Upgrading from my Alienware X51...where to start??

[Bald and Beardy]

I bought the micro Alienware X51 when i came back from travelling as i did not have the cash to go full out and build my own PC, but wanted something powerful enough to get me started. Three years later, it has been great, I can play Witcher 3 on mid/low settings and many others but i now want to a more powerful machine so i can fully experience games in high graphics as they were made to be played!

I know most of the parts in my X51, but not all of them, so excuse my lack of knowledge. I love PC gaming, but building/modding a PC is new territory.

This is my current set up/what i know about my system:

Alienware X51: Standard Base
NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GTX 745 w ith 4GB DDR3
Power Cord - UK
240W AC Adaptor
1TB (64MB Cache) 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600M hz (2x4GB)
4th Generation Intel(R) Core(T M) i5-4460 processor (6MB Cach e, up to 3.4GHz)
BENQ Zowie RL2755 monitor
Razer blackwidow Counterlogic Gaming keyboard
Razer Mamba mouse

Im not sure on the motherboard inside, probably an Alienware own brand...

I have the NZXT S340 case ordered, and i know ill need a new power supply with about 550W, but after that not really sure what to start with next.

I do not want to fork out loads of cash straight away, im happy to buy parts each month to build this. Advice therefore needed on prioritizing parts...

 

[EsaT]

Indeed lots of stuff in that is likely proprietary so transplanting them to standard case might not work.
Surely at least they use some kind riser card for expansion card slots.

This autopsy of newer R3 version doesn't look good for transplanting.
https://hothardware.com/reviews/alienware-x51-r3-review?page=3
Expansion slot rise seems to use standard x16 slot, but that motherboard might be quite completely proprietary and incompatible with ATX case.

 

[Bald and Beardy]

I do realize that i may not be able to do a full swap from the X51 to a new case, however i want to move as much as i can to begin with, buy the missing pieces and then work up from there.

It may be that a new motherboard is the first thing i need to replace, and then onto memory or GPU from there - what do you think?

My biggest question on replacing parts is the GPU, im really not sure how much to spend or what to upgrade it to, there are so many options out there.

I guess the only way to find out is to start taking it apart and seeing what i can get into the NZXT when it arrives tomorrow. Fully committed to a rebuild so i'll do what i need to.

 

[EsaT]

Graphics cards might be one of the few standard parts in that...
But of course that's very low end without much of value anymore.

While definitely not so great at least that CPU is decent.
And 8GB memory can work for gaming if you don't keep much of stuff open in background.
Even if motherboard has standard mounting holes I doubt it has anything resembling standard power connectors.
Page 12 has ATX board dimensions, unfortunately only in inches, but at least it works for rough checking.
http://www.formfactors.org/developer\specs\atx2_2.PDF

 

[varkanoid]

yeah wait till you get the NZXT case then take it from there. Really you need to state a budget because if the motherboard isnt standard I dont see the point buying another motherboard for the i5 because if you end up upgrading the CPU then if you went to the latest CPU you would need another motherboard again. Haswell motherboards are getting less so you might have to go 2nd hand.

Four things definitely need changing, motherboard, GPU, RAM and PSU. If you have the cash I would just buy them now. However we can't advise without a budget.

 

[orbitalwalsh]

@Bald and Beardy

Example of quite high end
My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Asus ROG Strix Z270F - Intel Core i7-7700K CPU & Motherboard Bundle **£20 Saving**= £491.99
• 1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 Xtreme Premier Pack Edition 8192MB GDDR5X PCI-Express Graphics Card= £569.99
• 1 x Super Flower Platinum King 550W 80 Plus Platinum Power Supply - Black= £74.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-29200C18 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK8GX4M2B3600= £109.99

Total: £1,258.06
(includes shipping: £11.10)



​

and a good solid 1080p @ High settings 60fps+
With a lower price tag

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Gigabyte GA-AB350-Gaming 3 AMD B350 (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £101.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 Six Core 1600 3.60GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £199.99
• 1 x XFX XT Series 500W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply= £42.95
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK8GX4M2B3200= £85.99
• 1 x Gigabyte Aorus Radeon RX 580 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £259.99

Total: £702.01
(includes shipping: £11.10)



​

Just for reference , but a good starting point for a budget

 

[Bald and Beardy]

@orbitalwalsh

Thanks for the two options.

As much as i would like to go for the higher end option, i just bought a house so going to have to work up to a really high spec model. The prices of the components in the lower price basket is what i was looking at paying for each component, around those prices anyway.

@varkanoid I know im not making it easy without a budget, i guess because i had not thought about one yet. A budget, to replace the components you mentioned i would be willing to look at around £600.

I have the cash but there a lot of outgoings, hence my reluctance to just pay all at once. I know that i won't nessessairily see massive jumps in performance until all the components are upgraded, but in order of priority? PSU im getting tomorrow, then? Motherboard, RAM then GPU?

Really appreciate all this advice guys!

