17 R1, refurbishment, upgrades

Question

Hi all. I've got an old Alienware 17 R1 built in mid 2014 and bought early 2015. The original specs were a 500 or so GB HDD, an i7-4700MQ, 16GB of 1600Mhz RAM, and a GTX 880M. This computer holds sentimental value for me and I very much admire its reliability and upgradeability. Even after a decade, no part has failed and it can still open and work just fine - despite the inside being dirty, dusty, and a melon incident a few years ago where yours truly accidentally left a melon on a paper plate on it for two days. Even then, whilst it did leak and caused shadows on my screen the computer still runs fine.

I had an issue where the computer wouldn't boot up or POST some years ago, though I'm not sure if it was before or after the melon incident. I think it was before? I dug around inside found out the top RAM sticks' pins were corroded; the DIMM slots themselves are fine. I took one of the sticks out and also had to take the other one out, and from then on I've had no problems other than the keyboard and mousepad failing.

So here's where I am right now: I've disassembled practically the entire thing; taken out the battery, HDD, ODD, CPU, GPU, heatsinks and fans, the Wi-Fi card, the speakers, and the entire upper palmrest-keyboard-mousepad assembly in addition to the screen. The computer is really dirty due to age; not much of the melon stuff got inside, though there is some white corrosion and oxidation(?) on the actual metallic parts of the chassis itself plus some green corrosion on the ethernet/LAN port. Considering its age, the melon incident, and the fact that it wasn't used and I let it gather dust....it's in good shape. Boots to the OS fine, can do stuff...just throttled to hell and back.

I intend to send what remains to some specialist that can clean the chassis, inspect the motherboard - maybe give it an ultrasonic bath and repair anything they find - and change the CMOS battery. All the parts that I've mentioned I removed will be replaced with new ones, with the exception of the ODD. Here's what I'm thinking/what my general plan is:

1. Clean everything and repair the motherboard if needed via an expert
2. Change the CMOS battery
3. Install 32GB of DDR3L-2133 RAM.
4. Install an mSATA SSD for the OS, plus two 2.5 SATA SSDs for storage.
5. Install an i7-4940MX
6. Install an RTX 2070 MXM from Eurocom
7. See if I can get Eurocom to flash me a compatible vBIOS, modify my heatsink, and install proper thermal pads
8. Install new cooling for the CPU and GPU: liquid metal, new fans, and undervolt both
9. Install either 1080p 120Hz display or a 4k 60Hz display; but, tbh, I can get away with the former for the internal display and the latter being an external one. I've heard you can maybe mod the motherboard to support a 1440p 165Hz or 4k 120Hz display.
10. Install new antennae and an AX210 via mini-PCIe to M.2 adapter
11. Install a new palmrest (mousepad included) and keyboard
12. Enable UEFI and Secure Boot, then install Windows 11 via Rufus ( you Microsoft for retiring Windows 10!!)
13. Install an OEM battery and pair it with a 330W power unit

My questions are these:
1. How much should the CPU and GPU be undervolted by?
2. Is that display mod I mentioned possible?
3. If I get the RTX 2070 and flash a correct vBIOS, mod the heatsink, etc., do I still have to screw around with the motherboard's BIOS too much? Will just updating it to the latest version and maybe unlocking it do? I ask because I've heard this is a pain and risky; if I brick the thing, I've little clue on how to fix it. Perhaps I could ask the pros to do it?
4. If I have INF modded drivers, I can still use NVIDIA's software to update my drivers normally - right? Or do I have to do it manually each time?
5. I've heard a lot about people doing GTX 1070 MXM mods and such, but I've found fewer resources on the RTX 2070. I do remember seeing some people doing it somewhere, but I have some difficulty finding it; maybe I'm just not looking hard enough. I know I've seen people attempt and even succeed in putting monster 4080s and such inside (lmfao), so there you go.
6. Is it possible to install a more modern keyboard, like from an R2 or R3, or should I just use OEM?
7. Is there any chance I could get better fans? I mean, even clean OEM ones with new/unused bearings would be much better than what I have now - especially paired with the clean chassis, brand heatsink for the GPU, liquid metal, and undervoting - but I just want to see what my options are.
8. I just want to make sure the 2014 R1 can handle 2133MHz of DDR3L RAM, as mine came with 1600MHz and I've heard some conflicting reports.
9. Is there any more modern speaker I can install, or do I just get the OEM Klipsch? Those were always quite good IMO and I preferred them over anything else I had at the time, but the actual audio drivers have disintegrated by this point.
10. Any ideas for other upgrades? Lol

