Aurora desktop is now available at Bestbuy - Page 2

@archalien

ABSOLUTELY no benefit. Which is why you probably shouldn't even be visiting this section (hint).

I can build my own high end desktop and support it myself. But, as I sit looking at $5,000 worth of computer parts sitting on my dining room table, I keep saying "Geesh, I should have just ordered an Alienware this time around." Each to their own.

Good point shazza. The build thang is fun and at a glance cheaper with 'better' parts, but in the long run...naaaw or to each their own of course.

I've been trying to ignore the itch to DIY upgrade the old Predator Area-51 one more time again. Nope just save up another $500.00 and get Alienware to build me a new P2 machine with the same parts I would buy from ZZF/egg etc...no hassle and have a brand new spanking in addition. I really think the extra dollars are well spent with Alienware.

The 'new' P2 Area-51 and the ol' Predator Area-51 are doing just fine...had to put the real old Dragon Area-51 out of it's misery finally. Just can't justify any more upgrades to that outdated, cramped case. But it was one fine machine...lasted almost 8 years (it was still running good when I shut her down to steal parts!!!).

I loves me my exclusive Alienware systems...never a problem. If I ever did have one, call up friendly AW support and solve it. Really just that easy. Have alwaze had nothing but stellar support with Alienware these last 8 years.

Hope the Best Buy deal works out this time. Alwaze good for the first timers to be able to reach out and touch an Alienware machine before buying.



Zoid

Are you kidding me, "I" shouldn't be here, YOU shouldn't be here!!!
It would take me longer to pull stuff out of their individual boxes than to assemble it......

Im not saying AW as a total service for high end gaming is in any way incompetent for its customer base, some people like and can afford a high end gaming rig and dont have the time or knowledge to deal with something that doesnt just work oob, but if I can (without personal issue) build a more powerful system than AW offers, why shouldn't I be able to stick it in an AW case? If I would have bought the 400$ case when it was offered and put crap in it would I be any less of an abductee? What if I bought the cheapest rig AW offers right now, gutted it, and rebuilt it with parts thats smoke AW's top offering. Would I still be an AW poser?????

The real poser to me is the one who buys the 5k AW rig for email, you-tube and posing, who installs Crysis but never finished the first level, whose favorite game runs fine on intel grfx, who doesnt understand AW marks up their ram by several hundred percent, who doesnt know the difference between a pixel shader and a vertex shader and what impact those features have on high end gaming.(hint)

I agree with you, I have been building my own systems for years now. I cant see spending thousands of dollars on a desktop that I can assymble in a day. This is what I do anyways around here in my neck of the woods.

Also why does AW mark up there ram 800% I went to egg and upgraded to 4g of ram. Now it is sitting here waiting on the delivery of my m9750

Chill, arch. Shazza agreed with you that yes, you can of course build an equal or better computer yourself and save money as compared to buying from Alienware. They're not a charity and are in the computer building business to make money, like everyone else.

That said, there are those who would prefer not to have to put everything together themselves or don't have the knowledge to do so and who don't mind paying extra to have someone else put a system together and support it so they don't have to. As shazza said, that's a matter of personal preference. There are also people out there who pay an even larger premium for other boutique brands (Voodoo, Falcon Northwest, etc.) and who are also completely satisfied with spending the money they did because to them it's worth it.

While you don't need to understand why others spend their money the way they do, you do need to remember that everyone else has as much right to post here as you do. If I may reinterpret shazza's hint, it seems the desktop sections may be a better place for you to post than the Alienware sections, since most people there share your enthusiasm for building systems themselves. Since most people in the Alienware section are going to be in favor of having Alienware build a system for them, your complaints about how Alienware desktops aren't that great are likely to come across about as well as someone walking into a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant and asking for a Big Mac.

havent seen these in stores yet

Care to post that Configuration and the cost associated? I'll Config an Alienware to try and match it...

Don't really get this old Alienware argument anymore...



Zoid

With all due respect to all in the AW forums, I took offense to what I perceived as innuendo by shaz and steve that my suggestion of byo in an AW case is tantamount to uber posing, and am somehow less of an AW enthusiast and not worthy of owning much less posting in the AW section.

