*OFFICIAL* Alienware Area-51M R1 Owner's Lounge

You can only unlock Voltage. As far as I know anyways.

Just Google 'msi afterburner voltage unlock.' It should be the first or second link. Just involves replacing a file within afterburner.

Edit: Spelling

 

geez why would hidevolution slap together fujipoly and a cheap blue pad? given their reputation, i'd have expected higher standards but i guess in this day and age, you really can't rely on anyone but yourself to guarantee a decent cooling job.

 

Awesome job! Will probably follow your setup exactly once my laptop is here

 

The FujiPoly 17w/mk ain’t the best. + not so forgiving when it comes to tolerance differences. Too stiff and on top more expensive than the best out there.

This means all (several thousand) which bought first revision is screwed. Good luck after your warranty is expired. Many used all their money on the laptop and skipped on the expensive extended warranty. + buy this model second hand? Nope

And nothing is official from Dell. Damn nice.

 

So what is the best out there?

 

Dont believe it. Thier paste is mediocre at best. But worst of all, prepasting the heat sink is a huge NO.

 

I wouldn't say lower rated pads they're just made of a different material is all

My vote is for Laird, it's what Cisco and the other OEMs use for high dollar switchgear and is the same stuff Dell OEM uses.​

Different strokes for different folks. PGS > Shin-Etsu > most 3rd party pastes.

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Anyone try swapping panels on these to either a QHD or UHD? If so does the ambient light sensor / keys still work?

 

It's really confusing that Dell put so much R&D into designing a high performance laptop like the a51m and yet can't standardise the paste and pads to something high performance- sure it will cost them up-front but they will save money on far less returns...

 

You're missing the point. To someone like Dell what's worse, 5-10C* increase in heat that maybe 1-5% will even notice or a much much higher return rate right at the end of the warranty period when the high performance TIM fails at year 2-3? The Shin-Etsus and Lairds of the world design their materials for longevity not performance and would be fine if Dell would properly design a heatsink assembly that was capable of supplying adequate pressure where it needs to be.

If you want a quick and easy do this to get the "perfect temps" you want, go to dell, complain about the temps and have them ship you a new heatsink. Scrape off the wax pad and put a PGS pad or similar in it's place and then you've got a permanent high performance setup. If that isn't enough to achieve what you want then buy something else as everything "better" will be a compromise of some form that will ultimately come back to haunt you.

OEMs already use the "best" thermal pads
LM isn't permanent and will need to be routinely replaced
MX4 / Kryonaut doesn't last forever and will also need to be replaced

 

Pre-paste isn't the problem the paste is the issue, they are too dry and often feels like colored clay or rotten cake mix applied on heatsink. Too high temps breaks and thermal gets way worse than toothpaste!