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

I would if I was rich, but I already have a 17r2 with a titan x if I want mobility and similar power except with 1 card.

 

u WANT to believe, as do we all



Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Well I have some answers from Alienware (I did say I was getting some today).

• As far as launching in other regions, I was given a, "When/if the country offers it, it will be posted on their website."
• The desktop CPU listings' accuracy are being looked into (hopefully).
• The amount of VRAM shown currently is correct. The initial 6 GB / 8 GB for each card was wrong. It's still MXM.

Given that this change did happen with the change in CPUs, then it's less likely a typo is present at all. Not saying there isn't one but just less likely.

 

Thanks for this, Game7a1.

Dellienware, your vRAM decision disappoints.

Having that said, will it be possible to just use 8GB variants on our own? Can the vBIOS issues be handled?

 

Why did they do that with the vRam? how much did they save on an already overpriced machine to justify doing that? seriously who makes these decisions?

 

I can ask this, but I'm not positive the experience will be as smooth as using the Dell 3 GB / 4 GB variants. Then again, if Clevo counterparts (like 780m, HD 8970m) worked fine in the 17 R1 / 18, then maybe it is?
Even then, I would have to ask if for those who upgraded are still eligible for warranty support. So there's that. I'll get an answer to this later this week.

 

so now the site is back with the 4910mq and 4940mx but still 4GB with the 980M's

 

encor50 is right the site now list the 4910mq and 4940mx again, seriously dell no checks and balances playing people to believe there getting a desktop processor knew that **** couldnt be true. It wouldnt mattered to me either way I have lost faith in the brand beyond return.

 

Perhaps they chose an MXM option with half the "normal" amount of vRAM so we could not use their vBIOS on machines with aftermarket upgrades to help correct the throttling problems they have. Using a 4GB 980M vBIOS, for example, will not work on an 8GB 980M.

 

Obvious typo was obvious

Won't be buying this 18. Hope Alienware hits hard with the 990 and 6700 mobile unlocked.

 

And the Facebook post is taken down/hidden.
I don't foresee a good future.

 

Jeepers Kreepers, are the Aliens about to announce dere's no freaking bears in the pool???

I'll admit, when I 1st heard the name, I thought MSI GT80 came w/an actual Titan-m *shrug*. On the other hand I found me-self watching a goofy Aug 19th Alienbook video on 18's announcement where dude says: 'I think there is a MotherShip back here ...'.

Pondering over 980m-alien-dualies, lastnight in me head I christened her: the KMS Titanic.

No pun or sarcasm intended - I even wished her maiden voyage godspeed - wondered if new KMS owners will in fact earn the title of 'Elitist' in their signatures. Here we are a hundred years later & the launch of yet another seemingly unsinkable Titanic; will she (or won't she) hit an iceberg on her 1st time out ... what if rudders are too small, & is it possible Mr Ismay's onboard there whispering in ears, might we presume? ... steering the girl in the 'right' direction?

What will become of the fabled MotherShip; will she sink or swim in the pool?

Fight

 

i just want a new bios update that's all

 

Have a look at this, interesting read.

http://en.community.dell.com/dell-b...08/19/alienware-18-returns-stronger-than-ever

Apparently the 18 is back for a short time (surplus stock?) and is limited edition.

Key points are K series CPU's?
Mentions socketed CPU's.
And here's the interesting bit

Make that of what you will

 

Never mind. They just stopped featuring the post.

The information present in that blog post has already been discussed earlier in this thread.

 

Okay, I got more answers from Alienware. This time, some technical answers.

• BIOS will be out in 3 weeks. Yes, this BIOS will work for all Alienware 18 models, those sold in the years 2013-2015.
• BIOS supports CPU and RAM overclock (response to unlocked BIOS). Might want to ask if this is all, but that's if I really want to.
• As stated earlier, no desktop CPUs in 18. Just the i7-4710MQ, 4910MQ, and 4940MX.

If you guys have more questions, just ask them, and I'll ask Alienware directly.

 

Called it. Would have taken way too much money and time to re-engineer the system board for desktop chips.

 

wow, can't believe what a poor intro.

 

Exactly.
We've got one here who can smell bleedin' icebergs up dead-ahead. Guess the ship is sunk. Old Frank can play Cap'n Smith & the BIOS upd8 becomes the Unsinkable Molly Brown ...

The Love Of The Love Affair

... for the briefest moment, everything was possible ...

My Heart Won't Go On

someone had to die; guess it was the hero. R.I.P. Mr Jak Haswell
​

they aren't luggin' a HellKat to PAX / Seattle in their two gaming trucks in a few days ... more like a HellTigger ...

edit @Game7a1: 6/8Gb 980's? Well, well. Rose does get to live on ...​

 

Update on the VRAM mystery. Well, I've been told it's now 6 GB / 8 GB for each GPU instead of 3 GB / 4 GB. The information should be fixed soon. I'm guessing those who made the changes saw 6 GB / 8 GB and SLI and thought, "Hmm, shouldn't the cards have 3 GB / 4 GB each then"?
I feel sorry for the people who made changes to the Alienware 18 page, though.

