*OFFICIAL* Alienware Area-51M R2 Owner's Lounge

Added in the new bios update. It’s nice you got stock Intel specs for Cpu and ram. Would be tragic if Dell continued as for R1.

Edit. Could someone post pictures of advanced settings in release bios and the upgrade? Thanks.

 

Hopefully that is the case. The R1 owners were promised faster RAM speeds following a BIOS update, this BIOS has never arrived, the only way to receive faster RAM speeds is to choose it as an option at purchase.

Although if 2933mhz is the base RAM speed, you should be able to achieve that even with aftermarket RAM.

Just annoys me that there are so many blockers and limitations in place after you spend so much for 'the worlds fastest and most upgradeable laptop'.

 

Well at least now it performs as good as a desktop
Stock clock on my desktop it's 6200 points no undervolt nothing

 

Tighter timings can do a whole lot for performance

Spoiler

 

That is great news about the BIOS and thanks for sharing all the info! Can't wait for mine to arrive! Questions I naturally have are id appreciate if anyone can help with:

- Is there any guide on application of Fujipoly pads for this (as in where and what sizes).

- Teardown and CPU/GPU removal for re-paste (presumably a lot simpler than my old 17 R5).

- AWCC allows the undervolt directly upto -100mv?

- The RAM is soldered in the R2? If not will it not allow use of HyperX like my R5?

Regardless again amazing info and feedback from everyone, appreciate and enjoying the daily forum read!

 

Maybe with R2 its possible to run aftermarket RAM and not only DELLs RAM?. Im just waiting with my order, because i want to know if its possible or not... ^^

 

Right, HyperX would likely go faster.

https://www.hyperxgaming.com/unitedkingdom/us/memory/overclocking-education

if only my Dellienware laptop supported RAM overclocking in BIOS...

 

Maybe. But specs sheet for R2 say the opposite.

 

Looking better by the minute!

Hey, even my P870TM1 can't make full use of these Corsair 4000Mhz SODIMMS

 

The question is whether 3rd party RAM will work even at 2933 (likely yes), and at native timings, rather than the timings set by Dell. The latter is anyone's guess, given the shenanigans they have been pulling off lately. Higher frequencies (3200) are limited to Dell modules, so why not lock better timings too!

 

Get out!

 

Here's BIOS 1.2.0 settings 1.0.0 had the same options.

Spoiler

AWCC allows up to -100mv and the RAM isn't soldered.

 

That BIOS overclocking feature was also disabled on my R1 but after I reset BIOS to setup defaults, save and exit then re-enter BIOS it got enabled

 

Not quite right, but my technical english is not good enough to explain why.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Do-yo...bout-high-refresh-rate-monitors.434392.0.html

This is not quite on the spot, but at least a bit. Tearing should be much less with 300Hz thou.

I still want G-sync and Clevos 240Hz with G-sync seems like a nice compromise if it can't be done at 300Hz.

144Hz is quite enough as I only play single player, but I "waneed" 240Hz+! ;-)

 

Referring to the original comment by @ratchetnclank, gsync does the exact opposite: it reduces tearing when the FPS is BELOW the monitor refresh rate. If the FPS is above the refresh rate, Gsync is basically the same as double-buffered Vsync.

If someone doesn't want tearing with a 300Hz screen, they can enable Vsync, and will get smooth video at 300, 150 or 75 Hz, which at 150Hz would probably provide experience that it is hard to distinguish from Gsync around that FPS ballpark.

Gsync is all about making that low FPS gameplay appear visually smoother (while it may feel slower in terms of controls vs no sync, which means the solution would not suit many people, including myself).

 

Exactly that! G-Syncs low cut off point is about 35-40fps. If your getting a solid 40fps g sync can make this feel a lot smoother than it is. This is why I’d want g sync for something like a 4k 120hz panel but for a 1080p panel this really makes no difference unless you play a very poorly optimised game like Tom clancys breakpoint, which even a 2080 ti struggles at achieving high framerates on 1080p ultra!

 

So the vapor chamber is working, I'm happy, congratulations to ratchetnclank excellent performances and temperatures, I'm sure you will be able to reach even higher scores

 

OMG "Thunderbolt adapter configuration" THIS is what I needed in my R1 to use my damn Apple Thunderbolt Display with my R1.

They addressed it in R2 not R1.

 

Little off topic where did you get that wallpaper?

