AURORA ALX REVIEW (1 week Complete Review)
ORDERING
I ordered the Aurora ALX on December 8th, 2004. The actual process of ordering was simple and painless. The knowledge that the ALX sales representative had for their products was impressive. I spoke to several ALX sales representatives, but mainly dealt with ALX sales Eddie. Eddie was nothing less than spectacular in meeting all my needs to custom tailoring my computer to fit my user profile. Beyond all of the normal questions one would ask when buying a “boutique” gaming rig, I tried to ask some of the harder questions being a typical DIY person. The responses I got were honest and straightforward, which I appreciated. Right off the bat ALX Eddie told me that the normal wait time for one of these machines was 30-45 days. If I added/deleted parts to the computer during assembly, that would extend the ship date three or so days. I knew that I was in for a wait.
PHASE GAME
One of the problems that I had incurred with this order was billing. Alienware seems to lack in this department. I had received a gift card from Alienware, and was using it to purchase the ALX. Unfortunately, the gift card was taking forever and a day to get confirmed, reconfirmed and the like. In total from start to finish, it took about a month to receive the gift card in the mail. If it were not for the ALX service pushing it through, I most likely would still be waiting. After the gift card issue was resolved I started in Phase 3, moving to phase 9 two and a half weeks later. From phase 9 I seemed to hang in limbo as I had to change some portions of my order. Finally on January 20, 2005 I jumped to phase 12 then to shipped on the same day.
Above and beyond any customization you want from your ALX, there are eight questions you will be asked by the assembler. They are;
1)Do you have any specific requirements for your video card
settings?
2)Do you have specific requirements for your sound card settings?
3)Do you wish to have a Generic Game-Port installed?
4)Do you have any Hard Drive setting requirements?
5) (If games are to be installed) Do you have specific
Requirements for the Games or Applications that are to be installed?
6)I will be setting up your account, what would you like your user
name to be?
7)I see that you are in __________time zone, would you like me to
set it to another time zone or is this okay?
8)Are there any further requirements for your Alienware ALX
system?
I received my ALX on 1/24/05 with no damage from shipping (Thank God). The phase system, in a perfect world, works well. The only downfall being that it seems to be randomly updated. You need to call in order to be exactly sure of what phase you are currently in.
PACKAGING
My Alienware order shipped via fed-ex express. I was surprised when it was delivered a day early. The two ALX boxes were surprisingly large. The ALX tower itself was packaged perfectly from top to bottom using custom molded foam to prevent damage. The ALX case had plastic wrapping on the LED readout with paper guards over the emblems to prevent scratching or damage. The keyboard and mouse were placed in the same manner of packaging. Also included were an ALX metal mouse tin, Alienware ALX T-Shirt, applicable cables and software. The aluminum briefcase you receive with your ALX is of surprisingly good quality. Inside was a free copy of Maximum PC, an aluminum notepad/pen, a leather portfolio with Alienware letter pad, ALX case keys, ALX key chain and ALX pen.
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
I found the ALX Predator case to be of good quality. I can however see where some people complain about the plastic type feel. The front door of the case does in fact take some getting used to. There is a small “sweet spot” you will need to find when opening the front door. The side panel is removed with ease in the typical Alienware predator case fashion. Upon inspection of the inside of the ALX, everything is neatened up and tucked away. The cooling lines are placed in such a way as to provide max efficiency. Upon replacement of the Predator side panel, I did notice something I did not like. The Alienice fan which runs from the mobo to the side panel is on a shortened cord. You need to get the an exact angle to get it in. I am sure after a few times I will get used to it but another few inches of cord would have been nice.
Upon initial power up I was taken aback at how quiet the ALX actually was. The fan system utilizes three modes controlling the top mounted exhaust fans. In mode 1 the fans act near silent at 45% power until the system temperature reaches 124 degrees. At that point the fans will power up to 100%. In mode 2 the fans will run at 45% power until the system temperature reaches 97 degrees which will then apply full power to the fans. In mode 3 the fans run at full power all time. At full power the fans are considerably louder, yet still silent enough to be called quiet.
The NEC DVD R/Ws were a wise investment. I am impressed with the versatility that they offer. Another option that I chose was the 10-1 media reader/writer. I am using it often and am glad that I got it. With all the different memory card options, the benefit of this is definitely worth the small price that I paid.
PERFORMANCE
The speed of this machine is beyond words to describe. The FX-55 in this ALX is factory clocked at 2.89 GHz. The Geforce 6800 Ultra is factory overclocked at 461/1170. I am thoroughly impressed with how it plays games compared to other systems that I own. So far I have played EQ, EQ2, Doom3, Half-Life2 and Battlefield 1942 with amazing results. With full options on, the machine frames insane. In the MMOs that I play the only lag that I ever see is server side. The results of what I am seeing as far as game play makes me want to replay some of my older games to see what I was missing.
