Alienware 17 R2 :( :(

I'm absolutely shocked at how bad this machine is. For a product that retails at £2200 it's quite a joke from Dell/Alienware in my opinion.

List of problems I've had -

CPU overheating thought I had remedied the problem with new paste however the temperatures are starting to rise again

HWINFO64 doesn't actually work on my machine it causes audio to glitch out and cause my system to throttle pretty hard. (Not faulting HWINFO I can't believe alienware don't have a manual fan controller this is stupid.)

Under load the light underneath the touch pad turns off under load of the right hand side no idea why it's doing that.

Do I wipe my hands clean of alienware sell it and move on? It's caused me a month of headaches without being able to play games I tried to play Rust a minute ago GPU usage was around 80-99% pretty good however CPU was sat at 10-20% at 80 degrees. How can they sell a system that overheats?

Sorry for the rant but I was hoping you guys might have some input to help me out.

 

I just wanted to flag something,

Have you updated the bios on this thing, if yes, just re flash the thing, worth a shot.

 

If the CPU is only reaching 80C, then it shouldn't be throttling due to the CPU. They are rated up to 105C.

Do you have the 240W PSU or the 180W PSU? And what graphics card?

 

A00 Bios, 240W PSU

CPU is reaching like 93 under load for about 20 minutes with 3DMARK Firestrike including demo

 

What thermal paste did you use to re-paste? And you should probably update the BIOS.

 

The latest bios makes the machine run even hotter a05 is like 95 degrees, gelid extreme

 

You may be pasting wrong or something, not sure. It shouldn't be running that hot, though.

Can't think of anything. I guess just ask Alienware to replace it. If they don't, sell it.

 

IMO you should return it and get another laptop. I would return my throttle-machine if I could.
I would get a laptop with G-Sync or maybe a laptop with a desktop CPU such as 4790k. If you don't mind the cost get a laptop with 980m SLI. But this alienware 2015 line up is terrible. I have mine for over a month now and I'm already looking for ways to get rid of mine. Although I am using the 180W adapter so I will try 240W to see if there will be any improvoments but still DELL is unbelievable to sell a laptop like this.

 

This is becoming a joke now, 97 Degrees are you serious?

 

As this is most likely going back does anyone have the OEM980M rom available so I can flash the GPU back to factory?

 

Here it is. I had a bit of trouble finding it when I was seeking the original (I couldn't save the stock vBIOS when I flashed Prema vBIOS)

 

Already done it thanks mate

Going to see what Dell/alienware say about this to be honest

 

Don't tell them you flashed a custom BIOS.

 

Return and take a refund... Alienware machines are fussy, have stupid kinks and honestly a waste of time and money as I realised about my R4... Get a Clevo P771ZM/DM... Can't go wrong with Clevo...

 

It's nice to hear the vBIOS worked well for you And as said before don't tell DELL you have flashed a custom vBIOS and you should be fine.

 

My R2 burnt out after two days of intensive usage.

I'm getting a new heatsink and two new fans fitted but even then I'm left feeling bitter and disappointed with this system.
Even the fans underneath are half blocked off. It's ridiculous.

It's certainly got the looks and I'm actually happy with the reduction in size personally along with the smaller adapter for 970m users.

However it runs too hot for my liking and I'm now pondering to sell once replacement parts are fitted.

 

I do not recommend Gelid in general. It performs lower than lets say IC Diamond. But there seems to be something seriously wrong with your laptop in general.

 

With Hwinfo64, you should disable the Dell EC monitor in the sensor status, and then in the fan control, uncheck the respin too. It will cause less audio glitch. And you should make the fan spin at medium speed from like 43-55/60 C, and over that will go maximum for example. Or you can manually control the fan speed when listen music to medium or high in playing games. Using this help me in decrease the heat efficiently. When didn't use Hwinfo, I met 97C when hardcore GTA V for like in 5 mins in gameplay.

I just pay $2000 for a freaking nightmare machine, so you don't need to worry much. If you are not satisfied with this machine, I will encourage you to return and get money back, waiting sometimes next year to get another one or get some gaming laptop out there.

 

I have alienware 17 r2 4980hq 980m 16gm ddr3 512ssd
I played 4-5hours in GTA 5 and 78celsius was the max temperatures
I use the latest bios
I owerclocked 4.2ghz cpu +135/250
Gpu and i played The witcher 3 max settings and my temperatures was max 80celsius.

 

I (briefly) had the 17 r2 (two) with 980m, and my experience was similar to the OP. It ran VERY hot--the power brick was too hot to touch. Better still Dell chose to sell it with the 180w PS, even knowing that it was insufficient for the 980m.

Which turned out to be lucky for me, because based on the PS issues I returned it and bought a 17 r3 (three) instead. While I do have issues with the individual UHD screen I received, in other respects the machine is a solid upgrade, and in the heat issue there is no comparison.