I Was Hands on with Alienware Area 51m w/ RTX 2080 and i9-9900K. AMA!

So I was able to get hands on with the Alienware Area 51m, and wow, I was impressed overall. The build quality, the keyboard, the trackpad, the bezeless display, the design. It is all very impressive. The main question is how cool the 9900k + RTX 2080 will run in the laptop. We'll have to see! Feel free to ask any questions, and I'll try to check by here every now and then and answer them. Here's my hands on video of the Area 51m:



What things would you guys like to see in my full review of the Area 51m? Cheers! Brandon

 

See if you can pass 136W cpu using command center, bios, throttlestop, or xtu.

 

1) If you did not get the top end model (example i7-9700K + RTX 2070). Would you be able to game on a single 330W adapter?

Or is the second adapter needed to power the GPU? (and only 1 adapter triggers iGPU on the CPU or something)

2) How far can you open the display (estimate at angle)?

3) Any light-bleed on the 1080P panel that you could see (if still got hands on it, use black video test)

4) Speakers: how is the bass and overall quality

5) Does the black (or white) version have that rubber finish (soft touch) all over it again in this model?

6) We have conflicting reports that not all models will have same cooling configuration (some say heatsink will be different and another said that there will be less intake vents). Can you confirm if any of this is true?

 

Temps? I ordered the 9700k / 2080 hoping the 9900k has reasonable temps so I would for sure be in the clear

 

I have a good friend that got up close and personal with one at CES. The 9900K hit 99°C in Cinebench R15.

 

Figured as much. I got the 9700k so I should be fine. Also cinebench temps would be way higher then gaming.

 

Well, I don't think there is any good excuse for that. It shouldn't have a cooling system that allows that, and they should stop advertising overclocking as a benefit when the TDP and thermal management do not allow that to be done properly. Companies should not sell broken products. Or, maybe CES just wasn't a high priority for them and they sent a bad sample.

Oh wait... remember, Azor says it is perfectly normal and fine for modern laptops to get that hot. Silly me, I forgot. Their BGA tripod models do that, too... so it must be normal.

 

That might be true if it wasn't a unified cooling design.

 

Is anyone surprised a 9900k runs hot in a laptop? Lol I forsure am not. I do have hope for the 9700k however. My desktop 9700k runs at 60c under load however with an aio.

Not gonna lie not sure what that means lol

 

Yes and no. No because a 9900K runs hot in a desktop unless you delid and put it on water. Yes because there should not be any excuse for any laptop to run hot. This applies to all brands and all specs. And, all brands are guilty of the same sins with laptops.

 

Here are examples of unified and non-unified designs. Hope this makes sense.

 

My use case (gaming, word, photoshop) on a laptop makes a 9700k a far more reasonable option than the 9900k, especially since the number of games that benefit from HT isn't high (for now).

The 9700k is almost certainly the choice I'd go for in a DTR given the choice, I think. Get a nicely binned one from SL.

 

Hi, I've seen u around NBR & uTube, nice to meet u Giz. I'd like to add some background to what my friend SSJ asked, & also OldGuy

Through reddit AMA the other day, SJ was told by Alienware GM that 9900k was locked to 120watts (if GPU load present)(CryoTech = shared CPU/GPU heatsink etc) & can boost to 136watts for CPU loads; SJ wants u to break that 136watt barrier if possible in order to see if 51m indeed has a hard power limit we need to be aware of

For heatsink & side vents query, a copy/paste from sales page

The highest-end configurations carry 8 total heat pipes

Entry configurations do not have side-exhausts

As u can see, low-end configs may contain different parts & those parts are a current mystery. Typically, Alienware will send out their top config for review; reviewers without exception will not inform readers / buyers of the uphill battle some may have to climb in order to DIY towards the top config, say, if they buy a low-end config & source their own parts later; the Aliens do what they can to thwart some user upgrades

For our purposes, we find the 8700 (non-K) CPU on the sales menu as starter CPU; in a world where they're marketing easy user upgrades to CPU, it'd be typical for someone to buy the entry 8700 & then now or later toss in 9700k 9900k etc, but to do so, we'd wonder if 8700's ship without K-series 'over-clocking' heatsink & side exhausts (or a side vent 'system' / baffle etc) referenced in the sales literature above

