*Official* Alienware Launch Discussion Thread

FWIW, I decided to repaste my GPU earlier. The stock job was pretty awful when I opened it up. Waayyy too much paste applied, to the point of overflowing out the sides.

EDIT: Just finished a 3DMark11 run, and my temps are better by about 7-8C, compared to what I was getting before. Highly recommend a repaste if you're able to, just based on that. Will have to see if I can OC it any further.

Yea, it's supposed to come preinstalled.

 

So to recap: the speakers and the sound system is aweful? And its noise coming from the headset when plugged in?

What the...? That is pretty much a big deal breaker.

 

Awful? These are laptop speakers. I would not expect better from the MSI GT70 or the Dell XPS 15 L501x. A reviewer has even written that the Alienware has better sound quality.

The hiss, on the other hand, is an issue.

 

I think the speakers are great and I get no noise from the headphone jack what so ever. So take that as you will!

 

Got my GPU clocks back up to +150/400. Getting close to a 9k GPU score.

Yes, there's a terrible background hiss when using headphones. The headphone out turns off when there's nothing playing to try and hide it, but it comes back in a second or two before anything starts playing again, and it's always noticeable over quiet music/sounds.

 

The speakers are pretty nice, actually. Not the greatest lows, but that's normal for a laptop. It's just the static over the headphones that gets me. (Anyone else having this issue? Or is it just me?)

 

Well this is certainly something thats need to be figured out and adressed.

Is it static from the headphone jack or not? Or is it only one some few models where there is some issues with grounding or similar?

There does indeed exist notebooks with good audio. Dynaudio used on MSI GT series. I know that to have Dell offer something similar is expecting too much, but I do want something thats decent enough that you can use when playing music.

I see Alienware 18 owners complaining about the sound from the speakers as well.

Does any of the notebooks have built in DAC? Both MSI and Clevo have that on their machines.

 

What did you re-paste with? My temps leave a little to be desired as well, and I am ready to dive in to see what can be gained. Also, anyone having any luck with fan control software (HWinfo isn't working with the new series so far).

 

I'm getting ready to order the 14. Could someone explain to me why Alienware includes a Blu-ray player then includes software that doesn't play Blu-ray disc. It makes no sense. Include the required software and charge more if you need to instead of the customer having to traipse around looking for software for their brand new machine.

 

I used Prolimatech PK-1, though really just about anything will work well. The only paste I would recommend staying away from is Antec Formula 6. Just awful, IME. Tried it last year when building a new desktop rig, and my temps were actually worse than stock. And it wasn't just a bad paste job either, as I'm pretty competent in that regard and tried it 3 or 4 times.

The latest beta build for HWInfo sort of works. Any time I try to override the stock fan profile, it works for the CPU fan, but turns the GPU fan off.

 

the grass is always greener....

the speakers are fine, maybe not a 10 but theres no way the speakers are anything near bad enough to be a deal breaker. With headphones i love it even more.

 

To me it sounds like some machines have a static problem, some don't. And that means that it's fixable! (Yay more time on the phone with support!)

 

Is there a reason i am getting such a low score? I have the base model 18 and I am running on the 326.19 driver.

 

looks like your running the xtreme preset, hence the low score

 

I had the problem where there would be a loud annoying static noise from the headphones when plugged in.
What I did was uninstall the Dell audio drivers, and plug the headphones only in the port furthest away from the keyboard (closest to you). No more static noise.

 

Screenshot of where to find the Dell audio drivers plz. And are there any static noises on the other two audio ports?

 

Has anyone tried to play a 3D movie on the 17 yet?
When I attempted it, the powerDVD ultra trial version went on strike saying the display is incompatible. Even though I went through the nvidia control panel to enable and set 3D.

 

How I got rid of that annoying hissing/static heard over headphones on my Alienware 18

1. Uninstall 'Realtek High Definition Audio Driver'
(Start>Control Panel>Uninstall a Program, then look for it, right click>Uninstall)

2. Restart your computer when prompted
3. Plug your headphones into the audio port furthest away from the screen (i.e. closest to you)


No more static!
But there is static in the middle port, even after following the steps above - the last port doesn't have static (only after uninstalling those drivers), which is why I recommend you use that one.

 

Finally got my 780M stable at +160/500, making it essentially a 680 desktop card at stock clocks. Tried some Tuniq TX-4 for my TIM, and my memory clocks were much more stable at 400+MHz. Pretty impressed now, TBH. Just wish I would have gotten a 4930MX instead of the 4800MQ, and I would've had a laptop that could match my desktop's performance before I threw in another GPU and started messing around with liquid cooling. Still don't hit 9k with these clocks though. Maybe if I had a 4930MX... EDIT: Highest temp is 79C as well. Not bad at all, IMO.

 

May I ask u with which program u made those changes? I posted my 3D Marks results yesterday but after trying to reproduce my results they only turned out worse. I've no idea why.

 

With a laptop cooler?

You should reach 9k GPU with those clocks.

 

I use MSI Afterburner.

No cooler this time. Just sitting on a wooden table.

 

Thanks! Your values equal to which settings( core, shader or memory clock)?
Are you using a modded vbios?

