*OFFICIAL* Alienware 17 R4 Owner's Lounge

i thoght u can have gsync with optimus by using fn+f7 keys iirc to switch between gpu or from bios directly ??? pls clarify

 

Systems with GSync have different motherboards that have Optimus disabled.


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so no bios switch too mux switch in gsync ? does the graphics amplifier works with the internal screen then ???

 

So I couldn't wait ... and wasn't really confident ordering from a "boutique" vendor before actually having my hands on one of the AW 17's ... and so I visited my local (slimy ass) Best Buy and bought one of the $1799.00 1080p versions of the AW 17 for, "testing" purposes.

I haven't gamed with it yet or done anything else, really except for turning it on and configuring some benchmark/stress tools ...

I've only used it for about two hours now but certainly have some initial impressions:

1. This particular machine has the 1080p IPS (non G Sync) screen. This particular screen is 100% bleed free. Honestly, at least on this one, the screen is *super* nice. Man I wish they would offer a 1080p G Sync IPS screen... I would totally buy it over the 1440p if they did. Colors on IPS are just so much better.

2. Temps are not good (I expected this). I get throttling after just about 45 secs of Prime 95. I enabled "CPU Performance Mode" in bios and this helped quite a bit but it still hit throttle temps after a few minutes. Last step would be to enable "Fan Performance Mode" in bios (which I tried) but this blasts the fans at 100%, seemingly, *all* the time.

3. I can't get my external USB drive to work; I get some cryptic message about "location not available" or some such every time I plug it in but I'm 99.9% sure this is Windows 10 specific. I think it might have to do with security/ownership issues... not a big deal at all.

4. The keyboard kicks serious ass. I love it. I type 100+ WPM and write constantly; a quality keyboard is one of *the* main selling points for me when considering a laptop (or any computer, really). I thought I would have a problem with the flush mounted keyboard but man am I loving it. I like it even more than the Steel Series keyboard on my tried and true MSI GS70 Stealth Pro ... the AW keyboard has a bit more travel, but more importantly, has a noticeably more stiff response. The Steel Series keyboard, though nice, still seems "mushy" in comparison. Good job AW!

5. The entire machine is unbelievably well built. I'm not impressed easy and I've never owned an Alienware machine but man is this a *ridiculously* well built machine. Zero flex, anywhere on the keyboard. Remarkably rigid/solid across the board. Screen hinge is solid as all get out. Quality materials throughout the chassis. And the entire thing is (no exaggeration) far more solid and well built than any laptop I've encountered. Seriously impressed, I am.

6. Much to my delight, all of the lights can be cut off and remain off, even after rebooting and as bios initiates. I was *terrified* about this not being possible but alas it is. Again, good job AW! So many vendors/builders skimp on details like this and it irks me. My MSI GS70 for instance? I have the keyboard configured in Windows to be all white, all the time. It works fine while in Windows but when booting, as bios initializes? The keyboard goes all red and wonky. I'm used to it after 2+ years of use but still ... they cut corners with that bit I think ...

...

So long story short? I love the thing. I just wonder if the 1440p screen is any good as I'm super tempted to just keep this 1080p IPS rig. I use my laptop 90% of the time hooked in to desktop peripherals and a 144hz external monitor. I could count the times I've actually gamed on my laptop screen on three fingers. So not sure. I've got two weeks to work out the kinks, regardless ...

(BTW: see the attached file, it's a pretty bad cel phone shot of my screen on a black background, totally unaffected and 100% as shot via my Samsung Note 4 on "auto" settings) ...

Hope that helps,
Joel

 

Someone knows how many ssd ports (pcie x4) are available this new model? and if they have any limitations (2nd ssd port limited to pcie x2), as the model 17 r3. Let me know if I can install two ssd Samsung 960 Pro, to create a raid0.

Thks!

 

No optimus with g-sync. Its disabled in hardware level.

 

I have opened up the new 17r4 with 1440p screen As stated above...the build quality is immense.

I'm not a screen addict so I don't really know if its good or not.

I will say, I can see pixel lines horizontally. I have 20/10 vision, so I'm not sure if its me, but my 3k IPS doesn't do this, nore my 4k TN. I'm going to take it apart and check the cables. Installing drivers now. Waiting to repaste to see if anyone else has these weird lines. Almost as if every other row of pixels is 25-50% darker

 

Doing some research, it appears to be interlacing. There is an option in geforce experience to de-interlace, and it appears to do nothing. I am in love with Tobii eye tracking. Looking away and having the monitor turn off is so cool lol.

