*OFFICIAL* Alienware m15 Ryzen R5 Owner's Lounge

I actually felt this same way about it, and initiated mine before the clock expired. I plan to try and work with support, and give them a couple weeks to fix bios. However, there is no guarantee they can even fully fix it. Especially with the thermal problems the laptop already has if you're not down to re-paste.

Jarod's video shows the support agent who said the quiet part out loud for everyone to hear. Poor person probably lost their job. This was definitely an intentional manipulation of the bios to create a more stable product, and we know it's not the first time they've done it. Sadly this time at the cost of making it the worst performer in the pack out of box.

There is a very good chance by "fixing" it, it will likely be generating more heat than the default pasting/chassis was designed to handle. So the fix may just hamper something else entirely to cope with that, or it may just let you get thermal throttled. We simply don't know, because they got caught with their pants down and don't want to fuel the FUD train causing them to end up with a bunch of returns. By admitting it is an intentional post-advertised adjustment they also end up being stuck without getting to charge their 15%. So that won't happen.

By making general statements like "we're working on it." they simply hope to stop the bleeding and convince folks to hold on past their 30 day window. I honestly hope they do fix it properly. Because it's one of the best available in terms of aesthetics and functionality. The keyboard and screen are effectively the best in the market for the mid-high TDP Ryzen + 3070 laptops. They just can't pay games with folks by undershooting the expected average levels of performance of hardware, because people will get upset and feel scammed.

 

Further information from the Dell tech support specialist which is why everyone with these m15 R5 Ryzen edition with an RTX 3070 needs to understand Dell has no intention of fixing this even though I provided them all links to this forum and review sites stating this would be fixed.

"After some research and consulting with some other people inside Dell I cant confirm any of the information provided by you, even though they seem to be some sort of confirmation to this websites we do not posses it, neither can it be provided since it might be considered inside information for the company."

Please know we are dealing with a company that in my opinion has no intention of being honest with their customers. They fully tried to deceive us all. To each their own, but I will do no further business with companies that practice business like this and have returned my unit despite the really nice mechanical keyboard and screen.

 

Currently working with a Dell Tech now. She won't even acknowledge the missing cores. This should be fun. If they compensate me, I will consider keeping it. Otherwise I think I may be doing the same. I had an order for the Rog Strix G17 but cancelled it when this was announced. I hope I don't come to regret that.

***UPDATE*** she just said after the following installations and updates I will see if you are still missing... dead silence... I mean I will see if you're still having any issues. LOL. Admit the cores are not available! LOL

 

To be fair they probably don't know anything and wouldn't be told anything till the last minute. They are just hourly workers in call centers.

 

They have still supervisors (engineers with slightly more competance than the stupid crowd who work on the phone) who should be able to have all sorts of info. If the one on top in their tech support organisation can't find the answers from own engineering group, this doesn't bode well.

 

That's wild, your post made me do some contemplating. I don't even know if I've used a touchpad in 12 years of owning gaming laptops to notice if one sucks.

 

I think the company definitely knows. Probably even supervisors. I just don't think they would admit anything. They may even be ordered not to. All things we should hold against dell and not the low end workers

 

Okay, so I am running into a few issues.

1. My left CTRL key will perform whatever the last FN action I've done last (toggle max fans, turn on/off keyboard backlight, turn on/off trackpad) that is also controlled via AWCC. It does not affect brightness control. E.g. if I turn ON backlight on keyboard, pressing the CTRL key will turn it off. Happy to provide a video of this.

2. My battery drains while playing games; I have the 5800H/3070/QHD configuration with a 240w power brick.

Anyone else experiencing either of these issues?

 

My battery drains too

 

1. I have an entirely different issue with my FN/CTRL keys. They default to their secondary functions cause of the FN lock being the default every time I reboot. So that's annoyingly weird. I haven't see that particular issue with the CTRL repeat actioning though. I did notice the brightness control wont work if you're on dedicated GPU sometimes though, the brightness adjustments only work consistently for me if I'm using discrete GPU.

2. Yeah, I haven't really tested but that's pretty normal for gaming laptops. If you planning on getting an hour or more outta battery-only gaming on a laptop like this you're going to be regularly disappointed by just about every gaming laptop these days. (You mean while plugged in? That's a little weird, but my MSI G65 Stealth also did it, they said it was something about keeping it from overcharging battery while plugged in. I haven't been paying attention to this one.)

