Alienware Aurora R8 Hard Drive Upgrade

[Giordano Thibault]

TheAlienware Aurora is a great desktop gaming PC, combining sheer power with a small-ish form factor and a striking design. There are many configurations to choose from when you buy one, but part of the fun of owning a gaming PC is adding new bits and upgrading existing ones.

If your Aurora came with just the single SSD for storage, at the base of the PC case you'll have a pair of empty 2.5-inch bays, and an empty 3.5-inch bay to the right of the power supply. Adding the HDD is easiest, so we'll tackle that first:

You'll find a spare power and data cable for the HDD located somewhere around the drive bay. Both look similar, with an 'L' shaped connector, but one is much larger and you'll find it coming from the power supply. The smaller one may be tucked out of the way, so you might have to hunt around, but you can't plug the wrong cable in.

Once you've hooked up your drive(s) and booted the PC back up, you'll need to instruct Windows 10 to use them as volumes before storing anything on them. You do this in the Disk Management application on your PC, where you'll set up the partition and give the drives a letter and a name to help you identify them.

If you just want to top up the existing RAM with some more, assuming it came with 8GB you could just buy another set of 8GB 2133MHz DDR4 RAM as two sticks of 4GB. With four slots available you can use four sticks, and as RAM works best when used in matching pairs, you should always keep it this way.

To verify it all went to plan, open up the Settings app in Windows 10, go to system and then about. The number shown under RAM should now match the amount you just installed.

While you're in this part of the PC you could also swap out the stock cooler if you got the air cooled version of the Aurora. It's by no means an essential since it's surprisingly quiet and keeps temperatures down better than you might think. Swapping it out is fairly simple though:

If you're getting a liquid cooler, you'll need to remove the 120mm fan above the motherboard so you can fix the radiator to it. For this you'll also need to pull the top housing of the PC case off to give you maximum access.

Because of the design of the Aurora, replacement air coolers will be tricky to find. If you're not using RAM with fancy heat spreaders on, something like the BeQuiet Shadow Rock LP low profile might work well.

You can add a second graphics card right out of the gate to work in crossfire or SLI (AMD or NVIDIA respectively for terminology), or if you bought a lower priced model swap out the one that's already there. The first thing you need to do is completely open up the Aurora as detailed above.

Boot up the PC and the first order of business is making sure you've got the latest drivers. Head over to either the NVIDIA or AMD support sites to get the latest ones for your particular graphics card. If you're in search of a new GPU, we've put together a buyer's guide with the best graphics cards available now.

If you're wanting to swap out the m.2 SSD inside the Aurora, then you're going to have to clone the drive, since it's the one Windows 10 is installed on. You'll need to do this first before you replace the drive, otherwise you're going to be starting from scratch with a fresh Windows install.

If all went to plan, when you turn on the Aurora it'll be booting up from the new drive. Dell uses a pretty good NVMe option in the Aurora, but if you want more space or even more speed, something like the Samsung 960 Evo or Samsung 960 Pro will be just the ticket. Pricey, but it's hard to do better.

That's all there is to it. It looks like a lot, but Dell has done a great job at making sure the Alienware Aurora is both accessible and easily upgraded. Something that should help prolong its life and keep the spec hungry out there happy!

Richard Devine is a Managing Editor at Windows Central with over a decade of experience. A former Project Manager and long-term tech addict, he joined Mobile Nations in 2011 and has been found on Android Central and iMore as well as Windows Central. Currently, you'll find him steering the site's coverage of all manner of PC hardware and reviews. Find him on Mastodon at mstdn.social\/@richdevine"}), " -0-10/js/authorBio.js"); } else console.error('%c FTE ','background: #9306F9; color: #ffffff','no lazy slice hydration function available'); Richard DevineSocial Links NavigationManaging Editor - Tech, ReviewsRichard Devine is a Managing Editor at Windows Central with over a decade of experience. A former Project Manager and long-term tech addict, he joined Mobile Nations in 2011 and has been found on Android Central and iMore as well as Windows Central. Currently, you'll find him steering the site's coverage of all manner of PC hardware and reviews. Find him on Mastodon at mstdn.social/@richdevine

I've noticed my Aurora starting to struggle with some of the latest games, like Starfield, so I am looking for an upgrade to play on high settings. I am wondering if my current hard drive to an SSD would make a big difference or if I need to upgrade other bits too in which case I might get a new build. Is it possible to add SSD to Alienware Aurora R11? Appreciate it!

