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

Dell has continued to make garbage fan profiles in the new BGA AW models also. Tragic. Dell ruining the brand Alienware ..

@shcauldy; switch to a better thermal grease like Gelid extreme or IC7. Make a proper application. Remember just a thin line of thermal grease on the processor die. Not lubricate thermal grease beyond processor die with a credit card or similar. Add only the thermal grease as I explain and tighten the heatsink. You should also put the tube with thermal grease in a bag and warm up in a cup of 50-55 degrees hot water before application. Then paste becomes softer during application of the heatsink on the cpu and you get a thinner paste layer on processor die. Buy you also a Cooler Master Notepal U3 that you can modify with 12v fans and separate power supply ..

 

Hey guys I'm having some issues with my wifi card: Intel dual band ac 7260. It sometimes disconnects or gives me limited. I've been told this has card given people a lot of problems but I don't know what else to do since I've already upgraded the drivers and have re installed them as well.

 

I just can't seem to get scrolling to work on the trackpad. I've enabled it in AlienTouch and in the Synaptics settings, still doesn't work.

UPDATE: Got it working, guess a reboot was needed.

 

Different problem now. I'm trying to install a second HDD in the middle 2.5" bay (my SSD w/OS is in the lower bay beneath the wifi card and CPU). However, my system doesn't detect the HDD. I tried two different drives, in case one was busted.

Acronis doesn't detect it, neither does Windows. My OS had previously been installed on a HDD that was in this middle 2.5" bay, so I know the bay there used to work.

Any ideas?

 

is it a fresh HDD? if so then the OS will detect it just not display it as usuable storage. go into computer management and select storage > disk management, from there you can see the unformatted drive and you can set it up from there.

 

no it isn't a fresh drive, it was a storage drive in another system. Also doesn't show up in Disk Management.

 

Make sure you have the interposer plugged on the hdd, the little adapter thing that connects the contacts.

 

Turns out I had RAID set up in my BIOS. Switched to AHCI.

EDIT: And now I have to re-install Windows. Effing great.

 

Sorry guys, seems i've missing something...but...why our Aw17 is called "Ranger"?

 

Anybody else notice how hot the drive in the centre bay can get? Granted it's right below the GPU, but still. Just under idle load, the drive temps can be quite high.

Don't think I'm going to be putting a drive there after all. I feel like the nearby GPU will shorten the lifespan of the drive, and the heat generated by the HDD will also increase the GPU's operating temperature.

Interesting layout/design decision. Thankfully the other 2.5" bay is far away from anything that generates heat.

 

What do you mean by hot ssd / hdd? I use my Samsung 850 pro in center bay(os disk). The temperature is 36-39 degrees. Do not think this is a big problem. Use good thermal grease on the CPU and GPU so you get removed heat from hardware.

 

Wondering the same thing

 

It is the laptop "base" who called the "Ranger". Look at your Pacing slip(Number and name). Harder with just onlye a number. Very easy for Dell to have a name for each model.

 

Oh, I got mine used, and was wondering. As it didn't say ranger anywhere on it I could see. Not even on the metal plate that shows the cpu and gpu. Thanks

 

Many are unsure if the laptop is called AW17 R1 or R5. Most people know what a AW 17R1 Ranger is. (or AW 17R5 Ranger)

 

Как связаться svl7? Я хочу, чтобы он купить разблокированный Bios AW17 A14
заранее спасибо

 

A little update here, My r4 was replaced a couple weeks ago for a newer R5 which you can see the specs below on my sig but sadly the laptop has so many issues like bad wifi card, the W key not working in the laptop and so many more i'm being given another replacement but with better specs:

Processor: Intel Core 4th Generation i7-4910MQ processor (Quad Core, 8MB Cache, Overclocked up to 4.1GHz)

Memory: 16 GB Dual Channel DDR3L 1600MHz (8GBx2) Memory

HDD: 80 GB mSATA SSD Caching Drive+1 TB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)

Optical Drive: Slot-Load Dual Layer Blu-ray Combo (BR-ROM, DVD+/-RW, CD-RW)

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M graphics with 8GB total GDDR5

LCD: 17.3 inch (439.42 mm) WLED FHD (1920 x 1080) Anti-Glare Display

OS: Windows 8.1 64BIT

I'm really crossing my fingers this replacement comes without issues, I am excited about being upgraded to the 880M which I've heard runs hot but is a noticeable improvement over the M290X. So far I'm quite happy I ended up getting the extended warranty after my initial warranty ran out. While it is troublesome troubleshooting the laptops with Dell, they have shown me they'll try to fix whatever the problem is.

 

With the 880M, flash svl7's unlocked VBIOS (PM me and I'll send it to you) and get some good thermal paste like gelid GC Extreme and some good thermal pads like Phobya XT or Fujipoly Extreme (Hard to get these)... You'll be perfectly fine then...

