*OFFICIAL* Alienware "Graphics Amplifier" Owner's Lounge and Benchmark Thread (All 13, 15 and 17)

Hi all

I just set up my AGA today. All was well until after I shut down my laptop to install a 2tb SSD.

The pc was hanging during shut down so I held power to power it off and then removed the AGA cable from the back of the machine to install the SSD

Upon boot the SSD showed fine but my sdhc card disappeared and in device manager I saw the device cannot start code 10 with an!

I rebooted into my second windows install and to my dismay the problem was there as well so I fear it is a hardware issue triggered by either the SSD or the AGA

As the sdhc card slot is pci, does anyone know if the aga could have caused this?

Tried driver reinstall and bios reflash to no avail is this going to have to be a Dell support call?

Thanks
Nick

 

What would be really cool, and awesome for dells sales would be if they could somehow make the GA work with TB3. I know it sounds impossibe, but maybe make a dongle where the GA plug goes into a device that converts it to TB3 so that it can be used with other dell laptops, not just alienware. They would probably sell a lot more GAs and seeing as they are already in the market.... one that is about to get flooded... people who want stuff now could go with the alienware solution.

Even with all of the new TB3 adapters out there, I still think the aw unit is pretty nice. It seems like the easiest to work with and is not unattractive. Its not as pretty as say the razer core or asus one, but again it is probably $100 to $200 cheaper. If they could only make the port more universal they would have a good thing going.

 

Hi Nick,
Could you and others share how you can get your good deal for $150?

Thanks so much.

 

I ended up cancelling because it was going to show up a few days after I left but basically it was a code dell125 or amp 125 and extra 10% off accessories codes

 

Guys,

Just hooked up my GA w/ the 980 ti on my AW17R3 and got a score of 13175, nice!

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/7146289

Is that about right for this card and my specs?

Also, does anyone have any experience with leaving the Graphics Amp on 24/7. I'd like to leave it on with my computer, I assume it's safe enough to do. Any one else do this?

 

the new razer come with intel 6 generation processors, but only with U series, that mean 2 cores only. is not going to be as gamer as you think :/

 

I've sometimes left my laptop + GA run overnight, and while no problems were caused, I think over a week of using it 24 hours, the screens I was using turned black. Never had that happen to me before when using the GA. A shut down fixed the problem, though.
You can leave it on for 24 hour, but I don't advise. Also, keep in mind that you cannot let the laptop sleep or hibernate. So when you say 24/7 on, did you literally mean always on or to have the laptop sleep here and there?

 

Hi all, new member here. I was going over the thread and stopped at page 25 and didn't want to keep reading till 91. Lol.

Anyway, my question is...I have an alienware 17 r3 with ga connected with a pny gtx 980ti.

When I try to start my laptop...it goes into a boot up loop about 9 times before actually starting up. I call alienware and they cannot figure it out. Has any1 heard of this issue? If so heard of a solution.

The tech said they will send me a new one in the mail. He later called me and said I need to send my ga in and they will refund me my money, but I bought it from amazon. I also never got an email to this effect from them, I felt skeptical and my issue is on going.

If I disconnect the ga. The laptop starts up fine.

 

Yes, I mean 24/7/365, no sleep/hibernate . My previous laptop, the Alienware M17X R3 I've been using like that for the past approx. 3 years (can't recall exactly when I got it). The screen itself turns off at night, but the machine does not sleep/hibernate at all. This is how I prefer it. I plan on doing the same with my AW17R3, but my monitor requires the Amplifier unfortunately, because it only supports DVI-Dual Link and my previous solution with a mini-display port (on the M17XR3) does not work on the new laptop.

So, I will be leaving this on 24/7 and will report back of any problems. I can't imagine why you couldn't leave it running 24/7 though. I was just curious if anyone else is doing that.

 

I'm using A13r1+980ti, the driver work perfectly for both card (need to run DDU, fresh install).The switching between 2 card works flawlessly. ALTHOUGH there's always a problem that may concern you, and it's windows 10's:
IF YOU KEEP INTEL GRAPHIC ENABLE WHEN BOOT UP, YOU WILL 99% ENTER BOOT LOOP, OR GETTING BLACK SCREEN WITH MOUSE STILL FUNCTION (with or without AGA)
So the solution, DISABLE (don't uninstall) INTEL GRAPHIC EVERT TIMES YOU SHUT DOWN.
IF NOT, GO INTO SAFE MODE AND DO IT.

