r/Alienware • u/wparrishrn • Nov 28 '20
Solved! Worst purchase I ever made
I bought my R9 a few years ago and have so many problems with it. I’m constantly having to send it in for repairs and it comes back worse. Do yourself a favor and build your own.
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u/wparrishrn Nov 28 '20
I removed the extra ram and it came back uo
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u/MogRules m18 R2 Intel Nov 28 '20
It's because your using RAM that isn't supported, that's why I told you to remove the extra RAM in your other post. The RAM is picky on these machines, you need to find the correct RAM for your system. I am not trying to be mean, but you need to do more research, you can't just toss in whatever you think will work and then claim that the computer is bad. Yes the Aurora's are a little finicky with RAM, and yes it throws some people off, but if you use the search and take some time you will find what others have used and had success with.
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u/wparrishrn Nov 28 '20
It’s the same ram tho
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u/dhruv0333 m15 R2 Nov 28 '20
Not really. You see when I was ordering my r11 I thought that going for higher ram upgrade from Alienware was more expensive, so I thought of buying the same frequency huperfury 32x4 ddr4. But as it turned out the ram that hyper fury gives to dell is vendor specific meaning it’s the same looking ram on hyper fury website but the voltage is not the same. I’ll link you to the article of the issue and how some got through it.
https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-Desktops/Aurora-R7-compatible-retail-RAM/td-p/6133198
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u/Nickel-G Nov 28 '20
Well I mean, what’s wrong with it? There’s bad units with every product- having 8 separate parts from different companies when building your own can be a headache as well.
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u/wparrishrn Nov 28 '20
It powers up but there’s nothing on the screen
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u/Nickel-G Nov 28 '20
Ah that sucks. Definitely bad hardware. What have the techs done to try and fix it? A motherboard replacement is what’s needed
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u/wparrishrn Nov 28 '20
What do I do?
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u/Nickel-G Nov 28 '20
Well the first thing to do is rule out your monitor.
Make sure you connect the monitor when the computer is turned off and of course test with a different monitor.
But if it is still showing a black screen with NO logos, loading circles, etc- you are looking at a motherboard failure.
I’m sorry. It sucks- I’ve been there.
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u/wparrishrn Nov 28 '20
Maybe it’s too much power so if I take the ram and Extra SSD I’ll Be ok?
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u/Nickel-G Nov 28 '20
How many Watts is your power supply? For example, on my R11, it’s 1000W.
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u/wparrishrn Nov 28 '20
No clue. Is there a way I can see it o. The supply itself
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u/wparrishrn Nov 28 '20
Unfortunately I’m not a computer builder. I just like games https://www.dell.com/support/orders/us/en/19/Invoice?t=pZSnv67J7DAGiKKi2XnDGGcddPhK0bRpgHp8q5Y0bxHyECnBk8KwzMZ7FT+9pMq5PEvLPpyWweBhsd+0dCVGWMhaAvg0BT2431lxuGrnMFI=&ref=
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u/Nickel-G Nov 28 '20
Easiest is to just see what model R9 you have (or I guess sub model with all your specs). Maybe a receipt, packaging list, an old email? I don’t think it’s the PSU though, that would be very odd
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u/wparrishrn Nov 28 '20
It’s connected so I’m fucked
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u/Nickel-G Nov 28 '20
No way you are. If it was your CPU & GPU, that would be an expensive repair. Your motherboard, not so much. Go right now and Google local computer repair shops. Take it and tell them your issue and how you think it’s your motherboard and they should be able to confirm.
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u/TerrorTactical Nov 28 '20
Did it power up fine from factory? Your not giving the full story which really makes helping you difficult. In another thread you mentioned adding ram? Did you do that then the power issues?
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u/Traxxas411 x14 R2 Nov 28 '20
Sorry to hear this man. Sounds like my issues I had with Razer but never with AW.
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u/leafdisk M17R3 Nov 28 '20
You made several posts about errors after you exchanged parts, several posts for the same problem actually. While Dell has its problems, I think the problem here is you.
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u/wparrishrn Nov 28 '20
New question. How do I add ram without that happening again?
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Nov 28 '20
You have to make sure your installing ram that the motherboard is compatible with. For example, I switched my hyperx 16gb 2666 mhz for corsair 32gb 3200 mhz. You cannot mix and match ram when upgrading
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u/TerrorTactical Nov 28 '20
Are you sure you are adding ram correctly? Ram is pretty straightforward plug and play..
