Slim, has about the same da(A) as that one. It's seemingly more silent when it lies down compared to standing up.
-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
Alienware X51 thread of 2.56TFLOPS comfy couch gaming at 180W in a console size box
- Thread starter Chittagong
- Start date
- Status
Slim, has about the same da(A) as that one. It's seemingly more silent when it lies down compared to standing up.
For how much space you need for the system recovery, for me, it needed 7.6gb so a 8gb flashdrive should be fine if you have one. I knew I got the scratch and dent version which to be honest, I don't mind since like I said, it was a couple of lights scruffs on the case which you can't notice unless you start looking real close. I should grab that PSU while its still cheap with free shipping. Won't be able to upgrade the video card to next month. Can't wait though!
I do have one quip though, whenever I turn on the computer, it takes about 10 seconds for it to boot up and immediately jumps to the Windows Login Screen. I want to check out the system BIOS but the computer doesn't load up the initial start up screen when you first turn on the PC. Is it just me or is that how the X51 rolls?
Marty Chinn
Member
Cool, I'll have to find one. I just didn't do any of the recovery stuff yet since I didn't know what I needed. Ya, definitely grab the PSU; I wanted to wait but started to second guess myself after seeing my video card go up in price. Free overnight shipping is great though. I'm hoping I can sell the old PSU, the graphics card, and maybe the alienware branded keyboard and mouse to recoup some of the costs. My video card should be here today and came with a free game too. I can't wait to get home to plug it in. Hopefully all the Steam stuff will have finished downloading too by then.
Have you tried hitting the usual suspects at bootup? F1, F2, F4, F8, Del? Using the Intel Integrated output, I don't see anything on screen until I get to a Windows loading. I assumed it was just a sync issue between it and the HDTV.
Marty Chinn
Member
Ohh, I should bench mine before I upgrade to do a comparison like you.
I did hit the buttons at bootup but nothing shows up on the monitor at all. Had to restart the computer again since I'm guessing it froze on me???? It will just bootup to the Windows login screen after 15-20 seconds when I turn the computer on.
mmmm.... :/
Marty Chinn
Member
I found screenshots of the bios on the x51, so it's definitely accessible, but I haven't found which key to hit yet. Are you directly hooking it up to an HDTV or are you using a monitor? Are you using HDMI or DVI?
Edit: Found it; hit F2.
Still nothing. I have it connected to my Acer monitor which I use for my laptop via HDMI. I hit F2 as soon the computer turns on but I got a blank screen on my monitor which means that the computer isn't sending any info to the monitor? Don't know why I'm having this issue. Its not affecting the computer performance but I want access to the BIOS and its not letting me.
Heres what I'm doing;
-Turn Power Button On
-Wait to hear the fan turn on, then a beep comes out the computer
-Hit the F2 button multiple times
-No screen is showing up on my monitor and after a few minutes, I turn off the computer because of inactivity.
Marty Chinn
Member
Ugh, I'm starting to regret this. After finally getting it to fit and putting it back together, I'm not quite sure I got it in right. The graphic card doesn't seem flush against the back, but it seems to be working. Not sure if I should remove it and put it back in again or not. Now suddenly though it sounds like a jet engine and I can't even believe it's running full load. On just the menu screen for Max Payne 3, it's loud as hell. The GT 545 was silent. Taking a look at speed fan, I noticed that Fan #2 was at 6000 rpm, Fan #3 was at 5500 rpm, and the GPU was at 100C. I tried to cap Fan #2, but for some reason it didn't seem to work cuz it went up to 6000 rpm again. It's been awhile since I had to check temps and all that so I no longer know what valid temps across the board or anything, but man this thing is loud. Anyone have advice?
I kinda figured it out. Are you plugged directly into the GT545 or the Intel integrated? I used to be plugged into the Intel integrated and I couldn't see it, but once I swapped cards and moved the HDMI cable over to the Radeon, I then saw a boot screen.
I kinda figured it out. Are you plugged directly into the GT545 or the Intel integrated? I used to be plugged into the Intel integrated and I couldn't see it, but once I swapped cards and moved the HDMI cable over to the Radeon, I then saw a boot screen.
It has been almost 8 years since I last gamed on a PC and I have to admit this thread has had me messing about with the Dell checkout on several occasions this past week. It has become a real issue now I've located a 10% off voucher for here in the UK (RWPB9$FDFF7$BF).
