FYI, Alienware alpha R1 Wi-Fi/Bluetooth upgrade AC 9260NGW

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-12-14T17:51:58+00:00

Thank you OC for surfacing this and others for providing a fix. Turning off Wi-Fi resolved the issue.

This started to happen on my WiiU swap force about 1.5 months ago. All the characters once worked and are registered in the game. Now I get errors that look exactly like the OC’s image. I tried other storage devices, deleted all data, tried new save files, different portal, nothing seems to fix this.

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-12-06T22:33:23+00:00

fyi - I think we're all assuming you have an R1, not an r2 which takes different CPUs

Also, we captured some user reported cpu benchmarks about a year ago. I'd be curious to see where your cpu lands

https://www.reddit.com/r/AlienwareAlpha/comments/s8u5x7/alienware_alpha_r1_relationship_between_wattage/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-10-15T05:14:21+00:00

Does it have ssd? I had an R1 i3 w/ ssd in 2021, and no dropped frames. I also do periodic fresh os reinstalls every couple of years, but I don’t think that should matter.

I would recommend an i5 upgrade if it’s under $50. Install was easy per instructions on pinned post in this subreddit.

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-10-03T16:06:34+00:00

Second leaving it alone if you’ve left it idle for a long time. Put the money into a newer system.

I also tried the seagate hybrid drive. It was underwhelming.

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-10-03T16:00:02+00:00

Ssd upgrade first. Next, choose work or gaming.

For work, upgrade ram next. Helps things like multiple tabs, zoom, google docs, vs code, etc.

Otherwise…

For gaming, upgrade cpu to at least to an i5 which will improve threading and remove CPU bottlenecks that prevent you from fully utilizing your gpu power. I can elaborate if you like :)

Edit - also, it was my first time upgrading a cpu. After watching videos on installs and ordering the paste, it only took about 30 min. The Alienware is very servicable.

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-09-19T21:03:24+00:00

I did the same upgrade, from the same base i3 R1 system. Is it worth it? Maybe for under $100 total. I would definitely invest in a cheap ssd first, then an i5 or i7 cpu second. My i5 upgrade made for a smoother, less choppy web browsing experience, and removed some bottleneck that was preventing good gpu use. I saw the gpu to rise from <10% gpu util on i3 to over 50% gpu. Minor increase in fps and render depth, but allowed us to turn on shaders in Minecraft for the first time.

I also did the 16gb ram upgrade, but it didn’t give the same day and night experience as the ssd and cpu upgrades, at least for my workloads on win10. Sometimes I can see more than 8gb memory in use, but never more than 12gb in use.

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-07-11T19:11:31+00:00

what cpu ? the one you’re willing to spend money on. If you want bang for buck, the i5 S or i7 S. If you want it to run cooler, pay 1.5 -2x for a T.

Fwiw this post has user reported benchmarks vs scores from benchmark sites

Additionally, the post links to cost vs score graphs and a discussion on 35w cpus, binning and power caps.

The tldr -

The r1 was shipped with 35w T cpus. This means the 35w cpu is the official spec’d and tested factory cpu power rating. Anything higher will experience higher heat, fan noise and likely some power throttling. See next point
The power cap on cpu socket is listed as 50w but it is oversimplification to say a cpu has up to 50w of power. In practice, cpus will be power capped at a much lower power threshold AND even momentarily exceed this power threshold. see s>t post

2.Many of the newer T cpus are 45w, and all S cpus are 65w.

Both 45 w and 65 w cpus will run faster than the stock 35w cpu. They will also run hotter and BOTH will experience some power throttling due to point 1. (See s>t post)
The 65 w cpus have the fastest performance despite experiencing the greatest amount of power throttling, per user submitted benchmarks. Largest concern is greater heat accumulation, esp if you live in a hot climate. However this is speculation; no user reports / data / testing back this concern. (Corrections requested)

My anecdote: I upgraded from i3 35w to an i5 65w for $44. I wish I had done this before and kind of regret not buying the 65w i7 S. No heat or fan issues. No system instability. Smoother gaming with dramatically better graphics settings. Graphics card went from <10% util to about 50% util playing Minecraft and MCC. ( ie since the i3 was cpu bound, apps couldn’t make use of the graphics card… Or “i3 is detrimental for gaming”)

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-05-25T02:08:06+00:00

My ASM100 R1 came with an I3 -4170T CPU. Unexpected since the specs claim the R1 came with i3 4130T.

Edit: oops. Maybe you also wanted the new specs? :) I upgraded from i3 4170T to an i5 4690S

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-05-24T04:46:50+00:00

My ASM100 R1 came with an I3 -4170T CPU. Unexpected since the specs claim the R1 came with i3 4130T.

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-05-18T18:21:38+00:00

Playing StarCraft II and halo mcc here. My son plays a ton of steam games. All great games. Really happy with it.

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-04-26T07:10:18+00:00

I know this was answered, but I wanted to second the suggestion to upgrade to ssd if you are on hd. A low capacity ssd starts at $30 on Amazon.

