Alienware 18, now with Maxwell GPUs (Officially) and a new BIOS

Ok, so I look at what I posted again. My original edd was 10/05 not 11/05 that was a typo. The I realized they pushed the edd out another 46 days. I was obliviously brain dead when I look at the updated ship date. This is quite concerning.

 

I would call if I were you. It shouldn't be delayed after its in production. That wouldn't make any sense.

 

Oh trust me I know . I worked for Dell for 17 years. I guess I will be calling tomorrow.

 

The positive sign here is that Dell seems to have turned over a new leaf. Clearly they were telling the truth when they said this AW18 was a limited edition. It's so limited you can't even get it. Can't accuse them of lying anymore now can we.

 

I can't think of why they'd show estimated shipping dates if they knew they didn't have certain parts. Did they think everyone would hop on 980m's and extreme processors? Even so, they could have easily listed different dates for each config. This seems to be a chronic issue with Dell...I've learned to not accept replacement parts that are back-ordered. After 680m's were back-ordered for nearly a month and eventually led to one 680m and one 670m arriving with a repairman, the image became clear....same happened when the 780m's they replaced those with started acting up.

With the 980 MXM out now and a new mobile series surely releasing soon, does Dell even have a supply chain for 970m's and 980m's besides their own machines that will inevitable start returning to them? I'm sure they have plenty for this limited run and a few replacement parts, but not much more. If the new GPU's are not compatible with the AW18, then a warranty is fairly useless as I doubt they will have replacement 970m's and 980m's if yours crap out in a few months....

 

Dear god some one shoot me. Dell Sale chat is useless. They said to call order modification (18002472076) to see if there is another model available to speed up the shipping. I called Dell and spent 45min on hold to speak with a some person. I was told that that system had not launched so it has a long lead time and I could speak with the order modification team to see different model available to speed up shipping.

Hmmmm, Not a good answer. Time to try another source.

 

I wonder what about it is not available. Unless these are all pre-built it makes no sense.

 

We have a winner. The system is so hot they over sold and ran out of the stock. I am being told that "it will be worth the wait". Sorry no further details.

 

What dept. did you talk to? Mine is a reorder. I originally had one on order that was stuck in pre-production for 16 days. I got a different story as to why every time I called. I also emailed them daily for a week and no response. The latest story was that the 980M was not in stock. So I called sales based in the U.S. and acted like I wanted to buy one. he told me there was no part shortage and the lead time for my system was normal. I then told him the whole story and he had some tools the Indians didn't and found there was a sku mismatch. He cancelled it and had someone call me to reorder. They gave me an additional $400 off plus overnight shipping and an OS upgrade to Pro. On the reorder it was in production the next day. I also got another follow up call stating they are going to credit me another $200 back and expedite my order and they apologized for the problems. So right now it is showing an EDD of 10/14. I'm guessing I will have another problem come up with it at some point. Just losing faith.

 

A former associate I work with in Dell Product Group (yeah vague, sorry).


Conspiracy theory: I can only speculate at what they meant by "worth the wait" but put that with the sale reps' answer "that the system has not been released yet" and one could speculate we may see a new variation of the AW 18 in about a month. Then again it could be nothing more than me reading to much into a vague answers. One can only hope.

 

If a new variation comes out in a month and they are delaying until then that means that we will all have to cancel and reorder yet again. I can only guess it would be the new chipset and processor that is in the new 17's.

 

Yeah, I don't know that anything is changing. I am only speculating based on the little info I have.
I did not ask for further details.

I am just assuming the response was "worth the wait <wink>< wink>" otherwise they would have told me it due to a parts back log.

Back in the day we (Support l2/l3/REC,sale,engineering) had access to the factory build tools that would show where in the process the system is and what parts were available or on back log so they should be able to very specific about parts on back-order.

 

Here is the system I ordered. This is a base default except for the upgrade to 8.1 Pro. If they are pre-built then I can understand that a very customized order may take longer. Yeah you are right. Just a bunch of speculation and hoping lol.


