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

So I received the M.2 ssd i ordered from Amazon yesterday and found that there are no screws by which I could secure it to the system. There are 4 mounts that receive a very thin mounting screw, and despite having hundreds of pc screws around the house I had none that were compatible. So I will have to reach out to Dell and get these sent unfortunately.

 

I had the same issue with screws. Pretty cheap not to include them like one picture that shows them in place. I was able to rob a couple out of my Asus g75. The screws that hold the frame of the screen on are the same.

 

Yeah same problem, not sure duct tape is gonna cut it ;(. Please let me know if you get any response from dell, I'm still waiting for my machine to arrive .

 

Been away from PC gaming for more than a year but making a comeback.

Looking for a 17" IPS panel laptop and so far, the 17r2 (970M base model) fits my max budget of $1500 (probably get lucky with a 10% from Dell if I really push it). Also looked at Asus ROG but edging toward the 17R2 mainly for the cost factor (and I like the overall design on the AW laptops in general)

Questions:
1) Is the touch screen panel any better/worse than the 'Anti-Glare'? I already have a Samsung Chrono touchscreen and hardly use the touch functions so not a big deal at all. Also, I'm assuming the 'Anti-glare' is IPS panel ?? If both panels are IPS , I might just go with the non touch version.

2) The power throttling issue ...does it affect the 970M as well or only the higher 980M GFX models?

3) I'm planning to keep the laptop for 2-3 yrs ...is the 970M enough for 1080p gaming (mostly on the laptop screen)

4) For those that have bought (and kept) the 17R2, do you regret the decision and wish you'd gone with a different brand/model?

Thanks in advance!!

 

1) Both are IPS.
2) The 970m from my understanding is not affected
3) Should be good enough, but there will be some degradation over time in quality as games progress (obviously)
4) Mine is in production, but at this point dealing with the customer service team at Dell/Alienware, I'm starting to regret it.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Phillips-Alienware-keyboards-components-base-plastic/dp/B00BW3QQRA
Cheapest I could find them.
Sorry link is corrected
And since they come in a 24 pack and I only need 4, pm your address and ill mail you some.

And yes I realize that looks like a phishing scheme, but I'm honestly just trying to be nice.

 

looks like the wrong size. Thread is about 1.5mm I think.

 

I contacted AW tech support and requested the screws. They are sending the ones required. Thanks for the offer. I would just contact them directly about it if not already.

 

I have the Alienware 17 with the 980m. I find that it is pretty warm on the bottom even for just surfing and watching videos. Would the 970m be cooler on the bottom?

 

I would expect it to be cooler but it's a bit of a performance drop to take. If you like to use it on your lap then maybe look at a lap pad? I got one of these ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/Targus-Lap-...2512&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=taggus+17"+lap+pad), it keeps it cooler and has a padded surface making it comfortable on the lap. Not pretty but totally what I needed.

 

If you switch to optimus and use the integrated graphics wouldn't that lower the heat by a good amount?

 

Just received my AW 17 R2 today. 180w PSU even though I was told by sales I'd be getting a 240 which I kinda new wouldn't happen. So what should I do first? Bench mark wise

 

Just thought I would post here to give potential 17r2 owners a heads up. It seems that the 970m in the new AW17 has been locked at a bios level preventing it from being OC'ed.
I have done some pretty extensive testing with at this point ten different driver versions (using ddu to uninstal to ensure a clean install) and 6 different GPU tweaking soft wares (multiple versions of each) and in every case overclocking the 970m is completely locked down (memory can be OC'ed but core clock can not be adjusted at all) and it seems that this lock is on a bios/hardware level.

This does not apply to the 980m which has been successfully overclocked by sever 17r2 owners but the 970m in the 17r2 can not be overclocked at all!

(disclaimer I am 99% sure im right about this assertion at this point but if anyone can prove me wrong please please post and let me know how you managed to oc the 970m on your AW17R2)

 

*snip* Wrong tread

 

So I'm currently playing around with a AW 17 (mid 2013) while waiting for my R2 to ship. I must say, a quality machine this certainly is. Heavy (in a good way), solid, aluminum...good stuff. The display/lid is sturdy, solid metal. I like it.

Those who received their new AW17 R2 have mentioned that the chassis isn't actually aluminum anymore, but some sort of plastic?

 

Yeah the chasis build quality for the 2015 17r2 of crap compared to the previous models (I have an 18r1 2014 for comparison) and all of what was previously metal and rubber is now plastic. serious drop in build quality.

