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Thread: Alienware Aurora ALX-XL

  1. #1

    Default Alienware Aurora ALX-XL



    The Alienware Aurora ALX-XL

    Sometimes you get a chance you can't say no to, so that's what happened to me.
    After some discussions and exchanging ideas with Dell, I am very happy to announce to you a build with a super case. It's allready beautiful But I'm gonna give it a try

    The Alienware Aurora desktop.

    And not only the case, but a complete configuration with the following components:

    - CASE : Alienware Aurora ALX 875W-chassis (Matte Black)
    - PROCESSOR: Intel® Core i7-3820 (4 Core, 10MB Cache, 3.60GHz)
    - OPERATING SYSTEM : Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64-bits
    - GRAPHICS : 1 GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 555
    - MEMORY : 16GB (4 x 4 GB) 1.600 MHz Quad Channel DDR3
    - HARD DRIVE : 256 GB SSD
    - OPTICAL DRIVE : 8X Blu-ray Disc-rw-station en 24x dvd+/-rw-station

    Before I start, first I want to thank all the great sponsors for making this build possible.

    Alienware, for the system.



    Nvidia to deliver GPU upgrade (more on this later)



    And EKWB for the watercooling components



    There will be a lot of pictures again in this build. What is new is that I now going to add videos, think this will be a nice addition.

    First contact with an alien:



    Always a great feeling to receive packages Once everything is dragged into the living room to have another great feeling ..... unboxing





    The Aurora is certainly well packed, they have given this some good thought.



    A box in a box





    Clips to unlock the cover



    Almost :eeek:



    :jawdrop: :jawdrop: :jawdrop:



    The Alienware Aurora















    Nice shapes







    Front also beautiful and clean











    One touch on the Alien head and the panel slides down.



    If the PC is turned on and you activate the sliding panel, the lights which illuminate the optical drives will turn on







    Acrylic part what looks very nice ... especially when it is enlightened





    Power button



    Behind this is a pushpanel to the front I / O. containing

    (2x) Hi-Speed USB 2.0
    (1x) SuperSpeed USB 3.0
    (1x) Mic
    (1x) Headphone



    At the rear is the handle to unlock the side panel.





    Pull the last vent





    To unlock the sidepanel





    The PSU (Alienware™ 875-watt) is also swappable and modular







    Another great gadget is the enlightenment on the back. Activated with a push button.





    Also a great gadget is the Alienware Active Venting.







    Next box. With keyboard and other accessories







    The Alienware tactx keyboard with two-zone lighting setup










  2. #2

    Default Re: Alienware Aurora ALX-XL

    The Alienware mousepad



    Some documents



    Drivers and utilities



    Cables



    And two Alienware 3D avatars



    Not finished yet ..... a monitor, the beautiful Alienware OPTX AW2310



    Specs:

    •Connections Dual-link DVI (with HDCP), HDMI, 4 x USB
    •Viewable Screen Size 23.5in
    •Maximum Resolution 1,920 x 1,080
    •Contrast ratio 80,000:1 (dynamic), static not quoted
    •Brightness 400cd/m2
    •Response time 3ms (grey-to-grey)


















    Back to the Alienware Aurora .... the inside



    First looks without sidepanel



    And again a nice gadget: when the sidepanel is removed, the inside is illuminated without the power on.





    Powered by rechargeable batteries



    Very handy!!!

    The caps for the airflow and coverup are very nicely designed and printed









    Cap for the GPUs is rotatable and removable





    Beautiful swappable, tool-less and cable-free hard drive bays











    Also well thought about is the power suply for the side panel (Lights)
    On the side of the powersupply are contact points which provide this





    For now a Nvidia GTX555 is installed, but this will be exchanged for two Nvidia GTX680



    Cooler motherboard



    And the beautiful Alienware CPU cooler





    Personally I really like this one, so it stays in this build (perhaps modify)



    What cable management is concerned, everything is provided. But it looks a bit messy.
    This will be better









    Module for lighting, fans and other applications





    This will be a lot of work, but a very exciting thing to do.

    The first change that I'm going to do is swap the Nvidia GTX555 for two GPUs Nvidia has sent me.

    Again thank you Nvidia



    For sending me two Nvidia GTX680's

    Engine Specs:

    - CUDA Cores: 1536
    - Base Clock: 1006
    - Boost Clock: 1058
    - Texture Fill Rate: 128.8
    - Memory Speed: 6.0 Gbps
    - Standard Memory Config: 2048MB
    - Memory Interface Width: 256-bit GDDR5
    - Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec): 192.2

    Unboxing again









    The beautiful GPU's






















    with one Dual Link DVI-I, one Dual Link DVI-D, one HDMI and one DisplayPort





    And installed the new GPU's




  3. #3

    Default Re: Alienware Aurora ALX-XL

    And now it is time for some modding

    First a window in the Alienware Aurora. And maybe two, one on both sides.
    But this is for later... first one.

