*OFFICIAL* Alienware m15 Owner's Lounge

Answering to myself for the record:

GPU: 75X80 $20.99
CPU: 80X75 $20.99

 

In rough lines, how do the different GPU's on the R2 compare in terms of temperature?
They all run roughly along the same TDP, but how does the higher core counts / clock frequencies translate in terms of temperatures?
Sorry if already asked before.

EDIT: Sorry, i see that I'm at the R1 lounge. My bad.

 

Where did you buy them?

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

Would someone mind posting their CPU package power while the CPU usage is less than 1% is as reported in HWinfo? (for the 8750)

After the September windows update, it seems like mine went up almost 2x, from 2-3W to 5-6W at less than 0.8% CPU usage and only 768 or so Mhz. I may be mis-remembering the 2-3 watts....

Also, the processor speed seems to have increased as before the maximum reported was 3.89 GHz, and now I see multiple cores reaching 4 and 3.99 regularly. Other odd different behavior as well related to processor frequency such as now when starting up, the processor actually clocks down where before it wouldn't do that for like half an hour or so.

Trying to figure out why....

 

From dell spare parts department.

 

Do you have a number I can call or website?

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

I would put the blame on Windows Defender. Intel XTU shows the same trojan in Defender. It must have something to do with programs that have access to change cpu timings.

 

I just used the online support chat, but in the past using the support phone number I had no problems ordering spare parts.

 

On the R1, all the main max-Q GPUs run around the same temp, which is quite low (65-70C after repaste). I doubt this is significantly different with the R2. Performance to price vs future proofing are the only factors to worry about.

 

Same thing happened to me. Tons of notifications in the side bar. Thanks for noticing and sharing it here. Glad to see I'm not the only one. I assumed it was a false positive, but better to see that others are seeing it too.

 

hi guys I am planning to increase my M15 RAM to 32 GB can I just use any brand for ex.Crucial Sodimm DDR4 as long as it's 2666MHz? If I need dell branded RAM can you give me it's part number since I cannot find one thanks

 

You don't want the Dell RAM, it's slow. Would recommend HyperX Impact. Other brands are likely to work too. @Ultra Male even used the relatively new Samsung 32GB SODIMMs in his 51M.

 

Seconded HyperX. That is what I'm running.

 

Hey guys, have an Area 51 with the RTX2080 and I just bought a Valve Index VR headset. So Im trying to figure out which route to go as far ports. The Index uses a Display Port which the Area 51 doesn't have, although it does have a Mini Display Port which would mean I need an adapter but Im hearing not all adapters work. Now I know the laptop does have a Thunderbolt 3 (USB Type C) port which does support Display Port. BUT Im hearing that usually Thunderbolt 3 runs off the integrated graphics GPU. Does anyone know if it runs off the integrated GPU or the RTX 2080?

 

Does anyone know why my m15 would randomly make the OS perform in a way that it looks like Windows are minimizing and returning to the desktop looking like its in 5fps?

Monitor is set to 120Hz.
Power setting is set to balanced.

 

Clean uninstall and install your graphic drivers
Uninstall any remote access software
Virus scan with whatever you have installed and Malware Bytes
Do all of them, even if it starts working after any of those steps.

 

It may be the graphics drivers, it is always a pain to set up the Alienware + AGA drivers to get them to work. Just weird that I can run a game np at 120fps but minimizing and maximizing windows is stuttering. Also, I did just do a fresh clean install 2 days ago and didn't download anything questionable or go to any questionable websites (thought I don't have AV installed yet mainly due to Windows Defender actually being decent nowadays.

I'll fresh install the GPU drivers first and see how it goes, thanks for the recommendations.

 

Saw this maybe 3 times. On two occasions clean reinstall of latest Nvidia drivers helped. On one occasion it turned out the laptop couldn't recognise the charger. Restart, F12 and go to diagnostics to check that.

 

I still haven't reinstalled the GPU drivers, but I def will soon and I am gonna try the new Techpowerup NVCleanInstall as well.

