Trying to identify Alienware case

[m1sterd]

Hi All,
I have an Alienware case that I purchased a fair few years ago as the case, the original psu and cpu water cooler, I haven't used the case in years and so am looking to sell it on but am trying to work out what the exact case model is.
I have attached a few pictures and can take more if it helps identify it, I can't find any identifiers on the case itself, the whole case weighs a lot and is solidly built, it has 3 alien heads (1 front and 1 each side) as well as other front lighting in the front grills, this is software controlled from a board mounted on the bottom of the case and plugs into the usb connection on a motherboard (I could never find/download the original Alienware FX Lights application to control the rgb lighting but found someone had written their own control program that allows you to turn them on/off and change their color).
I did find some pictures of Alienware Area 51 cases but where mine looks different is that the alien heads and vent type bits are chrome/silver rather than being matt silver. I believe the PSU is a 1kw supply and it has an unusual rectangular plug that goes into the power supply.
Any help in identifying this would be greatly appreciated.
I did a search and found an old article reviewing an Alienware Area 51 ALX case that looked similar, but it seemed to have a slightly different (silver?) back.
Ray

 

[LukeG310]

My friend you have an Area 51 ALX case. The rear chrome that goes on the exhaust is missing but it doesn’t prevent the case from working. The actual case name would be “Predator 2.1” and only difference between 2.0 is that the case itself is black and grills and rear part were chrome. If you were in Los Angeles I would of bought the case in a heartbeat. You sure you want to sell? These are RARE.

 

[m1sterd]

Unfortunately yes, I think the case is amazing hence I bought it originally, but I need the funds to upgrade my current ageing computer.

Thank you so much for your help, now I know what it is I will work out what to ask for it, thank you again.

 

[m1sterd]

Sorry one other question, do you know where I can download the official led control software? I looked previously but couldn't find anything that would install on Windows 10, I then found that someone had created their own application and made it open source, so I used that.

 

[LukeG310]

Can you take a closeup picture of the board that is on the bottom of the case. I need to know if its an active AlienFX or if it has switches

Active Card:



Passive card





For the Alien FX select the 1.5:
1drv.ms/.../s!AoZrwLkAt2H0gtlceji_kqT6Sanhaw
For the Command Center:
1drv.ms/.../s!AoZrwLkAt2H0gtleaWxbwBr4tbU0ow

 

[m1sterd]

I guess its closer to the top board, in that it doesn't appear to have any switches, but it has a different number of chips.

 

[m1sterd]

Just realised the daughter card pops out, it is the top one I think, here are pics of both sides:

 

[m1sterd]

 

[m1sterd]

I tried both of those links but they say the content may not exist any more.

 

[LukeG310]

You have an active card. I am going to check my ALX to see if I still have the installer files after work.

 

[iSOK]

Custom Alienware case just thought I might share it

 

[JDM4Life]

Custom Alienware case just thought I might share it

That's a sick modd!

 

[ALXAndy]

Predator 2.1 aka the ALX. I've got a silver one.

That is an active board, though there's little chance you'll ever get it working again with a different board. Here's why....

That active board runs a security check. It checks the DMI or naming of the motherboard. If the mobo does not report back as Alienware it won't work. The old way around this was to use a DMI program to rename your board. However that was BITD of DMI and UEFI has changed how that works. There also used to be a registry hack but as soon as you rebooted it would revert back and you'd lose your lights.

You're better off tracking down a passive board for it IMO.

 

[m1sterd]

Predator 2.1 aka the ALX. I've got a silver one.

That is an active board, though there's little chance you'll ever get it working again with a different board. Here's why....

That active board runs a security check. It checks the DMI or naming of the motherboard. If the mobo does not report back as Alienware it won't work. The old way around this was to use a DMI program to rename your board. However that was BITD of DMI and UEFI has changed how that works. There also used to be a registry hack but as soon as you rebooted it would revert back and you'd lose your lights.

You're better off tracking down a passive board for it IMO.

Hi Andy,
I found an open source application that runs under windows that can set all the colours of the individual lights, I assume as the original software would. I a security check is performed this software must bypass that.
Regards

 

[ALXAndy]

AHH yes I remember that. The issue will be whether a modern mother board can interface with it. I know UEFI messes up a lot of legacy stuff.

If you get stuck holler me. I'm sure I have my switched passive one somewhere. I removed it all and did the wiring and LEDs myself, so I don't need it. I may even have two because at one point I had two cases but one was smashed in shipping.

 

[m1sterd]

AHH yes I remember that. The issue will be whether a modern mother board can interface with it. I know UEFI messes up a lot of legacy stuff.

If you get stuck holler me. I'm sure I have my switched passive one somewhere. I removed it all and did the wiring and LEDs myself, so I don't need it. I may even have two because at one point I had two cases but one was smashed in shipping.

Thank you Andy, to be honest I shall probably be selling the case at some point to put towards upgrades for my main PC so someone that knows about these cases can appreciate it, it’s an amazing looking case and built so well, but for me I have a pretty standard case now with no bells or whistles.