Alienware R7 - Intel 8700, 32GB DDR4 RAM, RTX 3060 12GB, 500GB NVME

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Alienware Aurora R7 Machine for sale - SOLD

Kijiji Link:
https://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?adId=1733847523&adActivated=true

Alienware Aurora R7 - Pretty decent build and I believe the "nicer" of the design of the Alienware PC's. Solid build overall but does indeed run warm and somewhat loud; a known issue with all Alienware machines. This one is not nearly as bad as other units mind you.

This particular machine was given an upgrade in cooling - the standard CPU heatsink and fan was replaced with an Arctic Cooling Freezer 11lp CPU cooler which runs quieter and slightly better in heat dissipation. As well, installed an Zotac RTX 3060 12GB Twin Edge OC model - which makes for a good pairing as the Core i7 8700 (6 core 12 threaded CPU) is quite a few years old, it wouldn't be a bottleneck for the RTX 3060 card. Initially it came with 2x8GB DDR4 2666MT/s ram but since added 2 more 8GB DDR4 sticks. Mind you they are 3200MT/s modules, but system auto downclocks it to 2666MT/s to match the other ram. This has not caused any issues in terms of performance or stability as it has been thoroughly tested in memtest86+ and OCCT Power + CPU + MEM testing (also tested a couple of titles).

System Specs:

Case: Alienware R7
Motherboard: Alienware R7
PSU: Alienware R7
CPU: Intel Core i7 8700
GPU: Nvidia RTX 3060 12GB - Zotac Twin OC
RAM: 32GB DDR4 RAM (Mix Between 3200MT/s and 2666MT/s)
SSD: 500GB NVME

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The Build Itself

The Case came to me in extremely good shape. Little in the way of any scuffs or scratches. Even the LED's themselves are working as intended.

Of course many of these machines are at least 6 or so years old and there is doubt that any kind of PM has been done on this machine like clearing out the inside or replacing the thermal paste. To my surprise, the inside was quite clean, but the thermal paste itself was very dry.

After cleaning up the CPU of the old thermal paste and then adding in GD900 as replacement, I then decided to upgrade the device. Initially it came with a 256GB NVME so I added in a 500GB NVME that I had laying around. As well, figured I would add an additional 2x16GB DDR4 ram as I also had some laying around to make it a total of 32GB. Initial only had 2x8GB DDR4 2666MT/s ram so I added to it. The problem was the only ram I had was 2x8GB DDR4 3200MT/s Eagat RAM. With it being 3200MT/s and the initial ram added to it is 2666MT/s, the 3200 will auto downgrade to 2666MT/s in order to make them match. Since the processor is an i7-8700, the integrated memory controller can only take 2666MT/s so faster RAM is unnecessary.

The other upgrade I gave it is replacing the standard old CPU cooler with an Arctic Freezer 11LP Low profile cooler. Quieter and slightly better at cooling the CPU overall. Finally, the system didn't come with a GPU, so I added in one of my spare RTX 3060 12GB GPU's, a Zotac Twin Edge OC model. I figure this would be the best CPU to match this machine as the PSU is what came from Dell and is unknown for the full specifications, so a lower powered GPU would suffice. Plus, the RTX 3060 should be more than enough for this build in that the CPU should be powerful enough in order to prevent bottlenecks.

I also did some cleaning of the old stickers on it and then set it all up. I have ran some stress testing and memtest 86+ in order to make sure the mix-match of the RAM will not affect the system. Also ran Furmark to make sure no overheating of the GPU causing artifacts. I would say overall, everything passed.

Due to limited time, I was only able to get recording of a test on this system in one game - Resident Evil Requiem. A good test non the less as its a brand new title.