 

I call BS on the VRAM cos SLI isn't split or multiplied. the cards have to be 6/8 per card depending on the card you get.

 

Are you saying that their the 970m and 980m in the 18 are 3 / 4 GB variant as opposed to 6 / 8 GB variants?
People make mistakes, and some deliberately screw up. It doesn't help that some companies, including Dell, advertise SLI in the form of, "Dual GTX 980m 8 GB each (total: 16 GB)".

 

no, that's not how SLI memory works. if you have 2 8GB cards then the total VRAM the system will see is 8GB - it's not 2 x 8GB.

 

I know that already. You're not really answering my question.

 

yes, it should be ther 6/8gb variants... their explanation is crap!

 

I sense that all of this back and forth on Dell's page has induced a bit of confusion between the communication within this thread. Lol.

 

I think you may need to re-read my post again.
"I'm guessing those who made the changes saw 6 GB / 8 GB and SLI and thought, "Hmm, shouldn't the cards have 3 GB / 4 GB each then"?
I feel sorry for the people who made changes to the Alienware 18 page, though."
Thanks to how Dell advertises SLI and Crossfire, it wouldn't be surprising if someone or some people made this typo. See what I mean? If they saw just 6 GB / 8 GB and SLI, they would think the cards have half the VRAM, which isn't the case.

Sadly. Thankfully, I have updated the OP with the correct answers I have been given.

 

whoever wrote it doesn't understand SLI.

 

Dude, it's been a marketing ploy since SLi came about. They often play up the memory factor by adding the total vRAM of all cards together rather than stating the obvious that vRAM is merely mirrored in SLi. It's just enough language manipulation to lure in someone who doesn't fully appreciate the concept, but not frivolous to the point where false advertisement might become an issue.

 

It's been around since

and ATi/AMD does the same thing

 

I don't understand how the media team can be so.....careless and uninformed, especially when charged with advertising a flagship product. Lol Alienware.

 

It's Dell's fault for having like 490324903294 departments and none of them know what the other is doing/thinking.

 

Does new bios have support for Maxwell Clevo's GTX 970m 6Gb and GTX 980m 8Gb VGAs (2nd GPU FAN right now is not working), win 7 x64 UEFI or Legacy boot?

 

GREAT! Of course they're not doing a BIOS update for the 2013 AW17....BOO!

 

I think he was asking a question. Until we see one of the refreshed AW18 in the hands of an end user, we have no idea whether it works 100% correctly or not, or whether BIOS/vBIOS updates will be applicable. If their Maxell GPUs are proprietary and have half the normal amount of vRAM their vBIOSes for 970M and 980M won't do us any good on the aftermarket upgraded models with twice as much vRAM. The firmware can typically only be used on a like GPU (same amount of vRAM). If you flash a 4GB 980M vBIOS to an 8GB 980M it will be soft-bricked. I know because I've tried it. I was able to fix it, but it was a major pain in the bottom.

 

Sorry for my English, it was a typo.

 

I guess they are leaving the M18x R2 BIOS out in the cold, right?

 

I'm guessing they are since they won't be able to push new units out the factory

 

That definitely makes sense, but I hope we just get the higher vRAM from the start.

 

What about the 17R1 I think it is identical to the 18 but without the SLI. Do we get unlocked bios?

 

Dell

Dell starting now to sell Aw18 with Maxwell gpu and need New bios, not the old Aw17R1. Therefore I think they don't update a new bios for Aw17R1.

 

This is impeccable timing. After a bunch of botched on-site repairs including one technician who managed to start a small fire and lot of smoke on a daughter board, my case has been sent to the escalation team for a replacement. Now the only question is how long until these things are ready to ship and what parts they will actually have in them. I've been very happy with raid 0 + cache ssd for both boot and general performance, but it looks like that is no longer an option......

 

Just set up the caching yourself. Although, at this point in time, I don't know why you would want to.

 

I have a 1.5TB raid + caching SSD. I'm assuming unless they can do something special, they'd have to give me the 1TB HDD + 512GB SSD config for storage to even match my current capacity, which would definitely be nicer than the caching. That also means I could just buy a single 2TB storage drive down the line without having to worry about constructing a new raid array and all (not a problem really, but it's just cheaper/easier for throwing RAW images and all on).

I'm interested to see how the memory goes because they sure better not be giving me a 3GB card as an "upgrade"

 

The GPU cards are 6GB and 8GB. All 780 owners should be getting 970M, which is greater in performance and has more vRAM.

If you have the 80GB caching ssd you will get the 512GB SSD since they have to meet or exceed.

 

Yup, I've been refreshing the product page page (I know the original post was updated with information from an agent, but that doesn't mean much to me in my time with Dell/Alienware) and saw they changed the VRAM amounts right after I posted that. I currently actually have 8GB 880m's since they couldn't find any 780m's after about a month of telling me "they're on backorder, should be here in a couple days...." Not sure how happy they will be following through with their decision to give me 8GB cards

 

so now in the site they are back to the 8GB GPU ram ...

 

i guess those with AW17 R1s are left in the cold.

 

Yeeeees sir... Give an big thanks to the new BGA trash.

 

it'll be a miracle if they did. need to nag them on twitter LOL