Replacing an Alienware Motherboard

ChemicalBrother · Feb 24, 2013, 06:41 AM

Hello,
I purchased a dead Alienware Aurora ALX with the intention of using the case and all its fancy extras (lighting, active venting, ect) in my own build.

What I didnt realize is that there is what appears to be two boards in the typical Alienware Aurora ALX setup. One is obviously the Micro ATX motherboard and the other is a smaller board that appears to be used for all the extras.

Does anyone have any experience upgrading a system like this? I have the following motherboard for the new build.

ASUS Maximus V Gene LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

I am concerned that this other (smaller board) wont work with my new Asus motherboard and therefor non of the extras will either.

I would be greatful for any help. Also I am far from an expert on computers so pretend like your talking to a noob.

theonedub · Feb 24, 2013, 06:53 AM

Some pictures of this 'daughter' board would be helpful.

Jetster · Feb 24, 2013, 06:59 AM

Maybe you can tell from this thread

ChemicalBrother · Feb 24, 2013, 07:31 AM

Pictures as requested. My new ASUS board is the one on the left. Not sure this helps any.

MxPhenom 216 · Feb 24, 2013, 07:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jetster

Maybe you can tell from this thread
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=180581

why did you link him to the same thread????

Jetster · Feb 24, 2013, 07:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MxPhenom 216

why did you link him to the same thread????

My bad

This is what I was talking about what did he do? (im at work I cant see pics)

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/sh...are+Aurora+ALX

natr0n · Feb 24, 2013, 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChemicalBrother

Pictures as requested. My new ASUS board is the one on the left. Not sure this helps any.

I don't think it will work, it's custom made for the alien ware/dell motherboard. It could use custom software or custom bios to control everything.

Unless someone knows better;I don't think it will function on your new motherboard.

Jetster · Feb 24, 2013, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by natr0n

I don't think it will work, it's custom made for the alien ware/dell motherboard. It could use custom software or custom bios to control everything.

Unless someone knows better;I don't think it will function on your new motherboard.

There is always a way

Aquinus · Feb 24, 2013, 10:41 AM

Are you sure that is doesn't connect to the motherboard by just using a USB header? I would imagine that would be the easiest and cheapest way. Which wires connect the extra board to the motherboard? I can't tell from the pictures.

newtekie1 · Feb 24, 2013, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aquinus

Are you sure that is doesn't connect to the motherboard by just using a USB header? I would imagine that would be the easiest and cheapest way. Which wires connect the extra board to the motherboard? I can't tell from the pictures.

That is what I was thinking, then again this is Dell we're talking about here, so they'll go out of their way to make things proprietary just to screw over the end user.

Animalpak · Feb 24, 2013, 01:49 PM

There are many threads about it on the official website DELL/alienware.

It is possible to make everything work, but the instructions posted on the threads are not very precise.

Connecting the new motherboard to the MIO board is not difficult to do requires some changes because the buttons of the front panel as the power pass before MIO board that acts as a bridge controls leds venting and speed of fan according to temperatures.

I know exactly that the MIO board that controls the LEDs and also all the fans of the case, there is an updated version that allows you to not have problems when you install the software (thermal alienware command center) once you are done swapping the motherboard.

If you have the old MIO card the system will not allow you to install the software to the new installation and the new motherboard.

Someone has done it without any problems to run the power button, hardware acrivity light and the whole LED's running, installing the software, but not the active venting system.

This is not a problem with the Alienware Aurora R3 because comes without.

Try to read here : http://www.alienwarearena.com/forums...ur-mio-board-/

And here :

http://en.community.dell.com/owners-.../19861325.aspx

Feb 24, 2013, 06:41 AM	#1
ChemicalBrother Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 2 (0.02/day) Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Replacing an Alienware Motherboard Hello, I purchased a dead Alienware Aurora ALX with the intention of using the case and all its fancy extras (lighting, active venting, ect) in my own build. What I didnt realize is that there is what appears to be two boards in the typical Alienware Aurora ALX setup. One is obviously the Micro ATX motherboard and the other is a smaller board that appears to be used for all the extras. Does anyone have any experience upgrading a system like this? I have the following motherboard for the new build. ASUS Maximus V Gene LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard I am concerned that this other (smaller board) wont work with my new Asus motherboard and therefor non of the extras will either. I would be greatful for any help. Also I am far from an expert on computers so pretend like your talking to a noob.

