*OFFICIAL* Alienware m15 R4 / m17 R4 Owner's Lounge

Do you have the info or the how to about that I'd like to try it out?

Can't find a VBIOS with the 330 watt both are together and it picks a 140 no matter what you do not sure where ya heard this info but am curious now.

Sources I found:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Hd8gyF3d7Y2p4d2_b5cQ2KJ2DQ2eXtVN8INcdXbeuT8/edit#gid=0

https://au.pcmag.com/laptops/85125/alienware-m15-r4

 

Managed to break 5k on r20. Don't think can push any further on stock paste. But it's a lot better than the i7 10870h I had before. Solid 20% gain over it in cpu heavy workloads. Imagine if they put a 5980HX in this. It will run cool as well as extract maximum performance. For all the **** we give dell and rightfully so, they sure know to design a cooling system for these thin machines, at least compared to the competition.

 

5GHz all core with a -80mV undervolt. One of the cores hit 100c towards the end. It still ended above 5k though.

Another thing I noticed is, while 5.3 GHz all core is a throttling mess that’s absolutely useless, setting the multiplier to 54x crashes it straight away. No undervolt, nothing. It simply can’t handle 5.4 even at default voltages.

 

Good info. My paste is crap. I max out around 4.7 in cinebench at 100 degrees fans on max and undevolt. Maybe on a cold boot i could get close. seeing around 4790 at 4.6

 

You make this 3070 run like a 3080!

Great job!

 

Anyone know if there are any reviews for the M17 R4 3070/3080 that have in-game benches/performance clips?

If you chose the 32gb of soldered Ram option are they dual rank?

 

Thanks for the responses. I pulled the trigger on the m15! Figured I would regret not trying out such a compact package with so much power. Will switch if I find the screen too small or not happy with the thermals.

About to order a 1TB ssd to add to the 512 next.

 

Checkout Mash IT on youtube. He did a nice overview on both the M17 R4 and M15 R4.

 

Maybe I missed it. How do we enable resizable bar?

Edit: https://www.dell.com/support/home/e...ode=wt64a&productcode=alienware-m17-r4-laptop
Found it.

 

Just wondering how far am I off from you 3080 guys here is my 3070.

https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/60381185?

https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/60381291?

 

I had the GE76 with the 3080 and I was getting about 13 to 14K on the graphics score in timespy. However in gaming at 1080p, I literally see no difference in performance between the 140w 3070 and 150w 3080. We are completely at the mercy of our CPUs. Even a 3060 will be good enough for 1080p gaming in these notebooks. The only notebooks that will benefit from a 3080 are ones with unlocked CPUs or desktop processors

 

MUX DEBATE
Hello guys,
I'm waiting for my Alienware M17 R4 360Hz G-Sync, 10870H, 3080... and have not clear the MUX situation... Some say it has Advanced Optimus, some others say it did until they upgraded to latest Windows 10 version, or simply that MUX is available only for the 144Hz panel configuration...
So, what's the situation with MUX and iGPU/dGPU switch? Can I switch from BIOS or through software to the iGPU in some way for mobile work?

 

Pretty sure the 300+ Hz displays on the M15 and M17 have no MUX or Optimus. It's all NVIDIA all the time.

 

I've only got one run that's about 300+ points ahead of your Timespy GPU score on my native display. If I run on an external monitor to get around Optimus (I've got the 4k OLED), I got one run in the 12.7k range.

How much core overclock did you manage on your 3070?

Correct. And on the 4k displays it's all Optimus all the time.

 

Well the 170 core (I think that's what it was set to) I tested at is no way stable in games Stable is 150 core. All fans set to max, debloated windows, not using Throttlestop at all from what I saw my cpu was not even hitting 100c at all so did not need it, and MSI was +170 core +1000mem I think. When I play games I turn AWCC to balance and set MSI to +150/+700 stable score is about 11,229ish so the 100 gain is not really worth it.

 

That sounds pretty close to mine. I typically run at +150 clock but I did get some successful runs at +200. I seem to be doing okay at +175 while gaming lately.

 

MUX DEBATE
So this is the situation (06 Apr 2021) for the M17 R4 displays?
144Hz 1080P ~100% sRGB G-Sync = MUX switch (reboot required)
360Hz 1080P 100% sRGB G-Sync = no MUX no Optimus
60Hz UHD 4K 100% ARGB no G-Sync = Optimus only all the time

 

Been poking around the web and can't seem to find any info about the audio on the M17. Does it have a dedicated DAC that can handle Hi-Res 24/192 or DSD64?

