New Alienware 17 R4 first impressions and temp problems

I have had my Alienware 17 r4 for a week now and it was ordered directly from Dell. It has the 7820k and 1080. My first impressions of this notebook were not great, the surround around the panel was not attached properly. I noticed it the moment i got it out the box

At stock speeds with no overclock during gaming my temps are in the 88/89c range. At 4ghz it hits 99c on three cores and thermal throttles. Level 2 is exactly the same. Is there no way to run this notebook at 4ghz without re pasting?

I did some further testing and found that there is quite poor back light bleeding at the bottom, although i suspect that this is largely due to the surround. There is also some discoloration.

When i opened the bottom panel i found that a few of the screws had not been screwed in properly and the threads were nearly threaded.

I have raised a support ticket with dell.

 

That sounds like a return product honestly. I had my own issues with the 17r4 but of the 3 I received all 3 had perfect thermals. Last two were at ~78-80 at 4.3 ghz. I had my doubts that they sent refurbished and or returns labeled as new though.


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I was thinking the same thing. I have sent dell a few messages now and have the three year warranty with them so will get a return. What problems did you encounter Riktar?

 

To be honest it seems that the issues with dell are getting more and more once you get a model newer than 2015. It reallly feels that dell has gotten way more lazy. If you want actual good temps out of newer alienware notebooks you'll have to do a lot more than just repaste.

 

i really love this laptop, but i gotta be honest with you, buying an alienware is a draw of luck and you are most likely going to be on the unlucky side. The laptops are mass produced in such a way quality control just go down the drain. heatsink tolerance issue is by far the worst issue with alienware 17 R4 at the moment with absolutely no fix from the factory and it affects majority of the system regardless on when you purchased it, regardless of how some people here say otherwise. Even with a heatsink replacement, the cpu core temperature differential will not be resolved. right now im tracking a new batch of heatsink with a new part number to see if the issue is resolved but i wont have data until i get my hand on it. feel free to contribute : http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...u-core-temperature-differential-issue.805062/

now having said that, it doesnt mean this laptop cant perform well. even though the CPU temps are rubbish out of the box, the GPU however is terrific, best in class i would say. you dont even need luck for the GPU temps to be awesome. and if you are willing to repaste and do extensive research and trials, you can still have alright CPU temps but core temperature differential problem will still be there unless u are willing to physically modify the heatsink AND resort to LM.

every laptop manufacturers have their share of problems, alienware is no exception and same goes to other brands like MSI. it depends on your attitude, preference and level of acceptance towards the issue and how willing are you to work on it. i totally agree alienware dropped the ball on otherwise a damn fine gaming laptop. the CPU cooling out of the box is just rubbish.

 

I spoke to tech support today. They are sending an engineer tomorrow with a new heatsink and he will re pad and repaste. The tech support was actually pretty good he said give the engineer your thermal grizzly and check the pads that the guy is using.
I got a second opinion on the screen from a friend with better eyes and he said the panel is alot better than i thought. He calibrated the screen and it looks great now.

 

That's great to hear! Can't wait to get mine

 

Yeah I was in your exact situation and documented all of it in the owners thread. I received the first with a dead pixel so they automatically sent another one 4 days later. This second one was for sure a return/refurb because every panel was creaking and cracking, hinges felt worn, overall build quality was significantly lower than the first one. They then sent a third replacement, this one was by far the best, very impressive stock paste job (78-81 at 4.3 ghz 3+ hours of gaming (ffxiv, witcher 3, metro LL). This one however had a funky keyboard and after several attempts to get it resolved, I was over it. I was dealing with returns and exchangtes for 3 weeks and I have a sager 8672 with a 980m, so I just decided to wait for AW to get their act together maybe. It's a shame because I still think the 17R4 is by far the best gaming laptop once all kinks are ironed out. If I didn't have the sager I would have totally tinkered with it and kept it. Fingers crossed for next gen...

 

It sounds like you had a hard time with the alienware 17 Riktar. I searched for a long time to find a notebook that i really liked and that could replace a desktop. The alienware 17 was a great fit for me. I now have to wait until monday as the engineer cancelled after i have waited in and wasted a day. I have a big syringe of Thermal grizzly Kryonaut waiting for them. If that doesnt fix it then i will probably return the notebook and start again. Im not sure I would have better success with some of the other big brands

 

Luckily for me I have a microcenter next to me and went in person for a hands on of all the big (premium) gaming laptop offerings. None were even in the same league when it came to overall feel and quality. Imo, by far the most premium feeling gaming laptop, built like a tank, nice fit and finish, very aggressively priced with high end components... Unfortunately qc seems spotty over at Dell.

