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

Use 3Dmark Search for your setup. Click on graphics/physics score.

 

They are saving the soldered storage for next gen ..... jk I really hope this is not the case.

 

How in the heck are they getting 9 and 10K cpu scores? I'm always around 8600 and have done everything I can

 

Fixed the issue, it was throttlestop

 

Amazing! Thank you!

So we got it, latest BIOS v1.3.1 will not lock undervolting fearure (both for locked and unlock CPUs)

 

What kind of score are you getting now and what have you done to maximize?

 

You can try but i guarantee you that the double sided tape won't last and you will be disapointed on the long run. You will still have lightbleed, maybe less if your lucky but in a week or more you will notice your plastic frame is no longer glued to the panel. I have tried with multiples double sided tapes. NONE was strong enough to hold the plastic. IPS panels = ligntbleed.

 

I let laptop 2h and start with a plastic tool (triangle) to put betwen the rubbe

You have to use a special side tape, same tape who producers put in phones, 3M extreme thiner and very good

 

I really hope it will hold for you. I tried (multiple times) on a 15R3 and it would only hold for a week before it started to come appart. Maybe the M17R4 bezel screen is built better (more straight). Time will tell

 

Here is another bench in firestrike. The 3070 overclocks very well and holds between 140 and 146w during benching and games. Just broke 31K graphics score. Still has room left so I'm sure I'll break 32k easily.

https://www.3dmark.com/fs/25233192

 

That score puts you in first place for graphics. Congrats.
If i remember you were first in TimeSpy also with your GE76.

 

Awesome, and yes I was first at one point for the GE76 and also for the 51m R2 with the 2070 super

 

Maybe you have more skills then others
That 3070 is only 2k behind the best 3080Laptop (only -7%). That makes it the best value for sure.
Now i would like to know if it's still only 7% slower in games FPS? Probably.

 

I am on the latest vbios and bios, so maybe they changed something. These 3070s were supposed to be 115w with some turbo boosting but this thing is always pegged at 140 to 146w when fully utilized in games. I think Dell juiced these 3070s more than others have. In most games the bottleneck will be the 10870H which only holds 4ghz all core when playing CPU intense games. The 11 series will barely change this. Hopefully the 12 series can help us with these high refresh panels lol

 

See if you can do something with the Cpu score. It seems Dell have tuned the Unified cooling for the Gpu part at expense of the Cpu. Or maybe you also use the TCC offset feature Dell added to provide better cooling for the GPU to keep up the boost clocks.

You'll find max Maximum Graphics Power value in NCP.

Comprehensive list of all laptops featuring the NVIDIA 3070 Laptop Gpu

 

I recently got an M17 R4 with the 3080 and i9, but in timespy the best I can get is a combined score of 10500 when I put it in Ultimate power mode. In balanced mode I seem to top out around 9800. I've tried undervolting it in the alienware command center, and it doesn't look like that did anything. Is there anything I can to get a consistent score around 12000? I'm not looking to get the best score, but at least something better without having to do major tweaks.

 

I recomment you post you graphic score in time spy with temperatures and CPU performance.
Is it your first Alienware? If yes then you wiill have to learn how (badly) awcc behaves.

Just as reference when you bench here's a few reminder
1-windows powerplan= Max
2-Fan= full speed (in awcc)
3-Power supply (connected)
4-G-Sync = off
5- Nvidia 3D settings = Maximum performance (not balanced)

Not overclock, no undervolt (in awcc) just stock for the first runs.

 

I am considering returning mine since the only way I am getting the most out of the 3080 is if I hook it up to an external monitor instead of the 4k it comes with.

The performance is great on my c9 oled 4k 120hz.

Is there any way to more performance out of the built in 4k monitor?

Mine is the m17 r4 with an i9, 3080

 

Hi! Does anybody know, M17 R4 has separate cooling for CPU and GPU, or unified?
If somebody had teardown, please show a good photos how the cooling part looks like here!
Thanks.

 

Its unified.

Basically its the same as the ones used in the M15/M17 R3 but now the vapour chambers are used across all specs.

 

Unified, presumably the internals look the same as R3.

 

Yeah, it looks unified. Look at https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-ALIENW...906274?hash=item3b4df3fda2:g:jxMAAOSwQ2ZfVGIo

But it's weird, because M17 R4 is much more better in cooling aspect than M17 R3. How then did Dell do that ?
I feel something is changed for better cooling...

 

This is my first Alienware. Thank you for the help!

Combined Score: 10723
Graphics Score: 11586
CPU Score: 7541

What's your take on this, and what should I try next?

