Unsolved
2.2K Posts
0
64118
Aurora R8, Experience of Buying
My Alienware Aurora R8 experience
It has been 95 days since I hit the "order" button and at this point, I am glad to say that I am happy with my purchase of the R8. My decision to buy an Alienware desktop started a month before that when I bought another Dell system, an Optiplex 27" AIO with i7 8700 and GTX 1050. At that time, my plan was to use the PC mainly as a surfing/ email machine with some additional juice to run games like Forza Horizon 4. Long story short, that plan fell apart and I decided I needed something that I can have a little bit more control over. Enter the desktop PC.
I've been over to several BYO websites like wepc and pcgamer to look at building my own rig but like many of us here observed, Dell's solution are usually cheaper... provided you're willing to live with what it means to deal with the many colorful issues we see in this forum.
Configured my system as below (trimmed to show the main parts):
1 210-ARGS Alienware Aurora R8
1 801-1540 Onsite/In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis, 1 Year
1 490-BEUO AMD Radeon RX 560X with 4GB GDDR5
1 321-BDXH 850W EPA Bronze PSU Liquid Cooled Chassis
1 801-1493 Dell Limited Hardware Warranty Initial Year
1 570-AACN Alienware Mouse Is Not Included
1 580-ABUI Keyboard Not Included
1 555-BDBY 802.11ac 1x1 WiFi and Bluetooth
1 400-AMXY 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s (64MB Cache)
1 370-ADUC 8GB, DDR4 2666MHz
1 619-AHCQ Windows 10 Home (64bit) English
1 338-BSDW 9th Gen Intel Core i5-9400 (6-Core/6-Thread 9M Cache,4.1GHz Processor with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology)
The order was placed about a week before a US holiday so I was wary of a price drop. However, there was a good 15% discount and that takes a big chunk out of the 850W PSU + liquid cooling upgrade. Total damage is $875 + $76 in tax. I also have DFS account with 12 month interest-free payment and 6% reward.
Like many of you AW owners, waiting for the PC to arrive was a practice of patience. Initially the system showed that it will take ~10 days for it to arrive. I reached out to order support via chat and the rep was very helpful in explaining that other than ready-to-ship AW (like the tons of outlet R7s), most AW systems are built after order received. He did mention he will put a note that we chatted about my wait time concern. I didn't expect that to change anything until 2 days later, I was notified the system was shipped! And 2 days after that, a huge brown box with an alien head sat on my front porch. Without any signature required. Thanks UPS!
Unboxing the system brought me back to my first Dell which was a 17" laptop bought as a college graduation gift in 2003. As I plugged the cables and powered on the system, everything was flawless. Including Cortana's 90dB "HELLO". Ran Heaven benchmark just to get some numbers on the RX560 before shutting down the system and adding/ replacing the following:
WD Blue 1 TB HDD --> Crucial P1 500GB SSD [$61]
RX560X --> MSI RX580 Armor OC 8GB [$160 after $20 rebate]
Reinstalled Win10 with the image from Dell's recovery tool on the SSD. Everything worked great after that until the day I decided to upgrade my RAM...
r72019
6 Professor
6 Professor
•
5.3K Posts
0
August 17th, 2019 20:00
The EVGA PSU cables were longer than the OEM Dell cables, so I used velcro ties to mange them.
Anonymous
5 Practitioner
5 Practitioner
•
274.2K Posts
0
August 17th, 2019 20:00
Guess what... probably the cable organization has to be redone after I receive my Seasonic Focus Gold + 850W later today!
Once you see those Seasonic fully modular cables (nice as they are), in our small format cases, you will certainly be looking to custom cables.
GTS81
2.2K Posts
0
August 18th, 2019 00:00
Guess why I'm missing from the community for so long...
There's an anaconda in the box for the 24-pin ATX! Here's how the SeaSonic-serpents ended up:
https://imgur.com/W63MrPh
https://imgur.com/Cvg6QkE
https://imgur.com/b8DmPSb
I thought I would get a lot of space back due to the vast difference in PSU lengths. Should've measured my PSU earlier (180mm) and probably gotten a Corsair for a good deal. But most of the space went to the cables.
Comparing the cables. No matter how tempting that sleeved SATA cable is, if it doesn't come with the PSU, do not use it!
Hit the power button and I heard 2 clicks then nothing. Drats. Did I crimp a cable badly when doing all the cable fitting and checking with the swing arm? Maybe the online sources about using 2x CPU header for GPU_PWR was a sham? Have I fried my R8 and Dell has washed its hands clean? I mean, look at the person on the other thread. No support from Dell all because he/ she bought an SSD not through Dell?
Started the usual elimination debug process. With just the 3 main cables plugged in, it turned on! Added 6+2 PCIe, still works. Then came the SATA cable. *click...click* Do I have to use the ugly long SATA cables from Seasonic?
GTS81
2.2K Posts
0
August 18th, 2019 01:00
I just found out about them when researching PC cable sleeving this afternoon and saw that acquisition message too! Oh bummer.
I prefer PET to paracord because I've already taken a liking to the feel of handling it with my existing R8 cables. Message written before PSU installation adventure. Too many snagged PET cords now. Maybe I'll give paracord a second thought although the MDPX-X PET cables look really great.Anonymous
5 Practitioner
5 Practitioner
•
274.2K Posts
0
August 18th, 2019 08:00
Very nice job with those cables. Everything is looking good!
Anonymous
5 Practitioner
5 Practitioner
•
274.2K Posts
0
August 18th, 2019 08:00
Both Paracord and PET look great in the photos (just like a Big Mac). I don't know very much about custom cables, but either one would be an improvement over the modular cables I currently have. From some reading I have done, the PET covers, being plastic, are a little more stiff than the Paracord, being fabric. I think a little more flexibility in my small case may be helpful in cable routing. Still have time for more research, until they start taking orders again.
