Alienware Area 51 won't turn on

Question

Power button won't turn the computer on, I tried pressing the button near the PSU and all the lights and fans turn on, but when I press the power button nothing happens.

Tesla1856 · Answer

Is it on a good UPS (like APC) ?

Have you tried a different wall-socket (on other side of house) ?

Sounds like a possible hardware failure. I suggest you have a knowledgeable friend or qualified computer technician take a look. Is this an Area51-R1 , or one of the newer "triad" models?

Kazzorak · Answer

Sorry, took a while to get a PC to reply. According to the shop i took it to, they said the logic board is fried, along with some other stuff. They also mentioned that the GPU doesn't even have a heatsink. I was advised to just salvage what I can and to never buy a Dell again. I'm not sure what to do since I'm still paying for it, and I honestly expected more from a PC that cost me almost $4K.

r72019 · Answer

Logic board.. what, did you take it to an Apple repair shop? Anyway, not sure if this would be throwing good money after bad, but Dell offers paid warranty extensions:  https://renewals.dell.com/

Tesla1856 · Answer

< According to the shop i took it to, they said the logic board is fried,

Still not sure what model/release it is.

Dell/Alienware desktop motherboards are available (both from Dell and 3rd-party websites and recyclers). They are not that expensive since the CPU/RAM/SSD are not soldered-in. Seems like $200 would be worth it to get a $4000 machine (that you are still paying for) working.

< They also mentioned that the GPU doesn't even have a heatsink.

And that would be incorrect (and also impossible). I think this brings that shop's competency into question.

Yeah, I don't really finance computers any more, but when I did ... I always kept the extended warranty active ... at least until it's paid for.

Kazzorak · Answer

I looked into the warranty and sent in a request, not sure if it will go if my warranty has already expired?

Kazzorak · Answer

I'm looking into seeing if I can extend the warranty, if not I'll check into the parts you suggested. Also the model is the Alienware Area-51 R4 possibly R5.

Tesla1856 · Answer

Sounds like it is new enough to warrant a repair. If you paid with a credit-card ... some extend your warranty a year-or-so.

Eimy_B · Answer

Hi @Kazzorak   Send me a private message (by clicking my Alienware-name) with the Alienware PC service tag number so I can review this.

mateb3_d0e991 · Answer

Power Button will not stay on, PS is fine issue with power button any way to by pass?

ProfessorW00d · Answer

@mateb3_d0e991​ Which Area-51? It worked fine yesterday and suddenly will not work or you just pulled it out of long term storage and it will not work? Is there any LED activity on the power button at all . . . or nothing? Consider changing your CR2032 coin cell battery for a new one.

starschwar · Answer

^ It is almost certainly the coin cell battery.  If it's dead, there's a very high chance the PC simply won't boot.  Be ready to reset OCs in BIOS.  And if you have antivirus software, be ready for it throw a fit until you have resynced time and date; the computer will likely think it is still the year of manufacture.

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Alienware Area 51 won't turn on

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