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

Perfect, thanks for taking the time to upload and send the link it was exactly what I was after!

 

Have people in the UK had much tracking their orders with the link dell gives you mine got shipped yesterday and there hasn't been any updates since. I don't want it to suddenly arrive and I'm not in! Howling does it take to get from China?

 

My pleasure!

 

Is the courier Walsh Western? If so you'll get an update when it lands in the UK and finally confirmation from the UK based carrier a couple of days before it arrives.

Still waiting on mine to ship.

 

Is anyone experiencing an audio stuttering problem when playing games or watching online? If yes, what did you do?

Thanks in advance!

 

Possible that it's a dpc latency issue. MickyD recently tried the latest NVidia driver that came out today (331.82 whql), and he reported that dpc latency was lower for that driver. So, you could try the latest NVidia driver from the NVidia website - it might sort out that problem.

I've tried the latest driver, and it's performance is good, same as previous whql. I did measure the dpc latency, and it's low, which is good, but didn't measure the latency on the previous driver so can't compare that aspect.

 

I updated my nvidia drivers and finally can overclock, but every time I go over 70+ on core clock it shuts down my entire laptop.

 

That's weird isn't it, I'm surprised it's shutting down when it's only 70 odd degC on the GPU core, because I think that's too low for it to be the shutdown temperature - maybe there's another component that you haven't checked that is getting even hotter: the CPU maybe? You could use HWMonitor to check the temperatures, because that lists a load of different temperatures from all over the system.

 

Nothing is overheating, I'm going to give oc'ing a break and figure this out later.

 

Thanks man! I upgraded the video card driver but it didn't help Yup, it's dpc latency... Figured it out after running the dpc latency program and was having .25s latency. Under the diagnostics, it suggested to turn off devices in device manager one-by-one. Started with Human Interface Devices and thought that I have too many devices listed there (5 HID devices + 5 usb devices) whereas the AW17 only has 4 USB ports. So I disabled the two USB devices (had three USB devices connected: one for keyboard, one for mouse and one for cooling pad) and disabled 4 HID devices (only one remains). This was done via trial-and-error, it is possible to find out that an important component was disabled when it prompts for a restart so re-enable it before restarting.

I'm still experiencing minor stuttering (0.05 to 0.15s) but it is no longer hardware-based (dpc monitor is green), so this should be software-based now. It is also not as sporadic as before (played two youtube videos without latency mon going red). I'll investigate more when I get back.

Regards,
Mark

 

That's interesting, and good that you figured out where the latency issues were coming from. It's disappointing that you have to disable some of your USB devices to get the latency low enough. I'm wondering if it would help if you reinstall the drivers for the USB ports (USB 3.0 comes with separate drivers I think - at least on the M17xR3 anyway). Or maybe you could try reinstalling some of the drivers associated with any of the attached devices you have via USB, specifically associated with the ports that you had to disable. That way you might be able to re-enable those USB devices while maintaining low latency. (I can't claim to be an expert on latency issues, but it's a hunch based on the little I do know).

 

"Hi guys, been using my Alienware 17 R5 for about a month now, loving every bit of it except for one annoying issue which I am not sure if its specific to my machine only.

I am one of those guys that doesn't like my computer to go to sleep when I close the lid, so I have modified the default power option within my Win8.1 to "Do Nothing" when I do close it.

Power Options -> [High Performance] profile -> Change plan settings -> -> Change advanced power settings -> Power Options window -> Power buttons and lid -> Lid close actions -> On battery/Plugged in: Do Nothing.

Once I've set these up, every time I close my LCD screen, it just seems that I cannot get the screen to come back on when I open it even though my system is still on. No matter what mouse button/keyboard i press, the screen is just pitch black. The only way to get it back is a force shutdown with the power button.

I have tried open/close lid in BIOS/Diagnostic/POST, it seems my screen is able turn itself back on when the lid close/open, so I don't think it's a problem with my screen, just Windows is causing this problem.

