Should I void my warranty to upgrade my prebuilt?

[boey]

TL:DR Alienware prebuilt has bad airflow and some mismatched specs that cause a bottleneck at 1440p. PC broke after a while and customer service is taking really long to get back to me. I fixed my own problem by replacing a part and I’m now considering replacing all bottlenecking specs even though warranty ends in April, since the customer service is shit.

 

Basically right now I have an Alienware Aurora R7(I’ll link specs below). Due to it’s shitty airflow and design, my 8400 that’s pulling 30-50W in game is doing around 70C at 100% cpu and case fan speed. Also it only has 1x8GB of RAM which bottlenecks most of my games at 1440p. 

 

Here’s the main reason: My motherboard apparently broke, so the Dell technician(after 3 20 minute calls) came to replace the motherboard, and the new one didn’t boot with a CMOS battery error, but with a ‘Ram Undetected error’. He tried resitting the ram sticks to no avail. After leaving, I literally took the ram out and put it back in to find that it works fine, except that now the HDD was broken. I got an error saying it was incompatible for boot drive upon booting, and I could not access it when booting to Windows on another SSD. I called Dell up and they said they would have to take my PC away for repair, and that a technician would call me for arrangement. It has been a week and no one has called me, plus I’ve already ‘fixed’ the problem I had. In fact, I boot faster now due to my boot drive being an SSD.

 

The only important files I had on the HDD was software from Dell to change fan speeds on the PC(except gpu). Temps on the 8400 aren’t exceeding 80C so I don’t mind. The warranty is ending in April.

 

Should I just start replacing parts in my system, since the warranty is basically bullshit due to shit customer service?

 

PC Specs:

i5-8400

1x8GB 2666Mhz DDR4

GTX 1070

Z370 mATX Mobo

2x 120mm fan

460W PSU(No 80+ rating)

[corrado33]

Yes.

[boey]

2 minutes ago, corrado33 said:

Yes.

Should I save up and upgrade all/most of it at once? So I wouldn’t have any Dell parts left that could potentially break and not be covered by warranty?

[Guest]

No, it could cost you more if something else breaks. Warranty may take a long time, but it is free, the fees people actually charge for this sort of thing - and may take the same amount of time, are a lot for what they do. 

[Fasauceome]

Why would adding ram void your warranty? Or case fans? Doesn't even sound like a warranty is worth having at this point, they can't seem to get it right. DIY is the only way, if you want something done right you've got to do it yourself

[Acid Panda]

honestly i would stick with the customer service its the best guarantee you have.

though they cant enforce the voiding of the label as its not law in most countries. they may say they you broke the components to cant cover it. since legally they could play long game and price you out

[Tristerin]

3 minutes ago, _d0nut said:

Should I save up and upgrade all/most of it at once? So I wouldn’t have any Dell parts left that could potentially break and not be covered by warranty?

No.

 

If you must, fix the bottlenecks, let the rest run its lifecycle.  It wont "take" parts down with it when it goes (I.E. motherboard taking GPU with it is a rare case, unless you feel this may happen to you I wouldn't replace it until it broke - seems like you have identified the issues, Id only work to fix those if it were me)

[Pyramiden]

Would it be possible to consult a local forum for this question? The rules for warranty are different in every country. Where I live you would be able to swap out those parts without losing your warranty, but for other countries with worse consumer laws, like the US, this is probably different.

[Crunchy Dragon]

I would just build a completely new machine, honestly.

[boey]

Just now, Pyramiden said:

Would it be possible to consult a local forum for this question? The rules for warranty are different in every country. Where I live you would be able to swap out those parts without losing your warranty, but for other countries that is not the case.

I tried asking on Dell forums and I didn’t get much info

[bcredeur97]

anytime the question here begins with "Should I void warranty"

the default answer is "yes" XD

[boey]

9 minutes ago, Tristerin said:

No.