I'm relatively new to all of this, so I apologize if my questions sound dumb or uninformed - though I suppose I AM coming here to get informed, lol. As I said, this computer holds great sentimental value to me and I still respect its reliability and modularity to this day. I do believe it can remain a solid machine even a decade later. I also just need a hobby/something to keep my mind occupied and stimulated, and will probably have to at least learn some programming and computer stuff for my own personal/technical education, so I'm just also really interested in the process and learning.

Any help would be appreciated. I've also made an account over at NotebookTalk and will likely copy-paste this post there under AtomSnakes.

ejn63 · Answer

Before anything else is considered, how much are you planning to spend on a system that even in good shape, complete and working is worth about $200?

user_20d4d3 · Answer

@ejn63​ Honestly, it’s not about the resale value or anything like that. As I said, I have my own personal reasons for doing this - both sentimental ones and because I want something to do - so I’m honestly willing to spend as much as it takes. I don’t really have a hard cap or anything; my limits as far as I’m concerned are mostly what’s technically possible.

ejn63 · Answer

You'll need to start with a new mainboard before going further -- any corrosion inside the system is likely the death knell for the existing board.

From there, you'll have to see what other vendors can provide.

There's no point installing faster RAM than you now have since whatever you do install will simply downclock.

Go from there.

user_20d4d3 · Answer

@ejn63​ The motherboard is fine. As I said, it boots to the OS and I can’t see any corrosion on it; what corrosion I did find was on the exterior portion of the LAN port, which I assume can easily be replaced. I’ll need someone to inspect and clean it either way, so this is a good opportunity to see if anything else is amiss as well - which I doubt. Also, doesn’t the R1 support 2133MHz RAM?

ejn63 · Answer

Support doesn't mean will run in at 2133 -- at least not unless you also change to a CPU that supports that speed or overclock.

user_20d4d3 · Answer

@ejn63​ Ahh, I see. That clears up a lot. If I may ask, is there even any noticeable difference between 1600 and 2133MHz? The i7-4940MX supports up to 1600MHz officially, but you mentioned overclocking. I assume you do that through programs that also overclock stuff like the CPU, etc.?

mattyb3 · Answer

@user_20d4d3 Wow, those are some serious plans for your old 17. I have worked on too many of these laptops to count but these upgrades and mods are pretty extreme and will cost you a significant amount. I understand that money isn't always the deciding factor so I applaud you if you go ahead with these plans. There is nothing like upgrading and modding old laptops.

NotebookTalk is definitely the best place to ask these questions but there are less and less guys around who are still keeping these old laptops going with upgrades so getting proper answers there may also be difficult.

I would suggest you do as much as you can yourself. Not just to save money but it's more fun doing it yourself and it's not overly difficult if you take the right precautions.

The corrosion on the LAN port is common. I have some old boards with the same issue.

Yes, the system will take 2133 and it should run fine at full speeds. Lot's of guys did that upgrade back in the day.

I have never seen any successful display mods.

Not sure if Eurocom is the best option to source the GPU and vBIOS from. A bunch of guys I know have been sourcing gear from a proper GPU supplier but I'll have to look back and find out who that was.

You will have to manually install a modded driver every time. A few guys I know have been using NVCleanInstall and they say it works really well compared to the old days when you had to mod the inf file. I still do it the old way because that's the way I always did it and it only takes a few minutes.

Getting a decent OEM battery will be a challenge. There are still plenty of cheap aftermarket ones around and they work but are built with low quality cells. OEM batteries haven't been produced for almost a decade now so you need to get lucky to find one in good condition.

