hand how many of them have ever upgraded any hardware on their machines and only one of those people did it themselves.

To you that might mean nothing but I assure you we’re a minority here on an enthusiast forum.

With my small YT channel most questions are questions people would laugh at around here. People generally really aren’t that savvy.

 

I wonder if gamers and other types of users who are after some of the most expensive notebooks on the market (i.e. Alienware's customers) aren't significantly more savvy compared with the overall pool of computer users.

 

I'm currently typing this from my m15 showing 6 hr 36 min (84%) remaining with the screen at 75% brightness and battery saver on. I've noticed that my battery life is much better powering on from a complete shutdown vs. just unplugging the laptop. Not sure why, but the battery life is almost doubled. Looking at HWINFO64, I'm averaging around 13.6 Watts surfing chrome with wifi and bluetooth on. When I simply unplug the laptop, I can't seem to get the power draw under 20 Watts.

 

Interesting, do you mean it's messed up after Sleep? That would be another sleep bug.

 

There's simply no change after sleep. Putting the computer to sleep and waking it up will maintain whatever current draw was established in the first place.

 

OK, then I'm not sure what causes the deterioration resolved by restart.

 

This is what hwinfo looks like - https://streamable.com/fvof6

This is with having a couple of tabs open in chrome and HWInfo running along with AlienwareCC, The CPU keeps going up to 3.9ghz for no reason and the dGPU keeps coming intermittently, is this normal behavior?

And the fans never go quiet, not matter what thermal or power profile I select. I'm on Balanced and quiet and the fans are quite loud. I can hear coil whine from the CPU fan

 

not sure if it's been mentioned already, but the US online shop is already offering the M15 R1 (first design) with i7 9750h

for those of you who are not happy with the soldered RAM and downscaled battery that come with R2

 

The CPU can clock itself to 3.9GHz with very little extra power expenditure in response to load. There is no issue with that when plugged in.

Normally dGPU sleeps unless woken up, so check your running apps, GPU programs etc. Afterburner wakes up the dGPU for instance.

Has it replaced i7-8750H at the same price or are they still offering both and one is more expensive (if so l, how much by)?

Makes no difference.

 

the latter. Feel free to doublecheck yourself by changing en-uk to en-us in the online shop URL

i7 8750 512Gb 16Gb 2060 144hz 60Wh is 1699$ (it is currently on offer, standard price 2079$)
i7 9750 512Gb 16Gb 2060 144hz 60Wh is 2079$ (custom build)

 

You aren't Worried about OLED Blue Light Eye Damage? At least Azor and Dell is (Dell, seeing the writing on the wall, isn't taking any chances)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brooke...d-blue-light-eye-damage-dell-is/#4c7a729134d4

Will Dell offer solutions or fixes for their current/older models with Oled display that will help reduce the intensity of dangerous blue light? Or will they lower the probability of getting Eye Damage with new solutions for their coming models?

Maybe they will offer a short bulletin to warning their customers who already have bought their models with this type screens/panels. Beacause as they already have stated..." isn't taking any chances".

 

Makes sense, they perform about the same, and they're discounting to clear stock:

https://www.notebookcheck.net/That-...tperform-a-Core-i7-9750H-laptop.421361.0.html

8750H is a bargain.

Even my IPS was configured overly blue, it literally hurt my eyes. Calibrating the monitor sorts this out, then there is Night light mode and computer glasses. Seems like a marketing ploy. They are trying to turn their current display factory configuration mess into some sort of a win. I've got to say, they do enjoy BSing people over there.

 

Still a lot ot people out there that never ever calibrating their monitors, neither will all use Night light mode or (computer glasses - even less people). They are forced to do something with it or they risk being injured later if they still don't care when they now have received even more info about it. See... They already know about this problem when they started take this tech in use a few years ago.

Maybe they could/should start to offer free (has to be free due what they know) computer glasses for those who bough their notebooks with this type screens?

But yeah, they want/try to "sell in" Aka <promote themself> doning the correct

This will of course apply all ODM's who offer this type screen tech

 

After clean install of 1903, night light staying always on got 'broken' a bit, after launching any game, it would simply turn off. 1809 was okey.