 

I've got a question for anyone that can weigh in here. Researching the m15 R4 laptop, I am curious about adding a eGPU at a later date. I see that there is a Thunderbolt 3 port and Dell's proprietary Alienware Graphics Amplifier port.

Checking out a 2019 review on egpu.io where they compare the Alienware Graphics Amplifier and a Thunderbolt 3 eGPU they mention:

I am curious if Alienware addressed this engineering issue on the m15 R4 this go around. With the m15 R4 laptop being new I've not found much in regards to the AGA port, nor really anything talking about adding an eGPU. Checking egpu.io's External Graphics Card build page searching for alienware there are multiple AGA and Thunderbolt 3 builds on the Alienware 15 R3 and one build on the Alienware 17 R4.

What's are people's thoughts on adding an eGPU to the m15 R4? Is it better to go with a Thunderbolt 3 enclosure or a Alienware Graphics Amplifier? Oh yeah one last thing, where do you even find an Alienware Graphics Amplifier for purchase? I'm having a tough time locating one as there's nothing on Dell.com, Amazon, etc.

 

The reason you have problem find the Alienware Graphics Amplifier for sale is because it's EOL AGA (Alienware Graphic Amplifier) FAQ

 

I tried some days ago the AGA with my RX 6900 XT on my m17 R4 and it doesn't work. Don't know why and I have no solotion at the moment. Code 31 and no RX has been shown......i will try it with the TB3 solution and the next days. I will keep you updated

 

Looks like the Ryzen based m15 is available in China already to preorder. However it’s limited to the 3060.

https://eshop.dell-brand.com/alienw...WA15M-R1263B&model_id=alienware-m15-r5-laptop

Also looks like the Ram and WiFi is not soldered according to a Reddit post, but not sure.

 

Played with a friends one for a while. One of my friend had a 360 HZ

Can verify using my friends new M17 R4, the MUX switch was working on the 144 HZ gsync model. The MUX stopped working immediately after updating Windows 10 right in front of our eyes. As for the 360 HZ another guy on Reddit verified there is no MUX and he returned it to change to the 144 HZ for the MUX. There is a bigger issue though, undervolting is disabled with the latest update.

 

I have the latest updates and can undervolt no problem

 

I'm trying to decide whether it is worth re-pasting the i7-10870H on my M15 R4 just to cover all the bases for lower thermals. Any opinions on how much improvement that might yield compared to what Dell applies from the factory these days? I'm wondering if it's worth the hassle with these flipped motherboard designs.

Also, does anyone have experience with graphite thermal pads compared to thermal paste?

Thanks.

 

I think for throttlestop is shows that it can be undervolted on the software side but did not actually apply the uv according to some people:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Alienware/comments/mjgmth/comment/gtagvj1

for XTU the option is greyed out for my friend.

 

Definitely working for me. I see the voltage and power drop when I apply it

 

Well it looks like the R5 is coming this month with no soldered ram and ryzen processors with better screen options. The chassis is also slightly updated. The R4 was short lived lol. Use those return periods. What a bummer since we literally just got the R4.

 

The only part that makes me angry is the screen options. I can live with 32gb of memory--although glad they are moving back--There are some cases where 64gb gets you more frames in games. I do not love the 360hz screen on my m17. The qhd 240hz would be perfect. Other than battery all test that i have seen show intel better in gaming vs ryzen. Heck, I think Jarrod (youtube guy above) did benchmarks on this.

 

But less than 2 months we get shafted? Better mechanical keyboard, better chassis, removable RAM and wifi card, better screen options, better Ryzen cpus(5900HX is much better than the 10 series intel), pcie gen 4, etc. That's a big change from a model that was just released. Many haven't even received their orders for the R4 yet and they already have an R5

 

Alienware m15 R5 Ryzen Edition Coming Soon



@etern4l @jpowell490 @bjrebo @iunlock @custom90gt @Normimb @normand668 @GTVEVO @Papusan

 

No 3080 on the Ryzen m15. The 3070 is 115 + 10 rather than 125 + 15 on the intel models. 5800H and 5900HX are the cpu options. The G5 is using the same chassis lol with a bit lower specs. Glad they are dropping the soldering for the RAM though.

 

Question about keyboard with N-Key rollover for the M17 R4 models or not...
Please can you test your M17 R4 with this site to test how many keys you can press simultaneously Keyboard Ghosting Demonstration (drakeirving.github.io) ?

 

It detects as many as I can press at the same time.