I thought I clearly stated in my last post that I concur with AW's business model and products are great for most, just not as great a value for me because of my lack of need for them to build and procure support for said product. That doesnt mean I condemn AW, but I didnt feel I should take heat for such an opinion.

building now....

So this turned out harder than expected b/c AW doesnt necesarilly advertise the brand or exact specs/model of each component, but I tried to be honest and fair....

I tried to max out an AW ALX, problem is most expensive option for triplle sli cuts out other pcie options and there were some other decisions I had to make to try and be more apples to apples....In the end I came up with this:

[1] Area-51® ALX ***************9500.50

Alienware P2 Chassis: Alienware® P2 ALX Chassis with AlienIce™ 3.0 Video Cooling - Space Black
Chassis Customization : Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - Astral Blue
System Cooling: Alienware® ALX High-Performance Liquid Cooling
Acoustic Dampening: Alienware® Acoustic Dampening
Power Supply: Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU Approved Power Supply
Graphics Processor: Triple 1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 280
Video Optimizer: AlienAdrenaline v1.0: Video Performance Optimizer - More Info
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme QX9770 3.2GHz 12MB Cache 1600MHz FSB
Memory: 4GB† Corsair Dominator Overclocked Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 4 x 1024MB
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® Home Premium with Service Pack 1
System Drive: Extreme Performance (RAID 0) - 600GB (2 x 300GB) Velociraptor SATA 3.0Gb/s 10,000RPM 2 x 16MB Cache

Additional Storage Drive: Additional Storage Drive - 2TB (2 x 1TB) SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM w/ 2 x 32MB 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)

Keyboard: Gaming Keyboard - Logitech® G15 Keyboard
Mouse: Gaming Mouse - Razer Lachesis™ 4000dpi Laser Gaming Mouse - Phantom White

Exclusive ALX Extras: Alienware® Mesh Cap
Exclusive ALX Extras: Alienware® ALX Mousepad
Exclusive ALX Extras: Alienware® ALX Desktop Binder
Exclusive ALX Extras: Owner Identification Card
Exclusive ALX Extras: Internal Wire Management
Exclusive ALX Extras: Exclusive Alienware® ALX Items

Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service
AlienRespawn: AlienRespawn v2.0 Recovery DVD – Windows Vista® Edition
Avatar: Alienhead 3D
Window Style: Default Window Style
Mouse Pointers: Standard Mouse Pointers
Power Plan: Standard Power Plan
Automatic Updates: Automatic Updates On
Time Zones: (GMT - 5.00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)


This proves problematic trying to go apples to apples against AW's propietary water cooling, so instead I decided to try the same specs on a non water cooled edition for a clearer comparison. Alas AW doesnt offer 3x SLI in a non ALX solution. but this is what I went with from BYO:



1x
EVGA 132-CK-NF79-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI DDR3 ATX Intel Motherboard
EVGA 132-CK-NF79-A1 ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #:N82E16813188025
Return Policy: Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy
$30.00 Mail-in Rebate
$329.99

2x
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNQ
G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
Item #:N82E16820231190
Return Policy: Memory (Modules, USB) Return Policy
$249.98

2x
Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (bare drive)
Western Digital VelociRaptor 150GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (bare drive)
Item #:N82E16822136296
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
$359.98

2x
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST31500341AS 1.5TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (bare drive)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (bare drive)
Item #:N82E16822148337
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
$379.98

1x
ABS Tagan BZ Series BZ1300 1300W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Active PFC Patent Piperock Modular Power Supply
ABS Tagan BZ Series BZ1300 1300W Patent Piperock Modular Power Supply
Item #:N82E16817814011
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$30.00 Instant
$499.99
$469.99

1x
LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model GH22LS30
LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model GH22LS30
Item #:N82E16827136153
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
$26.99

3x
EVGA 01G-P3-1289-A1 GeForce GTX 280 Hydro Copper Clear Top 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
EVGA GeForce GTX 280 Hydro Copper Clear Top 01G-P3-1289-A1 Video Card
Item #:N82E16814130407
Return Policy: Limited 30-Day Return Policy
$2,009.97