 

I have a Lenovo Legion 7i (2080S Max-Q) and it also drains a bit while gaming.

Sent from my SM-G970W using Tapatalk

 

Most laptops drain a bit when under heavy loads. Can’t remember the exact reason, but it’s a built in feature from my understanding.

 

Has anyone noticed that their R5 makes some mild creaky plasticky noises around the hinge/display frame/lid? The plastic doesn't seem firmly fixed to the display. Edit: Based on YouTube comments it seems I'm not alone.

 

2. Obviously he meant while plugged in! It's not normal at all, although we do see this in some Dell laptops from time to time. They actually have the cheek to call this a feature called "Hybrid Power". Basically, it happens when the supplied power brick is inadequate, so the laptop starts covering the shortfall using the battery until it runs out when it would throttle.

Clearly, this is very bad as it means additional battery wear during plugged in use, in addition to the fact that once the battery drains completely, the system has to throttle (I guess, a desktop with an inadequate power supply would just crash).

The solution is to get a larger power supply, 330W in this case. Hopefully support will provide one.

 

Need to be tested. I expect the R5 Ryzen Edition will cap out with 3070 and there is no obvious reason for Dell to let it benefit from more power from etc bigger PSU. See it this way, you may can use 330w as the other models but EC will prevent it from utilize it at full. No SKU in the R5 line is delivered with more than 240W brick... Why should they code the firmware for utilizing more than 240W from the PSU? They have battery boost for peak power consumption


(The EC [Embedded Controller] is responsible for sending very basic instructions to the rest of the system; things like "send power here", "turn the screen on" etc)

https://dl.dell.com/topicspdf/alienware-m15-r5-laptop_users-guide_en-us.pdf

 

Good point.

Haha, where did you get that ridiculous graphic from. It needs to be corrected to depict the $$$$ saved on supplying cheaper power bricks!

 

I mean it was pulled from the old days from MSI's bragging about battery boost as a good thing. @Falkentyne
Dell adopted it around 2015 when they went from 240W to 180W bricks to try cut costs. I mean the awful tech, not the pict

 

https://wccftech.com/dell-in-hot-wa...ction-law-suit-filed-for-false-marketing-too/

Nothing really new. But the Class action lawsuit if true would definitely likely light a fire under alienwares rump to fix this swiftly.

 

Honestly I just assumed that she has been bombarded with inquiries pertaining to the same thing. Then again, a lot of consumers prob don't realize anything is afoot and suspect its as advertised. She was a tech specialist and ran diagnostics and did a ton of driver/bios/software updates. Temps are down some now. CPU hasn't hit 100C since. As far as the cores go, she spoke to her supervisor and said Dell is aware of the situation and they are working on an Nvidia update to fix the problem.

 

I have to agree with this, that the touchpad is disgustingly bad. My finger can barely glide across it, the functionality is subpar as well. My MacBook touchpad is glorious. It's a shame they dropped the ball on a feature that sees such high usage and is a large part of the user experience. I'll be using a Logitech MX 3 if I keep this. Silly to feel the need to use a mouse.

 

There is some probability Dell fixes this bottleneck without creating another throttling scheme.

If I were within the 30 day return window, I know what I would be doing. Outside the window, I'm not sure how amenable Dell is to returns; maybe a manager can be convinced to exchange for a TV or some furniture.

 

I am inside the return window, but I want the device as advertised. I can get over the trackpad as the MX3 would be for my editing, and of course when I game I use a controller. Just give me the performance I spent a pretty penny for. This should never be an issue. I foresee this lawsuit leading to minor compensation as well. Hell, they'll offer you 10% to keep an order rather than cancelling (I know from past experience). We'll see how the saga unfolds.

 

Realistically, what laptop on the market has the power/performance, display quality, and aesthetics comparable to this one? The others are so much more expensive.

 

The list go longer. All to push the new X line models in front as the better option.

Dell Alienware m15 R5 review (2021 model – Ryzen & RTX 3070 Laptop, QHD 240Hz screen) review ultrabookreview.com

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...laptop-cuda-cores.836171/page-3#post-11099347

 

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Wrong thread, sorry about that!

