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

I had been running an MSI 780DX for my mobil gaming but it was time to get an upgrade. After much debated I settled on an AW17R3. I just found out about the graphics amplifer and I had some questions. I also currently have a desktop with an MSI GTX 970 100me (the one with the super cooler).

My question is will it fit in the graphics amplifer case? And is still true that even with the new AW17R3 is still uses just the x4 and not the full x16? Is it a worth while investment? It would free up my desk space and give me the chance to move the desktop to the tv room to run as a media PC>

 

Game7a1,

Yeah, no idea what happened at first; refreshed and they showed up. Must have something to do with imgur?

 

Mobius 1,

Yes, the AGA will still run whether the case is fully closed or not; wouldn't recommend it, which is why I fought with it for about a day and a half getting the placement of the rad/fan right (initially tried getting all of it inside, found it was not going to work, and settled on the end result).

 

Thank you! That's pretty cool, wonder if there would be enough space between the bracket...should be fine though. Searched for heatsinks but not for mini VRM/VRAM sinks. I'm a dumdum. Thanks again!

 

Congrats on the new 17R3!!

So, I was looking at the NewEgg spec sheet for your card, and I see why you would be interested in whether it would fit, as it appears your card has a little under an inch of height over my own (5.5" vs 4.8").

The case, from the bottom of the case floor to the top is approx. 6.25"; you can see the height of my GTX980 with the NZXT bracket in the below:

You can see that the measurement from the case floor to the top of the card bracket (hard to see, but it's about the same height as the PSU behind it) is about 5.9"; between the case floor and the bottom of the card is 1.25", so the maximum clearance is about 4.65". When I first put the card in the NZXT bracket, it did not fit, and I had to rip out the fins in the top of the case:


TL;DR: I don't think the card you have will be able to fit :/ You could always get the AGA anyway and either use the card without the top of the case (fairly easy to remove, and it works without it), or cut the area above the card and keep the top of the case

With regards to the performance of the AGA with the laptop, it still only uses x4 even with the Skylake refresh in our laptops. AW decided to keep the connectivity the same, using the same port and the same connector/cable for the 13R2/15R2 on the R3 line (probably as a cost cutting measure). I have the GTX970M in my laptop, and using the GTX 980 in the AGA, I saw about a 17-20% jump in performance w/o the current LC upgrade.

I'm not sure what mobile chip you've got in your 17R3, but if it's the GTX980M, I would wait for the GTX1070/1080 to use with the AGA.

 

Anyone got a benchmark score for the 980Ti / Titan X in the AGA?

 

Here you go)

1) GA using laptop display

3dmark11
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/10603078
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/10603106

3dmark FireStrike
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/9511822?
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/9511872?

2) GA using extrnal display

3dmark11
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/10603256
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/10603277

3dmark FireStrike
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/9512382?
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/9512451?

Oh yeah, it's better to connect external GPU straight to the TV/Monitor for the best performance)

 

Thankyou. I have the one with the GTX970m. I suppose I can always get it and run with the cover off for now and get a new card later down the line.

 

In 2007 I had my first gaming laptop a compel hel80 with a go7600. Asus was working on external card that would be about the same as a desktop 7600. It never really took off. So for me to see something like this graphics amplifier years later is really exciting.

As far as the internal GTX970m goes I am pretty impressed with it. Its no where near my desktop gtx970 but it does seem be on par with the gtx770 I had prior to the gtx970. In fact it seems to be better then my desktop was prior to the 970 card.

It would seem that the mobil skylake i7-6700hq is just slightly better then my desktop haswel i5-4570 which was kind of a surprise for me.

 

YES.

AGA Titan X 3DMark 11 Benchmark

AGA Titan X Firestrike Benchmark

AGA Titan X Sky Diver Benchmark

 

Was that using the internal display or a display plugged into the AGA?

 

I never use the internal display with the AGA. I usually have it connected to my 55" LED LCD when benchmarking, & the 3 gaming monitors when gaming (depending on the game). This Titan X overclocks like a miracle. I lucked out.

 

This might seem like a silly question, but can you use the HDMI out on the graphics card being used in the GA and feed that to a monitor/TV? I believe my laptop has an HDMI1.4 and DP 1.2 out, so The only way I could think to utilize tech like HDR would be to use the HDMI 2.0 output on the graphics card in the GA.


Is this possible?

 

Of course you can, that's what most of us do. I have 3 gaming monitors connected that way using Display Port and my LED LCD TV using HDMI.

 

Hey everyone. Hopefully someone can help me.

