Full 1080p Teardown video of the Alienware 14 Haswell based model

Hi guys,

I'm just gonna leave this here for anyone to see - I'll also post it in the 14 owners lounge, too.

Anyway, I finally got a bit of time to do a video on how to disassemble my baby Alien 14. I don't think there is a video tutorial on the internet for the current 14 model - I've seen teardowns of the 17 (HIDevolution) and the 18 (Mr. Fox) but nothing for the little 14. So, with that said, and as I've seen a few people asking for such, here it is.....a bit of NBR love for the baby of the bunch!!

As you can tell, I'm no 'YouTuber' - far from it. Hopefully, anyone watching will get some help from it. It was a bit awkward to keep my hands out of the shot at all times as I was trying to man my camera on a tripod and zoom in and out at relevant points during the video. The sound is okay, but it does seem like Darth Vader is next to me at some points.....just my camera zoom making some 'heavy breathing' noises LOL.

Well, here it is anyway - hope you enjoy! - for the best viewing experience, click on the YouTube icon in the lower right corner of the video below and crank it up to full screen and go 1080p ! :thumbsup:



If and when I get more time, I may do some shorter videos on how to disassemble the keyboard/palmrest assembly and possibly the display panel. If so, I'll edit this post with more....

 

Champion work brother Stevie. Rep coming your way soon, I'm spent right now

 

Thanks, Brother. Much appreciated

 

Awesome work and great video. I know many people should find it very useful!

 

Thanks! - I hope it comes in handy!

 

Great Video! I just got a question, do you really need to teardown the complete hardware, like unplugging the wifi card and the optical drive for a gpu upgrade?

 

Thanks! - glad you liked it. I wanted to do a fairly complete teardown to show removal of everything.

As for upgrading the GPU on the current Alienware 14, the only way to do that is to swap out the motherboard in its entirety because the GPU chip is soldered directly onto the board. Unlike the 17 and 18 which have MXM GPU slots which allow for easy removal of GPU's, the 14 does not have this option, so a complete teardown to replace the board is the only way to upgrade the GPU, currently.

I recently upgraded my gpu by buying a new motherboard with a GTX765m soldered on board - my original spec was GT750m 1gb vRam. Right now, the GTX765m is good as it gets for the 14, so I felt it was a worthwhile upgrade to do. Maybe there will be a Maxwell 860m variant (or the like) in the near future, but it will still require a new board if you have an older machine.

 

Thanks, Steve. If the Alienware 14 ever gets Maxwell, I'll probably be purchasing one for class/school, as it is much more portable.

Thanks for the video. It will help many, including myself.

 

No probs, Brother. It was a fun video to shoot and I hope it helps anyone to work on their own machine, whatever they are intending doing.

 

Good job brother Stevie! I enjoyed watching it and learning how to tear the mini-beast down

 

Great stuff! - thanks for the compliment, Bro - glad you liked it and it helped out a bit....

 

I didn't realize how much this thing had to be torn down for simple task of repaste. After my warranty is up I might attempt a chassis mod for easier access. I'm saying that based of visual memories for your video. If have to study it a little more. If the chassis wouldn't loose to much rigidity, probably would though...

 

I'd thought of a chassis mod, too. The vented part of the chassis would have to be completely cut away to allow removal of the complete heatsink assembly. (see 28m 30s into video to see what I mean, below)

Spoiler

I have a funny feeling that removing such a large section would impact on rigidity a fair bit - at 37m 08s into the video, you can see just how much would need to be removed.

I've just done a bit of fiddling in Paint, and this is what I reckon you would have to cut away in the spoilers below:

View of top of motherboard - in this pic, you can see the rough area of the CPU/GPU heatsink and where the support plates are:

Spoiler

View of the chassis without the board - I imagine that this indicates the area of the chassis that would need to be cut away. The screws in the circles are for the palm rest, from recollection. The mobo is not screwed down in those locations. I think we would have to ditch the screw in the white circle, probably would want to keep the rest of the screws in yellow. Actually, looking at it more closely, I'm thinking the top yellow screw and possibly the white one are for the system fan, losing one might be okay.....I think the other two yellow screws are for the palm rest.

Of course, where the GPU radiator is would need to be cut out pretty close to the exhaust vent in the rear of the chassis, I imagine - so the complete assembly could be lifted out. I've added a second cut out shape (in blue) - if that were possible, it would keep a bit more sturdiness, I imagine, as it would leave the chassis 'in tact' on the right hand side as opposed to cutting it away completely.

Spoiler

Of course, that is a fair bit of chassis to get rid of - might affect rigidity a fair bit. I'd love to have a spare bottom chassis to have a go at it though. I reckon with a bit of love, some time and a Dremel (or the like) it would not be impossible to do......

 

Seems cheap enough to try out, for around $50-ish. Shame I'm in the UK as they want another $45-ish to ship it here....then I've got 20% HM Customs on top of the whole lot...would run me around $120 or £70.....bummer.

Alienware 14 R1 Laptop Bottom Base Cover Assembly - No ODD - 45VT2 from Dell Laptop Parts | Dell Parts | Dell Laptop Repair | Dell Repair (PartsPeople)

Actually, just noticed it says that does not support ODD. Odd, as I did not think there were two base parts for the 14......

EDIT: Ahhh....there are two base parts. YKJNT is for the ODD version: http://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=item&id=15328 (out of stock)

 

I'll admit I watched this just out of curiosity since I haven't seen one of these new Alienware models torn down yet.

Nice video!!

 

Thanks, Bud - glad you enjoyed it!

 

Could be useful if my temps will get any higher. Is the factory paste liable or not?

 

I've always found that the Dell stock Thermal Interface Material (TIM - aka thermal paste) has been very good. It might not be THE most effective compound in terms of lowest temperatures possible, however, it is long-lasting. If your temps are fine on stock compound and you are weary about repasting the 14 because of the teardown involved, I'd leave it as it is until such a time when you need to.....as they say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Of course, if you are completely fine with the teardown and repaste, an aftermarket thermal paste such as ICDiamond 24 or Liquid Ultra seem to be the best compounds for the lowest temperatures. Note that LIquid Ultra is corrosive to aluminium, so care is required when applying. See here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ory-liquid-ultra-any-tips-before-i-start.html

 

I've torn down my machine again Today to check the possibility of a case mod to allow very easy removal of the heatsink without the whole teardown I filmed. I'm not hopeful on the subject, now.....basically, the system fan is going to hinder removal of the heatsink, and as we cannot remove the system fan from inside the base panel, we'd need to cut away virtually all of the casing where the exhaust outlet is to be able to lift the heatsink up and out. The rear of the heatsink exhaust is bang up to the fan, so there is not even any wiggle room to kind of ease it up and out.

Still, a case mod of some kind would allow for removal without removing the motherboard - it's just that one would need to remove the palm rest first, then the system fan, flip it over and THEN go about removing the heatsink from a modded chassis.

Dell really did not want people to do this easily! LOL