Aurora R1, GPU upgrade, RX 570?

R series Cards require UEFI bios which you do not have.

Best Upgrade after changing power supply to something better would be Radeon HD7950

https://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-Graphics-21196-00-20G/dp/B00BXVFM3K/

The following forum posts have a ton of information on upgrades.

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-General-Read-Only/Upgrade-Aurora-R1-Graphics-Card/td-p/5564007

Worked fine for me. My Aurora-R1 has the 875w PS.

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-General-Read-Only/Recommended-NVIDIA-graphics-cards-for-Alienware-Aurora-R1-2009/m-p/5590870/highlight/true#M92465

New Nvidia cards seem to work fine in these non-UEFI machines. According to numerous forum reports, newer AMD cards do not work in Legacy-BIOS machines like this one.

---

@rlhartzell88 wrote:

 

1. I opened up my case and took a look at the PSU. it has a total of two 6 pin and two 6+2 pin connections ... so im going to assume it is an 875w PSU.

2. With that being said I was wondering what BIOS your'e running on

3. and if you think I could run a newish card on such an old BIOS rev.

4. Since AMD's R series is out of the question I have been looking into used GTX 970's to better suit budget. I was wondering what your opinion would be?

 

 

---

1. It might be. The large wattage-label is on top of PS (must remove to see it). The 875w PS was optional back then. The invoice or config/BoM should say also.

2. I'm running BIOS A09 . Works fine so not planning to upgrade it further, ever.

3. Not sure why yours is so old, but you have the i7-930. Mine shipped with A09 back in 2010. I always kinda thought that was the "minimum working BIOS version".

Remember, there is significant "motherboard bricking/killing risk" . See my posts on flashing BIOS outside-Windows with DOS.

4. Now-days, a single (powerful) card is better. You also side-step potential SLI issues with games.

IMO, a single GTX-1070 (or higher) would be better.

---

@Tesla1856 wrote:

---

@rlhartzell88 wrote:

 

1. I opened up my case and took a look at the PSU. it has a total of two 6 pin and two 6+2 pin connections ... so im going to assume it is an 875w PSU.

2. With that being said I was wondering what BIOS your'e running on

3. and if you think I could run a newish card on such an old BIOS rev.

4. Since AMD's R series is out of the question I have been looking into used GTX 970's to better suit budget. I was wondering what your opinion would be?

 

 

---

1. It might be. The large wattage-label is on top of PS (must remove to see it). The 875w PS was optional back then. The invoice or config/BoM should say also.

2. I'm running BIOS A09 . Works fine so not planning to upgrade it further, ever.

3. Not sure why yours is so old, but you have the i7-930. Mine shipped with A09 back in 2010. I always kinda thought that was the "minimum working BIOS version".

Remember, there is significant "motherboard bricking/killing risk" . See my posts on flashing BIOS outside-Windows with DOS.

4. Now-days, a single (powerful) card is better. You also side-step potential SLI issues with games.

IMO, a single GTX-1070 (or higher) would be better.

 

---

1. I'm assuming to remove the PSU to check wattage-label I can disconnect the wire harness at the PSU block like you would remove any other cable from a modular PSU?

2/3. I guess my main question here is if any of the BIOS updates after A04 added any kind support or enhancements that I would potentially need to run a newer GPU?  I probably wont bother if I have to risk updating the BIOS. Also I cant seem to find your post on flashing BIOS outside of windows

4. I meant i was searching for a single used GTX 970 GPU for a decent price since the 1070 is a bit out of reach at the moment.

---

@rlhartzell88 wrote:

---

Also I cant seem to find your post on flashing BIOS outside of windows

 

 

---

I also wrote-up this:

https://www.dell.com/community/Vostro-Desktops/Vostro-460-XPS-8300-Upgrade-Adventures/td-p/6054983/page/2

---

@rlhartzell88 wrote:

Hello!

 Looking to get some more life out of an Aurora R1 a friend of mine gave to me. 

Current specs:

• i7 930 @ 3.5ghz OC(1.27v)
• Radeon HD 5670 x2(crossfire)
• 6gb DDR3 1333(Soon to be 12gb)
• 240gb SSD
• 500gb HDD
• 525w PSU(may be 875w I have not had the chance to look)
• BIOS A04

The system will mainly be used for light work and 1080p gaming. The RX570 seems to have the right price to perdormance that id be looking to slap into this time machine. That being said would an RX 570 fit in the machine? I noticed that some of the PCB's for those cards are about 1" taller than the bracket that screws to the case. Also would an RX 570 even work as far as compatability with the PCIE slot and the bios rev? Would a twin fan style blow too much heat into the case vs a blower style fan?

 

Thanks!

 

---

New Nvidia cards seem to work fine in these non-UEFI machines. According to numerous forum reports, newer AMD cards do not work in Legacy-BIOS machines like this one.

---

Just to recap/close this thread up. EVGA GTX 1060 SC 3 GB runs fine and runs super cool. Idle at 28c, load at 65c. 

---

@rlhartzell88 wrote:

Tesla1856 wrote:

New Nvidia cards seem to work fine in these non-UEFI machines. According to numerous forum reports, newerAMD cards do not work in Legacy-BIOS machines like this one.

---

Just to recap/close this thread up. EVGA GTX 1060 SC 3 GB runs fine and runs super cool. Idle at 28c, load at 65c. 

---

Good work.  :Yes:

So, you got a nice/current video card now, and you already have a bootable SSD.

One of the only other things you might want is a ... PCIe USB-3 card ?