Anyone know why there doesn't seem to be an option to have a Bluray as the optical drive in the i7 rig?
Anyone know why there doesn't seem to be an option to have a Bluray as the optical drive in the i7 rig?
Chittagong
Gold Member
Don't worry, Speedfan is just horribly unintuitive.
You have to go to Configure and Advanced and select the Fan 2 control chip as one the program affects. Then set Fan 2 curve. If the control chip is not ticked as one of the affected ones, the fan speed won't change even if you have the fan curve in place.
Your GPU is also way too hot, should not be 100c. 90c max under stress. This means that the video card power cord is blocking one of the GPU fans. Happened to me too. Be sure to route it around the HDD, and push it down while inserting the card so that it won't pop up to block the fan. It's bit of a finger bender.
I had it plugged to the Intel. I guess I should find a Male to Female HDMI plug. Thanks!
Marty Chinn
Member
Thanks for the help, but I'm still a bit lost here since I'm not quite sure what values I should be looking at. I click Configure, then select the Advanced tab, and then in the Chip pull down, I select the first one which is F71889A... I see FAN2 mult and FAN2 div. Not sure what I should be selecting here and what to set things to.
Also, I have a few other questions if you don't mind. It used to be when I had the GT545 in the x51, I could hook the HDMI to the Intel Integrated HDMI port and it seemed to be able to direct all output through that. I even read it will be smart enough to switch between integrated and dedicated. Is that no longer the case with the new card? I tried to run a game through the Integrated HDMI and it was dog slow.
Another thing, what should I be looking at as reasonable limits to Fan 1, Fan 2, Fan 3, and GPU Fan for speeds, and what about temperatures for say Temp1, Temp 2, Core0, Core1, Core2, etc. I'm assuming all values under Speed Fan are correct.
I was sort of pulled the card up to look between the card and the hdd, and I didn't see anything obstructing the GPU fan. I have it aligned along the back end of the hdd and the bottom part of the case fan going from left to right, and then it rises up on the right side of the case fan. It's sorta wedged in good which makes it hard for me to pull the full card out again. I was playing the first level of Max Payne 3 in the car garage with no enemies on screen and I was getting a reading of 87C in speed fan. That sounds high to me, so I'm not sure what I should try or check for.
Any advice and help you could point me towards would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
I really like mine. I bought i7 model with the blu-ray player...now to sell the PS3 and I'm officially console-less. I'm using the stock GTX 555 for the time being, though. I'll upgrade when the next generation of low power beastly cards is released. I want something capable of running the next batch of graphics engines.
Totally stock I have Battlefield 3 running at 1080p with a mixture of high/medium settings. No slowdown that I've noticed (high runs fine too...haven't even attempted ultra).
Totally stock I have Battlefield 3 running at 1080p with a mixture of high/medium settings. No slowdown that I've noticed (high runs fine too...haven't even attempted ultra).
diffusionx
Gold Member
Today I tried to update the Nvidia drivers in my X51. I uninstalled the old drivers and installed 301.45 from Nvidia's site. But I am pretty sure that broke the Optimus support as BF3 ran like crap (it was awesome last night). Now it makes sense why Dell releases custom drivers - normally a desktop GPU would not be paired with Optimus. Is there any way around this? I was thinking of just using the mini HDMI port on the 555 and dispensing with Optimus altogether - what say you GAF? Thanks!
Marty Chinn
Member
Now that I've gone in to the BIOS, I think I see the problem. There's a setting in there that let's you set the primary display. By default it's set to dedicated GPU. The other option is Integrated. I think if you set the primary to Integrated, you would see the boot up screen.
Chittagong
Gold Member
No prob. So go to
Configure > Fan Control
- make sure "Advanced fan control" is ticked
- Press "Add"
- For "Controlled Speed" select "Pwm2"
- For "Method" select "SUM of speeds"
- For "Temperatures" pick "GPU"
- With "GPU" selected from the list, adjust the points on the curve so that it caps at 75%
Then go to
Configure > Fans
- Tick "Fan 2"
Then go to
Configure > Advanced
- Select from "Chip" dropdown "F71889a"
- change "PWM 2 mode" to "MANUAL"
I think that should be it. Other speeds you don't need to worry about.
You are right, your HDMI has to be on the graphics card, not integrated. Rerouting graphics card to integrated works only on NVIDIA cards on the X51. If you put the HDMI to integrated, it will use the integrated GPU.