Feb 24, 2013, 06:53 AM	#2
theonedub habe fidem Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Northern CA Posts: 6,607 (4.45/day) Thanks: 2,273 Thanked 3,190 Times in 1,925 Posts System Specs	Some pictures of this 'daughter' board would be helpful. __________________ My Heatware Feedback 129+ Pristine

System Name:	WCG0
Processor:	i7 3770k @ 4.2ghz 1.080v
Motherboard:	Asrock Z77E-ITX
Cooling:	Corsair H100 w/ SP120s
Memory:	16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600
Video Card:	MSI GTX 580 TFIII LIGHTNING (875c@1.006v)
Hard Disk:	256gb Corsair Performance Pro, 2TB Caviar Green, 2TB Samsung F4
CRT/LCD Model:	DELL Ultrasharp U2713HM 27"
Case:	BitFenix Prodigy White
PSU:	Antec TruePower New Blue 750w
Software:	Windows 7 Pro x64
Benchmarks:	WCG & F@H

Feb 24, 2013, 06:59 AM	#3
Jetster Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: Oregon Posts: 2,877 (2.35/day) Thanks: 937 Thanked 865 Times in 633 Posts System Specs	Maybe you can tell from this thread Last edited by Jetster; Feb 24, 2013 at 07:49 AM.

System Name:	Delta // HTPC
Processor:	Intel i7 3770K // Intel i3 550 3.2Ghz
Motherboard:	ASRock Z77 Extreme6 // Gigabyte GA-H55M-S2H Socket 1156
Cooling:	Corsair H100 // SILVERSTONE NT07-1156 90mm
Memory:	Corsair Vengeance 1866 16gb //Corsair DDR3 1600 4 Gb
Video Card:	HIS 7950 3 Gb //Sapphire 6670 1 Gb
Hard Disk:	Samsung 840 250 SSD, WD Caviar Blue 500// Corsair M4 64 Gb Solid State, SAMSUNG F4 2 Tb, WD 1 Tb
Optical Drive:	LG DVDR 24X // Lite on DVDR 24X
CRT/LCD Model:	HP 23xi IPS 1080p" // 50" Samsung Plasma 720p
Case:	Corsair Obsidian Series 550D // Silverstone Granada GD05
Sound Card:	ASUS Xonar DS // HDMI Bit Stream to Yamaha RX V571
PSU:	Seagate M12II 750 // Corsair CX 430
Software:	Windows 7 64bit // Windows 7 64bit with XBMC Eden
Benchmarks:	I scored P9327 in 3DMark 11

Feb 24, 2013, 07:31 AM	#4
ChemicalBrother Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 2 (0.02/day) Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Daughter Board Pictures as requested. My new ASUS board is the one on the left. Not sure this helps any. Attached Thumbnails

System Name:	My System
Processor:	Intel Core i5 2500k @ 4.5GHZ 1.36v
Motherboard:	AsRock Extreme4 Gen3 P67
Cooling:	Prolimatech Megahalem w/ Push/Pull Corsair SP120s and H2O GPU
Memory:	Corsair Dominator Plats 8GB 4GBx2 2133mhz 1.5v
Video Card:	Evga Geforce GTX680 Signature 2 @ 1260/6308 H2O EK Block
Hard Disk:	Samsung 830 128GB SSD, Corsair Neutron 240GB, Samsung F3 500GB
Optical Drive:	Asus 24x SATA DVD
CRT/LCD Model:	Dell U2412M IPS 24" 1920 x 1200
Case:	Corsair Carbide Series 500r w/ 2x Corsair AF120 fans
Sound Card:	HT Omega Striker 7.1
PSU:	Corsair HX850 Gen1 Silver
Software:	Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1
Benchmarks:	P33304 Vantage

