ALIENWARE Systems

No, if i had that kind of money i'd build a system that's twice as fast for half the price, and then spend the remaining money on something else (maybe a new rifle, or something for my car).

Why are they so expensive? Because some people don't know how to build PCs but want to have one to play games on. Same thing with servers. I build servers for my company. Many of them would cost $8000-15000 if we bought them pre-built from a company like Dell, HP, IBM, etc. However we are able to build them for $2000-5000 just because we know how. And BTW their high prices do not include any sort of tech support, extended warranty, etc.
 
The only thing that would tempt me to buy alienware is either

a) they already have pci express systems available

b) laptops- upgradeable video cards could be a handy feature for the gamer on-the-go

I would never buy an alienware desktop, but I would consider one of their laptops if I needed a good portable pc
 
If I had ass loads of cash, yes, I would.

Alienware is ocming out with some very aweseom technology, I tihnk the newest one in thier product line up is called alx, eventually, it will support dual video cards on the pci-x bus. Bend over, they are slated to start at about 6k for one.

As for thier lap tops, buy a sears or a sager laptop, same thing, for far less, and, they are not very durable or reliable. Find the people that use them all the time, work, school, home, ect....they will tell you all about them;)
 
How's this?

Tyan 2885 Dual Opteron MB with AGP8x, PCI-X (not to be confused with PCI Express)
$450

2x Opteron 242 CPU's (1.6GHz x 2)
$400

4x 512MB PC3200 DDR
$500

Adaptec 2410SA RAID card
$350

3x 36GB WD Raptors in RAID5 (~72gb ultra-fast redundant storage)
$350

1x 200GB WD2000JD hard drive
$150

Radeon X800XT/GeForce 6800 Ultra
$600

Windows XP Pro (necessary for dual CPU)
$300

Sound Blaster Audigy 2
$100

High-end PC tower case
$200

DVD Burner
$100

Total cost:
$3500


The closest i've been able to get with Alienware config is $3700. That's for single Athlon FX 53 (close to 1GHz slower than dual O242), no RAID5 (RAID0 on OS/app array, single 250GB on storage), no quad-channel RAM (2 channels each for 2 CPUs), no PCI-X for high-performance RAID and Ethernet (GigE can almost max out a regular PCI bus).

Maybe not twice the performance for half the cost, but a few hundred less for a very large increase in performance, not to mention RAID5 performance and data redundancy. If you've ever used RAID5 in hardware you will know what i'm talking about. If you cut out some of the "fancy" features i've added, like PCI-X motherboard and high-performance RAID controller, you can build a machine with very similar performance (higher load-times but actual FPS the same) for probably about $2800.
 
wtf is the point to go smp? Nothing is really going to benifet from that, I can think of a few things, but, overall, it will more ore less be generating extra heat.
 
The newer versions of windows (XP/Server2003) do a pretty good job of distributing load across the CPUs. Not to mention with Opteron architecture, the more CPUs you have, the more memory bandwidth you get. It doesn't scale 100%, but NUMA optimization (which i believe will be built into the 64-bit versions of windows) should use the bandwidth most efficiently.
 
Well, if your set on a dual headed system sit and wait, the dual core athlons are coming.
 
the new Alienware case with the built in Koolance looks pimp as hell...


having said that, I won't pay a $3,000 premium for a pimp case.


Price every component in an Alienware system using pricewatch or somesuch, you get everything the Alienware system has except for the nametag and case (well, you can even get the cases now thanks to RaidMax) for thousands cheaper.

as for upgradeable laptops, I'd go with that Dell XPS any day and save thousands (same config as Alienware, upgradeable video card too).

there is no replacement for building your own box. When you can build your own system and save enough money for a pair of 19" LCD monitors at the same time, I think the choice is clear. BUILD YOUR OWN!!!
 
Pyromaneyakk said:
How's this?

Tyan 2885 Dual Opteron MB with AGP8x, PCI-X (not to be confused with PCI Express)
$450

2x Opteron 242 CPU's (1.6GHz x 2)
$400

4x 512MB PC3200 DDR
$500

Adaptec 2410SA RAID card
$350

3x 36GB WD Raptors in RAID5 (~72gb ultra-fast redundant storage)
$350

1x 200GB WD2000JD hard drive
$150

Radeon X800XT/GeForce 6800 Ultra
$600

Windows XP Pro (necessary for dual CPU)
$300

Sound Blaster Audigy 2
$100

High-end PC tower case
$200

DVD Burner
$100

Total cost:
$3500


The closest i've been able to get with Alienware config is $3700. That's for single Athlon FX 53 (close to 1GHz slower than dual O242), no RAID5 (RAID0 on OS/app array, single 250GB on storage), no quad-channel RAM (2 channels each for 2 CPUs), no PCI-X for high-performance RAID and Ethernet (GigE can almost max out a regular PCI bus).