 

Guys, Notebookcheck (german) have just published their review of the Alienware 14

Notebookcheck Alienware 14 Review

 

Looks like they're getting 67C throttling as well.

 

so my only gripe i have is with the 765m card how does it do with the 1080 res for games

 

Hi did you do any overclocking or change of multiplier on the 4800MQ? Mind telling me what settings are you using?

 

I did, but I turned it off after having a few problems. Will probably try OC'ing it again later. Not a whole lot of potential there though, and I'm wishing I went for a 4930MX. All I've done is flash the vBIOS with SVL7's mod on TechInferno, and set the core offset to +160MHz, and memory offset to +500MHz. I did have to repaste the GPU/CPU with Tuniq TX-4 to get those clock frequencies stable though.

Tried OC'ing the 4800MQ and I'm getting the same stability problems I had the other day. It just doesn't like being OC'd, even just 100MHz. Temps are good enough, but it just won't run any faster for longer than a few minutes. Bit of a let down, TBH.

 

Thanks for the reply. I echo your sentiment. I went from the 4700MQ to 4800MQ. I think the Dell stock BIOS is locking it down too much. And I am considering to get the 4930MX, but not without pushing the 4800MQ to its limit first.



By the way, I am using Nvid Inspector to overclock now. Evga Precision just doesn't cut it anymore. From experience with Kepler overclocking, setting target temperature seems to reduce stability. At stock voltage, I can't push the 780M beyond +110 on the core.

Actually what I will do is find out the max overclock on Nvid Inspector, then edit the vBIOS using the Bios editor tool, then reflash the GPU.

 

This worked out great for me on my 14. However, doing so also disables both the Dolby application (fine by me) and the speakers! Do your speakers work after uninstalling the Realtek driver?

 

Hi
Speakers still work for me.. really it should revert to the default windows audio drivers after you uninstall dell's drivers, so that is quite odd.

 

Well...I returned my new 17" last week

I guess the 3D wasn't what I expected. Now the issue becomes this:

Should I go for a new 18" with a price of around $3,000 or try and get a good price on the 2012 18" I personally liked the older design and would get it with SLI 680's and probably a bump in processor.

I checked the customized options and the 2012 would come out to about $3,200 but I wouldn't pay that much for it. I would negotiate that down...What price would the 2012 versions be considered "good" since they are older? Thoughts?

 

Already read it Cloud but thanks for posting it for others to see. You should read my mini review and pros and cons of the AW14 in the owner's lounge. I had to return it for a refund and grabbing a Clevo W230ST since I need something lighter with the same specs.

 

That's great! I reinstalled the drivers after discovering that the speakers weren't working, but I may give it another shot. That being said, I typically use a USB DAC/amp combo for headphones, so I may yet leave it as-is.

What do you think of the speaker sound quality using the Windows drivers? Any better than with Realtek? If they sound about the same, then I won't bother - I've had some success with the Dolby equalizer.

 

If you want the best performance, use the stock Dell NVIDIA driver or try 314.22 WHQL and mod the INF so it recognizes the 780M. The 320 series drivers have issues with NVIDIA Inspector and to a lesser degree MSI Afterburner and EVGA PrecisionX. The temp targets just don't seem to work correctly on the newer drivers. Neither 780M nor 680M overclock stable with the 320 driver series, although they do work great for gaming. If you are aiming for benchmark scores, either of those two older drivers will serve you better. Check Johnksss's benchmarks and see what driver he is using with 780M SLI.

We will need a BIOS update to allow Haswell CPUs to perform correctly. The Core Current Limit needs to be increased from 32.000A to 112.000A and it can't be changed with XTU because that setting is locked. Try lowering your Core Voltage with XTU from the default of 1.2v to 1.167 and set the voltage to "Adaptive" and that should help. The 1.2v default is too high. Increase Processor Current Limit and that should reduce CPU clock power throttling to some extent. Depending on the multiplier you are using, it may need to be cranked more or less. It will still drop under load, but it will go about 30 seconds longer before that occurs if you lower the Core Voltage and increase the Processor Current Limit.

 

When the Alienware 18 with dual 780M will be available for buying in Best Buy and other sites likes that? I need to buy it in a physical store, not online.

Thanks.

 

Thanks for your reply. This is as good as I could get from now, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M video card benchmark result - Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4800MQ CPU @ 2.70GHz,Alienware Alienware 18, and I have some problems trying to replicate the same result reliably. You're right it just seems that there's something clamping down, because by right when I increase core voltage/temp target/power target the temperature should increase, but it's not, although I don't really see any throttling the benchmark score varies quite a lot.

By the way how do I get the MSI Afterburner Rivatuner OSD to show up in 3Dmark11? I read your reply on your Youtube channel that the OSD doesn't work for 3Dmark11 x64, do you know does the default 3dmark11 downloaded from Futuremark website has the 32 bit 3dmark11 in it? I couldn't find a x86 version of it in mine.


Maybe when the WHQL driver comes out things will be better. As for now, I can only get to know my GPU real well to know their limits.

 

Where did you get your Alienware with 2x GTX 780M? Bought it online or in physical store?

