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

I understand the difference, but this is in the 51m R2, so it can’t truly be allowed to run wild...

The point of my link to the video is that under tame/normal circumstances, it actually doesn’t misbehave like the 9900K that reaches 100° C out of the box on the R1 when playing a demanding game, needing a good UV and thermal upgrades. This is good news for the R2 since that paired with the vapor chamber cooling gives a sliver of hope that it will at least be viable.

And yes, yes... that wont stop people from trying to OC it to da max and the 51m R2's cooling will not be able to cool it. Nothing unexpected there. Desktop coolers will also have a hard time for that matter.

The potential good news is that it won’t be a scorcher “as-is”, as originally thought by direct comparison/assumption that it will be the same as our 9900Ks were without UV/thermal upgrades.

 

The P870 series did go through a few different heatsinks and iterations, where eventually a dual gpu vapor chamber was introduced.
For the CPU, some of us implemented a mod and saw significant gains.

Thing is to pair vapor chamber directly to a lapped die to min/max, less thermal interfaces and fast 2D heat spread across a larger area. Having IHS to VC is still better than regular copper to heatpipe, but not ideal.

The prelapped die is only for K-SKUs. A lapped 9900Kx is able to do 5.2Ghz in some laptops and remain within reasonable thermals. But don't expect 10 cores at 5.2Ghz since that pulls ~350W <97c with a 280mm AIO and is frankly not within reach even with direct die and vaporchamber.

 

Except a lapped 9900K is DIY. In the video above Linus explains that the 10900K already has a much thinner die and thicker IHS, which helps heat transfer (so technically prelaapped, from factory!)

Anyway, I think there is promise there, and once again Intel with less cores and really high core clocks will be the better gaming processor in this generation, interesting stuff!

 

No, still 2400, but on a 1.8.1+ BIOS it should take the "approved"2993MHz RAM.

The Rev 2 board is made by a different provider, and there are some differences. Something I noticed was the different components for the CPU power delivery. Also, this board is very stout.

No, this thing let loose does 250W sustained. The R1 A51m could only manage ~120W sustained for the CPU. A 280mm AIO can't manage to keep the 10900k sub 90C unless the chip is limited (by default to 125W after turbo). The vapor chamber maybe might manage up to 180W (still not enough).

Lapping flattens and reduces the thickness of the IHS. 10th series does the opposite, so they are not pre-lapped out of the box.

 

Agreed. The 10900K will not be able to stretch it’s legs in laptops. If you need high core count HEDT-like CPUs in a laptop, you should go Zen 2. You need that kind of efficiency, and it’s not there on 14nm.

 

Has anyone confirmed yet if the 1080p 300Hz screen option is G-Sync?

 

The new fancy Vapor chamber cooling didn't become the big saviour for the thinner m17 R3... The new 5.0 GHz+ BGA flagship running 3.8GHz and 90C http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...r2-owners-lounge.829502/page-47#post-11016279

 

Where does it say vapor chamber? The review in the link mentions no vapor chamber. That photo of the inside only shows the fans, the heatpipes are hidden. I can’t find any online marketing that says the m17 R3 uses vapor chamber cooling either.

I would assume if vapor chambers were used in the m17 R3 Dell would yell that loud and wide as they did with the Area 51m R2.

 

Look at product details... https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/cty/pdp/spd/alienware-m17-r3-laptop

 

actually now that i see 10th gen has thinner die i'd like to think it'll perform much better in the R2 especially after you showed me about their heatsink now comes with vapor chamber on CPU side as well.

going AW's route it will still run hot but if they purchase it through HID evolution for delid + LM, we are talking about a "lapped die" (compare to 9th gen in terms of thickness), a VC heatsink it'll probably run decently well, for most users anyway.

that is until the 2080S release a ton more heat and affecting CPU side too.

 

It will run cooler than a stock 9900K for sure, with a thinner die and VC. Ideally, you want to eliminate as many thermal interfaces possible. ie. die>tim>cooler vs die>stim>ihs>tim>cooler
The K-SKUs are pre-lapped down to 500 microns, very close to 8700/8086K (420 microns), which does allow them to push higher clocks due to higher thermal budget. Delidding the thinner die might be riskier, we have no data at the moment, but something to consider.

 

I think the same... that vid from Linus compares with the 9900K in some charts. It does run cooler, there’s a chance it may just work temp-wise on the 51m R2 stock (vs the 9900K that just doesn’t and hit 100° out of the box).