I have a 120Hz 3D screen, can someone with a Alienware 17 R5 with or without 3D 120Hz screen able to check that you get the same issue if your "Lid close action" is changed to "Do Nothing" in Power Options?

My system is Win 8.1 with nVidia 331.65 driver, bios A05 and all drivers are latest from dell website.

Have already raised a case with Dell regarding my issue and just wanted to hear more from the forum to see if others are experiencing the same."

I had the same problem, though I am one of those people that like to use hibernate when the lid is shut. I have moved on to just plain old shut down. The laptop is fast with boot and shut down, but it's still a pain. Sometimes I have 10+ programs running when I leave work and I'd like to continue where I left off when I get home, but because of the weird issue with the screen not coming back I can't use sleep or hibernate without risking loosing data and destabilizing my windows installation. My setup has Windows 8.1 pro and 120 Hz screen. I would be interested to know if Dell is able to resolve this for you.

I would be very interested to know how your benchmarks are btw, I seem to come up short on Furmark and 3DMark (10% compared to others) and I'm not sure if it has to do with win 8.1 or maybe the 120 Hz screen setup.

 

Sounds like Intel Rapid Start technology is giving you issues. More like Rapid Pain in the <..beep..> technology. It's not your screen...

 

Im running Win7 and i've had the same problem but not every time the lid is closed, maybe 10 times since July and chalked it up to a software issue. Like you, I keep programs open when i'm editing ie Lightroom, Photoshop, etc to save time closing and reopening but I don't like risking it incase it wont come out of sleep so I generally shut down now just incase. I rebuilt the machine a month or so back due to a separate windows issue but it didn't cure the sleep issue as its happened since. It would be good to find a definitive cause and resolution, keep us posted if Dell get back to you with a fix.

 

If I want to buy a 120hz monitor to use with my laptop, do I specifically need to find one with a display port on it? As far as I know hdmi does not output about 60hz and adapters wouldn't make a difference so essentially I would need a 120hz monitor with a display port or would something like a display port to dvi adapter work as well and allow me to buy a bigger selection of monitors?

 

nope u need the screen with eDP connection..
the panel u want is : samsung SEC5044
this is also a panel they used in the R4 (i have this panel 2, and its hot real high brightness, and overall quality is just good) (not as good as my acer v5 with wide gamut ips display though)

 

I have the same problems and try a lot...
but now i had a idea and disabled the SSD cache(HDD750GB+SSD64GB) and the audio stuttering is GONE but i will test somemore...
sry for my bad english i am from germany ^^

p.s. my alienware is exactly the same model
i7 4900mq, gtx 780m(slv7 vbios), 16GB ram, 256GB Samsung 840 pro(win7), 750GB HDD(music+games etc) + 64mSATA cache(now disabled for tests^^)

 

just get rid of the cache ssd..
u dont need it, since u already have a 256gb ssd with your os on..
it doesnt do much, if at all for the 750gb... so just disable or take it out..
nice config by the way.

 

A shame to have to disable the cache drive for the 750GB Hard Drive that you have. This might be a dirty word, but have Alienware Tech Support been able to help you on the matter? I find it hard to believe that every A17 with an HDD cache drive has sound stuttering, so I'd imagine there's a solution out there somewhere for you to get the cache drive working without audio stuttering.

 

it is stupid i completely agree with u..
but if u already have a big SSD for your operating system, the benefits of having a cache drive on the normal 72k rpm drive is almost 0..
therefore, if u have a big ssd with your os on it, i wouldnt bother fiddling too much with it, and just delete it

 

Well, it's debatable, a cache drive on the HDD drive will accelerate the commonly accessed data quite well. So, if there are programs/games on the HDD then load times will be reduced, other data on there will be accelerated as well. If I'd paid for a cache drive I'd want it working, I wouldn't settle for some kind of a fudge workaround on a brand new high end laptop I'd bought.

