Alienware Aurora 7500 with FX-60

QFT. And I'd imagine that people with that amount of money to splash out on a rig will be using their time to make more money, rather than to fiddle about with building one themselves.

Also the point about it being outdated in a few months - this is true if you build it yourself or not. It is true of any of the individual components if you choose to buy them seperately. In fact it's a given for any bleeding edge part/system.

 

Of course it's a fact that when you buy hardware it already is out-dated but what my point and the point of many others is: Paying this much money for a system that's outdated very very soon (1-2 months) is just for those lazy guys.
And don't start yelling at me Bigz but the 24/7/52-support doesn't make up the overpricing of this rig for me. AND if you update your configuration after you bought it, like in 1.5 years, what then with your warranty? Gone I'd say, wouldn't you?
The only thing I really have to agree is the stock thing. You can't just go out and buy 2 GTX 512's and 1 FX-60. But at the end for me it's way overpriced.

 

I don't quite understand why people keep going on about systems - DIY, store bought or otherwise - being outdated in a matter of months. I think someone even said that the system would be "obsolete" soon.

Given the specifications of the Alienware rig in the review, I seriously doubt that it will be "obsolete" in a matter of months. I currently am running a DIY rig that I built almost 2 years ago, and it runs Quake 4 with reasonable settings. Granted, I can't turn on all the bells and whistles, but the point is that the game is still very playable.

I'd be willing to bet that any computer with two 7800GTX 512 video cards, an FX-60 processor and 2 GB of ram will be able to handle your computing needs for quite some time.

If I had the money and the access to parts, I'd love to put together a system like that. but I enjoy putting things together. If I had the money, wanted to play games with (currently) top of the line hardware, but didn't know a lot about building computers, I'd buy one.

-monkey

 

It's overpriced and I don't doubt that - I actually agree with you there. I personally wouldn't drop 4.5K on this rig if I had the money to. However, if you can find me a system builder offering a similar configuration for less money, I'm happy to say that it's overpriced for a pre-build.

It's definitely overpriced compared to a BYO, but without comparing to another system builder offering a similar warranty and support package, it's hard to say that it is over priced compared to the competition. If Alienware is a one man band in this particular market, they can charge what they want, pretty much.

 

As bigz said, people who come on and say "I can build that myself for less" are pretty much trolling. Especially when it just seems to be the same bunch of people saying the same thing each and every review. If you wanna build it yourself for less, well then kudos for you.

You don't really seem to understand my point, do you? When buying from a place such as Alienware, the range of products in a hell of a lot smaller then if you were to buy each part yourself. Go hop over to Newegg.com and tell me just how many different 7800GTX cards you see there. Lots. That takes a huge headache out of trying to pick the part you actually want. The ram that use is actually a fairly nice set of ram to boot. The option for 2x1GB isn't currently listed on the website, but I can assure you that you can get it. It really should be on their selection list in the near future.

Again, it seems to have flew right over your head. Yes, you're paying extra, but you're getting tech support and warrenty work from one place and not a dozen or more with varying warrenty times. At least I know that if I buy a computer from Alienware then I only have to worry about one single, solitary warrenty and not having to dig through a stack of papers if an individual component goes out on me.

24/7 Live phone tech support and on site support as well. The money is worth not having to deal with the hassle of troubleshooting and mailing off a part you think might be causing the problem only to find out when the replacement arrives that it wasn't. It's happened.

Personally, when I buy a rig, at that point in time it is top of the line and I'm normally using that computer for 2, 3, maybe even 4 years before I purchase a new one. Buying bleeding edge may cost a premium, but you're also getting something that's going to last you for quite a while still even though it's long since been antiquated. Hell, until recently, my main rig suited me just fine and I wasn't feeling the need to purchase a new system until the release of Day of Defeat: Source.

They do have another case, you know? It's really not that bad looking and in fact, I think bit-tech reviewed one of Alienware's systems in their new case.

I still don't think you understand that when you buy from an OEM, you're not just paying for the parts. As I said earlier, the OEM that you're buying from has to pay it's employees. Do you think that there's going to be people putting your system together for free? I really don't see that one happening. And Alienware pays their employees fairly nicely to boot. They also need to have a profit margin. You know, that thing where you actually make money and don't spend more money then you bring in? Yeah, it's normally a good idea if a company posts a profit. As for other high end OEMs. The cost of the same system is marginally the same. Hell, VoodooPC and FalconNW offer system that far exceed the proce of any Alienware bundle and in all honesty, their cases are fairly ugly as well. I've quite come to appreciate the look of the big alien head and wouldn't mind it sitting under my desk.

And just remember, this system isn't catered to Joe Blow sitting there, they have lines of products that cater to the Average Joe with the Average Joe sized wallet. Remember a few years ago when ALienware started sellign rigs at BestBuy? I do, and I remember all the bitching and complaining done then. "Oh, now EVERYONE will own an Alienware computer and they won't be what they were!" Was along the lines of what was said. Now I don't know if they're still selling through BestBuy as it's been several years since I've been to one, but the point has been made. This system is made for those people who have the money to buy what they want but don't want to go thorugh the hassle and headache of building their own. Did you build your *insert rediculously fast sports cars here* or did you buy it from a dealership? The principle is the same. You can build your own car from the ground up but why bother if you can buy the exact same thing already built? Only the people who thoroughly enjoy building will continue to buy all the seperate components and assemble them when they've all arrived.

