Pre built Alienware or building yourself?

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JaimeTzz

JaimeTzz

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Dec 11, 2012
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Hi guys!

I'm new here and relatively new when it comes to personalized gaming desktops.
I am looking for a new gaming rig that will pretty much run every game at the moment on high/ultra settings.
The thing is, I see Alienware adds everywhere and ended up taking a look at the Alienware Aurora.
The rig looks pretty good, at least to my eyes, but I have seen a lot of threads before, saying that "building your own PC will come out cheap".

So here is the deal, the settings I am showing here will cost about 2,300 euros. A lot I know... but can I build it cheaper?

«Case» Alienware Aurora 875W-chassis (Matte Black)
«Processor» Intel® Core™ i7-3930K (Six Core, 12MB Cache Overclocked up to 3.9Ghz)
«Operative system» Windows 8 64bit , Dutch version
«Graphic card» 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GTX 680
«Memory» 8.192 MB (4 x 2 GB) 1.600 MHz Quad Channel DDR3
«Hard disk» 1 TB - SATA II, 7.200 rpm, 32 MB cache
«Optic station» 8X Blu-Ray ROM Drive W8
«Sound card» Geïntegreerde HD-audio met Dolby Digital 7.1
«Wireless connectivity» 802.11n WiFi- en Bluetooth 2.1 EDR USB-combinatieadapter

Also, I would like to add that I have never built a computer before, and from what I see in the forums, it doesn't seem that easy. I just don't wanna mess up in a build.

Please let me know what you think.

Thanks!

Jaime
 
Build your own PC dude. Learning how to build your own is priceless and soon you will realize how overrated and overpriced alienware stuff are. Building a PC is actually very simple, treat it like a puzzle where piece fit to specific headers and cables. You can never go wrong in building a PC today. Most have the thought that they might erroneously connect parts and cables but that's a thing of the past now. Nobody taught me how to build a PC but I can proudly say to you I know enough now up to custom watercooling installation. Compatibility is also one FAQ for most PC builder newbies. You can find a lot of tutorials regarding how to build a PC by your own, it's cheaper and I assure you it will be better in all accounts be it performance or looks.
 
All those points are relevant. Also you get a great deal of satisfaction building your own machine instead of letting Alienware steal from you and smiling about it.
 
I was a laptop only guy until I decided I wanted the speed of a desktop for gaming. I had to do some research and ask questions but in the end I saved myself at least $200 by doing it myself. And in doing so I can troubleshoot and modify things to get the most out of my system. Also, most custom builds do not give you total control of the components. I build my PC myself and have no regrets.

If I simply wanted to game and not invest time learning about how components work together then I'd say a Alienware PC is the best choice.

€2300=$3000usd. Wow. I could build a gaming desktop that would seem on par with yours for $1500-1800, and mine would have a SSD drive too.
 



najirion, thanks for the reply, and I understand your points. Thing is, I am living in Holland for a year now, I have got no idea where to buy all the hardware, or even which case I should buy. Do you happen to know any european website that sells all the components necessary?
You got me with Alienware being overpriced, but to be honest, I dont even know where to start =/
 
you can order evertything you want from amazon.co.uk , most with free shipment, but there are tons of hardware stores, I am sure you can find a couple national ones.
 



Hey envy14tpe,

I totally understand where you re coming from.
The thing is, and I am completely honest in this, I am a big noob when it comes to pc components and assembly.. I mean, if I was in Portugal, my home country, I probably would have someone to help me on this, but since I live in Holland now, I dont think that is going to happen.

So looking at this, I would say I have 3 options.

1 Buy a pre built gaming pc and live with the fact that the product I am buying is overpriced and might have issues with upgrading after some time.

2 Have a specialized computer shop build it for me, with the specs I want, and maybe not get the supoport and warranty that well known brands offer( to be honest I dont trust those guys that much either)

3 Come here and speak directly to the community, who have far more knowledge than me in this.
If I would try to build it, what would you recommend?

I mean, I would like to have one of the latest intel i7 processors, along with a top notch graphics card, lets say, NVIDIA® GTX 680.

Can you or someone please advise me on this?

