Benefit of buying an Alienware?

badmrfrosty2badmrfrosty2
edited June 2003 in Hardware
With the impending release of StarWars Galaxies on 06/26, I need to upgrade my PC. Yeah, NEED.

So here's what im thinking, Should I just plop down the 2100 bucks and get the AlienWare Aurora with the 3200 Barton and a gig of ram, this is with the Nvidia 5900 also.

Or should I just buy a motherboard/cpu/ram/video card?

Are there any performance differences with alienware systems? Why are they premium gamer systems?

Thanks,
BMF(2)
«1

Comments

  • dydxdydx Cymru, UK
    edited June 2003
    Nvidia = teh gheyxor

    Those systems are way over priced, get a Barton 3200, gig of Corsair DDR, ATI Radeon 9800, a SATA RAID, and stick it in an A7N8X.

    Itll be cheaper and better.


    mD
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited June 2003
    They are primium gaming systems compared to other PRE-BUILT systems, there is no performance enhancement of an Alienware over a homebuilt system. They are just premium compared to say Compaq or Packard Bell (do they even still exist?). Plus you pay $500 for the case being green.

    NS
  • dydxdydx Cymru, UK
    edited June 2003
    Get the parts, and pop in here.

    Well help you optimise the system for the best possible performance. Youll have more fun, and youll learn a thing or two.


    mD
  • badmrfrosty2badmrfrosty2
    edited June 2003
    Well i've built systems myself in the past, and i've always had funky problems with them.

    Like my current one is:

    1400 Mhz thunderbird
    512megabytes of ram
    ti4600
    200gig ide drive
    sb live.

    I think i went through like 3 motherboards before one worked, ABIT kg-7 (i ... think??)

    Well the aurora i was looking at was 2200 dollars.

    How much could I do the
    3200 + THE BEST MOTHERBOARD + 1gig of good ram + the ati 9800 + sata raid for?

    -Drew
  • dydxdydx Cymru, UK
    edited June 2003
    Probably about 3/4 of that. Plus it will be faster.

    Do a search, read some reviews, post question after you do this and we can finalize your spec, advise you on compatability issues, and point you in the direction of the best prices.


    mD
  • ClutchClutch North Carolina New
    edited June 2003
    And but you a chieftec case so it looks kind of like a alienware :) We can spec you up a system, what budget are you looking at? If you were going to spend $2,100 on a alienware, then we can get you a nice system for that amount easily.
  • badmrfrosty2badmrfrosty2
    edited June 2003
    Would it be worth the hassle though? Plus their blue cases are pretty damn cool ;-)

    BMF(2)
  • ClutchClutch North Carolina New
    edited June 2003
    What hassle? no hassle in building a computer, just take your time to not mess anything up. We can walk you through anything you need to know man, that's what were hear for.
  • drowddrowd Texas
    edited June 2003
    cool cases, but not better than what you could do, plus its aint worth all that money. you could put that money in a bigger lcd or nicer speakers if you are that hell-bent on spending it . . .
  • badmrfrosty2badmrfrosty2
    edited June 2003
    Query is this: is the Ti4600 craptacular or is it still pretty good?

    BMF(2)
  • Massive_gasMassive_gas Baghdad
    edited June 2003
    Originally posted by badmrfrosty2
    Query is this: is the Ti4600 craptacular or is it still pretty good?

    BMF(2)

    put it thisway. My GF3 runs every game I play with medium or high graphics settings.
  • badmrfrosty2badmrfrosty2
    edited June 2003
    You dont play Galaxies then, or Everquest for that matter.
  • Massive_gasMassive_gas Baghdad
    edited June 2003
    Originally posted by badmrfrosty2
    You dont play Galaxies then, or Everquest for that matter.

    nope

    I had the chance to get into phase 3 of the SWG beta but I had no way of paying for the CDs.

    I did play WWIIonline for a year and a half though. 20-30 frames on the ground with a few other people around. 10 frames during heavy battles. Frames don't really matter a whole lot to me...I played TFC for 6 months with 5FPS.
  • badmrfrosty2badmrfrosty2
    edited June 2003
    Frames mean everything.
  • DexterHolland911DexterHolland911 Hong Kong
    edited June 2003
    GF3 can handle that stuff... but that's off the topic. If you are unsure on how to build a computer, and you have no budget, I suggest buying an alienware computer. Otherwise, make one on your own. We will all help walk you through it.
  • badmrfrosty2badmrfrosty2
    edited June 2003
    I can put a PC together, my question was basically is there any performance increase with using an alienware pc?