The cable should not be close to the case fan, but rather go around from behind the HDD. So the opposite end of HDD than where the case fan is. It's a tight fit but doable, this allows optimal airflow.
Another thing to consider is that the new card is heavy and is pulled down by gravity, so the free end will tend to drop lower than the end attached to the tray. This might block the fan and will block some airflow even if the fan spins freely. I used a cable tie to hook my card to the metal tray so it stays absolutely level.
Starting to think my GTX555 is defective in some way. It's again stuck at 3000RPM after being stressed above 2500RPM and never goes back down again even when the GPU is at 35 degrees.
In MSI Afterburner I'm using default settings, fan speed is 25% and it's at 3000RPM.
It goes back down to 2500 RPM if I start up a game oddly enough.
Any advice?
In MSI Afterburner I'm using default settings, fan speed is 25% and it's at 3000RPM.
It goes back down to 2500 RPM if I start up a game oddly enough.
Any advice?
Horsemama1956
Member
MSI Afterburner with a custom fan profile?
Unless it comes with one by default after installing the program no. But I now made one and set the fan speed to go down to 20% until the card reaches 40C degrees, curve topping out at 80% / 90C degrees. It's now whisper quiet while idling again, card keeps at 35C degrees w/ 1200RPM.
Think I fixed it.
I guess I didn't fix it, it's back to doing it's own thing again, idling in Windows with GPU temp at 35-37C, GPU usage 1%, Fan speed at 25% and it says the RPM is 2940 (which isn't 25% of the fan's speed). My fan control curve is set to stay at 10% until 30 degrees then in an even climb to 50% speed at 70C, topping out at 80% speed at 90/100C degrees.
Even more strange, the fan slows down when starting a game (down to 2500RPM) but goes back up once it's back to Windows.
Even more strange, the fan slows down when starting a game (down to 2500RPM) but goes back up once it's back to Windows.
Chittagong
Gold Member
Long shot, but wonder whether Speedfan could work the GPU fan.
Marty Chinn
Member
Thanks for this quick guide. That seemed to fix that issue. I've noticed on load the GPU fan speed can get noticeable when above 2600 rpm and fairly noisy at above 3200 rpm. Should I try to limit this? This may also be as a result of with how hot my card is getting too.
So I pulled my thing open again, and I had my power cable going between the hdd and the fan like I mentioned before, it was not blocking the gap between the gpu and the hdd though the way I lined it. So I'm looking at how I should reroute the power cable. You mentioned wrapping it around the other end, but right now it just isn't long enough. It seems like I would have to pull out the optical drive and maybe even the HDD to undo a bunch of wiring so I can pull out the wiring for the power cable that is right now hooked through a hook at the bottom of the case and zip tied to the case next to the case fan. Are you suggesting to do all that so I can get some length on the cable? I didn't want to start even considering pulling all that apart without knowing for sure.
Another question I had was how did you zip tie the gpu to the cage? I don't see anything at a glance that I can wrap around the GPU in order to secure it to the cage. Or did you do something more dramatic by having a zip tie completely go around the GPU and cage to pull it together?
Final question, I noticed that the natural state seems to have a small gap between the board of the GPU card and the cage. It's enough to run the power cord between the board and cage and go from the bottom of the GPU to the top where the power port is rather than going around the HDD. Is there a reason that I shouldn't try doing this instead?
Thanks again for all your help and advice so far. I'm probably going to just leave this apart until I can get a better understanding.
Does the X51 even use Optimus?
Marty Chinn
Member
One of the reviews I read said it did and it seemed to be the case out of the box when I was running everything through the integrated HDMI port.
OK, must run Optimus when connected to the HDMI port on the integrated Intel GPU.
I have my monitor connected to the DVI port on the Nvidia card not the Intel GPU. I disabled the Intel HD Graphics card in Device Manager.
The Intel card has Optimus support, I can confirm that.
Re: my little fan/GTX555 issue.
Re-seated the GPU again and knotted up the little power cable in a circle that should now sit squarely next to the bottom front-facing fan intake that's 'next to' the HDD caddy. Short of using a micro-fibre camera I can't check further if it's actually the case due to the casing design.
On initial boot HWmonitor states the CPU idles at 45C, HDD at 30C, overall case temp is 40-45C, GPU idles at 35C.