 

So something like the BenQ xl2420T I should be able to use with a display port, is there no way to make an Asus vg248QE work as this was the monitor I was really looking into. Is there any reason using a display port to DVI adapter coming out of my laptop would not be able to do 120hz? I thought DVI and DP were the only 2 that supported 120+hz so why can't you use an adapter?

 

A mini DP or DP to Dual-Link DVI adapter should work with 120Hz. I haven't tried it (yet) with my AW 17 - though it may be something I'll be checking into soon.

 

You are right! It is indeed in the Intel RST. Disabled acceleration mode and resetting the cache to available, then watched a video on youtube (with dpc latency checker on) and it never went above 1000us.
However, I did not want to disable msata caching though so I downloaded the latest Intel RST driver https://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&ProductFamily=Software+Products&ProductLine=Chipset+Software&ProductProduct=Intel®+Rapid+Storage+Technology+(Intel®+RST) , installed it and enabled acceleration. Ran the same video on youtube and the latency is gone.

The RST driver found on the Dell website is 12.0.7.1002, whereas the latest driver is 12.​8.​0.​1016. I hope this will fix your audio stuttering issue too

PS: Dell mistakenly shipped me with a Win7 Pro OS, so I had to ask for the AW 17 wallpapers here

Regards,
Mark

 

Yeah, I confirm that this is the case. A solution would be to disable and reset the ssd to available, then download the latest Intel RST, then re-enable acceleration. It worked for me

 

Imminent delivery of my 17 on Monday. Has anyone it or use the Razer Kraken pro or 7.1 headset?

Just wondered how well it works etc and any feedback or recommendations?

 

I use the Logitech G930 with my R4, my new 17 is scheduled to arrive next week but I have not had any problems.

 

Replacement #2 "in production" as we speak. It was a helluva fight with Dell's Executive Customer Service team as they staunchly refused but once I got in touch with Alienware Resolutions, it was actually very painless. Gave them the issues and the steps I took to resolve the issues and it was not an issue, replacement was ordered immediately.

Guess that's the difference--Alienware actually gives a damn about it's customers and it's name, Dell doesn't seem to care much at all.

 

That's good to hear (read). :thumbsup:

 

I use the kraken 7.1, i found the logitech 930, i tried both the wired and wireless version, were SUPER quiet do to there software. Kraken 7.1 works wonders for me, plus they light up green just like the laptop .

 

Hello everyone. I'm planning on buying an Alienware 17 with the gtx770m graphics card. When I was at the checkout page I noticed in the detailed description that the power supply being shipped with it was 180 watts. I had come across this page when doing my research and it basically says that for an AW17 with a 770m a 240 watt supply is needed.

http://www.dell.com/support/trouble...icleIframeView?docid=536599&doclang=EN#Issue5

The 240 watt supply is a paid upgrade by Dell and is there on the accessories page when buying the laptop. I can't believe that Dell would ship a power supply lower than what is needed to power the laptop to its fullest requirements. Does this support page have wrong information? The configuration I am looking to buy is the stock 1949 dollar config with the i7 4700mq and the gtx 770m with a standard 7200 rpm 750gb hard drive.

Is anyone here using the same config? Is the 180 watt supply sufficient or should I buy the 240 watt model?

 

If you are buying a 17 with either a 770m or 780m, you will require the 240w PSU. The official Dell link you posted confirms the same. If the configuration tool is showing that it would ship with a 180w PSU, it has to be some error of sorts. You should not have to pay or upgrade something that is required for your machine to function correctly.

It might be worth a call to Dell/AW to confirm the error - they might be aware of it and confirm for you that your order would ship with the correct size PSU.

 

Well I just got off the phone with Alienware's customer service. They say that it should ship with a 240 watt adaptor, that its a mistake with the site. I hope it does. Did anyone who ordered it with a 770m get it with a 180 watt adaptor?

