Waiting for Aurora R3 delivery - nervous?

I got mine a few weeks ago

and i still cannot stop flaming grinning

as with all forums, your mainly going to see gripes!!!!!!! as anyone with a good machine will be playing it! lol

so welcome 

i got a very similar spec to you exept i only got the one 6870! but its partner arrives tomorrow

Hey guy

Dont worry.  I received my R3 a few weeks ago and it is quiet, superfast and runs like a dream.  (my specs are almost identical to yours)

You're gonna love it.  It's so cool.  The case is beautiful and it's got these great lights and panels slide up and down.  You turn it on and you are ready to roll in like 20 seconds.  the hard drive is MASSIVE!  Did you get the basic screen?  I did and that is awesome.   I can put like three screens on at once. 

I purchased the top warranty and that's great too.  You get to pick the person who will be your permanent rep and you'll have their personal number.

Go on Youtube and run some unboxing videos.  that will get you fired up. 

Yea I have the same feeling as you, the Aurora R3 is coming next week with the same spec as you well almost except for rams (intel i7 2600, 4gb rams, dual radeon 6870 with 875W PSU). I'm also feeling nervous about it coming here with all the freezing problem that its been having, especially with the specs that we have. I have had bad experiences with computer company (Cyberpowerpc/ibuypower) before, which was terrible in every way, so I was seeking Alienware for the comfort of a well build computer. I just hope mine doesn't freeze up or else I'm going to have to refund. I just don't get how the engineering department or software engineering could have let this happen, or maybe its just the way its the user set it up. Anyway, I hope Chris the Dell Liason come back from his vacation soon (May 2nd) and tell this problem to the people that can fix it. This nervous feeling is bad, and for all the money you are spending  on an Alienware product, I don't think we should endure this . Hope to hear from you soon Chris

I got an Aurora R3 coming too in a couple weeks. I am also worried about the freezing issue I am now reading about. My system has an i7 2600K, GTX 590, 8GB RAM, 875W PSU. The first thing I am going to do is wipe the system drive completely and reinstall windows to ensure there is no software conflicts.

If I get the freezing issue even once....its going straight back. Otherwise, I look forward to a really nice machine.

Yes a DOA system is really unlikely and chances are slim to none. I guess you got lucky there huh? lol.

I myself am very knowledgeable on diagnosing and fixing computers, so I am not even going to waste time with Tech Support. Typically if I have a problem with my machine, I find out what the issue is myself, and call Tech Support to just warranty the defective hardware.

I will say that if I, heaven forbid, my system experiences this freezing problem, and I cannot resolve it myself within the return period, it will go straight back for a FULL refund. I am not going to waste time with Tech Support troubleshooting on a brand new machine. That is just unacceptable. On top of that, If I choose to do the troubleshooting to fix the problem, it might take a while for parts to be sent and a tech to come, which will shorten my return time frame.

If it doesn't work 100% without any issues out of the box, it goes back without a second thought. I did get a good deal on my machine, but its not worth it if I have to deal with that. I don't need to be on the phone with tech support 24/7. Its a waste of my time and money, as well as Dell's.

M3TH0D1C4L,

My system was dead out of the box, but that was just me. This is probably not a common problem so I wouldn't worry about receiving a dead system.

My main issue with Dell is that, there was absolutely no follow up on the issue nor an apology until I had to force it out of them. In addition, it took them over a week to fix my machine and they didn't provide a definitive date as to when they will be coming to fix it.

Even though I was still having issues after the fix, Dell was extremely eager to close the case. I have a busy schedule, hence, I don't have hours to waste on the phone with their tech support and customer service. This is why I still have unresolved issues with my system.

As for the freezing issue, this is not an exaggeration. This seems to be a common issue and Dell has made no effort to address the issue.

For those of you who have received a working system. You can boast about how fast your system is but wait until you encounter a problem. If that happens, you will see why there are so many complaints around here.

