*OFFICIAL* Alienware m15 Ryzen R5 Owner's Lounge

How do you contact dell support through Whatsapp? I thought via MASH IT they were going to include these parts with the M15 from here on out...now I have to put in a request to get these critical parts..

 

Does anyone know how to order the updated 240W A/C Adapter that comes with the X15/X17? This brick with the base Alienware is atrocious.

EDIT: Probably don't care anymore - laptop is doing it again where it only puts 20-30W into the GPU while on the charger. I didn't do anything except put the laptop to sleep and then wake it up. This is an unsatisfactory on-ramp experience.

 

Alienware m15 R5 Review - Issues You Need To Know!


It seems Dell cripple the Ryzen Cpu vs the other brands.

 

That's very strange. It was reposted but nothing changed. I let him know about the MUX switch and he added the disclaimer. But this video was initially posted almost 6 days ago. There are alot of things missing from this review that he generally doesn't get wrong but did so with this review. I don't know if it is to make the X15 seem better?

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

 

Thank you so much for this topic. I just get an extra SSD kit for the second slot. Here are the parts that I got but I think it is missing 1 screw but that is fine.

 

His final comment... "paying customers are the BETA testers". He have sent the system back so he can't test it with the MUX switch. But he have tested it with a external screen.

The question if Dell will fix the performance in the m15 R5 to come on par with the competitors. And I'm not so sure they want that the budget model will perform much better than their new High end X-line.





Regarding the x15. Dell crippled all Ampere cards to 110W (3060 at 90W) in that model. So I expect that Dell hope the new line Intel Tiger lake processors can help to offset the drawbacks with fully castrated Ampere cards vs. the more powerful 3060/3070 in the AW m15 Ryzen model. Same also vs. the R6. More about this in the link... http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...e-and-discussion.835993/page-92#post-11107756

 

I switch to DOLGIX low-density RAM. I also using r4's vbios.
The frame rate of the highest setting 1080p shadow of tomb raider goes up from 108 to 118. Okay improvement.
This RAM is the cheapest I can found. It works alright for the price I guess. I may switch to cl16 RAM when the price clam down

 

Here is some food for your thoughts. The Budget version of the AW m15 R5 with RTX 3070@125W vs. x15 with 3070@110W. I mean those are the upper scores on 3DMark for mentioned models. The new high end models has to be better bro @etern4l Form over function is a bad trade-off.

https://www.3dmark.com/compare/spy/21430112/spy/21457693#

 

Nice. Looks like "Limitlessly thin" is referring to the lower limit!

 

I suspect that is the situation. Nothing is too crippled for their customers as long as it is cute. There is never a shortage of stupidity.

 

Well, I thought I was free from Dell... no, no I am not. The return was finally authorized, and I followed instructions shipping it out the next day. It arrived at said facility which prompted a return update, but nothing else followed throughout the rest of the week. I checked the status today and it says "Refund unsuccessful" and there was no corresponding information or activity available. **** Dell. Honestly, this is the absolute worst company I have ever dealt with regarding a big ticket item. You get better customer service at the DMV, ten fold. I will be charging back in 24 hours, as I recorded every step of the return process and have documentation stating the return was authorized. There is one tiny little thing I noticed that they may be using to try and **** people. It stated that the RMA (return authorization) was good for 5 days from that e-mail, I shipped 24 hours later utilizing their provided label, and shipping took 7 days. It stated that if the authorization was expired they basically could keep your device and not refund you. Is Dell really that scummy? The laptop was in the mail within 24 hours. They decided to provide the slowest ground mail or something?

Save. Me.

 

Any chance you can share the vbios?

 

I found it in this forum. https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/232927/232927

 

New BIOS from Dell for an extra 5W of dynamic boost!

 

New vbios out, says it increase dynamic boost 15w

 

Does this mean it's a full 140w card now?

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

 

It's supposed to be a 130W card. I'm not sure if there's an issue with my m15 R5, but the dynamic boost doesn't appear to be working. It shows as enabled, but it never goes past ~110W.

 

It’s a 115w tdp isn’t it? So that would make it 130w. But dynamic boost does not always kick in. So you don’t always get the full boost. If they increased the non-boosted tdp then that would always provide an improved performance bump. I honestly hope this dynamic boost thing dies off as it’s very misleading.

 

Just when we thought 15W dynamic boost is bad enough, Dell prepared a surprise for x17 users where the top range model is configured with TGP and DB along the lines of 125W + 40W. Limitlessly slim.

 

On top of not having a MUX switch or advanced optimus that abomination needs to be cleansed from this earth with fire.

 

The 360Hz config does have both, but agreed otherwise. The even more castrated 15 inch model deserves a special place in hell alongside its wicked creators.