 

Better sell the 880M As-is and get a 780M.

 

Why not just downclock and undervolt to 780M levels? I run my 780M at 0.95V (stock is 1.00) and temps are usually in the mid to high 60s.

 

A little update here, I received the new machine today and did some benchmarks and re pasted the CPU and GPU. Right off the bat the CPU was spinning like crazy because it came overclocked, so I disabled it because I rather not have the fan spinning so much even after the repaste.
This test I did was before the repaste and unfortunately the picture didn't save but the 880M was hitting 82-83C and was throttling itself because of the high temperatures, the CPU was in the 80's C as well. I used Heavens benchmark
http://puu.sh/gIwwh/9da87d4458.jpg
The pics below are after the repaste and the temps have improved quite a bit and no more throttling as well, I repasted with IC Diamond.
http://puu.sh/gIwCq/78d84556eb.jpg
http://puu.sh/gIwAg/a1f17fd228.jpg

I also have a couple of questions pertaining to the new system, the replacement came with an 80GB msata SSD drive with 1 TB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM.) I currently have a 256GB Samsung 840 pro SSD and wasn't sure how to configure my drives since I've never had a msata drive before. What would you guys recommend I do? where should I install the OS?

 

Install OS on your Samsung 840 SSD pro. Use your 80GB mSATA SSD as cache for your 1TB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM).. As then will be your storage disk.

 

Thanks, I was thinking of doing exactly that. Do i have to do anything to make the 80GB mSata SSD the cache for the 1TB hard drive?

 

80GB mSATA SSD is already cache for your hdd.

 

Haha what a noob question then but I'm new to mSATA drives. Thanks.

 

Sent you a pm ..

 

Remember that SRT (Intel Smart response tech) is limited to using at most 64 GB for caching, rest will be unused

 

Better buy two ssd and use the whole 64/80gb m-sata as a small storage disk to things you rarely use ... Or replace the small with a much larger ..

 

I have a AW17 with the 80GB cache+1TB hybrid HDD. I seem to be regularly getting a "boot device not detected" error. Sometimes it'll boot up fine, then I'll install a new GPU driver and I won't be able to boot. IRST is installed, and detects both drives fine.

Any ideas?

 

Maybe run an error check on the system disk (right click on Drive -> Properties -> Tools -> Error-Checking). Another thing to try, maybe the boot sector is corrupted, and I believe you can rebuild the boot sectors using one of the recovery options from the installation media, but you'd have to research the specifics of that as I've not done that before. Also check it's not something stupid like the Boot Order listed in your BIOS, like maybe it's trying to boot off a CD or USB drive when you have them plugged in & turn on the machine. All of that stuff I've listed is something that shouldn't be related to you installing a new NVidia driver, but I'm thinking perhaps it has nothing to do with your NVidia driver, and that has just been a coincidence - but you'll know that by if your boot up ONLY ever fails after upgrading the NVidia driver.

 

Hi guys, sorry to bother. Help needed ! Could someone pm me an original 880m 8gb dell vbios if possible ? Can't find any and lost mine :s
Ty in advance.

 

So I took the R9 M290X out and installed a GTX 770M I had lying about. All went fine, driver installation went smoothly. However, whenever the 770M is used (either in stress tests, or even just HWINFO testing it) the computer freezes.

Any ideas? I thought that since the AW17 R1 could come configured with the 770M, I didn't need to do anything fancy to get it working. Should I install a driver with a modded .inf?

 

If I was switching from an M290X to a 770M I would:

1) Uninstall AMD drivers. Use DDU to remove any remnants of AMD drivers. Turn off machine.
2) Install 770M ensuring that I'm using an NVidia X-bracket & ensuring pads matched up to chips on card, and ensuring that I'd removed any black tape from the GPU contact area on the heatsink (assuming there is tape on the A17, there was on the M17xR3).
3) Turn on machine. Enter BIOS. Make sure any settings were setup that were applicable to NVidia vs AMD - I don't know which ones & what would need to be changed if anything, but that might give you some ideas to look into.
4) Install latest NVidia driver without modified inf - because 770M was offered as standard in the A17.
5) Test that the card's working. GPUz - temperature/frequency readings when gaming. Compare 3DMark scores, etc.

I might also uninstall the Intel Graphics Drivers along with Step 1 above, because maybe to get Optimus working properly it might need to be installed when you have your 770M in the machine. In which case I'd reinstall the Intel Graphics Drivers at Step 4 above (before installing the NVidia graphics driver).

 

Well I did a fresh Windows 8.1 install on a new SSD after putting the 770M in the machine, so there weren't any leftover drivers to be worried about. I installed the Intel drivers before the NVIDIA ones.

