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

I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that the new line of AW18 with the 970m/980m sli GPU's will have a larger power supply. Most likely 440w or something like that.

Efficiency without crippling the device can be gained to a degree, but the number just don't add up regarding power consumption.

To perform to any reasonable standard one would expect such GPU's to achieve, they need more than 330w. Its just not enough. Refinements in efficiency can't bridge a gap that big.

 

Alienware has already confirmed it will come with the 330W PSU.

 

I can't wrap my head around the 18 not having the external GPU port.

It's not like it competes with its internal offerings anyway as you have to purchase the external amp separately.

Who the hell is making these decisions......

 

That being the case, I wouldn't be surprised if the 970m/980m GPU's were crippled in some fashion ie: clocked down to some stupid slow speed.

 

980M SLI performs better than the GTX 970 & 980, which are their most popular cards. Not many people purchase Titan X's or Titan Z's.

Wouldn't make sense to have it. That's all you really need to know.

 

Well, the eGPU did not exist when the Alienware 18 was released. The reason is that the machine isn't new, it's a release of available stock with upgraded GPUs. If the people making the decisions had their way it would have a BGA CPU and GPUs and probably use the same motherboard already shared by the 15 and 17. It is a "Limited Edition" according to what I read, which may mean when they are all gone there won't be any more. It would be really nice if they released an updated version, just as big as the current machine, only with the added external PCIe port and offer it for sale without any GPUs for a low price as long as it kept a socketed CPU and internal dual PCIe slots. Then those that wanted to have it bound to a desk could elect to skip MXM GPUs altogether, spend money on an Extreme CPU and use the money saved from MXM cards to fund the eGPU and desktop card. But, the ability to add MXM card(s) inside the chassis would still be an option.

 

I don't think it would even be beneficial at PCIe 4x. They need 16x to make it worth while for Pascal desktop GPU's (regarding the next Alienware 18 release, if there is one). Hopefully Alienware does launch an R2 and it offers upgradeable components across the board.

A Z170 chipset would be amazing for the R2.

 

It makes no sense not having it. The 4x is hardly a limiting factor from the reviews I've seen.

Id say give the new 18 slots for CPU & GPU's AND the graphics amplifier port.

MORE!

*Ahem*
Means customers have the option to buy the GA which effectively opens up sales opportunities for Alienware regardless of the model chosen. A universal accessory.
Could have 980m Sli for now and then in future slap in the next gen AMD card for example.

 

If I am not mistaken, it is limited to 4x only on the anemic AW13 with the crappy dual core CPU. I'd have to look at GPU-Z screen shots or something from the i7 machine benchmarks with the eGPU. I've never bothered looking only because I don't care... I have no plans to ever own such a morphodite contraption at this point.

Yes, that would make good sense, which is sort of what I was getting in my my previous post. Options are always good, and they have been diminishing since the M17xR4 and M18xR2 were sunset. It would be kind of cool to have an Alienware 18 with dual 330W AC adapter, Extreme CPU, 980M SLI and either a Titan X or Fury in the eGPU just for something weird to tinker around with. I doubt I would buy it, but it would still be fun to tinker with such weirdness. At least the underlying "laptop" part would still be a beast, but unfortunately we cannot say that about the current models with an eGPU.

 

Here is some of the worst with Win 10... Hate this like the plague. What can be done? http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/why-i-dont-like-windows-10.779540/page-18#post-10072088

 

If I had the AW 18 R2 with 1080M SLI, I wouldn't buy the "graphics amplifier." It would outperform any single GPU.

Probably wouldn't buy it at all.

 

Best solution: Windows 7/8/8.1 replaces Windows 10. Guaranteed success.

 

Outperform for 6 months or so at best - And even then it's subject to very probable SLI driver issues.

Then a new desktop single GPU monster shows up...

 

So, you'd spend $4500~ on a maxed out 18, then spend another $299 for the GA, and then another $999-$2999 (Titan Z example price) on a GPU? Seems a bit ridiculous. The R3 could be coming out less than 6 months after that.

What kind of desktop could you build for that much? It makes more sense for single-GPU laptops.

 

I was going on the assumption we still were not considering cost.

If I ordered the Alienware 18 I'd get it with the highest SLI or Crossfire set up.