 

I wonder why they haven't used the High Endurance Clear Coat on the last produced models from the old model line. Why would they continue use the old coating formula when they know its a major problem when the new models come in same color? I don't grasp this.


Burnmarks on brand new m15 r2 (‎05-22-2020).

 

Lol howww were those burn marks produced I wonder?!

 

Maybe they stacked several on top of each other during production. Looks familiar with the Honeycomb vent bottom, LOOL

Have seen one put his mouse on top of the lid. Later when he removed the mouse, the imprint from all of the mouse feets was stuck on the lid afterwards.

 

LOL

 

This is what they call coating issues in R2. Just like R1, but better. This why my A51M is on eBay...

 

Thanks! They never mentioned it before until the R3s actually got officially realeased yesterday night.

interesting to see with the m15/17 R3 the CPU is cooled by a smaller vapor chamber in between 3 heat pipes while on the Area 51m R2 it’s one larger vapor chamber directly connected to the fan. Is there any benefit to either configuration?

 

It seems made sense to me, as this is a cost-factor
Think of it as you are Dell, upgrade the new parts with new coating will require a whole new manufacturing process on those parts and the cost will be enormous
“Just let it be, if there are some complaints and warranty claims, we will just have to replace those, it will be much cheaper. Even in that case, we can even deny those claims and blame it to wear and tear cause by customers”

 

This is exactly what happened. Raw material procurement is already in place for massive amounts of materials (like the paint) and process changes are costly and require re-runs, tests, re-certification when a raw material changes.

I work in sourcing in supply chain, changing a “little thing” like the paint would be a huge undertaking.

The warranty/claim/wear and tear piece is exactly how it’s handled.

 

I don't think the change of coating formula will make the big differeces in costs.

Say hello to the new customizable option. New ways to charge more. Less macro keys should mean cheaper product costs but you still have to pay more if you want the per-key Alien FX lighting. The next will perhaps be, add in an more premium touchpad (Apple quality) as customizable option for same +$30 amount cash. @Mr. Fox have you seen similar before? Isn't per-key-lightning the new standard for the most expencive gaming notebooks nowadays? I mean I haven't seen Dell charged more for RGB per-key Alien FX lighting KB on last years models.

 

Omg I actually am too lazy to change the per key coloring and wish it was just zones.

 

lol!!! So in your case you could get $30 back and less hassle changing lighting for the life of your PC!!! Sweet deal!

 

Why they changed the keyboard ? I was seriously considering R2, but since they change the keyboard , I said no to it

 

Probably to make space for the SD card reader on the left side.

BTW, I'm not sure how much a vapor chamber will help with cooling. Many of you already saw the m17 R3 review, but here's another gaming laptop with a vapor chambers for both GPU and CPU, Lenovo Legion 7i and it's get max 60 C on GPU and max 100 C on the CPU. The i9s just seem to run super hot.
https://next.lab501.ro/notebook/rev...0hk-si-nvidia-geforce-rtx-2080-super-max-q/11
^just google translate it.

 

SD card reader? Really ?! I rarely use them , as often as I use CD rom
The vapor chamber I believe helps in preventing temperature spikes on CPU, hence better performance and less throttling

 

Less overall cost to Dell keeping the same keyboard for 3 different models.

There is ample free open space on the chassis where the card reader is located. The keyboard thickness is not an issue.

 

all these computers that get hot are thin the area 51m is much bigger computer the bigger the computer the better the cooling is the chamber should be fine on it

 

Yea, not sure. Could be they are just saving money or the buttons press down farther than we think.

I definitely assume the 51m R2 should run cooler than the other 2 thinner notebooks. Also way thicker heatfin stacks and fans. However the 51m R2 has a desktop i9 10900K which likely runs hotter than the mobile counterpart used in the Lenovo 7i and m17 R3.

Personally I think manufacturers should focus on increasing airflow. Look at the Asus ROG Zephyrus GX701, it's one of the coolest running gaming laptops since it pushes it's body level higher and has a massive intake on the top to pull in air from both sides. I think the 51m R2 is trying to do the same, with bigger bottom feet to raise the body higher and the new air intake above the keyboard.

 

same here. I have better things in life than to waste 30 mins clicking on each key and giving it a color. I also don't want a keyboard that looks like a messed up rainbow.

 

Yeah why not have a mapped selection, then advanced where you spend half your life selecting every key.

 

Can we fix R2 Motherboard into R1 chassis (even if it requires mod) ?

 

Until the model has been released to the public it is really anyone's guess.

