Advice on a system

[JWProudDad]

I am pretty much a noob when it comes to knowing the ins and outs of what makes computers tick, and I would very much appreciate a bit of advice on the computer I have customized. I play Team Fortress 2, Warhammer Online, and I will be heavily involved in Elder Scrolls Online when it comes out. So as you can see I put a heavy load on my computer, and the one I currently have just can not handle it any more. Below I have copied the specs for the computer I have customized and would like you guys to let me know how I have done. The price tag is about $2,600, so I basically need to know if I am getting my money's worth or if I could maybe do better with something else spending that kind of money. Thank you for your time.

Software & Services
PROCESSOR 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3930K (12M Cache, Overclocked up to 4.1 GHz) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64Bit, English edit
MEMORY 16GB (4 X 4GB) Quad Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz edit
VIDEO CARD 1.5GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660 edit
HARD DRIVE 500GB SS Hybrid MAIN + 1TB 7200RPM Storage edit
MEDIA CARD READER 19-in-1 Media Card Reader edit
MONITOR No Monitor edit
SOUND CARD Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio edit
OPTICAL DRIVE Single Drive: Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BD-ROM, DVD±RW, CD-RW) edit
My Software & Accessories
CHASSIS Alienware Aurora X79 edit
ALIENFX AlienFX Color, Terra Green edit
PRE-INSTALLED SOFTWARE Steam Factory Installed and Steam Extra Content edit
KEYBOARD Alienware TactX™ Keyboard edit
MOUSE Alienware TactX™ Mouse edit
SPEAKERS & HEADSETS Alienware TactX Gaming Headset

 

[g-unit1111]

$2600 budget don't even bother buying Alienware / Dell garbage. Build your own and you'll get a far better rig out of it that will last you a long time. Alienware (Dell) systems have non standard form factors that make upgrading difficult or near impossible. Add that to watered down hardware and you'll be chucking this system in a year or two. Plus the slow hybrid drive has no place on a desktop rig. You can build your own for far better and get something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($220.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 37.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($60.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UP4 TH ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($154.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Mushkin Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: OCZ Vector Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($445.91 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 3GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($445.91 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case ($134.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling Silencer Mk III 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($17.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1985.70
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-05-07 18:14 EDT-0400)

Add a nice 1440P monitor and whatever peripherals you want and this rig will make the Alienware POS look like a paperweight. If you must buy pre built head over to Falcon Northwest's website and get yourself one of their TIKI mITX rigs ( http://www.falcon-nw.com/desktops/tiki ), much better than any Alienware crap.

 

[TheBigTroll]

whatever you are doing doesnt require half that horsepower. you can easily do it with a 1000 dollar computer. heres what i would get
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/TheBigTroll/saved/1lk9

 

[g-unit1111]

whatever you are doing doesnt require half that horsepower. you can easily do it with a 1000 dollar computer. heres what i would get
http://pcpartpicker.com/user/TheBigTroll/saved/1lk9

Yeah you could probably eliminate one of the 7970's in my rig but that rig is pretty bulletproof. Way better than any junk system you could buy from Alienware. Personally though if I had that kind of cash I'd go for a Falcon Northwest TIKI.

 

[JWProudDad]

Thanks a lot fot the input..I just wanted to make sure I have No lag issues running on full graphics in resolution and that there was plenty enough memory for the games and all the pictures my wife puts on the computer without sacrificing speed of the computer the one I have now drags terribly and at this point the video card overheats but it's a crappy Dell I don't know how to build computers so I think I would have to go with the pre built

 

[TheBigTroll]

if you can build stuff using legos, you can build a pc. just now you have screws

 

[JWProudDad]

Ok..looking at falcon now and I do like what I see although I'm kinda leaning towards fragbox as opposed to tiki...wondering which processor 3820 3.6 Ghz or 3930k 3.2 Ghz. 3820 has 4 cores 8 threads with CPU at 3.6 (locked) while 3930k has 6 cores 12 threads with CPU speed at 3.2 (unlocked) and should I opt to overlock?

 

[g-unit1111]

Ok..looking at falcon now and I do like what I see although I'm kinda leaning towards fragbox as opposed to tiki...wondering which processor 3820 3.6 Ghz or 3930k 3.2 Ghz. 3820 has 4 cores 8 threads with CPU at 3.6 (locked) while 3930k has 6 cores 12 threads with CPU speed at 3.2 (unlocked) and should I opt to overlock?

Yeah the Fragbox is pretty sweet, I like the redesign with the slot-load DVD drive. But Falcon systems are way better than anything Alienware makes. Did I mention Alienware sucks? :lol:

 

[TheBigTroll]

they still cost a lot for the hardware they put in. but then at least they can offer something that someone else cant