The lines are pretty distracting. They do not appear on dark (black) areas, but any color is striped.

 

This is a issue all these TN displays have I'm afraid. I originally wanted a Aorus x7 v6 with a 1440 display and 120 hz. And this display also have this problem. I think it behaves differently from eyes to eyes. I'm color blind and don't see it as good as others.

You don't have a defective display, but with 120hz, gsync, wide viewing angles etc maybe they crammed too much into these displays.

I'm not a panel expert so maybe someone has an answer to this, it seems that on grey background you can see it more obvious. It's like them old command and conquer intros lol.

Dimming is different on every row of pixels.

 

hey can u please give me the model name of your display panel from HWiNFO or AIDA64?
You are the first one here to own the QHD display, thanks.

 

This is exactly it. Looks like scanlines.

http://imgur.com/a/QPU0F

 

Panel info:
AUO1096
Name: B173QTN
8bit

 

Thanks for your input and being the first with the QHD on here as pallab said, you can expect quite a few questions!

i got a couple...

If you play any new games what sort of FPS are you getting with it and at what settings?

can you take a pic of the screen from normal viewing distance not right up close?

Be really interested to know these if you have the time, many thanks

 

Also if you happen to have a oscilloscope by any chance( its not that costly either, 100$ ) you can check if the panel has PWM , if so its best if you replace your machine with a new FHD/UHD screen model.

 

How do I check if its PWM. I've got a few multimeters.

 

Sorry i meant Oscilloscope.
Check the luminance output at 90,50,33,18,0 % brightness (checking at 0, 18, 33% brightness important).
If the ouput is a straight line in all cases then NO pwm. If you have a curve with high and low peaks simultaneously oscillating, then you have PWM.

 

deleted*

 

If you get one of those handy oscilloscopes they will cost you like 100$ .(No need for the big ones)

 

Not buying one for this. The striping is very bothersome. I will be attempting to get a replacement. I am deploying on15NOV (previously 1NOV, got pushed) and will be getting a new laptop without this issue or a full refund.

 

Do you see this kind of striping in other TN displays as well?
At what distance do you first see the striping, i mean how close are you to the laptop Screen?

 

I can see it from 4-5 feet away. I have never seen this before on a TN panel, I am sitting in front of one right now. I've got a TN 4k and an IPS 3k on my desk, and another TN 1080 laptop and 1080 monitor. TN 3k monitors from Dell at work, never seen this before. You can see in the photo I linked if you look at the mountainous rock. Every other row of pixels are dimmer.
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Additonal info from reddit:

blueruckus
•
3h


Can you get a model/part number on the display itself so we can try and find out more about it?

Have you tried taking a screenshot and viewing it on another device to rule out a possible software issue and not necessarily the display?

Saw your post on Notebook forums... man, this sounds frustrating. My machine was supposed to come in yesterday but was delayed to Tuesday. I hope the display isn't annoyingly terrible. It was a roughly $300+ bump over the 1080 IPS display, which so far is sounding like a much nicer option. I really don't want to have to go through the hassle of returning but if the display is bad, I can't tolerate that.

EDIT: Found a thread about this on the Aorus forums and they appear to be having a similar issue with the 1440 panel as well. It's assumed that all manufacturers are using this same panel. In that thread, Aorus contacted the panel manufacturer and was concluded that everything seems to be working as intended pretty much. Reps from Xotic PC think it may be a 1070 issue and may be resolved with updated drivers, but this is all up in the air right now. This... kinda sucks... http://forum.aorus.com/forum/gaming-laptops/39220-striping-in-screen-please-advise

EDIT 2: Digging further in to that thread. It was determined to be the same panel as the one in the Alienware 17. Aorus contacted panel manufacturer again and they once again confirmed that this is the way the panel looks and it's the same panel being used in every 17" 1440 120hz laptop right now. Aorus then offered a full refund to anyone who does not wish to keep their unit with this panel even if they are beyond their refund period.

Here's a user's video of the problem -

 

Based on that video I'm not that bothered i think it will be ok for me for its about fast and smooth screen performance along with the G-Sync.

I cant stand the old FHD res anymore and having had the 4k IZGO cant be doing with all the resolution scaling issues every time I want to game.

Totally get people returning as well just wouldnt bother me that much i dont think we'll see....

be nice to know what FPS the 1070 pushes on that screen though....

 

If I had a choice I would have bought a 17.3 glossy panel screen over anti glare, however went for the 4K and am happy with it. Scaling is a small annoyance but win 10 anniversary update seems to have made scaling issues less common.
Why are glossy panels only available on Apple and Razer these days? Colours seem crisper and better contrasts on glossy screens.

