unfortunately, when you have a proprietary motherboard failure, thats about your only option. If any of the 'user replaceable' parts failed, he could have just swapped it out. Cant really do that with the motherboard. Not one from Dell anyway.
That, and guaranteed all that was wrong with the previous system, based on the symptoms, was a dead CMOS battery. Even if that didn't turn out to be the case, that's the logical next step in the troubleshooting that Kyle was doing.
They're constantly updating their cases though, they don't actually sell this model anymore. I think this was the Aurora R7, and they only sell R10 (AMD) and R11 (Intel) now.
I remember when Dell first bought them, for about 3 generations they kept their promise and let Alienware stick to industry standard parts, kept the Dell 3rd world garbage out, and even got them cheap making them the compelling buy. Then, as stock-value driven CEO's are wont to do...they broke that promise one component at a time. Total sticker price went back up to old Alienware prices, but with DELL POS components that you wouldn't waste on your dog.
I wasn't surprised. It's Dell. My dad used Dells for his office and they were the first computers I played with (as in took apart/put back together). They're a royal PIA.
when i was a teen i wanted an alienware but parents wouldnt buy one cause too expensive, i'm very glad they held out so i could build/buy my own system now that i'm older
Man, I remember when Alienware was freaking KING. That all died when Dell bought them and they stopped being an independent outfit that did custom builds for hardcore enthusiasts and just became a model line for Dell.
For the first couple of years after Dell bought Alienware they were still running in a different shop but once they moved everything to the same location it lost its soul.
@@makatron Yea, it did seem that way. I could tell exactly when it happened, too. Sometimes when I was kind of bored, I used to go on their website and custom-configure my dream computer. Their website was completely different from Dell's. Very stylish. The variety of parts you could choose from was massive, and **everything** was name-brand and identified. It was more akin to I Buy Power. Now it's just the new version of XPS.
@@WraithTDK I had a mid 2000s Alienware and it was glorious! It was the last pre-built desktop I had and after that made zero sense to look at that empty shell of a brand.
I know. Just feels like when big corporate companys get into small business they suck the soul and life out of them, It depress's the fuck out of me. I'd never buy from dell apple or Microsoft I'd make it my self or get it from Nzxt punch technology there both good companies. my dad got his pc from punch technology and they were great he had a problem with his ram and they ended up double the ram because of his problems and nzxt seem like a good place never bought from them before but they seem OK.
I was thinking, as he said that, "How are you going to find a motherboard to fit the alienware front panel pinout? But that's just Dell being Dell (and proprietary). Then he said he was changing to AMD, and, yeah, mostly all new parts are called for. Good decision, imo. And the render test proves that out.
@ Replacing the switch isn't even needed if replacing the board with a different one, just figure out the pins and fit standard plugs and I don't think he's even proved it was the MOBO at fault (if it was then CMOS batt is quick test) as the Dell PSU uses a different pinout than standard ATX, that PSU is renowned for blowing the shunt so was probably the issue, I'd like to get that board and test it myself. Kyle Vs. Paul in the 2nd round of LTT tech challenge.... PMSL, -Paul "Well, I've found all these problems (Linus and Phil - "you have them all there and those weren't even on the list") and she's running sweet now", -Kyle "OK this system isn't running, so rather that diagnose this, I'm going to build them a new system using this one I have built on the shelf".
Smaky yeah i agree a cmos swap would have been a cool test! If he was confident that the dell PSU was good he could have just used it to test the MOBO as well. Buuuut, if the user was wanting an upgraded CPU that required more power, that’s the only reason i could see to upgrading. Would have been neat to see how to fix it as cheap as possible though. Good job either way 👍🏼
@@aarushshukla9023 Depends on the dad. A lot of people don't even know you can build your own pc, they have always just bought one prebuilt from local store. There's nothing wrong with that, but you'll likely end up with some trash components like PSU, and motherboard to some extent, and you'll probably be paying more for it too. You could probably save thousands if you built your own car too, but that is pushing the analogy a bit too far, as the pc is really adult legos and a bit of research really.
Parents don't consult with their kids before buying anything no matter how old the kids are. Just a few weeks ago, I had to talk my mom out of buying a new car just because she wanted something bigger to go on vacation with...
So I've got some advice here. I am a Dell Desktop tech at a subcontractor for Dell and I've done hundreds of these. First off, you did manage to correctly identify the cable that controls the power button. That cable goes to the boards on each side that control the LED's on the side panels, as well as to the power button board that is hidden in the front panel (it sucks to get to). Second off, you should check if the system is posting by checking for lights on the keyboard and mouse, that will tell you whether it is in fact, no post, or no video (big difference). Third point, that splitter that comes off of the 24 pin connector and goes into the 8 pin on the motherboard just above the pcie slots is the only way the pcie slot gets power to the gpu. Dell probably did this to save on power trace costs / space on the pcb. This is why the gpu you put into the board when you had it set up outside of the case did not have video and the fan wasn't spinning. Other small notes: 1. Yes that GPU cooler is in fact a MSI model, MSI Aero to be exact. 2. Dell does list on their PSUs if they are 80+ rated, so that one is in fact definitely not and definitely a piece of junk (not even 460w, technically 380w on the 12v rail). 3. If the system had a 8700k, the cooler would be upgraded to either a 120mm liquid cooler, or a (decent) horizontal (rather than vertical tower) air cooler. 4. This chassis, which is used in a lot of Alienware and XPS generations, has issues with the GPU being loose due to basically not being held down by anything on the bracket side 5. You're very lucky that is a 10 series GPU and not a 20 series, because A LOT of the 20 series fail (probably switched OEMs from MSI for cost savings) and have a knack for catching on fire
Imagine sitting there, Unbeknownst to the corporate woes of the PC industry, infested with companies like dell. Thinking "Their laptops are amazing, And given Alienware is dell, it must be great!" to then suddenly, while in the heat of battle your PC suddenly shuts off and a plume of smoke rises from your system.
I was eyeballing that 12V connector above the PCIe slots lol. Testing the PSU with another board or a PSU tester would have been one of my first steps knowing how bad those Bestec and similar OE PSUs are
Spare some tips for a guy with the 8700k and 1080ti variant of this exact PC who also knows nothing of PC maintenance? Anything I need to replace/look out for? Thanks for any reply.
I don't know.... from my experience with Dell, the "480 W" PSU, is actually really close to a 600 W PSU since its the real output power. I had an Optiplex before that has less than 300 W PSU, but it has no problem supporting a GTX 1050 where the recommended PSU is 500 W and above.
@@ArchusKanzaki that's literally just the psu lol. One of the least important parts in the system. The GPU is really bad design, the CPU was a non k sku for a gaming machine, and the motherboard is sad as all hell.
@@marcusborderlands6177 I used a blower-style RTX 2070 Super from ASUS, Non-K CPU just means its locked, and bad motherboard can happen to even a non-prebuilt. I just think while its kinda overpriced for MY taste, its not really "bad rig". Heck, if its only 2 and half years, just call Dell and do onsite service since I remember you get 3 years of that
@@ArchusKanzaki Is 600 Watt the actual "output power" on the spec sheet? Also, IIRC gtx1050 only requires power from the slot, so maximum use is 75w for GPU. It makes perfect sense for a 300w psu to support it, considering an optiplex probably has a CPU that doesn't require much power either just saying. The details matter.
I knew someone who apparently got some gaming laptop that has a "boost button" which i just laughed at. cuz i can imagine that "boodt" just strobes any rgb and ramps the fans to 100% which i guess could be cool, but this is also the same guy who has a "200 dollar mouse" like sorry but what mouse even is 200 dollars i got a g pro hero brand new for 60 dollars shipping and all
@@buttersquids haha right when I heard he had a "pc with a boost button" I figured its at least a desktop but nah, I guess its some "gaming" laptop. id like to see it, I wonder how much people spend on something like that... especially if they're the person buying 200 dollar mice lol😬
This shows how easy it is to troubleshoot when you have spare parts for every component in the system, otherwise it would be a pain trying to guess and order replacement parts.
You can eliminate a lot with what he had. He could connect the monitor to the iGPU and reset CMOS to determine the GPU wasn't the fault. He could try both RAM DIMMs one at a time to determine they weren't faulty. That leaves motherboard and power supply because CPUs almost never die, and even if it had degraded to the point it wouldn't post the CMOS clear would have let it post.