In desktop, it would come back on. Being used to night light 'always on' for a year already I was worried, as my eyes could really feel tired very soon playing games. Latest Windows update fixed it on my 13 R3, and no more eye ache, night light stays always on.

 

It is an actual issue which you cant just fully remedy with using nightmode through software.Those glasses actually do a lot to protect your eyes and are the only real solution. Wouldnt call it a marketing ploy since the issue can be quite serious.

https://www.preventblindness.org/blue-light-and-your-eyes
https://opto.ca/health-library/blue-light-is-there-risk-of-harm
https://www.forbes.com/sites/fionam...ight-damages-cells-in-your-eyes/#6eda7fa8384b

 

Awesome. I'm still on 1809 fortunately, but even this version seems to have increased temps and reduced graphics performance. Thanks M$.

Is there some blue light-specific issue in OLED technology at large, or are they making it sound like it's about OLED, and portraying themselves as industry leaders in fight against blue light, when in fact it's just about correcting their own calibration mistakes (and I know for a fact it's not just OLED that's affected).

 

Or just correcting their own previous misstakes offer this screen tech in their models. I'm sure they know about the danger when (before) they started offer this tech to gather up new and even old customers Maybe they forgot add in special computer glasses in the notebook package See... Mandatory in the same way as they also send with power adapters.

 

Soldered ram isn't going to bother 95% of buyers, honestly. Enthusiasts who tinker are very vocal, but are not yet very common in the overall market. Then there are a lot of us who have the knowledge but simply don't have the time to spend on it. And the last thing is the product lifecycle. Upgrading (and I'm sad that this happens) is all to often simply throwing the old machine on the trash heap and buying a new one some 3 years later. Business leases are 2 years standard now. And in even less than that 2 years you have people asking if they can "trade up" inside companies. By the time you think of upgrading that RAM, DDR5 will be out and what you think is a shopping trip to find some better spec'd DDR4 turns into a hunt for a new machine...

BTW blue light emissions isn't new and it's not OLED specific. It actually has more to do with LED designs where LED's that were blue in core nature were "doped" with chemical mixtures to help them become white (and other colors). While we enjoyed the end result of LED backlit monitors, the inherent enhanced blue spectrum that underlay the entire technology stack was something that wasn't much considered until some folks began to wonder if that would damage eyes. Like many things (drinking coffee for example) we aren't "sure" yet just what damage is done because it's a gigantic pain to get any proper data let alone sample studies done on this topic. So there is a lot of "probably" science going on and the engineering world is trying to figure out ways to reduce the output of the light to avoid damage IF it is occurring based pretty much on "probably" science. So don't ignore it, but don't drive yourself crazy over it yet. You probably take more lung damage from car exhaust near you than you do from blue light eye damage. But it is likely causing some damage so we should gradually try to reduce or remove it where we can. If you have options to reduce it, they are a good idea. But if you can't get all the products you buy to reduced blue light levels, just put it on the wish list for your future replacement.

 

This doen't match what Frank Azor said in the AMA. The reason he throw in the Graphics Amplifier was so people could extend the lifecycle of their notebooks. Use of soldered ram doesn't fit into this. Not at all.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-skylake-and-m18x.781933/#post-10109062

In short... He kill longevity of the product with this new move. What next? Soldered on wifi and or storage as Apple? Because he follow Apple. All know that...


Opinion: What on earth is going on with Dell's lineup?

"Veteran editor Douglas Black returns with his opinion on the current state of Dell's XPS lineup: Complacency in fixing the XPS 15's issues and the sudden change of a soldered-on SSD for the XPS 13 2-in-1 are cause for his concern"

"I feel like the XPS division is taking notes from Apple on how to take customers for granted and miscarry a product line"

 

Your honesty is appreciated but also meaningless. You don't have the data. Most people here are concerned about soldered RAM, and the NBR forum comes up pretty quickly on Google so a variety of folks are represented.

It's not just about upgrading, it's about getting high quality dual channel memory right off the bat. 32GB is not even going to be an option initially according to NotebookCheck. Ridiculous.

You completely missed the point about blue light. It's just Dell trying to turn their display miscalibration fiasco into some sort of marketing victory.

