They are DELL OEM.  They have more than 1 vendor.

Founders Edition cards are manufactured by NVIDIA (not an OEM) and supplied to Dell.  My question is are the FEs or something else.

NVIDIA does not manufacture cards they make GPU and motherboard chips.

PNY, MSI, ASUS, ZOTAC, ETC make retail cards and they also OEM to Dell which has them made per DELL specifications.

If it came from Dell as part of a build it would have a DELL part number not a PNY number etc.

Founders Edition or Reference Design usually has silver and black accent with single dust buster fan.

MSI makes these for dell with RED circuit board.

Well, I keep randomly using the Alienware chat feature to ask the question and they all say new Aurora R7's come with the Founder Edition cards manufactured by NVIDIA.  I need some clarity on this for sure, sent some emails to both Dell and Alienware, no replies.

This version looks like the reference design.

http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/accessories/apd/a9737676

PNY GeForce GTX 1080 Ti - 11 GB GDDR5X 3 x DisplayPort

The Part Number on the back is what counts.

There are more than 1 vendor that makes cards for dell.

What they look like is irrelevant.  What their part number is determines what they are.  GTX 1080 TI is not a part number. 

445HX   1   CARD (CIRCUIT), GRAPHICS, NV, GTX, 1080TI, FERRITE is.

"Founders Edition cards are manufactured by NVIDIA"   This statement is false in its entirety.

DELL is an OEM as well as MSI and PNY etc.

Parts with DPN# are OEM Dell and made for Dell by various manufacturers like Foxconn,  PNY, etc. Technical Support, RMA requests, replacements and warranty issues for the NVIDIA based product that came with your computer are handled by the computer manufacturer NOT NVIDIA. Please use the list below to find your manufacturer's contact information.  NVIDIA is NOT a manufacturer. 

• @Xi Computer Corp.

• Acma

• Alienware Corporation

• ARM Systems

• BOLData Systems

• Colfax International

• Core Microsystems

• CSI

• Cyberpower, Inc.

• Dell

• Digital Storm

• eMachines

• Falcon Northwest

• FTI Computer

• Fujitsu-Siemens

• Future Tech

• Gateway

• Hewlett-Packard/Compaq

• IBM

• iBUYPOWER

• MAINGEAR

• MaxVision Corporation

• NEC

• Northern Computer Technologies

• NOVATTE

• ORIGIN PC

• Polywell Computers

• Premio Computer, Inc.

• Puget Systems

• Sony

• Tangent Computer, Inc.

• Target USA

• Tri Star Computers

• V3 Gaming

• Velocity Micro

• Voodoo PC

• Xenon Systems (Australia, New Zealand)

• ZT Group

@Xi Computer Corp.
www.xicomputer.com
800-432-0486
support@xicomputer.com

Acma
www.acma.com/acmass/data/personal_cinema.asp
800-786-8998
tech_support@acma.com

Alienware Corporation
www.alienware.com
866-287-6727
support@alienware.com

ARM Systems
www.armsystems.com
707 285-2685 ext 115
techsupport@armsystems.com

BOLData Systems
www.boldata.com
http://support.boldata.com/

Colfax International
www.colfax-intl.com/jump/nvidia.html
408-730-2275

Core Microsystems
www.coremicro.com/store/Preconfigured%20Graphics-DCC.html
800.886.2752 ext. 203
techs@coremicro.com

CSI
www.csiopen.com
support@csiopen.com

Cyberpower, Inc.
www.cyberpowerinc.com
888-900-5180
techsupport@cyberpowersystem.com

Dell
www.dell.com
http://support.dell.com/

Digital Storm
www.digitalstormonline.com
www.digitalstormonline.com/customerservice.asp
510-656-1122

eMachines
www.emachines.com
http://www.emachines.com/support/product_info.html

Falcon Northwest
www.falcon-nw.com
888-800-7440
541-858-5665
support@falcon-nw.com

FTI Computer
www.fticomputer.com
866-FTI-COMP
support@fticomputer.com

Fujitsu-Siemens
www.fujitsupc.com
8fujitsu@fujitsupc.com

Future Tech
www.fticomputer.com
support@fticomputer.com

Gateway
www.gateway.com
http://support.gateway.com

Hewlett-Packard/Compaq
www.hpshopping.com

IBM
www.ibm.com
http://www.ibm.com/support/us/

iBUYPOWER
www.ibuypower.com
888-618-6040

MAINGEAR
www.maingear.com
Support@maingear.com
1-888-MAINGEAR (624-6432)
908-620-9050

MaxVision Corporation
www.maxvision.com
maxvision.support@maxvision.com

NEC
www.nec.com
http://www.nec.com/cgi-bin/contact/select_qc.cgi

Northern Computer Technologies
www.nor-tech.com
877-808-1010

NOVATTE
www.novatte.com
support@novatte.com

ORIGIN PC
www.originpc.com
Support@originpc.com
1-877-ORIGIN-0 (674-4460)

Polywell Computers
www.polywell.com/us/index.asp
http://www.polywell.com/us/support/index.asp

Premio Computer, Inc.
www.premiopc.com
hqservice@premiopc.com

Puget Systems
https://www.pugetsystems.com
support@pugetsystems.com
https://www.pugetsystems.com/support/index.php

Sony
www.sonystyle.com/vaio/
888-476-6972

Tangent Computer, Inc.
www.tangent.com
http://www.tangent.com/explore/tech.htm

Target USA
www.target-sale.com
support@targetpcinc.com

Tri Star Computers
www.tristar.com
Support@TriCadCam.com

V3 Gaming
www.v3gamingpc.com
877-881-5745

Velocity Micro
www.velocitymicro.com
support@velocitymicro.com

Voodoo PC
www.voodoopc.com
http://www.voodoopc.com/support/support.aspx

Xenon Systems (Australia, New Zealand)
http://www.xenon.com.au
info@xenon.com.au

ZT Group
www.ztgroup.com
Tech@ztgroup.com

What do they look like and what is the DPN number with QR code on the card?

For Example

490-BDSM : NVDIA(R) GeForce(R) GTX 1080Ti with 11GB GDDR5X  (50 shaders of GTX TI)

 Part Number   Quantity  Description
445HX   1   CARD (CIRCUIT), GRAPHICS, NV, GTX, 1080TI, FERRITE
7H55M   1  SERVICE CHARGE, SOFTWARE, DRIVER, GTX, 1080TI, FERRITE

The 1080's that came with my Aurora R5 were Founders Editions.  Are the 1080 Ti's also Founders Editions?  This is the question.

I'm following this post because I too am wondering this. While I appreciate all the technical information and whatnot in this post about manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, OEM, etc.  I am actually hoping someone can just say are the video cards, specifically the 1080 ti cards the ugly black and plain jane looking cards that I've seen some previous Auroroa R (versions) in box opening videos or are they the much nicer designed ones with the fan and blower encasing and the green illumination that says GeForce GTX 1080 Ti on the side of the card? thx.

I should clarify that these are 1080's not Ti's.  My question is are the new Ti's FE cards or not.  Nobody seems to know, even Dell or Alienware.

There is a specific card called the "Founders Edition".  The question is "Does the Aurora R7 come with the Founders Edition 1080 Ti or something else?".  The answer is either "Yes, it comes with the Founders Edition" or "No, it comes with something else".

My 1080 Founders Edition cards have a cool illuminated GTX 1080 logo on them that shines through the case.