Is this a good deal FOR A PRE-BUILT DESKTOP?

[Stavroforos]

I don't care if it's cheaper to build it myself, and it being a good deal is based upon what it has not how much it would cost you to build on your own.

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$1,300
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Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

Processors Intel® Core™i7-930 processor(8MB L2 Cache, 2.80GHz)

Memory 6GB Tri Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz- 3 DIMMs

Keyboard Dell Consumer Multimedia Keyboard

Video Card ATI Radeon HD 5870 1GB GDDR5

Hard Drive 1TB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache

Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 9.0 Multi-Language

Optical Drives Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability

Sound THX® TruStudio PC™

Speakers No Speaker Option

Security Software McAfee SecurityCenter, 15-Months

Hardware Support Services 1 Year Basic Service Plan

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Also, I figure the reason this equal and lesser rig costs $50 is because it's Alienware, yes?

Or is it the liquid cooling and chassis?

$1,300
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Alienware Aurora Alienware Aurora Desktop

Operating Systems Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

Processors Intel® Core™ i7 920 2.66GHz (8MB Cache) Quad Core Processor

Memory 6GB Triple Channel 1333Mhz DDR3

Keyboard No Keyboard

Monitors No Monitor

Video Cards Single Radeon 6870 1GB

Hard Drives 500GB - SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 7,200RPM, 16MB Cache HDD

Chassis Color Cosmic Black, Alienware Aurora Chassis

Mouse No Mouse

AlienFX AlienFX Color, Quasar Blue

Adobe Reader Software Adobe Acrobat Reader

Optical Drives Single Drive: 24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability

Sound Card Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

Automatic Updates Automatic Updates: Enabled

Avatar Alien Cyborg

Hardware Support Services 1 Year Basic Service Plan, DMLP

Factory Installed Games Steam and Portal™ Factory Installed

Wallpaper Alienhead Chrome Red

Cooling Option Alienware™ High-Performance Liquid Cooling

[iPwntUrMum]

... so you're asking us if getting a prebuilt desktop like those is a good deal? They never are. Huge price inflation because the company can get more profit... but you know that. In relation to other prebuilds however... you're going to be pressed to find someone that will tell you if something that is already too much, is a good deal..

[Stavroforos]

Compared to other pre-builds. I couldn't care less how much this would cost to build on my own since I won't be building it on my own.

[Ishan]

Processor is fine 920 or 930 not much of a difference between them both, can be overclocked upto 4.2Ghz with ease requires a good color though.
HD5870 is old better get a HD6870 if possible though nothing wrong with it. For RAM try to get a 1600Mhz RAM it's 6GB after all so it helps in performance as your rig is a OCed one.

Hard Disk sucks change it immediately.
Get a SATAIII 64MB cache one in 7200rpm.

[Stavroforos]

Well I'm not looking to make a super computer, just a decent rig which will work just fine for games now and which I can upgrade piecemeal over a few years.

The first PC's only better card available is the 5970 but that's too expensive, and it doesn't offer any different Mhz RAM or SATAIII.

For the Alienware, getting 6GB at 1600Mhz costs an extra 250 so that's too much, and getting SATA II with a 64MB cache is like another extra 275, lol.

However, placing a 6870 instead of the 5870 is $50 cheaper for some reason...?


Just to keep in mind, I'm not a hard-core gamer and I don't need my rig to be cutting edge, I don't care if I'm playing at 25FPS or 27 or 30, I just want my games to look good at a decent resolution and not lag.

[Ishan]

Well its looks a super computer to me atleast it was one year ago. so spending a few bucks to improve it won't hurt but you are right RAM can stay that way if you don't want it.
The thing was for Ocing the CPU if you are not doing although not seeing a point why not if buying an i7930.

Anyways HDD is not just for gaming it's like for everything from Game Loading to copy paste and applications loading up in your case Adobe CS5 etc.

