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

FYI, 1.7.3 BIOS can't be rolled back. 15% drop in Time Spy score, same settings. Oddly enough, 1.7.3 actually clocked higher on my video card. Any thoughts what's going on? Can't be bothered to mess with it tonight, but this is extremely disappointing. Will be running the benchmark one more time once I manage to rollback to 1.5.0 to make sure it's nothing hardware related.

https://www.3dmark.com/compare/spy/8570960/spy/8635777#

 

Classic "we have no f'ing clue what's going wrong, so let's strangle everything" mentality...

 

I forgot to ask this, but is it a windows 10 pro install?

Also your rescue disk link doesn't work anymore =/ https://drive.google.com/open?id=1RChqP4KqD-VuOFppAtvp7rLjymrhnd0T

 

just like the previous factory image that I uploaded before which was based on build 1809, this defaults to a Windows Home Edition, Simply enter your Windows product key in PC Settings > Updates & Security > Activation > Change product key to upgrade to Pro or whatever key that you have.

As for the link for the Macrium Reflect Home Edition Rescue disk, it was changed because I just uploaded a new version:

Macrium Reflect Home Edition v7.2.4473 Rescue Disk

You can create a bootable USB Flash Disk from this ISO in order to make and restore images even to dissimilar hardware since this is the Home Edition ISO.

This ISO has built in RAID support

 

Thank you very much, I will try this out soon.

 

Hi,
following advises from this topic I undervolted my CPU (9700k) @-.120, that works great, did not have any perf decrease but now my max temp @ full load is ~75c when it reached 95c+ before. I am using XTU (still can make AWCC works properly!), however the undervolt is reset after each reboot, I saved a new profile but don't seem to be loaded automatically, am I missing something?

 

just use throttlestop for undervolting man


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I use XTU and set the UV manually after every Reboot and after every Sleep.

I think (not sure) that the XTU profiles are associated with certain applications, when you run an application, eg a particular game, then it will load the profile for you.

 

I've done an OC to 5ghz in Throttlestop with a -125 UV. However, in CPU-Z and HWinfo the multiplier/ratio's are showing as x49.

I'm fairly new to Throttlestop as I used to prefer XTU, so any pointers appreciated in getting these 2 programs to actually show the correct multiplier is appreciated.

NOTE: I understand 5ghz my not be stable nor the -125 UV but I'm just playing at the moment.

 

I undervolted and underpowered to 4.2ghz max boost and undervolt to auto (all changed in Alienware command center) and after 30 mins of rendering (100% cpu usage) I peak as high as 93 degrees C.... (room temp average 24 degrees C) Fans at performance mode

This is so bad.....

Alienware area 51m - i9 9900k

 

Cinebench before (I dont remember the precise value)/after 1.7.3
No undervolt: 44xx/4525
-100mv: 47xx/4598

with 9900k

 

There is a noticeable difference between perf mode and full speed mode in terms of cooling.
I always run benchs/games with full mode

 

I've ran in to this problem as well, the solution was to open the box of setting next to the FIVR in throttle stop and look for an option of overclock range or speedstep range and adjust higher. Think mine said 36-49 so I changed to 36-51

I'm at work at the moment so can't be more accurate than that unfortunately, but you should find it

 

Thank you, yeah think it might be TPL? Mine shows 1-49, is it save to change this, I'm a noob on this front haha

EDIT: Is there any reason why it would have dropped to 49? When the OC had been picked up at x50 previously?

 

Hey I want to buy drives for my A51m. And here is the problem. One should be M2 so I was thinking Adata sx8200 or samsung 970evo. The other one for SATA is crucial mx500 or 860 Evo. What do You guys think? Should I go for for adata/crucial combo and SAVE the money or samsung all the way?

 

All SSDs nowadays are super fast you wouldn't know what SSD your system has. Get the largest capacity you can afford for your budget and call it a day.

The HP EX950 is the best value for money in terms of performance and capacity nowadays.

 

Ok then just one More question about 860evo compatibility with a51m?Anyone got IT working? Any problems?

 

Maybe if you look at my signature you will have your answer.

 

Did anyone succeed to undervolt/underpower the 9900K CPU in the Area 51m in a way that it doesn t reach 90 degrees C while in 100% usage for a period of 30min or more ?
I am sick of this...I get temperatures of over 90 (underpowered from 5.0ghz to 4.2ghz), the laptop is brand new and Dell say it s perfectly fine and the lifespan won t be affected by the high operating temperature....

 

Two questions:
1. Does 1.7.3 still throttle the GPU?

2. What vBIOS / System BIOS is everyone on.
(Just polling the community)

 

vBIOS 180W (Came from Dell pre-installed)
BIOS 1.7.2 (Came from Dell pre-installed)

 

Getting my workbench ready for the Alienware A-51!

 

I'll try some testing tonight, on 1.73 bios and 200w vbios.

 

yes you are correct its under the TPL miscellaneous and the speed shift min / max figures.

i think stock must be 1-49 in throttlestop meaning when speed step is active it will vary the multiplier between those figures to be more energy efficient which is why the cpu will not push past 4.9ghz even if you set your overclock multipliers to 5 or 5.1ghz.

so setting the max speedshift to your overclock allows it to utilize it correctly

hope this helps

 

I don't have the 9900K, but the 9700K, and most of the people here know a lot more than me when it comes to tech. However, I would ask what are you doing to have your CPU running at 100% for 30 minutes at a time? I think most CPUs would hit those temps running at 100% for so long. Far as gaming goes, I use the game settings to lower my temps and system stress.

I know what you are going through and I hope you find a solution soon. Peace...

