Alienware Alpha R1 is 2020
Alienware Alpha R1 in 2020*
Mistyped the title...
This is going to be a simple guide to help any R1 owner upgrade and optimize their Alpha.
Upgradable Parts
(In order of importance)
Storage Unit:
HDD OUT
SSD IN
This is by far the easiest upgrade to make and the most effective.
https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?N=100011693%20600038463
Any of those will work, just needs to be 2.5 Inch SATA.
WIFI Card:
This is like a 5-15$ upgrade. Go find any Intel 7265ngw off eBay and replace it with your current WIFI card. If you don’t want to buy used then here.
RAM:
Ram prices have tanked because of bitcoin mining, so this has become quite a cheap upgrade as well. I’d recommend 16GB just because why not, but if your tight on cash 8GB is fine.
https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?N=100007609%20601190332%20601342186%20600000401&Order=BESTMATCH
CPU:
This required the most research. I’d recommend you look through this first. The wattage of the processor slot only ranges from 35w-50w according to a developer of the Alpha (Source). The socket type is LGA 1150.
If you’re going cheap, the i5-4590t (35w) and i5-4690s (65w) are both great options.
The i5-4690t (45w) is also great but is hard to find from a trustworthy source for a reasonable price.
If your willing to spend $100+ then easily the i7-4790t (45w). That is probably the best processor to put in the Alpha. All 45w will be used giving you 3.9 GHz Turbo. The T series apparently runs the best on the R1 according to This Reddit post.
GPU:
Coming Soon!
Maxed out Alpha R1 specs: i7-4790t, 1TB Samsung SSD, 16GB DDR3, Nvidia Geforce GTX 860m.
(Upgrading to anything better then that is pointless)
Optimizing the Alpha R1
- 1st Completely wipe the computer
- Just a good place to start, gets rid of Hivemind and other aging programs.
- How to
- Download these programs
- Nvidia Control Panel https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/nvidia-control-panel/9nf8h0h7wmlt?activetab=pivot:overviewtab
- GeForce Experience (Update Drivers) https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/geforce-experience/
- MSI Afterbuner (Overclocking) https://www.msi.com/page/afterburner
- Alienware Command Center (Change LED lights on Alpha) https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=d6hrd
- Listen to these guys
- Uninstall all Xbox programs except Xbox Console Companion
- The Xbox stuff just gets in the way and all you need is Console Companion to play with your friends on Xbox.
- Stop useless apps from running in the background.
Peripherals
- Want a second Monitors? (for discord, music, etc.)
- Want more USB 3.0 ports?
Posted Apr 21, 2020, 9:36 AM UTC · edited