HD6870 is way to go right now and is cheaper than 5870 but almost equal in performance. Also after a year or two you can plug it in with another 6870 in Xfire to get a uber gaming hit.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Anyways just my thoughts seems you don't care on what i say.

[Stavroforos]

Nah I definitely value your opinion and anyone else who has one to offer as I am not very knowledgeable in computers, it's just that I'm trying to keep it within a budget. Right now at $1,300, it seems to be offering some very good performance, and I'm both a) not really willing to go above that price and b) not sure at that point how much of a difference it will make anyway.

Also, the CPU is the minimum one, nothing cheaper offered, lol.

[PoleCat]

Nah I definitely value your opinion and anyone else who has one to offer as I am not very knowledgeable in computers, it's just that I'm trying to keep it within a budget. Right now at $1,300, it seems to be offering some very good performance, and I'm both a) not really willing to go above that price and b) not sure at that point how much of a difference it will make anyway.

Also, the CPU is the minimum one, nothing cheaper offered, lol.

That system you detailed will work for most games - performance will be an issue though with the real demanding games. If you're not a dedicated gamer then this may not be an issue for you. I own a similar system and it has performed well enough but then again I only buy older games for my son - I'm cheap that way.

Ishan wants to squeeze as much performance as possible out of that system - understandable. If you're not concerned with that then this system will work for you.

If this is a starter system for you to use in the meantime while you learn up on computers then you could do worse. This is a good basic system for all tasks but could use tweaking to get the most out of it. It won't give you the most when gaming but, again, if you don't care as much about that and don't care that this system is moderately overpriced for it's niche then go ahead and buy it. If you know anything about computers but want to learn more then this could be a system for hobbying around with. Good luck!

[Big Boss]

I'm just wondering, if you're trying to stay within a (relatively) small budget, why are you choosing to buy pre-built?

[GasMask]

I'm just wondering, if you're trying to stay within a (relatively) small budget, why are you choosing to buy pre-built?

It's obvious that he does not want to fiddle on with the pc it needs to be ready to just do basic tasks which is much more easy.

Now i do understand where you are coming from he could build one twice as good but im not sure he wants to .

As for now that Rig is swell and will most probably keep you a good wile and dont forget you can replace the graphics card and stuff to so its always upgradable.

Go for what you want the choices you make, Makes you the person who you are.

Dont hold back .

[Stavroforos]

That system you detailed will work for most games - performance will be an issue though with the real demanding games. If you're not a dedicated gamer then this may not be an issue for you. I own a similar system and it has performed well enough but then again I only buy older games for my son - I'm cheap that way.

Ishan wants to squeeze as much performance as possible out of that system - understandable. If you're not concerned with that then this system will work for you.

If this is a starter system for you to use in the meantime while you learn up on computers then you could do worse. This is a good basic system for all tasks but could use tweaking to get the most out of it. It won't give you the most when gaming but, again, if you don't care as much about that and don't care that this system is moderately overpriced for it's niche then go ahead and buy it. If you know anything about computers but want to learn more then this could be a system for hobbying around with. Good luck!

Aye you got it about right, I'm a gamer but not a hardcore one and don't need to bleed every last possible frame per second out of my machine.

I'm still going to be looking around maybe see if I can find something a few bucks cheaper, but this seems to be decent right now.

I'm just wondering, if you're trying to stay within a (relatively) small budget, why are you choosing to buy pre-built?

Mainly because I don't want to build the computer myself. I understand it's not a hard task and that once you've done it it's even easier, but there is greater peace of mind owning something built by professionals rather than myself.

No mention of the motherboard or power supply so that raises questions for me, but on the whole, it's not bad.

You can custom configure a system on iBUYPOWER, and I cooked one up with similar specs (P55/i7 870 instead of the x58/i7 930 combo and a 6870 instead of the 5870) and it came out to ~$1200. It won't arrive until January though.

Aye I couldn't find those either, thanks TNZ for posting those.

I'll check out the website, and I'm not in a big rush either way.