@@Vinterloft this still doesn't provide a clear diagnostic. You can't declare a good cpu simply because "CPUs almost never die" but I agree, you can rule out a few things without spare parts. It's just better to have spare parts to be 100% sure.
@@Texas_Takeover I never throw out my old parts from my previous builds, they all go out to the shed. There has been times when I've had to take off a CPU cooler or a spare PSU to get my current system up and running from a troubleshoot. If you are the type that likes to build your own PCs, it would be idiotic to throw out your spare parts.
Not at all... I use a 9900k but the 3900 for video editing is a great choice! (I do get that you were only cracking a joke) 😉 Actually to be honest I'm not an intel fan _per se_ but I'm a gamer and I built my current rig just over a year ago and the 9900k was, and still is a great gaming cpu. It also does a good job with fusion 360 which is *mostly* clock speed dependent rather than multicore.
Terribad airflow is worse than any good SFF build. Block a heatsink from cooling is always bad, many SFF builds have liquid coolers or great low profile heatsinks.
It would be silly to replace the whole system when just one part went bad... **Proceeds to replace the entire system except for GPU and storage drives**
Alienware uses proprietary motherboards, connections, a separate IO panel that's connected to the MOBO via a proprietary cable AND connection, etc. When a Dell motherboard goes bad, building in a new case is the only option.
@@dukeseb That's where you'd be wrong. Because of all the proprietary connections, nothing would work because the front panel connectors are on their own proprietary board with no way to connect it to the new motherboard. Also, Dell uses some weird custom sized motherboards, somewhere between a micro ATX and mini ITX so there'd be no easy way to screw it down without some considerable machining. It's really a shit show over there at Dell. Maybe things have changed in the last few years, but judging from this video, nope.
well 3200 mhz is much, much better than 2666 also if you're going to spend 1000$ on a system you might as well not make it ugly still though, performance > aesthetics
@@MasteryOff not really all he had to do was get a new PSU, a new case and a b360 mobo thats what most people would have recommended. Thats what anyone, in the real world, would have done
@@thatguy-dh1qh thats the thing right? nobody would change a perfectly good, high end, working system like that from only 2 years ago as part of a "troubleshoot solution". Everything he did past the troubleshooting was pure (and paid) marketing disguised as a "solution". Anyone whos worked at IT support will look at this video and cringe, and tbh I love Bitwit
David's Dad: I'd like to upgrade my cpu. Kyle: Say no more fam, new PC on the way. David's Dad: what? Kyle: You like RGB? David's Dad: No. Kyle: I included RGB. XD
Yeah Bitwit is honestly really bad at doing PC repairs. Usually he just throws his hands up in the air, says he doesn't know what's wrong, and builds them an entirely different system. I often wonder how much he charged his clients when he does that. Because building a whole new PC with brand new parts costs a lot more than just fixing what they have or replacing the one part that was broke.
problem with alienware.. their part had so many issue that they not yet update it and just sell a basic would work without update... and they can claim alot of bullshit...
I've worked on so many Dell/Alienware PC's in my time, so i made a prediction at what the problem was between the PSU and the Motherboard. Usually one or both. I've worked on countless Dell Optiplexs and Precisions and they all have this horrible internal design that murders airflow and cooks the cheap components to death.
I mean that is usually the way, the motherboard is the most complex individual component thus most likely to crap out, and the PSU gets hit with the most abuse even when excellent power stabilizing has gone on before hand, and most people, in my experience, frankly do not use good surge protectors or UPSs. Plust when a PSU fails well... everything else is at risk depending on the level of failure. The real trick is finding out which one failed which in a system with proprietary connectors means more than just hooking up a standard unit to see if it turns on. There's a lack of testing equipment here to determine with certainty if the mobo or PSU is actually the dead component. If the old PSU just had proprietary connections in addition to standard ones it could have been plugged into the second system, or probed with a meter. Then if all else is good that leaves the mobo by itself as the cause, but doing it the other way sadly still leaves it to chance
In my experience, I love dell laptops, and hate dell desktops. Genuinely feels like two different companies, their (business grade) laptops are upgradable and have a ton of expansion, while their desktops are almost entirely dell specific hardware and poorly made electronics. I swear their desktop motherboards fail if you look at them wrong
@@brewcityboatclub8299 I don't disagree. If you're with a company that buys Vostros, they're sadly wasting money as those Laptops are designed to fail. However the Latitudes, Precisions and even the XPS's are solid laptops but as a techie i've seen them all fail, but non-more so than the Vostro.
@Baxi Tabaxi What are you trying to say? People on a lower budget will get a better deal following these people's advice and building their own PC. Pre built PC's are more expensive in every situation. If the average consumer is stupid enough to buy a pre built rather than building their own PC it's their own fault. What does it matter if PC review channels have money to review things?
He can't swap the board because of Dell's sh!tty proprietary FP connector. He would have to get a replacement issued by Alienware which I don't think would be easy or quick.
You are like a mechanic, the client goes for an oil change and when he comes back he suddenly has a new car... and you tell him, well it’s so much better I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do it 😂😂
I remember when their computers were rad and cool. I think they sort of started the RGB or at least the glowing lights/ focus on aesthetics thing. The new Alienwares are so boring though.
Proprietary pinouts, connections, IO panels separate from the motherboard, etc. When a Dell motherboard goes bad, the only real solution if it's out of warranty is to build in a separate case. Which is a shame because Alienware cases are pretty slick.
I'd love to build my own rig, but I can't justify the cost of video cards and CPUs that cost more than 4 months of mortgage payments. I'll take a chance on a pre-built and replace components like the CPU cooler, power supply unit and case fans. Most pre-built computers come with great video cards and processors.
Alienware systems in my personal opinion a “bad” pc company. Well not “bad” but kind not reliable, good specs but bad manufacturers. Btw nice vid bitwit! Love to see the new banger videos!
It’s Dell. Imagine corporate grade cheap PC gear then slap a pound of expensive “gamer” plastic cladding and stickers on it, block all air flow, and charge double.
I love how alienware computers always look sleek and futuristic on the outside, but on the inside it looks like someone forgot to tell them "Happy New Year" 25 years in a row
As someone who builds alot of custom gaming computers I was actually ok with the R8-11 layout of the Dell Alienware. I purchased one during the height of the crypto craze for my girlfriend as most parts were out of stock and overpriced everywhere. 8700K watercooled (4.9GHZ OC) 2 1080s. It's a decent machine. I wasn't impressed with the M2 drive that came with it and I was surprised with the 4400RPM intake/exhaust fans but otherwise I was like.. yeah.. good job Dell. It's easy to see where they are going with the design and how it works /w airflow. Getting the extended warranty (doesn't need to be done at the time of purchase and dell will remind you after your 1 year is up..) is probably a good idea as Dell will charge you a fair bit for a new MB off warranty and it's fairly picky about the ram it uses. Plus no upgradability on the CPU as Dell doesn't release bios updates to the newer 9 series.. but I think it's a good system with a good layout. I am looking forward to gutting it in a few years and putting my own parts in.. going to be a bit of a pain with the case itself as there are a few proprietary connections on it but.. it's still doable. My GF has been using it for 2.5 years now with no issues.
Everyone in the comments talking about 4k Alienware PC's and how expensive it is.. but last year on black Friday I got mine for 1.5k (including taxes and shipping and all that good stuff lmao) and it saved me a bunch of money and time considering that it had pretty expensive components at the time (rtx2070super, i7 9700, liquid cooling, 850power supply, etc.) I don't remember my exact calculations but at the time the price of building my own rig was a tad bit higher, especially considering that I got to finance my Aurora R9 over the period of 1 year interest-free. All I'm saying is there is definitely a place for prebuilts, especially if bought under the right circumstances (sales, deals, offers, etc.) At the end of the day, computers are just machines that are used to get things done (whether it's work, gaming, or anything else) so everyone should go with what's most comfortable and sensible considering their specific situation. Had no complaints with my experience using Alienware PC's so far, maybe I'm luck idk but it is what it is.
See from a cpu and gpu standpoint it usually seeems like a good deal, but OEM prebuilt soften have not as high quality ram, vrms on the mobos, the cables are usually ketchup and mustard, worse cpu coolers and it’s usually just harder to upgrade than a standard atx case. Not only that but OEM cpu and gpus are not the best binned, meaning they will under perform compared to chips you buy for consumer parts. The best binned silicon are usually designated for consumer i9 k chips, and consumer r9 x class chips. Then the next best binned chips are for the not x variants and the lower end chips. The worst quality silicon goes to OEM pc builders like Dell, HP, MSI, etc.
