*OFFICIAL* Alienware m15 R3 / m17 R3 Owner's Lounge

Guide: How to set Alien FX Lights according to the app you launch

 

BTW Just noticed yellow flashng means low battery for me. Not sure if this is standard across models though.

 

Yeah it's standard on the r2, r3 and A-51 r1 and r2. You can change it in AWCC if memory serves me well.

 

Can't seem to change it in AWCC.
You can select the power button but changing the colors don't seem to work.

 

Can someone please help me with the wattage of the 2080 Super Max P in the m17r3?

 

150w


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Hello

Can someone confirm there is still possibility to undervolt alienware m17 r3 with 20th gen i7 10750h?

Aiming to buy new laptop and I managed to brek it down to 3 laptops :

Alinware m17 r3 with 2080 super just undervolt cpu and lower PL on it so I can enjoy cool laptop

Razer blade pro 17 2070 max q should run fine from start at it got locked PL's

Zephyrus s 17 with 2070 super no max q USA version with liquid metal on both cpu and GPU from ztecpc.


I believe best long term option is alienware m17 r3 if it can be undervolt and also got £150 discount via support today.

What you think guys?

 

Yes, you can undervolt the 10th gen 750H. Like members have previously mentioned. If your undervolt doesn't first apply. Try restarting your laptop to get it to run at the values you've set before restarting.

In my opinion, m17 r3. The keyboard is better than the other 2 brands. It doesn't matter which manufacturer you go for. It doesn't really make much difference in chassis differences either. The 10th gen CPU's run hot from the get go. Combined with sharing the HS with the GPU. Especially combined with the 2080. But the r3 is the better out of the 3. Obviously this is entirely based solely on my own opinion.

If you want raw performance. I'd say go for the area 51m r2 - if needed in a compact laptop.

For best performance, go down the customer tower build route.

 

Hello

I decided to go with alienware m17 r3 since there is promo in UK with 8% off.

Which option would be better for thermal management :

I7 10750h with 2080 super or i7-10750h with 2070 super?

I know 2080 is 150w and 2070 is 115w however how big difference are in temps?

I am happy to manage some heat by cpu undervolt and lower voltage on GPU via msi afterburner.

Thank you

 

Hi all, for those of you who have chosen the "Lunar Light" finish, could you tell me:

(1) how long have you had the laptop
(2) is there any discolouration/staining/degradation of the finish?

Thank you!

EDIT: I am asking because I'm reading here and there about the finish yellowing etc over time - see e.g. https://www.reddit.com/r/Alienware/comments/cmtj2l/alienware_m17_dark_side_or_lunar_light/

 

No problems so far after several months, but the machine hasn’t left my desk and is never in direct sunlight so I don’t know how much of a metric my experience is.

 

still a useful data point

ahhh, just checking, you don't do things like eat cheetos when using it right

 

I do like to fillet fish on it as one does, of course, but no, no Cheetos!

 

I have used mine almost daily since i got it at launch and still no sign of any stains. Been very happy with mine, no real issues yet. Just wish the battery life wasn't so bad. Even with the 4k panel i get maybe 1.5hr. I cant seem to get the 2070 to switch off as i can see it drawing 50w at the lowest.

 

Just to confirm
M15/M17 r3 with the 300hz screen has no way to power off the nVidia card and use the Intel card. Not even in the bios or with a mux switch.
Is the OLED in the same boat?

 

There is no MUX switch. Lower refresh rate options should have Optimus, but best to confirm.

 

Sadness. I have an M15 r1 that they decided they don't want to fix, and are offering an M15 r3. Losing battery life and the full keyboard is not happiness.

 

Absolutely unacceptable, the R2 and R3 are fine examples of design trash. Go on Twitter, they should refund.

 

I'm not there yet. I am getting close.

System Exchange asked me to talk to the Technical team to verify if any model/version/whatever of the M15r3 or M17r3 have Optimus or a mux switch. I have thus far gotten every possible combination of answers, and no documentation to support any of those answers.

 

Again, one thing is certain: Dell has yet to figure out what a MUX switch is - consequently none of their laptops have it.

 

I actually got an answer with documentation last night.
The 144 hz screen is muxed between dedicated nVidia and Optimus.
The 300 hz screen is fixed on the nVidia.
The OLED screen is fixed on Optimus.