 

[Bald and Beardy]

When choosing a motherboard and GPU, what should i be looking form, are their specific factors or specifications that i should look to have? I know budget will restrict me here.

 

[ExoMale]

You could improve your Alienware with a gpu upgrade, the Haswell 4460 still a good quad for its age and being a locked processor, so if your getting a good/playable state in witcher 3 at low/medium then it be your graphics card holding you back, your computer is older than the game and it's advanced since witcher 1 & 2,

while a new build like suggested be better, you should check out what gpu options you have first, would be cheaper if there's something good to be upgraded to.


Edit: from a quick look depending if you have a 330w power supply unit or less I was readying a 760 like the better one maybe 960 for the lower powered and a 970 for the higher power version, The 760 or 960 be a very good idea improvement over the 745 you have and according to game debate your processor plus the 760 is like the middle man or close to recommended if not the actual recommending for that game and a 760 can be had cheap enough.

 

[Bald and Beardy]

So if i was to go for a new graphics card early on, any recommendations around £250-ish?

 

[mickyflinn]

Open up your x51 case and see if you can find the model number of the motherboard then we should be able to find the motherboard size.

 

[ExoMale]

from the spec you described then this is what you have? so if you have the standard 240w adapter h a 760ti can be had which be your best bet or if you happen to have the 330w adapter then a 960 can be hard.

http://www.dell.com/support/article...lienware-x51-r2-system-specifications?lang=EN

 

[varkanoid]

I still think you are wasting your time buying a new motherboard. Its going to give you zero benefit other than it will fit the case if the alienware doesnt fit. You have two choices either mini-ATX or ATX the former if you are not bother about expansion slots or features and want it to be small or the ATX (preferable). Either will not affect your budget as mini-atx is not necessarily cheaper than an ATX. Really you need to go second hand. If you ever decide to upgrade your CPU you are going to need to buy as well a new motherboard and DDR4 RAM too.

We can't really advise until you know whether the X51 motherboard will fit or not.

 

[ExoMale]

I still think you are wasting your time buying a new motherboard. Its going to give you zero benefit other than it will fit the case if the alienware doesnt fit. You have two choices either mini-ATX or ATX the former if you are not bother about expansion slots or features and want it to be small or the ATX (preferable). Either will not affect your budget as mini-atx is not necessarily cheaper than an ATX. Really you need to go second hand. If you ever decide to upgrade your CPU you are going to need to buy as well a new motherboard and DDR4 RAM too.

We can't really advise until you know whether the X51 motherboard will fit or not.

true that, but still to save all that hassle the op should just buy a 760 unless of course a 1050ti or an rx 570 will work as obviously the product link i posted will be outdated now, so doubt dell wouldve bothered to update the spec sheet and shouldnt see why they wouldnt going by the original options dell offered with the x51

 

[varkanoid]

true that, but still to save all that hassle the op should just buy a 760 unless of course a 1050ti or an rx 570 will work as obviously the product link i posted will be outdated now, so doubt dell wouldve bothered to update the spec sheet and shouldnt see why they wouldnt going by the original options dell offered with the x51

yeah but he is not keeping the X51 he is transplanting into the NZXT S340 so though you could add a 960 or the cut down 1050 to the existing case this is not really what the OP wanted to do.

 

[ExoMale]

yeah but he is not keeping the X51 he is transplanting into the NZXT S340 so though you could add a 960 or the cut down 1050 to the existing case this is not really what the OP wanted to do.

Fair enough then if that's his intentions, still better off with the 960 and upgrade to the K chip that was available in the x51, his system is still good.

Otherwise OP you need ryzen.

 

[Bald and Beardy]

After doing a bit of research i am almost there with my upgrade spec, but opinions would be good before i order.

NXZXT 330 case
MSI B350 GAMING PLUS AMD Socket AM4 Motherboard
Cooler Master G550M 550W Modular 80+ Bronze PSU
MSI Nvidea GTX 980

With the graphics card, there are 'used' ones available for half the regular price. Is it too risky going for used, or a great deal and worth snatching up?

**edited to remove links to other sites

 

[David Bisset]

That motherboard won't work with your current CPU, did you link the wrong one or are you swapping to a Ryzen CPU too?

Also, just to warn you while you can purchase the items from anywhere you like you can't link to other online shops from these forums. Generally find the same item on OCUK or manufacturers site for discussion of the appropriateness of the items, and if you want a 'decent price?' kinda thing then just stick how much it would cost next to it in text, not saying where from.

 

[Bald and Beardy]

@David Bisset

I did not realize about the links, i have edited that now, thanks for the heads up.

And yes i put the wrong link in, the motherboard i am looking at is from MSI.

Is buying a 'used', refurbished or repackaged video card acceptable, or is that too risky; item has been used a lot or damaged?

 

[EsaT]

Cooler Master G550M 550W Modular 80+ Bronze PSU

Not that much of good things in that.
Capacitors are basically third/fourth tier stuff.
Which is one of the reasons why PSU recommendations of graphics cards are what they are.