*OFFICIAL* Alienware Area-51M R1 Owner's Lounge

Very curious what the market ends up looking like. My guess would be unless there are upgrade parts as a pitch point, the price will be a wash.

 

Probably gonna sell it around $1800 or $1900 Shipped. I don't need to make a fortune lol.

 

I really hope alienware could at least explain why R2 GPU is not supported in R1 other than some BS not designed by the maker. What are the real issues? is it marketing gain? or some real engineering challenges? at least a closure for R1 owners. If it's due to engineering challenges, then at least it's somewhat understandable since R1 is the first iteration and they learned their mistake from it and improved things in R2 to better support future GPU upgrade (or non). Just a thought. hopefully alienware can provide some proper real answers to the community.

 

because rtx 2080 and rtx 2080 super are virtually identical , who is in the right mind would upgrade from rtx 2080 to rtx super ? If it’s rtx 3xxx that’s a different story and I’m sure they would provide a work around to sell these expensive cards

 

It's more about those who opted for 2060/2070 when they bought worlds most upgradeable laptop. They are now locked down with 2080 as option. If they could get the Super they would get 7-10% more performance out of the upgrade. More is normally better than less

 

I have a feeling RTX 2080S DGFF will work and fit in an R1. Only issue will be probably be the screw layout.

Me too

 

A $1000 dollar hit.... you guys must be doing pretty good out there.

 

OMG. Heard about the R2 release and thought I'd visit here again to see what's up. And dang, the same o'l detractors doing their very best to convince anyone that bought V1 to never buy another Alienware machine again.

Granted, there is not enough carrot dangling for me to go from my V1 to a V2, but some of the crazy statements over the past couple of days by these detractors are so radically based, that is is clear that their motivation is not to help anyone, and moreso to ensure that the Alienware brand cease to exist.

Meanwhile, I will continue to enjoy my rig, will pass on V2 since it is too incremental of an update for me, and await both AW and Intel to do something more compelling, like PCIE 4, or cooler running HEDT CPU with tweaking ability, etc.

I am not at all disappointed with V2, and if I were in the market for a new DTR and didn't already have V1, and the V2 was priced right, it would be on my radar, along with the V1.

That said, and if it is not obvious by now, Dell/AW is not listening to the detractors. I think they are listening more to their customers though. Dell cannot move the mountains built by Intel and their CPU socket musical chair, they can only roll with it as best they can, and I think they are doing just that.

Bye. waiting for V3 now because I love my V1.

 

Well, I applaud you for being happy with the R1, I mean, I basically am. My only real complaint is the needless thermal limit and then a purposeful lack of support for at least the KS and 3000-series cards, those two are just in my book inexcusable. I think its a bit of a stretch to say they are listening to their customers....

I can't think of a single "detraction" that honestly isn't rooted in some deliberate decision by Dell contrary to consumer's satisfaction but serves theirs alone.

 

I am fine with parts not being all too upgradeable...

What I am not fine with is the shoddy quality of the cooling for a DTR and the severe limitations placed on us for fiddling with BIOS and other settings to maximize our usage.

Thats why this will be my last enthusiast machine from AW probably until this practice changes. Until then, I may start looking more into Eluktronics and MSI for cheaper systems that at least don't lie to me about being disposable.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

Ill take this "future-proof" upgrade conversation in a different direction,

Seems as though the one proven route towards upgrading Laptop graphics cards is through using eGPU, but the two questions i have are:

1. Will the current Alienware graphics Amplifier be a capable enclosure to run the next RTX 3xx series? i understand that this one is a tough question to give accurate answer, as there is little info about the upcoming line-up through leaks, but brain storming and speculating will do

2.Will we ever see Alienware graphics Amplifier V2, as the current version is more than 5 years old, and their competitors in that market have been upgrading their enclosure line-ups

 

What you really mean is that you like being screwed over by dell. I love my R1 and it's the best laptop i ever had.

That being said, i have to remain on a old bios to even have this machine working decently. I can't ever upgrade my internal gpu while it is possible, don't let dell tell you otherwise.

And dell is listening to their customers?! are you telling me there are people who want lower thermal limits than normal and they hate the ability to undervolt?

It's people like you that make it they will always continue this nonsense.

I would be so happy to see a V2 in legend design and updated looks. I would insta buy it. I don't have my hopes up.

 

I agree with you, not tempted by v2 and I'm pretty happy with the system (for my significantly discounted price). I also agree that some of the rhetoric can be...over the top. BUT Dell never delivered the advertised ram speed, crippled the 2080s, and now have been somewhat disingenuous as to our upgrade path.

