A quick note (and please excuse me if it was addressed earlier in the thread) I noticed that the system is shipping with the Media Center version of Windows. Unless you are planning to use the features that Media Center provides I imagine you would have a better gaming experience on a regular XP Pro or Home operating system. Media Center is bound to come with lots of extra services and applications you don’t necessarily need on a gaming rig.
Idle curiousity: Is it an XP-120 or one of the big coppery Zalmans? (I’m vaguely considering upgrading my CPU HSF since the Panaflo on my XP-80 is the loudest one in the box.)
AMD is still lagging behind because of the power of first impressions. The early AMD chips were behind Intel, both in terms of reliability and heat issues. They’ve long since fixed this (and indeed, at this point, long since passed Intel in virtually all of the categories that matter), but the casual computer buyer still has the perception that Intel = the best reliability and performance. The contracts with especially Dell contribute to that a lot too - the casual buyer isn’t reading the comparisons in PCGamer or Tom’s Hardware
Me? When I get a new gaming computer this summer, it’s going to be build-it-myself and it’s going to be AMD all the way.
It also doesn’t help that AMD’s marketing department is…largely nonexistent. Print ads aplenty in the PC mags you’d expect, but that’s pretty much it. They had a couple TV spots a few years back (something about a train?), but that ain’t no Blue Man Group. Now mind you, I’m not positive how big a boost Intel gets from its glitzy TV spots, but you’ve got to figure they’re getting something.
Sorry I didn’t see this to replay sooner.
It is big and coppery but a Thermalright Heat Pipe heatsink… Looks a lot like this ).
My PC runs pretty warm. Well within normal operation margins but I can heat my bedroom exclusively in the winter with my PC and a rocking Quake 4 match (seriously…even opened my window when it was 20[sup]o[/sup] outside to coll things off). I have a lot going on in my PC though…Radeon 9800XT and dual 10k RPM harddrives throw in quite a bit of heat. I am seriously considering liquid cooling for my next system (if I go SLI I think I will).
That said remember copper is the ideal in heatsinks. Many are aluminum and the tricky ones are copper plated aluminum. Copper of course is far more expensive than aluminum but few metals have a better thermal conductivity than copper does (silver is better, gold is worse, copper between those). If you are an internet surfer and e-mailer aluminum is more than fine. If you think you will stress the computer though then copper all the way (don’t skimp…copper heatsinks are more expensive to be sure but still affordable). I also recommend heat pipes…just adds more to the heatsink’s ability to move heat away from the processor (you can see the pipes in my link…Google on heat pipes if you want to know how they work but rest assured it is all self contained so no extra complications in installation barring making sure it all fits).
Last thing…READ HEATSINK REVIEWS. Really. Lots of heatsinks look sexy or cool as hell. Some even seem to have all the right technology. In the end the proof is in the performance so do a little homework. Usually the spacey, wild looking ones suck and the dull, blocky brick looking ones work best (not always but often enough).
Ok…last last thing is the fan. Don’t skimp here as no matter how good the heatsink is if the fan is crap none of it will work well. It took me some hunting around to find a fan that both moved a good volume of air and was quiet and reliable. My system is not silent but amazingly low key considering I have 8 fans all told running (two intake fans, two harddrive fans [one on each drive…hard to explain], video card fan, exhaust fan back, exhaust fan top, power supply fan). Actually the harddrive fans were a later addition and they are easily the loudest of the lot. My system ran fine before…not sure why I felt I needed those.
Hope that helps! 
I’m facing the OP’s decision now, too. Building it myself is not an option, so I’m perusing Alienware. I’d planned to wait to get a new machine until Vista was released and patched for a few months, but it’s been delayed yet again, until 2007 this time.
Burning question: If I go with AMD will I still be able to use all my other business apps and older, classic games on it? You know, the ones that specify Pentium (ie Publisher 2003 says “Pentium III 233MHz or higher”)? I also have a backlog of classic games I’ve yet to play that will work on my current P4. I’m not a huge gamer, but want the games I do play to work well and look great. I also want to use the machine for business and possibly media too.
I’m learning a lesson the hard way with Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. It seems to support ATI cards much better than Nvidia, from what I’m seeing on the forums, and is quite demanding at that. If this is the wave of the future, then I want to be prepared for the next couple of years.