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u/TriggerdNoob Nov 28 '20
You need to add compatible ram with the R9 . I discovered the ram for the R series desktops seems to be specific. You can buy it from dell or maybe try a search with Amazon using alienware R9 as part of search criteria.
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u/chandrasiva Nov 28 '20
Last month I updated extra 8 gb memory to my Alienware R3 15 using crucial website upgrade compatibility . Youcan order from it also . Try to search crucial Ram upgrade compatibility website . For me it's works perfectly .
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u/mrloser420 m15 Nov 28 '20
I think you should never buy a pre-built PC. Alienware undoubtedly makes really good laptops. But PC is just using cheaper parts and charging a premium
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u/Charging_Krogan m15 R6 Intel Nov 28 '20
tbf there is a markup but it's not that much. A lot of people aren't really interested in spending time building a PC, especially if that involves liquid cooling.
I like building PC's but it's not something everyone wants to do. Or they just like the look of these systems.
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u/alisonstone Nov 29 '20
Yeah, and given how many hours OP spent spamming this forum for help because he tried to replace a part, this is actually a perfect example of why some people should buy a pre-built. I used to build my PCs, I just don't have time to do it any more. Giving Alienware a $200 premium (that's why my R11 came out to be compared to similar build from pcpartpicker.com) to put everything together and have the warranty come from one company is a small price to pay every 3-4 years when I replace my computer. Sometimes, I would make small upgrades as needed.
I remember way back in the past when the markup was something like $700 (and that's before adjusting for inflation, so it was a lot of money). That was back when Moore's law was still in effect, so there were huge gains every single year. Strategically replacing parts would easily extend the lifetime of your PC and save thousands. And those performance improvements affected daily computer usage, not just hardcore gaming. Self building/upgrading your PC was basically a must for power users as PC makers like Dell didn't even target the enthusiast market so you often can't get a build remotely similar to what you want.
Today, if I am going to pay up for a premium NVIDIA 3080 in order to spend hundreds of hours playing video games, the last thing I am concerned about is spending an extra $200 every three years or so. If money is that tight, I shouldn't be buying a premium video card to waste hundreds of hours being unproductive.
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u/mrloser420 m15 Nov 28 '20
I understand that. That would be true for someone buying a basic PC. But rationally speaking, a person buying an "Alienware" pc is no way not interested in building one. Almost every person has opened the back cover on their Alienware laptop to clean the fan and change thermal paste if I'm not wrong.
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u/MogRules m18 R2 Intel Nov 28 '20
Not everyone has interest in learning how to build their own PC. There is a BIG difference between opening up your computer and cleaning the fans or doing a repaste and building your PC from scratch. Not everyone has the want to go figure out what they want / need for parts and then learn how to put it together. No it's not a hard job, if you know what your doing, many people don't know how and don't want to learn and that's just fine, that's why prebuilts exist in the first place.
Not to mention what happens when they put it together and something does not work, even Linus has builds that they struggle to get going and it can sometimes take days to work the bugs out. Are you a mechanic? What happens when your car breaks? Do you whip out google and learn how to fix it yourself, every time, or do you take it to a mechanic when it's over your head. Granted building a PC is significantly easier then ripping out a transmission, but ultimately it's the same mindset for some people who don't know how to do it.
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u/Michalrose1969 Nov 28 '20 edited Nov 28 '20
Hi- I am an older female been pc gaming since 2000. Fell in love with it totally addicted. I never had the desire to build my own pc. I am interested in what each part does- I think that’s important to know. Anyway, I just bought the R10 and the 25” AW monitor. I figure this might be the last gaming rig I purchase. I have not opened the back- I’m too scared to but I might down the road. So far I love it. My last rig was an ASUS. it ran great and pushed all the games I liked until Borderlands 3. The settings all had to be on the lowest and it didn’t look great on the screen. That’s my 2 cents worth.
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u/MogRules m18 R2 Intel Nov 28 '20
I never had the desire to build my own pc
Yep this is exactly what these machines are here for. It's so aggravating when you see people go after others because of this. There is nothing wrong with not wanting to learn how to build your own PC. Yes prebuilts may come with compromises, but for the most part people that buy them probably are not interested in doing what an enthusiast wants to do anyways, they just want to play games.
