Now that I have been using my new computer for about two weeks I am ready to tell all. For a boatload of pictures of the system, refer to my picture review thread which is located here. This is going to be a rather lengthy review, so get comfy. First off I’ll start with the specs of the system.
The System:
[1] Aurora™
Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2
Desktop Enhancements: Exclusive AlienGUIse Theme Manager
Chassis: Alienware® Full-Tower Case (480-Watt PS) - Space Black
Power Supply: Alienware® 480 Watt Power Supply
Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 3500+ Processor with HyperTransport Technology
Motherboard: ABIT AV8 - VIA K8T800 Pro Motherboard
Memory: 1GB Dual Channel DDR PC-3200 SDRAM at 400MHz - 2 x 512MB
Video Card: ATI RADEON™ 9550SE 128MB w/Digital and S-Video Out
Video Cooling: AlienIce™ Video Cooling System - Astral Blue
System Drive: Extreme Performance - Serial ATA RAID 0 - 148GB (74GB x 2) Western Digital® Raptor™ 10,000 RPM w/16MB Cache
Optical Drive One: Lite-On® 16x DVD / 52x32x52x CD-RW Drive
Optical Drive Two: NEC® ND-3500 16x Dual Layer DVD±R/W Recorder
Floppy Drive: 3.5" 1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive - Black
Network Connection: High Speed Gigabit Ethernet
Portable Storage: Alienware® 8-in-1 Digital Media Reader / Writer with FireWire
Alienware Exclusive Offers: Gamespot Complete - Free 90-day Trial (a $20.85 value)
Alienware Exclusive Offers: 10% off your next EB Games online purchase
Benchmark Software: 3DMark®03 Standard Edition
Free Alienware T-Shirt: Free Alienware® T-Shirt - Black
Free Alienware Mousepad: Free Alienware® Mousepad
AlienInspection: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $99.99 Value - FREE!
AlienWiring: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - $99.99 Value - FREE!
Shopping for a new System:
Before ordering the Aurora, I was running a Dell Workstation with Dual Xeon 2.0ghz processors, 1gb of Ram, an All in Wonder 9800 Pro, two 73gb Seagate Cheetahs, and various other goodies. It was a great system that did everything I needed it to do, from playing games to encoding video in a flash. But with the release of PCI Express I was afraid that when I was ready to purchase a new system sometime next summer the Dell would have little value especially considering it uses proprietary components. So I pulled out the All in Wonder card and put the Dell on EBay.
I started looking at the Roswell X2 systems, because I wanted something that could tear through video encoding jobs and be a good gaming system. I had already made the transition from SMP to a single processor system once and it was tough. Once you go dual, you never go back.
After a few weeks of debating, the price of the Roswell system jumped 400 dollars which put it out of my price range. Plus, I found it hard to justify going to PCI Express when I had spent a small fortune on an AGP card less than six months ago. So I started looking at the Aurora systems as they are still AGP based. That way I could use my AIW card and have the ability to switch to PCI Express when I wanted without having to buy a whole new system.
Ordering:
I ordered the system online on Sunday October 24th with the estimated shipping date listed as Tuesday November 2nd. This time around I never got an order confirmation call like I did with the laptop. I finally called them up on Wednesday morning about my order and they went through the confirmation process. I asked about the nine months same as cash because this was my second purchase. Sales transferred me to financing to get that squared away. Later that day, my order jumped to Phase 4.
That weekend, something miraculous occurred - Alienware ran out of Abit motherboards. I say this is a miracle, because two days after my computer was originally supposed to ship, Alienware released the 500 dollar mail in rebate. I called up the next morning about getting the rebate. I was told that I could get the rebate, but I would loose the free shipping. I stated that the website listed both promotions being good together. The Rep told me that he could re-place the order but that would delay the system even more. I told him to do whatever needed to be done so that I could get the rebate and free shipping. I can be very patient when 600 dollars is on the line.
That Saturday morning I received a call stating that all of the parts for my system were in and my order would be moving into production. I asked about the rebate because I was told the day before that getting the rebate would delay my order. The Rep looked into it and sure enough the rebate was not added to my order. Because of the mix-up, he ended up adding the rebate onto my order so I would not loose my place in line. The computer finally shipped on Thursday the 11th and it was in my hands on Friday the 19th. When all was said and done, I got the 500 dollar rebate, free shipping, and nine months same as cash.
