How far Alienware has gone backwards

Wow nice work there.
95w for 3940xm is more than enough, since heat not the tdp would matter at that point.
very impressive!

 

Just dried out thermal paste (HWiNFO), 95W perfectly achievable M17xR3/2960XM.

 

@Papusan , how much watts does your 4.3GHz 4930MX pulls compared to that power issue mentioned here, would like to hear your experiences and thoughts on this matter on Alienware17, You are the top overclocker on this AW17 machine and know much regarding the voltages and OC limits and CPU power etc...Thanks !

 

If I remember correctly... I think I ran +266w in bench. Maxed out Slv7 its vbios voltage (1.200v). A little over 114w in Xtu bench with 4930Mx. Have not tested very much above 4.3GHz. the processor is a bit too unstable with a higher OC on it for real bench tests.

Ps. Maybe you like the new sig image ↓↓↓? By @Mr. Fox
Dellienware make only BGA crap now, so I skipped Aw in my sig. Nor has I the space in sig for "Elitist".

 

With AW17, this is my personal best XTU bench score.
http://hwbot.org/submission/2648704_godfafa_xtu_core_i7_4900mq_1096_marks

CPU alone consumed about 130-140w.

 

On @Mr. Fox 's suggestion. Went with a A18 i7 4700MQ / 980M mxm / 256 ssd from eeposaurus (tacosauce?) on this forum.

Was close to buying a 6820HK/970M (still mxm)/no ssd msi GT72 from microcenter for 100usd higher lol.

 

Good decision.

 

Yes, indeed. The alternative would have been a rather tragic mistake. Not only is the GT72 build quality grossly inferior to the 18, the BGA turd CPU is a dead-end pile of junk compared to the opportunity to upgrade to a 4930MX in the 18.

 

​

I'm in the right thread ... typical Area-51 R2 unboxing vids, check utube / take your pic, 3-out-of-4 Alien-Kooler logos invariably get installed crooked, no attention to detail from the inspection team ... unacceptable to come out of the box looking like that. 1st impressions are everything.
Brand new X51, today is delivery day. Ohhh man, if my new rig came out of the box like that? Welcome to Failienware & the sound of mediocrity

 

taking full advantage of the 'grey-area' of CGI (artistic license) we're shown a 3rd case fan & a 38mm wide radiator:

black power supply modular panel​

on delivery? red white & blue psu panel, no 3rd fan + 25mm radiator (if yours has an Alienlogo it'll be crooked probably). Purchase the case fan they skimped on for $28 but the mthrbrd & CmndCntr can't control fan speed, the bios & CC are gimped. ASK about the missing fan & AlienTube employee has this wise *** remark: "The spot you might be referring to is there for no special purpose and isn't required for optimal performance of the machine".

knowingly false adverts, bra stuffing & life with Aliens:​

we come in peace
(don't run, we are your friends)
__________________​

they pad their bras & stuff a sock in their tight jeans like Tom Jones, then sing their little song: 'what's new pussycat' ... if they're gonna false-advertise their Flagship desktop, why not all the rest? I caught Joe Olmstead (Alienware Director of Product Planning) twice running his yap about the 1500w power supply, how their R2 comes with the max power you can put inside your residence. Patently false. Like that gold-rated psu is the bomb.

• 1600watts is the most, lol, as in EVGA 1600.

Besides, if 1500 is the 'max', gonna get hot huh? Then why is it the only 1500w on the market with a smaller 120mm fan? ... even 1200's come with a 140mm ... to me, this alien who tells us to 'consume', gets a new nick-name:

Spoiler: Joe Blow

Pax 2014: "we gave it a one point five kilo-watt psu / we designed this to run w/the maximum amount of power you can put in a residence without plugging into your laundry port / because that would be a bad thing *chuckles*."

You see, since that psu DRAWS in 1700watts from the wall? True, 1700's the most you want in your residence, yet he spins a sow's ear into a silk purse for the media, like 1500w output is the most ... huh?

EVGA 1600T2 FTW > 1769w in = 1627w out = the true 'maximum amount of power you can put in a residence' ...
True is the opposite of what? > false ...

They wanna cost-cut, place that 120mm psu (case) fan in, then remove the 3rd case in the false-adverts & still say the R2 has 'optimal thermals' ... ... aliens ain't nothin' but hot air & nothin' special to cool it down with ... u can tell 'em I said so.

We're men ... ain't nuthin' worse then tellin' someone your package is bigger then it actually is ... when u do say it's bigger??? ... we know why, don't we: inferiority complex & all the rest

​

 

The GT72 build quality isn't bad really, but the bottom plate is a bit questionable since it flexes quite a bit.
BGA CPU is ok for pleb consumer I guess.



