**PETITION** Get Dell/Alienware to fix the broken fan tables in the Alienware 15/17 (Early 2015) BIO

Signed

 

Signed.

 

Signed. It's disappointing that they would allow their laptop to roast...shortening the lifespan of the laptop.

 

Sold my 17R2 today. Going to wait for the 17R3 or whatever comes next or get something else altogether. Tired of this wait and see game Dell is playing.

 

I do pay attention to what you folks are buzzing about here on NBR And honestly, this problem isn't just Dell's-- the GTX 980M has been a problem child in terms of power draw and resulting throttling on some other gaming brands as well. Makes you wonder how we all survived the even more power hungry 880M.

 

signed

 

Signed

 

Any news on new bios?

 

I haven't heard anything recently, but I'm continuing to call them every week and check in on it. They're well aware this is an issue...

 

Don't have to big hope... A new Aw17R3 are already on Dell's website. I don't think they fixing the old Aw17R2. Dell engineers are finished with the older models now. I hope some have learned a lesson now and don't trust Dell more...
The fan problem in Aw17R2 are the same as the Aw17 that I have. Never been fixed. Dell's engineers have never heard what Alienwere customers want. That's the big problem..

 

I remember someone told me that Dell did listen to us.

- Hey Cortana, tell me a good Dell joke!
- Dell did listen to user problem, but they bring new product line to forget about the old model problem.

 

But when the next New models are in sales they have many off the same problems as the previous models. The engineers do what they always does. You know what I mean...

 

I get that. The thing I really piss off is my old Inspiron 14 just run damn good to compare to these high end machine. I just spend like $400 for it, and didn't have any problems with it so far. This AW17 I spent over $2000 and deal with many trouble. Reading your post that they introduce R3 model is really really make me stop trusting dell.

 

I really do not get the complains at all. From reading this forum I would get the feeling the AW15 is a total **** machine, broken and hardly usable. But my own experiences are very different. My only gripe is the relatively high idle temp because the fans aren't spinning on lower temps. Which means it saves the fan lifespan. But when actually playing a heavy specced games the temps stay between 70 and 85c. Which is perfect for a laptop, noise and lifespan balance.

 

That's because you're one of the lucky ones. When I open up battlefield 4 for 15 mins my CPU throttles to 800 MHz which makes the game totally unplayable (85 fps to 28 fps). Also a new problem I recently have is the adapter turning itself off without any OC applied to my machine. For example when I play dota for 1.5 hours or so my fps suddenly drops to 30 because now my pc is on battery. I need to re-plug the adapter to get it working back to 120 fps. I was able to solve throttling problem a bit by using throttlestop but now that started to cause BSODs during gameplay so I am not sure what to do. In 2 weeks I will be meeting a friend of mine who has a 240W adapter. I will try that to see if it works. By the way I cannot even use the warranty because this laptop came to me as a gift and I don't even know the buyer. So I'll be using this throttle machine for a year or something then buy an AW 18 with pascal GPU/skylake CPU/ddr4 ram, only if that works without ANY problems at all.

 

Neither side is wrong, it's just a different perspective caused by different experiences - mine is similar to yours, but I get what the complaints are about. I don't mind if the internals sit on 70 at idle, but when that same heat comes off the keyboard... better the fan's lifespan than my fingers (ideally the idle fan profile would be between A00 and A05).

Your previous overclocking might have already damaged the adapter. Did you consider using Intel XTU instead of Throttlestop, and see if it stops the BSODs?

 

I also think that my previous OC might have damaged the adapter. I tried XTU and that also causes BSODs. It doesn't happen in all games. On games such as Dota 2 I play it maxed out @120 fps and my lowest CPU frequency is 3.3 GHz reported by HWiNFO. I will give the 240W adapter a shot to see if that helps but still I am dissapointed with this machine since its arrival. An alienware has been a dream for me and when I get it, I face many problems right out of the box? I mean you've got to be kidding me.

 

You experience BSODs simply by installing Throttlestop/XTU?