Maybe not twice the performance for half the cost, but a few hundred less for a very large increase in performance, not to mention RAID5 performance and data redundancy. If you've ever used RAID5 in hardware you will know what i'm talking about. If you cut out some of the "fancy" features i've added, like PCI-X motherboard and high-performance RAID controller, you can build a machine with very similar performance (higher load-times but actual FPS the same) for probably about $2800.
Click to expand...

As long as you don't want to play games, then that's a good system. But, considering that's not exactly a gaming system, why the X800 XT?

A single 1.6 ghZ Opteron isn't exactly going to rock anyone's world when it comes to gaming, it's going to bottleneck the X800 XT soooo much it's not even funny. And yes, I know you have dual Opterons, but for games it's still only using a single processor.

Drop that video card down to something that'll be on par with the CPUs, such as a 9600 xt (or 9800 pro), and you've got a good system, it's just not a good backbone for a gaming computer.

If you'd like my advice, get a 3.2C with good air cooling, or a 3.2E with watercooling, on an ABit IS7-E (Low end) or ABit IC7 Max-3 (High end) with a 1GB of good RAM (pc3200 at the very least with nice tight timings). Why more than a 1GB of RAM unless you actually need it? Doom III only takes up about 530 MB even with all of my background programs running, and Far Cry (the greatest RAM hog I own) still only takes about 750 MB. Anything more than that is just wasted.

Overclock that processor to around 3.6 to 3.9 ghZ (Luck of the draw), and now you've got a system that deserves an X800 XT (or 6800 Ultra). Also going to be a whole lot cheaper than both the Opterons and the Alienware.
 
Alienware is for people who want a gaming rig but cant build them. Basicly you could buy from them and get a good (but overpriced) system. Or you could build it yourself for a fraction of the cost. The third option is have a local mom and pop store build you the same system for a little more than building it yourself.
 
A single 1.6 ghZ Opteron isn't exactly going to rock anyone's world when it comes to gaming, it's going to bottleneck the X800 XT soooo much it's not even funny. And yes, I know you have dual Opterons, but for games it's still only using a single processor.
Click to expand...

Does Doom 3 not support multithreading? I know Quake 3 did. I would think that would be a step backwards, especially with the P4 HyperThreading.

Even so, you could always replace the dual 242's with a single 148. That's 2.2GHz Opteron (remember Opteron has a shorter pipeline than even the Athlon so it is faster for the same MHz), Should give more than enough CPU, no?

But of course, i was mainly posting those specs as a comparison of what you CAN get for roughly the same amount of money.

That is essentially a fairly good workstation-grade machine, at least for tasks not requiring heavy geometry-based 3d rendering such as 3d S Max or Auto Cad. Even the fastest GeForce or Radeon, even the Quadro or FireGL version, will be not much more than a children's toy compared to a pro card in pro apps. Of course, a pro card will run games like crap too. Both are specialized for specific tasks.

But that's beside the point. I think Steve pointed it out fairly well. Are you willing to spend a massive amount of extra money for a nice logo and case? Sort of like buying a Hummer H2 or a Chevy Tahoe. They are both essentially the same as far as functionality, but the H2 has a modified body with a look that some people like (not me personally, i like H1). You have to decide whether you're willing to spend the extra $20,000 to get that.
 
Ack! I got you all beat! My dell is the shizzle....
 
No. Never. Nein!

Why not?

A)I can build my own for cheaper
B)I can OC my own farther
C)I'll get more performance :: price
D)I'll have more customability
E)If something goes wrong, I'll know (probably) how to fix it
F)I won't be a tool.
 
Pyromaneyakk said:
Does Doom 3 not support multithreading? I know Quake 3 did. I would think that would be a step backwards, especially with the P4 HyperThreading.
Click to expand...

Quake3 supported multithreading for ONE patch, then they took it out, BECAUSE IT DIDNT WORK.
 
No, for the same reason no one else here would. Because I can build my own better system for much less. Or I could spend the same amount and get a lot LOT more.

I might consider an alienware laptop as said above. But I keep seeing other places that you can get the same thing for less.
 
Even if someone GAVE ME an Alienware system, I'd sell it to some noob on eBay and buy the parts to build my own.
 
Yea unless your lookin into a killer gaming laptop, the desktop systems you could build your own for way less. But I do fully back thier laptops, my brother bought one maybe a couple years ago and then it ran games better than our rigs at the time, it also had a desktop cpu, so man did that baby kick out some heat.
 
Alienware is a crap compa :mad: ny that turned me off from ever buying OEM anymore.
 
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