 

Savrow are the worst offenders for overcharging from what I've seen, but any bespoke pc builders will be. there is so little competition and the rich without brains type will happily buy into that sorta thing. anyway, killer comp for sure.

 

It's hideously overpriced.

http://www.pugetsystems.com/configg...83,159,124,1878,10939,7261&hd1q=2&hd1n=RAID 0

Same components, better case (LL V1000), 3,427 pounds. While Puget doesn't officially ship to England, I'm sure something could be arranged if someone wanted to spend that much money. Also, the folks at Puget would wire up the spare USB headers inside the case, something I noticed Alienware didn't do.

 

Don't forget import tax, VAT and you won't be far from £4500. (VAT is 17.5% and import tax should bring it up to about 30% including VAT), that takes the price to £4455 plus shipping, which will be rather a lot... I shipped two printers to Taiwan not long ago and that cost me the best part of £60 to ship them. They don't weigh quite the same as a computer with that specification.

Just taking a US to UK conversion shows nothing other than how bad we get it in Rip Off Britain.

 

I think people have completely missed the entire point of this review. The review was done to showcase what Alienware has to offer, not give specific systems details for people to say they can buy it cheaper from somewhere else or build it cheaper themselves.

 

Lol, this computers are so silly... First of all, you can get the same computer, if not a better one, for well bellow £3000. The solution with four 512mb dimms, what's that about? And the appearance? Well... I'm rooting for VoodooPC.

And, correct me if I'm wrong, I believe the timings are 2-3-2-5 (6?), not 2-3-2-2...

 

First of all, thanks for reading the thread and not trolling.

</sarcasm>

Find me a configuration link of a pre-built system with that specification and is available to purchase in the UK for less than £3000.

That's a typo, I will correct it - thanks.

-----

The next person to troll this thread with "I can build the same system for less" without providing sufficient evidence of it being available for purchase in the UK will have their account suspended for a week. I have no problems with people saying this system is overpriced if they can back up their claims. In simple terms, trolls are not welcome on bit-tech's forums.

I hate to have to say this, but people are beginning to take the ****ing piss.

 

After reading the thread, my view has changed somewhat on what you're getting here. I do think that it is very expensive and I'm sure a lot of people here would rather build it themselves (including me), but I can see where Alienware are coming from.

You pay more on top of the parts' cost than you should in my opinion, but you do get a very nice privilege for that cash - being able to have someone else diagnose and repair it for you. It's built to appeal to the technical neophyte but also to someone who might not have the time or money to diagnose problems. The computer is one of the most complex machines ever concieved, and I've no doubt to fix something like that (with all that neat cabling!) is a daunting task. They probably make a healthy margin off their brand name, too, which has become synonymous with performance machines

As I said earlier (and other people have noted) it is going to be outperformed quickly... but what computer isn't? This isn't built for next year, it's built now for the person who wants ultimate performance. If you want a sensible computer, buy a Dell or a lower-specced machine that offers better value for money. This isn't sensible. It's like a sports car - not designed to be practical or affordable, but it goes like a rocket. Surely that's the point?

 

Thanks, that's more the sort of comment I'd like to see - something with some intelligence in it.

I think everyone agrees that this system is expensive, but then what isn't at £4500? I'd like to see a better finish on the case, preferably not plastic. That, IMHO is the only thing that spoils this system.

What would happen if we reviewed the latest Dell system? The one with Quad SLI? "OMG TOO EXPENSIVE!!111ONEONE" ? I'd hope not, considering it's probably the fastest pre-built system on the planet for the time being.

 

Agreed; I'm not a fan of plastic cases myself - I think they're a bit tacky. I do like the Alienware look though (don't kill me, forumites!) and that blue is nice, but it'd look much better and more professional on a metal finish.

I'd also like to see watercooling (they did do a watercooled one, I think) but obviously that'd come as extra cost and won't offer much extra performance that is relevant over what's clearly a well-designed air cooling system.

I, for one, wouldn't mind seeing the benches for that

 

You can get your Aurora liquid cooled for an additional $200 or £96 respectively. Nice for an even quieter computer system.

My posts don't have some intelligence in them?

 

They do, and they haven't gone unnoticed.

 

I assume it's just CPU and graphics rather than a complete solution, but that's still very good value.

 

A house...

No, seriously. Listen to Bigz if you're going to comment. The man talks sense!

 

The liquid cooling solution covers just the CPU itself. The systems still rely on the AlienIce cooling solution to cool the GPU and the rest of the system. However, there is still a fan located on top of the cooling block of the CPU to help keep other components in the area around the CPU socket cool. Here's a direct quote about their AlienIce cooling solution.

It's been in the two - three year range since my last experience with an Alienware system, but I've had experience with their systems almost since they started introducing them to the public. I can tell you that if you drop the money for one of their systems, you simply will not be dissappointed.

 

Well, I have to admit I was wrong... This rig ain't expensive. This rig is EXPENSIVE!!!
Would anyone say it ain't when I'm telling you it'd cost about 10k Euro?! I bet you won't!?

2x Opteron 280
6 GB Corsair RAM
2x GTX 512's
4x 500 GB SATA HDD
2x 400 GB UDMA100 HDD

All water cooled.
This one is sick! But it's not as fast as I would have thought though.
Sorry for pissing you off Bigz.