 

I'll give this a shot and see how I get on thanks for clarifying.

@raza1983 all sorted, think this setting was the issue, range now 1-50 and OC shows up as x50 in all apps. Thanks again mate.

 

BIOS 1..73 still throttles the GPU at 74 C. I had mine at 2050 Mhz, and it was jumping down to 1900 mhz when it hit 74, and would bounce up and down from there. So not a hard throttle and shouldn't totally kill your gaming experience.

 

Thanks for testing and providing feedback.

 

Thanks for the feedback bro, at least it's a bit better than 1.7.2

 

Yea, not sure about what else they fixed though. Shouldn't have installed it so quick but it seems fine haha

 

Thanks for the feedback! Does 1.7.3 block BIOS downgrades?

 

Yes it does but there is a way to force it to downgrade.

 

@ascottuk2010 how's the alienware beast?

 

Has anyone got a spare m.2 OEM heatsink they don't want?

Happy to pay, just not as much as Dell UK want to charge which is £20+.

Will go 3rd party if not.

 

Absolutely brilliant, jealous of my brother to be honest. But i am still loving the P870 to be honest!

 

Every laptop I buy somehow never has a problem, maybe it's my luck

Hope that clevo problem gets resolved asap man, at least my components are working as they should.

 

Yeah, I feel like a dick but seriously $700 for three weeks use seems erm excessive


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Yeah I had a 870m mxm fail the next day after purchase. I returned that asap, it worked well in my acer 8940g but had artifacting issues right out the box.

Sometimes this happens. The GTX 1080 mxm you are using can handle even 300w tdp. Its just unlucky that your caught in this mess.

 

How is your boot time guys? Mine is very slow, like from the moment I turn on the laptop, it sits there on the Alienware logo for about 15 seconds before I start seeing the Windows loading icon spin.

I have tried every BIOS out there hoping that things might improve but no luck.

This was both with my Samsung 960 Pro 2TB SSDs in RAID 0 and even now on the factory shipped Hynix drives so it's not the SSDs.

Either it's the fact that these SSDs are NVMe and it takes a while for them to be initialized or there is some magical setting that I am missing.

Heck, I even tried to disable USB emulation but the boot time still didn't improve. This is probably the slowest booting laptop I've ever owned.

@ssj92 @iunlock @VoodooChild

 

Wasn't this the same on our GT75's? I ran a 860 evo and booted faster than your nvme. There is a delay in the controller loading up.

 

True, just wanted to confirm. This is so frustrating man sometimes I just wanna turn on the laptop real quick to print something and it bugs the heck out of me waiting on that Windows spinning icon to start spinning.

We spends thousands of dollars on these machines the least I could expect for it is to boot fast.

 

Remember all memory slots filled also affect boot time. What you said... “We spend thousands of dollars on these machines”. Yeah, ram ain’t cheap and you got payback time

Remove 2 sticks and see if it helps

 

Not sure it helps bro, but I have 2 x 1TB (Sabrent Rockets) in raid0 as my boot drive and its about 5-20 secs to reach login, can post a vid tomorrow if needed.

 

Please do

 

I followed this thread up through May as I was planning on purchasing a 51M, but stopped with all the reports of burning motherboards and order delays. I am now re-thinking of ordering a 51M as I can get a discount through my employer purchase plan with Dell.

1. After five months or so, has Dell resolved the faulty motherboard component issue reported back in April?
2. I read that all Dell systems are shipped from the factory with the SATA mode set to RAID ON regardless of ordering single or multiple drives. I plan to order a single SSD from Dell (as I don’t see an option for dual SSDs non-raid) and keep as the boot drive. I will then purchase an additional SSD and install separately to use for data. When I add the second SSD, is it going to be considered a part of a RAID array or will it be considered two separate drives? I have no experience with RAID and I don’t want anything to do with it.
   
3. I recall some discussion that it is best to order TWO SSD drives from Dell as it will ship with heat-sinks for both drives. If you order ONE drive it will not ship with an extra heat-sink if a secondary drive is purchased later. Is this still the case? Is there a way to order TWO SSDs from Dell in Non-RAID 0?

 

1) Yes. In fact, not everyone had a bad machine. I've had mine since April and it still runs like day one
2) Any Dell Machine you buy is setup in RAID not AHCI regardless of the model or how many SSDs you order. I know it's dumb but it is what it is. You'd need to format and clean install yourself if you want to set your system in AHCI.
Even if the machine came setup in RAID mode for the boot mode, simply adding another SSD later on will not magically make them operate in RAID mode, it's just the BIOS is setup in RAID mode but a RAID array must be created for those 2 drivers first to make them look as one large driver then you'd have to reinstall the OS again. If you simply add another drive on a RAID configured machine that was setup as a single drive, then that new SSD will simply be a 2nd drive that you can add your data to and use.
3) Get the machine configured as you want from Dell from day one, easier for warranty claims in the future and you'd get your SSD heatsinks.

 

Thanks. Is there a way to order two m.2 SSDs without being configured in an array set (RAID 0)? I don’t see an option for it in the hard drive section on the configuration page.

 

I never order from Dell so I can't help there. Perhaps someone else might chime in.

 

I think the answer is probably going to be “just call Dell and ask.” Thanks again for your time.

 

Mine is quite fast. Just a few seconds to be at the login screen for windows. I ran into a similar issue with the Area-51m awhile back. I think updating the BIOS had fixed it. But I am not sure why it even happened. When my amp is connected it's much slower. But the issue of it taking awhile happened before I got my GPU in the amp.

Fastest is probably my M18xR2, literally like 2-3 seconds after pressing the button it's on windows screen.