@@RiceCubeTech sure I can't really say I disagree with you on any of the points you mentioned. However, my main argument was that there is a place for both prebuilts as well as building your own PC .. Reading comments on tech posts often makes it seem as if buying a prebuilt is automatically a waste of money, which is what I am arguing against. A PC has different uses for each individual. For example, let's assume that the chips in my Alienware are the lowest class. They still perform excellent for MY use, I still get to play all the games I want at 144fps, 1080p, ULTRA, which is what my initial goal was. This is the main reason I wanted a PC. So, in summary I just don't think everyone cares about benchmarks, looks, etc. etc. And quite frankly, not everyone likes the hassle of building a PC, especially when there are $300+ components that are susceptible to dmg in the process. Therefore, characterizing someone else's purchase as a "waste of money" with no context is just wrong to me.
@@RiceCubeTech granted the only real issue to me is the upgradability of a prebuilt machine.. but to me, I want really be upgrading my PC in the foreseeable future and when/if I do I will just maybe upgrade the GPU and add more ram and simple stuff like that. But that's just ME, I don't expect everyone to be okay with it. But for myself, just buying a prebuilt makes more sense. PS. I have built PC's before, I know how to do it.. just for anyone who thinks I'm complaining cause I don't..
With the same credentials, it's usually the same on laptops, for desktops video card. Then again, I usually don't get to work on Alienware systems, despite being the only Alienware/PC tech in the area. Most everyone in this area has theirs for years without issue. Without prejudice though, anytime there's a black screen regardless of brand, it's usually the motherboard.
Exiss Cool I do the south eastern Connecticut area specifically new London Windham and most of Middlesex County Nice to meet another field service technician
Usually the power supply is the problem. I work as a tech, diagnosing units like this one every day. Dell/Alienware doesn't always come in, but when they do the power supply is often dead and it also damaged the motherboard, outputting nearly 14V on the 12v rail and often with bad grounding. It's become the first thing I check for, because most of the time the power supply is malfunctioning and 50% of the time it caused failures on the motherboard.
This is why my friends have me build PC rigs for them. Prebuilts are notorious for using less than stellar components. He had the right idea, use a rig that you have around and get it up and running. Nice job!
That Alienware looks like a piece of junk back from 2010 or older... Did they just pay premium for the Alienware logo or sticker? Edit: Holy shit I have the same test bed/bench XD
You should of tried some tech yes city cleaning. He says it sometimes work when the board stops working this can be another video and we can see if it actually works.
Right off the bat comes one of my pet peeves: products should have their model number displayed somewhere that doesn't require turning it over/using a flashlight or magnifying glass/crawling inside/partially dismantling it. I'm referring primarily to consumer appliances: blenders, microwaves, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, etc.
I feel like something that Bitwit glossed over that would have been an issue would be the proprietary power plugs on the power supply, more than the wattage of it. Otherwise, great video bro!
7:01 That connector IS for the power button board (y'know, the whole alien head logo on the front panel). There are replacement power button boards for Alienware Aurora, but sadly no standard front panel adapters for that particular proprietary connector port/header.
Really like this video. As far as prebuilts go, the two places they accel is scalability and warranty. I work in VFX with about a 150-350 person headcount, and at our enterprise level it would be inconceivable to build and support custom builds for every user. However, that cost comes way down when it's just a few. Furthermore, as long as you're willing to pay warranty terms at an enterprise level are very strong where you can get a tech come to you with nearly everything needed to get your system moving again without a need to recruit the services of a third party TH-camr or otherwise. And I say this as an enthusiast who would personally never own a prebuilt desktop on my own. Different use cases have different needs.
I bought a “pre” built desktop but you really can’t call it that when it’s using non custom parts besides stickers 😂 haven’t had any issues yet whatsoever and was basically what I planned to build but shortcut the part shortages 🤷🏻♂️ win win I guess hopefully if I need to get ahold of them they’re effective!
yeah i bought a lenovo T530 i7 9700 and RTX 2070 due to the parts shortages too. its my first prebuilt PC in nearly 20 years :P its noisy AF tho and the thermals really suck. next year after this COVID 19 madness is over, am planning to sell it and build me a proper gaming PC.
Bryce Micky Yeah the one I got was a iBuyPower it’s not bad fr just need to get some more ssd storage but I’m trying to hold out for pcie 4 to be wide stream. No sense buying something slower if it’s the same price 😂
OsHi I feel you on that kinda pissed intel chopped HT off the 10th gen i7 it’s got me needing to upgrade but I’m stuck waiting for the extreme ones to drop since they’ll be anytime or switching to AMD when the new chips come. Just grab you some nice fans you can reuse or do a aio or custom liquid cooling. I had to add a fan held by tape currently to keep the thermal beast the 2080 super is 😂 had thermals in the 80’s playing MW before.
This is nice to watch because I am doing exactly the same thing. Had an Aurora R7 just like the one in the video and started buying new parts to build a new pc off of it. Unfortunately I do also believe I'll have to change the mobo, cpu, ram and cooling to fit with my 2070 that I switched from the 1060 that was in there first (I already bought a new case and psu). Can't wait to get rid of anything Alienware though, that was not the move.
I like that case! I had a similar experience upgrading one of my son's PCs. I had picked up a cheap Dell, swapped PS and video to make it "good enough" for gaming when he was younger. I eventually found how to power it on but decided to just upgrade everything but his video as you did, lol! Went with one of the Phanteks (sp) and it's worked pretty well, AIO on the front on an OC'ed 2600, plan to grab him a Zen 2 when the 3s come out.
I know basically nothing about computers, so I went and got a pre-built. The specs are Asus prime B450M-A (Motherboard) MSI NVIDIA GTX 1660 ti (GPU) AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (CPU) AMD Wraith Heatsink (CPU Cooler) 1TB of M.2 SSD (Storage) 16GB DDR4 (Ram) 550 Watt 80 Plus (Power Supply) Lian Li Lancool II - Black (Case) I got the pc from Ironside Computers. Total time to get the pc from order to arrival was 37 days (Nov. 28th - Jan. 4th)
There's nowhere to plug in power to that GPU. Super low end GPU's (think GTX1050) get enough power from the PCI-e lane. I've got an EVGA one in my parent's HTPC
Goose is correct, Dell supplies the 75 Watts normally delivered by the motherboard to the GPU through an extra 6 pin header on the board itself. Anything to save a buck.
Love how the train of thought went from "Fix this seemingly dead PC" to "Swap a few parts" to "Just gonna give them this already built pc I have lying around because I don't wanna bother using that alienware case" in less than 5 minutes.
I bought a Alienware 17r4 a few years ago and they already changed my motherboard 4 times!!! It has a serious thermal problem and they refuse to substitute the machine. They love to change motherboards but actually solving my problem........ Best regards from Brazil
What gets me is how airflow choked that case layout was, holy shit! I'm surprised it hadn't caught on fire 🤣 So that's a high end prebuilt rig worth thousands eh... 🤪 Bloody hell no wonder Alienware went from being a household name to being pretty much forgotten 😳
@no, as a matter of fact Intel stock cooler is so shit. Amd did a great job on their stock coolers. Had to buy a new aftermarket cooler because the Intel heatsink wasn't sitting correctly. So yea stock is fine minus Intel stock cooler lol
@no, as a matter of fact yeah they don't need to, however that doesn't make the intel cooler any better. It is a garbage cooler. It's loud, it breaks easily and it's really annoying to install it or remove it. Either don't include it, or put a good one in the package.
aight here’s a funny coincidence. 4 days after this video was posted and a day after i watched it, my alienware aurora bricked itself. i’m pretty sure it is a mobo issue, similar to what’s in the video. i guess it was a excuse to upgrade lol.
As a former Alienware owner, this video brought me to light about these terrible pre-built and I ended up building my own. It feels good knowing your PC is one you built.
R8 Owner here, who vowed to never buy pre-builts. Picked up probably this exact model, open box with a 1080 for $600 open box, post black friday. I still probably won't ever buy a pre-built again, but for that cheap, it's been a work horse. No issues in over two years. Definitely speccing out a new build with these new cards, even though she's still running strong.
