Guys! Alienware $2,604 or Build My Own?

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
C

clairvoyant christopher

Distinguished
Sep 19, 2009
149
0
18,680
I'm considering on either purchasing the 875watt Alienware Aurora for $2,604 or building my own computer.

Specs:

CHASSIS COLOR Lunar Shadow, Alienware Aurora Chassis edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i7 950 (3.06GHz, 8MB Cache) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (64 bit) + Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade Coupon - Engli edit
VIDEO CARD Single 1.8GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295 edit
MEMORY 12GB Triple Channel 1067MHz DDR3 edit
HARD DRIVE 750GB - SATA-II, 3GB/S, 7200RPM, 16MB Cache edit
OPTICAL DRIVE Single Drive: 24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability edit
SOUND CARD Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ Titanium edit
MONITOR No Monitor edit
KEYBOARD Alienware Multi-Media Keyboard edit
MOUSE Alienware Optical Mouse, MG100 edit
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 1Yr Ltd Hardware Warranty, InHome Service after Remote Diagnosis edit
My Accessories
ALIENFX AlienFX Color, Quasar Blue edit
AVATAR Alien Cyborg edit
WALLPAPER Alienhead Chrome Red edit
AUTOMATIC UPDATES Automatic Updates: Enabled

I have to have a top of the line computer because I'm a internet psychic advisor; I make money with my computer and I like to do gaming and play games like Crysis.

I want another desktop for my bedroom. Would I save that much money if I build my own? Is it hard to build my own if I have no experience?

All of you out there, please let me know your opinions.
Thanks.
 
Sort by date Sort by votes


Those are some awesome specs! I will consider it. You guys seem like professional IT techs. You might want to start a business building computers! I'm self employed and I love what I do. $2,604 is to much to spend on a pre-built computer. I see that the possibilities are endless!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


I agree with you 100%. When you build your own, you can build a top of the line PC thats not full of bloatware like AOL software, which slows down the computer.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


The GeForce GTX 295 is a waste after all, I thought it was one of the best graphic cards because it has 2 GPU's on the single graphics card. I did read part of the review on the 5870 in Toms Hardware and it did say that this is a very fast graphic card.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote

LOL,i didn't tought of all the freeware and trial-ware things and progams that they put in you HDD or SSD.
Anyway,i still recomand the do-it yourself method,because you can know what you put in your PC,where you put,why you put there and that kind of stuff.. 😀
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
CHASSIS-Get an Antec 1200 or something you can easily work in
PSU: Antec Signature / Corsair HX series .... 650 or 850 watts if thinking 2nd vid card
MoBo: Asus P6T
PROCESSOR - Drop to a 920 and save $200+
HSF - Prolimatech Megahalems
Thermal Paste - Any decent one
OPERATING SYSTEM - Wait 20 days and buy Windows7
VIDEO CARD - The 5870 will get you within 10% of the 295 GTX for $120 cheaper....you decide if the 10% is worth it to you or if you don't wanna wait till you can actually find a 5870 in stock. Personally, I'm not buying till 2010
MEMORY - 6 GB DDR1600 is more than enough
HARD DRIVE - Pick one from charts at link below....note: a good score on 2 TB model does NOT translate to a good score on a 1 TB or other size from same vendor. Don't forget noise and temperature charts.
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-hard-drive-charts/benchmarks,50.html
OPTICAL DRIVE - whatever
SOUND CARD - On Board sound is fine and is on most MoBos
KEYBOARD - whatever
MOUSE - whatever

My son has a similar build on the boards here:

MoBo ASUS Rampage II Extreme
CPU Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem
VidCard Undecided (leaning towards EVGA GTX 295)
Memory Mushkin Redline 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Model 998692 w/ 6-7-6-18 timings
Hard Drive Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB 7200 RPM SATA
Case Antec Twelve Hundred ATX Full Tower
Case Fans Antec 761345-75024-0 120mm Blue LED Case Fans (2)
PSU Antec Signature SG-850 850W
DVD ASUS Black 6X Blu-Ray DVD Combo SATA Model BC-06B1ST
Keyboard Logitech G19 Black USB Wired
Mouse Logitech G9 Gaming Mouse
CPU Cooler Prolimatech Megahalems
CPU Fans Enermax Magma UC-MA12 120mm Case Fan 69 cfm @ 18 dba 0.34 amp (2)
Thermal Paste IC Diamond 7 Carat Thermal Compound
OS Windows 7 Ultimate

He's at about $2,000 w/ the above but will not order his stuff till right before Windows 7 release. He's still leaning towards the GTX 295 cause it is the fastest card available under his budget. The 5870 is $120 cheaper but his thinking is that comparing card prices is irrelevant. A system w/ a 5870 will cost him $2,390 and one with a GTX 295 will cost him $2,510. So his argument is his entire system is 10% faster for 5% more system cost. My thinking is, it's his money, he should pick what floats his boat.

