Reverse Engineering an Alienware. Then engineering the reverse engineering.

[AlienALX]

Well this was not even going to be a project log tbh. However, I got caught out and now it is one lmfao 

 

I don't know if you know the meaning behind my username. Most people think my name is either Alex or Andy. The latter would be correct. The ALX part? comes from my prolonged history with Alienware computers. Well, cases and modding them.

 

It started out in 2002 when I was in Best Buy in Deptford New Jersey. I spent 8 years living out there. Any way, I saw my first Alienware in a AW branded Chieftec Dragon and fell in love. I could never afford one so it became a bucket list item for me. Then in 2006 I got my first case. The MJ12 server case. In 2008 I got my first Predator 2 case. In 2009 I got my first Predator 2 ALX case. In 2011 I got my first Area 51 ALX case. In 2015 I bought the triangular case and so on so on.

 

ALX though was like a special part of Alienware. IIRC it no longer exists, but it was like a even more deluxe version. And that was where I got my username in 2009 and I have used it ever since.

 

So after the triad triangular case for the first time in 10 years I started using other cases. I have never, though, owned one of the new Aurora cases. Well, until now. The white one for me is absolutely gorgeous. Just recently I got quite bored of the PC at mum's (this one)

 

 

It is a bit "clinic like". So, as we do I was on Ebay last night and found a Aurora chassis BNIB. Only it was in the USA, so by the time I get it I will be out about £135. I don't think that is too bad though tbh. This is it here. I will actually like not being distracted by the light show as I game.

 

 

 

 

Now look, I know it is subjective but I have never seen an Alienware case design I do not like. Apart from the new ones that look like any other PC.

 

Any way, given how "nice" Dell had been for many years I figured this would be a simple case swap. Seems I was completely wrong ! The first thing I realised is that the IO shield is not removable.

 

 

Which is kinda Apple like but look we can deal with that. They even left us a nice template to cut out. However, this was when I started to notice oddities. First up there are two USB 3 connectors.

 

 

OK not a problem I can get around that by using this.

 

 

Then, however, I spotted this.

 

 

And was like "WTF is that?". I soon got my answer when I downloaded a pic of the board that comes in the case.

 

 

See it? LED con. You'll never guess what? no one has decoded that block into a pinout. Nobody. In fact, when users have a board failure (which is very common on the boards Alienware did not fit any VRM coolers to) they naturally swap out of this case not back in. Hence the irony. Some complete wally wants to swap stuff INTO this case, not out.

 

Thing is if you knew me you would know this is like a red flag to a bull. You know? challenge foogin accepted you aholes.

 

Thus, if I have to swap every single sodding RGB bulb out myself I will.

 

Any way so the devolution of Alienware aside.... I have never had an IO shield on my X570i Strix. I bought it as a bare board only customer return for about 1/3 the RRP at the time. I finally found the IO I need on Ali, years later.

 

 

Which is awesome. I can also use the reverse flow fans I bought and never used when doing the 5090 build.. The rest of the fans? I have two carrier bags heaving with the sodding things.

 

 

So, the mission list.

 

1. Get the board in.

2. Get the RGB working or replace every strip myself.

3. Mod. Add fans. I want two intakes, push pull on the cooler and a side intake for the GPU. Why people have not done these mods is beyond me tbh.

 

I have bought a cooler BTW. It was £30. I think the 5700X3d will be fine with it.

 

 

It's a ruddy good thing I bought that Milwauke Dremel. I have a feeling I am going to need it !

 

This, BTW.

 

[AlienALX]

OK so some good news. I did a bit of research, and, - ....

 

 

That is the main block in the front panel. And, it all looks completely normal tbh.

 

I've also been doing some research on the lighting. It seems the main lighting is in two areas.. The front, and this side (the entire name lights up)

 

 

When poking around however I discovered this video.

 

 

That is it there. To me? that looks like some sort of light panel. And, I reckon the milky white part is just a cover. I reckon I can mod that and put two RGB strips under it. Well, if I don't blow it up first lol.

 

OK. So the front panel is not standard.

 

 

The black one is (it is USB 2) the blue one is not. So I ordered this.

 

 

And will graft in these for the 3.0

 

 

 

Or these.

 

[AlienALX]

OK so another discovery. The front RGB uses light pipes.

 

 

 

 

 

Edit. The panel for the ALIENWARE text also uses those "tron lights" as Alienware call them. It is in the service manual.

 

Now this took some head scratching. It seems they share the same working principle as Lian Li Strimer V1. IE plastic tubes with a single LED projecting along each one.

 

 

So I am going to have to make my own. The black boxes can be 3d printed by a friend of mine, I will then fit these.

 

 

 

I might even CNC some tiny circuit boards to keep things tidy. For the main panel? I will use RGB strips. Plenty of room there.