Initial Impressions:
I was at work when the system was delivered which made the day progress more slowly than normal. Now I have read reviews in the past that state the box that the computer ships in is big, but that did not prepare me for the monstrosity that awaited me at home. The box is freaking huge!!! The system is packed pretty well. There is a large accessory box with all of the extras which is why the shipping box is so stinking big. The system is surrounded by foam to protect it from getting damaged.
After cracking open the box I got my first good look at the Predator case. The paint job on it is very nice, but there are thousands of tiny little scratches on it. From a foot away you can't see them, but up close it looks pretty bad. This is not necessarily Alienware's fault, that’s just how the case is. The paint has a nice gloss to it and it is reflective enough to make it a real challenge to get good pictures. There are four USB ports on the bottom of the front bezel which is very handy, but there are only two open USB ports on the back. The one thing that really disappointed me is that there are no Headphone and Microphone jacks on the front of the case.
Alienware packs in lots of extras and I was quite surprised at some of the things that were included. This time around, I got an actual OEM version of Windows as opposed to the Alienware branded XP CD I got with the laptop. They also included all of the things that came in the original motherboard box like the manuals and driver disks. There is also a setup poster that illustrates how to connect all the cables up to the tower. I also got a bracket that provides USB and Firewire ports via motherboard headers. The media card reader is connected to the onboard headers, so the bracket is basically useless.
One of the first things I did after getting the computer up and running was to poke around in the BIOS. That was when I realized why Alienware went with the Abit board as opposed to other socket 939 motherboards. Abit includes options for tweaking pretty much everything (including the kitchen sink) in the BIOS. Although I would have liked to see more than two SATA ports and dual Gigabit Ethernet ports, the BIOS more than makes up for it.
As far as software goes, Alienware pre-installed Nero and Power DVD. Alienware is the only company I have done business with that doesn’t preload the system with a bunch of crap that slows it down. I would have liked to see some benchmarking and utility software installed out of the box like 3Dmark, PCmark, Sandra, and CPUz. Even though the order lists AlienGUIse and 3dMark, they were not installed.
One noisy beast:
Upon powering on the system for the first time, my senses were assaulted by how loud this beast of a computer is. There are a total of five fans in the computer: Two 80mm fans in the PSU, a 120mm fan for exhaust, the CPU fan, and an 80mm fan on the side panel. All of the fans run at full speed and make a good deal of noise. In comparison, the Dell had three 92mm fans; two for the processors and one for intake. The Dell would normally run quiet unless it got really hot in the room at which point the fans would spin up to full speed. There are mounts for two 80mm fans behind the Hard Drive bay that are not used. It would have been nice to see some cooling there.
Thanks to Abit's vast selection of BIOS tweaks, I was able to quiet the system down. Aside from all of the overclocking tweaks located in the uGuru utility, they have plenty of options for controlling fan speeds. There are different settings for the CPU fan, Northbridge fan, and two System fans. Each fan can be set to run at different speeds based on various temperatures inside the case including CPU temperature and System temperature. The CPU fan was set to run at different speeds based on processor temps, but none of the other fans were by default.
The 120mm exhaust fan is conveniently connected to the Northbridge header, so I adjusted the fan to only run at full speed if the system temperature reaches 35ºc. After making this change the system ran much quieter, but now the high pitch whine coming from the fan on the side panel became much more noticeable. And unfortunately, that fan is connected to the PSU so I cannot directly control the speed of it. I would later resolve this problem by purchasing a three pin extension cable so I could plug it into one of the system fan headers and adjust its speed. Now the system runs nice and quiet.
One other thing of note is the seek noises that emanate from the Raptors. I ended up placing the computer on my desk so there is less of a risk of it getting beat up and when I sit at my desk, I am very close to the computer. With the fans running quiet, the seek noise from the drives can be pretty annoying. It probably wouldn't be so annoying if the computer was on the floor next to the desk.
System monitoring:
I like to use motherboard monitor to keep an eye on system temps because it uses a small amount of resources and it is not intrusive like other monitoring programs. After installing MBM, I ran the initialization wizard, but the AV8 was not on the list of motherboards. So I cancelled the wizard and started up MBM, but there were no sensors listed in the program. Needless to say, I was disappointed.
After doing some research online, I discovered that I could get all the sensors to show up correctly by selecting uGuru in the setup wizard. So I ran the wizard again and set it for uGuru. To my delight, MBM configured itself to monitor everything including temperatures, fan speeds, and voltages. The one thing that puzzled me is that the 12v sensor was reading 6v. After some more research I found that other people were seeing this too and it wasn’t a problem with the PSU.