 

Hi. I'm currently looking for a gaming laptop to replace my actual MSI GT60 with 780m (which I had for 1/2 years now) but I have too many questions with this new AW generation and I hope you can help me:
Basically,he option I would choose is:
Alienware 17
1080p matte screen
i7 4710 2.5GHz
GTX 980m 4Gb
16 GB RAM
128 ssd + 1Tb 5400 RPM
It is around $1,800 in my country (including taxes and shipping)
1) I use my laptop everyday for work, so besides for gaming I connect/disconnect it at least a couple of times. Does the 17 R2 has a removable battery? I don't know if also it is soldered in this generation.
2) I've read a lot about the low 180w PSU. Should I buy a 240w or a 330w PSU so I can obtain the maximum performance of the GPU/CPU?
3) How is the noise/ventilation in this model? One of the reasons I want to upgrade from 15 to 17" is so I can work a little cooler. My actual laptop is VERY noisy, specially when I overclock the GPU as it has only one vent at one side of the machine, but keyboard is always cool.
4) Speaking of overclock, is it possible to overclock the GPU in 17 R2?
5) I've read about some Asus G751 supporting G-Sync on laptop display. Is this possible also on this model?
6) Are 4Gb enough for the 980m? I can't play for example Shadows of Mordor or Dying Light with High textures using my 780m 4Gb. I thought that 980m had 8Gb of Vram.
Hopefully with this info I will make the right choice.

 

When reading their promotional material, you see this: "Crafted with aerospace-inspired carbon fiber filled surfaces that add stiffness and durability..."

So it's not actually made of carbon fiber. Just has some filling. Carbon fiber reinforced plastic.

 

I think you might want to post this in the following forum:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/forums/what-notebook-should-i-buy.16/

 

Well something had to give when the prices are far more competitive than previously. Hoping support is not being starved of funds as well now?

 

This just makes the ASUS ROG line look better and better. The new G751 is the same type of solid, reinforced plastic. However, it has the hinge made/covered in some sort of brushed metal.

If Alienware was trying really hard to mimic ASUS ROGs’ build quality, looks like they’re succeeding...Well, getting closer anyway.

 

Magnesium, tungsten, or titanium, now those are some quality metals to sell it, and of course real carbon fibre, not an excuse to use the phrase .

Prices would climb though...

 

Would it really?

The new base AW17 sells here for $1700. I got a mid-2013 AW17 with a bigger HDD and twice the RAM (and with the 240W PSU, slot-loading DVD drive and premium build materials) for $1950 from Best Buy. BB also sold a 4-year product service plan for $300. Not to mention that older AW17 had the MQ CPU (and I'm pretty sure a MXM GPU).

So all that for an extra $250.

 

Yeah but that is an 'old' model now so it should be cheaper just to clear them out of stock.

Even an extra $250 looks bad when next to the other brands. AW used to stand on it's own reputation, nowadays, not so much .

 

While it is an older model, the only area in which is actually suffers is the GPU (R9 M290X). Everything else is still fine by today's standards. In fact, compared to most other laptops (and the new AW17 R2) it is probably still better. Change the GPU and you're golden. The M290X is about on par with the GTX 870M.

Anyway, you're probably right in that part of the reason I got a good deal on that older AW is because it is "older" and therefore they want to clear them out.

Still, a heck of a deal for just $250 more than the new AW17.

 

No denying it's a great deal and the performance is still current. With the potential for upgrading you are all set .

 

Thank you Ramzay. I'm not searching for another laptop, just have questions about this AW 17 R2, specially since Dell decided to "downgrade" this model compared to R1. This forum is the only reliable source of information, given that there are not "official" reviews yet anywhere :/

 

Maybe someone with an R2 can check these drivers out : http://na.alienwarearena.com/forums...-alienware-laptop-nvidia-graphics-card-driver.

Although it's all about the G/A I doubt it will be any different from the 'mainstream' Dell release. Latest version according to one downloader.

 

We used to have a pre-order and configuration thread under the old models. It's necro'd now so this is as good as any to try for answers. I see the same questions asked over and over and often just want to flame 'use the search!'. Problem is that here there is too much information for the new user . Easier to just ask specifics and hope you get a response.

1) I, am assuming the touch truelife (the anti-glare technology) panel will be better for gaming than a matte panel. I will know when it finally arrives. http://www.screentekinc.com/dell-truelife-lcd-screens.shtml

2) 970's draw less power so no problems like that have been reported, although there is a huge question about if they can be overclocked at all!

3) So many factors to take into consideration but as long as you don't want to run the latest games with all the bells and whistles on I would think so.

4) TBD!!!!!

