*OFFICIAL* Alienware 14 Owner's Lounge Thread

you can keep the light on regardless of if your plugged in or not. Its fun to make it morph.

 

is the battery life as short as the reviews say or...?

 

Nice vid man

 

Fist impression of battery life would be 20% less than previous generation. No official test done this was just me playing around. Comparing to my roommates W530 her system gets double the battery life but she does have a large 9-Cell battery in it.

 

Oh, ok then, thanks I was looking through the manual (I downloaded it off the website) and it has a picture of the battery and it looks tiny compared to the rest of the laptop, so I guess it is no surprise that the battery has short life

 

Yes its much smaller than the previous one. Been through two charges. Your not going to get 4Hrs battery life unless you really turn everything off.

 

Well ive had the 14 from wednesday now really happy with it even know I had to strip it on the first day to reseed the keybored it really is a good job

 

Looks like there is a problem with my Alienware 14 and I don't know if you guys are having the same issue. It has something to do with the GPU Boost 2.0 and gpu core clock.

I had MSI Afterburner running in the background when game was running and the gpu usage clock was constant at 99-100% so that wasn't the issue. Even had hwinfo and the cpu never throttled and all 4 cores was at constant 3.2ghz-3.3ghz.

Now here is the problem I discovered and it had something to do with the core clock of the gtx 765m gpu. We know that the base gpu core clock speed of the 765m is 800-850mhz and it goes higher than 850+ with gpu boost 2.0 and the max it went to is 901mhz.



Now here's what happen in the first 3 minutes of testing a specific game and what happened when I was observing.

At 901mhz, I was enjoying max fps and full performance on 3dmark11 and I was getting a score of 4,100 just to get that info out of there. Testing of WoW standing in the same spot without any people that way i'll get the same steady frames per sec and I won't have to blame the fps dipping up and down because of how many things or other players are on the location. Now here is the problem, the first minute on WoW on the same spot running at high settings at FULLHD, the frames per sec was steady 85fps simultaneously with the gpu core clock at 901mhz. And then after the first minute, my fps dip from 85fps to 70fps with the core clock dropping from 901mhz to 797mhz simultaneously, then at 3 minutes, the fps dip again from 70fps to 45fps with the core clock dropping from 797mhz to 588mhz simultaneously.

Now when all of this was happening within the 3 minute frame, my cpu temps are only at 87c and was running perfectly fine at full speed at 3.2ghz on all 4 cores and it was steady and the gpu temperature was at 67-68c. The thing that I don't understand is that my gpu usage is still constant at 99-100 so I know that wasn't the issue but the damn core clock was dipping lower and lower.

Now I understand if the core clock goes from the high boost range then back down to the base of 797-800mhz then back up again, but this one went way below the base gpu core clock speed and at 588mhz core clock, my suppose to be steady frames per sec of 85 to a terrible laggy 45fps.


What in the hell is going on here? Remember when all of these was happening, the gpu usage was 99-100% straight on the msi afterburner graph, my cpu speed was also steady 3.2ghz all 4 cores no throttle. My temps was 87c on cpu and gpu temp was at 67-68c.


Is this a glitch or some kind of gpu temperature throttling limit that Dell/Alienware put again? Did they purposely design to throttle down the gpu core clock speed when the gpu temps reaches 67-68c? If that is a yes then I am severely disappointed. All current owners of the new Alienware 14 should do the same thing and test it with any game that you prefer, make sure to use hwinfo and msi afterburner graph to monitor and test and i'm sure you'll understand what i'm talking about.


I'm including a snipping tool shot of the msi afterburner graph screenshot of my Alienware 14 so you guys see what i'm talking about





OR

http://i824.photobucket.com/albums/zz166/alcalite/Gpuboost2coreclockissuefpsdips_zps399982b8.jpg

 

has anyone been able to install any of nvidia's newest drivers for the gtx 765m? Every time i try installing a new driver, it says "cannot find compatible hardware". Its really annoying because i fell like the stock driver that came with the laptop isn't giving the gpu its full performance.

 

I've decided i'm returning my AW 14, between stevies story and them not even having customer service on weekend but having sales and overall just don't want it now.

