r/Alienware 22h ago

Battlestation Pictures Custom Area 51 P2 build guide. (2006-2008), (7500), (7501), (alx), (Aurora) (Predator 2)

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184 Upvotes

Wanted to share my experience building my first PC in one of these old cases to help anyone trying to do the same in the future. If you have one of these cases post it below!

I purchased two P2 cases on fb marketplace after a year of searching. One was incomplete and the other was disgusting. I used parts from both. One is an Alienware Area 51 x58 and the other an Alienware Area 51 750i or 7501.

Sorry for the long post. I'm making a YouTube video for a better visual guide but I haven't put it together yet. Feel free to message me and I'll help where I can. I will add my YouTube link when it's finished.

Disassembly is straightforward but take lots of pictures. All leds are labeled and there are only 3 or 4 screw types. If you want to remove the bays you will need to drill the rivets. Keep the power supply bracket. Most cases came with the dip switch led board that can be used with any MB. (Look for 3 small switches). If yours has the software controlled led board then you will probably want to solder the led wires to a modern led controller (I will link a video showing how it's done). The side panel logos and front io light tubes are welded in. Drill just the top of the mounting points off and super glue later.

Picking parts should be easy. Everything is standard atx. Make sure there is enough room for your gpu with the side panel and fan installed. You will probably want to mock it up. (I was able to fit an msi 5080 oc without modification). Power supply has plenty of room as long as you aren't planning a top mount aio.

CPU cooling will be the hardest part. I've heard many tower coolers are too tall to fit. If you want to go with an aio you will have to decide where to mount it. Top mount 240mm is possible if you remove both drive bays, cut a hole for it in the top of the frame and then remove the plastic supports inside the top plastic to create an air channel. Front mount 240 (pictured) will require removing the lower bay, cutting a hole for it and trimming some of the front plastic support. (I used a paper template I made for the mounting holes). A 360mm radiator should fit if you remove all drive bays. I believe a bottom mounted radiator is possible but generally not recommended.

I decided to cut the metal frame of the case to make the side grills functional. This gave me enough room to mount a 140mm intake fan on the back side. I secured the fan to the case with zip ties. Added bonus of being able to see into the case when the panels are on. I left enough of the mounting points for the original front side panel fan so I could still attach a 120mm intake.

Temps are good. I did a 1 hour full system stress test. Gpu temps peaked at 70⁰. CPU temps peaked at 86⁰ but in game at 4k ultra settings it stays around 58-72⁰. Might try to undervolt the cpu eventually.

Parts list: MSI 5080 oc, Ryzen 7 9850x35, x870e tomahawk, 32gb ddr5 trident z5, be quiet 1200w pure power, Samsung 990 pro nvme, be quiet fans.

Build showcase link: r/PCbuild post

My YT video: (coming soon)

YT video showing led wiring and other build tips: YouTube

More pics: imgur


r/Alienware 2h ago

Upgrade Questions Maximizing specifications

2 Upvotes

Hello everyone, I purchased an Alienware 16 Area-51 AA16250 in December of last year. It currently has a 1TB SSD and 32GB of DDR5 RAM. I would appreciate some recommendations on how to maximize the RAM and storage capacity. Regarding the RAM, would you recommend maximizing it to 64 GB or potentially exceeding that? For storage, I am considering 10 TB and would appreciate your suggestions.


r/Alienware 13h ago

Technical Support Is there a way to reduce background processes? 50+ percent on idle is crazy on 16gb ram, in Alienware 16 Aurora.

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13 Upvotes

r/Alienware 3h ago

Technical Support Vertical lines on AW2724DM

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1 Upvotes

The monitor was turned on for a few hours and when I got back home all the screen was covered in all sort of lines like on those old school TV’s I plugged it out and in and now it’s usable but these lines still remain (look at pictures), what could it be and can it be fixed?

I’ve tried changing the DP ports and with a different HDMI cable but it stays the same.

EDIT: Ran the LCD conditioning for half an hour and that seems to have fixed the problem if anyone runs into the same problem as me, try that out.


r/Alienware 5h ago

Question Clarification on Alienware AW2726dm

1 Upvotes

I am interested in purchasing the aw2726dm, I have read that this monitor accepts a 2160p input from ps5, I just need a clarification that will Netflix show content in 4k (eventually downscaled to 2k by the monitor) or since it is a 1440p monitor, it will just stream on 1080p.