GTS81
2.2K Posts
0
August 18th, 2019 12:00
Generally I agree with those points you made. Also, flexibility is affected by the bundling. I'm assuming for both PET and Paracord, we're talking about individually sleeved and not that 1" diameter monster we have for the 24-pin ATX. Even Dell split that up into 6 bundles of 4 near the modular PSU split-point, giving it a rectangular aspect ratio.
The biggest hurdle I see with purchasing pre-made kits online is that although we can get individual sleeved sets for our SSR-850FX PSU, the cables are just too long. 24-pin is 60cm and there are no short PCIe power nor short SATA. In the config I
havehad, the SATA SSD was mere inches away from the PSU, and so is the GPU power connector. That's why I started out with using Dell's cable which ended in failure but luckily no damage done. So either I need to find someone to customize my order for the ATX cable to be <50cm and have short variants of PCIe + SATA. Or start learning to do it myself.I've moved the SSD down to the bottom rear location to create more space for the cables to turn and stay within the "cable box" and less around the MB and GPU areas.
In your scenario, it may be ok for long cables as you can plan them in tandem with the loop you have. Maybe you might need even longer cables to come up with a synchronized look.
r72019
6 Professor
6 Professor
•
5.3K Posts
0
August 18th, 2019 12:00
I got them a while back but they're auto trim removal tools like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/MICTUNING-Removal-Molding-Fastener-Remover/dp/B07917TDL6/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=trim+removal+tool&qid=1566158088&s=gateway&sr=8-9
REPLYING TO:
You should start marketing those custom red Alienware Aurora cover tab push back tools.
GTS81
2.2K Posts
0
August 18th, 2019 13:00
Alright, you can forget about computer RGB for now.
https://imgur.com/pHiMRG3
Anonymous
5 Practitioner
5 Practitioner
•
274.2K Posts
0
August 18th, 2019 14:00
In your scenario, it may be ok for long cables as you can plan them in tandem with the loop you have. Maybe you might need even longer cables to come up with a synchronized look.
My current plan is to leave the PSU parked out back with the radiator tower. Already, it is not like I could pick my pc up and carry it to another room without disconnecting a lot of stuff. When I did my current water loop, I had to enter and exit the graphics card water block using the bottom fittings, because of the PSU swing out contraption. Now that I have eliminated the PSU swing out contraption problem, I can use the upper fittings in the graphics card water block. For this next mod I will be staying with soft tubing, until I learn how to bend hard tube with a heat gun. I bought the hard tube and all of the hard tube compression fittings, but the case is just too small to fit all that inside.
Without the PSU swing out contraption, instead of squeezing the tubing into that back front, corner, I can route the tubing across the near side of the graphics card, and still put a side panel on. My current plan is to go from the radiator into the bottom of the CPU water block; out the top of the CPU water block into the top fitting in the graphics card water block; out the other top fitting in the graphics card water block into the bottom of the RAM water block; out the top of the RAM water block and back to the radiator.
Since I am mid-modification and doing a lot of measurements, things are a bit messy right now. I will post these photos so you guys can really feel good about your cable management
GTS81
2.2K Posts
0
August 18th, 2019 18:00
Still waiting for the pictures to be approved but I'm sure you've considered the additional distance of sending high DC current. Found a good link here:
https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?89478-Maximum-PCIE-power-cable-length
Generally it's not an issue except for the part on heat due to bundling. Not sure if you need to move up from the minimum 18 AWG wires.
The thought of tossing out the PSU from the claustrophobia inducing casing pops up every once in a while. The PSU could actually just sit at the bottom under the GPU but the right edge touches some board capacitors. I think at the rate some of us are going, we'll be well along the path @HanoverB is taking, moving on the bigger better cases in the next few months.
r72019
6 Professor
6 Professor
•
5.3K Posts
0
August 18th, 2019 19:00
r72019
6 Professor
6 Professor
•
5.3K Posts
0
August 18th, 2019 19:00
For that price, you could get a Shelby GT500. I mean, you won't be able to see the engine lit up through the rear window (gotta add wow factor, there), but loss in appearance will be offset by +200 HP "under the hood" (quotation marks added to take into account new location of engine).
REPLYING TO:
Alright, you can forget about computer RGB for now.
https://imgur.com/pHiMRG3
Anonymous
5 Practitioner
5 Practitioner
•
274.2K Posts
0
August 18th, 2019 20:00
Not sure if you need to move up from the minimum 18 AWG wires.
All cables at SoloSleeving are built with 16 gauge wire. At Mod-One you can option 16 or 18 gauge.
If I keep the PSU in the back yard, my longest cable would be the 24-pin mobo power supply @ about 70 cm, depending on the route. With the PSU in the back, this is the hardest cable to figure out routing.
@HanoverB was smart and hopped over to a larger case. I was stubborn and determined to make this small format case work. It has been a fun journey so far. If I were to do a new build in a bigger case, I would start with something like the ASUS Prime Z390-A mobo, or something similar, as long as it does not have "Republic of Gamers" printed on it.
GTS81
2.2K Posts
0
August 18th, 2019 20:00
Thanks! I flipped my RX560X online and kinda regret it now. With all these "upgrades" , there is some risk of having to send the system back to Dell and them noticing that it's not stock. So far no regrets; my R8 is totally quiet now and when I'm running 3DMark stability test OC'ed from 1257 to 1450 MHz, it sounds a little louder than a stock R8 is on idle.