And if I were to guess, since the R2 mobo has a new SD Card port that would have to be accounted for, a new cooling system (meaning possible relocation of vents to fans), and let alone mounting of screw holes, fit with keyboard connector, etc., it is a long shot that it would work.

 

The keyboard on R2 is horrible by any standards. The R1 keyboard is the best keyboard I have ever used on a laptop.

This is why if I want to upgrade, I consider the R1 chassis not the terrible R2.

 

What’s the difference in keyboards other than the keys on the left?

If that’s all that’s missing I could care less. Is the actual actuation and travel different?

 

the R1 keys feels like "mechanical" , the buttons are placed nicely on a plastic & rubber seat. Unlike the conventional which is simply rubber.

The mechanical effect is surely more expensive, and Ive seen praises only for the keyboard.

The new keyboard is very similar to Asus Keys board, similar to Classic Nokia Symbian phones.

 

Aww thanks. Strangely enough I thought the ASUS keyboards were nice, but probably not as good as the R1. Have you tried the R2 already? Does it say somewhere?

Also for the R2, did the Screen bezels get even smaller?

 

From the pics of Area 51m R2 pre-release reviews, in addition to the loss of some of the functionality of keys, it appears Alienware/Dell switched the model to a "chiclet" style keyboard (individually spaced keys) rather than the 51m R1's keyboard where the keys are side by side.

 

The alienware 17 r3 had a similar style keyboard to the r1 and it was terrible the keys all fell off all the time and the plastic hooks snapped. I honestly prefer the chiclet style as they seem more durable to me.

 

Hi,
This topic being hotter, I’m reposting here : )

New to this forum, I signed in because I am a bit in this case too : )
I was about to order an area-51 when I read that a R2 was about to come !
Being newbie to Dell too (my last dell laptop was about 20 years ago !), do you think when the R2 is released, it will still be possible to order a R1 ? Or that a R2 with the same specs than the R1 I spotted would be approx. at the same price ? Do Dell make discounts on the remainings R1 before releasing the R2 ?
At this time, I don't quite know what to do !

 

R2 is featuring Intel 10th Gen CPU lineup, the infamous 10900k features 10 Cores 20 Threads, on the other hand R1 maxed out with intel 9900k 8 core CPU.

I believe 10700k is equivalent to 9900k with a cheaper price tag and runs cooler. In addition to that, the R2 heat sink presumably handles CPU heat much better than the R1.

The only thing R1 is better at is Keyboard as far as we know.

However, actual benchmarks for Time Spy shows 7% improvement over R1 (overall score).

If I were you, I would wait for RTX 3xxx series, and buy a used R1 (when R2 releases) for a cheap rice.

RTX 2080 VS RTX 2080 Super is almost identical and no real benefits.

 

Should also be mentioned the R2 has:
-300Hz screen option!
-New durable clear coating. The R1 had brown staining issues from the heat on the Lunar Light color. The R2 shouldn't have this problem.
-Extra air intake above the keyboard and slightly higher feet for better airflow.
-SD card reader...if you care about that.
-Also can anyone confirm, apparently the R2 has thinner screen bezels? is this true?

 

4K screen option. Probably better speakers.

 

Is the RTX 2080 Super max-p found in the m17 R3 the same gpu as the RTX 2080 Super in the Area 51m R2?

 

No, the max ones are downgraded versions, meant to be used in slimmer rigs.

 

The R1 has air intake above the keyboard also.

I want me the SD card reader though.

I have a Luna Light color and I don have the staining issue. Been using it for 3 months now.

 

Somewhat wrong. Dell's Max-p cards is 150w graphics (Board Design). The 200w-180w moniker for Area-51m is the added overclock allowed by Nvidia.

 

No, R1 does not have the extra air intake above the keyboard.
Here is the 51m R1:


And the new R2:

Let me clarify, I said "Max-P" not "Max-Q". Max-Q is used in slim notebooks rated at 80-100w, Max-P is considered the "mobile version" and is rated at 150w-200w and used in the new m17 R3 (150w version). See here: https://jarrods.tech/nvidia-max-q-or-max-p-graphics-whats-the-difference/

Was wondering if it's exactly the same in the Area 51m R2, or does the Area 51m R2 have a GPU more powerful than the 150w Max-P version?

 

R1 does has air intake above the keyboard. It's right underneath the LCD. R2 , just brought it outward more and made it visible.

 

Yep sorry, I thought it was a typo mistake.

one can learn everyday : )