Alienware 15 (2015 Early Edition) Compatibility

Hello i bought the new Alienware 15 that came out the specs are

Processors: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4710HQ
Chipset: Intel Haswell Rev. 06
Motherboard: Alienware 15 A00
SouthBridge: Intel HM87 C2
Graphic Card: NVIDIA GTX 980M & Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
BIOS: Alienware A02
Memory RAM: 16GB
Screen Resolution: 3840x2160
Ethernet Adapter: Killer e2200 Gigabit Ethernet Controller (NDIS 6.30)
Wireless Adapter: Killer Wireless-n/a/ac 1525 Wireless Network Adapter

I want to Dual Boot from Mac OS X Yosemite and Windows 8.1 Pro using Clover Bootloader. (Although i may later on want to Triple Boot to Kali Linux if possible)

Could anyone give me a step by step tutorial on how i can do this on my computer, ive tried some tutorial but i end up messing things up.

So please im sure im doing somrthing wrong, can anyone tell me if my computer is compatible too. Thanks

lHectorl said:

Hello i bought the new Alienware 15 that came out the specs are

Processors: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4710HQ
Chipset: Intel Haswell Rev. 06
Motherboard: Alienware 15 A00
SouthBridge: Intel HM87 C2
Graphic Card: NVIDIA GTX 980M
BIOS: Alienware A02
Memory RAM: 16GB
Screen Resolution: 3840x2160
Ethernet Adapter: Killer e2200 Gigabit Ethernet Controller (NDIS 6.30)
Wireless Adapter: Killer Wireless-n/a/ac 1525 Wireless Network Adapter

I want to Dual Boot from Mac OS X Yosemite and Windows 8.1 Pro using Clover Bootloader. (Although i may later on want to Triple Boot to Kali Linux if possible)

Could anyone give me a step by step tutorial on how i can do this on my computer, ive tried some tutorial but i end up messing things up.

So please im sure im doing somrthing wrong, can anyone tell me if my computer is compatible too. Thanks

Click to expand...

Is it dual-GPU (Nvidia Optimus) or just dedicated nVidia?

Not sure what you mean but, as far as i know it only has two NVIDIA GTX 980M and also the integrated Intel HD Graphics 4600, so most likely its not a Dual GPU

lHectorl said:

...but, as far as i know it only has two NVIDIA GTX 980M and also the integrated Intel HD Graphics 4600, so most likely its not a Dual GPU

Click to expand...

You just contradicted yourself. If it has the nVidia + Intel HD, it is dual-GPU (dual means two... likely nVidia Optimus). You should find out for sure. Do 'lspci -nn' in Linux Terminal and post the output here. Or see what CPU-Z shows in Windows.

Well when i open CPU Z i go to Graphics Tab and it shows two different graphic cards the two i told you about is there any other information i can find in cpu z to post for you to determine whether is a dual gpu or not?

lHectorl said:

Well when i open CPU Z i go to Graphics Tab and it shows two different graphic cards the two i told you about is there any other information i can find in cpu z to post for you to determine whether is a dual gpu or not?

Click to expand...

It certainly sounds like it is Optimus. You can check BIOS for more clues (if you can't disable each independently, then it is likely Optimus only)...

Read compatibility overview: http://www.tonymacx86.com/laptop-compatibility/106791-laptop-compatibility.html

Use Clover: http://www.tonymacx86.com/yosemite-...oting-os-x-installer-laptops-clover-uefi.html

Also, you will find many of the stickies here useful: http://www.tonymacx86.com/yosemite-laptop-support/

it appears that i have NVIDIA Optimus, what does that mean? will i still be able to install mac os x yosemite on it?

lHectorl said:

it appears that i have NVIDIA Optimus, what does that mean? will i still be able to install mac os x yosemite on it?

Click to expand...

Yes, but you'll use only Intel HD graphics...


The discrete graphics capability in a switched dual-GPU configuration is not supported with OS X on hacks. Best you can do is disable the discrete part with SSDT/DSDT patches.

if i disable the discreate part to only use intel hd graphics on yosemite will i still be able to use both graphic cards when im on windows?

lHectorl said:

if i disable the discreate part to only use intel hd graphics on yosemite will i still be able to use both graphic cards when im on windows?

Click to expand...

Keep it enabled in BIOS and disable via DSDT/SSDT patches when running Yosemite.