Also, does everyone else's GPU fan take until around 65C before it does anything whatsoever? I read around from posts from 2018 of people talking about how lame the m15 fan curve was but I would think by now they would have fixed something so simple. I am on BIOS 2.2.1 (the newest I believe) but from what I seen that has helped some others have more reasonable fan curves (didn't see temps posted). I just think its idiotic that the CPU fan will be running around 45C but the GPU fan waits til 65C.

Edit: So I reinstalled my GPU drivers and it went more smoothly this time with the AGA.

To anyone curious, I did it in this order -

Download GPU drivers from Nvidia website only for your mobile GPU, in my case its RTX 2070 Max-Q
Download TechPowerUp NVCleanInstall
Plug in AGA
Reboot to safe mode
Use DDU to clean GPU drivers and restart laptop (AGA still plugged in)
Run NVCleanInstall as admin *Make sure to select the Notebook driver you downloaded, don't let it download the driver for your AGA GPU* (I only chose the GPU driver, HDMI audio, USB C driver, GeForce Experience (all of the Geforce Experience options if you want Geforce Experience to work) and pressed next and then say yes to the next popup)
After that I got some error about Geforce Experience not working and needed a restart
Restarted Laptop and it shows both my 2070 Max-Q and RTX2080.

 

Not sure I experience the same GPU fan behaviour. My GPU never goes above 65C, the fan def kicks in earlier.

 

Hey guys, I ran into a problem whilst installing new SSDs on my Alienware M17. I currently have a 1TB Samsung 860 EVO SSD occupying my 2.5 inch drive bay. I just purchased 2 Modules of 2 TB Samsung 860 EVO M.2 SSDs. However, upon installation, only one of the 2TB SSDs is being recognized by the system. Both SSDs have been tested and proven working.

I am just unsure if this is software related in which the system is unable to recognize more than 2 Disk Drives or if it hardware related, if my number 2 M.2 slot is not working. Have anybody added 3 Physical drives into their M15/m17?

 

Does BIOS recognise it? Can you see it in Windows disk management?

 

The BIOS does not recognize the second drive, and it also does not show in the device manager.

 

Move the working SSD to the other slot to find out the truth.

 

We pretty much narrowed it down to the M.2 Slot Number 2. The 1st slot could read the SSD fine. We removed the SSD in the first slot and left the one in the second slot, but it still did not recognize the SSD. Unless the second M.2 slot is only reserved for Intel optane and downright would reject anything else.

 

I mean put the SSD that works in slot 1 in slot 2. Leave slot 1 empty. If the drive no longer works, the second slot is faulty. If the drive actually works in the 2nd slot, the 2nd ssd is faulty. Hope this makes sense.

 

We did exactly that. Both SSDs worked in slot 1, as a test.. we tried leaving the one SSD in the 2nd M.2 slot.. and.. well,, it did not recognize the SSD.

 

OK then, sorry, wasn't clear from your earlier posts. Looks like your mobo is faulty then. The 2nd slot should work.

 

Well, both SSDs have been proven to be in working order. DELL says that my unit with the 2.5 inch drive bay could only handle just one more SSD, and not two. But sigh.. we need to further test the 2nd M.2 slot even further, since DELL wants only a 1TB or less to be placed in said slot for proper testing.

Was anybody here able to install 2 SSDs in their M.2 slots whilst also having a Drive occupying the 2.5 in ch drive bay?

 

1. Nonsense
2. Obviously, you have tested with just one SSD in slot 2 and it still doesn't work. 2TB SSDs work fine.

 

Test it with an nvme drive, if you can. The non working slot might be nvme only.

 

Good point. The supported interface is actually printed on the PCB for each of the slots, as seen on one the internals pictures in this review:

https://www.techspot.com/review/1820-alienware-m15/

This says that the lower slot supports both:

https://static.techspot.com/articles-info/1820/images/F-25.jpg

BTW @Flying Endeavor why did you bother with Samsung evo 860? Should be able to get NVMe drives at similar price.

 

For 2 tb drives, that isn't the case. 2 tb intel nvme drives are about the same price though.

