Aurora R11, are the fans very loud?

Aurora R11 (liquid-cooled CPU) owner here. Allow me to only speak of the fans. My R11 came from the factory with two 120mm ball-bearing case fans made by the Chinese company Asia Vital Components (AVC).

Maglev fans sound like white noise machines or high-end air conditioners. Blower fans sound like centrifugal turbos. The AVC ball-bearing fans, while only a few decibels louder than maglev fans, don't have nearly the pleasant hum. They sound like the typical low-end industrial tools equipped with ball bearings. I definitely can't bear listening to it.

I have recently replaced the front AVC fan with a Corsair ML120 Pro maglev fan. The front fan was installed in a tool-less enclosure, so it's easy to replace. I have yet to replace the top AVC fan (on the CPU liquid cooling radiator). The screws are too tight. I'm exploring some better methods.

You should minimally order an R11 with CPU liquid cooler. It's quieter and more durable.

You can replace the two 120mm ball-bearing case fans with Corsair ML120 Pro's. In my opinion, the graphics card fan(s) and the PSU fan are not loud at all.

 Thankyou for your reply and I will most probably buy the R11, and invest in more powerful fans. If the fans are replaced would this cause any issues with the warranty on the machine. What spec do you have? I also asked sales why there wasn’t an option to select the i9-10900K chipset I’ve heard this is marginally better than the KF pls correct me if am wrong (he never said why). Also I was tempted on purchasing the 3090 rather than 3080. Any advise would be well appreciated. Many thanks KP

@Kpnut5 

The 10900k and kf are the same identical chip, except the kf failed QA on the graphics so Intel disabled it on the die.  In years past this was a discount option, but not anymore.  Aside from graphics being disabled they are identical. The R11 doesn't even have a video port on the IO shield, so there's not much reason to get the k as you can't use onboard gfx on the R11 anyway.

Is it simple to change the fans?would someone show me how you would change the fans and water cooling for the cpu. Sorry you probably think am stupid but I would feel very worried messing with a prebuilt system that cost over £2,500 wish dell would’ve sort this out for me, is there an option to add more fans or better ones. Thanks KP

@AuroraHasManyFans I’ve heard that the one fan is easy to replace and the other is more difficult. So, what is the sound difference like when you only change the one fan? I’m not against doing some change to my new PC (going to change the RAM and ssd) but changing the fans feels a little too much of a challenge to me

How many fans in total are there? Am also guessing that they can all be replaced by the Corsair ML120 Pro fan. Pls share some pictures if you can. Thanks KP

If the fans are replaced would this cause any issues with the warranty on the machine.

Replacing case fans could cause issues with Dell warranty. It's up to you.

What spec do you have?

Liquid-cooled i5 with air-cooled 1650S. I'm going to replace the GPU with something more bling, but the 1650S is already way overperforming my expectations.

I also asked sales why there wasn’t an option to select the i9-10900K chipset I’ve heard this is marginally better [...]. Also I was tempted on purchasing the 3090 rather than 3080.

From what I heard on the forums, low-spec Aurora R10s and R11s seem to perform more stably. High-spec ones are prone to overheat.

If I were you, in the market of a powerful gaming rig, I would wait for the Aurora R10 and R11's mid-cycle refresh with AMD Zen3 and Asetek RTX 30-series liquid cooler, rumored to be available for online ordering in a couple of months. For example, an Alienware Aurora with Ryzen 7 5800X ("case with CPU liquid cooling"), RTX 3070 Ti or RTX 3080 Ti ("graphics card - liquid cooled"), SSD, and a Killer wifi card. Such a mid-spec build is a good balance among cost, performance, thermals, and longevity, in my opinion.

I’ve heard that the one fan is easy to replace and the other is more difficult. So, what is the sound difference like when you only change the one fan? I’m not against doing some change to my new PC (going to change the RAM and ssd) but changing the fans feels a little too much of a challenge to me

You just need to have the patience and the steady hands of a neurosurgeon.

For the Aurora R11 (liquid-cooled CPU), changing the front case fan requires only taking out the graphics card (it's a tool-less enclosure; GTX 1650S is short enough that it doesn't have to be taken out). But changing the top case fan is complicated.

I currently replaced only the front AVC fan (ball bearing from the factory) with Corsair ML120 Pro fan (magnetic levitation). It still made a huge improvement. The industrial-tool-like, ball bearing noise is much fainter. I guess it's because:

1) With the rig on the desk, the front fan is closer to my ears.

2) There could be resonance between the front and top AVC fans' ball bearings, amplifying the noise.

That said, the top ball-bearing's noise is still noticeable at idle. And the noise becomes unpleasantly annoying when CPU heats up.

I have borrowed a low-RPM drill with an 8mm bit from relatives (for experimenting in the coming weeks). My thesis will be to remove the top panel, unscrew the radiator from the chassis, and carefully angle the radiator outward. This might allow me to drill open the 4x 5.5mm upper fan holes, so I can use a thicc screwdriver to unscrew the Philips screws overtightened from the factory. Others have used a precision screwdriver plus a vice grip, but I think there is substantial risk of camming out the overtightened Philips screws.

Two case fans.  Case fans are just the front fan and the top fan. Then the GPU has internal fans, the number varies (up to 2 fans) depending on the GPU.   

Thankyou for the info. really appreciate this, I have only got till today to take the dell’s Black Friday/cyber week discounted offer which is 20% off, I over spec’d but the discount was amazing it knocked off around £500 from my build and this is probably the best deal I’ve got by far, especially comparing to overclockers, scan, razor etc etc, this deal expires at midnight today. 

Should I wait for the next refresh version (2021 liquid cooling on the 3080) or buy current spec and take the 20% discounted offer. I do like gaming I play at my own pace and I don’t do multiplayer gaming though my son does. What shall I do only got till today to purchase if I want the 20%. 

Should I wait for the next refresh version (2021 liquid cooling on the 3080) or buy current spec

In my opinion, current Aurora R11 with air-cooled RTX 30-series should be sufficient for 60 FPS gaming (even with 3K/4K and ray tracing on). Liquid-cooled RTX 30-series would be desirable if your goal is 120 FPS gaming.

@AuroraHasManyFans I’m changing the ssd and the ram and fitting 2 extra ssd and I’m okay with doing all that and the front fan sounds straight forward so that’s one option especially if it will make some difference

the top fan sounds too much of an extra faff to me and given I had an aurora R9 am used to it. To be honest on the water cooled cpu version it never really bothered me so much as I under voltaged the 2080ti which helped a little as the gpu exceeded 80 was the really noisy time

i heard the 3080 runs a little cooler so it might just be better anyway

Is this the one? It has to be the pro right?

Corsair CO-9050040-WW ML Series ML120 Pro 120 mm Low Noise High Pressure Premium Magnetic Levitation Fan - Black (No LED) https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01G5I6O4Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_fabc_-MmZFbBSVA18W

Hi I have ordered my Alienware Aurora R11 i9-10900kf, 3080, 32GB ram 1+2TB disks. Cost £2200. Thanks kp