*OFFICIAL* Alienware 13 R3 Owner's Lounge

OK, so got the laptop yesterday, here's some pics...







Did a quick test with Prime95 and its not good, 29 degree C differential between cores. Will look to repaste in the next week, and see if that helps.

 

One question too all of you guys. Shouldnt we be looking at the average temperature instead of the maximum? Isnt it possible that the max is just a temporary occurence initially?

 

could you do some game benchmarks to verify the cores throttle in everyday situations?

also you might wanna return it if you dont want to mess with the heatsink since thats your problem, its not having enough contact with some of your cores thus they heat cant be removed

 

Would be nice if someone could draw the location of the 4 cores in relation to the cooling installation. Might be worth it to just tighten the screw nearest to the core 0 in this case? Or can I just assume core 0 is at the side where there is no screw in the triangle?

 

uk eta jumped from 8th to the 5th

 

anyone know of a good case for the new 13

 

Dunno. I couldn't order the ones on the site as an after purchase which was the vindicator v2. So I bought a 14 version that appears to be just big enough in dimensions...but that was the last one on amazon for now. But that was £45 vs £30 of the 13


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for those of u wanting the 1080 version

 

Ditto. Just think when you get yours. Yours was travelling with someone else from here and made it together


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Looks like a fairly standard result for P95 on the AW's. Core 0/2 get stressed more than 1/3. I wouldn't worry about "core differentials" so much. Try "real world" tests and get back to us!

How are acoustics/fan noise??

You know, I can't for the life of me look at this laptop and grasp that it's supposed to be 22mm "thin" - it looks so much thicker in pictures. I realize it has rubber feet that likely add 3-4mm to that height; but still, it just looks thick in pictures! Alienware is not using that tapered design that so many other manufacturers use to fool the end-user in photos about overall device dimensions. How "thin" and portable does this laptop seem to you? Other than weight of course, which I know about.

Can you take any pictures next to other devices or put a tape measure next to front and back so I can see how high it sits off the desk?

 

Not sure what this means - but my purchase ID page at Dell now says "Your custom-built item is complete."

Anybody got a sense for how soon they expect I'll get a tracking number?

 

A few days at most. I think it was 2 for me.

 

I'm betting I'll get ship notice on the 5th....

 

if anyone is interested, TechRadar's review is up

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/alienware-13-r3

 

Does anyone know if the battery on this thing is user replaceable?

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Technically yes. Dell is really good about providing instructions via their service manuals.

http://topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/alienware-13-laptop_Service Manual_en-us.pdf

Getting a hold of a replacement battery is a different story.

 

Thanks - what a great review (rolls eyes)

At least it's something.

Some things that don't make any sense - he mentions how it powers through Overwatch, but then says it misses the mark in Hitman - but literally no explanation as to WTH that means. We know the 1060 can play Hitman just fine.

Also - I've never seen a laptop do worse on a 1080P video playback loop then a WIFI browsing battery test (he said he spent all black friday shopping like crazy). Does that make sense to anyone else? Usually 1080P loop tests are what manufacturers use to get the longest possible battery life in their marketing material.

 

Ebay seems to be pretty good. I've ordered 1 before for the AW 14 and another one is on the way.

 

Yeah, parts can be found, but I guess my point is that its not as easy as going to Best Buy or something and if you buy third party you have to worry about counterfeit or bad parts. Dell does label most of their parts, so part number/info should make the search a bit easier.

 

What do you guys think of the i5-6300HQ on this model?

Seems like the i5 doesn't have the uneven heating issue from what I've seen so far

Edit: i5's also do get the core temperature differentials (From Reddit: http://imgur.com/a/jU1it), but the temperatures all around are still pretty low. Is this still acceptable?

 

Got my AW13 today and it is very very nice. Unfortunately I guess a repaste is necessary for most of you. I did some testing with the stock paste but after the Temps were to high a decided to repaste directly with liquid metal. Here are my results. I guess pictures say more than words

 

Nice results.
Are you not worried about the cover being void due to using liquid metal?

On that, what is the best non liquid metal thermal paste available?

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Great job !

Which brand did you use [Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra?] ?

 

Awesome results! I'm staying away from LM with a ten foot poll. I read it voids warranty - whereas Dell is ok if you repaste with regular types?

Did you notice any impact on the fan noise with the repaste? Did you do any sort of undervolt, or is this straight default voltage?

Also - it should be mentioned - 92 isn't "too high". It's within Specs. Tjunction is 100C for this CPU. I know we all like to be far away from that, but it isn't really necessary. I care more about acoustics - if it runs cooler, the fans should spin less.

 

I think it was on reddit where a Dell repair guy mentioned that because of health regulations they aren't allowed to work on laptops that have chemicals like the liquid metal in them, so then the warranty is void. Normal conductive paste does not void the warranty.

 

For someone who knows nothing about repasting a laptop, would you guys recommend keeping this machine?

 

Curious about that too, as I have 0 intention of using the liquid metal [potential toxic concern and I have no clue what else besides mercury-based solution they may be using to achieve that level of non-separation] and would rather opt-out to the regular paste compound

 

Anyone use thermal grizzly kryonaut?