I expect they'll ship u 9900k for review & so u might not be privy to what lesser models are shipped with, but you'd be in position to ask what the minimum factory config needs to be to get better heatsink + side exhaust. Naturally, some of us wish to know what the heatsink (& side vent system if applicable) will cost from Dell Parts in order to move 8700 to a 9900k later on, but it'd be nice to know what the user can order upfront minimum to get it inside & shipped (example if 9700k + 2070 is minimum config for those parts it means 9900k is easy upgrade w/ no out-of-pocket expense; it also implies 8700 buyers will need to pay Dell Parts for the 'overclocking' heatsink)

I hope you understand that most buyers are unaware there are hoops to be jumped through sometimes, & are unaware that 'easy upgrading' may have an asterix next to it, like out-of-pocket expense for parts over & above just the CPU, perhaps another powerbrick etc

As for me? I'd like to know about the Bios (UEFI graphic mouse-driven, or is it old-timey blue + keyboard?); specifically, how far can you overclock it? Is the Bios locked down (gimped)?

Overclocking will be a combination of Bios & CmndCntr software so we're told. SJ wants to know if XTU or similar will work in order to get a better overclock

The #1 question we'd like to know is how far can u push it before it overheats. Is it a throttle monster?, loud?, can u hit 5GHz across all cores?, 4.9?, is the Bios locked?, are you restricted to their tame factory preset overclocks (Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 etc) or do you have granular control that lets u go as high as possible (& let the cooling system decide the top clock)

Honest review on performance & features, not a puff-piece
Thanks

(PS: if need be, do send SJ a PM for the best way to attempt to surpass 136watts & what software is needed to measure / monitor watts for the test, he's highly experienced)

 

Where you able to see the thermals for the device? If so, how are they?
Did you notice any considerable throttling for CPU or GPU?
Would you recommend this setup over something less like a 9700k?

Thanks!

 

I wonder if it's because they kept letting some people take it apart if they may have not been reapplying the thermal compound and just slapping it back together? I really hope not but you never know. Plus we all know that Dell uses ****ty thermal compound anyway.

 

Depends on how you count or see it

On top 7 pipes (with side-exhausts)


Turn it around and you will find 8 pipes, bruh. Its called... Magic LOOOL

 

Looks awesome. Only thing I don't like is the dual PSU requirement.

Also, the giant "A51" is a bit silly but I could live with it

 

Atleast it's subtle and not rgb. Being an off color to outside case color was a good choice I think.

The dual psu thing was starting to become more and common ever since they've been stuffing full desktop gpu's into laptops. Plus the new intel cpu's get hungry once you overclock them. I think Asus has been doing it with their 700 series laptops too.

 

I must have forgotten but do we know if that laptop at CES had a 2080 or 2070?

 

I don't know why they just didn't requisition their own 700+W PSU like the Eurocom folks did - http://www.eurocom.com/ec/images(404)780WACDCAdapter

 

It has to be cheaper to sell two PSU's than to have a custom one made. Plus I'm sure they're sketchy whether or not this laptop will be a success or not. While there is a few of us definitely buying this and more waiting on reviews, we're still a minority. Most people probably expect laptops to be thin and light and wouldn't even give the Area 51m a second thought. Fingers crossed I'm wrong as I'd like this kind of laptop design to stick around.

 

The activity / posts just here on NBR, I think, says a lot about possible market demand for such a product. The manufacturer's seem to have almost talked themselves into the 'thinner is better' mindset based on reviewer tastes or who knows what. However, the buzz around this tells me there's plenty of interest. The question is, is there enough world-wide interest to sell 250,000 to 1,000,000 units?

 

I think the PSU thing is an issue with EU law or something. I forgot who it was, maybe @Meaker@Sager but something about the amount of power or size of the PSU? Not sure maybe he can chime in.

Might be related to the 99Whr battery limit for planes.

 

It's easier to get regulatory and safety approval with a sealed design, combine that with the cost of design/production and combining two is easier.

 

Already posted my 2 cents here. Add in Dell’s in-prices due 330w (240w) + 180w bricks is used for many of their other products... Cheaper, many people don’t want Power adapters looking thicker(bigger) than the laptop + the power cap!