I have a 15 r2 (bios 1.2.2 and 980m) with the graphics amplifier running an evga 970 ssc in the amp (I know, I know, the performance increase is slim but it's a few more frames and a USB hub. Lol). Anyway here's my problem.

Every time I restart the laptop, leave it sitting for more then an hour, or exit a game the card looses performance like crazy (fire strike as a benchmark: score while things are "good" are around 10k. When things go "bad" score is around 8k). It's a dramtic fps drop in games!!

The only solution ive found is to go into the Device Manager and uninstall the 970 and its drivers, scan for hardware changes, wait until it shows back up, update the driver, then reboot the system. And that only works maybe 1 out of 4-5 times. And it only works for a bit then it's back to losing performance.

Anyone experiencing anything like this or perhaps have a workaround?

 

Hey, I'm having a problem running an external display connected to my A13 + GA (970gtx). When I close the lid on the A13 so that I use my external display which is connected to the GA everything stutters. If I open the lid and duplicate the screens the issue is resolved. How can I resolve this?

 

Control Panel>Hardware and Sound>Power Options>Choose what closing the lid does .... What do you have set there??

 

I have it set to "Do Nothing"

 

That's good. My next step would be to delete your video card driver, and do a fresh clean install of the newest one released; download it directly from Nvidia. Report what happens after doing that.

Did everything work fine for you before, and this just recently started happening, or has it always been like this?

 

It has always been like this. I noticed that if I set my display 1 (laptop screen) to turn off and only run my external display the stuttering decreases, but it is still there. I will do a fresh install of the Nvidia driver and update on this. Thanks

 

Can I fit an ASUS GTX980Ti Matrix at 11.62 inches into the AGA (according to Alienware website AGA only supports up to 10.5inch cards).

 

ASUS GTX980Ti Matrix will not Fit into the AGA

 

absolutely return it!

Just chiming in to say i CAN'T WAIT to strap a 1080 into my graphics amplifier.

I wonder what the implications will be about the 32gbps max on the AGA.. if it will limit the 1080

 

the AGA stock Psu not enough for the Nvidia GTX1080?

 

460 watt power supply should be plenty for the 1080, spikes over 300 watts are rare...

 

​

p.132 | post 1319 > Since the label on your Delta or ACBel claims 12volt (rail) B is rated at 16Amps (= 192watts), it is safe to say that 12volt A (rated at 18amps) will shut down when Rail B trips at 16amps; effectively you've a pair of 16a rails rated @ 192w x 2 = 384w (385w 12v max) as the label suggests ... ceteris paribus ...

We'll dismiss the minor voltages which pushed these to 460w @ testing time, understand that cards reqwire pure 12v & call it what it is: a 385w 12v max psu, sold as being able to run 375w Titan Z *yikes* (a $50 non-80Plus rated psu with an under-sized fan pushed to its limit on a once $3000 card, lol). Anywho, if it could, its label in theory is rated to run a pair of stock 1080's - one from each rail - since 1080 Reference is a 180w card:

​

AGA's Delta | ACBel has a discrete yellow & discrete brown, each on its own 12v rail; brown cable is either 12vA (18A) or 12vB (16A); chassis disassembly is reqwired to know which (idk). Below (spoilers), see tips regarding these discrete rails. AGA + 1080 photo taken from: How-To Use Your Alienware Notebook for VR

edit @Leonard92 > " 500 watts for 1080 recommended" > this is a dedicated power supply, rated for one 375w card. That 500w is when it's in a system running cpu/mthrbrd/hdd's/dvd's/fans/card ...

Spoiler: Y-Split x2 6p + 8p

as a caveat, for 1080s which use x1 8pin, this is of course a dual-12v rail psu & a person can of course obtain a y-splt dual 6pin-to-8pin to run their card off both rails (ie both cables at once for load balancing / sharing); this would be a (low-cost) fix for any 1080 (overclocked) which 'trips' the AGA off if / when 12vB exceeds its rating (not that it will / not that it won't, we'll find out soon enuff); if 12vB 'trips', the owner would of course immediately try their 12vA cable (rated 18A = 216w). When used by itself as a solo-8pin, if 12vA & 12vB both trip off, then yes > obtain a y-split cable & deploy both cables, 2-into-1 as shown below to now afford 32A / 385w available on tap to card. A cable like this may in fact come in your box as an accessory for just such a purpose

link to typical y-split here​

Cards debut: EVGA | Asus | Giga | Zotac "EVGA 1080 SC features x1 8pin ... FTW edition, dual-8pins to boost power to the gpu" ... FTW now rated as a 215watt card

Spoiler: Balanced BenchPress

Imagine you're going to bench-press 180pounds; deploying one 8pin / 6+2 cable (one 12v rail) is eqwivalent to bench-pressing 180 lbs. with just your right arm; FTW buyers, any dual-8p card put in this psu where both cables are used is the same as benching with both left & right arms: each arm / each 12v rail shoulders 'half the weight', each rail works 1/2 has much.

