Alienware X51 Service Manual Computer Model: Alienware X51 R3 Regulatory Model: D05S Regulatory Type: D05S003
Notes, cautions, and warnings NOTE: A NOTE indicates important information that helps you make better use of your computer. CAUTION: A CAUTION indicates either potential damage to hardware or loss of data and tells you how to avoid the problem. WARNING: A WARNING indicates a potential for property damage, personal injury, or death. Copyright © 2015 Dell Inc. All rights reserved. This product is protected by U.S. and international copyright and intellectual property laws.
Contents Before working inside your computer..........................6 Before you begin .................................................................................................6 Safety instructions..............................................................................................6 Recommended tools............................................................................................7 After working inside your computer............................. 9 Technical overview.............
Removing the optical drive.............................................24 Prerequisites.....................................................................................................24 Procedure.......................................................................................................... 24 Replacing the optical drive..............................................27 Procedure..........................................................................................................
Removing the solid-state drive.................................... 42 Prerequisites.....................................................................................................42 Procedure.......................................................................................................... 42 Replacing the solid-state drive.....................................45 Procedure..........................................................................................................45 Post-requisites.
Before working inside your computer NOTE: The images in this document may differ from your computer depending on the configuration you ordered. Before you begin 1 Save and close all open files and exit all open applications. 2 Shut down your computer. – Windows 10: Click or tap Start → Power → Shut down. – Windows 8.1: On the Start screen, click or tap the power icon Shut down.
WARNING: Disconnect all power sources before opening the computer cover or panels. After you finish working inside the computer, replace all covers, panels, and screws before connecting to the power source. CAUTION: To avoid damaging the computer, ensure that the work surface is flat and clean. CAUTION: To avoid damaging the components and cards, handle them by their edges and avoid touching pins and contacts.
• 8 Plastic scribe
After working inside your computer CAUTION: Leaving stray or loose screws inside your computer may severely damage your computer. 1 Replace all screws and ensure that no stray screws remain inside your computer. 2 Connect any external devices, peripherals, and cables you removed before working on your computer. 3 Replace any media cards, discs, and any other parts that you removed before working on your computer. 4 Connect your computer and all attached devices to their electrical outlets.
Technical overview WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in Before working inside your computer. After working inside your computer, follow the instructions in After working inside your computer. For more safety best practices, see the Regulatory Compliance home page at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance.
Removing the side panel WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in Before working inside your computer. After working inside your computer, follow the instructions in After working inside your computer. For more safety best practices, see the Regulatory Compliance home page at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance. Procedure 1 Place the computer on its side with the left panel facing up.
5 12 Lift the left panel off the chassis.
Replacing the side panel WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in Before working inside your computer. After working inside your computer, follow the instructions in After working inside your computer. For more safety best practices, see the Regulatory Compliance home page at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance. Procedure 1 Connect the lighting cable to the left panel.
Removing the processor cooling-assembly WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in Before working inside your computer. After working inside your computer, follow the instructions in After working inside your computer. For more safety best practices, see the Regulatory Compliance home page at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance. Prerequisites NOTE: You will hear a low bubbling sound when the computer is turned on.
4 Lift the fan off the processor cooling assembly. NOTE: Note the orientation of the fan so that you can replace it correctly. 1 fan 2 system board 3 fan cable 4 processor-cooler cable 5 routing guides 6 screws (2) 5 Remove the memory modules. 6 Remove the screws that secure the radiator to the chassis.
7 8 16 Slide the radiator towards the front of the computer and release it from the chassis. 1 screws (2) 3 chassis 2 radiator Lift the radiator and hold it as shown in the image below to remove the thumbscrews that secure the processor cooler to the system board.
9 Lift the processor cooling assembly along with the cables off the chassis.
Replacing the processor cooling assembly WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in Before working inside your computer. After working inside your computer, follow the instructions in After working inside your computer. For more safety best practices, see the Regulatory Compliance home page at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance. Procedure 1 Place the processor cooler over the processor on the system board.
Removing the wireless card WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in Before working inside your computer. After working inside your computer, follow the instructions in After working inside your computer. For more safety best practices, see the Regulatory Compliance home page at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance. Prerequisites Remove the side panel.
2 Lift the fan shroud off the processor fan. 1 screws (2) 3 fan shroud 2 chassis 3 Disconnect the antenna cables from the wireless card. 4 Remove the screw that secures the wireless card to the system board.
5 Slide the wireless card out of the wireless-card slot.
Replacing the wireless card WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in Before working inside your computer. After working inside your computer, follow the instructions in After working inside your computer. For more safety best practices, see the Regulatory Compliance home page at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance. Procedure CAUTION: To avoid damage to the wireless card, do not place any cables under it.