[AlienALX]

So the fans are sorted. For free too which is always nice !

 

It did catch me off guard though. Like, two of them are wired together and have a RGB connector. I couldn't make head nor tail of it then I realised they must have come with one of the AIOs I bought (probably the one recently I put in the 5090 build) and they do indeed have RGB. Tiny weeny bits.

 

 

So the bottom two are the RGB ones. They are all identical, though. Basically I read (I think it was Der8auer who said it) that they are exactly the same as EK Vardar fans. Made in the same place and everything. I then have another one which will be fitted to the side panel where the GPU vent is, and a reverse flow RGB fan for the AIO which will be the pull fan and be visible through the roof vents. The two RGB ones are going to be the intakes in the front, and there is already one of the plain non RGB ones fitted to the cooler (I did that earlier).

 

So yeah, these fans are pretty butch so I don't see them having problems bringing in air.

[AlienALX]

I am pretty sure the LEDs are 12v. They are only controllable on the Alienware app by zones. I don't want them 12v. I want to be able to run Asus's "Starry night" which is amazing. As such? I may as well just replace them all tbh.

 

The only difficult part (if you could even call it that) is this -

 

 

I may need to get some of those little holders that hold in the bulb and light bar thing printed. Thankfully I know a guy who can do that. I am also going to buy some copper coated fibrelgass and make some PCBs. Tiny ones, but my CNC machine is more than capable. This will help with my failing eyesight and give me pads to solder onto lmao. Nice thing is once I have gone through that it will all just be 3 pin connectors that will connect into this.

 

 

And then I can just use Armory crate. Far easier tbh !

 

One other thing absent. There is no rad carrier ffs. Seems if you do not pay a ton for their 120mm AIO the case does not include the holder. See here at the top in the roof at the back.

 

 

I spent 3 days trying to identify that sodding thing. If I could get one it would save me a F ton of aggro trying to build something myself to hold in the rad and fans. In the end? Aliexpress saves the day again.

 

 

£15 delivered.

[AlienALX]

I am also considering getting a small 3d printer. Though whether that will come to fruition? I doubt it. It's having the space for it. (edit. I am now decided, I am getting a small one)

 

Just ordered some fibreglass PCB copper clad.

 

 

So when it arrives and the time comes I can machine the PCBs for the LEDs.

[AlienALX]

OK so to run through the ideas here, and why I am doing this.

 

The Lian Li Dan is the best small case I have ever used. There is no doubt. However, there are things that annoy me and it is no fault of the case at all.

 

Firstly as I said, it is too clinic like. I realised this as soon as I got the black version. Then there is the RGB etc. It puts me off during gaming tbh. I could probably go through and disable it all but yeah...

 

Lastly, and the thing that drives me nuts. The board in there is a X570i Strix. I run it with "Starry Night" and it looks amazing. However, when you shut it down it then farts rainbows all night. The right panel on the PC is mesh, and thus it lights the whole room up and makes it hard for me to sleep.

 

"Just disable it" I hear you all say. Well if you do? it perma disables the RGB. You can not have it off during stand by and on when you start the PC, unless you want to go into BIOS every single time you boot. I guess during X570 RGB was still kinda primitive and thus yeah, they never thought it through properly. I do not want to replace the board because it's pretty ace and the 5700X3D has been amazing. I do have a B760i Strix, and a 14600KF, but I do not have any more DDR5 and yeah... We all know about that ffs.

 

So the nice thing here is that there will be no RGB "gaming side" of this case. And, when it farts rainbows all night long it will be completely closed in.

 

So yes, the idea here is to reverse engineer all of the RGB in the Alienware case and convert it to ARGB 5v. The large panel for the ALIENWARE text is just more of the same behind a diffuser. However, you can actually just dump a strip under there and job done. Which will light the letters individually. I have seen a guy wire up strips in the front panel but then the actual RGB did not work, hence me wanting to reverse engineer those LED housings and put in active bulbs !

 

The hardware will be as follows...

 

5700X3D with 32gb Patriot Viper blackout RAM

X570i Strix (with a new IO shield I never had)

RTX 4080 Super

Numerous NVME

850w Asus Loki PSU

TR 120mm AIO push pull

"Vardar" fans. Brute force may be necessary !

[AlienALX]

OK so I designed an IO board for the RGB hub and fan hub.

 

 

I will be back at it next week.

[OhioYJ]

I'm enjoying the determination to make things work, and figuring things out in this build. Not to mention it will be unique when it's done. 

[AlienALX]

I like me a challenge. I forgot to mention I am going to paint the rear outside of the case in gold. I want the AW/ROG theme...

 

Just a quick one. Case still in Illinois. I would panic but this happens every time I import things lol.

What I did do was think about my old mouse. I rebuilt it about two years ago, then it started acting up. I had a feeling it was the software, but never tried too hard because I could not be without a mouse. Any way, I just plugged it into this PC and it works fine. It is also mint, so I shall use it.

