Next Alienware 13/15

Hi,

Are there rumor threads on this forum about the next possible AW 13/15 release?
I've searched around the net and could not find any.

Would the next release be on the same form factor?

I am looking to buy around the end of this year and wanted to replace my current AW 15.

Cheers,
Ron

 

My understanding is they keep the same form factor. For 2-3 years. At first I would think they try to stuff the 1080 max q into the 13 but I doubt it.

Maybe a thin 15 but they are really against max q


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They will definately keep the disign for a few years.

I would be super surprized if they didn't offer some super thin model.

With the growth of Razer and now ASUS Zephurus, and the soon to be Acer Triton, they will have to put something out to compete

I would hope they put something back into the enthusiast range too, but that is a far off dream

 

I'd prefer they keep the current design but man do I wish they had more usb ports on the sides.

 

I am so disappointed the current form factor does not have an SD card slot!

So the current design was only introduced this year and it will last for another 2 years?! arghh

 

Simply Skip current gen. Your 15 r1 is very good for atleast a year. Or else look for clevo p870dm3

 

You mean like normal USB ports right? I'm not too bummed with the port selection on my 13 (which is the same as the 15 and 17 I believe), but the fact that I don't have any USB-C devices does mean I have to use a dongle when I use it as a desktop replacement (which is actually easier than plugging in 5 separate devices).

It still offers far better port support than 90% of the laptops out there.

 

The 1080 Max-Q is already available for the 15 R3 in the US. You can check on Dell's website. However, the new factory OC 1070's in any 15 R3 built after 15 June 2017 handily outperforms the 1080 Max-Q. I would suspect that the new 13 R3 will get the 1070 Max-Q within the next couple of months; likely when the Ryzen chips are announced to be available for the systems.

 

I doubt it. While the thermals are better on Max-Q I don't think they're better enough to get a 1070MQ into the 13 R3, plus they've already said that there isn't going to be a 1070N 13 R3.

 

For 1 more year you mean? I already have this 15 r1 for 2 years. My lil brother will take over my current AW 15 r1 by end of this year so I was looking forward to a new form factor early next year.

 

Yes, they are plagued with lot of issues. If you aren't afraid of mods simply buy it and tweak it. Buy 17" to get bigger fans and it will be 10-15% more cooler than 15". Also, if you're buying get 7820HK instead of HQ locked BGA.

 

Well lets break it down, your Haswell is what 3.7ghz boost? and Kabylake is 3.8ghz and the difference between Haswell and Kaby is *maybe* 10%? So ok sure you're down about an effective 3-400mhz on the CPU. Lets look at the 980, well the 980 is about the same as a 1070 worst case 1060. So in order to see any *real* difference you would have to buy a maxed out machine and only then would you see any real jump in performance. So you'd for sure have to wait for Coffeelake but that'll be Christmas *at best*. By that point Volta would be right around the corner which would offer significantly faster performance than both the 1080 or 980. But by the time Volta launches now we're talking June/July '18

Unless you do significant gaming while on battery power you'd be better off buying an Graphics Amp and a 1080TI than a new machine.

 

Im looking to replace my current AW15 early next year. Hopefully I can wait for all the Coffeelake and Volta you mentioned

 

That's probably for the best, honestly if I were in your position the most I'd to is get a graphics amp and wait for Cannonlake in 2019 but I understand if you're itching for something new at this point. Coffee/Volta will be nice and I'd expect both of them to be ready about this time next year.

 

My brother is actually the one who can't wait =) He is itching to get his hands on still very capable AW 15 I promised to hand this down to him this Christmas.

So now I am on an early hunt for a replacement but I am not really in a hurry as I still have an 17-6700k skylake desktop with a GTX 670 to mess around with.
I'll probably get a desktop 980 Ti card and at 1440p monitor before going for my next AW.

 

Might not be that far... I now see coffee lake CPUs on ultrabooks

 

I will give you a tip, buy your brother a coffeelake or Ryzen CPU based laptop and you can keep the AW 15. Tell him, there is uneven core differentials and pch PROCHOT issue.

 

Not the 45W chips

 

whats happening why are the current AW prices dropping here in Asia? prices are at around $400usd off

 

I believe its a refresh or flushing out old models. I heard someone got a new 17 r4 with new heatsink design and not tripod anymore.