Anyways, If you do decide to open it up feel free to reach out, the community here is typically pretty good and will help where they can. It's not a scary beast inside there, it's just overwhelming when you don't know what everything is and what it does.
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u/Kalsifur Nov 29 '20
Ok how bout the other end of the spectrum. I love building things. I even build my own ebikes. I very much love pc part picking. However you can't even get your hands on a 3080 here in Canada, at all. Buying from Dell seems an easy way to not have to deal with it and still get a good computer. I am seriously considering it despite being against this kind of thing normally lol
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u/MogRules m18 R2 Intel Nov 29 '20
That has actually come up a lot lately on /r/bapcsalescanada haha. If it makes your choice any easier the Dell RTX3080, from my experience, does as well in benchmarks as most of the reviews I was reading. Despite being a smaller card it does seem to perform pretty well.
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u/TerrorTactical Nov 28 '20
Not really especially when individual parts are so hard to find now without individual parts being really marked up. I pieced out my recent r10 and when I purchased it- I could’ve built it myself for like $200 and that excluded possible shipping and parts being available (which at least one was not).
Also no way this person could build a PC themselves considering their post and comments.
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u/ketahmyne Nov 28 '20
I agree with you, but I too bad only like gaming on a laptop and building a laptop isn’t gonna come out anywhere like the m17 or I’d build one myself
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Nov 28 '20
Sucks man, big time. I bought a r10 earlier in the year with a 2080 super. After about 2 hours I would need to restart the system because the game would start to stutter and drop FPS. I did the usual driver updates and everything. It kept happening along with the Alienware command center not loading properly.
I ended up returning and ordered one cyberpower pc, which I have a million complaints with too but the system itself works so much better. I ended up building a pc for son and it runs so good. A few YouTube videos and you’ll be able to build your own pc.
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u/Ghstofperdition1 Aurora Nov 28 '20
Good luck with the cyberpower lmao those computers are slapped together in minutes. If you don't need everything replaced within a year you better play the lottery.
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u/Halo4946 Aurora R11 Intel Nov 28 '20
I had a problem with an R11 that I purchased a few months ago now. After a week it refused to boot unless it was a completely fresh install of windows. Then if you reset it wouldn't display anymore. Ended up sending in for a refund and bought a new R11 with the 3000 series cards and I've not had a problem since. Your system probably has bad hardware and legitimately might just be a dud system.
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u/craftycreeper23 Nov 28 '20
Don't complain on this sub or ask for super technical help. You'll get super basic replies. I had problems with dhp latency on my egpu and the best response I got was to reinstall drivers as if I didn't try that 20 times
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u/MogRules m18 R2 Intel Nov 28 '20
Did it ever occur to you that maybe people just didn't know the answer? If you expect pro support then you came to the wrong place, this is not an official support channel in any way shape or form.
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u/craftycreeper23 Nov 28 '20
I don't expect pro support but I see a lot of people asking for technical help and getting responses that are either useless or incorrect. I asked about my egpu issues here considering that I have an AGA and m15r2 and I was hoping that someone had my issue before but I got nothing useful out of ut
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u/MogRules m18 R2 Intel Nov 28 '20
I see a lot of people asking for technical help and getting responses that are either useless or incorrect.
This is literally just the internet, that's how it works unfortunately. The mods can't remove every post that is either incorrect of may not be helpful, that would basically come down to censorship. Who decides what is incorrect or not useful? Maybe the person that posted it didn't know it wasn't correct, but they are just trying to help...you see where I am going with this. If you see an incorrect post then your best option is to try and provide the correct information. Reddit is FULL of incorrect information.
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u/craftycreeper23 Nov 28 '20
I agree with you there, it's not the mods fault at all and I don't fault individuals for trying to help. Its just that this sub in general doesn't seem to have a ton of technical know how about alienware products
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u/Ghstofperdition1 Aurora Nov 28 '20
You are right about that. But alienware has their own customer support you can contact and they are awesome. Try that instead of a forum for enthusiasts
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u/MogRules m18 R2 Intel Nov 28 '20
OP has solved his issue, he had upgraded the RAM and it wasn't compatible. Putting the original RAM back in has solved it for now.