 

I was adding useful information about blue light - without regard for how it impacted Dell. Phones are tackling the problem. It's not a Dell only issue. That's all.

I understand you are concerned about RAM. I too, consider it a negative point because when RAM goes bad, and we all know it does, it's far easier to replace a ram stick than a whole motherboard. To me that's one of the core things that makes the 51m a good design concept, the idea that you could replace parts that break without constantly being told "have to replace the motherboard" with every thing that goes wrong with the machines. To me it's like the all in one ink cartridges, where one thing runs out and you have to dispose of the whole thing, good parts and bad, because they are all welded together. How many problem solving requests on this forum start with someone saying "take out one of the ram sticks and test the machine again". It is assuredly a step backward. So I totally agree with you - bad move by Dell to save a mm. But the vast majority (and I do mean vast) cares only about how thick that box is and not what's inside it. Apple has soldered ram. Lenovo has soldered ram. These companies didn't just suddenly go belly up in the market. I suspect Dell is moving more towards appealing to a larger fashion conscious market than we are quite realizing here. And their answer to people who like it the old fashioned way is the 51m. That's where you get individual boards, ram slots and cooling fans and pipes that are actually meaningful.

Kind of like cameras where most people are using their phones. We are the DSLR users of the PC and notebook world. We know what those features can do and we want that performance. But in the world of the future, there will be 50 different phones available for every single DSLR. Still you are right, the memory slots should have stayed.

 

Windows was estimating 4hrs on battery saver last night, which is better than before, I didn't actually let it run to test it cause I didn't have the time. I'll do that today and also use throttlestop to limit the turbo speeds on battery, any ideas what could be causing the GPU to wake up though? I don't have any programs running in the background, only open afterburner while I'm gaming, and it wasn't running last night when I made that video

 

You can look at GPU usage in Program Manager. I also installed Batterycare which shows current total system power draw in a handy manner and found Afterburner to be the culprit by elimination. Could be something else that's probing the GPU. HWInfo maybe?

It think it's absurd to say that people buying gaming laptops only care about thickness.

Let's not take comparisons with Apple too far. People buy Apple products for many reasons, including the OS and exceptional battery life, however, Macbooks are hardly devices of choice for gamers and they don't even advertise them as such.

I'm pretty sure Lenovo makes most money in business markets. They have some good ultrabooks - not a very relevant company in high-performance laptops space, although they are making inroads.

You got carried away with your DSLR argument. By the same token someone could propose consoles and gaming PCs will disappear and we'll all be gaming on our phones with retina displays and VR headsets. Perhaps in 10 years, dependent on successful adoption of a number of disruptive technologies, such as game streaming which so far has failed to take the world by storm.

 

Ok how I meant that to read is that people when looking at a notebook see the svelte casing and weigh that more heavily in their purchasing decision than the line "upgradeable ram slots" on the bullet list. That's not the same for enthusiasts. But go into any big box store and see what "sells" and you'll see all the usual signs, flashy lights, thin cases (whether they are practical or not). It sounds like you disagree with this in precept, so I'm not trying to convince you, rather to state the case better than I did in the first memo.

 

If I were you, I would try shutting your machine down, powering it back on while unplugged and seeing if you get a better estimate with lower current draw.

 

Actually its going to bother a lot of folks. Besides spills, bad RAM Is one of the top repairs of the 3 or 4 large companies I've contracted with. Now ODMs are going to expect IT departments to throw the baby out with the bath water for simple RAM replacement? I'm sure these folks will be double checking their warranties as an entire system board replacement for bad RAM is going to be quite expensive for Dell and the like.

And I wonder the response in the consumer world, where generally no one is buying a new laptop every other year. We shall see how sales figures do once consumers figure this out.

 

This is complete BS from AW engg. team: https://twitter.com/bagman317/status/1135248349412691969
Why does Intel NUC kit with even small form factor allow RAM upgrade when a laptop cannot. https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/126143/intel-nuc-kit-nuc8i7hvk.html

 

According to Joe Olmsted all RAM is soldered, so no free slots, he said he would correct his boss (assuming Frank Azor) regarding that.