Alienware 17 R4

Greetings from the UK

I'm hoping some of you can help before I place an order for the AW 17 R4.

I am looking for precise information on the following aspects:

QHD screen - I am beginning to see threads over the net about some sort of banding issues with this panel? I saw a video on youtube where Keithsomething was trying to demonstrate this but tbh he gets within like 2 inches of the screen and then complains about the banding. Is this really an issue? Is it something an average user would even notice let alone care about?

FHD screen - assuming that there is a serious issue with the QHD screen...if one were to opt for the FHD screen instead should I go for a 1060 instead of a 1070?

Fan Noise - I am super sensitive to laptop fan noise and gave up my Clevo P150EM because I just couldn't deal with the noise output even when gaming. It sounded like a Tornado all the time. I've also heard that the AW 17 R4 almost never turns on its fans even when gaming. Is this true and if not, how loud are the fans when it's idle and when it's under load? Does having a 1070 instead of a 1060 mean it will be quieter (as in theory the 1070 will be taxed less than the 1060)? Does the 17 inch perform better than the 15 inch for noise?

In the UK, the standard spec is with 8GB ram and 1TB 7200rpm HDD. Should I stick with these and upgrade them both separately as Dell's prices for upgrades are ridiculously expensive and probably not even good?

Finally is there anything else I should be aware of before placing an order? Upcoming discounts, other problems, anything etc?

Thank you in advance for your assistance

 

So, after reading some of the threads on the site it appears that with both the 15 and 17 there is some sort of a heatsink manufacturing fault which is causing stock temps to be very high and this cannot necessarily be rectified by re-pasting. Is this correct?

I'm not interested in pushing the system 'to the limits' - but I do want something that runs cool so hopefully the fans stay quiet or don't run at all

So confused about whether to order or not!

 

Yes there at visible lines in solid colors and since the lines are there on other images being displayed things look slightly different then they should.
Some people cant stand this some dont mind it or in some ways just ignore it as the benefits of the panel are still good (5ms, 120hz, G-Sync).
It really depends on the person.

If you go for the FHD screen still get the highest GPU you can afford. There are still games even at FHD that can tax the gpu, especially with maxed out Anti aliasing.

 

This is actually mainly an issue with the 15. We used pressure paper on both the 17 and the 15 and the problem causes the 15's heatsink to not get a good contact with the CPU.
As far as the 17, I think Alienware wants to make it a better contact on the 17 since they use similar's heat sink as the 15 but there is no problem on the 17.
I would write it off as the 17 could be better but is by no means having "issues", and the 15 definitely has some thermal issues currently.
They are going to rectify by changing an "assembly" with the heat sink, the heat sink itself will be the same. We suspect one of the pressure arms will be modified to bring more uniformed pressure.
It has been confirmed by Dell that the same heatsink will be used.

 

UK here as well. Mine (AW17 r4) is due to arrive Saturday though wish I'd come across this forum before ordering!
As it's my first gaming laptop, I only opted for the i7-6200 / 1060 / QHD as this is sufficient in what I require power wise.. though after reading through all the issues of the display and over heating I'm tempted to return it straight away.

However, I'm also a realist and know that with most dedicated forums, it's normally those that get the issues that will post and not so much by those who don't.

Fingers crossed I'll not end up with the issues others have suffered but hey, either way, looking forward to getting mine

 

You will have overheating. Undervolting will fix the issue most of the time. Since receiving mine over a month ago and putting NY face close to the screen to see the lines I haven't noticed them even once.

The only issue I can see is running the qhd panel with a 1060. You will be running a lot of the taxing games on pretty low settings compared to the 1080p screen.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the o/h issue. My normal routine with any new type of pc (whether desktop or laptop) is:
Run a few benchmarks
Update all drivers, firmware, etc
Run a few more Benchmarks
Tweak where required

It'll be interesting to see how the 1060 fairs with the QHD but as I plan on getting a Graphics Amplifier in the very near future it's something I'm not overly concerned about.

 

Hey guys can I redirect you to the following page for my experience: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...assembly-repaste-guide-results.797373/page-79

I received my laptop yesterday and its an absolute beast, I'm pleased with the thermals as well. Stable at 3.9Ghz at max of 82C and average of 70C on 15 mins of OCCT. 21626 firestrike and I've only just started. Repaste and pad with LM tomorrow :O

Also I'm not a fussy person but I cannot see any light bleed or horizontal lines on my QHD panel, it's awesome and super bright. Perfect for gaming! Runs beautiful on my 4K TV!

I'm UK based as well