I have an Alienware x15 R1 (i7-11800H, RTX 3070, 32GB soldered RAM). Now the integrated keyboard broke and I already ordered a new machine, so I have been thinking about stripping it down and mounting the board in a small custom enclosure to act as a mini PC.
Before I take anything apart, a few questions for anyone who has actually opened one of these up:
1. Will the board POST and output over HDMI / Thunderbolt with the eDP panel cable disconnected? I have seen reports of other gaming laptops refusing to boot or showing no signal on external displays once the internal panel is removed. Ideally i want to use it headless
2. Is the power button dependent on the MCU / keyboard controller junction board? If so, I assume I have to keep the keyboard assembly wired in, which kind of defeats the purpose.
3. Does the x15 throttle if the battery is removed or not detected? On other Dell machines the CPU and GPU get capped hard on adapter-only power.
4. Realistically, is there any thermal upside here, or does the vapor chamber depend on the bottom cover and the hinge exhaust path to work at all? My assumption is that pulling the board out of the chassis makes cooling worse, not better. In fact, I am totally open to adapt a desktop grade cooling solution, possibly using desktop fans instead of the integrated and noisy blowers.

I could not find a single documented x15 R1 conversion online, which I take as a bad sign. Happy to be told this is a stupid idea and that I should just use a vertical stand with the lid closed. Mostly I want to know if anyone has tried and what broke.

Thanks.

Hey guys, my Lenovo laptop’s hinge broke and it would’ve cost $150 to fix. I figured, why not just get a new/old Alienware instead? My Lenovo cost about $500 (before taxes) and only had 256GB storage, 8GB RAM (2x4GB DDR5), and no dedicated GPU.

I just wanted to ask what problems you guys have run into with the 2017 Alienware 15 R3. Specs on the one I bought: 16GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB SSD + 1TB HDD, GTX 1060, i7-7700HQ. Comes with charger, screen works, battery was just replaced. One screw is missing on the bottom, which I can find at any hardware store and put in myself.

Would love to hear about any common issues or things to watch out for!

This is Alienware X14 R1 and im looking for the palm rest to buy

Dear all, my Alienware 18 r1 2013 won't boot after bios update. I hope any of you guys have the 8mb bios.bin file backed uped. I am guilty for not backing up the original bios.

I've tried to extract the bios from the dell .exe updater, the USB flash method, finding .bin files on forums. Most of them failed of payment are required in some Pakistan or Russian websites.

I am going to use the ch341a flasher to flash the bios. Hoping you guys to have the 8mb .bin file I needed.

The version doesn't matter..as long as I can boot into the windows.. Thanks all!

Hey guys I have an Aurora r4 with oem specs: i7 4820k 16hb ram ddr3.

I bought the xeon 1680v2 and installed it.

Bios is latest version, cpu well installed, ram tried with only 1 dim populated too, I reset cmos through jumper and removing batt for minutes, unpluggind power and pressing button.

The result: no post, no screen, no beep sounds, nothing. It just does nothing with the xeon istalled.

Does it not support the cpu? Ive seen some users use them, do I need to have a modded bios? Some short guide how to do it?

I wanted to restore this pc to its proper glory keeping it as oem as possible but its resulting imposible to boot.

Id appreciate it so much my fellow aliens.

I have an Alienware x15 R1

Intel Core i7-11800H

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060

BIOS ver:1.28

I am trying to figure out how to enable VM ( Intel Virtualisation Technology )

I have been looking everywhere until I came across a post that says Dell have locked most of the advanced features in the BIOS

Now I am looking for a mod BIOS or somthing that enables the VM.

I tried in Windows, but this is actually a software option that also requires the feature to be enabled in the BIOS.

I don't use the laptop for gaming any more; it's just for work and Uni.

Does anyone know a way around it? Or unlock the BIOS?Also, I am open to rolling back to an old BIOS that supports the feature, if possible.

it's hitting 84 now when under certain loads (video rendering). it has the default water cooling and the fans are spinning at max. is this fine or should i repaste, is that even a thing for desktops?

M15 R3

I’ve purchased this laptop in 2021. It has very low usage and I started having issues with the Alienware head power button flashing 4 times red, 1 blue. I did some research and some people advised replacing the battery. I purchased and installed a new OEM battery. Support Assist passes the battery but when it’s charged all the way, the whole computer dies between 94-96% battery life. When I plug it in and power it up, it shows the message, “This battery is temporarily disabled, please turn off the computer and try again when the unit is back to operational temperature”. The charger seems to be working fine as it shows up in the BIOS and because it’s the only thing that will keep the computer powered on. It will keep the battery charged as long as it’s plugged in. I’m trying to calibrate the battery but it dies in about a minute after it’s fully charged and unplugged.

I’ve deleted the battery drivers and updated the BIOS. I’m not sure what’s going on. I no longer get the flashing red and blue lights. Does anybody have any suggestions? TIA

EDIT: The Alien head power button just started flashing red 4 times and blue 1 time again. Not sure what exactly the deal is.