*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 Ranger (2013) Owner's Lounge Thread

Try to check with a different application ..

 

Won't help, unfortunately. Some system manufacturer's replace the original id with their own inventory number. Hmm ... it seems to be a 40-pin lvds, bottom-left, but that's still a bit too generic.

Since you plan replacing it yourself anyway; remove bezel and panel screws, carefully lay it top-down on keyboard (on towel) and check the stickers on the back. Is a good idea anyway, since you can compare the specification of the actual/exact screen, instead of a Dell id (which might be any one amongst a dozen others).

 

After some research, I found the following information:

0Y24F 17.3 FHD WLED AG with LVDS cable ( K6PJ1)
It would appear this is the following display panel : LP173WF1 TL B3
http://www.laptopscreen.com/English/screen-part-number/LP173WF1(TL)(B3)/


It also appears my screen (GYWN1) is the following: LP173WD1 TL F1
http://www.laptopscreen.com/English/screen-part-number/LP173WD1(TL)(F1)/

So I'm guessing any panel compatible with that would work then? This AUO looks pretty good, and has better viewing angles: http://www.panelook.com/B173HW01 V5_AUO_17.3_LCM_overview_13872.html

I'm just wondering if Dell/Alienware hard-codes the BIOS to only accept certain part numbers, meaning any panel other than an official approved one wouldn't work/boot.

I can order these panels in Canada for under $100.

 

Yes, it should work. Have that exact panel btw, in the W870CU. The V5 (and V4, its glossy counterpart) are second only to the Dreamcolors, no newer eDP/IPS panel comes even close. Their near 100% sRGB is pretty neat for movies/gaming and to think these were made 5 years ago ...

No, though Lenovo does, reportedly.

Yes, but take care not to order ' compatible'. Used is the best bet to actually receive the panel you ordered, cheaper too; some on eBay for $75.

 

Thanks, I'm aware of the issue with "compatible" panels, and have sent a vendor a query about getting the EXACT panel.

So in your opinion, the AUO should not only work in my machine, but it would also probably be a better option than the LG? It would appear the LG has a better contrast ratio (600:1 vs 400:1). Would that make much of a difference in your opinion?

 

Yes, there's even been a few used 17s for sale with the AUO (after-market upgrade). And Panelook's are manufacturer's specifications, rounded to the nearest 100. Wouldn't place much value in those; checking NBR for reviews (using the same hardware calibration device):

Spoiler: LG LP173WF1-TLB5 vs. AUO B173HW01 V5

Couldn't find the TLB3, but since production runs are numbered we'll assume 5 succeeds 3 ...

 

According to that, the brightness on the LG is superior, but the contrast on the AUO is better. Interesting.

Well its good to know I have choices. Thanks.

 

Interposer P/N 8F9T8

 

A SATA connector?

 

Yes, the connector for the ssd in our laptops.
G

 

Man, most people I've contacted say they'll ship a 100% compatible panel. None seem to actually guarantee they'll ship the AUO panel. This is annoying.

 

Any feedback on the usefulness of the "desktop mode battery charge"? I know it used to have issues, then was apparently fixed via software update. But I'm still curious if anybody uses it, and what the impact actually is.

 

Pretty much depends on how you plan to use it.
I usually work with my 17 on a different room than the charger is. Once the computer is out of juice I go back and plug it in.
The thing is, if you're running the Desktop Mode it will help you out with the overall battery life. since the battery is not sitting idly at 100% there is still constant energy movement that keeps the battery working.
Personally, I think it is pretty useful.

 

Thanks. I very rarely use the laptop while not plugged in, so it doesn't matter to me if I happen to unplug it when it just happens to be at 50% capacity.

 

What is Desktop mode and how do I set that up?

 

So my R4 is getting replaced to an R1 ranger with the following specs:

Dell Outlet Alienware 17 R1
Processor: Intel Core 4th Generation i7-4710MQ Processor (6MB Cache, up to 3.5GHz w/ Turbo Boost)
8GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz
1 TB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
Slot-Load Dual Layer Blu-ray Combo (BR-ROM, DVD+/-RW, CD-RW)
AMD Radeon R9 M290X with 4GB GDDR5
17.3 inch (439.42 mm) WLED FHD (1920 x 1080) Anti-Glare Display
Windows 7 Professional
8-cell Lithium Ion (86 wHr) Battery
Anodized Aluminum
Integrated High Definition Audio
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 + Bluetooth 4.0
English Keyboard

It's not a major upgrade specially since the R9 m290x is practically a 7970M but at least I'll have a usable laptop. Been thinking of replacing the M290X with a 970M in the future anyways. I personally like the R1 new design so overall I'm quite happy about that.

 

I think the R1 is more versatile than the new alienware 17. I do not like the Cpu and Gpu are BGA.
Congratulations on your new Alien.

 

I always use “desktop mode battery charge”.

It works in this way:
1. Charge the battery at max
2. Stop to charge and use only the power, meanwhile the battery go down to 75% in about few days.
3. Charge again to 100%

It made the battery works while the laptop is plugged, but i dunno if keep the battery life longer.

 

Desktop mode is a power option that happens whenever you have the laptop connected to the AC Adapter, it puts the battery into a state where it doesn't let it charge to 100% and keeps it within 50%-75% (approx). It comes pre-installed into the newer Alienware laptops. Usually controlled by the OSD Driver (Onscreen Display).