 

Keven are you really not happy with the 14?

 

I'm probably returning mine too. Check my long post regarding the gpu core clock issue. I don't know if you have this issue.

I also have the issue of the IPS Glow bleeding effect where my lower right part of the display is bleeding white and it's not small, it's like half of the right lower side and some little ones on top left and low left corner and is very distracting on dark backgrounds. Also the display is a little fuzzy/grainy especially on white background and the display has some kind of yellowish tint and color looks too warm and oversaturated.

 

@Colpolite, Kevinmcg

Are you guys still going to be in the 14'' market? What laptop would you guys get instead if you had to choose one today?

 

Still not sure if i'm returning, if I can find a solution to the gpu core throttle then I might keep it if not then it's going back. Still doing further testing

 

I'm thinking about returning mine as well. Just got this laptop yesterday, but when I was tweaking with the alienfx I found out that my tron lights on the bottom do not match. For those of you without the 14, the alienfx lighting for the tron lights on the bottom of the chasis changes both the bottom lights to one color. You can't have one tron light one color and the other another color, but when I set my tron lights to yellow, the right tron light has green in it. Keep in mind that you can't even set the tron lights to have the blending option so there should be no green when I choose the yellow option. My bottom plate also doesn't set in perfectly as the right edge sticks out a little bit. Not a fan of how they designed it to have a sliding-lock bottom door instead of a normal, take out screws and pull off the bottom plate. And one other thing that is annoying is that there is a small piece of lint under my mouse pad, and it is really noticeable since the track pad lights up. Looks like a small piece of hair. Luckily, my unit doesn't have any IPS bleeding that others are complaining about.

 

Eh probably not a laptop. I bought this and i shouldn't have bought it. But the offer was so good.

 

Has anyone tried the 320.49 Nvidia drivers yet? Wondering if they are stable/fine to use or not.

Also, does anyone know what the changes in the bios update are "M14XR3A00"

 

It's pretty upsetting to see so many owners returning or overall not being too happy with their new M14's, GPU throttling issues ( I really hope it's not widespread ) IPS screen bleeding and overall build quality not up to the usual AW standards.
I was looking to recommend this to someone but now....

 

I have a bit of the IPS screen bleed. Can someone take pictures to compare. I'll post some when I get home.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

Also in alienfx you can set max CPU %. Is it okay if I bring it down to 75% while on battery to save battery?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

the screen bleed comments ive seen,some people to say i bleeds alot some say they getting next to none, maybe a QA issue in the panels?

 

Here is mine

 

its more noticeable on the bottom than anywhere else

 

How does the switch to dedicated graphics work? Every time I hit Fn+F5 it tells me "switch graphics card: your graphics solution is automatically configured for optimal performance".

 

Sigh...I thought my screen didn't have the bleed effect either, until I was using my machine last night in the dark. I doubt anyone will get a perfect IPS screen though. Not a deal killer, but it is an extra annoyance.

 

That's a bummer about the screen bleeds, I thought it happens over time and usage

 

To anyone with the really noticeable bleeds - I'd call and demand a new screen. Just got my AW14 with the IPS (from btotech.com) and there is no bleed whatsoever, so it is not all of the IPS screens.

N

 

OK, I've been trying like mad to get my AW14 to throttle. I can't do it. Running Furmark, fan stays quiet until 77 degrees, then fans kick into high and start bringing the temps down and holding at 75. Turns out even with the stock vbios, I was able to overclock with nvidia inspector to a +120/120 and got a 3dmark11 score of 4517. This is a nice little machine - the screen is fantastic!!!

Now to be fair, I'm overriding the temp limit set by Dell, but only with software - no modded vbios, and stock 311.48 drivers.

No complaints about this little beast yet....

Followup - overclocked to +135/+160 with +25.0mV and scored 4597. This is the highest I've been able to get on stock vbios, with stability.

N

 

This is the question not just for you but for other users as well. Why are we trying to overcome the temp limit by Dell. I agree that we must overcome that so that we don't get laggy in game. But personally, I don't want high temp to begin with because that would shorten the life time of the machine. Instead of trying to overcome the set limit of Dell, why don't we try to ask them to make the temps lower, by doing that, it would solve everything.