 

tried to resist... but had to pull the trigger with 14% off. Payed 3200 Euro for the following config:

Basis
Alienware Area-51m R2
Prozessor
Intel® Core™ i9 10900K der 10. Generation (10 Cores, 20 MB Cache, 3,7 GHz bis 5,3 GHz mit Thermal Velocity Boost)
Betriebssystem
Windows 10 Home (64 Bit), Englisch, Niederländisch, Französisch, Deutsch, Italienisch
Grafikkarte
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2080 SUPER™-Grafikkarte mit 8 GB GDDR6
Farbauswahl
Dark Side of the Moon mit äußerst beständigem Klarlack
LCD
17,3"-Display, FHD (1.920 x 1.080), 300 Hz, 3 ms, 300 cd/m², 100 % Abdeckung des Adobe RGB-Farbspektrums + Tobii-Eye-Tracking-Technologie
Arbeitsspeicher
32 GB Dual-Channel DDR4 XMP bei 3.200 MHz
Festplatte
NVMe-M.2-PCIe-SSD, 256 GB


The SSD will be replaced of course. Now the waiting game begins.

If anyone is interested in my maxed out and tuned R1, which is running like a charm and about one year old, pm me.

 

Amazing that Dell had to remove two of the 4 ram slots when it's enough space for 4 slots in R2.

R1


R2

Thanks. Dang, almost nothing in this bios. Locked as Fort Knox. Could you expand Performance options and enable Overclocking feature to see if more pop up? Thanks.

 

I am sure they did that to take a load off the controller to allow faster ram this time. Since they couldn't seem to make the r1 work as advertised.

 

Wrong voltages, powerlimits, or an bad bios can make your cpu/gpu do crazy things.

XMG ultra still uses 4 slots. Seems like AW needed to make a decision where to cut corners. And they again did. I'm still not impressed by the machine. Temps look great, but i haven't seen a combined load test that stresses the whole system. Still waiting on the XMG ultra 17

 

Hey, they saved money on 2 SODiMM sockets. Every little helps when you are trying to string together a budget $5k laptop for content creators! Also, when you are Dell it's totally OK to butcher RAM and also talk about "massive amount of memory" on the website

More seriously, my best guess Dell has decided to dumb down Alienware brand in order to remove a bit of a conflict with Precision line. The problem is that the Precisons are weaker in terms of the GPUs, thermals, and CPUs vs 51M, so pretty much nobody considering a 51M- or even m15/m17 class laptop is going to buy them. A fairly dumb strategy.

 

Can you explain me in wich scenario you would need more than 64 gb of ram ?

While I understand some complains suck as the old keyboard was better I really do not understand why having two ram slots instead of 4 is such a big deal ..

Let's keep the bright side in mind we finally have the possibility to have higher ram frequency

 

There are many such usage scenarios, for example:
* Video editing
* Visual effects / rendering
* VMs
* Science/engineering simulations
* Databases
* Game solvers

Generally the more cores, the more memory is needed to fully utilise them.

But it's not just about the amount of memory, it's also about performance. 32GB modules are still slow and expensive, so if someone needs 64GB, it's def better to have 4x16GB.

This celebration of higher speed memory here looks like a symptom of Stockholm syndrome people are suffering from. It's dogshit underperforming value RAM, with locked down 3200.

Were you not aware of Schenker/XMG (xmg.gg) or did you go for eye candy over specs on purpose?

 

I actually prefer mobos with only 2 ram slots, like EVGA Dark series or ASUS Apex line. 2 DIMM slots have better signal integrity and overclock higher. I never used a notebook with more than 2 populated DIMMs, no need for that. So now one may say ram oc is not possible with AW laptops, which is true. So I really think it wasn´t so much the cost aspect but they needed to reduce the ram slots for better signal integrity to reach 3200 MHz. So obviously the mainboard of this unit is still not the best quality, most likely inferior to Clevo.

However, everybody tries to cut costs. So, for example, when I just touch my M51 R1 and then touch my P870, I can exactly tell where Clevo cuts cost: cheapo plastik, warped heatsinks, poor quality fans with very bad noise characteristic. If you don´t care about haptics and looks (I know, subjective) and want raw performance, Clevo is the way to go.

In the end I see it like Mr Fox does: If you go into notebooks nowadays, everything is flawed compared to the desktop world. So it´s all about compromises. And for me I can say AW gives me a better overall expereince than Clevo did.

See my recent post ;-)

 

This signal integrity thing sounds ridiculous given than desktop mobos have 4, 8, or 16 RAM slots. If you never used more than 2 RAM slots, then you are just a gamer/lightweight bencher and you don't need more RAM. We can end the discussion there.