If it was me, well I never build right before XMas.....prices are artificially high and Intel always does their price cuts at end of February.


 
Upvote 0 Downvote


The GTX 295 is the fastest card and thats the card I plan to get and I like that it's 1792MB. A little more than 1 GB. Plus it has 2 GPU's on the single card. You're right about Xmas as far as the products being more expensive. It sounds like if I'm going to build, I better do it very soon. Thank you so much for the information.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
It techs lol, anyways

The gtx 295 is the fastest dual gpu card yah, but if you look at it that way. compare it to a crossfired 5870 (so 2x5870) since 1. 5870 is pretty much enough to alrdy rival it, 2 would eat it.

Besides the 5xxx series newer tech runs cooler lower power consumption, and dx11 (yay..)

As for the memory on the cards it does not work like that, atleast for dual cards like the 295. It basicly has the same data stored on both the single gpu memory's thus actually ''only'' having 896mb rather then the 1792 its obviously getting advertised with.

Long story short, with such a budget take the tech route buy some 5850/70 a nice i7 920 some silly ram , heck even a ssd and play your games, or edit text
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


I will take what you told me into consideration. I really want a graphics card that will not have to be replaced for several years. I was even thinking of getting a 2GB graphics card. Thank you for responding.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


I believe you so much, I don't want to spend all of my savings on a pre-built computer that you can't really upgrade. And I noticed that the new Alienware computers have a completely different design with not as much features such as the video performance optimizer (overclocking software). Thank you for your input.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


-First off, you can cut the price of your CPU by like 50% and get a 920 and easily overclock it to the power of the 950...
-Alienware is good...but its very expensive
-For the same money you can build a rig much better in every capacity and even save a couple hundred.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I would stick with ATI's 5000 series since it is newer and future drivers for it can only make it faster/better. Another consideration is that the ATI card already has DX11, so it is more future-proof than a GTX 295 that is only DX10. There may not be many DX11 games out right now, but you wanted future-proof(ness?) and ATI seems like the better choice out of the two. Also, Nvidia's GTX 295 is already old tech and remember it's two GPUs on a single card, so games that don't utilize SLI won't perform as well as a single 5870 GPU. I might be wrong here cause the layout of GTX 295's change as you look among different brands/models of the card. As someone has mentioned, you can buy two 5870s and crossfire them for just $200 more than a single GTX 295 and you will get the performance close to two GTX 295 in SLI (basically $700+ vs $1000+ for the same performance).

It might have been better to leave your profession out of your threads as some people won't take you seriously. I'm just a college student and a part-time worker at my local mall, but you wouldn't have taken my advice as seriously if you've read that in the beginning right? Anyway, good luck on your build and know there are really great people in this forum who can help, since I was as clueless as you were just months ago, but now I've learned a lot from this forum/site and through my own research.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


Yes somebody else told me the same thing about overclocking a 920. What I don't like about the 950 is that it's another $500.00 through Alienware. If you want Alienware to overclock the CPU forget it because the price is $1,200 extra to overclock a 17 975 Extreme! Thank you for your help & guidance.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hey Clairvoyant Chris,

I recently bought a book called "Build it. Fix it. Own it." (by Paul McFedries). It was an excellent book for beginners that discusses building your own PC for the first timer. If you are considering dropping some cash on a new computer, I recommend that you hold for a week or two... buy the book... read it... think about it... and then come back on here and suggest your system build to the house experts. You may end up with a better product in the end, and it may be less frustrating for you.

