*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R2/R3 Owner's Lounge

@ Lava6000 - congrats on new system!
could you let us know your thoughts on build quality, screen, fan noise under stress and temps?
iI have not seen Dell do such a mistake with the OS to be installed on a wrong drive!? have you taken the thing apart yet? chance for some pics?
thx.

 

thats pretty funny.... and can you check out the power under load? Just trying to investigate if 180watt psu is enough for the 15/17.

 

Build quality is pretty good; however, I don't care for the power adapter's placement on the laptop or how much it sticks out. I have not taken the computer apart. Screen looks pretty good - likely not as high contrast as an IPS screen, though.

I've been running Prime 95 (maximum heat) and Furmark GPU stress test simultaneously for about 20 minutes. For first 10 minutes, things were going pretty well. However, max temp on a core reached 91, and the CPU has now throttled back to a steady core speed of around 800 Mhz with temps at about 74.

Max GPU temp is 73C, with core speed pretty steady at 910 Mhz. If I recall correctly, GPUs throttle automatically with stress tests such as Furmark.

Fan is noticeable but not insane - comfortably below some of the MSI/Alienware 14x hairdryers.

I'm concerned about the throttling CPU. Thoughts?

 

The 17 ships with an ips display. and it might be a crappy paste job by dell. you could try repasting the cpu and seeing if that helps.

Edit: I would try playing some games and see how the temps are first though, you will never see the usage that prime 95 gives you while playing games. Thats an absolute worst case senario.

 

To be honest, I'd rather ship it back than repaste, if that's what's necessary. I had to verify that this is an IPS screen, as it definitely does not seem to be substantially better than my past TN panel laptops.

Also, it's worth noting that my R2 is performing substantially worse in "worst case scenario" than the R1, as reviewed here: Review Alienware 17 (Haswell) Notebook - NotebookCheck.net Reviews

 

Yea the power brick is throttling you're system like I thought it would the 980m is spec at a 1100 core clock that dynamically boosts to 1300 and rarely should a gpu throttle in benchmarks unless it's not getting the power it should to sufficiently run properly my razer blade 14 gtx 870m runs benchmarks with my overclocked core @ 1000mhz and doesn't throttle 1mhz even if it gets up to 90c the cpu is the primary part to throttle from my experience..

I could be wrong but I have been a laptop gamer for over 5 years and I never had a gpu throttle back like that since the 580m in my m18x r1 and that's just known to be a issue with the gpu the 980m is nothing but fabulous from every review I have read so now I'm even more worried about this power brick issue

As for the cpu yea there is a problem there you should be able to run prime 95 all day long and stay under 80c because it's not over clocked and the core should throttle to the max core speed and push out from there. If your in high performance mode and you're throttling to 800mhz and putting out 91c that is a faulty chip ..... I could be wrong but from my experiences that was my problem and thanks to dells new soldering technique it's not like a tech can come out and simply replace it

 

they could swap the thermal paste though. I've seen that done in the past for similar issues.

 

Could you give us the hardware ID of your panel? We can then see exactly what it is.

 

Touché and that's a easy fix but he doesn't want too....

 

The hardware ID is LGD0459

 

To clarify, when it was throttling to 800 mhz, CPU temps were around 70. Also, as I mentioned, nvidia drivers intentionally throttle when furmark stress test is running.

 

The Antiglare is not ips it's just a 300 nit high contrast tn panel the touchscreen is ips from what I read in a article I'll dig it up and post it

 

Wow, those benchmarks are indeed bad. Dell stated in their release video (up close or something like that) that all the new AW have an ips display. If that is TN panel, coupled with that poor performance, I'm absolutely canceling my order. I really thought, despite it's shortcomings, it would at least be on par with the Asus G751-JY. But it's obviously no where close.

 

My 870m never throttles in any furmark benchmark or haven either for that matter is a power deficiency it's already been proven in another thread here that using a 240 watt brick raised performance pretty dramatically

 

Just get the touch panel then it's ips and the try life flossy screens are night and day better then the tn panels

 

I agree IPS is way better than tn. That's part of the reason I went with AW. That being said, I'm 99.99999999999999% sure that all the new models are IPS. That's straight from Dell's mouth. I still am not liking that performance one bit though. Its still 3 weeks till my delivery date (LOL and I ordered over 2 weeks ago). If the performance doesn't improve, I'm out. I'll either get the Asus and enjoy the performance + the IPS, or get a sager and deal with the tn panel.

 

Could you use HWinfo to get the model #? Probably something like LP156WF...

 

Model number doesn't matter if it's Antiglare matt then it's a tn panel if it's the try life then it's ips

 

This should help clear things up about the display: CES 2015: Alienware shows off new 17 and 15-inch gaming notebooks - YouTube

 

Simply put if it's "true life" it's ips if it's "antiglare" its tn that's alienware jargon decoded

 

He said all of them were IPS.