Processor:	Phenom II X6 1100T @ 3.5 GHz/NB @ 3.0 GHz
Motherboard:	Asrock 770 Extreme 3
Cooling:	Thermalright Ultra120 eXtreme + Dual Fans
Memory:	Gskill Ripjaws X 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 @1667
Video Card:	MSI 7870 HAWK GHz Edition - 1100/1200
Hard Disk:	10101010101010101010101010101010
Optical Drive:	Sony DVDRW
CRT/LCD Model:	Samsung SyncMaster 2343BWX 23"-2048x1152 + Dell E171FPb 17"-1280x1024
Case:	Sunbeam Transformer Silver
Sound Card:	X-Fi Extreme Music + Dual Speakers/Dual Subs
PSU:	Corsair TX650
Software:	Win7Pro64 / WinXP64 + (Services Tuned)

Feb 24, 2013, 10:41 AM	#9
Aquinus Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Dover, New Hampshire, USA Posts: 4,263 (8.86/day) Thanks: 1,275 Thanked 1,327 Times in 985 Posts System Specs	Are you sure that is doesn't connect to the motherboard by just using a USB header? I would imagine that would be the easiest and cheapest way. Which wires connect the extra board to the motherboard? I can't tell from the pictures. __________________ MyHeat

System Name:	Kratos
Processor:	Intel Core i7 3820 @ 4.37Ghz (128.6x34) 1.384-1.395v (LLC)
Motherboard:	ASUS P9X79 Deluxe
Cooling:	Zalman CPNS9900MAX 130mm
Memory:	G.Skill DDR3-2400, 16gb (4x4gb) @ 10-12-11-30-108-1T 1.65v
Video Card:	2x AMD (MSI branded) Radeon HD 6870 (Crossfire)
Hard Disk:	2x120Gb SATA3 Corsair Force GT Raid-0, 3x1Tb SATA2 RAID-5
Optical Drive:	Asus DVD Burner on Marval SATA3 Controller
CRT/LCD Model:	28" Hanspree, 22" MAG Innovision. Both DVI
Case:	Antec 1200
Sound Card:	Realtek® ALC898 8-Channel High Definition Audio
PSU:	Seasonic 1000-watt 80 PLUS Platinum
Software:	Windows 7 x64 Professional

Processor:	Intel Core i7 875K@4.0GHz(200x20)
Motherboard:	eVGA P55 FTW 200
Cooling:	Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme w/ Corsair SP120 High Performance Edition
Memory:	8GB Corsair DDR3-1600 7-7-7-20
Video Card:	ASUS GTX 670 4GB DirectCU II @ 1015/3600
Hard Disk:	1TB Seagate 7200.12(OS), 3x 1.5TB Seagate 7200.11 in RAID 5
Optical Drive:	Lite-On Blu-Ray Combo Drive IHES108
CRT/LCD Model:	HP 25" 2509m 1080p LCD
Case:	Lian-Li Lancool Metal Boned K7 w/ Windowed Side Panel
Sound Card:	Onboard is good enough for me
PSU:	Corsair HX850
Software:	Windows 7 x64 Professional

Feb 24, 2013, 01:49 PM	#11
Animalpak Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Switzerland Posts: 1,618 (0.84/day) Thanks: 638 Thanked 362 Times in 202 Posts System Specs	There are many threads about it on the official website DELL/alienware. It is possible to make everything work, but the instructions posted on the threads are not very precise. Connecting the new motherboard to the MIO board is not difficult to do requires some changes because the buttons of the front panel as the power pass before MIO board that acts as a bridge controls leds venting and speed of fan according to temperatures. I know exactly that the MIO board that controls the LEDs and also all the fans of the case, there is an updated version that allows you to not have problems when you install the software (thermal alienware command center) once you are done swapping the motherboard. If you have the old MIO card the system will not allow you to install the software to the new installation and the new motherboard. Someone has done it without any problems to run the power button, hardware acrivity light and the whole LED's running, installing the software, but not the active venting system. This is not a problem with the Alienware Aurora R3 because comes without. Try to read here : http://www.alienwarearena.com/forums...ur-mio-board-/ And here : http://en.community.dell.com/owners-.../19861325.aspx Last edited by Animalpak; Feb 24, 2013 at 02:06 PM.

System Name:	Aurora Carbon
Processor:	Haswell incoming...
Optical Drive:	Toshiba DVD ROM
CRT/LCD Model:	Benq 2410XL 120hz 3D 24" ( 1920x1080 )
Case:	Alienware Aurora R3
PSU:	Corsair AX 760
Software:	Win 7 HP 64Bit
Benchmarks:	Gaming to the maximum is my priority

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