Upgrading:
I ran the system for about a week to make sure that everything was functioning properly before making any hardware changes. After a week went by without any problems, I put in my stuff and reformatted the computer.
Being that I have a perfectly good AIW 9800, I opted for the cheapest video card Alienware has to offer which is the ATI 9550 Pro. When I first ran 3D mark 03, I got a measly score of 1670 with the 9550. I checked the papers that came with the computer to verify that the low benchmark was being caused by the crapfest of a video card and not the computer. After installing the All in Wonder card and running 3dMark again, I ended up getting 6020 - almost a 600 point gain over the Dell system.
For data storage, I have a WD 160gb drive and a Seagate 200gb drive. When I first looked inside the case, I realized I had a bit of a problem. Because Alienware puts the Optical drives at the top of the case and the IDE connectors are at the bottom of the case, they connected the Optical drives to different channels so the cables would reach. This left me with no open IDE channels to connect my Hard Drives to. I paid a visit to SVC's website and purchased an 18" rounded cable for the Hard Drives and a 24" rounded cable for the Opticals. I also purchased a three pin extension cable for the fan on the side panel. Mounting the drives was really easy. The drive rails do not require a screwdriver so installation was a snap.
All of the extra power cables are jammed in above the top Raptor so they are out of sight. Problem is many of them have things connected to them like the cathodes and the LED inside the Alienware logo. I found one lead that would reach down to the bottom of the case and connected a y-adapter to it to power the hard drives which solved that obstacle.
One thing that really puzzled me was the fact that the onboard audio was disabled. Being that I didn't order a soundcard, you would think that they would have left it enabled. I ended up enabling the onboard sound for my week of testing before the reformat and then turned it off again. In its place, I put in my trusty Turtle Beach Santa Cruz 5.1 card. I also put in a four port USB card I had laying around since there were only two available USB ports on the back of the case.
The rest of the components that comprise my system include a Dell 17" LCD, Logitech cordless MX Duo, Dell 5.1 speakers (35.00 from Woot ), Dell A960 All in One Printer, Logitech Cordless Freedom Joystick, and a Logitech cordless Rumblepad.
Right around the time my one year warranty comes due I am going to be putting in a water-cooling system. Koolance sells their Reservoir / Pump combo by itself and it will run on a 12v lead with a little modification. And Danger Den now sells their radiators with customizable fittings, so I should be able to hook up a DIY system without making any actual modifications to the case.
Benchmarks:
Dell Precision 650 with 2x Xeon 2.0ghz 400fsb
3dMark 03 - 5457 (AIW 9800 stock speeds)
3dMark 03 - 5816 (AIW 9800 overclocked to 9800xt speeds)
PcMark 04 - 3743
Alienware Aurora
3dMark 03 - 1670 (ATI 9950)
3dMark 03 - 6020 (AIW 9800 stock speeds)
3dMark 03 - 6449 (AIW 9800 overclocked to 9800xt speeds)
3dMark 05 - 2461
PcMark 04 - 4477
AquaMark3 - 48094
Unfortunately, I lost the file that contained all of the benchmarks I had done on the Dell system, so I have no way to see how the Aurora compares when it comes to video encoding and graphics rendering. Fortunately, I had submitted some projects to Futuremark so I had a few benchmarks to compare. On the gaming side of things, I definitely got a boost with the Aurora system. If worse comes to worse, I can always delegate any video encoding jobs to my fileserver.
Conclusions:
As far as the cost goes, Alienware is typically more expensive than some other companies, but you pay for what you get. You could easily go out and build a nearly identical system part for part and save some money, but when you throw in the 500 dollar rebate it ends up costing more to build the system. I still would have ordered the Aurora without the rebate, but the rebate makes the system that much better. Mad Props to Alienware for offering up the rebate.
Pros: Cool case, better gaming performance than my old Dell, Raptors perform on par with U320 Cheetahs, well packaged, lots of extras, a BIOS loaded with features, and the mail in rebate.