    The sidepanel





    Contacts for lighting has to be kept in mind



    And the shapes / curves must be maintained



    Everything is pretty easy to disassemble. Black panel removed and drawn the line for cutting





    Disassambled the remaining parts





    RGB strip for color effects



    Detached the Acrylic carefully





    What's left...a piece of iron



    This is what we gonna use for cutting the window in the plastic panel



    After some sawing and filing





    Excess plastic also removed with my dremel to place the window (later)



    first fit



    Next step. We use the jigsaw



    Removed the reinforcement strip and drawned the hole slightly larger than the window in the plastic panel



    And saw it (and some filling of course)



    The points which seem to be thin will be reinforced



    Furthermore, it's still a strong frame



    And placed everything back. The gap inside between the plastic and iron needs to be filled



    And the window is almost finished





    A big start topic with a lot of pics and vids, but hope you like it.

    Until the next update!!!

    Grtz.

    Kier

  4. #4
    Undead Pirate d_stilgar's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alienware Aurora ALX-XL

    Great start, and a great case to start with. Sure wish I had the Aurora ALX. The fins may have been proven to be more gimmick than performance booster, but I still love them.

  5. #5
    Its not cool till its watercooled. Fuganater's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alienware Aurora ALX-XL

    Nice start. I'll deff be watching this. Never saw someone mod a prebuilt system before. Epically not an Alienware.

  6. #6
    Overclocked _ferry_'s Avatar
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    Default Re: Alienware Aurora ALX-XL


    http://youtu.be/RaA1851L8ug
    Were you listening to this song during the search for a new project
    Oh well, at least the computer is a lot better then the song...
    Last edited by OvRiDe; 10-29-2012 at 10:46 PM. Reason: Fixed Youtube embed
    My TBCS worklogs:

    HTPC Onkyo look(active!)
    Alien Hospital(on hold) - Chemical Industrial(finished) - Cosmod(finished)
    Other finished projects:
    I-spider - Chemical Overdose - The Praetorian

  7. #7

    Default Re: Alienware Aurora ALX-XL

    Quote Originally Posted by d_stilgar View Post
    Great start, and a great case to start with. Sure wish I had the Aurora ALX. The fins may have been proven to be more gimmick than performance booster, but I still love them.
    Thanks, the vents are nice gadgets and look great. Nothing more

    Quote Originally Posted by Fuganater View Post
    Nice start. I'll deff be watching this. Never saw someone mod a prebuilt system before. Epically not an Alienware.
    Needs to stay original thanks bro

    Quote Originally Posted by _ferry_ View Post

    http://youtu.be/RaA1851L8ug
    Were you listening to this song during the search for a new project
    Oh well, at least the computer is a lot better then the song...
    Lol you dont like my music was a random choise. next song will be better

  8. #8

    Default Re: Alienware Aurora ALX-XL







    Update!!!

    After playing some games and testing it was time to strip the case.
    First the wiring, which is quite a lot in this case. But quite logical because all the gadgets.

    PCB and a lot of cables for the lights









    The PCB strip at the top for lighting and power pump









    2 of these for the lighting behind the HDD bays



    And some more cables







    After all cables are removed, This is what's left ... for illumination





    Also removed the Alienware mobo. Rams will by provided with black ram coolers later on.









    Fan bracket for the swap bay





    And the fanbracket for the GPU's





    The HDD bays are easy to disassemble with screwdriver





    Putting the SSD away for later





    CPU cooler remains a beautiful item, so as previously mentioned this will be used again in this build later





    Removed the midplate.



    And mobo tray



    Still dismanteling with only a screwdriver Also removed the PSU



    Later on this will be black



    And the cables which will be a challenge regarding the sleeve job



    And removed the covers



    Everything is stripped, so this is what's left



    Time to think and mod. The idea is to put 2x 360 rads for the GPUs
    This is not possible in the original case. Therefore I'am gonna raise the case using an old LL case where I have shortened the vertical bars and put it back together.



    Mounted the Alienware Aurora on top and made a bracket around the lower part​. Because the lower case is smaller I had some space for the HDD cage to place it in the empty space.







    For the sides I have cut a piece of aluminum and bent the curves in it.





    Bent everything in the shapes of the lower strip on the existing side panel. This strip is where the new cover is going to be mounted on.





    Done both sides and front.



    After this cut out the radiators





    All assembled and stick together with tape









    Shiny







    Made the covers black









    And the end result after some sawing, filing, drilling, bending and pasting.

  9. #9

    Default Re: Alienware Aurora ALX-XL













    The Alienware Aurora XL version

  10. #10
    Moderator TLHarrell's Avatar
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    Default Re: Alienware Aurora ALX-XL

    Interesting how this is taking shape. I definitely like this. Also, good to see an Alienware rig gutted out.
    I have a hammer! I can put things together! I can knock things apart! I can alter my environment at will and make an incredible din all the while! -Calvin

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