Pre-Dell Alienware ALX X58, manuals?

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@redxps630 wrote:

Interested in The Alienware ALX X58 or Area-51 X58.

https://web.archive.org/web/20090303090016/http://www.alienware.com/products/alx-x58-desktop.aspx?SysCode=PC-ALX-X58&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT

Is this model considered area-51 R0, preceding R1?

can not find Dell support page, need manual etc.

We used to call these Legacy Alienware, as they were made before Dell bought Alienware about 12 years ago.

It has no real value or use today.

Only place for more info is Google and maybe Origin Computers.

@Tesla1856 :

@redxps630 wrote:

Interested in The Alienware ALX X58 or Area-51 X58.

https://web.archive.org/web/20090303090016/http://www.alienware.com/products/alx-x58-desktop.aspx?Sy...

Is this model considered area-51 R0, preceding R1?

can not find Dell support page, need manual etc.

We used to call these Legacy Alienware, as they were made before Dell bought Alienware about 12 years ago.

It has no real value or use today.

Only place for more info is Google and maybe Origin Computers.

I think @redxps630 is probably inspired by @Cass-Ole expert handling of his R4 thread that he wants to go the retro Alien path? 

Plus if I may add, Origin Computers is sliding down the Alienware path after being bought by Corsair. Look at their CES 2020 unveiling. It's a sad job at integration compared to the original Origin Big-O.

 loyal AW customer since my first WarTime case.  That, the first gen Dell AW, an R2, then an R5.  I will be moving from Dell this time.  Max power supplies of 850 watts, limited drive bays, weak light system that looks like some lazy person took the easy way out with the lighting. 

Sad but this is where Dell AW took me.  I am finding a buyer now for my R5.

Mark

Given some OriginPC's founders are also ex-Alienware founders, makes sense they've slipped down that path. Their ex-foundership is why Origin's Niche Forum handled pre-Dell Alien topics. AlienOwners desktop forum, see their Legacy Desktop sub-forum to interact w/ current pre-Dell Alien owners & find old/new posts for the X58 Predator chassis. Alien collecting is a thing ... 

@markshaheen is basically the only owner here (X58 WarTime Edition) w/info

@markshaheen  Max power supplies of 850 watts, limited drive bays, weak light system that looks like some lazy person took the easy way out with the lighting.

You forgot the most important point: premature Dell imposed End of Life, such as BIOS blocked CPU upgrades.  But I guess as an R5 owner you missed that bus; if you had the Area 51 R4 you'd feel the hurt: same motherboard as R5, no BIOS upgrade for i9.

Post is edited at bottom

Good a thread as any for off-topic Alien Roast ...

Per Mark, 850w max PSU, I'm s'prised no successor to A51 was at CES this week given new X299 CPUs are hitting market, will keep an eye on next few trade-shows

Elephant in Room: premature Dell imposed End of Life, such as BIOS blocked CPU upgrades ... It's like a grave yard of dead-end desktops below: if Intel/AMD won't dead-end their customer's socket ... then they will 

*Aurora R5, no 6700k > 7700k upgrade support. System as a whole failed to support just a quad-core of same TDP as 6700k. How embarrassing, for both company & owner

Aur R6*: Intel blocked all 7700k > 8700k upgrades, Dellware smiled I suppose

*Aur R7: no upgrade support 8700k > 9700k

Aur R8/9*: socket end-of-lifed by Intel, more smiles

*Aur R10 Ryzen: skt AM4 has support from AMD to 2020 -one more cycle left- this outta be fun when 3950x (cost ~$1050) dead-ends while everyone else upgrades to 4950x next year

*51 R4: No 7800k > 9800k > 10900k upgrade support

*51 R3/6 TRipper: No 1950x > 2950x upgrade support

*51 R5: No 9800k > 10900k upgrade support. My prediction is, by discontinuing that desktop design which does in fact have a valid X299 socket that could upgrade to Gen10, no CPU Bios upgrade support will be offered

51 R7*: AMD end-of-lifed socket = smiles

51 R8 Legend ID*: Theoretical successor to 51 Triad ID (R2-R7). If this desktop launches it'll have X299 Cascade Lake, but the socket itself is end-of-life = smiles

'General Support':

51 R3: Mthrbrd Bios update 'support' lasts only 2months post-launch before hands are washed clean of it

51 R6: gets same number of updates (x3), Feb '18 - Nov '18 & 'support' ends

51 R7: a whopping two updates, hands washed clean

A51M Laptop: No official 9900KS Bios support for what they marketed as the world's most 'upgradeable' laptop. Socket is end-of-life & they won't give it the very last (top) CPU support. DDR4 memory speeds capped at weak 2400MHz by Bios (inferior laptops go 2666+). Ouch

edit: Ancient Aliens. Pre-Dell desktops have their own Rx (revision) designation. Possible to say get an R6 model, while an R0 doesn't exist

I have one link to unknown files on MediaFire that I called 'Pre-Dell CmndCntr' (1030x64.exe), I didnt note what model it's for, no idea, feel free to bookmark it

https://www.mediafire.com/?4o3eykr6zdr5p1z,v7tv66e68uc9u62,qr06f8i2ak81cc8,x3m5n5f49xa8np6,nt719qee44swnff

At AlienOwners, we'd find users tossing out the old guts in favor of modernizing w/all new hardware. I've seen the 01YGW AIO 38mm wide radiator used in a Predator-style before (alien-centric cooler etc above) to pull a theme together, same build here X99 Alienware Predator 2.0B "???" - [RETRO BUILD]

*If 120mm cooler/fan needs a reducer to 92mm, those exist (adaptor/converter)

I would like to know whether the legacy (or common folks call vintage) pre-Dell area-51 X58 which uses ASUS p6T deluxe board is better or worse than area-51 R1 which uses OEM MS-7543 board made by MSI?  My suspicion is that the Dell OEM board is worse,  suited for mass production (lower cost and higher profit margin), restrictive in BIOS menu intended for mainstream user.  It is like the chef special offered by AW sold at higher premium is no longer available after the management takeover and replaced by common takeout menu.

I found on eBay that ALX R8 has QX9770, DDR3 ram.  Not sure which chipset but guessing it is nvidia 750i.  Guess ALX R8 is succeeded by area-51 X58, which is the original AW model name.  Dell continued to sell this product line after AW is bought until it is succeeded by Dell area-51 R1.

http://www.notebookreview.com/desktopreview/alienware-area-51-x58-review/

https://www.cnet.com/reviews/alienware-area-51-x58-review/

Price $6,473
Motherboard chipset Intel X58
CPU 3.2GHz Intel Core i7-965 Extreme Edition
Memory 12GB 1,066MHz DDR3 SDRAM 12GB 1,066MHz DDR3 SDRAM
Graphics 1GB ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2
Hard drives 1TB 7,200 rpm Seagate hard drives 1TB 7,200rpm Hitachi hard drive
Optical drive 20x dual-layer DVD burner with LightScribe; 4x dual-layer Blu-ray burner
Networking Killer K1 Gaming NIC; Gigabit Ethernet Gigabit Ethernet
Operating system Windows Vista Ultimate SP1 64-bit

So this model isn't much better than Dell Precision T3500.

https://www.dell.com/downloads/global/products/precn/en/q2wk6_dell_precision_t3500_spec_sheet.pdf

Will never have any updates for spectre or meltdown.