@@Conflictedhots I'm saying how he said he was going to build a new pc if he couldnt fix the alienware but ultimately just took another pc that he built and swapped out the gpu.
Alienware/dell has added a security feature from when you take out the power plug for the mobo, the mobo thinks that it’s been stolen and thinks your stealing parts. You can never turn it on unless you find a Java script code from the dell website
after watching different videos of people explaining how to build a pc, I'm finally starting to understand what the parts are and where they go, but I still got a long way to go. They're just so fun to watch and learn about, hopefully one day I can make my own
I have the exact same Alienware. Watching this was like a view into the future lol, plus I learned a lot about what it has under the hood. Thanks man :P
I have this aurora R3 that I just stripped and drilled out the 5.25 bays, Took off the top grill and re-purposed it as the front grill after cutting out the drivebay door to make room for a 240 rad and adding another 240 on the top where the grill was. Last thing is to add a window.
I worked at alien 10 years ago, right from the start of the video i knew it was the mother board, Dell uses the cheapest shit available, good...or sad...to see things haven't changed
I’m building an AlienWare R7 PC, same case modern specs (except for the motherboard). It’ll have an over lock delidded 8700k with 64GB RAM, 2TB Storage, 850W PSU, and a RTX 3070. This PC is going to be an absolute beast to build!
14:19 ...66% improvement? Am I understanding something badly? Maybe he meant a 33% improvement? Which is huge in productivity, anyway. You can't probably do the following estimation (more things to factor in, surely) if took 15 minutes, and 9 in the newer one, if with more time would escalate the same, would be 15 hours versus 9 hours of render, that everyday and it'd be indeed very key (in money and time). IE, the difference in being able to take an extra project or not, as a very minimum, so, huge advantage. Besides 3900X being an amazing multi tasker, is not just in rendering (I have one), but also in actual editing, having parallel processes (ie, 3D rendering), etc.
“since only 1 part is broken i’m not gonna build him an entire new system”
3 minutes later
“let’s build david’s dad a brand new rig”
*forgest that he complied that he needed a faster cpu
😂😂
always
Lmfao the longer we watch the less Alienware goes back in 😂😂
unfortunately, when you have a proprietary motherboard failure, thats about your only option. If any of the 'user replaceable' parts failed, he could have just swapped it out. Cant really do that with the motherboard. Not one from Dell anyway.
That, and guaranteed all that was wrong with the previous system, based on the symptoms, was a dead CMOS battery. Even if that didn't turn out to be the case, that's the logical next step in the troubleshooting that Kyle was doing.
it always surprises me when somebody opens up a Alienware. They did all that sweet design on the outside and on the inside it just bleh.
The ram and motherboard is thin as paper
I did not expect it to be so bad on the inside, but honestly I really shouldn’t have
They're constantly updating their cases though, they don't actually sell this model anymore. I think this was the Aurora R7, and they only sell R10 (AMD) and R11 (Intel) now.
I remember when Dell first bought them, for about 3 generations they kept their promise and let Alienware stick to industry standard parts, kept the Dell 3rd world garbage out, and even got them cheap making them the compelling buy.
Then, as stock-value driven CEO's are wont to do...they broke that promise one component at a time. Total sticker price went back up to old Alienware prices, but with DELL POS components that you wouldn't waste on your dog.
I wasn't surprised. It's Dell.
My dad used Dells for his office and they were the first computers I played with (as in took apart/put back together).
They're a royal PIA.
when i was a teen i wanted an alienware but parents wouldnt buy one cause too expensive, i'm very glad they held out so i could build/buy my own system now that i'm older
Same! Just finished building my custom unraid server, never would have done that if my parents had just bought me a pc back then.
I was planning on building my own then found a r8 for $750, one day I might use the parts of it in a new build one day
Fucking same
An alienware chassis can be good for custom builds, after all it would be waste of a frame not to.
Same
Man, I remember when Alienware was freaking KING. That all died when Dell bought them and they stopped being an independent outfit that did custom builds for hardcore enthusiasts and just became a model line for Dell.
For the first couple of years after Dell bought Alienware they were still running in a different shop but once they moved everything to the same location it lost its soul.
@@makatron Yea, it did seem that way. I could tell exactly when it happened, too. Sometimes when I was kind of bored, I used to go on their website and custom-configure my dream computer. Their website was completely different from Dell's. Very stylish. The variety of parts you could choose from was massive, and **everything** was name-brand and identified. It was more akin to I Buy Power. Now it's just the new version of XPS.
@@WraithTDK I had a mid 2000s Alienware and it was glorious! It was the last pre-built desktop I had and after that made zero sense to look at that empty shell of a brand.
I know. Just feels like when big corporate companys get into small business they suck the soul and life out of them, It depress's the fuck out of me. I'd never buy from dell apple or Microsoft I'd make it my self or get it from Nzxt punch technology there both good companies. my dad got his pc from punch technology and they were great he had a problem with his ram and they ended up double the ram because of his problems and nzxt seem like a good place never bought from them before but they seem OK.
Isaac Alonzo nah not really aleinwares are still very good
Kyle: "it won't make sense to build a brand new system"
Also Kyle: replacing all the parts other than the GPU and storage
I was thinking, as he said that, "How are you going to find a motherboard to fit the alienware front panel pinout? But that's just Dell being Dell (and proprietary).
Then he said he was changing to AMD, and, yeah, mostly all new parts are called for. Good decision, imo. And the render test proves that out.
weird how i was gonna comment the same thing.
@ Replacing the switch isn't even needed if replacing the board with a different one, just figure out the pins and fit standard plugs and I don't think he's even proved it was the MOBO at fault (if it was then CMOS batt is quick test) as the Dell PSU uses a different pinout than standard ATX, that PSU is renowned for blowing the shunt so was probably the issue, I'd like to get that board and test it myself.
Kyle Vs. Paul in the 2nd round of LTT tech challenge.... PMSL,
-Paul "Well, I've found all these problems (Linus and Phil - "you have them all there and those weren't even on the list") and she's running sweet now",
-Kyle "OK this system isn't running, so rather that diagnose this, I'm going to build them a new system using this one I have built on the shelf".
Smaky yeah i agree a cmos swap would have been a cool test!
If he was confident that the dell PSU was good he could have just used it to test the MOBO as well.
Buuuut, if the user was wanting an upgraded CPU that required more power, that’s the only reason i could see to upgrading. Would have been neat to see how to fix it as cheap as possible though.
Good job either way 👍🏼
@@Smakheed he did put a new psu in and it didn't boot
Going to your friends house 15 years ago and you see the alien logo on his desk. He was the coolest guy in skool
69th like
@@thesoyboys9062 Yeh
Now it's 96
@@adrianvorms9015 *lame*
I can tell you weren’t a smart kid in school though.
"Friends don't let friends buy pre-buits" - I guess that doesn't extend to their Dads...
bruh dads won't understand how much better custom builts are, they want simplicity, and that's what you get.
Sad!
If you let your Dad buy a prebuilt you have failed him as a son.
@@aarushshukla9023 Depends on the dad. A lot of people don't even know you can build your own pc, they have always just bought one prebuilt from local store.
There's nothing wrong with that, but you'll likely end up with some trash components like PSU, and motherboard to some extent, and you'll probably be paying more for it too.
You could probably save thousands if you built your own car too, but that is pushing the analogy a bit too far, as the pc is really adult legos and a bit of research really.
Parents don't consult with their kids before buying anything no matter how old the kids are. Just a few weeks ago, I had to talk my mom out of buying a new car just because she wanted something bigger to go on vacation with...
So I've got some advice here. I am a Dell Desktop tech at a subcontractor for Dell and I've done hundreds of these. First off, you did manage to correctly identify the cable that controls the power button. That cable goes to the boards on each side that control the LED's on the side panels, as well as to the power button board that is hidden in the front panel (it sucks to get to). Second off, you should check if the system is posting by checking for lights on the keyboard and mouse, that will tell you whether it is in fact, no post, or no video (big difference). Third point, that splitter that comes off of the 24 pin connector and goes into the 8 pin on the motherboard just above the pcie slots is the only way the pcie slot gets power to the gpu. Dell probably did this to save on power trace costs / space on the pcb. This is why the gpu you put into the board when you had it set up outside of the case did not have video and the fan wasn't spinning.
