*OFFICIAL* Alienware m17 Owner's Lounge

No I canceled the Area-51m order bro

 

Because of the... Smoke?

 

Haha... BTW, where do you get these images? Macbook pro in smokes after W10 upgrade.!!! I first thought it was Apple's ad for Smoke simulation in OpenCL using Vega 20/Navi.

 

Quick question for AW owners in general, can you use GeoForce Now for driver updates or are they still locked in using Dell drivers whenever they update.?
When I had a AW it used to be a pain to wait for Dell to update the GPU drivers.

 

Huh? I own several Alienwares, I never had to wait for dell to update anything. Download drivers straight from nvidia website and install

 

I am so sorry that you had to cancel. The -51m would have been a good machine for you. The 15m will also be a good machine as well. You exemplify the well-informed PC buyer. Your careful considerations of all the variables is the same mature approach I have strived for. Choosing a machine because other people think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread is never helpful. Laying out the cash for a specific option is a huge emotional roller coaster. It is so easy to want something so you can feel like you belong to a particular clique. It is much harder to choose the path that best meets your needs but may not be as popular. Last I looked, this was one of criteria for being a good person. A satisfied person.

 

@Papusan

Here is what happened, my order was supposed to be delivered to HIDevolution from Dell on or before the 18th of March. I sold my laptop like 10 days ago and am suffering using my wife's old Dell Vostro 13 inch laptop.

Then the news about some laptops burning came into play so I was very worried. I sold my car to buy this laptop, I didn't win the lottery, I wanted to invest into something that would last me long and I love Alienware and their keyboards and this laptop was certainly Alienware moving into the right direction once again. I informed HIDevolution and Frank Azor about my concerns that I am not very comfortable buying this laptop and both of them had the exact same answer which was basically from Frank that they sell thousands of units and the small amount of cases that happened could happen to ANY machine and it such a small percentage of the sheer number of Area 51-ms that they sold. HIDevolution said the same thing obviously with lesser salves volumes but they assured me that they do rigorous testing before the laptop leaves their HQ and have had 0 complaints from people who bought them.

so I was like ok, this sounds a little bit comforting, then I got news from Dell that my laptop will be delayed for like another 10 days! It's like all the signs were leading me to not get this laptop and I believe in fate and circumstances and my patience ran out! so I called HIDevolution and asked them what laptops they had in-house like I don't wanna sit and wait for yet another order from Dell and they had the Nebula Red Alienware m15 with an RTX 1080 Max-Q which you may or not have known that was my 2nd choice for a laptop to get after the Area-51m so Ted from HIDevolution helped me swap my order to the Alienware m15.

 

We are talking like 6-7 years ago ( if not longer), that’s how long it’s been since I’ve bought a AW laptop.
I specifically remember running into problems when downloading graphic drivers, if that’s not the cas anymore , awesome!

 

Don't want to worry you guys in the Philippines, but try contacting your local DELL technical support regarding warranty coverage, only they can give a 100% true answer as the sales representatives can sometimes have inaccurate information and strive to get a sale (I always found the extremely helpful, but I first checked if the unit is available locally for sales). I know how excited you are as I'm the same with getting a new PC, but warranty is the most important thing in this case as even the best machines can fail. I don;t want to sound like a broken record, but do get at least a 3-year warranty initially as during that time the chances are highest for something bad to happen and knowing life, you will not extend it later as the prices will be much higher and most likely you will have to contact your local DELL unit, not the US (unless you transfer it there).

 

Indeed, I have already contacted DELL Directly, 4 times even xD And each time, their representatives simply told me that if I get the Premium Warranty and I transfer it to the Philippines, then my warranty claims would be honored should it be needed. And yeah, the sales representatives here... after having encountered a good number of them from even both ASUS and MSI, I find it difficult to trust any of them. They really dislike it when I buy from anywhere else other their stores because of how retailers work here in the Philippines.

And I concur regarding the warranty. I hope my laptop would never fail, but a lot could happen in the 4 or more years that I intend to use it for. Although, I do fully intend to have the warranty extended once it has been transferred here as I could save up more for it with time. Right now, I am aiming to get the best system for my allocated budget because I also need to adjust for when my relatives go home around the end of April.

 

Alienware m17 Gaming Laptop Review - 4K Ray Tracing RTX 2080 - Games Tested & Benchmarks

 

But did you try contacting the tech support, not the sales representatives? Just tell them that you want to buy an Alienware and they will tell you whether they can service it.

 

Called them up and they do have support for Alienware in the Philippines. As for the speed of the repairs however, it would depend on the unit and availability of parts. Bottomline, I should expect some considerable delays as replacement parts are either shipped in or if my laptop has to be sent to one of their regional service centers for repairs. If all else fails, I would also have HIDevolution's HIPS to back me up. So I have a contigency plan available should the worst case scenario occurs, most likely it won't however.