BENCHMARKS
I do not put much validity into benchmarks. There are so many different variations of settings which give totally different scores. I benched this ALX using the same settings as I would use on a day to day basis. I hope that this shows a much more “real world” score. I tested using 3dmark05, 3dmark03 and AquaMark03;
3DMark Score05 5748 3DMarks
3DMark Score03 14,325 3DMarks
AquaMark3: GFX 11,472
CPU 11,103
Total Score: 75,652
PERIPHERALS
NEC FE2111sb: This is an amazing monitor. I happened to have the room for the giant sized CRT so it was a natural choice for me. I am impressed with its style and performance.
Alienware Backpack: Was an Alienware freebie. It is a lot larger than I had expected yet it does not have the space to carry an over sized laptop. For that, the XL backpack would have been a better choice. All in all though, the backpack is of great quality and feels sturdy enough to hold plenty of weight comfortably.
Alienware thumb drives: These are great. I bought two of them for easy data transfer between home and work. Each one comes with a neck chain, driver disc and a 3 foot USB adapter cable. They are a lot smaller then they looked on the website. Albeit impressive, it is just a thumb drive with Alienware written on it.
Logitech Z-5500 Speakers: These are awesome. The controls are flawless, the sound crisp and clean . The subwoofer hits really hard for PC speakers which I appreciate.
Sennheiser HD 580 Headphones: A vast superior headphone over anything that I have been used to. They bring out the lows and highs in games better then any Headphones I have ever tried. I suggest anyone in the market for headphones try a pair out.
CONCLUSION
The Alienware ALX is a gamers dream. I am already enjoying games even more than I thought I ever could. I consider myself lucky to have one. Blazing fast, high quality components mixed with a few Alienware tweaks are making for a great machine. I recommend an ALX to anyone who has money to blow, and time to waste on gaming. ALX service is something not so easily described in words. I have never been treated so well when making any type of high ticket purchase. I do have one complaint about the service though. I believe that ALX or not, all Alienware customers should have this same kind of treatment. Let’s face facts. Any ALX is really expensive. Some of the other non ALX Alienware desktops are definitely not cheap. The service that ALX provides most likely costs more money but would benefit all those purchasing an Alienware Regardless of price.
Rux
ORDERING
I ordered the Aurora ALX on December 8th, 2004. The actual process of ordering was simple and painless. The knowledge that the ALX sales representative had for their products was impressive. I spoke to several ALX sales representatives, but mainly dealt with ALX sales Eddie. Eddie was nothing less than spectacular in meeting all my needs to custom tailoring my computer to fit my user profile. Beyond all of the normal questions one would ask when buying a “boutique” gaming rig, I tried to ask some of the harder questions being a typical DIY person. The responses I got were honest and straightforward, which I appreciated. Right off the bat ALX Eddie told me that the normal wait time for one of these machines was 30-45 days. If I added/deleted parts to the computer during assembly, that would extend the ship date three or so days. I knew that I was in for a wait.
PHASE GAME
One of the problems that I had incurred with this order was billing. Alienware seems to lack in this department. I had received a gift card from Alienware, and was using it to purchase the ALX. Unfortunately, the gift card was taking forever and a day to get confirmed, reconfirmed and the like. In total from start to finish, it took about a month to receive the gift card in the mail. If it were not for the ALX service pushing it through, I most likely would still be waiting. After the gift card issue was resolved I started in Phase 3, moving to phase 9 two and a half weeks later. From phase 9 I seemed to hang in limbo as I had to change some portions of my order. Finally on January 20, 2005 I jumped to phase 12 then to shipped on the same day.
Above and beyond any customization you want from your ALX, there are eight questions you will be asked by the assembler. They are;
1)Do you have any specific requirements for your video card
settings?
2)Do you have specific requirements for your sound card settings?
3)Do you wish to have a Generic Game-Port installed?
4)Do you have any Hard Drive setting requirements?
5) (If games are to be installed) Do you have specific
Requirements for the Games or Applications that are to be installed?
6)I will be setting up your account, what would you like your user
name to be?
7)I see that you are in __________time zone, would you like me to
set it to another time zone or is this okay?
8)Are there any further requirements for your Alienware ALX
system?
I received my ALX on 1/24/05 with no damage from shipping (Thank God). The phase system, in a perfect world, works well. The only downfall being that it seems to be randomly updated. You need to call in order to be exactly sure of what phase you are currently in.