Many years later I'd buy the GA and stick in the best card released.

EDIT: Of course it makes more sense for single GPU laptops....they gain the most in comparison.

However inevitably the Alienware 18 would also gain from the external GPU at some point.

 

I don't think you spend your money very wisely. But hell, it's yours to spend.

 

Doesn't matter if they didn't have it by then.

The port would still be on the 18 so I could find a GA on Ebay or from a refurbished outlet.

I'm very wise with money - It's still a saving but over a much longer period.
This again goes full circle to the Alienware 17 + GA vs the upcoming Alienware 18.

I purchased the 17 now and will enjoy the 970m for the time being.
Then in a couple of years, boom, in goes the external GA with a new card that will still not only be a much cheaper purchase but give me much greater performance than the 18 alternative earlier on.

The longevity cannot be matched for that price.

 

Why just look at the gaming performance and not the entire performance of the laptop ?

 

It would have to be at least 3 years. You wouldn't want to replace the laptop after that time?

I think what you're describing is an unrealistic justification, considering your previous purchase. You seem like the type who wants the latest and greatest. By that time, Volta will be out, and new systems will probably be outperforming your laptop by 200%-300%.

It really isn't worth investing $5000+ in mobile gaming technology. Probably not even $3000, considering depreciation and general advancements.

 

I still use my M14x R1 and it's over 5 years old.
Still works fine. Audio enhancement options are amazing. If I could get the GA for it I wouldn't have bought the 17.

Hell, you ought to have seen my last phone, the Xperia Play.
It literally fell to pieces in my hands before I even thought about buying a new one.
Must get it from my folks.
My parents still use the bullet proof Nokia mobiles....

 

I'm surprised it's still working. Kudos. I don't even keep cars for that long.

 

I used to have an Xperia Play too, though it was in good shape last time I saw it (about a couple years ago).
Wait, didn't the m14xR1 come out in 2011? That would make it 4 years old, not 5.

 

4years is still ancient in terms of tech.
I'm amazed myself it still runs.
Lol. I still want the Dell Xps M1730 beast laptop with the Lizard skin colour.
Gtx 8800 Sli may run BF4 on low if I'm not mistaken

The latest and greatest does very much appeal provided it's still very good value for money.

And that's one point that the 17 has with the GA over the 18.
It's much better value for performance.

I wouldn't be surprised if the new Alienware 18 is between 2.5 and 3.5k which would be between 2 and 3 times the cost of my current system AND yet to purchase next gen GPU

 

By that time, if you need to be shackled to your GA, you no longer really have a "gaming laptop". While the AW18 can still game on its own. Weird definition of longevity if you ask me. At that point, your laptop has morphed into a desktop for gaming. Not an apples-to-apples comparison. The extra cost of the 18 gets you much longer longevity as an actual laptop.

The GA would make more sense on a laptop without a dedicated GPU - since it always needs to be docked anyway to game, the comparison makes more sense.

 

Still too much.

For under $2000 you can get the new MSI GT72 Dominator with a 17.3" IPS G-SYNC display, MXM GTX 980M, 16-32GB of RAM, a bunch of M.2/2.5" bays, a blu-ray reader. It is cool and quiet even under load.

What more do you need for gaming? MSI has guaranteed 2 generations of MXM upgrades.

 

Yeah, that's true. It's becoming cheaper. I think $2500 is the sweet spot, with SSD upgrades, etc.

 

Even that's too much I think.

Why do you think the new Clevo P650SG is so popular? It starts at $1600 with the GTX 980M. Add $400 worth of upgrades for RAM/SSDs, and you're at $2000.

Above $2000 you're starting to pay for "fluff", like high-performance M.2 SSDs, high-quality 4K displays, etc. Which isn't bad.

But strictly for gaming, you can get a kick-ass system for $2k.

 

It's amazing to see that Alienware started to support the 980m for the A18. Not for future buys, but for users that already own the A18 and are having a heavy fight with getting it to work with the 980m. I only hope that they release a bios update that fixes the previous bios issues.

I actually prefer that they didn't release a new model because that means that they are (or should) support previous users who own the A18. There are a lot of people who still have warranty and I can bet you that they don't want a BGA "gaming" laptop.

 

i'd sell up/out for the MSI cos it has GSYNC.