 

MSI dominator GT72 is now for only 1500 $ with a MXM geforce 970M , I don't think now its worth it to upgrade my system I shell out 1 600$ for just the card

 

Before I post this in a separate thread...has anyone else experienced intermittent stuttering with their R5? Haven't seemed to be able to narrow down on a solution. I get pops and buzzes from the sound while playing games and watching YouTube videos. It's quite irritating.

 

Just for funsies, here are the 3DMark11 results for the 180w & 240w PSU when using the GTX 980M.

180w
P7257

240W
P10343

ASUS G751JY
P11376

 

Wow huge gap

 

Dang, goes to show they gimped things there.

 

Indeed, the 980M definitely requires the 240w PSU. Glad I had one on hand, otherwise I would've been very displeased with this 980M upgrade.

 

MXM 980M can be bought for around $800... Where do you get 1600?

 

I think he meant the entire laptop costs $1500, and it includes the MXM 970M.

 

Tragic to watch. Dellienware repeat their mistakes again. Launching a gaming laptop with poorer performance than its competitors. It took over 6 months to make a bios with proper TDP to gtx780m in the Alienware 17R1 Ranger. Now they have launched a new high end gaming laptop with 180w power supply that provides over 50% lower than the ASUS G751JY. 50% .. Alienware 17 and 180w = P7257 while ASUS G751JY with P11376 ... This is tragic ..

 

keep in mind those scores are for the AW17 R1, not the R2. I sold that off last week.

 

Tragic anyway.

 

Does the PSU make any difference on the R5? I have the factory 180w PSU and I haven't seen any throttling evidenced by nvinspector or GPUz...

 

No. (if you dont have gtx780/880m).

 

Depends on your GPU, as @Papusan mentioned. I posted some benchmark results that show quite clearly that the 240w PSU is required to run the GTX 980M.

Anything that's x70M or below is fine with a 180w. Anything x80m or above will require a heftier PSU.

 

My 240W PSU isn't enough for my 3940XM @ 4.3GHz + 970M on +400/575 lol... 180W will hardly run the 970M Oced + OCed 4800MQ

 

Well...true. I was assuming stock speeds + a typical i7-4700.

Once you get into O/C and XM CPUs, you need 330w +.

 

awwww...my GPU crashed on the desktop - probably because i was encoding a video while playing another video at the same time

 

Anyone know how to reset BIOS to default settings when the machine won't POST? The backlight isn't even coming on. The fans and the AlienFX come on when powered up but no function LEDs and no display.

 

Yeah.

1. Open up the bottom and remove the battery connector.
2. Remove all 4 sticks of ram (this means removing the palmrest as well).
3. Power the system. It will now beep several times and reboot after a bit.
4. While the system is rebooting, plug in one stick of ram.
5. You will now boot. You can stick back all ram I believe.
6. Enter the bios and RESET TO DEFAULT.
   Do not enable overclocking before you have done this or you can do it all again.
7. Do whatever you want and put back the overclock you want. Steer clear of undervolting, as that's what caused my failure.

I believe Mr. Fox figured out the procedure, I'm just not sure of the exact URL for it.

 

Mr Fox fix bricked bios on AW17 and 18... How to 'Un-Brick' Your Mobo http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-18-bios-a07.751794/page-2#post-9646431

 

Exactly, that's the one.

 

I was able to do it without dissembly. Tried holding down power button when off, it didn't make a difference. Same for holding down Fn and End while booting. What did seem to work was, I pressed power button to turn system on, then immediately pressed it again and held it to force shutdown. On next power up, system booted.

Not sure it was an over clock issue; only the multipliers were changed as well as the TDP limits. Didn't change BClk or ratios. When Windows started, it was acting a bit weird, wouldn't launch some applications...but after a restart everything is fine.

 

When you increased multipliers became your processor unstable, maybe because of lack of enough volts. No processor is similar. Some need more, others less voltage on the processor. Run stability tests if you increase multipliers on the processor.

 

The weird thing is...using XTU I can crank all 4 multipliers to max, and the CPU will happily run all day with heavy load on 36/35/34/34, -50mV on dynamic voltage. Memory has been stable at 1867MHz as well (1.33 ratio, x14 multiplier) and I've been conservative.

But...when I try to modify settings via BIOS, it doesn't like it. Over clock mode disables after reboot, and no changes are stable. Weird enough.

 

Dell makes a really good bios and Ec. Tragic ..

 

How often does the fan kick in on the left side of the laptop for anyone else when just browsing? For me it switches on and off pretty frequently when doing some light work, it just comes on for a few seconds at a time and then goes off again, repeating every minute or two. It runs at the very lowest speed but it's still annoying. Laptop is only 2 months old.

 

Follow the temperature of the processor with Hwinfo. There you can see what temperature the fan kicks in. My fan starts very seldom as my processor temperature under Tasks such as internet is only 42-46 degrees Celsius .. Just remember checking processor and pch (chipset) temperature ..

 

It seems to start at around 49 degrees Celsius for me. My temps fluctuate from low 40's to almost 50 constantly, thus causing the fan to be activated. Should the fan be kicking in at those temps? And why the hell am I getting the constant rise and fall?

 

What version bios have you?

 

A14

 

The fans kick in after going to 70C (You can set custom targets from HWInfo, try it or give a good clean job to your machine...) on the AW17 this is a idiotic mistake by dell and they won't fix it just to give a false impression that the machines run quieter....pure BS !!