Overclocking the Auroras?

Yeah, the only reason I even replaced the board was because it was the easiest/quickest option.

So yeah, build your own if you can. I would have, but didn't have the cash/credit where I needed it, when I needed it in order to do so (and I'm impatient). Too bad Dell had to go and screw the pooch like this.

Thank you for taking the time to share with us this important info.

Here is my experience. I ordered an Aurora ALX on Oct 20, the order just arrived yesterday, so score 1 for the speedy delivery. The chasis is very well-built albeit heavy, with all-around good quality. My system consists of i7 950 (3.06HZ) and GTX 295, at stock speed, it's about 5x as fast as my last system (AMDx2 6000, 8800 GT) with Crysis. I can play the game at 1680x1050 res with max quality settings for consistent 50-60 fps, with mid 30-fps being the lowest. The video card is fairly overclockable, I can easily take it from the default 576/999 to 650/1200 with lots of headroom to spare. The CPU overclocking however comes as a big disappointment: I can't get the CPU go any faster than 23x150=3.45Ghz, which is barely 10%. Anything higher than 150mhz on the blck, the system wouldn't even post regardless of tweakings of voltages or multipliers. Mind you I'm very conservative with my approach, only overclock the cpu while leaving QPI, UNCORE and DRAM slightly underclocked. I'm inclined to believe that the motherboard is probably not the best for overclocking, which is a big surprise/disappointment for a company that prides itself as a leading vendor for the enthusiasts.

I just requested an RMA on my system and will send it back promptly, meanwhile I ordered a vanilla Aurora, thinking all the extra money for the whistles and bells on ALX such as the powered top ventillation hasn't improved OC a nary bit. Someone else in my shoe might send back the machine and walk away from Alienware completely, I would've done that too, had my schedule allowed me to assemble my own rig, probably at a fair discount as well.

All in all, fast and expensive system from aleinware, with top-of-line built quality and great attention to detail, but really falls flat in the all-important overclocking department.

Good luck.

All,
This is under investigation. Send me your service tag numbers in a private conversation (Click my name, click Send a Message). List the overclocking Bins you attempted.

HackerZC,
"The following post is a statement protected under the 1st Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, and constitutes and act of free speech.".
That statement above has no legal bearing on our private Forum. We authored the Terms of Use to fit our needs as the owner of the Forum. I am not sure why your post was deleted but it had to have violated something in our Terms of Use.

Chris,

I was going to purchase the new Alienware but after hearing about not able to OC the motherboard? I am confused I was told by a sales rep that the boards were able to over clock. I was fixing to shoot off a sale of an either Aurora ALX or the Area 51 desk top, now second thoughts. I ordered a XPS 435T/9000 and had motherboard and a hard drive problem right out of the box and opted to send to machine back for refund. Now I am wondering if Dell has problems through out the whole company on all their machines. Thank you all for making this easy for me to stay away from Dell altogether.

Belia is right. 100 percent.

You are ignoring the fact these are being advertised on the website as having an unlocked bios, and the sales team is repeating this lie to potential buyers. (I was told this 5 times). Yes, the ALX that was cherry picked, pre overclocked , and with the max video configuration did well in benchmarks (although, it is by far not the most powerful gaming rig out, I have built systems that smash those benchmarks for far less)...and how much did that system cost? The point is, we enthusiast and system builders can get that same performance for half the price by knowing how to tweak the systems ourselves. The i7 920 is one of the best overclocking chips ever made. It easily reaches 4.0 on good air or small water at very safe voltages. I have overclocked 100s of systems and none of them have had a premature death. This is a rumor that is spread by chip manufactures and the major OEM builders to encourage you to buy their more expensive chips and systems rather than getting the same or better performance for less. IF you know what you are doing, it is very safe and will not lead to hardware failure. IF on the other hand, you crank up the voltages as far as they will go, you will fry your system or quicken the demise of your components. All I'm asking for is what was advertised and what I was told by the sales reps I would be getting. If they had been honest and said these have a locked bios I would not have bought them for my customers.

itachi31:

Are you for sure on this statement that the only way to get an unlocked system is to purchase the i 975 CPU 3.33GHz? I do not trust Dell to make a system that has unlock-able BIOS. I would like that if possible. Do you have the Aurora ALX with the intel i7 975 3.33GHz CPU and if you do have the system, is it unlocked?

Belia is right. again. LOL.  I retract all my previous threads.

Char,

Hey, to answer your question, yes the BIOS is unlocked, and to make you feel a bit better, it comes UNLOCKED from Intel, not Alienware.  I don't like overclocking but these threads are tempting me.  The Aurora ALX with the Intel i975 Extreme 3.33 is easily capable of pushing 4.0 STABLE, since the ALX comes with Watercooling.

Again, the i7 is unlocked from INTEL.  Read this link if you'd like:

http://hothardware.com/Articles/Intel-Core-i7-975-Extreme-Edition-Processor-Review/

Okay go to this page http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/desktops/alienware-aurora/pd.aspx?refid=alienware-aurora&s=dhs&cs=19 (linked from the main Dell Desktop site, by clicking one of the Alienware desktops. Then click on the tech specs. You will see clearly listed the following next to CHIPSET 'Intel^®  X58 Express Chipset w/ Unlocked BIOS for Overclocking"

This is supposedly for all Aurora models, not just the extreme chip as you keep claiming. Also, call any sales rep at Dell and ask if your Alienware system will have an unlocked bios. I did this 5 times, and got the same answer every time. I have noticed in their print advertising they are also being called "overclockable"....SO...Dell is lying in print, in advertising, on the web, and over the phone.

