*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R2/R3 Benchmark Thread

Everyone who buys the new Alienware should try to overclock the hardware on the new Alienware laptop as Mr Fox did. Check that it is not destroyed by the new ingenious bios .. Mr Fox's Overclock test should be guide- line for control of overclocking of the new Alienware laptops. Dell may have made a overclocking barrier on the new bios ..

 

Exactly! I was hoping to be the person doing this testing as well - I wanted the higher CPU since this will further exacerbate the problem.

The constant delays to the order and lack of response has me typing up my cancellation emai lright now .

 

Dell has delivered useless overclock profiles and a broken fan profile in all versions of bios for previous version Alienware 17 Ranger and 18 Viking. These Alienware laptop has been in sales over 1.5 years now without any of Dell's engineers have done nothing to fix this damn problem. How much ******** may be with the bios of the new Alienware? Locked wattage to minimum, as in the Alienware 18 Viking? Alienware 18 Viking could not use more watts than it was in one power supply. Former Alienware 18r2 could pair 2 pcs power supplies so that the laptop got enough watts to overclocking of all hardware..

 

Very true but I think with what AW has turned into we are screwed. Once you say you have overclocking problems their liability disappears and we are relying on 'Best Endeavours' for a fix. I know AW have supplied some machines pre-overclocked but these have been limited to countries where they can do it and it's only the lowest level of OC as recommended by Intel, so as safe as houses, as long as there is enough power.

The enthusiast gets dumped for a less informed mass-market.

Sad, so sad...

 

I gotta say this. Alienware reps come here and fix the issue both with a speedy reply and an option for a 240watt PSU and before anyone has even tested the new beta bios, you write them off? Seems a bit harsh. Can we not scare them away?

Despite what we'd all like, Alienware is part of Dell and they have to meet sales targets and go through corporate chain of command and corporate policies, so let's give them a chance to do that.

I'm still excited about the AW 17r2 I have on order. I've worked in large corporations and understand what goes on. They fact we have not 1, not 2, but 3 Dell/Alienware reps here encourages me.

N

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

I'm happy to give Alienware a chance, and I think it's good that they're coming on these boards to interact & try to hopefully effect a change in their organisation & products, but I have to say I'm not a fan of this 'battery hybrid technology'. MSI used to do this to support their meagre 180W power supplies, and it was a real cop out & cheap out way to deal with the issue, at the very least it prevents you effectively charging the battery & gaming at the same time, plus it limits overclocking ability. The 240W or 330W adapter is the way forward to deal with the Power Performance Problem - and hopefully the BIOS amendments they make only effect a positive in terms of amount of power available when using those 240W & 330W adapters too.

 

I write them off because this is a total BS solution for all the reasons I state earlier, offering a 240w to call-in users is laudable but simply is to head off the experts that know this solution is rubbish - rubbish, I did not order an eco-machine, I ordered a power machine. If you are happy with their response then all the best to you. It is the same old stuff I have seen in over 20 years in the industry, FUD and pontification. Avoid liability. Say you are doing this for the good of the community; and just which community is that, not enthusiasts that's for sure

 

Time for a Clevo?

 

. Time for anything now, I want to find a manufacturer with an active community - I need a new home!

 

Have a look at the Clevo forums here - pretty active. The new Clevo P770ZM looks like a nice machine. Socket/MXM, easy to upgrade, the resellers let you choose (typically) what PSU you want. Even comes with a desktop i7-4790K as an option.

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np9772-clevo-p770zm-eta-jan23-p-7856.html

 

Thanks man. I'll leave it a few days to cool down before I start looking in anger. I'll start there

 

Just an FYI, my order went into production finally and I called in to ask about getting the tablet. They offered it to me but they said I would have to cancel and place a new order to add it, which would push it out sometime in March. I promptly said hell no don't touch the order, leave it as is. I may call in after I get it and see if they will ship it with the other PSU.

Has anyone tried to use the new bios and re-run benchmarks with and without the 240w psu?

 

Mine did too!!!!

 

Thanks for the info! Mine went into production as well, so I'll probably do the same and wait until after it ships to try calling. I need to call in for the PSU and the ssd screws anyway. I wonder how long the "in production" phase will last.