Other small notes:
1. Yes that GPU cooler is in fact a MSI model, MSI Aero to be exact.
2. Dell does list on their PSUs if they are 80+ rated, so that one is in fact definitely not and definitely a piece of junk (not even 460w, technically 380w on the 12v rail).
3. If the system had a 8700k, the cooler would be upgraded to either a 120mm liquid cooler, or a (decent) horizontal (rather than vertical tower) air cooler.
4. This chassis, which is used in a lot of Alienware and XPS generations, has issues with the GPU being loose due to basically not being held down by anything on the bracket side
5. You're very lucky that is a 10 series GPU and not a 20 series, because A LOT of the 20 series fail (probably switched OEMs from MSI for cost savings) and have a knack for catching on fire
What a great person to put all this info in a comment
Imagine sitting there, Unbeknownst to the corporate woes of the PC industry, infested with companies like dell. Thinking "Their laptops are amazing, And given Alienware is dell, it must be great!" to then suddenly, while in the heat of battle your PC suddenly shuts off and a plume of smoke rises from your system.
I am an HP certificated tech, glad to see I am not the only one who can go this in to detail on the random crap I work on lol.
I was eyeballing that 12V connector above the PCIe slots lol. Testing the PSU with another board or a PSU tester would have been one of my first steps knowing how bad those Bestec and similar OE PSUs are
Spare some tips for a guy with the 8700k and 1080ti variant of this exact PC who also knows nothing of PC maintenance? Anything I need to replace/look out for? Thanks for any reply.
sounds like me, "I'm just gonna do a small upgrade" *replaces all but one component*
Typical Alienware: bottom-of-the-barrel parts in an overpriced case with minimal air circulation.
I don't know.... from my experience with Dell, the "480 W" PSU, is actually really close to a 600 W PSU since its the real output power. I had an Optiplex before that has less than 300 W PSU, but it has no problem supporting a GTX 1050 where the recommended PSU is 500 W and above.
Got one under my bed, stripped the CPU out of it and sold it on eBay. Complete shit bar the CPU..
@@ArchusKanzaki that's literally just the psu lol. One of the least important parts in the system. The GPU is really bad design, the CPU was a non k sku for a gaming machine, and the motherboard is sad as all hell.
@@marcusborderlands6177 I used a blower-style RTX 2070 Super from ASUS, Non-K CPU just means its locked, and bad motherboard can happen to even a non-prebuilt. I just think while its kinda overpriced for MY taste, its not really "bad rig". Heck, if its only 2 and half years, just call Dell and do onsite service since I remember you get 3 years of that
@@ArchusKanzaki Is 600 Watt the actual "output power" on the spec sheet? Also, IIRC gtx1050 only requires power from the slot, so maximum use is 75w for GPU. It makes perfect sense for a 300w psu to support it, considering an optiplex probably has a CPU that doesn't require much power either just saying. The details matter.
Me: My PC is not booting up, bitwit.
Bitwit: Ok.
Me: Comes back to my PC with a 3950X and dual 2080 ti's.
*Stonks*
"Ew, this isn't Alienware." [Throws it away]
@@CaveyMoth lmao
Lol if your family....my brother is Steve my other brother is Jay and I have half brother named Kyle.....and Linus disowned me.
@@samwallace7341 connections
I love when people brag about their alien ware PC’s. And that they paid $4,000 for it.
Then you see ketchup and mustard wiring and the OEM PSU 😏
With a 1660 ti and a i5 9400f lel
I knew someone who apparently got some gaming laptop that has a "boost button" which i just laughed at. cuz i can imagine that "boodt" just strobes any rgb and ramps the fans to 100% which i guess could be cool, but this is also the same guy who has a "200 dollar mouse" like sorry but what mouse even is 200 dollars i got a g pro hero brand new for 60 dollars shipping and all
@@g4mer_guy
-> $200 mouse
-> Laptop
What???
@@buttersquids haha right when I heard he had a "pc with a boost button" I figured its at least a desktop but nah, I guess its some "gaming" laptop. id like to see it, I wonder how much people spend on something like that... especially if they're the person buying 200 dollar mice lol😬
@@g4mer_guy Yeah, gaming laptops are unbelievably overpriced. With that in mind, perhaps a $200 mouse makes sense?
In the end, you gave him a pre-built pc 😏
Yeah but a quality pre built
I have a same pc it turns on but no signal to the monitor so I guess it the motherboard
Well I guess if you mean Kyle "pre built" it
@@tylercole6236 test the other components as well bruh
Wouldn't call it a prebuolt it's a custom pc at least I call it custom
I swear it must be the coolest feeling where when someone has an issue and they go to you first
It loses its appeal pretty quick lol
It can also be an annoying burden
I can tell you aren't the go-to tech support guy for your family, huh...
@@johnwill4560 with great power comes great PCs
@@QuickishFM Well Im really into tech but Im only 15 so I dont really have the greatest credentials
This is when you bring your car in for an oil change and end up on pimp my ride.
This shows how easy it is to troubleshoot when you have spare parts for every component in the system, otherwise it would be a pain trying to guess and order replacement parts.
You can eliminate a lot with what he had. He could connect the monitor to the iGPU and reset CMOS to determine the GPU wasn't the fault. He could try both RAM DIMMs one at a time to determine they weren't faulty. That leaves motherboard and power supply because CPUs almost never die, and even if it had degraded to the point it wouldn't post the CMOS clear would have let it post.
@@Vinterloft this still doesn't provide a clear diagnostic. You can't declare a good cpu simply because "CPUs almost never die" but I agree, you can rule out a few things without spare parts. It's just better to have spare parts to be 100% sure.
@@Texas_Takeover I never throw out my old parts from my previous builds, they all go out to the shed. There has been times when I've had to take off a CPU cooler or a spare PSU to get my current system up and running from a troubleshoot. If you are the type that likes to build your own PCs, it would be idiotic to throw out your spare parts.
Kyle : "Since only 1 part is broken i’m not gonna build him an entire new system"
Narrator : "He did, in fact, build an entire new rig "
Read this in Morgan Freeman’s voice
@@jensadams9326 SAME lol
@@jensadams9326 is there any other way to read?
"3 hours latair"
Having easy access to free computer parts must be nice.
"in fact were gonna change shift from intel to amd"
intel fans: "im unsubcribing now"
Not at all... I use a 9900k but the 3900 for video editing is a great choice! (I do get that you were only cracking a joke) 😉 Actually to be honest I'm not an intel fan _per se_ but I'm a gamer and I built my current rig just over a year ago and the 9900k was, and still is a great gaming cpu. It also does a good job with fusion 360 which is *mostly* clock speed dependent rather than multicore.
@Nasty trim lol
@Nasty trim @Outlands Factsss
@Nasty trim there are still pretty specific tasks where they perform better. i will stay on my intel as it can stable clock at 5.3 but my cooling cant
@@aswisshuman637 Ryzen 5000 Sir
"A 3900X in THAT? Talk about overheating!"
*laughs in SFF PC
Exactly... I had a 2700x in a small-ish ITX case with a 92mm tower cooler and it worked fine.
Here cooking it with the stock cooler and poor case fans lol
Terribad airflow is worse than any good SFF build. Block a heatsink from cooling is always bad, many SFF builds have liquid coolers or great low profile heatsinks.
yo I;'m rocking an ITX 3950X! but with 2x240mm radiators
But this wasn't a sff case and there was little to none airflow
It would be silly to replace the whole system when just one part went bad...
**Proceeds to replace the entire system except for GPU and storage drives**
Alienware uses proprietary motherboards, connections, a separate IO panel that's connected to the MOBO via a proprietary cable AND connection, etc. When a Dell motherboard goes bad, building in a new case is the only option.
@@SnazzyZubloids You could say that their components are...alien. Oh, snap.
@@CaveyMoth or crapware
Mike Bircher I would think a new mobo and a different psu and it would all be fine
@@dukeseb That's where you'd be wrong. Because of all the proprietary connections, nothing would work because the front panel connectors are on their own proprietary board with no way to connect it to the new motherboard. Also, Dell uses some weird custom sized motherboards, somewhere between a micro ATX and mini ITX so there'd be no easy way to screw it down without some considerable machining. It's really a shit show over there at Dell. Maybe things have changed in the last few years, but judging from this video, nope.
