*OFFICIAL* Alienware 13 R1/R2 Owner's Lounge

I'm just reading the number out for the total score. Not too suprised the physics is around 25-30%, that is where the difference esp. the cache kicks in.

39790 on Fire Ice Extreme btw.

 

So I purchased a secondary M.2 ssd, i'm attempting to raid0 the two ssd's. I went into the bios and there's no option for raid, only AHCI. Is this correct? No option to raid?

 

hey doc what kind of battery life you getting. and game how about you with the i7

 

Yeah. Odd that IRST is installed, though.
Side note: going to have to hold off on testing. A snow storm is coming my way (NE of USA), so I rather not test under cold circumstances and most likely on battery. I will, though, install the drivers onto my Windows 7 M.2.

I'll find out tomorrow. I've been pushing a little over 4 hours with my current setup. Even with touch disabled and my usual tricks to save battery life. Might have to do more things, but so, below expectations.

 

I asked Alienware about 860 + i7 issue via FB. And here is what I got.

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Hi,
The issue where the GPU is not detected is caused by a driver problem, but it's not related to the CPU. We are currently working to have a unified driver that avoids all of these issues.
_NC

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I think we already know that. However, what remains if they'll update their unified driver more often than they usually do (well, they did just do 3 driver updates in the span of 2 months).
Update on my Windows 7 installation. Everything, including the new Nvidia driver, installed except for Rapid Storage Technology. I need Net Framework 4.5, but I can't access my school's internet. Fun. So if you are planning on doing a clean install of Windows 7, have no worries.

 

Game, how do you think that i7 will do with BF4?

I'm weighing my options on what to do about my 15.

 

I don't even play that game, so I wouldn't know. Sorry. Since the latest drivers work, maybe someone else can answer your question better.
But for comparison, I run Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes. It has a higher recommended GPU requirement (GTX 760 vs. GTX 660) and recommends quad-cores for the minimum and maximum. I get around 27 to 40 FPS, usually hanging around in the low to mid 30s, with quality and textures at medium, lighting on high, and the rest either on low or off, at 1440p. So BF4 should get more FPS.

 

so game would you say you are happy with the machine and its evrything and more or what you think how would you rate it. scale of one to 10

 

I need a week until I can give my rating. I'm going to do a notebookcheck-style (hopefully not as lengthy) review with it.
But so far, I'm somewhat happy and can give a recommendation to those who would benefit from the laptop. Still miffed about the cosmetic damages.

 

I got m.2 m500 480gb for aw 15, its speed is good, but it runs super hot. Idle temperature is 57~60 degrees C, full load temperature is 73+ degrees C. I stopped using it when it reached 76 degrees Celsius.

View attachment 120323

I'm not sure if it is m.2 problem or just micron's problem.
May I know temperatures of your ssds?

 

Most I ever see for my Transcend one is 40 C. I suspect about the same for my LiteOn M.2.

 

Hmm.. I guess it is micron's problem. i've read that m550 also has same problem.
I will probably return this and get other one.
Thank you.

 

With no serious tweaks doing average laptop use (not gaming) I easily get three hours, I am sure I could push closer to what Game is getting with some tweaks. Works for me personally, I take whatever batter life times a vendor tries to pitch and cut it in half and I usually end up about right.

 

Can anyone with an i5 or an i7 let me know how the 13 handles Battlefield 4, particularly 64 player servers?

 

So, after I reinstalled windows 8.1 on the SSD, I managed to get every driver installed except graphics drivers for the 860m. Even the Dell driver will not work and won't recognize the device. The device path is different from the 860ms listed in the driver. Is anyone else having this issue? Would a windows re-install help? I wonder if it was a mistake to install the HD driver first. Any idea on how to fix?

 

Which CPU do you have? The i5-4210u or the i7-5500u?
Because if it is the latter, then you'll need this driver.

 

I'll see what I can do.... that sucker takes some time to download

 

botched post...ignore...

 

Thank you!

 

What program is on the left? I'll run it with my Samsung m.2.

 

It is HWinfo. HWiNFO, HWiNFO32/64 - Download

 

Wow, that fixed it perfectly.

Thanks a ton!

 

Apparently, my drive doesn't have a temp sensor.

 

I ran into the same issue when I installed my other M.2. Why it does this is mysterious.

