*OFFICIAL* Alienware m15 Owner's Lounge

If i try liquid metal on my M15 R1, i would see any improvement? Right now i have replaced my thermal pads and paste (IC Graphite for even temps with -140mV undervolt). I know that Conductonaut is really nice (i saw improvements with my previous 17 R4), but with this model (i want to keep it for 2 years at least before upgrade) i dont know if is worth with this heatsink design.

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Paltry as the m15's cooling solution is compared to larger laptops, it is good enough for people to realise a significant benefit in terms of temps, as per @Ultra Male or @CptXabaras 's results. Need an unlocked CPU to fully translate this to performance improvement though as 8750H just gets maxed out at low temps.

 

Yes, you will get lower temps and you will be able to run the 8750H at max power. In my case, -160mV UV, the perf difference wouldn't be that great (3.7GHz@56W with Kryonaut vs potentially 3.9GHz at 62W with LM in CB20). You would get a bit more mileage because of the slightly weaker undervolt.

 

Good catch Etern4l, you are right, here's a screenshot of another CB20 run, max Cpu Package Power during the test is indeed 63W.
(is there a way to use the snipping tool without loosing the position of the mouse over the tread in XTU? had to do a print screen and then paste it onto paint to get the jpg )



I do believe that i might be able to increase the score a bit once i will do a clean windows installation, right now i'm running on the one the laptop came with, when i was at home i didn't even had the time to install my 960 evo on it and do a clean win install. Still on the original 256Gb nvme ssd. I have no idea how much junk is running on background.

 

100% agree, no doubt there

 

Don't think so, but you can press Alt-PrtScn to take a snapshot of the active window without using snipping tool.

You can limit the impact of background tasks by setting the CB20 process to above normal.

 

Sorry, missed the interesting fact: you used IC Graphite. Can you post your CB20 temps? Did you use it on the GPU as well?

 

Quiet fan profile actually makes a difference on 1.6.2.

 

Question for everyone here. For anyone on bios 1.6.2 do you still have the ability to set your custom fan control? Umar says the none idle fan is working as intended in the newer bios BUT they question the experience and are looking into ways to revert the change.

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1.6.2 or higher and let me know of any other fan issues.

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I will check the custom fans later. In general I've found them to be useless anyway. The fans don't follow the curve exactly and the two point control is not accurate enough.

I don't think it's quite "no idle", it will idle once the temps fall under approx 33-35C.

I've heard this "working as designed" tune before, short Turbo Boost no longer works after sleep as designed too.

 

I mean..... it's essentially no idle when I've had two different M15s that never get close to 35C without having fans 100%. Honestly, one of the reasons I went with the M15 was that it was somewhat quiet on idle, and that AWCC offered some level of fan control, unlike the Inspirion 7577 that I replaced. At least that didn't thermal throttle. Jokes on me, I get to use it this week while I get yet another heatsink replaced. I went with the depot this time in the hope it gets lost, or they break it so I can just swap for a desktop, I'm really tired of the M15.

 

Why all the heatsink replacements? You've undervolted and repasted the laptop already, right?

 

Yup, first system needed a new left speaker and they agreed to replace the heatsink while the tech was out since I had high temp differences across cores after more than one repaste. That one was okay after a repaste/undervolt. After three weeks waiting.... parts were out of stock, so they sent me a refurb unit, with a 1TB SSD, 32GB, and the bigger battery. Fine by me, not going to complain.

The current one shows up and it is noticeably worse. Way worse backlight bleed, and the undervolt did nothing.

I was busy and didn't think much of it, or try to repaste. Few days later I noticed that whenever you move the system the fan rubs on the chassis. Even when its on a desk you can hear a whistling near the GPU fan. Sometimes the grinding is so bad you can hear it in the other room. Anyway, I took a few videos and call up to get the heatsink replaced. After diagnosis the tech offers to just do an exchange since it was within 30 days of me receiving it. Turns out they couldn't do that after I chatted with the, rather rude, gentleman over there. He transferred me back and the second tech didn't want to fix the heatsink even though there's clearly an issue with the fan. Apparently 104C during BFV wasn't hot enough either.