I am talking about everything, from the case, to power supply, fans, everything. Otherwise I might end up building something that doesnt work or that bottlenecks at some point due to a poor choice in one of the components.

Thanks once more, all of this is a big help
 



Hey Caspase,

thanks for the reply dude,

what do you think a good configuration would be?

Im talking about intel i7 and geforce GTXn along with the rest that I have no idea...

I wanted something capable of playing battlefield 3 on ultra, and with a good overall performance for a day to day use. Of course also that it would last at least 1 year or so without having to upgrade the graphics card or some other component.

thanks
 
Also thinking about having windows 8 as operative system. I know some people have some bad things to say about windows 8, regarding how confused it is and so on, but my gf has windows 8 and after a day playing with it, I am quite comfortable with the system. I dont think gaming would be a problem either
 
In that case, I'd find a store to put it together for me. Then, I could ask communities and read advice.

Honestly a 680 is expensive and overkill unless you want multiple monitors (3of them).

I play BF3 on Ultra w/ 4xMSAA and I do this on a i5 and 660ti.
 
With that kind of budget I would do something like this:

Case: Corsair carbide 500r white/obsidian series (mostly visual preference)
PSU: Corsair AX 850w (currently in promotion with free sleeved cables)
mobo: GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD5H
CPU: i7 3770k
Cooler: Corsair hydro series h100i
GPU: SLI gigabyte gtx 670 windforce oc
SSD: Samsung 830/crucial m4 250 gb
HDD: Western digital Blue 1tb
ram: Any 2x 4 gb 1600 cl9 ram. Attention, if you buy a bulky cpu cooler like noctua, buy low profile. And if you buy corsair carbide 500r case in white, consider corsair low profile low voltage artic white edition
Cheap Blu-ray/DVD player burner

And I think you are set... See how much that adds up. I estimate around 1900€, but you can subtract one gtx 670 and then you woulg get like 1600 or something.
 
Best i can say is watch these and take your time good luck!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1y8T8QAsDZs&feature=channel&list=UL
http://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DrND_LSux61M&session_token=pMRA7dzJsvfCtxANMfh-aDAhrcd8MTM1NDE2NjQzM0AxMzU0MDgwMDMz
http://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fpcwizkidstechtalk.com%2Findex.php%2Fgaming-rig-hardware.html&session_token=pMRA7dzJsvfCtxANMfh-aDAhrcd8MTM1NDE2NjQzM0AxMzU0MDgwMDMz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw&feature=watch-vrec
http://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dd_56kyib-Ls&session_token=V0wBBMjBzatjYBg-H8slPhHOYb98MTM1NDE2NjY3MkAxMzU0MDgwMjcy
http://www.youtube.com/redirect?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DRxaVBsXEiok&session_token=V0wBBMjBzatjYBg-H8slPhHOYb98MTM1NDE2NjY3MkAxMzU0MDgwMjcy
 
If you are uncomfortable building your own PC but do not want to pay the crazy high prices of alienware and you want that high quality component choice like you have with your own builds the a site like www.cyberpowerpc.com would be perfect for you.

at cyberpowerpc.com you can choose from a huge selection of components just like you would if you were building it yourself. Obviously cyberpowerpc.com will be a little more expensive then doing it yourself but it will be way cheaper than alienware and with better quality components that you get to choose.
 
Hmmmm.. I don't really recommended partspicker for several reasons
> it doesn't consider your preferences, it just picks what is available based on your price range
> it doesn't reflect reviews about the hardware

I still suggest doing it manually.

About finding a right dealer, ask your friends where they buy PC parts, get a catalog and see what is available. Then please answer the following questions.

1) how many monitors do you plan to use
2) do you plan to overclock/learn how to overclock
3) what are the kind of games you plan to play or software you would be using
4) how small or large you want your PC (size)
5) do you have A/C at home or to where you would be putting the PC?
6) what's your budget (even though you placed something there, I'll just ask again)

the kind of PC you need would depend on your answers wherein it would comprised of the OPTIMAL specs without overkill or overshooting the specs.
 
why can't he just use cyberpowerpc.com? He isn't comfortable building it himself. Cyberpowerpc doesn't charge a ton extra to build it. It's a good option if you arent comfortable building it yourself. You end up only paying maybe like 200-300 extra over building it yourself depending on what components you choose.
 