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Those temperature results with the usage of the default paste are in fact excellent: 73C, 61C, 70C and 61C average. No need for any re-pasting at all. Looking at the peak values doesn't make any sense from the scientific point of view in such complex circuitry as cpu. What I'm trying to say is, that those values could occur for tiny fractures of second for example before cooling did the job. We have no idea on how frequently the measurement is taken, we don't know if the measurements are synchronized for all cores, and finally we don't know how the temperature is estimated! Note that, there is no physical thermometer sticked to the cores, the temperatures you get is an estimated, based on the electrical properties - current, resistance, voltage, conductivity, permittivity, frequency and so on. Therefore, there is NO POINT AT ALL in trying to get to any conclusions by comparing peak temperature amplitudes. Once again, IMHO - average temps with stock paste are great!

 

But we do love to get them lower.......

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But should someone whose not experienced in repasting get this machine or cancler?

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Going off the results it's a definite keeper.
You don't have to be experienced at all to repaste.
With a good guide (and an ice cube tray for all the screws) plus common sense, you'll be absolutely fine.
I remember when I first did my m15x years ago.... A scary prospect. But after a few go's it was a quick 10 - 15 minute operation.
A good anti static wristband and mat and away you go.

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But, srsly why the hell do u all want to re-paste that thing, when the temps are more than fine?

 

The same reason build to order shops like Gentech and Xotic offer repasting, the OEM stuff is usually crap. If it can be done fairly easily and without voiding warranty, then why not?

 

If we dont want to repaste, is it still a fine machine?

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That appears to be the case from the few results I have seen. Most people don't repaste and most also do not have an issue.

EDIT: On a separate note, my order shipped (or at least I have a tracking number). Scheduled delivery is Tuesday the 6th. Within the time Alienware stated I would get it...

 

First off, while I think anyone calls it "unsafe" to run in the 90s is blowing things way out of proportion, it is definitely suboptimal if it means that your processor is throttling. That means less performance. That's one reason. In addition, you are likely extending the life of your hardware. Yes, *on average* a CPU will outlast how long people will want to use a given machine anyway, but you are protecting yourself from the tail end (statistically-speaking) by reducing the chance of early failure.

Another reason is acoustics: fans ramp up in response to temperature, so if it never goes in the 90s you are likely to have a quieter machine.

Yet another reason: because of the above, the fans will use less power and improve your battery life.

Overall, it is a clear win, the effort and financial cost of those gains are super low, and there is literally no downside (unless you use liquid metal and mess things up).

 

Well put sir!

It's cheap as chips and a breeze to do so why not eh.....

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Maybe now that people are starting to receive their machines it's time to make this the true owner thread. I.E.: no more "should I cancel my order" or "you should not buy this thing I returned it". I'd like to discuss the stuff this baby can do, not answer OCD people who ask three times in a row if we think they should return their order. Make this thread great again!

 

Haha im sorry if I annoyed you guys. Just trying to make sure!

 

Agreed - the only reason I'd repaste is if it helps reduce overall fan noise. Duty cycle and temperature are what matters - and as you said, only worrying about the max temps we have no clue how long it sits at that temp. Caiges at Reddit showed that one core throttled a bit during his multiplayer game of Battlefield 1, but honestly, I'm sure he had absolutely NO clue as any impact to the game would be marginal. His FPS likely stayed where it was regardless.

So many claimed experts out there spouting nonsense and fear that make average buyers freak out that they will get some sort of machine that will literally catch fire on their laps. The bottom line is that the Alienware runs "hot" because it favors quieter fans over cooler temps. While I do think Alienware/Dell could use with some manufacturing updates that improve paste - I think their cost/benefit analysis has steered them away from it for now (most customers will never know that sometimes a core throttles a bit). Unless Dell has widespread issues with actual thermal shutdown and MAJOR throttling that shows up in big ways when their units are being compared to competition. I'm not seeing that's the case here.

Eager to get mine....COME ON SHIP NOTICE!

 

Still. Not. Shipped! Ordered 11/26 USA. EDD 12/5-12

 

Just ordered my 13 R3 /w OLED

Are the 10 series cards unlocked like the 9 series ones?

 

Yeuuuy, finally!
My tracking code got updated, it arrived in the Netherlands and EDD is now 5th of December instead of 8.
Package appears to weigh 5kg's.

 

did you guys all get emails before it shipped out?

 

Caiges on reddit repasted his AW13 R3 and as expected his temps were lower, but I think the bigger deal was the lack of the core differential people have been griping about. I'm no expert, but this leads me to believe that the "issue" wasn't so much the "tripod" design, but probably poor thermal paste application. I would assume that if it was the design, the temps would be down, but you would still see the differential.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Alienware/comments/5g627k/repasted_my_13_r3/

 

Weren't 15 owners saying that they had additional room to tighten their heatsinks to help to eliminate the differential?

The consistent differential between 2 cores and the other 2 cores does point to an uneven heatsink assembly, though, unless the paste they are using is not flat? I thought they just stamp paste on so it's usually a flat application?

 

Fedex just dropped off my base 13 R3 with i5 6300. Posting temperature details, in case it helps anyone.
http://imgur.com/CROYzno
http://imgur.com/XQWWAsa

 

any uk orders that are due 5th
u can phone uk mail and collect from deopt today

 

I thought about it. But mines in Lutterworth and no idea of the company who is delivering it. Lutterworth is about 37 min drive away apparently


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