But yeah, I am very certain that I would get support if I pick up their premium support service. I mean, I was amazed about their support so far. I called their technical support hotline and I was pleasantly surprised someone actually picked considering it is 12AM where I live. And yeah, their tech support did confirm it. As long as I get the premium warranty, I would get the support that I might require with my laptop.

It is only the local DELL retailers here who said that I might not get support for Alienware laptops.. which I find very odd because they did sell Alienware laptops before... and they also do sell warranty extensions for the Premium Warranty, including for items bought abroad.. but oh wells..

 

Glad to hear it. If you have premium wwarranty then you do not have to send it anywhere as a technician will do the repaires at the address you give them.

 

Indeed, that is why I decided to go for DELL/Alienware. Their warranty service is just top notch. It is only the local retailers here who disapprove, considering I would be buying from abroad and not through them. Oh wells, I do not trust any of them to begin wih xD

 

Hey what pads did you use and what amount? IE. what do I need to order?

 

Does anyone have any firestrike scores / stress test & temps numbers for this unit yet?

 

Ran these just for you:

Stress Test results:
https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/34896188

3DMark score:
https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/34895639

 

Thanks for that! What are the temps looking like for this unit?

I've had the 17r4 before and that thing just ran super hot. I'm coming from a long line of thick laptops but looking to get into something a little slimmer, i just don't want to deal with inadequate cooling and wild temps.

 

Pretty good all things considered. CPU and GPU both hovered at 80c in a 23c room.

I think at least mine is doing pretty good. I'm not even running at more aggressive fan settings.

Still want to repaste and put better pads on. But I'm ok for now.

 

I had 2 m17's with 2070's and both consistently hit 99c and throttled like crazy during bf4/1 sessions. This was with a u3 cooler and a under volt of -130

 

I just have mine lifted 3/4" at the rear.

 

Not sure anyone here has been waiting for a 1440 screen for the M17. But, dell's website shows to M17 with a 1440 120hz TN 400 nit screen option. So if that's something that interests you go for it.

And I just got my M15. . .hmm. . .do I want the bigger screen?

 

No, the screen on the m15 is one if the best I've seen and the size was surprisingly good for a 15 inch screen. I thought that I would suffer having had used 17.3 inch screens for many years but I was impressed by this screen.

Also, the portability of this laptop is king

 

Yeah it is super easy to it where ever I want. lol

 

Huzzah! Finally placed an order for the Alienware M17 from HIDevolution. I am really excited to be getting my very first laptop

I just hope I made the right decisions with my configuration. XD

 

My only gripe with the m17 is that it does not have a 1080p 144hz screen option. I sure hope my RTX2060 would still be able to make good use of that high refresh QHD panel.. but I am certain that it would struggle a lot with modern titles. Lowering settings might work for now, but of course I plan to keep this laptop for at least 4-5 years. XD Either that or I downscale my resolution.

 

If its the same 1440p 120hz that was in my 17r4 then it is a beautiful screen. I would take it any day over a 1080p 144hz. Wish they had the option in the 51m already.

 

Does anyone know panel model in TN version?

 

Does that one have G-Sync by any chance... And what GPU are you running with your AW17? It appears I would have to lower graphics settings for some titles to get above 60FPS at 1440p with the RTX 2060, which is fine now, but I would certainly run into problems further down the road as newer games are released, hence my preference for the 1080p screen. Although I could always downscale the resolution to either 1080p but it would not scale properly, and dare I say it 720p. I am planning on having this laptop stay with me for at least 4-5 years.

The one on the M17 does not have G-sync, at least they do not advertise it as having G-sync.

 

They would mention it if it was gsync. Alienware likes to sell both. But I'll take 144hz 1440p without gsync than a panel with 60hz at any resolution.

 

Yeah, I did opt to get the 120HZ 1440p panel for my M17. That is the only high refresh rate panel on offer for this particular laptop. And I figured as much, they could have easily used G-Sync as a good selling point. I still wish they had a FHD 144hz panel as an option for the M17, paired with an RTX2060 would be a very good combination, at least for me.

 

I will say, after latest bios update, you can do a lot more with rtx 2070mq. I do recommend if your north cores are 10+c hotter (0,2,4) replace the thermal pad on the VRMs.

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/18953644

 

Hey guys, I know this has probably been asked on here before but Im looking to buy the M17 but I cant decide which of the screens offered at the moment is best. Cant decide between the UHD 120Hz and the 4K 60Hz. Does the 4K suffer at all being 60Hz? Why did they do that???