 

After a good clean and service of course. I then got the itch to go full ham. Like, keyboard, desk mat (got one already) and etc. Found this for £25.

 

Wanted white, so I popped onto OCUK and bought some goodies.

 

 

The neons are for the main ALIENWARE logo.

[AlienALX]

OK so apologies for the radio silence. Been stupid busy.

 

I had a very scary moment when I realised that there wasn't anywhere near as much GPU room as I thought. I figured that with Dell selling them with 3090s in there would be plenty of space. However, a Dell 3090 is a whole smaller animal than a real one. This meant there is not enough room in the case. Pants truly crapped I started trying to find answers. It took about a week. I then found someone who had made erm, "adjustments" with a hammer, and.

 

 

That is a real 3090, which is larger than my 307mm 4080 Super. I am going to cut out the offending metal, though. There is tons more room in here.

 

 

So with that panic over and a fresh pair of undies I treated myself. To this.

 

 

 

The keyboard arrived too. I have fitted nearly all of the keys but some are Corsair type so my mate is sending me what I need.

 

 

I got a new one of these too. Mine is from 2007

 

[AlienALX]

OK so finally after over a month it is here. It is also as sold (brand spanking new) and covered in protective plastic.

 

 

 

I will also be using my 4x8gb kits of 8 pack DDR4. Mostly as one set is DDR4 4000 with tight timings and the other set is 4133. I had these running for about two years at 4000 in my 12700K machine and they worked flawlessly.

 

 

Oh yeah couple of things.. Firstly I was spot on. There is no rad holder included. Secondly? wow it is waaaaay smaller than it looks. Which is a real bonus.

 

OK big splurge.

 

Just recently I bought a brand new 14600KF that was going to go in my 5090 build. However, I changed direction and went for the 245k to save some power. As such I have a brand new in box 14600KF. Whilst the 5700X3D is great for gaming it lacks for design etc. I would imagine it is the clock speed. I do have an almost new B760 Strix ITX but it is DDR5 and yeah. Not happening.

 

So, I hunted down this.

 

 

It's not just cores. I need more sockets etc. In a PC that will be mostly for productivity I miss having slots etc. So the obligatory..

 

 

And sorted. Am going to try my 8 pack DDR4 4000 4x8 and see how that works.

 

Sundries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then this. This will be the harness for the front light tube LEDs.

 

And the last of it.

 

OK this is the contact frame.

 

 

And I got two of these. I bought two 120mm slim last time I was over, so this should make sure I can stuff it to the gills with fans.

 

 

I have obs ordered some etch primer also. Am hoping to get the metalwork and paint done in one day if all goes well.

 

Famous last words lmao

[AlienALX]

OK so happy birthday to me (literally. 52 today and totally forgot lmao).

 

 

OK so that is how that works.

 

For the bin..

 

 

And then various states of undress.

 

 

 

 

Before.

 

 

Marking and cutting tomorrow. It is amazing how tiny the actual shell is.

[AlienALX]

 

 

*cut snip peel rip*. Wait wut?

 

 

lmao. Tight buggers !!! And t'other end.

 

 

Et violin.

 

 

If you look very carefully you can see pinouts. It is indeed 12v non addressable. Glad it is going then.

[AlienALX]

OK so there may be a part two to today, we will see. First up I made sure the RGB things I bought would fit. They would not, then I peeled off the useless magnets. Then they fit.

 

 

Test on the case. I will glue them to the chassis.

 

 

OK so that is mostly done. I won't know if I need to diffuse them until I test them. So then it was onto the front.

 

I soldered in a power button cable (you will see it later) then took apart the IO part. I then carved down a socket to fit, and.

 

 

Another job done then.

 

 

 

I then put it all back together for now. Mostly as getting to the tron lights involves picks etc. It's not easy.

 

 

Lines up beautifully. I didn't even have to glue it into the box.

 

So here is the new power switch cable. I soldered it onto the switch itself. GOD it was fiddly and I could not see what I was doing but I got there eventually.

 

 

[AlienALX]

OK solder, bugger two up, do them again etc etc. One looks dim because Starry Night.

 

 

So what was this terribly clever idea I had? well, yesterday when I was making a coffee I noticed these things. Asked mum what they were and after showing her one she said "Stainless steel straws..... That I never used".

 

 

And what would you know, if you shove the LED in (nice push fit)

 

 

You get your joiner come light boxes free, with just some cutting.

[AlienALX]

OK so for today's "Round One" I began sorting the front in a final form. First up was fitting the neon holders and neons.

 

 

 

And then the modded honeycomb panel.

 

 

It's a 92mm fan. Not quite enough room in there for a 120. I also realised I have no chance of getting the PLED wired. It is micro tiny like 2mm. So I bought some wired ones. White, as I wanted.

