Hi, this is the OzB forum for all matters relating to DELL G3 3590. Those who recently purchased the 2nd Gen model of the G3 3590 on OzB for $899, which has a redesigned chassis, may also find this forum useful. Please don't hesitate to share your experience, tips, or advice. To kick this off here are my recommendations:
Initial setup
- Check hardware. Run Dell Pre-boot Assessment by hitting F12 during boot and selecting diagnostic.
- Boot into Windows and activate windows and update it.
- Run Dell Update app from Windows Start Icon.
- Download Macrium Reflect free edition and create a complete C:\ disk image - This will be your backup base image.
- Remove all Dell bloatware EXCEPT for the following:
○ Dell Update - Note Dell Support Assist is not needed if you have the Dell Update app as this does the same thing but in a browser.
○ Dell Power Manager - Make sure you have latest version as it fixes loud fan issue; It wasn't detected for updating via Dell Update.
○ Dell Alienware Command Centre* - For game shift support. Pressing F7(G) key in-game starts high performance mode (max fan) for convenience. - Remove other Bloatware LIKE:
○ McAfee
○ Office Trial Version (I use LibreOffice as a free alternative). - Run display calibration by typing in Calibrate Display Color. My gamma settings were off, and after fixing it my screen appeared a little brighter!
- Make another disk image - This will be your cleaned-up base image.
- Make a macrium USB recovery drive. Use this thumb drive to restore backup image when your OS is non-recoverable.
- Print your C:\ bitlocker key and pass if it's encrypted (default). You will need this if you plan to use the Dell Recovery option, which will restore device to manufacturing default. But if you're already using Macrium (recommended) it will save you a lot of time getting your system back to where it was (base-cleaned image for example).
- Setup Macrium to do daily backups (optional but recommended) - done!
*Looks like many of the overclock(OC) features are disabled for non-alienware devices. Therefore, it could be considered bloatware if not for the game-shift feature. I believe the fan spins louder than the Ultra Performance mode selection in Dell Power Manager, so maybe worth keep if wanting to push this laptop to the max performance? need confirmation.
Drivers
Dell US has a more complete set of drivers than the AU site. This will show the Alienware software drivers that is absent in AU site.
https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/p…
BIOS
The SSD drive is set to RAID mode by default. I recommend setting it to AHCI mode, but haven't done it yet just in case. Waiting on feedback from others.
Maximise performance
This will help stop throttling due to overheating:
1. Undervolt laptop using ThrottleStop
2. Cooling pad
3. Repaste CPU/GPU with liquid metal or such
Upgrades
Looks like this model with the i5 9300H only supports upto DDR4-2666mhz Ram.
How to use ThrottleStop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14o69V6_ZCM
In brief, you undervolt as per above then use [TS BENCH] button to check for stability. Bench at 2 threads/1024M (crashes tend to happen on lower threads). Continue to gradually undervolt at -10mv offset at a time and bench until you crash. Use [Limits] button to check for thermal throttling. You can also lower the wattage supplied for turbo boost. See below for my results:
Tick Speed Shift and set value to 0.
Untick Speed Step (deprecated and replaced with Speed Shift).
[FIVR]
CPU CORE: -152.3mv
CPU CACHE: -152.3mv
(both need to be the same to work properly)
INTEL GPU: -50.8mv
iGPU unslice: -50.8mv
(both need to be the same to work properly)
[TPL]
TURBO POWER MAX LONG: 60w
TURBO POWER MAX SHORT: 60w
Please share your undervolting results :)
Last updated: 12/2/20
Legend, thanks mate. Loving this laptop so far. I'm absolutely blown away by how good low end laptop GPUs have gotten!