Ask Alienware's General Manager, Frank Azor, Anything on AWA!

@@Alienware-L_Porras / @@Alienware-Frank_L

Will there be a raid 0 support on the next bios update for the 2015 AW 17 R2?

 

As wonderful as it is, the popular view of the bubble gum gamer-boys is that RAID0 is no good and most of them operate under the false assumption that using AHCI is better. Most don't understand the technology and have no awareness that setting the BIOS to RAID provides full AHCI functionality, plus additional functionality missing from AHCI. Since it is not popular with the kids, they might not add it. It would be nice if they would. It might be missing because the SATA controller that they selected for their motherboards has no support for RAID. They will need to respond to that to let us know if that is the case.

 

Great thank you! The agent that was looking into it hasn't gotten back to me yet. Will give it a while longer then try find another one.

 

Peace brothers, not meaning that Dell/AW would intentionally abandon flagship machines under warranty. My point was more that this request is much more aligned to an enthusiast request than that of a defective part or driver issue. It would be a positive gesture on their part given that anything unlocked would have to be validated thoroughly, as to not create new break/fix requests.

I would be ecstatic if this happened especially for my m18xr2, and wish to remain hopeful given everything to the contrary lately. Sounds like its not a request which you all generally believe is too much to ask so if you are mostly positive, so will I and wait and see.

For the other points on #2 thanks for that perspective (along with brother MickeyD1234) as well.

 

YOU DARE SUMMON ME?!

I can actually answer these questions! Do note, I can't give you the good info you want on some of that but I'm sure some of the people who I've worked with here on the forum can vouch for the sincerity in my answers.

Just look at some of the publications we've sent to in the past that then give us a less than favorable review on a future product. We aren't paying anyone off. We're letting the reviewers do what they do. We wouldn't want to tarnish their reputation like that.

Now for your numerical questions:

1) I've said this before and I'll say it again, we're reviewing something that would be totally awesome along those lines. Nothing is set in stone.

2) We were not involved in Nvidia's decisions to disable OCing on mobile GPU. I don't really know how else to prove that other than saying we didn't. How about this? If I'm lying, a lightning bolt will strike me right now.

Phew, still here.

3) See answer #1 and see if the two questions and one answer send your mind racing and your body tingling.

 

Thanks for your answers Khan, greatly appreciated. Is Frank going to make a come back to this thread or is he too busy to hear the good ideas bouncing in this thread?

 

He does hear your good ideas because I'm relaying them to him and the rest of the team. If you think I'm capable of even tempting a new product idea, availability, leverage entire regions to send out 240w AC Adapters, administer a BIOS change on two platforms, and two other current investigations I don't know if I can talk about right now, you flatter me in believing I'm capable of pushing the company around. But it's making me blush!

 

Whoa now, some NDA violating is about to happen.
Joking aside, it's good to hear from you about all of this. I hope the same from Frank as well.

 

Dell might think that the new M.2 ssd drives are fast enough? Not introduce raid functionality on a gaming laptop in 2015 is quite perverse. Everything is changed with these new thin Apple similar thin gaming laptops .. Maybe Dell knew that there are few who came to buy several new M.2 ssd drives in this toy laptop since they are so expensive ?

 

#1 makes me totally not like my 17 R2. Can I take what's behind door #2 instead?

 

Why are some of your A17 R2's with 970M shipping with a vBIOS that prevents overclocking then? Notebookcheck.net have been investigating this, and an NVidia statement to them says that vBIOS based overclocking blocks are placed by the OEMs:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Nvidia...king-through-a-vBIOS-based-lock.137109.0.html

 

So are you saying 'not involved with the initial decision? I find it very hard to believe a supplier would make a major change to their product line without at least informing their partners and giving them the opportunity to comment?

Yes NV want to get the 'm'' chips under their wing. It offers the box-shifters the opportunity to leave drivers to NV. No more disclaimer or 'refer to your OEM' every time a new driver is released. This is a considerable selling point but it requires the lowest common denominator to ensure they comply with the thermal and power requirements of all current and future chips.

Only the modding community or an alternative supplier are going to be our options IMO.

