4 Posts
1
16110
October 18th, 2020 10:00
Graphics Amplifier and RTX Series
Perhaps someone could get dell on this thread and explain why they haven't announced exactly what their solution is for the RTX*70,80 and 90 and not leave an entire community of users guessing and talking amongst themselves.
How about a little guidance?
ejn63
10 Elder
10 Elder
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26.8K Posts
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October 18th, 2020 12:00
The answer is that Dell is not obligated to provide any information, because the new 3000 series GPUs are not officially supported by the AGA.
Alienware Graphics Amplifier: Supported Graphics Card List
DELL-Chris M
Community Manager
Community Manager
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55.9K Posts
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November 25th, 2020 16:00
Alien Spider,
I spoke with the Alienware team. I then added their response to the, "AGA (Alienware Graphic Amplifier) FAQ", found in the sticky, "FAQ Alienware Laptops".
* The soon to be EOL (end of life) November 2014 released AGA is not going to be validated by Dell with the RTX 3xxx video cards
ChrisB_8214
8 Posts
2
October 19th, 2020 00:00
There's obligation and there is courtesy - and sometimes the latter helps to keep customers. As a travelling gamer, the AGA was the (sole) reason why I decided on an Alienware laptop. If it doesn't do what I need and I will be stuck with (higher performance-loss, but at least functioning) eGPUs in the future, then DELL is no longer on my radar - precicely because of their lackluster customer support.
A "we are looking into the issue" would suffice for me. And if they decide to give a recommendation that "Due to power consumption issues blablabla we do not recommend/guarantee, blablabla etc. - however, driver compatibility is generally established" even better. They could even make money out of this by providing an overpriced PSU upgrade or having the RTX3080 series built into Alienware stations (heard they might have their own series) fit into the AGA.
But hey, nobody's obliged to keep customers...
ejn63
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26.8K Posts
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October 19th, 2020 11:00
I believe you'll find that "we are looking into the issue" is what has been reported here as the current status of the issue.
It will likely take time to figure out the issue, and then determine if there is a possible fix for it. These cards did not exist when the AGA was being designed, and if you've followed the travails of early adopters of the 3000 series cards, there's no shortage of complaint about them not working -- well, or at all - when installed into desktop/tower systems that should, by all published reports, run them perfectly well.
nVidia has botched the release of these -- that may or may not be part of why they don't work in the AGA, but time will tell.
ChrisB_8214
8 Posts
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October 21st, 2020 01:00
'I believe you'll find that "we are looking into the issue" is what has been reported here as the current status of the issue' - the only indication I have found on that was a reference on Reddit with regards to a telephone conversation someone had. I have not come accross any post, message or reply from DELL side that would confirm that. Therefore, the general state at the moment seems to be that "we (as a user-community) are hoping they are working on the issue".
Should I have missed any written information or response on the matter from official side, please do direct me to it.
ejn63
10 Elder
10 Elder
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26.8K Posts
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October 21st, 2020 03:00
Simply search the forum. There are mentions of the issue having been raised and that it is being investigated by Dell Engineering.
ChrisB_8214
8 Posts
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October 21st, 2020 04:00
From a reddit forum:
I talked with Dell chat after buying an AGA recently. And the Agent in the chat said Mid-November, once Dell starts selling the cards themselves, we will know more regarding future driver support of the cards in the AGA.
Most accurate information I could find out there so far, other than people guessing or having heard that it is being investigated.
ejn63
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26.8K Posts
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October 21st, 2020 07:00
It's likely making the rounds, complicated by the fact that:
nVidia released these GPUs before the platform was ready for prime time (i.e., insufficiently tested).
The AGA was produced for Dell by a contractor, as most hardware is these days
The drivers are a work in progress, as video drivers usually are.
Is it a problem with the GPUs, the drivers, or the AGA design or firmware itself? Given that Dell, nVidia, and whoever designed and made these eGPUs are all involved, it may take quite some time to sort out?
There's no better evidence of my first point than that AMD is now using the launch of the nVidia 3000 series as a case study for its card manufacturers and system vendors in how not to conduct a launch.
Alien Spider
7 Posts
0
November 24th, 2020 14:00
Well after reading all this I'm not really filled with confidence after buying a new Alienware M17, R3 laptop, Graphics Amplifier and a new "Founders edition nVidia RTX 3070 GPU".
Before buying my RTX 3070, I did speak with Alienware directly in the US and was told the 3000 series should work fine in the Graphics Amplifier as it is just the next generation of the 2000 series architecture.
Well I carefully plugged everything in and followed the user and setup guide, only to find there is no video an any of the 3 screens connected to the RTX 3070
The current Alienware Graphics Amplifier is the only option for Alienware Laptop users wanting to get great PCI lane performance with the proprietary cable. There is no mention of a new Graphics Amplifier coming out from Dell and it is still the only purpose built external GPU.
Please Dell don't leave the whole community in limbo, if there is a new Graphics Amplifier coming soon that does support the 3000 series please let us know, otherwise can you provide the drivers, updates etc. that gets us operational ASAP.
Regards
ChrisB_8214
8 Posts
1
November 26th, 2020 00:00