Quantity Item Number Description
1 210-ACKD Alienware 18 Base

1 370-AANP 32GB Dual Channel DDR3L 1600MHz
1 580-ABEK English Keyboard
1 490-BCWR Dual NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GTX(TM) 980M with 8GB GDDR5 each (NAIDIA GeForce SLI(R) Enabled)
1 555-BCCI Intel 802.11n/ac Wireless and Bluetooth 4.0 driver
1 400-AJZD 1 TB 7200 rpm 9.5mm
1 619-ADTC Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit English
1 429-AANL Slot-Loading Dual Layer DVD Burner (9.5mm)
1 555-BBPU Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 @ 5GHz + Bluetooth 4.0
1 470-AAKG US 125V Power Cord
1 340-ABEU Documentation, English
1 803-1703 Premium Support with Onsite Service After Remote Diagnosis, 2 Year Extended
1 803-1701 Premium Support with Onsite Service After Remote Diagnosis, 1 Year
1 975-3461 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Extended Year(s)
1 801-1287 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Initial Year
1 803-1721 Premium Support, 3 Years
1 801-1321 Accidental Damage Service, 3 Years
1 338-BETQ 4th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4910MQ processor (Quad Core, 8MB Cache, Overclocked up to 4.1GHz)
1 391-BBDS 18.4 inch (467.36mm) WLED FHD (1920 X 1080) TrueLife Display
1 451-BBCB 8-cell Lithium Ion (86 wHr) Battery
1 620-AASU Windows 8.1 DVD OS Recovery(English)
1 450-AAKK 330W A/C Adapter
1 332-1530 Dell.com Order
1 332-1530 Dell.com Order
1 658-BCCM OpenLabs StageLight
1 658-BCHS Additional Software, DAO
1 525-0016 Dropbox, Digital Delivery, 20GB for 1 year Promotion
1 328-BBEK Shipping Box Alienware 18
1 332-1286 US Order
1 640-BBLG Alienware Command Center 3.0
1 340-ADGB Placemat English
1 340-ACQQ No Option Included
1 658-BCDH Resource DVD windows 8.1
1 658-BCSC Microsoft Office Software Image
1 817-BBBP None Included
1 320-BBDZ Alienware 18 Silver Anodized Aluminum
1 658-BBTV Cyberlink Media Suite Essentials for Windows without Media
1 800-BBEV Thank you for Choosing Dell
0 * -DISCOUNT/COUPON APPL
1 A5750525 Dell Advantage Rewards

 

Joined the site due to this thread. On my second order of an 18 since Sept.1 my current stock model no tweaks, pretty much the same as posted above. Listed as in-production with a delivery date of Oct. 14, I assume that I may have about the same shot of seeing a real alien by that date as i do actually getting the system in.

 

Yeah that is pretty much the same build I ordered.

 

Maybe we should start an Alienware 18 order thread lol.

 

Yeah, your probably right.

 

Just started one in the Alienware 18 section.

 

lol , i thought u were joking but u really did

 

You should consider the P870DM when it comes out with SLI GTX 980s like the GT80 does.

Mainly because it has a desktop CPU and more USB ports and is generally a far better system overall.

 

Yeah, please, please don't spend money on a BGA turdbook just because it has nice GPUs. That's a really bad plan that involves personal compromise. Besides that part, buying that kind of crap only makes it easier for the model to be successful. We all need to stick together as much as possible, continue to bad-mouth BGA at every turn, sour as many people as we can on the concept, and make it as difficult as possible for Intel to be financially successful with their screwed up approach to everything. We can ruin everything for them, just as all of us principled enthusiasts (some call us haters) did to Micro$loth with their Windows 8 abortion OS. We can win this, but we have to set down the glass of Kool-Aid, pull our heads out, and do the right thing... then get others to join us in doing the right thing. The only way we will win is if we cause measurable financial harm to Intel for their stupidity, and to the OEMs that are following their lead in selling BGA turdbooks. We cannot not knock down this brick wall all at once, but if we keep chipping away at it, one brick at a time, the wall will eventually fail and crush everything it lands on.

 

What is so bad about BGA? just the fact that it is non upgradable?

 

yes

and the fact that it throttles
and the fact that it sucks big time if u RMA / replace defective parts out of warranty = not good for the environment or your wallet
and the fact that u get less performance and less tweaking options than with socketed hardware

 

This!!! +rep!!!

 

Not to mention GPUs can and do die sometimes. When you need to replace a GPU, who wants to buy a motherboard? That's just not very smart at all. And, with CPU it's one step worse. NONE (as in nada, nope, not any) of the BGA CPUs actually perform well enough to be regarded as a performance product. They all under-perform (as mentioned above by @jaybee83 already).

No matter how you slice and dice, BGA means disposable, mainstream, consumer-grade ordinary rubbish. It has no place in an Alienware or any other notebook with a label or reputation for being "high performance" because with BGA that is just a big fat lie. Don't get caught in the myth that not being able to upgrade is the only downside. It's only one of multiple drawbacks.

