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. © 2016 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............................... 8 Technical overview.....................................
Removing the optical drive........................................... 21 Procedure................................................................................................ 21 Post-requisites.........................................................................................21 Removing the memory module.....................................22 Prerequisites........................................................................................... 22 Procedure.......................................
Replacing the solid-state drive..................................... 41 Procedure................................................................................................ 41 Post-requisites........................................................................................ 42 BIOS setup program.................................................... 43 Overview.................................................................................................43 Entering System Setup ...................
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 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 electrical outlet. 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.
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, or cables you removed before working on your computer. 3 Replace any media cards, discs, or 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 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 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.
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. 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 20 Slide the optical drive out of the drive cage.
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. 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 26 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 28 Release the riser cage from the tabs on the chassis.
3 Lift the riser cage from the chassis and place it towards the front-side of the computer. 1 riser cage 2 chassis 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 7 30 Lift the hard-drive assembly off the chassis. 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 34 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 36 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 solid-state 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 40 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 solid-state 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 riser-card 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.
System Setup Options NOTE: Depending on your computer and its installed devices, the items listed in this section may or may not appear. 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.
Main Memory Speed Displays the memory speed. CPU Information Processor String Displays the processor string. Processor ID Displays the processor identification code. 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.
Advanced NOTE: If enabled, the processor clock speed and core voltage are adjusted dynamically based on the processor load. Virtualization Allows you to enable or disable Intel Virtualization Technology feature for the processor. CPU C states Allows you to enable or disable CPU C states. Active Processor Cores Allows you to enable or disable multi-core processor. Intel(R) Software Guard Extensions Allows you to enable or disable Intel(R) Software Guard Extensions.
Advanced PCIE GEN3 Allows you to enable or disable the third generation of PCI express. Power Management Setup Intel Ready Mode Technology Allows you to enable or disable the Intel Ready Mode Technology. AC Recovery Sets what action the computer takes when power is restored. Deep Sleep Control Allows you to define the controls when Deep Sleep is enabled. Wake Up by Integrated LAN Allows the computer to be powered on by special LAN signals.
Boot USB Boot Support Allows you to enable or disable booting from USB mass storage devices such as external hard drive, optical drive, USB drive, and so on. 1st Boot Displays the first boot device. Default: Hard disk. 2nd Boot Displays the second boot device. Default: USB hard disk. 3rd Boot Displays the third boot device. Default: Internal ODD Devices. 4th Boot Displays the fourth boot device. Default: USB Floppy Device. 5th Boot Displays the fifth boot device. Default: Onboard NIC Device.
Security controls access to the system setup utility. HDD Password Status Displays if the hard drive password is set. HDD Password Displays the hard drive password. BIOS Recovery from Hard Drive Allows you to enable or disable BIOS Recovery from hard drive. Firmware TPM Displays the firmware TPM. TPM Security Displays if the TPM security is enabled or disabled. Clear TPM Allows you to reset the TPM security.
Changing boot sequence for the current boot 1 If you are booting from a USB device, connect the USB device to a USB port. 2 Turn on (or restart) your computer. 3 When F2 Setup, F12 Boot Options appear in the lower-right corner of the screen, press F12. NOTE: If you wait too long and the operating system logo appears, continue to wait until you see the Microsoft Windows desktop. Then, shut down your computer and try again. The Boot Options appears, listing all available boot devices.
Changing boot sequence for future boots 1 Enter system setup. See "Entering System Setup". 2 Use the arrow keys to highlight the Boot menu option and press Enter to access the menu. NOTE: Note your current boot sequence in case you want to restore it. 3 Navigate to Set Boot Priority to configure the boot priority. 4 Use the arrow keys to highlight the boot priority and press Enter to display the different devices. 5 Select the device and press Enter to set the boot priority.
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 www.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: Information about Alienware products and services www.alienware.com Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 Dell Help & Support app Windows 10 Get started app Windows 8.1 Help + Tips app Accessing help in Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 In Windows search, type Help and Support, and press Enter.
Videos providing step-by-step instructions to service your computer www.youtube.com/alienwareservices Contacting Alienware To contact Alienware for sales, technical support, or customer service issues, see www.alienware.com. NOTE: Availability varies by country and product, and some services may not be available in your country. NOTE: If you do not have an active internet connection, you can find contact information on your purchase invoice, packing slip, bill, or Dell product catalog.