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July 1st, 2012 08:00

upgrading the graphics card of my Alienware Aurora ALX

Hello all,

 

Not sure if this is the right area to be posting - first time really.

 

About 3 years ago I bought an Alienware Aurora ALX.

It has a 850 watt power supply unit.

It currently has a 2GB ATI Radeon HD 5970 video card, which I feel is probably now quite dated as my computer is starting to struggle with newer games.

 

I want to upgrade to the best card I can get to fit both within the case and within the PSU's capability - not sure if you can upgrade to a 1000w psu with the Alienware setups??

 

Also considering upgrading the RAM -I have 6 x 2gb DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz Memory.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

2.4K Posts

July 1st, 2012 08:00

Grab yourself a Nvidia GTX 680. Best card out ATM or a GTX 670 which is almost as good but $100 less. Ether will max out any game you can think of. Your PSU is fine and could even run two GTX 670s if you wanted to go that route.

Don't touch the memory. You will not see any performance from doing so.

8 Wizard

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17K Posts

July 1st, 2012 14:00

I suggest the best (SINGLE) AMD 7xxx card you can afford. I recommend XFX brand (lifetime warranty). The Aurora 850w will run any available (again, single card solution).

[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl-yYuCxduY]

en.community.dell.com/.../20107862.aspx

I'm guessing you have 6gb 1333 Tri-Channel. Like Morblore said ... it should be fine for gaming. Be aware that these Dell/OEM boards are very sensitive to RAM upgrades (brand, speed, size, etc ... you name it). If it's working, I wouldn't mess with it.

835 Posts

July 2nd, 2012 12:00

Hi all,

The power supply unit on this system is 875W, which is good enough for basically any graphics card in the market. If you are looking for upgrades that will improve the performance on your system, I would recommend the graphics card and upgrade at least one of the Hard Drives (if you have more than one) to a Solid State Drive.

Morblore is right about the RAM, no need to upgrade it, at least not yet.

Send an e-mail to AWupgrades@Dell.com with your service tag and details (name, phone number, best time to reach you) and we will get back to you to help you out with the best upgrades available for your system.

Thank you.

2.4K Posts

July 2nd, 2012 14:00

I just went 3-way SLI with my Area 51 today. These cards are fast, cool and are very power efficient.

 

6371.IMAG0124.jpg

 

3 Posts

July 7th, 2012 21:00

Thanks everyone. New card ordered. RAM being left alone. Cheers!!!

12 Posts

September 6th, 2012 05:00

Great 3 way SLI.  I am still lost as to what SLI does as most of the games I am playing do not support it.  So basically I believe I've got a card that is not being used.  My current games are WoW, Rift, Lotro, GW2 and Diablo.  I do not feel that I am getting the best possible experienence from my ALX.  What am I missing or what don't I understand.  My rig has 2 GTX 240s which are supposed to be SLI enabled.  Did I get ripped off?!?!?!?!?  Purchased system brand new from Dell/Alienware.

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