 

That would have made the most sense. If Dell would stop using a stupid AC adapter design that talks to the laptop (signal wire) to identify themselves as an "approved" device anyone could use one of those 780W AC adapters on a Dell/Alienware if they wanted to. You can still do it, but it turns into a bigger and more complicated project to add that unnecessary "feature" to it.

There are probably a lot more than you think. Some are just more vocal than others, and some are willing to compromise rather than make a big stink about it.

Yeah, the multiple threads on this new product and the content of them, the YouTube videos, etc. shows that there are a ton of people that care. Probably more care now than ever before because of how horrible gaming turdbooks have become. And, I know there are many that didn't rock the boat with the thinner/lighter BGA filth that have since changed their tune after seeing how pathetic that garbage is. Some have made their displeasure known more effectively than others. But, as many (or more) that quietly went with the flow won't let any grass grow under their feet if the opportunity to ditch the feces is available to them.

 

I'm on the fence about one. I'm thinking 9700K / RTX 2070. If I can get it to behave with a 240w for the CPU and a 330w for the GPU, I'll jump on it. I can transfer the RAM and SSD from my 13 R3 into it to save a few bones as well.

 

I7-9700k + RTX 2070 together will not consume 330W, so assuming the GPU and CPU don't actually need dedicated power lines, you would only need 1 PSU

115W max stock for 2070 (per NVIDA released specs) with boosts presumably to about 150W given their xx70 history

124W Full load for i7-9700K stock at default settings; overclocking to about 5Ghz will stretch this system assuming you can do tweaks on the power settings and cooling.

 

No, Dell didn't let anyone test the thermals of the laptops officially since they are pre-production. I did come ready to test with USB loaded with Cinebench, heaven benchmark, and HWMonitor, but alas...

Okay, so main questions you guys want me to explore:

1) What can be ran on a single 330w power supply? (9700K+2070 possible?) CPU only? GPU/CPU Power limited?
2) What's the heat pipe upgrade path when you buy a low spec model and want to upgrade to 9900K later?
3) What's the actual power limits for the laptop? Can they be bypassed to push higher than 138w?
4) At what point does the laptop throttle temperature wise?
5) Speakers
6) Angle of display
7) Light bleed
8) Bios type and features?
9) Overclocking Method. Bios or XTU or Command software from Alienware?

Any other questions I missed? I had to read through them quickly. Flying out tomorrow morning. I'll check the thread again later.

If I were to guess, the 9900K will cause thermal throttling when at stock settings with heavy CPU loads like rendering videos, but I doubt it will throttle when playing 95% of games, unless they are super CPU intensive. So I'm gusssing that an AVX Offset of 2-4 would likely prevent any thermal throttling and would still render faster than any other setup out there. But only time will tell! We'll have to see! Maybe no throttling at all if you got a sillicon lotteried chip?

I'm thinking the Area 51m will be my new laptop, but I am still really liking the thinness of my Aorus X7 DT V8. Kinda hard to give up...

 

Remember efficiency. I don't think the power consumption numbers for Cpu will be 100% valid on laptops with worse cooling, voltage management and the components efficiency. The higher overclock, the worse.

 

i'm not overly obssesed with CPU cinebench performance or how little cpu will affect actual games so my questions are more about graphics, ie. RTX gpus, display panel.

1. since alienware is using DGFF (not following any of nvidia set standards), does that mean they are using desktop class RTX 2080 GPU? from my understanding, laptop 2080 (not max q) is limited to 150W, while desktop GPU is given 215W for non FE. this is a big difference in terms of power and clock speeds. Azor did mention they will run the 2080 at180W power. so what's the deal here? is that laptop GPU standard or full desktop GPU standard? Can it be clocked higher or run at over 200W TDP?

2. if PSU is not providing enough juice, can Area-51m run on two 2x330W PSU giving it 660W effective?

3. any possibility for 1440p IPS high refresh rate panel? fhd is a waste for such an awesome laptop.

 

Heatpipe upgrade path? Lol the cooling doesn’t change between cpu/gpu choices.

 

We don't actually know that. There are conflicting reports on this from alienware themselves

 

Really, wasn’t aware of that. I would imagine getting the 9900k and/or the 2080 would give you the max heatpipe config forsure though.