Also on the A51, the gpus on the 3d render is a gtx 285 lmao

 

I was frustratingly on the fence over this but I think I'm now beginning to accept these changes, the new direction of the company and indeed utilize their strengths in my own personal life.

Previously I had a real dislike if a laptop couldn't be upgraded and my machine ended up being an Alienware M17x with the HD 6990m (She was a beast). For some reason or another I sold it on and actually regretted it shortly after.

I've used many gaming systems that people considered utter turd such as the Msi Gx70 with the atrocious processor (Again, in my opinion). Yet for multimedia purposes and my interest in gaming waning at the time it was a truly fantastic laptop. The speakers where the best I've ever heard.

I then made the shift to an Alienware 17 BGA with 970m and it was a solid system. Unfortunately it overheated and needed to be sent off for repair.
The returned system was sold shortly after.

I then hopped onto a Clevo P751ZM that could be completely upgraded for future proofing and it was a brilliant laptop too. The screen lid was creaky though and in the end I also sold it. Regardless of being a fully 'upgradable' laptop I was still unhappy.

Now I'm running an Alienware 15 (The cost - which is the most important factor to me - was simply far too good to pass up on) and I've got say these new laptops really don't deserve the amount of negativity I've been seeing.
And yes, this is running a Gtx 980m with the 180w PSU. My gaming has never been so enjoyable before. All games on Ultra settings and the majority breach 100 FPS at FHD (I've not made the jump to 4K....yet)

In all my years I've repasted and repaired but I've never actually upgraded a processor before nor the GPU as those components are incredibly expensive, require time and precision to install and I feel just aren't justifiable to me personally.

Before anyone remarks I have in fact briefly owned the M18x and it's a laptop in only the broadest of terms (We can argue over this but I'm very much willing to bet that the majority of folk out there simply believe it's just too large and as such won't purchase, even if hardcore gamers) and in this capitalist world that's not a good thing.
Whilst a superb desktop replacement worthy of recommendation in that regard and something I could physically manage I wasn't mentally comfortable carrying such a large device around my city.

Alienware is changing because gamers are demanding cheaper, slimmer laptops that can game at the same time. They want to branch out and bring in more customers. Every business does. I'm going to hazard a guess that mass production of these new systems is probably easier too for the company. In the earlier days of the boutique brands' history (When they were blue or green and looked even more extravagant) there was absolutely no way I would have purchased one. They were simply too pricey.

Whilst the enthusiast side of me isn't content that the innards can no longer be upgraded I do take comfort that I can attach a Graphics Amplifier later down the road (I game only at home so this hybridization is something I can fully embrace).

You should be taking a great deal of pride that you own an Alienware that you love. There's nothing preventing you from later making a change to a different brand such as Clevo if they continue to offer MXM if that's what YOU desire. Vote with your wallet and instead focus on the things you deem positive and suitable for YOU.
You are the most important factor in all this.

 

You must remember that Alienware now is the only brand now of the big 5, which does not offer what the other OEM can... GTX980. Even Acer has now launched this graphics card in their Predator machine. Acer has increased the thickness of their gaming model because of this graphics. Alienware goes the totally opposite way. Now more similar as RacerBook's. Yeah... You are very right in that Alinware has turned totally around...They isn't interested to compete with other Brand anymore. I know Acer, Msi and Asus use crippled BGA hardware, but they still give you the latest from Nvidia <Gtx980> Somethings AW won't offer because they go the Apple route.

 

I've had many of the new Alienwares in my hands, and all of them overheated on the CPU. Dell had the nerve to tell me that running in the 85-95 degrees C range was "normal" not to mention:
1. decrease in ports
2. piss poor LCD QA. Most come out crappy with tons of light bleed, a very, very select few are done right with no bleeding.
3. Still very chunky for what it is....Razer manged to stuff the same components sans the 980M into a much sleeker and sturdier chassis. Meanwhile, Alienware is still chunky and for absolutely no reason. The cooling performance sucks, and the components are soldered. There is no benefit to owning an Alienware laptop now, unless you get an absolute steal on it, and even then, if you run that CPU at 85-95 degrees like Alienware says, it won't be running for very long....

 

Hmmmmm - I don't find the Alienware 15 to be particularly thick at all - Personally speaking it's something I've not considered to be worrisome even when I owned the M18x. Granted the screen width was large and did require larger than normal laptop bags but the actual thickness never really troubled.
I do however fully see the desire for lighter weight for ease of carrying.

Then again I've only come across slender laptops in the form of Macbook Airs and Lenovo Yogas, neither of which interest me.

Appearance wise, the new Alienware line up is my favourite so they score points there too and despite only using the keyboard and trackpad very briefly (I'm quite fond of my external keyboard and mouse) the soft touch around the wrist rest is also very nice.