Also, users of this monitor, can you mention your experience so far


r/Alienware 7h ago

Technical Support Screen dimming

1 Upvotes

Hi! As the title says, my Alienware A51 laptop is having a screen dimming issue. I’ve tried absolutely everything that the Dell website has said, as well as older Reddit posts from people with the same issue. I truly don’t know what’s going on and I am getting extremely frustrated. I just don’t know what’s going on, why it’s going on, and I don’t know what to do. Any help is appreciated.


r/Alienware 8h ago

Technical Support >85C idle temps for new Aurora 16X

1 Upvotes

Hey just bought a new Aurora 16X and the temperatures seem immensely high even though the cpu is at 15% usage/ negligible gpu usage, should i do anything about this or is it normal, I have no reference since this is the first gaming laptop i have bought


r/Alienware 18h ago

Upgrade Questions Due to upgrade

6 Upvotes

I'm due for an upgrade. I'm still using my Alienware Area-51m laptop with an i9-9900K (stable OC at 4.6 GHz), RTX 2080, and 64 GB of RAM as my primary machine for work (V-Ray, Rhino, Blender, SolidWorks, Adobe apps). Since I got it in 2019 I’ve had no issues, but I did redo all the thermal pads on the GPU and repasted the CPU.

Looking at the 18" Area-51 from Micro Center, all maxed out under $4k. How are they as far as reliability goes? I remember before buying the 51m in 2019 there were so many negative reviews about this model, but after some repasting, undervolting, and new pads it truly is a reliable machine. I can run V-Ray renders for hours with no crashing, all cores locked at 4.2–4.5 GHz. Can I expect the same reliability from the current line of Alienware laptops?


r/Alienware 9h ago

Technical Support help AW3426DWM

0 Upvotes

Hello, i just bought AW3426DWM.
Before that i had a s19dgf27 and ddm2 was working perfectly for years.
No matter what i do ddm2 won't recognise the new monitor.

I downloaded drivers, i downloaded the alienware software, i pluged the usb b, i deleted ddm2 and reinstalled, i deleted it and downloaded dell pripheral manager. Nothing.
There is no way i can reach to the screen menu everytime i want to change a setting.


r/Alienware 17h ago

Technical Support laptop LED Alien turning red?

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5 Upvotes

for some reason the LED Alien on the back of my Alienware X14 is red when the screen is fully open, but when you start to close it - it returns to the alienware FX preset


r/Alienware 14h ago

Question M17x R1 recovery disc?

2 Upvotes

Having a hard time finding a copy. Wondering if anyone by some miracle had one lying around!


r/Alienware 1d ago

Solved! Alienware laptop 15 r3 question

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11 Upvotes

On my laptop, the plastic to the right of the mouse pad is bumping up. At first I thought I was just the battery expanding but now im not sure. It runs just fine I just wanted to know if theres a cause for concern or if it will be fine till I can repair it. (It has a laptop stand its currently on a mouse pad for repairs)


r/Alienware 1d ago

Discussion DeltaT update out now! (v2.2.0)

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23 Upvotes

First off, thank you all so much for the love. DeltaT just crossed 700+ downloads and honestly that's wild to me. I built this to solve my own thermal-diagnosis headache, and seeing people actually use it means a lot.

A bunch of you left feedback and reported bugs, which I genuinely appreciate. That's exactly what makes this thing better. Here's what I fixed and added in this update:

New:

  • Fixed indoor-temperature scoring. Got a climate-controlled room? Set your actual indoor temp and DeltaT scores against that instead of the outside weather. It keeps a separate baseline, so switching modes never mixes things up.
  • Tunable weather refresh. Choose how often the outside temp updates: 1, 2, or 3 hours, instead of a fixed 3. Nice if you're somewhere it swings hour to hour.
  • Clickable warning notifications. Tap a warning toast and it opens straight to the Remarks feed, where the full explanation and suggested fix live.
  • A "Support DeltaT" tip jar. Completely optional, crypto only. DeltaT stays free, no account, nothing collected.
  • A one-time what's-new screen after each update, so a new version never quietly changes behaviour on you.

Fixed:

  • Wrong GPU on hybrid AMD laptops. On machines with a Ryzen chip plus a separate gaming GPU (common on ASUS ROG/TUF), DeltaT could latch onto the integrated Radeon and read the wrong chip, or no sensor at all. It was worst when the gaming GPU had gone to sleep to save battery. Now DeltaT asks Windows which cards physically exist, so it never mixes them up.
  • GPU fingerprint. If your GPU is idle or switched off, DeltaT now tells you to wake it right away, instead of running the full load for 90 seconds and then failing with a confusing error.
  • OmenMon coexistence. On HP OMEN/Victus laptops, DeltaT and OmenMon reading fan RPM could knock each other out. Now DeltaT detects OmenMon and steps aside, reading fan speeds from its feed instead.
  • Clearer indoor-mode labels in the Device view.

Already have DeltaT? Head to Settings and hit Check for updates, or just let it update itself on next startup. Your history and settings stay put.

New here? DeltaT is a free Windows app that learns your PC's own thermal fingerprint and tells you what's actually driving your temperatures: degraded paste, dust and airflow, a failing fan, a bad mount, or just a hot room, instead of blaming one thing. It sits quietly in your tray.

Thank you for using DeltaT 🙏


r/Alienware 11h ago

Technical Support Question about RAM speed on Alienware Area 51 R5

2 Upvotes

I am currently running 3200mhz on this PC. But the RAM kit I have can run up to 3600mhz

The XMP profile in the BIOS is 3466, can I run that? Just asking because I do know on Dell website it says “up to 3200mhz”.

