*OFFICIAL* Alienware 14 Owner's Lounge Thread

oh yeah fiddling with alienfx doesnt turn it back on ....
its only until i shut down the laptop and turn it back on

 

I haven't had the light issue. I have typed alot and played many games and have 0 wear on my palm rest. If you purchased from Dell and it has been less than the return time or not to long with your replacement, they might give you a refund.

 

What did you use as your boot?

 

I have the plextor as the boot drive, made 30% over provisioning. Installed just a couple things on it like msi afterburner an other apps like that. Use te 840 pro for the 3-4 games I play, photoshop, Lightroom etc. I use an external HD for mass storage so I can move it between all my machines.

I run the SATA controller in RAID. But the drives are single not in RAID config.

Crystal disk mark
Plextor read = 540 write = 430
840 pro read = 558 write = 520

 

no need to get a refund just send alienware a tweet. they'll fix the lights

Nexus 4 via Tapatalk 2

 

Would this adapter work for the new 14. I need a second one for my house.

Amazon.com: Genuine Dell Alienware M14X R2 AM14RX2-7494BK 150W Power Adapter Battery Charger, Compatible Part Numbers: PA-5M10, J408P, DA150PM100-00, ADP-150RB B, N426P, R940P, For Use With The Following Systems: Dell Laptop/Notebooks: Computers & Ac

 

I got my AW14 about 10 days ago. This thing is awesome, way better than I expected. The fan noise that people had me worried about is nothing. Load temp are excellent. The i7-4800MQ is certainly worth it. Going with the 64GB mSATA cache works excellent with the 750GB drive

Used Intel XTU and setup all bins to max, and 4.1GHz max turbo, don't have to set it again, just remember my speed every time I start up the machine.

With the A04 BIOS there is no slow downs on the GPU, and maintains boost over 900MHz.

Only slightly negative thing I can say, the screen is a little bit to dark in games. When I say dark, the LED output is fine, the blacks are appearing to black, dark scenes don't look that good.

i7-4800MQ running 4 bins overclock via software



Bioshock and ultra settings using plenty of video memory

 

Hey guys quick question.

Is the CPU and GPU for this new 14s upgrade-able?

 

The GPU is soldered on, however; the CPU isn't. I would suspect that you would be able to upgrade to one of the higher end CPU. I think next years gen is the same socket as well, so there might be some future CPU's that we could use. I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong.

 

I see. Thanks!

 

The lights thing had happened to me when i first got my laptop i just updated command center or whatever the alienfx app is called but the tron effects lights do not match let say i make all my lights purple when i do that the one on the left is purple and the one on the right is more blue does this happen to anyone else

 

Good feedback. How do you like the battery life? Can it game on battery?

Also, would you say this notebook is more toward and 15" form factor or 13"?

Thanks

 

Battery life is excellent. I think most people may have used the standard power setting out of the box. Set it on power saver and it last a long time. When I compare with a HP Envy 15 TouchSmart with a low wattage i7-4702MQ processor, there really isn't a great deal of difference if any. Pretty much come down to how you use it on battery. If you are going to thrash it, then battery aint going to last no matter what you are doing, and if you use it just for slow cruise then the battery will treat you well the same as any other system.

I have gamed on battery on several notebooks before, always with the hope that I can. Sure your can, but the clock speed of the GPU will be reduced, and you never get anything more than an hour. Really is not worth it. Unless you are going to play something very undemanding on the IGP and can lock you clock speed down with throttlestop (or just use power saver settings), might get 1.5 to 2 hours.

With actual size, I would still put it into the 14", although it is heavy as a 15" Envy TouchSmart, the AW14 doesn't have the fat width the 15 notebook do, therefore is not wide and this really make the difference

btw. I found in general if you push gaming on battery (especailly if you force apply and overclock) on fast machines such as this or simular, then the battery tend to get very hot discharging, which I am pretty sure equals bad for the battery cells.

 

The 14 is definitely 15" form factor. Battery life is right at 4 hours for me. You could game on battery, but I'd guess you'd be lucky to make it an hour doing so.

 

This is so frustrating.