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

 

I'm using the AW17 R3 w/ Gigabyte G1 980ti and had zero problems. After the laptop was powered down, I plugged it all in, powered it on and the GA started right up and the main screen flashed a few times when windows came on, but no reboots and it seems to be running great. Just a heads up on how it worked for me with similar specs.

 

I have had this issue, kind of. I found that it was the Intel USB 3.0 eXtesible Host Controller causing the issue. I had to unplug all peripherals before I could get a consistent boot, then after windows was started I could replug in everything. Since I went through that ordeal everything has been peachy. I think it was a windows 10 patch for December that messed things up as I didn't have it happen to me before.

 

Why is the alienware graphics amp £256 on dells website but you can pick them up for £150 on ebay? are the ebay ones legit? also, will a usa amplifier work on my uk laptop? whats the difference?

 

I got mine on ebay for 150£. came brand new, sealed with DPD delivery (even dell's shopping carrier).

Very recommended.

 

This worked for me. Thank you everyone for your help.

 

Guys, what is your take on the AGA vs the usb type c thunderbolt 3 options that were announced/released at CES 2016. Personally besides them having an easier to access and plug in cord, I like that some (the Razer core) has gigabit Ethernet built right into the unit and it can also power the laptop. I hate that with the GA I still have to plug in my Ethernet and power. Again, the quadcore CPU takes more power in the alienware and having a better CPU = better gaming, so on that front I still like that alienware offers a stronger complete package, but I just wanted to get some other thoughts and opinions from owners.

 

AGA has 4 usb port, I use 1 for usb to ethernet adapter and it works flawlessly.
RAZER CORE is an ideal solution, but i'd like to see if they put more thought into this and create something like portable external gpu (mobile gpu chip, thunderbolt 3, weight bout 400-500gr) cause playing game on the go with intel graphic is simply unacceptable. I think this is absolutely possible, we have all the technology here.

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

 

Adding a USB Ethernet adapter is brilliant, why didn't I think of that. I think I have one laying around to boot, thanks!

As for a thunderbolt connected mobile GPU, I know I saw a video of one at CES. I think it was only a 750m though and pretty sure it was asus or acer who made it. I am not sure that the razer core can send graphical data back to the native display from the gpu part, so maybe that is something that only AW has... again... not sure here.

 

Thanks Nick. +Rep. I tried those codes as well as the current ones but it does not work. The sales price is still at $199 (Reg $299). What was the Sales/Reg Price or was there something special you have to do to get $150?

Thanks.

 

Is the PSU in the AGA upgradeable? Like a 500 or 600 Watt PSU?

 

I remember some members here swapping out the GA's PSU with their own. You just have to get one that fits.

 

Sweet

 

The table has been approved.

Nvidia	AMD
GTX TITAN X	R9 Nano
GTX 980 ti	R9 390x
GTX 980	R9 390
GTX 970	R9 380x
GTX 960	R9 380
GTX TITAN Black	R9 370x
GTX TITAN	R9 370 (OEM)
GTX 780 ti	R7 370
GTX 780	R9 290x
GTX 770	R9 290
GTX 760 ti (OEM)	R9 285
GTX 760 192-bit (OEM)	R9 280x
GTX 750 ti	R9 280
GTX 750	R9 270x
GTX 690	R9 270
GTX 680	HD 8990 (OEM)
GTX 670	HD 8970 (OEM)
GTX 660 ti	HD 8950 (OEM)
GTX 660 1.5 GB / 3 GB (OEM)	HD 8870 (OEM)
GTX 660 (Non-OEM)	HD 8770 (OEM)
GTX 650 ti BOOST	HD 7990
GTX 650 ti	HD 7970
GTX 650	HD 7950
	HD 7870
	HD 7850
	HD 6990
	HD 5970

​

Going to see if this can be edited into the opening post.
EDIT: And it is. Thanks Mr. Fox.

 

Updated opening post.