Btw, thanks, all. The suggestions here have been specific and very useful, including Kinthalis’ idea to buy a SLI motherboard and one great card…waiting for the price drop to buy the second one.
Alienware? Dell? What’s the difference?
Yes, I know that. Hoping to make a purchase in the near term. Any thoughts?
Intel or AMD makes no difference as far as compatability with programs go (or drivers). If no one told you (and you didn’t bother snooping around for the info) you’d never know what you were running on.
If you want a top notch system then go for Falcon Northwest. Their systems are pricey but top notch all the way and their support is the best I have ever seen.
Think of it like this.
Falcon = Aston Martin V12 Vanquish…just top notch auto performance the whole way
Alienware = Chevrlet Corvette…nice car and fast but simply not in the same class
Dell = Mazda Miata…sports car only if you don’t look too closely
Only 99%+ true. There are a handful of old (usually very old) programs which care about processor…you could probably count such programs on your fingers though.
Of course, there’s another aspect that also applies to both expensive cars and expensive computers.
Once you reach a certain point, the increase in quality is in no way justified by the increase in price. That applies to the Aston Martin, and by the look of the price of those Falcon Northwest computers, it probably applies there too.
Not sure thats the best analogy… They use the same components underneath… (Probably a better, if not perfect, one would be Scion/Toyota/Lexus).
I’ve never been a fan of buying “named-brand” PCs, you really are paying for the name. A PC from a reliable “white box” retailer will work just as well. Obviously you have to be careful, there are alot of shoddy retailers (and plain rip-off merchants out there). Remember a PC is not a car, even best manufacturer’s PCs become obsolete just as fast as a generic white box one.
I’d personally say generate a spec (CPU, Motherboard, GFX card, HDD. RAM, being the critical items). Then compare prices at the different vendors.
They most certainly do not use the same components under the hood. Granted they all use a motherboard, CPU, memory, hard drive and so on but by no means are all of those things created equal. Otherwise you could say all cars are the same because thay all have wheels, an engine, a transmission and so on.
A well built system matches not only quality, reliable components but better performing ones too. So many people just look at the obvious numbers and think that is all there is to a story. There is more to PC performance than CPU clock speed and how much memory you have. Memory speed, latency, the motherboard and other things go into overall performance. Slapping a 500hp engine into your Yugo will not make it perform like a Ferrari. So too with computers.
That said there is a point of diminishing returns when paying for better stuff in a new PC. Like many products there is a “sweet spot” where you get the most bang for your buck and it is neither at the high nor low end.
With Alienware I think you are paying a good amount for the name. How many people have heard of Falcon Northwest? Very few I have ever known recognize it. What Falcon saves on not advertising like crazy (as Alienware does) they put into a better machine.
Are Falcon/Alienware machines pricey? Sure…you can do better price wise (although Falcon and Alienware seem price competitive to each other). As mentioned earlier I much prefer to build my own PC which gets me Falcon quality for maybe 25% less than they charge…savings may even be more. But if building your own PC is not an option and you want a first rate machine then these are the guys. For the extra money you do get excellent service (well…at least Falcon’s support is stellar…heard bad stories about Alienware) and a warranty. Building my own machine if it goes poof I have no one to call.
If you are just doing e-mail and web surfing any box from Dell or Gateway will do you fine. If you want to play some games you need something a bit better. If you want to play bleeding edge games with all the eye candy turned on (and oh man is Oblivion for one gorgeous with all the eye candy on) then you need a monster machine. Of course if you are into CAD or video editing or something along those lines a beefy PC may be in order too.
In the end it depends on your specific needs and your wallet.
Ummm yes they do. The components of Alienware PC are pretty much exactly the same as the components of a “white box” (or a Dell, except of course Dell do not use AMD)…
Nvidia, Intel, Seagate, etc. do not manufacture special components for use by Alienware. The AMD CPU in an Alienware Aurora 7500 will be identical to one in a “white box” AMD 64 X2, as will the Nvidia GFX card and motherboard. The only difference will be the case.
That’s not necessarily true. The component manufacturers don’t have to make special Alienware products; there are already tons of choices out there and every PC company, Alienware included, has to decide which ones to use. If you’re building your own system and you deliberately use the exact same components that Alienware uses, yes, you’re going to end up with pretty much the same thing.
However, if you don’t do that and you just buy from a random manufacturer without examining the specs, it’s entirely possible that you’ll end up with a different system – especially when the listed specs for a system aren’t detailed enough to tell you exactly what’s inside the system.