Just some thoughts from a friendly passerby.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


Oh my God I never thought of that, you're right the 5870 would be a better choice because of DX11 and cheaper to! I would of taken you're advice even if your college student and working at a mall, because a lot of kids nowadays are building their own computers (teenagers). A lot of people just don't understand how psychic's work and that makes people skeptical and uncomfortable. And a lot of people on this forum who build their own computers are used to real figures & proven results. Thank you so much for your help.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


I will check that book out. I would never buy the books "How To Build Computers For Dummies" I can't stand those books, they are to me more confusing than a regular book that you have just recommended to me. Thanks so much!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


I'd say a better comparison would be the 5870x2 which is expected around thanksgiving....by then the GTX 300 series will be out and perhaps we'll have some other alternatives. But if someone feels the need to buy today, that's a problem, then again so is finding a 5870 in stock. Single GPU card vs. dual GPU card comparisons are always tough as you could compare twin 295's versus twin 5870's but scaling is always game and driver dependent so you almost have to compare it game by game. Twin cards also introduce other factors such having to turn off the technology when running dual monitors.

DX11 I would be less concerned with considering the flop that DX10 was. Best bet here I think is to look at the games lists on wikipedia and see what games support DX11 and what games support PhysX. Go down the lists and see which ones you are most likely to play and decide accordingly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games_with_DirectX_11_support
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PhysX


Finally, it depends what type of a PC user you are .... if you build a box and then don't touch it for 4 years, the 5870 is probably the better choice. If you upgrade your graphics card every year, then there's little reason to care what's new or old tech, maybe what gets you to the finish line first is more important.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You're welcome, Clairvoyant Chris.

I know that coming into these forums and interacting with all of us geeks is frustrating, but I think it's also frustrating to buy a PC from Dell.

- high pressure sales tactics
- stuck with a cheap, plastic case (inferior airflow... doesn't open well... not at all a chixx0r magnet -- hardly any way to pick up babes)
- forced to use Dell brand mobos and power supplies which (alas) are purposefully not interchangeable with normal industry parts... forcing you to buy more Dell... also the overclocking limits you mentioned
- if something wears out or goes obsolete on your own build, you can replace a single component easily with OEM parts instead of having to buy more Dell stuffs
- Dell has nice deals on low-end PCs but they make up for it by raping your credit card for high-end PCs... you could save some bucks here if you spend to get a decent one
- with Dell you're missing out on the satisfaction of building and maintaining your own PC... you get SMRT with computer stuff and can fix your own problems
- buying from Dell doesn't make you hang out with cool people like those here at Tom's hardware

Dell is a good company for n00bs, but using my own psychic powers, I think you're ready to step up to the next level. Now let's not rush anything... but I believe you could learn a little and build your own PC. Just learn a little bit at a time. If it takes you 12 hours to build it instead of 3-4 hours... that's okay, right? It's not a race. It's about personal growth. I think you should go for it, Chris. Lots of people have done it, and we're not any better than you. We just have this ballsy, risk-taking tendencies.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


Yes, the 5870x2 is what I want. I'm not going to buy any more games for a while because I have so many and it takes time to learn these games. You guys are so cool & informative! Thank you so much for responding.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


Buying from Dell is not easy unless you do it online, but you're so limited as far as upgrading. I mean try replacing a mother board out of a Dell computer forget it, theres so much plastic to get through and plus the motherboards that Dell uses are different from the retail versions that you buy yourself. I learned this from this forum. You have psychic powers, that great. I don't think that you guys are geeks at all. You guys are so amazing and very smart. I've learned so much from this forum much more than c-net. I will build my own, oh my God I just remembered something, my uncle Greg built a computer for my grandmother and he could help me to! My uncle Greg is very smart & he uses 2 monitors on all of his computers. He told me once you have 2 monitors you'll never want to go back to 1 monitor. Now I have no excuse for not building my own computer. Thank you for responding! You're a cool person.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I just wanted to say thank you to all of you guys for your help, support, knowledge and guidance! You guys are awesome in every way. I've never have heard so many smart & intelligent facts from so many professional people. Building my own computer is what I'm going to do for sure. Please continue to let me know your opinions! I appreciate the help very much.

YOU GUYS ROCK!
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


The 5870 can't do this though ...... PhysX is adding some very imwersive graphics features to games.

http://firingsquad.com/hardware/batman_arkham_asylum_physx_performance/

well or so we thought......

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-ATI-physx-patch-gpu,8786.html

Many Xfire users are now buying a 3rd nVidia card so they can enjoy these features too....at least until Nvidia breaks the hack which I would hope they would see a benefit to not doing.


 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Didn't you buy yourself a new Dell computer just a short while ago?
--> My new Dell Studio XPS 435T has the best performance!
I predict that this computer will last me at least 4 years and then I will consider buying the Alienware line of computers or I will build my own. I think that I got a good price and a good value from Dell.
Click to expand...
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom