Alienware upgrade

Harveywoo · 16 Dec 2011 at 21:10

Hi guys I currently have a 2011 Alienware aurora and have realised the error in my ways an I am building a new rig and recycling some of the components namely my processor (i7-2600k) i am thinking of buying the asus sabertooth p67 mobo also i will be using 1600mhz corsair vengence ram, i wondered if i need to buy a new OS or will my copy that came with my alienware work?? heard mixed feedback and wondered if anybody else had swapped an alienware mobo out??

Cheers in advance

Harveywoo

Orcvader · 16 Dec 2011 at 21:38

Any chance of the full spec list? Might be able to reuse the RAM and GPU as well. Can also reuse the ODD and definitely the HDD considering the current prices of HDDs.

Windows is locked to the Alienware motherboard, and if I remember correctly, it's a modified Dell version of it as well, so it won't work on other PCs. Hence you'll probably will need to rebuy Windows 7.

Looking on the Alienware page, the case can only fit mATX, so this will limit on what boards you can pick...

Harveywoo · 18 Dec 2011 at 18:40

Hey, i have decided to replace the case aswell and have gone for the nzxt phantom,
(ex alienware) intel i7-2600k cooled by antec kuhler h20 920
asus sabertooth p67 1155 mobo
OCZ ZX 850w gold certified PSU
16GB 16000mhz corsair vengence
(ex alienware) 600GB western digital velociraptor
60GB OCZ Agility 3 SSD (for my OS)
crossfired HD6970's
creative fatal1ty titanium champion series sound card
blu ray RW

any other reccomendations for my new rig would be appreciated!!!!

Also i have found out that the license that alienware use is OEM and will not work....damn them.....luckily work are sending me to college and i qualify to use software for students so i can get a copy at a decent price so all is not lost

lrlcr · 18 Dec 2011 at 18:48

What are you looking to do with this upgrade?

Harveywoo · 18 Dec 2011 at 18:56

just gaming primarily and a bit of CAD, I do want to install some custom watercooling at some point just cus it looks bad ass but i dont know if i will get round to it, oh and also watch blu rays on.
nothing else really!!!

lrlcr · 18 Dec 2011 at 19:09

TBH, it doesn't really sound like you need such an extensive upgrade!

Why not just bosh in a new gpu and overclock it a bit harder?

Harveywoo · 18 Dec 2011 at 21:42

I just want to have the best rig I can afford and take my first steps into custom water cooling at some point

Reaper 392 · 18 Dec 2011 at 21:46

if your doing CAD then you might benefit from Nvidia cards. i know some CAD programs can be sped up a lot with Nvidia CUDA, but i have no idea which ones

lrlcr · 18 Dec 2011 at 21:47

Fair enough, but get a z68 mobo and a better case than the phantom (it's a good case but there are certainly better ones out there)

Harveywoo · 18 Dec 2011 at 22:03

I think the phantom is one of the best looking cases on the market at the minute, I do have limited space for my case and most are too long but the phantom serves well on aesthetics and practicality :-)

much better than the Alienware

lrlcr · 19 Dec 2011 at 21:05

Harveywoo said:
custom water cooling at some point

Harveywoo said:
the phantom serves well on aesthetics and practicality

Lol, seriously. If you're considering watercooling just get a case that will support it properly. It's a massive ballache when you've bought a case and it wont fulfill your future requirements.