*OFFICIAL* Alienware X Series Owners Lounge and Discussion

You may like W11, but it's still a pre-release product.
SSD and memory are totally different components, and while I wouldn't be surprised to see SSD performance deltas between OSes/drivers, RAM latency differences on the same hardware are harder to believe. I'm suspicious of the numbers produced by AIDA, and the fact that it failed to even run on the x17 without some updates further compounds this. Sandra crashing is like the sun failing to rise in the morning. The best thing to do would be to either grab some alternative simple memory benchmark, or write one and put it on github. I would be tempted to do so, but I'm completely snowed under. Over the weekend perhaps.

As it stands, the x17 latency figures are atrocious. My 2019 m15 R1 8th gen shows 64ns in AIDA with 2666 memory lol. Could be the reason why I haven't noted any Optimus issues. Agree it would be good to get some data points on other 11th gen laptops. I asked on the Precision forums.

 

I can add in.... The ssd bencmarks wasn't done as Apple vs Apple comparison. And ssd benchmarks over PCIe-4 normally do better on Intels systems with 11t gen over AMD setups. Compare two different systems on two different OS is pretty lame if you want real results.

As a final note, before we get into testing Seagate's 1TB FireCuda 530, we will be providing Windows 11 results run on our INTEL Z590 system, and Windows 10 results for the FireCuda 530 run on our AMD X570 system. Benchmark screenshots will be provided for our Windows 11 results.

You don't even get same results if you test it on same OS with two different setups and platforms (SAME SSD'S).

 

Not too shabby. I'm going to try and get the most out of it stock with the Element 31. It gamed just fine stock with pretty decent temps at 50x all cores. Work in progress...

 

If you ever code a mem test let me know, I would be happy to try it out. I´m not that worried about Sandra Lite crashing, it´s so far the only app doing so and I don´t have the highest trust in this software, in fact, never liked it. Regarding AIDA64 I absolutely hear you, we should take the the results of the beta with a big grain of salt. Regarding latency my understanding is that lower clocked kits like yours should regularly outperform higher clocked kits in latency? 88ns is really not good, would love to know results from the nearest comptetitors (GE76, Legion i7). I have a gut fealing that the 11th gen Intel mobile platform can´t do better with 3200 kits. HWinfo64 says my mem (both kits) runs in tier 2 mode and command rate 2. This cannot be modified in bios. Maybe that´s a factor for the high latency.

 

Hi, im about to order an X17, and i would like to know if someone with the standard 165Hz panel can confirm this (mux switch)? I would also like to know if you can notice any screen tearing with the standard panel? Or if it has any “sync” technology like adaptative sync or g-sync compatible (the cheapone)

Thanks!

 

True. I also was pondering about this fact. We shall soon see in other reviews if the Windows 11 NVME driver has better optimizations compared to W10. The Firecuda has no vendor supplied driver. However, the authors are quite confident about this: "... Additionally, more data can be gleaned from this chart and summarized as Windows 11 delivers significantly better storage performance than Windows 10. If you are not sure about that, compare any of our benchmark results with any other on the planet, and you will find our assertion to be correct..."

 

Hmm. This game has relatively high CPU load compared to other games. I will check this out with the new 1.2.1 bios. Ever tried to circumvent this throttling, maybe by using throttlestop?

 

Just get the 360Hz panel if you like 1080p

 

I always use TS

 

Go for it. Then after you get it you can go and tell everyone I was correct about not ordering it.

 

Of course I will if it don't perform better than stock cl22 ram. In that case I’ll return back the Ballistix.

 

My X17 lasted less then 30 seconds before blue screens and wouldn't even boot into Windows after that. I did make it halfway through the first line of AIDA which showed memory read to be significantly slower then the Kinbgston 3466 memory I bought from Dell. 47000 MB/s. If anyone's AIDA tests show anything in the sections in yellow then their posting bogus results.

 

Interesting as I have the 64GB ballistix kit in my x17 right now and it's running fine? Hmm I'll keep an eye on it, but no BSOD's yet. The only thing with this kit is that even with xmp on it runs at 3200 with lower timings over the 3466/CL22 (stock kingston DR ram that it came with.) I like the tighter timings at 3200 over looser timings at 3466, but I have more kits to test so we'll see.

Have you ran Cinebench R20 and R23 yet? What are your scores? Curious.

Also, I've noticed that even the latest AIDA doesn't support Tiger lake? Hmm

Thanks.

 

I was running X2 16GB sticks so maybe X2 32GB is more stable. I'm not gonna spend the money to find out. Especially since their is no added benefit for me above 32GB.

 

Fair enough and yea that could be the differentiating factor. That same 32GB seems to not be working in the R6 as well so that's a coincidence.

The stock 32GBx2 Kingston kit that came with the x17 seem to be pretty 1:1 to the crucial cl22 kit so I'm debating I should even order that crucial kit to find out myself lol. Timings and specs are pretty much identical.

What version of AIDA are you using? The latest? I tried the latest and it doesn't seem to recognize Tiger lake...when running the bench it's all 0's with really wacky info populated in the fields below.

 

Same here, 2x16GB Ballistix totally stable but no speed improvement.

 

You need to download the latest AIDA Beta, this shows you at least the performance values.

