Aurora R7, After Market Cooling

Question

I recently upgraded the power supply in my Alienware Aurora R7 from a 460w to 850w to get better performance from my GTX 1080. I really didn't feel that my games looked nearly as good as they should have graphically and I felt it was mostly because of a lack of power. Along with that upgrade, I wanted a new cpu cooler/fan because it was a little too loud when I would play almost any video game out there. It also got a little too hot when I played. I figured now that I had the extra power, the GTX 1080 would work a little harder and actually deliver the kinds of graphics that it was designed for. That being the case, I figured more power would bring more heat and a new cpu cooler would not only be considerably quieter, but would also help bring that heat down.

First, I replaced the top and side fans and then purchased a low-profile Noctua NH-L9i for the cpu cooler because there isn't much room in this particular case. I thought that I had all of my bases covered: it was small enough for this case and it listed my Intel LGA 1151 as compatible on Noctua's compatibility list. So, my luck being what it is, it didn't work. The mounting screws were either too short or too small. Here's what happens: They screw into the backplate, but then stop at the unthreaded shank which is wider than the threads. You see, DELL has modified the default Intel 1151 backplate. It is now a backplate, cpu retention device combination. The mounting screws for the Noctua NH-L9i are made for a backplateLESS installation. It's actually a nice simple setup, albeit includes removing the system board to install the mounting screws to the back of the board. It would have gone off without a hitch if not for DELL's proprietary practices.

I then contacted some very talented people who have helped me with computer issues in the past and I asked them for advice. There were several ideas tossed around, but we came to the conclusion that no matter what cooler I decided to use, that ridiculous backplate would be a problem. So, I decided to modify it: I decided to cut off the four extended arms from the backplate so that the mounting screws would fit. I did so and it worked out rather nicely too. The mounting screws fit perfectly, Noctua's awesome little low-profile cooler fit in my case like it was made for it. Only problem was at startup. I immediately received a scan and error message:

SupportAssist immediately ran a scan... Failing Component.jpg

I've read this thread about proprietary fan issues and several other such articles here on Dell's community boards and at other sights around the internet and I'm wondering if this is my problem? I've asked everyone I know and no one can seem to tell me if this motherboard - Alienware 0VDT73 (U3E1) - has standard fan headers. Any DELL techs out there?

I thought it might be prudent to document my work, so I made sure to take photos along the way of the steps that I took to get to this point. This is a link to Step-by-Step Photos and a brief explanation of the work that I did to get to this point. (A total of 13 pics plus the above 2)

I'd appreciate it if anyone has any insight into any of these issues and if anyone could help me out of the dilemma that I'm in right now. Can someone tell me what steps to take to move towards a resolution? Or maybe just answer one or two of my questions? I have so many great games to play right now and I just got a brand new Oculus that I wanted to try out on Subnautica and No man's Sky. I recently broke my ankle in three places and had to have surgery, so I'm laid up for a while and I'd love to use this time to play, play & play some more...I'll even post pics of my nasty broken ankle as incentive

Thanks in advance

speedstep · Answer

2000:0511 is fan failure.

Not All Dell fans use standard wiring.
Aurora-R7 motherboard VDT73 likely uses wonky fan wiring.

INTEL is BLUE GREEN YELLOW BLACK

BLUE PWM DELL is also Blue

GREEN TACH This is YELLOW OR WHITE on Dell

YELLOW 12v This is RED on DELL

BLACK GROUND This is Black on DELL

DELL WONKY IS YELLOW RED BLACK BLUE

Standard is BLUE YELLOW RED BLACK

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000008531/server-products/server-boards.html

STANDARD FAN

Thats why they make adapters

https://www.amazon.com/fosa-Connector-Converter-Extension-Dedicated/dp/B07RP1JY5P

Dell 3 wireDELL FAN WIRES

Doghouse Reilly · Answer

So sorry to hear about your ankle, hope you are on the mend soon.

Congratulations on a great job of customizing that CPU fan and the detail of the documenting photographs.

I'm sure someone on this site can assist with information regarding those fan messages. I have the Alienware fluid cooling system for my CPU and I have had no problems of any sort so far.