The card is detected without issue, booting goes well, NVIDIA drivers installed without a hitch (which indicates a modded .inf is not needed). But as soon as I started running Furmark, the machine froze. Same thing happened when HWINFO started polling the GPU for information.

I'll look into the BIOS, see if I missed anything. Thanks for the tips.

 

Turns out the crashes were the good 'ol "Display driver NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver 347.88 stopped responding".

Rolling back to previous drivers to see if that helps.

Update: Turns out prior drivers do the same thing.

 

Uninstall all drivers with Ddu and try Dells own graphics drivers for your graphics. Did you remember to install all importent drivers in the correct order? You can also try to reset the bios to default and perhaps reinstall latest bios again. Also uninstall all Win update patch's and refuse win to install their own drivers ..

 

I followed the guide in the forums for installing drivers. I did install all the Windows updates. This 770M is the same card that came with my prior AW17 R1, and it worked without any problems in that machine.

I re-installed the R9 M290X (the GPU they system came with) and that card has no issues.

NOTE: When removing the 770M, I noticed I did a poor paste job, as almost 1/5 of the GPU die wasn't making contact with the heatsink surface. Though during Furmark, the GPU temperature never exceeded 75C.

 

Turns out I don't have a hybrid drive, but a 1TB WD Blue HDD and a 80GB mSATA SSD. I'm re-installed Windows after setting the BIOS to AHCI instead of RAID. Planning on using the mSATA SSD as the OS boot drive.

 

Well, reinstalling Windows would solve the problem too if it's the corruption of the boot sector that I described earlier - hopefully this will work out for you.

 

God I love this machine, despite the issues I'm having.

Sturdy, sturdy, sturdy...Anodized aluminum lid that is so solid you could practically stand on it. One of the best keyboards out there (even my wife commented on it).

Remains cool to the touch even under stress-testing load. Fans never get too loud.

If only Dell would provide better support...oh, and if I could get a nice IPS panel for it.

 

Hey guys, I need a bit of expert advice.

So, I asked you all for guidance about repasting a while back. Today I finally managed to get to it, armed with compressed air, thermal paste and everything. I cleaned the fans, repasted the CPU and everything went reasonably smoothly - I'll do some testing with temps, but what I want to ask you is relative to the GPU. Quite simply, I couldn't lift the heatsink, despite having loosened the screws. I tried but I didn't want to force it. I watched a lot of videos, even the official Alienware one about replacing the GPU, but they only talk about the 4 screws on the heatsink plus the small two on the sides. It felt like it was still held down by something else. This is a picture of what I was looking at: http://imgur.com/9XnTmTe

Any help? what else am I supposed to do? Thanks guys.

 

@Mana Cerace

That's possibly normal. The thermal paste on the GPU die, as well as the thermal pads on the other components, are holding the heatsink down. The thermal pads can be quite sticky, and depending on what TIM was on the GPU die, it could be acting as an adhesive.

As long as you've fully removed the four screws, it's just a matter of applying light pressure. Try even moving it, rather than lifting, to try and break the bond of the TIM/pads.

 

@Mana Cerace
You do not need to loosen the graphics card for applying new thermal grease. Simply unscrew 4 screws and remove the heatsink carefully. Just remember not to apply too much themal grease. A grain of rice is enough. Which thermal paste did you use?
Also run Cinebench 11.5 and 3Dmark11 benchmark test after you finish and monitor the temperature with Hwinfo64. Post gladly the result in the thread ... Temp and score

 

Thanks both. @Papusan, I know there's no need to remove the whole card, but since the heatsink was stuck, I watched the Alienware video and thought I'd try (nothing changed, btw). When I get back in there and repaste the GPU I'll make sure to run some benchmark. I used Arctic MX-2.

As for the CPU, HWMonitor tells me I'm around 47° with just light browsing. Is that ok? Unfortunately I forgot to check what it was before the repaste.

 

Start using Hwinfo64 ... An god temp. Here you can read a bit about temperatures .. http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/apply-liquid-ultra-on-cpu-heatsink.773640/
Here you have an 3DMark Fire Strike score you can beat

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4489017

 

Ok, I will and report back. Thanks, man. Gotta at least try to get things in shape before GTA 5 hits... how do you guys think it's going to run on the AW17 Ranger with 780M?

 

MX-2 is junk.. Get some Gelid GC Extreme... Liquid Ultra is not needed with 4700MQ...

 

Why not? If only I had an Intel Core i5-4210U in my Aw laptop, I had used Liquid ultra anyway ..... Gelid Extreme is awesome ... For graphics...

 

Is there an easy way to tell how much VRAM the MXM GTX 770M that came with your system has (other than putting it back in, of course). Or did all 770M's come with 3GB of VRAM?

 

All had 3GB according to what I know..