BGA is fine for cheap notebooks that nobody wants to upgrade or decides to replace with another cheap notebook instead of spending money on repairs. It makes sense in that scenario. Below is an example of where having BGA is absolutely, positively stinking brilliant and anything else would be silly.

And, you can buy it for $149 from your local Walmart. Nothing wrong with it, but it's priced accordingly. Just don't pay extra for the extended warranty, LOL.

 

i wonder what other OS can be installed on it?

 

it's an ARM processor so maybe linux?

 

I'm not sure. I would buy it just to use for web surfing using something with a keyboard and reasonably sized screen within easy reach (leaning against the side of my recliner, or tipped up against the nightstand by my bed, for example). It would be handy for the times when I don't feel like getting off of my tired old butt and grabbing a real computer. I use my Nokia Lumia 635 and my iPhone 5s like that right now and the tiny touch screens on both of them, along with slimy fingerprints, almost always makes me want to say nasty words. I've been using smartphones for about 8 or 9 years and I hate them all with a passion... I've owned all types of them (BlackBerry, Android, Windows and iPhone) and they all really suck in my opinion, especially the touch part. For $149, having a keyboard, touchpad and > 10" LCD that would be a gigantic improvement over a stinking smartphone.

I would find value in it as something that I can just use until it breaks, and then throw it in the trash and get another one. That sort of device is so pathetic that I probably wouldn't even have an interest in spending time trying to install Linux or make it run any faster.

 

Yeah, you can get a 15 or 17 inch windows laptop for under 400 bucks from Best Buy with an AMD A series or Intel i3 in it. Plenty of power for normal use and installing Linux, dual booting or whatever. I'm with you on touch. Though I actually love windows 8.1 on phones and tablets due to the live tiles. I use a Lumia 1520 and think they are a brilliant for touch and small screens allowing me to see updates without even going into the app. Obviously its a different story when it comes to full PC's and now win 10. But yes, you can get things cheap now, that's where BGA belongs. Yes touch sucks and yes, so do fingerprints.

 

To be honest, my Lumia 635 Windows 8.1 phones--one that was only $25 (Cricket) and the other $65 (Virgin Mobile)--are outstanding. They are much better than any BlackBerry, Android or iPhone I have ever had. They feel fast and responsive, the Windows tiles are actually great on a phone (as much as I despise them on a PC) and the UI is more sleek and elegant that the others. The only thing I don't like is no light for the camera, but for the dirt cheap price and in light of everything else, I have no basis to complain. It's not like I rely on the camera, and even that works great as long as there is enough ambient lighting.

I use an iPhone 5s for work. I am on my second one. I like the BlackBerry Curve that it replaced better than the iPhone... I'd have to say out of all of them, iPhone is my least favorite. If nothing else, it is an extremely bland and boring device. Even at its most basic functional level (as a phone) it doesn't do as well for me as the others have. I will acknowledge that I am definitely not an app junky. There are very few I care about or use. I seldom use any phone for entertainment. If that were not the case, then the Windows Phone would be less attractive than Android due to the noticeable lack of apps in comparison. There are many things that require Android or iOS, but fortunately the vast majority of them are irrelevant to me.

Back on topic... smartphones and disposable electronics appliances are a fitting use for BGA technology... no place for it on a high quality PC.

 

Mr Fox, spend a bit more and get a LG G4... You won't be disappointed... Excellent screen, I personally love the UI and great overall camera and package

 

nexus 6p all the way, biatches! cant wait!!! *hops around like a lil boy just before xmas*

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

I still prefer Windows Phones. They have dual/quad core CPU and they never lag. Android lags even with 4 Gigs of ram and octa-core CPU. I have Samsung Ativ S with interop hack (apps). I had HTC One M7 for a week and returned it, android 5.0 is crap compared to WP. Maybe 6.0 will change something but I doubt it.

 

i've only ever used WP and android as phone OS's: never iOS, never ever!

 

So I flashed my AW18 with the new A12 BIOS and now I can't use my NVIDIA cards. When the laptop boots the disply drivers start to fail at the Windows desktop. The display drivers can't recover itself so the laptop automatically restarts itself.

If I try to boot in safe mode, the laptop freeze while loading drivers.

The only way I can use the laptop is if I switch to the iGFX (all before the laptop restarts itself). Flashed back to the A10 BIOS but the issue is still there. Plus after flashing to the A12 BIOS the BIOS no longer recognizes the AC adapter.

What went wrong? Is that because I use the Slv7 vBIOS?.. Help!