Started Diablo 3 (maxed out settings at 1080p w/ AA) still using the 296 drivers that don't have FXAA support compared to 301. Ran around for a few minutes, GPU slowly rose to 70C, fan speed of 50% / ~2000RPM, didn't seem to go above that in the short period I was testing. It went back down to normal idle statuses afterwards. 2000 RPM GPU fan is way way more silent than a Xbox 360 Slim FYI as well.
Going to do a more extended test shortly to see if I can get the GPU up to 80C with a higher fan speed over 2500RPM and see if that still gets stuck, but so far so good.
Re: my little fan/GTX555 issue.
Re-seated the GPU again and knotted up the little power cable in a circle that should now sit squarely next to the bottom front-facing fan intake that's 'next to' the HDD caddy. Short of using a micro-fibre camera I can't check further if it's actually the case due to the casing design.
On initial boot HWmonitor states the CPU idles at 45C, HDD at 30C, overall case temp is 40-45C, GPU idles at 35C.
Started Diablo 3 (maxed out settings at 1080p w/ AA) still using the 296 drivers that don't have FXAA support compared to 301. Ran around for a few minutes, GPU slowly rose to 70C, fan speed of 50% / ~2000RPM, didn't seem to go above that in the short period I was testing. It went back down to normal idle statuses afterwards. 2000 RPM GPU fan is way way more silent than a Xbox 360 Slim FYI as well.
Going to do a more extended test shortly to see if I can get the GPU up to 80C with a higher fan speed over 2500RPM and see if that still gets stuck, but so far so good.
Chittagong
Gold Member
No problem. Hopefully we'll manage to sort it.
Yeah, I'd probably leave it as is for now, until we figure the rest out for you. But once we manage to figure your temps out, then you could try capping it and seeing how it affects temperatures. I did a lot of iteration, just trial and error.
Here is how I have routed the graphics card cable (green is the right place, red is wrong for 7870 in my opinion, you need all that space by the fan).
Here is the picture of my cable tie and the graphics card:
I actually have never thought of this, but it sounds feasible and potentially beneficial. The only thing you want to look out for is that this doesn't push the card down so much that the card fans stop spinning. Best way to test this is to run Furmark, if the temperature rises uncontrollably just hit ESC when it passes 95C to abort.
Some other things that generally seem to improve temperatures, although not dramatically
- Horizontal position, device seems to get more air in
- Removing ODD in case you don't need it (this is just like a degree or two, I have mine in)
- Repaste of CPU, the default paste is crap and badly applied usually
My pleasure, tinkering and optimizing is part of the fun for those who enjoy it (I didn't think I would, but did). It's fun to think of a small adjustment, do it and test what happens. My first weeks were more of that than playing
Chittagong
Gold Member
Your temps are good, better than mine in fact. My CPU idles at 50C even after repaste, it used to go at 55C.
After running Diablo 3 (only game I have installed) for an extended period of time, GPU up to 70C / 3030RPM. After exiting Diablo 3 this is my timeline:
1:23PM - Exiting Diablo 3, no other programs running GPU starts dropping fast from 70C, fan remains at ~3000RPM
1:29PM - Temperatures are all back to initial boot state as mentioned above. GPU fan just now dropped to ~2300RPM
1:39PM - Temperatures having been stable at initial boot state for 10 minutes the GPU fan finally drops down to it's initial boot state at ~1200RPM and is whisper quiet once more.
Is this sort of time delay normal? (At least it actually goes down now!)
1:23PM - Exiting Diablo 3, no other programs running GPU starts dropping fast from 70C, fan remains at ~3000RPM
1:29PM - Temperatures are all back to initial boot state as mentioned above. GPU fan just now dropped to ~2300RPM
1:39PM - Temperatures having been stable at initial boot state for 10 minutes the GPU fan finally drops down to it's initial boot state at ~1200RPM and is whisper quiet once more.
Is this sort of time delay normal? (At least it actually goes down now!)
Chittagong
Gold Member
Sounds pretty normal to me. Seems there is like a 2 degree threshold between the initial and later idle temp it eventually passes for the fan to quiet down. You might improve that by tweaking the low end of the low end of that fan curve.
But generally you are fine - fan behaves right and temps are fine.
Marty Chinn
Member
Maybe a Radeon 7850.
Every time this thread is bumped I get the urge to buy and for all the wrong reasons(I like the form factor). If you don't change the graphics card like OP did is the X51 quiet? My current PCs are pretty noisy when playing and getting rid of that and getting a new pretty box, might be justification enough to buy.