 

It was the case a few months ago and it is now. Check out Corsair MP510 2TB.

 

My m15 came with some Toshiba NVME. I moved that to slot 2 since slot 2 was bottlenecking my 970 Evo (it did work though). So I have 970 Evo slot 1, random Toshiba slot 2 and a 750GB in the 2.5". I worked fine without any bios/firmware updates to the laptop and SSD, but I definitely did update both and switch to ACHI after Windows was installed to the 970 Evo.

That seems to be normal when searching around and why I asked here, some people say theirs is working as expected and some just think their fan is broke, because it requires some high temperature before it kicks on. I even though mine was broke before I flipped it upside down and ran a benchmark. Weird.

 

We tried to switch to the ACHI, but the laptop simply failed to boot so we reverted back to the Default Configuration.

And so, it could actually support all drive bays occupied... Mine simply failed. The Second slot failed to recognize nor acknowledge the presence of my SSD.

Although DELL told me the M.2 SSD slots could only accomodate a maximum of 1TB, based on the documents they have. The weird thing is, the 1st M.2 slot could handle my 2TB Samsung 860 EVO no problem.

 

Switching to achi from traits is easy. Just takes a couple reboots. Google it.

 

That might actually be a good possibility....

I am simply perplexed since in the website of my original retailer, HIDevolution, there are options to add 2TB Samsung 860 EVOs, and it says there it supports both PCIE and SATA based SSDs for both M.2 slots. I will attempt to contact them regarding this matter.

If all else fails, I could perhaps try to find a 4TB 2.5 inch SSD... but according to DELL, it may or may not be supported with my current configuration.. :/ Or.. well, I could always just suck it up and live with not being to touch the second M.2 slot. Although that would mean my other 2TB Samsung 860 EVO would be idle for quite sometime, at least until I get a new laptop or possibly upgrade my desktop.

 

Well, me and the Technician I commissioned to work on my unit tried and it brought us to the DELL recovery tool after several failed boot up attempts. So we reverted back since we did not want to risk reformating my system, which would be a very big hassle and woefully inconvenient.

 

I used these instructions.
https://superuser.com/questions/1280141/switch-raid-to-ahci-without-reinstalling-windows-10
Scroll down a bit to the section that Stuart's with "There is actually another way around this."

 

Question, so the m15 r1 has a connector for the 2.5" drive bay which isn't in use if you have the 90whr battery. My question is wouldn't it theoretically possible to hook up a daughter board with a custom built case and attach more RGB/tobbi eyetracking/etc to this laptop? I know it sounds like a dumb idea but it is a connection that provides some power and IO to the main board

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

I used this guide here - http://triplescomputers.com/blog/un...ch-windows-10-from-raidide-to-ahci-operation/ - 4 days ago and it worked perfectly. I forget if I updated my BIOS before or after this but I think I updated my laptop BIOS after I set the boot to ACHI tbh. I hope that it doesn't have a 1TB limit, that would be so dumb. Makes me wonder how it would react if it was partitioned into two 1TB partitions on the SSD. How can a NVME port support 2280 and 3600MBps speeds but be limited to just 1TB, is that possible, hardware-wise?

 

So I did a clean GPU driver install, did a full system scan with Avira and scanned with Malwarebytes, but I just experienced this again. it doesn't seem to be affecting performance in any way, but it does look visually annoying. I am just going to disable animations, at this point I see no negative performance impact nor do I feel like its possible my system is compromised since Windows defender, Avira and Malwarebytes all found nothing and I haven't been on questionable websites or downloads.

Edit: didn't mean to double post, sorry.

 

I'm currently using my m15 with a monitor and to get output directly from RTX gpu i had to connect monitor to mini display port by (minidp to dp cable) no adapters needed. As i also have dell TB16 dock connected to the laptop i tried to get monitor output from the dock but only intel gpu outputs there and all features of my monitor like G-Sync are disabled if i connect monitor to the dock station. In workstation laptops like precision series you have an option in bios to disable intel gpu and after it done you will have output from your mxm card to all the ports like Thunderbolt DP HDMI etc. But i haven't seen such option in m15 bios.