 

Your CPU is overheating and thermal throttling. (Probably bad thermal paste job)
You can undervolt to improve and reduce it's clock speed. You CPU should not thermal Throttle during such a bench. Undervolt -100 core and cache if you know how using ThrottleStop.
If you don't have Thtottle stop you can use AWCC and create a profil with -100 (but throttle Stop is better).
or
you could just go in the bios (F2) on reboot and see the feature called: «TCCoffset» and set it to: 15. (this will reduce temps but will also reduce performance)

Your GPU score appears normal and will impove when you fix the problem of the overheating CPU (shared heatsink)

Try that and report results.

 

If you download the manual at dell's m17R4 web page, you'll have all the photos you need.

Edit: here you go: https://dl.dell.com/topicspdf/alienware-m17-r4-laptop_service-manual_en-us.pdf

 

I don't think this M17R4 can correctly cool that 10980K chip. (Laptop is too thin) and that's why alienware came with the (terrible) idea of TCCoffset.
You should look at your CPU temp while benching. Is it close to 100C? (most probably)

The component of this system are too powerfull for it's chassis. My 51MR2 (12 pounds i think) can hardly cool this i9K processor.

 

I do not think any laptop can cool 8 core 16 thread CPUs ideally. I have tested different ways of running my 10980hk. Below seems to be the best.

 

I have created a custom profile in AWCC and with a -100 voltage offset, it passed the tests but the computer restarts constantly. I tried -80 and it restarted less and even made it through the benchmark again. Combined score krept up to 10850, but the cpu is still maxing out. I'll go into bios next.

 

This is a horrible result for the i9. It’s definitely a case of horrible thermal paste. Ask them to build a replacement and send it to you. They’ll take the old machine back once the new one comes in.

This was mine out of the box. Same config as yours:

https://www.3dmark.com/spy/19086603

This is what I game on:
Core: +135
Memory: +600
CPU: All core at 4.8 with a -100mV offset.

https://www.3dmark.com/spy/19066208

I can’t push past this without artifacts due to the GPU.

Some CPU benchmarks:

https://external-preview.redd.it/dhz2PguMTvulh9yGATURjasAAwUNlki_Yyj66vNF1yc.jpg?auto=webp&s=4623969e1593dc5f25fa7fc969ccfbc68d1f067c

The max all core I can maintain under cpu only load is 5.1GHz. I’m wondering if a repaste with liquid metal will allow me to hold 5.3 lol. And at 5.3 it only takes a -70mV offset. Crashes with anything higher. But it holds 5.3 all core for a few seconds before throttling down to 5 GHz

 

You are gaming at 4.8 HT on with only -100mv? What are your temps and what games? I am seeing 4.2 as my max gaming to keep under 100 degrees and 800mv on GPU around 1770 clock. Not sure how you are hitting 4.8 and I am at 4.2. I think you are throttling (CPU) is my point.

Before you get nervous, stop using Alienware CC and switch to throttlestop. Drop your CPU to 4.3 and Cache to 4.2 and UV -130 core and cache and tell us where you land.

 

Finally got around to running timespy last night. Someone said that the mobile 3080 is equivalent to the 2080ti?
I ran a quick bench on my desktop as well. Stock GPU and Overclocked CPU and its a couple thousand points higher.

 

Nice runs!

My runs are like this:

1. 2080ti 16k GPU 3080 Mobile Max 14.1k GPU Timespy Record so far. Anyone with patience can beat it though.
2. 3080 19k GPU
3 3090 21.6k GPU

 

I tried an OC run on my 2080 ti, but I think my poor 750 watt PSU can't handle it with the CPU also overclocked. I was seeing 330 watts from the GPU alone before the system shut off on me. At some point I'll figure it out.

 

Yup you are pushing it to the edge. Still a great result. My 2080ti has sumsung memory at 8000 and is just an okay core clocker. My memory is dialed in though. Dual rank 4500mhz 17 17 17 34 300 trfc all on a [email protected] for benching.

 

Most games don’t push the CPU that hard honestly. I play flight sim 2020 mostly and I don’t see temps higher than 90 most of the time. And definitely no throttling on MSFS atleast.

Anyway I just did a cpu only run in timespy at 5.1. Here’s my result:
https://www.3dmark.com/spy/19327544

CPU score is 11.3k lol. The CPU hits 100c at the very end here though, so this is absolutely unusable for anything other than my programming work which only maxes out a core or two at times.

But I wonder what results I can get with a liquid metal repaste.

The reason i asked op to return it is, even out of the box, that was a very poor score for the CPU, don’t you agree ?