10:53 As my dad would say, "F*** aesthetics." I lived with green DRAM for a few years until I upgraded, again, "F*** aesthetics."
well 3200 mhz is much, much better than 2666
also if you're going to spend 1000$ on a system you might as well not make it ugly
still though, performance > aesthetics
me: cool, only the mobo was dead
kyle: SO I'M CHANGING THE GPU TO THIS ENTIRE DIFFERENT PC
Thanks to the custom case connector, this was more or less the only way
@@MasteryOff not really all he had to do was get a new PSU, a new case and a b360 mobo
thats what most people would have recommended. Thats what anyone, in the real world, would have done
@@TheNubaHS I mean, if he's changing platforms then the faster ram will be very helpful also
The guy wanted a new CPU for rendering. did you miss that part of the video?
@@thatguy-dh1qh thats the thing right? nobody would change a perfectly good, high end, working system like that from only 2 years ago as part of a "troubleshoot solution". Everything he did past the troubleshooting was pure (and paid) marketing disguised as a "solution".
Anyone whos worked at IT support will look at this video and cringe, and tbh I love Bitwit
David's Dad: I'd like to upgrade my cpu.
Kyle: Say no more fam, new PC on the way.
David's Dad: what?
Kyle: You like RGB?
David's Dad: No.
Kyle: I included RGB.
XD
Yeah Bitwit is honestly really bad at doing PC repairs. Usually he just throws his hands up in the air, says he doesn't know what's wrong, and builds them an entirely different system.
I often wonder how much he charged his clients when he does that. Because building a whole new PC with brand new parts costs a lot more than just fixing what they have or replacing the one part that was broke.
Him: Why rebuild a whole system with one faulty component?
Also Him: *Upgrades everything except Graphics Card*
problem with alienware.. their part had so many issue that they not yet update it and just sell a basic would work without update... and they can claim alot of bullshit...
@@campkira r/woosh
Hey, pretty close for my next upgrade. Stuff is old enough that I'd need to replace most stuff, but the GPU will do fine for a while.
I was so hyped and then the original video got deleted but it's back! Yay.
I thought he acidentaly uploaded it and meant to upload it to floatplane but nope
Same
Yeep
Same lol
Same
I've worked on so many Dell/Alienware PC's in my time, so i made a prediction at what the problem was between the PSU and the Motherboard. Usually one or both.
I've worked on countless Dell Optiplexs and Precisions and they all have this horrible internal design that murders airflow and cooks the cheap components to death.
I mean that is usually the way, the motherboard is the most complex individual component thus most likely to crap out, and the PSU gets hit with the most abuse even when excellent power stabilizing has gone on before hand, and most people, in my experience, frankly do not use good surge protectors or UPSs. Plust when a PSU fails well... everything else is at risk depending on the level of failure. The real trick is finding out which one failed which in a system with proprietary connectors means more than just hooking up a standard unit to see if it turns on. There's a lack of testing equipment here to determine with certainty if the mobo or PSU is actually the dead component.
If the old PSU just had proprietary connections in addition to standard ones it could have been plugged into the second system, or probed with a meter. Then if all else is good that leaves the mobo by itself as the cause, but doing it the other way sadly still leaves it to chance
@Benson and just think u could have built a custom water cooled PC thats twice as good for half the price
Job security
In my experience, I love dell laptops, and hate dell desktops. Genuinely feels like two different companies, their (business grade) laptops are upgradable and have a ton of expansion, while their desktops are almost entirely dell specific hardware and poorly made electronics. I swear their desktop motherboards fail if you look at them wrong
@@brewcityboatclub8299 I don't disagree. If you're with a company that buys Vostros, they're sadly wasting money as those Laptops are designed to fail. However the Latitudes, Precisions and even the XPS's are solid laptops but as a techie i've seen them all fail, but non-more so than the Vostro.
All my friends Dad needs is a new Motherboard, so I’m going to swap just that.
And the CPU, the Case, the PSU, the RAM... 😂
Let's be honest that Alienware PC and all their proprietary parts belong in the trash. The inside looks like a game of tetris
@@ogsniper743 you can’t even connect the case unless you use the same exact motherboard. Dell and their proprietary parts.
“one of my graphics cards” damn flex
Sad lyf😭
ur profile pic goes with the comment very well
hehe
@Baxi Tabaxi u done withur rant?
@Baxi Tabaxi What are you trying to say? People on a lower budget will get a better deal following these people's advice and building their own PC. Pre built PC's are more expensive in every situation. If the average consumer is stupid enough to buy a pre built rather than building their own PC it's their own fault. What does it matter if PC review channels have money to review things?
@@hajile404 exactly my thought, they gained the money from their PC and Hardware knowledge and use the money to spread mor knowledge and give advice
Kyle: "There is no reason to build a new system"
Also Kyle" *Proceeds to build a new system*
the owner requested it because he needed a new CPU
"pretty high end for 2 years ago"
Meanwhile me still rocking with an Gt 730: Darn I was planning to get that
It came out over 4 years ago, it's old now.
@@discostoo aw fuck.... Its not like I have money to buy anything latest :(
So I'm gonna have to settle with that even if its old
@v4l_ve gt 730 is ass tf you talkin bout
@v4l_ve there is no gtx 730 haha
"I'm not going to rebuild the entire PC just because one part is broken"
*goes on to build an entire new PC*
But only because the it's what the owner wanted.
He can't swap the board because of Dell's sh!tty proprietary FP connector.
He would have to get a replacement issued by Alienware which I don't think would be easy or quick.
It's not entirely new, he reused one part.
@@FluffRat IKR
Yeah! It’s like how I want to upgrade to RYZEN, but that means I have to upgrade to AM4+, which means I need to upgrade to DDR4. Lol!
Man imagine being friends Kyle😂 Talk about friends with benefits
The best kind of benefits
What about mrbeast ;)
YZ_ DESIGNS man he makes kyle look like a friend who’d steal from you
I would burn my motherboard on purpose and ask him to check it out. Kyle would most likely return my system with components from the year 2050 lmao...
Ask for an i3 1300k get i9 10900k
You are like a mechanic, the client goes for an oil change and when he comes back he suddenly has a new car... and you tell him, well it’s so much better I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t do it 😂😂
David’s dad: doesn’t like rgb
Also David’s dad: I have an Alienware PC.
It’s weird because sometimes it’s actually cheaper to get RGB than otherwise
🤣 comment is gold
"And it improves aesthetics, which is more important." You know Kyle has his priorities straight.
"with only one broken part, it would not be worth building an entirely new system"
proceeds to build an entirely new system
Man, ALienware died when Dell bought them, Literally every Alienware Is a shell for Dell internals, lol.
yeah man .....they all look boring and performance are cheap
I remember when their computers were rad and cool. I think they sort of started the RGB or at least the glowing lights/ focus on aesthetics thing. The new Alienwares are so boring though.
@Serial Thrilla we never said their laptops weren't decent
ArduinoBen but, you did?
Stable Genius {Jihad} no cause Dell internals are shit
I just want to mention that in my experience, Dell PC’s generally have custom pinouts on the PSU, so that could have been something
There was an adapter on the 24 pin, that he left on the original PSU when he took the mobo out
Proprietary pinouts, connections, IO panels separate from the motherboard, etc. When a Dell motherboard goes bad, the only real solution if it's out of warranty is to build in a separate case. Which is a shame because Alienware cases are pretty slick.
As someone who has owned one of these machines I can confirm they use a standard ATX PSU. I put an EVGA 750w Gold in mine.
Gutter 96 Really? What’s the adapter on the 24 pin then? Just an extension cable?
Yep Dell proprietary 4tw.....nope.
I'd love to build my own rig, but I can't justify the cost of video cards and CPUs that cost more than 4 months of mortgage payments. I'll take a chance on a pre-built and replace components like the CPU cooler, power supply unit and case fans. Most pre-built computers come with great video cards and processors.
prebuilds: *exist*
Bitwit: *loads shotgun with prebuilds insults*
Alienware systems in my personal opinion a “bad” pc company. Well not “bad” but kind not reliable, good specs but bad manufacturers. Btw nice vid bitwit! Love to see the new banger videos!
Alienware was good until Dell bought them out
BattleOverride856 yeah
Also extremely over priced
It’s Dell.
Imagine corporate grade cheap PC gear then slap a pound of expensive “gamer” plastic cladding and stickers on it, block all air flow, and charge double.