Cons: Onboard audio disabled, both IDE ports used for two optical drives, only two free USB ports on the back, system is noisy, only two SATA ports, side panel fan not connected to motherboard, and no front headphone jack
Of all of the cons, the only one I have yet to resolve is the front headphone jack. That’s my next project…
Scores:
Ordering Process: (9/10)
Cost: (10/10)
Accessories & Bundled Software: (9/10)
System out of the box: (8/10)
System after upgrades and tweaks: (10/10)
Gaming performance: (10/10)
Overall: (10/10)
The System:
[1] Aurora™
Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2
Desktop Enhancements: Exclusive AlienGUIse Theme Manager
Chassis: Alienware® Full-Tower Case (480-Watt PS) - Space Black
Power Supply: Alienware® 480 Watt Power Supply
Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 3500+ Processor with HyperTransport Technology
Motherboard: ABIT AV8 - VIA K8T800 Pro Motherboard
Memory: 1GB Dual Channel DDR PC-3200 SDRAM at 400MHz - 2 x 512MB
Video Card: ATI RADEON™ 9550SE 128MB w/Digital and S-Video Out
Video Cooling: AlienIce™ Video Cooling System - Astral Blue
System Drive: Extreme Performance - Serial ATA RAID 0 - 148GB (74GB x 2) Western Digital® Raptor™ 10,000 RPM w/16MB Cache
Optical Drive One: Lite-On® 16x DVD / 52x32x52x CD-RW Drive
Optical Drive Two: NEC® ND-3500 16x Dual Layer DVD±R/W Recorder
Floppy Drive: 3.5" 1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive - Black
Network Connection: High Speed Gigabit Ethernet
Portable Storage: Alienware® 8-in-1 Digital Media Reader / Writer with FireWire
Alienware Exclusive Offers: Gamespot Complete - Free 90-day Trial (a $20.85 value)
Alienware Exclusive Offers: 10% off your next EB Games online purchase
Benchmark Software: 3DMark®03 Standard Edition
Free Alienware T-Shirt: Free Alienware® T-Shirt - Black
Free Alienware Mousepad: Free Alienware® Mousepad
AlienInspection: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $99.99 Value - FREE!
AlienWiring: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - $99.99 Value - FREE!
Shopping for a new System:
Before ordering the Aurora, I was running a Dell Workstation with Dual Xeon 2.0ghz processors, 1gb of Ram, an All in Wonder 9800 Pro, two 73gb Seagate Cheetahs, and various other goodies. It was a great system that did everything I needed it to do, from playing games to encoding video in a flash. But with the release of PCI Express I was afraid that when I was ready to purchase a new system sometime next summer the Dell would have little value especially considering it uses proprietary components. So I pulled out the All in Wonder card and put the Dell on EBay.
I started looking at the Roswell X2 systems, because I wanted something that could tear through video encoding jobs and be a good gaming system. I had already made the transition from SMP to a single processor system once and it was tough. Once you go dual, you never go back.
After a few weeks of debating, the price of the Roswell system jumped 400 dollars which put it out of my price range. Plus, I found it hard to justify going to PCI Express when I had spent a small fortune on an AGP card less than six months ago. So I started looking at the Aurora systems as they are still AGP based. That way I could use my AIW card and have the ability to switch to PCI Express when I wanted without having to buy a whole new system.
Ordering:
I ordered the system online on Sunday October 24th with the estimated shipping date listed as Tuesday November 2nd. This time around I never got an order confirmation call like I did with the laptop. I finally called them up on Wednesday morning about my order and they went through the confirmation process. I asked about the nine months same as cash because this was my second purchase. Sales transferred me to financing to get that squared away. Later that day, my order jumped to Phase 4.
That weekend, something miraculous occurred - Alienware ran out of Abit motherboards. I say this is a miracle, because two days after my computer was originally supposed to ship, Alienware released the 500 dollar mail in rebate. I called up the next morning about getting the rebate. I was told that I could get the rebate, but I would loose the free shipping. I stated that the website listed both promotions being good together. The Rep told me that he could re-place the order but that would delay the system even more. I told him to do whatever needed to be done so that I could get the rebate and free shipping. I can be very patient when 600 dollars is on the line.
That Saturday morning I received a call stating that all of the parts for my system were in and my order would be moving into production. I asked about the rebate because I was told the day before that getting the rebate would delay my order. The Rep looked into it and sure enough the rebate was not added to my order. Because of the mix-up, he ended up adding the rebate onto my order so I would not loose my place in line. The computer finally shipped on Thursday the 11th and it was in my hands on Friday the 19th. When all was said and done, I got the 500 dollar rebate, free shipping, and nine months same as cash.
Initial Impressions:
I was at work when the system was delivered which made the day progress more slowly than normal. Now I have read reviews in the past that state the box that the computer ships in is big, but that did not prepare me for the monstrosity that awaited me at home. The box is freaking huge!!! The system is packed pretty well. There is a large accessory box with all of the extras which is why the shipping box is so stinking big. The system is surrounded by foam to protect it from getting damaged.
