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

My GPU died this Monday and the technician came to change it today, it is the third GPU


My new GPU:
https://ibb.co/7N4ghs5

 

It's real... You can order it. Would be a nice if someone would actually review this thing. It says it can be used with or with out liquid haha.

 

What CPU do you have, I Would assume the 9900? How have you been keeping thermals in check? What does your usage breakdown look like, how much gaming do you do compared to workstation use? I got my system a few months ago and it has been great but my temps rarely get into the 70s, I keep everything icy cool 100. sorry for the hot seat questions, but when did you get your machine? I was told the mosfets on the new 2080s was changed, as it an upgrade, better mosfets.

Sorry about your experience. sorry one more, what do your temps get to or whats your average temps on your GPU and CPU? All good info for us 2080 users.

 

Hello =)

Tell me how you want me to get the information exactly =)

I have the 9900k + RTX 2080.

In idle mode:
https://ibb.co/xF3cT9x

Regards.

 

I don't understand how my fillrate is more than yours and so are the GPU speeds. I didn't overclock my GPU. It's running the 180W 1.5.0 VBIOS just like you.

What BIOS are you on? I'm on 1.5.0

Another strange thing is yours says Bus Interface: PCIe x16 3.0 @ x8 3.0 but mine says 1.1 what gives?

Also you have something called Direct ML (Direct Machine Learning) checked while mine isn't.

My GPU-Z:




@iunlock @jc_denton @Papusan

Edit: Just updated my nVIDIA Driver to the latest one, and now the PCI Express says 3.0 instead of 1.1 but that Direct ML is still not checked unlike the member above:

 

It should go back to x8 3.0 when GPU is under load, it enters x8 1.1 for 2D/no load, from what I recall. Are you on LTSC? Could be why DirectML isn't ticked, think it's just a missing .dll

 

I have an Samsung 860 evo pro in mine now in the 2.5 inch slot and it works fine.

 

Yeah, that’s what I’m saying lol. ANY disk that fits will work. No reason why it shouldn’t... so whomever it was that was scared a 4TB SSD won’t work shouldn’t even hesitate getting it.

 

Dilemma.

With the release of the R2 in Australia I'm faced with a tricky choice between the R1 and R2. I'll provide costs in US$ for easy comparison. So:

R1, i7-9700, 32GB RAM, RTX 2080, 1GB SSD, 144 hertz g-sync (Lunar Light is the only option): $3440
R1 i9-9900K, 64GB RAM, RTX 2080, 1 GB SSD, 144 hertz g-sync (Lunar Light is the only option): $4128

(Note that I'm a newbie so wouldn't want to mess with the Bios or anything like that unless really straightforward if I went with the i9-9900K)
or....

R2, i7-10700K, 32 GB 3200 Mhz, RTX 2080 Super, 1GB SSD, 300 hertz screen (Dark Side of the Moon - my preference): $4334

What would you do?

 

Me: your R2 option. Looks sick!

 

If I go with the R2 am I going to have to mess with the Bios and other scary stuff to stop meltdown? Or should the i7--10700K be ok?

 

On the contrary, I suggested the R2 version you are considering because the 10700K is a much more “tame” processor and you will not have to mess with BIOS, Undervolting, or replacing thermal paste and thermal pads...

The 10700K will be a champ gaming performer. It’s like the R1 folks with the 9700K + 2080, they’re living the good life without the 9900K's ludicrous tendency to get toasty (and cause the temp throttling and all those issues).

Plus, your R2 version is BLACK! keeps you safe from the white (like my R1) staining from normal use!

 

Since no one has reviewed the R2 as of yet it's tough to guess what BIOS Dell/Alienware are going to implementing in the R2. If you all you want do is play games a 10700k should be plenty powerful enough. The 10700k should not be running to hot so that should be fine.

 

Does anyone know if for sure replacing the CPU fixes the 2-1 CPU failure code after a crap bios flash thanks to what looks like windows updates? I have a tech coming Monday with a cpu and a motherboard for backup. But I can have a cpu here in the morning if it's just the CPU itself lol.

 

I would go with R1 for 3400. Get your feet wet, see how you like the direction alienware is taking here before you got for the 5k R2 after taxes. I love my R1, I just got it a few months ago.

 

A laptop with a respectable BIOS released by any OEM does not exist and never has. Even back in the days before they all became Nazis, all stock laptop BIOS have sucked. Even on those where a firmware mod is possible, there is something left to be desired because of all of the stupid nonsense that happens with cancerous EC. Even for the most talented hex-editing wizard, fixing all of the broken crap is a painfully tedious and time-consuming trial and error task that can result in multiple episodes of bricking the laptop and resuscitating it using an SPI programmer.

Using a modified system BIOS is no longer possible on any Dell/Alienware laptop, even using an SPI programmer because they have implemented draconian control-freak measures (Intel BIOS Guard) to inhibit any exercise of ownership rights. They have pulled out all the stops to ensure nothing they sell is capable of performing at a level higher than they want it to be able to perform. The only possibility of circumventing this filth would involve removing the PCH chipset and replacing it with a compatible PCH that does not have BIOS Guard cancer.

