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

They was probably not finished with the new design without the AGA port. + AMD struggle deliver enough Ryzen chips.

Not sure why Dell capped the TGP for the refreshed model.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Alien...al-CherryMX-mechanical-switches.531229.0.html

Maybe due this? M17r4 screen issue wondering if anyone had this problem? They did similar for the Area 51m flagship after all the burned up graphics cards.

 

I've been reading through this long thread trying to make a decision. With it looking like Dell is clearing inventory I can get M17 R4 i7 3080 (150w) for ~$2400 shipped after all discounts. I look at that and there's no way I can pull of a 3080 for anywhere close to that.

I've been wanting the Asus G17 with a 3070 because of the Ryzen chip running cooler thinking there wasn't a shot to get a 3080 in my realm of budget. I do more than gaming on it for sure but It's impossible to locate a G17.

I'm worried about thermals on the M17 R4 with the i7. I last had a Clevo build with a i7 1070 and I saw it hit over 100c several times. What's the actual consensus on thermals of the M17 R4 i7? I've got the thoughts in my head of i7 old architecture blah blah refresh blah blah. Having trouble pulling the trigger. But... $2400 feels too good to pass on. Someone help me make that decision. I'm sure it's a great machine.

 

Once you undervolt, thermals are good. In gaming I never go above 80C on the CPU and max is 68C for the GPU.

 

The locked intel processors run colder. Expect also the same for the 3070 vs 3080. For both the m15 and m17.


85% Alienware m15 R4 gaming laptop in review: (i9-10980Hk - 3070)

 

Some more info. It seems Dell also have removed the sd-card reader as well the Mini DisplayPort™. Apple have done the same with their Apple-books. Almost no I/O ports inside or outside. I wonder what of the ports will be removed for the R6



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

The current model (m15 R4).

 

Yes I noted the lack of Displayport or even thunderbolt. This is a big no for me since I use Oculus Rift s, which requires this port.

 

It seems they are out of touch with what their customers would want, and it seems rather evident that they actually do not care. Apple does not care and Dell seems to have some kind of weird fetish for being a copycat of the Cupertino Clown Posse. I don't get it... especially with the Alienware branded stuff. It makes no sense. If customers really wanted Apple crap they would just buy it from crApple.

 

What I see from above is in short the same......

The ultimate Apple I/O death chart - The Verge

"All ports must die (except maybe the one)"

 

Yeah lack of DP and less wattage on the GPUs makes this a fail. Guess I'll be keeping my m17 R4.

 

No 3080 for AMD is a deal breaker.

 

They should have added a second USB-C with DP-alt mode to make up for the removal of the mini-DP output.

 

Features like more I/0 ports costs money. When you remove some of they as Dell did with the new model, then you do it for cost savings. Not for the design decisions or saving the environment as a certain U.S company often try to hide behind.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/official-alienware-m15-ryzen-r5-owners-lounge.835745/
Made an owner's lounge for the R5. Also added links to the OP to include the manual, product page (USA), and support page.

 

Great to see the return of the RAM slots. No Thunderbolt is a standard Ryzen flaw, but why no AGA? It would be a killer feature. Hopefully the nezt Intel refresh will be better.

 

Doesn't it make sense that the AGA port is gone since the AGA is dead? I thought they stopped support for it

 

They had to redesign the motherboard to reincorporate the SO-DIMM slots and remove the traces and other components to support the AGA and mDP. Add on the fact that the exterior chassis needed a rework to remove those other ports, and the cost saving couldn't have been that great.

 

Some tips. In throttlestop, disable TVB, undervolt cache and core, and disable turbo power limits using the latest version of TS. This has allowed my 10870H to stay between 4115mhz and 4300mhz on all 16 threads in all heavy games and stay below 83C in my m17 R4. Out of the box you will only get 3.5 to 4ghz without tweaks in gaming so its worth it! My undervolts are -130mv for both core and cache stable. I'm also using performance mode when gaming for the fans and its not loud at all compared to full speed.

 

Amen brother - if people want the most stylish crap with no ports they will go for the original - how about making awesome gaming laptops instead? But I guess those at Dell who know what Alienware once stood for have abandoned ship long ago.

 

My liquid metal arrived today. I'll start the re-paste after work.

 

Awesome, can you post pics of it applied ?

 

That's quite the nice bin for a 10870H , or mine sucks. I can barely stay stable with -85mv on core and cache.

 

Yeah my first R4 could only handle 70mv undervolt and boost would only hit 3500 to 3700 in games. My current R4 definitely hit the lottery on both the CPU and GPU. My 3070 can hit +180 on the core and + 1350 memory. It beats most laptop 3080s out there.

 

You are also using a cooler to rest on correct? Thermaltake?

