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September 11th, 2020 16:00
Aurora R3, looking for some help upgrading GPU
Currently have 2 NVIDIA GEFORCE 545s in my Alienware Aurora R3. Ancient, timeless, I know.
Have a buddy that gave me a PNY GEFORCE GTX 960 OC2048 DDR5 PCIE GPU and would seriously breath some new life into my gaming, while I wait to build a new computer.
Have everything plugged in correctly, and once I turn on the computer, I can't get any display. Have tried directly going into the HDMI port to my monitor, and using a DVI adaptar -> HDMI - > HDMI in my monitor. (Some generic ACER 60hz 1080p).
This is said graphics card in question: PNY GEFORCE 960 NEWEGG LINK
I can hear the fan spin and do not hear any beeping from the MOBO stating any RAM, or GPU detection issues. Tried both the P14 and P15 power cables, but no post. Ended up switching back to my dual 545s with no issue and right back to business.
I have been doing some research on the web and seems to be a bios issue, something to do with dual booting uefi? I don't know about any of that, way out of my spectrum of knowledge. I don't see any dual boot switches on this PNY GPU, or anything of the sort. Any advice would be appreciated.
DELL-Cares
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September 12th, 2020 10:00
We tried reaching you on a private message but did not receive a response. Please feel free to reply to the private message whenever you are available.
Tesla1856
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September 12th, 2020 22:00
The answer is likely in here somewhere, but Search is poor on this forum for some reason:
https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-General-Read-Only/bd-p/Alienware-General?ref=lithium_menu
Here are some notes I saved:
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Hi i have an alienware aurora r3 with a nvidia 590. i also have 8gb of RAM and a intel core i7 2600k, if i replaced the graphics card would them specs be able to handle it and would you know how powerful the power supply would have to be? Thanks i am looking for an upgrade on this pc but i am new to this and have no idea what I'm doing, also i have an 8 pin connection would anyone be able to link me a graphics card or tell me if my pc can handle this thanks.
Alienware Aurora R3 Desktop
Suggested Answer Posted by Tesla1856 on Sat, Jan 28 2017 12:40
1. Hardware wise, it does not sound like this machine really needs an upgrade. Why do you think so?
2. This Aurora Release has issues with upgrades in general (like ram and video) so if it's working, I would not mess with it ... especially at your skill level.
3. Many forum users report the Aurora-R3 has issues with Windows-10 (64bit) upgrade and drivers due to BIOS
This is my standard response to users with Aurora-R3 wanting to do video upgrade.
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It should work if you have 875w PowerSupply, and it has the proper-pinned power-plugs natively.
Since it's Aurora-R3 you better get one with a Dual-BIOS switch that supports both Legacy and UEFI Hybrid.
Aurora R3 is maybe just EFI (not true uEFI) so it can't decide which it needs. Save yourself a lot of trouble and get one with a switch on the video-card.
Reportedly, some newer MSI & Sapphire cards have the switch. It was mostly reported/focused around AMD cards, so not sure if NVidia cards display the same issues.
You might have to un-snap and remove the Aurora's plastic video-card air guide if new card exhausts into case.
I also have this from my notes that someone wrote:
Just wanted to say that the R9 380 does work. But you have to buy a hybrid BIOS graphic-card like "Sapphire R9 380 Nitro". The Sapphire cards are able to switch the BIOS boot from UEFI to legacy BIOS. There is a small "switch" at the corner of the card you can use. It works fine without any issues.