 

Gamers dont like glare.

 

What are the resolution scaling issues?

 

Apologies if this was asked before, if I buy a non-gsync AW 17, will I be able to swap out the display in the future with a gsync display or are there other components that won't allow this upgrade to happen?

 

still get glare with anti glare panels, only difference is anti glare produces a smudged effect. Razer pro is aimed at gamers and its a glossy panel.
Imo, Alienware should bring back the 3D 120hrtz panels, best screen I ever had in a laptop.

 

holy ****.. that is definitely not acceptable for me... definitely staying away from that 120hz screen.

 

The stripping issue does indeed affect all laptops with that display at the moment. There's currently just this display available. Damn I maybe thought Alienware chose another one as they report 4ms and Aorus report 5ms. I can't see it on black or white but on grey or bright color background it's easy to detect.

How do you guys with the 4K display like yours? Is it 60 or 75 hertz? Does it bleed etc? I'm really confused now on what display to choose as 1080 is not gonna happend coming from a MacBook Retina display...

Edit: it's definitely a display issue as the dt version with 1080 also have this issue, so no software or firmware issues as far as I know...

 

No The GSync module is on the motherboard

 

All i know is with my 17r3 with the 4k certain programs wouldn't scale correct and only display in 4k (Tiny impossible to read etc...)

Plus in some games if i changed the in game resolution the game would some times get stuck in 1 corner 25% area of the monitor.

easily rectified often with a restart of program/game but just a real annoyance and considering the 1070 cant drive 4k at any reasonable frame rate is why i chose the QHD. I may regret it i just dont know hopefully I'll see soon.... plz dell? hurry the F up!

 

I currently own dell with 15.6 4k matte panel. Very happy with it. Wish AW put it everywhere.

 

I saw someone, somewhere posted a screenie of the error message that is displayed when the Intel GPU is attempted to be enabled on a G-Sync model. Does anyone know where I I saw this? Lol

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This is not a 1070 issue!! A known issue with the 1440 panel. Whether this can be fixed with firmware, is not known. The problem appears with static image, but not in gaming. Accept it or go for something else

 

Alt f7, the mux switch gives and error saying not available in gsync models

 

If you are a laptop manufacturer , yes u can.
If not, then no.

 

Can u steam without any issues? I have had issues there.
If your display is running 4k, in the ingame settings which resolution did u change your game to?

 

What's your laptop? And what is the panel?

 

How long does your battery run without gaming?

 

how were those 3d panels?? did u use glass to look at them?

 

Hi!

someone knows why this difference in memory speed?

16gb 2x8 2667mhz
32gb 2x16 2400mhz

Why in 32gb the speed is 2400mhz and is not 2667mhz?

 

How is the 1440p Screen? Any Infos from the owner? Pictures? Viewing Angles? Line Problem ok or enoying?

 

New Personal Best:

GTX 1080 Territory on a 1070. Just getting started....this is a preliminary run...

New Personal Best: @ only 4.2GHz

* So annoying that it throws that message of the graphics card not being recognized...we all know that's not true...These scores are recorded and will be validated accordingly on the 3DMark Server.

Physics Score: 13,139 @ 4.2GHz

Fire Strike - 16184

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/10628487


Time Spy: 5976

http://www.3dmark.com/spy/658765

 

Dell's custom mobo for Alienware has two ram slots.
So to support 32gb 2667 , dell has to get 2X16gb ram chips with 2667 mhz.
But 16gb 2667 ram chips are not available on the oem market yet, they are limited to 2400mhz.
But 8gb ram chips are available with 2667fsb hence the diff.

 

I couldn't find any datasheet for the QHD display from AUO, as its pretty recent in the market.
The viewing angle is 160/170.
from the reviews above, it seems to have striping.

 

There are 16GB memory on Newegg running at 2667MHz but their latency is high enough to make the 2400 MHz 16GB memory a better choice


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Honestly, the striping is very bad. The colors are also pretty bad compared to my cheap Korean 4K. I'll get a couple videos up today

 

But those are not OEM, so not an option for dell.
Also OEM mems dont have the lowest latencies.
If you want to upgrade yourself that's always an option.

 

Great the 1440p is bad, The UHD has bleed and the 1080p cant be ordered with i7 6820...wtf Alienware...

 

When you guys find the RAM that you want to go with, could you also post it up here in the new thread? Thanks.

[Confirmed RAM List + Feedback] - Alienware 17 R4 / 15 R3

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/confirmed-ram-list-feedback-alienware-17-r4-15-r3.797653/


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