Upgrades to a Alienware X51?

[Dr. Xeno Pootis]

Been scrambling all over the internet to find any parts to upgrade a Alienware X51, its been 4 years since I bought it (I regret it, since now I have knowledge of PC building), so is there any upgrades I can perhaps do on the Alienware X51?

The PC sits on my wooden desk, so airflow is fine. Haven't actually opened up my PC in the last 4 years, so I will have to clean it out when I upgrade. Outside of the case, looks pretty clean. 
 
Current outdated specs:
 
CPU: i7-2600 (wish it was unlocked, but oh well)
GPU: GTX 555
RAM: Don't know if RAM was made by Dell themselves, but 8 GB
PSU: I think its a 300w External PSU, sits on my desk
Storage: 1 TB (technically 995 GB according to PC) 7200 RPM

Mobo: Mini ITX X51-R1 

Fans: Standard fans, does a okay-ish job at keeping CPU at 57c minimum to 71c max.  
 
I currently have no images at the moment, so here's a image of it:

 

 

I regret buying this junk and could've built my own PC. am sad, crying in corner rite now.

[PhantomChevron]

Nope, impossible to upgrade or very difficult

 

Since you only have 300W psu

[NinjaStyle013]

New GPU is your best bet here, CPU is still good, just an older generation but its still an i7.

 

You're probably going to have to sort out a new PSU though

[EarthboundHero]

SSD

[Guest Kloaked]

I suggest asking the AlienwareArena forum where Alienware employees will let you know what has been confirmed to work properly with the X51.

[PhantomChevron]

New GPU is your best bet here, CPU is still good, just an older generation but its still an i7.

 

You're probably going to have to sort out a new PSU though

Not easy for him, its External I think

[The Crazed Child]

PSU is proprietary, no way to upgrade. You'll be stuck with 300W.

 

With a H61 mobo it's not even worth getting an unlocked SKU. What you can do is overclock it to the maximum turbo boost ratio and keep it there, can't go further than that though.

I don't know what stock cooling Dell uses but it's obviously a low-profile solution, if it's getting toasty in there I'd recommend the Noctua NH-L9i. Easy to install too.

GPU-wise you could probably put a short variant of the GTX 970 in there. It will keep your system up to par for a few years in gaming-related applications.

HDD upgrades are a piece of cake, they consume barely any power, SSDs are even more efficient on that note. Just make sure the PSU has enough SATA power connectors if you're putting a fair few drives in there.

 

That's it basically.

[The Crazed Child]

Not easy for him, its External I think

The power brick is external, there is a secondary board inside the system with a few supplementary capacitors and the individual power connectors.

[xnoobftw]

I would say... Ditch the case, psu, GPU. Keep the rest and place it in a new case. Get a new PSU and GPU while you are at it.

Preferably the EVGAg2 750watts and gtx 970. For case i would suggest s340/h440/define R4 or 5 

[Totally-A-Hero]

Id say toss the case and PSU and keep everything else, maybe upgrade GPU but just get it started on some upgrades atleast.

[NinjaStyle013]

Not easy for him, its External I think

Yeah so he would need a new case which is a bit poo

[ImBleu]

You could get away with a GTX 750Ti and an ssd in there. Maybe a 970.

[hmminteresting]

Been scrambling all over the internet to find any parts to upgrade a Alienware X51, its been 4 years since I bought it (I regret it, since now I have knowledge of PC building), so is there any upgrades I can perhaps do on the Alienware X51?

The PC sits on my wooden desk, so airflow is fine. Haven't actually opened up my PC in the last 4 years, so I will have to clean it out when I upgrade. Outside of the case, looks pretty clean. 

 

Current outdated specs:

 

CPU: i7-2600 (wish it was unlocked, but oh well)

GPU: GTX 555

RAM: Don't know if RAM was made by Dell themselves, but 8 GB

PSU: I think its a 300w External PSU, sits on my desk

Storage: 1 TB (technically 995 GB according to PC) 7200 RPM

Mobo: Mini ITX X51-R1 

Fans: Standard fans, does a okay-ish job at keeping CPU at 57c minimum to 71c max.  

