How's the heat? AW17(2015)

[Chrome]

I'm on the market for a new 17inch,

Can anyone please tell me where the CPU and GPU are located on the latest AW17?
And which part of the laptop gets hot, how hot does it with load on GPU and CPU?
I own a M14x first gen, on FPS games the upper left (above the esc f1-f4 keys) gets extremely hot, but with CPU intensive games, or when converting or rendering videos, lower right gets extremely hot which can get uncomfortable as the right palm sits exactly where it's cooking.

 

[jbomb7124]

Both cpu and gpu have separate fans and are located just below the hinges on left and right side and blow out the back. Mine dont get hot to the toutch at all.

 

[Chrome]

Both cpu and gpu have separate fans and are located just below the hinges on left and right side and blow out the back. Mine dont get hot to the toutch at all.

Thanks, what kind of games do you play? Just curious and for clarification, What's the graphic card on your unit?

 

[jbomb7124]

I have the 2014 model with the 4710mq i7 and a 860m. I play elder scrolls online and skyrim as well as sim city. And do video rendering. I average 40 to 55 fps on eso. On ultra and lock at 60fps on high settings. Im also running an msata ssd. And a sata ssd for my games only. Over all a great machine for a mobile unit. I do overclock my gpu by 135. And run a cooling pad under it my temps average 68 to 80 on cpu and gpu has never seen over 70c.

 

[jbomb7124]

Worth noting that the 2015 can use the graphics amp and with that your options are extended greatly

 

[Chrome]

Thanks a bunch, i also heard/read that the 970m doesnt heat up like the 800 series. Is your model the thicker one? Or is it the slimmed down one?(i wasnt really checking each one as they're released so i don't know which one came out when)

Did you just use the command center to OC, or a third-party software?

 

[jbomb7124]

Mine is thick and I us msi afterburner

 

[Chrome]

Mine is thick and I us msi afterburner

Thanks for the info, helped made Me lean more into getting one

 

[jbomb7124]

Yea I kinda wish I waited for the new version cuz ya can get the amp.

 

[Chrome]

Don't think ill be getting the amp soon though, amp + graphics will be a high expense hurdle. For now i'll be happy with the jump from my m14x 555m.
I was already about to get the msi gs70 970m because when i checked the dell site here, they only have the aw17 with 960m and 5400rpm hdd.
Good thing I take a looong time to think before buying, or i could have regretted it big time.

 

[jbomb7124]

Yea I am more then happy with mine only regret not waiting three months due to the amp option. Not that I would have bought it right away but the option is nice.

 

[Chrome]

sorry to bug you again on this thread. wanted to ask if you know how many m.2 ssd slots are on the aw17, and if upgading it personally (just adding ssd's) and changing the memory sticks void the warranty.

 

[jbomb7124]

I believe it has three bays. And 4mem slots and as far as the warranty mine I have full access too although ive heard rumor thay have changed the policy and put a warranty sticker on the bottom but I have not verified that. I did my own upgrade to a ssd and 16gigs of mem. My warranty is still good.

 

[Chrome]

Thanks a lot mate. I guess i'm about all up and decided on it then. Cheers

 

[jbomb7124]

No prob bud. Enjoy!

 

[Alienware_ALX_R4]

As an Owner of the Alienware 17 R2 (2015 Model) I can answer ALL your questions. I have the 17 with the GTX-970M, and it does not heat up at all. However, it can get a little noisy when the Fans spin up to cool it down, but if you wear Headphones you won't notice. If you have the Volume turned up, you won't notice it either. I see no reason to O.C. this CPU, or GPU. They run just fine without O.C. The 2015 Model (R2) has (4) M-Sata Slots, (1) 2.5in HD Bay, and 2 Memory Slots. (Max 16GB) There are no stickers or anything to stop you from Changing out the Hard Drive, or Memory. Just remember if you get the 2015 Model (R2) and you decide to upgrade your Memory, make sure you purchase DDR3L Memory. If you have any questions just let me know.

 

[Chrome]

As an Owner of the Alienware 17 R2 (2015 Model) I can answer ALL your questions. I have the 17 with the GTX-970M, and it does not heat up at all. However, it can get a little noisy when the Fans spin up to cool it down, but if you wear Headphones you won't notice. If you have the Volume turned up, you won't notice it either. I see no reason to O.C. this CPU, or GPU. They run just fine without O.C. The 2015 Model (R2) has (4) M-Sata Slots, (1) 2.5in HD Bay, and 2 Memory Slots. (Max 16GB) There are no stickers or anything to stop you from Changing out the Hard Drive, or Memory. Just remember if you get the 2015 Model (R2) and you decide to upgrade your Memory, make sure you purchase DDR3L Memory. If you have any questions just let me know.

Thanks for the reply.
Now that you mention i do have some questions.
Does your unit have an ssd os drive? If so how big is it and around how much free space did you have before installing anything?(or how much software were you able to install)
And can you confirm that alienrespawn is still included as a pre-installed software?
Thanks again.

 

[Alienware_ALX_R4]

I ordered mine with the cheapest drive they offer, and installed my O.S. On a 2.5in 512GB SSD. I also installed (1) 512GB Msata SSD.

Alien Autopsy comes preinstalled on all new Alienware devices and provides:

• Advice and alerts to let you know about issues before they happen and tools to fix issues if they arise
• Flexible, automated backup and recovery through Alienware Respawn to ensure that your important documents, pictures and media files remain safe



.

 

[Chrome]

Thanks again.. Helped cleared things up...
Looks i'll be ordering mine with the 256ssd+1tb(stock is 1tb but they got this special campaign going on that upgrading to a 256ssd is free)
And with just the 2x4gb memory(compared prices and will be cheaper if i bought the sticks and installed them myself) plus don't really know if i even need that much memory yet.

 

[thegh0sts]

i believe they blocked overclocking for the 900m cards and since the vBIOS is located in the system BIOS doing a modded vBIOS for the BGA versions is quite difficult. plus the stock 180W PSU is not enough to power a 980M properly - you'd need at least 240W to power it sufficiently even MSI supplies a 230W PSU.

the Nvidia BS about blocking overclocking is BS if you know what is required in order to OC to begin with.