 

The R4 with the 10870H/3070/16GB/512GB frequently goes on sale for $1535 or less using the CapitalOne 12% off Dell coupon. It becomes even cheaper if you use Chase 5% cashback and 4-12% cashback from cashback shopping sites. That's much cheaper than the M15 R5 with the same specs (except processor) for $1899 MSRP. The M4 is honestly what I'm wishing I got. The signs point to it being an intentionally higher binned device. Every single aspect is probably better, except processor newness and display brightness.

 

Well then. I updated the BIOS and the only thing I'm noticing is that fans are louder, and my Unigine Heaven (Extreme preset except at 1080p fullscreen) results went from a paltry 102.9 to an even more paltry 92.6. I really don't like myself for buying this laptop.

 

Can you return it or nah?

 

Yes I am going to return it. Ball = dropped.

I need to vent one last time.

-The speakers are HORRENDOUS, and so quiet. Literally $300 laptop tier speakers.
-The plastic feels cheap. The keyboard deck seems to be plastic as well.
-There aren't nearly enough ports for a "desktop replacement" type of laptop.
-Why not put a 99 whr battery in such a bulky body?
-The dimensions of the laptop are huge. It's basically a square.
-All of the Alienware software is buggy as hell
-The keyboard deck is still quite warm from running a single Unigine Heaven benchmark an hour ago
-The display frame is super duper creaky.
-The touchpad is tiny and feels loose and floppy/clunky toward the clicker area. It's also ultra oversensitive and tends to scroll sideways instead of down when I'm using 2 finger scrolling.
-The backspace key is squeaky
-It's much heavier than the R4. How did they manage that, using flimsier, cheaper materials and less cooling hardware?
-The screen looks less sharp due to the anti-glare coating.
-The CPU frequently throttles down to 3ish GHz playing less demanding titles from 2010-2015
-The GPU can't maintain 115W if its life depends on it and typically ends up at around 102-113W
-100C CPU within 30 seconds of opening Unigine Heaven? Where can I sign up?

All in all... I'm going to wait for a deal on an MSI or something that properly cools the hardware, even though I freaking hate MSI. At the end of the day all I care about is performance and value.

 

Well, I personally believe you made a good decision, treat yourself better my friend

I don't really want to steer this thread in the wrong direction, but its quite obvious that this laptop has lots of issues, and is basically unusable for most people and even those who can barely understand tech. I would personally never touch this laptop, but that's just me, and everyone has their own thoughts about it.

For those who do end up getting this laptop, document your experience's with it so that those who are thinking about purchasing one can make a more informed decision as it seems Dell likes putting the blindfold onto their customers. There are already too many people who have jumped in the pit, not warned about the fire, and ended up getting burned. I'd like to see less and less people get burned, or at least let them know that they will be burned

 

I am contemplating going to the HP Omen with 5900HX and 3070. I liked their software (far superior to AW CC), and the machine was snappy and performed incredibly well when I tried the 6 core intel chip with 3070. Damn I want a QHD screen for editing though.

 

Customer order one from HP then. They have QHD panels. They’re about to release a 16” and a new 17” this month so I’d wait for those to drop first.

 

It appears the price of their Omen just went up ~8-10% as well. I had one carted for $1869, and it's now $2019. They sometimes do 10% cash back through Rakuten. Yeah, I suppose I'll just hold onto this and use it for work over the next few weeks, and wait and see what unfolds. The x15 with the i7 doesn't look too bad, but certainly not worth the price difference knowing it's exactly what Dell hopes/wants us to do. Without the QHD screen at that.

 

I have the same issue with left control. Only on windows, it's fine in bios and linux so is clearly not a hardware issue. Going to try fresh windows install tomorrow

 

Some news... http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...otebookcheck-net.808983/page-38#post-11099634

Dell may be up to its CUDA core cannibalizing shenanigans again. A cursory glance at the Dell G15 listing tells us that its CUDA core count is set at 3,584 instead of 3,840. One could have dismissed it as an error had it not been for Dell's recent Alienware m15 R5 debacle.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/The-c...n-t-as-powerful-as-it-should-be.544458.0.html

 

Well that probably means they’re gonna be fighting unlocking those cuda cores back on either the G15 or R5. Shameful. Everyone should protest with their wallets. That’ll catch their attention.