I always thought of them like Razer
I love how alienware computers always look sleek and futuristic on the outside, but on the inside it looks like someone forgot to tell them "Happy New Year" 25 years in a row
Me in a nutshell except I don’t look futuristic or sleek
What happened with the original video.
Probably a title issue
Yeah really
Ikr
True, what happened?
fr
As someone who builds alot of custom gaming computers I was actually ok with the R8-11 layout of the Dell Alienware. I purchased one during the height of the crypto craze for my girlfriend as most parts were out of stock and overpriced everywhere. 8700K watercooled (4.9GHZ OC) 2 1080s. It's a decent machine. I wasn't impressed with the M2 drive that came with it and I was surprised with the 4400RPM intake/exhaust fans but otherwise I was like.. yeah.. good job Dell. It's easy to see where they are going with the design and how it works /w airflow.
Getting the extended warranty (doesn't need to be done at the time of purchase and dell will remind you after your 1 year is up..) is probably a good idea as Dell will charge you a fair bit for a new MB off warranty and it's fairly picky about the ram it uses. Plus no upgradability on the CPU as Dell doesn't release bios updates to the newer 9 series.. but I think it's a good system with a good layout. I am looking forward to gutting it in a few years and putting my own parts in.. going to be a bit of a pain with the case itself as there are a few proprietary connections on it but.. it's still doable. My GF has been using it for 2.5 years now with no issues.
Everyone in the comments talking about 4k Alienware PC's and how expensive it is.. but last year on black Friday I got mine for 1.5k (including taxes and shipping and all that good stuff lmao) and it saved me a bunch of money and time considering that it had pretty expensive components at the time (rtx2070super, i7 9700, liquid cooling, 850power supply, etc.) I don't remember my exact calculations but at the time the price of building my own rig was a tad bit higher, especially considering that I got to finance my Aurora R9 over the period of 1 year interest-free. All I'm saying is there is definitely a place for prebuilts, especially if bought under the right circumstances (sales, deals, offers, etc.) At the end of the day, computers are just machines that are used to get things done (whether it's work, gaming, or anything else) so everyone should go with what's most comfortable and sensible considering their specific situation. Had no complaints with my experience using Alienware PC's so far, maybe I'm luck idk but it is what it is.
See from a cpu and gpu standpoint it usually seeems like a good deal, but OEM prebuilt soften have not as high quality ram, vrms on the mobos, the cables are usually ketchup and mustard, worse cpu coolers and it’s usually just harder to upgrade than a standard atx case. Not only that but OEM cpu and gpus are not the best binned, meaning they will under perform compared to chips you buy for consumer parts. The best binned silicon are usually designated for consumer i9 k chips, and consumer r9 x class chips. Then the next best binned chips are for the not x variants and the lower end chips. The worst quality silicon goes to OEM pc builders like Dell, HP, MSI, etc.
You may pay slightly more for a custom pc (usually not the case though) but the quality of the parts is still better.
@@RiceCubeTech sure I can't really say I disagree with you on any of the points you mentioned. However, my main argument was that there is a place for both prebuilts as well as building your own PC .. Reading comments on tech posts often makes it seem as if buying a prebuilt is automatically a waste of money, which is what I am arguing against. A PC has different uses for each individual. For example, let's assume that the chips in my Alienware are the lowest class. They still perform excellent for MY use, I still get to play all the games I want at 144fps, 1080p, ULTRA, which is what my initial goal was. This is the main reason I wanted a PC. So, in summary I just don't think everyone cares about benchmarks, looks, etc. etc. And quite frankly, not everyone likes the hassle of building a PC, especially when there are $300+ components that are susceptible to dmg in the process. Therefore, characterizing someone else's purchase as a "waste of money" with no context is just wrong to me.
@@RiceCubeTech granted the only real issue to me is the upgradability of a prebuilt machine.. but to me, I want really be upgrading my PC in the foreseeable future and when/if I do I will just maybe upgrade the GPU and add more ram and simple stuff like that. But that's just ME, I don't expect everyone to be okay with it. But for myself, just buying a prebuilt makes more sense.
PS.
I have built PC's before, I know how to do it.. just for anyone who thinks I'm complaining cause I don't..
As a Dell/Alienware service tech I can confirm most the time when you get a black screen it’s usually the motherboard
With the same credentials, it's usually the same on laptops, for desktops video card. Then again, I usually don't get to work on Alienware systems, despite being the only Alienware/PC tech in the area. Most everyone in this area has theirs for years without issue. Without prejudice though, anytime there's a black screen regardless of brand, it's usually the motherboard.
Exiss just Curious what area do you work
@@zacheslick Louisiana.
Exiss Cool I do the south eastern Connecticut area specifically new London Windham and most of Middlesex County Nice to meet another field service technician
@@zacheslick Same although my run may be at an end. Looking for new jobs if my furlough doesn't end soon, and even then, I may not return.
2 years old and looks like that on the inside. The margins on those builds must be amazingly profitable
leaning on the old street-cred of the Alienware name
Usually the power supply is the problem. I work as a tech, diagnosing units like this one every day. Dell/Alienware doesn't always come in, but when they do the power supply is often dead and it also damaged the motherboard, outputting nearly 14V on the 12v rail and often with bad grounding. It's become the first thing I check for, because most of the time the power supply is malfunctioning and 50% of the time it caused failures on the motherboard.
If you think about it, you still did give him a prebuilt......
O.O
Oh, that’s big brain time 👁👄👁 🧠
Just realized that this alienware case is exactly the same as my xps case with different plastic on the outside.
That's probably one of the most simple and smooth looking systems I've seen on this channel. It looks so good.
...my case AGAINST pre-builts...
Kyle: sells his own pre(viously)-built rig.
🤔
2:58
Why was the verge video the first thing that came to mind
“Put the bracket back there” “there is a bracket that fitsh in here”
@@hammer6854 😂
This is why my friends have me build PC rigs for them. Prebuilts are notorious for using less than stellar components. He had the right idea, use a rig that you have around and get it up and running. Nice job!
That Alienware looks like a piece of junk back from 2010 or older... Did they just pay premium for the Alienware logo or sticker?
Edit: Holy shit I have the same test bed/bench XD
The parts were 2018 though, they just haven't changed much aesthetically since 2010.
You should of tried some tech yes city cleaning. He says it sometimes work when the board stops working this can be another video and we can see if it actually works.
He is that one mechanic that fixes more than what you ask.
This is so classic!
Only the motherboard needs replacing..
Bitwit: lets replace (upgrade) everything but the GPU 😂😂
I just love the casual Corona bottle standing to the left of the test bench at 14:18
I feel like you just sit at home one day a week and make a thousand weird faces and then a second day to pick which ones are thumbnail worthy.
When I heard it was an intel system I knew it wasn’t leaving the studio
Right off the bat comes one of my pet peeves: products should have their model number displayed somewhere that doesn't require turning it over/using a flashlight or magnifying glass/crawling inside/partially dismantling it. I'm referring primarily to consumer appliances: blenders, microwaves, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, etc.
I feel like something that Bitwit glossed over that would have been an issue would be the proprietary power plugs on the power supply, more than the wattage of it. Otherwise, great video bro!
Right, still possible the PSU was at fault and not the mobo.. Thanks Dell
It was a trash PSU anyway. 384W 12V rail on a 460W PSU SUCKS VERY BADLY.
"Let's just use the build I have already built and on my bench".
I'm sure "Dave's" dad was happy.
7:01 That connector IS for the power button board (y'know, the whole alien head logo on the front panel). There are replacement power button boards for Alienware Aurora, but sadly no standard front panel adapters for that particular proprietary connector port/header.
"i don't know how to turn this board on. We'll just say it's dead..."
lol all of these "repair" videos just end up in him building a new pc.
Really like this video. As far as prebuilts go, the two places they accel is scalability and warranty. I work in VFX with about a 150-350 person headcount, and at our enterprise level it would be inconceivable to build and support custom builds for every user. However, that cost comes way down when it's just a few. Furthermore, as long as you're willing to pay warranty terms at an enterprise level are very strong where you can get a tech come to you with nearly everything needed to get your system moving again without a need to recruit the services of a third party TH-camr or otherwise.
And I say this as an enthusiast who would personally never own a prebuilt desktop on my own. Different use cases have different needs.
I bought a “pre” built desktop but you really can’t call it that when it’s using non custom parts besides stickers 😂 haven’t had any issues yet whatsoever and was basically what I planned to build but shortcut the part shortages 🤷🏻♂️ win win I guess hopefully if I need to get ahold of them they’re effective!