After cracking open the box I got my first good look at the Predator case. The paint job on it is very nice, but there are thousands of tiny little scratches on it. From a foot away you can't see them, but up close it looks pretty bad. This is not necessarily Alienware's fault, that’s just how the case is. The paint has a nice gloss to it and it is reflective enough to make it a real challenge to get good pictures. There are four USB ports on the bottom of the front bezel which is very handy, but there are only two open USB ports on the back. The one thing that really disappointed me is that there are no Headphone and Microphone jacks on the front of the case.
Alienware packs in lots of extras and I was quite surprised at some of the things that were included. This time around, I got an actual OEM version of Windows as opposed to the Alienware branded XP CD I got with the laptop. They also included all of the things that came in the original motherboard box like the manuals and driver disks. There is also a setup poster that illustrates how to connect all the cables up to the tower. I also got a bracket that provides USB and Firewire ports via motherboard headers. The media card reader is connected to the onboard headers, so the bracket is basically useless.
One of the first things I did after getting the computer up and running was to poke around in the BIOS. That was when I realized why Alienware went with the Abit board as opposed to other socket 939 motherboards. Abit includes options for tweaking pretty much everything (including the kitchen sink) in the BIOS. Although I would have liked to see more than two SATA ports and dual Gigabit Ethernet ports, the BIOS more than makes up for it.
As far as software goes, Alienware pre-installed Nero and Power DVD. Alienware is the only company I have done business with that doesn’t preload the system with a bunch of crap that slows it down. I would have liked to see some benchmarking and utility software installed out of the box like 3Dmark, PCmark, Sandra, and CPUz. Even though the order lists AlienGUIse and 3dMark, they were not installed.
One noisy beast:
Upon powering on the system for the first time, my senses were assaulted by how loud this beast of a computer is. There are a total of five fans in the computer: Two 80mm fans in the PSU, a 120mm fan for exhaust, the CPU fan, and an 80mm fan on the side panel. All of the fans run at full speed and make a good deal of noise. In comparison, the Dell had three 92mm fans; two for the processors and one for intake. The Dell would normally run quiet unless it got really hot in the room at which point the fans would spin up to full speed. There are mounts for two 80mm fans behind the Hard Drive bay that are not used. It would have been nice to see some cooling there.
Thanks to Abit's vast selection of BIOS tweaks, I was able to quiet the system down. Aside from all of the overclocking tweaks located in the uGuru utility, they have plenty of options for controlling fan speeds. There are different settings for the CPU fan, Northbridge fan, and two System fans. Each fan can be set to run at different speeds based on various temperatures inside the case including CPU temperature and System temperature. The CPU fan was set to run at different speeds based on processor temps, but none of the other fans were by default.
The 120mm exhaust fan is conveniently connected to the Northbridge header, so I adjusted the fan to only run at full speed if the system temperature reaches 35ºc. After making this change the system ran much quieter, but now the high pitch whine coming from the fan on the side panel became much more noticeable. And unfortunately, that fan is connected to the PSU so I cannot directly control the speed of it. I would later resolve this problem by purchasing a three pin extension cable so I could plug it into one of the system fan headers and adjust its speed. Now the system runs nice and quiet.
One other thing of note is the seek noises that emanate from the Raptors. I ended up placing the computer on my desk so there is less of a risk of it getting beat up and when I sit at my desk, I am very close to the computer. With the fans running quiet, the seek noise from the drives can be pretty annoying. It probably wouldn't be so annoying if the computer was on the floor next to the desk.
System monitoring:
I like to use motherboard monitor to keep an eye on system temps because it uses a small amount of resources and it is not intrusive like other monitoring programs. After installing MBM, I ran the initialization wizard, but the AV8 was not on the list of motherboards. So I cancelled the wizard and started up MBM, but there were no sensors listed in the program. Needless to say, I was disappointed.
After doing some research online, I discovered that I could get all the sensors to show up correctly by selecting uGuru in the setup wizard. So I ran the wizard again and set it for uGuru. To my delight, MBM configured itself to monitor everything including temperatures, fan speeds, and voltages. The one thing that puzzled me is that the 12v sensor was reading 6v. After some more research I found that other people were seeing this too and it wasn’t a problem with the PSU.