 

Just bought ( and receiving tomorrow) an AW 17 R3 with the i7-6820HK, 256 PCIe SSD 980m-8gb. Also bought a Graphics Amp and 980Ti to go inside. I have seen bench marks all over the place with some firestrike at 13xx while some 970's come in at 15xx,

I am guessing these are overclocked vs non. I have never overclocked so I have no idea what to do. I dont want ruin this big investment, but I dont want to get an underwhelming performance either. Any tips and what are the benchmarks that I should be expecting?

 

Below are some examples of what I get with a notebook running 6700K and 200W GTX 980 MXM, so if you can beat these results with a 980Ti in the eGPU and don't mind the lower CPU performance and being chained to a desk, it should be OK.

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/7059595
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/10733766
http://www.3dmark.com/3dmv/5385013

 

Are those overclicked bench marks? I really debated on what laptop to get and was thinking about getting one with a 980 MXM card but figured that getting a GA with 980ti should score better. From what I am finding from others is that the benchmarks are considerably lower. I dont know were to begin in optimizing or overclocking or what score with 980ti in the GA I should be looking to hit.

 

Yes, massively overclocked. The issue is not the eGPU as much as the BGA CPU/GPU with comparatively little to offer in terms of physics performance. You really need to get a laptop with a socketed desktop CPU if that is important. If that is not something you care a lot about, what you ordered should be fine. This beast runs super cool with Liquid Ultra on the delidded 6700K.

Here's one I just ran with the CPU at 4.7GHz, 980 (200W MXM) at 1527 Core, 8000 Memory and 1.275V.

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/10276658

 

My specs are nearly identical to yours, same laptop/proc/gpu and amp w/ 980ti. Here are the results you should expect stock:

980m 8GB - 8314:
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/7022079

980TI Graphics Amp - 13175:
http://www.3dmark.com/fs/7146289

I also don't overclock as I just don't know what that'll do long term, I'm fine with my 13k+ score.

 

Tha

Thanks! It's seemso at base with the amp the 980TI does not do much.more than the 980. That's why I wanted to oc so I could get 980ti ratings. As that is a huge drop from what 980time normally gets

 

The 980m is a rather beefy card on its own. And also keep in mind the amp doesn't give you 100% of the desktop cards power. More like 90%ish. At least that's what I've read.

 

Well if that's the case I am going to need to learn how to OC and do it safely. Got the 980TI for 4k gaming

 

You where never going to be able to do 4k Ultra with a single 980ti, you will be able to do 4k Medium with 980ti. This also depends on what games your are playing older games or less graphics intensive games will be able to have higher settings.

Also you can't directly compare your combined score to Mr. Fox, if you look at his graphics score for fire strike it is about the same as yours, and his GTX 980 is highly overclocked to reach the 980ti, where he gains on your system is with the physics score, which is 50% higher than yours. Also depending on how you are passing the video output from you 980ti you will have a loss of performance due to the PCIE x4 3.0 connection. Straight from the 980ti to a external monitor is about 3 to 5% and from the 980ti to the laptop monitor is 7 to 9%.

Its also the same for you if you look at your gpu score for the 980m it is 10k and your 980ti is 17k, that is a 70% performance increase. If you want to increase your physics score overclock your 6820HK, you can go into the bios and choose a overclock level. This will increase the boost frequency of all 4 cores at load. Also with the AMP connected all cooling potential is given to the CPU letting it run higher boost clocks longer. You can see this is your fire strike info, with the 980m running you are at 3.1ghz and with the amp you are at 3.4ghz.

If you should be able to overclock your 980ti by 20%, this will give you about an 18% FPS improvement. Remember 3d Mark is a benchmark tool not a game, if there is a particular game you plan on playing run the game with out cpu and gpu overclocks, and run it with and see how much it improve the settings, fps, or game play. In the end this is what it is about is improving the game play experience.

In reference to doing your overclock safely, that is not a big issues now a days. Both your 980m and 980ti will throttle when the temperature gets to high. To overclock the 980m or 980ti use MSI Afterburner or another overclock utility. If you want to get more out of your 980m then download Prema's vbios and that will allow you to get get more out of it, for 980ti Afterburner is more than enough.

