Alienware Graphics Amplifier -- Anyone using it for Daz Iray renders?
mmitchell_houston
Posts: 2,490
I'm about to buy a new laptop for work and some 3D rendering. I'm looking at an Alienware 15 or 17 with an i7 processor, with either 12 or 16 GB of RAM and either the GeForce GTX 965M or 970M. This will be 70% for work, which involves running MS Office, Photoshop and doing some occassional light video editing (and running Adobe Captivate). Either of these machines would be more than adequate for what I need. In fact, there are LOTS of laptops out there that will do what I need for work.
The issue is: When at home, I need to support 2 monitors. Now, I can get a Dell Insperion (or something similar) with a docking station that will be more than enough to do that. BUT, the Alienware Graphics Amplifier sounds like something I could definitely use (it's a proprietary "dock" that has its own power supply and lets you plug in a graphics card. This would let me run something really powerful (like a Nvidia 1080 Titan).
Is anyone here using the Alienware Graphics Amplifier, and does it work well with Daz Studio and Iray? What do you think of it? Worth the investment of $300 - $500?
PS: Later this year I am building a high-end desktop for dedicated 3D use. This laptop is mostly for work, but I want to be able to do 3D on it while traveling, or as a secondary 3D computer when the new machine (and my backup 3D computer) are busy. So, amping up this laptop to the newest internal graphics card and most memory is not really my main concern.
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Please let us know your results . . . I'm considering the same.
I will. Next up, I've got to pick the video card I want to put in it. I hope they work out the kinks with the new 1070s and 1080s, otherwise I'll just got with a less expensive card until the new ones get sorted out.
BTW: The Alienware Graphics Amplifier is $200 at the Dell/Alienware Website, but only $150 at Amazon.com (this is without a video card). I went on Dell/Alienware chat and they matched the Amazon price... and because I signedu p for the free Dell Rewards program, the agent managed to knock almost $100 off the laptop I had selected. I also decided to finance the laptop with zero percent interest for one year, which added some other perks to my order which basically paid for the sales tax on the unit.
I will post full specs and performance (and photos) when I get the unit set up.
I just wanted to update this post in case anyone was interested in following my configuration and testing of an Alienware Graphics Amplifier.
Dell messed up my laptop order and canceled it without telling me. I didn't find out until late last week, so instead of using this week to set up my new laptop, I just spent another 2.5 hours ordering a new one (the length of time was split between me picking what I wanted, getting Dell to price match Amazon on the Amplifier, and mostly getting their credit department to recognize that my order had been canceled, so they needed to make that credit available again: normally I just pay cash, but 12 months at 0% financing with no fees was just too good to pass up).
I hope this is the laptop that will actually arrive in a week or so.
Alienware 17 R3
Operating System Windows 10 Pro, 64-bit, English
Video Card NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 970M with 3GB GDDR5
Processor Intel® Core™ i7-6700HQ (Quad-Core, 6MB Cache, up to 3.5GHz w/ Turbo Boost)
Display 17.3 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS-Panel Anti-Glare 300-nits Display
Memory 32GB Dual Channel DDR4 at 2133MHz (memory is maxed out)
Hard Drive 256GB PCIe SSD (Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s (Storage)
Next up, choosing the graphics card to put in the Amplifier. I'm leaning toward using the GTX 960 4GB card that I already have -- this would just be to run the monitor. Then I would buy a different card for the system I'm pulling it from. But I haven't yet decided. There are some great cards on sale right now, so I'm going to shop around.
If it's $500? That's a lot of cash towards a desktop. Keep in mind the mobile chipsets don't offer the same performance as the desktop cards. In other words, a GTX 970M does not equal a GTX 970.
I used to use HDMI and a micro HDMI switch to change between desktop and laptop. Or, you might be able to RDP to the desktop.
If you're considering an Alienware, also look into Origin PC - they're the folks who started Alienware, then sold it, then started up another custom shop. I've been pretty pleased with my laptop so far.
Hmmm. If I hadn't already made the order, I might be tempted to look into them more. I actually saw a few gaming laptops there (and elsewhere) that could suit my needs (the primary one being that it must support two external monitors). Which is one of the main reasons I'm looking at the Alienware platform: Their Alienware Graphics Amplifier is something that -- if it works -- is something that can actually be upgraded to take new video cards as they come out. This way my laptop is not locked into a single GPU, like I am with my current one.