 

The 765M (65W card) & 770M (75W card) should come with the 180W adapter. The 780M (100W card) comes with the 240W adapter. If you plan to do overclocking, the 240W adapter is probably best for the 770M, and the 330W (AW 18) adapter is best for the 780M.

I don't think it's a mistake, but I did not order the 770M. I may be wrong. I'd get the 240W adapter either way. :thumbsup:

 

I had that mate. My order got canceled now because of it. Had to reorder it because the UK site is crap and doesn't upgrade your psu if you upgrade your card I went for 780 and it was wrong when thy went to build it. So annoying.

 

Here's a nice overview of all Alienware power bricks:
AW-Community - Originale Netzteile (AC-Adapter) für Alienware Notebooks

 

Will add my question here as to avoid forum clutter.

Anyhow.. I'm about to agree to buy a m17x r4 laptop for a very good price. Comes with the fastest ivy bridge, 16gb ram 256gb SSD etc and all for £1100 which seems like a very good price by UK's expensive laptop standards. The only problem is is that the laptop is only about 9 months old and has already had it's mobo replaced by dell under warranty. Is that something that I should be concerned about or is the guy possibly just unlucky? Any problems I should look out for? Usually when the price of something sounds too good to be true, it usually is from my experience lol.

 

From personal experience- the parts dell sends out as replacements do not have nearly the quality control of the ones that come direct from the factory, and sometimes have rather obvious defects. (how do you miss that the SYSTEM CLOCK is fubared, for god's sake?) Of course, if you are still covered under warranty for the foreseeable future this isn't really an issue - but I'd trust an Alienware that's never had a hardware issue a lot farther than one that had its problem 'fixed'. So make sure it has more than 3 months of warranty left.

Aside from that, the GPU is often the single most expensive part of the laptop. I'd rank them as 680m > 7970m > 660m > 675m, and there is a world of difference in there - and one far larger than what kind of CPU it has. 16GB of ram is considered by most to be more than adequate, and I can't recommend SSDs highly enough. (though I would purchase a large, spinning pile o' rust to complement it, a 1.5TB HDD for the r4 is still much cheaper than the 256GB SSD it includes now) As for the CPU, do you mean it's a 39** XM, or the locked 3820m? It may seem pedantic, but there's a several hundred dollar difference there, if I remember correctly. Not to mention a warranty difference, as I don't remember the r4 selling with unlocked CPUs... (and so it wouldn't be covered under warranty)

For everything else, I'll defer to those who actually owned an r4 - I'm just going off of memories of my r3 here.

 

Thanks for the response and honesty, fortunately I haven't agreed to buy it just yet so will probably keep my options open. I can get an M18x for the same price without an SSD and slightly less RAM so might look at that instead.

 

You'll probably find that 180 watt may just about be enough for an overvolted & overclocked 770M combined with your CPU. My system, which is very similar consumes up to 160W when gaming at max overvolt & overclock. However, you won't be able to charge the battery & game at the same time, because charging the battery takes about 80W. So, if you want to charge the battery & game at the same time (160W + 80W), then you need a 240W power supply. It's always good to have the extra overhead in the power supply anyway, so it's not being fully stressed. Yep, definitely don't settle for the 180W brick (especially if it's not the standard spec).

 

If gaming is your thing, forget everything else & just focus on getting the best GPU for your Alienware. All the base CPU's and memory configurations are perfectly good for gaming, and SSD's don't improve gaming performance (apart from helping to reduce stutter in some open world games where data is constantly streamed).

(And the RAM and hard drive can be upgraded once you have the laptop for so much cheaper, rather than paying for those upgrades through Dell!)

 

Good points! 675M is faster than 660M though (well, discounting flashing a modified VBIOS to the 660M).