The Alienware Aurora R11 comes with support for both SATA and NVMe SSDs. On this page, we will walk you through each step of doing an Alienware R11 SSD upgrade to ensure the process is smooth and efficient.

When upgrading your hard drive to SSD on Alienware Aurora R11, using reliable disk cloning software can make the process seamless and ensure that you don't lose any data. One of the best options is AOMEI Backupper Professional.

This software is a versatile cloning tool for Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, XP, and Vista. It can help you clone your system, clone hard drives of different sizes, and clone multiple partitions. In addition, it helps you to resize disk partitions during cloning, migrate only Windows OS to another drive, create WinPE bootable disks, and easily upgrade SSD on your laptop.

Alienware Aurora R11 typically comes with two M.2 slots for NVMe SSDs and several SATA ports for additional SSDs or HDDs. This provides great flexibility for upgrading and expanding storage capacity. And your computer should support one of the following configurations:

Locate the solid-state drive slot on the system board on your Alienware computer, remove the screw that secures the solid-state drive to the system board slide, and lift the solid-state drive off of the SSD slot on the system board. You have successfully removed the solid-state drive. Then, insert the new SSD into the slot and secure it with screws, and boot the computer and configure the BIOS if necessary.

Upgrading your Alienware Aurora R11 hard drive with an SSD is a surefire way to enhance its performance, providing faster boot times, quicker game load times, and overall system responsiveness. By selecting a high-quality SSD and using reliable disk cloning software like AOMEI Backupper, you can perform the Alienware Aurora R11 SSD upgrade smoothly without needing to reinstall your OS.

Alienware is a subsidiary of Dell Technologies that specializes in high-performance gaming computers, including laptops, desktops, and accessories. Its laptops and desktops are equipped with top-of-the-line components, such as high-end processors, dedicated graphics cards, and fast storage drives, to deliver exceptional gaming performance. Over the years, Alienware has solidified its position as a leading manufacturer of gaming PCs, earning a loyal following among gamers worldwide.

However, after a long period of use, your computer's performance may be affected, and you may encounter issues like unknown noise, slower boot speed, insufficient storage space, unsmooth gaming experiences, etc. To solve these annoying problems, upgrading the SSD of your Alienware computer is an excellent option to improve its performance,

This blog from EaseUS will provide you with the ultimate guide to upgrading your Alienware SSD, including the preparation work, a step-by-step guide, and tips afterward. Just keep reading. Whether you are using Alienware M16, M18, x15 r2, x14, or Aurora R13.

The answer is definitely Yes. Most Alienware laptops and desktops are designed to be user-upgradable, including the SSD. If you want to expand your SSD's storage capacity, get a better performance, or longer lifespan, upgrading SSD is the best choice.

However, it's important to ensure compatibility with your specific Alienware model and to follow proper installation procedures to avoid damaging the system. To ensure a successful Alienware SSD upgrade, read the following preparation work and step guide in detail.

Step 2. Select the destination disk where you want to clone/copy the old disk and click Next to continue.

Click OK to confirm if the program asks to erase data on the destination disk.

Copy as the source option will copy/clone the same layout of partitions on your source disk to the destination disk.

Edit disk layout allows you to manually resize or move partition layout on the destination disk.

Disconnect the battery connector cable on the right side of the laptop and wait several minutes for it to power down completely. Then use a PH1 screwdriver bit to remove the existing SSD on your laptop.

Insert the new SSD on your laptop and place it properly, use the PH1 screwdriver to fix it. Reput the battery, back cover, and all screws; then the SSD replacement process is finished. If your laptop has an extra empty slot for the new SSD, you can install it into the empty slot.

This is all about the Alienware SSD upgrade. We have covered the preparation work, the detailed steps, and the issues after the upgrade. Upgrading Alienware SSD is an excellent choice to get more storage space, improve the computer's performance, and enjoy a faster gaming experience.

Before upgrading, it is important to migrate all data to the new SSD to keep all the information intact. EaseUS Disk Copy provides an easy solution to clone the old hard drive to the new SSD without any loss. Download and give it a try.

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