If I was looking at dual usage and not just a sedentary gaming rig I would be looking at the 15?

 

That's the latest version indeed. We posted it a while ago on our thread as well. It should work for all of the new machines and should solve all graphic driver issues + provides an update.

 

Sweeeeet! I thought that would be the case. Nice to get it confirmed so promptly. Thank you sir!

 

Don't know if this will come in handy for your owners. Happy testing.
http://na.alienwarearena.com/forums...re-17r2-beta-bios-for-hybrid-power-technology

 

Thanks for that. I'd really like some details of what it does though. Dell have been known to slip in 'fixes' for mess ups before. The R3 had problems with drives not using SATAIII sometimes. They just removed SATAIII via a BIOS update and changed the documentation. Never mentioned.

Not to be a downer and maybe this is the 'soft' fix for the throttling on the 180W PSU I said they would be working on? As long as it's real and not some sort of way to trick the system and not have to supply 240w PSU's it's all good.

The benchmarkers will see the difference

Over to you guys

 

I know you saw Frank's response MickyD1234, but do those who didn't, that BIOS is for the 180w v 240w issue and remedies it. It is a beta driver, so use with caution. We should have it up officially on our support page sometime next week.

 

Thanks for your input Khan. I am completely over all this Frank BS. I've cancelled. Life is too short to get bogged down in discussions over semantics. See my post: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-benchmark-thread.770320/page-18#post-9918547.

BTW, 'remedies it' should be 'works around the design limitations'.

Good luck selling this crock, maybe the noobs will swallow it!

 

Alienware before: http://auto.ferrari.com/en_EN/sports-cars-models/

Alienware now: http://www.toyota.co.uk/new-cars/prius

Which is your preference, saving fossil fuels and extending the stores, OR 'I want power and I want it now!'

 

Mine's in prod currently. Didn't order the usb recovery disk and now in hindsight, wish I could since it was only $15. I called Dell but they couldn't change the order as it's gone in prod.

Anyhoo, I did some googling and there's mention of "AlienSpawn" utility that comes with the system but these threads relate to the older AW models. Does the new model come with this utility? Can I burn a usb recovery disk myself?

I've ordered a SSD today so once I receive the laptop, I'm going to put the SSD in and then planning to use the usb recovery disk to boot to the SSD and then reinstall the OS on it and then use the original 1T HDD for storage. Or should I simply put the SSD in and then try cloning it? Win 8, not sure if cloning will work better or a fresh new install ....

Thanks.

 

Here is a thread that explains all of it. Planning on doing the same thing, make sure you get some screws too if you haven't already. I am planning on just imaging the drive and restoring the image across 2 x ssd's in raid 0.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...to-aftermarket-drive-alienrespawn-q-a.576732/

 

After reading quite a bit on the new Alienware 17 R2, I recided to grab the i7-4710HQ GTX980M with 1TB version. I saw the video of the power usage for the i7-4980 coming out to roughly 225+ and was wondering if anyone can give me some sort of insight on the 180W being sent with my incoming shipment. I am by no means an expert at laptops and I won't pretend to be, but I'll learn. I read some people were fine with the 180W, yet some swear I should get the 240W or even the 330W. Doesn't seem necessary to get the 330W with my specs but I may be overlooking something.

Any recommendations on getting a new brick or should I just ask dell to send me a 240W.

I'm also hoping to run some tests when my Alienware 17 gets here and see if the 180W is actually enough or if there was an update that only allow the laptop to run <180W.

 

i ordered the 17r2 with an i7-4980 and the gtx 980 and i would like to get an official statement on whether the new bios puts in any maximum psu restrictions or not. if this is the case and i can't use a 240 or 330w psu i will be cancelling my order straight away. if the new bios only adds an optional battery boost i dont mind, as long as a bigger psu still works.
maybe someone who has already gotten his aw17 can do some tests! that would be great.

 

Did you opt for the 240W or the 330W yet Kenniz? I was thinking about doing that before mine get shipped.

 

Ask Dell to send the 240W, they've said they're committed to offer those free of charge for those that ask, and it's only gonna be a plus to have that extra overhead - for a start you'll be able to charge the battery and game at the same time, which wouldn't really be possible with a measly 180W adapter. Plus, with the 240W brick you'll be able to overclock the GPU & CPU to some extent. Definitely get the 240W adapter free, and then if it's not enough buy the 330W adapter.

 

Thank you so much Robbo!

 

i am from the EU and i asked dell to send me a 240w cpu, they said it isnt possible and they send the 180 W :/

 

:/ Hopefully when I call Dell in a few hours, I won't have issues with them sending me a 240W.

