17 R3, two motherboards in two years

Hi,

I apologize if this is not the right place to put this, but I am a but frustrated, lol.

I have a 17 R3,bought new in August, 2016. Since then, I have had two motherboard replacements. I just think it is crazy that this is happening to such a computer. I have owned Dells since around 2002, currently have four operating, and this is the only issue I ever had, and had it twice now. This is the only alienware though. As for use, not much, surfing the web, and I play Civ 4 and some World of Tanks, so nothing extensive or taxing, though World of Tanks makes the fans run.

I guess my question is; is this normal? I am looking to give this one to my wife and get the latest and greatest alienware, but I am a bit leery of getting another one that will be having such issues. If this is normal, is it normal for all gaming type laptops?

 

Welcome to the forum. I tagged in a couple of Alienware owners that can give some info.

@VICKYGAMEBOY @Vasudev

 

Instead of wasting time on AW junk invest in thinkpad refurbs that can handle much more stress and much more reliable than AW Echo models.

 

Thank you for the suggestion. Thinkpads do not seem to have the specs I desire for a computer. I will look at the Legion line though. But very unfamiliar with this brand as I have had Dells only since 2002 or so, including business computers.

 

Since you needed Reliable PCs for your Wife Thinkpad was the way to go, I didn't thought you need a gaming laptop. Get a Legion y740 with 8750H and RTX 2060 or 2070 w/o Max Q.

 

I mean the Motherboard swap records for any laptops and from any brand out there is 16 MB replacement. Bro @VICKYGAMEBOY has this amazing records done by his 1, 2 or 3 Alienware laptops (In the period between 2015 and 2018).

You have the R3. Here is a few with the newer and older models. Remember Alienware re-use same motherboard for both their 15 and the 17 inch laptop models between 2015 and 2019. If you have problems with the 17 inch models then expect the same for the 15 inch model as well. Re-use same motherboards/parts for both models will of course cut costs. But the same flaws will follow both models.

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware/15-R3-Terrible-customer-service/td-p/7317641

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware/Motherboard/td-p/7325657

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware/17-R4-Terrible-experience-long-read/m-p/7324158

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/bga-venting-thread.798775/page-212#post-10885121

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware/17-R4-broken-motherboard/td-p/7322331

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/bga-venting-thread.798775/page-212#post-10885173

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/17-r4-7820hk-gtx-1080-mobo-dead-help.829440/

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware/17-R4-service-and-warranty-complaint/td-p/7263563

https://www.reddit.com/r/Alienware/comments/c8hm27/replacement_4_still_has_insane_thermal_issues/

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...5-owners-lounge.815492/page-410#post-10927685

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-17-r4-will-not-boot.827513/#post-10865821

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...m-owners-lounge.826831/page-983#post-10905440

 

@MangoFL Dell forcefully cancelled 2 year ADP after he asked for too many mobo every month even after repeated problems.

 

Thank you for the information everyone. Seems I am not alone with this issue; do other companies have such issues at this rate? I have no idea the rate of AW as they do sell a lot, but it gives the perception it is a systemic issue.

To clarify; I just got my AW repaired, I am wondering if the heat, heat from gaming, is causing the motherboard to fail prematurely, or is it some other issue that basically, it is going to fail regardless. I want to get a new gaming laptop, and give my current AW to my wife who does not game at all, thus will not create the heat issues. I am interested in another AW, specially the Area 51, but if AW is having failure issues at a rate higher than other companies, I do not want to buy another AW, and will look at others like MSI, Legion, etc.

If the motherboard is going to fail anyway whether gaming or not, I will just run this AW till it is out of warranty (two more years) and scrap it once it breaks again, and for now, just get my wife a lower cost computer and wait until the AW breaks to start the search for a replacement.

 

Unless your wife can smell smoke coming from the laptop and the kitchen, AW are NSFW. Get her a refurb Thinkpad and forget about it. Legion is good too. Dell auto-updates and everything might mess it up again which might need new mobo. So, if price is cheap then replace the mobo otherwise get a low cost laptop.

 

Reminds me of a song I haven't heard in a very, very long time.
Tragedy...
When the feeling's gone and you can't go on...
Tragedy...
When you lose control and you got no soul...

 

aww that hurts.. brings back the old memories.. all the mental abuse i had to go through to get system replacements.. good that its a design flaw.. and we figured it out what causes the issue..
i really dont want anyone else facing this kinda issue, as of now, the only alienware model i would support is AREA51M.. even that one is not perfect.. rest of the lineups are joke.. complete crap.. Razer, Acer sends new units with undervolt applied.. and some premod tweaks on Other comp throttle things..

 

I'm observing random slowdowns on PM951 and SATA SSDs. But HDD speed aren't affected!

 

Thinkpad is more of a business laptop, the Dell equivalent is the Precision & Latitude series which IMHO are better. The past Legions had their own issues, such has failing hinges and keyboard failures. Newer ones may have rectified, but those are more mid range like the Inspiron G series, not really high end gaming laptops. I've never owned an Alienware (So I can't comment on those) but have numerous Precisions and Latitudes from my father's work, they generally hold up well in terrible conditions. I spent a few years in a very hot region where temps hit 100-120 F with no AC and dirty power delivery, the Dell's were the only ones that held up for a long time.