 

Yes pretty bad but my guess is he may not have the settings correct in AWCC. Your CPU score is the highest that I have seen. Even on my world record run I only hit 10.7k CPU. Are you on a cooling pad? You can even lower your core and cache more I bet. Yes LM will make your system even better. You literally have the highest 10980hk i have seen.

 

This is on a table with the rear lifted up slightly for better airflow. Do cooling pads even work? I’ve never had one, even on my older Alienware.

Besides, these CPU scores in timespy are worth nothing since they test cpu and gpu separately. And as I said, this is the 5.1 profile I have under performance in TS. Currently at -100mV. I get random crashes at over 110. So I’ve just decided to let it be. However on my internet profile I run at 3.1 all core with a -150mV offset with no issues. Similarly at 5.3 even 85mV produced crashes when I start up rivatuner. How on earth are you at -200 lol ? I’ve never seen a 10th gen go that high with HT on. At -200, you could maintain 5.3 all core and break all sorts of world records

 

Let’s face the facts. Unless there’s a 200W+ VBIOS for the 3080 Laptop GPU, there’s zero chance it’s going to beat your 2080Ti desktop. The only good thing I’ve seen in this generation of laptops is some cheaper 3070 laptops which seem to have good VFM. That’s about it. I wouldn’t be surprised if Nvidia launched a 3090 mobile based on the Desktop 3080 die if and when they transition to TSMC 7nm process

 

that is only at the 4.2 bin. Way less as you get higher. You need to turn off speedstep and shift to get that much. You have a very well binned CPU. I would not do a repaste. You can beat everyone with a pad and on a cold start. Yes -8 degrees or so. Note I actually get -220 at that bin.

Check this out. You could have the record for that CPU.



Can you run throttlestop bench at your settings at 4.2 and tell me your max watts?

Also a hwinfo screen if you have it

 

Here’s mine with the same bin as yours on the same test but with a -100mV undervolt .
https://imgur.com/a/GccSRXd

Why are your cores so different in temps? The difference between cores should ideally be less than 5C if you ask me.

 

Couple things I believe. You got a really good paste and I did not. You have a very low leak CPU. We are almost the same watts and I am at -220 in throttle. I think that is why your higher bins are so strong.

Not sure how much of a difference it would make but I also have cache ratio locked at 42 for that bin. You can prob go lower if you lock that as well.

@mrfox what do you think here?

 

Exactly my point....thin laptops cannot run those CPU. Why are they (Alienware) still selling it?
and LM won't fix it also.
Thanks for sharing your settng wiith others.

 

Maybe another time to check that cache lock. I’m about to sleep and the system is already shut down. Anyway, enjoy your new machine. I’ll probably return this as the soldered RAM and WiFi is bothering me way too much.

Just what justification is there on earth to solder the WiFi card rather than screw it in? Alienware laptops have served me well over 11 years now, but I just cannot justify this to myself.

 

They have zero incentive to launch a 3090 mobile. AMD hasn't released anything even close to threatening the mobile 3080, and they can't even supply enough dies for the desktop 3080, let alone have enough supply to launch a laptop version of the same die.

 

I know how/where to undervolt to -130, but I don't know where/what to change to set the cpu and cache to 4.3 and 4.2

 

I understand for sure. My one caution would be I think you got a gold sample with your paste and or CPU.

 

cache ration min max. Set min to 39 and max to 42. Put all cores to 43 and test

 

Getting better - timespy got 11045 combined, 11986 gpu, 7645 cpu. Looking at the CPU temps, they approached 100 but weren't throttling like before. What should I try next? I also have a dilemma. I'm at the end of my return window (it actually has been extended, long story), and need to ship it back tomorrow if I'm going to. I'm hesitant to do so because the 4k screen on this one is perfect (no light bleed!). This is after I've already had service done to replace the originally screen and replace the motherboard after the first technician broke something on it. I have some artic silver paste and thermal grizzly liquid metal I could apply (I have never applied the later before and don't know if it's safe on this laptop). Is it worth repasting it?

 

Return.
MB was already replaced. That explains why your CPU is overheating (bad paste as i suspected from the beginning)
You can still make another purchase and keep this one untill you receive the other one (that's what i did back then) you just have to call them and request a return.
That is my suggestion but it's your call.

 

what is your fan profile at? Needs to be full or performance. MAke sure are on performance mode as well not balanced. Also, keep bumping down core and cache. Try 42 min/max and -200 on both core and cache. My guess is that your fan profile is not correct and something is getting overridden. Bad paste job is still on the table but we have a few hours lets keep trying.