Upgrading:
I ran the system for about a week to make sure that everything was functioning properly before making any hardware changes. After a week went by without any problems, I put in my stuff and reformatted the computer.
Being that I have a perfectly good AIW 9800, I opted for the cheapest video card Alienware has to offer which is the ATI 9550 Pro. When I first ran 3D mark 03, I got a measly score of 1670 with the 9550. I checked the papers that came with the computer to verify that the low benchmark was being caused by the crapfest of a video card and not the computer. After installing the All in Wonder card and running 3dMark again, I ended up getting 6020 - almost a 600 point gain over the Dell system.
For data storage, I have a WD 160gb drive and a Seagate 200gb drive. When I first looked inside the case, I realized I had a bit of a problem. Because Alienware puts the Optical drives at the top of the case and the IDE connectors are at the bottom of the case, they connected the Optical drives to different channels so the cables would reach. This left me with no open IDE channels to connect my Hard Drives to. I paid a visit to SVC's website and purchased an 18" rounded cable for the Hard Drives and a 24" rounded cable for the Opticals. I also purchased a three pin extension cable for the fan on the side panel. Mounting the drives was really easy. The drive rails do not require a screwdriver so installation was a snap.
All of the extra power cables are jammed in above the top Raptor so they are out of sight. Problem is many of them have things connected to them like the cathodes and the LED inside the Alienware logo. I found one lead that would reach down to the bottom of the case and connected a y-adapter to it to power the hard drives which solved that obstacle.
One thing that really puzzled me was the fact that the onboard audio was disabled. Being that I didn't order a soundcard, you would think that they would have left it enabled. I ended up enabling the onboard sound for my week of testing before the reformat and then turned it off again. In its place, I put in my trusty Turtle Beach Santa Cruz 5.1 card. I also put in a four port USB card I had laying around since there were only two available USB ports on the back of the case.
The rest of the components that comprise my system include a Dell 17" LCD, Logitech cordless MX Duo, Dell 5.1 speakers (35.00 from Woot ), Dell A960 All in One Printer, Logitech Cordless Freedom Joystick, and a Logitech cordless Rumblepad.
Right around the time my one year warranty comes due I am going to be putting in a water-cooling system. Koolance sells their Reservoir / Pump combo by itself and it will run on a 12v lead with a little modification. And Danger Den now sells their radiators with customizable fittings, so I should be able to hook up a DIY system without making any actual modifications to the case.
Benchmarks:
Dell Precision 650 with 2x Xeon 2.0ghz 400fsb
3dMark 03 - 5457 (AIW 9800 stock speeds)
3dMark 03 - 5816 (AIW 9800 overclocked to 9800xt speeds)
PcMark 04 - 3743
Alienware Aurora
3dMark 03 - 1670 (ATI 9950)
3dMark 03 - 6020 (AIW 9800 stock speeds)
3dMark 03 - 6449 (AIW 9800 overclocked to 9800xt speeds)
3dMark 05 - 2461
PcMark 04 - 4477
AquaMark3 - 48094
Unfortunately, I lost the file that contained all of the benchmarks I had done on the Dell system, so I have no way to see how the Aurora compares when it comes to video encoding and graphics rendering. Fortunately, I had submitted some projects to Futuremark so I had a few benchmarks to compare. On the gaming side of things, I definitely got a boost with the Aurora system. If worse comes to worse, I can always delegate any video encoding jobs to my fileserver.
Conclusions:
As far as the cost goes, Alienware is typically more expensive than some other companies, but you pay for what you get. You could easily go out and build a nearly identical system part for part and save some money, but when you throw in the 500 dollar rebate it ends up costing more to build the system. I still would have ordered the Aurora without the rebate, but the rebate makes the system that much better. Mad Props to Alienware for offering up the rebate.
Pros: Cool case, better gaming performance than my old Dell, Raptors perform on par with U320 Cheetahs, well packaged, lots of extras, a BIOS loaded with features, and the mail in rebate.
Cons: Onboard audio disabled, both IDE ports used for two optical drives, only two free USB ports on the back, system is noisy, only two SATA ports, side panel fan not connected to motherboard, and no front headphone jack
Of all of the cons, the only one I have yet to resolve is the front headphone jack. That’s my next project…
Scores:
Ordering Process: (9/10)
Cost: (10/10)
Accessories & Bundled Software: (9/10)
System out of the box: (8/10)
System after upgrades and tweaks: (10/10)
Gaming performance: (10/10)
Overall: (10/10)
