Coming up as $6k with 4/yr onsite Seems a bit steep but I think it's about as fast as anything.... Anywhere else I should be looking? Vista is such a hog I don't want to skimp. Alienware Area-51® Processor: Intel® Core 2 Extreme QX9770 3.2GHz 12MB Cache 1600 FSB Alienware P2 Chassis: Alienware® P2 Chassis with AlienIce 3.0 Video Cooling - Saucer Silver System Lighting: Alienware® Standard System Lighting - Astral Blue System Cooling: Alienware® Standard System Cooling Power Supply: Alienware® 1000 Watt Multi-GPU Approved Power Supply Graphics Processor: Dual Graphics Card - Dual 1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800 GX2 Quad GPU Technology Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 2 x 2048MB Motherboard: Alienware® Approved NVIDIA® nForce® 790i Ultra SLI Motherboard Includes PCI-Express 2.0, DDR3 Memory, and Support for Intel 1600 FSB Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Ultimate DirectX 10 Ready! System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 500GB SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM 16MB Cache Storage Drive: Additional Storage Drive - 500GB SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM 16MB Cache Optical Drives : Dual Drive Configuration - Drive 1: 20X Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW) w/ LightScribe Drive 2: 4x Dual Layer Blu-ray Burner (BD-RE, DVD±RW, CD-RW) Enthusiast Essentials: Dual High Performance Gigabit Ethernet Ports Sound Card: High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio Keyboard: Premium Keyboard - Logitech® Deluxe 250 Keyboard
As a heads up Alienware is now owned by Dell, so I would keep that in mind and being the fanboy I am must add that you should at least look at a Mac, as I am pretty sure you can get a Mac Pro faster than that.
Have you considered building your own computer? You can get better parts for cheaper. Try www.newegg.com
Also, the system you have set up is strictly a gaming system. If you plan on doing anything less you can pull back on the firepower, because what you have set up is a monster.
True indeed. However, the acquisition was a big bonus for both sides. Alienware dropped their business lines and went back to what they knew best: building gaming PCs. Want to know what is shared between the Alienware PCs & notebooks and those over at Dell? 0, nada, zilch. Nothing at all. Not even the same manufacturing components. Alienware has been currently on free reign to build what they want, which is how their customers want it. They are great systems indeed. The Mac Pro could be faster, but... it all boils down to what you want to do with the system. Personally, I don't see a high end gaming system to be that advantageous unless some serious game development or business (game reviews) depended on it. The blue ray burner could be taken out, saving you a chunk o change, but it depends what you are wanting. First on the block? The system will last... but how long? I'd invest in a comfy chair, great monitors and an optimal desk setup before adding any options on a pc or mac - those items rarely change and you'll still be waiting for downloads/gaming/whatever no matter how fast it is.
Funny - I started thinking about replacing my 9 yr old system just yesterday - Pentium 1.0ghz, 30gb HD, a walloping 640mb of memory, an ATI Rage Fury VC - all the best - 9 years ago. Newegg burned me a couple of months ago on a defective PS I ordered, so I avoid them, but that's just me, I know thousands of folks have had great luck with them. I'm trying to figure out the difference between a Pentium D, Pentium 4, Pentium Duo Core, Pentium Quad Core - what's going to last me 10 more years (?) I do NO gaming, wife is hooked on the 'Tycoon' games...
A computer right now will not last you 10 years, better to buy a mid range PC every few years or so. If you need help with buying a new PC, I'd be more than glad to help or get you started.
Lose the quad core. Very few apps take advantage of them. Intel 8400 dual core will be fine. Drop one GX2. Quad SLI is still very much a work in progress and shall remain so for a very long time. Skip the Blu-ray device unless you want it for back ups. You can spend 50% less and still get 90% of the performance of the machine you spec'd.
I build my own, I just have not kept up with anything in 10 years, it evolves too fast now. Back then, there were only a handful of CPU's, two different choices of chipsets on the Mobo (good ol 440BX - remember that ?) I remember the discussions of the amt of level 2 cache, level 3 cache, how the cache was used, FSB speed, all that, and today I just don't have enough hours in the day to keep up. Back then the Pentium 600 'EB' was the best CPU out - and there were a lot of different flavors of the P600 - but the EB was the best. Today, I ain't gotta clue...... When I say 'last 10 years', I don't mean run apps that come out 10 years from now, I mean I want the machine to WORK for 10 years - this one does, but I am beginning to lose the mouse port I/O once in awhile and have to power off/on to get it back, a simple reboot won't do it.
I have a qx9650 and an 8800 GTS G92 in a lian Li case. I'll give you a MUCH better deal off of my rig. :shrug: http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y251/Luke9583/current1.jpg
+1 Don't buy from Alienware. You'll pay a MASSIVE premium just for having their logo on your computer.
+1. Thinking out loud here , great processor will run about $500+, throw in 200-300 for video cards, about 100 for memory, 200-300 for hard drive, 50 for great DVD burner, 100-200 for the case and Power supply, cooling should run about 50, keyboard and mouse vary, and a 22' monitor will run you $200 these days. That adds up to a great PC for between 1500-2000 dollars. Best part is instead of buying the 6k Alienware, you can buy one of these midrange monsters every 2 or 3 years.
I know Alienware has a rep of being pricey, but I've spec'ed out a few other brands and I'm not seeing much difference. I usually don't look at the fastest computers because, you are correct, they are usually overkill. I'm not a gamer but two issues have me thinking of not skimping. First, the only game I want to run is MSFS X and I understand it is the worst resources hog. Second, I've heard Vista sucks it up too. So, I'm open to ideas but I don't want to spend $X and not get an exponential upgrade. Also, are there any build your own sites that have a "configurator" or do you just select each individual part and put it into your cart?
As far as your configuration goes, I'd get more RAM if you are going to spend that kind of money. I have an Alienware Laptop with 4GB of RAM and it is great, but RAM is king. More is always better. Gene
I spoke to the Alienware rep and was told when I configured this that because they use Vista 32bit no more ram will be recognized.
Your computer will EASILY be able to play Fligh Simulator. As for Vista, if you haven't used it before I'd stick with XP until Vista gets its act together, by building your own PC you can choose what OS you want.
Like others have said, that's a lot of power and a lot of money. If you plan on using it, great. If you don't do multimedia editing or gaming, you can get by with a system for well under half that price. I've built all my own computers for the past 10 years so I'm not really into what the latest complete system companies are offering these days. I'd recommend checking out http://www.gamepc.com they're always introducing the newest parts long before the big guys get them and all their systems are built by real geeks instead of factory workers with little knowledge of computers. They have a lot of good pre-configured systems and allow you to customize much further than any of the big guys. Thousands? Try millions... that's unfortunate that you had a bad experience with Newegg. I've bought well into 5 figures worth of stuff from them over the past 7 years and have NEVER had a single problem.
Take the leap to Vista unless there are known issues with your hardware. I was dreading Vista from all of the reviews, but I did a few hours of research on Vista optimization and I won't go back to XP. Vista has some issues but, it is superior to XP. Once you see flying windows you will love it. Gene
I do find Vista to be a bit of a hog and other than the Flying Windows, I don't find much of a difference over XP. XP SP3 is supposed to coming out soon (it was delayed) recently.
XP is great and does what an os should do. Allow SW to run quick w/o crashing. I don't care about graphics in the os. Vista at this point is a step back, but it's very hard to find a computer that you can still get XP pro on.