 

Hi all. A question:why do different monitoring programs read different internal temps? I ran some benchmarks tonight. HIWin64 reads my max cpu as 83 and my gpu as max 73

3dmark reads max cpu as 79 and my gpu as 67 that is a marked difference.

This was running timespy and firestrike.

Incidentally firestrike=17612 with my 9700 + 2070.

Which do I believe?

 

If you need a laptop right now I'd go for the first option (9700k), my reasons for this are the fact that we know a lot about the R1 in here and how to get the best from it. Plus you could add an extra 32gb and the 9900k for less that the additional $700 it would cost over the 2nd option.

If you are in no rush and can wait a few more months to see how well the R2 reviews then that would be my stance. This way you can see how well it holds up thermally, what mods are needed in order to tame it and how hard are they based on your 'newbie' statement.... that'll soon change if you hang around in here.. I joined a newbie, still am in comparison to some, but I'm constantly tweaking or doing something now.

 

HWiNFO64 is more accurate. 3DMark is unreliable. There will always be minor variance using software to read sensors. This is also affected by polling rate (the frequency of queries).

 

@kfxsti definitely seems like only the CPU requires changing. Maybe drop @Normimb a note to be 100% certain. There was at least 1 other person (outside of the two mentioned) who also had the same issue but I cannot find the post. Pretty certain they only required CPU replacement as well.

 

In August of last year I bought the alienware area 51m 9900k + GTR 2080.

A few months ago I had the problem that in some games I had FPS drops after playing for a while, I decided to call the technicians that they passed to make a GPU change:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p2l5SXSwY0iRPmnCAVR-JXiqeGW6ONwR/view?usp=sharing

My two notebooks updated to bios 1.10.0 and nVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 VBIOS v1.0.0.5 URGENT:

First My GPU-Z:
https://ibb.co/VgjQLt7


Second My GPU-Z (came with the new laptop last Thursday and died this Monday):
https://ibb.co/Br6gz5J

third and current My GPU-Z:
https://ibb.co/ssPVYnD

 

What are the practical uses of direct machine learning?

 

In your case it could be the MB or the CPU because my understanding is you downgraded to bios 1.3.0 with and it was partially succesfull.
But...
If your system is a new system (early 2020) and your laptopt bricked while downgrading to bios 1.3.2 then it is 80% only the CPU that got bricked.
4 peoples in this forum fixed the problem with CPU replacement.
1 person fixe the problem with CPU and MB replcement (so we don't exactly know wich part was defective)
1 Person fixe the problem with only MB repalcement so far.

You are the 7th person that bricked his laptop in the past 3 months doing bios downgraded. Bios downgrade is safe untill version 1.5.0, anything before is a big risk.

 

Thanks!

Yah, physically it will fit, but I was actually concerned about Dell's statement in the documents that specifically state over 1TB isn't supported. Sounds silly to make such a statement, but as Spartan said, don't trust Dell. I'm learning that to be good advice.

 

Well, just as I read your message, I felt like downgrading even further than 1.3.2 so I put the first BIOS for the Area-51m v1.0.1 on the recovery USB and downgraded to that. Now I can upgrade to any version since this is the oldest.



Spartan =

 

Spartan likes to live dangerously!!!

Even though I have a Feb 2019 51m, I wouldn’t dare trying to go lower than 1.3.2, even if the highest I’ve gone is 1.5.4!!!

 

Be brave...be like Spartan....

PS: The secret is to NOT look at the screen while it's flashing. Just grab your phone, watch YouTube or browse Instagram then Magic! Within no time you'll see it booting!

 

I need to really add an 860 Evo in there... just because I can....

 

Yeah that is not true. I have a 4tb in my 2.5 slot and i have not had an issue. It works fine. I have my games on it and other items.

 

You should record a video of how long it takes... I’m sure people that have had problems mess with it before it’s done doing all of its random beeps, start ups and shutdowns. I’ll admit I was a bit nervous the first time I did it!

 

If I ever do it, I will take a video. After the flash is done, the laptop just remains on a black screen for a good minute or so, that's where you should NOT panic and just let it do it's thing until you see the Alienware logo. If you do anything like remove the USB Flash drive or turn it off that's where you mess things up.

 

Exactly!!! That’s the specific time in the process where I thought to myself “oh shhh*#, I think I had a bad flash!” And like I always do and I’ve learned to do, I just WAIT.

Like when WinDOHs is stuck on System Restore for hours... or a big update... just LEAVE IT, if it will work, it will work. If it will fail, it will fail. Force stopping things breaks things more often that letting it run its course, even if it seems stuck for hours... most likely it isn’t.

This is particularly true when working with older PCs and in particular, mechanical hard drives.

 

Well, mine downgrade wasn't intentional. I'm still trying to figure out how the f it happened to begin with. Capsule was off, drivers, and updates off via gpo, Winaero , and other means. I'm coming to terms that I just can't have nice things.

browsing around the drives, it is indeed referencing to 1.3.2 though . I'll have a cpu in hand in the morning. Worst case is Dell shows up monday with a cpu AND Mobo lol.