It's obvious that he does not want to fiddle on with the pc it needs to be ready to just do basic tasks which is much more easy.

Now i do understand where you are coming from he could build one twice as good but im not sure he wants to .

As for now that Rig is swell and will most probably keep you a good wile and dont forget you can replace the graphics card and stuff to so its always upgradable.

Go for what you want the choices you make, Makes you the person who you are.

Dont hold back .

Thanks bru.

[GasMask]

Aye you got it about right, I'm a gamer but not a hardcore one and don't need to bleed every last possible frame per second out of my machine.

I'm still going to be looking around maybe see if I can find something a few bucks cheaper, but this seems to be decent right now.

Mainly because I don't want to build the computer myself. I understand it's not a hard task and that once you've done it it's even easier, but there is greater peace of mind owning something built by professionals rather than myself.


Aye I couldn't find those either, thanks TNZ for posting those.

I'll check out the website, and I'm not in a big rush either way.

Thanks bru.

D:< No Problem .

[Big Boss]

Mainly because I don't want to build the computer myself. I understand it's not a hard task and that once you've done it it's even easier, but there is greater peace of mind owning something built by professionals rather than myself.

Erm, well, OK.

I won't push it cause you always have good sigs.

[Stavroforos]

Erm, well, OK.

I won't push it cause you always have good sigs.

Hehe, you'd be surprised how much I get away with because of that.

Or, well, maybe you wouldn't be.

[mrcrusty]

No mention of the motherboard or power supply so that raises questions for me, but on the whole, it's not bad.

You can custom configure a system on iBUYPOWER, and I cooked one up with similar specs (P55/i7 870 instead of the x58/i7 930 combo and a 6870 instead of the 5870) and it came out to ~$1200. It won't arrive until January though.

[TNZ]

Alienware Aurora Desktop:

Power Supply:

AlienwareTM 525 Watt Multi-GPU Approved Power Supply (Standard with Intel® P55 Architecture)

AlienwareTM 875 Watt Multi-GPU Approved Power Supply (Standard with Intel ® X58 Architecture)

Motherboard:

AlienwareTM Approved Intel ® P55 MicroATX Motherboard (Standard)
Socket 1156, Dual-Channel DDR3 Memory Support

AlienwareTM Approved Intel ® X58 mATX Motherboard (Standard with Intel ® X58 Architecture)
Socket 1366, 900 Series Intel® Core TM i7 Ready, Dual Triple-Channel DDR3 Memory Support

Processor With Intel® P55 Architecture:

Intel® Core TM i3 530 2.93GHz (4MB Cache) Dual Core Processor with Hyper-Threading

Intel® Core TM i5 650 3.2GHz (4MB Cache) Dual Core Processor with Hyper-Threading

Intel® Core TM i5 750 2.66GHz (8MB Cache) Quad Core Processor

Intel® Core TM i7 860 2.8GHz (8MB Cache) Quad Core Processor with Hyper-Threading

Processor With Intel® X58 Architecture:

Intel® Core TM i7 930 2.80GHz (8MB Cache) Quad Core Processor

Intel® CoreTM i7-920 2.66GHz (8MB Cache) Quad Core Processor

Intel® Core TM i7 960 3.20GHz (8MB Cache) Quad Core Processor

Overclocked Intel® Core TM i7 930 3.36GHz (8MB Cache) Quad Core Processor

Overclocked Intel ® Core TM i7 980X (3.33GHz, 12MB) Quad Core Processor

[Stavroforos]

Ugh, slightly stupid question, but just asking to make sure.

If I buy from America, I'll be able to run it fine in 220V here in Europa right?

[Ishan]

Ugh, slightly stupid question, but just asking to make sure.

If I buy from America, I'll be able to run it fine in 220V here in Europa right?

Yes there is a switch for that generally at back of the PSU, make sure it's set to 220V.

[Stavroforos]

Haha thank God you told me that before I fried my computer.

[Big Boss]

Many new ones detect it and compensate automatically now too.