Good luck and get well soon.

speedstep · Answer

So there is an additional spec fan must have at least 1700 RPM

TOP FAN cannot be replaced without that?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5pSuK0QtGg

Noctua-redux-1700-high-Performance-Award-Winning-Affordable

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CG2PGY6/

https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Premium-Magnetic-Levitation-2-Pack/dp/B01G5I6MRK

https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NF-A12x15-PWM-chromax-Black-swap-120x15mm/dp/B0813X9G8T

speedstep · Answer

The fans are all the same.

The order of the wires is not.

NOTE DELL 3 wire is wonky also

Some vendors now make all the wires black or beige etc so you cant tell

You will need an scope or multi meter to figure it out.

And its standard for some and not standard for others.

YMMV

Dell re wires the fans so you will fry a dell fan on standard header and fry a standard fan on dell header.

END OF HELP

END OF TRANSMISSION

Standard WIRING

LEFT DELL RIGHT STANDARD

r72019 · Answer

Last comment, if all else fails the corsair h60 (both versioms) is always an option.  It's an oem fitment with the backplate, and the included backplate will fit in the R7 no mods required: AFTER

r72019 · Answer

As a separate aside, the error popup cannot be turned off in bios, but you'll notice that the fans still work if you watch them during boot. If you stick with this setup the top and front fans might stall or run really slow once windows loads on idle you can correct that with a custom fan profile. It would be prudent to set up fan monitors icons if you don't correct so you can self monitor the fans.

r72019 · Answer

Nice work on the mods. The R7 headers use standard fan wiring. But you have two problems with the mods.

1. The front fan is fine.

2. The radiator fan nf p12 120mm redux fan plugged into the top fan header will also throw an error once the cpu fan issue is resolved. You can replace it with a Corsair ml120 pro (no led).

3. It checks for oem fan responses to pwm your fan isn't responding correctly so thus the error. You can replace it with a 3 pin standard wire fan.

r72019 · Answer

This fan will clear the issues with the top fan (that you haven't got to yet). https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Premium-Magnetic-Levitation-CO-9050040-WW/dp/B01G5I6O4Q/

Nyphrodel · Answer

I forgot to remove my service tag from my 2nd photo so I think DELL chose to remove it. It includes the error I received, so I reposted it:   THIS is the error that I rec'd

Nyphrodel · Answer

Thank you so much!

Nyphrodel · Answer

Thank you for all of the information. I am aware of the issues with the case fans needing to be at least 1700 rpm or SupportAssist will throw an error. That is precisely why I installed fans that are 1700 rpm. If you look at the pics in the link in my original post, you will see a closeup of the specs for the box fans that I installed: you provided me a link for the exact fans that I installed:

Hmm...you mean THIS fan?

Nyphrodel · Answer

Actually, the BIOS was the 1st place I checked for answers, so I am aware that I can't correct anything there. And, I of course checked the fans to see if they were all operating before posting and they do indeed all work. Unfortunately, I am having a small issue with the temperature kind of jumping up and down occasionally and I haven't even put this to the test in a game yet. Also, I'd rather not have to self monitor my fans during gameplay, I really do play for the escape, so immersion is very important to me and that wouldn't be possible if I had to watch my fans...but thank you.

r72019 · Answer

'THIS is the error that I rec'd' Yea unfortunately all of us who work with the Aurora are aware of the cpu fan error message.  Like I said, even though you may only see one popup right now, most likely you have two issues, the cpu fan and the Noctua radiator fan plugged into your top fan header.  Also the Pump fan header is for an aio and will not fix this.

r72019 · Answer

Also the temp spikes can be fixed with a custom fan curve that loads with windows. Set it and forget it.  That's how I fixed it on my R7.

r72019 · Answer

'you provided me a link for the exact fans that I installed:' I provided a link for a corsair fan.  This is a Noctua series fan optimized for pressure applications (placement on radiators or heatsinks).  The Noctua 4 pin pwm fans are all known to error on startup (unless plugged into the front fan header that is OK, or you could manually bypass the check with a rewire but that's probably not for this forum). A series airflow, F series, IPPC industrial, etc., all same issue. Regardless of rated speed. Three pin fans are also OK. Unless a recent bios update has changed anything.  The oem fam is a 5000+ rpm fan btw..

Alienware Desktops

Aurora R7, After Market Cooling

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