*OFFICIAL* Alienware m15 Owner's Lounge

Agreed, so Nvidia 1080 Max q will probably cause either the CPU or gpu to overheat or throttle as a result

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

MONITOR\AUO80ED

 

Thank you

 

The Cpu run already 100C http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...m15-owners-lounge.825553/page-5#post-10813605 (Dell don't have it undervolted out of the box).

I expect Dell doesn't care as long the average Cpu temp don't creep over 95C.

 

I am aware, the point is you are probably better off with 1070 Max q vs 1080 Max q as it will overload the heat solution

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

well I did receive my M15

my thoughts on it, I love the graphics and the quality of the new 144mhz screen

but..... the fan is a louder than my 15 r2 model, which is a little annoying

and... (this is a personal preference) im not a fan of the mouse being positioned left of the laptop, I love having the mouse centered.

otherwise it is a great laptop, just wish Dell could improve the fan noise a little

 

Have you undervolted the CPU yet? Have you changed to the quiet fan profile? Does it have a whiney noise? Db readings from a smartphone app would be nice if possible from different positions.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

Dell has always put the touchpad under the space bar. So if there is a numpad, the touchpad will be off center. That is nothing new. Should be pretty easy to adapt to.

 

What is the model of the screen if you don't mind checking?

 

Yeah in the middle with this keyboard setup would be a nightmare when it comes to palm rejection issues. Visually it isnt too pleasing though. Would be great if they offered non numpad models, but I suspect that would be waaaaay too costly for the supply chains of Dell.

 

Yes I agree, they should have offered non numpad models.
im left handed and now I keep finding myself reaching for the corner of the laptop for the mouse.

I almost went with the razor 15 just because of this (still might if I cannot get used to this trackpad)

 

I did a clean re-install of Windows and still cant get the AGA to work properly. It installs the drivers from Geforce Experience and everything looks good and it detects the 2080 TI in device manager but as soon as something graphic intensive runs it freezes and I get a BSOD with video_tdr_failure. Ive tried pretty much everything. Again my AGA with the 2080 TI works on my 17r4 with no issues, so i started comparing the drivers and it looks like on my 17r4 its using the desktop drivers, but on the m15 its installing the latest notebook drivers and im wondering if this is the cause of the issue. I tried installing the desktop drivers but it keeps telling me they are not compatible. I still have a few things left to try but so far not having any luck with the AGA. Has anybody else tried their m15 with the AGA?

 

On the m15 with AGA attached, is the internal GPU disabled? That is the behavior on the non G-Sync models currently.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

I did disable the 1070 MQ and was still having the same issue, or were you referring to the Intel HD Graphics?

 

No, not disabled in Windows. At the bios level. In my 15 r3 when I boot up with the AGA attached to Windows the 1070 is not there at all.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

that is completely normal, its suppose to work like that

 

I understand, I am asking if the m15 behaves the same way.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

 

Yes it does, went into bios with the amp hooked up and it shows the intel graphics along with my 2080 ti. Even disabling the 1070 and intel graphics in device manager and still not working. If i have time later going to hit up technical support, running out of things to try. Going to also post in the Alienware reddit page to see if anybody else has tried their m15 with an AGA.

 

M15 60mah battery

Does anyone else that has the m15 feels like the battery kinda sucks and doesnt last that long, even with just browsing the internet

 

Still waiting to get mine in... how long does yours last?

 

well i was browsing the net for 45 mins. when i started i was at 66% when i shutdown i was at 36%

Honestly im debating to return this laptop or not, i love the screen quality, just debating if i made a good choice in this model or not. i do like how think it is. not a fan of the numpad along with the arrow keys being smaller. also with the trackpad was centered on the laptop.

the 15 R2 just felt like a solid model compared to this one.

 

It looks like you have a faulty battery, contact tech support for a new one and then decide whether you want to keep it or now.

 

This or the Alienware 13. Just so hard to choose! Opinions anyone?

 

I would get this one for the bigger screen, full keyboard and the 1070. It's also easier to repaste or clean.
I am planning on getting one later next year once notebookcheck publishes a review. Well, at lease this one or an itx desktop, I haven't decided yet..

 

Ah yeah that's a total pain for my old laptop.

 

Has anyone who received their m15 noticed any battery drain while gaming or other heavy usage? The 15R4 was reported to have it and I'm curious whether it also appears in this model.

 

That feature is present on all Alienwares from Skylake cpus and above.

 

hahahahahaa "feature" (nice one vasu) maybe using a higer wattage power supply solve the problem

 

How far does it discharge the battery? Is the GPU/CPU downclocked when it only uses the the power supply? Has it also been confirmed on the m15?

 

Same all the way!

Yeah. Started with the models with 980m and 180w psu. https://www.dell.com/support/articl...y-drain-while-ac-adapter-is-connected?lang=en

Dell killed that opotions once they saw AW owners could use 2x330 for M18xR1/R2 models. Last Aw 18 in history was castrated!

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...gtx-1080-upgrade.814711/page-46#post-10734553

 

Then what would happen if the battery was disconnected? Less performance?

 

Disconnected or too low Battery Capacity will be the same

 

It does work on our Echo models but not on new versions.

Yeah, first it pulls power from battery until battery gets 80% and gets very hot(~65C) and then CPU or GPU fans turns to maximum and magically CPU temps shoot upto 85C and throttling starts thereby cutting performance by 50%. CPU is left for dead when GPU intensive tasks are running. Anyone can observe it on XPS,Alienware and nearly all inspiron's dated 2017 and beyond.