Is there anyone who uses or has used stereo Bluetooth headphones with this system, particularly with the Killer wireless card? Please tell me of your experience, good, bad, or in between.
My new headphones just arrived today, and they have the same problem as the old ones...a problem which never existed with my previous laptops:
No matter what I do, audio eventually will hiccup and get worse and worse to the point that it cuts off entirely. It has even locked up the entire system before, including Ctrl+Alt+Del, forcing a hard manual shutdown. Or whatever you call it. Not 2 weeks into using this system, and I've had it lock up at least 3 times due to this problem.
I will be calling tech support tomorrow. But I don't see this being anything but a bad Killer card. And my worry is that all Killer cards are bad for this.
The funny thing is, though, my Bluetooth mouse is just fine. I'm just really, really frustrated and disappointed. It's a major problem for me. I had been using stereo Bluetooth headphones most of the time that I had been using my previous laptops, and now, with this machine, I just...can't. But it is so good in every other way. ****, man. Computers.

 

No way, this thing is not as wide as a 15" laptop

 

Cool, thanks for the info guys.

 

yeah i got the killer card, my bluetooth kinda crashes my computer too when i use it for speakers. Weird eh? anyone got a fix

 

That's strange, I have a pair of Logitech H800 Bluetooth headphones (with boom mic) that I use on my new AW 14 and have had no issues at all.
I've used the bluetooth headset along with a bluetooth mouse to play Sniper Ghost Warrior 2, and other than getting killed far to often and getting frustrated I have had good luck with the bluetooth on this laptop. :thumbsup:

 

That's good to know. Do you have the Killer NIC or Broadcom, though?

The headphones in question for me have been the Rocketfish RF-MAB2 and Able Planet BT400. They work just fine with my phone and other laptop. :\

 

I have the parrot zik bluetooth headphones and the broadcom card and works with out a problem i also tested it with a logitech UE mobile boombox and also works fine no problems at all.

 

I have the Killer NIC. (Standard AW 14 build)

 

Thanks for the responses regarding Bluetooth. Spoke with tech support, they are sending a replacement Killer 1202 card which I will swap out myself. Hope it works.

 

Ok, so I just got my mine, but I bought the Plextor MSATA separate.

I want to install the MSATA and use that as my main BOOT. What are the steps now?

Also, Is the resource DVD the OS DVD too? BTW, it's a WIN 8 OS.



I tried everything, yet I have no clue how to get it to boot from the DVD drive. I see no options, under the UEFI all I see is the LAN 4 LAN 6 and the main HDD when that connected or nothing when I had it out I've look under all options under the "BOOT Setup" but no luck.

 

Okay, I am tentatively elated. But also feeling rather foolish. I went straight to Killer gaming's website (Atheros support) to download drivers and selected the legacy driver to rollback to the previous version. Guess what...working like a charm so far. No hiccups, delays, or crashes. It's only been a couple of hours, but it's never lasted nearly this long without problems. I think this Bluetooth thing is finally solved. To whomever else was experiencing the same thing, try rolling back your driver/Atheros Suite to the previous version, available here. It might still turn ugly tomorrow, but I am pretty relieved for now.

 

Hello guys, regarding the Headset problem, i've got the Logitech UE 9000 and i can't pair them with the aw14...Bluetooth seems to recognize other devices around me but not my earphones... any idea?

 

Only idea I have is what I posted above. Bluetooth headphones wouldn't connect with a good signal using the Killer 1202 driver from Dell. I had to get an older driver from Atheros support.

 

Hi, I notice the usb 3.0 bug. I'm in canada. I call technique department in dell several times to ask what's the rev number currently, but they are uselessly. They don't know the problem at all. So guys, could you let me know who got rev 05. Intel said, after september we should get stepping 2 haswell. I'd like to confirm before purchase the laptop. Thanks guys.

 

Hi!

I recently did a fresh OS install on my 14, downgrading from Win8 to 7.

Can anyone provide me a link to the drivers specifically for Win7 and the different Alienware applications?

Thank you in advance to those who'll reply

 

In the Dell support page are both drivers for win 7 & win 8

Sent via Tapatalk 2 via Sony Xperia S

 

I have the resource DVD from the Win8 version. Will the drivers on that DVD work when I install them on Win7?

 

Some drivers I believe are different, besides the resource DVD have the Win7 drivers too, I know because I downgrade from 8 to 7, but I download all from dell.com
------------------


Passing to another questions, did someone of you manage to install ubuntu, kubuntu?, I have tried with the installer of the version 12, nothing happens, it gives me a Kernel error, (I have win 7 and secure boot disables), I made a partition, it gives me an error, I change From RAID to AHCI, error, I remove the SSD and only left the HDD, error until now I cant manage how to install ubuntu

 

Ya I just put on virtual machine

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

 

Well in virtual machine its very easy, but I dont want to virtualize it, I want a full normal installation, at the moment I still cant achieve a way to have a succed install

 

In order to get Linux to boot correctly (and not hang on boot) you will need to use the "nomodeset" option on the kernel command line at the grub prompt.

