Aurora or Area 51? (Gaming)

AMD ALL THE WAY.

how heavy of a gamer are you, because if you arent, than why are you getting an AW?

I would go with the Aurora Extreme it is cheaper faster and the AMD 64 FX will have a longer shelf-life than a P4 as we see more games and apps migrate to 64 bit computing. And I just bought one for my little brother.

Upgrading the PS only delivers more power to the system and is required for the Nvidia 6800 video cards, to prevent damage, use a surge protector at the minimum or an uninteruptable power supply(seperate from system power supply) that provides power even if building power fails, like a big battery. Both AMD and intel are changing the socket designs near the end of the year. The AMD FX's socket 940 will be replaced by 939, Intel wil go to a reversed pin socket so that the pins are on the socket instead of the processor. AMD currently holds the title for fastest processor, but may change in the future. If I was buying a desktop, I would go with the AMD.

Right now I'd go with the AMD 64 bit processors.

You can play any game on the market right now with an Alienware computer.

Right now I'm playing Far Cry, Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, UT2004, and Painkiller.

Buy the AW. If you are not smart enough to know that a power supply does not help protect you against power failures then you have no business building your own PC. BTW did you add in the price of a full version Win XP Pro at $299.00 or Home at 199.99?

Actually I said it's not worth the hassle and time for me. I've built my own, and there's nothing wrong with that if you have the knowledge and time and desire. You won't know what manufacturers components work together well though as AW does due to their testing program.

What are your specs, and the price of the AW? A good processor and Video card alone can add up to $1500 or more.

I have yet to see a configuration homebuilt that is more than 10-15% over an Alienware, and that's from online discount houses. I think you're missing a few items. And the liquid cooling will add to the cost with the pump, tubes and radiator setup...

You need:

motherboard
Power supply
case
memory
processor + heatsink + fan
case fans or water cooling system
optical drive(s) cd-dvd
Hard drive(s)
sound card unless you have onboard
ethernet or modem if not onboard
keyboard
mouse
Operating system

Compare what you're getting directly to the same configuration Alienware, the price difference won't be that dramatic.

A P4 3.4 Extreme is over $1000 and a top line vid card is $400-$500 at online discount houses. With your case that's nearly $1800 before memory, software, power supply, optical drives or hard drives so I think either your getting lesser components, or comparing it to a much higher spec Alienware.

If you configure an Alienware with lower specs, the price comes down dramatically.

I'm not trying to influence you one way or another, but I know you can't build the same spec machine for 50% of the equivalent Alienware, especially buying all your parts from a brick and mortar store like CompUSA. If you're serious about building your own, check out the prices at online sources like Pricewatch.com and you'll save more. Most motherboards come with step by step instructions on how to assemble a computer, and there are tons of websites that do it step-by-step.

The extra you spend at Alienware pays for the warranty and support which you'll appreciate if you have any problems, the labor to put the machine together, load and update the software, running in and testing the machine, the R&D testing program Alienware conducts to make sure the components you buy work together well, and the upgrade plan among other things.

You have to actually sign a piece of paper. Its for your own protection credit wise. Respect it.

-Craig

Also, you always have a fall back with purchasing from a company, not like this guy(not to say that hes faulty in anyway.), sure he can help you build it, but he wont be there at 4 am when your on your computer and something just dies, and you need help right away, that is what CS is for.

I don't know that liquid cooling would ruin the sockets in your house, as long as you use a surge protector. However, since AW does not currently offer liquid cooling in their systems, I'm pretty sure it will void any warranty you have on the system. I would recommend the AlienAdrenaline software, as it allows you to overclock the video card while retaining the warranty.

Well, it's not so much like redlining an engine...more like adding a super/turbo charger...or nitrous oxide, because you can turn it on/off at will with the powerstrip (AlienAdrenaline) software. Overclocking is the act of increasing the the clock frequencies of the graphics processor/graphics memory (and can actually be done to central processors as well, but not in our notebooks) above the factory settings to get a higher level of performance from the components. But, like an engine, there is a limit...to much nitrous and your eengine explodes, too much OC'ing and you fry your video card. It has to be done right and the Powerstrip software makes it easy and safe.

Actually I am also a (university) student...that dreads becoming a career man.

Overclocking is just turning up the clock speeds on your hardware past the recomended limits.

If you're getting a brand new Alienware, there is really no need to do any overclocking, and there won't be for a long time if ever. I don't overclock at all.

You can push your video card fairly safely now to higher speeds, but with any OC'ing the main problem is heat. If you really want to do this you'll want to get an improved monitoring and cooling solution. Many overclockers go with liquid cooling for that.

In my experience, when my hardware gets old enough to start showing its age in the latest games, there is always new types of memory, new generations of processors and video cards out, so I just either upgrade or buy a new system rather than risk ruining the hardware.

You can always use your old systems for other things, sell them, or give them to someone that needs a decent computer.

With the exception of minor overclocking of the video card, overclocking will void both your Alienware and the manufacturers warranty.