Did further testing of the liquid cooler that I took off the computer and sure enough the pump and contact plate get hot while running and CC only reports it running and not failed yet.

I also bought some Corsair Dominator RAM CMP12GX3M3A1600C9 that I have been testing and like very much. Ran a couple benchmark programs to get a base line to see if any of the upgrades I do improve the system. Nothing major planned til spring/summer when I will address replacing the video card. Until then I will be looking into various SSD storage options from RAID to single large SSD's. The Area 51 R1 is a beast and I would like to get a few more years out of it.

@patj247   Please press the blue Accept as Solution button below if this post answers your question.

Clogging with green goo is why that happens.

 Silicate dropout happens over time.  Newer Pink Coolant is silcate free.

Zerex PINK Antifreeze

You can wash out the old with VERY HOT WATER and refill with the pink non silicate coolant.  Buy pre mix so you dont have to deal with minerals and other contaminants in your tap water.

Re: Both the cpu air cooler and power supply from the XPS worked in the R1.

correct.  XPS730X and A51 R1 are both x58 system.  Many units share identical Dell 1.0 OEM board (green/purple) with the only difference in bios.  Both use Dell heatsink backplate fastened to chassis.  The 730 and 730x use identical heatsink with adjustable hole spacing to accommodate both lga 775 socket (72mm spacing, 730) and lga1366 socket (80mm spacing, 730x).

The 730x air cooler has a reputation of not being very good at cooling especially when the 1st Gen cpu i7 is overclocked.  You may run the cpu at base frequency with the air cooler but be aware it would not be as good as the AIO liquid cooler.

It seems the current installation of 730(x) heatsink is done without the original Dell enclosure.  you have removed the assembly housing with the back exhaust fan probably because the enclosure does not physically fit the R1 case.  To use the cpu heatsink properly either an intake or exhaust fan is suggested.  If you still have the top rad fan mounted (after removing liquid cooler) to help either take in cold air or exhaust warm air, that is good.  That will also explain why you installed the heatsink facing vertically.  In addition, A51R1 chassis backwall accommodates a 92 mm fan naturally, I think.  

The air cooler from the XPS 730 does just barely fit the R1 case, the side panel closes no problem. I used the heatsink housing because it has a working fan that draws air to the back and out of the system. I running it a bit overclocked and my temps have been very good thus far, 4.14 cpu 1600 ram, idle temps 19-22 C and benching 70 C mostly with a high of 85 C. 

I originally thought I would get another liquid cooler but I'm taking a wait and see approach now with my temps as good as they are with the air cooler. I have the fan from the liquid cooler still mounted and running as the system fan in CC, the fan on the air cooler is plugged into a port on the MIO board also and runs very quiet. 

Re: I'm taking a wait and see approach now with my temps as good as they are with the air cooler

sounds good.  the temp issue may only come into view when 1st gen i7 is seriously overclocked.

Re: the fan on the air cooler is plugged into a port on the MIO board also and runs very quiet. 

I find it hard to reach the MIO hidden in the hulk of big ship chassis.  not sure if you actually meant power board at left upper corner of case which is not the MIO but another board for liquid cooler pump; and rad fan in additional to a few unused futurist headers Dell had in mind but never implemented.

Thanks for the reply. I did not know these things could be serviced. I will look into that as it is a paper weight at the moment. 

Yeah, I meant the board in the upper back of the R1, that board has (4) 4-pin ports, the fan is 3-pin but is the type of connector that can be plugged into a 4-pin port as long as the plastic blade lines up. I tried it on all four ports and it was fine on three of the four. I did not like it on the system fan port, it ran full speed since it does not have the fourth wire. 

Correction: the fan on the XPS 730 air cooler is in fact a 4-pin fan, I confused it with the old Antec 92mm fan that I have used for years, it is the 3-pin that plugs in to those ports also.