*OFFICIAL* Alienware 18 Owner's Lounge Thread

I originally got an AW17, returned it and then the 18. If the 780M underperforming wasn't a such hot topic on the AW17 thread, I would had never know. In the AW18, I only found that my system is holding power back when I changed my temp-limits with EVGA Precision X. I saw massive jumps on my 3D Marks scores. However I did not kept my settings, there is no need. I like to think of custom BIOSes like Slv07 or OCing as getting a bit extra juice at the time of need.

Clearly people like me or Zambrilla (post above you) who priority is simply gaming, our systems perform well. People like Mr. Fox or whoever pretty much went the high-end 4930MX CPU (other than wealthy gamers, who have no idea about OCing) want to push their systems at 100%, I get them and they can't do that with Haswell, thus they don't get the experience they deserve nor that they paid off.

I would recommend AW18 to any gamer who is looking for a laptop, especially over the 17 and any Clevo/MSI crap. However I would be hesitate, at this stage, to say the 4930MX is worth the extra cash. I got faith that the A04 will fix a few issues.

 

I agree. Bone stock the Alienware 18 is, hands down, the most potent brand new (Haswell) gaming laptop available anywhere with a mobile CPU. On top of that, it is the best built new laptop available anywhere.

Even though it's not as good as 2920XM/2960XM/3920XM/3940XM I would still go with 4930MX over an MQ Haswell CPU. For that matter, any unlocked CPU, mobile or desktop K or X is a better option if you have the money. Having partially unlocked cores on some of the ordinary CPUs doesn't help that much because the TDP is still locked and that holds back what they are able to achieve in terms of performance. This part is true to an extent even with a crippled BIOS, since XTU can make a lot of the changes.

 

I agree! I only would rate Apple's Macbook built quality a bit higher due to their much better quality assurance/ control system. Definitely if you are a gamer or in the market for a high-end performance machine, AW18 is the clear choice.

Fair enough; my next machine, desktop or mobile will have a K or X CPU. I made my return to Windows. On my next machine, it will be time to get truly back to my roots with OCing, benchmarking, etc.

Intel's press conference for CES is over. No mention on the CPUs. -.-' They concentrate on wearables, computer vision and a Kinect-like camera for laptops. They got a Keynote later today, hope we will get some "answers" then.

 

Nvidia's new driver is out, 332.21 WHQL: NVIDIA Driver Downloads - Advanced Search

 

I am running 331, will update tonight and see how much difference it makes.

 

Thanks for the share I'll give it a try as well!

 

I can take an oath that there is something wrong with my Alienware's painting job. I keep seeing more and more "white" dots around the chassis. Their are really microscopic, but with my OCD, I get nuts!

 

It suprises me the amount of people with OCD on this forum .

 

I have a question... I just got my 18 and it has 750 GB SATA Hard Drive + 512GB mSATA Solid State Drive and it is set up with the 750GB as boot drive?? Why did they not put the 512 mSATA Solid State Drive as Boot??

 

You will surprised how paranoid I get. I may not sleep tonight due to this... My bike is dressed like a condom with heli tape! My line manager always makes fun of me and my "scratch problems"...

I think the same thing happened to another person in this forums. Someone at the factory screwed things up. It is easy to fix: Just re-install Windows on the correct drive using AlienRespawn or a clean copy of Windows (recommended).

If you did not buy this from Dell directly, aka from eBay or 3rd party resellers, then they upgraded the mSATA to 512GB (as Dell by default ships it with 32GBs for cache) but only messed with the hardware and they were bored/forgot to setup things for you.

In both cases if you just bought the machine, ring the seller. If it is Dell, they can send a technician to fix it for you/ guide you to do it and may even give you a nice complimentary gift -if you ask nicely. If it is a reseller, ask his (again nicely) if he can offer you anything for your troubles or/and fix it for you.

 

Alienspawn will not restore from a 750gb drive to a 512gb drive, it has to be same size or bigger. Best options is a clean install to the ssd or get a third party cloning tool like arconis or something like that. But is is always best to clean install a OS to a ssd..

 

Oh I forgot that bit!

muchfish : As Path -who, if I remember right, helped me ages ago with my SSD installation- said: Clean install is the best and the only way to go.

 

How is the alienware 18 bios update AO4 coming to fix the cpu and gpu throttling issue?

The one that had been promised since August 2013 and has since had fixes on the 14 and 17

 

It is a matter of time; eventually it will be out. AW 14 and 17 got their fixes as they sell more than the 18, so from business point of view, it made sense to allocate resources there first.