 

Rather unfortunate unboxing video. He's not bad, but I still prefer BOAT or OWNorDisown

 

Anyone played with the Intel xtu utility to see if undervolting helps?

I tried the benchmark with undervolting all the way to -0.18mv before it crashed.
It still seems to throttle according to the benchmark even at that level before crashing. I scored 1450 stock. Whilst trying different undervolts I did hit 1520 at about -0.13mv

 

This made me laugh

 

I was up to -0.180 and booting but was not stable. Ran for an hour and a half at 0.1.70 before a BSOD. Right now I have been running at -0.150 for over 36 hours rock solid. Scoring 5094 in Timespy and looped 20 times no issue. Makes a huge difference in temps and throttling. The GPU is always nice and cool in these things it seams, its the CPU that has crazy temps when it boosts. So undervolting the CPU helps a lot. It seems due to the shared heat pipe design when the CPU gets up in temp it drags the GPU up there too.

I also switched over to Throttlestop since I could not get Intel XTU to boot with windows and apply the undervolt at windows startup.
I read through these two guides to help me get setup :

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/the-throttlestop-guide.531329/
https://www.notebookcheck.net/How-t...ife-The-ThrottleStop-Guide-2017.213140.0.html

following the guide to have throttlestop boot with windows and apply the undervolt works perfectly.

Another option depending on your needs if you head into the power options and go into the advanced power options for your power profile and then expand processor power management and maximum processor state and change it from 100 to 99 when plugged in, then the CPU will not boost any more. Played some destiny 2 like that as a test and it ran fine so depends on your needs.

 

In that situation what is the cpu clock limited to then? 2.7ghz all the time?

 

What fps you getting on destiny 2 with Max and min details? Are you running with a 1070?

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

It limits it to 2.2ghz

In destiny 2 FPS :

4k Low settings Average 59 FPS
4k Highest settings Average 35 FPS

1080 Low Settings Average 91 FPS
1080 Highest settings Average 89 FPS

Average temps while testing this was 81 deg c CPU and 71 deg c GPU. Room temp was about 78 deg f

These were with me walking around the tower for a quick test.

If you are only going to game don't waste the cash on the 4k screen! I kinda wish I would have got the 1080 144hz screen. 4k is to much for a 15 inch screen for my uses. Love the laptop so far though so going to keep it as is.

 

Also I noticed on the video Dave 2d posted the laptop had copper heatsink over the 2 nvme drives. That is not the case with production models in case anyone is wondering. I wonder what else they did different with the sample he was sent? My thermals were not as good as his eaither until my 0.150 undervolt

 

I got the 144 hz screen, I hope I can push 110 fps with an overclock to the gpu.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

So I got the following spec'd out m15:

i7-8750h
16gb ram
256 ssd (dropping in the new WD nvme 3600/s / 2500/s)
GTX 1060
144hz screen
90 wah battery

I specifically got this spec because
a) I wanted to control my own ssd, and have a second m.2 ssd for a few specific games.
b) GTX 1060 over the Max-Q 1070 because after watching videos and using two different laptops I came to the conclusion that for 5%-15% more gpu power for $200 in a laptop already limited in cooling wasn't a huge deal to me, and I have a GTX 2070 for my future AGA. I saw 3 videos on youtube where people had better overall experiences with a 1060 in a laptop over the 1070 Max-Q.
c) I got this puppy for $1320 after discounts. Plus down to $1100 with my available rewards. Pretty excited about this.

 

Can you tell me which laptops you compared? I would like to read more about this before buying, nut all in all, I think the 1070 max-q may be a better option for the future due to more cuda cores and memory bandwidth.

 

So I’ve tested the following all in the last 3 months:

-Alienware 15r4 w/ 1060 and 1070

-Razer Core 15 2018 w/ 1060 and my buddies 1070 (both non base models)

-Dell G7 w/ 1060 max q

-Aero 15x with 1060 and 1070

And finally (but not really relevant) XPS 9570.

The difference between even a max q 1060 vs max q 1070 is just not that much for me to warrant $200 and thermal headroom.

I also watched videos such as:




And

 

Landed on the m15 due to my friend having one and loving the build quality, 144hz screen and the power of his 1060 and thermals.

 

Just got real. Laptop has been shipped. Have next business day delivery, so hoping for tomorrow. Fedex shows pending details though, so we'll see.

 

Lucky..mine isn’t ‘suppose’ to be here until Dec 3rd

 

I picked up the one with the 1070, but I debated on the 1060. I ended up going 1070 mainly to just ensure I have it while on the road. That said, I too tried out the G7 and also a Razer Blade, both with 1060s. I didn't have any issues with FPS or gaming performance.

I really wanted to like the G7, although heavier than wanted the price to performance was good. Ultimately it was returned for two issues - 1) the side edges were very sharp and uncomfortable for my wrists/arms. Yes, I could have used a keyboard with it and called it a day, but I should be able to use my laptop as designed and 2) screen is really, really poor quality. And, yes, I know I could swap screens but I like stock and shouldn't have to do that for a new machine. Everything else was good. Thermals and fan noise. It did get hot and loud, but not as bad as others made it out to be. I was able to game in my hotel and be on discord without a hiccup.

The other, a Razer Blade "base" model, got stupid hot just using it for every day uses. But what killed it was off battery performance was poor. I could do more on my old aging laptop than I could that off battery. I've seen others have this problem and others not have the problem, so look more like Razer's famed QA issues.

 

Hopefully it will get there sooner. Mine was supposed to be here on the 28th, so 1-2 days earlier is fine by me. That said, I have been waiting since day 1 when I placed my order.