 

If you must, fix the bottlenecks, let the rest run its lifecycle.  It wont "take" parts down with it when it goes (I.E. motherboard taking GPU with it is a rare case, unless you feel this may happen to you I wouldn't replace it until it broke - seems like you have identified the issues, Id only work to fix those if it were me)

I forgot to mention - the proprietary motherboard is pretty bad, so much so that if I add my own RAM(2x8GB G.Skill TridentZ RGB 3200Mhz) it doesn’t post even with XMP off. The case only has 2 120mm fan slots and even then it’s impossible to reach for them. I can fix minor bottlenecks like adding an SSD and stuff but that’s about it. I can’t replace the GPU(only 460w PSU), can’t take out CPU Cooler since apparently there’s a warranty thingy on it and if I break it I void the warranty and I can’t fix the airflow.

[YaBoiWill]

TBH unless you want to get real DIY and start cutting holes into your case, I would just start again and take the parts of the system that are working well together forwards. 

[iLostMyXbox21]

just replace it and if you wanna return it, put it back like it was

[Princess Luna]

If you wanted DYI you shouldn't have bought a pre-build in the first place.

 

Wait the warranty to end before changing stuff.

[boey]

1 minute ago, YaBoiWill said:

TBH unless you want to get real DIY and start cutting holes into your case, I would just start again and take the parts of the system that are working well together forwards. 

I was thinking of upgrading case, case fans, cpu cooler and motherboard but idk

[boey]

Just now, Princess Cadence said:

If you wanted DYI you shouldn't have bought a pre-build in the first place.

 

Wait the warranty to end before changing stuff.

I bought it at a time when I was too scared to build one myself(Also my dad didn’t allow me to).

[boey]

2 minutes ago, iLostMyXbox21 said:

just replace it and if you wanna return it, put it back like it was

I mean I could do that, would be a little harder if I tried replacing stuff like the case and motherboard since I would need to put the whole thing back together again. Also I can’t take off the CPU Cooler without triggering some sticker thing that immediately voids warranty.

[boey]

8 minutes ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

I would just build a completely new machine, honestly.

I don’t have the money to do one from scratch, I can probably scrape enough cash to do one with parts from the existing PC though

[LukeNukem9]

I wouldn't wait because if the CPU sits at high temps for a while, its going to drastically change the lifespan. I would put a new CPU cooler when you do open it.

 

 

 

Edit: Send it.

Edited December 12, 2018 by Dubious Gaming: bl4z3
LOGIC!

[Crunchy Dragon]

Just now, _d0nut said:

I don’t have the money to do one from scratch, I can probably scrape enough cash to do one with parts from the existing PC though

That'll probably be a better option than just replacing Dell's parts.

[boey]

1 minute ago, Crunchy Dragon said:

That'll probably be a better option than just replacing Dell's parts.

Yeah that’s what I wanted to do, new case, new motherboard, new ram, new psu and the rest from the prebuilt. I kinda trust the GPU and CPU to not die since they shouldn’t be too sketchy

[LukeNukem9]

2 minutes ago, _d0nut said:

Yeah that’s what I wanted to do, new case, new motherboard, new ram, new psu and the rest from the prebuilt. I kinda trust the GPU and CPU to not die since they shouldn’t be too sketchy

New Cooler ASAP

Like i said in my previous post, you CPU will last longer if its cool

Edited December 12, 2018 by Dubious Gaming: bl4z3

[Mira Yurizaki]

Dell is pretty relaxed about user upgrades as long as the user doesn't damage the computer and try to claim warranty on it.

 

I mean, if it voided warranties, why would they make my laptop easy to open up and upgrade? Schmuck bait?

[boey]

3 minutes ago, M.Yurizaki said:

Dell is pretty relaxed about user upgrades as long as the user doesn't damage the computer and try to claim warranty on it.

 

I mean, if it voided warranties, why would they make my laptop easy to open up and upgrade? Schmuck bait?

I was told by a Dell employee on the forums that they strongly discourage me from doing my own upgrades. Also, I plan to change a lot of the main body, instead if it being an Alienware prebuilt with some custom parts it would be a PC with some alienware parts. Dunno if that’s possible. Also I’d likely need to sell my old Alienware parts to get enough money to do the necessary upgrades.