I'm a noob when it come to hardware so please don't blame me if I understand this wrong. Also, can someone please please download HWmonitor on the new Alienware 14 and give us like a screen shot of the temperature, I think not only me but many people are concerning about this prior to making the purchase

 

Because their default limit is 66 and is entirely too low for modern GPUs. I capped at 77 which is a perfectly reasonable temp limit. I'll try to get some screen shots loaded later this evening.

N

 

I second that. The IPS screen on my AW14 has no bleed at all. I tried earlier this morning to make my AW14 throttle, and it's yet to happen. I haven't tried nvidia inspector (I shall), but I consistently score around 4200 on 3dmark11 with the 765M.

 

Is it noticeably better than your 17's screen (besides viewing angles)? What about the trackpad?

 

To me, yes, it is. Granted screens are very subjective, but the colors are great and the viewing angles are key. Trackpad is basically the same between the 14 and 17, as far as I can tell.

N

 

Hi Nyceis,really good to hear that you have no throttling & bleeding issues on your system,but can I know how you have overwritten the temperature limit(68) set by dell on the GPU?what software were you using?and any guide for that would be appreciated..

 

As I said in the post, nvidia inspector allows you to do this.

 

ok Thankyou!:thumbsup:

 

Can anyone help me why I can't seem to switch graphics mode to dedicated?

The dialogue just tells me "switch graphics card: your graphics solution is automatically configured for optimal performance". I've tried hitting Fn+F5 in bios, windows, on boot etc. My GPU is the 750M model.

For those that can switch to just dedicated, how does it show up/what prompt do you get?

 

Just want to confirm some findings on my 14 with the 765m. The default temp limit is indeed 66, just like on the 17. Stock defaults, once the GPU gets above this, you will see throttling. I was able to duplicate by running wprime and furmark. Temps never got above 70, but GPU downclocked to 580mhz. Fan never went above medium - couldn't even really hear it.

Now, I simply bumped temp limit up to the max using nvidia inspector. Ran same tests for 5 minutes. No throttling, fan went to max and temps never went above 72. So I think its an easy fix for anyone with a 14 and hopefully Dell will correct stock defaults with the next driver / bios update.

So, while I think the default temp limit is ridiculous, it is easily fixed by anyone who cares right now and by Dell whenever they're ready.

N

 

That's nice to know. Thanks for sharing.

 

So dell did this to reduce noise?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

Mixed news - I have gotten the 320.49 drivers installed on my 14, but they seem to hard code the 66 degree limit and I"m no longer able to override it with nvidia inspector. If anything, its even more severely throttled than the stock drivers. Which almost makes me wonder if this is an nvidia issue as opposed to a dell issue.

Figured I'd save others the trouble of trying. Score went from 4100 in 3d11 to 2200.

N

 

Hi guys, what do you think of this black light bleed. Is it worth the trouble to return? Thanks!

 

Let me sum up my evening. Photorealistic skyrim on ultra for two plus hours. The fans didn't break 35db (there more of a light hum then a xbox rumble). After I finished I turned off my system and placed it on my bare lap. The system was slightly warm. I know I dumbed this down, but the system stays cool and you can opt to turn the fans off (throttles instead). Don't be intimidated by laptop mag, this system keeps its cool and within 10 minutes of turning it off, its back at room temp.

 

I don't think so, no. We've already seen worse screens, so you run the risk of getting a worse screen...

 

Agreed. The screen look beautiful and rich and if your not satisfied with the screen quality and believe its faulty, you can always request a new one.

 

This may sound stupid but make sure the system is optimized for active cooling. It will turn up the fans before it throttles any components.

 

Thank you for considering the temperature. Would you mind monitoring the temperature by using well-known software like HWmonitor and make a screen shot. I'm sure many people would love to see that including me because that would be more reliable way of judging the temperature.

 

On your Nvidia Control Panels, do your GPU clocks show 850MHz, or 797? Whatever the reason is, my GPU clock is showing 797MHz...

 

Mine says 797 as well

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

Same here.