Alienware 5550
[1] Area-51® 5550
Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2
AlienRespawn: Alienware® Respawn Recovery Kit
Chassis: Alienware® Full-Tower Case (480-Watt PS) - Saucer Silver
Cable Management: Alienware® Cable Management System
Power Supply: Alienware® 480 Watt Power Supply
Processor: Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 660 w/ HT Technology 3.6GHz 2MB Cache
Motherboard: Alienware® PCI Express Motherboard with Intel® 925XE Chipset 1066/800MHz FSB
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz - 2 x 1024MB
Graphics Processor: ATI RADEON™ X850 XT Platinum Edition PCI Express 256MB DDR3 w/ Dual Digital and TV Out
Video Optimizer: AlienAdrenaline: Video Performance Optimizer
Video Cooling: AlienIce™ 2.0 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-3520 16x Dual Layer DVD±R/W Recorder
Blank Media: Verbatim DataLifePlus DVD+R 4.7GB 8x Speed 10-Pack in Jewel Case
Floppy Drive: 3.5" 1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive - Black
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy® 2 ZS High Definition 7.1 Surround Firewire (IEEE® 1394)
Network Connection: Integrated High Performance Gigabit Ethernet
ALX High Performance Network Cable: Alienware® ALX Network Cable
Security Software: Norton™ Internet Security ™ 2005
Portable Storage : Alienware® 10-in-1 Digital Media Reader / Writer
Automated Support: AlienAutopsy: Automated Technical Support Request System
Power Protection: Belkin® Enterprise Series 900VA UPS (540W Capacity)
Display One: BenQ FP731 Black 17" LCD Monitor
Display Two: No Monitor
Speakers: Creative Inspire® T3000 2.1 29-Watt Speakers
Keyboard: Microsoft® Multimedia Keyboard - Saucer Silver
Mouse: Microsoft® IntelliMouse Explorer 4.0 - USB - Saucer Silver
Biometrics: Targus DEFCON Authenticator™
Alienware Exclusive Offers: Gamespot Complete - Free 90-day Trial (a $20.85 value)
Alienware Exclusive Offers: 10% off your next EB Games online purchase
Free Alienware T-Shirt: Free Alienware® T-Shirt - Black
Free Alienware Mousepad: Free Alienware® Mousepad
Desktop Enhancements: Exclusive AlienGUIse Theme Manager
AlienInspection: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $99.99 Value - FREE!
AlienWiring: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - $99.99 Value - FREE!
[1] Special Financing Offer; 90 Days Same As Cash Financing with the Alienware Credit Card
[1] $500 Mail-In Rebate; On Area-51 5550 Systems
[1] Free Shipping; $119 Mail-In Rebate for Free Shipping
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Ordering:
Ordering was pretty easy. I made my computer at www.alienware.com and then ordered it. It can’t really be any easier then this. Plus I got $600 rebate, and $119 rebate for “free shipping” (ground shipping, but I upgraded it to 2-day shipping). HOWEVER, there was 2 items that were “back-ordered” that wasn’t listed on the website, nor did they contact me to notify me.
Phases:
Alienware has “phases” in which you (supposedly) get up-to-the-minute information on your computer. Alienware staff has admitted to me that they update the website when they have a chance to, so it’s better to call and check. I called about 2-3 times a week. They did NOT notify me of 2 items that were back-ordered. I had to call and ask why it was stuck on a particular phase for such a long time.
It's Finally Done...
Shipping:
Alienware shipped via Fedex. As some of you know, Fedex requires you to sign the package (no matter how small/big it may be). This made me stay home on the delivery day. Alienware gives you tracking numbers, notification e-mails, and all those regular stuff you would expect. It arrived as it was estimated to arrive. Packaging was pretty good. Computer was very well packaged so that it won’t get hurt during shipping.
SHIPPED!
Fedex Truck
Setup:
Took me a total of 1-2 hours of installing hardwares and softwares. Installation was easy, but the damn opening box took so long. Also, my monitor has a dead pixel. Returning this monitor to BENQ by the end of this week. My 2nd monitor (coming tommorow) will be used as my primary one until this monitor is returned to me all fixed. Then, i'll have 2 monitors (See picture).
Pictures:
Here are few pictures of my new system and my “computer zone” configuration.
This is all the packages I got
As soon as I opened the box, this is what i saw
The Accessory Box
Everything in the black box unpacked
Hey! My own AW Card!!! (Edited)
Hmm... What's this cool-looking case?
Oh... A MousePad
My Room (Lights On)
My Room (Lights Off)
My Room (Lights On)
My Room (Lights Off)
My Computer Table (Lights On)
My Computer Table (Lights Off)
Dell Keyboard
3 of my 4 Monitors
2 Monitor Setup by next week (Ordered 2nd monitor from NewEgg.com )
AlienWare
AlienWare Opened
Benchmarks:
I never knew about benchmarks until I started thinking about buying Alienware. I’ll use Futuremark 3dMark03 and 3dmark05 for benchmark testing. The results are with all the neccessary software installed. During testing, Norton Antivirus and Norton Personal Firewall were both activated.
Out of the Box
3dMark03:
Is this good???
OverClocked (Video Card ONLY)
3dMark03:
Overclocked- Added 45 MHz in Graphics Processor and added 28 MHz in Graphics Memory.
3dMark05:
Overclocked version
OverClocked (Video Card and CPU)/NOT FINAL
3dMark03:
Overclocked Video Card (look above) and CPU to 4.22 GHz (stable)
3dMark05:
Overclocked Video Card (look above) and CPU to 4.22 GHz (stable)
The End:
The experience in ordering with Alienware was above average in most parts. I would recommend you to buy it if you have extra money and want to buy a computer. Alienware is expensive… If you’re looking for a budget computer, look for Dell. However, Dell has horrible parts and horrible customer service. Alienware has (so far) great parts and great customer/phase/sales service. If you still don’t trust me, read other reviews on Alienware to see how good it is!
P.S. Sorry for the weird picture sizes... Didn't resize it well enough.
UPDATE
4 monitors: 2 for Alienware, 1 for Dell, and 1 for TV
The TV
3 monitors setup
Left Monitor
Middle Monitor
Right Monitor
Final Words
After overclocking, my final specs were this:
VideoCard: X850 Platinum Edition
Graphics Processor: 590 MHz
Graphics Memory: 620 MHz
CPU: 4.27 GHz
The End 2