 

They offered you nothing. Anyone can call in and re-order if a special comes out before it is delivered. You can call in and get the PSU - no arguments, according to the AW GM.

 

Someone tested the BIOS. And it seems to work.

 

Sky Diver Combined Score is still quite low though, although better than before. How do we know that the scores come from pre & post new BIOS? (Couldn't see any reference in the links you gave that prove the new BIOS).

 

All I know is the person would tested this did the benchmarks pre-BIOS update and post-BIOS update. I don't think he has a 240w PSU.

I wish my forum had the ability to link from posts. Would make things easier.

 

Let me elaborate, if you are still in Pre Production and you want a tablet, call in and request it from the order modification team they will honor it and add it to your order. If you are in production already and you want a tablet, they will ask you to cancel your order and place a new order with the free tablet. Doing this obviously pushes your date. Yes they did offer it to me, no I was not willing to cancel my order, since it was already in production, and they did give me upgraded next day shipping since I didn't want to cancel.

 

Sure thing.

That next-day thing you go through amuses me. Here, as soon as the factory ships you get your tracking number. You get to watch it on and off flights on it's way to your doorstep. For you the factory ships them to a central depot, where someone re-labels them and ships them on. And then they charge you for the privileged of speeding up this delay. Not cool.

 

Ok I went ahead and updated both the bios and the driver to the latest offered in the AWA forums and here is my 3dmark11 results (I have the 240 watt adapter fyi):
http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/9403967

3dmark11 A01 Bios by just1tree posted Feb 7, 2015 at 8:46 PM

for reference, original score was P10102, graphics 12226, physics 7642, and combined score 5553

 

It should be the same with the 180w now, if the information supplied by dell is correct? Any chance you could run it again on the 180w?
Cheers,

 

I packaged the 180 watt and sent back yesterday to prevent being charged. Sorry that I can't do comparison testing

 

Doh! Oh well, I'm sure someone will try it

 

Updaded nVidia driver to 347.25 and reran benchmark with new 240W adapter. I have not updated bios and have no immediate plans to do so, based on current information. No overclocks.

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/9407493

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/5831818?

http://www.3dmark.com/3dmv/5219385?

Edited to add benchmarks.

 

fresh out of box, 180W adapter, stock drivers, not updated bios

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/5844857

not the best results, I think....... damn

 

Looks to me like you're 1000 points down on a non-modified 240w. Time to see what the bios update does (maybe?)

 

I will just do that today..

Also - a recommendation to future buyers - dig into your pockets and take more expensive LCD screen. I wanted to save 200 eur and took matte LCD and (unfortunately) I can see a difference when put next to my old AW17r3 with glossy screen. Contrast is much worse in my new AW and colors don't seem so intense.

Ah, those were the happy times ;( I went 100km to UPS depo to pick up my old alienware (just) a day earlier. And I still remember how I was freaking out when I was unpacking it ... Now the excitement was all gone

 

I feel your pain, thankfully I moved on before receipt.

Glossy all the way for gaming. Everyone that gets one sees the contrast improvement right away! If you're a traveling user then it can be difficult with reflections, but for a sedentary gaming rig - sweet!

 

I personally wouldn't be caught dead with a glossy LCD on a laptop. Usability is awful. I use my laptop in all sorts of places where a glossy screen makes me want to hurt whoever thought a glossy LCD on a portable machine is a good idea.

But that's just personal preference. If used in an appropriate room where you can control the lighting, I'm sure it looks nice.

 

That's exactly it, what is your priority, because a compromise has to be made? I would hate to use this machine outside of my controlled environment - and it is basically a DTR for me. Low-light gaming is just taken to the next level. I have other devices for being on-the-move, all matte .

One size does not fit all and why we look for a laptop we can configure to our specific needs .

 

Touche. From my perspective however, if I'm always using it in a controlled environment...that's called a desktop. The whole point of a laptop for me is to move it around.

To each his own.

 

For sure. I do not use this laptop for anything like it's designed dual-purpose use. I would always go to my DT for gaming before I got this one. Now I only have one machine to keep up-to-date.