Eventually he agreed to send the tech out to replace it. That goes fine, guy did as a good job as I would have done. As he's removing the heatsink one of the CPU screws literally falls apart as he's removing it. You can also see the mark from where the fan has been hitting on the chassis. New heatsink goes in, temps were better, no grinding noise, figured I was in the clear.

12 hours later the grinding came back.... I have access to a lot of these machines, and it's not normal. I love the design of the M15, and the AGA, but the execution leaves a bit to be desired.

 

Sorry to hear. Execution is not great and design is going downhill too. My first Alienware laptop came with a wrong GPU, the second one came with a faulty GPU, and as it stands there won't be a third one!

 

To the Alienware M15 owners,

How portable is the M15? Anyone carrying this back and forth to work?

 

VERY portable and light! It is as portable as the Dell XPS 15 but packs so much more power under the hood.

 

I used to carry AW 15 without an issue, and m15 is indeed noticeably thinner and lighter. Beware of the new R2 model though with its smaller battery, soldered/limited likely slow RAM, soldered WiFi card and inverted motherboard.

 

Guys which sw do you suggest for controlling the CPU? I am currently using TS but it seems to be a bit tricky for limiting the TDP. On the other hand, XTU looks simpler for tuning but you cannot limit the max freq. Is it possible to use both at the same time or do I need to choose one of the two?

 

I hate XTU, it's bloated and doesn't handle battery mode out of the box. It works seamlessly in conjunction with TS though as long as you use mutually exclusive controls, so XTU for TDP and TS for everything else.

 

I honestly suggest using Alienware command center to control the tdp. Quiet mode lowers it to 45 W and I use throttle stop for everything else. Balanced mode is 55 W and performance is 65 W if I'm not mistaken (correct me here guys) and custom fan curves use 55 W as well. Ive had mixed experience with Intel xtu where it didn't apply on some reboots and never had issues with throttle stop

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AWCC does nothing to change TDPs for me, certainly there is no difference between balanced and performance modes. Could be CPU dependent I guess.

 

I use bios 1.4.2 and it seems to lower the tdp for me. I'll check again when I get home

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When you are saying the new R2 version, you are talking about the new released "white" model? I was considering the already existing M15 version with the OLED screen. If It's as portable as an XPS 15 with a lot more power, that sounds promising. I would need this to go with me to work. I need the OLED screen because I showcase pictures to my clients and I like the idea of the crazy saturated color pops of the OLED screen to sell my stuff

 

Yes, that's the R2 I was talking about. You're good then.

 

Awesome. Thank you.
I'm not sure if this is known but do we know if Dell repastes Alienware laptops that are on the Dell Outlet? When they say refurbished, would it be silly to expect them to do a repaste job?

 

I wouldn't bet any money on that happening. Very good news is that the m15 R1 is amazingly simple to repaste, just check out the service manual: it's maybe 13 screws (+ bottom chassis), 2 fan and 1 wifi connectors.

 

You are awesome. Thanks for the prompt answers. You have sold me on the m15. I see you have the 2070 Max Q. Any regrets on not getting the 2060 for better thermals and battery life or any regrets on not getting the 2080 for maximum power?

 

Answer this cause I'm considering buying a 2080 or 2070 Max q version for Black Friday.

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Good choice, hope Dell delivers for you with no issues (my mobo was DoA, but prompty replaced). No regrets over the 2060, I have no thermal issues, the GPU runs at 67C max. Def wanted 8GB of VRAM so 2060 was out. Not clear why the 2060 would offer significantly better thermals or battery life in the first place, since it's not the Max-Q variant optimised for laptops and it likely runs at the same 90W TDP.

As for the 2080... TBH at the time I was (needlessly) worried the laptop would get too hot with the 8750H+2070MQ config already, and the pricing on the 2080 wasn't that great. The 2080 will be about 10% faster than the 2070 on average, so go for it if you get a good deal or if you need every last bit of speed at any price. If you're willing to go down the LM route, you might even consider the 8950HK (no point without LM).