 

It honestly makes me laugh that the bargain M15 r5 is overall the better machine. But they won’t change their ways since I’m sure these all still sell like hot cakes. And I honestly feel it’s crazy 1080p is even still an option on such an expensive machine. I know some people prefer it, but with 1440p being so common why not get the best of both worlds?

 

Yeah, 1080p is enough for desktop use at 15-17 inch but for gaming you want more for sure. For me this X line is hardly a flagship at all. They ended up without one.

 

Dynamic Boost is here to stay. AMD also offer same disgusting tech. Aka SmartShift. Why you think Nvidia would kill it? Will never happen before the OEM change and start make proper cooling for both Cpu-Gpu and go back to thicker chassis.

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-radeon-rx-6700m-tested-against-geforce-rtx-3070-laptop-gpu

# Zhihu offers a first look at the just-released Radeon RX 6700M laptop GPU, which was installed in MSI Delta 15 laptop. This gaming laptop is equipped with AMD Ryzen 5000H series CPUs exclusively. The Delta 15 supports AMD SmartShift technology, which allows for the transition of unused power from the GPU to CPU and vice versa, depending on the workload#

 

Anyone have some suggested settings to set with Ryzen Controller? I just got a sweet deal on an M15 R5 and wanted to get it all setup before my beach trip.

 

You don't really need to use Ryzen Controller anymore since you can use TCC Offset in the BIOS now. Set it to 10 and it won't go past 90 degrees.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

 

At a cost of performance.

 

Anyone else unable to create a bootable RAID array with the m15 R5?

 

Does dell offer memory xmp settings in the bios? Thinking of using crucial ballistix ram but it requires xmp

 

No XMP settings on the m15 R5

 

You can try my setting without using Ryzen Controller. Just playing around with the Power Options.

 

This is why proprietary design should be banned totally.... None should have to through this disgusting mess to be able to use their own ssd's. Just weld on all storage on the MB and be finished with it @tilleroftheearth

Alienware M15 R5 Dell support denied providing secondary SSD mount

 

Well I finally got my Alienware M15 R5 in! Started by setting up the fan profile and creating a custom fan curve and updated everything. Started playing COD Black Ops and while temperatures averaged low 90s, max temperature was 99 and never went over 100. Gotta say that's pretty good (which is weird to say but that's Ryzen for ya). No creaking in the chassis at all or when lifting the lid; this one seems really good! Thought the light on the F1 was broken as it was stuck to white until I realized it's that way in performance mode. Also, it didn't come with the bracket with the second SSD like they said it would but oh well, will have to get that for sure.
Compared to my Lenovo Legion 7i with RTX 2080 Super Max-Q, runs about the same thermally (and that one has a vapour chamber). Gets about the same FPS as the Lenovo but with RTX on and at 1440p so I would say that's pretty fantastic. I'm still getting used to the mechanical keyboard and while it feels good, the keys themselves feel a little cheap. I guess I am just used to the soft strike keys of the Lenovo right now but overall that's a minor complaint. I am already used to the keyboard layout which I thought there would be a bit of a learning curve coming from a full one but nope! Advanced Optimus seems to be working as intended so far and is much better than Optimus (manual control was imperative). If I turn that off, I can also gain a bit of performance too. I also have HyperX RAM to install which should make further improvement.
My Legion 5 Pro comes this week as well so I will have to determine which one I will be keeping but so far, I am definitely impressed with this laptop! The screen and performance are great so far!
10,582 on Timespy with no adjustment, just on stock performance mode? Pretty damn good! Also, CPU didn't go over 93 in that test. Haven't had any need for TCC Offset with this one yet.

 

Just got my m15 r5, I ran it initially and cpu was smashing 100 degrees instantly after a re pasted with kryonaught I played fortnite and was in the high 80's to mid 90's with a single peak of 97 my gpu was sitting in the mid 80's are these temps normal or am I running hot?

 

Sounds typical if I'm honest. I wasn't able to get my temps comfortably down without using LM on the CPU and GPU. With both, the CPU hovers around 80C and the GPU around 72C while playing Apex (unlocked framerates) and fans at full-speed. GPU has a +130/500 OC on it.

 

I was on the high performance preset, dose balanced actually make any difference in temps?

I have a custom fan profile so gpu was at around 80 percent fan speed and cpu 90 percent ish.

