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

As far as thermals go. Are you guys able to maintain 140+ TGP on performance fan profile? I start to throttle 81c on GPU.

 

My gpu never hits 81. I repasted and undervolted and overclocked it. Temps highest on performance now is around 64 dependant on room temp. I have a spike of 80 but thats because I was outside in 94 degree weather.

 

Is that on the performance thermal profile? I know the m17 has better cooling capabilities, but that would be a huge difference over the m15. In games like Borderlands 3 or CP2077, I have to run at max fans to keep things cool enough to not throttle. CPU sits around 82C/GPU around 79C with max fans in those games. I've tried 3 pastes so far, that's been the best I could get.

 

When you say throttle what do you mean? I believe the throttle point for the 30 series is in the 90s. If what you are referring to is the wattage. That is not always going to be at max. It's a spectrum

 

Well alienware set the throttle point at 80c for balance, 82c for performance and 84c for max fans thermal profile. Check GPU-Z advance tab you'll see the current temperature limit change based on the fan profile. So on performance profile profile it's set to 82c for me. What will happen is once the GPU hits 82c it will start to lower TGP.

 

I didn't realize dell did that. Seems silly considering they let the cpu go to 101c. I haven't really paid attention to the awcc. I am noticing that the laptop i have which is the top specced one seems to power throttle. I thought it might be the 240w psu so i bought a 330w but it hasn't fixed the issue. I flashed back to the stock vbios for my 3080 and ill see if that does it

 

Checked with a kill-a-watt to see max allowed power from the wall?

 

You need to do liquid metal pads if you want the best temps with a m15 or m17. I did thermalright tf on gpu but phobya nano grease is the best for it. Also if you can do a repad with 17.8w/mk (silicon) pads for the best cooling possible they are expensive

 

Yes sir. It spikes to 270 watts. But it does it with the 240w or 330w psu. It seems to be a bios thing. I need the m17 r4 bios. Haha

 

Dell uses a silly feature that limits brick wattage and drains battery to power the internals and w/Dell the higher 330 watt brick will work - but only @ 2 30 with brief spikes a bit higher.

If you're power throttling and using external keyboard/mouse try using an externally powered usb hub for them. The power won't be drawn from the laptop's 2 30 watt adapter which leaves a bit more wattage for the internals.

 

So there is no way to fully utilize the 330w with the m15 r4? Hmm. I'd hate to have to turn around buy a m17 but i wonder if its the same on that platform. There is very little difference between these two laptops.

 

The M17 R4 with the 3080 utilizes the larger adapter since that is the one that comes with.

IIRC they've locked down the ability to fully use a larger adapter with models that have lesser than a 3080 on the M17 R4. A 330 watt PSU will only pull as much as a '2 30' watt PSU.

It may be locked down thru TGP on the M15 if it can't fully use the 330 (20?) PSU.

 

I'm gonna tinker with it and see if i can get it to pull more.

 

I'm using a 330w adapter (from an old X51 system) on my laptop, and through a Timespy run, the GPU seems to be using close to 165w


I'm also currently experimenting with a potentially daft idea - using a combination of Conductonaut and Carbonaut.
It's just placing a layer of Conductonaut on the cpu and gpu die (while covering the SMDs with nail polish just in case), then placing a layer of Carbonaut on top.
It's really pseudoscience thinking, I'm hoping the Conductonaut soaks into the Carbonaut(and Carbonaut seems to really stick to the Conductonaut!) and I get the best of both (extra mounting pressure of Carbonaut with the better thermal transfer of Conductonaut).
At the very least, it might just be a safer way of using liquid metal by reducing the risk of run-off (the Carbonaut soaking up the excess instead).

I'm not sure what to make of the results as yet, but I can say that the CPU seems to be quite better - is not thermal throttling at all now. In fact, I can turn off TVB in ThrottleStop and using the performance fan profile, it's only limited by power. The fan speeds don't even ramp up and it maintains 4.1GHz all core (screenshots with ThrottleStop benchmark at 960MB size to make it run longer, but it's roughly the same with XTU and Timespy)


I don't think the GPU has any benefit, it's maxing out at 80C (and 89C hotspot) with Timespy, but I believe the benchmark scores are still decent and the fans still don't ramp up on the performance profile. So it's at least quiet enough. You can see the CPU test maintained 4.1GHz CPU clock too. Waiting for my Thermalright TFX to arrive and I'll test with that on the GPU and the Conductonaut+Carbonaut hybrid on the CPU since that seems to be working well there. Still alot of tweaking to do, but it's interesting.


As a side note, I'm sure I'm beating a dead horse here but elevating the laptop (I'm using a notebook cooler stand) makes a huge difference. Whether I have the stand's fans on or not, the temps are at least a good 10C lower. The air intake is seriously hampered when using the laptop flat on a desk as normal.

