ROUND #2 - Alienware 17 R4 - 6820HK/1070M - Dead Motherboard

So today I sit down to get work done and my machine is off... OK no big deal... nope, it's a big deal. The motherboard that I replaced back in 2018, well it is burnt out too. Same VRM section, one choke/mosfet over.

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@Dell-Mano_G You guys have a problem on your hands. Granted this is an older machine now, but I have now had 2 boards burn out in 4 years of ownership of what is supposed to be a high-end laptop. This board is either defective by design or negligence on the designer's part. There is no way in hell this would be acceptable on a Precision machine, why do we get the shaft? And I know I am unlucky, but this would be like buying Powerball tickets and then having the lotto commission come to my house with a bill for someone else's winnings!

To make life more miserable, my backup Latitude E7250 has that stupid dying screen, where it looks like you took it swimming but obviously didn't. I am down to one functional computer from 3, it is an XPS 13 (9370). I can no longer recommend Dell machines to my bosses or my clients anymore. I will start planning to phase out our PowerEdge units to SuperMicro, it was time to upgrade anyway. As for the laptops, back to ThinkPad and eGPUs this time.

 

>defective design

Bingo.

 

hello, i had the same problema 1 month ago, 3 years old alienware the one with the gtx 1080, i sent it to repair to 3 diferent ppl, the first two couldnt solve the problema and the third person tell me it can be fix, but the other 2 damaged more the motherboard, because pieces are missing,etc., after i get an answer i can tell u what was it, so u can try it to, the problema in mine is also a short circuit, i was wondering about the thing u said about u got the warranty extention, u cant use it now??, i read u got one in ur previous topic. sorry for my english is not my native language.

i forgot to tell u, i love this Brand before this happened…. this is my second laptop alienware, the first one was a 14m r2, wich i got in 2012 and still is working properly have 0 problems, is the one that im typing right now, just upgrade it a bit now since their Young sister die... perhaps is this model like muezick said.

 

I am sorry to hear that you are having a similar problem. I have contacted a few board level places and they say that because the part that blew is in the VRM, the processor is most likely fried. They have seen a few others and this was the case. I never did get the extended warranty, really should have. If I had gotten it I would have another problem on my hands... I now live in the Dominican Republic and the aduanas on this machine would be crazy.

I do believe the problem is related to the series (Alienware 15 R3 & Alienware 17 R4) but at the prices of these machines, we should expect the same level of thought, planning, and quality control as the Precision series. These are not Inspirons or Vostros and I for one, have higher expectations, like a $3000 machine lasting longer than 1-2 years.

 

I have recovered/backed up all the drives from my Alienware 17 R4, but in the process of doing so, I found one of my 10TB HDDs had bad sectors and that a USB C cable is damaged as well. Those new items are not related to the motherboard failing in the laptop, just a very unfortunate coincidence.

I will not be repairing the motherboard, I will be building a desktop PC instead while keeping my 1080 Ti from the Amplifier and all my SSDs.

Planned specs on new machine:
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X
ASRock X570 Creator
Crucial Ballistix DDR4-3600 64GB (2x32GB) RGB Kit - White
Crucial Ballistix DDR4-3600 64GB (2x32GB) RGB Kit - Black (to be bought at a later date)
be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 (to potentially be replaced by a Fractal Design S36+ Prisma)
Fractal Design Define S2 White
SeaSonic PRIME Ultra Platinum 750W
PNY GeForce GTX 1080 Ti (already own)
3x 10TB Seagate IronWolf NAS (already own)
1x Samsung 960 Pro 2TB (already own)
1x Samsung 850 Pro 2TB (already own)

My monitor plans are 3x LG 43" UM7300/UN7300 TVs, just because I am damaged.

 

Well the guy i sent my laptop said that i need to get this mosfet BG0174, those were the ones that burn out, anyone know where can i get those???

 

Ebay or Aliexpress . Try getting a clearer picture of the MOSFET. I will find that part for you

 

thks, as soon as he send me, ill upload

 

https://ibb.co/T4L91fg this is the picture sorry for taking so long
and forgot this 2 at top too https://ibb.co/2yVYcWz the White ones in bulb form

 

Hi there , sorry for the late reply. I cannot clearly see the MOSFET number .. is it possible for you to turn the flash light on and put a drop of alcohol on the MOSFET ( which is on the RIGHT side of the broken one ) and then take a picture so that the LETTERS can be read CLEARLY on the MOSFET?Secondly i dont see any issue with those BULBS xD those are capacitors actually and try to take a clear picture next time that would be better
EDIT: Nvm, found it from schematics . Its MDU1512RH_POWERDFN56-8-5 (on schematics) and here is the link if u want to order from EBAY or just search for MDU1512RH .