 

Thanks will try it later and see what happen

 

Does anyone get "Check Cable Connection" when booting on Alienware 14?

 

SO I called Dell and they sent me the WIN 8 USB, but it's not a actual WIN 8 OS install, but a Dell Restore and Recover. Does this work the same way as an Install DVD? I tried it and it booted, but it's not the typical WIN boot DVD.

I bought an MSATA HDD, and wanted to install WIN 8 to that HDD, and wipe the 750gb. If I went out and bought an OEM version WIN 8 and just used that, would that cause a problem?

Also, would the Resource DVD have all the Alienware stuff on it I could just install?

 

Hey everyone! Some of you may know I recently wanted to purchase two systems because of the Dell Mystery Coupon sale, but all of my coupons were "expired" by the time I was able to get my funds prepared, therefore, I was not able to proceed with the purchase of an Alienware 18. However, I worked my magic with Dell and negotiated a decent price for an Alienware 14. My original intention was to order both: the AW 14 and AW 18 (AW 14 mainly for school) but I'll just have to work with the AW 14. Next year I'll try to grab the AW 18, or maybe consider a desktop if I feel the AW 14 is sufficient enough for 'on-the-go' gaming.

Edit: The Estimated Delivery Date is 9/30, but I'm sure it will arrive sooner. I plan to play quite a few games to test out this system and its cooling capabilities, such as: Far Cry 3, BF3 (and BF4), Tomb Raider, Bioshock Infinite, etc. and I'll keep everyone posted on that, once it arrives. Obviously, I won't be able to play them on Ultra, but I'm hoping at least "Medium to High" settings.

 

Nice purchase!

 

Thanks Rome.

Does anyone here use their AW14 with an external monitor? I plan to hook mine up to a 24" LED monitor (1920x1080) while gaming at home or watching movies. Let me know how the connection is, and other feedback.

Thanks.

 

It may work, but may not. I would speak with Dell again and ask for the recovery (OS) disc for your system.

 

I did, they sent me the USB resource and recovery, but it isn't like your typical WIN install process.

 

Okay, so, I'm assuming they basically sent you the factory state on a USB drive. That will restore your computer. It should be sufficient...

 

But how would I be able to install Windows 8 on my MSATA I bought separate? I want it as my boot HDD and the 750 as my Media drive.

 

I've never installed Windows on an mSata SSD, so I may be incorrect... But is it recognized in your BIOS? If you cannot adjust boot options to choose the mSata first, you may have to remove the HDD and have only the mSata SSD in the laptop to do so. Also, check Intel Response Technology and see if you can change the drive from a "cache" drive to a primary drive. This may be required in order to see it in the BIOS.

--- UPDATED ---

Has anyone tried playing Tomb Raider on the AW 14 with the GTX 765M? I'd like to hear some feedback of that.

 

Can someone describe the quality of the stock 768p screen? I'm considering the stock model to save as much cash as I can.

 

I'm using very similar setup as yours:hi2: notepal u2 with 2 fans, hwinfo64 fan control...
tomb raider is definitely playable on our machines, sadly not with maxed out settings
This is optimus-enabled, so you can expect slightly better performance in discrete mode
(326.80 beta driver, 1080p)




pretty good isn't it?:thumbsup: it can handle many many games but NOT witcher series.....very poor framerate even with very low detail settings
I think the best strength of the AW14 is how it handles the temperature!! I tried overclocking the gpu to over 1 GHz (around 1035 MHz.....the maximum the msi afterburner allows), it's completely stable and the temperature keeps below 65 C, which is very impressive, and with properly set fan control, the cpu can be kept under 75 C as well.
The only problem I've got is I can't get the undervolting working with XTU everytime after I do a reboot (demanded by xtu after changing setting), and it says cannot apply dynamic cpu voltage offset any advice captain?

 

That's great to hear/read. I'm feeling better about my purchase now. I'll have to take a look at the fan control program and perhaps even check out a modded vBIOS, if one is available. I saw someone with a modded vBIOS who was able to increase performance by like 30%. So, maybe that's an option, but I'm sure the temps will rise in doing so, which may be an issue.

I'm also hoping this upgrade to the 4900MQ is worth it... Thanks for the feedback guys!