It should be out sooner than later is better, but better late than never. Don't forgot Dell is under heavy internal reforms, potentially making engineers/ software delivery people more worrying about their jobs-salaries, than doing actual work and Alienware personnel themselves are busy with their Steambox. From my current workplace and previous experiences I can say software delivery processes, in order to be ISO compliance include long processes. They can't just "hack" a fix and ship it.

 

Although, I wish they would. If they could simply address the fans table issues, then hurry up and hack it to leave the BIOS accessible for us to fix it, that would be peachy. We don't need (want) them to choose our BIOS settings for us... we just need access to them. I also expect it to get fixed sooner or later, and agree that it is better late than never.

 

From a consumer's point of view I also wish they could.

From my experiences, usually software upgrades are planned way in advance and are released in public only after extensive, internal testing. For example: when they released A03, they may already be working on A04 solving known issues of A03 or features (like unlocking the BIOS) planned, but due to time constrains never made it into the final A03 release.

As we are talking about a BIOS update, if they rush it and screw it, it may leave people with worse problems and will cost Dell more.

 

I agree with the statements above but it shouldn't take the lifecycle of a product to fix known issues since release day of the product. I think they have been building machines long enough to know what they are doing and really should be a fairly simple fix in terms of fan tables etc.

Most computer manufacturers and I use apple for example. They release a new laptop, issues are reported within a few days of shipping and they usually have updated firmware/bios within days. I have seen Dell do the same thing with brand new model Optiplex and Latitude machines. I've order for clients and brand new 9030 custom build that came with A01 from factory and A02 was released 6 days after it got here to fix SATA issues.

Long story short, they can fix these issues fast if they truly had the intensions to do so. So I personally don't have very high hopes for a fix for the benchmark guys. I hope I eat my own words here I really do, just not feeling hopeful at this point.

I'm happy with the gaming performance and my overall switch to Alienware from Apple. I get caught up in reading the over locking issue and get discouraged until I realize my laptops are doing what I need them to and that's running the dog snot out of games. I use my desktop for over locking and extreme stuff when I want. I might get the urge to do it with my laptops are some point and of I do and AW hasn't fixed it then my next purchases will be elsewhere.

 

I think part of the problem is the people in charge of BIOS development have an Procrustean agenda, maybe even a hand-me-down compliance edict, that doesn't sync well with the concept of Alienware 18 ownership.

What might be a good idea for an ordinary Dell laptop, especially for consumers stuck in a mindset that things like Windows 8 Certification somehow adds value a scrap of value to the product, is simply not a good fit for an enthusiast product. I think there could be a major disconnect in their understanding about what is most important to enthusiasts. If they want to brag about offering a product that truly pushes the envelope on performance they are going to have to bend the rules and break the mold whether Micro$oft likes it or not.

Perhaps a solution is to stop selling the Alienware 18 with an OS. Build it with a legacy-only BIOS like the M18xR1 and early versions of the M18xR2 BIOS, ship it with no OS or a "non-compliant" installation of Linux for diagnostic purposes and leave it up to customers go buy whatever they want for an OS as an aftermarket "accessory" so they don't have to answer to Micro$oft about anything.

They could charge extra for a fully compliant UEFI BIOS for those that wanted to have all of the screwed up fluff added back in for Micro$oft Certification.

 

Most hardware and software is shipped with a list of known issues, there is usually a "risk assessment" on those issues and a threshold, varying from company to company, if it is acceptable to ship or not the product. I got a feeling Dell's threshold is extreme high in order to catch up with other manufactures. Don't forget AWs with 780Ms were launched much after Clevo and MSI. I wouldn't be surprise if there was a rush, from business people, to launch the products.

I agree with Mr. Fox. However I doubt it, as Microsoft is an investor on Michael Dell's bid to buy Dell.

I love my AW18, but over the last days (maybe due to my OCD and the paint going off), I am thinking selling it on eBay, as I can still get around the same money I bought it. Buy an AW14 for on the go and build a small, mini-ITX for home -portable enough to carry around and travel with. This mainly due to worrying about the future and the recent transaction in mobiles to "power efficiency" over raw performance.

 

so i have to say, liquid ultra is the bomb..let's see for how long it will last.

3dmark11 run before and after...same settings.. cpu repasted with liquid ultra, gpus repasted with icd24.



the funny part is, even though the temps are a lot better, i struggle to get over 14K in 3dmark where i managed to get to the upper 14k easily before.

throttlestop reports no throttling. graphics score is 16.5k at the max where i got over 17k before. i used the same settings in nvidia inspector which gave me 14.5k overall before, resulting in 13.8k. settings are +180/+180 with +50 on the juice.
in hwinfo the cpu package power is always around 75W while on a run before repasting it was 78W.

does anyone have an idea?