 

Your statement contradicts the video, and we're trying to determine what the panel is, exactly. To be fair to the panel, now that I'm at home and not at the office, the screen looks much, much better.

HWInfo says monitor hardware id: LGD0459. Monitor name: 173WF4 (Dell P/N CV69H)

 

What about the Monitor name (Manuf)?



If that is LP173WF4-SPF1, it is indeed an IPS panel

http://www.panelook.com/LP173WF4-SPF1_LG Display_17.3_LCM_overview_21056.html

 

Very well then I stand corrected thanks for clarifying

 

Not just yet, we need him to confirm the exact model #, but so far, it looks like it is an LG IPS panel.

 

It states, "Unknown." :/

 

Update: Dell is shipping me a replacement 17 R2. Because the OS was installed on the incorrect drive and all drivers are not yet available for download from Dell, my system has missing drivers. The recovery USB stick only has the OS, no drivers. Not much of a recovery.

 

Exactly what I though. Don't let them take your original until the replacement arrives, unless you want to. I have refused to return equipment ahead of a replacement without any argument from dell...

 

The prepaid return shipping is coming with the new system, so I will not yet be relinquishing possession .

Are 17 R2 owners going to start complaining about the PSU? I would be happy to throw away the 1 hour+ with Dell tech support once I get the replacement system to demand a new, higher output PSU. The replacement system has no guarantee of staying in my home if I deem it inadequate, and I am happy to remind Dell that the only thing standing in the way of having another soon-to-be refurbished 17 on their hands is a trip to FedEx.

 

Do you get charged a restocking fee for returning a laptop?

 

Yes please. Simply show the two results, with and without the higher PSU and see what they say. Use the term 'unfit for purpose' .

Not usually with Dell but in some countries they get away with this. Restocking up to 10% is allowed by most countries but if they try that you are returning the product as 'unfit and or faulty' and not because you changed your mind.

 

Yes start demanding the power brick now it's been confirmed the 180brick is not enough the whole system throttles I wouldbe dames ding a new 240w brick

 

When I get my laptop, I will be doing the same.

 

What is the successful approach in getting dell to send a 240w brick vs the 180? How can it be presented to be understood by the support people at dell?

 

That's the million dollar question. I tried to be proactive and get them to send me a 240 watt while placing my order over the phone. I even offered to pay for it at one point. The response I received over and over was that the 180 is the only one available for this model. So I'm not sure that asking for one after the fact will yield any different results.

 

A request to escalate the problem to AW technical management is needed. Point them at this: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...enware-17-3dmark11-results-9.html#post9901080

The standard support jockeys will only supply parts from the approved list. Explain that the machine is not working properly without a 240w power supply and you want an official answer as to why this is.

Good luck

 

What you have to remember is the majority of the people you talk to don't know a thing about your computer, they are following prompts on a screen most of the time. They will put in your service tag and the computer will spit out a list of parts it came with and that is what you get...The computer says that the part isn't compatible and they don't know any better so you don't get it.

 

Wouldn't it be nice to have a company that is run BY gamers FOR gamers? You know, where every single person in the building (even the freaking janitor) understands enough about computers/parts/gaming to be able to grasp the essence of an issue such as this?

One thing that gets me really excited is when I talk to a CSR, and they obviously know what you and they are talking about. They get it. They're not just reading screen prompts - they can discuss the issue with you due to their own personal knowledge.

 

Hey guys, I was going to buy an AW 17 but someone told me that AW 17 R2 does not support the HDMI 1.3 input anymore as R1? Why did this happen? Finally I can get one since my last AW M14x R2 and now does this to me

 

If I had the cash and access to some good R/D I'd be all over that. Unfortunately, it costs money.

 

Does the laptop come with screws to install the M2 drives?

 

Hello All,

(Please move this to another section if there is better place)

So I had an estimated delivery date of 02/06/2015 but I heard on the Alienware arena forum of someone getting theirs early even though the delivery date never changed. So I checked everyday (4 times day) and finally last night a tracking number was added and it said I would get the laptop today. I ordered on the 8th for reference sake.

it arrived in the standard Alienware packaging(black inner box with Alien on it, surrounded by brown cardboard type fitted packaging). Everything was in pristine condition.

I should probably say what I ordered here:

4710HQ CPU
16GB Ram
970M GTX 3GB
True Life w/touch
Recovery USB
1TB hard drive

the first thing after starting it up I noticed was the dimness of the display. I maxed out the setting and it was much better but still not as bright as I thought it could go. When I went into the power settings to change it to high performance the screen immediately brightened up. Not sure what I did, but it worked.