 

Yes you live dangerously. No Fear @Spartan.
What amaze me also is that you dowgraded your bios right after the MB replacement a month ago. How did you know for sure it was the first gen or second gen MB? Or maybe you just guess and.....it worked fine.

 

I have verified that it was indeed 1.3.2

 

You should be safe going down like @Spartan since you have an early built.

so just to be clear.
You were able to downgrade to 1.3.0 and then you tried 1.3.2 and you got brick laptop with 2 red and 1 blue alienware power button?
I am not sure i completely understand what you did but if you have another CPU i would simply try it. Most probably the laptop will come back to life. After i recommend bios 1.7.3 and if you have G-sync or 1.5.0 without G-sync

 

I took a chance to be honest. The replacement motherboard shipped with BIOS 1.5.4 not 1.7.3 or later.

 

That is if you have and early buid MB only. If you have a recent MB (2020) then i doesn't matter what you do. with 1.3.2 or before your laptop will brick.

Thast is exactly what i tought you did. You are BRAVE!

Edit: AWCC is giving such a hard time lately that it would not surprise me that i will soon attempt a downgrade bios to 1.5.0. I will have to find the «SPARTAN COURAGE»

 

Follow me on Instagram , you will get all the courage you need

On a serious note though, here are some tips:

1) Make sure you did the tweak to not have Windows Block downloaded files automatically because if any file you downloaded was blocked, then chances of failure are high!

2) Re-create the recovery USB stick after you've ensured that no files have a blocked status and place the oldest BIOS you wanna go back to on it, that way, since you'd be on the oldest BIOS, you have the freedom to *upgrade* to any version you want, be it 1.3.2 or 1.5.0 (I'm on 1.3.2 now)

3) Ensure no devices are connected to the laptop, no USB devices, not even a mouse, no Thunderbolt, and no LAN, NADA!

4) Backup all your data!

5) Proceed with the Flash, do NOT stare at the screen, get busy with something else and when you see the Alienware logo and you're back to Windows, now flash the BIOS that you do want through the Windows installer which ensures a FULL flash with no weird issues like flans not spinning properly or whatnot

6) After the final flash through Windows with the BIOS that you want to stay on, go back into BIOS, load setup defaults from the last tab, then save and exit

7) Go right into BIOS and disable Firmware Capsule updates, USB Power Share, and set the battery from Adaptive to Custom (50-90 max charge)

I have BIOS 1.0.1 on my recovery USB Flash Drive as the recovery BIOS. If you have a newer motherboard, then place BIOS 1.5.0 as your recovery BIOS and reflash that same BIOS once you're back into Windows to ensure a full installation.

 

That's what I did, but after many minutes the screen was still black

My replacement Rev 2 motherboard came with 1.5.4 bios as well. Then Windows magically updated to 1.7.3 and it stayed there.

Enviado desde mi GM1913 mediante Tapatalk

 

That's what I do. Lol. But I think 1.32 is the lowest I'm gonna go. I have run across the thread with all of the bioses so I did download the older ones just in case Dell/Alienware finds some way to make us update the bios further.

 

I’m finally back to the R1! Did the downgrade which @ssj92 explained very well in his video on CS Studios (Check it out!), thank you bro:

BIOS: 1.5.0

VBIOS: 200W unthrottled

No Alienware Command Center, why add cancer to this laptop

 

I never did the down grade , what it is looking like was the Capsule update/windows is the cause .
Lol and just to be clear , I have no idea where the 1.3.0 got tossed around because I never said that lol. I had no plans on ever leaving the 1.7.3 that I was on given Dell's shenanigans.

 

i was refefing to this post that you wrote for bios downgrade: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-owners-lounge.826831/page-2213#post-11023168
I must misunderstood, sorry my english is limited.

Thanks for all the info @Spartan
I already used 80% of your guides already. They are very good.
when i decide to downgrade to 1.5.0 i will follow these steps to the letter but for now i am still on G-sync bios. When dell finally succed to criple our GPU to 75C via awcc update, i will move to 1.5.0.

 

It's all good. That was indeed a bit ago and I got tired of messing with it all, and flashed to 1.7.3 and left it. This is my work/gaming lappy so I try not to break to many things on it lol. And my apologies, I had forgotten about that post. 1.7.3 is what it was on pre-broken state lol.

 

When my laptop came back from Dell repair center (3 months ago) where they said they only replaced the CPU. The MB was flashed back to 1.5.4.
It seems Dell likes to flash this bios to older an newer system (MB).

 

They just don't manage their well is all that is.

 

Well I tried another CPU today, and the same error code. Two Reds and a Blue. Soo, I guess I wait until Monday for the tech to show up lol.

 

Yes and this way you can keep your delided 9900k if you are happy with how it performs. Just ask the technician to only replace the MB.

 

It turns out after actually testing a newer bios (1.9.3) my keyboard and USB ports would stop working after 5 to 10 minutes of switching on the device. Safe to say Alienware are breaking things instead of improving them lol. Reverted back to the golden BIOS 1.5.0....

Next laptop is definitely a GT75 or a X170SM-G. How did Alienware think this was remotely acceptable rofl.