 

hm, how can ur machine freeze due to drivers when booting into safe mode? supposed to be safe exactly because all device drivers arent used, including the dgpu ones...

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

I'm not sure, I know safe mode load the most basic drivers but somehow windows get stuck while loading some components. How can I fix this?

 

Some NVIDIA drivers do load in Safe Mode. You can also run the NVIDIA Windows Installer in Safe Mode. Things have become so screwed up with NVIDIA drivers that some people have to install GeForce drivers in Safe Mode (not optional for them) because theirs systems become too unstable installing them the "normal" way.

@tyranus7 - see if you can run DDU (not in Safe Mode) and remove GeForce drivers that way, then reinstall. Dell made some huge changes to the BIOS that could be making the drivers misbehave, and maybe starting over with the driver installation will work out OK.

If you have HWiNFO64 running all the time (like I do) and no GeForce drivers are installed the system will hard freeze during Windows logon. Be sure to disable HWiNFO64 temporarily. I just exit out of it and rename the folder (add a dash to the end of the folder name) while I am updating drivers, then change the name back afterward.

 

Thank you very much Mr. Fox, using DDU to delete NVIDIA drivers and then installing the A12 BIOS worked perfect to me. Now I was able to install NVIDIA drivers and everything is working well. I still wonder what went wrong in the first place that broke the NVIDIA drivers. No doubt this BIOS update introduces some changes in the way the BIOS interacts with the GPU.

 

That's funny. the only phone I will ever use is the iPhone, Android seriously fixes itself and runs as a native system and not Java on top of every device ever, or if Windows phone starts packing a X86-64 processor than can run full blown windows and x86 applications. iPhone (granted, when not update past 1 iteration of its default iOS), has and never will lag. ever. iPhone 4S on iOS6 runs smooth as butter with 100% functionality, as does my iPhone 5S with iOS7. The iPhone is genuinely the only thing Apple does right. But, that's just my opinion.

 

IPhone 4S on new iOS lags very often. I also had my friend's iPhone 4 and it indeed lags compared to 5 years old WP7 based HTC Mozart that never ever lags.

 

That's why I said iPhones that are NOT upgraded past 1 iteration of their original iOS version. iPhone 4S came with ios5 and works best with ios6. Your friend should downgrade if he wants a usable phone again.

 

He just did jailbreak and phone is now much better but I have WP8 phone anyway.

 

To get back on topic: now that these machines seem to be built and shipping out of China, what would you guys like to know about them? What benchmarks would you like to see or questions do you have? I'll be running a few benchmarks (probably just Firestrike and Cinebench) in W8.1 as a baseline and then upgrading to Windows 10. After ensuring that W10 hasn't broken anything and performance is about the same or better, I'll run some more tests in W10. I rather do a clean install now and have something break and return it straight back to Dell than wait some indefinite amount of time and most likely do an in-place install (it's my primary work machine, so I can't really afford the time to wipe and re-set everything up).

So, questions?

 

http://www.putme.net/wPrime155.zip Wprime 1024(8 treads) + 3Dmark11

 

Do you want Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 for those, or does just Windows 10 work? That would be a good CPU/GPU test for me to compare W8 vs W10 though. I'm just more familiar with Firestrike and Cinebench. Depending on when the computer finally arrives and how busy I am at that time, I might do all 4 in W8.1 .

 

Both Os. Wprime 1024 stress test is maybe the best processor test you can run.

 

Well, there are confirmations that these have started shipping. No word on mine yet, but should be any day now. My system will be 4940MX and 980m SLI. I'll be doing the 4 mentioned benchmarks on my old 4900MQ and 880m SLI system (only the CD drive is broken, so these should be valid) in W10, and on the new system in Windows 8.1, and 10. Then a few other benchmarks and games across W10 on each system before I ship the old one back.

Hopefully others with different configs will be able to run some of the same benchmarks so those interested in ordering can get a better idea of what they are getting and which config is right for them. I know there is plenty of info online about performance of the various components, but there is quite a difference between the same parts in different machines and with different BIOS/vBIOS, drivers, etc. Excited to see what this puppy can do.

 

Where the BENCHMARKS @....?????? I think we're all tired of waiting. I want to see fire strike standard on dell stock and Prema's vbios for 980m.

 

I wish I could get them to you, but after nearly 2 months, I still don't have my machine. You can ask in the Order and Config thread under the Aw18 subforum where a few lucky people have received machines already. I'll post some numbers whenever Dell decides they feel like sending me my computer.