 

No no I couldn't explain. I install XTU/throttlestop and I can undervolt etc. but when I run battlefield 4 I get a BSOD after 15 mins. If I don't run those programs my CPU throttles to 800 MHz.

 

Unlikely... Bios controls that the battery deliver the missing power.

 

Undervolt less then? Underclocking (lowering the multiples) is an alternative.

To an extent. From what I gather of how hybrid bios works, it's supposed to use the battery during spikes in power demand - not as a replacement for the adapter, otherwise it would constantly draining the battery (leading to shutdowns/restarts and/or battery wear).

 

These BGA processors does not draw very much wattage compared to stock speed, if these manage to being overclocked by Trottlestop / Xtu.

 

I think mine is hungry for moar wattage...

Edit: at least on the i7 4710hq, raising power max to 68w (arbitrary number) lets it run full throttle overclocked, although it only realistically uses 58w under load, pretty close! (undervolting would drop it to lower 50w range)

 

Max 10 watts more perhaps on average is not enough to kill the psu. There are not many games/software that maxing out CPU and GPU constantly. PSU also has a + margin if bios gives permit.

 

I was clarifying the CPU wattage issue - 10 watts on its own isn't much. Now, as for the adapter...

Diagram 1.1: power draw relative to overclock with 980m on a Clevo

While the stock figures may be slightly different from the Clevo, I'm pretty certain the exponentially increasing power draw with overclock is similar.

With an average 50 watts increase with 250/400 overclock over stock, consider how much a 300/430 overclock would mean for a 180w adapter (might have even been the safety margin that saved it from flat out dying)

 

The newest Aw models don't use as much watts originally under load as other laptop models . With an modest OC of processor and lower voltage with Trottlestop/Xtu do not destroy the PSU .

 

I am actually curious how a 330W adapter is sufficient for an AW18 with 2x 980m's.

 

Same problem as before... Insufficient power if you want an ok Oc on CPU and GPU's. A watts limit on the motherboard / bios. Stock gtx980m don't use more watts than previous gtx880m.

 

There was this one guy who used a kill-a-watt on his AW17R2... the increase from a modest OC is almost eliminated when you undervolt Power draw of the GPU is what we should worry about.

(written somewhere in tiny font and invisible ink) 660w adapter set sold separately

 

Dual PSU or bigger than 330W is not working on Aw18. Only Aw18R2 and perhaps Aw18R1. The problem is power limit on motherboard / bios.

 

Dual PSU or bigger than 330W is not working on Aw18. Only Aw18xR2 and perhaps Aw18xR1. The ower limit in motherboard / bios.

 

Bummer Wonder if Dell/Alienware actually still remembers/wants to do something about A06 for AW15/17R2... also, signed.

 

Dell concentrates on the new models now. Aw17R2 is soon expired and has no value for Dell longer. Interesting to see if Dell continues to deliver the to weak 180w PSU to the upgraded Aw models. If they upgrade to a stronger PSU so says Dell in other words; That they have delivered a inadequate product along with former Aw model's... What will Dell tell Aw buyers who bought earlier model??? Both the upgraded and older 2015 Aw models have about the same power consumption.

 

+1

I really hope so!

 

240w if you choose top-tier GPUs it seems: what Dell deserves criticism for, is taking so long to distribute 240w with 980m configurations. Then again, exchanges were honoured, so those who bought in earlier really should have gotten their 240w by now anyway.

They could leave this problem to fester... and we can sit on A00, return for an AW18 or switch to another brand altogether, and advise anyone we know against buying Alienware (I'm already holding off about a dozen people right now from AW because of this). It might suck to give up build quality, but voting with our wallets will make bean-counters feel the squeeze

 

Its just an upgraded but the same products. Only a spec revision. So i expect the support to be the same.

 

signed...

we really need that a00 bios fan table in a06.

what am i missing out if i use a00? and not the latest, only thing i can remember is the s3 resume.