Yeah, the plastic chassis is not the greatest, but it doesn't seem to be as bad as you are suggesting, according to this reliable review:

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Schen...0-Clevo-P775TM1-G-Laptop-Review.413126.0.html

 

I have to say I am a bit disappointed with the area 51m r2... ordered the area 51m r2 with specs - 19-10900k, 8GB Memory, 256 GB NVME drive, 2070 super and 300Hz display. (I seldom play games...I just like the responsiveness of gaming laptops). I waited for the UHD to be available in the "dark side of the moon"...that wasnt happening...got tired of waiting and ordered the above specs...in "dark side of the moon"
The intention was to upgrade instantly on receiving the system.
I already got every thing waiting to go...64GB.(2x32GB)..HyperX sodimms at 2933Mhz...1x1 TB (for OS) and 3x2TB of adata xpg pro nvme's. (for some games and assortment of files I generate).
My initial impression was ...On the face of it alone...the R1 is better looking.
Opened the system to upgrade and to my wildest shock!!!...
I couldnt believe it!!! only 2 dimm slots!!!! I was expecting to have the 4 slots installed...with me possibly expanding to 128GB...(yes I need that much ram for one of my apps)...that was a major disappointment. Might try a 2x64GB kit if that ever becomes available
I was expecting there to be 4 nvme slots...both only 2 and the "slot" for a 2.5" SSD. (who needs 2.5" SSD's these days).
Bottom line...I am feeling totally underwhelmed right now.

 

The Full Specs and the laptop internals picture is located in the first post of this thread. Everything is clear. Can you not return it?

 

Sorry to hear bro. Lesson learned: never buy any laptop without a quick sanity check on NBR forums... Particularly true in case of Dellienware, given all the little detrimental design changes they have been sneaking in that are difficult to impossible to spot just based on their marketing materials.
Alienware as we now know them would feel the pain if everyone did that. They would have to reform.

 

I did think about that...and came to the conclusion that Dell doesnt want you going "outside" to get reasonably priced quality upgrade components.
They would much rather force...sorry..."have" you buy their own cheap components at exorbitant prices.
That being said,..I dont know if the the full specs from dell will have those features ..like the 4 dimm slots and the 4 nvme slots..and UHD in "dark side of the moon"..
Besides, I already got my upgrade components and cant return those
Maybe it will grow on me ...who knows

 

Nope, I also bench. But mainly on a watercooled Desktop. As I said, for benching, 2 DIMM mobos have advantages in certain benches, but I assume you know that. Also, you obviously did not read my post exactly. I clearly pointed out, that I think AW has a poor board design and maybe needed the 2 DIMM route to be able to even reach a pathetic ram speed of 3200 MHz. They of course didn´t do it for oc, which you in fact can´t do with AW. However, the point I was trying to make is that a 2 DIMM design isn´t generally a bad thing.

And on to the "Clevo is soooo much better than AW saga", so why do I and some others still prefer AW: Clevo makes imo only sense, if you can get it with prema bios, which I cannot in Germany. And the only prema partner shop in Europe has a somewhat bad reputation. Regarding Notebooks, I own atm 3 Clevos, 2 AW, 1 ASUS, and a LOT macbooks (..oh my god, how can one buy Apple, I know). When it comes to quality/haptics and looks (not regarding perfomance and quality of the electric circuit) I base my buying decisions to my own experience with the notebooks I have and had and I hate to say, that in my eyes, there comes Apple, than there is a big vacuum, than AW and last spot for Clevo. Now, I did not have in hand the XMG Ultra, but I don´t like the looks and that´s for me personally more important than 4 DIMM slots. So in the end I would say to each their own. Nothing ridiculous about that.

 

You can return the laptop and get something else instead. They can only get away with this cr. p if people tolerate it.

Thanks. In summary, your answer to my initial question is: "Yes, I do have a very strong preference for style over substance in laptops. I have a desktop, so I don't really care that much about specs or performance, because they are ridiculous compared to my uber desktop rig anyway. "

 

Have you tried your 2 RAM sticks? Do they show up correctly and work as intended?

 

In fact, I care about both, and to me, the M51 is the best compromise between the two.

 

Absolutely clear. In fact Dellienware have been moving towards the kind of clientele who would consider buying something like a Macbook "Pro", so it all makes sense.

 

Less signal noise with two dimms. Die type and number of ranks affects the load on the IMC.
As for how much that actually helped.. R1 could do 2933MT/s with 2x16Gb or 2x8Gb XMP kits. Whereas R2, can now do 3200MT/s with 2x8Gb or 2x16Gb XMP kits.
And these "XMP" kits being CL21 and CL22 doesn't really help anything.

 

I fold. I don't even want to start thinking about how much time has been spent on hammering all these points to no avail. In fact, Alienware no longer manufacture a laptop I would consider buying. Time to move on.

 

If I would see it this way, I would have bought the Razer Blade Pro

 

I can't remember where i got it so i've uploaded it for you.

https://i.imgur.com/kcmTDuN.jpg

 

Ah, yes, Razer, although they are more of a m15/m17 competitor. Up to a year ago, I thought they were the worst. Now, given the choice of Razer vs Alienware m15/m17 R3, I'd go with Razer. Even they aren't dumb enough to solder RAM. Upgrades up to 64GB and XMP are supported. Amazing stuff!