Hey najirion, thanks again for replying!

I have looked up some videos on youtube about building your own pc, and now it does not seem so complicated to do it anymore.

I have two subjects to adress so I will start with replying to what you have just asked me:

First of all, I don't have any friends in Holland yet =/ well, maybe 2 or 3 but no one that can help me with these things so maybe amazon.co.uk would be a good option to acquire parts.

Now, the answers :

1 I only plan to use 1 monitor, of either 24 or 27 inches.
2 I have heard a lot about over clocking but I dont exactly know what it is. Never looked too much into it because the pre built computers I was looking at had already the option to come overclocked or not. So I really dont know, maybe you have a suggestion on this point.
3 I plan to play games such as Battlefield 3, Skyrim, latest Cod series, Diablo 3, Far cry 3, etc.. but I would like not only to play these games in 1080p but also at 60 frames. The operative system would be windows 8 home edition and it would be nice if the photoshop cs5 wouldnt choke in terms of performance. Then just regular stuff like internet browsing and watching movies.
4 Does not really matter the size, but I dont want a small desktop that gets stuffed and cant be upgraded/expanded.
Well, the budget is not actually 2300 euros, that is why I came to get help from you guys. In my opinion, that is too much money to pay for a pc. But I would say 1100 euros, that is a price I will be able to afford, without including a monitor (already have one) So yeah, in dollars, 1500 or tops 1600 usd.


So that is the first topic. Secondly, even though I am now more comfortable with perhaps building my own gaming pc..I was wondering if any of these are good.. they are within budget and seem good, to my untrained eye.. but Im not sure about the real quality.. check it out:

(plus I dont know if these websites ship to Holland.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227439#top

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/cart/showcart.aspx?url=%2fsystem%2fZeus_Thunder_2000&ref=add

(The second one seems nice no?)

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Gamer_Infinity_XLC

Thanks once more
 



Hey najirion, thanks again for replying!

I have looked up some videos on youtube about building your own pc, and now it does not seem so complicated to do it anymore.

I have two subjects to adress so I will start with replying to what you have just asked me:

First of all, I don't have any friends in Holland yet =/ well, maybe 2 or 3 but no one that can help me with these things so maybe amazon.co.uk would be a good option to acquire parts.

Now, the answers :

1 I only plan to use 1 monitor, of either 24 or 27 inches.
2 I have heard a lot about over clocking but I dont exactly know what it is. Never looked too much into it because the pre built computers I was looking at had already the option to come overclocked or not. So I really dont know, maybe you have a suggestion on this point.
3 I plan to play games such as Battlefield 3, Skyrim, latest Cod series, Diablo 3, Far cry 3, etc.. but I would like not only to play these games in 1080p but also at 60 frames. The operative system would be windows 8 home edition and it would be nice if the photoshop cs5 wouldnt choke in terms of performance. Then just regular stuff like internet browsing and watching movies.
4 Does not really matter the size, but I dont want a small desktop that gets stuffed and cant be upgraded/expanded.
Well, the budget is not actually 2300 euros, that is why I came to get help from you guys. In my opinion, that is too much money to pay for a pc. But I would say 1100 euros, that is a price I will be able to afford, without including a monitor (already have one) So yeah, in dollars, 1500 or tops 1600 usd.


So that is the first topic. Secondly, even though I am now more comfortable with perhaps building my own gaming pc..I was wondering if any of these are good.. they are within budget and seem good, to my untrained eye.. but Im not sure about the real quality.. check it out:

(plus I dont know if these websites ship to Holland.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883227439#top

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/cart/showcart.aspx?url=%2fsystem%2fZeus_Thunder_2000&ref=add

(The second one seems nice no?)

http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Gamer_Infinity_XLC

Thanks once more
 
newegg and cyberpowerpc are good and legit sources but bear in mind that there are some cons in shopping online.