 

I just went liquid metal and the i9 seems to hold ok at 4.7ghz at around 80c



It eats power though. I would love it if this laptop could take advantage of the full 330w I am using. Further, the heatsink on this thing could definitely be better. I don't know If I believe that that they added a vapor chamber to the cpu. This damn heatsink looks just like the m15 r2 and r3. Dell. What a bunch of cheats.

 

That's insane, nice man!
Are you using liquid metal on the GPU as well?

 

Nope I am using kryonaut on the gpu but the 165w vbios is on it.

 

Anyone else experiencing / have solutions for incredibly hot keyboards?

My M15 R4 keyboard starts to heat up once the GPU hits around 80c and it becomes uncomfortable to game on at that point. I bought this thing for gaming, but if it's going to melt my fingers while doing so, that kind of defeats the point.

 

https://www.razer.com/gaming-keyboards/Razer-Cynosa-V2/RZ03-03400200-R3U1

Current keyboard Im using

 

I have noticed that my keys can get a bit hot. So it seems to be dependent on the heatsink itself i think. I think if the heatsink is better fitted to the pcb it appears to cause less heat pollution. I had two m15r4s. Both had mechanical keys and both had 3080s but one had the 10870h and the one i kept had the 10980hk.

I noticed that the first machine had really high temps in the wasd area. I also noticed that i got reduced performance when i used liquid metal rather than paste. This told me that the heatsink was not mating very well with the cpu and gpu dies on machine #1. When i swapped to the 2nd machine my temps dropped alot in the wasd range. I further noticed that the cpu responded much better to LM. It's anecdotal but at least in my small test i noticed some differences. I honestly thought about putting a layer of reflective tape on the underside of the keyboard and against the heatsink but i worried it may mke it worse.

 

Use liquid metal pads they worked great for me on cpu and phobya nano grease on gpu keeps my temps no higher then 73 after a undervolt and oc.

What's the model of the plug your using or the Dell part? I like to purchase another plug.

 

do you know if there is any 1440p high refresh I can use to replace the OEM 360Hz screen?

 

it's been exactly 2 weeks since I pointed out the problem of the flashing screen, and it never happened again. the only thing I did was switch the profile in AWCC from quiet to balanced. I noticed that in a quiet profile, the fans do not spin above 51% at any temperature. the balanced mode is also quiet without load, but it accelerates the fans in proportion to the temperature increase. when rendering video, the processor often reaches 100 degrees, but not for long. I'm afraid to disassemble and change the paste yet) there are no artifacts and no problems, except that the temperatures look menacing. in office tasks, the temperature is kept around 60-65 and the cooler often stops at 0%, which is good for the ears)

 

Taking this laptop apart is quite easy to be honest. There is a disassembly video of the m17 r3 which is identical to the r4.

 

This one is pretty good

 

I've seen the same in my Alienware. Looking around I saw that it is a know problem, which also happens in other browsers (Firefox).

You can deactivate HW acceleration in the browser, that helps.

I've also seen that using a lower refresh rate on the integrated screen also helps. It seems that it may be due to the difference between the refresh rates of the two monitors.

In my case I just decided not to use duplicate screen anymore...

 

Thanks man, unfortunately I can't seem to get Coollaboratory liquid metal pads in my country and Amazon doesn't ship it there for some reason. Gonna have to see if I can make other plans to get some.
My 330w adapter's product number is XM3C3

 

All,

If anyone needs a brand new from Dell 1080P 360hz panel that was destined for a M17 R4, I have one I am selling relatively cheap. PM me if interested.

 

Damm that sucks and ty for the info. Them can you get regular lm? If so use (liquid metal) and use a 0.2mm shim to fill the gap. Make sure you tape around the processor to protect it while your putting the lm don't wanna short anything and be extremely mindful not to use too much...if you don't feel comfortable with that use phobya nano grease

 

Liquid Metals are cohesive rather than adhesive like water. So I don’t think it will work as good as you think it will. Yes it might stick to the surface but it won’t soak it up like a piece of tissue.

 

Does anyone know why AW has such a terrible scary BIOS without mouse support? Even simple DELL laptops have a more advanced color BIOS with mouse support. When will the BIOS be updated on AW?

 

How is it scary exactly?

 

Speaking of bioses. I have a top end specced m15 r4. The cpu will throttle to 3700mhz due to power during gaming. I have a 330 watt psu. I have tried it with the 140w and 165w vbios for the RTX 3080. It doesn't seem to matter. There is something software related that causes it to throttle. Can someone with a m17r4 and an i9 and 3080 tell me if they are dealing with similar issues? Thank you

 

here is the bios of dell and alienware. alienware has it the same as it was in the days of pentium III

 

It doesn't seem scary to me. The only problem i have with the alienware bios is it is locked down too much. They should offer more options and control. Mouse support isn't even on my list.