You would think that Dell would monitor these forums and see that negative review posted(Review posted by Akhido on Dell's website) and actually address the problem and follow up on their products. This would be in their best interest because it also affects the confidence of potential buyers. So far, they haven't done anything and all these complaints are piling up every where.

LOL yeah, I guess I was "lucky" in that sense.

Anyway, I got the day off today so I've called tech support. I've been on hold for ~20 mins so far and I'm getting this message:"We're currently experiencing a high call volume". If I get thru to them and actually get a solution, I'll let you guys know what the problem is. If not, I am putting up a 0 star rating on their review for the R3.

This is the problem with Dell, they tick off their customers and it gets to the point where it gets personal. Right now, I'm this close to devoting my next few months warning people not to purchase a dell.

Everyone, lets just hope Chris get back soon from his vacation : ) since he is the only one that look at the Alienware club forum. We can all send him a private message on May the 2nd. By looking at what he's done so far, he seems to be very helpful and is well connected with the engineering department. Lets all send him messages when he gets back

I have had my Aurora R3 since 4/15/2011 and it has done the random lockup three or four times ;-7

This freezing issue could very well be a power issue.

Can everyone who has an Aurora R3 post up the PCIE power connector configuration for their video cards? Maybe the rails are not being split porperly for the cards.

I think you are right about this. I have a 6870 crossfire and I think that might be the issue. They are sending me a replacement but I asked for a single card solution instead (GTX 480).

Its just a guess. I am not sure. Until I get my system to test for myself, I am not 100% on it.

But from what I see, the freezing seems most prominent in the AMD cards and ones with CrossfireX. My assumptions for now will be either the driver Dell has on the website for the AMD cards has a bug, and/or the power cables for the video cards are not properly connected in terms of sharing the power of the rails equally.

I still have 2 weeks until delivery of my system according to the EDD. So I just have to be patient and just brainstorm for the time being.

Hey Guys,

I've been following this and the related threads closely since I just purchased an R3 system for my son (i7, 4GB 1866 ram, single Radeon 6870 video card, 256GB SSD, 875W power supply). Even though we are aware of the issue, he wanted to go ahead with the purchase with the hope that it will be resolved within the 21 day return policy. I also told the sales rep about these problems and let him know that the system would be returned if this issue appeared.

Anyway, FWIW, there is a thread on the regular Dell desktop board which appears to indicate a similar issue with new XPS 8300 systems (see link below). It might be worrh checking out.

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19374123.aspx

This now leads me to believe it is mosst likely a driver issue, if that specific user of the XPS 8300 has an AMD card,.

Anyone who has the aurora R3, and has either the HD 6870 or 6950 in their system and experiencing the freezing issue, try removing the video card drivers from Control Panel by uninstalling Catalyst Control Manager and all ati drivers. Then clean the AMD drivers with Driver sweeper and reboot your machine.

Download and install the ATI CCC 11.3 or 11.4 drivers from the ATI website: www.ATI.com

Then use your system regularly and see if you continue to experience the freezing issue after using the new drivers.

Has anyone performed a clean install of windows on their system? How did you go about reinstalling the drivers?

This now leads me to believe it is mosst likely a driver issue, if that specific user of the XPS 8300 has an AMD card,.

Hopefully, yours will work perfectly. I'm sure you will work it hard (gaming and benchmarks) to make sure it is ok.

But if not, it will really take a power user like yourself (that also knows computer hardware well) to help figure this out.

It could be anything from a driver to a motherboard. Even something like using old SATA-II cables that can't handle the new 6gbs bandwidth. My point is, you just don't know until you trouble-shoot it and get it working.

The 21 day return period (or get stuck with a lemon) is also a barrier to finding the real problem. Sounds like most people end up returning them (not that I blame them one bit). Seems like it should be more like 60 days if the customers have to do the "new model - real life useage - lab validation testing".