Hi all. This is a 3-tier question but stick with it I own an Alienware Aurora desktop PC (I know I know, 'overpriced' etc etc but it was a Gadget Show prize so I'm not complaining ) I was wondering, firstly, does anyone else own one or know someone that does ? If so, have you/they attempted to upgrade the graphics card at all ? (Mine's currently a GTX 260 which is as shipped) If so, what's the maximum length of PCB that will fit the chassis ? (The current card is about 9" long; I'd like to upgrade to a DX11 card at some point but don't want to spend oodles of cash only to find the card doesn't fit ) Any help or insights would be much appreciated. Cheers.
I don't mean to sound rude, but is there anything blocking you from just popping off the side of the case and measuring with a ruler? Some PCs I've seen have warranty stickers, but does this? I highly doubt that anyone on Bit-Tech has this case, mainly because it's Alienware. Nice prize though
Yes, he wants you to open the case and check how much room there is in it. This is not measuring your current graphics card, it's measuring the distance between one side of the case and where it would block you from installing another graphics card. From that, you'll be able to work out how large a card you could fit in.
http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/2010/01/alienware-aurora-alx-pc-review/08.jpg If you look at the image, there is a sort of 'conduit' at the rear of the card with all the wires passing through it. When I looked for myself it seemed the graphics card was right up against this, so I was just wondering if anyone had attempted to fit a longer card. Personally speaking, I'm glad it was free. They are somewhat over-engineered and it wouldn't have been my first choice if I was going to buy a new PC. I think if they had put the components in a case that actually has some decent cooling, I could quite happily live without all the lights etc.... but then it wouldn't look like an Alienware PC then I suppose....
Is the plastic frame easily removable? If it is, you could just remove it and cable tie the wires up when the new GPU is installed.
From that pic alone I'd say it can fit just about anything, but really I don't see the problem in just seeing/testing it yourself. Just imagine the card you had would extend 5 cm longer, what would it hit (if anything) and could the possible problem be solved without excess violence?
It looks like it could easily fit even the biggest cards. It looks like you could easily fit the cables in the gap between the card & the case if the card is extremely long. If the worse comes to the worst it shouldn't be all too difficult to remove the frame (it's only plastic!) & by a cable management kit (cable ties & cable mounts).
To me, that looks like really good cable management. The cables are all neatly tucked away where possible, and the duct stops any from springing up.
The cables in mid-air are perfectly placed for additional optical drives. Why you would need more is another question...