So...i do understand them being.
unhappy. Having said that....yeah. its over the top with pitchforks sometimes around here. I try to remember some of the posters may be younglings with nascent communication skills.

 

My friend told me he is not seeing the Advanced tab for the CPU in AWCC. any idea why that may be?

 

Quick question, I upgraded my Microsoft account to W10 Pro awhile back with a key I had lying around.

When I sell my 51m, will it come with Pro activated or reg W10? Not sure if it's linked to my Microsoft account or to the system.

 

Both, either or will activate it automatically

 

What processor he have ?

 

Okay, so if I want to keep W10 Pro for my desktop build, all I have to do is login to my Microsoft account on the desktop and it will activate?

And the 51m will still come with W10 Home once I factory reset it?

 

Correct, you may have to do a phone activation for your desktop the first time

 

Is this a retail licence?

 

Thank you! If I need to do the phone activation, I assume I'll need the Pro key written down?

Not quite sure, how do I find out? I was given the key through school a few years back.

 

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-determine-if-license-oem-retail-volume-windows-10

 

In Description it says - Windows(R) Operating System, RETAIL channel
License Status - Licensed

Edit: Will retail license allow me to use the key as described?

 

you will need to enter the product key in Settings > Update & Security > Activation, if it auto activates, then fine, if not, then type slui 4 in an elevated command prompt and that should launch the phone activation wizard, you will need the product ID it gives you, then the Micro$h!t agent will give you the activation ID

 

https://www.extremetech.com/computi...eable-area-51m-cant-actually-be-upgraded-dell

At least my long warranty may have use if my unit fully dies.

Sent from my SM-N975U using Tapatalk

 

Awesome, thanks again.

 

Yes.

A Retail license refers to the license that you acquire when purchasing a copy of Windows 10 from your local store or an online retailer (such as from Microsoft or Amazon). If you have a Windows 10 Retail license, you can transfer the product key to another computer, as long as you deactivate the old device.

How to Transfer your Windows 10 License to a New Computer

 

Ahh gotcha. Is signing out of my microsoft account/factory reseting my 51m enough to deactivate it or do I need to do something else?

 

Follow the guide above.

See also...

• Uninstall the product key – this is the closest to deactivating the Windows License. This method does not inform Microsoft Activation Servers the license is no longer in use on the machine; instead, it will avoid conflicts down the road if Microsoft Activation Servers were to detect the license in use on more than one system.
• Format the computer – this method ensures the license is no longer in use on the computer. You can use the convenient Reset option in Windows 10 do this.

 

Thank you.

 

Well, the words of my Chinese friend were confirmed... All we can expect is the bios update that will break system even more...

 

The new R2 keyboard looks terrible compared to R1 , I’ve only heard praises for the R1 keyboard

any idea if we can swap R2 keyboard with R1 ?

 

If he has a non-k processor like my processor it will not have one...

Just a quick honest update with my unit. I have had it about a week now, I dont think I have ever hurt so bad waiting for an item in my life. It only took a bit over 3 weeks, but those 3 weeks were painful, I guess I needed a good desktop replacement laptop pretty bad. Iv had so much BGA its rolling out of my ears. I added a 970 evo 1tb with my unit and after some quarrels getting the OS to transfer over, I finally figured it out. It was a long drawn out process, I hadn't done it in many years. I was actually surprised it worked. Of course everything seemed 10x more solid and the speed was 1000x the speed of that sshd. Taking the back panel of was a breeze, I have a plastic set for electronics, you can get them off of amazon which is useful as the back panel must be pried off on the end. There was a rattle like a lose piece in my unit, sounded like a screw, which after some minor shaking of the unit disappeared. I think it was a lose screw that ended up some where but it hasn't effected anything, I was angry at first but I let it go. I have a long warranty. Other then that minor hick up everything is solid on the machine, I have had none errors, freezes or locks. I am very pleased with the temps, I have tweaked it just a tad, scratch the surface type of stuff, I'm running in the high 60s on both GPU and CPU with a -140ml under-volt on the CPU and running the GPU at .980V using MSI curve editor. All is good there, I get the performance I'm looking for all the while staying in the 60s temp wise. There has been some very very minor artifact in BF5, my main game I play, seems to happen with the character models in multiplayer 64 player matches...Its only happened a few times in, well, 30 so hours Iv played it so far.

Im impressed, I can see why I felt like I needed a DTR so bad now. I needed more power for what I was doing. As I have stated before, I have turned off all updated on the machine as its just the way I want it. I would like to get some of the aDATA memory that is suppose to run faster but that can wait. Im starting out on Mount and Blade 2:Bannerlords which has been a riot so far. So first week of ownership of the Area-51m, I definitely give it an A. I hope it lasts as I always say, enjoying it alot!


