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March 1st, 2019 02:00
Aurora R4, still good?
Hi,
I find an offer of a refurnished Aurora R4 at around US$380, with the following configuration:
- CPU - Intel Core I7 4820K 3.7G
- Memory - 8G DDR3
- Hard drive - 1T SATA + 240G SSD
- GPU: Generic GPU, somewhat like Radeon HD
- ODD: DVD-ROM
- OS: Windows 7 Professional
My question: Is it worth to investigate on a R4 with such price and do further hardware upgrades to fit modern games? Say, I'll install NVMe and RTX 2070 on it if I buy it.
Thanks in advance!
Cass-Ole
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March 1st, 2019 17:00
I own an R4 4820k, I'm not in the mood to toss it under the bus yet & say it's no longer relevant, it is, & I'll outline what my future upgrades can still look like
Run 4820k a bit longer & buy used 4960x later = ~$200 now, will cost even less in 6-12months which is when I plan to move onto & upto that 6-core upgrade
Sell entry-level liquid cooler & install 01YGW ($46)
You can run a basic SSD now, & you'd need an NVME adaptor for other type
Bump to 16Gb memory
GTX 1070 / 80 / 80Ti or RTX 2060 / 70 / 80
I can't price these upgrades for you to determine if it's worth it, it's worth it to me since I already own one. Shop & put a list together of new / used parts for R4, then compare to whatever type system you'd buy in the event the R4 isn't worth it. My R4 is hanging around, not so much because of the parts inside, as much as because I like the case & could at any time buy aftermarket parts for it like Luke did: Aurora R4 ALX case 8700k 2080ti ... where the R4 mthbrd, Gen4 CPU & DDR3 memory can be sold off & funds applied to newer stuff later & keep the good-looking case in the process. That's all the time I have, wait for other member input
R4 @ $400 is good, $375 better, $350 sweet, talk person down a little if u can
bmcowboy
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March 1st, 2019 22:00
Hi @Cass-Ole ,
Thank you very much for your reply indeed! And same here that the case design interested me most. While the liquid cooler design is the second thing I like about R4, sad to know that the default one is just at entry level. I'll check out the upgrade option you mentioned. And nice of you to lead me to the AllenOwners forum. It shows that there still lots of rooms for hardware upgrade on R4, even with a motherboard replacement is possible.
Thank you again!
Frisco70
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June 24th, 2019 05:00
Cass-Ole I'm with you on the value of the Aurora R4. I did the Samsung 970 EVO NVME drive, found the sweet spot for RAM cost/performance to be 16GB. I used the GTX 1050ti card which is 75W and I'm pampering my original PSU, still. For the processor, I went with a XEON E5-2689 which was about $125 LESS than I could find the i7-4960X. The Xeon E5-2689 has been difficult to locate lately but here's how they compare http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Xeon-E5-2689-vs-Intel-Core-i7-4960X. Still trying to locate a 01YGW but if the Corsair H80i is much better then I don't necessarily need the hot Alien logo.
bmcowboy
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December 3rd, 2019 04:00
Hi again @Cass-Ole ,
After 10 months and I finally got one tonight at around US$200! Still need lots of cleaning and upgrading works. Hopefully it worth!
webdoxs
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February 19th, 2023 09:00
Know I am bumping an old thread but.... I hope you were happy with your purchase. I STILL have this exact computer with a little different specs but it is year 2023 and I have had an actual, functioning, never ONE thing has gone wrong with an over 10 year old Alienware Aurora R4. The GTX 780 that came with it still plays most games and I still use the Windows 7 64 bit that came with it and will never let it go until it dies.
It has long outlived any support or abilities to upgrade at this point. Just a sold, old desktop PC.