Changing Power Supply

Your 1.1k can run two of them. As for the cards it goes:

1 GTX 480-350w

2 GTX 480-650w

3 GTX 480-950w

So as you can see you could run two of them on the PSU but not 3. Nvida says a 1200w PSU can run them in 3-way. The Dell 1.2k PSU can't do Tri Crossfire so no way it could do 3 480's.

As for pluging them in you need to check the sticky post up top. Click the desktop FAQ and then the power one and it will show you how to connect them.

Oh, i see i want to switch my power supply because i want a 80 Plus® Gold seal for example, an corsair 1200w. to save money on electric bills. anyway, i found the desktop faq but i don't see any power related topics. i also have this question stuck in my brain, and it is, what type of power supply is the 1.1k watt that came with area 51 alx(like brand and is it power efficient ???

Flextronics makes the 1.2k PSU so they may also make the 1.1k but it doesn't have name on it like the 1.2k does so who knows. 

 Can you read Chinese? If we can find someone that can then maybe they can tell us what it is. It's going to be the last line on the very bottom on the PSU that you see in this picture of mine. On the 1.2k it says Flextronics where this says yabbadabbado.

The PSU is a certified 80 Plus Silver. Full spec DOC here: http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu_reports/SP664_DELL_H1100EF-00_CUSTOM_1100_Report.pdf

EDIT: Took some searching but it's made by Hipro.

As you can see in my pics I have the OG821T 1100watt Hipro Silver UPC 85.66 to 89.31% efficiency so it realy is a 80plus Silver. I had the same one in the other system so there is a good chance this is also the one in yours. Delta makes some of them but to know for sure we need your model number.

This power supply maximum output power: 1100W

+ 12V--6-channel output, each sum over 18A and Gundam 108A

+ 5V output-32A

+ 3.3V--output 30A

6 Road + 12V output power 1000W, reached a maximum output power 1100W.

what type of power supply is the 1.1k watt that came with area 51 alx(like brand and is it power efficient ???

It's likely a HiPro or Delta ... find your part number.

Area-51
J297R 1200w Flextronics UPC EPA
W301G 1100w Hipro UPC EPA 85%
G821T 1100w Hipro Silver UPC
R622G 1100w Delta UPC EPA 85%
TK034 1000w Hipro UPC EPA
U662D 1000w HiPro Silver EPA PFC
UR006 1000w Delta EPA PFC

i do know chinese. however that only means like a place from china it doesn't specific define where it was located and made. Moreover, do you guys recommend me to switch power supply or just stick with this one for now. And how much can you save with a gold certified compare to a silver certified?

And thanks for all the responses!

i do know chinese. however that only means like a place from china it doesn't specific define where it was located and made. Moreover, do you guys recommend me to switch power supply or just stick with this one for now. And how much can you save with a gold certified compare to a silver certified?   And thanks for all the responses!

You can't change the PSU on these systems. The MIO board as a 10 pin connector that is unique to Dell PSU's.

I installed a Corsair 1000w in my XPS 730x and I had to take the 10pin off the old PSU and rewire it to the new one. The XPS 730x came with the wire diagram for the 10-pin. These Alienwares do not so you will play hell trying to rewire it. There is a chance that they are wired just like the XPS boards so you could try it but if its not you could fry something.

Also, going from a silver to a gold will cost you more then you will save on the power bill. You would need to run the system for 20 years to get the cost back for the new PSU. BTW this silver almost runs at a gold ,gold is 87-90% and this silver runs at 85.66 to 89.31% efficiency. Its to close to matter or even be able to tell.

If you are really worried about how much power it uses then set the power options in the control panel to Power Saver.

Okay, thank you for your responds now i understood.

I upgrade my Alienware 1000K power supply with the 1100 power supply, but this was from eBay so it didn't have any cables attached to it. So I swap the Power supply and I need more cables for my second 5870 video card.  I bought a 6 pin dual 8pin adapter but sure enough I don't have a way to add this to the Power supply.  There is a 8 pin short cable that I think I can use, but does that mean I need to buy a 8 pin male dual 8 pins?