Iv always propped up any laptop I have ever used for gaming, air flow is important from my experience as far as temps are concerned. These came off of amazon, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07LB4XGRG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

What did they do with the Keyboard on the R2?!?! and more importantly why?
The Area51m has one of the best keyboards I've ever used in a laptop and even as a desktop keyboard. I don't understand why they changed it like that.

As for the CPU upgrades, I didn't expect to be able to move from Intel 9th gen to 10th gen properly. Even if the socket was to be the same, it was obvious to everyone there will be a new Z chipset. And from the past, we all know how backwards compatibility worked before. So, it was clear that a new chipset was required.

As for the GPU cards, I expect further down the line to be able to upgrade from an RTX to the RTX Super variant (for Real 5% improvements - if that even matters) but not at launch. I don't think they want to have stock problems and not being able to sell the R2 because R1 owners are ordering GPU cards. (Marketing/Product decision).
Or maybe it is a true and geniune engineering decision and the new RTX Super cards can't fit/don't work in the R1, but I doubt it.

Nevertheless, the R1 is and will be a powerhouse for the next years as well both CPU and GPU wise.

 

It's up to the modding community now. Hopefully the modded vapor chamber heatsink will turn out good and helps to squeeze as much of RTX20x0 & 9th gen chips as possible.
As I mentioned in the R2 thread, if they had been honest upfront about R1 upgradability, less people would have felt cheated.

 

how good sales of Area51m are compared to others ?if its poor then dont expect upgrade kits.

 

The real question IMO is WHO will buy it , …… Wake up Dell we are entering a world wide recession thanks to Covid 19.

As a recovering Apple fanboy of many decades, I am already used to everything I buy being obsolete the minute I hand over my CC, new models new features are always just around the corner.

My Area51m as long as its on BIOS 1.5.0 runs everything I want to run and does it well, that does not change just because a "Newer" model came out.

It will be a while before any games make any significant use of the new CPU's, game designers need to support as broad a base as possible to see a profit.

For me the R2 is a nothing burger.

 

Edit: false alarm, restarted and it is locked. Sorry!

Newest OC Controls released today brings back the Thermal Limit slider functionality without needing any read-only zip file antics... for those concerned (I never did the “fix” lol)... but glad to see that it was a bug (apparently)

 

The things you know!

Never heard of slui 4

 

Released today? The last one I see is 1.2.61.1233 from 27March but says it was updated on the 12th of May

 

AWCC prompted me today that it needed to download components (OC Controls)... after it updated, I checked out of curiosity and the slider functionality is back.

Edit: lol, false alarm. Restarted and it is locked hahahaha!

 

A bit off topic, but if you don't mind, could you post your collection of Alienwares on 17 and m17x sub? I really admire your paint job.

 

Any version would do that but would get locked after the reboot if you didn't set the profiles.zip to read-only before rebooting

i9-9900KS

 

And you know Dell won’t support it? At least not in Area-51m.

 

Yes yes, I know the issue and fix. Thank you sir.

Your question on version made me wonder. I restarted and it was locked again. Mehhh

 

Good catch

Released today? The last one I see is 1.2.61.1233 from 27March but says it was updated on the 12th of May

 

At least they have been transparent about what is supported in their software. This reflect what models have the proper support in firmware.

https://www.dell.com/support/home/e...wt64a&productcode=alienware-17-area51m-laptop

I'm sure Dell made it more difficult with the new move for those who went with the weaker graphics cards in Area-51m. It's called Domino effect.

Area 51m upgrade "limited run of the proprietary upgrade parts"

Used cards will be problematic. And Dell still lock out #upgrade kits for their EOL models#

Area-51m, what happened to the RTX 2080 upgrade kits?

This will apply both for those who run into GPU smoke after the obligatory warranty period has expired (spent all money on the machine and capped warranty) or those who now will look after the 2080 DGFF proprietary card.

Alienware 51m R1 GPU upgrade kits

I'm sure Dell will hold the cards for themself for warranty repairs.

 

Not without cutting out the chick-let key webbing on the R2. The Deck is also a different height with that dip. I would say not at all without serious hardware modding.

 

Eww... a chicklet keyboard, you say. Disgusting.

 

Seriously. The 51m R1 keyboard is amazing IMO. Most likely won't be able to replace it with the R1 keyboard either.

Another reason to be happy to have finally started my first desktop build.. Maybe someday they will have the sense to unlock the bios and i'll consider coming back.