AW 17 R3 issues and questions

Hey there,

I just got my new and first AW product the Alienware 17 R3 which I was pretty excited for, but unfortunately that didn't last pretty long (less than 1 day to be exact).
The main components are ( i7-6700HQ , GTX 970m, 8GB RAM, 1TB 7200rpm HDD)

Well there are a two main issues that are bothering me a lot, and they are as follows:

1. The laptop takes about 30-40 seconds to boot up, which i find to be ridiculous for a high end laptop! (even if i am using a 7200rpm hdd)
2. The Nvidia GPU (970m) keeps crashing when i try to edit it in any way (changing a games setting to performance, making the nvidia the main gpu processor ...etc all done in nvidia control) with an error message "Video_TDR_Failulre (NVLDDMKM.SYS)" and then restarts.

if anyone has any idea of a solution for these 2 problems i would greatly appreciate it.

well enough negative talk for a while, I thought hey! since i will be installing an M.2 SSD anyway why not start with a fresh slate and new windows installation maybe that gets things fixed.
This has risen a couple of more questions which I would like to know the answer to before i start with a new drive and windows installation, just to be on the safe side.

1. After installing the m.2 ssd and installing windows 10 on it, are the drivers for my device on the dell.com/support page the only drivers and files i need to install for the laptop hardware? (it seems like some dell software is not on that page dont know if i need it or not though, like the supportassistant )
2. On the dell.com/support page, when i choose my laptop and go to the drivers page and select one driver or application (ex. alienware command center) i get 2 files to choose from. which one should i download or better said how do i choose one of them to install for my laptop? (in the AW Command Center case they are "Application_CHDTX_WN64_4.5.19.1_A01.EXE(98 MB)" and "App_NB_AWCC4.5.19.1_W81_W10_Setup_CHDTX_ZPE.exe(89 MB)")
3. Should I always install the drivers from the dell.com/support page or is it better to get the latest of the manufacturers website itself ?
4. Should I always keep my BIOS at the latest version? or are some previous versions more stable?

If you have any advise to give me before I start with the drive and windows installation please do, as its greatly appreciated
Sorry for the long read, and thank you for your time and help !

 

Boot time - that's probably in the ball park for a traditional hard drive. With the PCI-e SSD my boot times are 12 seconds +/- 2 seconds

Don't over think things when it comes to drivers. When you do a clean install of Windows - download the Dell specific stuff from their website and the only other driver that won't come from Dell (off the top of my head) are the Nvidia drivers and potential Intel display drivers.

Of special note - make sure to download the updated driver for the Kionix free fall sensor. Out of the box my computer took roughly 90 seconds to boot until I updated this. Even with the clean install you can expect display driver failures. As of now there seems to be no way to truly resolve the Intel display driver issues although some people have had success with avoiding Firefox and Edge by using only Chrome.

 

How are you liking your laptop otherwise? I agree 1000x with drivers, especially relating to video card crashing.

I'm looking at the alienware 17 r3, 970m version with 4k screen. I currently have a msi gt70 with 880m. I can get an upgrade to 980m, but I'm disliking the clunky plastic feel, the 180w power supply limitation, as well as that battery boost that's now degraded battery to 60%. Among other reasons, which is why I'm looking to upgrade. I have a Lenovo W550s with 3k screen and I love it, so 4k for 'gaming laptop' is a must, for use gaming will be at 1080p.

Just not sure about the laptop. Just bought my msi 9 months ago for $2500, don't want to spend another $2500 now to be displeased all over again.

 

1. i think the cause of the slow boot time is the support assist. from my experience on boot my fan will burst to max on each side and can cause sa lock up or frozen screen for a few seconds while the fans are at max. the solution for this is uninstall support assist and dell's bloatware. if you have problems in the future and you want to diagnose your laptop just re install support assist. one more thing, on services SOFTTHINKS AGENT SERVICE is one cause why your computer is slow because its constantly backup or computer on the background. thats from dell you can google about it.

2. for gpu problems the best solution i can suggest is always use DDU/ Display Driver Uninstaller when changing gpu driver for clean install and so that there wont be any left overs from the resgistry of the previous driver.

oh for windows 10 this might help:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/nbr-windows-10-clean-installation-guide.781178/
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-windows-10-upgrade-disable-telemetry.780476/

hope that helps. and HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE.

 

1. That is normal for a HDD (even 7200rpm ones) especially during the first few boots since the OS will be downloading and installing (and you as well) a lot of stuff, just remember to defrag after your laptop is "settled in" and disable write cache buffer on you HDD (go to device manager, locate hard drive, double click it, policies, mark both checkboxes) which will speed up your lappy, just don't use it without battery in case of power outage.

2. As mentioned before me, use DDU and then run CCleaner (both in safe mode), then download and install nvidia and intel drivers from their respective vendor support sites, if the nvidia card is still giving you the same error then imo you got a faulty gpu and you should RMA it while you still have the option.