1x
LG Black 6X Blu-ray Disc Burner & HD DVD-ROM Drive SATA Model GGW-H20LK
LG Black 6X Blu-ray Disc Burner & HD DVD-ROM Drive SATA Model GGW-H20LK
Item #: N82E16827136155
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
LG 25GB 2X BD-RE(Blu-ray) Single Disc
LG 25GB 2X BD-RE(Blu-ray) Single Disc
Item #: N82E16817143001
Return Policy: Consumable Items Return Policy
-$15.99 Combo
$240.98
$224.99

1x
Intel Core2 Extreme QX9775 3.2GHz LGA 771 150W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80574QX9775

Intel Core2 Extreme QX9775 3.2GHz LGA 771 150W Quad-Core Processor
Item #: N82E16819115044
Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy
Intel Gift
Intel Gift
Item #: N82E16800995058
Return Policy: Standard Return Policy
-$29.99 Combo
$1,579.98
$1,549.99

Grand Total:$5,601.86 (forgeot to add KB and mouse, add 200$)


So for a grand total of about 3+ grand more I get an AW case w/ decent water cooling and AW trinkets and tech support.

Lets see what we lost:
4gb of ram, (4gig max in AW, 8gig in custom) *Idid miss matching the speed so add a few dollars there on the custom side....

1TB (Storage)(2tb vs 3TB)hard drive space, I went w/ raptors on primary although the SSD's are more expensive, since AW doesnt advertise brand it was too hard to make a real comparison as SSD drive performance is all over the board on a drive by drive basis.

100 extra watts on the P.S.

6x BD burner w/ HDDVD read, vs 2.4 BD burner

I couldnt really get a clean comparison on grfx cards cuz aw didnt offer model so I got 3x most expensive card newegg carries at bout 650$. Without massive water bloks, shave 150 (#x) per card off the byo price

Lastly a faster processor (marginal yes but still faster)


I could prolly through in cool lighting on a sweet case with a better water cooling solution than AW offers for easy under a grand.

That leaves me with a nearly spec for spec superior rig at every turn for 2k less.

And I could have prolly shaved 1.5+K of the byo build if I went part for exact part


The point of this wasnt to show up AW, just to show that in order to provide their service and stay in business there is prolly well over a 25% markup for assembly, minimal (1yr) warranty, and tech support (+ profits too).

Bottom line, if AW sold me everything(case, water cooling, tshirt etc) from the 9k build (except what I got from newegg above) for 2k (More than a whole cpu alot of AW systems shipped!!!) the rig Id build and put inside an AW case would blow the doors off what AW can offer.

I dont want an AW case for a 9+K computer, but I can still apply this principal to get a computer that outperforms any AW configuration at a lower price.


** Yeah I forgot to include OS in byo, sry oops skews numbers but point still made

to answer your previous question,
Alienware has a unique design for their cases to reflect that an Alienware system (one they built and support) is inside. If they sold the cases separately and some people put junk components in them, it would hurt their reputation because people associate the cases with Alienware. With their current business model, they keep quality control of every Alienware case that leaves their warehouse and can assume responsibility for the systems within.

Wow I can't believe you actually gave in an answered the question.

Well you didn't do what you said you were gonna do, which is, " What if I bought the cheapest rig AW offers right now, gutted it, and rebuilt it with parts thats smoke AW's top offering."

You went with cost thing instead. Now what was the point of that again? To show one may purchase pretty much the same components from NewEgg for less cost than buying them from Alienware?

That egg CPU is a Socket 771. Alienware coulda politely pointed that out to you.

You configured 300GB VelociRaptors in the ALX and 150GB versions in your egg machine. Nice touch with 1.5TB HDDs though.

Not your best moment archalien but not your worst either.



Zoid

Hey I said it wasnt easy, I tried to be honest, I didnt make mistakes intentionally.
But What would it matter if I gutted their cheapest rig(~1150$ s+h+t) and through the new egg list into it(5600$), its still cheaper than buying AW's top model, especially if you consider any resaleability of the original components.

if you dont do the 3 GT280 cards and just use two then your price is really close to what you could buy the stuff for... also you would have to buy cooling fans and the Thermal Grease,etc...Also you forgot to figure in the what a case would cost and also the dampering pads and also you selected the Alien FX lighting which you cant buy either...