 

There's a post where Alienware Frank says he's committed to sending out the 240W PSU, copy & paste that link to the thread, and send them that link of proof - they can't really deny you a 240W PSU after that. Here's the link to the post, it's post #233 here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ger-frank-azor-anything-on-awa.770195/page-12

( @Tommy Pham , this is applicable for you too.)

 

Thank you again Robbo. So noob friendly. I'm contemplating on moving onto the Asus G751 or the GT72 if this doesn't get any better. Unfortunately, this will be my first AW product so I have nothing to compare to.

 

They're both pretty good laptops, and would be the ones I would consider buying too. I think the Asus is less upgradeable at a later date though (in comparison to GT72 of course, because Alienware is soldered!), in terms of GPU upgrades, both of those have great cooling capacity & would be good for some good GPU overclocking. Possible that those laptops have better cooling than the new Alienwares, not seen any reviews of A17 R2 yet, so can't compare, but Alienwares are thinner than the last generation, so possible to think cooling performance might be worse.

 

I was really interested in the GT72 Dominator Pro-211 specifically for around 2300$.

i7 4710HQ
16GB Memory
1TB HDD + 128GB SSD
GTX 980M

I feel like it's worth it since it has the GTX 980M 8GB whereas the AW17R2 has 4GB as well as the additional 128GB of SSD. Plus I don't have to wait forever for Dell to put my AW17 together.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152661&cm_re=gt72-_-34-152-661-_-Product

Then again there is the G751 around 20$ less than the GT72 @

i7 4710HQ
24GB Memory
1TB HDD + 256GB SSD
GTX 980M

But the ASUS is the GTX 980M 4GB. I'm not all that laptop savvy so I'm not sure whether or not the current gaming market even allows for anything higher than 4GB. I won't be playing 4K.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834232199&cm_re=g751-_-34-232-199-_-Product

 

Hi guys, the tests done by Mr. Fox, our AW forums moderator and all round good guy, clearly showed that the machine is throttling on the 180w PSU. It was drawing around 240w at stock settings during benchmarks. Other users that also have earlier models and the 240w PSU also confirmed the results - but not the actual power draw like Mr Fox did.

The alienware GM got involved in all the complaints and promised a fix. His fix is a bios update that makes the machine use the battery to boost the inadequate PSU - basically a hybrid. Game and your using the battery and the PSU, stop gaming it charges up. He also claimed it's only needed for miliseconds during moments of high power draw. No tests have been done to confirm or deny this. He also authorised any user that wants to get a 240w to be able to call in and get one after receipt, but the specs of the machine will not change and it will continue to be supplied with a 180w PSU .

The fact is that Mr Fox' tests showed that even 240w was only just capable and any overclocking is going to need the 330W PSU. If you are happy to buy into this eco-version of a gaming laptop then I'm happy for you. It does make their statements about 'uncompromising gaming performance' somewhat redundant.

I've spent over a month trying to get one for tests and maybe keep it. A long and painful experience with cancellation by them, re-entry, EDD moving out, blah blah. It's still sitting in pre-production and my cancellation request has only been acknowledged 3 days after I sent it in.

Due to a stroke I have great difficulty with phone calls. People cannot understand me, especially when English is not their first language. Calling in and chasing is unfortunately not an option for me .

To say I am disappointed with the 'fix' and direction the AW brand is moving does not come close to my feelings over this. They are chasing the mass-market by lowering prices and components to compete with the competition.

I know it sounds elitist but I am. I wanted something unique in the market place, a true 'boutique' machine, like my R4, as well as the best performer around. Total fail for both my wants/needs .

I had already purchased a 330w PSU for testing before the GM's statement. Hunt down the 'Ask alienware's general manager anything...' thread, his responses are very cleverly worded and may convince you to purchase.

In conclusion, it might now work at stock or 'as designed' but long term testing as to the effect on the battery, or even if it will give you problems after extended use are still a questions.

If you do buy one then you have to call in after receiving it to get the 240w PSU. It should be supplied by default with the 980m machines so new purchasers who may not be aware of why it cannot overclock(?) without reading here, are not misslead. Of course dell do not support overclocking, but it has been standard practice on AW machines that the components and design allow us to do it. Fail.

I don't want to be a total downer people, so if what I have said (or you do not believe it - your right) does not affect your purchasing decision then I wish you all the luck in the world, really! We do still have a great community here on NBR

Me? I am done with this BS, I tried, I even ordered the GA just to test that out as well. Time to move on, sob. Good luck all!