Aurora R13, replacement fans specific make/models?

You can look at this thread: Thread 

However, aftermarket fan support is limited on these systems and a BIOS update can break the fan support.

What specific Noctua model(s) are you using, so others know to test something different.

It is going to be a trial and error effort, as it has been for previous Aurora models. From past efforts with earlier models we learned that it is not the top speed rpm of the fan that matters, but rather the rate at which the rpm increases as increasing voltage is applied, in order to pass startup diagnostics test.

Some possible models to consider:

bequiet! Silent Wings 4 Pro  . . . (not sure how quiet?)

Phanteks T30 

Arctic Bionix P120 PWM 

It's definitely my last Alienware. I only purchased it because of the supply chain issues and a discount through work. I really didn't think it would be this bad. And the poor quality of non-name components and lack of upgradability... wow. I don't think people in this forum have experienced the joy of building your own PC of high-end parts.

You can change every fan on a R13 and put in a 240mm AIO but here is a tip.

No matter what you change will not make a difference,

Your system will still be slowed down by Dell  power throttling the CPU via the BIOS. Good luck convincing Dell to change that, it is not going to happen. Shoving a 240mm cooling solution in a R13 solves nothing.

Some people find joy in building their own rigs . . . but it is not fun for everybody. Despite what the naysayer has articulated, adding quality, quiet fans and a 240mm cooling solution to an R13 will make it a better performer and provide a more enjoyable user experience. Once you get it performing to its peak, if it is insufficient for your particular usage regime due to the OEM Dell gimping, then consider alternative options. Personally, I enjoy modding and building computers, but again, it is not for everyone.

Very interested, can you drop a few photos of the nicer ultra high end machine?

You are following the same analysis path I did several months ago.  I also bought my R13 due to supply chain and pricing issues.  It was several months later the deficiencies surfaced, it is a good gaming machine but its not a great gaming machine.  Performance in demanding games is about 15-20% below similar specd machines, had to double-up on the aio fans so it would not thermal throttle in AC-Oddy, and on and on.....  That said, if I was able to cram-in a 4090 with minimal dremel work I would have kept it, mostly as to not lose much in my bad decision.   In the end I found it was much cheaper and easier to just sell it and build a nicer ultra high end machine.  

This is the last Alienware I will ever buy. The supply chain issues and employee discounts were the only reasons I made the purchase. I didn't anticipate it being that bad. 

This is what can be done with the Aurora R13, besides whining and complaining

Aurora R13 with MORA360 

I respect the engineering involved to get that Mora in!  However, that machine is still performance crippled with CPU power throttling, PCIe bus limits, 4400 ram limits, etc. 

Instead of whining, I sold off my R13 and built my own machine, my final cash outlay was less than the cost of a retail 4090.

I went with a Lancool-3 case which is about the same size as the R13 but with tons of space and open cooling that is whisper quiet at full throttle.  Asus z790 mobo, i7 Raptor easily running at all core 5.8ghz on a 360 aio, high speed ddr5 at cl30, full rail psu, and a power unlocked 4090 to drive a lg c2 at both 4k and 3840x1600.

I can still complain as a part of me wanted to get that 4090 up and running in the R13  

"performance crippled" will have a degree of relevance, depending on your particular usage regime. For the builder of the MORA360 rig it is completely irrelevant for their specific usage regime, as mentioned in the linked post. Lancool III is an awesome case, from a very well respected case manufacturer. Did you go with black or white? From your listed specs you seem to be seeking out maximum performance, which I respect. Not everyone has those same goals for their computing experience. So a "gimped" R13 to you is an awesome gaming rig to someone else that is not necessarily looking to that last Hz of performance.

I bought my R13 on the marketing hype as an awesome high end gaming machine, but the cost compared to its actual capabilites fell short of expectations.  For example, gaming such as AC-Odyssey was hitting cpu thermal limits, and also ran 15-20% lower fps.  Even an older demanding title ME Andromeda was only getting about 90fps, should have been closer to 110.  For giggles I put its 3080ti into my older i7-7700k rig and was getting just over 10% increase in gpu throughput.  There was the lost expectation of xmp ram support.  When I was researching a 4090 upgrade I found out even their 1000w psu does not output enough watts to power the 4090, due to its split rail design.  What is even more funny is my custom rig is several hundred cheaper than a similar discounted R15 and still crushes it by 20%+ (they also just took R15 undervoltage away, limiting that k processor even more). 

That said, it did have charm.  Charm enough to make me research indepth to really tempt me to take the dremel and get the 4090 working!    (I went with a black case, just like my black windowed cryo-cool)

Well said, I bought mine for pretty similar reasons and a hefty discount to be fair to Dell, and i may be a naysayer but I still maintain adding different fans and a 240mm cooling solution does not offer enough performance improvement to make the cost worthwhile. Your still getting nowhere near what other manufacturers achieve with a 12900KF / 3090 RTX / 32GB DDR5 4400 combination, thanks to Dell slowing both the memory on a non propriety board and power throttling the CPU out of the box.

It is indeed a good gaming rig, but with a little more effort from Dell it could have been a whole lot better.