 

Thanks for the response @AW Khan .
It is appreciated. I've added some responses in orange above (expand the quotes), hopefully you can respond again... ?

Regards
TBone

 

I can vouch for @AW Khan being good for his word. The dude is amazing. If he says something it is either true or he honestly believes in his heart that it is. Can't ask for more than that.

 

Is it me or are a few people missing something @AW Khan said:

" We were not involved in Nvidia's decisions to disable OCing on mobile GPU. I don't really know how else to prove that other than saying we didn't. How about this? If I'm lying, a lightning bolt will strike me right now."

But the point is that Alienware have locked down the vBIOS to disallow overclocking, at least on the 970M version of the A17 R2. There's a disconnect between what he is saying and the facts in front of our eyes.

Notebookcheck.net have found out from NVidia that these vBIOS lock downs are the decision of the manufacturer (e.g. Alienware):
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Nvidia...king-through-a-vBIOS-based-lock.137109.0.html

 

Simple semantics. He only states 'not involved with the decision to disable overclocking', not that they did not agree with it, or had prior knowledge. They supported it and would have liked it to happen. If it all goes tits-up (as it did) then NV are out on their own with the users (we are users not customers, the likes of dell are their customers.).

 

Semantics to a point. If it was "NVIDIA's decision" and they are blindly following the guidelines NVIDIA has set without having had any input on the decision, then " We were not involved in Nvidia's decisions to disable OCing on mobile GPU" would be 100% accurate. I believe what @AW Khan is saying is true on face value. Right, wrong or indifferent, it's probably safe to say most of the big OEMs will do whatever Intel, NVIDIA or the Micro$haft Mafia recommend. This is part of the problem all enthusiasts are facing regardless of their brand preference.

What we want to hear is " We disagree with NVIDIA's decision and will not be following their recommendation to disable overclocking on mobile GPUs. We will deploy our systems without these restrictions in place because our machines are actually engineered to support it. We recognize that some machines that are sold with NVIDIA graphics may not be properly engineered to facilitate overclocking, but this is not applicable to our products."

We have all read reviews about (or experienced first-hand) the fact that some of the too-thin/too-light machines being touted as "gaming notebooks" are a thermal abortion. It makes sense, to a point, that these machines would not be considered viable candidates for overclocking. I prefer that this decision be left to the end user that spent their hard-earned cash to buy such a machine rather than the OEM. At any rate, having all products follow the same production model without regard to their thermal management capabilities is wrong. I don't appreciate the notion of my experience and pleasure being restricted by the lowest common denominators in the industry.

We need more OEMs that have the gonads to deliver what they know their customers want, even if it does not fit the recommendations of the ODMs like Intel and NVIDIA, or the software Nazis from Redmond.

 

Yeah, I'm quite happy to accept that I got the dog and the tail mixed up, but to say they are not connected as the disclaimer states goes one step over the line. Even MS inform bigger customers (under NDA of course) of 'confidential information' that may affect their strategy.

Your suggested statement would have been great to hear when the 'bug' went public, but within hours prior to NV's turnaround we get a denial of knowledge. Even the most inexperienced media/marketing person can see how that looks.

Gonads or go home...

 

Possible good news for us 18x r2/18 owners on bios fixes! YAY!

 

I think one of the reasons I love these threads are the great one liners. "Gonads or go home" or "Thermal abortion". Cant keep up with you guys.

Although on principle I agree its not nice that someone or everyone is lying, I really don't give a rats rumpus one way or another. What matters is there are communities that will uncover debauchery like this in the future, and now Nvidia and manufacturers know this and call them out. More importantly if Dell takes this as an opportunity to give unlocked BIOS('ses'?) essentially giving us more power over our own machines and less lip service, I'm all for being given a few white lies.

 

Yes, both windows & intel drivers are restricted to 30Hz.
Nvidia control panel doesn't offer the possibility to manage the desktop.



Even in the BIOS, impossible to restrict the GPU to Nvidia only !

 

Something is not right about that. No external display is connected, correct? This is with only the laptop's built-in monitor? Maybe the Intel HD Graphics driver is messed up?

