Please Help Alienware Aurora R4 problems.

Question

Alright so I got my computer May 18 of 2012. My warranty ran out May 18 2013 and my computer broke on May 20th. I've tried fixing it by myself but im having no luck. What was happening was that my computer would run extremely loud and then shut itself down. I thought maybe it was overheating but my case and fans are perfectly clean and properly working. Therefore, it wasn't overheating so then I thought maybe it was an update I had missed. I checked for any windows updates, but there were none that needed to be downloaded. So then I came to this forum and they told me to do a system restore. So I've done the system restore and it reset to the way it came when I got it in 2012. So of course it had a lot of updates to do. I let it do all the updates which Is around 100 and takes a little time. After it gets through installing all the updates I get on it and it'll run extremely slow for about 5 minutes then it will shut down. When I start it back up it goes to a black screen and asks me if I want to run a repair or start normally so I do the repair and it restores it all over again and then the process starts all over again. I download the updates again get on it for about 5 minutes then it shuts down and I have to repair and reset again. I've tried running the ePSA but every time I try it gets frozen on the very first thing but It doesn't give me any error code to go by. Before I reset my system for the first time I ran the ePSA and it didn't detect any problems anywhere in my computer. I'm not that great with computers but im trying to do this myself because I cant really afford to pay $70 for a phone call to alienware support because im out of warranty. I really don't know what happened to get to this point because I always have my computer protected with McAfee  and I keep my internet browsing pretty clean besides going to youtube or facebook. I spent a good amount of money on this computer just for it to run good for a year. I don't think its anything to do with my hardware because my comuter has never been dropped or moved around a lot. The only thing I can say that could of went wrong is that I got told to update my BIOs because I am on A03 and the newest one is A11 I believe. However, I don't think this is what ruined my computer because I did that after it was already messing up and running slower than a stoneage computer. Some help would be greatly appreciated.

mav711 · Answer

Running slow,  loud,  and shutting down sounds a lot like a system throttle followed by shutdown due to cpu overheat.  The loud sounds like the fan on the liquid cooling radiator going ballistic.  Can you tell if the loudness is coming from that fan mounted on the back of the system closer to the top?  If it is the liquid cooling system,  it can be replaced but you would need to call support and order one.  Just do your best to see which fan is revving up with the side cover off the system.

Alienware-Alexa1 · Answer

Hi Jlane94,

Every detail on your post sounds like your computer is overheating. You could try to re-apply thermal grease on the liquid cooling assembly. Here's this video for some visual assistance.

If you have a dual video card configuration, you might want to try removing one of them.

Jlane94 · Answer

I don't understand how it could be overheating if I have cleaned it out perfectly

Tesla1856 · Answer

I don't understand how it could be overheating if I have cleaned it out perfectly

Asetek CPU cooler might be:

- Not installed properly against CPU

- Malfunctioning

- Not being controlled properly

If the fan is spinning-up very fast (at least "trying" to do it's job) might indicate it's working but no longer installed properly (came lose, not flat, thermal paste not right, etc.).

Check temps with CPUID HW-Monitor.

Jlane94 · Answer

But the thing is it seems like its overheating when it shuts itself down. But overheating wouldn't cause the black repair screen to pop up and the repair ask to reset my system again. That's got to be something other than the fan. Because my last desktop had an overheating problem and it never messed with the boot up it only caused it to shut down while running and was an easy fix. I've looked inside the case while it was on and ever fan is spinning. The one that gets loud is the one in the back but idk how to fix a liquid cooling system.

Alienware-Alexa1 · Answer

Hi Jlane94, Accept the friend request and send me your service tag through a private message.

Tesla1856 · Answer

But overheating wouldn't cause the black repair screen to pop up and the repair ask to reset my system again.

Yes, it would if the system (hard-drive) is recovering from an un-expected system shut-down.

You should probably seek professional help for your computer. A trained computer technician will be able to trouble-shoot and repair your system. In this way you can regain your money investment in your system without having to learn how to fix it yourself.

Jlane94 · Answer

So I should just send it into dell? Because I'm not taking it to the computer shop in my town.

Alienware-Alexa1 · Answer

As per our phone conversation, please keep me posted if you were able to replace the thermal grease on your liquid cooling assembly.

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