Aurora systems and PCI slots: Not enough for Sound Card?

Asteric101,

You'll need to goto  the Aleinware setup for the extra slot. That's what I did and I got the Crossfire 5870's and the Titanium sound card in the AW area 51 ALX. The Aurora chasis isn't exquiped with enough slots to get both in it unless you go solo graphic card. The sound card  and double graphic cards filled the one I ordered. I also noticed that they droped the 950 processor 3.03 and gone to 960 3.33. Hope that helped for what it's worth.

Hi,

I cant afford to buy the Area-51 AXL. I find it ridiculous for an expert gaming maker to not have more PCI slots in its computers.

I really want the Aurora AXL but I will not be able to get it since I need two 5870's. I wanted to go with one 5970 card but they do not sell it in the Aurora. Wonder why?

What do you mean by "setup".

Well that sucks I guess I wont buy it now......

The Aurora is like the mini-me of the area-51. I don't like the fact that you can't have two video cards either but a 5970 or GTX 295 are a dual GPU cards. So that kind of makes up for it, but not as much as two physical cards.

You don't need to get the Area 51 ALX, you can get the regular Area 51 with the two vids and sound card for much less and not much MORE than the Aurora ALX.

Hi,   I cant afford to buy the Area-51 AXL. I find it ridiculous for an expert gaming maker to not have more PCI slots in its computers.   I really want the Aurora AXL but I will not be able to get it since I need two 5870's. I wanted to go with one 5970 card but they do not sell it in the Aurora. Wonder why?   What do you mean by "setup".   Well that sucks I guess I wont buy it now......

Woops, double post

It still makes no sense to have mini motherboards on Alienware systems.

I'm really not interested in the Are-51's. They are HUGE, bulky and ugly.

I'll cann Alienware again and try to get more info on what that sales rep told me. He said that they could put 2 cards + 1 sound card in Aurora's......see what happens.

It still makes no sense to have mini motherboards on Alienware systems.   I'm really not interested in the Are-51's. They are HUGE, bulky and ugly.   I'll cann Alienware again and try to get more info on what that sales rep told me. He said that they could put 2 cards + 1 sound card in Aurora's......see what happens.

I don't think you can since the the PCIE x16 slots are next to the PCIE x1 slots - so if you have 2 nice video cards, it will cover those slots up.

Take a look at a picture I found online:

That's a good pic!!!

This proves once agian that Alienware should not be considered high end gaming systems when they offer a mini motherboard with only 2 PCI slots.

What gives??????

Wake up Dell and Alienware....I want a real system........I'm done with these guys. I'll have to built my own.

1. The onboard sound card is pretty decent.  It's a 7.1 Realtek  HD.

2. You could also use a USB sound card, like X-FI go! (2.1) or X-Fi Surround (5.1). Seriously, it's not as important as in the past to have a dedicated PCI sound card. 

Nice exchange - what did you have before?

In short, you have an issue. I looked at the manual to be sure, and I tried to do my own config on what you have.

You have 3x  PCIe 16x, 2x PCIe 1x, and 1x PCI. Basically the PCIe 1x are being covered by the dual video cards leaving only one slot open (PCIe 16x) for only a single card.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/Alw_dt_Area_51/en/sm/sm_en.pdf

Look at page 11 and you will see what I mean.

Oops... :/

Yeah, I see that, I saw it before but when i asked and questioned they said the system is still in production and there doesn't seem to be any problem? I'm not sure what I should do now...

You will need to speak to a sup so that order can be cancelled/changed before its too late... :/

If you have enough skills to do some handicraft, maybe a PCIe extension is your solution:

http://www.diffusion-informatique.com/produits/riser/pci_express_bus_riser_rallonge.htm

Hi,   I want to buy the Aurora or Aurora AXL system but I get a not compatible message when I try to order it.   I want 2 graphic cards in Crossfire (HD5870) and 1 Titanium Sound Card.   Cant do it!!!!! I called Alienware and I could not fully understand the representative.  If I understood  correctly he sad that if I order on the phone they coud make it happen...   I also need to order online as I have a code for a -15% reduction.   Thats weird....any comments

Asterix,

You will not be able to have a sound card in the Aurora system (ALX or non-ALX) because the motherboard is a micro ATX (smaller than standard motherboards) and it has only 2 PCIe ports which will be fully occupied by the 2 HD5870 cards.  If you absolutely want a dedicated sound card (e.g. titanium card) in the Aurora, you'll have to go for a 1 video card solution (e.g. could be a dual GPU card like the GTX295 or the HD5970). 

Otherwise, you have 3 choices:

1. You use the onboard sound card.  It is a 7.1 RealTek HD sound card and the quality is pretty decent.  Onboard sound cards are way better than in the past.  If you do not do any music editing or professional use of it, I don't think it's necessary to buy a dedicated sound card.

2. If you absolutely want a dedicated sound card, you can buy a USB solution, like the X-FI go! (2.1) or the X-Fi Surround (5.1).  The reviews are good and the quality will be better than the onboard sound card and almost comparable to the Titanium, while letting your PCIe slots free for 2 graphics cards.

3. If those two solution are unnacceptable for you, buy an Area-51 or build your own PC.

Alienware chose to use micro ATX motherboards for the Auroras because they wanted to build high-end gaming PC with reasonable dimensions.  The space required to keep a efficient air flow to cool down the high-end hardware and to allow a convenient access to all hardware (in case you want to upgrade the parts) results in a case that is quite large.  In comparison, the Aurora (micro ATX) is almost as large in height than a standard multimedia PC (standard ATX) and it is larger in depth!!  While the Area-51 is a total monster which dimensions could be somewhat compared to a server PC.  For me, the Area-51 is way too big (it would not even fit under my computer desk...).

So I hope that clears your interrogations, which had not been answered properly by dell.