If you are using an external display, that might be the functional limit. What are the specs for the external display? Does everything work correctly if you disconnect it and use the built-in display?

 

No, the AW13 has no 4K panel. What he is seeing is the expected (not desired) outcome on any monitor as well. Someone on the Dell forums noted that when he connected his AW17 R2 to a 4K panel, he was only limited to 30 Hz (though HDMI 1.4 might attribute to that...).
The iGPU is the display GPU while the dGPU is a render-only GPU. The dGPU can't do anything about the resolution or refresh rate; only the iGPU can.
Are you certain Optimus/Enduro is not being used in these laptops? The only case I would think the dGPU is being used as the display GPU is for the AW15 4K (if it runs at > 30 Hz), but other than that, the iGPU would be the display GPU.

 

Another example why optimus is poop and needs to die (with the guy who suggested it at nvidia/intel shot).

Intel needs to stop making iGPUs for quad core processors.

 

Windows 8.1 has is own flavor of native hybrid graphics switching and that is used by default instead of Optimus or Enduro, and it is more difficult to control effectively than Optimus or Enduro. We will need Alienware Support to confirm it for us, but I am reasonably sure the new Alienware systems are following Micro$haft's lead on this. If the machine has Windows 7, then it probably would use Optimus or Enduro. Maybe @AW Khan can chime in on that.

Windows 8.1 Features | Dell Community

 

I'm using Windows 7 right now, and Optimus or Enduro is active (with whichever of their respective GPUs is active, and currently, it's my 860m).
Granted, I don't have a 4K panel with me (especially one with a refresh rate of 60 Hz), so may information my not be the most reliable.
Going to take a closer look at that thread you linked later, but the first I saw was, indeed, hybrid graphics.

 

I can't find it now (I have tried a couple of times) but someone in authority at Alienware posted that all of the new Windows 8.1 machines now use Micro$lop's Graphics Switching technology instead of Optimus and Enduro technology. But, yeah, Windows 7 would have to use it because it does not have that "feature" like Windows 8.1 does.

It's a shame it can't be turned off completely like the previous generation machines. I would turn it off and leave it off forever if the option was available. I really hate hybrid graphics and I would prefer to have no Intel HD Graphics option available except as a manual switching option (which I almost never use for anything except for fixing GPUs with a borked vBIOS flash).

Yup... absolutely. Garbage. But it is very useful in SG mode for flashing a soft-bricked dGPU.

 

Well, I'm confused. The 4K panel on the AW15 runs at 60 Hz, but the iGPU is still the display GPU.
Where's the "how" in that?

 

What's the problem there?

Intel says the HD 4600 supports 4K @ 60HZ as long as the manufacturer's (Dell) design supports it don't they?

 

I've honestly thought the iGPU still ran 4K at 30 Hz.
Well, its the HD 4000 supports it at 30 Hz (older iGPUs may not deliver 4K). The HD 4600 does support 60 Hz, and so does the HD 4400. At least, if you have a recent Intel GPU driver, that is.

 

From the intel quick référence guide : https://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/quick-reference-guide-to-intel-processor-graphics
U-Processors: 3200 x 2000 @ 60 Hz, 3840 x 2160 @ 30 Hz

Meens the HD4400 integrated with I5-4210U is limited to UHD@30Hz -> only the 860M can handle the 60Hz
It's the same for the HD4600.

Also, the HDMI 1.4 is limited to UHD@30Hz, but i used the eDP who is the only way to reach the 60Hz.
That's also why i bought that laptop and not a P34W -> the eDP, but it's not better for now !

That's why i think Alienware have to find a way... We hare in 2015 and 4k screens are more and more present @ homes ;-)

 

Uhh... I think you mean MDp, not eDP. eDP describes the type pf laptop panel (in a way), while MD is the type of connection (mini display port).
There seems to be some misinformation around the internet. Some people have ran 4K60Hz on an HD 4400, but I'll take Intel's word on this.
Seems as if the i7-5500u's and i5-52oou's HD 5500 support 4K 60 Hz. (Source)
So anybody who got the Haswell 13 is, well, not enjoying the same benefits as the Broadwell 13.