6 Replace the screws that secure the fan shroud to the processor fan. 1 tab 2 notch 3 wireless-card slot 4 wireless card 5 screw 6 antenna cables (2) 7 system board Post-requisites Replace the side panel.
Removing the optical drive WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in Before working inside your computer. After working inside your computer, follow the instructions in After working inside your computer. For more safety best practices, see the Regulatory Compliance home page at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance. Prerequisites Remove the side panel.
3 Slide and lift the drive cage out of the chassis. NOTE: Note the orientation of the optical drive so that you can replace it correctly. 4 1 optical-drive data and power cable 2 chassis 3 drive cage 4 screw Remove the screws that secure the optical drive to the drive cage.
5 26 Slide the optical drive out of the drive cage.
Replacing the optical drive WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in Before working inside your computer. After working inside your computer, follow the instructions in After working inside your computer. For more safety best practices, see the Regulatory Compliance home page at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance. Procedure 1 Slide the optical drive into the drive cage.
Removing the memory module WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in Before working inside your computer. After working inside your computer, follow the instructions in After working inside your computer. For more safety best practices, see the Regulatory Compliance home page at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance. Prerequisites 1 Remove the side panel.
2 Remove the memory module from the memory-module slot. CAUTION: To prevent damage to the memory module, hold the memory module by the edges only. Do not touch the components on the memory module.
Replacing the memory module WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in Before working inside your computer. After working inside your computer, follow the instructions in After working inside your computer. For more safety best practices, see the Regulatory Compliance home page at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance. Procedure NOTE: Alienware X51 R3 supports only DDR4 memory modules.
2 Insert the memory module into the memory-module slot and press the memory module down until it clicks into place. NOTE: If you do not hear the click, remove the memory module and reinstall it. 1 memory module 2 securing clips (2) 3 memory-module slot 4 tab 5 notch Post-requisites 1 Follow the procedure from step 4 to step 6 in “Replacing the optical drive”. 2 Replace the side panel.
Removing the hard drive WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in Before working inside your computer. After working inside your computer, follow the instructions in After working inside your computer. For more safety best practices, see the Regulatory Compliance home page at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance. CAUTION: Hard drives are fragile. Exercise care when handling the hard drive.
2 3 Release the riser cage from the tabs on the chassis. 1 screws (2) 2 chassis 3 riser cage 4 tab Lift the riser cage from the chassis and place it towards the front-side of the computer.
4 Remove the screw that secures the hard-drive assembly to the chassis. 5 Slide the hard-drive assembly toward the inside of the computer to disconnect the power cable and the data cable from the hard drive. 6 Lift the hard-drive assembly off the chassis. 7 34 1 hard-drive assembly 3 screw 2 chassis Remove the screws that secure the hard-drive bracket to the hard-drive assembly.
8 Slide the hard drive out of the hard-drive bracket.
Replacing the hard drive WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in Before working inside your computer. After working inside your computer, follow the instructions in After working inside your computer. For more safety best practices, see the Regulatory Compliance home page at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance. CAUTION: Hard drives are fragile. Exercise care when handling the hard drive.
Removing the graphics card WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in Before working inside your computer. After working inside your computer, follow the instructions in After working inside your computer. For more safety best practices, see the Regulatory Compliance home page at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance. Prerequisites Remove the side panel.
3 38 Lift the riser cage from the chassis and remove the graphics-card power cables from the routing guide on the riser cage.
4 5 Open and release the card-retention bracket from the riser cage. 1 tab 2 card-retention bracket 3 graphics-card 4 riser cage Turn around the riser cage and locate the PCI express latch.
6 40 Press down the PCI x16 express card latch and lift the graphics-card assembly off the riser cage.
Replacing the graphics card WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in Before working inside your computer. After working inside your computer, follow the instructions in After working inside your computer. For more safety best practices, see the Regulatory Compliance home page at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance. Procedure 1 Align the graphics-card assembly with the slot on the riser cage.
Removing the solid-state drive WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in Before working inside your computer. After working inside your computer, follow the instructions in After working inside your computer. For more safety best practices, see the Regulatory Compliance home page at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance. CAUTION: Solid-state drives are fragile. Exercise care when handling the hard drive.
3 4 Lift the riser cage from the chassis and place it on the side of the computer as shown. 1 screw 3 chassis 2 riser cage Remove the screw that secures the SSD card to the riser card.
5 44 Slide the SSD card out of the SSD-card slot.