 

That could be a good idea if you take recent changes in consideration, but I would wait for the next Alienware Gen and see what it will bring us

 

The way things are going with Intel, AMD and now even NVIDIA with this Integra/ARM crap, my confidence level that the next gen mobile CPU landscape is going to actually include products that I am interested in paying money for is pretty low. They seems to be focused on making tech for kiddie toys that are not extreme performance products. I do not want a fancy James Bond wristwatch gadget with a 2" Retina display and 4G CDMA/LTE. Nor do I want an Alienware 14 or anything a competitor offers that is even remotely similar to it.

 

Mmmm... Hermano, have you a tentative date?

 

We don't, I was trying to say that he should wait and see if the next gen moves along those lines (low power consumption vs raw power) to take the decision
Didn't mean to create confusion haha.

 

Nm...............

 

I want a beast that produces extreme quantities of raw power without any regard for power consumption or efficiency. Dual 4930K or 4960X CPUs factory overclocked to 4.5GHz with Tri-SLI or Quad-SLI MXM modules would be a nice first step. Alienware 22 extreme performance laptop with a 1800W AC adapter. :thumbsup:

 

The reason I want to make the switch now or never, is that UK eBay prices are about the same with the price I paid for my machine after the discounts. I won't loose much money. Irrelevant: any other user complained about white circular spots on his machine? Like the paint went off...

I also prefer a high end laptop, but a desktop with a 780 gtx it and an AW14 or that amazing XPS 15 you posted about ages ago, would cost me as much as my estimate selling price... And I get a mini ITX machine to carry around abroad and a laptop for everyday stuff....

CES was really disappointing so far. The focus is on power and steam boxes.

 

and a (total) weight of 20 grams (ok, we will accept also 25 grams)

 

I got my Alienware 18 yesterday and today i've finished installing OS and other things and i've installed Metro Last Light and i've played it like 10-15min to check performance and after i exited game my screen was all in some blue little squares all around place and i've shut down it on button because it freeze my screen. After that when i want to turn it on i don't get picture. Lights turn on but no picture at all. Does someone know what happened?

 

I think fans are working also but no picture.

 

Did you install all of the drivers properly?

 

Well all was working great until i've tried game. I've installed that new nvidia drivers someone posted few days back. Also screen turns also but not picture. Not a single beep or anything. There is no picture at all.

 

Seems like he's encountered stuck BIOS.

Does it beep when the machine turns on?

If it froze when gaming, as a new machine, something is probably wrong with the GPU or the mobo.

Recovering/resetting the BIOS after it goes limbo it not the easiest thing to do for something who has just received the machine.
Refer here for some of my experience:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-if-one-runs-into-no-post-messed-up-bios.html

Best thing to do is to call up Dell and ask them to send someone over.

You will notice that the fans spin up for a few seconds, then it will stop. No beep no display. If you leave it for a while the CPU fan might spin up again. I shall coin this behavior as "BIOS limbo", and those are the symptoms of it.

Do you, by chance, have a 4900MQ or 4930MX CPU in your 18?

 

No, no beeps nothing. I think fans spin, leds are on. All of them. Screen turn on i think but no picture. I cant do anything. And i have 4800MQ.

 

Can someone please tell me what are my options now? I tried this morning to turn it on same problem. Is there anything i can do alone to try and fix it? I've send support ticket to HIDevolution and i'm waiting answer from technical support. When i've first ordered A 18 there was some problem with GPU or motherboard and they (HID) told me that they are waiting for Dell to send them replacement. New A 18 because that first was faulty not just parts. So i don't know is that true or Dell just send them new GPU and they replaced it and same problem occurred. So how it seems something is faulty inside. I know i can send them laptop back but i would pay 800$ shipping in one direction and that is not option. I'm from Serbia and here is average monthly pay around 400$ so imagine how i feel after saving money for A 18 and this happened. I was thinking about refund also but don't know how to do that if i decided for it. I mean if this happened 1st day after using laptop what will happened in 3 months. Best shot for me is to take laptop here in dell service in Serbia but who knows how long i would wait for parts. And i don't like idea that someone else open laptop they never seen in first place. And i know they didn't do service on A 18 because my country don't have some licences and we can't import A 18 and sell it in Serbia. Company where i work is official dell service partner or how it's called so i would do service there and i know they didn't opened one. All in all i'm very disappointed and angry at same time.

 

Hi Guys,

I am the proud owner of a spanking new Alienware M18 and i love it!

My current tipple is Skyrim and i'm playing it with all the bells and whistles on (including an ENB MOD). I have noticed that the GPUs are working hard when i take my headphones off.