I'm not quite sure what you mean by that (phrase in red). I'm aware of the differences between the GTX 970M and the GTX 970, and I'm okay with that. That's another reason I want to try the Alienware Graphics Amplifier -- it is an external box with its own power supply that allows the laptop to use any video card you put in it. Including, when they get everything finally sorted out, one of the new Pascal cards. At least that's the theory...
The Graphics Amplifier also works as a docking station, which will be nice for when I'm at home (which is most of the time). Whatever card I put in it should work with my dual monitor KVMP setup.
As I said, the purchase has been made, so I'll keep you informed as to whether or not it works as expected.
I finally decided to purchase a GTX 1070. So that means, for now, I will be using the onboard GTX 965 for Iray rendering and the 1070 to run the monitor. After they get the next DS upgrade out, I'll swap that and report how the Alienware Graphics Amplifier works with an external, high-end card.
The laptop and the Graphics Amplifier arrived today. But I'm going to resist unpacking it until tomorrow when the GTX 1070 arrives. Plus, I'm on deadline today, so I need to keep the temptation of the new system neatly boxed up for now. If I open it, there's no way I'll be able to resist playing with it... er, um... I mean CONFIGURING it. Yeah, that's what I mean.
Dagnabit! This card does NOT fit in the Alienware Graphics Amplifier: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB FTW DT GAMING ACX 3.0, w/ Adjustable RGB LED Graphics Card 08G-P4-6274-KR
It is too tall (although the length is fine): 1.5 inches x 10.5 inches x 5.06 inches. The top of the amplifier case won't close all the way, so I'm not looking for an alternative card...
I'm fascinated at hearing your experience with this situation. I have an iMac, and thought about buying a similar product. I am a bit leery, since I could likely buy a decent PC for around $1,000. I eagerly await your next post to see what solutions you've found, or to see your next purchase.
Out of curiosity, isn't there some sort of compatibility chart that would tell you which video cards could fit in that box?! I'd think Alienware (Dell) would provide that info as a selling point?!
i've got my eye on your reports as well
Cut a hole in the lid for the top of the card to stick out LOL
It turns out that AlienwareArena.com is the source for best info on the product (and more useful than Dell tech support), and the guys there are super helpful. In fact, it's mostly my fault for not going through and reading a lot of stuff before making my first purchase. Had I done so, I would have known to double check the height of the card. Frankly, I didn't really think of this as an issue when I started down this path -- after all, 5 inches isn't all that big for a video card these days.
To directly answer your question, the Arena has a list of compatabile CHIPS, but not actual model numbers for cards. And right now, they actually list the 1070 as only "partially supported," which has given me more pause in my quest to get this up and running. But, as I said before, I really don't want to invest in older technology -- I know all this will get sorted out within the next few months, and in the absolute worst-case scenario, I can shelve the 1070 until the end of the year and make do with older & slower cards. Not what I'm hoping for, of course!
When it came time to purchase the new, shorter card, the guys in the forum reported that MSI made cards that fit the Amplifier case and worked out of the box (for gaming, of course). So, I bought a card that they recommended. It should be here tomorrow, and if it fits I'll report the card details at that time.
GHAAAAAA!
Actually.. there are small support struts in the lid that keep the case from closing because they were hitting the card (my buddy asked why I needed it to close if it didn't affect performance, to which I replied: "It would drive me crazy") and I did consider using my Dremel to file them down. But then I decided that could affect the strength of the case so I decided not to. Better to just order a new card and see if it works.
Also, I've read conflicting reports on whether this scheme will work. One report says this is the way to go, and another says that the Graphics Amplieifer will disable the onboard card and use only the external. I'll let you know which is true by this weekend.
I'm quickly getting the impresson that everyone is better off having a computer that has the desired internal graphics card. There are just too many variations and potential problems for an external solution. Doesn't matter if it's Mac or PC.
Agreed. Desktops are easier to maintain and upgrade. However, I need a new laptop for work, so I thought I'd go down this route and see if I could get some sort of upgradable option via the Alienware Graphics Amplifier, which is almost a docking station with a high-end, replaceable graphics card. My laptop has a GTX 965M, which is more than adequate for work (Office, PowerPoint, occassional sound and video editing). But I also need a laptop that can also run two external monitors (without some fiddly USB adapter), and there are really not a lot of options out there for that. Yeah, I found some laptops with dual Display Ports, but they all had pretty basic video card options, and none of them really seemed to be something I could get excited about. Then I read about this adapter, and I decided it was worth a shot. Here's hoping for the best.