PACKAGING
My Alienware order shipped via fed-ex express. I was surprised when it was delivered a day early. The two ALX boxes were surprisingly large. The ALX tower itself was packaged perfectly from top to bottom using custom molded foam to prevent damage. The ALX case had plastic wrapping on the LED readout with paper guards over the emblems to prevent scratching or damage. The keyboard and mouse were placed in the same manner of packaging. Also included were an ALX metal mouse tin, Alienware ALX T-Shirt, applicable cables and software. The aluminum briefcase you receive with your ALX is of surprisingly good quality. Inside was a free copy of Maximum PC, an aluminum notepad/pen, a leather portfolio with Alienware letter pad, ALX case keys, ALX key chain and ALX pen.
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
I found the ALX Predator case to be of good quality. I can however see where some people complain about the plastic type feel. The front door of the case does in fact take some getting used to. There is a small “sweet spot” you will need to find when opening the front door. The side panel is removed with ease in the typical Alienware predator case fashion. Upon inspection of the inside of the ALX, everything is neatened up and tucked away. The cooling lines are placed in such a way as to provide max efficiency. Upon replacement of the Predator side panel, I did notice something I did not like. The Alienice fan which runs from the mobo to the side panel is on a shortened cord. You need to get the an exact angle to get it in. I am sure after a few times I will get used to it but another few inches of cord would have been nice.
Upon initial power up I was taken aback at how quiet the ALX actually was. The fan system utilizes three modes controlling the top mounted exhaust fans. In mode 1 the fans act near silent at 45% power until the system temperature reaches 124 degrees. At that point the fans will power up to 100%. In mode 2 the fans will run at 45% power until the system temperature reaches 97 degrees which will then apply full power to the fans. In mode 3 the fans run at full power all time. At full power the fans are considerably louder, yet still silent enough to be called quiet.
The NEC DVD R/Ws were a wise investment. I am impressed with the versatility that they offer. Another option that I chose was the 10-1 media reader/writer. I am using it often and am glad that I got it. With all the different memory card options, the benefit of this is definitely worth the small price that I paid.
PERFORMANCE
The speed of this machine is beyond words to describe. The FX-55 in this ALX is factory clocked at 2.89 GHz. The Geforce 6800 Ultra is factory overclocked at 461/1170. I am thoroughly impressed with how it plays games compared to other systems that I own. So far I have played EQ, EQ2, Doom3, Half-Life2 and Battlefield 1942 with amazing results. With full options on, the machine frames insane. In the MMOs that I play the only lag that I ever see is server side. The results of what I am seeing as far as game play makes me want to replay some of my older games to see what I was missing.
BENCHMARKS
I do not put much validity into benchmarks. There are so many different variations of settings which give totally different scores. I benched this ALX using the same settings as I would use on a day to day basis. I hope that this shows a much more “real world” score. I tested using 3dmark05, 3dmark03 and AquaMark03;
3DMark Score05 5748 3DMarks
3DMark Score03 14,325 3DMarks
AquaMark3: GFX 11,472
CPU 11,103
Total Score: 75,652
PERIPHERALS
NEC FE2111sb: This is an amazing monitor. I happened to have the room for the giant sized CRT so it was a natural choice for me. I am impressed with its style and performance.
Alienware Backpack: Was an Alienware freebie. It is a lot larger than I had expected yet it does not have the space to carry an over sized laptop. For that, the XL backpack would have been a better choice. All in all though, the backpack is of great quality and feels sturdy enough to hold plenty of weight comfortably.
Alienware thumb drives: These are great. I bought two of them for easy data transfer between home and work. Each one comes with a neck chain, driver disc and a 3 foot USB adapter cable. They are a lot smaller then they looked on the website. Albeit impressive, it is just a thumb drive with Alienware written on it.
Logitech Z-5500 Speakers: These are awesome. The controls are flawless, the sound crisp and clean . The subwoofer hits really hard for PC speakers which I appreciate.
Sennheiser HD 580 Headphones: A vast superior headphone over anything that I have been used to. They bring out the lows and highs in games better then any Headphones I have ever tried. I suggest anyone in the market for headphones try a pair out.
CONCLUSION
The Alienware ALX is a gamers dream. I am already enjoying games even more than I thought I ever could. I consider myself lucky to have one. Blazing fast, high quality components mixed with a few Alienware tweaks are making for a great machine. I recommend an ALX to anyone who has money to blow, and time to waste on gaming. ALX service is something not so easily described in words. I have never been treated so well when making any type of high ticket purchase. I do have one complaint about the service though. I believe that ALX or not, all Alienware customers should have this same kind of treatment. Let’s face facts. Any ALX is really expensive. Some of the other non ALX Alienware desktops are definitely not cheap. The service that ALX provides most likely costs more money but would benefit all those purchasing an Alienware Regardless of price.
Rux
