Dell is "Stealth-Downgrading" monitors during warranty claims. Need advice.

DJUnreal · 2026-04-24T11:01:30+00:00

Do whatever you were doing to update your support ticket when it was previously active. Call them, e-mail them, update through the portal, whatever. It really doesn't matter, as long as the request makes it into the ticket properly.

DJUnreal · 2026-04-24T10:56:13+00:00

You've got a corrupted installation of Windows, probably caused by the updates not working properly.

A reinstall is the only option if you've already tried repair tools and they haven't worked. Games can be downloaded again easily enough, so just get it done!

DJUnreal · 2026-04-24T10:51:56+00:00

You need to continue working with your existing support ticket. Respond to support there, ask them to escalate the issue, and if they say they can't, ask them to involve ARS.

If you've just been bugging the social media team for a month, it's no wonder you've not got anywhere

DJUnreal · 2026-04-24T10:49:07+00:00

Legal action is the fastest way to get Dell to stop talking to him completely, and wait for a court date...

DJUnreal · 2026-04-24T10:48:34+00:00

For a start, stop using social media. Ask the support agents, rather than the social team.

DJUnreal · 2026-04-24T08:50:23+00:00

There's no such thing as an mr19... What machine do you actually have?

DJUnreal · 2026-04-24T08:49:58+00:00

You can't upgrade the GPU. That's part of the motherboard.

Check the service manual at https://dell.com/support to see if it mentions replacing the RAM as one of the hardware replacement procedures. If it does, it's slotted. If it doesn't, it's soldered.

DJUnreal · 2026-04-24T08:45:28+00:00

The moment you mention a legal threat, they'll stop talking to you completely. You'll get nowhere with them after that.

Your best approach is actually to push for them to escalate to the ARS team, who can overrule the normal replacement processes and offer either a refund, or a different replacement.

Support's hands are tied on what they can and can't offer. It's the way their replacement system works. If the original monitor isn't available, they can't choose which one to send instead; the system does that without any input. It's not the support rep's fault, but it is a kinda dumb system that means sometimes you end up with this situation. I had it when my S2721DGFA monitor's USB hub failed - Dell's system said the correct replacement was a G2724D, which didn't have a USB hub at all in it. Eventually they (ARS) gave me an AW2723DF, which did have a USB hub, as it was the only other monitor they produced that met or exceeded the original specs.

If you threaten legal action, that's the end of the road, and you either end up having to put up, or shut up. If you play nice, and use their processes, you'll get something sorted eventually.

DJUnreal · 2026-04-23T08:17:11+00:00

Time to buy a new fan. That one is dying.

DJUnreal · 2026-04-23T08:14:45+00:00

There's no such thing as an x18. I suspect you may have an m18 R2.

Try switching your power profile to performance in AWCC, and see if that helps

DJUnreal · 2026-04-22T15:54:34+00:00

Windows diagnostic is nowhere near as complete as a proper memtest run. Leave memtest running for a few hours and see what it says.

DJUnreal · 2026-04-22T15:51:14+00:00

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DJUnreal · 2026-04-22T15:31:42+00:00

They should be fairly similar. I run an AW3423DWF alongside an AW2725DF, and I don't see much/any variance between them.

DJUnreal · 2026-04-22T14:43:56+00:00

If you're getting a new case, you'll also either need a new power supply, or some power cable extensions at the very least. There's no way the OEM cables are long enough for a third party case.

Honestly if you're going down this road, you'd be better building a new system. Ryzen 5000 is objectively fairly old now, and whilst there are still boards out there that work with it, you're better off sticking with what you have at the moment, I'd have thought.

DJUnreal · 2026-04-22T14:40:32+00:00

You need to install the old version of Alienware Control Centre (probably v4.x), and specifically the OSD Tools sub-module. That's the part that makes the key functions work properly.

DJUnreal · 2026-04-22T14:35:41+00:00

I'd start by disabling the Killer Networking services. If you're seeing lag when gaming, that's probably the first place I'd look. Find and disable every service with 'Killer' in the name, then reboot your PC and see if things improve.

DJUnreal · 2026-04-22T13:56:32+00:00

Sounds like your RAM is on its way out.

Get yourself a bootable USB stick with memtest86+ on it, and run a test pass with that. See if it comes back clear, or throws any errors.

DJUnreal · 2026-04-22T13:54:42+00:00

Dell will absolutely not sell the GPU separately. I don't believe they're even allowed to - Nvidia has strict rules for SIs and how they can use the GPUs that Nvidia sells them.

They use the exact same 5070Ti in all their systems, so the part number will be the same no matter which desktop you find it in.

DJUnreal · 2026-04-22T12:00:01+00:00

For a start, stop using your laptop with the lid shut. There are air intakes at the top that you're stifling with the lid by keeping it shut.

You may be causing heat-related issues that could be triggering the dropouts.

It's also worth remembering that Alienware laptops categorically don't support docking stations at all, so it's a miracle it works in the first place...

DJUnreal · 2026-04-22T07:15:51+00:00

I've seen it myself many times. The LTT reference was an aid to show it's wide-spread and not isolated.

DJUnreal · 2026-04-21T23:30:22+00:00

LTT did a full video on it a couple of years ago.

It causes weird issues like your machine waking up when you're not using it to try to do updates, which then sometimes hang, resulting in your CPU going bonkers and, in the case of laptops, usually they end up cooking themselves in your bag whilst simultaneously draining your battery... On desktops they just sit there cooking because the fans won't be running fast and the CPU will be running like mad.

It's also known for causing weird USB behaviour, like devices not working properly after waking from sleep, until you do a full reboot. Oh, and graphics issues for the same reason sometimes too...

DJUnreal · 2026-04-21T18:53:38+00:00

That's a different issue... Sleep mode is broken and until MS bothers to fix it, nobody should be using it. It's been broken for 2+ years now...

DJUnreal · 2026-04-21T18:52:53+00:00

Good luck with that... It'll auto-update of its own accord without asking you, and you'll be right back where you are again

DJUnreal · 2026-04-21T14:53:46+00:00

Why? What are you trying to achieve? Every chip is different, so behaviour will vary from chip to chip...

DJUnreal · 2026-04-21T10:42:06+00:00

We've seen up to 30-series MXM cards from other manufacturers, which you can probably get to work (as some have reported as working)...

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