 

Well the 7970 seems to be the best gpu for me really, the main game I'll be using it for is Battlefield 4. The reason why I'm stuck between this certain m17x model and the m18x is because I'll most likely be building a desktop in the next 12 to 18 months and a fully upgraded m17x with a single graphics card will probably do me until then. The m17x model I was looking at buying has the 7970m card in it and generally speaking, if it can play Battlefield 4 on max settings, I'd be very happy and that seems to be the case going by benchmarks and youtube videos. The m18x I'm looking at can come with either the 7970 or the gtx 680m however the 680m is the 2gb model and can't seem to find any benchmarks for it anywhere.

If I did decide to go with this laptop, does anyone have any advice for general things to check in regards to the replaced mobo? If I went with it, I'd be paying with cash and will have the chance to test it before I buy.

 

Thank you for the info, I'm going to press them for the 240 one. I haven't made the order yet so once I have and its being built I'll bug them repeatedly to make sure its the 240 watt.

 

7970M is good. Check out the following link for loads of info on the 680M (including benchmarks), it's a good site for comparing GPU's:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M - NotebookCheck.net Tech

If you can try before you buy I would do the following:

1) Check case & screen for scratches and damage, best to find scratches on screen by viewing a black screen.
2) Boot laptop from cold. Check in Device Manager for any exclamation marks that indicate some kind of a problem.
3) "View Reliability History" by typing the previous into the search Programs & Files from the Start Button. Look for any red crosses that indicate program or hardware errors - look for anything suspicious that re-occurs.
4) Take a USB stick with you with Diagnostic Programs to run on the test machine. Things to have on the USB stick: HWMonitor, GPUz, CPUz, Prime95, Unigine Heaven Benchmark Setup File. Run HWMonitor to check temperatures. Run GPUz to check temperatures & GPU frequencies. Run CPUz to view CPU frequencies. With those 3 temperature & frequency programs running in the background run Prime 95 to stress the CPU while making sure it's hitting the proper freqencies, and not getting too hot. Stop Prime95. Then test the GPU by installing Heaven Benchmark on your test machine - then run the program. Let the Heaven Benchmark run on a loop - it will display GPU temperature in the top right of the screen. Keep running the benchmark until GPU temperatures have stabalised. If you see high temperatures & sudden fps drops, then the GPU might be throttling due to heat - this you can check by going back to GPUz and viewing the sensor reading graphs which show temperature & GPU clock frequency history.
5) Check the system runs OK on the battery (unplug power adapter). But don't do the GPU & CPU tests on the battery - make sure it's plugged in for those! Use the machine for web browsing (checking the wifi works), while using the battery. If you have time check to see how long the battery lasts, or at least that it's not depleting really quickly while you're using it. Plug the machine back in, and make sure the battery is charging.
6) Oh, put HWinfo on your USB stick too. Run that & check under the hard drive, that the SMART status is OK for the hard drives. Also have Memtest86+ setup on a seperate USB stick (bootable), and run that memory check program to check RAM for errors - this could take hours & hours, but you could just run it for 15mins or so, as really obvious errors appear immediately.

So, doing the above will allow you to see defects which you wouldn't compromise on - things that would make you just walk away. But it will also might highlight some defects in the battery/screen/case that might enable you to bargain a better price.

 

Yeah I've been using notebook check for the past three months while saving up my money obsessing over all the little details lol. Stupidly though, I was thinking there might be a big difference between the 2gb and 4gb 680m however a quick search proved that shouldn't be a problem.

Thank you for all the great advice though, must have taken a fair bit of time to type that out so much appreciated. Still on the fence what I'm going to do but I might take your advice and ask the guy if he'd be prepared to do them checks himself too and gauge his response to see if he's trying to pull a quick sale on me.

 

At last!! Just creating recovery.

Very impressed so far. Love the box. Love the looks. Feels good to touch. Seems very uncluttered.

 

Sweet! What specs did you get?

 

Now your testing my memory..

4700 i7
16gb RAM
780M GTX
750gb HD

 

Sweet. You'll love the 780M.