The Alienware Steam Machine

[dyent10]

So, I decided to go on a mission, because you and others complain all the time about this and I figured lets put this to the test. I chose pretty decent options. 16GB 1600mhz RAM, 4930k, Windows 8, Dell U2413, 256GB SSD 6Gb/s MAIN + 1TB 7200RPM Storage, dual 780s, Bluray burner, top keyboard and mouse options, and Liquid Cooling. It comes to a grand total of $4,441.98. Lets not forget the case, motherboard, and power supply comes with this. (don't want to leave anything out.)

 

So I chose Newegg as my place of choice to shop here.

4930k = $579.99

Asus X79 Deluxe = $349.99

Samsung 840 Evo = $161.99

GTX 780 = $699.99 x 2 = $1399.98

WD 1TB Black = $88.99

Ripjaws X Series 16GB 1600Mhz = $154.99

Dell U2413 = $511.99

Roccat Kone XTD = $79.99

Roccat Ryos MK Pro = $159.99

Corsair AX1200i = $329.99

Corsair H100i = $99.99

Corsair C70 = $139.99

Windows 8.1 Full Version (32 and 64 bit) = $119.99

Asus Bluray Burner = $76.99

 

Total built by yourself = $4,254.85 without shipping costs

Total built by Alienware = $4,441.98 without shipping costs

 

Point made, I believe, shall we say.

 

not to mention their exceptional customer service. i have read some entries about people's alienware laptop breaking down and getting replaced by a newer generation laptop. 

 

No i haven't owned one because I refuse to purchase one, I have had several friends who have, and I have used their products. & No I could afford their crap pcs, but I'd prefer to build my own better one for a cheaper price. So please stop trying to cause an argument for no reason over something that doesn't matter. Especially when you try and make it personal. Like I said before, their products are overpriced. Of course they're not 'Bad'. They're just expensive p2p and there's no reason to ever buy one.

 

you call alienware's pc crap then went on to say "they're not 'Bad'." it's not my intention to start an argument. i wanted to understand how you were drawing a conclusion on a production that isn't released. you went on to resort to a common stereotype that all alienware are not "crap pcs." 

[afa7336]

 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($279.99 @ Microcenter) 

CPU Cooler:  Corsair H110 94.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($99.99 @ Newegg) 

Motherboard:  Asus SABERTOOTH Z87 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard  ($234.99 @ NCIX US) 

Memory:  G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory  ($157.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage:  Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  ($74.29 @ Amazon) 

Storage:  Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($58.98 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card:  EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($491.98 @ Newegg) 

Video Card:  EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($491.98 @ Newegg) 

Case:  Fractal Design Define XL R2 (Black Pearl) ATX Full Tower Case  ($119.99 @ Amazon) 

Power Supply:  Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($169.99 @ NCIX US) 

Total: $2180.17

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-08 11:39 EST-0500)

 

 

*facepalms* You're not good at this are you? Where do I start... No monitor, mouse, or keyboard. Wrong CPU, Wrong Motherboard, smaller size SSD, wrong speed of RAM. This is a comparison of part for part, not what you CHOOSE is better. Sheesh. I had to take some liberties with the motherboard (got one that is similar), keyboard and mouse (features close but not the same).  

[JLCitadel]

not to mention their exceptional customer service. i have read some entries about people's alienware laptop breaking down and getting replaced by a newer generation laptop. 

 

 

you call alienware's pc crap then went on to say "they're not 'Bad'." it's not my intention to start an argument. i wanted to understand how you were drawing a conclusion on a production that isn't released. you went on to resort to a common stereotype that all alienware are not "crap pcs." 

 

I did not draw any conclusion about this product please read my previous post. I am looking forward to seeing its price and specs. Like I said, BEFORE. & ALSO Their products ARE overpriced. No they're not 'crap' they're CRAP for price to performance ratio. 

[NewAndreas]

it needs moar LEDs!!!1

[JLCitadel]

*facepalms* You're not good at this are you? Where do I start... No monitor, mouse, or keyboard. Wrong CPU, Wrong Motherboard, smaller size SSD, wrong speed of RAM. This is a comparison of part for part, not what you CHOOSE is better. Sheesh. I had to take some liberties with the motherboard (got one that is similar), keyboard and mouse (features close but not the same).  

 

First off, they are in the post.

Second off, I'm not doing a part for part, I'm doing something that has the same performance for ANYTHING you or I would use it for. Unless you're a professional editor you don't need an extreme.

