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Buying an Alienware PC

Macd0361
By Macd0361
in Graphics Cards
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Hey there. I’m about to buy an Alienware Aurora R9 with an i7 9700 and a 2070 Super.

 

I know the opinion of the group here would be build your own, and I totally understand that. I’m a design/brand nerd (I run a digital design and brand agency, it’s in my DNA). I’ve always wanted an Alienware growing up and I love the design of the Aurora. 
 

My question is about full upgradability, to help me weigh a potential big con, with my admittedly subjective emotional pro of buying an Alienware. 
 

I know that likely late this year new Nvidia Ampere will be released, I’m not imagining that I would upgrade close to release, but maybe a couple years from now, I’d love to be able to upgrade the video card as opposed to buying a whole new system. With the way Alienwares are built (proprietary motherboard) is major upgrade paths (for things like new gen video cards) non existent?

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6 minutes ago, Macd0361 said:

Hey there. I’m about to buy an Alienware Aurora R9 with an i7 9700 and a 2070 Super.

 

I know the opinion of the group here would be build your own, and I totally understand that. I’m a design/brand nerd (I run a digital design and brand agency, it’s in my DNA). I’ve always wanted an Alienware growing up and I love the design of the Aurora. 
 

My question is about full upgradability, to help me weigh a potential big con, with my admittedly subjective emotional pro of buying an Alienware. 
 

I know that likely late this year new Nvidia Ampere will be released, I’m not imagining that I would upgrade close to release, but maybe a couple years from now, I’d love to be able to upgrade the video card as opposed to buying a whole new system. With the way Alienwares are built (proprietary motherboard) is major upgrade paths (for things like new gen video cards) non existent?

i know i might get abit of hate from this, but in my opinion alienware are just overpriced pre-builts. you can feel free to educate me if you want, but from some of the price tags ive seen and the reviews from others i can't say i would rush out to buy one

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22 minutes ago, idwt said:

i know i might get abit of hate from this, but in my opinion alienware are just overpriced pre-builts. you can feel free to educate me if you want, but from some of the price tags ive seen and the reviews from others i can't say i would rush out to buy one

Alienware is Dell

 

30 minutes ago, Macd0361 said:

Hey there. I’m about to buy an Alienware Aurora R9 with an i7 9700 and a 2070 Super.

 

I know the opinion of the group here would be build your own, and I totally understand that. I’m a design/brand nerd (I run a digital design and brand agency, it’s in my DNA). I’ve always wanted an Alienware growing up and I love the design of the Aurora. 
 

My question is about full upgradability, to help me weigh a potential big con, with my admittedly subjective emotional pro of buying an Alienware. 
 

I know that likely late this year new Nvidia Ampere will be released, I’m not imagining that I would upgrade close to release, but maybe a couple years from now, I’d love to be able to upgrade the video card as opposed to buying a whole new system. With the way Alienwares are built (proprietary motherboard) is major upgrade paths (for things like new gen video cards) non existent?

Will depend on the GPU you select and its form factor on whether it will fit inside this custom case that typically comes with Alienwares.

Workstation Laptop: Dell Precision 7540, Xeon E-2276M, 32gb DDR4, Quadro T2000 GPU, 4k display

Wifes Rig: ASRock B550m Riptide, Ryzen 5 5600X, Sapphire Nitro+ RX 6700 XT, 16gb (2x8) 3600mhz V-Color Skywalker RAM, ARESGAME AGS 850w PSU, 1tb WD Black SN750, 500gb Crucial m.2, DIYPC MA01-G case

My Rig: ASRock B450m Pro4, Ryzen 5 3600, ARESGAME River 5 CPU cooler, EVGA RTX 2060 KO, 16gb (2x8) 3600mhz TeamGroup T-Force RAM, ARESGAME AGV750w PSU, 1tb WD Black SN750 NVMe Win 10 boot drive, 3tb Hitachi 7200 RPM HDD, Fractal Design Focus G Mini custom painted.  

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 video card benchmark result - AMD Ryzen 5 3600,ASRock B450M Pro4 (3dmark.com)

Daughter 1 Rig: ASrock B450 Pro4, Ryzen 7 1700 @ 4.2ghz all core 1.4vCore, AMD R9 Fury X w/ Swiftech KOMODO waterblock, Custom Loop 2x240mm + 1x120mm radiators in push/pull 16gb (2x8) Patriot Viper CL14 2666mhz RAM, Corsair HX850 PSU, 250gb Samsun 960 EVO NVMe Win 10 boot drive, 500gb Samsung 840 EVO SSD, 512GB TeamGroup MP30 M.2 SATA III SSD, SuperTalent 512gb SATA III SSD, CoolerMaster HAF XM Case. 

https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/37004594?

Daughter 2 Rig: ASUS B350-PRIME ATX, Ryzen 7 1700, Sapphire Nitro+ R9 Fury Tri-X, 16gb (2x8) 3200mhz V-Color Skywalker, ANTEC Earthwatts 750w PSU, MasterLiquid Lite 120 AIO cooler in Push/Pull config as rear exhaust, 250gb Samsung 850 Evo SSD, Patriot Burst 240gb SSD, Cougar MX330-X Case

 

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1 minute ago, Tristerin said:

Alienware is Dell

 

Will depend on the GPU you select and its form factor on whether it will fit inside this custom case that typically comes with Alienwares.

im aware it is Dell :) its just that if you are to buy a rig from them it can be pretty expensive, and price to performance is very scuffed

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I believe the components used in Alienware desktops are proprietary. I've dealt with them before and they tend to use the cheapest and most basic components, but they work. GPU is most likely a blower-style but it should be enough for the 2070S. Upgradability is a hit or miss, really. You should be able to fit in a graphics card as long as you keep the size of the unit itself is mind, as it may or may not fit inside the case.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5800X +  GPU: Nvidia RTX 3080 12GB + Motherboard: Asus Crosshair VIII Hero

  Case: Asus ROG Strix Helios Gundam Edition Power Supply: Asus ROG Thor 850P

 

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Well, after a lot of consideration. I opted to NOT go for the Alienware. I ended up using the BLD service at NZXT to build out a system. Not the "brand" I went it looking for BUT the NZXT case designs are also very slick looking, plus it seems like a much better set up with standard components that will allow me to have better upgrade paths. 

 

Should be arriving today. Can't wait, the upgrade from my current GTX 950 to an RTX 2070 Super will be quite the jump, lol.

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