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January 16th, 2014 11:00
Alienware Aurora Graphics card Upgrade & BIOS Update
I posted this in the general Desktop forum and was advised to try here. This is a two-part question that relates to issues encountered after an upgrade. My Aurora (purchased 3/2010 and doesn't seem to have an 'R' designation) blew its original GeForce GTS 240 graphics card. I called Dell/Alienware service line and confirmed that the EVGA GeForce GTX 660 would be a compatible replacement. I installed the card and began having problems almost immediately. 1. Two or three desktop freezes 2. Two startup failures 3. Several BSoD crashes while running EVE Online and Payday 2 4. One crash to black screen while EVGA Precision X was performing an update I have turned off 3D sound, updated any drivers I could identify and most recently disabled the HD audio driver for the graphics card, which appeared to correct the stuttering while in-game. But I did get a freeze while playing Payday 2 again, just not BSoD. My question is this: has anyone else attempted an upgrade to their Alienware Aurora and encountered these issues and if so how did you resolve them? My second question is has anyone ever updated their BIOS for this model? I currently have the Alienware A04 10/28/2009 driver and am guessing this is out-of-date, but all my searches of the Dell site and other forums list BIOS drivers that look like their for other models, despite saying they're updates to A04 (I have the A11 driver file, but am reluctant to install since I can't confirm it is the correct version).
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Tesla1856
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January 16th, 2014 12:00
Sounds like you have an Aurora (aka Aurora R1) or R2. Are you still under warranty?
It should work (unless you got a defective one). Even with 525w PowerSupply (but optional 875w would be better).
Be sure eVGA 660 is running at normal stock clock speeds and NOT over-clocked or over-heating.
Your BIOS is very old and needs to be updated to at least A09. Problem is, it's real easy to brick (permanently kill) these motherboards during Windows based flash. I suggest YOU NOT TRY IT. Flashing from Windows has a 50/50 success rate. At this point, I only suggest you do it while under Dell warranty with Dell rep on the phone that will take responsibility for it and replace motherboard if it fails.
Regardless of who will pay to repair machine if it fails, I still recommend doing it the SAFER way from bootable DOS flash drive.
http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/t/19405753.aspx
Tesla1856
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January 16th, 2014 13:00
I also wonder what drivers you are running and were they clean installed?
Can you run Heaven Benchmark and/or free FutureMark 3D without crash?
MarcWallace
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January 16th, 2014 18:00
No, the warranty expired back in 2011, so I am being very gentle with how address this issue (minimal experimentation when avoidable, etc). I didn't overclock the card, but I will take a look and make sure it didn't ship with any adjustments. Not sure about the overheating, but I'll watch the monitor program that came with it as I'm running games to make certain.
I was very much afraid that would happen with the BIOS. I don't really see a reason to update it, but in my desperation I was looking at everything to try and fix my setup. But if all else fails and I lose my gaming machine, at least I still have my computer in the end, right?
I'll try some of what you suggested and let you know how it works out.
Tesla1856
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January 16th, 2014 19:00
Cool. Check that stuff (read carefully) and let me know how it goes.
Hold on BIOS for now. It probably needs it thought (A04 is almost a pre-release BIOS), but users brick their boards all the time. You should have gotten it done during warranty period. It's fairly safe from DOS or non-Windows mode. Be sure machine is stable (when not gaming) and is on good UPS (like APC).
MarcWallace
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January 17th, 2014 16:00