 

Anyone talk to Alienware tech support and ask when the new bios or drivers will be up on their support page? The new drivers for the command center and osd should work on all 2013 and 2014 models, hopefully they release new bios for all those systems


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I think I'm going to do that. Love my 17 R1 with the 120Hz panel, but a newer machine with a 75Hz IPS G-SYNC panel is just so nice. I can live with the HQ CPU as a trade off.

 

how much would an R1 go for? LOL

 

Depends. I previously sold my R1 with a GTx 980M, 16Gb of RAM for about $2k. Probably worth less now. I can maybe get $1300 CAD for my machine, yours is probably worth $1600 or so, depending on what parts you sell it with.

 

i'd like to keep as many of my SSDs and sell it as bare bones as possible.

 

Hmmmmm. The external GA would still offer at least LAN convenient travel for myself. This aside I find portable gaming on the go that of a gimmick myself and something I've never actually done other than mobile apps.

Whilst my 17 would need to be attached to the GA for future performance it would still effectively offer a better overall experience when I do partake in it.
Upgrading is another plus.
It can very complicated for the less savvy user and requires a precise hand when you undergo the process of disassembly.
I stick in a new card and close the lid.

I've also got even longer term plans with game streaming from my new set up but that's later down the line.

Theres many great systems out there and having healthy online discussions is great. We all share views and preferences as well as become more knowledgeable for it.

On the gaming front I do strongly think we'll all end up with something similar and are just taking multiple paths to it. Super powerful computers at home with content streamed to occulus rift style headsets and a wireless controller of some sort.

 

I'm going to be blunt about this: it's not that simple. In theory, it's supposed to be, but unless you plan on using AMD Desktop GPUs, for Nvidia GPUs, you'll have to wait for the support to come in first. Otherwise, it becomes a pain to use the laptop and the desktop GPU. This is evident in users trying to use the GTX 980 ti, a GPU I don't recommend getting for the GA because it's not supported. Maybe unless you have the AW15 with the m295x / m390x, then it shouldn't be a hassle. At least you can use the R9 Fury (X) just fine and the GTX TITAN X.
As of now, aside from that one GPU and a few others than aren't on the market today, it's pretty easy.
I did forget to mention that the GTX 950 isn't supported either, but it did just come out. So it get's a pass.

 

Then just sell it with the mSATA, and go buy a 500GB HDD for it. Keep your two 2.5" SSDs.

 

i have spare HDDs LOL

 

It's limited to 4 lanes because the proprietary GA cable/port only has 4 lanes. The Haswell/Broadwell ULV CPUs only carry 4 lanes, so it really isn't affected by the 4 lane hardware restriction. The 15 and 17 R2, though, are. Below is a picture from notebookcheck's AW15 review (970m version; they didn't test the GA with the m295x version).
I'd have to look at Skylake-U's CPU to see how many lanes it carries. Hopefully it's more than 4 so that the onboard Nvidia GPU runs better.

Spoiler: Image!

Also, on the "Limited Edition" part of the 18. Like all machines, it does have end run. Should be by the end of this year, + 10 days. This is my own educated guess and Alienware could change their minds at a given moment, so don't take this guess super seriously.
I'm going to see if I can get some answers to some questions posed in the Alienware 18 revival threads by Tuesday afternoon. I've been given that much connection to those at Alienware to relay some information and help to the community.

 

What's the release date for other countries? In my case, Japan.

Is this Alienwares Mid/Late 2015 machine? Or will they refresh the 13/15/17r2 line?

 

The 4790 and the 4790k are now offered on the site.

 

Wow, now that is a big surprise. 4790 isn't much to write home about, but a 4790K is definitely a 4940MX killer. If they really have a bonafide unlocked system BIOS and do something with the crippling 330W power limit, this could be quite the barnstormer. Like a Batman Clevo on steriods... SLI, better cooling system and better overclocking. Very interesting, indeed. Could make some MSI Titan owners wish they hand not been so quick to jump on the BGA turd CPU bandwagon, too.

@D2 Ultima @jaybee83 - did you see this?

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-18/pd

 

Nani?