 

Based on my "refurbished" warranty replacement, they just took a return, powered it on, and did a visual inspection.

Atrocious backlight bleed, loose fan, and awful thermals indicated as much.

Never thought I'd be upset with an "upgrade". Honestly though, my 7577 was a refurb and looking back it was fantastic. Just make sure you test out the unit you receive and you should be fine.

 

I've just ordered a 9750 + OLED + RTX 2060. I had to get the 9750 as there was no option to get the 8750H with the OLED screen. I'm upgrading from a 13R3 with OLED and GTX 1060, so I expect a noticeable improvement, but the main reason is to go up to 15" and having the extra SSD slot, the two NVME are limiting me to 4TB and I want more! I have a AGA with the 1080 Ti, so let's see how much can I get from the 9750 with the cooling system taking care only of it.

I'll repaste it and adjust the pads, any issues with the PCH? It was a thing for the 13R3 (I had to do the mod suggested here to get it from ~90C to ~65C).

 

I carry my m15 to and from the office everyday. Most days, I ride my bike to work and the m15 in my backpack is anything but a burden, even with the power brick.

 

Congrats. No issues with the PCH, runs at 40-75C.

OK, quiet mode actually throttles quite a bit. Back to balanced mode. The CPU fan is still almost always on in Quiet mode, the only thing it changes vs Balanced is it turns off the system fan much quicker, it's mostly off under light load.

 

Hello All

Just ordered a m15 specs in my Sig.

how many pins does SODIMM have ?

want to get a 16 - 32 GB set, any any recommendations for brand of memory ?

 

Congrats.

Intriguing question, 260 apparently: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SO-DIMM

If you queried about the upgrade to 32GB before ordering, I would have recommended just getting the minimum amount of memory from Dell (8GB), and buying a 32GB kit as per my sig. With 16GB already ordered you are probably best off doing the same, except you paid more unnecessarily. Unless you got 1x16GB and want to keep it, in which case you'll have to buy a matching 16GB stick.

 

Thanks for your feedback. That's cool to hear.

What's PCH? Is it some sort of mod that makes temps way way down like that?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ng-should-you-cool-your-pch-with-mods.805032/

 

Exactly. The fact of the matter is, a laptops lifespan is on average 3 years. Most of us on these forums and in the enthusiast community, likely end up getting rid of the laptop within 3 years, as after that point, it usually becomes pretty outdated (especially for gaming). Or the laptop just becomes a beater for non-gaming related tasks. Within those 3 years, i think maybe a handful would bother to even upgrade RAM. The reality is not many of us would see a material difference from upgrading RAM beyond the 16 GB in the 3 years.

I dont see the soldered RAM as a big issue. Obviously not having it soldered is better, but doesnt seem like as big of a deal to me.

 

Again, I doubt any of us here have better information about the Alienware user population that what can be gleaned from these forums. Most ordinary PC users haven't even heard about Alienware. On NBR, it seems you are in a small minority. Most people here can see that not being able to upgrade memory to fast 32GB or even 64GB when 32GB modules become more widely available is a straight up downside. An aftermarket 32GB is a very affordable and worthwhile upgrade, if nothing else it increases system performance through caching, and a low latency memory, such as HyperX Impact, further improves performance as my benchmarking results hopefully indicate.

Dell took this upgrade option away while giving nothing in return that the competition wouldn't already offer. While I'm not a fan of the size race to the bottom, even Razer offers 2 SODiMM slots, officially supporting up to 64GB RAM, in a smaller chassis.

 

I agree that removing ram slots is terrible and is an instant no-buy for me.

But you might be surprised on how many people know Alienware. I know even non gamer people who know the brand. Also they have actual Alienware shops in Asia.