 

Thank you for testing. The doubt arises because it's specified Cherry keyboard has N-Key and not in the std keyboard cfg of latest models...

 

I have no idea about the r5 though. Also note how they’ve made the per key lighting exclusive to the cherry keyboard.

 

Something to note is that the m15 R5 lacks the AGA port. And it's using a different chassis from the m15 R4 (dimensions are different, where the R5 is taller than the R4 with OLED). Also, should we have a new thread for the m15 R5?

They're similar (even the dimensions for width and depth are almost the same), but the two laptops have distinct differences in the their chassis.

 

Ram slots back is an improvement. Yeah, finally can Dell offer ram slots as the cheaper G gaming branded models. But one less port (the AGA - I expect Dell also will use same chassis for the Intel version) and no 3080 is going backwards And no Thunderbolt 3 with AMD Ryzen Edition.

Will the new R5 also have one M.2 ssd slot less? Aka Dell removed also the smaller M.2 2230 ssd slot. What with the soldered on Wifi card? Still soldered on?

And you'll pay a pretty premium for the blinking scull and the Legend design.


The newer G models doesn't look much different than the AW models. As you can see the design is loaned from the Alienware design. Probably the same Dell design engineers all over that make some minor changes between the notebook models.

 

I imagine that, just like the R1s and R2s of the m15 and m17, the R4s will sell alongside the R5. I don't think they'll be discontinued so fast.

 

Hi guys,

I want to know your opinion regarding the use of certified Dell drivers vs generic Nvidia drivers for the graphics card (3080 in my case).

All my life I have been using drivers directly from Nvidia, but now I have seen many suggestions that we should only use drivers released by Dell, supposedly because of some special tuning Dell may apply to them. Some people even warn of possible damage if you use generic Nvidia drivers. Although this seems too farfetched, IDK maybe there is some truth behind because Dell drivers seem indeed to be a special version.

What do you think?

For what is worth, I downgraded from the latest Nvidia driver to the latest from Dell and this finally stopped AWCC from crashing at boot (the event viewer would show that one instance of AWCC would always crash at boot although it worked normally).

 

Drivers from Dell have ALWAYS given be better performance. If you have GeForce Experience installed by any change, go to its settings and disable drive update notifications.

 

How many new or soon to be new R4 owners will switch to a R5 instead? My recently placed R4 order has not even hit production yet and not sure if I should call to cancel and wait. The Ryzen CPU and QHD is appealing but I was already near the end of my budget so not sure how much of a premium will be on the AMD's and this upgraded screen (I just went with the 144mhz panel on my current) in Canada.

Do we think the AMD versions will be significantly better? Any thoughts on why no 3080 and less power in the AMD built 3070s?

Edit: Also, is the colour different? I know they still call it dark side of the moon, but the pics make it look darker...

 

If all you are doing is gaming then thr R4 with Intel and a full 140w 3070 is the way to go. If you are mainly doing productivity then the 5900HX can't be beat. These staggered launches really screw with the consumer. Very soon the R6 with 11th gen Intel will be released as well

 

8 cores 10nm Tiger from Intel should be here within 1 month or so. Not so sure that the 8 core Ryzen will be the performance king for BGA gamingbooks as some think.

 

Thanks, I just did.
However, I'm still wondering about the damage part. Is it really possible? Or just an exaggeration?

 

Thank you both! Gaming is the primary use case, will sneak in some mining as well . I do some work with Linux VMs but nothing super intense or time critical that I need to maximize cycles. I think I will hold the course. Waiting until May to even order it seems painful when I check my current order status everyday!

 

A few years back when a new GPU was launched, nVIDIA was releasing new drivers that caused damage to many laptops because of incorrect wattage. Now that was very old and I wouldn't worry about it now but it is something to be considered. I only used drivers that come from the manufacturer unless in a very rare event a certain new game won't run unless you update the driver.

 

I agree. The Ryzen chips are not King now for gaming only workloads. Intel will be gaming King with 10nm. There is no doubt in my mind. Power draw, heat, battery life, and cost... now that is another story.

 

We all assumed that it was coming with the Ryzen chips. Not sure why we did not get the Ryzen chips right out of the gate like other vendors. Maybe Dell is actually listening or maybe they were trying to clear out excess inventory. I am just back to the brand after being with Razer for the last 5 years or so. I can tell you that AW build quality is good, their QC is awful. There are multiple cosmetic issues with my system that are inexcusable at the price point in my opinion. I will probably grab the 17 if they put a qhd in it (with the new intel tiger lake cpu). I like the options and I see all of your points for sure.