 

Thanks for the link. If anybody else is having issues with this, we created a thread with the solution:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ics-amplifier-nvidia-driver-installation.html

 

That's odd.
If your m.2 is really hot, you should feel it anyway.
I touched m500 while running, and my finger was almost burnt immediately..
So, I'll return this and get transcend mts800 512gb.
Hopefully, mts800 runs cool.

 

Downloaded the latest gfx driver from the Dell site and the installation failed.
Tried to download the linked driver from Google Docs...first attempt failed to download completely. Started second attempt...says there's 301628072 days, 23 hours remaining...

 

There's a mediafire on you can download.
https://www.mediafire.com/?wqmg3n87gq12tdk
It's the factory version that ships with the Broadwell 13.

 

So... I have an i5 860m AW13... and no games. I don't even know if my laptop has underlying issues I never knew before.

I'm practically the definition of "customer buys expensive high-end PC for Word processing, and no idea what it does."



P.S.:

Is the i5 AW13 laptop called the "Alienware Echo 13"?

 

All of the laptops are Alienware Echo.
However, you have the Haswell processor. You're good.
I think I already told you this.

 

Got these for everyone: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ystery-coupons-valid-through-1-30-2015-a.html

Enjoy.

 

OEM Samsung XP941 SSD's don't have temp sensors that you can read.

 

So the model I got actually has the m.2 SSD installed. Anyone know where I can order the hdd caddy/cable for the AW 13?

 

I think the only way is to contact Dell.

 

Make a few more posts and contact Luis privately. He's an Alienware representative and may be able to dispatch one to you.

He'll need your service tag/express service code. So, have that ready.

 

When first using this laptop, I did check the graphics card with the menu dxdiag, and the description on the menu " Approx. Total Memory" Intel HD Graphics and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860m, looks the same amount, is 4020 MB, but after I did update the Graphic Card drivers "Approx. Total Memory on Intel HD Graphics turns into 1792 MB, does anyone know how to fix it?

pleaseeee help....
I just attach the print screen

 

The 860m should only have 2 GB of VRAM. That amount of memory you see is about the max that can be loaded onto the iGPU/dGPU. That does not meant it has that much VRAM.
I don't think you need to worry so much about this. That should be the about the right amount for an iGPU.

 

Thx for the explanation. It's solved, I just change the 3D Setting in to High Perfomance Nvidia Processor, and it turns back to 4020 MB.

 

I Suggest That He get The part Number From a member with the Alienware 13. because I couldn't get it from dell when I used to Own the Alienware 13!

 

I thought I read this somewhere, but I don't remember where I read it...
How do I middle-mouse-click with the trackpad? Also, isn't there a way to emulate a mouse wheel scroll with the trackpad?

 

Ah, okay. It was never mentioned at all until you told me, even the manual hardly states the laptop is an Echo.

Yes you did. The lack of i5 860m graphical issues is good. The underlying problem for me is that I'm not the kind of user that uses the laptop to its max potential or not being able to play enough games to say that I've reached my laptop's limit, and I feel disappointed in myself for that.

I was happy, but the perks of having a high-end laptop, and your classmates joking on you for not using it right after that is saddening. *sigh*

 

I'm in the same boat as you.
Well, was until I started testing this laptop.

 

A slightly different boat, I believe. You probably never had colleagues half-joking you on not doing it right.

 

I guess if your budget is not too tight, go for the i7.

 

Two questions, first have they fixed the gpu drivers yet to recognize and use the 860m on the i7? Secondly I installed a new hdd and did a fresh install and after installing all the drivers there r still 2 generic devices without driver, any way to check that they r? Thanks

 

The 344.73 or 344.88 drivers work with the 13 i7. You can get the 344.73 from the 15 and 17 R2 support page (don't know about the 13's page).
As for the devices, have you gone into device manager?

 

Yes I have, the unknown drivers come up as generic unknown devise
also the drivers posted for those machines r listed as 9.18.13

 

Hey Game and Doc I have the 15 coming but debating on getting a 13 to for travel, how do u guys feel on that i7 to i5 and do u think having the 13 and 15 do u think my 13 will start to fall behind? aka lost in the shuffle lol, or maybe get the xps 13

 

It might be best for you to get an XPS 13.