 

Would also like to mention, most of the time when adapters don't work, it is either human error (someone needing HDMI to displayport adapter and they bought a Displayport to HDMI, and while the adapter fit, it will not work) or quality control. I am not sure if the same applies to displayport, but this should work perfectly - https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matter...rt+female&qid=1571498339&s=electronics&sr=1-3

Cablematters is a good brand and I usually go with cables with good warranties, but it doesn't list the warranty on amazon or their website that I could see.

 

I did some tests, mods, upgrades and a cooler for the m15 r1. Few pictures of it:













Full story and all detail informations are in the (translated) links:

- Repaste & Repad m15 R1

- Tests, modding, upgrades

 

That is some extremely good info and guides with it, thanks for posting it. I am sure others will appreciate it for sure. It is a very small laptop too maybe they will stick with this style until around r4 or r5 too like with previous models. My NVME get extremely hot, I think I should consider making a heatsink for it even though SSD is getting pretty cheap nowadays

Sk0b0ld did you play with the iGPU unslice or Intel GPU voltages at all? Just curious cuz in most guides its pretty vague on whether its useful or not worth messing with it. -165 is a very good undervolt, I had mine sitting at -125 but I'm bumping it up to -150 and gonna try further, most guides were saying -125 is about the max, I shouldn't have listened haha.

Also, does the NVME heatsink cause the SSD to take a while to cool down at all? Or is it beneficial in every way? I've read that SSD storage actually works better when hotter, but in these laptops its definitely TOO hot, my 970 Evo reaches high 80s on the controller and high 70s-low 80s on the storage. I am thinking of just taking off the sticker and buying a heatsink, but only using it for the controller, using the excess thermal pad to prop up the heatsink so it doesn't cool the storage. You may want to consider changing your NVME SSD temps because, from what I've read, they are at damaging low numbers. Like they should be above 45C or else it cuts the lifespan in half and its important for the storage to idle above 45C, because not only does the storage perform better with higher temps but it was created to withstand and have more longevity that way. The SSD controllers however, they should be cooled to prevent throttling for sure.

 

nope never.

Hmm ok. I tested my 8750H down to -190mV but to be honest it's not always stable under load.




-165mV or -170mV works fine. I did all my tests with -165mV. More than -160mV makes not necessarily sense, because under -160mV you don't reach the powerlimit.Testet with cinebench R15 & R20.
Gaming with FC 5 and -165mV UV over 30 minutes (without GPU UV) is absolutely stable (on my chip).

It has several advantages. When I got the notebook, I downloaded first FC5 (50-60 GB) on my SSD. My drive-temperture goes up to 91°C. PCH and the second SSD looks not much better and this was only in idle, just downloading the game.



I always build a heatsink on my SSDs and PCH. Simply to eliminate some heat in the system and improve temps (and in the end performance) of the parts and passive cooling. You've the space, the heatsink costs less than $1, so why not.

 

Funnily I tried -165 for a while and it did well. I tried -175 and my laptop froze and then I kept getting system reboots despite never setting Throttlestop to auto load ever. Unplugged my external HDD's, quickly loaded throttlestop and switched to battery setting, then ran sfc /scannow. Idk much about the windows logs but it seemed like OneDrive somehow got corrupted and some other duplicate entry was found and fixed. Even though I have OneDrive uninstalled for days, its weird to see that in Windows logs. But yeah I won't be trying over -165 again.

Yeah I saw on Amazon they have a bunch of NVME heatsinks that are pretty cheap, I def want to try it for the PCH and NVME drives. But I have a lot of warranty left for my Alienware so I would have to think of some way to keep the heatsink on the PCH from moving. I could try to make a little barrier of tape for the bottom laptop housing, worst case scenario I can use anything on that to remove the tape for warranty.

What is the height of the PCH heatsink you used if you don't mind me asking, I would rather not take mine all apart just to put it back together and wait for delivery. I see a bunch of 3mm heatsinks but the one 2mm NVME heatsink I see is double the price

 

How much temperature dropped after you replaced the heatsink?