Hi, I'm looking for a mod/admin who knows EXACTLY what CPUs i can put in my alienware x51 r2. I currently have an i3-4130 with the 240w power brick. I upgraded my gpu from a gtx 645 to a gtx 1050 ti, but now am being CPU bottlenecked quite hard in games like, Just cause 3, Planetside 2, etc. I know this list will only grow as time goes on and games get more demanding so I'd like to upgrade, but I don't have enough money to risk buying the wrong thing, or damaging my motherboard with an incompatible processor. If there are any alienware employees/mods/what have you, who see this, I would really like to know EXACTLY which CPU's are compatible with this system. Thank you for your time.
This is a user to user forum monitored by Dell. Users try to answer questions about problems. You need to research this yourself for all the pros and cons. There is an Alienware Owners forum that might help.
Upgrade your PSU to install a better video card or run the one you installed. Yours is too small to run the card you installed and is causing the slowdown. It requires a psu with a minimum of 300w. That would be a better option than changing your CPU.
Thank you very much, and I am sorry for the tone, I did not realize this was only a user forum, I thought it was dell operated. My mistake. Perhaps a little late to ask this, but would a i5 4690 be compatible as well, or is there some reason I'm unaware of that it wouldn't? I have been told a bad CPU can fry your entire PC, and I couldn't even DREAM of replacing the whole pc, so this question is very important to me.
would a i5 4690 be compatible as well? No. Alienware-Eimy listed the Dell tested/validated CPU for the five year old X51-R2 which did not include the i5-4690 CPU.
Check your bios version, f2 on boot, or type "msinfo32" in the bottom left corner and under system summary find your current bios version. If you are at A06 or greater (e.g. A08, A09, etc) you are good.
Mary G
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Posted August 1st, 2018 09:00
This is a user to user forum monitored by Dell. Users try to answer questions about problems. You need to research this yourself for all the pros and cons. There is an Alienware Owners forum that might help.
https://www.alienowners.com/threads/x51-r2-cpu-upgrade-help.6910/
Upgrade your PSU to install a better video card or run the one you installed. Yours is too small to run the card you installed and is causing the slowdown. It requires a psu with a minimum of 300w. That would be a better option than changing your CPU.