 

yes but look at an Aorus, Razer, MSI ghost, other other BGA laptops with similar spec come out thinner, even though they have similar thermals. I can't contest the design though, looks better than 99% of the market offerings. I only like the razer better, but that has a slew of other problems....

The M18x is perfectly portable. Yes it weighs a ton and takes up room in the backpack, but it is portable. Not a problem if you're an able bodied man. I took it to class every day for 2 years

 

Some people are more OCD about thickness. @Caladdon mentioned that was not a concern, so that's all good. I actually like thicker chassis better than thinner. Assuming they use the extra space constructively, it has the added advantage of giving the OEM more to work with in terms of space for cooling. If the Alienware BGA machines are thicker and do not run any cooler, that's a bit of a concern. If they run a little cooler, that is a sacrifice worth making, even if it is only by 5°C. I don't really see any value in a thinner chassis, but the difference in thickness between the BGA Alienware machines and an Aorus or Razer is so little it should be regarded as irrelevant in my opinion. For me, personally, there is something satisfying about holding a notebook in my hands that has some bulk and feels like a heavy slab of something awesome. Something extra thin and lightweight carries a feeling of cheapness to it that I do not care for.

 

You would change your mind when you hold a Razer blade in your hands. It is the most solid built PC I have ever handled, probably due to the fact it has a milled aluminim chassis not unlike the macbook pro. I wish more companies did this. That being said, it runs hot, but hey, so does the Alienware, which is made of plastic and is a good bit thicker. Alienware has flopped the cooling design, big time. Like I've said before, my CPU on the 17 R2 was routinely running in the 85-95 degree range, even with a hefty undervolt, and constantly bounced off the thermal throttle limit. The space was very poorly utilized, and I am totally against shared heatsink, since it unnecessarily raises the GPU temp as well.

 

Probably so. I have heard that about Razer, but owning a BGA machine is absolutely out of the question for me, so there is zero interest in their build quality. If I have to cut corners build quality is secondary to performance, cooling, having 100% changeable (repair or upgrade) internal components, etc. If I have to compromise something, it will never be the innards. I seldom say never because that is dangerous, but I feel very confident in saying that BGA will never be something that I view as being acceptable for a high performance notebook. It's 100% out of the question. If the day arrives that BGA is the only option, then I will get an el cheapo Walmart or Best Buy $300 disposable crapbook and go back to desktops for everything meaningful.

 

I concur 100%, I would never sacrifice modular support for build quality. However, there is a lot to be learned from Razer in terms of build quality. The chassis is second to none, including older Alienwares. Milled aluminum is beauty to truly behold. Somebody should get a hold of an aluminum milling company and have them fab something up for the P870DM

 

Using the existing palm rest and display cover as templates, with today's computerized processes it probably would not be all that difficult to fab billet aluminum replacements for them. The threaded screw stand-offs might be the hardest part of it, since that has to be very precise. The currently used aluminum frame used for the motherboard and GPU mounting could easily carry over with no modifications at all. That would be awesome. Using the existing plastic bottom cover and screen bezel would be OK and it still be excellent overall.

 

I feel the BGA is worth only for the SoCs, Core M CPUs that's all, not for the 1.5-2.5K+ gaming nb's.

Concerning Alienware, the GA lockbox is a mess tbh why would I bottleneck the crap out of my TitanX with a cripped TDP locked BGA trash CPU ? Instead I'd get an SLI 980M in the 870DM paired with a real beast 6700K and supreme BIOS, given If we can upgrade to gen 1 Pascal or Polaris and bam goes the cripped GA strapped heating trash box worthless dell computer !!

 

Dell needs to offer this G/A box because their slim EchoBooks can not use external G-sync screen without. +Dell is the only one of the major OEM's that do not offer Gtx980 in their CrapBook's. Welcome to the future

 

Hey Dell, if you're reading, I have a brilliant idea: Hire me as lead designer/engineer for Alienware. I'll make you a boat load of money and fix your reputation, I promise.

 

They want the older Alienware rep for this genocide and backstab, their old team must be dead or prolly flushed out of the company for moar profits and margins for the dumb gaming crowd, the slim and powerful generation !

 

I think everyone could have done this job . Actually a pretty easy job... Go completely away from the idea to become the new Apple, and everything becomes more like before. Aka thicker laptops with proper cooling and socket hardware .

 

i'll be their first customer to buy their next monster.

 

not everyone can design motherboards yo :|

 

All it takes is for the right person to give marching orders, then those that can design motherboards carry out those orders.