 

[AlienALX]

OK so more work done. First a last solid colour test on the LEDs before they are permanent.

 

 

Reet, in you go.

 

 

 

I then tested the neons.

 

 

Before finally....

 

 

Stoked. Whilst it has been a real pee-er that is deffo rewarding. No one has gotten those working with after market hardware before.

[AlienALX]

OK board got. Switched out the WIFI 6 card for a WIFI 7 and fitted CPU and bracket. The RAM is Team Force 8 Pack. Two are 4000mhz and two are 4133. I will probably XMP them to 4000 as I did when they were with my 12700KF. I can't see why that shouldn't work with the 14600K tbh.

 

 

 

[AlienALX]

Just a quick one (oo er).

 

Most of the metal work is now done. IE all of the important bits to convert the case into a stock layout. I have also primed the front and rear. There is some metalwork left to do (I will explain it when I am done tomorrow) and then I can do the final paint etc.

 

I am hoping to have it assembled next weekend, as I have to pop home for a few days to get some meds. I can let the 2k paint harden fully that way.

 

Last night I was tinkering. I remembered the cooler in the donor PC has a cool screen on. Now obs I can't use the cooler as it is a 240mm AIO, but I decided to have a play and....

 

 

That is with it plugged externally via USB C into my Serpent Canyon NUC. So, when all is said and done I can do a full custom desk mounted screen using the inbuilt software.

 

 

Which is dope because it is even in the correct colours to match all of the new gear

 

I also had to order a couple more bits. The reason I wanted this board so bad is because it supports my CPU and RAM, but also because it has two 3.0 headers on. Problem is one of them is bottom middle of the board and one of the cables won't reach.

 

 

Oh and the bottom M.2 has no heat sink.

 

 

Which is necessary because I realised that my NUC has a 2tb Crucial gen 4 NVME in. I only use the thing when I have a rig down or when I do LAN night on holiday once a year, so 2tb for old LAN based games is silly. I put the 1tb in there, so have the 2tb for the Alienware.

[AlienALX]

Meh, decided to treat myself. 'Cause I'm worth it 

 

 

 

 

So what's so special about that? well, the white parts are metal. Still nothing too good...But, they are 30mm and won and award. Mostly because they come with reverse blades. So you can configure them yourself. And, at £7.99 a pop on clearance on here I thought it was a no brainer.

 

https://www.apnx.com/product/fp2/

 

Right, so here was where I left off.

 

 

 

So for today (marked this out last night)

 

 

Meet Barry. I call him that because this thing is barbaric. Barry The Barbarian. It does not cut its way through metal, it smashes its way through.

 

 

Done, clean off the markings as it will bleed into the primer.

 

 

Mask.

 

 

 

 

Yeah, I did mask off the black "padding" stuff. The paint would never have dried on it, or would have cracked up and slowly fallen off. I did not want paint anywhere there are moving parts, hence all the masking.

 

 

I am going to put down the satin black 2k tomorrow. Obs i can't activate it and paint the main chassis 'cause it will be useless by tomorrow as it will turn to rock.

 

Last night I fitted the AIO cooler bracket to the mobo and today the NVME cooler came. So I can pop that on later.

[AlienALX]

OK so given 2k is no joke I am well protected lol.

 

 

Coat one, just a mist coat. Am downstairs because it reeked so bad and I didn't want to sit there masked up lol.

 

[AlienALX]

OK coat two down. Coverage is now almost complete. Looks shiny, but is indeed satin. I just took the pic as soon as I had done painting so it looks gloss.

 

 

One more to go.

[AlienALX]

Paint finished and left to harden whilst I came home for a couple of days to sort some things.

 

Fans came in yesterday.

 

[AlienALX]

OK mega update !

 

I got it down around 7pm last night. Put it back into one piece.

 

 

Fit the PSU

 

 

 

Fit motherboard and cooler.

 

 

Mount cooler. Ross, it did have plenty of clearance in the end. Now it has more airflow haha.

 

 

 

Cut oneself, get blood everywhere.

 

 

Mount top intake fan.

 

 

Just a quick note here. The 92mm fan has to come out. The GPU is bigger than it says it is. It does fit, but not with the fan, and it comes out of the front of the metal as I suspected it would.

 

Any way,  moving on.

 

This bit took some serious measuring. I wanted the hubs (fan and RGB) in the top. I had to snap out a piece of plastic inside the top but it worked. I then measured it all out, stuck them together, mounted them and etc etc. There is space behind it to put all the wires. Well, once they are tidied etc.

 

 

And then a loose fit of the top to make sure it works. It does.

 

 

And the day ends at 11:55PM

 

 

However, going back in time. Before all of that I mapped, designed and created the new power button PCB.

 

 

That should be done by tonight I hope. I can then fit the front.