Alienware Area51 ALX Issue

[GuyYouMightKnow]

Where to start, this issue has been on-going for quite a while. This is actually not my rig but a friends rig.

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Here are the specs copied from the site:

Computer Model
Alienware Area-51/Area-51 ALX

Processor and System Chipset
Processor Intel® Core™ i7
L2 cache 256 KB
L3 cache up to 8 MB
Bus clock 133 MHz

System chipset
Intel X58 Express
DRAM bus width 64 bits
Data bus bandwidth up to 6.4 GT/s
Processor data width 64 bits

BIOS chip
(NVRAM) 32 Mb
RAID support
(internal SATA drives only)
RAID 0
RAID 1 RAID 5
RAID 10

Memory
Connectors three internally-accessible DIMM sockets
Capacities 2 GB and 4 GB
Memory types
1066 MHz DDR3, 1333 MHz DDR3, and
1600 MHz XMP
Minimum 6 GB
Maximum 12 GB

Back Panel Connectors
IEEE 1394 one 6-pin serial connector
Network adapter two 10/100/1000 Mbps RJ45 connectors
USB six 4-pin USB 2.0-compliant connectors
eSATA one 4-pin eSATA connector
S/PDIF one optical and one coaxial output connector
PS/2 two 6-pin PS/2 connectors
Audio 7.1 channel line output, stereo microphone and
stereo line in connectors
Expansion slots eight full-height expansion slot openings to
six physical expansion slot connectors on the
system board

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The PC will function correctly for an un-discernible amount of time then completely lock up (no mouse, sound, etc). It could just be running updates or just sitting there idle and will still do it. The temps are all good up until it locks up.

So far we've tried to following:
Did full system test using respawn tools, everything passed
Cleared CMOS
Formatted different HDD tested with that, same result
Swapped GPU's with working GPU
Updated BIOS
Disconnected extra periphals i.e. optical drive, front USB, etc.
*Should be noted he defaults to a RAID setup

Even though the memory and CPU passed, we have yet to try swapping either of those. This machine is well out of warranty (expired in 2010).

Any suggestions/assistance is greatly appreciated, thanks!

 

[redduc900]

Remove the board from the case, and assemble it on a non-conductive surface. This w/ only 1 x DRAM module installed in the 1st DIMM slot closest to the CPU (installed w/ HSF), video card, 24-pin and either the 4 or 8-pin AUX PSU connectors, 1 x HDD / SSD connected to the primary SATA controller, and the ODD. Perform a clean install of Windows on the single known good drive, this w/ no other components connected except the KB and mouse. You might also want to list the specific models of board, RAM, video card, OS, etc.

 

[GuyYouMightKnow]

Thanks for replying, I'll let you know if this helps, it'll take a while though.