Aurora R11, buyer remorse

Question

OK, So I got my first Alienware Desktop back in 2008. The Area-51-x58. It was a beautiful box, but big. I worked for Intel so I got the 50% discount on the fastest 990x in 2011.

Cooling was not that greatest once I was upgrading it. And I was able to upgrade this system while keeping the 1200watt PSU. After a few GPUs, a couple MBs and tons of HDs, SSDs. My last configuration included 6th gen Intel Core i7, 32GB RAM, two MSI 1080ti GPUs (SLI) and I could still run Windows 7 (with a hack).

So, now. I finally decided to upgrade to the new Aurora R11. Very cool looking, smaller and more compact, and liquid cooling option, 1k PSU. Yes! I was OK'd by the wife to get myself a new system for my birthday. It came in July and I chose the 10th gen, Core i7, 32GB RAM and the lowest "capable" GPU, the GTX 1660ti. I planned to use my 1080ti GPUs in SLI. But wait! The case is smaller than I expected. The MSI 1080tis are too long.

Well, OK, I will upgrade to the new RTX 3080 when it comes out. But I didn't get one. As we know, they sold out in seconds. Maybe the RTX 3070? nope! Sold out, too. I seriously tried to get the 3070: pounding retailers website at 6:00 AM until they were sold out.

So, now I see the new Aurora R11 with RTX 3080. I really want the RTX 3080. But wait, how long is it? 11.2 inches? That's 0.2 inches too long.

I looked closer a the case. Can I remove the front fan?!? Replace it with a thinner fan? Maybe? How did Dell do it?

Dell gets a special 10.5 inches card from Nvidia, so I read. And we can't buy one of those because Dell will not sell them separate from a system.

Now I feel the buyers remorse. How long do I have to wait to get the special Alienware RTX 3080?

5 levels of grief:

NO!!!! You made the case too small! It will never fit!

ARG!!! I will never buy a Dell again!

Come on, Dell, please, please, please sell me the new Alienware RTX 3080 GPU.

Man, I am so bummed... don't even want to turn on my new, slow GPU, Alienware.

OK, I can wait... just a couple months more?! Christmas, right Dell?!?!

sc0tt_ta · Answer

Hence Buyer's Remorse.

I guess I should have enabled my "see into the future" super geek ability so I would have known to wait until now to purchase a new system.

I'm not blaming Dell, or Nvidia. Just trying to get "beg" Dell to sell me their stand-alone version of the Nvidia RTX 3080, this year.

Honestly, Dell is the only brand I buy and recommend to my clients. And I will continue to do so.

Thanks for the response.

Regards.

MeatRocket · Answer

It's hard to blame Dell when you knowingly bought an underpowered system with the plan to upgrade later. It's not Dell's fault that nVidia messed up on their launch. If you know you wanted the 3070 or 3080, you should've just waited to buy a system that came with them when they were released.

sc0tt_ta · Answer

Well done!I will take that in to consideration. I already found a 15mm 'thin fan'.  The standard, 25mm (1 inch) is what is in there. Thanks

kianthemann · Answer

Dont worry man. If you check out my profile, I have all the fan upgrades and results. I am also waiting for the asus 3070 dual oc to be available. Personally, I just took out that black thing around my front fan, replaced the whole setup with a noctua fan. I also pried off the bottom piece of the psu bracket so width is not an issue. Unless you take out your front fan and replace it with a slim noctua, no 3080 cards will work. If you do put a slim noctua, you can fit a 3080 fe. If you take off the bottom part of the psu arm all of the 2 fan 3070's will work! if you completly remove your front fan, you will be able to fit 11.8 inches of gpu, but will have no fan.