 

I tried the MSI titan pro and the Asus. I had all kinds of problems with my previous Asus laptop and neither the MSI or the ASUS felt as solid as the alienware. Im just hoping that the I can get somewhere with the tech on monday. 101c in BF1 is definitelynot what i was hoping for.

 

Update: A technician ( I used that term in the loosest sense possible) attended my house and botched a thermal repaste and pad. I ended up telling him to sort the repair out after spreading 8 tons of paste all over the place. I then tested and saw the same temps of 96c+ while gaming. I endured a 20 mimute call to dell who were a nightmare and told me that the alienware 17 should only be guaranteed to run at stock!! Crazy..

 

Man, this is insane... in my case is the same.
I bought a 7820HK which is unlocked and on BIOS I can set 2 stages of OC.

Even on stock I can't run more than 3.7Ghz (It has a limit of 3.9Ghz) but I never had the chance to see the processor on it's full potential.
I would rather have saved more money having bought a 7700HQ. :S

 

Sorry to hear that man. At least your tech showed up, Haha. That's insane... But even if they guarantee it to run at stock, 4.3ghz is technically stock since they advertise that speed. Like I mentioned earlier, your unit sounds like a refurbished/return, I'd ask for a replacement. I'm sure they'll send you one. All 3 new units for me were below 82-84c @ lv1-2


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Dell informed me today that they don't expect their notebooks to be able to run at 4.2ghz! Two different tech guys gave me the same info

 

I don't think they know what they're talking about. Their customer service Is a crap shoot lol


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It was amusing when the onsite tech was talking. he had no idea at all. He sprayed thermal paste all over the place like a garden hose. I found it everywhere. Your right about a crap shoot Riktar! lol that cracked me up

 

Well, why they put these profiles on The bios at the first place? Really shameful :/


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Lol, it's really hard to mess up a paste job too... Like really hard Haha. The fact that even a mediocre paste job will give you somewhat reasonable Temps leads me to believe that this might be an heat sink issue. They've been known to be uneven and/or bent. I'd call them up and ask for a replacement.


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Yeah, at least they are honest. Intel doesnt guarantee higher clock speed. Maybe change tech spec on their website.

I fix it for you

 

I just got my new AW17R4 couple days ago.

My config: QHD 120hz TN panel, i7 7820hk (currently OCd to 4.0Ghz), GTX 1080, 16GB DDR4, 256GB SSD PCIe + 1TB HDD

Cooling pad 120mm single fan

I'm new at all of this but I have been running stress tests and benchmarks since I've had it and I had some concerns with the temperatures regarding the CPU during load. I never got any thermal throttling but temperatures were getting into the 80s on average when running GTA 5 for an hour on "default" settings. CPU temps would spike into the low 90s too.

I called Dell tech support, they did a virtual take over and ran all kinds of tests, updated my BIOS and made certain adjustments to my OS for better performance. They said everything looked good and said that as long as the "avg" temperature doesn't reach 93c or higher that is normal and not dangerous to the cpu or machine itself. Is that accurate? I also noticed the power limit throttling was signaling when running the tests but tech said it was fine.

I had the CPU overclocked by just 1 multiplier, so it was

 

I have had two Sunon heatsinks. It was clear when the first one was removed that the thermal paste had holes in it and was like hard toothpaste.
There was a gap under two of the thermal pads on the stock factory delivered heatsink. The new part was Sunon and I laughed when I saw the flaking Tim on the heatsink it was terrible. I cleaned it off because the tech wouldn't do it. That was when I turned around to see him handle the laptop like a sumo wrestler. He was clueless. I am beginning to think that it's a refurb. The panel Is from 2015 and is the old type that had watermark and banding issues.
I tried to play bf1 last night and ended up with the jerkiest game play ever

 

I’m debating letting dell take my pc and make bios updates and customize. I’ve heard horror stories though

 

You can make the bios updates easily in the alienware software. I hope that you have better luck than me

 

I would contact order support and make them send you a new system.
If you just bought it then there is no reason you should be having technicians repair a system that is still within its return period.
It should be always replaced for a new system.

 

Thanks. I totally agree with you and argued the point with Dell. They were quick to offer a refund, rather than an exchange which is sad because I could see that changes had been made with the heatsink and pads. The applied thermal toothpaste was had a hole in the middle which was very obvious when the heatsink was taken off. Its been a frustrating experience as my friend bought the same model on the same day and has great temps without repasting at 4.2ghz.

 

Definitely a refurb, I also had that panel in my first unit. It was discontinued in march, you should be able to complain, show evidence and get the brand new one which is awesome

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Take the refund and buy another one new. That way you're guaranteed they won't send another refurb.

 

I would do but I got it at a great discount price. I feel slightly aggrieved that i have to buy another one to get a fully working new model. In your sig it shows you have the gt73vr by msi. How have you found it Maineiac12?