 

I'm using the most current AIDA and I don't know if I mentioned this but the Crucual memory that did not work for me was CL16.

 

Thanks for the confirmation.

I'll give it a shot.

Yup. Same kit. I have the 64GB kit in my R6 as well and the XMP in that is better than the x17 XMP at 16x..

 

Dell really dropped the ball with sound quality on the X17. My biggest complaint so far. Not everyone always likes wearing headphones.

 

Yea it sounds very hollow. I think even the older 17R4's sound better. Bummer... Luckily I do use headphones/earbuds most of the time, but I get it...

 

I don't think the lower clocked modules have lower latency. Within a product line they have lower CL measured in clocks, but there are fewer clocks per second.

 

The X17 runs this kit also at CL16 but at a command rate 2T and tier 2. Strangely CL16 and CL20 doesn´t seem to make much of a difference in the X17 or maybe the whole intel 11th gen mobile platform.

 

I had a blown speaker so Dell replaced it for me. Seems to be other speakers now which sound pretty decent in my opinion.

Please do also not forget to enable "Bass Boost" and increase it a bit in AWCC. This makes also a huge difference. Besides that the location of your x17 is also mandatory for good sound. I have raised the back of the laptop a bit for better air flow. This also increased spaker quality

 

I wouldn't generalise to the whole 11th gen without any evidence. One could argue that the most probable cause here is the new motherboard architecture needed for them to achieve the thinness target, despite possibly similar visual apprarancr. This theory would also be supported by their track record on memory performance and third party module support starting with m15 R2 and 51M R1.

 

Well. Ballistix are not stable in my system. BSOD, and even fails during Bios Stability Check (F12 during boot).
I'll do some research but @JinTexas was right.

I think it can be related to voltage. Ballistix are 1.35v while stock ones are 1.2v.


It's sad because I don't find any other decend latency RAM @ 3200Mhz...

 

What's up with the realtek sound manager? My latitude has better sound control. The playback sounds tinny and shrill.

 

We knew that was a significant risk, not the first AW laptop affected (51M R2 is another, older, solid machines are fine). Try HyperX Impact - that will work almost certainly..

 

You weren't really expecting massive sound output from a thin laptop, were you?

 

As I said before, the thinness is over emphasized. When you open it up their is leftover space that easily could have allowed better speakers. Plus, size is no longer an inhibiting factor for sound quality. And to answer your question no I wasn't, but I've had smaller laptops which sounded far better. Even my ipad pro, and that is only a tablet.

 

I saw the HyperX already, but those are CL20 @3200mhz, not worth spending money to to improve from CL22 to CL20 IMO.

 

As previously stated, before I blue screened half way through the 1st AIDA test, I saw that Kingston 3466 was faster.

 

If Dell drops a bit the price of the modules I'll give them a chance. 200€ per each 16gb it's insane.

https://www.dell.com/es-es/work/shop/dell-ampliación-de-memoria-16gb-1rx8-ddr4-sodimm-3466mhz-superspeed/apd/ab640684/flash-y-ampliaciones-de-memoria

Are these the ones you have, right? The Kingstons.

 

Dell raised the price and not only for you but in the US. That's $150 more for 2 sticks then what I paid. Guess I was smart to jump on it when I did.

 

At least 10% performance improvement is decent, no? What you do is buy 8GB of RAM from Dell and upgrade with proper memory, usually works out cheaper.

 

Again, there is no point buying this in the first place.

 

Brilliant. Kingston Value RAM for $350, when you can get Kingston HyperX Impact for $250

https://www.amazon.com/Kingston-Technology-HyperX-HX432S20IBK2-32/dp/B07BGLKD4M

 

Is this dual or single rank?

https://www.kingston.com/dataSheets/KF432S20IB1K2_32.pdf

 

If anybody could please do me the favor of finding out what these part numbers for me?? I have been searching the internet to no avail. The backlit trackpad, the daughter board attached to the trackpad?? Please I'd truly appreciate it.

 

Looks like with the new BIOS 165hz display has now Advanced Optimus:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Alienware/...urce=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

 

Yep, but Dell did exactly the same in the much thicker Area-51m models. Size doesn't always matter. Cut costs is also a factor you have to add in Cheaper solutions helps on the bottom line. Less is often more for the OEM.

 

While overclocking I always had speedstep disabled but just for grins chose to turn it on and see if their was any improvement. Huge improvement. Especially in AIDA and my 980 pro's in crystaldiskmark.

 

Has anyone been able to get the trackpad working for the X17 in Pop!_OS 20.04 or Ubuntu 20.04? Everything else on my laptop works currently with kernel 5.13.9 except the trackpad. It gets detected if I look at the output of xinput, but it gets detected as a PS/2 Generic Mouse instead of a trackpad.

 

Not an option for 4k displays

 

Finally getting drops in the latency. This newest BIOS update has slowed memory speed while simultaneously improved latency.

 

Yeah, I know. Also AFAIK the only available option w/ Gsync its still the 360hz one. That's why I've choosen it.

 

It says 2Rx8, so dual rank. Anyway it's Kingston Impact (see that they renamed it to Fury Impact now that they sold off the HyperX brand), so you don't need to worry about performance and more importantly - stability.

 

88ns... Ugh.

 

It was like 120