 

Me and bro @Mr. Fox and a few others have voted for this the last decade (told the truth). But not all want to listen, bro Terreos. Many rather prefer to jump on the inevitable and the unknown regardless the good advices they get. Some find it out afterwards and sell it while other run a never ending fix rail-road.

 

Nobody likes to be told their baby is ugly, but doing stuff to make your baby ugly on purpose is really messed up.

 

Damn true. This poor thing was so pretty at birth momma bludgeoned her head a bit with a club. All so she'd never be prettier than the first-born she had with Intel.

 

This is not a Intel thing. Its how Dell rules. And it was already ugly at birth. Destroyed during the design and engineering process. And the QC afterwards couldn't catch up with crackling chassis. Review below.

"this r5 in my opinion doesn’t live up to the level of quality I would expect"

Dell Alienware m15 R5 review (2021 model – Ryzen & RTX 3070 Laptop, QHD 240Hz screen)

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...laptop-cuda-cores.836171/page-3#post-11099347

 

I mean not everyone cares as much about the heat issues, and planned to overclock. I woulda been content if the performance was just appropriate for its specs. It's still the best keyboard screen, and I can live in an igloo to disperse 10 degrees.

 

Looks like I may downgr *cough* I mean upgrade to the r4 with 3070 or 3080. I can't believe I can't run Warzone at a consistent 120fps at 1080p on a system with a 5900HX & Max-P 3070 GPU.

PAIN!

A damn HP Omen with a largely inferior 6 core Intel and a Max-Q 3070 could sustain 120-130+ fps. People warned me about Alienware. While it's a beautiful display, and has many great features, why would a gaming label gimp gaming performance? I am so disappointed. I keep trying to find workarounds, etc, but alas it's just how the cookie crumbles. Anyone succeed in any sort of support "negotiations" of any kind?

 

That's been the issue with Alienware for the past few years. They want to appeal to more people, which works, but ultimately backfires on themselves as they trade high performance and good thermals for good looks and thin designs. The only people who largely critique Dell/Alienware are here on these forums, but we are not big enough to tackle the titan that is Dell/Alienware. We've tried to tell others, but no one really listens, and they only complain more and more. There's not much that can be done unless lots of people team up and call Dellienware out on there ********, which is a power that the majority don't know they have

 

It's up. I'll test it.
https://www.dell.com/support/home/e...ode=wt64a&productcode=alienware-m15-r5-laptop

 

Ok here are a Firestrike and Timespy on the new bios.



This is with a +175 Core +375 Mem overclock and it ran at 115w.

Here is stock performance with an overclock.


Here is the R4 3070 bios flashed and an overlock.



It's just as I thought it would be. They gave back the cores but kept the performance. The R4 3070 runs between 125w to 135w so I think that is where the slack is being picked up. Pretty stupid seeing as how the GPU has plenty of thermal headroom. This is a really stupid bios to release. It's like taping the the current year on your registration and hoping no cop notices or runs your plate while you're driving.

 

meh, so if I want true 3070 maxP performance I either need to flash to that vbios, hope Dell does the right thing/fixes this, or return my R5 and get something else

I saw your post and got so excited hoping for the best, but eh lol. You're saying those scores after the update are with an overclock too? Ridiculous that you have to do that with aftermarket software to get that.

 

I really still refuse to accept that a lesser HP Omen 15 cooked this one in gaming performance. Such an unexpected discovery

 

Can’t say I’m surprised they stuck with the 115w for the 3070. Since that wasn’t the main issue they were being publicly slandered for. They fixed what was getting them into hot water and that’s it. But seeing how easy they can just turn cuda cores on and off it’s unsettling to think if they’ll do this again down the road once the hype dies down.

 

Installing now and will double check everything...I have all the screenshots, benchmarks, etc before this... In general with 4068 I was already very happy, I really don't mind about the heat, I'm gaming everyday and the temperature never exceed the 90's ºC...

 

Has anyone tested this laptop with an edited fan curve? I've heard from the Alienware discord that setting a custom fan curve makes the laptop run much cooler. Could anyone stress test with this [ https://i.imgur.com/fPZkifZ.png] fan curve? Just hit it with R23+Uniengine (monitoring clocks and power draw) or any other stress test works. Warzone works too I guess. Thanks.