 

Similar fun seen with the new X-series models Alienware X17 Weird power throttling issues when CPU+GPU power draw exceeds ~200W. See 2:28. I can't see the point with an unlocked Cpu if it sits mostly around 2.6 to 3.6GHz in use.

 

This is pretty lame.

 

Alienware m15 R4 and Alienware m17 R4 New Driver and BIOS Updates July 30th 2021

https://www.dell.com/support/home/e...ode=wt64a&productcode=alienware-m15-r4-laptop

https://www.dell.com/support/home/e...ode=wt64a&productcode=alienware-m15-r4-laptop

Fixes & Enhancements
- Firmware updates to address the Intel Security Advisory INTEL-SA-00459 (CVE-2020-24507, CVE-2020-8703, CVE-2020-24506, and CVE-2020-24516).
- Firmware updates to address the Intel Security Advisory INTEL-SA-00464 (CVE-2020-24511).
- Firmware updates to address the Intel Security Advisory INTEL-SA-00463 (CVE-2020-12359).
- Firmware updates to address security vulnerabilities.
Version
Version 1.5.1, 1.5.1
Category
BIOS
Release date
30 Jul 2021

Fixes & Enhancements
- Driver updates to address the Intel Technical Advisory INTEL-TA-00459 (CVE-2020-8704).
Version
Version 2110.15.0.2210, A02
Category
Chipset
Release date
30 Jul 2021

 

Why not grab the record?! LOL

 

I see that you have an m17 r4. will you do me a favor and see if your system power throttles in games? When I play apex I notice that my cpu will drop to around 3600mhz to 3700mhz even with temps in the high 70s. The only thing I can figure is it is a power issue. My system will spike to 270w and then take a dump. I have been able to measure my wattage from the wall so I know it's pretty accurate. I have a 330watt adapter and the only thing I can figure is alienware is using software to hold back my m15. If your m17 can run full out I may upgrade. Thank you

 

It does. I had an m17R4 month ago and had the same throttling. My X17 had it also. Its Not a Bug. Its a Feature...

Gizmo had it in his review / unboxing stream too but didnt care

 

Wow. What a feature. Damn. Thanks I appreciate the info.

 

Yeah.... This was the reason i sold the m17 and bought an A51mR2.

 

Mine never throttles. See my throttlestop settings to max the chip in games. Also, i can do 4.2 at -200 core/cache but can hit a temp wall at 4.2 and my demanding GPU curve. Currently, GPU is at 1890 @.850mv.

 

What happen when you run it without underclocking? Have you checked max and average power consumption in full load on Cpu and Gpu. Same also for streaming while gaming with default Cpu clock speed. Aka not undeclocked. Thanks. I think @EepoSaurus want to run with default clock speed/oc'd Cpu. Hence he ask about power throttling.

Edit. This is from the latest youtube video with X17 (Yesterday).


I expect this model also will be able to run higher clocks if the unlocked Cpu was underclocked/undervolted well below default.




Dell's brand new gaming flagship doesn't works any different than their new XPS models. Their power handling to tune the power is out of another world.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...otebookcheck-net.808983/page-39#post-11110274

 

Hi there again.

So I have a weird bug on my Alienware M15 R4 with i7, RTX 3080 and 32gb ram. When I play games on my new Alienware AW2721D monitor, sometimes (maybe once per gaming session), both the monitor and the laptop screen will blink blank a few times quickly, almost like it loses connection for a brief second, then goes back to normal. I am using G-Sync as well as 240hz. I tried switching to a better cable (Club3D Displayport to Mini DisplayPort), but it didn't help. I was thinking if it is power related, but not sure. The issue doesn't seem to happen on my work computer (MacBook Pro) when using an HDMI cable.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

I will run it with HWinfo in the background stock but it will hit a thermal wall long before a power wall.

 

what profiles have you selected in AWCC?

 

Sorry for the late reply. I use the following profiles: Overclock Custom (+130 Core, +200 memory), Performance Fan Profile then High Performance energy setting. However, a IBM (not Dell) came to my place in Japan and changed the motherboard, as well as the hard drives. While it seems to be running just fine, I noticed in Apex that I now reach 100C on some of the cores, which it hasn't done before. Dell sent thermal paste for the repair, but the package was unopened, so guess he didn't use it (or if he used his own, don't know). Should I just ask Dell again to reapply thermal paste or should I do it alone? Albeit I have never done this type of stuff alone..

Regarding the flickering screen I will have to do some gaming tonight to see if it appears now when he has changed the motherboard and gpu.