& Thirdly this build is less then 2/3s the price and has equivalent performance for 95% of things you'd do with a pc. Infact this ram is better. Higher speed ram = slower cache times.

[afa7336]

First off, they are in the post.

Second off, I'm not doing a part for part, I'm doing something that has the same performance for ANYTHING you or I would use it for. Unless you're a professional editor you don't need an extreme.

& Thirdly this build is less then 2/3s the price and has equivalent performance for 95% of things you'd do with a pc. Infact this ram is better. Higher speed ram = slower cache times.

 

 

 

You didn't compare it to something you built at home, you compared it to something YOU think is similar. Difference between me and you is I used the specs to compare equally not unequally. Thats why I listed the specs of the Alienware IN my post so you could understand the exact parts I chose and why I chose them. I am sorry your config is wrong, but its not equal to the Alienware and therefore should be disregarded as evidence that its cheeper. The Aurora doesn't go to 1150 socket, its a 2011 socket, I checked for you.

 

Edit: Let me put it a different way

 

We have System A, the Alienware system. Then we have System B, the system built at home (that I priced out). The talk is about Alienware is super overpriced, so lets see how much more expensive System A is from System B. We use System As specs because remember its all about how much more OVERPRICED Alienware is component wise. If you start changing around specs, then you have to try and adjust System As specs as well and you can't do that to the extent you want to do. The difference isn't as wide as a lot of people thought, come to find out, shockingly. Linus and Josh from Fractal Design kinda covered this in a round about way on one of the WAN shows a long while back actually.

Edited January 8, 2014 by afa7336

[afa7336]

not to mention their exceptional customer service. i have read some entries about people's alienware laptop breaking down and getting replaced by a newer generation laptop.

 

I've heard that too but never experienced it. I have a few friends with Alienware systems, but I've only touched one for about five minutes tops. I actually didn't even know the price of them until I looked on the website. But since the warranty isn't something I could put a price on I left it out. I thought about adding in the warranties from Newegg, but I thought it actually would be sorta unfair to do so as thats per component and not the full system. I'll leave it to the individual person to think about how much the warranty costs to them and whether 200ish dollars is worth the warranty.

[alicskysareblue]

the day someone shows me a alienware pc that I can't build a cheaper equivalent of with better performance is the day I buy one. Simple as that. I love their style but hate the price.

yeah not mention you have to buy the brackets for 2.5 mounting, my freind used duck tap to mount the ssd  

[Swegly]

The specs for a 900 dollar steambox (lowest end model) will have a GT545. I bet on that. Thats how they fucked people over with the x51.

[afa7336]

yeah not mention you have to buy the brackets for 2.5 mounting, my freind used duck tap to mount the ssd  

 

Thats funny since the one I priced out has an SSD in it and I'm pretty sure they have mounting in place for it. Or do they decide to let it rattle around? Though if you are upgrading an OLD case design that wasn't designed for SSDs, this could be the issue. Without knowing more information its hard to draw a conclusion about it, to be frank. Would you blame a system that can't upgrade to SATA because the motherboard doesn't support it (its that old), or would you just say its old and time to upgrade? They sell brackets with SSDs for a reason, you know, not all cases natively support SSDs.

[alicskysareblue]

Thats funny since the one I priced out has an SSD in it and I'm pretty sure they have mounting in place for it. Or do they decide to let it rattle around? Though if you are upgrading an OLD case design that wasn't designed for SSDs, this could be the issue. Without knowing more information its hard to draw a conclusion about it, to be frank. Would you blame a system that can't upgrade to SATA because the motherboard doesn't support it (its that old), or would you just say its old and time to upgrade? They sell brackets with SSDs for a reason, you know, not all cases natively support SSDs.

I know I was only saying that because I saw a video

[afa7336]

I know I was only saying that because I saw a video

 

The problem is, and its the reason I put myself in the firing line sometimes, is that we all as Humans sometimes have preconceived notions and don't do critical thinking and objective thinking as well. I've been guilty of it before, until I really started to mature in a way. I've wanted to do a topic in off topic probably for a while about some of the most common, break them down and show the differences from actual data from what people perceive and reality. And also spur discussion on how and why we let this happen, and how we as enthusiasts, can change for the better, in understanding different things. I've been hesitant because of the nature of it, but its something I've actually started writing up today, but it may never get published, I also want to talk it over with one of the Mods to make sure it won't start a flame war as topics like that tend to do.