The difference would be that your configuration does not blow the ALX away. No reason the ALX outa the box would not hold it's own or outperform your config...even after dayz of getting your config's rite parts gathered, building it, making it purty and tweaking it.

'Cheaper' of course it is (initially). But I think the ALX has value beyond a few dollars...

Just messing with you archalien, this old drill means nothing. A wasted effort...



Zoid

I humbly disagree, spec for spec, there are larger/more powerful/faster products at every turn, there is no tweaking required to beat the AW offering, how is that not blown away....????

Dont get me wrong, Im a big opponent of the fact that the byo rig compared to the AW rig say at cost of (functional)parts alone would be well over 1k more expensive, and that the "Real World Performance" would probably be negligible in all but a few cases. 2 or three extra frames in crysis, 15 second quicker load time under certain circumstances, 1 minute shaved off a 1 hour video reencode etc....

The real difference would prolly only show up on benchmarks, which as stated in other threads I dont care much for. But this was more a theoretical exercise, than a practical one for me.

I guess my point is, AW to me is aesthetic, its the Alienware wallpaper, case design, lighting, overclocking, hardware monitoring, and OS skin themed apps. Not the (functional) parts involved, the tech support etc. While that may be different for someone else, thats what it is for me. That does not make me any less of an AW fan, any less worthy of owning AW products regardless of what I put inside them, or any less worthy of posting in this section.

If you think your somehow cooler, or part of some exclusive AW owning club, or the like b/c you disagree w/ the above statement, you should have gotten more attention as a child. (Not directed at Boyd, but some of the other commenters....)

Come on, archalien ... don't be so sensitive. You have just as much right to post in the AW section as anyone else. I just don't understand why you want to. You say you are an Alienware fan, yet I recall very few positive posts you've made towards Alienware products. I think you once owned an Alienware, but I can't remember. I've owned 3 Alienware computers ... and I've enjoyed them all. That doesn't give me more rights to post here, but it does give me a base to judge the company's products. While I would buy another Alienware, I'm not a raving fangirl.

Your comment that you like AW aesthetics is fine. I like Maserati aesthetics too, but last time I checked, I couldn't order just a body from their factory and fill it with my own parts. (okay, I didn't actually check, and just picked Maserati as an example).

And, btw, I received much attention as a child from two loving parents (although I did get picked on mercilessly by my older brother - does that explain my inability to understand your point?)

You prolly dont remember b/c I was abducted/posting in AW section for a couple years b4 u joined, there is a very very short list of AW faithful who still drop by that pre-date me in AW section (Hammer's at the top of that list ) even with all my complaints- that fact that Im still here after SOOOO many have left and never returned should only attest to my love of the company/brand.

I struggled w/ the Maserati comparison abit, you almost had me reevaluate my position, then I realized why that comparison ultimately fails. With a Maserati, the whole thing is unique to the car/manufacturer. I couldnt put a Ferrari engine in it and still call it a Maserati even if it was a better engine. That is not the case here w/ AW, If I swap out the processor in an normal AW build to say a slightly faster one, I dont think anyone would argue- its still an AW!

Yes, I know from time to time, AW has offered all sorts of products, even desktops, with one-off parts that were only available in an AW, but for the most part, AW uses off the shelf (functional) parts that any other company can offer or I can buy myself.

So the car example doesnt really fit here, 90% (just a guess) of a Maserati is completely unique to that car, If Maserati sold the same car with a choice of Ford or Honda motors in it, I buy one and put a larger block Honda engine in it, would it still be a Maserati? I would say so.

The things that I like about AW are the things that make it unique, case, lighting, water-cooling, AW software. I can get everything else from any number of other companies (including superior American based Tech Support).

The things that make AW unique from other companies are what make it an AW, not that they assemble high end computers, or offer tech support, b/c lots of companies do that also, some better some worse.

If AW were to sell me all the things I listed as making it unique, and I put what ever the hell into it I wanted, Id still call it an AW. But I gotta hand it to ya Shaz, you almost had me for a sec!