Alienware Alpha First Edition upgrade possibilities?

[chriscaruso8]

Hello LTT,

While browsing my local craigslists ads I managed to come across a first edition Haswell based i3 alienware alpha for $100, While im not a fan of how overpriced their new stuff is I thought this was too good a deal to pass up for me to run a nice little rocket league/ HTPC while looking decent on my tv stand. However recently my son has been getting into PUBG like crazy lately and has been using the gaming computer more and more often. So I figured If I could maybe upgrade this a little with an i5 or i7( non k) he could play the game on low settings. However, I am aware of the wattage of the PSU is only 130w, Im afraid to put a full desktop grade CPU in there. So i have a couple of questions hopefully someone can answer!

 

Anyone else upgrade there alienware box?

Did you undervolt? was it worth it shifting from the i3 to higher or does it just throttle with the cpu cooler?

are their larger psus avaliable?

did anyone manage to get low profile cooler in?

 

Thanks!

[Radium_Angel]

if this is it: https://www.cnet.com/products/alienware-alpha/

Then we'd need to know the mobo and if the CPU is soldered in or not, my guess is you can't upgrade it at all.

A pic of the insides might help

[chriscaruso8]

1 minute ago, Radium_Angel said:

if this is it: https://www.cnet.com/products/alienware-alpha/

Then we'd need to know the mobo and if the CPU is soldered in or not, my guess is you can't upgrade it at all.

A pic of the insides might help

The CPU is not soldered it is a full fledged desktop grade just a "T" varient due to the low power draw, hence my questions on the cpu/replacement psu. The GPU is soldered to the MOBO and unreplaceable. Im not with the system right now but the power of google has helped me  You can see the full socket in image one and the heatsinks in image 2 

[Radium_Angel]

I'm impressed, I would have been certain it was soldered, in any case, now we need to find the motherboard maker, and then we will see if you can bump up the video card

[Himommies]

22 minutes ago, Radium_Angel said:

I'm impressed, I would have been certain it was soldered, in any case, now we need to find the motherboard maker, and then we will see if you can bump up the video card

You can't bump that GPU no matter what.

I would also not change out the CPU unless you can mount a aftermarket CPU cooler in there

Lastly PUBG dosen't have controller support so you'll have to do some custom mapping

[Radium_Angel]

brain death, I meant CPU...sorry