 

Indeed it will because it is the highest-end configuration. The issue is with Dell's wording on the product webpage, such as "(Entry configurations do not have side-exhausts.)" and "The highest-end configurations carry 8 total heat pipes.". If this wording actually means that the lower configuration such as 8700 + 2070 doesn't come with side-exhausts and the maximum heat pipes then the upgrade path is more difficult, requiring the purchase of the top end heatsink as well. Also what is not clear is if indeed they ship with different heatsinks, does the top end heatsink come standard with which model? Only when the 2080 is selected independent of CPU or when the 9700K is selected even with the 2070.

 

So with a 9700k / 2080 I should have side vents and best cooling correct?

 

I would imagine so, but it is not entirely clear yet.

 

I would think so. Bette be or insta cancel order. The 9700k / 2080 is definately not entry so I bet I’m ok.

 

My educated guess would be yes.

The GPU consumes way more power than the CPU if you get it with a RTX 2080.

 

Wasn’t the 51m supposed to have the 2060 eventually too? I bet thats the config that will not have the side exhausts.

 

As stupid as it would be when you're selling a so-called upgradable product, it would also be anti-consumer : people buying the low-end version in order to upgrade later, would have to purchase a new heatsink, a new power brick and yet another outer shell with vents ?

That's insane . I can't believe it... It's literally like shooting one's own foot.

I saw this line in the pdf too, but seriously ? I hope it's marketing BS.

 

Me too. I hope it is just 1 hand not either understanding or talking to another. It goes entirely against how they are marketing this thing as easily worked on

 

Totally agree, I mean in no video anywhere of them talking about the 51m do they say the cooling differs, hopefully its just a mistake because thats pretty dumb.

 

I like to keep the #1 rule of buying computers in mind: somewhere on the spec sheet is where the vendor makes their margin. Sometimes that is memory or other components and sometimes it is chassis. In this case, the cooling system. My guess is the "suits" said... ok make a crazy upgradeable laptop but remember 80% of buyers will never actually upgrade. So, give the best bells and whistles to the ones that buy at/near the top now and save on the others. So low end buyers now will have to make up for it later in new heatpipes, chassis inserts whatever.

Homer

 

If you choose to upgrade CPU/GPU in the future, you will need to upgrade at least one of the power supplies too... Lower configs only come with 180w and 240w.... You will need a 320w if you upgrade your cpu on your own ...

 

There is no possible way for this to consume more than 420W as is... The whole differing PSU thing is useless. I simple do not understand what they are going for with the different PSU combinations.

Every config below RTX 2080 Will also consume less than 330W.

Only the i9 + RTX 2080 should need 2 PSUs at stock

The i7 Ks + RTX 2080 Should run stock on single 330W but will need 2 PSUs to overclock any.

HOWEVER, there is no confirmation if the GPU is separately powered, in which case you are locked in at 2 PSUs if you want to run any games. (presumably iGPU only on 1 PSU in this case)

 

Isn't the RTX 2080 a 150W TDP part?
So CPU=119W + RTX 150W is 270W.
The rest of the system will not use 60W.
Even if LCD uses 30W, thats 30W remaining for mainboard, DDR and drives and USB.
A single 330W PSU was enough here even if everything is 100% max load.
Delta 330W can pull 400W from the wall.

Why would they need a 330W +180W? that's silly.

 

They are quoting a 180w RTX 2080. Hopefully that is true. That would be one of the highest power ones availible

 

Hi again Gizmo. I appreciate you including this concern on your list

If the photo is the performance heatsink w/side exhausts, the 1st thing we'll see in the owner's community is for a novice buyer to go entry-config + entry-cooling solution, who'll drop in 9900k later, overheat for it & not know why. The rude awakening will be whatever it costs for the premium parts & whatever skill-level needed to change the parts in w/out breaking something

My heart goes out to entry / novice buyers, & those who've never worked inside a laptop before. It's usually then when they find out it was easier & smarter to pay upfront for whatever Alienware classifies is the minimum high-end config which can get the good parts shipped inside now

One sentence in a review like yours to get the word out could go a long way, & I thank you for your time

 

From what it looks like, there is no iGPU here. But I guess we have no confirmation thus far. Looks like everything including the eDP cable is directly connected to the dGPU.

So it might be like Clevo. Also explains why battery life is so bad.