 

So in new AW machines display is hard tied to the IGPU?

 

Yes, unfortunately. It does not appear they have an option to set an exclusive discrete graphics mode like the previous generation single-GPU machines.

 

This is indeed dumb.. Makes them even more unappealing...

 

Well it looks like it is getting worse by the day. Just kill the name now and let it all be dell.

 

SHHH!! They're trying to make the transition slowly!! It just seems customer support seems to be overly excited and is jumping the gun and getting horrible so quickly instead of slowly

 

This is not only idiotic and stupid but it creates display lag and can also cause ghosting that most of You noticed on new AW. In M18xR1 i have possibility to turn off the IGPU completely and reroute display to external GTX 880M directly. That's very clever and excellent way for display that dell engineers headed for. Im impressed for build quality, ports amount, performance and very good exterior and interior design. Sad to admit that new AW 2015 line is like Apple crap. Thin and ****ty. We don't need thin and light laptops. WE WANT POWAH WITHOUT COMPROMISES

 

Hold on. If using the iGPU can cause ghosting in these laptops, then why is it that only 2 of the 7 panels (AW 13's 1440p and AW 15's 1080p) Alienware uses in this lineup are affected but not all of them? There should be something else involved then (not saying the iGPU isn't apart of this. I figured that out some time ago).

 

+1. That's a shot. That's definitely a shot.

 

Even the ASUS G751 doesn't have optimus (iGPU doesn't show up on nvcp).

Disgusting.

 

It could be related to iGPU display power somehow, im not in iGPU drivers you know but that can also be a cause. Probably it's just bad quality of display.

 

Intel HD Graphics, for all intents and purposes, is totally worthless on an enthusiast machine. Optimus is garbage because it gives place to Intel's HD Graphics trash. Intel HD Graphics should have been disabled by Alienware or at least include the ability be manually disabled on demand for those of us that absolutely loathe it.

 

It has absolutely no use on a high powered machine. I don't even know why it's even being used at all.

 

It's clear from all of the expressions of displeasure that they missed the mark and did not really understand what we want. Should have been pretty easy though... what we all wanted was what they always used to give us by default. The M17xR3/R4, M18xR1/R2 were the epitome of awesomeness and a product that was something the rest of the industry could only aspire to. Massive performance potential, a butt-load of features and ports, incredible build quality, full upgradeable, an unlockable system BIOS and looks that kill.

Disgust with severe product downgrades should come as no surprise to anyone, but it seems some executives with bad judgment thought we would be OK with more downgrades. Had they been paying attention, they would have learned their lesson with the 17 (Ranger) and 18 (Viking). We all complained about downgrades with those models. Little did we know that it marked the start of a downward trend. Some of us assumed they were paying attention. I know I did... my bad for assuming.

 

I've used it when my second HD6990M died for a two weeks. It's great to have a possibility to use iGPU. Also if you have urgent need of working on battery iGPU is again a great choice as it can give about 6hr work on battery. I think it's good to have it BUT there has to be an option to disable it and display cannot be hard-tied to it.

 

It's also useful for recovering from a soft-bricked GPU flash. I used to need that feature a lot with AMD GPUs. If you can't use it for this purpose, and can't disable it when you don't want it, then it sucks and just gets in the way.

 

Yeah for a backup gpu and battery life it's useful. All other purposes useless imo. Glad both of my systems allow me to switch and not have them on at the same time.

 

(Diverting the topic here)
Just a little reminder that GDC 2015 and PAX East are coming up. Alienware might have some announcements, but don't expect anything big with the laptops.
This also means that the earliest we would hear from Frank is most likely after PAX, so I think not calling him as much would be appropriate (you have to imagine how his alert box is looking right now).

 

@Mr. Fox

Having owned the M17x R4 and the AW 17 R1, I don't think the R1 was a downgrade. I think Intel screwed us over with Haswell, but Alienware didn't do anything that deserves that label until the AW 18 and 2015 lineup showed up.

The 18 was a step down from the M18x. No argument there. But it still wasn't a complete disaster like the new 2015 lineup, lol.

Didn't think they could do worse! Was wrong... Won't be so naive next time.