Tesla1856 · Answer

2. Aurora R11.liquid cooling option, 1k PSU. 10th gen, Core i7, 32GB RAM 3. and the lowest 'capable' GPU, the GTX 1660ti. I planned to use my 1080ti GPUs in SLI. But wait! The case is smaller than I expected. 4. The MSI 1080tis are too long. 5. Maybe the RTX-3070? 6. Dell gets a special 10.5 inches card from Nvidia, so I read. And we can't buy one of those because Dell will not sell them separate from a system. ========================== 2. Sounds nice 3. As @MeatRocket says , not the best plan if not measuring/planning 4. Interesting. However, why bother if you want better. Also, no one really uses SLI any more so is one 1080 that much faster that 1660ti ? 5. That would be my pick. MSI or Zotac should make one that will fit. 6. No, they have never sold their OEM cards, and likely never will. However, they are usually just MSI cards (usually same as MSI-Aeros, maybe with a different cover or whatever.) . Good luck. Hope you can get back on-track and happy with your system again.

sc0tt_ta · Answer

#4, these cards I had (MSI GTX 1080ti) were too long to fit. This box only allows for 11 inches for the PCI cards.

This video refers to the article about a custom RTX 3080/3090. You can see the difference, especially the power plug. The article suggests it is likely a custom from Nvidia, not MSI or other. It does not have another name on it, from what I can tell.

Thanks for the tips and suggestions. I am still holding out for the RTX 3080.

Tesla1856 · Answer

custom from Nvidia, not MSI or other. =================== Nvidia doesn't make video-cards, they make GPU's.

FinalTouch68 · Answer

Will Dell be offering this card as a upgrade? Anyone know or can a Dell Rep chime in. This would be a good news for us R11 pre Owners of the 30S

FinalTouch68 · Answer

@Anonymous  Where can I find one of those? Says Newegg but when I search it nothing comes up lol. I have seen this GeForce RTX™ 3090 TURBO 24G

sc0tt_ta · Answer

Cool!  And 10.5 inches long. Gigabyte lists eight 3080 cards and the only one that fits is the AORUS GeForce RTX™ 3080 XTREME WATERFORCE WB 10G.

sc0tt_ta · Answer

Yes, the 3070 is only 9.5' long.

DrkHwk · Answer

From what I've read the 3070 seems like it would fit. Although the fan config may not be ideal for the R11. Just a matter of time before cards are available.  They are scarce everywhere at the moment unfortunately.

Tesla1856 · Answer

See how that Gigabyte 'Turbo Edition' card above is no TALLER than it's hold-down screw(s) ? That's what you want to that you don't have to rip-out the triangle-brace as show in pics on the first page of this thread. Obviously, verify length before buying. Also, that you have properly-pinned PCIe video-card power-cables available. Do all that and you should be golden.

speedstep · Answer

MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 24GB GDRR6X 384-Bit HDMI/DP Nvlink Tri-Frozr 2 Ampere Architecture OC Graphics Card (RTX 3090 Gaming X Trio 24G) Retail card looks physically too large.

MSI Gaming GeForce RTX 3090 24GB GDRR6X 384-Bit HDMI/DP Nvlink Tri-Frozr 2 Ampere Architecture OC Graphics Card (RTX 3090 Gaming X Trio 24G)

speedstep · Answer

MSI seems to be OEM for DELL

I'm buying a car before I plunk down over $4000 for a PC.

AURORA R11
M8HMD NVIDIA/MSI RTX 3090 24GIG 1.70 Ghz
4Y12V NVIDIA/MSI RTX 3080 10GIG 1.71 Ghz

https://www.dell.com/koa/search?q=M8HMD%20NVIDIA~fdslMSI%20RTX%203090#q=M8HMD%20NVIDIA~fdslMSI%20RTX%203090&t=default&sort=relevancy&layout=card&@dpsalessegment:radioGroup=dhs

Alienware Aurora R11 Gaming Desktop
$3,659.99

10th Gen Intel® Core™ i9 10900F (10-Core, 20MB Cache, 2.8GHz to 5.2GHz w/Thermal Velocity Boost)
Windows 10 Home, 64-bit, English
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3090 24GB GDDR6X
up to 64GB (additional memory sold separately)

ALIENWARE AURORA RYZEN™ EDITION R10 GAMING DESKTOP
$4,019.99

AMD Ryzen™ 9 3900XT (12-Core, 70MB GameCache, Max Boost Clock of 4.7GHz)
Windows 10 Home, 64-bit, English
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3090 24GB GDDR6X
up to 64GB (additional memory sold separately)

Nvidia® GeForce RTX™ 3080 graphics card Included
Alienware Aurora R11 Gaming Desktop
$2,439.99

Alienware Desktops

Aurora R11, buyer remorse

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