Previous Alienware owner, now back with a X51 R2!

[Ronan]

Hello forum,

I thought i would say hi, since i just pushed the button on a X51 last Friday (self 27th birthday present). So i'm rejoining the Alienware community! A little bit about my Alienware past:

Back around 2005 i purchased my first Alienware, a Aurora m7700. Fully loaded, spent a lot of money on it. It was a rough beginning, with 1 mobo burned, 1 CPU burned and 1 GPU burned, within 2 month of owning it (took a total of 3 month to get it fixed, plus shipping time, so basically the first 5 month i didn't really have a laptop after spending thousands). My first experience wasn't that great, and it took MONTHS to get it fixed and only after i had to personally contact the president of Alienware at the time did anything actually move forward! They ended up making it right, and i used that computer for around 4 years intensely.

Flash forward to 2009 where i sold the laptop after a lot of usage. I replaced it with a high-end MSI gaming laptop.

Let's move forward again, this time to last Friday where i ordered a X51 R2 after seeing positive review for the small console-size gaming desktop. The price was right, especially compared to the gaming laptops i was eyeing locally. The option of having it sit on my desk was a huge positive since Montreal is a very dusty city. Desktops on the floor require weekly internal vacuuming.

After a LONG chat with Dell/Alienware, i ended up with this:
Alienware X51 R2
i5-4440 turbo
R9 270 2GB GDDR5 (There was zero Nvidia options in Canada, i hope this is still a good card)
8GB RAM
1TB HDD
Windows 7
330 watt power supply
TactX Keyboard
Regular Mouse (i own a Razer mouse)
Complete 1 year warranty that i will upgrade in a few months.

All of that with our ridiculous 15% taxes for MUCH less than the gaming laptop i was thinking of getting. I already own a nice HD monitor and a huge Smart LED TV so i think i'm set.

Now i am just wondering what can i expect from the heat and noise of the X51? I heard one of the fans comes overclocked passed it's limit from Dell (6000 rpm vs the factory limit of 4800rpm)? Is that still the case with the second generation X51's?

What about heat? Will i be limited by it when gaming after a few hours and i need to let it cool off? Now i don't do much gaming at my age, but i still enjoy an hour here and there, and the occasional hours on some online game with my younger brother.

Lastly, is it a safe and stable system to leave on for the day? It's replacing a computer that's basically on when i get up and goes off when i go to bed.

Thank you for any input,

Ronan

 

[SWAT_Glock]

I got the X51 when it first came out. I absolutely love it. Luckily I had no issues with it. Fans will RPM up when I'm gaming but it's not bad enough that it bothers me. Heat has never been an issue with my X51.

Good luck with your X51 R2.

Tommy

PS: Thanks again for the donation to AWO.

 

[Ronan]

I got the X51 when it first came out. I absolutely love it. Luckily I had no issues with it. Fans will RPM up when I'm gaming but it's not bad enough that it bothers me. Heat has never been an issue with my X51.

Good luck with your X51 R2.

Tommy

PS: Thanks again for the donation to AWO.

Thanks and no problem

 

[MattyB]

I think they are great little machines. I never had many noise problems with mine. They will run a little hotter than most desktops due to the size and the space inside.
I think you'll love it. Fingers crossed you have a hassle free experience

 

[Ronan]

Will the X51 come already updated to the latest windows 7, bios, GPU drivers/versions?

Or is it a 'sometimes it is' kind of situation?

Thanks.

 

[STDVirus]

be careful with the 270x i think dell pushed them out without fully making them work right. I have a R1 that i've since upgraded with some parts my buddy liked mine so he got the 270x R2 and it didn't come with any drivers installed and he didn't know how so i took it home installed all that he needed, ran a test on a steam game called WarFrame. Installed Fraps so i could see his frame rate everything looked good. Next day he calls me all pissed off saying his frame rate was bad. I brought it home played for a few more min and saw what he was talking about he was getting around 20fps if he was lucky. Though maybe bad drivers? but everything checked out. Installed a few more programs that i had on mine for monitoring since mine is extremely over clocked. Come to find out his fans in his machine wouldn't adjust fan speed with his temp of his GPU. So within a few min of playing a game his GPU was hitting 104 deg. I had to install a program i used called SpeedFan 4.49 to adjust the fan speeds as temps went up during game play. Now it stays around 70-75 deg during a heavy load. He was lucky he didn't burn up his GPU. Not trying to scare you and his might of been a isolated incident. But i haven't seen one case where someone got the R2 with the 270x and it just worked out of the box. If you have any problems i'm sure someone on the forum will help you work through it. Dell support IMO kinda sucks.

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Oh and welcome back

 

[struman1]

I have the R2 with WIN8 and the GTX 760 ti. It runs like a beast. I was a WIN7 dude but have been converted. I play alot of FPS downloaded from Steam, and they seem to run faster on WIN8. I could leave my R2 on all night without issue but shutdown/start-up is so fast on this PC why leave it on when not using it. When not playing games it makes no noise and you really can't tell that it's on except for the case lighting. I have played BF4 on Ultra and the fans are just a whisper and the case is just warm to the touch. Cooling seems to be more efficient when it's layed flat than upright. I have only had 1 issue and it was from a corrupt disk protection driver (Star Force) from a old game. I used the Win 8 refresh option and it took the PC back to the factory settings and all was well again. The Win 8 refresh option is awesome

 

[Ronan]

be careful with the 270x i think dell pushed them out without fully making them work right. I have a R1 that i've since upgraded with some parts my buddy liked mine so he got the 270x R2 and it didn't come with any drivers installed and he didn't know how so i took it home installed all that he needed, ran a test on a steam game called WarFrame. Installed Fraps so i could see his frame rate everything looked good. Next day he calls me all pissed off saying his frame rate was bad. I brought it home played for a few more min and saw what he was talking about he was getting around 20fps if he was lucky. Though maybe bad drivers? but everything checked out. Installed a few more programs that i had on mine for monitoring since mine is extremely over clocked. Come to find out his fans in his machine wouldn't adjust fan speed with his temp of his GPU. So within a few min of playing a game his GPU was hitting 104 deg. I had to install a program i used called SpeedFan 4.49 to adjust the fan speeds as temps went up during game play. Now it stays around 70-75 deg during a heavy load. He was lucky he didn't burn up his GPU. Not trying to scare you and his might of been a isolated incident. But i haven't seen one case where someone got the R2 with the 270x and it just worked out of the box. If you have any problems i'm sure someone on the forum will help you work through it. Dell support IMO kinda sucks.

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Oh and welcome back

Thanks! I went with the R9 270 not 270x mostly because i heard some people had issues with the 270x but i didn't find anyone with those problems with the 270. I was told the performance difference is so tiny i decided to play it safe.

First thing i plan to do once i get the computer is open it up to check everything and then install SpeedFan 4.49 and have it automatically control my fans. I was told that's the best option.

 

[STDVirus]

yeah that is the best option i'm running it and i set up my buddy's pc the same way different settings of course since his doesn't run exactly like mine. He is now running his 270x without and issues.

 

[Ronan]

Should i be worried that nothing has shipped yet? Not only that, my paypal transaction via Paypal MC has expired and the money was returned to me last week...

I contacted them twice, they told me everything is fine...

EDD for the keyboard is Monday (shows in production) and the computer Thursday (shows in production).

This is a very awkward way to do business...

 

[Ronan]

I took 5 tries (no joke) to get an answer from Dell/Alienware!

Delays in my order due to part shortage, no estimate when i will actually get anything. This is why my charge on the 24th didn't hold up since they didn't actually have parts (even though on the 24th i was told they did).

So now i wait, they will e-mail me with any changes...

 

[STDVirus]

Yeah i haven't had much luck talking with Dell either about any issues i've tried to work out in the past either. IMO there customer service doesn't seem to knowledgeable.

Maybe when you get your's since it's taking a bit longer the bugs will be all worked out If there was any.