Yea there's definitely a difference in pre-built's like Alienware and other companies that use "real" parts. Ex: NZXT
yeah i bought a lenovo T530 i7 9700 and RTX 2070 due to the parts shortages too. its my first prebuilt PC in nearly 20 years :P its noisy AF tho and the thermals really suck. next year after this COVID 19 madness is over, am planning to sell it and build me a proper gaming PC.
Bryce Micky I got an nzxt pre built and its pretty good! I would still recommend building a pc though
Bryce Micky Yeah the one I got was a iBuyPower it’s not bad fr just need to get some more ssd storage but I’m trying to hold out for pcie 4 to be wide stream. No sense buying something slower if it’s the same price 😂
OsHi I feel you on that kinda pissed intel chopped HT off the 10th gen i7 it’s got me needing to upgrade but I’m stuck waiting for the extreme ones to drop since they’ll be anytime or switching to AMD when the new chips come. Just grab you some nice fans you can reuse or do a aio or custom liquid cooling. I had to add a fan held by tape currently to keep the thermal beast the 2080 super is 😂 had thermals in the 80’s playing MW before.
When kyle said 8700 my mind just went, hold up that hasn't been very long how in the hell has it just stopped working.
This is nice to watch because I am doing exactly the same thing. Had an Aurora R7 just like the one in the video and started buying new parts to build a new pc off of it. Unfortunately I do also believe I'll have to change the mobo, cpu, ram and cooling to fit with my 2070 that I switched from the 1060 that was in there first (I already bought a new case and psu). Can't wait to get rid of anything Alienware though, that was not the move.
I like that case! I had a similar experience upgrading one of my son's PCs. I had picked up a cheap Dell, swapped PS and video to make it "good enough" for gaming when he was younger. I eventually found how to power it on but decided to just upgrade everything but his video as you did, lol! Went with one of the Phanteks (sp) and it's worked pretty well, AIO on the front on an OC'ed 2600, plan to grab him a Zen 2 when the 3s come out.
I got through the whole vid, went to post and it was private?! Damn it Kyle!!
I know basically nothing about computers, so I went and got a pre-built. The specs are
Asus prime B450M-A (Motherboard)
MSI NVIDIA GTX 1660 ti (GPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 (CPU)
AMD Wraith Heatsink (CPU Cooler)
1TB of M.2 SSD (Storage)
16GB DDR4 (Ram)
550 Watt 80 Plus (Power Supply)
Lian Li Lancool II - Black (Case)
I got the pc from Ironside Computers.
Total time to get the pc from order to arrival was 37 days (Nov. 28th - Jan. 4th)
When you hooked everything up to his board with components and your GPU didnt spin, you forgot to plug the 6 pin gpu power into the motherboard.
There's nowhere to plug in power to that GPU. Super low end GPU's (think GTX1050) get enough power from the PCI-e lane. I've got an EVGA one in my parent's HTPC
After a quick search on Amazon, can confirm it's a MSI GTX1050ti
Did you say 6 pin GPU power into the Motherboard ? That doesnt exist
Yee Yee there is on the Alienware board, it is possible that his thesis could be correct. But I don’t think that had any impact
Goose is correct, Dell supplies the 75 Watts normally delivered by the motherboard to the GPU through an extra 6 pin header on the board itself.
Anything to save a buck.
Love how the train of thought went from "Fix this seemingly dead PC" to "Swap a few parts" to "Just gonna give them this already built pc I have lying around because I don't wanna bother using that alienware case" in less than 5 minutes.
I bought a Alienware 17r4 a few years ago and they already changed my motherboard 4 times!!! It has a serious thermal problem and they refuse to substitute the machine. They love to change motherboards but actually solving my problem........
Best regards from Brazil
Imagine rendering with that puny air cooler LMAO.
What gets me is how airflow choked that case layout was, holy shit! I'm surprised it hadn't caught on fire 🤣 So that's a high end prebuilt rig worth thousands eh... 🤪 Bloody hell no wonder Alienware went from being a household name to being pretty much forgotten 😳
@no, as a matter of fact Intel stock cooler is so shit. Amd did a great job on their stock coolers. Had to buy a new aftermarket cooler because the Intel heatsink wasn't sitting correctly. So yea stock is fine minus Intel stock cooler lol
@no, as a matter of fact yeah they don't need to, however that doesn't make the intel cooler any better. It is a garbage cooler. It's loud, it breaks easily and it's really annoying to install it or remove it. Either don't include it, or put a good one in the package.
aight here’s a funny coincidence. 4 days after this video was posted and a day after i watched it, my alienware aurora bricked itself. i’m pretty sure it is a mobo issue, similar to what’s in the video. i guess it was a excuse to upgrade lol.
As a former Alienware owner, this video brought me to light about these terrible pre-built and I ended up building my own. It feels good knowing your PC is one you built.
David’s Dad: bought a prebuild
Kyle that despises most prebuild PC gave him one 😂
Lucky dad.
in the end david's dad still ended up with a prebuilt
Nope kyle built there is nothing called a good pre built and he didn’t pay for it
R8 Owner here, who vowed to never buy pre-builts. Picked up probably this exact model, open box with a 1080 for $600 open box, post black friday. I still probably won't ever buy a pre-built again, but for that cheap, it's been a work horse. No issues in over two years. Definitely speccing out a new build with these new cards, even though she's still running strong.
In this video:Kyle sets out to build his friend's dad a new pc, but ends up taking a previously built one and gives it up as new 😉
Well he set out to trouble shoot it. So... what are you saying again?
@@Conflictedhots I'm saying how he said he was going to build a new pc if he couldnt fix the alienware but ultimately just took another pc that he built and swapped out the gpu.
only 1 part is broken i’m not gonna build him an entire new system..
let’s build david’s dad a brand new system
Alienware/dell has added a security feature from when you take out the power plug for the mobo, the mobo thinks that it’s been stolen and thinks your stealing parts. You can never turn it on unless you find a Java script code from the dell website
0:58 He suddenly turned into squire.
"no indication of model number on GPU"
....
Model number clearly visible on back of card.
The nvidia logo by the socket pins gave it away for me.
after watching different videos of people explaining how to build a pc, I'm finally starting to understand what the parts are and where they go, but I still got a long way to go. They're just so fun to watch and learn about, hopefully one day I can make my own
wait. how do we know that david's dad was having thoughts about rendering speed because of the lack of thermal paste and not the cpu itself?
Hello, this is David’s Mom. Please give me a PC
Lmao
5:41 normally wiping dried thermal dust over the cpu pins isn't a very good idea.
yeah, Dell motherboards dying, never heard of that one before.
True
I have the exact same Alienware. Watching this was like a view into the future lol, plus I learned a lot about what it has under the hood. Thanks man :P
How much did it cost you?
@@gatzon2757 depending on what video card the price range is from ~$700-$1500
I have this aurora R3 that I just stripped and drilled out the 5.25 bays, Took off the top grill and re-purposed it as the front grill after cutting out the drivebay door to make room for a 240 rad and adding another 240 on the top where the grill was. Last thing is to add a window.
Bummer, I absolutely love that chassis, I wish I could get one with a glass panel and a interior that.. doesn't look like shit.
I worked at alien 10 years ago, right from the start of the video i knew it was the mother board, Dell uses the cheapest shit available, good...or sad...to see things haven't changed
Old habits diehard I guess
I’m building an AlienWare R7 PC, same case modern specs (except for the motherboard). It’ll have an over lock delidded 8700k with 64GB RAM, 2TB Storage, 850W PSU, and a RTX 3070. This PC is going to be an absolute beast to build!
14:19 ...66% improvement? Am I understanding something badly? Maybe he meant a 33% improvement? Which is huge in productivity, anyway. You can't probably do the following estimation (more things to factor in, surely) if took 15 minutes, and 9 in the newer one, if with more time would escalate the same, would be 15 hours versus 9 hours of render, that everyday and it'd be indeed very key (in money and time). IE, the difference in being able to take an extra project or not, as a very minimum, so, huge advantage. Besides 3900X being an amazing multi tasker, is not just in rendering (I have one), but also in actual editing, having parallel processes (ie, 3D rendering), etc.
Hey one of my fan blades got a minor chip, can you replace my entire PC as well?