Alienware Area 51m Laptop for DCS Impressions

[Tread_Head57]

It’s been one week since receiving my Area-51m from Dell Outlet. The specs are: I9-9900K, 2080, 32MB RAM, 256GB SSD, 1TB SSHD.

 

This is my 1st high-end laptop, so I approached overclocking cautiously. I’ve been using Alienware Command Center for fan control (on full when testing, performance for DCS), Throttlestop for CPU and MSI Afterburner for GPU overclocking. So far, they all work well together.

 

CPU: After a few days of fiddling, I’ve found that 4.7 GHz all-core with a -145.5 undervolt gives me the best performance. With these settings, my CPU temps during gaming never rise above 75c. Cinebench will push this setting up to 90c, but I never encounter thermal throttling. If I try 4.8 all-core it will thermal throttle at any stable undervolt I apply. For DCS, I’m happy with the performance I’m getting (90-130 FPS). Yes, I know a re-paste will probably get me more performance, but that’s a bit more than I’m comfortable with right now.

 

GPU: Using Afterburner I’ve found +150/+250 to be the most I can overclock and have it remain stable in both benchmarking and DCS. Temps while playing never rise over 60c. Performance is excellent and I play everything on max settings (I don’t use an external monitor, the laptop has a 17” 1080p, 144Hz panel). I know there’s a way to modify Afterburner to undervolt the GPU, but again, that’s a bit more than I’m comfortable with at the moment.

 

System: The laptop boots from off to Windows in under 6 seconds. I haven’t experienced any crashes (other than while testing unstable OC settings) or issues so far. DCS loads quickly from windows into the main menu and load times from ME to flying is around 15 seconds. I’m very happy with this system and look forward to adding a new 1TB NVMe SSD (on order) and enjoying this laptop for years to come. Definitely recommend the Area 51m so far for those that need a laptop for DCS.

Edited March 10, 2020 by Tread_Head57

[Mars Exulte]

Nvme won't make any difference to load times, zilch. In practical usage NVMe will never even remotely approach rated speeds and functioms more or less exactly like any other SSD. Source : personal experience. Mine is rated 3.5/3.0 R/W and have never seen it do anything any faster than my original drive, be it file transfer, loading or video processing. Whatever they're doing to come up with those numbers, it's nothing a typical user will ever see.

[Tread_Head57]

...

 

I’m tracking. I just got a good deal on the NVMe M.2, so for $5 more, why not?

[BitMaster]

Nvme won't make any difference to load times, zilch. In practical usage NVMe will never even remotely approach rated speeds and functioms more or less exactly like any other SSD. Source : personal experience. Mine is rated 3.5/3.0 R/W and have never seen it do anything any faster than my original drive, be it file transfer, loading or video processing. Whatever they're doing to come up with those numbers, it's nothing a typical user will ever see.

 

Install VMware or any other VM Suite, create some virtual machines, work them hard...and you see the differences.

Same if you manage those virtual HardDisks. On NVMe it is A LOT faster to reallocate unused space or defrag them.

 

But I agree, for normal users and their daily computing needs, zero difference. They are just nicer, easier to install, no cables, cleaner build look and all that.

[Mars Exulte]

Oh I agree. I like the cableless M2 stuff. And mine is great looking, put a polished aluminum heatsink on it. It doesn't do much, but it looks purty while it's not doing it!

[Cy-27]

What's your graphic setting?

[flybboy]

Nice

[Dudikoff]

I’m very happy with this system and look forward to adding a new 1TB NVMe SSD (on order) and enjoying this laptop for years to come. Definitely recommend the Area 51m so far for those that need a laptop for DCS.

 

One advantage Alienware has is the external GPU case which runs over a proprietary PCI-E connection, rather than the TB3 (where the controller gets overwhelmed).

 

So, given that you have a pretty good CPU, you can definitely get some extra mileage off that thing later on.