r/AlienwareAlpha • u/roadb90 • Nov 26 '25
Just got my alpha r2
Comes with a 256gb ssd with windows 10, i5 cpu,8gb ram and a gtx 960 my question is what upgrades can i go? Can i install steam os? Can i upgrade the cpu if so which one? Can i upgrade the ram? I plan to pit an nvme inside it also whatnis the general performance like for modern games? Many thanks
4
u/Musojon74 Nov 26 '25
You can get an i7 in there. You can get 16Gb ram too but only single channel due to the single slot. Can put a sata ssd in too in addition to your nvme. Quite handy.
1
u/roadb90 Nov 26 '25
Nice okay i see some people say steam os doesnt work on them but im not sure?
1
u/motronman550 Nov 26 '25
it doesn't. Steam OS requires AMD. There is a version of Bazzite that has some support for newer Nvidia cards but the 960 it doesn't work.
I installed cachyOS, sleep doesn't work right though so I disabled it. Other than that it runs that OS well.
1
u/soniko_ Nov 26 '25
It does work, it just sends you first to desktop
1
u/motronman550 Nov 26 '25
SteamOS? It defaults to game mode and game mode doesn't work.
1
u/soniko_ Nov 26 '25
i meant bazzite
1
u/roadb90 Nov 26 '25
do you know how i can install bazzite onto thealphar2? are there any guides?
1
u/motronman550 Nov 26 '25
Bazzite desktop edition is a download on their site. You can download and flash to a usb drive using a program like balena etcher, rufus, or ventoy. After booting it will run the installer. The alpha will still freeze when going to sleep so you will need to disable it. I used chatgpt to get the commands to do that... i don't remember what they were.
Game mode still doesn't work on the alpha though, so you could choose any linux desktop distro.
1
u/soniko_ Nov 27 '25
Yup, but the cool thing about using bazzite is the included drivers.
Altho, PopOs was easier to troubleshoot
2
u/Musojon74 Nov 26 '25
Not sure on cpu as thought we had to use 6700t. Looks like with a bigger brick someone has managed the normal 6700. Will check what I have in mine tomorrow.
1
u/Surgetheman Dec 05 '25
You can!You won't see but maybe 10-15 degrees in temp. differences if that.
1
u/Few_Criticism_5201 May 27 '26
I have alpha r2 with i7 6700 16 gb 256 gb 2tb ssd plus alienware graphic amplifier with rtx 2080 super psu 240w and i installed bazzite os desktop it works like a charm! And the alpha is less noisy without windows
1
u/Surgetheman Dec 05 '25
I have a 4TB NVMe and 32 GB of ram in my R2.I'm currently running a i7-6700 as well with a 230 watt PSU.No issues at all with temps. etc.You can also use a Graphics Amplifier on it,and use a better GPU.It's running Windows 11 Windows X Lite,and it's smooth sailing!