Alienware 17R4 7820 and gtx 1080 - GPU dropping to zero

[IainT2066]

Have had this for just over 2 years and problems just after the 1 year warranty expired. I have consulted with Dell who advised its most likely a motherboard replacement required which will cost almost what I paid for the machine. They based this on the HW info report showing that the GPU dropped to zero for short intervals while playing fairly non intense games. They offered 15% off a new purchase or I could pay £40 for it to be sent away to be checked.
I have paid £40 for it to be sent for a check and will wait and see what the outcome is.
I am very disappointed with my Alienware experience and that the machine broke within 14 months of buying when I hoped it was future proofing and would be around a while. Any advice on what I might be able to negotiate with Dell in terms of resolving an out of warranty issue. Do they bend at all?
Thank you and any reponse much appreciated

 

[MattyB]

Yeah that really sucks. If it's over 2 years now then you probably won't have much chance of getting them to help. I have had really good experiences with them previously and they did some out of warranty repairs for me once for free. It was a long time a go on an M18x R2 I bought from the Outlet store. They replaced the motherboard after my 12 month warranty expired (I blew the mobo replacing the GPU's). I had a really good relationship with their service dept at the time though as I had bought a number of machines around the same time (new and used).
I'd keep onto them and let them know that you won't buy another machine after this experience. It probably won't work but it's worth a try.
Since they started soldering all the hardware to the motherboards I stopped buying their machines. Your issue is pretty much the reason. If your CPU or GPU dies then you need a new motherboard. It's ridiculous and now they are soldering RAM on the new M's which makes it even worse.
They can bend. I think it helps to be as friendly as possible with them rather than angry. As hard as it can be, I find it usually gets better results.

 

[IainT2066]

Thank you for your insights into this. I certainly won't be buying an Alienware again after this experience. Laptops are so handy compared to desktops and I would much prefer a laptop but the answer may be looking into a desktop for future cost effectiveness.

 

[IainT2066]

An update on my query and its a surprising outcome. Sent the laptop to Dell repairs which appears to be in Poland. It was away for a couple of weeks with no feedback. However it was returned last week and the brief note of the work completed indicated they replaced the motherboard. So far so good. I am keeping an eye on temps, etc and its all running smoothly. Overall I am very pleased as it appears they have done an out of warranty repair and the cost was their standard fee of £160 plus the original £40 for having it checked. The motherboard could have cost over £1000. I can only assume due to the problems many other Alienware 17R4 GTX 1080 customers have had they felt compelled to do the right thing!! Fingers crossed it lasts another year or two.​

 

[MattyB]

Awesome. Like I said before, I have had good experiences with them and they can make exceptions with out of warranty repairs.
Unfortunately electronics do fail but it's how the company deals with it which is important.