I just got the r2 with 970m and 4720hq off newegg recently.

 

Dell support has said that they do not deliver an 240W psu longer if you have the new modern Aw15/17R2 + gtx980m with power problems because of the weak 180w psu. They said an Hybrid bios replace the need of 240W psu. But you may obtain one if you hit an ok person in Alienware support. It is several Alienware owners who have been denied an upgrade to 240W psu. These people have no other choice but to buy one yourself or just still use the weak 180w psu and the ingenious hybrid bios. Can not call this good and coordinated Dell support.

 

What country are you in? In the USA they are still sending them. I have a couple clients with these systems. When we called with the throttling and frame rate issues one of the first things 3 separate tech support people suggested was for them to send a 240w. I think its the opposite is your suggestion... I think its that people might have ran across some fail Alienware support members. The reps in El Salvador are lower quality reps. They deal with many different types of Dells not just Alienware. The reps in Costa Rica only deal with Alienware and some were even there before Dell acquired Alienware. In my personal experience the Costa Rica center is night and day difference when it comes to getting help.

 

I just noticed that there was an Alienware 15 R2. If this offers the same video card and the only change is new versions of the same procs then clearly they did some engineering changes. Perhaps us people that suffer major problems are owed something. If that is the case Im going to be very upset.. Im a long time alienware owner.

 

It is a new revision of the motherboard... They use now PCIe SSD and USB Type-Cwith support for SuperSpeed USB 10G and Thunderbolt 3 technologies. The new models will have its own bios. There will be no new and better updates of the bios for the previous models I think.

 

Straight up... im filing a BBB Complaint ASAP. This system came out like 8 months ago. One would assume that along with adding new hardware etc.. They probably also fixed some issues they found through peoples complaints and issues. Occasionally they discover they made a mistake and can only fix an issue with a hardware change. Guess what they do when that happens? They keep quiet and develop a "Hybrid Bios". They wait for it all to blow over. This happened with the M15x years ago.
I confronted them at the time and even ended up speaking with engineering. After they admitted the issue was a design flaw they sent me a M17xr3.
Technology moves so fast that it is possible to blow people off.

 

This I have said since the new models was introduced. A big big failure...
It is not long time since Dell Support told that these Aw models should not get raid support in bios. They kept their mouth shut for a long time before they confirmed this. Everything was planned. Shall be fun to see what's coming in the new models.

 

Just a new USB port and PCI express SSD....

 

Then they have to make a own bios for the new models.

 

Bios Beta A06 is out. https://www.dropbox.com/s/afjbjkdwbqkr2jy/Beta BIOS.zip?dl=1
This is supposed to have fan tables of A00 or close to it.

Ref:
http://na.alienwarearena.com/forums/thread/111133/technical-support-1/alienware-15-17-beta-bios-a06
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/aw15-r1-17-r2-beta-bios-a06-awa.780926/

 

Awesome!

 

I need everyone's help. I need to know the best way to recreate all issues that are wide spread with this system.
I am going to go all in about this and I want to list and document as many issues that plague this system as I can.

Im going to need step my step ways to synthetically recreate these issues. Please help! I will report back with all my findings and if I make progress even direct people to the proper people to speak to. Thanks!

 

How do we do this? I don't know anything about BBB. Are you saying you are taking legal actions against DELL? How can we (people outside US) help or what can we provide? If I've understood you correctly I support you 100%!

 

BBB is a USA based company. However since Dell's HQ is in the USA you can file a complaint from anywhere in the world. You really only need an email address.

http://www.bbb.org/central-texas/business-reviews/computers-dealers/dell-inc-in-round-rock-tx-41453/

They care about maintaining their A+ rating. Which was my point... If several people at once all complained then BBB would take notice too and it would put pressure on the reps that handle the BBB complaints to do something etc. In the least bit if you can prove the defects exist on the the old versions and are not present on the refresh then they owe you a refresh. Seen it happen several times. (Not the first time Dell has had design flaws that could not get resolved by software / BIOS updates)