Why not build a PC with a smaller form factor if you want to customize your options?
X51 is great for people who don't want to have to pick out hardware or deal with building it. If you want the best of both worlds, there's always the Prodigy itx case:
Chittagong
Gold Member
Yeah it's pretty quiet.
With default graphics card = Slim PS3 at worst
With beefier graphics card ie 7870 = Xbox 360 Jasper at worst
I'm not really looking to customize. Most of the PC games I like run very well on a low spec system and the X51 would easily fulfill my needs. I know I'll get more by customizing myself, but that doesn't really bother me. At the moment I'm looking at this as well as the X51:
http://www.medion.com/dk/electronic...+X5352+D+GAMER/910016340?category=gamer_pc_34
Site is in Danish but the specs are probably readable for an English speaker, I'd guess. It cost roughly the same as the X51, but is a damn bit more powerful. If only it wasn't so ugly and it's loud as well, I've heard. The X51 is small and beautiful and I actually appreciate that. Maybe I'm just looking for shiny.
Those I can live with. Thanks.
Marty Chinn
Member
So first off, I didn't have time to play with it the last couple of days until last night when I picked up Battlefield 3 and installed it. So I tried the SpeedFan setup based on your tutorial but I think I might be doing something wrong. The first time it seemed to work but ever since then, it doesn't seem to work at all. The second fan is hitting 6000rpm and sometimes it even stays there after I exit a game and am just sitting on the desktop. It's not till I exit SpeedFan that the fan starts to die down. I'm not sure if I missed something, or what it could be that's causing this. Any ideas?
I actually did something a bit different. Instead of over the board, I ran it at the end of the board. You see the hook that you used for the zip tie? I didn't zip tie mine, but ran the power cable through that hook so it lines the top of the cage at the end of the card rather than over the card. I haven't tried the Furmark GPU stress test yet, but can you think of a reason so far why that might not work or be a good idea?
Heh it's been awhile since I built my last gaming rig; 10 years to be exact, and even then it was a full case so plenty of room to work with. I didn't go into this with the mindset of a builder but more of a pop the new card in and I'm good to go, so heh I'm slowly getting my mindset more thinking about the tinkering. So this new small form factor is really all new to me. I can see myself tweaking for a bit to get it right.
Thanks again.
Here is how I have routed the graphics card cable (green is the right place, red is wrong for 7870 in my opinion, you need all that space by the fan).
Here is the picture of my cable tie and the graphics card:
I actually have never thought of this, but it sounds feasible and potentially beneficial. The only thing you want to look out for is that this doesn't push the card down so much that the card fans stop spinning. Best way to test this is to run Furmark, if the temperature rises uncontrollably just hit ESC when it passes 95C to abort.
I actually did something a bit different. Instead of over the board, I ran it at the end of the board. You see the hook that you used for the zip tie? I didn't zip tie mine, but ran the power cable through that hook so it lines the top of the cage at the end of the card rather than over the card. I haven't tried the Furmark GPU stress test yet, but can you think of a reason so far why that might not work or be a good idea?
My pleasure, tinkering and optimizing is part of the fun for those who enjoy it (I didn't think I would, but did). It's fun to think of a small adjustment, do it and test what happens. My first weeks were more of that than playing
Heh it's been awhile since I built my last gaming rig; 10 years to be exact, and even then it was a full case so plenty of room to work with. I didn't go into this with the mindset of a builder but more of a pop the new card in and I'm good to go, so heh I'm slowly getting my mindset more thinking about the tinkering. So this new small form factor is really all new to me. I can see myself tweaking for a bit to get it right.
Thanks again.
diffusionx
Gold Member
That Prodigy itx case is really cool looking, but it's actually still a fair amount bigger than the X51.
I just got a X51 during the Dell Outlet sale and it's sitting next to my 360 underneath my TV. I can play BF3 at 1080p/60fps and it looks great. Honestly considering the discount, I probably got it cheaper than I could build a system from scratch. No complaints.
I am so happy to see case makers and computer manufacturers pack more power into smaller spaces. I don't want a huge tower, and it really wouldn't integrate into my space either. I want to see the mini-ITX space explode.