 

and dell would probably just shove a middle finger in your face

 

It is quite possible I'm wrong... But I think I read somewhere that there is Gigabyte who make the motherboards for AW Echo models from Dellienware... Dell don't do much self. Maybe the design of the machine. GigaBooks uses the same motherboard. And there are several motherboard manufacturers, who most likely have wanted to participate in this project. It is better that a motherboard manufacturer who can this game in and out has done the job. The cost is there anyway. Create something real. And the product will sell even if the price is higher than most CrapBook's. See EVGA. Selling the new garbage Book for a sky high price. People look at the name and pay gladly

 

What I'd pay for is a desktop class cpu with desktop class motherboard in a P870DM size chassis so you can overvolt + overclock the CPU like in a desktop. It only has integrated video so you save battery life. 3 fans, massive heatsink that has the ability to run almost passive when idle. Lots of HDD space and BD-burner.

Fully external PCI 3.0 x16 gpu slot, GPU can either be connected to an external monitor or a DP -> MUX -> LVDS EDP laptop monitor. Thunderbolt supplementary I/O optional.

 

Yeah. Desktop processor in a laptop is a must today!! Can a modern new BGA i7 do this?

 

If you get a really lucky 6820HK sample, it could be done. Except the cache oc.

 

Forget it. Have not seen a single specimen. + Run 4.8GHz 24/7 is a big NO in a BGA machine
Even 4.6GHz on one core is a big NO NO. What a Beast.... LOL http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-settings-for-4-0ghz-to-4-3ghz-stable.787791/ Full throttle game. Oh Yeah.

 

That's what you sacrifice for lower TDP I guess.

Ever since the HQ series, every BGA chip intel has put out seems to carry a really big TDP limit, even compared to the socket counterparts (4710mq / 4710hq). Wonder why? Cheaping out on silicon binning?

 

All BGA chips have been bad binned(big differences in core voltage between chips). Only reason why Skylake BGA is not as tragic as Hotwell Throttle chips, is lower temp. But 45w TDP, LOL. Next year maybe 43w. Only iGPU hold up the Tdp on i7 BGA JUNK.

 

LOL, they cannot have them melting the solder and sliding off the motherboard, now can they.

The whole concept of BGA is built around the pathetic notion of compromise. Compromised quality, compromised performance, and compromised value at the expense of ignorant and unsuspecting end users... all so Intel and their accomplices can get away with fleecing the sheeple that are eager to believe the lie that BGA is OK.

They justify poor judgment by making excuses like, "most people don't upgrade CPU or GPU" or "upgrading laptops is too difficult" and "by the time an upgrade is due, it is better to buy something new" and all the while the OEMs peddling trash are laughing under their breath. All weak excuses founded on inexperience and ignorance rather than sound reasoning. The ODMs and OEMs know this and are immoral for taking advantage of public ignorance for profit.

Like my daddy used to say, " Son, an excuse is nothing but a reason surrounded by a pack of lies."

 

Some praise shall nGreedia gain from me. Nvidia went the opposite way than Intel. Launched a Laptop version of their desktop graphics. Intel is trying to reduce the TDP of its Mobile processors. Now down to 45W. They know that this is possible. And will continue with this practice. Why not make it easy. All processors in laptop, whatever version of chips = 30wTDP or even 22W

 

turbo tdp can't melt bga solder points

should be a meme around here

 

Good lord, just joking, bro. Of course it can't, LOL.

If a low TDP turd CPU is designed to be exactly that, they don't have to care if it is a good sample. Then they can sell all the defective stuff that should otherwise be thrown away or recycled. But, never mind all that. If they call it an i7 they can charge extra for it in spite of its shortcomings, and lots of people are going to buy it simply because of what it is labeled regardless of whether or not it performs well. And, most of the people that buy them won't have any idea whether it performs well or not because most of those people don't have a clue.

 

Putt +110W load from the processor and a slim/light modern BGA machine aka BGABOOK will fry very fast . What will fails first, I do not know but this will be very very Ugly .

 

Solder melts around 800c iirc

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solder

 

Depends on the solder, too. But, 800°C is about double the melting point of that used in electronics.

 

Oh, it's 800f then.

Probably cheap solder so it can't sustain 45w tdp 24/7 like the MQ cpus?

 

A friend of mine had an AMD chipset HP notebook, he didn't game or anything but his laptop cpu needed reballing multiple times, that's the bga junk fate. People just care if it's a 6th gen i7 or not and crApple, all other BGA kings advertise the same.

 

Apple is actually decent

Until razer murdered them

 

Mx/Mq chips are usually inside a laptop that is often thicker than the junk being sold now. Aka BGABOOK's... Thicker laptops = Better cooling, Quite simple. BGA processors is one of the main reasons for the thinner laptop models sold now. Hence BGA hardware, one of the main reasons for the new garbage being sold. Aka crippled JUNK!!!

 

Probably between 210°C and 250°C