4790K with SLI GPUs? If there was a 120Hz screen I would be drooling! I thought it odd that they made MQ-style chips because you are disallowed from making those motherboards anymore by decree of intel (which would mean that they'd have repurposed their old AW18 boards, meaning the GPU limitations and any problems you had with the original AW18 would still be present, as well as the InsydeH2O BIOS) but if they're going desktop CPU route... they definitely have defeated the GT80 titan without even breaking a sweat.

Not that it's hard to beat the GT80 Titan; I've heard from owners that the CPU cooling is already not so great and the TDP-locked chips are already pathetic... but still. This is interesting.

I'm waiting to see how things turn out fully. IF they bring 4790K CPUs and SLI 980Ms or 990Ms, and a good screen (especially if overclockable if no 120Hz)... then without grabbing a desktop CPU notebook, there's a new king.

It's up to Clevo to respond if they have a 4790K SLI model of their own coming out soon.

 

Excuse my ignorance, (too much programming is maybe killing my eyes), isn't the 4790k a desktop cpu or I just need to get some sleep?

 

That must be a typo. I'm took a screenshot in case Alienware changes it back to the i7-4910MQ and i7-4940MX.
*Adds onto list of things to ask Alienware
I do wonder if that Facebook post was being serious and not making a typo.

 

Well, I hope you're wrong. And, I hope it has a dual 330W AC adapter. This would be exactly what we want... finally, LOL.

I also saw and just assumed the Facebook post was wrong, as they OFTEN are about many things on Facegook, but maybe not. Interesting.... I want to be excited, but I'm going to wait. If it's true, there will have to be some other changes such as the crippling 330W power limit or it won't turn out well.

Yes, Devil's Canyon, 4.4GHz stock turbo and about 13K Physics score in 3DMark 11 with 4 cores/8 threads.

http://ark.intel.com/products/80807/Intel-Core-i7-4790K-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-4_40-GHz

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-18/pd

 

I hope its not a typo either. Since I was (if this is real, I'm definitely erasing this idea) going to build a desktop with that cpu, I actually have it right here with me. This is what Alienware needs to bring the High Performance Systems back

 

Well the performance difference is nothing between a 4930MX/4940MX and a 4790K if you clock them at the same clocks.

But the difference is the cooling system that would be in place to handle a CPU that's 4.2GHz 4-core turbo at stock, and still allow for overclocking.

Also the fact that a 330W brick + rated 88W CPU + 2 x ~100W GPUs means that a single 330W brick is pushing it, so they should allow for better stuff.

By the way, who wants to upgrade my laptop for me? I want to keep pace with these newfangled Alienwares XD

 

Well, 4940MX seems to suck in almost every example I have seen so far, and cannot keep up with 4930MX. It runs hotter and doesn't seem to have the capacity overclock as well as 4930MX. A 4940K stock turbo is 4.4GHz and will handle 4.7GHz without too much rigmarole, 5.0GHz if it is binned well. Should easily match or beat the 4930MX and be cooler running because it can overclock higher on lower voltage. 4930MX can suck down 130W really easy, so yeah... must have dual 330W with 980M SLI with either CPU to work well. That part is a given as far as I am concerned. Without that, it's going to have severely limited performance. Even if it works OK at stock GPU clocks, it won't have any capacity for meaningful GPU overclocking. Without capacity for extreme overclocking, it would hold zero interest for me personally. I don't really care too much about belly-button gamer-boy stock performance. There are some folks that don't ever overclock anything, so for those guys it could still be nice.

 

Well the 4790K will run hotter than the 4930MX; it's just the cooling systems are different. For example, imagine if the 4930MX had a cooling system like the P770ZM does for the 4790K? You'd be at like 70 degrees at 4.3GHz using CLU

Good to know about the 4940MX. I'll look for a 4930MX in the future whenever I get the funds for the upgrade. I want the new CPU first, but the CPU is the last thing I should upgrade (not counting SSDs/storage). I need all the heatsinks and new cooler GPUs etc first. Hopefully by then I can find some 4930MX chips for cheap like the 3920XM/3940XM chips ended up being. If push comes to shove I'll request a 4930MX from Eurocom. I know they have tons of all the chips.

Hopefully these new AWs work well and are sufficiently cooled. The P770ZMs even with good heatsinks don't cool much over 4.6-4.7GHz, and this is a SLI notebook we're dealing with.

Also, 4GB 980Ms D= D= D=