 

https://ibb.co/HY48Vs1, https://ibb.co/tY572PF, https://ibb.co/MGwyRNq some new pictures, i cant do better that sorry, i ask u about the bulbs because the first guy i send to fix, take it off.... like wtf…, i forgot to tell u my alienware is the one with 1080 gtx, i bring this because the charger is really big, not like the other versions that have a small one, hope u can help me and thks for the previous message, and if u were correct, both mosfets are the same?? thks Alienware 17 R4 - 7820HK/1080 gtx thats the model sorry

 

Thats totally fine i was just kidding doesnt matter if u have the alienware with GTX 1060/1070 or 1080. The motherboard is the same and according to the schematics the two Capacitors missing ( 539 & 542 ) they both are 100U_25V each . Just search that on ebay you will find alot there .Just order the mosfets & missing capacitors and its better to replace the mosfet right next to the fried one ( atleast i would do that )
Edit: Sorry forgot to tell you . YES both MOSFETS are same no need to worry about that just order the part number i gave you for both MOSFETS & CAPACTORS and install them and hopefully you will bring your system back to life ( atleast inform me i would love to hear that news xD )

 

thks ill let u know, i just ordered both things, the only bad news is that Will take 1-2 months to arrive :S, damn… i hope i bring u Good news by then

 

Good luck

 

ll_r1d0_ll can u help me plz, where can i found this?? https://ibb.co/KVP316D 220 73hp9 d or somenthing similar to change it, thats is the real short in my motherboard, thks.

 

you can find it from any local shop it is just a CAPACITOR .. you can even ask from a local repair shop he might give that to you for free lol .. is that blown as well ?

 

the original problem was that exactly capacitor i believe,the other problems were made by pseudo electronics guys, one burn the two mosfets, perhaps trying to bridge them, i dont know, the missing pieces was another guy.... so i try to fixing by myself, watching youtube videos, and i think i found the problem in that capacitor, but i have no clue how to order or ask it, also i cant desolder right now cause my pencil solder iron has no power enough, im getting a new one

 

is that capacitor shorted to ground ? if so then try removing the capacitor and check in continuity mode ..if still beeps then shorted otherwise it is fine

 

its shorted, i used a power suply and that one heat up, and i checked it with the multimeter

 

ahh i see.. you can get it from any local shop its just a simple smd capacitor with 220U rating

 

ok, thks

 

also if you are having a hot air gun try using it with the soldering iron .. it will solder the joints that way by combining heat from the hot air as well as soldering iron

 

ok, thks for the tips, dont have one but ill get one

 

update: i try to get a baku 878l2, in fact i got 2, 1 220v and other 110v i dont know if i had bad luck but both didnt work properly, the 1 one no screen, so u cant regulate the temperatura, the 2 the momento i try to use the hot air gun, just fail and turn it Brown lol, i have to say the 1 one come from china.... waited 1.5 months and well… not working was dispointed, anyways i return it and they didnt ask me to return the product so i have it and they refund me my money, the second one i return it and i got my money back, this was last week, then i found someguy that does reballing in my city, went there and i explain him the problem and he say he can get me the missing mosfet, and change the capacitor, today he sent me a message that he put the mosfet, but he found other problems... he said that another components were shorted PC8207, PC8208, PC539, PC542 and the only he cannot get UE1 C8051F380, i search without the UE1 and i found it on eBay, again 3 months to reach to my country lol, the 1 pieces have not come yet, so what do u think??

P.D. i stop trying to fix it cause got no pieces and no solder station and the guy told me he Will charge me half Price the solder station so.… i use Google translate in some parts hope u understand me

 

ahh this is sad man .... i wish i could do that for you but shipping this to Pakistan and then back to you might cost you so much lol......well if one capacitor is shorted in one line then it will show all the capacitors as shorted in the same line ... so you can ask him to pull all the caps one by one and find the faulty one....on the other hand, it is really hard to say that this C8051F380 IC is shorted as well..i mean it is hard for me to believe it but God knows the best so if u are not willing to repair it then buy a used one which might be expensive as hell or either sell the machine as it is and get a new one....i am really sad to hear that it couldnt work .............secondly, it would still boot without C8051F380 this IC as this ic controls some sensors

 

ok, thks for the tips, i just text the guy is fixing the pc,hope he dont get upset cause of it, u know how is it, when the customer try to fix it lol, im from mexico not pakistan ill update u as soon i have news, and thks again

 

lol yes i can understand.. no issues hope we hear a good news

 

Well i believe hes a nice guy, he replay very polite, and told me that the reason he think is shorted is because the bar +VIN marks a comsuption of 8 mA and the circuit that heat up is the C8051F380. any thoughts?

 

you can ask him to remove that ic and then check

 

ok i already told him, i dont believe i post fast, because is not like he is working on my motherboard right now, thks.

 

thats fine ...you can PM me that would be better than spamming this thread with these short messages