The Laptop is sat on a desk clear of any obstructions to the cooling system but iwas wondering about investing in a third party laptop cooler. Would anyone have any thoughts on this? for or against and if people are using one what is the current "best in show"

Thanks in advance

Jon

 

Is it flat on the table? Prop the back up with a couple bottle caps or something to let fans draw more air in from underneath.

 

Yep,

Its a flat office style desk. I understand the noise is just the fans doing there job whilst the GPUs push pixels around the screen. Temps are low to mid 60s when i quite to desktop. Which i guess is fine.

Having just invested in a rather expensive dream laptop i don't mind investing in a gadget to keep the whole thing a little cooler.

I am looking forwards to many happy years of gaming from my 18

Regards

 

Have you tried to switch graphics cards to internal or vice versa?

 

You mean did i try to switch to intel hd graphic? If that is question then no because i cant see anything on screen. And i didn't switch graphics vice versa. I suppose i can disable SLI and try one card then another. That would be long process because i just got laptop so all is new to me. I've tried today few times to turn it on and same thing. Black screen but i'm sure screen is turned on just no picture, fans don't work or they work but so slow i cant notice.

 

And water cooling like the ASUS GeForce GTX 780 Poseidon; I know it sounds impractical, but if i'm staying in one spot for a while, why not.
A premium feature that should be thrown in with 5 grand of premium laptop.

 

Buy a Notepal U3 cooler (it's around 23 euro), no need to clip on the fans. It sets the laptop at a great ergonomic angle for typing and solves any cooling problems which you might have. If it still runs hot, consider opening the laptop to see if there's any thermal paste on the CPU/GPUs. I've read some posts in my time here saying that they opened brand new systems with little to no thermal paste put on.

 

Thanks for that. I dont think i have the balls to go delving that deep into my new expensive laptop. Temps are ok (mid 60s) during high load. Im just trying to treat her well

Thanks for the advice i will look into it

 

Not exactly 18 related, but just saw an article about this new Mac Pro. I like how they cool all the cards from 1 "chamber" vs. using a separate fan for every card. I wonder if someone can figure out a way to think of a laptop as just a big screen, then possibly do something similar on the laptop side and have a detachable/hinge keyboard, a fan or liquid cooling on the bottom of the "screen" and go from there. Sorta stack all the cards standing up. How powerful are these AMD FirePro D500 or D700 cards vs. desktop cards and for gaming?

This is obviously a desktop, but is 10 inches x 6.5 inches and I thought the 18/M18x folks would get a kick from looking at this.

Apple - Mac Pro

 

I can rule out memory so problem must be GPU or motherboard. I've just finished swapping memory modules and everything is same. Black screen. Also palmrest is pain to pull out

 

Hey guys, The 18 I ordered is expected to arrive Wednesday.

I wanted to see if there's a list of functions I should run in order to make sure this thing is 100% out of the box. Any known issues that I need to perform a task to see if the issue exist? A gauntlet if you will..

I was going to check all the Input/outputs, Optical drive/Bluray player. Switching between integrated and dedicated gpx, check the screen with white/red/blue/green/black backgrounds to check for dead/stuck pixels.. anything else?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ock-my-alienware-18-4-3ghz-7.html#post9327168

For cooler running check out this older thread Captain.

 

Update your video drivers.
Check temperatures.
Check overall performance with AlienAutopsy

 

whatever you do don't get the Targus HD3 gaming chill mat. it screwed with my alienfx and made me believe something a lot worse was wrong (lights wouldn't come on right away, they would flicker and then eventually not respond. since I stopped using this cooler which is powered by two usb ports I haven't had any issue)

 

Hello all Just ordered :
External System Details:
System Name and Type: Laptop -
Monitor: 18.4" WLED FHD (1920 X 1080) TrueLife Display
Color: Silver-Anodized Aluminum
KeyBoard: English Keyboard
Mouse:
Battery: 8-cell Lithium Ion (86 wHr)


Internal Performance Components:
Processor: Overclocked Intel® Core™ i7-4900MQ processor (8MB Cache, up to 4.0GHz w/ Intel® Turbo Boost)
Memory: 32GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz
Hard Drive: 750GB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s + 80GB mSATA SSD Caching
Video Card: Dual NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 780M with 4GB GDDR5 - NVIDIA SLI® Enabled
Optical Drive: Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BD-ROM, DVDRW, CD-RW) (Your computer will only play BluRay if it is specifically listed here)


Internet & Communication Features:
Wireless: Broadcom 4352 802.11 ac 2x2 and Bluetooth 4.0


Software Included:
Operating System: Windows® 7 Ultimate 64-bit, English

Total Amount: $4,599.26 TAX TAG and tidal LOL

Note: I Will Be Adding a 1TB SSD 840 EVO's

tell me what you think.