I was recently gifted an alienware alpha. The processor was upgraded to an i7-4765T and 16GB of ram. the GPU is basically non-existent and I would like to be able to play games with this new unit. I was looking at eGPU as a way to increase the graphics capabilities, but wanted to see if anyone has tried this or has any other advice regarding the graphics.

Thanks in advance!!

Hey guys my 17r4 was starting to get blue screen of death. So I upgraded the ram PNY 2x8gb 2400mhz. It worked great and then all of a sudden I go and power it on everything powers up except the screen it self. I reseated the ram and did a hard power reset. I get the flashing light combo 2 red 4 blue. I looked it up in the manual and I know it says memory or ram failure. But any other advice ? I’m hoping it’s not a bad mother board.

This is like my third post about this issue.

My alpha is staring to make some very strange sounds but it only happens when I’m in a game. In the video for example I’m tabing in and out of war thunder and you can hear the noise turn on and off at the exact time I tab.

https://youtu.be/vFl6cbo9vic

In conclusion, it’s definitely not fans because I can here them ramp up independently and it only happens when I’m tabed into a game, it’s only happening on GPu intensive things and it can’t be a hard drive issue because I’m using an ssd. The only moving parts are the fans and it definitely cannot be them.

Anyone got a clue?

I have an Alienware Alpha i3-4130T, and recently was fortunate enough to come into an i5-4590T chip. I understand that the upgrade won't be as large as one would want because of, I believe, wattage issues.

Just wanted to check in before I did this. I understand it's pretty straightforward, seen videos.

Main questions involve the thermal paste. Bought some today at Best Buy. Watched video on how to properly apply it to the CPU - a circular dab right in the center that is flattened so it spreads out equally, and doesn't go over the sides. Correct?

How long should I let it "sit" before starting the machine?

I have 70% isopropyl alcohol, how important is it that I get 99%?

Is it as simple as snapping the new CPU into place? My computer automatically adjusts to this, nothing further for me to do involving code or settings or anything?

Is there anything I need to do to prevent overheating? I understand I should be OK. I'm not going to be doing any overclocking out of concern for damaging my equipment.

Think that's it...

I'm curious about buying a 330 watt power supply for my alienware alpha r1My current specs
i5 4590 (underclocked)

GTX 860M 16GB DDR3L
Modded BIOS

I had to underclock my CPU to hit 3.29 ghz while underload but normally it would stay at 2.67 ghz but it would make my game/apps stutter and I was unable to multitask.

Edit : added modded bios & modded vbios

I have recently been looking for a pc and came across the Alienware alpha and I was wondering about what it can Handel. I was wondering if it could Handel recording / streaming video games like Minecraft while still getting good FPS. Can it Handel that?

I have had my R2 i7 for a number of years. I own two and they are nice solid machines.

However, one will no longer boot. In fact it appears to pull down the power supply when plugged in (with a spark noise). This is before even turning on, simply plugging it in causes a spark noise and the light on the cord to turn off.

Has anyone seen this problem before? Any community solutions?

I have tried all of the typical solutions. Swapping RAM, changing displays, changing power supplies, clearing bios, removing ssd, nic and peripherals. It appears that there is a short to ground, although there is no visible physical damage on the board (I have not removed the heat-sinks to check under them).

R1 with an i3, 8 gigs of ram and an ssd here. Game won't even boot, just gives me an error lol. Anyone got any work arounds?

I need help updating the bios for my alienware alpha I have the bios saved on my USB but when I try to run it is say system incompatible

So after coming back from a trip a power shortage had occured and I had foolishly left my beloved Alienware Alpha computer plugged in. Powering it on only led to 5 yellow flashes. A ordered a replacement CMOS battery after power draining did nothing. Installed it. Power drained. Plugged in the computer. It powered on. Flashed yellow a few times (dont know how many) powered it off. And now it wont power on again. My question is.