 

Not sure if I should buy 980ti or 980? I want the 980ti but with the 4x pci-e connection, not sure if I would gain much more from it? Anyone have any experience with this?
Is this 4 lane pci-e a problem or will we not really notice?

 

Read this.

 

From what I gathered from the link, 4x and 8x doesn't have much of a gap at 1080p. Maybe 3fps difference. When you go even higher in res, the gap becomes even smaller. Except for World of Warcraft, dunno why there's like a 20-30fps gap between 4x and 8x.

 

Thank you. Had a good read and it makes a difference of about 1 fps because its gen 3. Nice

980ti it is then

 

980TI Stock http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/10310196? using external display directly with GA

 

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/10310514? OC CPU though XTU at x41 on all 4 cores. 980ti through afterburner Core +135 Memory +200. Not sure if that was alot of OC on the GPU or not. Graphics card stayed between 70-82c

 

Hello guys,
I know that a "recent" update allowed the GA to finally run pcie 3.0 4x instead of 2.0 4x
Before this update, people were experiencing a lost of performance when running on the laptop screen with ratio to the external screen performance.
Somethink like:
-18.000 pts on 3dmark (980ti external screen)
-16.000 pts (980ti on laptop screen)
Do this gap disappear with the update to 3.0 pcie norm?
Thank you

 

The gap doesn't disappear (it could be less), and it happens with all the eGPU solutions (so far). That's mainly because the desktop GPU has to send signals back to laptop to render the laptop screen, which results in a loss of performance (not much).

 

Has anybody noticed that when you use the AGA, your desktop icons get a little larger and the gaps between them get a little bigger too. The resolution is at 1080p so im confused?

 

Does a thunderbolt external gpu solution offer better performance over the alienware GA? Figured that a thunderbolt route would be more flexible as I don't have to buy AW again down the road.

 

Question... Does shutting the lid effect the heat at all? I am running mine to an external display and using the 980m and I noticed it gets pretty toasty... about as much as normal, but hot none the less. Should I have it open when running or is having it closed ok? Will the heat effect the screen at all? Would having the amp plugged in alleviate some of the heat and make it ok to shut the lid (presuming that keeping the lid shut is not good to begin with). I am trying to hold out till next gen before I get a new GPU for the amp seeing as the 980m is good enough for the games I play.

 

I use my a13 lid closed all the time and got no problem with the heat, the inlet is on the bottom and the outlet is behind. Temp while gaming 65c.

Sent from my D5803 using Tapatalk

 

Is there any way of turning on the laptop while it's closed if you have everything hooked up to it? (monitors, keyboard, etc) Or do you have to open it, turn it on, and shut the lid everytime?

 

Open it up is what I have been doing... Would be nice if you could do it somehow else though... that way I could mount it somewhere opposed to just a side table. (Looks incredibly jankey)

 

I have the same problem, the onlyway for you to not doing so is "wake on lan".

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Hi Folks,
Does anyone know how to enable the 960m (for Physx etc.) when using the GA? It shows that 960m is disabled when GA is connected. Thanks so much.

Here's one w/ 13R2 AGA 290x core 1125 mem 1330:

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/10375610?

3DMark Score
8185
Graphics Score
12802
Physics Score
4996
Combined Score
2980
Graphics Test 1
62.71 fps
Graphics Test 2
50.04 fps
Physics Test
15.86 fps
Combined Test
13.86 fps

This AW13 R2 has about the same frame rate as the i7-4790K on the Graphic Tests. Not bad for a dual core i7-6500U 13" portable w/ a nice 3200x1800 touch screen. This should last me for a while since I am happy w/ 1080p 3D Vision, especially with the 1080 and later generation cards. Sorry, I am not sure what's the safe / right way to OC 290x or 980ti on air yet.
Thanks.

 

Not a bad score at all... On par with my stock 980m and i7-6820hk. As far as I know, the way the GA works is that it tricks the computer into thinking that the GPU in the box is the only GPU in the computer. When I was using my GA, I could only see 1 gpu in device manager, the one in the GA. With that said, I am pretty sure you can't set the GPUs to work together. This reasoning also comes from me hearing that you cant run SLI in the GA... not like we have the 980 (non M) in our AW's anyway.