Belia,

I caught your last thread.  You have a solid argument.  I didn't catch that.  The way it's advertised it does make it look like it is unlocked for every Aurora system, not just the ALX/Extremes.

As i said before, very disturbing and misleading.  They can be sued for this.   It would be totally messed up if they advertised this and purposely Re-Locked the BIOS.

Like I mentioned in my previous thread, dubious business practices.  I'm happy with my system but now I am having second thoughts.  =/

itachi.... i hope you saw my previous post about where on the website Dell is claiming these bios are unlocked for overclocking. But I need to clear up something that you have stated a few times....Intels extreme chips do not have an unlocked bios...they have an unlocked multiplier. All this means is you can raise the multiplier without raising the blck. This is only good if you have poor memory. Most overclockers use high grade memory and overclock by raising the bclk, which can be done on ANY intel processor.

Also please take a look at this article. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5870,2422-11.html

It clearly shows that a gtx295 outperforms a single 5870. And, two gtx 295 outperform two 5870s. Not that I'm knocking the 5870...I have done a quad crossfire 5870 setup for a guy, and it was amazing. It blows away two gtx295s at ultra high resolutions (which you have to be using or its all just a waste of frames).  And just so you know...that setup with an overclocked i7 920 4.2ghz, SSD, liquid cooling, 3tb raid 0 hdd, 12gb 1600mhz ram, and full software package cost him less than the $4000+ alx system in the review you mentioned (you are correct...the reviewed system was not overclocked.)

Belia,

Yea i saw this thread before.  I forgot where I saw the benchmarks but I saw  2 GTX 295's(technically a Quad GPU) vs 2 ATI 5870's and the ATi's won in a lot of the benchmarks, which should not be the case because 4 gpu's should be able to own the 2 ATI's.  I totally agree with you, a single GTX 295 will outperform a single 5870.  I can't wait for the GT 300's.

Update:

just found the link, maybe its fabricated?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1179748

I don't have room for 4 5870's in my case!!!    Sigh, I guess i'll just wait for the GT 300's.   I honestly think 5870's in Crossfire mode should last me a good year or 2.

Itachi, 

1) Alienware charged a premium yes, but this wasn't JUST a name thing. Components that were used were of a higher manufacturing quality. For example, lets use a camshaft from a car. In theory all camshafts are the same, they function the same basic way, and do the same job. However, depending on the manufacturing process and materials used, they can vary greatly in overall quality and ability. Same applies to computer hardware.
Alienware was known for using parts that were more towards the high quality end. The parts that I'm seeing in my Aurora do not seem to be of the best quality from what I can tell. 
That's not the say they are junk, jsut that they are not what I would expect from a product with the Alienware name on it. How would you like to pay a premium price for a Porsche only to find out it had a budget Honda engine in it? Same principle.

2) In regard to dells sales strategy of trying to get people to spend more for a faster stock processor in order to have better overclocking ability, you seem to miss the entire point of overclocking all together. Overclocking is about using the least expensive hardware and getting it to run as well as or better than the most expensive .
If the option comes down to 1) Paying $2000 for a 920 that is being limited by the bios, 2) $3000+ for a 975 this is limited by the bios (but not as much), and 3) paying $2000 (maybe less for a 920 that is NOT limited by the bios.... I think the choice is obvious.  
See, this entire thing about forcing customers to "buy up" in order to get extra performance only works if EVERYONE had the same practice. However, since there are others that do not do this, you have the option to buy from someone else. 
In the long run the "great idea that is supposed to make dell lots more money" only results in a loss of business. It results in lthe loss of customer loyalty, trust, and business.
A much better business plan would have been to unlock the bios, let people have what they thought (and were told) they were buying... ther eby creating a happy customer who is much more likely to come back in the future. 
That's the issue with a lot of companies now (particularly larger ones). They are too short sided. All they think about is what benefits them in the moment. That might be all good and fine for today... but what about tomorrow when no one comes back?

3) The 920's and 975's come from the same silicon. There are slight variations in quality, but it is very minuscule. Essentially the 920's and 975's are the same exact chip... the difference is the multiplier (which is locked on the 920 to a max of 21x). This is the reason why lower base speed CPU's can be overclocked to a higher % over their base clock than the more expensive (higher clocked) models of that line. The 975 is nothing more but a pre-oc'd 920.  Most people are ignorant to this fact, hence why Intel can get away with the charging scheme they can. Essentially they are doing the same thing Dell is... but look around.... how many people that OC actually use the 975? Not a whole lot. The majority are using the 920's and such, because it just makes more sense.

4) If I had a 975... I would overclock it. Because I can.
I don't NEED a motorcycle that goes 200mph... but I have one... because I might suddenly feel the urge to go that fast.

5) Todays top of the line system is tomorrows garbage. That's another reason to OC... you get a bit more life out of an old system.
Trust me, if you know how to... you will eventually OC your computer. It's inevitable.

Sorry about before. I appreciate your information.  I was thinking of returning it but I am keeping it.  I hope things work out.  HackerZ, i think you and I will both be fine.... I hope.   Your information was very helpful.

Thanks.