> shipping: time needed and the possibilities of damages during transit. Although that would be covered by the dealer, shipping a dead item back to them would take a lot of time compared to talking to your dealer at a store near you.
> sales talks: you can never hear online customer support people saying cons about certain hardware but store owners do that sometimes if you can find a good one.

Anyway! back to recommending parts you need.
1) Since you would only use 1 monitor, a GTX 670 or HD 7950 would be enough (this is slightly overkill IMHO but just for the sake of futureproofing and crysis 3-proofing LOL). You would only need higher VRAM capacities if you use 2 or more monitors since having more monitors eat more VRAM

2) Since you don't plan to overclock i7-3930K is not only overkill for gaming, the overclocking capability would be wasted too which is something you would be paying. as Tom's hardware suggest, i5-3570k is already enough for gaming needs. You can get the non-K version (i5-3570) which is cheaper than the unlocked version if you think there is no way you would be overclocking in the future. (But I suggest you get the K version because overclocking is actually very simple!)

3) gaming: an i5-3570k + GTX 670 or HD 7950 will be able to play all of the mentioned games with ease. Based on the GAMER INFINITY XLC you posted, it is even better with an i7-3770k but I assure you, stepping down to an i5 is totally fine if you want to save some bucks

ISSUES I FIND IN THE GAMER INFINITY XLC
05_400.jpg

1) It uses an All-in-one watercooler. That's fine but you do need to be careful in un-mounting and mounting it when cleaning
2) HX1050 is a bit overkill but that's fine. However you can get a more efficient power supply with better 80+ certification for a more power-efficient PC. It will cost more but it will save you from higher electric bills in the long-run.
3) It doesn't have a SSD for boot drive. It will make it significantly faster

The newegg PC is almost similar except for the graphics card. I think newegg is only favorable if you live in America but not elsewhere. Shipping would be very troublesome.

 
Hey najirion,

First I would like to say thank you, not only to you but the other users who gave their opinion. I had never subscribed to a forum like this, but I gotta say, the feedback from you guys is really helpful.

I understand that having one built at a local dealer, but here in Amsterdam I havent really found any good store that would do it for me. I went to one shop and they asked me for 450€ for building it for me... so it was really too much.

I think I will not build the desktop myself, but what I will do is try to get in contact with more people that are into IT stuff, and computer assembly, so I will be able to build my next pc, or upgrade this one that I will buy with ease.

So, I checked a bit more the INFINITY XLC, and I do like it, and I think I will purchase it in the end of December.
But!!! lol, this will really brand me as a newbie.. There are some components at the damn shop..that I dont know if are needed or not. I got confused with the 2TB memory and the ssd memory. I should have both right? Then in which section should I choose it?
Also, the motherboard, it doesnt say HDMI, and some do... so does that mean that it wont come with an HDMI entrance for me to connect a HD TV for example?

Also I looked at the liquid cooling... do I really need it or can I go down to the standard heat sink...?

Anyway, last think I would ask you, if possible.. perhaps if you could sort of go through the config of the INFINITY XLC and cut down stuff that is not really necessary lol...Anyway, if not, it was already a pretty good help and Im sure Ill be able to call their callcenter.

Thanks man, great help, good tips.
 
oh and I was asking about the motherboard and the HDMI and so on because I want to connect it to this monitor from LG, 27 inch, IPS277L-BN.
http://tweakers.net/pricewatch/315880/lg-ips277l-bn-zilver-zwart/specificaties/
 
Yep hehehe. You would be connecting the HDMI connection from the monitor or TV to the graphics card directly :) But it would be nice to have a HDMI port in the motherboard as well for back-up and troubleshooting purposes.

About SSD and HDD. Basically you would want to install your Operating System (Windows 8) and other necessary applications and even the games to the SSD because it reads and writes faster than HDD (like more than 10x faster). With that, application runs faster and performs better in general :)

Watercooling is not really that dangerous. Asetek is a proven maker since they make AIO watercoolers for various brands (Corsair, Antec, NZXT and so on I believe) You just need to be extra careful because you do need to clean it from time to time. If you have a blower then cleaning would be a breeze. In terms of performance, watercoolers will be better in keeping your processor chilled :)

Actually I like the site because it had a lot of customization options which is nice.
 
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