Marty Chinn
Member
How much space are you allowing for air flow? I've been debating if I should put it in my TV stand or not where my current HTPC is. For reference it would be here and yes that's a glass door on the left that would close.
diffusionx
Gold Member
My TV stand is an ugly POS from Amazon I want to replace, but it is totally open. No holes in the back or glass in the front.
grimshawish
Banned
I was looking for smaller but powerful PCs last night (like seriously, I see why so many people just learn to build - theres so little choice out there and certainly I've seen no UK sites that are 100% helpful) and came across this fantastic sounding system.
I find it odd that so many people (mostly earlier in the thread) are complaining about the price, unless someone can point me in the direction of a better and more compact system? To me thats exactly what I'm looking for in my room.
Am not being confrontational - I really mean, is there anything else that offers what this does? Looking at the other Alienware stuff it seems slightly overpriced but this certainly doesn't; especially with its multiple options and some ability to custom fit.
My main concerns are to do with the noise and the heat from this thing. My family PC is an HP and I probably need to get it looked at but the fan is a monstrosity (seriously, it means the volume is difficult to hear and I feel like I can't play if someone else is in the room as I feel its distracting enough for me - the fortunate side effect being I try some smaller great games)
So from peoples explanations it sounds like it really ticks that box as well as the compactability and being able to look nice in a room.
So I might get this and upgrade some stuff as and when I need it, unless someone can point me in another direction - but the OP (great OP btw really answered a lot of what I wanted to know) and others have really sold me on this so far.
I find it odd that so many people (mostly earlier in the thread) are complaining about the price, unless someone can point me in the direction of a better and more compact system? To me thats exactly what I'm looking for in my room.
Am not being confrontational - I really mean, is there anything else that offers what this does? Looking at the other Alienware stuff it seems slightly overpriced but this certainly doesn't; especially with its multiple options and some ability to custom fit.
My main concerns are to do with the noise and the heat from this thing. My family PC is an HP and I probably need to get it looked at but the fan is a monstrosity (seriously, it means the volume is difficult to hear and I feel like I can't play if someone else is in the room as I feel its distracting enough for me - the fortunate side effect being I try some smaller great games)
So from peoples explanations it sounds like it really ticks that box as well as the compactability and being able to look nice in a room.
So I might get this and upgrade some stuff as and when I need it, unless someone can point me in another direction - but the OP (great OP btw really answered a lot of what I wanted to know) and others have really sold me on this so far.
Marty Chinn
Member
So more of an update on my setup. I ran Furmark GPU stress test and well I guess it failed. Maybe about a third of the way through, it hit 100C and the computer shut down. So it didn't make it through the test. Oddly enough it seemed like a long time before the fans kicked in and it didn't even kick in full blast until several seconds before it hit 100C. Seemed like the fans were slower to activate over time for some reason.
So hrm, not sure what to do now.
So hrm, not sure what to do now.
Chittagong
Gold Member
Hmmm. That indicates a problem with the GPU fan, because even if you take case Fan 2 offline the temperature never rises too high. There are two possibilities
1. GPU fan is physically not working. It's either blocked by a cable, leaning to the case, or it's broken.
2. GPU fan profile is wrong .
The best way to test this is to manually set the GPU fan profile to constant 100% in Afterburner, and then run Furmark. If the temp still rises uncontrollably (hit ESC to abort before it goes all the way up to 100C, say, at 96C), then you have a blocked or broken fan. In case you succeed with the test, you will need to tweak the fan profile so that it works right. If the test fails, you will want to try to reinstall the video card and reroute the cable to ensure no blockage. If it still fails, you have a broken fan ithe card and should replace it.
By the way, I have found that for Speedfan and Afterburner profiles to stick after reboot, I need to make them startup items. Sometimes I need to still manually launch them after reboot.
Fair Trial
Member
There will be a refresh of those x51 with better stock gpus?
I'm considering the X51 as one of my options, and from reading the OP it seems like I would indeed be able to upgrade the graphics if I needed to do so say, a year or two from now. How hard/easy is it compared to a standard desktop though? What if I had to upgrade the PSU as well? Is the X51 really inflexible compared to other systems when it comes to upgrades?
Marty Chinn
Member
It's mostly like a standard desktop as far as replaceable parts. The only catch is it's a smaller form factor so some larger graphics cards might not fit. Also the graphics card fits in a cage rather than directly into the motherboard. The only thing that isn't easy to replace is the power supply since it's external and there are only two models right now (240w/330w).
- Status
Similar threads
- Locked