Alienware Warranty Question - Regarding Replacement Parts..Please Help

Hi guys !

Although i am new to this forum i have been buying Alienware for years , as in my opinion they have always been the best and up until now VERY reliable. So i would just like to introduce myself first. I've always been into gaming, mainly old scool games C+C, but also enjoy the new BF4 and currently spending hours on Shadow of Mordor. My background is software development, so i require a pretty decent setup for compilations etc.

I have previously owned an M17X R4 / M18X R2 / M17X R5 - So a good mix of laptops, and at the same time spent £1000's.

I now have resorted to a M18X R1, which has an updated Extreme edition i7-2920XM processor, and Crossfire Setup - ATI 7970M Cards.

I have never had any problems with the laptop up until yesterday, my partner always plugs in her laptop to the TV and streams films etc, So i thought why not connect up and do some gaming through the HDMI output. As soon as i plugged into the HDMI output , the screen went blank ! and the laptop restarted itself, only to find green lines down the screen and artifacts ! I have good IT knowledge, and suspected something within that input had managed to damage the GPU (shorted), upon testing both the dedicated cards it has indeed DAMAGED one of the 7970M cards which cost me a fortune !.

Now the laptop is still under warranty , however ! the graphics card which has been now rendered USELESS as a result of what i suspect a shorting in the HDMI output , was installed at a later date !

Where do i stand with regards to the warranty? Im not new to alienware, and up till now never had any problems. At the same time, i cannot use the laptop for gaming at the moment, it will only boot from the onboard GPU, and also im scared to plug anything into the HDMI output as its defective..

Has anybody had dell simply ship the replacement parts out to them for fitment? as im competent in IT, and could replace the motherboard and GPU myself?
What are your personal experiences?

 

Sorry to say but if it fried an aftermarket upgrade then you have no warranty recourse as those parts are not covered. Even if you could prove that the port and via that port the mainboard was the cause of the failure the best you could hope for would be a new mainboard, they won't replace a part that was upgraded after the fact.

Also depending on the tech you get , they may or may not ship out the parts without the technician to install them. The MB is a pretty complex replacement and chances are they will not allow a new one swapped in without the tech but maybe if you get the right one. When They shipped me my replacement palm rest/trackpad because mine was peeling I had to agree that if i screwed anything up there would be no warranty. Since I wasn't worried about breaking anything because I have had it apart many times before and can strip a server with my eyes closed I wasn't overly concerned and accepted the risk and the parts were shipped without a tech but they wouldn't agree to the LCD lid without the tech which I passed on...the techs will never touch my machine again.

 

Another question please guys

Alienware Warranty Extension - After its expired.

Do Dell send an engineer out to check the system prior to approval?

 

I believe some people have purchased additional warranty after it has expired but it will be quite expensive...like stupid expensive, and I do not believe they look at the system first.

 

Nope, no inspection. They take your service tag and check warranty history, though.

I've been told you cannot extend the warranty after X number of days after it having been expired. Can't confirm whether or not this is true. Sorry.

 

After the warranty runs out you cannot upgrade the warranty again. And 5 Year timeframe is max, for any system which the warranty can be upgraded.

 

Another dead 7970M.
Nope, nothing unusual here

 

Cloud that's a bit unjust in this case... It's the HDMI input's fault not the GPU's...

 

I don`t know man. He suspects its the HDMI, but this is the first time I`m hearing about using HDMI kill a GPU.
This was more like the final nail in the coffin for the GPU I think

 

Hi , yes 100% the HDMI caused this, the cards always ran very cool indeed, i have a cooler master notepal underneath keeping her even more cooler than normal. The thermal paste was upgraded to MX-5 and there was Phobya thermal pads over the VRM's. I have spoken to Dell tonight briefly and although the warranty had expired a year ago, they have said i can renew but will need to speak to technical first to ensure the hardware is working ? what do they actually ask etc?

Cheers,
Ryan

 

Its not just high temps that can kill a GPU.
There are many incidents about dying 7970Ms on this forum and Im not even sure any of them was because of heat. Alienware machines have more than adequate cooling system for the cards.

I have no idea what Dell will do next but If I should guess they will give you a price quote based on the age of the notebook and what condition it is in (what hardware is working, have been replaced over the years).

 

Sometimes a simple driver update kills AMD cards, lol.