I've asked, but I assume the first two apply to the m17 as well. I don't know about the m17 and the 4k yet.

 

Where did the screenshot come from?

 

An internal document from Dell support.

 

Does anyone know what VRMs are on the M15 R3 RTX 2070 Super version? I know it has a 12 phase design this year, just wondering how many amps each VRM can handle. It would be a great opportunity for someone to shunt mod their device because the cooling on the GPU is fantastic on this year's model.

 

Wow, so the 144Hz IPS variants have a MUX switch that can be activated using Fn+7. Surely, that would mean Dell visits these forums sometimes and listens a little

Can someone confirm?

 

And the m17 r3

 

I have a m17r3 with the uhd display but i cant not get fn+f7 to do anything. I have the AW CC, AW overlay and the video drivers from dell installed but nothing. I would love for this to work as the battery life is just awful. Or if i could just turn off the intel and go right to the 2070 would still be nice as i would love to have integer scaling.

 

Well, the table suggests UHD comes with Optimus, so there is no MUX switch, and battery life is as good as it's going to get.

 

As per the review I posted earlier, there seems to be an issue with Optimus on the 4k variant whereby using an external display makes the dGPU periodically wake up even after you disconnect it and switch to battery. I found the only way to fix this was to restart the laptop. Before restarting I would have about two hours battery life, after restarting five to six hours.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

I would expect the external display to be driven purely by dGPU, you can verify this in the NVIDIA control panel.

 

Does the USB-C/TB3 port still connect directly to the iGPU? If so you can use it for external displays and apps launched on displays connected to it will not override your Optimus profile. Although it is indeed a very buggy system. I found that a version of the Intel Graphics Command Center Tray Icon process had a bug where it would turn the dedicated GPU on, for instance. I will attach a copy of the Optimus Debug Tool which can sometimes give better insight into these bugs.

 

Greetings,

I purchased an Alienware m15 R3 about a month ago. Since then I've been struggling to get this laptop to run in a - what I consider - normal manner.

I've been a desktop user and my last update was about 10 years ago. I consider my gaming needs rather meager and tend to gravitate towards strategic games like Paradox and not FPS. They actually make me sick. I suffer from nostalgic feelings as well so I use LaunchBox, eXo(DOS/WIN) to play games that are really old. I have emulators that use emulators. That old.

My intent for purchasing the m15 R3 was to ensure I'd be able to play games I like years from now. I also use VMWare workstation to do other IT funness so the m15 R3 package seemed to fit right in to that type of strategy. At most I've had 3 separate servers running on this laptop and I was pleased with the performance. Of course in that scenario I/O is the issue. Regardless I like the way it performs.

Ok, enough about me. (It's always about me)

I've made no changes to BIOS (other than updated from 1.3.0 to 1.5.0) or system setting in Windows. (The actual image was f'ed up and I had to run DISM to get it fixed.) I've done my research and found that it's not uncommon to have the CPU running around 95-100c. So it's not so much the temp at this point when running games. It seems to be that it's throttled at 100c since stress tests never went above that temp. (I'm using the AWCC to monitor temps)

When the laptop is up and running after a boot the temp cranks to 95-100c and the fans sound maxed. Then AWCC.Background.Server is showing "Very High" in the Task Manager. Once I kill that process the temp and fans settle down to a more respectable level. (50-60c). Why would this service cause an idle temp rise of 30c or more? I'm baffled. Perhaps the AWCC needs some TLC that I haven't give it? *meh*

I find this frustrating since I'm sure this can't be right. The only thing I can think of is I don't have this laptop configured in an optimal manner. I'm pretty frustrated about this. I've done some reading and research and temps do seem to be an issue. Maybe I'm so out of touch with laptops that I'm overreacting.

I apologize for the rant. Is there a tweak guide or something like that for these laptops? End users usually have some very good feedback and field experience with these type of things. I'd appreciate any feedback on how to configure and tweak my new - and unbeknownst to me - hobby.

Again, sorry for the rant and thanks.
-Matt

Memory: 32 GB
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-10980HK CPU @ 2.40GHz[Cores 8] [Logical/Core 2]
NVidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super w/Max-Q
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro

 

If you're just using it as it came from the box, then let me tell you the stock thermal paste which Dell applies is horrible. You would need to get you some good thermal paste like PHOBYA NanoGrease Extreme or GELID GC Extreme Thermal compound and either re-paste it yourself or if you don't have the experience, have Dell send you a technician, tell them the laptop is overheating and you need a re-paste then when the tech arrives, give him the thermal paste that you bought. I did that a few months ago on my previous Area-51m R1 even though I know how to do it myself but it was for another matter that the tech was sent and I had him re-paste it for me using my own thermal paste. That made a huge difference.

