Alienware Graphics Amplifier (9R7XN), Stealth black

While you will need an Alienware laptop from a run of models that are no longer being made, the huge advantage that the Alienware Graphics Amplifier gives these laptops is that the custom cable is directly accessing the PCI BUS - no throughput delays having to go through the USB-C controller. For how old this product is, that is pretty impressive. That said, if you're looking for used, you need to be certain the one you're adding to cart includes cables because it'll have to have that very proprietary PCI cable to connect the AGA to the laptop (and should have a default PSU cable for the AGA's power supply).I happen to have a number of Alienware laptops to work with this and I can tell you that it easily supports the 3000 and 4000 series nVidia cards up to the 3070 Ti and 4070. This is with the native power supply that can provide up to 400W. I have used it in:- Area 51m- M17R3- M17R4- M15R2Some of these have DOA PSUs, so you take a chance, but you can replace the PSU with a small form factor model such as the Corsair CX650M and be able to support a hungrier video card, which I had to do for one DOA PSU that I had. While I've read that some people have put a 4090 in one, I can't imagine that happened without leaving the lid fully open or removing it altogether and also replacing the default power supply.Other things to watch for:1) Be patient and careful connecting and disconnecting the cable. It has buttons on the sides you need to pinch inwards before it will release and it can feel nerve-wracking the first few times you need to plug and unplug it.2) Only ever connect or disconnect the cable when the laptop is 100% powered down.3) You don't have to have an external monitor to get Windows to use the AGA. Windows 11 tends to know, Windows 10 sometimes needs you to specify which GPU you want it to treat as the primary graphics card.4) You can mix GPUs - like a laptop with a 2060 that has an AGA with a 4070. You will need to install both sets of drivers, rebooting between installs, and then you're good to go.5) The nVidia Control Panel's Help-->System Information will show you two video cards once the second one is detected6) Whether the alien head lights up is anyone's guess. On one AGA I got Alienware's godawful buggy Alienware Command Center ("AWCC") to let me change the lights once, then the software crashed, the light went out, and the AWCC never saw it again. On another AGA the light lit up default blue while I was setting it up for the first time, then never lit again. On a third, the light was out until I launched AWCC, it lit blue, and I could never apply changes, so now it's forever just the default blue.7) 4000 series nVidia cards have a custom power connector cable on the top of the card that sticks out straight up or at an angle, depending on the card's manufacturer and the model. I strongly recommend NOT closing the lid all the way on these because you would be putting pressure against that proprietary cable and the socket it sits in and in the long run that can damage both the cable and the card.8) Dell support is nonexistent; for Windows 10 & 11, ignore the documents saying you need to install an AGA app, just let Windows, plug & play, and the AWCC pick up on the existence of the card.TIP: The USB hub that's part of the AGA is a fantastic way to plug in a monitor, keyboard, and mouse so it's easier to go from portable to desktop-level fun.

Fit the 1070 great. And did great keeping the 1070 cool.

Bought the Alienware Graphics Amplifier to supplement my Alienware 13 R2 with a Core i7-6500U (dual core), Nvidia GeForce 960M, 16 GB RAM, and FHD display. The video card I bought for it is the Zotac Nvidia GeForce 1660Ti. Installing the card into the AGA was a breeze since the Zotac GPU is not as long as most cards. Plugging in the power pigtails into the card was easy as well. Before I attached the AGA with the Zotac card to my laptop I verified that I had the Alienware AGA software and Command Center software installed. I also downloaded the newest GeForce drivers for the card/laptop GPU from the Nvidia site.After attaching the AGA, it seemed as though the AGA and graphics card was not being identified and that the internal GPU was not being identified as well. You just have to wait. Once Windows realizes and loads the drivers for the AGA GPU, then it just takes about 1 minute or so after the logging in to your laptop for Windows to identify if you have the AGA attached and to use the GPU inside of it, or if you are just using the laptop and to switch the laptop GPU. Yes, you must reboot each time to make either GPU re-establish themselves in the device manager. At boot up there is like a pause and a 1-2 second boot stutter when the AGA is connected, this is normal.So far just using the AGA and the laptop screen i am getting about 35 - 50% better frame rates and able to run most games at Ultra settings with no issues.This has been a great way to give my aging Alienware 13 R2 a new lease on life for at least a year or more.

The media could not be loaded. Dell's Alienware Graphics Amplifier has got to be the biggest joke they have played on the general public. This supposed amplifier is designed to house a full size video card, thus boosting your video graphics capability. However, as you will find out if you purchase this hunk of plastic, you may be sorely disappointed, in this massive failure that Dell has produced. Some folks have managed to get their Graphics Amp to work, but not without some pain. I would HIGHLY recommend you do some serious internet digging to see if this thing will work with your system, before making a purchase. This thing cost me more money and time than it was worth.I have an Alienware 17R3 laptop with M.2 SSD drives and 32GB or RAM. The processor is an i7-6820HK, running the Alienware factory OS of Windows 10 Pro. This is not a weak system, and I've NEVER had issues running a 3840x2160 external monitor off the laptops internal Video card. But, as any gamer, I was looking for more, and decided to purchase the Dell Alienware Graphics Amplifier, and that is where things went bad...Some out there have found success with running an older BIOS. I have gone through every BIOS update possible to see if there was ONE that would work with this amplifier. I also made sure I had the updated drivers for the system and graphics card sitting in the external Amplifier.I started off with the latest BIOS 1.3.10 which has the following fixes:1) Improve user experience in Battery mode2) Add Caldera SW flag for Fn+F1/S3&S4 plug inResult: continuous reboot, until failureNext, I moved to the starting BIOS; 1.2.8, as some people have had “luck” with older BIOS versions.Result; continuous reboot, until failureNext, I moved to the next updated BIOS 1.2.15, which has the following fixes:1) Updated suspend / resume protectionsResult; continuous reboot, until failureNext, I moved to the next updated BIOS; 1.3.6, which has the following fixes:1) Caldera mode1 enter mode5 setting2) Remove TDPL method for DPTResult, continuous reboot, you know what comes next....Next, I moved to the next updated BIOS, 1.3.9, which has the following fixes:1) Alienware Graphic Amplifier enhancementResult, continuous rebootI did a lot of research and found that some folks found that installing an Operating System from Microsoft helped them. So, I purchased Windows 10 Home from Microsoft, installed it, and ….... as you can see from the video; continuous reboot.I really tried to make this work, but in my opinion, this joke perpetrated by Dell on users signifies my last computer purchase from Dell.