 

[Ronan]

Yeah i haven't had much luck talking with Dell either about any issues i've tried to work out in the past either. IMO there customer service doesn't seem to knowledgeable.

Maybe when you get your's since it's taking a bit longer the bugs will be all worked out If there was any.

Yes, i definitely know more about their system than them, and about their business practices.

I'm just surprised in today's technology and customer service that they don't have a system setup to send a simple e-mail due to part shortage and a delay in my order...

 

[Ronan]

Keyboard has shipped, should be here monday.

Only news for the PC is that they apologize for the delays (was suppose to receive it Thursday, for a big project over Friday and the weekend).

Lame... maybe next week...

Been 5 years since i ordered something and not receive it on time (1-2 days delays alright, but when we start to talk about a week or worst... unknown time)... Dell still has a long way to go to meet today's standards!

 

[STDVirus]

I have to be honest i'll prob never get another Alienware again. Not that i'm not happy with the performance i have squeezed from this little beast. But i'm just unhappy with the way conducts there business. The thing is there is so many options when it comes to PC's and the fact we can build them ourselves makes it even worse. You would think there customer services would be top notch being a big long standing company like this. It's not like there has just been a few problems. Just a little rant but i still love my x51 even though i'm thinking of building a new small form pc but this time with the GTX 690

 

[Ronan]

I have to be honest i'll prob never get another Alienware again. Not that i'm not happy with the performance i have squeezed from this little beast. But i'm just unhappy with the way conducts there business. The thing is there is so many options when it comes to PC's and the fact we can build them ourselves makes it even worse. You would think there customer services would be top notch being a big long standing company like this. It's not like there has just been a few problems. Just a little rant but i still love my x51 even though i'm thinking of building a new small form pc but this time with the GTX 690

110% with you. I'm quite honestly surprised of Dell's lack of customer service.

With all the promotions they do, and on the surface it seems they are right there with you and as soon as you pay, POUF! gone.

 

[sway]

I have to be honest i'll prob never get another Alienware again. Not that i'm not happy with the performance i have squeezed from this little beast. But i'm just unhappy with the way conducts there business. The thing is there is so many options when it comes to PC's and the fact we can build them ourselves makes it even worse. You would think there customer services would be top notch being a big long standing company like this. It's not like there has just been a few problems. Just a little rant but i still love my x51 even though i'm thinking of building a new small form pc but this time with the GTX 690

If you do a small build, I'd go with a 780ti classified. 690 is old and the classy will out perform it with even a slight overclock in which it's made to oc the crap out of. It's cheaper, newer, and has more vram, but best of all...no dealing with sli.

tappin from the neXus 5

 

[Ronan]

If you do a small build, I'd go with a 780ti classified. 690 is old and the classy will out perform it with even a slight overclock in which it's made to oc the crap out of. It's cheaper, newer, and has more vram, but best of all...no dealing with sli.

tappin from the neXus 5

Back in the days, SLI was all the 'rave'. What happen? lol

 

[STDVirus]

I was also debating on the 780 ti as well but if i did go for that i would def. get the classified version. I see total mixed reviews on frames per second for these cards for example:

GTX 690: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/battlefield-4-graphics-card-performance,3634-8.html
Note that this one for some reason doesn't show the 780 ti or even the 780 for that matter but shows the 770 (-_-)

GTX 690, GTX 780 Ti Classified: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_780_Ti_Classified/9.html
Now this one shows both and appear to have the same settings and the Ti walks all over it.

GTX 690, GTX 780: http://www.bf4blog.com/battlefield-4-retail-gpu-cpu-benchmarks/
It just seems all over the board with these benchmarks

I know there is a lot of factors say CPU and so on but I don't see how the variation can be so great. I mean these are done on performance machines not a home pc with a good card!

I do see your point that the 690 is old tech but fast is fast IMO lol but it would be nice to not worry about all the SLI issues. I'll keep looking around and see what will work for me i'll be using it on a HD TV at 1080p 240Hz

 

[Ronan]

Keyboard arrived today!

Useless w/o the computer though... lol