 

I've been trying to figure this out for days: HWinfo64 reports the 2070mq is at 3.9 watts. since this issue started up I could achieve better overclocks, higher fire strike scores. In my process of DDU'ing, bios update and rollbacks, still the same wattage reported as 3.9w for GPU power and even higher fire strike scores. I wonder if my GPU bios is the problem? Anyone with a 2070mq want to try my bios?

 

what do you mean UHD or 4K? UHD IS 4K.

You probably meant QHD or 4K.

I would take the QHD for the higher refresh rate and that way you probably won't need to do any DPI scaling to be able to see things which is much better than 4K with DPI scaling as we know Windows DPI scaling is horrendous, some apps look blurry and others might have misaligned buttons/text.

In addition, I would never pick a 60 hz screen on a gaming laptop! EVER!

 

Yeah that's my problem. the QHD is 120hz but its a lower resolution than the 4K which is 60hz. So stupid! What is everyone going with? I imagine the QHD at 120hz like Ultra Male said?

 

Hi. Sry I don't know where I can ask my question. I buy aw 17 r1 and change bios over clocking and now the laptop show black screen. What can I do ? I open the case cover and pull up CMOS battery and laptop battery and push them again , but nothing happens and black screen come again. Unfortunately the ram is on slot 1 or 2 not 3 or 4. How can I reset bios without dissemble PALM rest? Plz help me I just bought it yesterday. Plzzzzzzz

 

Hey, has anyone tested the DPC latency on one of the new m15 or m17? Looking for a new laptop for music production that can use a few instruments in Ableton with 64 or 128 sample buffer (no crackles) -- I.e. low latency. Had an XPS 9560 which was okay but lacked power and currently have a top spec precision 7730. Can't even play youtube without crackling and is terrible for music production. Now I'm looking at an m17 or may have to go with a MacBook which has its own problems. You can test it with this: https// www.resplendence.com/latencymon. Thanks

 

Just bought my first m17 (and AW for that matter) through HIDevolution and couldn't be happier with the buying experience or more excited for the build to get here! I've built my own computers in the past and thought I was pretty decent at knowing my way around laptop specs but was blown away with the amount of knowledge Mr Donald dropped on me as we were discussing my build. I actually started my shopping at Best Buy then went on to AW's site and almost settled for whatever configs they had there but so glad i found NBR and saw the recs for HIDevolution.

Mr Donald asked all the right questions when trying to figure out what our needs were and also gave me the exact info I was hoping for when I had questions about certain spec combos. His knowledge and experience is honestly next level. Also appreciate that he didn't give me any kind of "sales pitch" run-around and was super transparent about the whole ordering and processing timeline, along with which upgrades were worth spending on and which weren't.

Counting down til it arrives... thanks to NBR for pointing me in the right direction and thank you so much again @Donald@HIDevolution !

 

I also bought a 8750h/2060rtx, don't you think you should wait a few more days to get the new 9750h ?

 

It appears DELL has made a change for the Alienware M17 in their website. The laptop would now ship with a 240w power brick even with the RTX2060 configuration.

 

So last time I'm changing laptops. I swear. I've returned my M15 for the M17. Reason is the 1440p screen was too good to pass up. And while I will tell people I'm getting old and can't really tell the difference between a 15" 1080p screen and a 17" 1440p screen for gaming it makes a nice difference for work such as Auto CAD. The extra pixels are nice to have.

I'm away on a mini vacation so I don't have any benchmarks for you guys yet. But, early impressions are positive as I was convinced they sent me the wrong panel. I swore it was the IPS 60 panel. I had to wait till I was done setting up windows to determine I do have the 1440p TN panel. So it's very impressive for a TN screen.

I'll be gaming on it for fun while I'm away so I'll have some notes for you all when I get back home in a couple days.

 

Oh I didn't realize that the newer processor was actually that close to coming out so soon but our current laptop is pretty much DOA so couldn't really put off ordering any longer sadly. Thanks for looking out though did yours come in yet? if so, hope it's treating you good!

 

Looking forward to hear your impressions. I am also considering TN option since it should have better response times, overall better fluidity and connecting feel while gaming

 

What benefit does this provide? Would this help eliminate power limit throttling when the system is under load?

 

It would eliminate the power drain whilst the laptop is under heavy load, and if the various tech reviewers are to be believed, hopefully also alleviate power throttling.

 

@Ted@HIDevolution can you tell me if my unit will bring the 240w power brick ? Thanks

 

Not yet, shipping is schedule to 22 April and I probably will have it iN my hands 3 weeks after. @Ted@HIDevolution agreed to send me repaste and component installation photos, as soon as he send I will post them here. Regards

 

I got those two photos from HIDevolution today. It has been shipped and may be in my hands within 2 weeks.
1)
https://imgur.com/MjHdSwJ

2)
https://imgur.com/SXYmbVF