 

Where did u hear that? Is this true? I haven't heard anything about a new heatsink

 

*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R4 Owner's Lounge
Not really sure if its real deal. But I'm impressed with temps.

 

Missed this post? “The improvements aren't hardware related rather in the areas of using better thermal paste for the cpu with more attention to placing on the thermal pads..“

 

could it be that the next chips will be coming to AW thats why they are clearing the current stocks? This part of Asia does not have the i7-7820HK CPUs yet

 

See top end models fully loaded one. AW debuted HK in India this time.

 

Upping this thread... I am still on a hunt hehe when are the 8th gen cpus coming at least?

 

There is no difference between the 7th gen and the 8th gen mobile at least not yet. My guess is we will see a new gen using Vega using the new embedded process sometime for the back to school period in July.

 

Only info anyone has is were being told to watch CES and PAX events for announcements. Aside from that everything is pretty much speculation.

 

The 980m is a little bit slower than a 1060. The 1070 is quite a bit faster. But i expect new gpus this year so i would wait anyway.

 

Exactly right. The 1070, even mobile, is considerably better than the previous 980m. The mobile 1070 is more akin to the 980 Ti desktop! ( http://gpuboss.com/gpus/GeForce-GTX-980-Ti-vs-GeForce-GTX-1070-Mobile)
The new Pascal cards were leaps and bounds above their previous counterparts.

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I'm actually really fond of the current laptop formfactors.
I'm hoping announcements of the volta GPU's this CES or soon after, followed by quad/hex core i7 notebook CPU's that don't have low TDP.

After aliewnare adding those components to their arsenal, I will very likely get a new Alienware 13 oled, or a low chance for alienware 15 even a slight chance for 17 depending on the specs they will get and their prices.

 

With your wishes... Expect even more heat problems if Dell continues with same formfactor. Cpu with higher TDP will need a more massive cooling. Either must Dell increase the chassis thickness or enlarge the footprint. And more massive cooling mean always heavier weight. Pure physics.

 

Agreed, though if you take it apart you can see how a smaller footprint may actually better the thermals.
Hear me out: the tripod design is faulty and should never gone past the concept phase; the routing of the heat through the heatsink is disproportionate to the route of the fan cooling and counteracts itself in the center whereas it should have a singular input for cold air, over the circuit, and then out via the rear. Doing this could decrease the footprint laterally, allowing for an infinity display and slimmer design. Give it better thermal paste and you have a winner. This is what I hope they do with the next Alienware 15. Doubtful but still. Possible.

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Dell's engineers couldn't even make space for a normal sized 3rd M.2 ssd or 4 ram slots i the 17,3 inches chassis. And TRIPOD design is soon everywhere due smaller MB in all laptops with thin design. HS need to be designed as a unified design as it is. And I mean next BGA chips from Intel will need a bigger footprint on PCB (MB). Even less space for the needed missing screw. Put in a more power demanding Cpu in this mess... An you can just gess the final results.

 

More power with no way to use it can be worse than less powerful because functionality is impaired. Kind of like having a 1,000 horsepower engine in a jalopy with a clogged up radiator and a blown transmission, it will just sit there and cook itself to death.

 

But the cooling if mounted correctly with the right paste cools exceptionally well and i don't expect the next gen to run much warmer.

All heat problems where due to quality control.

 

And QC will be fixed for the refresh? Azor said it was fixed last Christmas. Over a year ago. Still a HELL.
See...post #31. "followed by quad/ hex core i7 notebook CPU's that don't have low TDP". The normal has been 45w TDP for Mobile H processors. We talk about increased power. And we don't talk about quad. I'm sure you have seen power usage in full bench with stock Coffee.

 

As far as I know the TDP with the new coffee lake CPU's will still be 45watt and the die will be larger. THe biggest problem with the past gens have been the small die size. This is also reflected by the GPU vs CPU temps in the systems these days. A 125~150 watt GPU could be kept at 65~70C in the past 2 ALienware generations but the CPU's always run hotter. This is visible in other systems as well.

So my guess would be that the temps would remain the same but less uneven temps.

For nwo I am holding out for replacing my system. Mine is more than 2 years old now. Hopefully somewhere this year next gen Nvidia GPU's and the coffee lake CPU's. A 6 core CPU would be ideal for my tasks next to gaming (Music production and rendering).