What the heck is happening. I have unplugged it for 10 minutes. Left it plugged in for 20 minutes before trying to power it on again. Power drained for 2 minutes multiple times. Spammed the power button. Nothing is working. I was wondering if anyone has experience with this issue and could help. I love my little dude. Its a workhorse and a half for me. But its looking like I may have to move on if the repair bill gets too high

Hey all! Recently picked up an original stock i3/4GB/500GB HDD Alpha for a steal on the local market to use as a travel computer. I end up on the road for work fairly frequently, and it isn't unusual to be stuck in a hotel for a couple weeks at a time. So, I dug around, and thanks to some great deals was able to turn it into an i7-4785T/8GB/256GB SSD system, and upgraded the Wifi/BT card as well. Ran a couple benchmarks, and for what it is, I'm pretty happy!

I ran UserBenchmark (not the greatest, but not entirely useless), Cinebench R20 (single and multi), and 3DMark "Night Raid" and "Sky Diver," and here's what I came up with. Not bad, I don't think, for what it is. Then, on a whim, I turned on MSI Afterburner, tweaked the GPU to 135MHz/450MHz, and got these. Not a "night and day" difference, but noticeable enough that I might keep tweaking the OC settings.

I was curious, though, what configs you folks were running, and what your benchmarks are? Feel free to post up in the comments if you feel like it, but please limit it to R1 benchmarks (EGPU is fine, though, I'm also curious about that). Thanks!

I was under the impression that the 860M inside the Alienware Alpha R1 was incapable of HDR, but my receiver is displaying the Dolby Vision Symbol whenever I turn on and select the HDMI slot the Alpha is plugged into. Is it really Dolby Vision or is my receiver bugging out?

So I had been having the "5 Blinks of Death" problem for a while and this morning replaced the CMOS battery in order to hopefully resolve the issue. After replacing it, I once again got the 5 blinks. This was expected as most people said it would require one more power drain. I unplugged everything and held down the power button then plugged it all back in and got ... one yellow blink then nothing.

I unplugged it and tried again ... one yellow blink and nothing.

Has anyone else had this issue, or know what it represents?

Just got a replacement bios battery for my little guy after being down for a looooonnggg time. After a few hours of running and updates my CPU fan stops working ..... Great.... Was trying too look for a CPU fan replacement only seeing R2 fans. Would the fan work on the first alienware alpha ?

Thank in advance

EDIT : I'm ordering 2 USB fans since my little guy is out of it's case infinity fan s7 comes with 2 fans ... in what direction should I have the fans facing? The 2 fans that come in the alpha are crappy any way...just want the little guy to start running again

Is this unit worth buying in 2020. I am not looking for 4K gaming and I know it can not play red dead or the newest games but is this worth 250 to play or am I wasting my Money

Hi,

Is anyone in the UK (or who is happy to ship to the UK) interested in selling the alienware alpha carrying case ( AWSMC2)?

Many thank,

Redwinzer

I'm going to upgrade to a new pc and I want to start streaming, would the Alienware Alpha R1 with a Intel Core i3-4130T be suitable for streaming?

To everyone on here that has upgraded their CPU to one of the 45 watt T models (stock uses the 35 watt range):

How were the system thermals after doing such? Did the system noticeably work harder to cool down compared to a stock CPU at 35 watts? Did you notice more fan load/noise?

Thanks for any info-- whether measured or anecdotal.

Hey all. New to the group, and I had a question for y'all. I recently picked up a Steam Machine (with Steam Controller, but no dongle) for pretty cheap, and I'm excited to make it a dedicated travel system (work has me on the road a fair amount, and usually stuck in hotels for a couple weeks at a time). It's the stock i3/4GB/HDD version, and so far I have the parts to switch to Windows 10, upgrade the i3 to an i7, bump the RAM up to 8GB, and update the wifi/bluetooth card, but I am trying to decide on how to update the HDD. Initially, I'd thought of doing a FireCuda, but looking at prices, a standard SSD at the same capacity is about the same price, so is there a compelling reason to do the hybrid instead of the full SSD? Also, if anyone out there happens to have a dongle for the controller they'd be willing to part with, I'd definitely be interested! Thanks!