Replacing the solid-state drive WARNING: Before working inside your computer, read the safety information that shipped with your computer and follow the steps in Before working inside your computer. After working inside your computer, follow the instructions in After working inside your computer. For more safety best practices, see the Regulatory Compliance home page at www.dell.com/regulatory_compliance. CAUTION: Solid-state drives are fragile. Exercise care when handling the hard drive.
3 Replace the screw that secures the SSD card to the riser card. 1 SSD-card slot 2 SSD card 3 screw 4 riser card 5 riser cage 4 Align and press down the riser cage until the riser card slides into the risercard slot on the chassis. 5 Replace the screws that secure the riser cage to the chassis. Post-requisites Replace the side panel.
BIOS setup program Overview CAUTION: Unless you are an expert computer user, do not change the settings in the BIOS setup program. Certain changes can make your computer work incorrectly. NOTE: Before you change BIOS setup program, it is recommended that you write down the BIOS setup program screen information for future reference. Use BIOS setup program to: • Get information about the hardware installed in your computer, such as the amount of RAM, the size of the hard drive, and so on.
Main System Date Displays the current date in mm/dd/ yyyy format. System Time Displays the current time in hh:mm:ss format. BIOS Information BIOS Version Displays the BIOS version number. BIOS Build Date Displays the BIOS release date. Product Information Product Name Displays the product name of your computer. Set Service Tag Allows you to enter the service tag of your computer. Asset Tag Displays the asset tag of your computer.
Main CPU Speed Displays the speed of the processor. Cache L2 Displays the processor L2 cache size. Cache L3 Displays the processor L3 cache size. Device Information SATA ODD Displays the if the drive is present. Fixed HDD Displays the if the drive is present. Second HDD Displays the if the drive is present. mSATA Device Displays the if the mSATA is present. NVMe Device Displays the if the NVMe is present.
Advanced Intel(R) Software Guard Extensions Allocated memory size Allows you to enable or disable Intel(R) Software Guard Extensions. Allows you to allocate memory size for Intel(R) Software Guard Extensions. Integrated Devices Front USB Port Allows you to enable or disable the front USB ports. Rear USB Port Allows you to enable or disable the rear USB ports. HD Audio Allows you to enable or disable the HD Audio. Integrated NIC Allows you to enable or disable the Integrated NIC.
Advanced Wake Up by Integrated LAN Allows the computer to be powered on by special LAN signals. NOTE: This option is available only when Deep Sleep Control is disabled. USB Wake Support Allows you to enable or disable the USB Wake Support. NOTE: This option is available only when Deep Sleep Control is disabled. Boot Boot Configuration Bootup Numlock State Allows you to set the status of the Num Lock key during boot to On or Off.
Boot 5th Boot Displays the fifth boot device. Default: Onboard NIC Device. OverClocking support for CPU and Memory NOTE: This option is available only for Intel K SKU processors. Memory Frequency Allows you to change Memory Frequency for OverClocking. Memory Voltage Allows you to change Memory Voltage for OverClocking. Load Level 1 OC setting Allows you to load CPU OverClocking level 1 profile. Security Unlock Setup Allows you to unlock setup.
Save & Exit Save Changes and Reset Allows you to exit system setup and save your changes. Discard Changes and Reset Allows you to exit system setup and load previous values for all system setup options. Restore Defaults Allows you to load default values for all system setup options. Boot sequence This feature allows you to change the sequence of devices that your computer attempts to boot from. If the computer cannot boot from the device you select, it attempts to boot from the next bootable device.
Floppy — The computer attempts to boot from the floppy disk drive. If no operating system is on the drive, the computer generates an error message. Hard Drive — The computer attempts to boot from the primary hard drive. If no operating system is on the drive, the computer generates an error message. CD/DVD/CD-RW Drive — The computer attempts to boot from the optical drive. If no disc is in the drive, or if the disc is not bootable, the computer generates an error message.
Flashing the BIOS NOTE: It is recommended that you connect a keyboard and mouse to flash the BIOS. You may need to flash (update) the BIOS when an update is available or when you replace the system board. To flash the BIOS: 1 Turn on the computer. 2 Go to dell.com/support. 3 If you have your computer's Service Tag, type your computer's Service Tag and click Submit. If you do not have your computer's Service Tag, click Detect My Product to allow automatic detection of the Service Tag.
Getting help and contacting Alienware Self-help resources You can get information and help on Alienware products and services using these online self-help resources: Self-Help Information Self-Help Options Accessing Windows Help Windows 10/Windows 8.1—In Windows search, type Help and Support, and press Enter. Learn about Windows Launch the: • • • Dell Help & Support app (Windows 10/Windows 8.1) Get started app (Windows 10) Help+Tips app (Windows 8.1) Information about Alienware products www.