Reference / Founder's Edition / SC / all 1080s using x1 8pin, the y-split cable deserves your attention to help balance the load & put both 12volt rails in action. The photo above of the EVGA y-split cable? With some cards you may get one in your accessories box, if so, you'll have the option to use it. If not, you have the option to throw $8 at one

 

500 watts for nvidia gtx 1080 recommended...

 

ohh did not see that edit

 

That is when you put it into a full computer system. Those recommendations are assuming the CPU, motherboard, and common components.

 

Oh and If you have a clocked 980 Ti like the SC or FTW. The the difference in the real world benches that have been shown so far only show a very small increase.
In some games it was only 10FPS, in other games it was 4. A huge problem in trying to compare right now is that nvidia has released marketing numbers using optimized benches.
I personally would be happy with the 980TI if you saved some dough and stick it out till they release the 1080Ti which should be nutso.
But then again my advise is mainly for a system, not sure how it would fair with AGA bandwidth. :S

 

founders edition for the AGA?

 

Did anyone here actually manage to order the 1080? It went live then seemed to instantly go out of stock.

 

On my way to grab one in person right now!

 

Looking forward for your tests with the AGA

Sent from my MT2L03 using Tapatalk

 

Welp...so far my 1080 isn't working in the AGA. The 1080 isn't recognized in Device Manager with driver 368.22. It is recognized with the actual 1080 driver, 368.25 and shows up in Device Manager but has the yellow triangle with an exclamation point.

Will keep everyone updated.

 

Don't have an aga or alienware lol..

 

Does anyone have any theoretical tips on what I can try? What order to uninstall/install drivers in or anything like that?

 

does the asus rog strix gtx 1080 fit ?

 

Made some progress...uninstalled the drivers, unplugged the AGA, installed the 368.22 desktop drivers...and oh yea, plugged the power cable in this time.

But now it seems the roadblock is even bigger, upon bootup, right before Windows starts to load it says there's an incompatible card in the AGA. What the hell, how do you even fix that? Seems no Nvidia/Dell driver will fix that. Is there any firmware for the AGA? I doubt any of the available BIOS updates will fix that (I'm a couple versions behind due to problems with one of the newer ones).

 

theres no driver or bios update for the AGA yet

 

There's hope

http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/alienware-graphics-amplifier-vr-tutorial
http://en.community.dell.com/dell-b...rmance-card-trick-new-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1080

 

Alright folks. I'm good to go. For future reference, with the AGA not attached, have the mobile 368.22 drivers installed. Turn off the laptop and plug in the AGA (have the brown power cable plugged into the GTX 1080. Does it matter which of the power cables is plugged in? Who knows but that fixed it for me). Download and install the new 368,25 desktop driver for the 1080, but don't perform a clean install, then reboot. Voila, all set.

 

Have you done any benchmarks yet with the 1080 mine won't be here till Wednesday .. Hoping I I can play in the Alienware 15 4K screen

 

Yeah I have a 4k screen in my 15 R2. Was getting 26-31 fps in Rise of the Tomb Raider in 4k with a mix of medium-ultra settings with a 980. Now...8. Freaking 8 fps. Something is really wrong. Either with the implementation of the AGA or I have a defective card.

 

Installed GTX 1080 in the AGA, ran a few 3D Mark FireStrike Benchmarks and 3D Mark 11 Xtreme Benchmarks and here's the results and conclusion.

for Firestrike test suites.


For 3D Mark 11 X tests

 

Since there's no basis for comparison, I assume you're having no problems? Can you tell me what drivers you have installed and how you have it set up if anything was done out of the ordinary? I guess I just have a defective card?

 

How does that compare to your stock 970M performance?

 

I know you're not asking me, but I get a graphics score of around 7700 on my 970m. Got 12,000 on a 980 in an AGA. So that 20,700 is damn good and mirrors what I've seen in online reviews. It's hard to translate the difference in Fire Strike scores into actual in-game FPS though.

 

Thanks man! that's great info. I just ordered my AGA and waiting on the 1080.

 

Well let's hope you have far less issues than me. I'm afraid to run Fire Strike right now, I'd probably get a 4000 score

Kind of at a loss of what to do next to try and solve this.