Not sure about the fan situation but most 17's were sent out with pretty bad GPU fans with a very low CFM. The 880M needed good cooling for it's 8gb VRAM but they had fans with a 1.7CFM rating (or something like that). The M14x had a single system fan with a higher CFM to cool the GPU and CPU. These are plug and plug in the 17 and it was 11.4CFM (or something like that). It's been a while since I've looked at them.

There is a guy on eBay who makes custom heatsinks for these laptops. Cicichen594 I believe is his name.

Not sure if there are any speaker mods available. Never seem anyone try that.

Feel free to ask more questions and I'll try to add something helpful. Like I said, I have worked on lots of 17 R1's but I haven't done a lot of serious upgrades on them. I do know a few other guys who have done some major upgrades on the older AW laptops, most of them are on NotebookTalk though. Not on here.

We do have a whatsapp chat going which could be an option for you to join.

Good luck with everything!

user_20d4d3 · Answer

@mattyb3 Hey, thanks for the answer! I’d certainly be interested in joining the WhatsApp group.

About the heatsinks: I did find Cicichen on Ebay. The guy even has what he claims are 5-pipe GPU heatsinks for the RTX 3080 in the A17, which I don’t know how to make of because I’ve never heard or seen anyone put that in such an old laptop - though I DID see a post on Reddit claiming they used an RTX 4080. Regardless, he has another 5-pipe copper one which is more generic - so I think I’ll be using that plus liquid metal.

Regarding the fans… where does this leave me? I’d love to get better ones, but I have concerns over BIOS compatibility and them actually fitting in the chassis. Think I can just get away with OEM ones and a new heatsink plus liquid metal? Also, can I undervolt in this thing via XTU/ThrottleStop/etc.? Because that’d help.

The display is a bit of a weird thing. I know for a fact this laptop can take 1080p 120Hz and 40k 60Hz displays using eDP. 1440p 165 Hz and 4k 120 Hz displays require a 40-pin 4-lane eDP cable plus a connector for that on the motherboard; my R1 does have such a connector on it, but I don’t think I can just buy a generic cable as each connector seems to be different. The issue is that Dell seems to have never shipped a 4-lane cable, so I’d likely need something custom - which is a headache. The RTX 2070 and 330W PSU can certainly drive all this, so that’s not really an issue, but it’s the cable and whether the actual motherboard controller and BIOS can handle the display that are the major obstacles.

The speakers were honestly okay, but if I can replace them I’d prefer to do so as I have concerns over the quality of the OEM Klipsch ones; the drivers and rubber have practically disintegrated by now, and have done so years ago well before the 10-year mark - which is annoying.

mattyb3 · Answer

You may just have to trial and error the fan situation. You can try fitting some newer fans that have better performance but you'll have to Frankenstein them into the chassis. AW used the same GPU fan form factor in the M14x (R1/R2), M17x (R3/R4) and 17 R1. There are various CFM's for the different systems but they all have the same size and mounting points. I'm really not sure if the system will recognise a different manufacturer fan. It's possible that it will but I've never tried.

The eDP port was specifically for the 120hz display and it bypassed the Intel graphics and ran the display directly off the Nvidia card. For another display to have a chance of working on the eDP connector it would have to have the same cable pinout as the 120hz panel or you'd have to really know what you're doing to be able to mod the cable or display.

From what I've seen in the past, high res displays need special display cables so I doubt the OEM eDP cable for the 120hz will work with a 4k display. I am definitely not an expert on displays though.

SSJ on NotebookTalk would be the best guy to talk to. He has dropped a lot of cash trying to see what GPU upgrades can be done on the older systems. He mostly works with the dual GPU laptops like the M18x, 18 and M17x R2 though.

I can probably help with OEM parts if you find them hard to find locally. Shipping out from Australia isn't a cheap process though.

If you DM me your details I will add you to the chat. I'm sure they won't mind.

Alienware

17 R1, refurbishment, upgrades

Was this post helpful?