I was considering using liquid metal I even ordered some but then I keep seeing everyone stating it leaks out of laptop gpu's and cpu's when hot I didn't fancy shorting and killing my system

 

So I know the M15 R5 with 3070 and QHD display has a MUX switch, but I noticed that Advanced Optimus is doing its thing and well. With Hybrid Mode off there was only a 50 point difference in Timespy scores (10633 vs 10582) so I'm just going to leave it on (had it portable for an hour yesterday and it only went down 6 percent). With the Legion 7i I have, switching hybrid mode off led to about a 500 point difference in Timespy.

Additionally, in gaming there is no stuttering or frame drops with Optimus confusing which GPU to utilize (this happened all the time with regular Optimus). Advanced Optimus seems to be MUCH better than before. And if it leads to more battery life? Awesome.

I keep mine is High Performance all the time, but have different fan profiles for the Thermal management (Balanced is useless so I created a BalancedProper that ramps up the fans gradually as of 60C and 100% at 80C). Gaming I use full of course.

Still trying to get the second SSD mounting hardware which is proving to be a challenge... Ah well I'll get it eventually!

So far, I'm very happy with this laptop. As long as you temper expectations, update everything, know how to use the profiles and power plans of the ACC, it's golden.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

 

What temps do you get at idle and gaming

 

All high performance power plan. Idle with max fan, 42 CPU, 37 gpu; idle with my profile, low 50s, 45 gpu; gaming with max fans, peak of 99 but averaging 92C CPU, 85 GPU (call of duty cold war). No thermal throttling.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

 

Pretty similar to mine might go liquid metal, can I use normal thermal paste as a barrier around the cpu and gpu die?

 

I just received mine, that's on stock toothpaste lol I do have both Kryonaut and Arcic MX-4 but I likely won't do Kryonaut since the requirement for repaste a couple months later would exist. Pump out is a massive issue with Kryonaut.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

 

I'm currently using kryonaught which did make some difference it dropped my cpu from 100 degrees solid gaming to it hovering between 85 and 95 peeking at 99 every now and then.

Liquid metal seems like the way to go, I've ordered some for Tomorrow along with some Kapton tape but I'm concerned about leaks so wanted to know if I could use some crappy stock paste to create a border around both cpu an dpu die

 

Yay finally a technical support call that led to them shipping me the required parts for the second SSD!

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

 

Liquid metal is my saviour temps are down to 84 degrees cpu and 74 degrees gpu in game with 50 percent fan speed and my cooling pad off!!!!


I just hope I didn't use too much liquid metal I used nail varnish on the cpu and gpu die plus kapton tape absolutely everywhere around the cpu socket

 

The second SSD parts took less than a day to arrive. Installed and replaced the high density RAM with my HyperX RAM. In Timespy there was very little difference but in actual gaming... 10% fps increase for Call of Duty Cold War (110 vs 100 on nuketown). Pretty good!

I did notice something weird though, it was less than half the framerate it should be when I left Advanced Optimus on. Seems like it only worked as intended for a little bit. Glad this thing has a MUX switch because switching back to dGPU only? Good to go!

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

 

How do you switch the mux switch on what setting is it in bios?

 

Switch Hybrid Mode to disabled. That disables Advanced Optimus and goes dGPU only.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

 

Cheers

 

So the Legion 5 Pro arrived and now comes the hard part: which to keep and which to sell?
PROS
BETTER GAMER
Alienware M15 R5:

• noticeably better colour-accuracy
• higher refresh rate makes it smoother
• 1440p doesn't seem to have any scaling issues
• smoother (better response time)
• FX lighting is better
• mechanical keyboard is excellent
• definitively looks better
• performance and temperatures are great (well, at least no thermal throttling!)
• better build quality
• thinner and more portable
• can get a smaller power adapter if I want
• Windows Hello is amazing and extremely fast (2 seconds to being in)
• fan control is a plus
• Timespy: 10643
• Call of Duty Cold War Average FPS: 110 (after HyperX RAM upgrade, 100 before)

BETTER QOL PICK:
Legion 5 Pro:

• MUCH bigger screen (1/2" taller doesn't seem like much but it's actually a big difference in terms of immersion)
• secondary keys are actually lit (why isn't the Alienware's?!)
• NUMPAD is great to have
• for a membrane keyboard, it's extremely accurate and nice to type on
• much cheaper warranty if I am to extend it
• slightly brighter screen
• overclocking in the BIOS is intuitive and easy
• MUCH quieter of a system
• more powerful (EDIT: swap had a massive impact on performance despite this having 32 GB)
• much easier to service (MOBO isn't flipped)
• Timespy: 10917 (10993 after HyperX change)
• Call of Duty Cold War Average FPS: 110 (145 after HyperX RAM upgrade, huge difference)

 

Because Dell have to offer a new feature for the next refresh. Exactly same as they did with the added SD-Card Reader for the Area-51m R2 refresh. New features is meant to boost sales