Open the side panels and look at the vent screws.  I had a problem with my vents rubbing and making a clicking sound and it turned out to be a loose screw on the side of the vents just inside the right panel. Once tightened it fixed the problem.

Bump for a good thread.  I as well am very happy with my machine.

I'll double that bump!

I have an Aurora, a M14X R1 and a M11X R1 and have only had one issue minor issue on the M14X.  It was only due to the new Optimus Technology and playing games.  It was an easy fix.  Other than that, all three machines are running great.  

Gaming is awesome on each.  I have played Crysis 2, The Witcher 2, Call of Duty Black Ops, Portal 2, Borderland, Dead Space 2, Dirt 3, Need For Speed Shift 2, Dragon Age 2 just to name a few and they all run great.  

I have an Aurora R1 (X-58) and a Dell 24" UltraSharp IPS LCD . I just paid it all off ... purchased on my Dell Preferred Account (12 months interest free).

I do a little of everything with it, including some pretty intense stuff and also core business activities. It has performed excellent for me. I am happy with my purchase.

had my aurora R3 since april, well over the moon,;)

ALIENWARE AURORA (R3)

INTEL CORE I7-2600 3.40GHZ,

8192MB (4X2GB) 1333MHZ DDR3

1TB(2X500GB) SERIAL ATA RAID

500GB(2x250GB)2.5" WD SERIAL ATA RAID

128GB C4 SSD non raid

BLU RAY drive

1 GB AMD RADEON HD 6870

875w PSU

Samsung SA950 3D monitor

OK, I'll bite. I read the good and bad here about the Aurora R3 and went back to check the Area-51 systems because I wanted the larger space it offers to move air and help cool, not to mention expansion. Well, the drawback was it didn't have the 2nd Gen 2600k so I checked here, You Tube, independent reviewers ect and decided to take the leap of faith. I will say, I guess I do have an edge because I've been working/building PCs for 35-30 years or so (since DOS 2.0) so working with them is not new to me.

I placed the order and received the system about 7-10 days later and I've had it for 5 days now. I like the layout inside, it's easy to get to the places one usually needs to for changes and additions (drives, cards etc) but I just hope I never have to do something with the MoBo, I'd rather change a starter in a Ford Pinto or distributor in a Chevette then get to that, it's ok for me though. I read about the heating up and freezing and that's nothing new when you have hardware like this in a small space (and/or) overclock it (more) heat happens. I did a couple things to help reduce heat in mine, it's not normal stuff but then, neither am I. The two main things I did are this:

1. I bought a small external mobile fan (4" Thermaltake) that plugs into a USB port and it sits on top pulling heat out of the holes there.

2. I bought a flat low profile laptop USB cooling fan (you know the type) and set the R3 on top of it, it sucks cool air in and cools the bottom.

Does it work, you bet, (for me anyways) when there's no load on the system I saw the temp fall 5-10 degrees F, I'm the only one that uses this so I'm not worried about someone saying it looks silly. (but for what I paid I wouldn't care anyways)

I received most of the software I needed if/when I do a rebuild so that's good but I did have to install X-Fi software correctly for the way I need it. I do not like the fact that I paid hundreds for MS Office Pro and did not get the CD/DVDs, even if I can d/l the trial and re-install the full version, I like to keep things handy. I have Office 2007 Pro and now I'm wondering if I should have just used that, oh well.

Overall, so far, I like it and I've had no problems other then learning Win 7 after so many years with XP Pro. I think if it stays cool  and a person don't go crazy with overclocking and they stop getting that virus laden garbage from those TORRENT places they should be ok. I got a 2 year (or was it 3) warranty (or whatever) with mine. I run the performance test that's in Win 7 and in order it shows: 7.7, 7.9, 7.9, 7.9, 5.9 (HD is 5.9). Not sure if I can take the numbers to a bar and buy a beer but they look purty.

This is what I have in mine:

ALIENWARE AURORA (R3)

Windows 7 Ultimate

INTEL CORE I7-2600K oc to 4.1GHZ by Dell

8 Gb 1866MHZ DDR3 Memory

1TB WD SERIAL ATA HD

PLDS DVD+-RW DH-24ABS

PLDS DVDRWBD DH-12E3S

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 590 1.5Gb

875w PSU

I've had the Matrox TripleHead2Go Digital system for a few years now so I still use that and run 3 22" Viewsonic monitors side by side by side so it's like 66" total. Yes, Flight Sim X looks fantastic as do racing games, the 3 screens are like driving a VW all your life and then buying a Bently, very sweet.

I'm going to do some checking but I guess this card will do 3 monitors also, I want to find out if that creates more heat though, with the Matrox I just hand off the 3 screens to one port.

I have a video of my 3 screens on YT but you may have to dig because I put it up there 2 or 3 years ago, should be under the same name I use here.

So that's what I got, if you hear someone scream and it sounds like their a thousand miles away, it may be me, but only if this system dies..... Excuse any Typos.......

I love my R3, had it since April and have had no problems, best computer ive ever had!

I've had my R3 since April. I use it for gaming and internet on wireless. Yeah I mean it does crash to a black screen after I exit my game but I just do a hard shut down and restart so no big deal.  does it only about once a day. No biggie.  The wireless gets hung up a lot but I don't mind. I really like this machine.

Rereading my post it doesn't sound right.  I do like this machine and with these advanced components I don't think it's reasonable to not expect some little glitches.  It never crashes in the middle of a program and the wireless card is fine.  With a desktop system you don;t  really expect a great wireless card.  

I've built machines a lot in the past with great success, but this time around I decided to spoil myself and go for an Alienware.  I've had my Area-51 ALX for a little over a year now and have been nothing but happy with it.  There is a certain degree of customization that I simply cannot do myself, like the case lighting with custom software, the motorized cooling system in the roof, and of course the customized BIOS.

Would I build more machines again?  Certainly--I simply love to build systems.  Do I regret buying an Alienware?  Not one bit.  No, not one bit at all.  I love everything about it and couldn't be happier.