Thank you guys in advance.


r/Alienware 17h ago

Question Did i break the connections here

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2 Upvotes

Idk if i could just get a new card and be chill or if i jave to replace the wires as well


r/Alienware 18h ago

Technical Support M16 R1 Laptop Power Button Flashing/Blinking 1 Red, 4 Blue

2 Upvotes

im just wondering what it means and if its anything to be concerned about. it starts blinking every so often, but everything seems nominal otherwise. it hasnt been too much of an issue previously, outside of the anxiety it induced the first few times i saw it.

if theres a comprehensive guide for what it means, please send that to me! the official website didnt seem to have the pattern im seeing on its list... :[

unfortunately, i didnt think to take note of the pattern until today. as i type this, it is flashing: 🔴 🔵🔵🔵🔵 (1 red, 4 blue)


r/Alienware 1d ago

Battlestation Pictures First time doing a gaming setup….

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53 Upvotes

Took far too long to get the cable management the way that I wanted it, but it turned out decent.

Disregard the Harry Potter painting there on the back wall lol. Doesn’t fit the theme lol I know, but it was painted for me for my birthday by a good friend a long time ago.


r/Alienware 18h ago

Question 5yo M17 R3 - Trade in?

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0 Upvotes

I have the above laptop that I got April of 2021. It is basically only functional when it is plugged in otherwise it shuts off. Otherwise it is fully functional with only one small blemish on the screen.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can get some money back to scrap it or trade in?

Additionally, my only complaint with this laptop was it's limited storage - anyone have any new and improved recommendations?


r/Alienware 1d ago

Discussion Anyone bought the aw2726dl

2 Upvotes

Hi,

Just wanted to hear if anyone has picked up the dell alienware aw2726dl.
Can’t really get some info on it. I am thinking to use it instead of my aw2725dwm.


r/Alienware 23h ago

Technical Support Help with lcd replacement

1 Upvotes

Alienware m15 r5

I recently got a alienware m15 r5 and pretty much instantly the screen broken from dropping a tv remote on it, i am wanting to replace the screen but cannot find any of the 360hz 21mm 40 pin connector lcd screens anywhere. If someone knows if i can swap it to maybe a different one i don’t care for frame rate i have a gaming desktop at home this is mainly for just playing story mode games and madden so 360hz isnt a must any help would be great.

My part number needed “9J5P1”

Computer # “p109f”


r/Alienware 23h ago

Technical Support KVM Advice for Alienware 38" WQHD+ DisplayPort (AW3821DW)

1 Upvotes

I'm struggling to find a setup that will work to swap my AW3821DW Alienware monitor between my desktop PC (4808 Super) and my Macbook Pro (Thunderbolt).

My first attempt was this switch - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GX7NZJD7

But, even with brand new DP 1.4 cables (Amazon Basics) I could not get a video signal to pass through it from my PC to the Monitor. Just zero recognition of it.

I realize the input from the Mac is more complex but one thing at a time I think.

Does anyone have any advice on a KVM that will drive the Alienware monitor?

Thanks in advance!


r/Alienware 1d ago

Technical Support M15 R4 Crashing with 2 red / 7 blue error

2 Upvotes

I woke up the to an audible alarm of 3 / 2 / 1 beeps yesterday. When I restarted it the power button displays the above error code when I restart it. After closing the lid and restarting I have been able to get the computer to reload but its still randomly crashing with the audible beeps, but I haven't gotten the flashing error code. I found some info that it could be a faulty connector to the lcd panel but hoping others might have some insight to the issue.


r/Alienware 1d ago

Technical Support Alienware m17 R5 AMD Advantage Edition power button 3 red and 5 blue blinking lights

3 Upvotes

Alienware m17 R5 laptop suddenly not starting up and power button showing 3 red and 5 blue lights Alienware logo on the lid lighting up and when power buttin is pressed for 30 seconds laptop turns off and when pressed again for a second it turns on and fan spins for 5 seconds and keyboard backlight shows up for a minute and power button shows normal light after about ainuted keyboard backlight turns off and power button again starts to blink 3 red and 5 blue light. Nothing comes on display ever.


r/Alienware 1d ago

Discussion The Alienware Area 51M R2 uses an 11th generation processor and RTX 3000 graphics cards.

1 Upvotes

I was just remembering that Alienware allows you to swap the processor and video card, but it doesn't allow 11th generation CPUs because the drivers don't work, or I don't know, Alienware kind of blocked it. But if I use Linux and force the driver, like an i9 11900k along with the CPU...


r/Alienware 1d ago

Technical Support Unable to change TCC Offset on my Alienware X15 R2

1 Upvotes

Hi guys! I wanted to change TCC Offset through bios, because my laptop been running very hot occasionally even after re paste and everything tried. I went to bios but the value was not changeable, and Idk what to do at this point. I tried also AWCC, but still couldn't find any TCC Offset setting.

Is there any solution to this?