Alienware17 R3 Graphics Issues Fix

Hello all.

I am new to the Alienware family as I have just purchased my first Alienware 17 R3 Laptop. I previously owned Asus ROG systems and found them very reliable not having many issues. I purchased my R3 manufacturer refurbished for AUD$2999.99 so I was looking forward to having the same experience that I did with my ROG systems. System Specs:

CPU: i7 6820hk @ 2.7GHz

Ram: 16G

GPU: Nvidia GTX 980m 8g, Intel(R) 530 Integrated Graphics

OS: Windows 10 Home

Storage: 512 SSD, 1Tb HDD

For a similar ROG system it would have cost me AUD$1500 more but with 64g Ram so I chose the R3 due to the price and did not need the overkill of 64g Ram. Upon Boot up, everything was normal. I installed updates and noticed a few issues that the seller appeared to get wrong like missing Alienware standard software, the OS installed on the HDD and not the SSD. the software was an easy fix but I decided to test the power of my new toy and loaded up The Witcher 3. to my disappointment, having owned the machine for not more than half an hour, I was witnessing graphics issues such as pixel spots, lines, tears and possibly every ugly glitch that you could think of. The game was unplayable so I assumed that the game files on my external HD were corrupt so I tried booting up Batlefield 4. Same issues with this game. The R3 didn't even want to load Dragon Age Inquisition. I found similar issues across various other games had including Fallout 4, Skyrim, Mortal Kombat X. I was very disappointed and deflated that in no more than an hour, I maybe looking at a lemon.

The next 3 days I spent searching online frantically looking online for possible fixes but to further disappoint me, there were hundreds of posts regarding the same issues across various platforms so I kind of felt reassured that I was not the only one having these problems. I noticed 3 common things with these issues. the Intel(R) Graphics 530 driver, the Nvidia GTX 980m driver and Windows 10. Intel techs appeared to just try and reassure customers on their threads by posting "please check out site for the latest driver updates" which really annoyed me as I had the most current drivers installed.

I found several other work arounds others found useful like turning off "panel self refresh" in the Intel HD Graphics control panel but that was no use to me as that option did not appear in my system. After pulling an all-nighter, i finally came across a thread where someone else was complaining about their new Alienware system implying that Alienware was rubbish. Replies on that thread had numerous Alienware R3 owners defending the company as they did not have any issues with their systems. Then someone happen to post their Intel(R) 530 Graphics and Nvidia GTX 980m Driver versions and so I thought to myself, if this guy has exactly the same specs as my system and everything is stable, this could be the answer. I could only try besides, what did I have to lose? I started to search for the:

Intel(R) Graphics 530 Driver version 10.18.15.4256

 and the

Nvidia GTX 980m Driver version 10.18.13.5906

which didn't take me long. I uninstalled my current gpu drivers and installed the new ones manually. Then I updated any remaining out of date drivers from the device manager. I crossed my fingers as I loaded the Witcher 3. BOOOOOYAAAAA no tearing, no spiking, no "driver has stopped working" messages. I even was able to run it on ultra settings with Nvidia Hairworks turned on smoothly, I don't know what the framerates were as I haven't installed any fps counters as yet. The game ran smoothly without error for the hour I tested it for even using a PS4 controller coupled with DS4. I continued to test other games and got the same good result. I also found out if you are using an ENB preset for games like Skyrim, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Fallout 4 etc. they will not run if you have the dxgi.dll file installed in the directory so either delete it, rename or move its location. I just deleted it and these games still ran perfectly even with the ENB on.

I am not technologically minded and I am sorry for the long story but from the date I received my system 4 April 2016 to fixing it at 4am 8 April 2016, I felt the need to share it so if you have had the same issues I did, I hope this little work around works for you also until Intel pulls their finger out and fixes these *** driver issues.

All that is left for me to do before enjoying my system is to leave feedback to the seller and question him why would he put the OS on the HDD and not the SDD.

Good luck and peace out :)