Thanks.

 

Bought it from Dell....

 

But you bought it online? From their site? There is no physical store where you can go and pick it up personally?

Thanks for the answer.

 

I bought by calling Dell.

 

During installation of 3DMark11 choose the custom option instead of the default method. One of the screens you advance to has a check box to install the 32-bit version along with the 64-bit. The box needs to be checked in order to install the 32-bit. It is unchecked by default.

The CPU performance is hurting your overall 3DMark11 score, and to a much smaller degree it is holding back your GPU score as well. Run wPrime 32M test and see if your CPU clock speeds hold 100% until the test completes. If it does, run the wPrime 1024M test. In one test or the other, you may see the CPU clock speeds start to go down and run at a speed lower than expected. If so, let me know what you see.

You're still running the 326.19 driver? That is going to hinder your GPU performance and the voltage/temp/power sliders may not behave appropriately. NVIDIA Inspector may not work with the 320 driver series. (It does not work for me an numerous others. The slider settings don't stick.) You need to run either the Dell driver or 314.22 WHQL. The 320 series of drivers work fine to games. They suck for benching. You'll need to mod the INF to get the older reference driver to recognize your GPU. It only takes a few minutes to add 3 new lines of code to the INF. Using the Dell driver requires no modifications.

 

We're trying to gather critical information from people experiencing throttling, if you have experienced this and would like to help us please send me a PM with the following:

1. GPU

2. Vbios

3. GPU clocks for each state changed

4. Optimus, 3D or dGPU mode

5. Where issue was observed (what app or game)

6. System Bios version

7. AC adapter wattage


Thanks in advance,

-Luis

 

I am slowing rising but not quite there yet. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M video card benchmark result - Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4800MQ CPU @ 2.70GHz,Alienware 01W2J2

I have modified the inf file, simply by copying the inf file from 326.19 to the folder of 320.19. I have also patched to the new BIOS.

I ran wPrime, for the 32M it finished in 6.8s, for the 1024M it finished in 237s. But there's throttling at what I believe is 90C. The thermal shutdown temp of Ivy/Haswell is 115C I believe, so there's quite a bit of room there.

When Unclewebb releases the ThrottleStop for Haswell CPU, I'll try it out. For now I'll try to reduce the voltage/current slowly and see if there's throttling. Since it doesn't say CPU throttling in XTU, I believe this is throttling due to Dell BIOS. Also, it doesn't seem like XTU can reduce the core VID below 1.13V, which is what I have right now. Open Hardware monitor tells me that the CPU is eating about 60-67W when I am running 1024M in wPrime, at that level of heat dissipation the throttling starts kicking in. I am surprised since the triple heatpipes should be able to handle 100W. My new keyboard came so I shall repaste and see if there's any difference.

I have tried to just overclocking the GPU alone, and it doesn't like it. If I put on any memory overclock at all from 2500MHz (or 1250MHz), I get less score. If I increase my core overclock from +150MHz to +160MHz for example, I get less score too. Temp looks very good at max it's low 80s. I will revert to 320.19 and see how it goes.

EDIT: In my installation for 3Dmark11, there's no 32 bit binary to choose from. I will try to find an older version of 3dmark11.

 

@kh90123 - two things could be happening with your 3DMark11 installation. If you are using the free version it might not include this... I don't know because I do not use the free version. It could be you are not following the correct installation procedure. I am using the latest version, so that is not the problem.

During the installation process, choosing custom should should you a menu that allow you to select the 32-bit version to be installed along side the 64-bit. Look at this series of screen shots and replicate them on your end during installation. You will need to uninstall 3DMark11 to do this. The benefit of installing the 32-bit version is you can use HWiNFO64 and RivaTuner Statistic Server for an on-screen display to monitor what your CPU and GPU(s) are doing. You can watch clock speeds, power and temps all at the same time.



This short YouTube clip provides an example of the on-screen monitoring. If you need help setting that up, look at the opening post in this thread to understand the basics:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...mperatures-game-benchmark-screen-display.html

(That tutorial is with an older version of HWiNFO64, but conceptually, nothing has changed.)

<iframe width='853' height="480" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/tHrqmRDv2Ag?rel=0" frameborder='0' allowfullscreen=""></iframe>

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Everyone - anything you can observe and share will be useful as feedback to Alienware. I know they are trying to fix this, and want to fix it ASAP. Please see what Mr. Pardo has posted (quoted below). Please help him out by providing the requested detail. Anything supplemental to the information he has request will potentially be useful.

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What do you think should be the max temps for the GPU/ what is bearable for it?

 

I am not experienced but for me if it stays in the 80s for max temps, then I'm fine with it

 

Maybe 90c. my MSI GT683r runs max at 88c when stress testing. although it stays at 77c when gaming. Given the alienware has dual fans and separate exhausts, It should run cooler.

 

I'm having trouble getting a good deal from any of the sales reps on the phone. If anyone has someone they can connect me to, please PM me.

 

If you are looking to buy AW14, Please goto alienware M14x section and check the Official Alienware 14 lounge thread for details of 10% off discount coupon. Good luck with your purchase.