Evening all,
A friend recently approached me and asked for some PC advise on their first rig. Knowing that anything I didn't have an opinion on I could find several worthy ones here I ambitiously said yes.
The system is prebuilt, and been sold to her by a friend of the family.
Specs:
Alienware Area 51
- Couldn't say the exact mobo, but it was said to be the standard from 2010, and the lack of USB 2 sort of supports that. ALX 51 is the only result a short internet search turned up... could be what I was looking for.
- Intel Core i7 960 (3.2GHz, 8MB Cache)
- Intel® X58 Express Chipset w/ Unlocked BIOS for Overclocking
- Nvidea GTX 480 (but the dxdiag said a gtx 495 was in it)
- Internal High-Definition 7.1 Audio (Standard)
- Integrated 10/100/1000Mbps Ethernet NIC (Standard)
- Internal Wireless Bluetooth® 2.1+ Enhanced Data Rate
- and several other mobo integrated features not worth listing
- plus DVD RW tray, but seriously who uses discs anymore.
The asking price is $800.00 and for alienware you're never going to find a comparable price. I got my hands on it ( to do dxdiag and check the system specks ) and it all seemed legit, but given the systems age, I wanted to double check with people in the know, is the deal still worth it, or can she build something better with her money.
Thanks
Narzigoring
Ignoring what I personally think of Alienware (nothing good to say about them) - I asked myself, what else can you achieve with $800? I realised that you can build a computer that's much more appropriate and up-to-date with $800. So in short, no. I don't think it is worth that much. It does appear to be a decent enough system, but the age and price to performance let it down.
Something like this would be better:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/2djKC
Much more up-to-date GPU and much more powerful than the 480. It competes with the GTX770, and often beats it when both cards are overclocked.
You could build something much better for $800 and you'd get some experience building pcs to boot. If they were my my friend I'd definitely say no, Even if you can't find a comparable Alienware that doesn't means you can't get more for the money. Alienware is overpriced from the get go.
This is what I and another friend had suspected, if the three of us agree how can we be wrong? Thanks for your build recommendation, I'm going to hunt around and see if I can find a power supply that is gold certified rather than bronze, but other than that.
I think the one big selling point for us was that the alienware system is pre-build and should be compatibility tested, where as a decent amount of research can be put into making sure there aren't known compatibility issues with a build.
I share your grim view of alienware, I found it very difficult to find respect for the person trying to sell it to us.
Thanks again for your quick reply.
Thanks for your reply, It amazes me how fast people respond on these forums... and sometime scares me. Thanks for your thoughts.
Pcpartpicker is awesome because it takes a lot of the guess work out. It only finds parts that are compatible with what you've chosen. If compatibility is a concern just use pcpartpicker to build out your pc and you should (generally) be fine. You can always ask us to help with a build like he did. Plenty of people here willing to help.
Definitely get the best PSU you can buy. That's always been my main gripe with Alienware. They always seem to use a crappy no-name brand PSU which dies after a while.
The XFX unit is made by Seasonic, and Seasonic are the best manufacturers of PSUs. This bronze rated unit is almost silver certified. It really is a good unit for the money, and easily enough power for the whole system plus overclocking. So have faith, but if you can find something better, than that's good. But don't grab gold for the sake of having gold efficiency. Make sure it is a decent quality. The manufacturer matters more than the choice of brand.
Thanks, today has once again proven to me that you don't need to be a fanatic for hardware to build a system, just willing to learn and inquisitive.