 

Exactly the reason Dell removed the 2 ram slots. And still with only 2 slots you can't use more than 2x16GB sticks to reach 3200MHz (XMP). The main difference between the EVGA Dark series or ASUS Apex line vs. R2 motherboard is that they aren't locked down to 3200MHz or max out at 32GB with XMP even with own proprietary ram. If Dell spent more money on the motherboard + engineering, they could easily circumvent allthose restrictions. But all is about cost cuts. This is the sad truth.

I expect develope cheaper MB with 2 DIMMs will offset sales of more ram sticks in the end.

Massive memory: The Area-51m R2 is also Alienware’s first gaming laptop to support up to 64GB of DDR4 memory at 2933Mhz or 32GB of DDR4 XMP memory at 3200Mhz. This ensures enough RAM for even the most resource-intensive workloads and tasks, making it ideal for gaming developers, content creators and megatasking streamers.

With 4 slots you can just remove 2 of the sticks for bench sessions And use the slots nearest the Cpu. The 2 DIMM in R2 is watered down to barely stock clocks/3200. Yeah as always... More options/features is better than less.


Edit.
Btw. Still no subwoofer in Area-51m refresh?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachments/alienware-area-51m-r2-specs-png.184805/

 

Reading the "Massive memory" paragraph, you know that either those guys are massive tools, or they think their customers are. Most likely it's a combination of both, and the former is quite likely the case. Haven't seen a single recent AW video (promo, interview etc.) where it would be apparent that the AW person involved was switched on and worth listening to.

 

So were the 2 RAM sticks removed because they added something? Or it was just to reach higher clock speeds?

Can't see how a Clevo from 2016 can do 4x16GB @ 3000Mhz no issue but a i9-9900K based AW can't do 4x16GB 2666Mhz. LOL

I think they either screwed up with the tracing and it wasn't good enough to hold at higher speeds so they limited it, OR it works fine at those higher speeds and they just don't want to release the BIOS. I mean they DID make a BIOS from that one score @Prema found when AW was told by Notebookcheck that their laptop wasn't the fastest.

 

With most (all?) mobos that won´t work if you want dual channel mode due to the memory topology used. So if you have 4 slots and only 2 sticks you would need to populate like slot 1 and 3 or 2 and 4. So you won´t get the two nearest slots to the cpu anyway. That is the reason two slot boards are used for memory overclocking like a bunch of ITX boards, the Apex or the Dark. Furthermore, according to guys like Buildzoid signal integrity will always be better with only 2 slots, even if that sounds ridiculous to some. But we´re talking desktop land here and extreme memory overclocking.

We all know the reason AW opted for a two slot design obviously had other reasons, as mentioned.

Now knowing you a little, I wouldn´t be surprised if you post a picture now of a motherboard with a topology doing dual channel in the 2 DIMM slots nearest to the CPU out of 4, just to prove me wrong.

 

Ah, desktop land.. 512GB RAM? No problem! But I digress

We are not talking about some extreme memory overclocking! This is either 2993 or 3200 with value RAM at CL 21+!!

Apart from @ssj92 pointing out the obvious: competition supports 4 SODIMMs, here is one example of a premium mobo which supports 4 SODIMMs at 3600+.

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/ROG-MAXIMUS-XII-HERO-WI-FI/

ASUS Optimem III
Boasting proprietary memory trace layout tweaks that improve signal integrity and mitigate noise, ASUS OptiMem III is more compatible with 3600 MHz+ memory kits, allowing them to run at higher frequencies. You can opt to optimize memory for high frequency settings, or low latency settings. With higher capacity memory kits, OptiMem III enables you to run at maximum frequency, whereas other motherboards will trade off frequency for capacity. Stack Maximus XII Hero with your favorite modules and maximize throughput of the new 10th Generation Intel® Core™ Comet Lake-S processor for applications that demand massive bandwidth.

 

Either you don´t want to understand what I´m saying or you can´t. I will stop this discussion now.

 

Please do let go.

By way of final summary: both competing laptops and desktop motherboars support 4 SODIMMs at 3200+ which is all we have been expecting of Alienware, as opposed to extreme overclocking at 4000Mhz which nobody would realistically anticipate or require here, and which might justify the cut of 2 SODiMMs.

 

Actually this is interesting:. MSI Titan GT76 supports 4 SODIMMs, naturally, and up to 128GB at 2933. However, looks like it only supports 3200 mode in 4x8GB config. Looking at it from the RAM modules perspective this makes sense, because the smaller modules tend to be faster, and the workload is spread over more silicon in the 4x config.

https://www.msi.com/Laptop/GT76-Titan-10SX/Specification