Battery life is another thing low on my priority list. With the 120hz display battery life is halved and the iGPU disabled, Perfect for me and many others but I do hate how AW never pointed this out in any of their specifications when advertising. Far too many people complaining about battery life when all they wanted was a better display.

At least they have fixed this by removing the option. A far greener machine these days

 

I'm going to order my AW17 this friday but this display discussion is "tearing me apart". I'm in love with my Asus G73JH since 2010, it's a very hot partner (70°C GPU idle), the display is glossy and I usually play with soft lights and low display brightness, with this settings I can keep playing for hours and hours without melting my eyes.

The point is that I was about to save 200€ and take the Matte one but honestly I'm very fussy about the display, I will always play on the NB without external monitor, touch functionality is not important I just want the best performing display but I was scared of having too many reflections with the TrueLife. What do you think guys?

 

I've been told by trulife owners that it is better than mine in respect of reflections.

I ordered the touch (failed order) simply because of the glossy panel. Purely a personal opinion but reflected (oops I made a funny) by a lot of 120hz upgraders. If low light gaming is your thing then go glossy every time.

More info on how it works: http://www.screentekinc.com/dell-truelife-lcd-screens.shtml

 

Thank you the link is very exhaustive, I'm also considering this TrueLife only because is glossy (some kind of glass I suppose), I hope there's a way to turn off the touch chipset to avoid wrong inputs while gaming.

 

I'm sure there is, only windows will be using it so it will be an option in there somewhere. Can't see how you would touch the panel while gaming but maybe you get more animated than I do, lol.

Because screen quality is so subjective I did a side-by-side comparison between two AW laptops, I returned the matte one as the glossy was 'clearly' better for me ingame. Your Eyes May Vary

 

So I did some more tests..

No 4 - stock drivers, old bios, 180W PSU
No 3 - stock drivers, old bios, 240W PSU (from my old alienware)
No 2 - updated DELL drivers, old bios, 240W PSU

No 2- with 240W PSU and new DELL drivers, the performance is finally on par with other brands, I think

 

Go for glossy, I took matte and I regret that now. 2 alienwares side by side - glossy and matter -- huge difference in favour for glossy

 

Outside of nvidia, what other drivers did you update?

 

I used DELL drivers from dell.com (update from 9.02) -- the one that supposedly fixed GA issues

NVIDIA drivers - I couldn't install them as my card was "not recognized"

 

i'm not really an electrician so this question might be dumb to some people, but is using a 240W PSU (when AW calculated for 180W) not bad for your system?
Cant your computer get hotter using an higher Watt PSU?

 

Only if the machine requests more power and the machine cannot handle it. Source wattage has no baring on what the machine is using. The machine will have it's own circuitry to avoid an overload if limits are exceeded.

Confusing subject and a common misunderstanding.

HTH

 

so if i understand correctly it is like a PC psu? i had a 850W psu on my standalone computer but it only used 250W-ish.
The most important property is how much Amp (A) the psu uses?

 

You got it (almost see edit). The new machine wants more than supplied so the fix is to use the battery to top it up, not change the specifications and simply supply the 240W at source.

 

why do people on this forum buy a 330W psu for their AW17R2? they probably only use about 200W of it

 

Mr Fox our resident moderator did some tests on the actual current draw of the R2. It showed that even 240w is only just enough, If you want to overclock either the GPU or CPU then the 330 is the way to go. He did not even have the higher CPU so I'm not sure yet the problem is fixed until it's tested by a fully loaded machine user.

I have one sitting here I purchased for my new R2, but that is a painful story .

 

I only got the 970m... should I try to get a 240w PSU?

 

You should not need it. I believe that is a 75w chip. In reality, I'd still get one. It cannot hurt in any way and may avoid future problems.

 

Yes you should. I did. If you want to overclock, a 240w PSU will probably be necessary. If you remain at stock this is fine (somebody here ran a test on the GTX 970M , and the performance didn't change when using a 180w vs 240w).

For overclocking. Truth be told, once the BIOS is fixed, the 180w PSU should be enough for the GTX 980M (since it is enough to power Clevo's with the same specs). But if you want to overclock, or if you have a more powerful CPU, it won't be enough.