    Do they o/c?

    BMF
  • dydxdydx Cymru, UK
    edited June 2003
    There is no performance advantage getting an alenware pc.

    Build your own, youll get a better machine easily.


    mD
  • badmrfrosty2badmrfrosty2
    edited June 2003
    Who has good prices, and who do we trust for buying parts online, there is this store right down the street from me called pyrinex www.pyrinex.com i cant really tell if they have good prices or if they're going to bend me over the counter with some thermal paste and bang me.

    BMF(2)
  • CCWCCW Suffolk, UK
    edited June 2003
    To the querstion do they O/C you need to give specific hardware details, i doubt the systems cooling will be adequate anyway. Also, its cheaper and betetr to buy parts for yourself and build your own.

    Craig
  • dydxdydx Cymru, UK
    edited June 2003
    Try:

    http://www.pricewatch.com
    http://www.newegg.com


    mD
  • badmrfrosty2badmrfrosty2
    edited June 2003
    Whats the best Motherboard for a 3200 Athlon? and Ram?
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited June 2003
    Ram would be Corsair-XMS 3500, and as much of it as you can afford (I think its 2GB without using ECC correction).

    NS
  • dydxdydx Cymru, UK
    edited June 2003
    For mobo you cant go wrong with the Asus A7N8X, based on the nForce 2 chipset. Head on into the motherboards forum and check the sticky, and read the reviews. Only you know exactly what you want from this machine.

    As for RAM, the Corsair XMS DDR 3200 400MHz RAM is about as good as it gets. A matched pair of 512MB modules should do the trick.


    mD
  • badmrfrosty2badmrfrosty2
    edited June 2003
    What do we think about this?

    http://www.pyrinex.com/indivproduct.asp?ProductID=576
  • dydxdydx Cymru, UK
    edited June 2003
    Seems to have the right features, although i dont have any experience with this board personally.


    mD
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited June 2003
    Gigabyte = No

    You want Asus or Epox.

    NS
  • badmrfrosty2badmrfrosty2
    edited June 2003
    Someone else told me ASUS..

    So which one is it?

    so far this is what I have

    MB-Gigabyte 7N400 Pro NForce2 $149.00 $149.00 REMOVE
    VC-ATI 9800 PRO $575.00 $575.00 REMOVE
    MEM-512MB PC-3200 400Mhz DDRAM Samsung $92.00 2x $184.00 REMOVE
    CPA-AMD Athlon XP 3000+ R $331.00 $331.00 REMOVE
    CS-Antec Plus 1080AMG $145.00 $145.00 REMOVE

    its about 1500 bucks, do i wanna spend 150 and get a 80gb SATA drive or do i wanna spend 165 and get a 200gb WD 8mb cache IDE drive?

    BMF(2)
  • dydxdydx Cymru, UK
    edited June 2003
    SATA is slightly faster, and you get the advantage of the incredibly thin cable.


    mD
  • EnverexEnverex Worcester, UK Icrontian
    edited June 2003
    Uh....... yeah sorry, Asus, stupidly similar names, and I keep getting them mixed up.

    Regardless of what drive you get make sure it has an 8MB cache.

    NS
  • badmrfrosty2badmrfrosty2
    edited June 2003
    What Say Ye:

    CS-Antec Plus 1080AMG $145.00 $145.00 REMOVE
    MB-Asus A7N8X $132.00 $132.00 REMOVE
    CPA-AMD Athlon XP 3000+ R $331.00 $331.00 REMOVE
    MEM-512MB PC-3200 400Mhz DDRAM Samsung $92.00 2x $184.00 REMOVE
    HD-Seagate 80GB SATA w/ 8MB, 7200 rpm $156.00 $156.00 REMOVE
    VC-ATI 9800 PRO $575.00 $575.00

    total: 1527.00

    ??
    Will this roxxor my galaxies soxxors?

    BMF(2)
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