But I am surprised by how well the 980M still performs in 1080P gaming. All current games still can be played with decently high setings and around 60fps or even higher in a lot of the games so I do not feel the urge to hurry up to replace this system.

 

Thanks for the inputs guys! really love reading them while we await whats to come next hehe

Throwing this up in the air:
Given that the next gen CPU has a bigger die size, will that influence a change in the form factor?

 

Yeah, I know H Mobile will come as before with 45w TDP. They will as before be used in different sized Notebooks. As small as 14 and up to 18,4". Some extremely thin. No changes there.
I answered more on what the end result would be If Dell contiued to use same sized chassis + same cooling, but put in a chips with higher TDP (if this was released by Intel - as the Q - don't have low TDP). It's a reason laptop with LGA chips use chassis who is thicker than what Razer use for 7820HK.

From what I have read... The soldered package will take more space on MB. AMD graphics will replace iGPU, but on same package as extra die.

 

I think you're misunderstanding how this is going to work. The new packaging simply is a hardware interconnect for a dGPU to an Intel CPU and it was made to save PCB space not add. In addition this design was primarly made for Apple who insisted on using AMD GPUs specifically for the HBM integration to reduce PCB space. My guess is that they want a 13" MBP with a dedicated GPU and can't do an adequate battery with the current dRAM configurations now.

In other words they're trying to package laptops similarly to how consoles are done. It seems like a decent concept and what we'll end up with is a vapor chamber over the package and perhaps heatpipes to the external vents.

On a separate note the heat issue is not the packaging but rather Intel's uArch is tired and needs a top to bottom redesign

 

I talk about laptops who will contain both dGPU and Cpu - Aka Gamingbook's.


Yeah, I know it will take less space on MB vs. laptops who don't have or come with dGPU (Nvidia or AMD) on MB. I talk about increased Intel PCB package size (Cpu die interconnected with AMD graphics). Bigger Intel PCB will need it's space on MB.

Less space on MB *if* the notebook come without dGPU.

 

I dont think that they will use the variants with AMD igpu for gaming laptops. Kinda pointless to use.

 

On 13" it sounds kinda cool. Optimus using iGPU and nvidia 1060 or Volta successor.

 

6 core i7 and a 1160 would be my ideal 13inch and i would instabuy it.

 

Never say never, bruh. Seen this? Intel will also offer people Cpu with GPU's in SLI

The GPU this is Vega based, and the "Vega RX M GH". What's hilarious is that the processor also holds the standard Intel IGP, an HD 630 and that means this one processor has the two integrated graphics units.Other specs on say compute units etc are not shared, neither is HBM2 memory mentioned. Looking at the fact that this info is shared now, close to CES .. is indicative of an announcement next week. There already have been a number of leaks on what seems to be this Frankenstein CPU/GPU build.
Intel reveals details of Core i7 8809G proc with Vega M Graphics & standard IGP



Intel Core i7-8809G "Kaby Lake + Vega" MCM Specs Leaked Again, Indicate Dual IGP
"Intel at the original launch did state that they were using Core-H grade CPUs for the Intel with Radeon Graphics products, which would mean that the CPU portion is around 45W. This would lead to ~55W left for graphics, which would be in the RX 550 level" It's a CPU

Intel with Radeon RX Vega Graphics: Core i7-8809G with 3.1 GHz Base, 100W Target TDP, Overclockable

 

That means APU(Intel CoffeeLake)+ Radeon dGPU to give SLI like performance. AMD being two steps ahead of Intel in GPU dept. will give a good FPS for gaming for people on a tight budget. IRL, the budget will be more than 2000 USD on ChokeBook.

 

I hope not that they will combine it with an Nvidia GPU etc. Driver nightmare. Maybe nice for ultraportables. But AMD GPU's are terrible, I avoid those like the plague.

I wonder if there will be more AMD Ryzen laptops though. You might be interested in what Asus did with the ROG702, desktop Ryzen socketed.

 

I don't think we will see 100w Intel Core i7-8809G with SLI graphics in ultraportables
I have seen reviews and the threads with Asus (Ryzen and RX580). Awful reading. A disaster

 

from what i saw the cpu performance looked very good. But the GPU is very underwhelming. You saw some other issues?