Alienware Area-51 Motherboard Upgrade

A TR4 build should be uneventful, however, the only way to know if your side panels will still light up afterwards is to install it, they either will or will not & there's no 'cure' if they don't. The R2 mthrbrd is by MSI, so, a teensy chance your case lights will integrate better w/an MSI X399, but it isn't a guarantee, & probably best to walk into it expecting the loss of lights & how you'd adjust to that fact. Motherboard swaps come down to the side panels lighting or not, the rest is standard swapping, with the exception that in CmndCntr you would lose the Overclocking feature you had on the R2 board. It is with each new generation of Intel / AMD we ask the question if the case & software can work with the new platform & the answer is > someone has to try it 1st to find out ... you'd probably be the 1st or one of the 1st to try, so there's no pat answers & a probable situation where you may have to tell us if it works. I'd install CmndCntr 4.0 versions meant for R2 & its FIO board; if later you can confirm the R3 FIO board is identical & has the same part#, then a move to CmndCntr 4.8 might be advised, at user's risk. Remember to buy your hardware from a source that accepts easy returns in the event you need to send anything or everything back

Could you explain the software? The software versions etc are kinda new to me.

Sure, a 2014 buyer would've gotten a Driver install CD in their box with the initial CmndCntr release, what we might call 4.0. As that software is revised over 3years it might be called 4.0.1. 4.0.52 etc. & come in 5 or 6 different revision numbers, what I meant is pick your favorite version of CC or just grab the latest off your support page, use your install CD if you like

The new R3 and R4 have their own version of CmndCntr now called 4.8, but you have an R2 case, so I suggested sticking to 4.0 versions. Whether or not 4.8 is backwards compatible w/an R2 case & mthrbrd isn't something I know. If your R2 is still up and running, were you to try and install 4.8, it either will or it will not install, either is or isn't compatible. If it did install, you'd be able to see if there are any new updates to it, but again, if new mthrbrd in your R2 case then install 4.0.x on it

Word of advice: your current Windows install on your hard drive, try to boot into it with the new AMD board, it might boot up, might, then you could see right away if your side panels light and survive a restart. If so, install 10 clean on whatever drive you want it on