Alienware 15 R3 mini Review [wednesday/thursday]

Aka same ****hy we have with AW17 and 18. Never fixed. Must rely om Hwinfo fan controll Thanks DELL!!

 

The laptop is 1 month old...so I'll wait for DELL to release a bios to fix it.

 

I really hope this for you. I waited month after month after month. Nothing happened. Dell offered a blasting hot unlocked Haswell i7-4930Mx in their best laptop models and forgot to fix the fan profile in EC. They said thank and would look into it... Then we asked nicely if they could put in a new fan control app in ACC so we could manually controlling the fans because of this problem. This was early-middle 2013. Same... Nothing happened!! Have Dellienware finally created such a fan controlling app in their ACC software now? NO!! But All other brands laptop models have this now!! And Dell forgot their customers. And still offer only terrible fan profile in Bios/EC firmware. All of you can easily see the results. If Dell's engineers don't want put in a good fan profile in bios... Why can't they develop a app in their ACC software? All Other OEM's models have both. Forced Max fans with a key macro and as well own software for controlling the fans. Nothing of this in newer AW models. You have to rely on 3rd party software as Hwinfo. Same as before!! Nothing will be changed!!

 

I understand. But I don't want fan control primarily (that could be great however), I just want the fan to kick in quicker when a process jumps from 0 to 90% usage.

Some say that the next bios update will already include the fan reaction fix (actually in the 1.0.6 beta it's already implemented apparently).

Regarding max fan you have fan performance mode in the bios that makes the fans go nut.

But let's be honest : That's the case with ALL manufacturer, Clevo for instance after a few bios updates they're like ghosts no driver, no bios nothing,....only prema and others fix the bios/ec and clean after them. Same for MSI and Asus.

This laptop will get many bios updates it's less than a month old Let's see.

 

But can you controlling the fans if you put them in performance mode in Bios? And remember Dell engineers easily can screw up a working fan profile in next firmware update. I can't understand why Dell don't want that you self can control the fans with a simple key macro or in their software like other OEM's. I have still my nice AW17 with screwed up fan profile. Thanks God we have Hwinfo64 + Liquid Metal!!

 

Well no the fan profile is not defective it's just as I said the reaction time for transitioning from one fan speed level to another.
But yeah I won't install a bios before seeing its effects, I mean you never know what quirk will happen next...

but tbh right now I smashed that cpu overheating problem with a good ol' TS + IC7. So can play any game for 20 hours lol, and in BF1 the fan are quiet ^^ clearly not at max level.

 

Hello everyone!

I was looking for a 15 inch portable gaming laptop for a long time, and when I came across the A15R3 and saw it's specs and thickness I just went OMG.

So, basically I'm just trying to figure out what specs I should go for with it:
1. Is the higher end CPU worth the higher temps? I plan to use the laptop with Autodesk Maya and for video editing so the higher end CPU would be good as long as there is no throttling.
2. How does the TN 120hz G-Sync panel compare to the IPS panel? Are the viewing angles worse etc?
3. Also, since I don't know much about G-Sync, is it worth the battery life and how much does it affect the battery life negatively?
4. What would be the best/cheapest place to buy an Alienware in EU/UK? Either physical shop or ship it.

Thanks in advance!

 

1. For now I cannot advise you to buy the 6820HK, the probability of having an overheating devise would be too high. the 6700HQ + 1070 will be powerful enough IMO ^^, Some 6700HQ units have bad temperatures but it's less than for the 6820HK.
2. The 120Hz : it has good horizontal viewing angles, but vertical viewing angles will be limited compared to the IPS panel, it's still comfortable according to the 120hz users.
3. If you're fine playing games with 60fps than forget about Gsync, just use Vsync. Personnally I do not need to play games with 100-120fps but some need that. I enjoy looking at a 120Hz TV, but for my laptop screen never felt the need to go further than 60fps.
4. Your best bet would be to order it via alienware from UK (other dell EU shops don't ship to UK) and contact a sales rep via the chat and try to get a discount !

 

Gsync actually matches the frames under 60 fps so don't get tearing. It's actyally very noticeable.

GSYNC actually works better below your monitors refresh rate ie 60hz below 60 frames. It matches the frames between the monitor and gpu which eliminates screen tearing. It is actually very noticeable and i would not want to go back to a non gsync screen tbh, others might disagree but for me its pretty huge.

 

tearing appears when the monitor refresh rates is below the FPS. I've never seen tearing below 60fps but had some issues with old GPU when I ran a game with 25/30fps that's for sure.

GSYNC is great but with my current setup, IPS + VSYNC I did not experience any tearing ghosting etc. . Above the 60-70fps pretty sure I'll have some, so I can really advise buying a Gsync for people seeking +60 fps.

 

You still see tearing below, not to mention say at 30 fps your monitor is refreshing twice every frame and they will not match up. I have a gsync monitor and it is most noticeable below 60 fps, very smooth, hard to describe. Really irons out your fps dips.

 

Thank you everyone for the info! You've been really helpful!

Is it true that TN panels usually have less backlight bleed when compared to IPS ones?
Also, does the TN panel have the same color gamut and response time as the IPS?
edit: I meant response time and not resfresh rate

 

the ips panels in these laptops are 25ms response time i believe, a decent tn panel is usually 5 ms and down. The tn panel will not compare to the ips for colour, and yes its true ips panels can have bad light beed usually due to how they are mounted in the frame/bezel. Sometimes you can loosen a screw and fix it but it is an issue i have experienced with my IPS monitors as well.

 

If you have the chance to sit in front of someone else's 120hz TN panel and then return to a 60hz IPS, you'll notice that the 60hz is sharper. However, the buttery smoothness of the 120hz TN panel creates awesome visualizations and is very easy on the eyes. I wish my multi-monitor trading/market data setup at work was 120hz panels.

Outside of the QHD on my Dell XPS, the TN panel on the Alienware is my favorite screen.

My TN panel on my 15R3 has no apparent bleed. I don't know the response time on this panel, but it is quick.

The last point to make on this display is that the TN panel is CRAZY bright. I can turn it down to 1 level above minimum and use it in a bright room without issue. I'll be on a 14 hour flight this weekend and expect that in a dim cabin I'll be able to use it with brightness all the way down.

 

Response time is 2ms on the TN panel I believe. TN panel is brigher than the IPS due to nits output: 400-nits (TN) vs 300-nits (IPS). I agree that the TN is a better choice between the two. Was a firm believer of the 4K IGZO until I got my hands on it. Also very infinitesimal chance that you will have to deal with light bleed problems on a TN.

 

It is technically incorrect to say "due to nits ouput" as nits measure luminance(objective), often incorrectly labbeled brightness(subjective).

In this case, the resulting luminance of screen technology post engineering and production. Thus we know the TN panel is brighter as reflected in the resulting luminance measure of 400 nits vs. 300 in the IPS.

I also installed the latest BIOS as mine was shipped with the .6 version. Temps remained the same, Time Spy benchmark saw FPS increase by a marginal number (like 4-5) and overall score increased by 40. I have the 6700HQ and the CPU runs into the 80s when gaming.