The graphics card could be from a different manufacturer, even if it uses the same ATI or nVidia chipset. The CPU could have a different heatsink or cooler, especially if the “white box” company uses OEM versions. The motherboard will often not be the same one. The hard drive could be a different brand and have a different rotational speed. The RAM could run at different clock speed and use different timings. The DVD drives could be from different manufacturers, affecting disc compatibility and overall speed.
The “white box” system could in theory be exactly the same as an Alienware, but only if you know the exact components they’re using (and they’re not listed in the specs).
And the case isn’t a trivial component. A good case, combined with good cabling and assembly, can improve airflow and let your system run cooler and faster. Should you ever want to upgrade any component (like a graphics card), the case could be difference between a fast 5-minute upgrade and a bad hour-long experience with missing screws and bloody cuts from unsmoothed edges.
Wow! That sucks, I had no idea (I’ve never brought brand name PCs, though been forced to use them for work). I’d certainly hope there was someway to find out. Even if there wasn’t thats only another reason why you SHOULD buy “white box” rather than branded. Any reputable retailer will give the information about exactly which variant and manfucter the components that are going in your PC. And you can make the choice yourself. If you buy the “top of the line” you should be getting as good or better than what goes in an Aleinware.
Also, while there is a difference if between an Nvidia 6800 ultra made by eVGA and one made by PNY, it is essentially the same card. You can’t claim (like WaM did earlier) that its like the difference between the engine in Aston Martin V12 Vanquish and the one in a Mazda Miata. You could say that about difference between a Nvidia geForce and a Nvidia 6800 but not about to identcal spec cards from different manufactuers.
True but Aleinbrain et al are not the only ones with access to well made and well designed cases. Maybe I should have said that you are paying for the alienbrain badge.
Oh, definitely. I don’t know even if Alienware actually has good cases (or other components, for that matter). A white box could be worse or better, as you said.
You’re definitely paying a premium for the Alienware badge, but hey, if you’ve got the money to spare and can’t build your own system… why not. I’d never buy an Alienware/Falcon NW desktop myself, but that’s just because I’m cheap and poor 
A $700 white box is not going to beat a $2000 Alienware/Falcon system…ever. Even if both systems say, “3.0GHz Intel CPU, NVidia 7900 GT, 1GB DDR Ram, 80GB ATA Harddrive”. Granted there is some premium for the “Alienware” name but not all that much (certainly not $1,300 worth of difference).
A Western Digital Raptor-X hard drive costs more than, say, a Toshiba hard drive of similar “marketing” numbers. SATA, 150GB and so on. Yet if you bother to read reviews the Western Digital drive outperforms pretty much any other drive in its class on the market. You will find a Raptor-X in a Falcon (or might…not sure it has made it into the production pipes yet). You will find a Seagate or Toshiba or whatever else was cheapest that day in the white box. The point is you will never find the Raptor-X (or whatever the bleeding edge leader is) in the white box.
You get the same issues with many components. Not all power supplies are close to being equal even if they both say they supply 350W. Memory manufacturers are not the same. Read reviews of Crucial memory (for example) and compare to some no-name or bargain brand in the white box. Motherboards…huge differences here.
The differences continue in how the shop will tune the PC. Ever go into the BIOS on a whitebox? Ever done it on a Falcon? I have…lucky to change more than the time and boot order in a Whitebox BIOS. On a Falcon machine you have access to a bewildering array of options. I do not know about Alienware but I know the folks at Falcon will go in there and fiddle to finetune the machine.
Ever try to call for tech support on a whitebox? Ever call Falcon tech support? I have done this too. The difference is so staggeringly large it almost becomes apples and oranges to compare the two.
My car analogy may not have been perfect but it was meant to underline the notions behind the machines. Buy an Aston Martin and you expect a high level of fit and finish. You expect best of breed components. You expect stellar performance. You expect first rate service if anything goes wrong. Buy a Mazda and you simply do not have the same expectations and it surprises no one when the Mazda does not deliver at the same level as the Aston Martin.
Does that mean the Aston Martin on a strict bang for your buck analysis is worth it? Hell no. You are definitely paying to be out on the bleeding edge of performance and luxury. If you are a car enthusiast and have the cash to spare you might buy one. For most of us on tighter budgets we come down from there to something we can manage. So too with computers.