I'm thinking of this as an experiment. An expensive experiment, but if it works this has a lot of potential.
I totally understand. Have fun! I'll be interested to see your future posts.
I am LIVID!
The new card doesn't fit, either! In fact, it's worse than the first one!
MSI Computer NVIDIA 8GB GDDR5 DVI/HDMI/3DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card (GEFORCE GTX 1070 GAMING X 8G)
The product description says it's 3.3 inches tall, but it's 5 inches tall. I'm going to fume for awhile and talk to some people at the Alienware Arena to find a card that actually fits.
Did you hear the latest? Nvidia released Pascal chips for laptops that are almost as powerful as the desktop cards now.
Might be a better route, if you want the processing power on the go.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2016/08/nvidia-pascal-laptop-specs-gtx-1080/
I've asked at the boards for specific card recommendations. And I'm not going to think about this mess until Monday. I have other things to do.
Last night was rough. I took out my frustrations on a bottle of wine. Good news: I won!
I also did some thinking and reading on the AlienwareArena forums, and finally decided that, even when I found a card that fit, I just didn't have the heart to face the probability that the beta drivers weren't going to support my particular motherboard-amplifier combo. So, today I went out looking for a new card. I did find an ASUS 1070 at Fry's Electronics that would fit (height 4.73). It is the ASUS GeForce 8GB Dual-Fan OC Edition 4K/VR Ready Dual HDMI DP 1.4 Gaming Graphics Card DUAL-GTX1070-O8G (but as I said, that's no longer on my list). Fry's only had one 980 card for $549, and it was not a ti. So I passed on it and drove the 45 minutes across town to MicroCenter and they had a lot of cards to choose from. Including some open-box returned cards with full warranty and a 30-day replacement/refund window from the store.
Additionally, they also have an in-house Dell Store -- and they happened to have an open-box Graphics Amplifier on hand. So, since everything was already open box, the salesman walked over with me and we successfully fit the card into the case and closed it properly. I cannot tell you how relieved I felt. Tonight, when I drink, it shall be happy drinking. Assuming everything works when I finally get it hooked up to the laptop.
Here's what I bought: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB FTW GAMING ACX 2.0+, Whisper Silent Cooling w/ Free Installed Backplate Graphics Card 06G-P4-4996-KR (I linked it to Amazon so you can read the specs). The Amazon price right now is $566.32. The list price at EVGA is $649. I got it for $379. And when I checked out, I found there was a mail-in $35 rebate.
Not bad. I already put it in my own Alienware Graphics Amplifier and tonight I'm going to go through the installation instructions (online at AlienwareArena at this link), which looks a bit complicated, what with removing old drivers and updating to new ones.
I'll keep you posted.
Finally got Daz Studio installed correctly (it was a pain because I don't want any resources on the small SSD boot drive). This afternoon I will finally start setting up the Amplifier.
It shouldn't be too hard. I've insisted on having my "Runtimes" on external hard drives for a decade or so. Just have DAZ Studio itself on the main hard drive.
Actually, it was a little "hard." Not overly difficult, but not easy, either. When I installed Daz Studio 4.9 on my D drive, the installation process still automatically created content directories on my C Drive. My remedy included:
It was a pain. Not a horrible one, but still... not a piece of cake. I still have the problem that the manifest files are still going to the C drive. I have not yet figured out how to move them.
To move the manifest folder, edit the .ini file in your user account (default location is ...\AppData\Roaming\DAZ 3D\InstallManager\UserAccounts) to read:
OverrideManifestDir=Q:/DIM/ManifestFiles
(for whatever path you want it to use).
I totally ignore the directories that DAZ Studio creates. When I switched from PC to Mac, I just copied my stuff from a PC-formatted hard drive to a Mac-formatted hard drive. Everything worked just fine.
I don't mess with manifests, data directories, whatever. I just tell DAZ Studio where to find stuff and use it.
I still don't understand why DAZ insists on complicating things. I just want to Make Art.
If you don't want documents on your C: drive you need to move the folders - go to C:\Users\YOU and for each document-type folder (Docuemnts, Pictures, etc) right-click on it, select Properties, go to the Location tab, and set the new default location. Once changed newly installed applications should respect the choice.