 

I've also started noticing the AWCC process lately. Must be the latest Dell innovation. Easy enough to kill but I wish Dell updated this to shut itself down when the machine is in use, if there is a legitimate purpose for thr activity in the first place.

 

Hi Owners.

I was thinking about to buy M17 R3 with i7-10750H (14nm, TDP 45w), but the temp goes up to 100C under load is terrifying me. It's not OK. For the most of laptops 100C is the critical temperature at which laptop goes emergency shutdown. Continuous working under such thermal condition makes that cpu burn sooner or later.

I believe in next generation M17 R4 with 11th Tiger Lake-H CPU, expected in the beginning of 2021. New generation going to be 10nm, TDP 35W. Hope, new process technology and less TDP will facilitate better cpu temp.
Furthermore, I believe DELL will improve cooling system in R4 generation.

Please share your opinions and thoughts about said above.

Thank you!

 

Dell will still allow the CPU to hit 100c and then throttle because that is how they get the most performance out of their laptops; push maximum wattage and then when it hits 100c, throttle the CPU to maintain 100c.


You could always use throttlestop and set a negative offset to the CPU throttle temperature. I did that on my machine and it now throttles at 88C instead of 100c which is plenty fine for me because the computer only gets anywhere near that hot while gaming. If you need over 45w actively going to the CPU while gaming and you don't want high temps you should buy a thicker laptop or use a desktop.

 

10nm means die shrink (more power packed into less space). Base clock TDP won't be for max boost clocks. If the chips used less power then expect that the notebook manufacturer will take advantage of it and make the chassis thinner. Slimmer chassis means less space for better cooling. 100C is here to stay You can't fill a 10l bag with 15 liter water (In same way as Dell could't find space in the new thin AW chassis for ram and wifi slots)

 

Hello.

I bought the latest Alienware M17 R3 from Dell France.
The problem is I received it without the AC adapter.
I contacted customer service who replied that they could not find the exact model of the original adapter for this computer to send it to me.
Can you please give me a picture of the label on the original AC adapter (European model) that came with this computer, so they can order it from the factory and send it to me?

Thank you.

 

Thank you very much.
Are there also other people who can give me a picture of the label of their European model AC adapter, to confirm it is the only original DELL model for this computer?

 

Remember the PSU come in a variety of power options. Depending on the configuration. He should use the service tag. Or just ask for the 330w adapter and Power cord for France.

https://topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/alienware-m17-r3-laptop_users-guide_en-us.pdf

 

I have had the m15 R3 2080 Super for a couple of months now and am very pleased with it. It will run happily and remain charged powered only from the thunderbolt port for daily web browsing / email / spreadsheet desktop duties. Avast anti-virus created havoc for me initially but once that was removed I have not seen a BSOD.

I wanted a quality machine for mainly creative duties so it seemed a good choice with GPU grunt and a reasonable price point.

 

Glad you are happy. Dell might have specifically targeted lightweight users such as yourself with this flawed design. As things stand, I won't be buying another Alienware laptop during the Ampere upgrade season next year due to the soldered RAM and inverted mobo. I'm not a fan of the new gamery styling either, although I guess I would get over it if the laptop was otherwise class-leading.

 

Thank you

The problem is that the 330W model is much bigger and heavier to gain nothing in performance ...

 

Do you own the latest Alienware M17 R3 ? Is this photo yours, the photo of your AC adapter that you received with your computer? Or did you find it on the Internet?

Thank you.

 

This is from my previous Alienware M15, it uses the exact same 240W power adapter

 

You never mentioned what hardware you ordered with your Alienware M17 R3.

 

I bought the new M17 R3 based on i9 10980HK and Geforce RTX 2070 SUPER 8GB and 17,3" FHD 300Hz 3ms

 

OK, thanks.

To confirm, are there owners of the new M17 R3 who can post a photo of the label of their power adapter?
(even non-European version, because there is only the cord that connects to the power supply unit which is different I think).

Thank you.