This True Life IPS screen is one of the finest displays I have ever seen for 1080P. I cannot put it any other way. its bright its vivid, the colors are rich, and its just so smooth. The touch is perfect and responsive. I've owned maybe 5 previous gaming laptops, and this one has no peer in terms of display. I just returned an ASUS g751JT-CH71 due to the sound issues, and while it was a nice screen this one is better. And even though it isn't matte, the glare isn't that bad!

the weight is much improved from the Alienware 18 I owned previously. Of course it should be lighter but its a good few lbs. lighter. Weight is never a big concern but I am going to say trading off the optical drive and a couple of other options seems to have been the way to go.

As far as game performance, I haven't run a lot, but I tried all three batman titles and Skyrim, and they all run flawlessly with near Max or max setting.

I'm not a pro with any of the benchmarking tools. I only know real world performance, and I was satisfied with everything I threw at it. Oh and World of Warcraft, forget about it. it was as smooth as could be at full maxed out settings.

its quiet and doesn't get warm to the touch BUT that does bring me to one of my worries. My CPU Idle temps.

I didn't feel any warmth from the computer, except maybe a little from the top of the keyboard near the number keys. But The temps on the laptop were higher than what I experienced with the ASUS or AW18. With the ASUS especially (known for great cooling) I idled around 39-42 degrees on the CPU. When gaming I would get up into the middle 60's but that was it. When using this new computer I idle around 49-52 doing nothing but downloading and running the steam app. Not a game, just the app. If I start up any of the batman games and run it for 10 minutes it goes to bout 71-76 degrees. Again its not hot to the touch and I don't hear the fans running any stronger(perhaps the problem). Honestly I don't even know if these are acceptable temps.

I cant speak to the GPU temp because for some reason the HW monitor isn't picking it up.

I did have to right click on WOW before I started it and change the default from the Intel graphics to the NVidia for anyone who may run into that.

I also cant speak to the PSU controversy. I don't have a 240W charger to try and I seem to be getting very good performance.

As you can see I am no expert review writer. But if there is something you want to see or want me to try please let me know and I will do so. Also, if anyone has input on Fan control or my temps please let me know, I am all ears. I am not willing to re-paste myself though if that's the only suggestion.

 

I would suggest you run the CPU stress test for 10mins, check the temps and report them here. Most games do not push the CPU too much, they push the GPU to the max though. If you are using Intel XTU, there is a good stress test built into the software, plus tools for overclocking the CPU. These temps do not look high at all, in fact middle 60s under load look great, maybe too good in your previous machine. That also depends on the load though, I suspect it was not 100% load either.

MSI Afterburner should be able to show your GPU temps. It will also show in game FPS as well as let you overclock your GPU if you need more power in the future. MSI Afterburner is a great piece of software - it will show you your GPU clock speeds as well and if you have any performance issues, you will see if GPU is downclocking.

 

I am still up and at work, so I will be downloading afterburner and looking into the CPU stress test right now.

 

I installed the latest version of afterburner and Nothing. Should it work on an Alienware system. I am looking at the interface and everything is Zeros and not moving

 

Ok I just ran 3dmark11. I got P8945 - with an unapproved driver. Physics Score 7748 - Combined Score 7575. Good? Bad? Just Ok?

At the conclusion of the test - the CPU was at around 59 degrees

 

All I can add is that the CPU temps are lower than previous generations. Mine idles below 70c but hits 85c under stress. I have seen others so I'm not concerned.

If you get heaven 4 benchmark you should be able to see GPU temp, weird that it's not working for you . You can't even re-install the driver as dell have not published it yet!

Have you checked out this thread for a comparison? : http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-17-m17x/769577-new-alienware-17-3dmark11-results.html

If you need to get a better PSU from dell then this may help.

Great to hear about the display, I've got one on my order and was hoping it would be good :thumbsup:.

 

My friend it is better than good. I haven't been able to snap any photos that do it justice.

Also, I ran the XTU and all seemed great. For the 5 min test, my temps basically went from 50's to low 80's for about 7-8 seconds at start. Then it started dropping. About a minute in at 98-100% utilization, the fans must have been kicking butt because it never went above 68 degrees again. It stayed 0% thermal throttling the entire time.

 

Sounds like it's power throttling though, something a more powerful PSU will fix.

I'll be comparing against my 120hz glossy so I'm coming from what is already an awesome display for me. Reflections can be a pain but the introduction of Trulife on the later panels has lessened that - so I'm told.

Dell TrueLife™ LCD Screens - What is it?.

Does Heaven 4 ( https://unigine.com/products/heaven/download/) give you GPU temps?

 

I had run 3dMark with the G751JT I had (very similar specs to what you have). With a 240w power supply.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-4710HQ,ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. G751JT

If you want to run 3dMark (not 3dMark11) on yours, we can compare.