 

Yes the Thermaltake massive 20 RGB

 

I pulled the tape from around the cpu and put some kryonaut around it because the hsf wasn't making contact with the cpu.
I left the tape around the gpu.

I'm undervolting -100mV and underclocking to 4Ghz.

 

Awesome thanks for uploading. How much of an improvement did you see over stock paste ?

 

substantial improvement.

more than 10C lower.

 

It seems like I have to randomly set throttlestop from on to off then on again to stop my unit from power throttling. It doesn't happen often but could this be windows or something else fighting and overriding throttlestop? Like I said it works and never throttles but then just gives up sometimes while gaming and goes into PL1 or EDP other throttle states. Once I reset throttlestop, the throttling goes away for another day or two but then comes back. Not a big deal but strange.

 

Hitting some good R20 scores with the tweaked 10870H. Almost at 4300!

 

[email protected].

 

Nice. Most 10870H scores I see are 3500 to 3800 so alienware definitely maxed these chips out

 

Here is my Cine score 10870H

 

So I've noticed that the cpu will power throttle when the battery is in a charging state, meaning the 240w psu is not enough to charge and fully power the system at high loads. What is everyone's charging mode set to in the bios? I'm using a custom setup to keep battery between 50 and 70 percent. I guess I could also just get a 330w power supply and probably eliminate the charge throttle. @Papusan have you ever witnessed or read about this behavior? When battery is not charging I get 0 throttling. Dell should warn users that when the battery is charging you will lose some performance using only the stock 240w power supply.

 

Dell use Hybrid power design in same way as the (older) MSI models....
Alienware 15 R3/15 R4/17 R4/17 R5/M15/M17 performance

An awful design. Pair it with the newly introduced dynamic boost 2.0 and it will be complet disaster.


http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...4-owners-lounge.797457/page-398#post-10473375

 

So would a bigger power supply allow charging and full performance at the same time or will the bios not recognize it?

 

I expect 330w adapter will help. I mean Dell still use the 330w for the SKU's with unlocked processors so it should work on the newest models.

See this flawed statement from Dell. Why not sell it with big enough power adapters?

Benefits of the Hybrid Power Design:

• It prevents system throttling: Without hybrid design, when the system power needs more than just AC adapter power, then the system will throttle due to lack of power. With hybrid design, it prevents system throttling (Until the battery capacity drops below 20%), by using power from the battery to support additional power needs by the system.
  

 

I have the 330 I don't notice anything or what should I look for and I'll be happy to report back.

 

Simple, smaller power brick, lower cost.

 

Basically while gaming with high power draws on the CPU and GPU, does your battery lose any power after a while? With the 330, it should never use battery power when gaming. My issue is that once it decides to start charging up that battery, my CPU throttles down to 35 watts from 60 watts because the 240w PSU can't supply both the battery and the components at the same time.

 

So I just picked up an open box M17 R4 w/ 3070 and i7 proc...I'm assuming these temps are not normal.

CPU temps:
General PC use around 90c
Idle 80c
Hits 100c under any kind of real load

GPU temps so far seem OK.

 

Nooooo. Defective mount or paste job. My cpu idles in the 40/50 range and loads in the 80s. GPU idles at 43 and loads at 71C. I don't even think under volting will help you much if your stock temps are that bad. I can see why they returned it now lol

 

Yea, PO either didn't tell them about it or they legitimately didn't know. Any recommendation on paste these days? I've used Kryonaut but it's so ridiculously hard to apply that, if you don't do it right, temps end up being significantly worse than with your bargain bin pastes. I actually really liked whatever EKWB paste was made of. Good temps on my 5950x.

 

Not normal. Hate to say it, but that's probably why the previous owner returned it.

 

Probably just going to return and wait for the R5 in a week then. I have bounced between more laptops in the last 3 months than I have in the last 5 years at this point.

 

You can see some real gameplay/gamebench with temps in these videos on YT:
(5) Icesick06 - YouTube

Temps in general on the M17 R4 seem very good in real-life usage with high fps and low temps for such a thin a laptop.
M15 R4 has MUCH WORSE temps instead and has no vapor chamber.

 

OKay here is the test I have done.

1st is the 340watt PS



Next is the 240watt PS



And last is the Just on the battery



I ran Heaven Benchmark to test.

 

But what is your battery usage after gaming for a while on both power supplies. The problem is the battery is still be used with the 240w since 240w is not enough. I'm hoping a 330w will stop the battery usage

 

10min of play both are still at 100% battery life.

 

Found an Up close video of the new cherry keyboards on youtube. I don't like it, especially since the illumination of many keys is gone

 

Yeah, I don't get it. The keyboard was one of things reviewers consistently cited as one the best they've used. Seems like an upgrade no one asked for and energy could have been put elsewhere in the design. *shrug* That lighting would drive me nuts.