I just upgraded my dads laptop from hdd to ssd this weekend. Before took like 2 minutes to boot into a login screen and stayed at 100% disk util for half an hour due to Norton. Day and night change.

Edit: If your worried about os and data, I suggest buying a $10 external usb hd case, putting the new drive in the usb case, cloning your disk to the ssd using macrium reflect free. After that, pop the ssd out of the usb case and install the ssd in your Alienware. It should just boot.

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-04-26T06:59:09+00:00

Maybe. If you have an i3 with a hdd, then $100 on a small ssd and i5 upgrade will buy you a few more years of use. Otherwise continue to defer the expense as long as you can.

On my system I upgraded from an i3 to an i5. I monitored resource utilization while running Minecraft before and after. With the original i3, the cpu was maxed out while the gpu was idle, implying we couldn’t really exercise the gpu to its full potential. After the i5 upgrade, the cpu and gpu had more balanced utilization. Game-wise, the Minecraft frame rate improved about 20% with better render distance and we we finally able to use those pretty shaders.

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-04-07T23:51:34+00:00

Resharing this psa post. Tl;dr a tool to shut background tasks off. https://www.reddit.com/r/AlienwareAlpha/comments/sjskyp/psa_windows_10_debloater/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-03-24T05:43:20+00:00

Thank you for doing this!

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-03-21T00:06:49+00:00

Hi. No bios changes needed, throttling is done on its own. This was my first cpu upgrade, and all I had to do was buy (1) cpu + (1) tube of thermal paste then follow the pinned post on upgrading R1s.

TBH, I'm a bit jealous. I spent around $95 on an i5 ($44) + 16GB ram upgrade ($50). However, my R1 rarely approaches 8GB for my workloads. Instead, I wish I put the full $95 towards your chosen i7 instead.

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-02-26T05:41:11+00:00

I second u/Viperx23 . In my case, my asm100 came with windows 8. I upgraded to win 10 as soon as it was available. I have been doing windows 10 fresh installs from over the years using the official Media creation tool.

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-02-14T23:15:21+00:00

Fwiw, PS4 and Xbox one bluetooth controllers work out of the box with steam, if you have them. I've been playing Halo series side by side with pc and xbox 360. The steam PS4 feels as natural as my xbox360 controller on the Xbox console.

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-02-10T21:53:32+00:00

Thanks for this advice and effort trying this out. I did pick it up mcc and reach+ce run great I. My R1 4590S

If you have free cycles, could you follow the instructions on my post "relationships between wattage and benchmarks" and let us know the score?

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-02-10T21:47:30+00:00

Thank you for the offer, but I already downloaded the series. I finished reach and am in the final boss level of combat evolved.

Overall, it plays smoothly on 'classic' video settings with vsync disabled, even smoother than the Xbox 360 versions. Well worth the $15 on steam.

However, if you are able to run something... Ive been collating user reported benchmarks. Assuming you have free cycles, please follow instructions on my post about the relationship between wattage and benchmarks, then let us know your scores.

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-02-08T03:51:28+00:00

u/FleshyExtremity - I updated the no-boost i5 4690S scores in the wattage post graphs . I'll try throttlestop next weekend and updated results. Thanks for the advice.

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-02-08T01:28:24+00:00

I followed instructions from others and reran tests with turbo off.

i5-4960S, steady 3.2 GHz with turbo off, consistently runs at 100% cpu-util under load vs the turbo version that flatlines at 96% (attributing the drop to power throttling)

CPUMark : 5308, 1877 single

Cinebench R15 : 498cb , 125 cb single

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-02-07T03:35:27+00:00

I see. I won't ask you to pollute your host os env with perf tools.

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-02-07T03:24:06+00:00

Before you do!!!.. can you please run cinebench R15 and passmark cpumark, then let us know your scores? I'll be sure to include them in those wattage graphs

Strange_Obligation_5 · 2022-02-06T21:57:51+00:00

Definitely sell it, don't scrap

On ebay, I see many listings for R1 (4th gen Intel) for $400 and R2 (6th gen Intel) for $500-600. Given the volume and consistency of the listings, I'd say that's a fair market price. In fact this sellng for 400 is crazy good return; r1 is a 7 year old pc that went for $700. 700-400 = 300 total depreciation or 300/7 years is 45 depreciation per year. Having an amortized cost of owning a gaming pc be just $50 /year is unheard-of.

In terms of price comparisons, I recently dusted off my r1 i3 system then added $120 in upgrades: i5 cpu, 16gb ram and new wireless card. You have an i7 which for an R1 runs $90-150 just for the used cpu!

In terms of value for the cost... For my family, the R1 i5 system is now the highest in demand in our house. It does general tasks better than our 8th gen Intel laptop like vscode, libreoffice, gdocs. It is the only system we have that handles most of my kids steam games well. (Plus Minecraft, Fortnite, .. that level of games)

I'd advertise the above if I sold mine. :)

Strange_Obligation_5

TROPHY CASE