 

I currently have no images at the moment, so here's a image of it:

 

I regret buying this junk and could've built my own PC. am sad, crying in corner rite now.

your best bet would be a new PSU and GPU. for the GPU a 970/80 is the only option i think cause of the low tdp also cause theres pretty good ITX versions of these cards so you shouldnt have trouble installing them 

[Analog]

I would upgrade the motherboard and processor to something more modern. A good Z97 Mini-ITX board with a i7 4790, non K edition since you won't have enough power to overclock it and a nice GTX 960/970. Undervolting the CPU is also an option. It will make it run cooler and spare Wattage. Ditching the Hard Drive and installing only an SSD will also spare some of the PSU, but not by that much. 

[Dude]

The best upgrade to an Alienware is a better PC.

[NakedChicken]

Been scrambling all over the internet to find any parts to upgrade a Alienware X51, its been 4 years since I bought it (I regret it, since now I have knowledge of PC building), so is there any upgrades I can perhaps do on the Alienware X51?

The PC sits on my wooden desk, so airflow is fine. Haven't actually opened up my PC in the last 4 years, so I will have to clean it out when I upgrade. Outside of the case, looks pretty clean. 

 

Current outdated specs:

 

CPU: i7-2600 (wish it was unlocked, but oh well)

GPU: GTX 555

RAM: Don't know if RAM was made by Dell themselves, but 8 GB

PSU: I think its a 300w External PSU, sits on my desk

Storage: 1 TB (technically 995 GB according to PC) 7200 RPM

Mobo: Mini ITX X51-R1 

Fans: Standard fans, does a okay-ish job at keeping CPU at 57c minimum to 71c max.  

 

I currently have no images at the moment, so here's a image of it:

 

 

I regret buying this junk and could've built my own PC. am sad, crying in corner rite now.

The gtx 555 uses has a 150 watt tdp. The gtx 970 has a 145 watt tdp. You might be able to put that in it. Just don't oc. Hope it helps!

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-555-oem/specifications

http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-970/specifications

[AMDMike]

if you get a new case ill buy that old one.

[callum.mcconnell]

you can run a gtx 670 in it. you would need a 330w brick from one of the x51 R2. and it can have up to a i7 4770k i think. That is what I had in my old one.

[ObeseWalrus]

750ti would be my best bet.

[callum.mcconnell]

The 750 Ti would work you could probably get a 760 in there. I would make sure that the size of the card are not to big so you still have enough room to fit the 2 six pin plugs. Air flow will be tight so you would need to keep an eve on that.

 

I personally would start over. The x51 has so little room for modification due to the small form factor. It cost me £400 to make my new pc using the old parts from my x51 and I got around a 20fps improvement and I got much better temps. They went down from 85c to 72c on my GPU with max load. I went with an expensive CPU cooler (that was not really necessary) as well because I had a bit of room left in my budget. But once you think how parts you already have like RAM, CPU, hard drive, CPU  heat sync, GPU. All you need is a case, PSU and a motherboard and you are a way. Then over time you continue to save you can add a better GPU or an extra one without the limitations of the power brick yup already have. You would also have more hard drive space more RAM slots. You probably could Easley upgrade for £300 or less.

[callum.mcconnell]

you could go for a 660 ti for £50 more that the 750 ti. And the 660 ti would probably give yo about 10 fps more

[MrSuperb]

CPU: i7-2600 -> still a perfectly fine CPU. No real need to upgrade

GPU: GTX 555 -> 970 (non-oced) should work. Might want to get the 330Watt PSU from Dell though. Otherwise wait for the 960 or use a 750Ti

RAM: Don't know if RAM was made by Dell themselves, but 8 GB -> 8GB is still sufficient for most things.

PSU: I think its a 300w External PSU, sits on my desk -> Dell offers a 330Watt version

Storage: 1 TB (technically 995 GB according to PC) 7200 RPM -> SSD?

Mobo: Mini ITX X51-R1  -> no need to upgrade, unless you want a new CPU

Fans: Standard fans, does a okay-ish job at keeping CPU at 57c minimum to 71c max.  -> no need to upgrade.