 

Was gonna get an Alienware 51m, but really wanted an OLED display (loved my 13). Was then gonna wait for the new m15 R2 with OLED but Alienware seems to be dragging their feet, so got a Dell Outlet m15 with 2080 Max-Q, i7-8750 and OLED display. Came with 16GB RAM and only a mechanical drive, so swapped in 32GB, a 2TB SSD and 2xNVME 2TB SSDs (6TB). Will need to do a repaste at some point. Getting 17500 Firestrike makes me pretty happy (same score as my Aorus x9 with SLI now up for sale BTW). I figured the m15 R2 with a 2080 and OLED would be near $3000 so to get this one for $1900 was too good to pass up.

 

Nice one, great price. Which TIM are you planning to use?

 

Is welded on Wifi cards any better? You can of course upgrade or replace a failed one if you go for Wi-Fi USB Adapter. But not all like a huge thingy sticking out from the laptop side.

 

Also not, It barely saves space in a chassis and it is total crap when you are stuck with a wifi card that doesnt play nice with a router. Imagine those Killer networking cards soldered onto your motherboard....I already cringe from the thought of it.

 

Fortunately he got an R1 from the outlet.

 

Some grizzly thermal paste, already did it. Getting 5 degrees cooler on average, undervolting around 140

 

I hope one of you can help me figure out what is draining my battery, I have the 8750H with a 4k IPS and the 90whr battery, and I'm only getting about 2.5hrs of battery. I know i shouldnt expect a lot with the 4k display but this is a little too low I think. Even my XPS 15 with the 4k IPS and 97whr battery was averaging around 8hrs with zero tweaks on battery saver and min brightness. I have it at minimum brightness, battery saver on, quiet thermal profile and balanced power profile on AWCC, no alien fx except for keyboard backlight at 5/100 brightness. CPU undervolted to -0.125, speed shift at 180, turbo boost disabled. There are no apps running except for chrome with a few tabs and one video on youtube that is paused, throttlestop and HWInfo(for the purpose of the screenshot I had to take). My battery is draining by 24-27W on avg, maximum of 33W. Here are some screenshots to give you an idea of CPU utilization and battery discharge rate -

EDIT : Forgot to add that my fans spin at 53% a lot of the time, even though the cpu utilization sits under 5% and the CPU package power averages at 4.xxW with a maximum of <10W

 

A well presented case!

I found Afterburner to be a major silent battery killer, I've got it configured to turn off on battery now. Don't discount Chrome - what about if you turn it off, play around with acceleration settings.
Go through balanced mode battery settings, and in Power Settings, and switch everything to max battery saving settings.
Any USB devices? My cooling pad takes a few W.
HTH

 

Yep I noticed that both Afterburner and AWCC cause the Nvidia GPU to turn itself on affecting battery life(I'm guessing its a thing with monitoring software in general). I've made sure that they're both not running. I know chrome is a battery hog but a discharge rate of 27W seems excessive despite that. Right now after another hour the battery is at 19.3%, HWinfo is stil on and monitoring, its been discharging at an average of 27.7W and a max of 47.8W(its been logging for an hour now compared to 2.5minutes for the screenshot). CPU package power averages at 3.5W, max of 11.753W. For comparison I opened the same chrome tabs and youtube video on my XPS 15(also with a 4k IPS) and here are the relevant screenshots -


CPU package power is also similar on the XPS. The biggest difference is despite higher temps for the CPU on the XPS(no undervolt or any kind of tweaks) the fans are not on right now. Whereas on the m15 they've been on 50% the entire time. I think the fans might be related to the bios issue post 1.6.1 thats been discussed on here(mine came with 1.6.1 out of the box) but doubt the fans are the sole cause of the battery draining at a 2.5x higher rate. I know i could tweak other stuff you mentioned to help with battery life but in an ideal situation the m15 should be discharging at a similar rate to the XPS since they're effectively running the same hardware thanks to Optimus taking the dGPU out of the equation, they're both driving the same number pixels with the same processor and iGPU. I'm all out of ideas at the moment and my next step is to do clean install of Win 10 and if that doesn't fix things I'm gonna have to give Dell a call.